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diff --git a/old/31274-8.txt b/old/31274-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..97d3f68 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/31274-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15076 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lady Anna, by Anthony Trollope + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lady Anna + + +Author: Anthony Trollope + + + +Release Date: February 14, 2010 [eBook #31274] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA*** + + +E-text prepared by Delphine Lettau and Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D. + + + +LADY ANNA. + +by + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. I. + + + + + + +London: +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. +1874. + +[All rights reserved.] + +London: +Printed by Virtue and Co., +City Road. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. I. + + I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL. + II. THE EARL'S WILL. + III. LADY ANNA. + IV. THE TAILOR OF KESWICK. + V. THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION. + VI. YOXHAM RECTORY. + VII. THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES. + VIII. IMPOSSIBLE! + IX. IT ISN'T LAW. + X. THE FIRST INTERVIEW. + XI. IT IS TOO LATE. + XII. HAVE THEY SURRENDERED? + XIII. NEW FRIENDS. + XIV. THE EARL ARRIVES. + XV. WHARFEDALE. + XVI. FOR EVER. + XVII. THE JOURNEY HOME. + XVIII. TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS. + XIX. LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON. + XX. LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION. + XXI. DANIEL AND THE LAWYER. + XXII. THERE IS A GULF FIXED. + XXIII. BEDFORD SQUARE. + XXIV. THE DOG IN THE MANGER. + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL. + + +Women have often been hardly used by men, but perhaps no harder +usage, no fiercer cruelty was ever experienced by a woman than +that which fell to the lot of Josephine Murray from the hands +of Earl Lovel, to whom she was married in the parish church of +Applethwaite,--a parish without a village, lying among the mountains +of Cumberland,--on the 1st of June, 181--. That her marriage was +valid according to all the forms of the Church, if Lord Lovel were +then capable of marrying, no one ever doubted; nor did the Earl +ever allege that it was not so. Lovel Grange is a small house, +surrounded by a small domain,--small as being the residence of a rich +nobleman, lying among the mountains which separate Cumberland from +Westmoreland, about ten miles from Keswick, very lovely, from the +brightness of its own green sward and the luxuriance of its wild +woodland, from the contiguity of overhanging mountains, and from the +beauty of Lovel Tarn, a small lake belonging to the property, studded +with little islands, each of which is covered with its own thicket +of hollies, birch, and dwarfed oaks. The house itself is poor, ill +built, with straggling passages and low rooms, and is a sombre, +ill-omened looking place. When Josephine Murray was brought there +as a bride she thought it to be very sombre and ill-omened; but she +loved the lakes and mountains, and dreamed of some vague mysterious +joy of life which was to come to her from the wildness of her +domicile. + +I fear that she had no other ground, firmer than this, on which to +found her hopes of happiness. She could not have thought Lord Lovel +to be a good man when she married him, and it can hardly be said that +she loved him. She was then twenty-four years old, and he had counted +double as many years. She was very beautiful, dark, with large, bold, +blue eyes, with hair almost black, tall, well made, almost robust, a +well-born, brave, ambitious woman, of whom it must be acknowledged +that she thought it very much to be the wife of a lord. Though our +story will be concerned much with her sufferings, the record of her +bridal days may be very short. It is with struggles that came to +her in after years that we shall be most concerned, and the reader, +therefore, need be troubled with no long description of Josephine +Murray as she was when she became the Countess Lovel. It is hoped +that her wrongs may be thought worthy of sympathy,--and may be felt +in some sort to atone for the ignoble motives of her marriage. + +The Earl, when he found his bride, had been living almost in solitude +for a twelvemonth. Among the neighbouring gentry in the lake country +he kept no friendly relations. His property there was small, and his +character was evil. He was an English earl, and as such known in +some unfamiliar fashion to those who know all earls; but he was a +man never seen in Parliament, who had spent the greater part of his +manhood abroad, who had sold estates in other counties, converting +unentailed acres into increased wealth, but wealth of a kind much +less acceptable to the general English aristocrat than that which +comes direct from land. Lovel Grange was his only remaining English +property, and when in London he had rooms at an hotel. He never +entertained, and he never accepted hospitality. It was known of him +that he was very rich, and men said that he was mad. Such was the man +whom Josephine Murray had chosen to marry because he was an earl. + +He had found her near Keswick, living with her father in a pretty +cottage looking down upon Derwentwater,--a thorough gentleman, for +Captain Murray had come of the right Murrays;--and thence he had +carried her to Lovel Grange. She had brought with her no penny of +fortune, and no settlement had been made on her. Her father, who +was then an old man, had mildly expostulated; but the ambition +of the daughter had prevailed, and the marriage was accomplished. +The beautiful young woman was carried off as a bride. It will be +unnecessary to relate what efforts had been made to take her away +from her father's house without bridal honours; but it must be told +that the Earl was a man who had never yet spared a woman in his lust. +It had been the rule, almost the creed of his life, that woman was +made to gratify the appetite of man, and that the man is but a poor +creature who does not lay hold of the sweetness that is offered to +him. He had so lived as to teach himself that those men who devote +themselves to their wives, as a wife devotes herself to her husband, +are the poor lubberly clods of creation, who had lacked the power to +reach the only purpose of living which could make life worth having. +Women had been to him a prey, as the fox is a prey to the huntsman +and the salmon to the angler. But he had acquired great skill in his +sport, and could pursue his game with all the craft which experience +will give. He could look at a woman as though he saw all heaven in +her eyes, and could listen to her as though the music of the spheres +was to be heard in her voice. Then he could whisper words which, to +many women, were as the music of the spheres, and he could persevere, +abandoning all other pleasures, devoting himself to the one +wickedness with a perseverance which almost made success certain. +But with Josephine Murray he could be successful on no other terms +than those which enabled her to walk out of the church with him as +Countess Lovel. + +She had not lived with him six months before he told her that the +marriage was no marriage, and that she was--his mistress. There was +an audacity about the man which threw aside all fear of the law, and +which was impervious to threats and interference. He assured her that +he loved her, and that she was welcome to live with him; but that she +was not his wife, and that the child which she bore could not be the +heir to his title, and could claim no heirship to his property. He +did love her,--having found her to be a woman of whose company he had +not tired in six months. He was going back to Italy, and he offered +to take her with him,--but he could not, he said, permit the farce of +her remaining at Lovel Grange and calling herself the Countess Lovel. +If she chose to go with him to Palermo, where he had a castle, and to +remain with him in his yacht, she might for the present travel under +the name of his wife. But she must know that she was not his wife. +She was only his mistress. + +Of course she told her father. Of course she invoked every Murray +in and out of Scotland. Of course there were many threats. A duel +was fought up near London, in which Lord Lovel consented to be shot +at twice,--declaring that after that he did not think that the +circumstances of the case required that he should be shot at any +more. In the midst of this a daughter was born to her and her father +died,--during which time she was still allowed to live at Lovel +Grange. But what was it expedient that she should do? He declared +that he had a former wife when he married her, and that therefore she +was not and could not be his wife. Should she institute a prosecution +against him for bigamy, thereby acknowledging that she was herself +no wife and that her child was illegitimate? From such evidence as +she could get, she believed that the Italian woman whom the Earl in +former years had married had died before her own marriage. The Earl +declared that the Countess, the real Countess, had not paid her debt +to nature, till some months after the little ceremony which had taken +place in Applethwaite Church. In a moment of weakness Josephine fell +at his feet and asked him to renew the ceremony. He stooped over her, +kissed her, and smiled. "My pretty child," he said, "why should I do +that?" He never kissed her again. + +What should she do? Before she had decided, he was in his yacht +sailing to Palermo;--sailing no doubt not alone. What should she do? +He had left her an income,--sufficient for the cast-off mistress +of an Earl,--some few hundreds a year, on condition that she would +quietly leave Lovel Grange, cease to call herself a Countess, and +take herself and her bairn,--whither she would. Every abode of sin +in London was open to her for what he cared. But what should she +do? It seemed to her to be incredible that so great a wrong should +befall her, and that the man should escape from her and be free from +punishment,--unless she chose to own the baseness of her own position +by prosecuting him for bigamy. The Murrays were not very generous in +their succour, as the old man had been much blamed for giving his +daughter to one of whom all the world knew nothing but evil. One +Murray had fired two shots on her behalf, in answer to each one of +which the Earl had fired into the air; but beyond this the Murrays +could do nothing. Josephine herself was haughty and proud, conscious +that her rank was greater than that of any of the Murrays with whom +she came in contact. But what should she do? + +The Earl had been gone five years, sailing about the world she knew +not where, when at last she determined to institute a prosecution for +bigamy. During these years she was still living at the Grange, with +her child, and the Courts of Law had allotted her some sum by way of +alimony till her cause should be decided; but upon this alimony she +found it very difficult to lay her hands,--quite impossible to lay +her hands upon the entirety of it. And then it came to pass that +she was eaten up by lawyers and tradesmen, and fell into bad repute +as asserting that claims made against her, should legally be made +against the very man whom she was about to prosecute because she was +not his wife. And this went on till further life at Lovel Grange +became impossible to her. + +In those days there was living in Keswick a certain Mr. Thomas +Thwaite, a tailor, who by degrees had taken a strong part in +denouncing the wrongs to which Lady Lovel had been subjected. He +was a powerful, sturdy man, with good means for his position, a +well-known Radical in a county in which Radicals have never been +popular, and in which fifty years ago they were much rarer than they +are now. At this time Keswick and its vicinities were beginning to be +known as the abodes of poets, and Thomas Thwaite was acquainted with +Southey and Wordsworth. He was an intelligent, up-standing, impulsive +man, who thought well of his own position in the world, and who could +speak his mind. He was tall, massive, and square; tender-hearted and +very generous; and he hated the Earl of Lovel with all his heart. +Once the two men had met since the story of the Countess's wrongs +had become known, and the tailor had struck the Earl to the ground. +This had occurred as the Earl was leaving Lovel Grange, and when he +was starting on his long journey. The scene took place after he had +parted from his Countess,--whom he never was to see again. He rose to +his feet and rushed at the tailor; but the two were separated, and +the Earl thought it best to go on upon his journey. Nothing further +was done as to the blow, and many years rolled by before the Earl +came back to Cumberland. + +It became impossible for the Countess and her daughter, the young +Lady Anna as she was usually called, to remain at Lovel Grange, +and they were taken to the house of Mr. Thwaite, in Keswick, as a +temporary residence. At this time the Countess was in debt, and +already there were lawsuits as to the practicability of obtaining +payment of those debts from the husband's estate. And as soon as it +was determined that the prosecution for bigamy should be instituted, +the confusion in this respect was increased. The Countess ceased to +call herself a countess, as she certainly would not be a countess +should she succeed in proving the Earl to have been guilty. And +had he been guilty of bigamy, the decree under which alimony was +assigned to her would become void. Should she succeed, she would +be a penniless unmarried female with a daughter, her child would +be unfathered and base, and he,--as far as she could see,--would be +beyond the reach of punishment. But, in truth, she and her friend the +tailor were not in quest of success. She and all her friends believed +that the Earl had committed no such crime. But if he were acquitted, +then would her claim to be called Lady Lovel, and to enjoy the +appanages of her rank, be substantiated. Or, at least, something +would have been done towards substantiating those claims. But during +this time she called herself Mrs. Murray, and the little Lady Anna +was called Anna Murray. + +It added much to the hardship of the woman's case that public +sympathy in distant parts of the country,--up in London, and in +southern counties, and even among a portion of the gentry in +Cumberland and Westmoreland,--did not go with her. She had married +without due care. Some men said,--and many women repeated the +story,--that she had known of the existence of the former wife, when +she had married the Earl. She had run into debt, and then repudiated +her debts. She was now residing in the house of a low radical tailor, +who had assaulted the man she called her husband; and she was living +under her maiden name. Tales were told of her which were utterly +false,--as when it was said that she drank. Others were reported +which had in them some grains of truth,--as that she was violent, +stiff-necked, and vindictive. Had they said of her that it had +become her one religion to assert her daughter's right,--per fas aut +nefas,--to assert it by right or wrong; to do justice to her child +let what injustice might be done to herself or others,--then the +truth would have been spoken. + +The case dragged itself on slowly, and little Anna Murray was a child +of nine years old when at last the Earl was acquitted of the criminal +charge which had been brought against him. During all this time he +had been absent. Even had there been a wish to bring him personally +into court, the law would have been powerless to reach him. But there +was no such wish. It had been found impossible to prove the former +marriage, which had taken place in Sicily;--or if not impossible, at +least no adequate proof was forthcoming. There was no real desire +that there should be such proof. The Earl's lawyers abstained, as +far as they could abstain, from taking any steps in the matter. They +spent what money was necessary, and the Attorney-General of the day +defended him. In doing so, the Attorney-General declared that he had +nothing to do with the Earl's treatment of the lady who now called +herself Mrs. Murray. He knew nothing of the circumstances of that +connection, and would not travel beyond his brief. He was there to +defend Earl Lovel on a charge of bigamy. This he did successfully, +and the Earl was acquitted. Then, in court, the counsel for the wife +declared that his client would again call herself Lady Lovel. + +But it was not so easy to induce other people to call her Lady Lovel. + +And now not only was she much hampered by money difficulties, but so +also was the tailor. But Thomas Thwaite never for a moment slackened +in his labours to make good the position of the woman whom he had +determined to succour; and for another and a longer period of eight +years the battle went on. It went on very slowly, as is the wont with +such battles; and very little way was made. The world, as a rule, did +not believe that she who now again called herself the Countess Lovel +was entitled to that name. The Murrays, her own people,--as far as +they were her own people,--had been taught to doubt her claim. If +she were a countess why had she thrown herself into the arms of an +old tailor? Why did she let her daughter play with the tailor's +child,--if, in truth, that daughter was the Lady Anna? Why, above +all things, was the name of the Lady Anna allowed to be mentioned, +as it was mentioned, in connection with that of Daniel Thwaite, the +tailor's son? + +During these eight weary years Lady Lovel,--for so she shall be +called,--lived in a small cottage about a mile from Keswick, on the +road to Grassmere and Ambleside, which she rented from quarter to +quarter. She still obtained a certain amount of alimony, which, +however, was dribbled out to her through various sieves, and which +reached her with protestations as to the impossibility of obtaining +anything like the moderate sum which had been awarded to her. And +it came at last to be the case that she hardly knew what she was +struggling to obtain. It was, of course, her object that all the +world should acknowledge her to be the Countess Lovel, and her +daughter to be the Lady Anna. But all the world could not be made to +do this by course of law. Nor could the law make her lord come home +and live with her, even such a cat and dog life as must in such case +have been hers. Her money rights were all that she could demand;--and +she found it to be impossible to get anybody to tell her what were +her money rights. To be kept out of the poorhouse seemed to be all +that she could claim. But the old tailor was true to her,--swearing +that she should even yet become Countess Lovel in very truth. + +Then, of a sudden, she heard one day,--that Earl Lovel was again at +the Grange, living there with a strange woman. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EARL'S WILL. + + +Not a word had been heard in Keswick of the proposed return of the +old lord,--for the Earl was now an old man,--past his sixtieth year, +and in truth with as many signs of age as some men bear at eighty. +The life which he had led no doubt had had its allurements, but it +is one which hardly admits of a hale and happy evening. Men who make +women a prey, prey also on themselves. But there he was, back at +Lovel Grange, and no one knew why he had come, nor whence, nor how. +To Lovel Grange in those days, now some forty years ago, there was no +road for wheels but that which ran through Keswick. Through Keswick +he had passed in the middle of the night, taking on the post-horses +which he had brought with him from Grassmere, so that no one in the +town should see him and his companion. But it was soon known that +he was there, and known also that he had a companion. For months he +resided thus, and no one saw him but the domestics who waited upon +him. But rumours got abroad as to his conduct, and people through the +county declared that Earl Lovel was a maniac. Still his property was +in his own control, and he did what it listed him to do. + +As soon as men knew that he was in the land, claim after claim was +made upon him for money due on behalf of his wife, and loudest among +the claimants was Thomas Thwaite, the tailor. He was loudest and +fiercest among the claimants, but was loud and fierce not in enmity +to his old friend the Countess, but with a firm resolve to make the +lord pay the only price of his wickedness which could be exacted from +him. And if the Earl could be made to pay the claims against him +which were made by his wife's creditors, then would the law, so far, +have decided that the woman was his wife. No answer was made to any +letter addressed to the Earl, and no one calling at the Grange could +obtain speech or even sight of the noble owner. The lord's steward at +the Grange referred all comers to the lord's attorneys in London, and +the lord's attorneys simply repeated the allegation that the lady was +not the lord's wife. At last there came tidings that an inquiry was +to be made as to the state of the lord's health and the state of the +lord's mind, on behalf of Frederic Lovel, the distant heir to the +title. Let that question of the lord's marriage with Josephine Murray +go as it might, Frederic Lovel, who had never seen his far-away +cousin, must be the future earl. Of that there was no doubt;--and new +inquiries were to be made. But it might well be that the interest of +the young heir would be more deeply involved in the marriage question +than in other matters concerning the family. Lovel Grange and the few +mountain farms attached to the Cumberland estate must become his, let +the frantic Earl do what damage he might to those who bore his name; +but the bulk of the property, the wealth of the Lovels, the great +riches which had enabled this mighty lord to live as a beast of prey +among his kind, were at his own disposal. He had one child certainly, +the Lady Anna, who would inherit it all were the father to die +intestate, and were the marriage proved. The young heir and those +near to him altogether disbelieved the marriage,--as was natural. +They had never seen her who now called herself the Countess, but +who for some years after her child was born had called herself Mrs. +Murray,--who had been discarded by her own relations, and had taken +herself to live with a country tailor. As years had rolled by the +memory of what had really occurred in Applethwaite Church had become +indistinct; and, though the reader knows that that marriage was +capable of easy proof,--that there would have been but little +difficulty had the only difficulty consisted in proving that,--the +young heir and the distant Lovels were not assured of it. Their +interest was adverse, and they were determined to disbelieve. But the +Earl might, and probably would, leave all his wealth to a stranger. +He had never in any way noticed his heir. He cared for none that +bore his name. Those ties in the world which we call love, and deem +respectable, and regard as happy, because they have to do with +marriage and blood relationship as established by all laws since +the days of Moses, were odious to him and ridiculous in his sight, +because all obligations were distasteful to him,--and all laws, +except those which preserved to him the use of his own money. But now +there came up the great question whether he was mad or sane. It was +at once rumoured that he was about to leave the country, and fly back +to Sicily. Then it was announced that he was dead. + +And he was dead. He had died at the age of sixty-seven, in the arms +of the woman he had brought there. His evil career was over, and his +soul had gone to that future life for which he had made it fit by the +life he had led here. His body was buried in Applethwaite churchyard, +in the further corner of which long, straggling valley parish Lovel +Grange is situated. At his grave there stood no single mourner;--but +the young lord was there, of his right, disdaining even to wear a +crape band round his hat. But the woman remained shut up in her own +chamber,--a difficulty to the young lord and his lawyer, who could +hardly tell the foreigner to pack and begone before the body of her +late--lover had been laid in the grave. It had been simply intimated +to her that on such a date,--within a week from the funeral,--her +presence in the house could not longer be endured. She had flashed +round upon the lawyer, who had attempted to make this award known to +her in broken French, but had answered simply by some words of scorn, +spoken in Italian to her waiting-maid. + +Then the will was read in the presence of the young earl;--for there +was a will. Everything that the late lord had possessed was left, in +one line, to his best-beloved friend, the Signorina Camilla Spondi; +and it was stated, and very fully explained, that Camilla Spondi was +the Italian lady living at the Grange at the date on which the will +was made. Of the old lord's heir, the now existing Earl Lovel, no +mention was made whatever. There were, however, two other clauses +or parts in the will. There was a schedule giving in detail the +particulars of the property left to Camilla Spondi; and there was +a rambling statement that the maker of the will acknowledged Anna +Murray to be his illegitimate daughter,--that Anna Murray's mother +had never been the testator's legitimate wife, as his real wife, +the true Countess Lovel, for whom he had separately made adequate +provision, was still alive in Sicily at the date of that will,--and +that by a former will now destroyed he had made provision for +Anna Murray, which provision he had revoked in consequence of +the treatment which he had received from Josephine Murray and +her friends. They who believed the statements made in this will +afterwards asserted that Anna had been deprived of her inheritance by +the blow with which the tailor had felled the Earl to the earth. + +To Camilla Spondi intimation was given of the contents of the Earl's +will as far as they concerned her; but she was told at the same time +that no portion of the dead man's wealth would be placed in her hands +till the courts should have decided whether or no the old lord had +been sane or insane when he signed the document. A sum of money was, +however, given her, on condition that she should take her immediate +departure;--and she departed. With her personally we need have no +further concern. Of her cause and of her claim some mention must be +made; but in a few pages she will drop altogether from our story. + +A copy of the will was also sent to the lawyers who had hitherto +taken charge of the interests of the repudiated Countess, and it +was intimated that the allowance hitherto made to her must now of +necessity cease. If she thought fit to prosecute any further claim, +she must do so by proving her marriage;--and it was explained to her, +probably without much of legal or precise truth in the explanation, +that such proof must include the disproving of the assertion made in +the Earl's will. As it was the intention of the heir to set aside +that will, such assurance was, to say the least of it, disingenuous. +But the whole thing had now become so confused that it could hardly +be expected that lawyers should be ingenuous in discussing it. + +The young Earl clearly inherited the title and the small estate at +Lovel Grange. The Italian woman was primā facie heiress to everything +else,--except to such portion of the large personal property as the +widow could claim as widow, in the event of her being able to prove +that she had been a wife. But in the event of the will being no will, +the Italian woman would have nothing. In such case the male heir +would have all if the marriage were no marriage;--but would have +nothing if the marriage could be made good. If the marriage could +be made good, the Lady Anna would have the entire property, except +such portion as would be claimed of right by her mother, the widow. +Thus the Italian woman and the young lord were combined in interest +against the mother and daughter as regarded the marriage; and the +young lord and the mother and daughter were combined against the +Italian woman as regarded the will;--but the young lord had to act +alone against the Italian woman, and against the mother and daughter +whom he and his friends regarded as swindlers and impostors. It was +for him to set aside the will in reference to the Italian woman, +and then to stand the brunt of the assault made upon him by the +soi-disant wife. + +In a very short time after the old Earl's death a double compromise +was offered on behalf of the young Earl. The money at stake was +immense. Would the Italian woman take £10,000, and go her way back +to Italy, renouncing all further claim; and would the soi-disant +Countess abandon her title, acknowledge her child to be illegitimate, +and go her way with another £10,000;--or with £20,000, as was soon +hinted by the gentlemen acting on the Earl's behalf? The proposition +was one somewhat difficult in the making, as the compromise, if made +with both, would be excellent, but could not be made to any good +effect with one only. The young Earl certainly could not afford to +buy off the Italian woman for £10,000, if the effect of such buying +off would only be to place the whole of the late lord's wealth in the +hands of his daughter and of his daughter's mother. + +The Italian woman consented. She declared with Italian energy that +her late loving friend had never been a day insane; but she knew +nothing of English laws, and but little of English money. She would +take the £10,000,--having had a calculation made for her of the +number of lire into which it would run. The number was enormous, and +she would take the offer. But when the proposal was mentioned to the +Countess, and explained to her by her old friend, Thomas Thwaite, who +had now become a poor man in her cause, she repudiated it with bitter +scorn,--with a scorn in which she almost included the old man who +had made it to her. "Is it for that, that I have been fighting?" she +said. + +"For that in part," said the old man. + +"No, Mr. Thwaite, not for that at all; but that my girl may have her +birth allowed and her name acknowledged." + +"Her name shall be allowed and her birth shall be acknowledged," said +the tailor, in whose heart there was nothing base. "She shall be the +Lady Anna, and her mother shall be the Countess Lovel." The estate of +the Countess, if she had an estate, then owed the tailor some five or +six thousand pounds, and the compromise offered would have paid the +tailor every shilling and have left a comfortable income for the two +women. + +"For myself I care but little," said the mother, taking the tailor's +hand in hers and kissing it. "My child is the Lady Anna, and I do not +dare to barter away her rights." This took place down at the cottage +in Cumberland, and the tailor at once went up to London to make known +the decision of the Countess,--as he invariably called her. + +Then the lawyers went to work. As the double compromise could not be +effected, the single compromise could not stand. The Italian woman +raved and stamped, and swore that she must have her half million of +lire. But of course no right to such a claim had been made good to +her, and the lawyers on behalf of the young Earl went on with their +work. Public sympathy as a matter of course went with the young +Earl. As against the Italian woman he had with him every English man +and woman. It was horrible to the minds of English men and English +women that an old English Earldom should be starved in order that +an Italian harlot might revel in untold riches. It was felt by most +men and protested by all women that any sign of madness, be it what +it might,--however insignificant,--should be held to be sufficient +against such a claimant. Was not the fact that the man had made such +a will in itself sufficient proof of his madness? There were not a +few who protested that no further proof could be necessary. But with +us the law is the same for an Italian harlot and an English widow; +and it may well be that in its niceties it shall be found kinder to +the former than to the latter. But the Earl had been mad, and the +law said that he was mad when he had made his will,--and the Italian +woman went away, raging, into obscurity. + +The Italian woman was conquered, and now the battle was open and free +between the young Earl and the claimant Countess. Applications were +made on behalf of the Countess for funds from the estate wherewith to +prove the claim, and to a certain limited amount they were granted. +Such had been the life of the late Earl that it was held that the +cost of all litigation resulting from his misdeeds should be paid +from his estate;--but ready money was wanted, immediate ready +money, to be at the disposal of the Countess to any amount needed +by her agent, and this was hardly to be obtained. By this time +public sympathy ran almost entirely with the Earl. Though it was +acknowledged that the late lord was mad, and though it had become +a cause of rejoicing that the Italian woman had been sent away +penniless, howling into obscurity, because of the old man's madness, +still it was believed that he had written the truth when he declared +that the marriage had been a mock marriage. It would be better for +the English world that the young Earl should be a rich man, fit to +do honour to his position, fit to marry the daughter of a duke, fit +to carry on the glory of the English peerage, than that a woman, ill +reputed in the world, should be established as a Countess, with a +daughter dowered with tens of thousands, as to whom it was already +said that she was in love with a tailor's son. Nothing could be more +touching, more likely to awaken sympathy, than the manner in which +Josephine Murray had been carried away in marriage, and then roughly +told by the man who should have protected her from every harshly +blowing wind of heaven, that he had deceived her and that she was not +his wife. No usage to which woman had ever been subjected, as has +been said before, was more adapted to elicit compassion and energetic +aid. But nineteen years had now passed by since the deed was done, +and the facts were forgotten. One energetic friend there still +was,--or we may say two, the tailor and his son Daniel. But public +belief ran against the Countess, and nobody who was anybody in the +world would give her her title. Bets were laid, two and three to one +against her; and it was believed that she was an impostor. The Earl +had all the glory of success over his first opponent, and the loud +boasting of self-confident barristers buoyed up his cause. + +But loud-boasting barristers may nevertheless be wise lawyers, and +the question of a compromise was again mooted. If the lady would take +thirty thousand pounds and vanish, she should have the money clear +of deduction, and all expenses should be paid. The amount offered +was thought to be very liberal, but it did not amount to the annual +income that was at stake. It was rejected with scorn. Had it been +quadrupled, it would have been rejected with equal scorn. The +loud-boasting barristers were still confident; but--. Though it +was never admitted in words still it was felt that there might be +a doubt. What if the contending parties were to join forces, if +the Countess-ship of the Countess were to be admitted, and the +heiress-ship of the Lady Anna, and if the Earl and the Lady Anna were +to be united in holy wedlock? Might there not be a safe solution from +further difficulty in that way? + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +LADY ANNA. + + +The idea of this further compromise, of this something more than +compromise, of this half acknowledgment of their own weakness, came +from Mr. Flick, of the firm of Norton and Flick, the solicitors who +were employed in substantiating the Earl's position. When Mr. Flick +mentioned it to Sir William Patterson, the great barrister, who was +at that time Solicitor-General and leading counsel on behalf of Lord +Lovel, Sir William Patterson stood aghast and was dismayed. Sir +William intended to make mince-meat of the Countess. It was said of +him that he intended to cross-examine the Countess off her legs, +right out of her claim, and almost into her grave. He certainly did +believe her to be an impostor, who had not thought herself to be +entitled to her name when she first assumed it. + +"I should be sorry, Mr. Flick, to be driven to think that anything of +that kind could be expedient." + +"It would make sure of the fortune to the family," said Mr. Flick. + +"And what about our friend, the Countess?" + +"Let her call herself Countess Lovel, Sir William. That will break no +bones. As to the formality of her own marriage, there can be no doubt +about that." + +"We can prove by Grogram that she was told that another wife was +living," said Sir William. Grogram was an old butler who had been in +the old Earl's service for thirty years. + +"I believe we can, Sir William; but--. It is quite clear that we +shall never get the other wife to come over and face an English jury. +It is of no use blinking it. The gentleman whom we have sent over +doubts her altogether. That there was a marriage is certain, but +he fears that this woman is not the old Countess. There were two +sisters, and it may be that this was the other sister." + +Sir William was a good deal dismayed, but he recovered himself. The +stakes were so high that it was quite possible that the gentleman who +had been sent over might have been induced to open his eyes to the +possibility of such personation by overtures from the other side. Sir +William was of opinion that Mr. Flick himself should go to Sicily. He +was not sure that he, Sir William, her Majesty's Solicitor-General, +would not make the journey in person. He was by no means disposed to +give way. "They tell me that the girl is no better than she should +be," he said to Mr. Flick. + +"I don't think so bad as that of her," said Mr. Flick. + +"Is she a lady,--or anything like a lady?" + +"I am told she is very beautiful." + +"I dare say;--and so was her mother before her. I never saw a +handsomer woman of her age than our friend the Countess. But I could +not recommend the young lord to marry an underbred, bad girl, and a +bastard who claims to be his cousin,--and support my proposition +merely on the ground of her looks." + +"Thirty-five thousand a year, Sir William!" pleaded the attorney. + +"I hope we can get the thirty-five thousand a year for our client +without paying so dear for them." + +It had been presumed that the real Countess, the original Countess, +the Italian lady whom the Earl had married in early life, would be +brought over, with properly attested documentary evidence in her +pocket, to prove that she was the existing Countess, and that any +other Countess must be either an impostor or a deluded dupe. No doubt +the old Earl had declared, when first informing Josephine Murray +that she was not his wife, that his real wife had died during the +few months which had intervened since his mock marriage; but it was +acknowledged on all sides, that the old Earl had been a villain and a +liar. It was no part of the duty of the young Earl, or of those who +acted for him, to defend the character of the old Earl. To wash that +blackamoor white, or even to make him whity-brown, was not necessary +to anybody. No one was now concerned to account for his crooked +courses. But if it could be shown that he had married the lady in +Italy,--as to which there was no doubt,--and that the lady was still +alive, or that she had been alive when the second marriage took +place, then the Lady Anna could not inherit the property which had +been freed from the grasp of the Italian mistress. But it seemed that +the lady, if she lived, could not be made to come. Mr. Flick did go +to Sicily, and came back renewing his advice to Sir William that Lord +Lovel should be advised to marry the Lady Anna. + +At this time the Countess, with her daughter, had moved their +residence from Keswick up to London, and was living in very humble +lodgings in a small street turning out of the New Road, near the +Yorkshire Stingo. Old Thomas Thwaite had accompanied them from +Cumberland, but the rooms had been taken for them by his son, Daniel +Thwaite, who was at this time foreman to a somewhat celebrated +tailor who carried on his business in Wigmore Street; and he, Daniel +Thwaite, had a bedroom in the house in which the Countess lodged. The +arrangement was not a wise one, as reports had already been spread +abroad as to the partiality of the Lady Anna for the young tailor. +But how should she not have been partial both to the father and to +the son, feeling as she did that they were the only two men who +befriended her cause and her mother's? As to the Countess herself, +she, perhaps, alone of all those who interested themselves in her +daughter's cause, had heard no word of these insinuations against her +child. To her both Thomas and Daniel Thwaite were dear friends, to +repay whom for their exertions with lavish generosity,--should the +means to do so ever come within her reach,--was one of the dreams +of her existence. But she was an ambitious woman, thinking much +of her rank, thinking much even of the blood of her own ancestors, +constantly urgent with her daughter in teaching her the duties +and privileges of wealth and rank. For the Countess never doubted +that she would at last attain success. That the Lady Anna should +throw herself away upon Daniel Thwaite did not occur to her as a +possibility. She had not even dreamed that Daniel Thwaite would +aspire to her daughter's hand. And yet every shop-boy and every +shop-girl in Keswick had been so saying for the last twelvemonth, +and rumours which had hitherto been confined to Keswick and its +neighbourhood, were now common in London. For the case was becoming +one of the celebrated causes of the age, and all the world was +talking of the Countess and her daughter. No momentary suspicion had +crossed the mind of the Countess till after their arrival in London; +and then when the suspicion did touch her it was not love that she +suspected,--but rather an unbecoming familiarity which she attributed +to her child's ignorance of the great life which awaited her. "My +dear," she said one day when Daniel Thwaite had left them, "you +should be less free in your manner with that young man." + +"What do you mean, mamma?" said the daughter, blushing. + +"You had better call him Mr. Thwaite." + +"But I have called him Daniel ever since I was born." + +"He always calls you Lady Anna." + +"Sometimes he does, mamma." + +"I never heard him call you anything else," said the Countess, almost +with indignation. "It is all very well for the old man, because he is +an old man and has done so much for us." + +"So has Daniel;--quite as much, mamma. They have both done +everything." + +"True; they have both been warm friends; and if ever I forget them +may God forget me. I trust that we may both live to show them that +they are not forgotten. But it is not fitting that there should exist +between you and him the intimacy of equal positions. You are not and +cannot be his equal. He has been born to be a tailor, and you are the +daughter and heiress of an Earl." + +These last words were spoken in a tone that was almost awful to +the Lady Anna. She had heard so much of her father's rank and her +father's wealth,--rank and wealth which were always to be hers, +but which had never as yet reached her, which had been a perpetual +trouble to her, and a crushing weight upon her young life, that she +had almost learned to hate the title and the claim. Of course it was +a part of the religion of her life that her mother had been duly +married to her father. It was beyond a doubt to her that such was the +case. But the constant battling for denied rights, the assumption of +a position which could not be attained, the use of titles which were +simply ridiculous in themselves as connected with the kind of life +which she was obliged to lead,--these things had all become odious +to her. She lacked the ambition which gave her mother strength, and +would gladly have become Anna Murray or Anna Lovel, with a girl's +ordinary privilege of loving her lover, had such an easy life been +possible to her. + +In person she was very lovely, less tall and robust than her mother +had been, but with a sweeter, softer face. Her hair was less dark, +and her eyes were neither blue nor bold. But they were bright and +soft and very eloquent, and when laden with tears would have softened +the heart,--almost of her father. She was as yet less powerful than +her mother, both in body and mind, but probably better calculated to +make a happy home for a husband and children. She was affectionate, +self-denying, and feminine. Had that offer of compromise for thirty, +twenty, or for ten thousand pounds been made to her, she would have +accepted it willingly,--caring little for her name, little even for +fame, so that she might have been happy and quiet, and at liberty to +think of a lover as are other girls. In her present condition, how +could she have any happy love? She was the Lady Anna Lovel, heir to +a ducal fortune,--but she lived in small close lodgings in Wyndham +Street, New Road. She did not believe in the good time coming as did +her mother. Their enemy was an undoubted Earl, undoubtedly owner of +Lovel Grange of which she had heard all her life. Would it not be +better to take what the young lord chose to give them and to be at +rest? But she did not dare to express such thoughts to her mother. +Her mother would have crushed her with a look. + +"I have told Mr. Thwaite," the mother said to her daughter, "what we +were saying this morning." + +"About his son?" + +"Yes,--about his son." + +"Oh, mamma!" + +"I was bound to do so." + +"And what did he say, mamma?" + +"He did not like it, and told me that he did not like it;--but he +admitted that it was true. He admitted that his son was no fitting +intimate for Lady Anna Lovel." + +"What should we have done without him?" + +"Badly indeed; but that cannot change his duty, or ours. He is +helping us to struggle for that which is our own; but he would mar +his generosity if he put a taint on that which he is endeavouring to +restore to us." + +"Put a taint, mamma!" + +"Yes;--a taint would rest upon your rank if you as Lady Anna Lovel +were familiar with Daniel Thwaite as with an equal. His father +understands it, and will speak to him." + +"Mamma, Daniel will be very angry." + +"Then will he be very unreasonable;--but, Anna, I will not have you +call him Daniel any more." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE TAILOR OF KESWICK. + + +Old Thomas Thwaite was at this time up in London about the business +of the Countess, but had no intention of residing there. He still +kept his shop in Keswick, and still made coats and trousers for +Cumberland statesmen. He was by no means in a condition to retire +from business, having spent the savings of his life in the cause of +the Countess and her daughter. Men had told him that, had he not +struck the Earl in the yard of the Crown at Keswick, as horses were +being brought out for the lord's travelling carriage, ample provision +would have been made by the rich old sinner for his daughter. That +might have been so, or might not, but the saying instigated the +tailor to further zeal and increased generosity. To oppose an Earl, +even though it might be on behalf of a Countess, was a joy to him; to +set wrong right, and to put down cruelty and to relieve distressed +women was the pride of his heart,--especially when his efforts were +made in antagonism to one of high rank. And he was a man who would +certainly be thorough in his work, though his thoroughness should +be ruinous to himself. He had despised the Murrays, who ought to +have stuck to their distant cousin, and had exulted in his heart +at thinking that the world would say how much better and truer had +been the Keswick tailor than the well-born and comparatively wealthy +Scotch relations. And the poets of the lakes, who had not as yet +become altogether Tories, had taken him by the hand and praised him. +The rights of the Countess and the wrongs of the Countess had become +his life. But he still kept on a diminished business in the north, +and it was now needful that he should return to Cumberland. He had +heard that renewed offers of compromise were to be made,--though +no idea of the proposed marriage between the distant cousins had +been suggested to him. He had been discussing the question of some +compromise with the Countess when she spoke to him respecting his +son; and had recommended that certain terms should, if possible, be +effected. Let the money be divided, on condition that the marriage +were allowed. There could be no difficulty in this if the young +lord would accede to such an arrangement, as the marriage must +be acknowledged unless an adverse party should bring home proof +from Italy to the contrary. The sufficiency of the ceremony in +Applethwaite Church was incontestable. Let the money be divided, and +the Countess be Countess Lovel, and Lady Anna be the Lady Anna to all +the world. Old Thomas Thwaite himself had seemed to think that there +would be enough of triumph in such a settlement. "But the woman might +afterwards be bribed to come over and renew her claim," said the +Countess. "Unless it be absolutely settled now, they will say when I +am dead and gone that my daughter has no right to her name." Then the +tailor said that he would make further inquiry how that might be. He +was inclined to think that there might be a decision which should be +absolute, even though that decision should be reached by compromise +between the now contending parties. + +Then the Countess had said her word about Daniel Thwaite the son, and +Thomas Thwaite the father had heard it with ill-concealed anger. To +fight against an Earl on behalf of the Earl's injured wife had been +very sweet to him, but to be checked in his fight because he and his +were unfit to associate with the child of that injured wife, was very +bitter. And yet he had sense to know that what the Countess said to +him was true. As far as words went, he admitted the truth; but his +face was more eloquent than his words, and his face showed plainly +his displeasure. + +"It is not of you that I am speaking," said the Countess, laying her +hand upon the old man's sleeve. + +"Daniel is, at any rate, fitter than I," said the tailor. "He has +been educated, and I never was." + +"He is as good as gold. It is not of that I speak. You know what I +mean." + +"I know very well what you mean, Lady Lovel." + +"I have no friend like you, Mr. Thwaite;--none whom I love as I do +you. And next to you is your son. For myself, there is nothing that +I would not do for him or you;--no service, however menial, that I +would not render you with my own hands. There is no limit to the +gratitude which I owe you. But my girl is young, and if this burden +of rank and wealth is to be hers,--it is proper that she do honour to +it." + +"And it is not honourable that she should be seen speaking--to a +tailor?" + +"Ah,--if you choose to take it so!" + +"How should I take it? What I say is true. And what you say is true +also. I will speak to Daniel." But she knew well, as he left her, +that his heart was bitter against her. + +The old man did speak to his son, sitting with him up in the bed-room +over that which the Countess occupied. Old Thomas Thwaite was a +strong man, but his son was in some respects stronger. As his father +had said of him, he had been educated,--or rather instructed; and +instruction leads to the power of thinking. He looked deeper into +things than did his father, and was governed by wider and greater +motives. His father had been a Radical all his life, guided thereto +probably by some early training, and made steadfast in his creed by +feelings which induced him to hate the pretensions of an assumed +superiority. Old Thwaite could not endure to think that one man +should be considered to be worthier than another because he was +richer. He would admit the riches, and even the justice of the +riches,--having been himself, during much of his life, a rich man in +his own sphere; but would deny the worthiness; and would adduce, in +proof of his creed, the unworthiness of certain exalted sinners. The +career of the Earl Lovel had been to him a sure proof of the baseness +of English aristocracy generally. He had dreams of a republic in +which a tailor might be president or senator, or something almost +noble. But no rational scheme of governance among mankind had ever +entered his mind, and of pure politics he knew no more than the +journeyman who sat stitching upon his board. + +But Daniel Thwaite was a thoughtful man who had read many books. +More's Utopia and Harrington's Oceana, with many a tale written +in the same spirit, had taught him to believe that a perfect form +of government, or rather of policy, under which all men might be +happy and satisfied, was practicable upon earth, and was to be +achieved,--not merely by the slow amelioration of mankind under +God's fostering ordinances,--but by the continued efforts of good and +wise men who, by their goodness and wisdom, should be able to make +the multitude believe in them. To diminish the distances, not only +between the rich and the poor, but between the high and the low, was +the grand political theory upon which his mind was always running. +His father was ever thinking of himself and of Earl Lovel; while +Daniel Thwaite was considering the injustice of the difference +between ten thousand aristocrats and thirty million of people, who +were for the most part ignorant and hungry. But it was not that he +also had not thoughts of himself. Gradually he had come to learn that +he need not have been a tailor's foreman in Wigmore Street had not +his father spent on behalf of the Countess Lovel the means by which +he, the son, might already have become a master tradesman. And yet +he had never begrudged it. He had been as keen as his father in the +cause. It had been the romance of his life, since his life had been +capable of romance;--but with him it had been no respect for the +rank to which his father was so anxious to restore the Countess, +no value which he attached to the names claimed by the mother and +the daughter. He hated the countess-ship of the Countess, and +the ladyship of the Lady Anna. He would fain that they should +have abandoned them. They were to him odious signs of iniquitous +pretensions. But he was keen enough to punish and to remedy the +wickedness of the wicked Earl. He reverenced his father because he +assaulted the wicked Earl and struck him to the ground. He was heart +and soul in the cause of the injured wife. And then the one thing on +earth that was really dear to him was the Lady Anna. + +It had been the romance of his life. They had grown up together as +playmates in Cumberland. He had fought scores of battles on her +behalf with those who had denied that she was the Lady Anna,--even +though he had then hated the title. Boys had jeered him because of +his noble little sweetheart, and he had exulted at hearing her so +called. His only sister and his mother had died when he was young, +and there had been none in the house but his father and himself. As +a boy he had ever been at the cottage of the Countess, and he had +sworn to Lady Anna a thousand times that he would do and die in her +service. Now he was a strong man, and was more devoted to her than +ever. It was the great romance of his life. How could it be brought +to pass that the acknowledged daughter of an Earl, dowered with +enormous wealth, should become the wife of a tailor? And yet such +was his ambition and such his purpose. It was not that he cared for +her dower. It was not, at any rate, the hope of her dower that had +induced him to love her. His passion had grown and his purpose had +been formed before the old Earl had returned for the last time to +Lovel Grange,--when nothing was known of the manner in which his +wealth might be distributed. That her prospect of riches now joined +itself to his aspirations it would be an affectation to deny. The man +who is insensible to the power which money brings with it must be a +dolt; and Daniel Thwaite was not a dolt, and was fond of power. But +he was proud of heart, and he said to himself over and over again +that should it ever come to pass that the possession of the girl was +to depend on the abandonment of the wealth, the wealth should be +abandoned without a further thought. + +It may be imagined that with such a man the words which his father +would speak to him about the Lady Anna, suggesting the respectful +distance with which she should be approached by a tailor's foreman, +would be very bitter. They were bitter to the speaker and very bitter +to him who heard them. "Daniel," said the father, "this is a queer +life you are leading with the Countess and Lady Anna just beneath +you, in the same house." + +"It was a quiet house for them to come to;--and cheap." + +"Quiet enough, and as cheap as any, I dare say;--but I don't know +whether it is well that you should be thrown so much with them. They +are different from us." The son looked at his father, but made no +immediate reply. "Our lot has been cast with theirs because of their +difficulties," continued the old man, "but the time is coming when we +had better stand aloof." + +"What do you mean, father?" + +"I mean that we are tailors, and these people are born nobles." + +"They have taken our help, father." + +"Well; yes, they have. But it is not for us to say anything of that. +It has been given with a heart." + +"Certainly with a heart." + +"And shall be given to the end. But the end of it will come soon now. +One will be a Countess and the other will be the Lady Anna. Are they +fit associates for such as you and me?" + +"If you ask me, father, I think they are." + +"They don't think so. You may be sure of that." + +"Have they said so, father?" + +"The Countess has said so. She has complained that you call her +daughter simply Anna. In future you must give her a handle to +her name." Daniel Thwaite was a dark brown man, with no tinge of +ruddiness about him, a thin spare man, almost swarthy, whose hands +were as brown as a nut, and whose cheeks and forehead were brown. But +now he blushed up to his eyes. The hue of the blood as it rushed to +his face forced itself through the darkness of his visage, and he +blushed, as such men do blush,--with a look of indignation on his +face. "Just call her Lady Anna," said the father. + +"The Countess has been complaining of me then?" + +"She has hinted that her daughter will be injured by your +familiarity, and she is right. I suppose that the Lady Anna Lovel +ought to be treated with deference by a tailor,--even though the +tailor may have spent his last farthing in her service." + +"Do not let us talk about the money, father." + +"Well; no. I'd as lief not think about the money either. The world is +not ripe yet, Daniel." + +"No;--the world is not ripe." + +"There must be earls and countesses." + +"I see no must in it. There are earls and countesses as there used to +be mastodons and other senseless, over-grown brutes roaming miserable +and hungry through the undrained woods,--cold, comfortless, unwieldy +things, which have perished in the general progress. The big things +have all to give way to the intellect of those which are more finely +made." + +"I hope men and women will not give way to bugs and fleas," said the +tailor, who was wont to ridicule his son's philosophy. + +The son was about to explain his theory of the perfected mean size of +intellectual created beings, when his heart was at the present moment +full of Anna Lovel. "Father," he said, "I think that the Countess +might have spared her observations." + +"I thought so too;--but as she said it, it was best that I should +tell you. You'll have to marry some day, and it wouldn't do that you +should look there for your sweetheart." When the matter was thus +brought home to him, Daniel Thwaite would argue it no further. "It +will all come to an end soon," continued the old man, "and it may +be that they had better not move till it is settled. They'll divide +the money, and there will be enough for both in all conscience. The +Countess will be the Countess, and the Lady Anna will be the Lady +Anna; and then there will be no more need of the old tailor from +Keswick. They will go into another world, and we shall hear from them +perhaps about Christmas time with a hamper of game, and may be a +little wine, as a gift." + +"You do not think that of them, father." + +"What else can they do? The lawyers will pay the money, and they +will be carried away. They cannot come to our house, nor can we go +to theirs. I shall leave to-morrow, my boy, at six o'clock; and my +advice to you is to trouble them with your presence as little as +possible. You may be sure that they do not want it." + +Daniel Thwaite was certainly not disposed to take his father's +advice, but then he knew much more than did his father. The above +scene took place in the evening, when the son's work was done. As he +crept down on the following morning by the door of the room in which +the two ladies slept, he could not but think of his father's words, +"It wouldn't do that you should look there for your sweetheart." Why +should it not do? But any such advice as that was now too late. He +had looked there for his sweetheart. He had spoken, and the girl had +answered him. He had held her close to his heart, and had pressed her +lips to his own, and had called her his Anna, his well-beloved, his +pearl, his treasure; and she,--she had only sighed in his arms, and +yielded to his embrace. She had wept alone when she thought of it, +with a conscious feeling that as she was the Lady Anna there could be +no happy love between herself and the only youth whom she had known. +But when he had spoken, and had clasped her to his heart, she had +never dreamed of rebuking him. She had known nothing better than he, +and desired nothing better than to live with him and to be loved by +him. She did not think that it could be possible to know any one +better. This weary, weary title filled her with dismay. Daniel, as +he walked along thinking of her embrace, thinking of those kisses, +and thinking also of his father's caution, swore to himself that the +difficulties in his way should never stop him in his course. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION. + + +When Mr. Flick returned from Sicily he was very strongly in favour +of some compromise. He had seen the so-called Italian Countess,--who +certainly was now called Contessa by everybody around her,--and he +did not believe that she had ever been married to the old Earl. That +an Italian lady had been married to the old lord now twenty-five +years ago, he did believe,--probably the younger sister of this +woman,--and he also believed that this wife had been dead before the +marriage at Applethwaite. That was his private opinion. Mr. Flick +was, in his way, an honest man,--one who certainly would have taken +no conscious part in getting up an unjust claim; but he was now +acting as legal agent for the young Earl, and it was not his business +to get up evidence for the Earl's opponents. He did think that were +he to use all his ingenuity and the funds at his disposal he would +be able to reach the real truth in such a manner that it should be +made clear and indubitable to an English jury; but if the real truth +were adverse to his side, why search for it? He understood that +the English Countess would stand her ground on the legality of the +Applethwaite marriage, and on the acquittal of the old Earl as to the +charge of bigamy. The English Countess being firm, so far as that +ground would make her firm, it would in reality be for the other +side--for the young Earl--to prove a former marriage. The burden of +the proof would be with him, and not with the English Countess to +disprove it. Disingenuous lawyers--Mr. Flick, who though fairly +honest could be disingenuous, among the number--had declared the +contrary. But such was the case; and, as money was scarce with the +Countess and her friends, no attempt had been made on their part to +bring home evidence from Sicily. All this Mr. Flick knew, and doubted +how far it might be wise for him further to disturb that Sicilian +romance. The Italian Countess, who was a hideous, worn-out old woman, +professing to be forty-four, probably fifty-five, and looking as +though she were seventy-seven, would not stir a step towards England. +She would swear and had sworn any number of oaths. Documentary +evidence from herself, from various priests, from servants, and +from neighbours there was in plenty. Mr. Flick learned through his +interpreter that a certain old priest ridiculed the idea of there +being a doubt. And there were letters,--letters alleged to have been +written by the Earl to the living wife in the old days, which were +shown to Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick was an educated man, and knew many +things. He knew something of the manufacture of paper, and would not +look at the letters after the first touch. It was not for him to get +up evidence for the other side. The hideous old woman was clamorous +for money. The priests were clamorous for money. The neighbours were +clamorous for money. Had not they all sworn anything that was wanted, +and were they not to be paid? Some moderate payment was made to the +hideous, screeching, greedy old woman; some trivial payment--as to +which Mr. Flick was heartily ashamed of himself--was made to the +old priest; and then Mr. Flick hurried home, fully convinced that +a compromise should be made as to the money, and that the legality +of the titles claimed by the two English ladies should be allowed. +It might be that that hideous hag had once been the Countess Lovel. +It certainly was the case that the old Earl in latter years had +so called her, though he had never once seen her during his last +residence in Sicily. It might be that the clumsy fiction of the +letters had been perpetrated with the view of bolstering up a true +case with false evidence. But Mr. Flick thought that there should be +a compromise, and expressed his opinion very plainly to Sir William +Patterson. "You mean a marriage," said the Solicitor-General. At this +time Mr. Hardy, Q.C., the second counsel acting on behalf of the +Earl, was also present. + +"Not necessarily by a marriage, Sir William. They could divide the +money." + +"The girl is not of age," said Mr. Hardy. + +"She is barely twenty as yet," said Sir William. + +"I think it might be managed on her behalf," said the attorney. + +"Who could be empowered to sacrifice her rights?" said Mr. Hardy, who +was a gruff man. + +"We might perhaps contrive to tide it over till she is of age," said +the Solicitor-General, who was a sweet-mannered, mild man among his +friends, though he could cross-examine a witness off his legs,--or +hers, if the necessity of the case required him to do so. + +"Of course we could do that, Sir William. What is a year in such a +case as this?" + +"Not much among lawyers, is it, Mr. Flick? You think that we +shouldn't bring our case into court." + +"It is a good case, Sir William, no doubt. There's the +woman,--Countess, we will call her,--ready to swear, and has sworn, +that she was the old Earl's wife. All the people round call her the +Countess. The Earl undoubtedly used to speak of her as the Countess, +and send her little dribbles of money, as being his Countess, during +the ten years and more after he left Lovel Grange. There is the old +priest who married them." + +"The devil's in it if that is not a good case," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Go on, Mr. Flick," said the Solicitor-General. + +"I've got all the documentary evidence of course, Sir William." + +"Go on, Mr. Flick." + +Mr. Flick scratched his head. "It's a very heavy interest, Sir +William." + +"No doubt it is. Go on." + +"I don't know that I've anything further to say, except that I'd +arrange it if I could. Our client, Sir William, would be in a very +pretty position if he got half the income which is at stake." + +"Or the whole with the wife," said the Solicitor-General. + +"Or the whole with the wife, Sir William. If he were to lose it all, +he'd be,--so to say, nowhere." + +"Nowhere at all," said the Solicitor-General. "The entailed property +isn't worth above a thousand a year." + +"I'd make some arrangement," said Mr. Flick, whose mind may perhaps +have had a not unnatural bend towards his own very large venture +in this concern. That his bill, including the honorarium of the +barristers, would sooner or later be paid out of the estate, he did +not doubt;--but a compromise would make the settlement easy and +pleasant. + +Mr. Hardy was in favour of continued fighting. A keener, honester, +more enlightened lawyer than Mr. Hardy did not wear silk at that +moment, but he had not the gift of seeing through darkness which +belonged to the Solicitor-General. When Mr. Flick told them of the +strength of their case, as based on various heads of evidence in +their favour, Mr. Hardy believed Mr. Flick's words and rejected Mr. +Flick's opinion. He believed in his heart that the English Countess +was an impostor, not herself believing in her own claim; and it +would be gall and wormwood to him to give to such a one a moiety +of the wealth which should go to support the ancient dignity and +aristocratic grace of the house of Lovel. He hated compromise and +desired justice,--and was a great rather than a successful lawyer. +Sir William had at once perceived that there was something in the +background on which it was his duty to calculate, which he was bound +to consider,--but with which at the same time it was inexpedient +that he should form a closer or more accurate acquaintance. He must +do the best he could for his client. Earl Lovel with a thousand +a year, and that probably already embarrassed, would be a poor, +wretched creature, a mock lord, an earl without the very essence of +an earldom. But Earl Lovel with fifteen or twenty thousand a year +would be as good as most other earls. It would be but the difference +between two powdered footmen and four, between four hunters and +eight, between Belgrave Square and Eaton Place. Sir William, had he +felt confident, would of course have preferred the four footmen for +his client, and the eight hunters, and Belgrave Square; even though +the poor English Countess should have starved, or been fed by the +tailor's bounty. But he was not confident. He began to think that +that wicked old Earl had been too wicked for them all. "They say +she's a very nice girl," said Sir William. + +"Very handsome indeed, I'm told," said Mr. Flick. + +"And in love with the son of the old tailor from Keswick," said Mr. +Hardy. + +"She'll prefer the lord to the tailor for a guinea," said Sir +William. + +And thus it was decided, after some indecisive fashion, that their +client should be sounded as to the expedience of a compromise. It +was certain to them that the poor woman would be glad to accept, for +herself and her daughter, half of the wealth at stake, which half +would be to her almost unlimited riches, on the condition that their +rank was secured to them,--their rank and all the privileges of +honest legitimacy. But as to such an arrangement the necessary delay +offered no doubt a serious impediment, and it was considered that +the wisest course would be to propose the marriage. But who should +propose it, and how should it be proposed? Sir William was quite +willing to make the suggestion to the young Lord or the young Lord's +family, whose consent must of course be first obtained; but who +should then break the ice to the Countess? "I suppose we must ask our +friend, the Serjeant," said Mr. Flick. Serjeant Bluestone was the +leading counsel for our Countess, and was vehemently energetic in +this case. He swore everywhere that the Solicitor-General hadn't a +leg to stand upon, and that the Solicitor-General knew that he hadn't +a leg. Let them bring that Italian Countess over if they dared. He'd +countess her, and discountess her too! Since he had first known the +English courts of law there had been no case hard as this was hard. +Had not the old Earl been acquitted of the charge of bigamy, when +the unfortunate woman had done her best to free herself from her +position? Serjeant Bluestone, who was a very violent man, taking up +all his cases as though the very holding of a brief opposite to him +was an insult to himself, had never before been so violent. "The +Serjeant will take it as a surrender," said Mr. Flick. + +"We must get round the Serjeant," said Sir William. "There are ladies +in the Lovel family; we must manage it through them." And so it was +arranged by the young Lord's lawyers that an attempt should be made +to marry him to the heiress. + +The two cousins had never seen each other. Lady Anna had hardly heard +of Frederic Lovel before her father's death; but, since that, had +been brought up to regard the young Lord as her natural enemy. The +young Lord had been taught from his youth upwards to look upon the +soi-disant Countess and her daughter as impostors who would some day +strive to rob him of his birthright;--and, in these latter days, as +impostors who were hard at work upon their project. And he had been +told of the intimacy between the Countess and the old tailor,--and +also of that between the so-called Lady Anna and the young tailor. To +these distant Lovels,--to Frederic Lovel who had been brought up with +the knowledge that he must be the Earl, and to his uncle and aunt +by whom he had been brought up,--the women down at Keswick had been +represented as vulgar, odious, and disreputable. We all know how +firm can be the faith of a family in such matters. The Lovels were +not without fear as to the result of the attempt that was being +made. They understood quite as well as did Mr. Flick the glory of +the position which would attend upon success, and the wretchedness +attendant upon a pauper earldom. They were nervous enough, and in +some moods frightened. But their trust in the justice of their cause +was unbounded. The old Earl, whose memory was horrible to them, had +purposely left two enemies in their way. There had been the Italian +mistress backed up by the will; and there had been this illegitimate +child. The one was vanquished; but the other--! Ah,--it would be bad +with them indeed if that enemy could not be vanquished too! They had +offered £30,000 to the enemy; but the enemy would not accept the +bribe. The idea of ending all their troubles by a marriage had never +occurred to them. Had Mrs. Lovel been asked about it, she would have +said that Anna Murray,--as she always studiously called the Lady +Anna, was not fit to be married. + +The young Lord, who a few months after his cousin's death had been +old enough to take his seat in the House of Peers, was a gayhearted, +kindly young man, who had been brought home from sea at the age of +twenty on the death of an elder brother. Some of the family had +wished that he should go on with his profession in spite of the +earldom; but it had been thought unfit that he should be an earl and +a midshipman at the same time, and his cousin's death while he was +still on shore settled the question. He was a fair-haired, well-made +young lad, looking like a sailor, and every inch a gentleman. +Had he believed that the Lady Anna was the Lady Anna, no earthly +consideration would have induced him to meddle with the money. Since +the old Lord's death, he had lived chiefly with his uncle Charles +Lovel, having passed some two or three months at Lovel Grange with +his uncle and aunt. Charles Lovel was a clergyman, with a good living +at Yoxham, in Yorkshire, who had married a rich wife, a woman with +some two thousand a year of her own, and was therefore well to do in +the world. His two sons were at Harrow, and he had one other child, +a daughter. With them also lived a Miss Lovel, Aunt Julia,--who was +supposed of all the Lovels to be the wisest and most strong-minded. +The parson, though a popular man, was not strong-minded. He was +passionate, loud, generous, affectionate and indiscreet. He was very +proud of his nephew's position as head of the family,--and very full +of his nephew's wrongs arising from the fraud of those Murray women. +He was a violent Tory, and had heard much of the Keswick Radical. He +never doubted for a moment that both old Thwaite and young Thwaite +were busy in concocting an enormous scheme of plunder by which to +enrich themselves. To hear that they had both been convicted and +transported was the hope of his life. That a Radical should not be +worthy of transportation was to him impossible. That a Radical should +be honest was to him incredible. But he was a thoroughly humane and +charitable man, whose good qualities were as little intelligible to +old Thomas Thwaite, as were those of Thomas Thwaite to him. + +To whom should the Solicitor-General first break the matter? He +had already had some intercourse with the Lovels, and had not +been impressed with a sense of the parson's wisdom. He was a Whig +Solicitor-General, for there were still Whigs in those days, and +Mr. Lovel had not much liked him. Mr. Flick had seen much of the +family,--having had many interviews with the young lord, with the +parson, and with Aunt Julia. It was at last settled by Sir William's +advice that a letter should be written to Aunt Julia by Mr. Flick, +suggesting that she should come up to town. + +"Mr. Lovel will be very angry," said Mr. Flick. + +"We must do the best we can for our client," said Sir William. The +letter was written, and Miss Lovel was informed in Mr. Flick's most +discreet style, that as Sir William Patterson was anxious to discuss +a matter concerning Lord Lovel's case in which a woman's voice would +probably be of more service than that of a man, perhaps Miss Lovel +would not object to the trouble of a journey to London. Miss Lovel +did come up, and her brother came with her. + +The interview took place in Sir William's chambers, and no one was +present but Sir William, Miss Lovel, and Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick had +been instructed to sit still and say nothing, unless he were asked +a question; and he obeyed his instructions. After some apologies, +which were perhaps too soft and sweet,--and which were by no means +needed, as Miss Lovel herself, though very wise, was neither soft nor +sweet,--the great man thus opened his case. "This is a very serious +matter, Miss Lovel." + +"Very serious indeed." + +"You can hardly perhaps conceive how great a load of responsibility +lies upon a lawyer's shoulders, when he has to give advice in such a +case as this, when perhaps the prosperity of a whole family may turn +upon his words." + +"He can only do his best." + +"Ah yes, Miss Lovel. That is easy to say; but how shall he know what +is the best?" + +"I suppose the truth will prevail at last. It is impossible to think +that a young man such as my nephew should be swindled out of a noble +fortune by the intrigues of two such women as these. I can't believe +it, and I won't believe it. Of course I am only a woman, but I always +thought it wrong to offer them even a shilling." Sir William smiled +and rubbed his head, fixing his eyes on those of the lady. Though he +smiled she could see that there was real sadness in his face. "You +don't mean to say you doubt?" she said. + +"Indeed I do." + +"You think that a wicked scheme like this can succeed before an +English judge?" + +"But if the scheme be not wicked? Let me tell you one or two things, +Miss Lovel;--or rather my own private opinion on one or two points. +I do not believe that these two ladies are swindlers." + +"They are not ladies, and I feel sure that they are swindlers," +said Miss Lovel very firmly, turning her face as she spoke to the +attorney. + +"I am telling you, of course, merely my own opinion, and I will +beg you to believe of me that in forming it I have used all the +experience and all the caution which a long course of practice in +these matters has taught me. Your nephew is entitled to my best +services, and at the present moment I can perhaps do my duty to him +most thoroughly by asking you to listen to me." The lady closed her +lips together, and sat silent. "Whether Mrs. Murray, as we have +hitherto called her, was or was not the legal wife of the late Earl, +I will not just now express an opinion; but I am sure that she thinks +that she was. The marriage was formal and accurate. The Earl was +tried for bigamy, and acquitted. The people with whom we have to +do across the water, in Sicily, are not respectable. They cannot +be induced to come here to give evidence. An English jury will be +naturally averse to them. The question is one simply of facts for +a jury, and we cannot go beyond a jury. Had the daughter been a +son, it would have been in the House of Lords to decide which young +man should be the peer;--but, as it is, it is simply a question of +property, and of facts as to the ownership of the property. Should we +lose the case, your nephew would be--a very poor man." + +"A very poor man, indeed, Sir William." + +"His position would be distressing. I am bound to say that we should +go into court to try the case with very great distrust. Mr. Flick +quite agrees with me." + +"Quite so, Sir William," said Mr. Flick. + +Miss Lovel again looked at the attorney, closed her lips tighter than +ever, but did not say a word. + +"In such cases as this prejudices will arise, Miss Lovel. It is +natural that you and your family should be prejudiced against these +ladies. For myself, I am not aware that anything true can be alleged +against them." + +"The girl has disgraced herself with a tailor's son," almost screamed +Miss Lovel. + +"You have been told so, but I do not believe it to be true. They +were, no doubt, brought up as children together; and Mr. Thwaite has +been most kind to both the ladies." It at once occurred to Miss Lovel +that Sir William was a Whig, and that there was in truth but little +difference between a Whig and a Radical. To be at heart a gentleman, +or at heart a lady, it was, to her thinking, necessary to be a Tory. +"It would be a thousand pities that so noble a property should pass +out of a family which, by its very splendour and ancient nobility, +is placed in need of ample means." On hearing this sentiment, which +might have become even a Tory, Miss Lovel relaxed somewhat the +muscles of her face. "Were the Earl to marry his cousin--" + +"She is not his cousin." + +"Were the Earl to marry the young lady who, it may be, will be proved +to be his cousin, the whole difficulty would be cleared away." + +"Marry her!" + +"I am told that she is very lovely, and that pains have been taken +with her education. Her mother was well born and well bred. If you +would get at the truth, Miss Lovel, you must teach yourself to +believe that they are not swindlers. They are no more swindlers than +I am a swindler. I will go further,--though perhaps you, and the +young Earl, and Mr. Flick, may think me unfit to be intrusted any +longer with this case, after such a declaration,--I believe, though +it is with a doubting belief, that the elder lady is the Countess +Lovel, and that her daughter is the legitimate child and the heir of +the late Earl." + +Mr. Flick sat with his mouth open as he heard this,--beating his +breast almost with despair. His opinion tallied exactly with Sir +William's. Indeed, it was by his opinion, hardly expressed, but +perfectly understood, that Sir William had been led. But he had not +thought that Sir William would be so bold and candid. + +"You believe that Anna Murray is the real heir?" gasped Miss Lovel. + +"I do,--with a doubting belief. I am inclined that way,--having to +form my opinion on very conflicting evidence." Mr. Flick was by this +time quite sure that Sir William was right, in his opinion,--though +perhaps wrong in declaring it,--having been corroborated in his own +belief by the reflex of it on a mind more powerful than his own. +"Thinking as I do," continued Sir William,--"with a natural bias +towards my own client,--what will a jury think, who will have no such +bias? If they are cousins,--distant cousins,--why should they not +marry and be happy, one bringing the title, and the other the wealth? +There could be no more rational union, Miss Lovel." + +Then there was a long pause before any one spoke a word. Mr. Flick +had been forbidden to speak, and Sir William, having made his +proposition, was determined to await the lady's reply. The lady was +aghast, and for awhile could neither think nor utter a word. At last +she opened her mouth. "I must speak to my brother about this." + +"Quite right, Miss Lovel." + +"Now I may go, Sir William?" + +"Good morning, Miss Lovel." And Miss Lovel went. + +"You have gone farther than I thought you would, Sir William," said +Mr. Flick. + +"I hardly went far enough, Mr. Flick. We must go farther yet if we +mean to save any part of the property for the young man. What should +we gain, even if we succeeded in proving that the Earl was married +in early life to the old Sicilian hag that still lives? She would +inherit the property then;--not the Earl." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +YOXHAM RECTORY. + + +Miss Lovel, wise and strong-minded as she was, did not dare to come +to any decision on the proposition made to her without consulting +some one. Strong as she was, she found herself at once to be too weak +to speak to her nephew on the subject of her late interview with +the great lawyer without asking her brother's opinion. The parson +had accompanied her up to London, in a state of wrath against Sir +William, in that he had not been sent for instead of his sister, and +to him she told all that had been said. Her brother was away at his +club when she got back to her hotel, and she had some hours in which +to think of what had taken place. She could not at once bring herself +to believe that all her former beliefs were vain and ill founded. + +But if the opinion of the Solicitor-General had not prevailed with +her, it prevailed still less when it reached her brother second-hand. +She had been shaken, but Mr. Lovel at first was not shaken at all. +Sir William was a Whig and a traitor. He had never known a Whig who +was not a traitor. Sir William was throwing them over. The Murray +people, who were all Whigs, had got hold of him. He, Mr. Lovel, would +go at once to Mr. Hardy, and tell Mr. Hardy what he thought. The +case should be immediately taken out of the hands of Messrs. Norton +and Flick. Did not all the world know that these impostors were +impostors? Sir William should be exposed and degraded,--though, +in regard to this threatened degradation, Mr. Lovel was almost of +opinion that his party would like their Solicitor-General better for +having shown himself to be a traitor, and therefore proved himself to +be a good Whig. He stormed and flew about the room, using language +which hardly became his cloth. If his nephew married the girl, he +would never own his nephew again. If that swindle was to prevail, +let his nephew be poor and honest. He would give half of all he had +towards supporting the peerage, and was sure that his boys would +thank him for what he had done. But they should never call that woman +cousin; and as for himself, might his tongue be blistered if ever he +spoke of either of those women as Countess Lovel. He was inclined +to think that the whole case should immediately be taken out of +the hands of Norton and Flick, without further notice, and another +solicitor employed. But at last he consented to call on Mr. Norton on +the following morning. + +Mr. Norton was a heavy, honest old man, who attended to simple +conveyancing, and sat amidst the tin boxes of his broad-acred +clients. He had no alternative but to send for Mr. Flick, and Mr. +Flick came. When Mr. Lovel showed his anger, Mr. Flick became +somewhat indignant. Mr. Flick knew how to assert himself, and Mr. +Lovel was not quite the same man in the lawyer's chambers that +he had been in his own parlour at the hotel. Mr. Flick was of +opinion that no better counsel was to be had in England than the +Solicitor-General, and no opinion more worthy of trust than his. If +the Earl chose to put his case into other hands, of course he could +do so, but it would behove his lordship to be very careful lest he +should prejudice most important interests by showing his own weakness +to his opponents. Mr. Flick spoke in the interests of his client,--so +he said,--and not in his own. Mr. Flick was clearly of opinion that a +compromise should be arranged; and having given that opinion, could +say nothing more on the present occasion. On the next day the young +Earl saw Mr. Flick, and also saw Sir William, and was then told by +his aunt of the proposition which had been made. The parson retired +to Yoxham, and Miss Lovel remained in London with her nephew. By +the end of the week Miss Lovel was brought round to think that some +compromise was expedient. All this took place in May. The cause had +been fixed for trial in the following November, the long interval +having been allowed because of the difficulty expected in producing +the evidence necessary for rebutting the claims of the late Earl's +daughter. + +By the middle of June all the Lovels were again in London,--the +parson, his sister, the parson's wife, and the Earl. "I never saw the +young woman in my life," said the Earl to his aunt. + +"As for that," said his aunt, "no doubt you could see her if you +thought it wise to do so." + +"I suppose she might be asked to the rectory?" said Mrs. Lovel. + +"That would be giving up altogether," said the rector. + +"Sir William said that it would not be against us at all," said Aunt +Julia. + +"You would have to call her Lady Anna," said Mrs. Lovel. + +"I couldn't do it," said the rector. "It would be much better to give +her half." + +"But why should she take the half if the whole belongs to her?" said +the young lord. "And why should I ask even for the half if nothing +belongs to me?" At this time the young lord had become almost +despondent as to his alleged rights, and now and again had made +everybody belonging to him miserable by talking of withdrawing from +his claim. He had come to understand that Sir William believed that +the daughter was the real heir, and he thought that Sir William must +know better than others. He was down-hearted and low in spirits, but +not the less determined to be just in all that he did. + +"I have made inquiry," said Aunt Julia, "and I do believe that the +stories which we heard against the girl were untrue." + +"The tailor and his son have been their most intimate friends," said +Mr. Lovel. + +"Because they had none others," said Mrs. Lovel. + +It had been settled that by the 24th of June the lord was to say +whether he would or would not take Sir William's advice. If he would +do so, Sir William was to suggest what step should next be taken as +to making the necessary overtures to the two ladies. If he would not, +then Sir William was to advise how best the case might be carried +on. They were all again at Yoxham that day, and the necessary +communication was to be made to Mr. Flick by post. The young man +had been alone the whole morning thinking of his condition, and +undoubtedly the desire for the money had grown on him strongly. Why +should it not have done so? Is there a nobleman in Great Britain who +can say that he could lose the fortune which he possesses or the +fortune which he expects without an agony that would almost break his +heart? Young Lord Lovel sighed for the wealth without which his title +would only be to him a terrible burden, and yet he was resolved that +he would take no part in anything that was unjust. This girl, he +heard, was beautiful and soft and pleasant, and now they told him +that the evil things which had been reported against her had been +slanders. He was assured that she was neither coarse, nor vulgar, nor +unmaidenly. Two or three old men, of equal rank with his own,--men +who had been his father's friends and were allied to the Lovels, and +had been taken into confidence by Sir William,--told him that the +proper way out of the difficulty had been suggested to him. There +could be nothing, they said, more fitting than that two cousins so +situated should marry. With such an acknowledgment of her rank and +birth everybody would visit his wife. There was not a countess or a +duchess in London who would not be willing to take her by the hand. +His two aunts had gradually given way, and it was clear to him that +his uncle would give way,--even his uncle,--if he would but yield +himself. It was explained to him that if the girl came to Yoxham, +with the privilege of being called Lady Anna by the inhabitants of +the rectory, she would of course do so on the understanding that she +should accept her cousin's hand. "But she might not like me," said +the young Earl to his aunt. + +"Not like you!" said Mrs. Lovel, putting her hand up to his brow and +pushing away his hair. Was it possible that any girl should not like +such a man as that, and he an earl? + +"And if I did not like her, Aunt Lovel?" + +"Then I would not ask her to be my wife." He thought that there +was an injustice in this, and yet before the day was over he had +assented. + +"I do not think that I can call her Lady Anna," said the rector. "I +don't think I can bring my tongue to do it." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES. + + +There was considerable difficulty in making the overture to the +two ladies,--or rather in making it to the elder lady; for the +suggestion, if made to the daughter, must of course come to her from +her mother. It had been decided at last that the Lady Anna could not +be invited to the rectory till it had been positively settled that +she should be the Lady Anna without further opposition; and that all +opposition to the claim should be withdrawn, at any rate till it was +found that the young people were not inclined to be engaged to each +other. "How can I call her Lady Anna before I have made up my mind to +think that she is Lady Anna?" said the parson, almost in tears. As to +the rest of the family, it may be said that they had come silently to +think that the Countess was the Countess and that the Lady Anna was +the Lady Anna;--silently in reference to each other, for not one of +them except the young lord had positively owned to such a conviction. +Sir William Patterson had been too strong for them. It was true that +he was a Whig. It was possible that he was a traitor. But he was a +man of might, and his opinion had domineered over theirs. To make +things as straight as they could be made it would be well that the +young people should be married. What would be the Earldom of Lovel +without the wealth which the old mad Earl had amassed? + +Sir William and Mr. Flick were strongly in favour of the marriage, +and Mr. Hardy at last assented. The worst of it was that something of +all this doubt on the part of the Earl and his friends was sure to +reach the opposite party. "They are shaking in their shoes," Serjeant +Bluestone said to his junior counsel, Mr. Mainsail. "I do believe +they are not going to fight at all," he said to Mr. Goffe, the +attorney for the Countess. Mr. Mainsail rubbed his hands. Mr. Goffe +shook his head. Mr. Goffe was sure that they would fight. Mr. +Mainsail, who had worked like a horse in getting up and arranging all +the evidence on behalf of the Countess, and in sifting, as best he +might, the Italian documents, was delighted. All this Sir William +feared, and he felt that it was quite possible that the Earl's +overture might be rejected because the Earl would not be thought to +be worth having. "We must count upon his coronet," said Sir William +to Mr. Flick. "She could not do better even if the property were +undoubtedly her own." + +But how was the first suggestion to be made? Mr. Hardy was anxious +that everything should be straightforward,--and Sir William assented, +with a certain inward peevishness at Mr. Hardy's stiff-necked +propriety. Sir William was anxious to settle the thing comfortably +for all parties. Mr. Hardy was determined not only that right should +be done, but also that it should be done in a righteous manner. The +great question now was whether they could approach the widow and her +daughter otherwise than through Serjeant Bluestone. "The Serjeant is +such a blunderbuss," said the Solicitor-General. But the Serjeant +was counsel for these ladies, and it was at last settled that there +should be a general conference at Sir William's chambers. A very +short note was written by Mr. Flick to Mr. Goffe, stating that the +Solicitor-General thought that a meeting might be for the advantage +of all parties;--and the meeting was arranged. There were present +the two barristers and the one attorney for each side, and many an +anxious thought was given to the manner in which the meeting should +be conducted. Serjeant Bluestone was fully resolved that he would +hold his own against the Solicitor-General, and would speak his mind +freely. Mr. Mainsail got up little telling questions. Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick both felt that it would behove them to hold their peace, +unless questioned, but were equally determined to hang fast by their +clients. Mr. Hardy in his heart of hearts thought that his learned +friend was about to fling away his case. Sir William had quite +made up his mind as to his line of action. He seated them all most +courteously, giving them place according to their rank,--a great +arm-chair for Serjeant Bluestone, from which the Serjeant would +hardly be able to use his arms with his accustomed energy,--and then +he began at once. "Gentlemen," said he, "it would be a great pity +that this property should be wasted." + +"No fear of that, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant. + +"It would be a great pity that this property should be wasted," +repeated Sir William, bowing to the Serjeant, "and I am disposed to +think that the best thing the two young people can do is to marry +each other." Then he paused, and the three gentlemen opposite sat +erect, the barristers as speechless as the attorneys. But the +Solicitor-General had nothing to add. He had made his proposition, +and was desirous of seeing what effect it might have before he spoke +another word. + +"Then you acknowledge the Countess's marriage, of course," said the +Serjeant. + +"Pardon me, Serjeant, we acknowledge nothing. As a matter of course +she is the Countess till it be proved that another wife was living +when she was married." + +"Quite as a matter of course," said the Serjeant. + +"Quite as a matter of course, if that will make the case stronger," +continued Sir William. "Her marriage was formal and regular. That she +believed her marriage to be a righteous marriage before God, I have +never doubted. God forbid that I should have a harsh thought against +a poor lady who has suffered so much cruel treatment." + +"Why have things been said then?" asked the Serjeant, beginning to +throw about his left arm. + +"If I am not mistaken," said Mr. Mainsail, "evidence has been +prepared to show that the Countess is a party to a contemplated +fraud." + +"Then you are mistaken, Mr. Mainsail," said Sir William. "I admit +at once and clearly that the lady is not suspected of any fraud. +Whether she be actually the Countess Lovel or not it may,--I fear +it must,--take years to prove, if the law be allowed to take its +course." + +"We think that we can dispose of any counter-claim in much less time +than that," said the Serjeant. + +"It may be so. I myself think that it would not be so. Our +evidence in favour of the lady, who is now living some two leagues +out of Palermo, is very strong. She is a poor creature, old, +ignorant,--fairly well off through the bounty of the late Earl, +but always craving for some trifle more,--unwilling to come to +this country,--childless, and altogether indifferent to the second +marriage, except in so far as might interfere with her hopes of +getting some further subsidy from the Lovel family. One is not +very anxious on her behalf. One is only anxious,--can only be +anxious,--that the vast property at stake should not get into +improper hands." + +"And that justice should be done," said Mr. Hardy. + +"And that justice should be done of course, as my friend observes. +Here is a young man who is undoubtedly Earl of Lovel, and who claims +a property as heir to the late Earl. And here is a young lady, I am +told very beautiful and highly educated, who is the daughter of the +late Earl, and who claims that property believing herself to be his +legitimate heiress. The question between them is most intricate." + +"The onus probandi lies with you, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant. + +"We acknowledge that it does, but the case on that account is none +the less intricate. With the view of avoiding litigation and expense, +and in the certainty that by such an arrangement the enjoyment of the +property will fall to the right owner, we propose that steps shall be +taken to bring these two young people together. The lady, whom for +the occasion I am quite willing to call the Countess, the mother of +the lady whom I hope the young Earl will make his own Countess, has +not been sounded on this subject." + +"I should hope not," said the Serjeant. + +"My excellent friend takes me up a little short," said Sir William, +laughing. "You gentlemen will probably consult together on the +subject, and whatever may be the advice which you shall consider it +to be your duty to give to the mother,--and I am sure that you will +feel bound to let her know the proposition that has been made; I do +not hesitate to say that we have a right to expect that it shall be +made known to her,--I need hardly remark that were the young lady to +accept the young lord's hand we should all be in a boat together in +reference to the mother's rank, and to the widow's claim upon the +personal property left behind him by her late husband." + +And so the Solicitor-General had made his proposition, and the +conference was broken up with a promise that Mr. Flick should hear +from Mr. Goffe upon the subject. But the Serjeant had at once made +up his mind against the compromise now proposed. He desired the +danger and the dust and the glory of the battle. He was true to his +clients' interests, no doubt,--intended to be intensely true; but the +personal, doggish love of fighting prevailed in the man, and he was +clear as to the necessity of going on. "They know they are beat," he +said to Mr. Goffe. "Mr. Solicitor knows as well as I do that he has +not an inch of ground under his feet." Therefore Mr. Goffe wrote the +following letter to Messrs. Norton and Flick:-- + + + Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn, + 1st July, 183--. + + DEAR SIRS, + + In reference to the interview which took place at the + chambers of the Solicitor-General on the 27th ult., we + are to inform you that we are not disposed, as acting for + our clients, the Countess of Lovel and her daughter the + Lady Anna Lovel, to listen to the proposition then made. + Apart from the very strong feeling we entertain as to the + certainty of our client's success,--which certainly was + not weakened by what we heard on that occasion,--we are + of opinion that we could not interfere with propriety in + suggesting the marriage of two young persons who have not + as yet had any opportunity of becoming acquainted with + each other. Should the Earl of Lovel seek the hand of + his cousin, the Lady Anna Lovel, and marry her with the + consent of the Countess, we should be delighted at such + a family arrangement; but we do not think that we, as + lawyers,--or, if we may be allowed to say so, that you as + lawyers,--have anything to do with such a matter. + + We are, dear Sirs, + Yours very faithfully, + + GOFFE AND GOFFE. + + Messrs. Norton and Flick. + + +"Balderdash!" said Sir William, when he had read the letter. "We are +not going to be done in that way. It was all very well going to that +Serjeant as he has the case in hand, though a worse messenger in an +affair of love--" + +"Not love, as yet, Mr. Solicitor," said Mr. Flick. + +"I mean it to be love, and I'm not going to be put off by Serjeant +Bluestone. We must get to the lady by some other means. Do you write +to that tailor down at Keswick, and say that you want to see him." + +"Will that be regular, Sir William?" + +"I'll stand the racket, Mr. Flick." Mr. Flick did write to Thomas +Thwaite, and Thomas Thwaite came up to London and called at Mr. +Flick's chambers. + +When Thomas Thwaite received his commission he was much rejoiced. +Injustice would be done him unless so much were owned on his behalf. +But, nevertheless, some feeling of disappointment which he could not +analyze crept across his heart. If once the girl were married to Earl +Lovel there would be an end of his services and of his son's. He had +never really entertained an idea that his son would marry the girl. +As the reader will perhaps remember, he had warned his son that he +must seek a sweetheart elsewhere. He had told himself over and over +again that when the Countess came to her own there must be an end of +this intimacy,--that there could be nothing in common between him, +the radical tailor of Keswick, and a really established Countess. +The Countess, while not yet really established, had already begged +that his son might be instructed not to call her daughter simply by +her Christian name. Old Thwaite on receiving this intimation of the +difference of their positions, though he had acknowledged its truth, +had felt himself bitterly aggrieved, and now the moment had come. Of +course the Countess would grasp at such an offer. Of course it would +give her all that she had desired, and much more than she expected. +In adjusting his feelings on the occasion the tailor thought but +little of the girl herself. Why should she not be satisfied? Of the +young Earl he had only heard that he was a handsome, modest, gallant +lad, who only wanted a fortune to make him one of the most popular +of the golden youth of England. Why should not the girl rejoice +at the prospect of winning such a husband? To have a husband must +necessarily be in her heart, whether she were the Lady Anna Lovel, +or plain Anna Murray. And what espousals could be so auspicious as +these? Feeling all this, without much of calculation, the tailor said +that he would do as he was bidden. "We have sent for you because we +know that you have been so old a friend," said Mr. Flick, who did +not quite approve of the emissary whom he had been instructed by Sir +William to employ. + +"I will do my best, sir," said Mr. Thwaite, making his bow. Thomas +Thwaite, as he went along the streets alone, determined that he would +perform this new duty imposed upon him without any reference to his +son. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +IMPOSSIBLE! + + +"They sent for me, Lady Lovel, to bid me come to your ladyship and +ask your ladyship whether you would consent to a marriage between +the two young people." It was thus that the tailor repeated for the +second time the message which had been confided to him, showing the +gall and also the pride which were at work about his heart by the +repeated titles which he gave to his old friend. + +"They desire that Anna should marry the young lord!" + +"Yes, my lady. That's the meaning of it." + +"And what am I to be?" + +"Just the Countess Lovel,--with a third of the property as your own. +I suppose it would be a third; but you might trust the lawyers to +settle that properly. When once they take your daughter among them +they won't scrimp you in your honours. They'll all swear that the +marriage was good enough then. They know that already, and have made +this offer because they know it. Your ladyship needn't fear now +but what all the world will own you as the Countess Lovel. I don't +suppose I'll be troubled to come up to London any more." + +"Oh, my friend!" The ejaculation she made feeling the necessity of +saying something to soothe the tailor's pride; but her heart was +fixed upon the fruition of that for which she had spent so many years +in struggling. Was it to come to her at last? Could it be that now, +now at once, people throughout the world would call her the Countess +Lovel, and would own her daughter to be the Lady Anna,--till she also +should become a countess? Of the young man she had heard nothing +but good, and it was impossible that she should have fear in that +direction, even had she been timorous by nature. But she was bold +and eager, hopeful in spite of all that she had suffered, full of +ambition, and not prone to feminine scruples. She had been fighting +all her life in order that she and her daughter might be acknowledged +to be among the aristocrats of her country. She was so far a loving, +devoted mother that in all her battles she thought more of her child +than of herself. She would have consented to carry on the battle in +poverty to the last gasp of her own breath, could she thereby have +insured success for her surviving daughter. But she was not a woman +likely to be dismayed at the idea of giving her girl in marriage +to an absolute stranger, when that stranger was such a one as the +young Earl Lovel. She herself had been a countess, but a wretched, +unacknowledged, poverty-stricken countess, for the last half of her +eventful life. This marriage would make her daughter a countess, +prosperous, accepted by all, and very wealthy. What better end could +there be to her long struggles? Of course she would assent. + +"I don't know why they should have troubled themselves to send for +me," said the tailor. + +"Because you are the best friend that I have in the world. Whom else +could I have trusted as I do you? Has the Earl agreed to it?" + +"They didn't tell me that, my lady." + +"They would hardly have sent, unless he had agreed. Don't you think +so, Mr. Thwaite?" + +"I don't know much about such things, my lady." + +"You have told--Daniel?" + +"No, my lady." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite, do not talk to me in that way. It sounds as though +you were deserting me." + +"There'll be no reason for not deserting now. You'll have friends by +the score more fit to see you through this than old Thomas Thwaite. +And, to own the truth, now that the matter is coming to an end, I am +getting weary of it. I'm not so young as I was, and I'd be better +left at home to my business." + +"I hope that you may disregard your business now without imprudence, +Mr. Thwaite." + +"No, my lady;--a man should always stick to his business. I hope that +Daniel will do so better than his father before him,--so that his son +may never have to go out to be servant to another man." + +"You are speaking daggers to me." + +"I have not meant it then. I am rough by nature, I know, and perhaps +a little low just at present. There is something sad in the parting +of old friends." + +"Old friends needn't be parted, Mr. Thwaite." + +"When your ladyship was good enough to point out to me my boy's +improper manner of speech to Lady Anna, I knew how it must be. You +were quite right, my lady. There can be no becoming friendship +between the future Lady Lovel and a journeyman tailor. I was wrong +from the beginning." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite! without such wrong where should we have been?" + +"There can be no holding ground of friendship between such as you and +such as we. Lords and ladies, earls and countesses, are our enemies, +and we are theirs. We may make their robes and take their money, and +deal with them as the Jew dealt with the Christians in the play; but +we cannot eat with them or drink with them." + +"How often have I eaten and drank at your table, when no other table +was spread for me?" + +"You were a Jew almost as ourselves then. We cannot now well stand +shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm as friends should do." + +"How often has my child lain in your arms when she was a baby, and +been quieter there than she would be even in her mother's?" + +"That has all gone by. Other arms will be open to receive her." As +the tailor said this he remembered how his boy used to take the +little child out to the mountain side, and how the two would ramble +away together through the long summer evenings; and he reflected that +the memory of those days was no doubt still strong in the heart of +his son. Some shadow of the grief which would surely fall upon the +young man now fell upon the father, and caused him almost to repent +of the work of his life. "Tailors should consort with tailors," he +said, "and lords and ladies should consort together." + +Something of the same feeling struck the Countess also. If it were +not for the son, the father, after all that he had done for them, +might be almost as near and as dear to them as ever. He might have +called the Lady Anna by her Christian name, at any rate till she had +been carried away as a bride by the Earl. But, though all this was so +exquisitely painful, it had been absolutely necessary to check the +son. "Ah, well," she said; "it is hardly to be hoped that so many +crooked things should be made straight without much pain. If you +knew, Mr. Thwaite, how little it is that I expect for myself!" + +"It is because I have known it that I am here." + +"It will be well for her,--will it not,--to be the wife of her +cousin?" + +"If he be a good man. A woman will not always make herself happy by +marrying an Earl." + +"How many daggers you can use, Mr. Thwaite! But this young man is +good. You yourself have said that you have heard so." + +"I have heard nothing to the contrary, my lady." + +"And what shall I do?" + +"Just explain it all to Lady Anna. I think it will be clear then." + +"You believe that she will be so easily pleased?" + +"Why should she not be pleased? She'll have some maiden scruples, +doubtless. What maid would not? But she'll exult at such an end to +all her troubles;--and what maid would not? Let them meet as soon as +may be and have it over. When he shall have placed the ring on her +finger, your battle will have been won." + +Then the tailor felt that his commission was done and he might take +his leave. It had been arranged that in the event of the Countess +consenting to the proposed marriage, he should call upon Mr. Flick to +explain that it was so. Had she dissented, a short note would have +been sufficient. Had such been the case, the Solicitor-General would +have instigated the young lord to go and try what he himself could do +with the Countess and her daughter. The tailor had suggested to the +mother that she should at once make the proposition known to Lady +Anna, but the Countess felt that one other word was necessary as +her old friend left her. "Will you go back at once to Keswick, Mr. +Thwaite?" + +"To-morrow morning, my lady." + +"Perhaps you will not tell your son of this,--yet?" + +"No, my lady. I will not tell my son of this,--yet. My son is +high-minded and stiff-necked, and of great heart. If he saw aught to +object to in this marriage, it might be that he would express himself +loudly." Then the tailor took his leave without even shaking hands +with the Countess. + +The woman sat alone for the next two hours, thinking of what had +passed. There had sprung up in these days a sort of friendship +between Mrs. Bluestone and the two Miss Bluestones and the Lady +Anna, arising rather from the forlorn condition of the young lady +than from any positive choice of affection. Mrs. Bluestone was kind +and motherly. The girls were girlish and good. The father was the +Jupiter Tonans of the household,--as was of course proper,--and was +worshipped in everything. To the world at large Serjeant Bluestone +was a thundering, blundering, sanguine, energetic lawyer, whom nobody +disliked very much though he was so big and noisy. But at home +Serjeant Bluestone was all the judges of the land rolled into one. +But he was a kind-hearted man, and he had sent his wife and girls +to call upon the disconsolate Countess. The disconsolate Lady Anna +having no other friends, had found the companionship of the Bluestone +girls to be pleasant to her, and she was now with them at the +Serjeant's house in Bedford Square. Mrs. Bluestone talked of the +wrongs and coming rights of the Countess Lovel wherever she went, and +the Bluestone girls had all the case at their fingers' ends. To doubt +that the Serjeant would succeed, or to doubt that the success of the +Countess and her daughter would have had any other source than the +Serjeant's eloquence and the Serjeant's zeal, would have been heresy +in Bedford Square. The grand idea that young Jack Bluestone, who was +up at Brasenose, should marry the Lady Anna, had occurred only to the +mother. + +Lady Anna was away with her friends as the Countess sat brooding over +the new hopes that had been opened to her. At first, she could not +tear her mind away from the position which she herself would occupy +as soon as her daughter should have been married and taken away +from her. The young Earl would not want his mother-in-law,--a +mother-in-law who had spent the best years of her life in the society +of a tailor. And the daughter, who would still be young enough to +begin a new life in a new sphere, would no longer want her mother to +help her. As regarded herself, the Countess was aware that the life +she had led so long, and the condition of agonizing struggling to +which she had been brought, had unfitted her for smiling, happy, +prosperous, aristocratic luxury. There was but one joy left for her, +and that was to be the joy of success. When that cup should have been +drained, there would be nothing left to her. She would have her rank, +of course,--and money enough to support it. She no longer feared that +any one would do her material injury. Her daughter's husband no doubt +would see that she had a fitting home, with all the appanages and +paraphernalia suited to a dowager Countess. But who would share her +home with her, and where should she find her friends? Even now the +two Miss Bluestones were more to her daughter than she was. When +she should be established in her new luxurious home, with servants +calling her my lady, with none to contradict her right, she would no +longer be enabled to sit late into the night discussing matters with +her friend the tailor. As regarded herself, it would have been better +for her, perhaps, if the fight had been carried on. + +But the fight had been, not for herself, but for her child; and the +victory for her girl would have been won by her own perseverance. +Her whole life had been devoted to establishing the rights of her +daughter, and it should be so devoted to the end. It had been her +great resolve that the world should acknowledge the rank of her girl, +and now it would be acknowledged. Not only would she become the +Countess Lovel by marriage, but the name which had been assumed for +her amidst the ridicule of many, and in opposition to the belief of +nearly all, would be proved to have been her just and proper title. +And then, at last, it would be known by all men that she herself, the +ill-used, suffering mother, had gone to the house of that wicked man, +not as his mistress, but as his true wife! + +Hardly a thought troubled her, then, as to the acquiescence of her +daughter. She had no faintest idea that the girl's heart had been +touched by the young tailor. She had so lived that she knew but +little of lovers and their love, and in her fear regarding Daniel +Thwaite she had not conceived danger such as that. It had to her +simply been unfitting that there should be close familiarity between +the two. She expected that her daughter would be ambitious, as she +was ambitious, and would rejoice greatly at such perfect success. +She herself had been preaching ambition and practising ambition all +her life. It had been the necessity of her career that she should +think more of her right to a noble name than of any other good thing +under the sun. It was only natural that she should believe that her +daughter shared the feeling. + +And then Lady Anna came in. "They wanted me to stay and dine, mamma, +but I did not like to think that you should be left alone." + +"I must get used to that, my dear." + +"Why, mamma? Wherever we have been, we have always been together. +Mrs. Bluestone was quite unhappy because you would not come. They are +so good-natured! I wish you would go there." + +"I am better here, my dear." Then there was a pause for a few +moments. "But I am glad that you have come home this evening." + +"Of course, I should come home." + +"I have something special to say to you." + +"To me, mamma! What is it, mamma?" + +"I think we will wait till after dinner. The things are here now. Go +up-stairs and take off your hat, and I will tell you after dinner." + +"Mamma," Lady Anna said, as soon as the maid had left the room, "has +old Mr. Thwaite been here?" + +"Yes, my dear, he was here." + +"I thought so, because you have something to tell me. It is something +from him?" + +"Not from himself, Anna;--though he was the messenger. Come and sit +here, my dear,--close to me. Have you ever thought, Anna, that it +would be good for you to be married?" + +"No, mamma; why should I?" But that surely was a lie! How often had +she thought that it would be good to be married to Daniel Thwaite and +to have done with this weary searching after rank! And now what could +her mother mean? Thomas Thwaite had been there, but it was impossible +that her mother should think that Daniel Thwaite would be a fit +husband for her daughter. "No, mamma;--why should I?" + +"It must be thought of, my dearest." + +"Why now?" She could understand perfectly that there was some special +cause for her mother's manner of speech. + +"After all that we have gone through, we are about to succeed +at last. They are willing to own everything, to give us all our +rights,--on one condition." + +"What condition, mamma?" + +"Come nearer to me, dearest. It would not make you unhappy to think +that you were going to be the wife of a man you could love?" + +"No;--not if I really loved him." + +"You have heard of your cousin,--the young Earl?" + +"Yes, mamma;--I have heard of him." + +"They say that he is everything that is good. What should you think +of having him for your husband?" + +"That would be impossible, mamma." + +"Impossible!--why impossible? What could be more fitting? Your rank +is equal to his;--higher even in this, that your father was himself +the Earl. In fortune you will be much more than his equal. In age you +are exactly suited. Why should it be impossible?" + +"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!" + +"What makes you say so, Anna?" + +"We have never seen each other." + +"Tush! my child. Why should you not see each other?" + +"And then we are his enemies." + +"We are no longer enemies, dearest. They have sent to say that if +we,--you and I,--will consent to this marriage, then will they +consent to it also. It is their wish, and it comes from them. There +can be no more proper ending to all this weary lawsuit. It is quite +right that the title and the name should be supported. It is quite +right that the fortune which your father left should, in this way, +go to support your father's family. You will be the Countess Lovel; +and all will have been conceded to us. There cannot possibly be any +fitter way out of our difficulties." Lady Anna sat looking at her +mother in dismay, but could say nothing. "You need have no fear +about the young man. Every one tells me that he is just the man +that a mother would welcome as a husband for her daughter. Will +you not be glad to see him?" But the Lady Anna would only say that +it was impossible. "Why impossible, my dear;--what do you mean by +impossible?" + +"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!" + +The Countess found that she was obliged to give the subject up for +that night, and could only comfort herself by endeavouring to believe +that the suddenness of the tidings had confused her child. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IT ISN'T LAW. + + +On the next morning Lady Anna was ill, and would not leave her bed. +When her mother spoke to her, she declared that her head ached +wretchedly, and she could not be persuaded to dress herself. + +"Is it what I said to you last night?" asked the Countess. + +"Oh, mamma, that is impossible," she said. + +It seemed to the mother that the mention of the young lord's name +had produced a horror in the daughter's mind which nothing could for +the present subdue. Before the day was over, however, the girl had +acknowledged that she was bound in duty, at any rate, to meet her +cousin; and the Countess, forced to satisfy herself with so much of +concession, and acting upon that, fixed herself in her purpose to +go on with the project. The lawyers on both sides would assist her. +It was for the advantage of them all that there should be such a +marriage. She determined, therefore, that she would at once see Mr. +Goffe, her own attorney, and give him to understand in general terms +that the case might be proceeded with on this new matrimonial basis. + +But there was a grievous doubt on her mind,--a fear, a spark of +suspicion, of which she had unintentionally given notice to Thomas +Thwaite when she asked him whether he had as yet spoken of the +proposed marriage to his son. He had understood what was passing in +her mind when she exacted from him a promise that nothing should as +yet be said to Daniel Thwaite upon the matter. And yet she assured +herself over and over again that her girl could not be so weak, so +vain, so foolish, so wicked as that! It could not be that, after all +the struggles of her life,--when at last success, perfect success, +was within their grasp, when all had been done and all well done, +when the great reward was then coming up to their very lips with a +full tide,--it could not be that in the very moment of victory all +should be lost through the base weakness of a young girl! Was it +possible that her daughter,--the daughter of one who had spent the +very marrow of her life in fighting for the position that was due to +her,--should spoil all by preferring a journeyman tailor to a young +nobleman of high rank, of ancient lineage, and one, too, who by his +marriage with herself would endow her with wealth sufficient to make +that rank splendid as well as illustrious? But if it were not so, +what had the girl meant by saying that it was impossible? That the +word should have been used once or twice in maidenly scruple, the +Countess could understand; but it had been repeated with a vehemence +beyond that which such natural timidity might have produced. And now +the girl professed herself to be ill in bed, and when the subject was +broached would only weep, and repeat the one word with which she had +expressed her repugnance to the match. + +Hitherto she had not been like this. She had, in her own quiet way, +shared her mother's aspirations, and had always sympathised with +her mother's sufferings; and she had been dutiful through it all, +carrying herself as one who was bound to special obedience by the +peculiarity of her parent's position. She had been keenly alive to +the wrongs that her mother endured, and had in every respect been a +loving child. But now she protested that she would not do the one +thing necessary to complete their triumph, and would give no reason +for not doing so. As the Countess thought of all this, she swore +to herself that she would prefer to divest her bosom of all soft +motherly feeling than be vanquished in this matter by her own child. +Her daughter should find that she could be stern and rough enough if +she were really thwarted. What would her life be worth to her if her +child, Lady Anna Lovel, the heiress and only legitimate offspring of +the late Earl Lovel, were to marry a--tailor? + +And then, again, she told herself that there was no sufficient excuse +for such alarm. Her daughter's demeanour had ever been modest. She +had never been given to easy friendship, or to that propensity to +men's acquaintance which the world calls flirting. It might be that +the very absence of such propensity,--the very fact that hitherto she +had never been thrust into society among her equals,--had produced +that feeling almost of horror which she had expressed. But she had +been driven, at any rate, to say that she would meet the young man; +and the Countess, acting upon that, called on Mr. Goffe in his +chambers, and explained to that gentleman that she proposed to settle +the whole question in dispute by giving her daughter to the young +Earl in marriage. Mr. Goffe, who had been present at the conference +among the lawyers, understood it all in a moment. The overture had +been made from the other side to his client. + +"Indeed, my lady!" said Mr. Goffe. + +"Do you not think it will be an excellent arrangement?" + +In his heart of hearts Mr. Goffe thought that it would be an +excellent arrangement; but he could not commit himself to such an +opinion. Serjeant Bluestone thought that the matter should be fought +out, and Mr. Goffe was not prepared to separate himself from his +legal adviser. As Serjeant Bluestone had said after the conference, +with much argumentative vehemence,--"If we were to agree to this, +how would it be if the marriage should not come off? The court can't +agree to a marriage. The court must direct to whom the property +belongs. They profess that they can prove that our marriage was no +marriage. They must do so, or else they must withdraw the allegation. +Suppose the Italian woman were to come forward afterwards with her +claim as the widow, where then would be my client's position, and her +title as dowager countess, and her claim upon her husband's personal +estate? I never heard anything more irregular in my life. It is +just like Patterson, who always thinks he can make laws according +to the light of his own reason." So Serjeant Bluestone had said to +the lawyers who were acting with him; and Mr. Goffe, though he did +himself think that this marriage would be the best thing in the +world, could not differ from the Serjeant. + +No doubt there might even yet be very great difficulties, even though +the young Earl and Lady Anna Lovel should agree to be married. Mr. +Goffe on that occasion said very little to the Countess, and she +left him with a feeling that a certain quantity of cold water had +been thrown upon the scheme. But she would not allow herself to be +disturbed by that. The marriage could go on without any consent on +the part of the lawyers, and the Countess was quite satisfied that, +should the marriage be once completed, the money and the titles would +all go as she desired. She had already begun to have more faith in +the Solicitor-General than in Mr. Goffe or in Serjeant Bluestone. + +But Serjeant Bluestone was not a man to bear such treatment and be +quiet under it. He heard that very day from Mr. Goffe what had been +done, and was loud in the expression of his displeasure. It was the +most irregular thing that he had ever known. No other man except +Patterson in the whole profession would have done it! The counsel on +the other side--probably Patterson himself--had been to his client, +and given advice to his client, and had done so after her own counsel +had decided that no such advice should be given! He would see the +Attorney-General, and ask the Attorney-General what he thought about +it. Now, it was supposed in legal circles, just at this period, that +the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were not the best +friends in the world; and the latter was wont to call the former an +old fogey, and the former to say of the latter that he might be a +very clever philosopher, but certainly no lawyer. And so by degrees +the thing got much talked about in the profession; and there was +perhaps a balance of opinion that the Solicitor-General had done +wrong. + +But this was certain,--that no one could be put into possession of +the property till the court had decided to whom it belonged. If the +Earl withdrew from his claim, the widow would simply be called on to +prove her own marriage,--which had in truth been proved more than +once already,--and the right of her legitimate child would follow as +a matter of course. It was by no means probable that the woman over +in Italy would make any claim on her own behalf,--and even, should +she do so, she could not find the means of supporting it. "They must +be asses," said the Solicitor-General, "not to see that I am fighting +their battle for them, and that I am doing so because I can best +secure my own client's interests by securing theirs also." But even +he became nervous after a day or two, and was anxious to learn that +the marriage scheme was progressing. He told his client, Lord Lovel, +that it would be well that the marriage should take place before the +court sat in November. "In that case settlements will, of course, +have been made, and we shall simply withdraw. We shall state the fact +of this new marriage, and assert ourselves to be convinced that the +old marriage was good and valid. But you should lose no time in the +wooing, my lord." At this time the Earl had not seen his cousin, and +it had not yet been decided when they should meet. + +"It is my duty to explain to you, Lady Lovel, as my client," said +Serjeant Bluestone to the Countess, "that this arrangement cannot +afford a satisfactory mode to you of establishing your own position." + +"It would be so happy for the whole family!" + +"As to that I can know nothing, Lady Lovel. If your daughter and the +Earl are attached to each other, there can be no reason on earth why +they should not be married. But it should be a separate thing. Your +position should not be made to depend upon hers." + +"But they will withdraw, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"How do you know that they will withdraw? Supposing at the last +moment Lady Anna were to decline the alliance, would they withdraw +then? Not a bit of it. The matter would be further delayed, and +referred over to next year. You and your daughter would be kept out +of your money, and there would still be danger." + +"I should not care for that;--if they were married." + +"And they have set up this Italian countess,--who never was a +countess,--any more than I am. Now they have put her up, they are +bound to dispose of her. If she came forward afterwards, on her own +behalf, where would you all be then?" + +"My daughter would, at any rate, be safe." + +The Serjeant did not like it at all. He felt that he was being thrown +over, not only by his client the Countess,--as to which he might +have been indifferent, knowing that the world at large, the laity as +distinguished from the lawyers, the children of the world as all who +were not lawyers seemed to him to be, will do and must be expected to +do, foolish things continually. They cannot be persuaded to subject +themselves to lawyers in all their doings, and, of course, go wrong +when they do not do so. The infinite simplicity and silliness of +mankind and womankind at large were too well known to the Serjeant to +cause him dismay, let them be shown in ever so egregious a fashion. +But in this case the fault came from another lawyer, who had tampered +with his clients, and who seemed to be himself as ignorant as +though he belonged to the outside world. And this man had been made +Solicitor-General,--over the heads of half the profession,--simply +because he could make a speech in Parliament! + +But the Solicitor-General was himself becoming uneasy when at the end +of a fortnight he learned that the young people,--as he had come to +call them on all occasions,--had not as yet seen each other. He would +not like to have it said of him that he had thrown over his client. +And there were some who still believed that the Italian marriage +had been a real marriage, and the Italian wife alive at the time of +the Cumberland marriage,--though the Italian woman now living had +never been the countess. Mr. Hardy so believed, and, in his private +opinion, thought that the Solicitor-General had been very indiscreet. + +"I don't think that we could ever dare to face a jury," said Sir +William to Mr. Hardy when they discussed the matter, about a +fortnight after the proposition had been made. + +"Why did the Earl always say that the Italian woman was his wife?" + +"Because the Earl was a very devil." + +"Mr. Flick does not think so." + +"Yes, he does; but Mr. Flick, like all attorneys with a bad case, +does not choose to say quite what he thinks, even to his own counsel. +Mr. Flick does not like to throw his client over, nor do I, nor +do you. But with such a case we have no right to create increased +expenses, and all the agony of prolonged fallacious hope. The girl is +her father's heir. Do you suppose I would not stick to my brief if I +did not feel sure that it is so?" + +"Then let the Earl be told, and let the girl have her rights." + +"Ah! there you have me. It may be that such would be the juster +course; but then, Hardy, cannot you understand that though I am sure, +I am not quite sure; that though the case is a bad one, it may not +be quite bad enough to be thrown up? It is just the case in which +a compromise is expedient. If but a quarter, or but an eighth of a +probability be with you, take your proportion of the thing at stake. +But here is a compromise that gives all to each. Who would wish to +rob the girl of her noble name and great inheritance if she be the +heiress? Not I, though the Earl be my client. And yet how sad would +it be to have to tell that young man that there was nothing for him +but to submit to lose all the wealth belonging to the family of which +he has been born the head! If we can bring them together there will +be nothing to make sore the hearts of any of us." + +Mr. Hardy acknowledged to himself that the Solicitor-General pleaded +his own case very well; but yet he felt that it wasn't law. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE FIRST INTERVIEW. + + +For some days after the intimation of her mother's purpose, Lady Anna +kept her bed. She begged that she might not see a doctor. She had a +headache,--nothing but a headache. But it was quite impossible that +she should ever marry Earl Lovel. This she said whenever her mother +would revert to that subject,--"I have not seen him, mamma; I do not +know him. I am sure it would be impossible." Then, when at last she +was induced to dress herself, she was still unwilling to be forced to +undergo the interview to which she had acknowledged that she must be +subjected. At last she consented to spend a day in Bedford Square; to +dine there, and to be brought home in the evening. The Countess was +at this time not very full of trust in the Serjeant, having learned +that he was opposed to the marriage scheme, but she was glad that her +daughter should be induced to go out, even to the Serjeant's house, +as after that visit the girl could have no ground on which to oppose +the meeting which was to be arranged. She could hardly plead that she +was too ill to see her cousin when she had dined with Mrs. Bluestone. + +During this time many plans had been proposed for the meeting. The +Solicitor-General, discussing the matter with the young lord, had +thought it best that Lady Anna should at once be asked down to +Yoxham,--as the Lady Anna; and the young lord would have been quite +satisfied with such an arrangement. He could have gone about his +obligatory wooing among his own friends, in the house to which he had +been accustomed, with much more ease than in a London lodging. But +his uncle, who had corresponded on the subject with Mr. Hardy, still +objected. "We should be giving up everything," he said, "if we were +once to call her Lady Anna. Where should we be then if they didn't +hit it off together? I don't believe, and I never shall believe, that +she is really Lady Anna Lovel." The Solicitor-General, when he heard +of this objection, shook his head, finding himself almost provoked to +anger. What asses were these people not to understand that he could +see further into the matter than they could do, and that their best +way out of their difficulty would be frankly to open their arms to +the heiress! Should they continue to be pig-headed and prejudiced, +everything would soon be gone. + +Then he had a scheme for inviting the girl to his own house, and to +that scheme he obtained his wife's consent. But here his courage +failed him; or, it might be fairer to say, that his prudence +prevailed. He was very anxious, intensely eager, so to arrange this +great family dispute that all should be benefited,--believing, nay +feeling positively certain that all concerned in the matter were +honest; but he must not go so far as to do himself an absolute and +grievous damage, should it at last turn out that he was wrong in any +of his surmises. So that plan was abandoned. + +There was nothing left for it but that the young Earl should himself +face the difficulty, and be introduced to the girl at the lodging in +Wyndham Street. But, as a prelude to this, a meeting was arranged +at Mr. Flick's chambers between the Countess and her proposed +son-in-law. That the Earl should go to his own attorney's chambers +was all in rule. While he was there the Countess came,--which was not +in rule, and almost induced the Serjeant to declare, when he heard +it, that he would have nothing more to do with the case. "My lord," +said the Countess, "I am glad to meet you, and I hope that we may be +friends." The young man was less collected, and stammered out a few +words that were intended to be civil. + +"It is a pity that you should have conflicting interests," said the +attorney. + +"I hope it need not continue to be so," said the Countess. "My heart, +Lord Lovel, is all in the welfare of our joint family. We will +begrudge you nothing if you will not begrudge us the names which +are our own, and without which we cannot live honourably before +the world." Then some other few words were muttered, and the Earl +promised to come to Wyndham Street at a certain hour. Not a word +was then said about the marriage. Even the Countess, with all her +resolution and all her courage, did not find herself able in set +terms to ask the young man to marry her daughter. + +"She is a very handsome woman," said the lord to the attorney, when +the Countess had left them. + +"Yes, indeed." + +"And like a lady." + +"Quite like a lady. She herself was of a good family." + +"I suppose she certainly was the late Earl's wife, Mr. Flick?" + +"Who can say, my lord? That is just the question. The +Solicitor-General thinks that she would prove her right, and I do +not know that I have ever found him to be wrong when he has had a +steadfast opinion." + +"Why should we not give it up to her at once?" + +"I couldn't recommend that, my lord. Why should we give it up? The +interests at stake are very great. I couldn't for a moment think of +suggesting to you to give it up." + +"I want nothing, Mr. Flick, that does not belong to me." + +"Just so. But then perhaps it does belong to you. We can never +be sure. No doubt the safest way will be for you to contract an +alliance with this lady. Of course we should give it up then, but the +settlements would make the property all right." The young Earl did +not quite like it. He would rather have commenced his wooing after +the girl had been established in her own right, and when she would +have had no obligation on her to accept him. But he had consented, +and it was too late for him now to recede. It had been already +arranged that he should call in Wyndham Street at noon on the +following day, in order that he might be introduced to his cousin. + +On that evening the Countess sat late with her daughter, purposing +that on the morrow nothing should be said before the interview +calculated to disturb the girl's mind. But as they sat together +through the twilight and into the darkness of night, close by the +open window, through which the heavily laden air of the metropolis +came to them, hot with all the heat of a London July day, very many +words were spoken by the Countess. "It will be for you, to-morrow, to +make or to mar all that I have been doing since the day on which you +were born." + +"Oh! mamma, that is so terrible a thing to say!" + +"But terrible things must be said if they are true. It is so. It is +for you to decide whether we shall triumph, or be utterly and for +ever crushed." + +"I cannot understand it. Why should we be crushed? He would not wish +to marry me if this fortune were not mine. He is not coming, mamma, +because he loves me." + +"You say that because you do not understand. Do you suppose that my +name will be allowed to me if you should refuse your cousin's suit? +If so, you are very much mistaken. The fight will go on, and as we +have not money, we shall certainly go to the wall at last. Why should +you not love him? There is no one else that you care for." + +"No, mamma," she said slowly. + +"Then, what more can you want?" + +"I do not know him, mamma." + +"But you will know him. According to that, no girl would ever get +married. Is it not a great thing that you should be asked to assume +and to enjoy the rank which has belonged to your mother, but which +she has never been able to enjoy?" + +"I do not think, mamma, that I care much about rank." + +"Anna!" The mother's mind as she heard this flew off to the young +tailor. Had misery so great as this overtaken her after all? + +"I mean that I don't care so much about it. It has never done us any +good." + +"But if it is a thing that is your own, that you are born to, you +must bear it, whether it be in sorrow or in joy; whether it be a +blessing or a curse. If it be yours, you cannot fling it away from +you. You may disgrace it, but you must still have it. Though you were +to throw yourself away upon a chimney-sweeper, you must still be Lady +Anna, the daughter of Earl Lovel." + +"I needn't call myself so." + +"Others must call you so. It is your name, and you cannot be rid of +it. It is yours of right, as my name has been mine of right; and not +to assert it, not to live up to it, not to be proud of it, would +argue incredible baseness. 'Noblesse oblige.' You have heard that +motto, and know what it means. And then would you throw away from you +in some childish phantasy all that I have been struggling to win for +you during my whole life? Have you ever thought of what my life has +been, Anna?" + +"Yes, mamma." + +"Would you have the heart to disappoint me, now that the victory is +won;--now that it may be made our own by your help? And what is it +that I am asking you to do? If this man were bad,--if he were such a +one as your father, if he were drunken, cruel, ill-conditioned, or +even heavy, foolish, or deformed; had you been told stories to set +you against him, as that he had been false with other women, I could +understand it. In that case we would at any rate find out the truth +before we went on. But of this man we hear that he is good, and +pleasant; an excellent young man, who has endeared himself to all who +know him. Such a one that all the girls of his own standing in the +world would give their eyes to win him." + +"Let some girl win him then who cares for him." + +"But he wishes to win you, dearest." + +"Not because he loves me. How can he love me when he never saw me? +How can I love him when I never saw him?" + +"He wishes to win you because he has heard what you are, and because +he knows that by doing so he can set things right which for many +years have been wrong." + +"It is because he would get all this money." + +"You would both get it. He desires nothing unfair. Whatever he +takes from you, so much he will give. And it is not only for this +generation. Is it nothing to you that the chiefs of your own family +who shall come after you shall be able to hold their heads up among +other British peers? Would you not wish that your own son should come +to be Earl Lovel, with wealth sufficient to support the dignity?" + +"I don't think it would make him happy, mamma." + +"There is something more in this, Anna, than I can understand. You +used not to be so. When we talked of these things in past years you +used not to be indifferent." + +"I was not asked then to--to--marry a man I did not care for." + +"There is something else, Anna." + +"No, mamma." + +"If there be nothing else you will learn to care for him. You will +see him to-morrow, and will be left alone with him. I will sit with +you for a time, and then I will leave you. All that I ask of you is +to receive him to-morrow without any prejudice against him. You must +remember how much depends on you, and that you are not as other girls +are." After that Lady Anna was allowed to go to her bed, and to weep +in solitude over the wretchedness of her condition. It was not only +that she loved Daniel Thwaite with all her heart,--loved him with +a love that had grown with every year of her growth;--but that she +feared him also. The man had become her master; and even could she +have brought herself to be false, she would have lacked the courage +to declare her falsehood to the man to whom she had vowed her love. + +On the following morning Lady Anna did not come down to breakfast, +and the Countess began to fear that she would be unable to induce her +girl to rise in time to receive their visitor. But the poor child had +resolved to receive the man's visit, and contemplated no such escape +as that. At eleven o'clock she slowly dressed herself, and before +twelve crept down into the one sitting-room which they occupied. The +Countess glanced round at her, anxious to see that she was looking +her best. Certain instructions had been given as to her dress, and +the garniture of her hair, and the disposal of her ribbons. All +these had been fairly well obeyed; but there was a fixed, determined +hardness in her face which made her mother fear that the Earl might +be dismayed. The mother knew that her child had never looked like +that before. + +Punctually at twelve the Earl was announced. The Countess received +him very pleasantly, and with great composure. She shook hands with +him as though they had known each other all their lives, and then +introduced him to her daughter with a sweet smile. "I hope you will +acknowledge her as your far-away cousin, my lord. Blood, they say, is +thicker than water; and, if so, you two ought to be friends." + +"I am sure I hope we may be," said the Earl. + +"I hope so too,--my lord," said the girl, as she left her hand quite +motionless in his. + +"We heard of you down in Cumberland," said the Countess. "It is +long since I have seen the old place, but I shall never forget it. +There is not a bush among the mountains there that I shall not +remember,--ay, into the next world, if aught of our memories are left +to us." + +"I love the mountains; but the house is very gloomy." + +"Gloomy indeed. If you found it sad, what must it have been to me? I +hope that I may tell you some day of all that I suffered there. There +are things to tell of which I have never yet spoken to human being. +She, poor child, has been too young and too tender to be troubled +by such a tale. I sometimes think that no tragedy ever written, no +story of horrors ever told, can have exceeded in description the +things which I endured in that one year of my married life." Then +she went on at length, not telling the details of that terrible year, +but speaking generally of the hardships of her life. "I have never +wondered, Lord Lovel, that you and your nearest relations should have +questioned my position. A bad man had surrounded me with such art in +his wickedness, that it has been almost beyond my strength to rid +myself of his toils." All this she had planned beforehand, having +resolved that she would rush into the midst of things at once, and if +possible enlist his sympathies on her side. + +"I hope it may be over now," he said. + +"Yes," she replied, rising slowly from her seat, "I hope it may be +over now." The moment had come in which she had to play the most +difficult stroke of her whole game, and much might depend on the way +in which she played it. She could not leave them together, walking +abruptly out of the room, without giving some excuse for so unusual +a proceeding. "Indeed, I hope it may be over now, both for us and +for you, Lord Lovel. That wicked man, in leaving behind such cause +of quarrel, has injured you almost as deeply as us. I pray God that +you and that dear girl there may so look into each other's hearts +and trust each other's purposes, that you may be able to set right +the ill which your predecessor did. If so, the family of Lovel for +centuries to come may be able to bless your names." Then with slow +steps she left the room. + +Lady Anna had spoken one word, and that was all. It certainly was not +for her now to speak. She sat leaning on the table, with her eyes +fixed upon the ground, not daring to look at the man who had been +brought to her as her future husband. A single glance she had taken +as he entered the room, and she had seen at once that he was fair +and handsome, that he still had that sweet winsome boyishness of +face which makes a girl feel that she need not fear a man,--that the +man has something of her own weakness, and need not be treated as +one who is wise, grand, or heroic. And she saw too in one glance +how different he was from Daniel Thwaite, the man to whom she had +absolutely given herself;--and she understood at the moment something +of the charm of luxurious softness and aristocratic luxury. Daniel +Thwaite was swarthy, hard-handed, blackbearded,--with a noble fire +in his eyes, but with an innate coarseness about his mouth which +betokened roughness as well as strength. Had it been otherwise with +her than it was, she might, she thought, have found it easy enough to +love this young earl. As it was, there was nothing for her to do but +to wait and answer him as best she might. + +"Lady Anna," he said. + +"My lord!" + +"Will it not be well that we should be friends?" + +"Oh,--friends;--yes, my lord." + +"I will tell you all and everything;--that is, about myself. I was +brought up to believe that you and your mother were just--impostors." + +"My lord, we are not impostors." + +"No;--I believe it. I am sure you are not. Mistakes have been made, +but it has not been of my doing. As a boy, what could I believe but +what I was told? I know now that you are and always have been as you +have called yourself. If nothing else comes of it, I will at any rate +say so much. The estate which your father left is no doubt yours. If +I could hinder it, there should be no more law." + +"Thank you, my lord." + +"Your mother says that she has suffered much. I am sure she has +suffered. I trust that all that is over now. I have come here to-day +more to say that on my own behalf than anything else." A shadow of a +shade of disappointment, the slightest semblance of a cloud, passed +across her heart as she heard this. But it was well. She could not +have married him, even if he had wished it, and now, as it seemed, +that difficulty was over. Her mother and those lawyers had been +mistaken, and it was well that he should tell her so at once. + +"It is very good of you, my lord." + +"I would not have you think of me that I could come to you hoping +that you would promise me your love before I had shown you whether I +had loved you or not." + +"No, my lord." She hardly understood him now,--whether he intended to +propose himself as a suitor for her hand or not. + +"You, Lady Anna, are your father's heir. I am your cousin, Earl +Lovel, as poor a peer as there is in England. They tell me that we +should marry because you are rich and I am an earl." + +"So they tell me;--but that will not make it right." + +"I would not have it so, even if I dared to think that you would +agree to it." + +"Oh, no, my lord; nor would I." + +"But if you could learn to love me--" + +"No, my lord;--no." + +"Do not answer me yet, my cousin. If I swore that I loved you,--loved +you so soon after seeing you,--and loved you, too, knowing you to be +so wealthy an heiress--" + +"Ah, do not talk of that." + +"Well;--not of that. But if I said that I loved you, you would not +believe me." + +"It would not be true, my lord." + +"But I know that I shall love you. You will let me try? You are very +lovely, and they tell me you are sweet-humoured. I can believe well +that you are sweet and pleasant. You will let me try to love you, +Anna?" + +"No, my lord." + +"Must it be so, so soon?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Why that? Is it because we are strangers to each other? That may +be cured;--if not quickly, as I would have it cured, slowly and by +degrees; slowly as you can wish, if only I may come where you shall +be. You have said that we may be friends." + +"Oh yes,--friends, I hope." + +"Friends at least. We are born cousins." + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Cannot you call me by my name? Cousins, you know, do so. And +remember this, you will have and can have no nearer cousin than I am. +I am bound at least to be a brother to you." + +"Oh, be my brother!" + +"That,--or more than that. I would fain be more than that. But I will +be that, at least. As I came to you, before I saw you, I felt that +whenever we knew each other I could not be less to you than that. If +I am your friend, I must be your best friend,--as being, though poor, +the head of your family. The Lovels should at least love each other; +and cousins may love, even though they should not love enough to be +man and wife." + +"I will love you so always." + +"Enough to be my wife?" + +"Enough to be your dear cousin,--your loving sister." + +"So it shall be,--unless it can be more. I would not ask you for more +now. I would not wish you to give more now. But think of me, and ask +yourself whether you can dare to give yourself to me altogether." + +"I cannot dare, my lord." + +"You would not call your brother, lord. My name is Frederic. But +Anna, dear Anna,"--and then he took her unresisting hand,--"you shall +not be asked for more now. But cousins, new-found cousins, who love +each other, and will stand by each other for help and aid against +the world, may surely kiss,--as would a brother and a sister. You +will not grudge me a kiss." Then she put up her cheek innocently, +and he kissed it gently,--hardly with a lover's kiss. "I will leave +you now," he said, still holding her hand. "But tell your mother +thus:--that she shall no longer be troubled by lawyers at the suit of +her cousin Frederic. She is to me the Countess Lovel, and she shall +be treated by me with the honour suited to her rank." And so he left +the house without seeing the Countess again. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +IT IS TOO LATE. + + +The Countess had resolved that she would let their visitor depart +without saying a word to him. Whatever might be the result of the +interview, she was aware that she could not improve it by asking any +question from the young lord, or by hearing any account of it from +him. The ice had been broken, and it would now be her object to have +her daughter invited down to Yoxham as soon as possible. If once the +Earl's friends could be brought to be eager for the match on his +account, as was she on her daughter's behalf, then probably the thing +might be done. For herself, she expected no invitation, no immediate +comfort, no tender treatment, no intimate familiar cousinship. She +had endured hitherto, and would be contented to endure, so that +triumph might come at last. Nor did she question her daughter very +closely, anxious as she was to learn the truth. + +Could she have heard every word that had been spoken she would have +been sure of success. Could Daniel Thwaite have heard every word he +would have been sure that the girl was about to be false to him. But +the girl herself believed herself to have been true. The man had been +so soft with her, so tender, so pleasant,--so loving with his sweet +cousinly offers of affection, that she could not turn herself against +him. He had been to her eyes beautiful, noble,--almost divine. She +knew of herself that she could not be his wife,--that she was not fit +to be his wife,--because she had given her troth to the tailor's son. +When her cousin touched her check with his lips she remembered that +she had submitted to be kissed by one with whom her noble relative +could hold no fellowship whatever. A feeling of degradation came +upon her, as though by contact with this young man she was suddenly +awakened to a sense of what her own rank demanded from her. When +her mother had spoken to her of what she owed to her family, she +had thought only of all the friendship that she and her mother had +received from her lover and his father. But when Lord Lovel told +her what she was,--how she should ever be regarded by him as a dear +cousin,--how her mother should be accounted a countess, and receive +from him the respect due to her rank,--then she could understand +how unfitting were a union between the Lady Anna Lovel and Daniel +Thwaite, the journeyman tailor. Hitherto Daniel's face had been noble +in her eyes,--the face of a man who was manly, generous, and strong. +But after looking into the eyes of the young Earl, seeing how soft +was the down upon his lips, how ruddy the colour of his cheek, how +beautiful was his mouth with its pearl-white teeth, how noble the +curve of his nostrils, after feeling the softness of his hand, and +catching the sweetness of his breath, she came to know what it might +have been to be wooed by such a one as he. + +But not on that account did she meditate falseness. It was settled +firm as fate. The dominion of the tailor over her spirit had lasted +in truth for years. The sweet, perfumed graces of the young nobleman +had touched her senses but for a moment. Had she been false-minded +she had not courage to be false. But in truth she was not +false-minded. It was to her, as that sunny moment passed across her, +as to some hard-toiling youth who, while roaming listlessly among +the houses of the wealthy, hears, as he lingers on the pavement of +a summer night, the melodies which float upon the air from the open +balconies above him. A vague sense of unknown sweetness comes upon +him, mingled with an irritating feeling of envy that some favoured +son of Fortune should be able to stand over the shoulders of that +singing syren, while he can only listen with intrusive ears from the +street below. And so he lingers and is envious, and for a moment +curses his fate,--not knowing how weary may be the youth who stands, +how false the girl who sings. But he does not dream that his life is +to be altered for him, because he has chanced to hear the daughter of +a duchess warble through a window. And so it was with this girl. The +youth was very sweet to her, intensely sweet when he told her that he +would be a brother, perilously sweet when he bade her not to grudge +him one kiss. But she knew that she was not as he was. That she had +lost the right, could she ever have had the right, to live his life, +to drink of his cup, and to lie on his breast. So she passed on, +as the young man does in the street, and consoled herself with the +consciousness that strength after all may be preferable to sweetness. + +And she was an honest girl from her heart, and prone to truth, with a +strong glimmer of common sense in her character, of which her mother +hitherto had been altogether unaware. What right had her mother to +think that she could be fit to be this young lord's wife, having +brought her up in the companionship of small traders in Cumberland? +She never blamed her mother. She knew well that her mother had done +all that was possible on her behalf. But for that small trader they +would not even have had a roof to shelter them. But still there was +the fact, and she understood it. She was as her bringing up had made +her, and it was too late now to effect a change. Ah yes;--it was +indeed too late. It was all very well that lawyers should look upon +her as an instrument, as a piece of goods that might now, from the +accident of her ascertained birth, be made of great service to the +Lovel family. Let her be the lord's wife, and everything would be +right for everybody. It had been very easy to say that! But she +had a heart of her own,--a heart to be touched, and won, and given +away,--and lost. The man who had been so good to them had sought +for his reward, and had got it, and could not now be defrauded. Had +she been dishonest she would not have dared to defraud him; had she +dared, she would not have been so dishonest. + +"Did you like him?" asked the mother, not immediately after the +interview, but when the evening came. + +"Oh yes,--how should one not like him?" + +"How indeed! He is the finest, noblest youth that ever my eyes rested +on, and so like the Lovels." + +"Was my father like that?" + +"Yes indeed, in the shape of his face, and the tone of his voice, and +the movement of his eyes; though the sweetness of the countenance was +all gone in the Devil's training to which he had submitted himself. +And you too are like him, though darker, and with something of the +Murrays' greater breadth of face. But I can remember portraits at +Lovel Grange,--every one of them,--and all of them were alike. There +never was a Lovel but had that natural grace of appearance. You will +gaze at those portraits, dear, oftener even than I have done; and you +will be happy where I was,--oh--so miserable!" + +"I shall never see them, mamma." + +"Why not?" + +"I do not want to see them." + +"You say you like him?" + +"Yes; I like him." + +"And why should you not love him well enough to make him your +husband?" + +"I am not fit to be his wife." + +"You are fit;--none could be fitter; none others so fit. You are as +well born as he, and you have the wealth which he wants. You must +have it, if, as you tell me, he says that he will cease to claim it +as his own. There can be no question of fitness." + +"Money will not make a girl fit, mamma." + +"You have been brought up as a lady,--and are a lady. I swear I +do not know what you mean. If he thinks you fit, and you can like +him,--as you say you do,--what more can be wanted? Does he not wish +it?" + +"I do not know. He said he did not, and then,--I think he said he +did." + +"Is that it?" + +"No, mamma. It is not that; not that only. It is too late!" + +"Too late! How too late? Anna, you must tell me what you mean. I +insist upon it that you tell me what you mean. Why is it too late?" +But Lady Anna was not prepared to tell her meaning. She had certainly +not intended to say anything to her mother of her solemn promise to +Daniel Thwaite. It had been arranged between him and her that nothing +was to be said of it till this law business should be all over. He +had sworn to her that to him it made no difference, whether she +should be proclaimed to be the Lady Anna, the undoubted owner of +thousands a year, or Anna Murray, the illegitimate daughter of the +late Earl's mistress, a girl without a penny, and a nobody in the +world's esteem. No doubt they must shape their life very differently +in this event or in that. How he might demean himself should this +fortune be adjudged to the Earl, as he thought would be the case when +he first made the girl promise to be his wife, he knew well enough. +He would do as his father had done before him, and, he did not +doubt,--with better result. What might be his fate should the wealth +of the Lovels become the wealth of his intended wife, he did not yet +quite foreshadow to himself. How he should face and fight the world +when he came to be accused of having plotted to get all this wealth +for himself he did not know. He had dreams of distributing the +greater part among the Lovels and the Countess, and taking himself +and his wife with one-third of it to some new country in which they +would not in derision call his wife the Lady Anna, and in which he +would be as good a man as any earl. But let all that be as it might, +the girl was to keep her secret till the thing should be settled. +Now, in these latter days, it had come to be believed by him, as by +nearly everybody else, that the thing was well-nigh settled. The +Solicitor-General had thrown up the sponge. So said the bystanders. +And now there was beginning to be a rumour that everything was to +be set right by a family marriage. The Solicitor-General would not +have thrown up the sponge,--so said they who knew him best,--without +seeing a reason for doing so. Serjeant Bluestone was still indignant, +and Mr. Hardy was silent and moody. But the world at large were +beginning to observe that in this, as in all difficult cases, the +Solicitor-General tempered the innocence of the dove with the wisdom +of the serpent. In the meantime Lady Anna by no means intended to +allow the secret to pass her lips. Whether she ever could tell her +mother, she doubted; but she certainly would not do so an hour too +soon. "Why is it too late?" demanded the Countess, repeating her +question with stern severity of voice. + +"I mean that I have not lived all my life as his wife should live." + +"Trash! It is trash. What has there been in your life to disgrace +you. We have been poor and we have lived as poor people do live. We +have not been disgraced." + +"No, mamma." + +"I will not hear such nonsense. It is a reproach to me." + +"Oh, mamma, do not say that. I know how good you have been,--how you +have thought of me in every thing. Pray do not say that I reproach +you!" And she came and knelt at her mother's lap. + +"I will not, darling; but do not vex me by saying that you are unfit. +There is nothing else, dearest?" + +"No, mamma," she said in a low tone, pausing before she told the +falsehood. + +"I think it will be arranged that you shall go down to Yoxham. The +people there even are beginning to know that we are right, and are +willing to acknowledge us. The Earl, whom I cannot but love already +for his gracious goodness, has himself declared that he will not +carry on the suit. Mr. Goffe has told me that they are anxious to see +you there. Of course you must go,--and will go as Lady Anna Lovel. +Mr. Goffe says that some money can now be allowed from the estate, +and you shall go as becomes the daughter of Earl Lovel when visiting +among her cousins. You will see this young man there. If he means +to love you and to be true to you, he will be much there. I do not +doubt but that you will continue to like him. And remember this, +Anna;--that even though your name be acknowledged,--even though all +the wealth be adjudged to be your own,--even though some judge on the +bench shall say that I am the widowed Countess Lovel, it may be all +undone some day,--unless you become this young man's wife. That woman +in Italy may be bolstered up at last, if you refuse him. But when you +are once the wife of young Lord Lovel, no one then can harm us. There +can be no going back after that." This the Countess said rather to +promote the marriage, than from any fear of the consequences which +she described. Daniel Thwaite was the enemy that now she dreaded, and +not the Italian woman, or the Lovel family. + +Lady Anna could only say that she would go to Yoxham, if she were +invited there by Mrs. Lovel. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HAVE THEY SURRENDERED? + + +As all the world heard of what was going on, so did Daniel Thwaite +hear it among others. He was a hard-working, conscientious, moody +man, given much to silence among his fellow workmen;--one to whom +life was serious enough; not a happy man, though he had before him +a prospect of prosperity which would make most men happy. But he was +essentially a tender-hearted, affectionate man, who could make a +sacrifice of himself if he thought it needed for the happiness of one +he loved. When he heard of this proposed marriage, he asked himself +many questions as to his duty and as to the welfare of the girl. He +did love her with all his heart, and he believed thoroughly in her +affection for himself. He had, as yet, no sufficient reason to doubt +that she would be true to him;--but he knew well that an earl's +coronet must be tempting to a girl so circumstanced as was Lady Anna. +There were moments in which he thought that it was almost his duty +to give her up, and bid her go and live among those of her own rank. +But then he did not believe in rank. He utterly disbelieved in it; +and in his heart of hearts he felt that he would make a better and a +fitter husband to this girl than would an earl, with all an earl's +temptation to vice. He was ever thinking of some better world to +which he might take her, which had not been contaminated by empty +names and an impudent assumption of hereditary, and therefore false, +dignity. As regarded the money, it would be hers whether she married +him or the Earl. And if she loved him, as she had sworn that she did, +why should he be false to her? Or why, as yet, should he think that +she would prefer an empty, gilded lordling to the friend who had been +her friend as far back as her memory could carry her? If she asked +to be released, then indeed he would release her,--but not without +explaining to her, with such eloquence as he might be able to +use,--what it was she proposed to abandon, and what to take in place +of that which she lost. He was a man, silent and under self-control, +but self-confident also; and he did believe himself to be a better +man than young Earl Lovel. + +In making this resolution,--that he would give her back her troth if +she asked for it, but not without expressing to her his thoughts as +he did so,--he ignored the masterfulness of his own character. There +are men who exercise dominion, from the nature of their disposition, +and who do so from their youth upwards, without knowing, till +advanced life comes upon them, that any power of dominion belongs to +them. Men are persuasive, and imperious withal, who are unconscious +that they use burning words to others, whose words to them are never +even warm. So it was with this man when he spoke to himself in his +solitude of his purpose of resigning the titled heiress. To the +arguments, the entreaties, or the threats of others he would pay no +heed. The Countess might bluster about her rank, and he would heed +her not at all. He cared nothing for the whole tribe of Lovels. If +Lady Anna asked for release, she should be released. But not till she +had heard his words. How scalding these words might be, how powerful +to prevent the girl from really choosing her own fate, he did not +know himself. + +Though he lived in the same house with her he seldom saw her,--unless +when he would knock at the door of an evening, and say a few words to +her mother rather than to her. Since Thomas Thwaite had left London +for the last time the Countess had become almost cold to the young +man. She would not have been so if she could have helped it; but she +had begun to fear him, and she could not bring herself to be cordial +to him either in word or manner. He perceived it at once, and became, +himself, cold and constrained. + +Once, and once only, he met Lady Anna alone, after his father's +departure, and before her interview with Lord Lovel. Then he met +her on the stairs of the house while her mother was absent at the +lawyer's chambers. + +"Are you here, Daniel, at this hour?" she asked, going back to the +sitting-room, whither he followed her. + +"I wanted to see you, and I knew that your mother would be out. It is +not often that I do a thing in secret, even though it be to see the +girl that I love." + +"No, indeed. I do not see you often now." + +"Does that matter much to you, Lady Anna?" + +"Lady Anna!" + +"I have been instructed, you know, that I am to call you so." + +"Not by me, Daniel." + +"No;--not by you; not as yet. Your mother's manners are much altered +to me. Is it not so?" + +"How can I tell? Mine are not." + +"It is no question of manners, sweetheart, between you and me. It has +not come to that, I hope. Do you wish for any change,--as regards +me?" + +"Oh, no." + +"As to my love, there can be no change in that. If it suits your +mother to be disdainful to me, I can bear it. I always thought that +it would come to be so some day." + +There was but little more said then. He asked her no further +question;--none at least that it was difficult for her to +answer,--and he soon took his leave. He was a passionate rather than +a tender lover, and having once held her in his arms, and kissed her +lips, and demanded from her a return of his caress, he was patient +now to wait till he could claim them as his own. But, two days after +the interview between Lord Lovel and his love, he a second time +contrived to find her alone. + +"I have come again," he said, "because I knew your mother is out. I +would not trouble you with secret meetings but that just now I have +much to say to you. And then, you may be gone from hence before I had +even heard that you were going." + +"I am always glad to see you, Daniel." + +"Are you, my sweetheart? Is that true?" + +"Indeed, indeed it is." + +"I should be a traitor to doubt you,--and I do not doubt. I will +never doubt you if you tell me that you love me." + +"You know I love you." + +"Tell me, Anna--; or shall I say Lady Anna?" + +"Lady Anna,--if you wish to scorn me." + +"Then never will I call you so, till it shall come to pass that I do +wish to scorn you. But tell me. Is it true that Earl Lovel was with +you the other day?" + +"He was here the day before yesterday." + +"And why did he come." + +"Why?" + +"Why did he come? you know that as far as I have yet heard he is +still your mother's enemy and yours, and is persecuting you to rob +you of your name and of your property. Did he come as a friend?" + +"Oh, yes! certainly as a friend." + +"But he still makes his claim." + +"No;--he says that he will make it no longer, that he acknowledges +mamma as my father's widow, and me as my father's heir." + +"That is generous,--if that is all." + +"Very generous." + +"And he does this without condition? There is nothing to be given to +him to pay him for this surrender." + +"There is nothing to give," she said, in that low, sweet, melancholy +voice which was common to her always when she spoke of herself. + +"You do not mean to deceive me, dear, I know; but there is a +something to be given; and I am told that he has asked for it, or +certainly will ask. And, indeed, I do not think that an earl, noble, +but poverty-stricken, would surrender everything without making some +counter claim which would lead him by another path to all that he has +been seeking. Anna, you know what I mean." + +"Yes; I know." + +"Has he made no such claim." + +"I cannot tell." + +"You cannot tell whether or no he has asked you to be his wife?" + +"No; I cannot tell. Do not look at me like that, Daniel. He came +here, and mamma left us together, and he was kind to me. Oh! so kind. +He said that he would be a cousin to me, and a brother." + +"A brother!" + +"That was what he said." + +"And he meant nothing more than that,--simply to be your brother?" + +"I think he did mean more. I think he meant that he would try to love +me so that he might be my husband." + +"And what said you to that?" + +"I told him that it could not be so." + +"And then?" + +"Why then again he said that we were cousins; that I had no nearer +cousin anywhere, and that he would be good to me and help me, and +that the lawsuit should not go on. Oh, Daniel, he was so good!" + +"Was that all?" + +"He kissed me, saying that cousins might kiss?" + +"No, Anna;--cousins such as you and he may not kiss. Do you hear me?" + +"Yes, I hear you." + +"If you mean to be true to me, there must be no more of that. Do you +not know that all this means that he is to win you to be his wife? +Did he not come to you with that object?" + +"I think he did, Daniel." + +"I think so too, my dear. Surrender! I'll tell you what that +surrender means. They perceive at last that they have not a shadow +of justice, or even a shadow of a chance of unjust success in their +claim. That with all their command of money, which is to be spent, +however, out of your property, they can do nothing; that their false +witnesses will not come to aid them; that they have not another +inch of ground on which to stand. Their great lawyer, Sir William +Patterson, dares not show himself in court with a case so false and +fraudulent. At last your mother's rights and yours are to be owned. +Then they turn themselves about, and think in what other way the +prize may be won. It is not likely that such a prize should be +surrendered by a noble lord. The young man is made to understand that +he cannot have it all without a burden, and that he must combine his +wealth with you. That is it, and at once he comes to you, asking +you to be his wife, so that in that way he may lay his hands on the +wealth of which he has striven to rob you." + +"Daniel, I do not think that he is like that!" + +"I tell you he is not only like it,--but that itself. Is it not clear +as noon-day? He comes here to talk of love who had never seen you +before. Is it thus that men love?" + +"But, Daniel, he did not talk so." + +"I wonder that he was so crafty, believing him as I do to be a fool. +He talked of cousinship and brotherhood, and yet gave you to know +that he meant you to be his wife. Was it not so?" + +"I think it was so, in very truth." + +"Of course it was so. Do brothers marry their sisters? Were it not +for the money, which must be yours, and which he is kind enough to +surrender, would he come to you then with his brotherhood, and his +cousinship, and his mock love? Tell me that, my lady! Can it be real +love,--to which there has been no forerunning acquaintance?" + +"I think not, indeed." + +"And must it not be lust of wealth? That may come by hearsay well +enough. It is a love which requires no great foreknowledge to burn +with real strength. He is a gay looking lad, no doubt." + +"I do not know as to gay, but he is beautiful." + +"Like enough, my girl; with soft hands, and curled hair, and a sweet +smell, and a bright colour, and a false heart. I have never seen the +lad; but for the false heart I can answer." + +"I do not think that he is false." + +"Not false! and yet he comes to you asking you to be his wife, +just at that nick of time in which he finds that you,--the right +owner,--are to have the fortune of which he has vainly endeavoured to +defraud you! Is it not so?" + +"He cannot be wrong to wish to keep up the glory of the family." + +"The glory of the family;--yes, the fame of the late lord, who lived +as though he were a fiend let loose from hell to devastate mankind. +The glory of the family! And how will he maintain it? At racecourses, +in betting-clubs, among loose women, with luscious wines, never doing +one stroke of work for man or God, consuming and never producing, +either idle altogether or working the work of the devil. That will be +the glory of the family. Anna Lovel, you shall give him his choice." +Then he took her hand in his. "Ask him whether he will have that +empty, or take all the wealth of the Lovels. You have my leave." + +"And if he took the empty hand what should I do?" she asked. + +"My brave girl, no; though the chance be but one in a thousand +against me, I would not run the risk. But I am putting it to +yourself, to your reason, to judge of his motives. Can it be that +his mind in this matter is not sordid and dishonest? As to you, the +choice is open to you." + +"No, Daniel; it is open no longer." + +"The choice is open to you. If you will tell me that your heart is so +set upon being the bride of a lord, that truth and honesty and love, +and all decent feeling from woman to man can be thrown to the wind, +to make way for such an ambition,--I will say not a word against it. +You are free." + +"Have I asked for freedom?" + +"No, indeed! Had you done so, I should have made all this much +shorter." + +"Then why do you harass me by saying it?" + +"Because it is my duty. Can I know that he comes here seeking you for +his wife; can I hear it said on all sides that this family feud is to +be settled by a happy family marriage; can I find that you yourself +are willing to love him as a cousin or a brother,--without finding +myself compelled to speak? There are two men seeking you as their +wife. One can make you a countess; the other simply an honest man's +wife, and, so far as that can be low, lower than that title of your +own which they will not allow you to put before your name. If I am +still your choice, give me your hand." Of course she gave it him. +"So be it; and now I shall fear nothing." Then she told him that it +was intended that she should go to Yoxham as a visitor; but still he +declared that he would fear nothing. + +Early on the next morning he called on Mr. Goffe, the attorney, with +the object of making some inquiry as to the condition of the lawsuit. +Mr. Goffe did not much love the elder tailor, but he specially +disliked the younger. He was not able to be altogether uncivil to +them, because he knew all that they had done to succour his client; +but he avoided them when it was possible, and was chary of giving +them information. On this occasion Daniel asked whether it was true +that the other side had abandoned their claim. + +"Really Mr. Thwaite, I cannot say that they have," said Mr. Goffe. + +"Can you say that they have not?" + +"No; nor that either." + +"Had anything of that kind been decided, I suppose you would have +known it, Mr. Goffe?" + +"Really, sir, I cannot say. There are questions, Mr. Thwaite, which a +professional gentleman cannot answer, even to such friends as you and +your father have been. When any real settlement is to be made, the +Countess Lovel will, as a matter of course, be informed." + +"She should be informed at once," said Daniel Thwaite sternly: "and +so should they who have been concerned with her in this matter." + +"You, I know, have heavy claims on the Countess." + +"My father has claims, which will never vex her, whether paid or not +paid; but it is right that he should know the truth. I do not believe +that the Countess herself knows, though she has been led to think +that the claim has been surrendered." + +Mr. Goffe was very sorry, but really he had nothing further to tell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NEW FRIENDS. + + +The introduction to Yoxham followed quickly upon the Earl's visit to +Wyndham Street. There was a great consultation at the rectory before +a decision could be made as to the manner in which the invitation +should be given. The Earl thought that it should be sent to the +mother. The rector combated this view very strongly, still hoping +that though he might be driven to call the girl Lady Anna, he might +postpone the necessity of acknowledging the countess-ship of the +mother till the marriage should have been definitely acknowledged. +Mrs. Lovel thought that if the girl were Lady Anna, then the mother +must be the Countess Lovel, and that it would be as well to be hung +for a sheep as a lamb. But the wisdom of Aunt Julia sided with her +brother, though she did not share her brother's feelings of animosity +to the two women. "It is understood that the girl is to be invited, +and not the mother," said Miss Lovel; "and as it is quite possible +that the thing should fail,--in which case the lawsuit might possibly +go on,--the less we acknowledge the better." The Earl declared that +the lawsuit couldn't go on,--that he would not carry it on. "My dear +Frederic, you are not the only person concerned. The lady in Italy, +who still calls herself Countess Lovel, may renew the suit on her +own behalf as soon as you have abandoned it. Should she succeed, you +would have to make what best compromise you could with her respecting +the property. That is the way I understand it." This exposition of +the case by Miss Lovel was so clear that it carried the day, and +accordingly a letter was written by Mrs. Lovel, addressed to Lady +Anna Lovel, asking her to come and spend a few days at Yoxham. She +could bring her maid with her or not as she liked; but she could +have the service of Mrs. Lovel's lady's maid if she chose to come +unattended. The letter sounded cold when it was read, but the writer +signed herself, "Yours affectionately, Jane Lovel." It was addressed +to "The Lady Anna Lovel, to the care of Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, +solicitors, Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn." + +Lady Anna was allowed to read it first; but she read it in the +presence of her mother, to whom she handed it at once, as a matter +of course. A black frown came across the Countess's brow, and a look +of displeasure, almost of anger, rested on her countenance. "Is it +wrong, mamma?" asked the girl. + +"It is a part of the whole;--but, my dear, it shall not signify. +Conquerors cannot be conquerors all at once, nor can the vanquished +be expected to submit themselves with a grace. But it will come. And +though they should ignore me utterly, that will be as nothing. I have +not clung to this for years past to win their loves." + +"I will not go, mamma, if they are unkind to you." + +"You must go, my dear. It is only that they are weak enough to think +that they can acknowledge you, and yet continue to deny to me my +rights. But it matters nothing. Of course you shall go,--and you +shall go as the daughter of the Countess Lovel." + +That mention of the lady's-maid had been unfortunate. Mrs. Lovel had +simply desired to make it easy for the young lady to come without +a servant to wait upon her, and had treated her husband's far-away +cousin as elder ladies often do treat those who are younger when the +question of the maid may become a difficulty. But the Countess, who +would hardly herself have thought of it, now declared that her girl +should go attended as her rank demanded. Lady Anna, therefore, under +her mother's dictation, wrote the following reply:-- + + + Wyndham Street, 3rd August, 183--. + + DEAR MRS. LOVEL, + + I shall be happy to accept your kind invitation to Yoxham, + but can hardly do so before the 10th. On that day I will + leave London for York inside the mail-coach. Perhaps you + can be kind enough to have me met where the coach stops. + As you are so good as to say you can take her in, I will + bring my own maid. + + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +"But, mamma, I don't want a maid," said the girl, who had never been +waited on in her life, and who had more often than not made her +mother's bed and her own till they had come up to London. + +"Nevertheless you shall take one. You will have to make other changes +besides that; and the sooner that you begin to make them the easier +they will be to you." + +Then at once the Countess made a pilgrimage to Mr. Goffe in search of +funds wherewith to equip her girl properly for her new associations. +She was to go, as Lady Anna Lovel, to stay with Mrs. Lovel and +Miss Lovel and the little Lovels. And she was to go as one who was +to be the chosen bride of Earl Lovel. Of course she must be duly +caparisoned. Mr. Goffe made difficulties,--as lawyers always do,--but +the needful money was at last forthcoming. Representations had been +made in high legal quarters,--to the custodians for the moment of the +property which was to go to the established heir of the late Earl. +They had been made conjointly by Goffe and Goffe, and Norton and +Flick, and the money was forthcoming. Mr. Goffe suggested that a +great deal could not be wanted all at once for the young lady's +dress. The Countess smiled as she answered, "You hardly know, Mr. +Goffe, the straits to which we have been reduced. If I tell you that +this dress which I have on is the only one in which I can fitly +appear even in your chambers, perhaps you will think that I demean +myself." Mr. Goffe was touched, and signed a sufficient cheque. They +were going to succeed, and then everything would be easy. Even if +they did not succeed, he could get it passed in the accounts. And if +not that--well, he had run greater risks than this for clients whose +causes were of much less interest than this of the Countess and her +daughter. + +The Countess had mentioned her own gown, and had spoken strict truth +in what she had said of it;--but not a shilling of Mr. Goffe's +money went to the establishment of a wardrobe for herself. That her +daughter should go down to Yoxham Rectory in a manner befitting the +daughter of Earl Lovel was at this moment her chief object. Things +were purchased by which the poor girl, unaccustomed to such finery, +was astounded and almost stupefied. Two needlewomen were taken +in at the lodgings in Wyndham Street; parcels from Swan and +Edgar's,--Marshall and Snellgrove were not then, or at least had not +loomed to the grandeur of an entire block of houses,--addressed to +Lady Anna Lovel, were frequent at the door, somewhat to the disgust +of the shopmen, who did not like to send goods to Lady Anna Lovel in +Wyndham Street. But ready money was paid, and the parcels came home. +Lady Anna, poor girl, was dismayed much by the parcels, but she was +at her wits' end when the lady's-maid came,--a young lady, herself +so sweetly attired that Lady Anna would have envied her in the old +Cumberland days. "I shall not know what to say to her, mamma," said +Lady Anna. + +"It will all come in two days, if you will only be equal to the +occasion," said the Countess, who in providing her child with this +expensive adjunct, had made some calculation that the more her +daughter was made to feel the luxuries of aristocratic life, the less +prone would she be to adapt herself to the roughnesses of Daniel +Thwaite the tailor. + +The Countess put her daughter into the mail-coach, and gave her much +parting advice. "Hold up your head when you are with them. That is +all that you have to do. Among them all your blood will be the best." +This theory of blood was one of which Lady Anna had never been able +even to realise the meaning. "And remember this too;--that you are in +truth the most wealthy. It is they that should honour you. Of course +you will be courteous and gentle with them,--it is your nature; but +do not for a moment allow yourself to be conscious that you are their +inferior." Lady Anna,--who could think but little of her birth,--to +whom it had been throughout her life a thing plaguesome rather than +profitable,--could remember only what she had been in Cumberland, +and her binding obligation to the tailor's son. She could remember +but that and the unutterable sweetness of the young man who had once +appeared before her,--to whom she knew that she must be inferior. +"Hold up your head among them, and claim your own always," said the +Countess. + +The rectory carriage was waiting for her at the inn yard in York, and +in it was Miss Lovel. When the hour had come it was thought better +that the wise woman of the family should go than any other. For the +ladies of Yoxham were quite as anxious as to the Lady Anna as was she +in respect of them. What sort of a girl was this that they were to +welcome among them as the Lady Anna,--who had lived all her life with +tailors, and with a mother of whom up to quite a late date they had +thought all manner of evil? The young lord had reported well of her, +saying that she was not only beautiful, but feminine, of soft modest +manners, and in all respects like a lady. The Earl, however, was but +a young man, likely to be taken by mere beauty; and it might be that +the girl had been clever enough to hoodwink him. So much evil had +been believed that a report stating that all was good could not be +accepted at once as true. Miss Lovel would be sure to find out, even +in the space of an hour's drive, and Miss Lovel went to meet her. She +did not leave the carriage, but sent the footman to help Lady Anna +Lovel from the coach. "My dear," said Miss Lovel, "I am very glad +to see you. Oh, you have brought a maid! We didn't think you would. +There is a seat behind which she can occupy." + +"Mamma thought it best. I hope it is not wrong, Mrs. Lovel." + +"I ought to have introduced myself. I am Miss Lovel, and the rector +of Yoxham is my brother. It does not signify about the maid in the +least. We can do very well with her. I suppose she has been with you +a long time." + +"No, indeed;--she only came the day before yesterday." And so Miss +Lovel learned the whole story of the lady's-maid. + +Lady Anna said very little, but Miss Lovel explained a good many +things during the journey. The young lord was not at Yoxham. He was +with a friend in Scotland, but would be home about the 20th. The two +boys were at home for the holidays, but would go back to school in a +fortnight. Minnie Lovel, the daughter, had a governess. The rectory, +for a parsonage, was a tolerably large house, and convenient. It had +been Lord Lovel's early home, but at present he was not much there. +"He thinks it right to go to Lovel Grange during a part of the +autumn. I suppose you have seen Lovel Grange." + +"Never." + +"Oh, indeed. But you lived near it;--did you not?" + +"No, not near;--about fifteen miles, I think. I was born there, but +have never been there since I was a baby." + +"Oh!--you were born there. Of course you know that it is Lord Lovel's +seat now. I do not know that he likes it, though the scenery is +magnificent. But a landlord has to live, at least for some period of +the year, upon his property. You saw my nephew." + +"Yes; he came to us once." + +"I hope you liked him. We think him very nice. But then he is almost +the same as a son here. Do you care about visiting the poor?" + +"I have never tried," said Lady Anna. + +"Oh dear!" + +"We have been so poor ourselves;--we were just one of them." Then +Miss Lovel perceived that she had made a mistake. But she was +generous enough to recognize the unaffected simplicity of the girl, +and almost began to think well of her. + +"I hope you will come round the parish with us. We shall be very +glad. Yoxham is a large parish, with scattered hamlets, and there is +plenty to do. The manufactories are creeping up to us, and we have +already a large mill at Yoxham Lock. My brother has to keep two +curates now. Here we are, my dear, and I hope we shall be able to +make you happy." + +Mrs. Lovel did not like the maid, and Mr. Lovel did not like it at +all. "And yet we heard when we were up in town that they literally +had not anything to live on," said the parson. "I hope that, after +all, we may not be making fools of ourselves." But there was no help +for it, and the maid was of course taken in. + +The children had been instructed to call their cousin Lady +Anna,--unless they heard their mother drop the title, and then they +were to drop it also. They were not so young but what they had all +heard the indiscreet vigour with which their father had ridiculed the +claim to the title, and had been something at a loss to know whence +the change had come. "Perhaps they are as they call themselves," the +rector had said, "and, if so, heaven forbid that we should not give +them their due." After this the three young ones, discussing the +matter among themselves, had made up their minds that Lady Anna was +no cousin of theirs,--but "a humbug." When, however, they saw her +their hearts relented, and the girl became soft, and the boys became +civil. "Papa," said Minnie Lovel, on the second day, "I hope she is +our cousin." + +"I hope so too, my dear." + +"I think she is. She looks as if she ought to be because she is so +pretty." + +"Being pretty, my dear, is not enough. You should love people because +they are good." + +"But I would not like all the good people to be my cousins;--would +you, papa? Old widow Grimes is a very good old woman; but I don't +want to have her for a cousin." + +"My dear, you are talking about what you don't understand." + +But Minnie did in truth understand the matter better than her father. +Before three or four days had passed she knew that their guest was +lovable,--whether cousin or no cousin; and she knew also that the +newcomer was of such nature and breeding as made her fit to be a +cousin. All the family had as yet called her Lady Anna, but Minnie +thought that the time had come in which she might break through the +law. "I think I should like to call you just Anna, if you will let +me," she said. They two were in the guest's bedroom, and Minnie was +leaning against her new friend's shoulder. + +"Oh, I do so wish you would. I do so hate to be called Lady." + +"But you are Lady Anna,--arn't you?" + +"And you are Miss Mary Lovel, but you wouldn't like everybody in the +house to call you so. And then there has been so much said about it +all my life, that it makes me quite unhappy. I do so wish your mamma +wouldn't call me Lady Anna." Whereupon Minnie very demurely explained +that she could not answer for her mamma, but that she would always +call her friend Anna,--when papa wasn't by. + +But Minnie was better than her promise. "Mamma," she said the next +day, "do you know that she hates to be called Lady Anna." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"I am sure of it. She told me so. Everybody has always been talking +about it ever since she was born, and she says she is so sick of it." + +"But, my dear, people must be called by their names. If it is her +proper name she ought not to hate it. I can understand that people +should hate an assumed name." + +"I am Miss Mary Lovel, but I should not at all like it if everybody +called me Miss Mary. The servants call me Miss Mary, but if papa and +aunt Julia did so, I should think they were scolding me." + +"But Lady Anna is not papa's daughter." + +"She is his cousin. Isn't she his cousin, mamma? I don't think people +ought to call their cousins Lady Anna. I have promised that I won't. +Cousin Frederic said that she was his cousin. What will he call her?" + +"I cannot tell, my dear. We shall all know her better by that time." +Mrs. Lovel, however, followed her daughter's lead, and from that time +the poor girl was Anna to all of them,--except to the rector. He +listened, and thought that he would try it; but his heart failed him. +He would have preferred that she should be an impostor, were that +still possible. He would so much have preferred that she should not +exist at all! He did not care for her beauty. He did not feel the +charm of her simplicity. It was one of the hardships of the world +that he should be forced to have her there in his rectory. The Lovel +wealth was indispensable to the true heir of the Lovels, and on +behalf of his nephew and his family he had been induced to consent; +but he could not love the interloper. He still dreamed of coming +surprises that would set the matter right in a manner that would be +much preferable to a marriage. The girl might be innocent,--as his +wife and sister told him; but he was sure that the mother was an +intriguing woman. It would be such a pity that they should have +entertained the girl, if,--after all,--the woman should at last be +but a pseudo-countess! As others had ceased to call her Lady Anna, +he could not continue to do so; but he managed to live on with her +without calling her by any name. + +In the meantime Cousin Anna went about among the poor with Minnie +and Aunt Julia, and won golden opinions. She was soft, feminine, +almost humble,--but still with a dash of humour in her, when she was +sufficiently at her ease with them to be happy. There was very much +in the life which she thoroughly enjoyed. The green fields, and the +air which was so pleasant to her after the close heat of the narrow +London streets, and the bright parsonage garden, and the pleasant +services of the country church,--and doubtless also the luxuries of +a rich, well-ordered household. Those calculations of her mother had +not been made without a true basis. The softness, the niceness, the +ease, the grace of the people around her, won upon her day by day, +and hour by hour. The pleasant idleness of the drawing-room, with its +books and music, and unstrained chatter of family voices, grew upon +her as so many new charms. To come down with bright ribbons and clean +unruffled muslin to breakfast, with nothing to do which need ruffle +them unbecomingly, and then to dress for dinner with silk and gauds, +before ten days were over, had made life beautiful to her. She seemed +to live among roses and perfumes. There was no stern hardness in the +life, as there had of necessity been in that which she had ever lived +with her mother. The caresses of Minnie Lovel soothed and warmed her +heart;--and every now and again, when the eyes of Aunt Julia were not +upon her, she was tempted to romp with the boys. Oh! that they had +really been her brothers! + +But in the midst of all there was ever present to her the prospect of +some coming wretchedness. The life which she was leading could not +be her life. That Earl was coming,--that young Apollo,--and he would +again ask her to be his wife. She knew that she could not be his +wife. She was there, as she understood well, that she might give all +this wealth that was to be hers to the Lovel family; and when she +refused to give herself,--as the only way in which that wealth could +be conveyed,--they would turn her out from their pleasant home. +Then she must go back to the other life, and be the wife of Daniel +Thwaite; and soft things must be at an end with her. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE EARL ARRIVES. + + +At the end of a fortnight the boys had gone back to school, and Lord +Lovel was to reach the rectory in time for dinner that evening. There +was a little stir throughout the rectory, as an earl is an earl +though he be in his uncle's house, and rank will sway even aunts +and cousins. The parson at present was a much richer man than the +peer;--but the peer was at the head of all the Lovels, and then it +was expected that his poverty would quickly be made to disappear. +All that Lovel money which had been invested in bank shares, Indian +railways, Russian funds, Devon consols, and coal mines, was to become +his,--if not in one way, then in another. The Earl was to be a +topping man, and the rectory cook was ordered to do her best. The big +bedroom had been made ready, and the parson looked at his '99 port +and his '16 Margaux. In those days men drank port, and champagne at +country houses was not yet a necessity. To give the rector of Yoxham +his due it must be said of him that he would have done his very best +for the head of his family had there been no large fortune within the +young lord's grasp. The Lovels had ever been true to the Lovels, with +the exception of that late wretched Earl,--the Lady Anna's father. + +But if the rector and his wife were alive to the importance of the +expected arrival, what must have been the state of Lady Anna! They +had met but once before, and during that meeting they had been alone +together. There had grown up, she knew not how, during those few +minutes, a heavenly sweetness between them. He had talked to her with +a voice that had been to her ears as the voice of a god,--it had been +so sweet and full of music! He had caressed her,--but with a caress +so gentle and pure that it had been to her void of all taint of evil. +It had perplexed her for a moment,--but had left no sense of wrong +behind it. He had told her that he loved her,--that he would love +her dearly; but had not scared her in so telling her, though she +knew she could never give him back such love as that of which he +spoke to her. There had been a charm in it, of which she delighted +to dream,--fancying that she could remember it for ever, as a green +island in her life; but could so best remember it if she were assured +that she should never see him more. But now she was to see him again, +and the charm must be renewed,--or else the dream dispelled for +ever. Alas! it must be the latter. She knew that the charm must be +dispelled. + +But there was a doubt on her own mind whether it would not be +dispelled without any effort on her part. It would vanish at once +if he were to greet her as the Lovels had greeted her on her first +coming. She could partly understand that the manner of their meeting +in London had thrust upon him a necessity for flattering tenderness +with which he might well dispense when he met her among his family. +Had he really loved her,--had he meant to love her,--he would hardly +have been absent so long after her coming. She had been glad that +he had been absent,--so she assured herself,--because there could +never be any love between them. Daniel Thwaite had told her that +the brotherly love which had been offered was false love,--must be +false,--was no love at all. Do brothers marry sisters; and had not +this man already told her that he wished to make her his wife? And +then there must never be another kiss. Daniel Thwaite had told her +that; and he was, not only her lover, but her master also. This was +the rule by which she would certainly hold. She would be true to +Daniel Thwaite. And yet she looked for the lord's coming, as one +looks for the rising of the sun of an early morning,--watching for +that which shall make all the day beautiful. + +And he came. The rector and his wife, and Aunt Julia and Minnie, all +went out into the hall to meet him, and Anna was left alone in the +library, where they were wont to congregate before dinner. It was +already past seven, and every one was dressed. A quarter of an hour +was to be allowed to the lord, and he was to be hurried up at once to +his bedroom. She would not see him till he came down ready, and all +hurried, to lead his aunt to the dining-room. She heard the scuffle +in the hall. There were kisses;--and a big kiss from Minnie to her +much-prized Cousin Fred; and a loud welcome from the full-mouthed +rector. "And where is Anna?"--the lord asked. They were the first +words he spoke, and she heard them, ah! so plainly. It was the same +voice,--sweet, genial, and manly; sweet to her beyond all sweetness +that she could conceive. + +"You shall see her when you come down from dressing," said Mrs. +Lovel,--in a low voice, but still audible to the solitary girl. + +"I will see her before I go up to dress," said the lord, walking +through them, and in through the open door to the library. "So, here +you are. I am so glad to see you! I had sworn to go into Scotland +before the time was fixed for your coming,--before I had met +you,--and I could not escape. Have you thought ill of me because I +have not been here to welcome you sooner?" + +"No,--my lord." + +"There are horrible penalties for anybody who calls me lord in this +house;--are there not, Aunt Jane? But I see my uncle wants his +dinner." + +"I'll take you up-stairs, Fred," said Minnie, who was still holding +her cousin's hand. + +"I am coming. I will only say that I would sooner see you here than +in any house in England." + +Then he went, and during the few minutes that he spent in dressing +little or nothing was spoke in the library. The parson in his heart +was not pleased by the enthusiasm with which the young man greeted +this new cousin; and yet, why should he not be enthusiastic if it was +intended that they should be man and wife? + +"Now, Lady Anna," said the rector, as he offered her his arm to lead +her out to dinner. It was but a mild corrective to the warmth of his +nephew. The lord lingered a moment with his aunt in the library. + +"Have you not got beyond that with her yet?" he asked. + +"Your uncle is more old fashioned than you are, Fred. Things did not +go so quick when he was young." + +In the evening he came and lounged on a double-seated ottoman behind +her, and she soon found herself answering a string of questions. Had +she been happy at Yoxham? Did she like the place? What had she been +doing? "Then you know Mrs. Grimes already?" She laughed as she said +that she did know Mrs. Grimes. "The lion of Yoxham is Mrs. Grimes. +She is supposed to have all the misfortunes and all the virtues to +which humanity is subject. And how do you and Minnie get on? Minnie +is my prime minister. The boys, I suppose, teased you out of your +life?" + +"I did like them so much! I never knew a boy till I saw them, Lord +Lovel." + +"They take care to make themselves known, at any rate. But they are +nice, good-humoured lads,--taking after their mother. Don't tell +their father I said so. Do you think it pretty about here?" + +"Beautifully pretty." + +"Just about Yoxham,--because there is so much wood. But this is not +the beautiful part of Yorkshire, you know. I wonder whether we could +make an expedition to Wharfedale and Bolton Abbey. You would say that +the Wharfe was pretty. We'll try and plan it. We should have to sleep +out one night; but that would make it all the jollier. There isn't a +better inn in England than the Devonshire arms;--and I don't think a +pleasanter spot. Aunt Jane,--couldn't we go for one night to Bolton +Abbey?" + +"It is very far, Frederic." + +"Thirty miles or so;--that ought to be nothing in Yorkshire. We'll +manage it. We could get post-horses from York, and the carriage +would take us all. My uncle, you must know, is very chary about +the carriage horses, thinking that the corn of idleness,--which is +destructive to young men and women,--is very good for cattle. But +we'll manage it, and you shall jump over the Stryd." Then he told +her the story how the youth was drowned--and how the monks moaned; +and he got away to other legends, to the white doe of Rylston, and +Landseer's picture of the abbey in olden times. She had heard nothing +before of these things,--or indeed of such things, and the hearing +them was very sweet to her. The parson, who was still displeased, +went to sleep. Minnie had been sent to bed, and Aunt Julia and Aunt +Jane every now and again put in a word. It was resolved before the +evening was over that the visit should be made to Bolton Abbey. Of +course, their nephew ought to have opportunities of making love to +the girl he was doomed to marry. "Good night, dearest," he said when +she went to bed. She was sure that the last word had been so spoken, +and that no ear but her own had heard it. She could not tell him +that such word should not be spoken; and yet she felt that the word +would be almost as offensive as the kiss to Daniel Thwaite. She must +contrive some means of telling him that she could not, would not, +must not be his dearest. + +She had now received two letters from her mother since she had been +at Yoxham, and in each of them there were laid down for her plain +instructions as to her conduct. It was now the middle of August, and +it was incumbent upon her to allow matters so to arrange themselves, +that the marriage might be declared to be a settled thing when the +case should come on in November. Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick had met +each other, and everything was now understood by the two parties of +lawyers. If the Earl and Lady Anna were then engaged with the mutual +consent of all interested,--and so engaged that a day could be fixed +for the wedding,--then, when the case was opened in court, would the +Solicitor-General declare that it was the intention of Lord Lovel +to make no further opposition to the claims of the Countess and her +daughter, and it would only remain for Serjeant Bluestone to put in +the necessary proofs of the Cumberland marriage and of the baptism +of Lady Anna. The Solicitor-General would at the same time state +to the court that an alliance had been arranged between these +distant cousins, and that in that way everything would be settled. +But,--and in this clause of her instructions the Countess was most +urgent,--this could not be done unless the marriage were positively +settled. Mr. Flick had been very urgent in pointing out to Mr. Goffe +that in truth their evidence was very strong to prove that when +the Earl married the now so-called Countess, his first wife was +still living, though they gave no credit to the woman who now +called herself the Countess. But, in either case,--whether the +Italian countess were now alive or now dead,--the daughter would be +illegitimate, and the second marriage void, if their surmise on this +head should prove to be well founded. But the Italian party could of +itself do nothing, and the proposed marriage would set everything +right. But the evidence must be brought into court and further +sifted, unless the marriage were a settled thing by November. All +this the Countess explained at great length in her letters, calling +upon her daughter to save herself, her mother, and the family. + +Lady Anna answered the first epistle,--or rather, wrote another in +return to it;--but she said nothing of her noble lover, except that +Lord Lovel had not as yet come to Yoxham. She confined herself to +simple details of her daily life, and a prayer that her dear mother +might be happy. The second letter from the Countess was severe in its +tone,--asking why no promise had been made, no assurance given,--no +allusion made to the only subject that could now be of interest. She +implored her child to tell her that she was disposed to listen to the +Earl's suit. This letter was in her pocket when the Earl arrived, and +she took it out and read it again after the Earl had whispered in her +ear that word so painfully sweet. + +She proposed to answer it before breakfast on the following morning. +At Yoxham rectory they breakfasted at ten, and she was always up at +least before eight. She determined as she laid herself down that she +would think of it all night. It might be best, she believed, to tell +her mother the whole truth,--that she had already promised everything +to Daniel Thwaite, and that she could not go back from her word. Then +she began to build castles in the air,--castles which she declared to +herself must ever be in the air,--of which Lord Lovel, and not Daniel +Thwaite, was the hero, owner, and master. She assured herself that +she was not picturing to herself any prospect of a really possible +life, but was simply dreaming of an impossible Elysium. How many +people would she make happy, were she able to let that young +Phoebus know in one half-uttered word,--or with a single silent +glance,--that she would in truth be his dearest. It could not be so. +She was well aware of that. But surely she might dream of it. All the +cares of that careful, careworn mother would then be at an end. How +delightful would it be to her to welcome that sorrowful one to her +own bright home, and to give joy where joy had never yet been known! +How all the lawyers would praise her, and tell her that she had saved +a noble family from ruin. She already began to have feelings about +the family to which she had been a stranger before she had come among +the Lovels. And if it really would make him happy, this Phoebus, +how glorious would that be! How fit he was to be made happy! Daniel +had said that he was sordid, false, fraudulent, and a fool;--but +Daniel did not, could not, understand the nature of the Lovels. And +then she herself;--how would it be with her? She had given her heart +to Daniel Thwaite, and she had but one heart to give. Had it not been +for that, it would have been very sweet to love that young curled +darling. There were two sorts of life, and now she had had an insight +into each. Daniel had told her that this soft, luxurious life was +thoroughly bad. He could not have known when saying so, how much +was done for their poor neighbours by such as even these Lovels. It +could not be wrong to be soft, and peaceful, and pretty, to enjoy +sweet smells, to sit softly, and eat off delicately painted china +plates,--as long as no one was defrauded, and many were comforted. +Daniel Thwaite, she believed, never went to church. Here at Yoxham +there were always morning prayers, and they went to church twice +every Sunday. She had found it very pleasant to go to church, and to +be led along in the easy path of self-indulgent piety on which they +all walked at Yoxham. The church seats at Yoxham were broad, with +soft cushions, and the hassocks were well stuffed. Surely, Daniel +Thwaite did not know everything. As she thus built her castles in the +air,--castles so impossible to be inhabited,--she fell asleep before +she had resolved what letter she should write. + +But in the morning she did write her letter. It must be written,--and +when the family were about the house, she would be too disturbed for +so great an effort. It ran as follows:-- + + + Yoxham, Friday. + + DEAREST MAMMA, + + I am much obliged for your letter, which I got the + day before yesterday. Lord Lovel came here yesterday, + or perhaps I might have answered it then. Everybody + here seems to worship him almost, and he is so good to + everybody! We are all to go on a visit to Bolton Abbey, + and sleep at an inn somewhere, and I am sure I shall like + it very much, for they say it is most beautiful. If you + look at the map, it is nearly in a straight line between + here and Kendal, but only much nearer to York. The day is + not fixed yet, but I believe it will be very soon. + + I shall be so glad if the lawsuit can be got over, for + your sake, dearest mamma. I wish they could let you have + your title and your share of the money, and let Lord Lovel + have the rest, because he is head of the family. That + would be fairest, and I can't see why it should not be so. + Your share would be quite enough for you and me. I can't + say anything about what you speak of. He has said nothing, + and I'm sure I hope he won't. I don't think I could do it; + and I don't think the lawyers ought to want me to. I think + it is very wrong of them to say so. We are strangers, and + I feel almost sure that I could never be what he would + want. I don't think people ought to marry for money. + + Dearest mamma, pray do not be angry with me. If you are, + you will kill me. I am very happy here, and nobody has + said anything about my going away. Couldn't you ask + Serjeant Bluestone whether something couldn't be done to + divide the money, so that there might be no more law? I am + sure he could if he liked, with Mr. Goffe and the other + men. + + Dearest mamma, I am, + Your most affectionate Daughter, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +When the moment came, and the pen was in her hand, she had not +the courage to mention the name of Daniel Thwaite. She knew that +the fearful story must be told, but at this moment she comforted +herself,--or tried to comfort herself,--by remembering that Daniel +himself had enjoined that their engagement must yet for a while be +kept secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WHARFEDALE. + + +The visit to Wharfedale was fixed for Monday and Tuesday, and on the +Monday morning they started, after an early breakfast. The party +consisted of Aunt Jane, Aunt Julia, Lady Anna, Minnie, and Mr. Cross, +one of the rector's curates. The rector would not accompany them, +excusing himself to the others generally on the ground that he could +not be absent from his parish on those two days. To his wife and +sister he explained that he was not able, as yet, to take pleasure in +such a party as this with Lady Anna. There was no knowing, he said, +what might happen. It was evident that he did not mean to open his +heart to Lady Anna, at any rate till the marriage should be settled. + +An open carriage, which would take them all, was ordered,--with four +post horses, and two antiquated postboys, with white hats and blue +jackets, and yellow breeches. Minnie and the curate sat on the box, +and there was a servant in the rumble. Rooms at the inn had been +ordered, and everything was done in proper lordly manner. The sun +shone brightly above their heads, and Anna, having as yet received +no further letter from her mother, was determined to be happy. Four +horses took them to Bolton Bridge, and then, having eaten lunch and +ordered dinner, they started for their ramble in the woods. + +The first thing to be seen at Bolton Abbey is, of course, the Abbey. +The Abbey itself, as a ruin,--a ruin not so ruinous but that a part +of it is used for a modern church,--is very well; but the glory of +Bolton Abbey is in the river which runs round it and in the wooded +banks which overhang it. No more luxuriant pasture, no richer +foliage, no brighter water, no more picturesque arrangement of the +freaks of nature, aided by the art and taste of man, is to be found, +perhaps, in England. Lady Anna, who had been used to wilder scenery +in her native county, was delighted. Nothing had ever been so +beautiful as the Abbey;--nothing so lovely as the running Wharfe! +Might they not climb up among those woods on the opposite bank? +Lord Lovel declared that, of course they would climb up among the +woods,--it was for that purpose they had come. That was the way to +the Stryd,--over which he was determined that Lady Anna should be +made to jump. + +But the river below the Abbey is to be traversed by stepping-stones, +which, to the female uninitiated foot, appear to be full of danger. +The Wharfe here is no insignificant brook, to be overcome by a long +stride and a jump. There is a causeway, of perhaps forty stones, +across it, each some eighteen inches distant from the other, which, +flat and excellent though they be, are perilous from their number. +Mrs. Lovel, who knew the place of old, had begun by declaring that +no consideration should induce her to cross the water. Aunt Julia +had proposed that they should go along the other bank, on the Abbey +side of the river, and thence cross by the bridge half a mile up. +But the Earl was resolved that he would take his cousin over the +stepping-stones; and Minnie and the curate were equally determined. +Minnie, indeed, had crossed the river, and was back again, while the +matter was still being discussed. Aunt Julia, who was strong-limbed, +as well as strong-minded, at last assented, the curate having +promised all necessary aid. Mrs. Lovel seated herself at a distance +to see the exploit; and then Lord Lovel started, with Lady Anna, +turning at every stone to give a hand to his cousin. + +"Oh, they are very dreadful!" said Lady Anna, when about a dozen had +been passed. + +The black water was flowing fast, fast beneath her feet; the stones +became smaller and smaller to her imagination, and the apertures +between them broader and broader. + +"Don't look at the water, dear," said the lord, "but come on quick." + +"I can't come on quick. I shall never get over. Oh, Frederic!" That +morning she had promised that she would call him Frederic. Even +Daniel could not think it wrong that she should call her cousin +by his Christian name. "It's no good, I can't do that one,--it's +crooked. Mayn't I go back again?" + +"You can't go back, dear. It is only up to your knees, if you do +go in. But take my hand. There,--all the others are straight,--you +must come on, or Aunt Julia will catch us. After two or three times, +you'll hop over like a milkmaid. There are only half-a-dozen more. +Here we are. Isn't that pretty?" + +"I thought I never should have got over. I wouldn't go back for +anything. But it is lovely; and I am so much obliged to you for +bringing me here. We can go back another way?" + +"Oh, yes;--but now we'll get up the bank. Give me your hand." Then +he took her along the narrow, twisting, steep paths, to the top of +the wooded bank, and they were soon beyond the reach of Aunt Julia, +Minnie, and the curate. + +It was very pleasant, very lovely, and very joyous; but there was +still present to her mind some great fear. The man was there with her +as an acknowledged lover,--a lover, acknowledged to be so by all but +herself; but she could not lawfully have any lover but him who was +now slaving at his trade in London. She must tell this gallant lord +that he must not be her lover; and, as they went along, she was +always meditating how she might best tell him, when the moment for +telling him should come. But on that morning, during the entire walk, +he said no word to her which seemed quite to justify the telling. He +called her by sweet, petting names,--Anna, my girl, pretty coz, and +such like. He would hold her hand twice longer than he would have +held that of either aunt in helping her over this or that little +difficulty,--and would help her when no help was needed. He talked to +her, of small things, as though he and she must needs have kindred +interests. He spoke to her of his uncle as though, near as his uncle +was, the connection were not nigh so close as that between him and +her. She understood it with a half understanding,--feeling that in +all this he was in truth making love to her, and yet telling herself +that he said no more than cousinship might warrant. But the autumn +colours were bright, and the river rippled, and the light breeze +came down from the mountains, and the last of the wild flowers were +still sweet in the woods. After a while she was able to forget her +difficulties, to cease to think of Daniel, and to find in her cousin, +not a lover, but simply the pleasantest friend that fortune had ever +sent her. + +And so they came, all alone,--for Aunt Julia, though both limbs and +mind were strong, had not been able to keep up with them,--all alone +to the Stryd. The Stryd is a narrow gully or passage, which the +waters have cut for themselves in the rocks, perhaps five or six +feet broad, where the river passes, but narrowed at the top by an +overhanging mass which in old days withstood the wearing of the +stream, till the softer stone below was cut away, and then was left +bridging over a part of the chasm below. There goes a story that a +mountain chieftain's son, hunting the stag across the valley when the +floods were out, in leaping the stream, from rock to rock, failed to +make good his footing, was carried down by the rushing waters, and +dashed to pieces among the rocks. Lord Lovel told her the tale, as +they sat looking at the now innocent brook, and then bade her follow +him as he leaped from edge to edge. + +"I couldn't do it;--indeed, I couldn't," said the shivering girl. + +"It is barely a step," said the Earl, jumping over, and back again. +"Going from this side, you couldn't miss to do it, if you tried." + +"I'm sure I should tumble in. It makes me sick to look at you while +you are leaping." + +"You'd jump over twice the distance on dry ground." + +"Then let me jump on dry ground." + +"I've set my heart upon it. Do you think I'd ask you if I wasn't +sure?" + +"You want to make another legend of me." + +"I want to leave Aunt Julia behind, which we shall certainly do." + +"Oh, but I can't afford to drown myself just that you may run away +from Aunt Julia. You can run by yourself, and I will wait for Aunt +Julia." + +"That is not exactly my plan. Be a brave girl, now, and stand up, and +do as I bid you." + +Then she stood up on the edge of the rock, holding tight by his arm. +How pleasant it was to be thus frightened, with such a protector near +her to insure her safety! And yet the chasm yawned, and the water ran +rapid and was very black. But if he asked her to make the spring, of +course she must make it. What would she not have done at his bidding? + +"I can almost touch you, you see," he said, as he stood opposite, +with his arm out ready to catch her hand. + +"Oh, Frederic, I don't think I can." + +"You can very well, if you will only jump." + +"It is ever so many yards." + +"It is three feet. I'll back Aunt Julia to do it for a promise of ten +shillings to the infirmary." + +"I'll give the ten shillings, if you'll only let me off." + +"I won't let you off,--so you might as well come at once." + +Then she stood and shuddered for a moment, looking with beseeching +eyes up into his face. Of course she meant to jump. Of course she +would have been disappointed had Aunt Julia come and interrupted her +jumping. Yes,--she would jump into his arms. She knew that he would +catch her. At that moment her memory of Daniel Thwaite had become +faint as the last shaded glimmer of twilight. She shut her eyes for +half a moment, then opened them, looked into his face, and made her +spring. As she did so, she struck her foot against a rising ledge of +the rock, and, though she covered more than the distance in her leap, +she stumbled as she came to the ground, and fell into his arms. She +had sprained her ankle, in her effort to recover herself. + +"Are you hurt?" he asked, holding her close to his side. + +"No;--I think not;--only a little, that is. I was so awkward." + +"I shall never forgive myself if you are hurt." + +"There is nothing to forgive. I'll sit down for a moment. It was my +own fault because I was so stupid,--and it does not in the least +signify. I know what it is now; I've sprained my ankle." + +"There is nothing so painful as that." + +"It hurts a little, but it will go off. It wasn't the jump, but I +twisted my foot somehow. If you look so unhappy, I'll get up and jump +back again." + +"I am unhappy, dearest." + +"Oh, but you mustn't." The prohibition might be taken as applying to +the epithet of endearment, and thereby her conscience be satisfied. +Then he bent over her, looking anxiously into her face as she winced +with the pain, and he took her hand and kissed it. "Oh, no," she +said, gently struggling to withdraw the hand which he held. "Here is +Aunt Julia. You had better just move." Not that she would have cared +a straw for the eyes of Aunt Julia, had it not been that the image +of Daniel Thwaite again rose strong before her mind. Then Aunt Julia, +and the curate, and Minnie were standing on the rock within a few +paces of them, but on the other side of the stream. + +"Is there anything the matter?" asked Miss Lovel. + +"She has sprained her ankle in jumping over the Stryd, and she cannot +walk. Perhaps Mr. Cross would not mind going back to the inn and +getting a carriage. The road is only a quarter of a mile above us, +and we could carry her up." + +"How could you be so foolish, Frederic, as to let her jump it?" said +the aunt. + +"Don't mind about my folly now. The thing is to get a carriage for +Anna." The curate immediately hurried back, jumping over the Stryd as +the nearest way to the inn; and Minnie also sprung across the stream +so that she might sit down beside her cousin and offer consolation. +Aunt Julia was left alone, and after a while was forced to walk back +by herself to the bridge. + +"Is she much hurt?" asked Minnie. + +"I am afraid she is hurt," said the lord. + +"Dear, dear Minnie, it does not signify a bit," said Anna, lavishing +on her younger cousin the caresses which fate forbade her to give to +the elder. "I know I could walk home in a few minutes. I am better +now. It is one of those things which go away almost immediately. I'll +try and stand, Frederic, if you'll let me." Then she raised herself, +leaning upon him, and declared that she was nearly well,--and then +was reseated, still leaning on him. + +"Shall we attempt to get her up to the road, Minnie, or wait till Mr. +Cross comes to help us?" Lady Anna declared that she did not want any +help,--certainly not Mr. Cross's help, and that she could do very +well, just with Minnie's arm. They waited there sitting on the rocks +for half an hour, saying but little to each other, throwing into the +stream the dry bits of stick which the last flood had left upon the +stones, and each thinking how pleasant it was to sit there and dream, +listening to the running waters. Then Lady Anna hobbled up to the +carriage road, helped by a stronger arm than that of her cousin +Minnie. + +Of course there was some concern and dismay at the inn. Embrocations +were used, and doctors were talked of, and heads were shaken, and a +couch in the sitting-room was prepared, so that the poor injured one +might eat her dinner without being driven to the solitude of her own +bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +FOR EVER. + + +On the next morning the poor injured one was quite well,--but she +was still held to be subject to piteous concern. The two aunts +shook their heads when she said that she would walk down to the +stepping-stones that morning, before starting for Yoxham; but she was +quite sure that the sprain was gone, and the distance was not above +half a mile. They were not to start till two o'clock. Would Minnie +come down with her, and ramble about among the ruins? + +"Minnie, come out on the lawn," said the lord. "Don't you come with +me and Anna;--you can go where you like about the place by yourself." + +"Why mayn't I come?" + +"Never mind, but do as you're bid." + +"I know. You are going to make love to cousin Anna." + +"You are an impertinent little imp." + +"I am so glad, Frederic, because I do like her. I was sure she was a +real cousin. Don't you think she is very,--very nice?" + +"Pretty well." + +"Is that all?" + +"You go away and don't tease,--or else I'll never bring you to the +Stryd again." So it happened that Lord Lovel and Lady Anna went +across the meadow together, down to the river, and sauntered along +the margin till they came to the stepping-stones. He passed over, and +she followed him, almost without a word. Her heart was so full, that +she did not think now of the water running at her feet. It had hardly +seemed to her to make any difficulty as to the passage. She must +follow him whither he would lead her, but her mind misgave her,--that +they would not return sweet loving friends as they went out. "We +won't climb," said he, "because it might try your ankle too much. But +we will go in here by the meadow. I always think this is one of the +prettiest views there is," he said, throwing himself upon the grass. + +"It is all prettiest. It is like fairy land. Does the Duke let people +come here always?" + +"Yes, I fancy so." + +"He must be very good-natured. Do you know the Duke?" + +"I never saw him in my life." + +"A duke sounds so awful to me." + +"You'll get used to them some day. Won't you sit down?" Then she +glided down to the ground at a little distance from him, and he at +once shifted his place so as to be almost close to her. "Your foot is +quite well?" + +"Quite well." + +"I thought for a few minutes that there was going to be some dreadful +accident, and I was so mad with myself for having made you jump it. +If you had broken your leg, how would you have borne it?" + +"Like other people, I suppose." + +"Would you have been angry with me?" + +"I hope not. I am sure not. You were doing the best you could to give +me pleasure. I don't think I should have been angry at all. I don't +think we are ever angry with the people we really like." + +"Do you really like me?" + +"Yes;--I like you." + +"Is that all?" + +"Is not that enough?" + +She answered the question as she might have answered it had it been +allowed to her, as to any girl that was free, to toy with his love, +knowing that she meant to accept it. It was easier so, than in any +other way. But her heart within her was sad, and could she have +stopped his further speech by any word rough and somewhat rude, she +would have done so. In truth, she did not know how to answer him +roughly. He deserved from her that all her words should be soft, and +sweet and pleasant. She believed him to be good and generous and kind +and loving. The hard things which Daniel Thwaite had said of him had +all vanished from her mind. To her thinking, it was no sin in him +that he should want her wealth,--he, the Earl, to whom by right the +wealth of the Lovels should belong. The sin was rather hers,--in that +she kept it from him. And then, if she could receive all that he +was willing to give, his heart, his name, his house and home, and +sweet belongings of natural gifts and personal advantages, how much +more would she take than what she gave! She could not speak to him +roughly, though,--alas!--the time had come in which she must speak to +him truly. It was not fitting that a girl should have two lovers. + +"No, dear,--not enough," he said. + +It can hardly be accounted a fault in him that at this time he felt +sure of her love. She had been so soft in her ways with him, so +gracious, yielding, and pretty in her manners, so manifestly pleased +by his company, so prone to lean upon him, that it could hardly be +that he should think otherwise. She had told him, when he spoke to +her more plainly up in London than he had yet done since they had +been together in the country, that she could never, never be his +wife. But what else could a girl say at a first meeting with a +proposed lover? Would he have wished that she should at once have +given herself up without one maidenly scruple, one word of feminine +recusancy? If love's course be made to run too smooth it loses all +its poetry, and half its sweetness. But now they knew each other;--at +least, he thought they did. The scruple might now be put away. The +feminine recusancy had done its work. For himself,--he felt that he +loved her in very truth. She was not harsh or loud,--vulgar, or given +to coarse manners, as might have been expected, and as he had been +warned by his friends that he would find her. That she was very +beautiful, all her enemies had acknowledged,--and he was quite +assured that her enemies had been right. She was the Lady Anna Lovel, +and he felt that he could make her his own without one shade of +regret to mar his triumph. Of the tailor's son,--though he had been +warned of him too,--he made no account whatever. That had been a +slander, which only endeared the girl to him the more;--a slander +against Lady Anna Lovel which had been an insult to his family. Among +all the ladies he knew, daughters of peers and high-bred commoners, +there were none,--there was not one less likely so to disgrace +herself than Lady Anna Lovel, his sweet cousin. + +"Do not think me too hurried, dear, if I speak to you again so soon, +of that of which I spoke once before." He had turned himself round +upon his arm, so as to be very close to her,--so that he would look +full into her face, and, if chance favoured him, could take her hand. +He paused, as though for an answer; but she did not speak to him a +word. "It is not long yet since we first met." + +"Oh, no;--not long." + +"And I know not what your feelings are. But, in very truth, I can say +that I love you dearly. Had nothing else come in the way to bring us +together, I am sure that I should have loved you." She, poor child, +believed him as though he were speaking to her the sweetest gospel. +And he, too, believed himself. He was easy of heart perhaps, but not +deceitful; anxious enough for his position in the world, but not +meanly covetous. Had she been distasteful to him as a woman, he +would have refused to make himself rich by the means that had been +suggested to him. As it was, he desired her as much as her money, and +had she given herself to him then would never have remembered,--would +never have known that the match had been sordid. "Do you believe me?" +he asked. + +"Oh, yes." + +"And shall it be so?" + +Her face had been turned away, but now she slowly moved her neck so +that she could look at him. Should she be false to all her vows, and +try whether happiness might not be gained in that way? The manner +of doing it passed through her mind in that moment. She would write +to Daniel, and remind him of his promise to set her free if she so +willed it. She would never see him again. She would tell him that +she had striven to see things as he would have taught her, and had +failed. She would abuse herself, and ask for his pardon;--but having +thus judged for herself, she would never go back from such judgment. +It might be done,--if only she could persuade herself that it were +good to do it! But, as she thought of it, there came upon her a prick +of conscience so sharp, that she could not welcome the devil by +leaving it unheeded. How could she be foresworn to one who had been +so absolutely good,--whose all had been spent for her and for her +mother,--whose whole life had been one long struggle of friendship on +her behalf,--who had been the only playfellow of her youth, the only +man she had ever ventured to kiss,--the man whom she truly loved? He +had warned her against these gauds which were captivating her spirit, +and now, in the moment of her peril, she would remember his warnings. + +"Shall it be so?" Lord Lovel asked again, just stretching out his +hand, so that he could touch the fold of her garment. + +"It cannot be so," she said. + +"Cannot be!" + +"It cannot be so, Lord Lovel." + +"It cannot now;--or do you mean the word to be for ever?" + +"For ever!" she replied. + +"I know that I have been hurried and sudden," he said,--purposely +passing by her last assurance; "and I do feel that you have a right +to resent the seeming assurance of such haste. But in our case, +dearest, the interests of so many are concerned, the doubts and +fears, the well-being, and even the future conduct of all our friends +are so bound up by the result, that I had hoped you would have +pardoned that which would otherwise have been unpardonable." Oh +heavens;--had it not been for Daniel Thwaite, how full of grace, how +becoming, how laden with flattering courtesy would have been every +word that he had uttered to her! "But," he continued, "if it really +be that you cannot love me--" + +"Oh, Lord Lovel, pray ask of me no further question." + +"I am bound to ask and to know,--for all our sakes." + +Then she rose quickly to her feet, and with altered gait and changed +countenance stood over him. "I am engaged," she said, "to be +married--to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." She had told it all, and felt that +she had told her own disgrace. He rose also, but stood mute before +her. This was the very thing of which they had all warned him, but as +to which he had been so sure that it was not so! She saw it all in +his eyes, reading much more there than he could read in hers. She was +degraded in his estimation, and felt that evil worse almost than the +loss of his love. For the last three weeks she had been a real Lovel +among the Lovels. That was all over now. Let this lawsuit go as it +might, let them give to her all the money, and make the title which +she hated ever so sure, she never again could be the equal friend +of her gentle relative, Earl Lovel. Minnie would never again spring +into her arms, swearing that she would do as she pleased with her +own cousin. She might be Lady Anna, but never Anna again to the two +ladies at the rectory. The perfume of his rank had been just scented, +to be dashed away from her for ever. "It is a secret at present," +she said, "or I should have told you sooner. If it is right that you +should repeat it, of course you must." + +"Oh, Anna!" + +"It is true." + +"Oh, Anna, for your sake as well as mine this makes me wretched +indeed!" + +"As for the money, Lord Lovel, if it be mine to give, you shall have +it." + +"You think then it is that which I have wanted?" + +"It is that which the family wants, and I can understand that it +should be wanted. As for myself,--for mamma and me,--you can hardly +understand how it has been with us when we were young. You despise +Mr. Thwaite,--because he is a tailor." + +"I am sure he is not fit to be the husband of Lady Anna Lovel." + +"When Lady Anna Lovel had no other friend in the world, he sheltered +her and gave her a house to live in, and spent his earnings in her +defence, and would not yield when all those who might have been +her friends strove to wrong her. Where would mamma have been,--and +I,--had there been no Mr. Thwaite to comfort us? He was our only +friend,--he and his father. They were all we had. In my childhood I +had never a kind word from another child,--but only from him. Would +it have been right that he should have asked for anything, and that +I should have refused it?" + +"He should not have asked for this," said Lord Lovel hoarsely. + +"Why not he, as well as you? He is as much a man. If I could believe +in your love after two days, Lord Lovel, could I not trust his after +twenty years of friendship?" + +"You knew that he was beneath you." + +"He was not beneath me. He was above me. We were poor,--while he +and his father had money, which we took. He could give, while we +received. He was strong while we were weak,--and was strong to +comfort us. And then, Lord Lovel, what knew I of rank, living under +his father's wing? They told me I was the Lady Anna, and the children +scouted me. My mother was a countess. So she swore, and I at least +believed her. But if ever rank and title were a profitless burden, +they were to her. Do you think that I had learned then to love my +rank?" + +"You have learned better now." + +"I have learned,--but whether better I may doubt. There are lessons +which are quickly learned; and there are they who say that such are +the devil's lessons. I have not been strong enough not to learn. But +I must forget again, Lord Lovel. And you must forget also." He hardly +knew how to speak to her now;--whether it would be fit for him even +to wish to persuade her to be his, after she had told him that she +had given her troth to a tailor. His uneasy thoughts prompted him +with ideas which dismayed him. Could he take to his heart one who had +been pressed close in so vile a grasp? Could he accept a heart that +had once been promised to a tailor's workman? Would not all the world +know and say that he had done it solely for the money,--even should +he succeed in doing it? And yet to fail in this enterprise,--to +abandon all,--to give up so enticing a road to wealth! Then he +remembered what he had said,--how he had pledged himself to abandon +the lawsuit,--how convinced he had been that this girl was heiress to +the Lovel wealth, who now told him that she had engaged herself to +marry a tailor. + +There was nothing more that either of them could say to the other at +the moment, and they went back in silence to the inn. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE JOURNEY HOME. + + +In absolute silence Lord Lovel and Lady Anna walked back to the inn. +He had been dumbfoundered,--nearly so by her first abrupt statement, +and then altogether by the arguments with which she had defended +herself. She had nothing further to say. She had, indeed, said all, +and had marvelled at her own eloquence while she was speaking. Nor +was there absent from her a certain pride in that she had done the +thing that was right, and had dared to defend herself. She was full +of regrets,--almost of remorse; but, nevertheless, she was proud. He +knew it all now, and one of her great difficulties had been overcome. + +And she was fully resolved that as she had dared to tell him, and +to face his anger, his reproaches, his scorn, she would not falter +before the scorn and the reproaches, or the anger, of the other +Lovels,--of any of the Lovels of Yoxham. Her mother's reproaches +would be dreadful to her; her mother's anger would well-nigh kill +her; her mother's scorn would scorch her very soul. But sufficient +for the day was the evil thereof. At the present moment she could be +strong with the strength she had assumed. So she walked in at the +sitting-room window with a bold front, and the Earl followed her. The +two aunts were there, and it was plain to them both that something +was astray between the lovers. They had said among themselves that +Lady Anna would accept the offer the moment that it was in form +made to her. To their eyes the manner of their guest had been the +manner of a girl eager to be wooed; but they had both imagined that +their delicately nurtured and fastidious nephew might too probably +be offended by some solecism in conduct, some falling away from +feminine grace, such as might too readily be shown by one whose early +life had been subjected to rough associates. Even now it occurred to +each of them that it had been so. The Earl seated himself in a chair, +and took up a book, which they had brought with them. Lady Anna stood +at the open window, looking across at the broad field and the river +bank beyond; but neither of them spoke a word. There had certainly +been some quarrel. Then aunt Julia, in the cause of wisdom, asked a +question;-- + +"Where is Minnie? Did not Minnie go with you?" + +"No," said the Earl. "She went in some other direction at my bidding. +Mr. Cross is with her, I suppose." It was evident from the tone of +his voice that the displeasure of the head of all the Lovels was very +great. + +"We start soon, I suppose?" said Lady Anna. + +"After lunch, my dear; it is hardly one yet." + +"I will go up all the same, and see about my things." + +"Shall I help you, my dear?" asked Mrs. Lovel. + +"Oh, no! I would sooner do it alone." Then she hurried into her room +and burst into a flood of tears, as soon as the door was closed +behind her. + +"Frederic, what ails her?" asked aunt Julia. + +"If anything ails her she must tell you herself," said the lord. + +"Something is amiss. You cannot wonder that we should be anxious, +knowing that we know how great is the importance of all this." + +"I cannot help your anxiety just at present, aunt Julia; but you +should always remember that there will be slips between the cup and +the lip." + +"Then there has been a slip? I knew it would be so. I always said so, +and so did my brother." + +"I wish you would all remember that about such an affair as this, the +less said the better." So saying, the lord walked out through the +window and sauntered down to the river side. + +"It's all over," said aunt Julia. + +"I don't see why we should suppose that at present," said aunt Jane. + +"It's all over. I knew it as soon as I saw her face when she came in. +She has said something, or done something, and it's all off. It will +be a matter of over twenty thousand pounds a year!" + +"He'll be sure to marry somebody with money," said aunt Jane. "What +with his title and his being so handsome, he is certain to do well, +you know." + +"Nothing like that will come in his way. I heard Mr. Flick say that +it was equal to half a million of money. And then it would have been +at once. If he goes up to London, and about, just as he is, he'll +be head over ears in debt before anybody knows what he is doing. I +wonder what it is. He likes pretty girls, and there's no denying that +she's handsome." + +"Perhaps she wouldn't have him." + +"That's impossible, Jane. She came down here on purpose to have him. +She went out with him this morning to be made love to. They were +together three times longer yesterday, and he came home as sweet +as sugar to her. I wonder whether she can have wanted to make some +condition about the money." + +"What condition?" + +"That she and her mother should have it in their own keeping." + +"She doesn't seem to be that sort of a young woman," said aunt Jane. + +"There's no knowing what that Mr. Goffe, Serjeant Bluestone, and her +mother may have put her up to. Frederic wouldn't stand that kind of +thing for a minute, and he would be quite right. Better anything than +that a man shouldn't be his own master. I think you'd better go up to +her, Jane. She'll be more comfortable with you than with me." Then +aunt Jane, obedient as usual, went up to her young cousin's bedroom. + +In the meantime the young lord was standing on the river's brink, +thinking what he would do. He had, in truth, very much of which +to think, and points of most vital importance as to which he must +resolve what should be his action. Must this announcement which he +had heard from his cousin dissolve for ever the prospect of his +marriage with her; or was it open to him still, as a nobleman, a +gentleman, and a man of honour, to make use of all those influences +which he might command with the view of getting rid of that +impediment of a previous engagement? Being very ignorant of the world +at large, and altogether ignorant of this man in particular, he did +not doubt that the tailor might be bought off. Then he was sure that +all who would have access to Lady Anna would help him in such a +cause, and that her own mother would be the most forward to do so. +The girl would hardly hold to such a purpose if all the world,--all +her own world, were against her. She certainly would be beaten from +it if a bribe sufficient were offered to the tailor. That this must +be done for the sake of the Lovel family, so that Lady Anna Lovel +might not be known to have married a tailor, was beyond a doubt; +but it was not so clear to him that he could take to himself as his +Countess her who with her own lips had told him that she intended +to be the bride of a working artisan. As he thought of this, as his +imagination went to work on all the abominable circumstances of such +a betrothal, he threw from his hand into the stream with all the +vehemence of passion a little twig which he held. It was too, too +frightful, too disgusting; and then so absolutely unexpected, so +unlike her personal demeanour, so contrary to the look of her eyes, +to the tone of her voice, to every motion of her body! She had been +sweet, and gentle, and gracious, till he had almost come to think +that her natural feminine gifts of ladyship were more even than +her wealth, of better savour than her rank, were equal even to her +beauty, which he had sworn to himself during the past night to be +unsurpassed. And this sweet one had told him,--this one so soft and +gracious,--not that she was doomed by some hard fate to undergo the +degrading thraldom, but that she herself had willingly given herself +to a working tailor from love, and gratitude, and free selection! It +was a marvel to him that a thing so delicate should have so little +sense of her own delicacy! He did not think that he could condescend +to take the tailor's place. + +But if not,--if he would not take it, or if, as might still be +possible, the tailor's place could not be made vacant for him,--what +then? He had pledged his belief in the justice of his cousin's +claim; and had told her that, believing his own claim to be +unjust, in no case would he prosecute it. Was he now bound by that +assurance,--bound to it even to the making of the tailor's fortune; +or might he absent himself from any further action in the matter, +leaving it entirely in the hands of the lawyers? Might it not be best +for her happiness that he should do so? He had been told that even +though he should not succeed, there might arise almost interminable +delay. The tailor would want his money before he married, and thus +she might be rescued from her degradation till she should be old +enough to understand it. And yet how could he claim that of which he +had said, now a score of times, that he knew that it was not his own? +Could he cease to call this girl by the name which all his people had +acknowledged as her own, because she had refused to be his wife; and +declare his conviction that she was base-born only because she had +preferred to his own the addresses of a low-born man, reeking with +the sweat of a tailor's board? No, he could not do that. Let her +marry but the sweeper of a crossing, and he must still call her Lady +Anna,--if he called her anything. + +Something must be done, however. He had been told by the lawyers how +the matter might be made to right itself, if he and the young lady +could at once agree to be man and wife; but he had not been told what +would follow, should she decline to accept his offer. Mr. Flick and +the Solicitor-General must know how to shape their course before +November came round,--and would no doubt want all the time to shape +it that he could give them. What was he to say to Mr. Flick and to +the Solicitor-General? Was he at liberty to tell to them the secret +which the girl had told to him? That he was at liberty to say that +she had rejected his offer must be a matter of course; but might +he go beyond that, and tell them the whole story? It would be most +expedient for many reasons that they should know it. On her behalf +even it might be most salutary,--with that view of liberating her +from the grasp of her humiliating lover. But she had told it him, +against her own interests, at her own peril, to her own infinite +sorrow,--in order that she might thus allay hopes in which he would +otherwise have persevered. He knew enough of the little schemes and +by-ways of love, of the generosity and self-sacrifice of lovers, to +feel that he was bound to confidence. She had told him that if needs +were he might repeat her tale;--but she had told him at the same time +that her tale was a secret. He could not go with her secret to a +lawyer's chambers, and there divulge in the course of business that +which had been extracted from her by the necessity to which she had +submitted of setting him free. He could write to Mr. Flick,--if that +at last was his resolve,--that a marriage was altogether out of the +question, but he could not tell him why it was so. + +He wandered slowly on along the river, having decided only on +this,--only on this as a certainty,--that he must tell her secret +neither to the lawyers, nor to his own people. Then, as he walked, a +little hand touched his behind, and when he turned Minnie Lovel took +him by the arm. "Why are you all alone, Fred?" + +"I am meditating how wicked the world is,--and girls in particular." + +"Where is cousin Anna?" + +"Up at the house, I suppose." + +"Is she wicked?" + +"Don't you know that everybody is wicked, because Eve ate the apple?" + +"Adam ate it too." + +"Who bade him?" + +"The devil," said the child whispering. + +"But he spoke by a woman's mouth. Why don't you go in and get ready +to go?" + +"So I will. Tell me one thing, Fred. May I be a bridesmaid when you +are married?" + +"I don't think you can." + +"I have set my heart upon it. Why not?" + +"Because you'll be married first." + +"That's nonsense, Fred; and you know it's nonsense. Isn't cousin Anna +to be your wife?" + +"Look here, my darling. I'm awfully fond of you, and think you the +prettiest little girl in the world. But if you ask impertinent +questions I'll never speak to you again. Do you understand?" She +looked up into his face, and did understand that he was in earnest, +and, leaving him, walked slowly across the meadow back to the house +alone. "Tell them not to wait lunch for me," he hollowed after +her;--and she told her aunt Julia that cousin Frederic was very sulky +down by the river, and that they were not to wait for him. + +When Mrs. Lovel went up-stairs into Lady Anna's room not a word was +said about the occurrence of the morning. The elder lady was afraid +to ask a question, and the younger was fully determined to tell +nothing even had a question been asked her. Lord Lovel might say +what he pleased. Her secret was with him, and he could tell it if he +chose. She had given him permission to do so, of which no doubt he +would avail himself. But, on her own account, she would say nothing; +and when questioned she would merely admit the fact. She would +neither defend her engagement, nor would she submit to have it +censured. If they pleased she would return to her mother in London at +any shortest possible notice. + +The party lunched almost in silence, and when the horses were ready +Lord Lovel came in to help them into the carriage. When he had placed +the three ladies he desired Minnie to take the fourth seat, saying +that he would sit with Mr. Cross on the box. Minnie looked at his +face, but there was still the frown there, and she obeyed him without +any remonstrance. During the whole of the long journey home there was +hardly a word spoken. Lady Anna knew that she was in disgrace, and +was ignorant how much of her story had been told to the two elder +ladies. She sat almost motionless looking out upon the fields, and +accepting her position as one that was no longer thought worthy of +notice. Of course she must go back to London. She could not continue +to live at Yoxham, neither spoken to nor speaking. Minnie went to +sleep, and Minnie's mother and aunt now and then addressed a few +words to each other. Anna felt sure that to the latest day of her +existence she would remember that journey. On their arrival at the +Rectory door Mr. Cross helped the ladies out of the carriage, while +the lord affected to make himself busy with the shawls and luggage. +Then he vanished, and was seen no more till he appeared at dinner. + +"What sort of a trip have you had?" asked the rector, addressing +himself to the three ladies indifferently. + +For a moment nobody answered him, and then aunt Julia spoke. "It +was very pretty, as it always is at Bolton in summer. We were told +that the duke has not been there this year at all. The inn was +comfortable, and I think that the young people enjoyed themselves +yesterday very much." The subject was too important, too solemn, too +great, to allow of even a word to be said about it without proper +consideration. + +"Did Frederic like it?" + +"I think he did yesterday," said Mrs. Lovel. "I think we were all a +little tired coming home to-day." + +"Anna sprained her ankle, jumping over the Stryd," said Minnie. + +"Not seriously, I hope." + +"Oh dear no;--nothing at all to signify." It was the only word which +Anna spoke till it was suggested that she should go up to her room. +The girl obeyed, as a child might have done, and went up-stairs, +followed by Mrs. Lovel. "My dear," she said, "we cannot go on like +this. What is the matter?" + +"You must ask Lord Lovel." + +"Have you quarrelled with him?" + +"I have not quarrelled, Mrs. Lovel. If he has quarrelled with me, I +cannot help it." + +"You know what we have all wished." + +"It can never be so." + +"Have you said so to Frederic?" + +"I have." + +"Have you given him any reason, Anna?" + +"I have," she said after a pause. + +"What reason, dear?" + +She thought for a moment before she replied. "I was obliged to tell +him the reason, Mrs. Lovel; but I don't think that I need tell +anybody else. Of course I must tell mamma." + +"Does your mamma know it?" + +"Not yet." + +"And is it a reason that must last for ever?" + +"Yes;--for ever. But I do not know why everybody is to be angry with +me. Other girls may do as they please. If you are angry with me I had +better go back to London at once." + +"I do not know that anybody has been angry with you. We may be +disappointed without being angry." That was all that was said, and +then Lady Anna was left to dress for dinner. At dinner Lord Lovel had +so far composed himself as to be able to speak to his cousin, and an +effort at courtesy was made by them all,--except by the rector. But +the evening passed away in a manner very different from any that had +gone before it. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS. + + +During that night the young lord was still thinking of his future +conduct,--of what duty and honour demanded of him, and of the +manner in which he might best make duty and honour consort with his +interests. In all the emergencies of his short life he had hitherto +had some one to advise him,--some elder friend whose counsel he might +take even though he would seem to make little use of it when it +was offered to him. He had always somewhat disdained aunt Julia, +but nevertheless aunt Julia had been very useful to him. In latter +days, since the late Earl's death, when there came upon him, as the +first of his troubles, the necessity of setting aside that madman's +will, Mr. Flick had been his chief counsellor; and yet in all his +communications with Mr. Flick he had assumed to be his own guide and +master. Now it seemed that he must in truth guide himself, but he +knew not how to do it. Of one thing he felt certain. He must get away +from Yoxham and hurry up to London. + +It behoved him to keep his cousin's secret; but would he not be +keeping it with a sanctity sufficiently strict if he imparted it to +one sworn friend,--a friend who should be bound not to divulge it +further without his consent? If so, the Solicitor-General should be +his friend. An intimacy had grown up between the great lawyer and his +noble client, not social in its nature, but still sufficiently close, +as Lord Lovel thought, to admit of such confidence. He had begun to +be aware that without assistance of this nature he would not know +how to guide himself. Undoubtedly the wealth of the presumed heiress +had become dearer to him,--had become at least more important to +him,--since he had learned that it must probably be lost. Sir +William Patterson was a gentleman as well as a lawyer;--one who had +not simply risen to legal rank by diligence and intellect, but a +gentleman born and bred, who had been at a public school, and had +lived all his days with people of the right sort. Sir William was his +legal adviser, and he would commit Lady Anna's secret to the keeping +of Sir William. + +There was a coach which started in those days from York at noon, +reaching London early on the following day. He would go up by this +coach, and would thus avoid the necessity of much further association +with his family before he had decided what should be his conduct. But +he must see his cousin before he went. He therefore sent a note to +her before she had left her room on the following morning;-- + + + DEAR ANNA, + + I purpose starting for London in an hour or so, and wish + to say one word to you before I go. Will you meet me at + nine in the drawing-room? Do not mention my going to my + uncle or aunts, as it will be better that I should tell + them myself. + + Yours, L. + + +At ten minutes before nine Lady Anna was in the drawing-room waiting +for him, and at ten minutes past nine he joined her. + +"I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting." She gave him her hand, +and said that it did not signify in the least. She was always early. +"I find that I must go up to London at once," he said. To this she +made no answer, though he seemed to expect some reply. "In the first +place, I could not remain here in comfort after what you told me +yesterday." + +"I shall be sorry to drive you away. It is your home; and as I must +go soon, had I not better go at once?" + +"No;--that is, I think not. I shall go at any rate. I have told none +of them what you told me yesterday." + +"I am glad of that, Lord Lovel." + +"It is for you to tell it,--if it must be told." + +"I did tell your aunt Jane,--that you and I never can be as--you said +you wished." + +"I did wish it most heartily. You did not tell it--all." + +"No;--not all." + +"You astounded me so, that I could hardly speak to you as I should +have spoken. I did not mean to be uncourteous." + +"I did not think you uncourteous, Lord Lovel. I am sure you would not +be uncourteous to me." + +"But you astounded me. It is not that I think much of myself, or of +my rank as belonging to me. I know that I have but little to be proud +of. I am very poor,--and not clever like some young men who have not +large fortunes, but who can become statesmen and all that. But I do +think much of my order; I think much of being a gentleman,--and much +of ladies being ladies. Do you understand me?" + +"Oh, yes;--I understand you." + +"If you are Lady Anna Lovel--" + +"I am Lady Anna Lovel." + +"I believe you are with all my heart. You speak like it, and look +like it. You are fit for any position. Everything is in your favour. +I do believe it. But if so--" + +"Well, Lord Lovel;--if so?" + +"Surely you would not choose to--to--to degrade your rank. That is +the truth. If I be your cousin, and the head of your family, I have a +right to speak as such. What you told me would be degradation." + +She thought a moment, and then she replied to him,--"It would be no +disgrace." + +He too found himself compelled to think before he could speak again. +"Do you think that you could like your associates if you were to be +married to Mr. Thwaite?" + +"I do not know who they would be. He would be my companion, and I +like him. I love him dearly. There! you need not tell me, Lord Lovel. +I know it all. He is not like you;--and I, when I had become his +wife, should not be like your aunt Jane. I should never see people +of that sort any more, I suppose. We should not live here in England +at all,--so that I should escape the scorn of all my cousins. I know +what I am doing, and why I am doing it;--and I do not think you ought +to tempt me." + +She knew at least that she was open to temptation. He could perceive +that, and was thankful for it. "I do not wish to tempt you, but I +would save you from unhappiness if I could. Such a marriage would be +unnatural. I have not seen Mr. Thwaite." + +"Then, my lord, you have not seen a most excellent man, who, next to +my mother, is my best friend." + +"But he cannot be a gentleman." + +"I do not know;--but I do know that I can be his wife. Is that all, +Lord Lovel?" + +"Not quite all. I fear that this weary lawsuit will come back upon us +in some shape. I cannot say whether I have the power to stop it if I +would. I must in part be guided by others." + +"I cannot do anything. If I could, I would not even ask for the money +for myself." + +"No, Lady Anna. You and I cannot decide it. I must again see my +lawyer. I do not mean the attorney,--but Sir William Patterson, the +Solicitor-General. May I tell him what you told me yesterday?" + +"I cannot hinder you." + +"But you can give me your permission. If he will promise me that it +shall go no farther,--then may I tell him? I shall hardly know what +to do unless he knows all that I know." + +"Everybody will know soon." + +"Nobody shall know from me,--but only he. Will you say that I may +tell him?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"I am much indebted to you even for that. I cannot tell you now how +much I hoped when I got up yesterday morning at Bolton Bridge that I +should have to be indebted to you for making me the happiest man in +England. You must forgive me if I say that I still hope at heart that +this infatuation may be made to cease. And now, good-bye, Lady Anna." + +"Good-bye, Lord Lovel." + +She at once went to her room, and sent down her maid to say that she +would not appear at prayers or at breakfast. She would not see him +again before he went. How probable it was that her eyes had rested on +his form for the last time! How beautiful he was, how full of grace, +how like a god! How pleasant she had found it to be near him; how +full of ineffable sweetness had been everything that he had touched, +all things of which he had spoken to her! He had almost overcome her, +as though she had eaten of the lotus. And she knew not whether the +charm was of God or devil. But she did know that she had struggled +against it,--because of her word, and because she owed a debt which +falsehood and ingratitude would ill repay. Lord Lovel had called her +Lady Anna now. Ah, yes; how good he was! When it became significant +to her that he should recognise her rank, he did so at once. He had +only dropped the title when, having been recognised, it had become +a stumbling-block to her. Now he was gone from her, and, if it was +possible, she would cease even to dream of him. + +"I suppose, Frederic, that the marriage is not to be?" the rector +said to him as he got into the dog-cart at the rectory door. + +"I cannot tell. I do not know. I think not. But, uncle, would you +oblige me by not speaking of it just at present? You will know all +very soon." + +The rector stood on the gravel, watching the dog-cart as it +disappeared, with his hands in the pockets of his clerical trousers, +and with heavy signs of displeasure on his face. It was very well to +be uncle to an earl, and out of his wealth to do what he could to +assist, and, if possible, to dispel his noble nephew's poverty. But +surely something was due to him! It was not for his pleasure that +this girl,--whom he was forced to call Lady Anna, though he could +never believe her to be so, whom his wife and sister called cousin +Anna, though he still thought that she was not, and could not be, +cousin to anybody,--it was not for anything that he could get, that +he was entertaining her as an honoured guest at his rectory. And now +his nephew was gone, and the girl was left behind. And he was not to +be told whether there was to be a marriage or not! "I cannot tell. I +do not know. I think not." And then he was curtly requested to ask no +more questions. What was he to do with the girl? While the young Earl +and the lawyers were still pondering the question of her legitimacy, +the girl, whether a Lady Anna and a cousin,--or a mere nobody, who +was trying to rob the family,--was to be left on his hands! Why,--oh, +why had he allowed himself to be talked out of his own opinion? Why +had he ever permitted her to be invited to his rectory? Ah, how the +title stuck in his throat as he asked her to take the customary glass +of wine with him at dinner-time that evening! + +On reaching London, towards the end of August, Lord Lovel found that +the Solicitor-General was out of town. Sir William had gone down to +Somersetshire with the intention of saying some comforting words to +his constituents. Mr. Flick knew nothing of his movements; but his +clerk was found, and his clerk did not expect him back in London till +October. But, in answer to Lord Lovel's letter, Sir William undertook +to come up for one day. Sir William was a man who quite recognised +the importance of the case he had in hand. + +"Engaged to the tailor,--is she?" he said; not, however, with any +look of surprise. + +"But, Sir William,--you will not repeat this, even to Mr. Flick, or +to Mr. Hardy. I have promised Lady Anna that it shall not go beyond +you." + +"If she sticks to her bargain, it cannot be kept secret very +long;--nor would she wish it. It's just what we might have expected, +you know." + +"You wouldn't say so if you knew her." + +"H--m. I'm older than you, Lord Lovel. You see, she had nobody else +near her. A girl must cotton to somebody, and who was there? We ought +not to be angry with her." + +"But it shocks me so." + +"Well, yes. As far as I can learn his father and he have stood by +them very closely;--and did so, too, when there seemed to be but +little hope. But they might be paid for all they did at a less rate +than that. If she sticks to him nobody can beat him out of it. What +I mean is, that it was all fair game. He ran his chance, and did it +in a manly fashion." The Earl did not quite understand Sir William, +who seemed to take almost a favourable view of these monstrous +betrothals. "What I mean is, that nobody can touch him, or find fault +with him. He has not carried her away, and got up a marriage before +she was of age. He hasn't kept her from going out among her friends. +He hasn't--wronged her, I suppose?" + +"I think he has wronged her frightfully." + +"Ah,--well. We mean different things. I am obliged to look at it as +the world will look at it." + +"Think of the disgrace of such a marriage;--to a tailor." + +"Whose father had advanced her mother some five or six thousand +pounds to help her to win back her position. That's about the truth +of it. We must look at it all round, you know." + +"You think, then, that nothing should be done?" + +"I think that everything should be done that can be done. We have +the mother on our side. Very probably we may have old Thwaite on +our side. From what you say, it is quite possible that at this very +moment the girl herself may be on our side. Let her remain at Yoxham +as long as you can get her to stay, and let everything be done to +flatter and amuse her. Go down again yourself, and play the lover as +well as I do not doubt you know how to do it." It was clear then that +the great legal pundit did not think that an Earl should be ashamed +to carry on his suit to a lady who had confessed her attachment to +a journeyman tailor. "It will be a trouble to us all, of course, +because we must change our plan when the case comes on in November." + +"But you still think that she is the heiress?" + +"So strongly, that I feel all but sure of it. We shouldn't, in truth, +have had a leg to stand on, and we couldn't fight it. I may as well +tell you at once, my lord, that we couldn't do it with any chance +of success. And what should we have gained had we done so? Nothing! +Unless we could prove that the real wife were dead, we should have +been fighting for that Italian woman, whom I most thoroughly believe +to be an impostor." + +"Then there is nothing to be done?" + +"Very little in that way. But if the young lady be determined to +marry the tailor, I think we should simply give notice that we +withdraw our opposition to the English ladies, and state that we had +so informed the woman who asserts her own claim and calls herself a +Countess in Sicily; and we should let the Italian woman know that we +had done so. In such case, for aught anybody can say here, she might +come forward with her own case. She would find men here who would +take it up on speculation readily enough. There would be a variety +of complications, and no doubt very great delay. In such an event +we should question very closely the nature of the property; as, for +aught I have seen as yet, a portion of it might revert to you as real +estate. It is very various,--and it is not always easy to declare +at once what is real and what personal. Hitherto you have appeared +as contesting the right of the English widow to her rank, and not +necessarily as a claimant of the estate. The Italian widow, if a +widow, would be the heir, and not your lordship. For that, among +other reasons, the marriage would be most expedient. If the Italian +Countess were to succeed in proving that the Earl had a wife living +when he married Miss Murray,--which I feel sure he had not,--then we +should come forward again with our endeavours to show that that first +wife had died since,--as the Earl himself undoubtedly declared more +than once. It would be a long time before the tailor got his money +with his wife. The feeling of the court would be against him." + +"Could we buy the tailor, Sir William?" + +The Solicitor-General nursed his leg before he answered. + +"Mr. Flick could answer that question better than I can do. In fact, +Mr. Flick should know it all. The matter is too heavy for secrets, +Lord Lovel." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON. + + +After the Earl was gone Lady Anna had but a bad time of it at Yoxham. +She herself could not so far regain her composure as to live on +as though no disruption had taken place. She knew that she was in +disgrace, and the feeling was dreadful to her. The two ladies were +civil, and tried to make the house pleasant, but they were not +cordial as they had been hitherto. For one happy halcyon week,--for a +day or two before the Earl had come, and for those bright days during +which he had been with them,--she had found herself to be really +admitted into the inner circle as one of the family. Mrs. Lovel +had been altogether gracious with her. Minnie had been her darling +little friend. Aunt Julia had been so far won as to be quite alive to +the necessity of winning. The rector himself had never quite given +way,--had never been so sure of his footing as to feel himself safe +in abandoning all power of receding; but the effect of this had been +to put the rector himself, rather than his guest, into the back +ground. The servants had believed in her, and even Mrs. Grimes had +spoken in her praise,--expressing an opinion that she was almost good +enough for the young Earl. All Yoxham had known that the two young +people were to be married, and all Yoxham had been satisfied. But now +everything was wrong. The Earl had fled, and all Yoxham knew that +everything was wrong. It was impossible that her position should be +as it had been. + +There were consultations behind her back as to what should be done, +of which,--though she heard no word of them,--she was aware. She went +out daily in the carriage with Mrs. Lovel, but aunt Julia did not go +with them. Aunt Julia on these occasions remained at home discussing +the momentous affair with her brother. What should be done? There +was a great dinner-party, specially convened to do honour to the +Earl's return, and not among them a single guest who had not heard +that there was to be a marriage. The guests came to see, not only +the Earl, but the Earl's bride. When they arrived the Earl had +flown. Mrs. Lovel expressed her deep sorrow that business of great +importance had made it necessary that the Earl should go to London. +Lady Anna was, of course, introduced to the strangers; but it +was evident to the merest tyro in such matters, that she was not +introduced as would have been a bride expectant. They had heard how +charming she was, how all the Lovels had accepted her, how deeply was +the Earl in love; and, lo, she sat in the house silent and almost +unregarded. Of course, the story of the lawsuit, with such variations +as rumour might give it, was known to them all. A twelvemonth +ago,--nay, at a period less remote than that,--the two female +claimants in Cumberland had always been spoken of in those parts as +wretched, wicked, vulgar impostors. Then came the reaction. Lady Anna +was the heiress, and Lady Anna was to be the Countess. It had flown +about the country during the last ten days that there was no one like +the Lady Anna. Now they came to see her, and another reaction had set +in. She was the Lady Anna they must suppose. All the Lovels, even the +rector, so called her. Mrs. Lovel introduced her as Lady Anna Lovel, +and the rector,--hating himself as he did so,--led her out to dinner +though there was a baronet's wife in the room,--the wife of a baronet +who dated back from James I. She was the Lady Anna, and therefore +the heiress;--but it was clear to them all that there was to be no +marriage. + +"Then poor Lord Lovel will absolutely not have enough to starve +upon," said the baronet's wife to the baronet, as soon as the +carriage door had been shut upon them. + +What were they to do with her? The dinner party had taken place on a +Wednesday,--the day after the Earl's departure; and on the Thursday +aunt Julia wrote to her nephew thus:-- + + + Yoxham Rectory, 3rd September. + + MY DEAR FREDERIC, + + My brother wishes me to write to you and say that we are + all here very uneasy about Lady Anna. We have only heard + from her that the match which was contemplated is not + to take place. Whether that be so from unwillingness on + her part or yours we have never yet been told;--but both + to your aunt Jane and myself she speaks of it as though + the decision were irrevocable. What had we better do? + Of course, it is our most anxious desire,--as it is our + pleasure and our duty,--to arrange everything according + to your wishes and welfare. Nothing can be of so much + importance to any of us in this world as your position in + it. If it is your wish that Lady Anna should remain here, + of course she shall remain. But if, in truth, there is no + longer any prospect of a marriage, will not her longer + sojourn beneath your uncle's roof be a trouble to all of + us,--and especially to her? + + Your aunt Jane thinks that it may be only a lover's + quarrel. For myself, I feel sure that you would not have + left us as you did, had it not been more than that. I + think that you owe it to your uncle to write to me,--or to + him, if you like it better,--and to give us some clue to + the state of things. + + I must not conceal from you the fact that my brother has + never felt convinced, as you do, that Lady Anna's mother + was, in truth, the Countess Lovel. At your request, and in + compliance with the advice of the Solicitor-General, he + has been willing to receive her here; and, as she has been + here, he has given her the rank which she claims. He took + her out to dinner yesterday before Lady Fitzwarren,--which + will never be forgiven should it turn out ultimately that + the first wife was alive when the Earl married Anna's + mother. Of course, while here she must be treated as Lady + Anna Lovel; but my brother does not wish to be forced so + to do, if it be intended that any further doubt should be + raised. In such case he desires to be free to hold his + former opinion. Therefore pray write to us, and tell us + what you wish to have done. I can assure you that we are + at present very uncomfortable. + + Believe me to be, + My dear Frederic, + Your most affectionate aunt, + + JULIA LOVEL. + + +The Earl received this before his interview with Sir William, but +left it unanswered till after he had seen that gentleman. Then he +wrote as follows:-- + + + Carlton Club, 5th September, 183--. + + MY DEAR AUNT JULIA, + + Will you tell my uncle that I think you had better get + Lady Anna to stay at the rectory as long as possible. I'll + let you know all about it very soon. Best love to aunt + Jane. + + I am, + Your affectionate nephew, + + LOVEL. + + +This very short epistle was most unsatisfactory to the rector, but +it was felt by them all that nothing could be done. With such an +injunction before them, they could not give the girl a hint that they +wished her to go. What uncle or what aunt, with such a nephew as Lord +Lovel, so noble and so poor, could turn out an heiress with twenty +thousand a year, as long as there was the slightest chance of a +marriage? Not a doubt would have rankled in their minds had they been +quite sure that she was the heiress. But, as it was, the Earl ought +to have said more than he did say. + +"I cannot keep myself from feeling sometimes that Frederic does take +liberties with me," the rector said to his sister. But he submitted. +It was a part of the religion of the family,--and no little +part,--that they should cling to their head and chief. What would the +world have been to them if they could not talk with comfortable ease +and grace of their nephew Frederic? + +During this time Anna spoke more than once to Mrs. Lovel as to her +going. "I have been a long time here," she said, "and I'm sure that +I am in Mr. Lovel's way." + +"Not in the least, my dear. If you are happy, pray stay with us." + +This was before the arrival of the brief epistle,--when they were +waiting to know whether they were to dismiss their guest from Yoxham, +or to retain her. + +"As for being happy, nobody can be happy, I think, till all this is +settled. I will write to mamma, and tell her that I had better return +to her. Mamma is all alone." + +"I don't know that I can advise, my dear; but as far as we are +concerned, we shall be very glad if you can stay." + +The brief epistle had not then arrived, and they were, in truth, +anxious that she should go;--but one cannot tell one's visitor to +depart from one's house without a downright rupture. Not even the +rector himself dared to make such rupture, without express sanction +from the Earl. + +Then Lady Anna, feeling that she must ask advice, wrote to her +mother. The Countess had answered her last letter with great +severity,--that letter in which the daughter had declared that people +ought not to be asked to marry for money. The Countess, whose whole +life had made her stern and unbending, said very hard things to +her child; had told her that she was ungrateful and disobedient, +unmindful of her family, neglectful of her duty, and willing to +sacrifice the prosperity and happiness of all belonging to her, for +some girlish feeling of mere romance. The Countess was sure that her +daughter would never forgive herself in after years, if she now +allowed to pass by this golden opportunity of remedying all the evil +that her father had done. "You are simply asked to do that which +every well-bred girl in England would be delighted to do," wrote the +Countess. + +"Ah! she does not know," said Lady Anna. + +But there had come upon her now a fear heavier and more awful than +that which she entertained for her mother. Earl Lovel knew her +secret, and Earl Lovel was to tell it to the Solicitor-General. She +hardly doubted that it might as well be told to all the judges on the +bench at once. Would it not be better that she should be married to +Daniel Thwaite out of hand, and so be freed from the burden of any +secret? The young lord had been thoroughly ashamed of her when she +told it. Those aunts at Yoxham would hardly speak to her if they knew +it. That lady before whom she had been made to walk out to dinner, +would disdain to sit in the same room with her if she knew it. It +must be known,--must be known to them all. But she need not remain +there, beneath their eyes, while they learned it. Her mother must +know it, and it would be better that she should tell her mother. She +would tell her mother,--and request that she might have permission to +return at once to the lodgings in Wyndham Street. So she wrote the +following letter,--in which, as the reader will perceive, she could +not even yet bring herself to tell her secret:-- + + + Yoxham Rectory, Monday. + + MY DEAR MAMMA, + + I want you to let me come home, because I think I have + been here long enough. Lord Lovel has gone away, and + though you are so very angry, it is better I should + tell you that we are not any longer friends. Dear, dear, + dearest mamma; I am so very unhappy that you should not be + pleased with me. I would die to-morrow if I could make you + happy. But it is all over now, and he would not do it even + if I could say that it should be so. He has gone away, and + is in London, and would tell you so himself if you would + ask him. He despises me, as I always knew he would,--and + so he has gone away. I don't think anything of myself, + because I knew it must be so; but I am so very unhappy + because you will be unhappy. + + I don't think they want to have me here any longer, and of + course there is no reason why they should. They were very + nice to me before all this happened, and they never say + anything illnatured to me now. But it is very different, + and there cannot be any good in remaining. You are all + alone, and I think you would be glad to see your poor + Anna, even though you are so angry with her. Pray let me + come home. I could start very well on Friday, and I think + I will do so, unless I hear from you to the contrary. I + can take my place by the coach, and go away at twelve + o'clock from York, and be at that place in London on + Saturday at eleven. I must take my place on Thursday. I + have plenty of money, as I have not spent any since I have + been here. Of course Sarah will come with me. She is not + nearly so nice since she knew that Lord Lovel was to go + away. + + Dear mamma, I do love you so much. + + Your most affectionate daughter, + + ANNA. + + +It was not wilfully that the poor girl gave her mother no opportunity +of answering her before she had taken her place by the coach. On +Thursday morning the place had to be taken, and on Thursday evening +she got her mother's letter. By the same post came the Earl's letter +to his aunt, desiring that Lady Anna might, if possible, be kept at +Yoxham. The places were taken, and it was impossible. "I don't see +why you should go," said aunt Julia, who clearly perceived that her +nephew had been instigated to pursue the marriage scheme since he had +been in town. Lady Anna urged that the money had been paid for two +places by the coach. "My brother could arrange that, I do not doubt," +said aunt Julia. But the Countess now expected her daughter, and +Lady Anna stuck to her resolve. Her mother's letter had not been +propitious to the movement. If the places were taken, of course she +must come. So said the Countess. It was not simply that the money +should not be lost, but that the people at Yoxham must not be allowed +to think that her daughter was over anxious to stay. "Does your mamma +want to have you back?" asked aunt Julia. Lady Anna would not say +that her mother wanted her back, but simply pleaded again that the +places had been taken. + +When the morning came for her departure, the carriage was ordered to +take her into York, and the question arose as to who should go with +her. It was incumbent on the rector, who held an honorary stall in +the cathedral, to be with the dean and his brother prebendaries on +that day, and the use of his own carriage would be convenient to him. + +"I think I'll have the gig," said the rector. + +"My dear Charles," pleaded his sister, "surely that will be foolish. +She can't hurt you." + +"I don't know that," said the rector. "I think she has hurt me very +much already. I shouldn't know how to talk to her." + +"You may be sure that Frederic means to go on with it," said Mrs. +Lovel. + +"It would have been better for Frederic if he had never seen her," +said the rector; "and I'm sure it would have been better for me." + +But he consented at last, and he himself handed Lady Anna into the +carriage. Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but Aunt Julia made her +farewells in the rectory drawing-room. She managed to get the girl to +herself for a moment or two, and thus she spoke to her. "I need not +tell you that, for yourself, my dear, I like you very much." + +"Oh, thank you, Miss Lovel." + +"I have heartily wished that you might be our Frederic's wife." + +"It can never be," said Lady Anna. + +"I won't give up all hope. I don't pretend to understand what there +is amiss between you and Frederic, but I won't give it up. If it is +to be so, I hope that you and I may be loving friends till I die. +Give me a kiss, my dear." Lady Anna, whose eyes were suffused with +tears, threw herself into the arms of the elder lady and embraced +her. + +Mrs. Lovel also kissed her, and bade God bless her as she parted from +her at the coach door; but the rector was less demonstrative. "I hope +you will have a pleasant journey," he said, taking off his clerical +hat. + +"Let it go as it may," said Mrs. Lovel, as she walked into the close +with her husband, "you may take my word, she's a good girl." + +"I'm afraid she's sly," said the rector. + +"She's no more sly than I am," said Mrs. Lovel, who herself was by no +means sly. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION. + + +The Countess went into the City to meet her daughter at the Saracen's +Head, whither the York coach used to run, and received her almost in +silence. "Oh, mamma, dear mamma," said Lady Anna, "I am so glad to +be back with you again." Sarah, the lady's-maid, was there, useless, +officious, and long-eared. The Countess said almost nothing; she +submitted to be kissed, and she asked after the luggage. At that time +she had heard the whole story about Daniel Thwaite. + +The Solicitor-General had disregarded altogether his client's +injunctions as to secrecy. He had felt that in a matter of so great +importance it behoved him to look to his client's interests, rather +than his client's instructions. This promise of a marriage with the +tailor's son must be annihilated. On behalf of the whole Lovel family +it was his duty, as he thought, to see that this should be effected, +if possible,--and as quickly as possible. This was his duty, not only +as a lawyer employed in a particular case, but as a man who would be +bound to prevent any great evil which he saw looming in the future. +In his view of the case the marriage of Lady Anna Lovel, with a +colossal fortune, to Daniel Thwaite the tailor, would be a grievous +injury to the social world of his country,--and it was one of +those evils which may probably be intercepted by due and discreet +precautions. No doubt the tailor wanted money. The man was entitled +to some considerable reward for all that he had done and all that he +had suffered in the cause. But Sir William could not himself propose +the reward. He could not chaffer for terms with the tailor. He could +not be seen in that matter. But having heard the secret from the +Earl, he thought that he could get the work done. So he sent for Mr. +Flick, the attorney, and told Mr. Flick all that he knew. "Gone and +engaged herself to the tailor!" said Mr. Flick, holding up both his +hands. Then Sir William took Lady Anna's part. After all, such an +engagement was not,--as he thought,--unnatural. It had been made +while she was very young, when she knew no other man of her own age +in life, when she was greatly indebted to this man, when she had +had no opportunity of measuring a young tailor against a young lord. +She had done it probably in gratitude;--so said Sir William;--and +now clung to it from good faith rather than affection. Neither was +he severe upon the tailor. He was a man especially given to make +excuses for poor weak, erring, unlearned mortals, ignorant of the +law,--unless when a witness attempted to be impervious;--and now he +made excuses for Daniel Thwaite. The man might have done so much +worse than he was doing. There seemed already to be a noble reliance +on himself in his conduct. Lord Lovel thought that there had been no +correspondence while the young lady had been at Yoxham. There might +have been, but had not been, a clandestine marriage. Other reasons +he gave why Daniel Thwaite should not be regarded as altogether +villanous. But, nevertheless, the tailor must not be allowed to carry +off the prize. The prize was too great for him. What must be done? +Sir William condescended to ask Mr. Flick what he thought ought to be +done. "No doubt we should be very much guided by you, Mr. Solicitor," +said Mr. Flick. + +"One thing is, I think, plain, Mr. Flick. You must see the Countess +and tell her, or get Mr. Goffe to do so. It is clear that she has +been kept in the dark between them. At present they are all living +together in the same house. She had better leave the place and go +elsewhere. They should be kept apart, and the girl, if necessary, +should be carried abroad." + +"I take it there is a difficulty about money, Mr. Solicitor." + +"There ought to be none,--and I will take it upon myself to say that +there need be none. It is a case in which the court will willingly +allow money out of the income of the property. The thing is so large +that there should be no grudging of money for needful purposes. +Seeing what primā facie claims these ladies have, they are bound to +allow them to live decently, in accordance with their alleged rank, +till the case is settled. No doubt she is the heiress." + +"You feel quite sure, Sir William?" + +"I do;--though, as I have said before, it is a case of feeling sure, +and not being sure. Had that Italian woman been really the widow, +somebody would have brought her case forward more loudly." + +"But if the other Italian woman who died was the wife?" + +"You would have found it out when you were there. Somebody from the +country would have come to us with evidence, knowing how much we +could afford to pay for it. Mind you, the matter has been tried +before, in another shape. The old Earl was indicted for bigamy and +acquitted. We are bound to regard that young woman as Lady Anna +Lovel, and we are bound to regard her and her mother conjointly as +co-heiresses, in different degrees, to all the personal property +which the old Earl left behind him. We can't with safety take any +other view. There will still be difficulties in their way;--and very +serious difficulties, were she to marry this tailor; but, between you +and me, he would eventually get the money. Perhaps, Mr. Flick, you +had better see him. You would know how to get at his views without +compromising anybody. But, in the first place, let the Countess know +everything. After what has been done, you won't have any difficulty +in meeting Mr. Goffe." + +Mr. Flick had no difficulty in seeing Mr. Goffe,--though he felt that +there would be very much difficulty in seeing Mr. Daniel Thwaite. +He did tell Mr. Goffe the story of the wicked tailor,--by no means +making those excuses which the Solicitor-General had made for the +man's presumptuous covetousness. "I knew the trouble we should have +with that man," said Mr. Goffe, who had always disliked the Thwaites. +Then Mr. Flick went on to say that Mr. Goffe had better tell the +Countess,--and Mr. Goffe on this point agreed with his adversary. Two +or three days after that, but subsequently to the date of the last +letter which the mother had written to her daughter, Lady Lovel was +told that Lady Anna was engaged to marry Mr. Daniel Thwaite. + +She had suspected how it might be; her heart had for the last month +been heavy with the dread of this great calamity; she had made her +plans with the view of keeping the two apart; she had asked her +daughter questions founded on this very fear;--and yet she could not +for a while be brought to believe it. How did Mr. Goffe know? Mr. +Goffe had heard it from Mr. Flick, who had heard it from Sir William +Patterson; to whom the tale had been told by Lord Lovel. "And who +told Lord Lovel?" said the Countess flashing up in anger. + +"No doubt Lady Anna did so," said the attorney. But in spite of her +indignation she could retain her doubts. The attorney, however, was +certain. "There could be no hope but that it was so." She still +pretended not to believe it, though fully intending to take all due +precautions in the matter. Since Mr. Goffe thought that it would be +prudent, she would remove to other lodgings. She would think of that +plan of going abroad. She would be on her guard, she said. But she +would not admit it to be possible that Lady Anna Lovel, the daughter +of Earl Lovel, her daughter, should have so far disgraced herself. + +But she did believe it. Her heart had in truth told her that it was +true at the first word the lawyer had spoken to her. How blind she +must have been not to have known it! How grossly stupid not to have +understood those asseverations from the girl, that the marriage with +her cousin was impossible! Her child had not only deceived her, but +had possessed cunning enough to maintain her deception. It must have +been going on for at least the last twelvemonth, and she, the while, +had been kept in the dark by the manoeuvres of a simple girl! And +then she thought of the depth of the degradation which was prepared +for her. Had she passed twenty years of unintermittent combat for +this,--that when all had been done, when at last success was won, +when the rank and wealth of her child had been made positively +secure before the world, when she was about to see the unquestioned +coronet of a Countess placed upon her child's brow,--all should be +destroyed through a passion so mean as this! Would it not have been +better to have died in poverty and obscurity,--while there were yet +doubts,--before any assured disgrace had rested on her? But, oh! to +have proved that she was a Countess, and her child the heiress of +an Earl, in order that the Lady Anna Lovel might become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite, the tailor! + +She made many resolutions; but the first was this, that she would +never smile upon the girl again till this baseness should have been +abandoned. She loved her girl as only mothers do love. More devoted +than the pelican, she would have given her heart's blood,--had given +all her life,--not only to nurture, but to aggrandize her child. The +establishment of her own position, her own honour, her own name, was +to her but the incidental result of her daughter's emblazonment in +the world. The child which she had borne to Earl Lovel, and which the +father had stigmatised as a bastard, should by her means be known as +the Lady Anna, the heiress of that father's wealth,--the wealthiest, +the fairest, the most noble of England's daughters. Then there had +come the sweet idea that this high-born heiress of the Lovels, should +herself become Countess Lovel, and the mother had risen higher in her +delighted pride. It had all been for her child! Had she not loved as +a mother, and with all a mother's tenderness? And for what? + +She would love still, but she would never again be tender till her +daughter should have repudiated her base,--her monstrous engagement. +She bound up all her faculties to harshness, and a stern resolution. +Her daughter had been deceitful, and she would now be ruthless. There +might be suffering, but had not she suffered? There might be sorrow, +but had not she sorrowed? There might be a contest, but had not she +ever been contesting? Sooner than that the tailor should reap the +fruit of her labours,--labours which had been commenced when she +first gave herself in marriage to that dark, dreadful man,--sooner +than that her child should make ignoble the blood which it had cost +her so much to ennoble, she would do deeds which should make even +the wickedness of her husband child's play in the world's esteem. It +was in this mood of mind that she went to meet her daughter at the +Saracen's Head. + +She had taken fresh lodgings very suddenly,--in Keppel Street, near +Russell Square, a long way from Wyndham Street. She had asked Mr. +Goffe to recommend her a place, and he had sent her to an old lady +with whom he himself had lodged in his bachelor's days. Keppel +Street cannot be called fashionable, and Russell Square is not much +affected by the nobility. Nevertheless the house was superior in +all qualifications to that which she was now leaving, and the rent +was considerably higher. But the affairs of the Countess in regard +to money were in the ascendant; and Mr. Goffe did not scruple to +take for her a "genteel" suite of drawing-rooms,--two rooms with +folding-doors, that is,--with the bedrooms above, first-class +lodging-house attendance, and a garret for the lady's-maid. "And then +it will be quite close to Mrs. Bluestone," said Mr. Goffe, who knew +of that intimacy. + +The drive in a glass coach home from the coach-yard to Keppel Street +was horrible to Lady Anna. Not a word was spoken, as Sarah, the +lady's-maid, sat with them in the carriage. Once or twice the poor +girl tried to get hold of her mother's hand, in order that she might +entice something of a caress. But the Countess would admit of no such +softness, and at last withdrew her hand roughly. "Oh mamma!" said +Lady Anna, unable to suppress her dismay. But the Countess said never +a word. Sarah, the lady's-maid, began to think that there must be a +second lover. "Is this Wyndham Street?" said Lady Anna when the coach +stopped. + +"No, my dear;--this is not Wyndham Street. I have taken another +abode. This is where we are to live. If you will get out I will +follow you, and Sarah will look to the luggage." Then the daughter +entered the house, and met the old woman curtseying to her. She at +once felt that she had been removed from contact with Daniel Thwaite, +and was sure that her mother knew her story. "That is your room," +said her mother. "You had better get your things off. Are you tired?" + +"Oh! so tired!" and Lady Anna burst into tears. + +"What will you have?" + +"Oh, nothing! I think I will go to bed, mamma. Why are you unkind to +me? Do tell me. Anything is better than that you should be unkind." + +"Anna,--have not you been unkind to me?" + +"Never, mamma;--never. I have never meant to be unkind. I love you +better than all the world. I have never been unkind. But, you;--Oh, +mamma, if you look at me like that, I shall die." + +"Is it true that you have promised that you would be the wife of Mr. +Daniel Thwaite?" + +"Mamma!" + +"Is it true? I will be open with you. Mr. Goffe tells me that you +have refused Lord Lovel, telling him that you must do so because you +were engaged to Mr. Daniel Thwaite. Is that true?" + +"Yes, mamma;--it is true." + +"And you have given your word to that man?" + +"I have, mamma." + +"And yet you told me that there was no one else when I spoke to you +of Lord Lovel? You lied to me?" The girl sat confounded, astounded, +without power of utterance. She had travelled from York to London, +inside one of those awful vehicles of which we used to be so proud +when we talked of our stage coaches. She was thoroughly weary and +worn out. She had not breakfasted that morning, and was sick and +ill at ease, not only in heart, but in body also. Of course it was +so. Her mother knew that it was so. But this was no time for fond +compassion. It would be better, far better that she should die +than that she should not be compelled to abandon this grovelling +abasement. "Then you lied to me?" repeated the Countess still +standing over her. + +"Oh, mamma, you mean to kill me." + +"I would sooner die here, at your feet, this moment, and know that +you must follow me within an hour, than see you married to such a one +as that. You shall never marry him. Though I went into court myself +and swore that I was that lord's mistress,--that I knew it when I +went to him,--that you were born a brat beyond the law, that I had +lived a life of perjury, I would prevent such greater disgrace as +this. It shall never be. I will take you away where he shall never +hear of you. As to the money, it shall go to the winds, so that he +shall never touch it. Do you think that it is you that he cares for? +He has heard of all this wealth,--and you are but the bait upon his +hook to catch it." + +"You do not know him, mamma." + +"Will you tell me of him, that I do not know him; impudent slut! +Did I not know him before you were born? Have I not known him all +through? Will you give me your word of honour that you will never see +him again?" Lady Anna tried to think, but her mind would not act for +her. Everything was turning round, and she became giddy and threw +herself on the bed. "Answer me, Anna. Will you give me your word of +honour that you will never see him again?" + +She might still have said yes. She felt that enough of speech was +left to her for so small an effort,--and she knew that if she did so +the agony of the moment would pass away from her. With that one word +spoken her mother would be kind to her, and would wait upon her; +would bring her tea, and would sit by her bedside, and caress her. +But she too was a Lovel, and she was, moreover, the daughter of her +who once had been Josephine Murray. + +"I cannot say that, mamma," she said, "because I have promised." + +Her mother dashed from the room, and she was left alone upon the bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +DANIEL AND THE LAWYER. + + +It has been said that the Countess, when she sent her daughter down +to Yoxham, laid her plans with the conviction that the associations +to which the girl would be subjected among the Lovels would fill her +heart and mind with a new-born craving for the kind of life which she +would find in the rector's family;--and she had been right. Daniel +Thwaite also had known that it would be so. He had been quite alive +to the fact that he and his conversation would be abased, and that +his power, both of pleasing and of governing, would be lessened, +by this new contact. But, had he been able to hinder her going, he +would not have done so. None of those who were now interested in +his conduct knew aught of the character of this man. Sir William +Patterson had given him credit for some honesty, but even he had +not perceived,--had had no opportunity of perceiving,--the staunch +uprightness which was as it were a backbone to the man in all his +doings. He was ambitious, discontented, sullen, and tyrannical. He +hated the domination of others, but was prone to domineer himself. He +suspected evil of all above him in rank, and the millennium to which +he looked forward was to be produced by the gradual extirpation +of all social distinctions. Gentlemen, so called, were to him as +savages, which had to be cleared away in order that that perfection +might come at last which the course of nature was to produce in +obedience to the ordinances of the Creator. But he was a man who +reverenced all laws,--and a law, if recognised as a law, was a law +to him whether enforced by a penalty, or simply exigent of obedience +from his conscience. This girl had been thrown in his way, and he +had first pitied and then loved her from his childhood. She had been +injured by the fiendish malice of her own father,--and that father +had been an Earl. He had been strong in fighting for the rights +of the mother,--not because it had been the mother's right to be +a Countess,--but in opposition to the Earl. At first,--indeed +throughout all these years of conflict, except the last year,--there +had been a question, not of money, but of right. The wife was +entitled to due support,--to what measure of support Daniel had never +known or inquired; but the daughter had been entitled to nothing. The +Earl, had he made his will before he was mad,--or, more probably, had +he not destroyed, when mad, the will which he had before made,--might +and would have left the girl without a shilling. In those days, when +Daniel's love was slowly growing, when he wandered about with the +child among the rocks, when the growing girl had first learned to +swear to him that he should always be her friend of friends, when the +love of the boy had first become the passion of the man, there had +been no thought of money in it. Money! Had he not been well aware +from his earliest understanding of the need of money for all noble +purposes, that the earnings of his father, which should have made the +world to him a world of promise, were being lavished in the service +of these forlorn women? He had never complained. They were welcome to +it all. That young girl was all the world to him; and it was right +that all should be spent; as though she had been a sister, as though +she had already been his wife. There had been no plot then by which +he was to become rich on the Earl's wealth. Then had come the will, +and the young Earl's claims, and the general belief of men in all +quarters that the young Earl was to win everything. What was left of +the tailor's savings was still being spent on behalf of the Countess. +The first fee that ever found its way into the pocket of Serjeant +Bluestone had come from the diminished hoard of old Thomas Thwaite. +Then the will had been set aside; and gradually the cause of the +Countess had grown to be in the ascendant. Was he to drop his love, +to confess himself unworthy, and to slink away out of her sight, +because the girl would become an heiress? Was he even to conceive so +badly of her as to think that she would drop her love because she +was an heiress? There was no such humility about him,--nor such +absence of self-esteem. But, as regarded her, he told himself at once +that she should have the chance of being base and noble,--all base, +and all noble as far as title and social standing could make her +so,--if such were her desire. He had come to her and offered her her +freedom;--had done so, indeed, with such hot language of indignant +protest against the gilded gingerbread of her interested suitor, as +would have frightened her from the acceptance of his offer had she +been minded to accept it;--but his words had been hot, not from +a premeditated purpose to thwart his own seeming liberality, but +because his nature was hot and his temper imperious. This lordling +was ready to wed his bride,--the girl he had known and succoured +throughout their joint lives,--simply because she was rich and the +lordling was a pauper. From the bottom of his heart he despised the +lordling. He had said to himself a score of times that he could be +well content to see the lord take the money, waste it among thieves +and prostitutes, and again become a pauper, while he had the girl to +sit with him at his board, and share with him the earnings of his +honest labour. Of course he had spoken out. But the girl should be at +liberty to do as she pleased. + +He wrote no line to her before she went, or while she was at Yoxham, +nor did he speak a word concerning her during her absence. But as he +sat at his work, or walked to and fro between his home and the shop, +or lay sleepless in bed, all his thoughts were of her. Twice or +thrice a week he would knock at the door of the Countess's room, and +say a word or two, as was rendered natural by their long previous +intercourse. But there had been no real intercourse between them. The +Countess told him nothing of her plans; nor did he ever speak to her +of his. Each suspected the other; and each was grimly civil. Once or +twice the Countess expressed a hope that the money advanced by Thomas +Thwaite might soon be repaid to him with much interest. Daniel would +always treat the subject with a noble indifference. His father, he +said, had never felt an hour's regret at having parted with his +money. Should it, perchance, come back to him, he would take it, no +doubt, with thanks. + +Then he heard one evening, as he returned from his work, that the +Countess was about to remove herself on the morrow to another home. +The woman of the house, who told him, did not know where the Countess +had fixed her future abode. He passed on up to his bedroom, washed +his hands, and immediately went down to his fellow-lodger. After the +first ordinary greeting, which was cold and almost unkind, he at once +asked his question. "They tell me that you go from this to-morrow +Lady Lovel." She paused a moment, and then bowed her head. "Where is +it that you are going to live?" She paused again, and paused long, +for she had to think what answer she would make him. "Do you object +to let me know?" he asked. + +"Mr. Thwaite, I must object." + +Then at that moment there came upon him the memory of all that he and +his father had done, and not the thought of that which he intended to +do. This was the gratitude of a Countess! "In that case of course I +shall not ask again. I had hoped that we were friends." + +"Of course we are friends. Your father has been the best friend I +ever had. I shall write to your father and let him know. I am bound +to let your father know all that I do. But at present my case is in +the hands of my lawyers, and they have advised that I should tell no +one in London where I live." + +"Then good evening, Lady Lovel. I beg your pardon for having +intruded." He left the room without another word, throwing off the +dust from his feet as he went with violent indignation. He and she +must now be enemies. She had told him that she would separate herself +from him,--and they must be separated. Could he have expected better +things from a declared Countess? But how would it be with Lady Anna? +She also had a title. She also would have wealth She might become a +Countess if she wished it. Let him only know by one sign from her +that she did wish it, and he would take himself off at once to the +farther side of the globe, and live in a world contaminated by no +noble lords and titled ladies. As it happened the Countess might +as well have given him the address, as the woman at the lodgings +informed him on the next morning that the Countess had removed +herself to No. ---- Keppel Street. + +He did not doubt that Lady Anna was about to return to London. That +quick removal would not otherwise have been made. But what mattered +it to him whether she were at Yoxham or in Keppel Street? He could do +nothing. There would come a time,--but it had not come as yet,--when +he must go to the girl boldly, let her be guarded as she might, and +demand her hand. But the demand must be made to herself and herself +only. When that time came there should be no question of money. +Whether she were the undisturbed owner of hundreds of thousands, or +a rejected claimant to her father's name, the demand should be made +in the same tone and with the same assurance. He knew well the whole +history of her life. She had been twenty years old last May, and it +was now September. When the next spring should come round she would +be her own mistress, free to take herself from her mother's hands, +and free to give herself to whom she would. He did not say that +nothing should be done during those eight months; but, according to +his lights, he could not make his demand with full force till she was +a woman, as free from all legal control, as was he as a man. + +The chances were much against him. He knew what were the allurements +of luxury. There were moments in which he told himself that of course +she would fall into the nets that were spread for her. But then again +there would grow within his bosom a belief in truth and honesty which +would buoy him up. How grand would be his victory, how great the +triumph of a human soul's nobility, if, after all these dangers, if +after all the enticements of wealth and rank, the girl should come +to him, and lying on his bosom, should tell him that she had never +wavered from him through it all! Of this, at any rate, he assured +himself,--that he would not go prying, with clandestine manoeuvres, +about that house in Keppel Street. The Countess might have told him +where she intended to live without increasing her danger. + +While things were in this state with him he received a letter from +Messrs. Norton and Flick, the attorneys, asking him to call on Mr. +Flick at their chambers in Lincoln's Inn. The Solicitor-General had +suggested to the attorney that he should see the man, and Mr. Flick +had found himself bound to obey; but in truth he hardly knew what to +say to Daniel Thwaite. It must be his object of course to buy off +the tailor; but such arrangements are difficult, and require great +caution. And then Mr. Flick was employed by Earl Lovel, and this man +was the friend of the Earl's opponents in the case. Mr. Flick did +feel that the Solicitor-General was moving into great irregularities +in this cause. The cause itself was no doubt peculiar,--unlike +any other cause with which Mr. Flick had become acquainted in his +experience; there was no saying at the present moment who had +opposed interests, and who combined interests in the case; but +still etiquette is etiquette, and Mr. Flick was aware that such a +house as that of Messrs. Norton and Flick should not be irregular. +Nevertheless he sent for Daniel Thwaite. + +After having explained who he was, which Daniel knew very well, +without being told, Mr. Flick began his work. "You are aware, Mr. +Thwaite, that the friends on both sides are endeavouring to arrange +this question amicably without any further litigation." + +"I am aware that the friends of Lord Lovel, finding that they have no +ground to stand on at law, are endeavouring to gain their object by +other means." + +"No, Mr. Thwaite. I cannot admit that for a moment. That would be +altogether an erroneous view of the proceeding." + +"Is Lady Anna Lovel the legitimate daughter of the late Earl?" + +"That is what we do not know. That is what nobody knows. You are not +a lawyer, Mr. Thwaite, or you would be aware that there is nothing +more difficult to decide than questions of legitimacy. It has +sometimes taken all the Courts a century to decide whether a marriage +is a marriage or not. You have heard of the great MacFarlane case. +To find out who was the MacFarlane they had to go back a hundred +and twenty years, and at last decide on the memory of a man whose +grandmother had told him that she had seen a woman wearing a +wedding-ring. The case cost over forty thousand pounds, and took +nineteen years. As far as I can see this is more complicated even +than that. We should in all probability have to depend on the +proceedings of the courts in Sicily, and you and I would never live +to see the end of it." + +"You would live on it, Mr. Flick, which is more than I could do." + +"Mr. Thwaite, that I think is a very improper observation; but, +however--. My object is to explain to you that all these difficulties +may be got over by a very proper and natural alliance between Earl +Lovel and the lady who is at present called by courtesy Lady Anna +Lovel." + +"By the Crown's courtesy, Mr. Flick," said the tailor, who understood +the nature of the titles which he hated. + +"We allow the name, I grant you, at present; and are anxious to +promote the marriage. We are all most anxious to bring to a close +this ruinous litigation. Now, I am told that the young lady feels +herself hampered by some childish promise that has been made--to +you." + +Daniel Thwaite had expected no such announcement as this. He did not +conceive that the girl would tell the story of her engagement, and +was unprepared at the moment for any reply. But he was not a man to +remain unready long. "Do you call it childish?" he said. + +"I do certainly." + +"Then what would her engagement be if now made with the Earl? The +engagement with me, as an engagement, is not yet twelve months old, +and has been repeated within the last month. She is an infant, Mr. +Flick, according to your language, and therefore, perhaps, a child in +the eye of the law. If Lord Lovel wishes to marry her, why doesn't he +do so? He is not hindered, I suppose, by her being a child." + +"Any marriage with you, you know, would in fact be impossible." + +"A marriage with me, Mr. Flick, would be quite as possible as one +with the Lord Lovel. When the lady is of age, no clergyman in England +dare refuse to marry us, if the rules prescribed by law have been +obeyed." + +"Well, well, Mr. Thwaite; I do not want to argue with you about the +law and about possibilities. The marriage would not be fitting, and +you know that it would not be fitting." + +"It would be most unfitting,--unless the lady wished it as well as I. +Just as much may be said of her marriage with Earl Lovel. To which of +us has she given her promise? which of us has she known and loved? +which of us has won her by long friendship and steady regard? and +which of us, Mr. Flick, is attracted to the marriage by the lately +assured wealth of the young woman? I never understood that Lord Lovel +was my rival when Lady Anna was regarded as the base-born child of +the deceased madman." + +"I suppose, Mr. Thwaite, you are not indifferent to her money?" + +"Then you suppose wrongly,--as lawyers mostly do when they take upon +themselves to attribute motives." + +"You are not civil, Mr. Thwaite." + +"You did not send for me here, sir, in order that there should be +civilities between us. But I will at least be true. In regard to Lady +Anna's money, should it become mine by reason of her marriage with +me, I will guard it for her sake, and for that of the children she +may bear, with all my power. I will assert her right to it as a +man should do. But my purpose in seeking her hand will neither be +strengthened nor weakened by her money. I believe that it is hers. +Nay,--I know that the law will give it to her. On her behalf, as +being betrothed to her, I defy Lord Lovel and all other claimants. +But her money and her hand are two things apart, and I will never be +governed as to the one by any regard as to the other. Perhaps, Mr. +Flick, I have said enough,--and so, good morning." Then he went away. + +The lawyer had never dared to suggest the compromise which had been +his object in sending for the man. He had not dared to ask the tailor +how much ready money he would take down to abandon the lady, and thus +to relieve them all from that difficulty. No doubt he exercised a +wise discretion, as had he done so, Daniel Thwaite might have become +even more uncivil than before. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THERE IS A GULF FIXED. + + +"Do you think that you could be happier as the wife of such a one as +Daniel Thwaite, a creature infinitely beneath you, separated as you +would be from all your kith and kin, from all whose blood you share, +from me and from your family, than you would be as the bearer of a +proud name, the daughter and the wife of an Earl Lovel,--the mother +of the earl to come? I will not speak now of duty, or of fitness, or +of the happiness of others which must depend upon you. It is natural +that a girl should look to her own joys in marriage. Do you think +that your joy can consist in calling that man your husband?" + +It was thus that the Countess spoke to her daughter, who was then +lying worn out and ill on her bed in Keppel Street. For three days +she had been subject to such addresses as this, and during those +three days no word of tenderness had been spoken to her. The Countess +had been obdurate in her hardness,--still believing that she might +thus break her daughter's spirit, and force her to abandon her +engagement. But as yet she had not succeeded. The girl had been +meek and, in all other things, submissive. She had not defended her +conduct. She had not attempted to say that she had done well in +promising to be the tailor's bride. She had shown herself willing by +her silence to have her engagement regarded as a great calamity, as a +dreadful evil that had come upon the whole Lovel family. She had not +boldness to speak to her mother as she had spoken on the subject to +the Earl. She threw herself entirely upon her promise, and spoke of +her coming destiny as though it had been made irrevocable by her own +word. "I have promised him, mamma, and have sworn that it should be +so." That was the answer which she now made from her bed;--the answer +which she had made a dozen times during the last three days. + +"Is everybody belonging to you to be ruined because you once spoke a +foolish word?" + +"Mamma, it was often spoken,--very often, and he does not wish that +anybody should be ruined. He told me that Lord Lovel might have the +money." + +"Foolish, ungrateful girl! It is not for Lord Lovel that I am +pleading to you. It is for the name, and for your own honour. Do you +not constantly pray to God to keep you in that state of life to which +it has pleased Him to call you;--and are you not departing from it +wilfully and sinfully by such an act as this?" But still Lady Anna +continued to say that she was bound by the obligation which was upon +her. + +On the following day the Countess was frightened, believing that the +girl was really ill. In truth she was ill,--so that the doctor who +visited her declared that she must be treated with great care. She +was harassed in spirit,--so the doctor said,--and must be taken away, +so that she might be amused. The Countess was frightened, but still +was resolute. She not only loved her daughter,--but loved no other +human being on the face of the earth. Her daughter was all that she +had to bind her to the world around her. But she declared to herself +again and again that it would be better that her daughter should +die than live and be married to the tailor. It was a case in which +persecution even to the very gate of the grave would be wise and +warrantable,--if by such persecution this odious, monstrous marriage +might be avoided. And she did believe that persecution would avail at +last. If she were only steady in her resolve, the girl would never +dare to demand the right to leave her mother's house and walk off to +the church to be married to Daniel Thwaite, without the countenance +of a single friend. The girl's strength was not of that nature. But +were she, the Countess, to yield an inch, then this evil might come +upon them. She had heard that young people can always beat their +parents if they be sufficiently obdurate. Parents are soft-hearted to +their children, and are prone to yield. And so would she have been +soft-hearted, if the interests concerned had been less important, +if the deviation from duty had been less startling, or the union +proposed less monstrous and disgraceful. But in this case it behoved +her to be obdurate,--even though it should be to the very gates of +the grave. "I swear to you," she said, "that the day of your marriage +to Daniel Thwaite shall be the day of my death." + +In her straits she went to Serjeant Bluestone for advice. Now, the +Serjeant had hitherto been opposed to all compromise, feeling certain +that everything might be gained without the sacrifice of a single +right. He had not a word to say against a marriage between the two +cousins, but let the cousin who was the heiress be first placed in +possession of her rights. Let her be empowered, when she consented +to become Lady Lovel, to demand such a settlement of the property as +would be made on her behalf if she were the undisputed owner of the +property. Let her marry the lord if she would, but not do so in order +that she might obtain the partial enjoyment of that which was all her +own. And then, so the Serjeant had argued, the widowed Countess would +never be held to have established absolutely her own right to her +name, should any compromise be known to have been effected. People +might call her Countess Lovel; but, behind her back, they would say +that she was no countess. The Serjeant had been very hot about it, +especially disliking the interference of Sir William. But now, when +he heard this new story, his heat gave way. Anything must be done +that could be done;--everything must be done to prevent such a +termination to the career of the two ladies as would come from a +marriage with the tailor. + +But he was somewhat dismayed when he came to understand the condition +of affairs in Keppel Street. "How can I not be severe?" said the +Countess, when he remonstrated with her. "If I were tender with +her she would think that I was yielding. Is not everything at +stake,--everything for which my life has been devoted?" The Serjeant +called his wife into council, and then suggested that Lady Anna +should spend a week or two in Bedford Square. He assured the Countess +that she might be quite sure that Daniel Thwaite should find no +entrance within his doors. + +"But if Lord Lovel would do us the honour to visit us, we should be +most happy to see him," said the Serjeant. + +Lady Anna was removed to Bedford Square, and there became subject to +treatment that was milder, but not less persistent. Mrs. Bluestone +lectured her daily, treating her with the utmost respect, paying to +her rank a deference, which was not indeed natural to the good lady, +but which was assumed, so that Lady Anna might the better comprehend +the difference between her own position and that of the tailor. The +girls were told nothing of the tailor,--lest the disgrace of so +unnatural a partiality might shock their young minds; but they +were instructed that there was danger, and that they were always, +in speaking to their guest, to take it for granted that she was +to become Countess Lovel. Her maid, Sarah, went with her to the +Serjeant's, and was taken into a half-confidence. Lady Anna was never +to be left a moment alone. She was to be a prisoner with gilded +chains,--for whom a splendid, a glorious future was in prospect, if +only she would accept it. + +"I really think that she likes the lord the best," said Mrs. +Bluestone to her husband. + +"Then why the mischief won't she have him?" This was in October, and +that November term was fast approaching in which the cause was set +down for trial. + +"I almost think she would if he'd come and ask her again. Of course, +I have never mentioned the other man; but when I speak to her of Earl +Lovel, she always answers me as though she were almost in love with +him. I was inquiring yesterday what sort of a man he was, and she +said he was quite perfect. 'It is a thousand pities,' she said, 'that +he should not have this money. He ought to have it, as he is the +Earl.'" + +"Why doesn't she give it to him?" + +"I asked her that; but she shook, her head and said, that it could +never be. I think that man has made her swear some sort of awful +oath, and has frightened her." + +"No doubt he has made her swear an oath, but we all know how the gods +regard the perjuries of lovers," said the Serjeant. "We must get the +young lord here when he comes back to town." + +"Is he handsome?" asked Alice Bluestone, the younger daughter, who +had become Lady Anna's special friend in the family. Of course they +were talking of Lord Lovel. + +"Everybody says he is." + +"But what do you say?" + +"I don't think it matters much about a man being handsome,--but he is +beautiful. Not dark, like all the other Lovels; nor yet what you call +fair. I don't think that fair men ever look manly." + +"Oh no," said Alice, who was contemplating an engagement with a +black-haired young barrister. + +"Lord Lovel is brown,--with blue eyes; but it is the shape of his +face that is so perfect,--an oval, you know, that is not too long. +But it isn't that makes him look as he does. He looks as though +everybody in the world ought to do exactly what he tells them." + +"And why don't you, dear, do exactly what he tells you?" + +"Ah,--that is another question. I should do many things if he told +me. He is the head of our family. I think he ought to have all this +money, and be a rich great man, as the Earl Lovel should be." + +"And yet you won't be his wife?" + +"Would you,--if you had promised another man?" + +"Have you promised another man?" + +"Yes;--I have." + +"Who is he, Lady Anna?" + +"They have not told you, then?" + +"No;--nobody has told me. I know they all want you to marry Lord +Lovel,--and I know he wants it. I know he is quite in love with you." + +"Ah;--I do not think that. But if he were, it could make no +difference. If you had once given your word to another man, would you +go back because a lord asked you?" + +"I don't think I would ever give my word without asking mamma." + +"If he had been good to you, and you had loved him always, and he had +been your best friend,--what would you do then?" + +"Who is he, Lady Anna?" + +"Do not call me Lady Anna, or I shall not like you. I will tell you, +but you must not say that I told you. Only I thought everybody knew. +I told Lord Lovel, and he, I think, has told all the world. It is Mr. +Daniel Thwaite." + +"Mr. Daniel Thwaite!" said Alice, who had heard enough of the case to +know who the Thwaites were. "He is a tailor!" + +"Yes," said Lady Anna proudly; "he is a tailor." + +"Surely that cannot be good," said Alice, who, having long since felt +what it was to be the daughter of a serjeant, had made up her mind +that she would marry nothing lower than a barrister. + +"It is what you call bad, I dare say." + +"I don't think a tailor can be a gentleman." + +"I don't know. Perhaps I wasn't a lady when I promised him. But I +did promise. You can never know what he and his father did for us. +I think we should have died only for them. You don't know how we +lived;--in a little cottage, with hardly any money, with nobody to +come near us but they. Everybody else thought that we were vile and +wicked. It is true. But they always were good to us. Would not you +have loved him?" + +"I should have loved him in a kind of way." + +"When one takes so much, one must give in return what one has to +give," said Lady Anna. + +"Do you love him still?" + +"Of course I love him." + +"And you wish to be his wife?" + +"Sometimes I think I don't. It is not that I am ashamed for myself. +What would it have signified if I had gone away with him straight +from Cumberland, before I had ever seen my cousins? Supposing that +mamma hadn't been the Countess--" + +"But she is." + +"So they say now;--but if they had said that she was not, nobody +would have thought it wrong then for me to marry Mr. Thwaite." + +"Don't you think it wrong yourself?" + +"It would be best for me to say that I would never marry any one at +all. He would be very angry with me." + +"Lord Lovel?" + +"Oh no;--not Lord Lovel. Daniel would be very angry, because he +really loves me. But it would not be so bad to him as though I became +Lord Lovel's wife. I will tell you the truth, dear. I am ashamed to +marry Mr. Thwaite,--not for myself, but because I am Lord Lovel's +cousin and mamma's daughter. And I should be ashamed to marry Lord +Lovel." + +"Why, dear?" + +"Because I should be false and ungrateful! I should be afraid to +stand before him if he looked at me. You do not know how he can look. +He, too, can command. He, too, is noble. They believe it is the money +he wants, and when they call him a tailor, they think that he must be +mean. He is not mean. He is clever, and can talk about things better +than my cousin. He can work hard and give away all that he earns. And +so could his father. They gave all they had to us, and have never +asked it again. I kissed him once,--and then he said I had paid all +my mother's debt." Alice Bluestone shrank within herself when she was +told by this daughter of a countess of such a deed. It was horrid +to her mind that a tailor should be kissed by a Lady Anna Lovel. +But she herself had perhaps been as generous to the black-browed +young barrister, and had thought no harm. "They think I do not +understand,--but I do. They all want this money, and then they accuse +him, and say he does it that he may become rich. He would give up all +the money,--just for me. How would you feel if it were like that with +you?" + +"I think that a girl who is a lady, should never marry a man who is +not a gentleman. You know the story of the rich man who could not +get to Abraham's bosom because there was a gulf fixed. That is how +it should be;--just as there is with royal people as to marrying +royalty. Otherwise everything would get mingled, and there would soon +be no difference. If there are to be differences, there should be +differences. That is the meaning of being a gentleman,--or a lady." +So spoke the young female Conservative with wisdom beyond her +years;--nor did she speak quite in vain. + +"I believe what I had better do would be to die," said Lady Anna. +"Everything would come right then." + +Some day or two after this Serjeant Bluestone sent a message up to +Lady Anna, on his return home from the courts, with a request that +she would have the great kindness to come down to him in his study. +The Serjeant had treated her with more than all the deference due to +her rank since she had been in his house, striving to teach her what +it was to be the daughter of an Earl and probable owner of twenty +thousand a year. The Serjeant, to give him his due, cared as little +as most men for the peerage. He vailed his bonnet to no one but a +judge,--and not always that with much ceremonious observance. But now +his conduct was a part of his duty to a client whom he was determined +to see established in her rights. He would have handed her her cup +of tea on his knees every morning, if by doing so he could have made +clear to her eyes how deep would be her degradation were she to marry +the tailor. The message was now brought to her by Mrs. Bluestone, +who almost apologized for asking her to trouble herself to walk +down-stairs to the back parlour. "My dear Lady Anna," said the +Serjeant, "may I ask you to sit down for a moment or two while I +speak to you? I have just left your mother." + +"How is dear mamma?" The Serjeant assured her that the Countess was +well in health. At this time Lady Anna had not visited her mother +since she had left Keppel Street, and had been told that Lady Lovel +had refused to see her till she had pledged herself never to marry +Daniel Thwaite. "I do so wish I might go to mamma!" + +"With all my heart I wish you could, Lady Anna. Nothing makes such +heart-burning sorrow as a family quarrel. But what can I say? You +know what your mother thinks?" + +"Couldn't you manage that she should let me go there just once?" + +"I hope that we can manage it;--but I want you to listen to me first. +Lord Lovel is back in London." She pressed her lips together and +fastened one hand firmly on the other. If the assurance that was +required from her was ever to be exacted, it should not be exacted by +Serjeant Bluestone. "I have seen his lordship to-day," continued the +Serjeant, "and he has done me the honour to promise that he will dine +here to-morrow." + +"Lord Lovel?" + +"Yes;--your cousin, Earl Lovel. There is no reason, I suppose, why +you should not meet him? He has not offended you?" + +"Oh no.--But I have offended him." + +"I think not, Lady Anna. He does not speak of you as though there +were offence." + +"When we parted he would hardly look at me, because I told him--. You +know what I told him." + +"A gentleman is not necessarily offended because a lady does not +accept his first offer. Many gentlemen would be offended if that were +so;--and very many happy marriages would never have a chance of being +made. At any rate he is coming, and I thought that perhaps you would +excuse me if I endeavoured to explain how very much may depend on the +manner in which you may receive him. You must feel that things are +not going on quite happily now." + +"I am so unhappy, Serjeant Bluestone!" + +"Yes, indeed. It must be so. You are likely to be placed,--I think I +may say you certainly will be placed,--in such a position that the +whole prosperity of a noble and ancient family must depend on what +you may do. With one word you can make once more bright a fair name +that has long been beneath a cloud. Here in England the welfare of +the State depends on the conduct of our aristocracy!" Oh, Serjeant +Bluestone, Serjeant Bluestone! how could you so far belie your +opinion as to give expression to a sentiment utterly opposed to your +own convictions! But what is there that a counsel will not do for a +client? "If they whom Fate and Fortune have exalted, forget what the +country has a right to demand from them, farewell, alas, to the glory +of old England!" He had found this kind of thing very effective with +twelve men, and surely it might prevail with one poor girl. "It is +not for me, Lady Anna, to dictate to you the choice of a husband. But +it has become my duty to point out to you the importance of your own +choice, and to explain to you, if it may be possible, that you are +not like other young ladies. You have in your hands the marring or +the making of the whole family of Lovel. As for that suggestion of +a marriage to which you were induced to give ear by feelings of +gratitude, it would, if carried out, spread desolation in the bosom +of every relative to whom you are bound by the close ties of noble +blood." He finished his speech, and Lady Anna retired without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +BEDFORD SQUARE. + + +The Earl, without asking any question on the subject, had found that +the Solicitor-General thought nothing of that objection which had +weighed so heavily on his own mind, as to carrying on his suit with +a girl who had been wooed successfully by a tailor. His own spirit +rebelled for a while against such condescension. When Lady Anna had +first told him that she had pledged her word to a lover low in the +scale of men, the thing had seemed to him to be over. What struggle +might be made to prevent the accomplishment of so base a marriage +must be effected for the sake of the family, and not on his own +special behoof. Not even for twenty thousand a year, not even for +Lady Anna Lovel, not for all the Lovels, would he take to his bosom +as his bride, the girl who had leaned with loving fondness on the +shoulders of Daniel Thwaite. But when he found that others did +not feel it as he felt it, he turned the matter over again in his +mind,--and by degrees relented. There had doubtless been much in the +whole affair which had placed it outside the pale of things which are +subject to the ordinary judgment of men. Lady Anna's position in the +world had been very singular. A debt of gratitude was due by her to +the tailor, which had seemed to exact from her some great payment. As +she had said herself, she had given the only thing which she had to +give. Now there would be much to give. The man doubtless deserved his +reward and should have it, but that reward must not be the hand of +the heiress of the Lovels. He, the Earl, would once again claim that +as his own. + +He had hurried out of town after seeing Sir William, but had not +returned to Yoxham. He went again to Scotland, and wrote no further +letter to the rectory after those three lines which the reader has +seen. Then he heard from Mr. Flick that Lady Anna was staying with +the Serjeant in Bedford Square, and he returned to London at the +lawyer's instance. It was so expedient that if possible something +should be settled before November! + +The only guests asked to meet the Earl at Serjeant Bluestone's, were +Sir William and Lady Patterson, and the black-browed young barrister. +The whole proceeding was very irregular,--as Mr. Flick, who knew what +was going on, said more than once to his old partner, Mr. Norton. +That the Solicitor-General should dine with the Serjeant might be all +very well,--though, as school boys say, they had never known each +other at home before. But that they should meet in this way the then +two opposing clients,--the two claimants to the vast property as to +which a cause was to come on for trial in a few weeks,--did bewilder +Mr. Flick. "I suppose the Solicitor-General sees his way, but he may +be in a mess yet," said Mr. Flick. Mr. Norton only scratched his +head. It was no work of his. + +Sir William, who arrived before the Earl, was introduced for the +first time to the young lady. "Lady Anna," he said, "for some months +past I have heard much of you. And now I have great pleasure in +meeting you." She smiled, and strove to look pleased, but she had +not a word to say to him. "You know I ought to be your enemy," he +continued laughing, "but I hope that is well nigh over. I should not +like to have to fight so fair a foe." Then the young lord arrived, +and the lawyers of course gave way to the lover. + +Lady Anna, from the moment in which she was told that he was to come, +had thought of nothing but the manner of their greeting. It was not +that she was uneasy as to her own fashion of receiving him. She could +smile and be silent, and give him her hand or leave it ungiven, as he +might demand. But in what manner would he accost her? She had felt +sure that he had despised her from the moment in which she had told +him of her engagement. Of course he had despised her. Those fine +sentiments about ladies and gentlemen, and the gulf which had been +fixed, had occurred to her before she heard them from the mouth +of Miss Alice Bluestone. She understood, as well as did her young +friend, what was the difference between her cousin the Earl, and her +lover the tailor. Of course it would be sweet to be able to love such +a one as her cousin. They all talked to her as though she was simply +obstinate and a fool, not perceiving, as she did herself, that the +untowardness of her fortune had prescribed this destiny for her. +Good as Daniel Thwaite might be,--as she knew that he was,--she felt +herself to be degraded in having promised to be his wife. The lessons +they had taught her had not been in vain. And she had been specially +degraded in the eyes of him, who was to her imagination the brightest +of human beings. They told her that she might still be his wife +if only she would consent to hold out her hand when he should ask +for it. She did not believe it. Were it true, it could make no +difference,--but she did not believe it. He had scorned her when she +told him the tale at Bolton Abbey. He had scorned her when he hurried +away from Yoxham. Now he was coming to the Serjeant's house, with +the express intention of meeting her again. Why should he come? Alas, +alas! She was sure that he would never speak to her again in that +bright sunny manner, with those dulcet honey words, which he had used +when first they saw each other in Wyndham Street. + +Nor was he less uneasy as to this meeting. He had not intended to +scorn her when he parted from her, but he had intended that she +should understand that there was an end of his suit. He had loved her +dearly, but there are obstacles to which love must yield. Had she +already married this tailor, how would it have been with him then? +That which had appeared to him to be most fit for him to do, had +suddenly become altogether unfit,--and he had told himself at the +moment that he must take back his love to himself as best he might. +He could not sue for that which had once been given to a tailor. But +now all that was changed, and he did intend to sue again. She was +very beautiful,--to his thinking the very pink of feminine grace, and +replete with charms;--soft in voice, soft in manner, with just enough +of spirit to give her character. What a happy chance it had been, +what marvellous fortune, that he should have been able to love this +girl whom it was so necessary that he should marry;--what a happy +chance, had it not been for this wretched tailor! But now, in spite +of the tailor, he would try his fate with her once again. He had not +intended to scorn her when he left her, but he knew that his manner +to her must have told her that his suit was over. How should he renew +it again in the presence of Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone and of Sir +William and Lady Patterson? + +He was first introduced to the wives of the two lawyers while Lady +Anna was sitting silent on the corner of a sofa. Mrs. Bluestone, +foreseeing how it would be, had endeavoured with much prudence to +establish her young friend at some distance from the other guests, +in order that the Earl might have the power of saying some word; but +the young barrister had taken this opportunity of making himself +agreeable, and stood opposite to her talking nothings about the +emptiness of London, and the glories of the season when it should +come. Lady Anna did not hear a word that the young barrister said. +Lady Anna's ear was straining itself to hear what Lord Lovel might +say, and her eye, though not quite turned towards him, was watching +his every motion. Of course he must speak to her. "Lady Anna is on +the sofa," said Mrs. Bluestone. Of course he knew that she was there. +He had seen her dear face the moment that he entered the room. He +walked up to her and gave her his hand, and smiled upon her. + +She had made up her little speech. "I hope they are quite well at +Yoxham," she said, in that low, soft, silver voice which he had told +himself would so well befit the future Countess Lovel. + +"Oh yes;--I believe so. I am a truant there, for I do not answer aunt +Julia's letters as punctually as I ought to do. I shall be down there +for the hunting I suppose next month." Then dinner was announced; and +as it was necessary that the Earl should take down Mrs. Bluestone +and the Serjeant Lady Anna,--so that the young barrister absolutely +went down to dinner with the wife of the Solicitor-General,--the +conversation was brought to an end. Nor was it possible that they +should be made to sit next each other at dinner. And then, when +at last the late evening came and they were all together in the +drawing-room, other things intervened and the half hour so passed +that hardly a word was spoken between them. But there was just one +word as he went away. "I shall call and see you," he said. + +"I don't think he means it," the Serjeant said to his wife that +evening, almost in anger. + +"Why not, my dear?" + +"He did not speak to her." + +"People can't speak at dinner-parties when there is anything +particular to say. If he didn't mean it, he wouldn't have come. And +if you'll all have a little patience she'll mean it too. I can't +forgive her mother for being so hard to her. She's one of the +sweetest creatures I ever came across." + +A little patience, and here was November coming! The Earl who had +now been dining in his house, meeting his own client there, must +again become the Serjeant's enemy in November, unless this matter +were settled. The Serjeant at present could see no other way of +proceeding. The Earl might no doubt retire from the suit, but a jury +must then decide whether the Italian woman had any just claim. And +against the claim of the Italian woman the Earl would again come +forward. The Serjeant as he thought of it, was almost sorry that he +had asked the Earl and the Solicitor-General to his house. + +On the very next morning,--early in the day,--the Earl was announced +in Bedford Square. The Serjeant was of course away at his chambers. +Lady Anna was in her room and Mrs. Bluestone was sitting with her +daughter. "I have come to see my cousin," said the Earl boldly. + +"I am so glad that you have come, Lord Lovel." + +"Thank you,--well; yes. I know you will not mind my saying so +outright. Though the papers say that we are enemies, we have many +things in common between us." + +"I will send her to you. My dear, we will go into the dining-room. +You will find lunch ready when you come down, Lord Lovel." Then she +left him, and he stood looking for a while at the books that were +laid about the table. + +It seemed to him to be an age, but at last the door was opened and +his cousin crept into the room. When he had parted from her at Yoxham +he had called her Lady Anna; but he was determined that she should +at any rate be again his cousin. "I could hardly speak to you +yesterday," he said, while he held her hand. + +"No;--Lord Lovel." + +"People never can, I think, at small parties like that. Dear Anna, +you surprised me so much by what you told me on the banks of the +Wharfe!" She did not know how to answer him even a word. "I know that +I was unkind to you." + +"I did not think so, my lord." + +"I will tell you just the plain truth. Even though it may be bitter, +the truth will be best between us, dearest. When first I heard what +you said, I believed that all must be over between you and me." + +"Oh, yes," she said. + +"But I have thought about it since, and I will not have it so. I have +not come to reproach you." + +"You may if you will." + +"I have no right to do so, and would not if I had. I can understand +your feelings of deep gratitude and can respect them." + +"But I love him, my lord," said Lady Anna, holding her head on high +and speaking with much dignity. She could hardly herself understand +the feeling which induced her so to address him. When she was alone +thinking of him and of her other lover, her heart was inclined to +regret in that she had not known her cousin in her early days,--as +she had known Daniel Thwaite. She could tell herself, though she +could not tell any other human being, that when she had thought that +she was giving her heart to the young tailor, she had not quite known +what it was to have a heart to give. The young lord was as a god to +her; whereas Daniel was but a man,--to whom she owed so deep a debt +of gratitude that she must sacrifice herself, if needs, be, on his +behalf. And yet when the Earl spoke to her of her gratitude to this +man,--praising it, and professing that he also understood those very +feelings which had governed her conduct,--she blazed up almost in +wrath, and swore that she loved the tailor. + +The Earl's task was certainly difficult. It was his first impulse to +rush away again, as he had rushed away before. To rush away and leave +the country, and let the lawyers settle it all as they would. Could +it be possible that such a girl as this should love a journeyman +tailor, and should be proud of her love! He turned from her and +walked to the door and back again, during which time she had almost +repented of her audacity. + +"It is right that you should love him--as a friend," he said. + +"But I have sworn to be his wife." + +"And must you keep your oath?" As she did not answer him he pressed +on with his suit. "If he loves you I am sure he cannot wish to hurt +you, and you know that such a marriage as that would be very hurtful. +Can it be right that you should descend from your position to pay a +debt of gratitude, and that you should do it at the expense of all +those who belong to you? Would you break your mother's heart, and +mine, and bring disgrace upon your family merely because he was good +to you?" + +"He was good to my mother as well as me." + +"Will it not break her heart? Has she not told you so? But perhaps +you do not believe it, my love." + +"I do not know," she said. + +"Ah, dearest, you may believe. To my eyes you are the sweetest of +all God's creatures. Perhaps you think I say so only for the money's +sake." + +"No, my lord, I do not think that." + +"Of course much is due to him." + +"He wants nothing but that I should be his wife. He has said so, and +he is never false. I can trust him at any rate, even though I should +betray him. But I will not betray him. I will go away with him and +they shall not hear of me, and nobody will remember that I was my +father's daughter." + +"You are doubting even now, dear." + +"But I ought not to doubt. If I doubt it is because I am weak." + +"Then still be weak. Surely such weakness will be good when it will +please all those who must be dearest to you." + +"It will not please him, Lord Lovel." + +"Will you do this, dearest;--will you take one week to consider +and then write to me? You cannot refuse me that, knowing that the +happiness and the honour and the welfare of every Lovel depends upon +your answer." + +She felt that she could not refuse, and she gave him the promise. +On that day week she would write to him, and tell him then to what +resolve she should have brought herself. He came up close to her, +meaning to kiss her if she would let him; but she stood aloof, and +merely touched his hand. She would obey her betrothed,--at any rate +till she should have made up her mind that she would be untrue +to him. Lord Lovel could not press his wish, and left the house +unmindful of Mrs. Bluestone's luncheon. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE DOG IN THE MANGER. + + +During all this time Daniel Thwaite had been living alone, working +day after day and hour after hour among the men in Wigmore Street, +trusted by his employer, disliked by those over whom he was set in +some sort of authority, and befriended by none. He had too heavy a +weight on his spirits to be light of heart, even had his nature been +given to lightness. How could he even hope that the girl would resist +all the temptation that would be thrown in her way, all the arguments +that would be used to her, the natural entreaties that would be +showered upon her from all her friends? Nor did he so think of +himself, as to believe that his own personal gifts would bind her to +him when opposed by those other personal gifts which he knew belonged +to the lord. Measuring himself by his own standard, regarding that +man to be most manly who could be most useful in the world, he did +think himself to be infinitely superior to the Earl. He was the +working bee, whereas the Earl was the drone. And he was one who used +to the best of his abilities the mental faculties which had been +given to him; whereas the Earl,--so he believed,--was himself hardly +conscious of having had mental faculties bestowed upon him. The Earl +was, to his thinking, as were all earls, an excrescence upon society, +which had been produced by the evil habits and tendencies of mankind; +a thing to be got rid of before any near approach could be made +to that social perfection in the future coming of which he fully +believed. But, though useless, the Earl was beautiful to the eye. +Though purposeless, as regarded any true purpose of speech, his voice +was of silver and sweet to the ears. His hands, which could never +help him to a morsel of bread, were soft to the touch. He was sweet +with perfumes and idleness, and never reeked of the sweat of labour. +Was it possible that such a girl as Anna Lovel should resist the +popinjay, backed as he would be by her own instincts and by the +prayers of every one of her race? And then from time to time another +thought would strike him. Using his judgment as best he might on her +behalf, ought he to wish that she should do so? The idleness of an +earl might be bad, and equally bad the idleness of a countess. To be +the busy wife of a busy man, to be the mother of many children who +should be all taught to be busy on behalf of mankind, was, to his +thinking, the highest lot of woman. But there was a question with him +whether the accidents of her birth and fortune had not removed her +from the possibility of such joy as that. How would it be with her, +and him too, if, in after life, she should rebuke him because he +had not allowed her to be the wife of a nobleman? And how would it +be with him if hereafter men said of him that he held her to an +oath extracted from her in her childhood because of her wealth? He +had been able to answer Mr. Flick on that head, but he had more +difficulty in answering himself. + +He had written to his father after the Countess had left the house +in which he lodged, and his father had answered him. The old man was +not much given to the writing of letters. "About Lady Lovel and her +daughter," said he, "I won't take no more trouble, nor shouldn't you. +She and you is different, and must be." And that was all he said. +Yes;--he and Lady Anna were different, and must remain so. Of a +morning, when he went fresh to his work, he would resolve that he +would send her word that she was entirely free from him, and would +bid her do according to the nature of the Lovels. But in the evening, +as he would wander back, slowly, all alone, tired of his work, tired +of the black solitude of the life he was leading, longing for some +softness to break the harsh monotony of his labour, he would remember +all her prettinesses, and would, above all, remember the pretty oaths +with which she had sworn that she, Anna Lovel, loved him, Daniel +Thwaite, with all the woman's love which a woman could give. He +would remember the warm kiss which had seemed to make fresh for hours +his dry lips, and would try to believe that the bliss of which he +had thought so much might still be his own. Had she abandoned him, +had she assented to a marriage with the Earl, he would assuredly +have heard of it. He also knew well the day fixed for the trial, +and understood the importance which would be attached to an early +marriage, should that be possible,--or at least to a public +declaration of an engagement. At any rate she had not as yet been +false to him. + +One day he received at his place of work the following note;-- + + + DEAR MR. THWAITE, + + I wish to speak to you on most important business. + Could you call on me to-morrow at eight o'clock in the + evening,--here? + + Yours very faithfully and always grateful, + + J. LOVEL. + + +And then the Countess had added her address in Keppel Street;--the +very address which, about a month back, she had refused to give him. +Of course he went to the Countess,--fully believing that Lady Anna +would also be at the house, though believing also that he would not +be allowed to see her. But at this time Lady Anna was still staying +with Mrs. Bluestone in Bedford Square. + +It was no doubt natural that every advantage should be taken of +the strong position which Lord Lovel held. When he had extracted a +promise from Lady Anna that she would write to him at the end of a +week, he told Sir William, Sir William told his wife, Lady Patterson +told Mrs. Bluestone, and Mrs. Bluestone told the Countess. They +were all now in league against the tailor. If they could only get a +promise from the girl before the cause came on,--anything that they +could even call a promise,--then the thing might be easy. United +together they would not be afraid of what the Italian woman might do. +And this undertaking to write to Lord Lovel was almost as good as a +promise. When a girl once hesitates with a lover, she has as good +as surrendered. To say even that she will think of it, is to accept +the man. Then Mrs. Bluestone and the Countess, putting their heads +together, determined that an appeal should be made to the tailor. Had +Sir William or the Serjeant been consulted, either would have been +probably strong against the measure. But the ladies acted on their +own judgment, and Daniel Thwaite presented himself in Keppel Street. +"It is very kind of you to come," said the Countess. + +"There is no great kindness in that," said Daniel, thinking perhaps +of those twenty years of service which had been given by him and by +his father. + +"I know you think that I have been ungrateful for all that you have +done for me." He did think so, and was silent. "But you would hardly +wish me to repay you for helping me in my struggle by giving up all +for which I have struggled." + +"I have asked for nothing, Lady Lovel." + +"Have you not?" + +"I have asked you for nothing." + +"But my daughter is all that I have in the world. Have you asked +nothing of her?" + +"Yes, Lady Lovel. I have asked much from her, and she has given +me all that I have asked. But I have asked nothing, and now claim +nothing, as payment for service done. If Lady Anna thinks she is in +my debt after such fashion as that, I will soon make her free." + +"She does think so, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Let her tell me so with her own lips." + +"You will not think that I am lying to you." + +"And yet men do lie, and women too, without remorse, when the stakes +are high. I will believe no one but herself in this. Let her come +down and stand before me and look me in the face and tell me that it +is so,--and I promise you that there shall be no further difficulty. +I will not even ask to be alone with her. I will speak but a dozen +words to her, and you shall hear them." + +"She is not here, Mr. Thwaite. She is not living in this house." + +"Where is she then?" + +"She is staying with friends." + +"With the Lovels,--in Yorkshire?" + +"I do not think that good can be done by my telling you where she +is." + +"Do you mean me to understand that she is engaged to the Earl?" + +"I tell you this,--that she acknowledges herself to be bound to you, +but bound to you simply by gratitude. It seems that there was a +promise." + +"Oh yes,--there was a promise, Lady Lovel; a promise as firmly spoken +as when you told the late lord that you would be his wife." + +"I know that there was a promise,--though I, her mother, living +with her at the time, had no dream of such wickedness. There was a +promise, and by that she feels herself to be in some measure bound." + +"She should do so,--if words can ever mean anything." + +"I say she does,--but it is only by a feeling of gratitude. What;--is +it probable that she should wish to mate so much below her degree, +if she were now left to her own choice? Does it seem natural to you? +She loves the young Earl,--as why should she not? She has been thrown +into his company on purpose that she might learn to love him,--when +no one knew of this horrid promise which had been exacted from her +before she had seen any in the world from whom to choose." + +"She has seen two now, him and me, and she can choose as she pleases. +Let us both agree to take her at her word, and let us both be present +when that word is spoken. If she goes to him and offers him her hand +in my presence, I would not take it then though she were a princess, +in lieu of being Lady Anna Lovel. Will he treat me as fairly? Will he +be as bold to abide by her choice?" + +"You can never marry her, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Why can I never marry her? Would not my ring be as binding on her +finger as his? Would not the parson's word make me and her one flesh +and one bone as irretrievably as though I were ten times an earl? I +am a man and she a woman. What law of God, or of man,--what law of +nature can prevent us from being man and wife? I say that I can marry +her,--and with her consent, I will." + +"Never! You shall never live to call yourself the husband of my +daughter. I have striven and suffered,--as never woman strove and +suffered before, to give to my child the name and the rank which +belong to her. I did not do so that she might throw them away on such +a one as you. If you will deal honestly by us--" + +"I have dealt by you more than honestly." + +"If you will at once free her from this thraldom in which you hold +her, and allow her to act in accordance with the dictates of her own +heart--" + +"That she shall do." + +"If you will not hinder us in building up again the honour of the +family, which was nigh ruined by the iniquities of my husband, we +will bless you." + +"I want but one blessing, Lady Lovel." + +"And in regard to her money--" + +"I do not expect you to believe me, Countess; but her money counts +as nothing with me. If it becomes hers and she becomes my wife, as +her husband I will protect it for her. But there shall be no dealing +between you and me in regard to money." + +"There is money due to your father, Mr. Thwaite." + +"If so, that can be paid when you come by your own. It was not lent +for the sake of a reward." + +"And you will not liberate that poor girl from her thraldom." + +"She can liberate herself if she will. I have told you what I will +do. Let her tell me to my face what she wishes." + +"That she shall never do, Mr. Thwaite;--no, by heavens. It is not +necessary that she should have your consent to make such an alliance +as her friends think proper for her. You have entangled her by a +promise, foolish on her part, and very wicked on yours, and you +may work us much trouble. You may delay the settlement of all this +question,--perhaps for years; and half ruin the estate by prolonged +lawsuits; you may make it impossible for me to pay your father what +I owe him till he, and I also, shall be no more; but you cannot, and +shall not, have access to my daughter." + +Daniel Thwaite, as he returned home, tried to think it all over +dispassionately. Was it as the Countess had represented? Was he +acting the part of the dog in the manger, robbing others of happiness +without the power of achieving his own? He loved the girl, and was +he making her miserable by his love? He was almost inclined to think +that the Countess had spoken truth in this respect. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + +Printed by Virtue and Co., City Road, London. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +by + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. II. + + + + + + +London: +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. +1874. + +[All rights reserved.] + +London: +Printed by Virtue and Co., +City Road. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. II. + + XXV. DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER. + XXVI. THE KESWICK POET. + XXVII. LADY ANNA'S LETTER. + XXVIIII. LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER. + XXIX. DANIEL THWAITE ALONE. + XXX. JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE. + XXXI. THE VERDICT. + XXXII. WILL YOU PROMISE? + XXXIII. DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY. + XXXIV. I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING. + XXXV. THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME. + XXXVI. IT IS STILL TRUE. + XXXVII. LET HER DIE. + XXXVIII. LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE. + XXXIX. LADY ANNA'S OFFER. + XL. NO DISGRACE AT ALL. + XLI. NEARER AND NEARER. + XLII. DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET. + XLIII. DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN. + XLIV. THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US. + XLV. THE LAWYERS AGREE. + XLVI. HARD LINES. + XLVII. THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES. + XLVIII. THE MARRIAGE. + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +CHAPTER XXV. + +DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER. + + +On the day following that on which Daniel Thwaite had visited Lady +Lovel in Keppel Street, the Countess received from him a packet +containing a short note to herself, and the following letter +addressed to Lady Anna. The enclosure was open, and in the letter +addressed to the Countess the tailor simply asked her to read and to +send on to her daughter that which he had written, adding that if she +would do so he would promise to abide by any answer which might come +to him in Lady Anna's own handwriting. Daniel Thwaite when he made +this offer felt that he was giving up everything. Even though the +words might be written by the girl, they would be dictated by the +girl's mother, or by those lawyers who were now leagued together +to force her into a marriage with the Earl. But it was right, he +thought,--and upon the whole best for all parties,--that he should +give up everything. He could not bring himself to say so to the +Countess or to any of those lawyers, when he was sent for and told +that because of the lowliness of his position a marriage between him +and the highly born heiress was impossible. On such occasions he +revolted from the authority of those who endeavoured to extinguish +him. But, when alone, he could see at any rate as clearly as they +did, the difficulties which lay in his way. He also knew that there +was a great gulf fixed, as Miss Alice Bluestone had said,--though he +differed from the young lady as to the side of the gulf on which lay +heaven, and on which heaven's opposite. The letter to Lady Anna was +as follows;-- + + + MY DEAREST, + + This letter if it reaches you at all will be given to you + by your mother, who will have read it. It is sent to her + open that she may see what I say to you. She sent for me + and I went to her this evening, and she told me that it + was impossible that I should ever be your husband. I was + so bold as to tell her ladyship that there could be no + impossibility. When you are of age you can walk out from + your mother's house and marry me, as can I you; and no one + can hinder us. There is nothing in the law, either of God + or man, that can prevent you from becoming my wife,--if it + be your wish to be so. But your mother also said that it + was not your wish, and she went on to say that were you + not bound to me by ties of gratitude you would willingly + marry your cousin, Lord Lovel. Then I offered to meet you + in the presence of your mother,--and in the presence too + of Lord Lovel,--and to ask you then before all of us to + which of us two your heart was given. And I promised that + if in my presence you would stretch out your right hand to + the Earl neither you nor your mother should be troubled + further by Daniel Thwaite. But her ladyship swore to me, + with an oath, that I should never be allowed to see you + again. + + I therefore write to you, and bid you think much of what + I say to you before you answer me. You know well that I + love you. You do not suspect that I am trying to win you + because you are rich. You will remember that I loved you + when no one thought that you would be rich. I do love you + in my heart of hearts. I think of you in my dreams and + fancy then that all the world has become bright to me, + because we are walking together, hand-in-hand, where none + can come between to separate us. But I would not wish you + to be my wife, just because you have promised. If you do + not love me,--above all, if you love this other man,--say + so, and I will have done with it. Your mother says that + you are bound to me by gratitude. I do not wish you to be + my wife unless you are bound to me by love. Tell me then + how it is;--but, as you value my happiness and your own, + tell me the truth. + + I will not say that I shall think well of you, if you have + been carried away by this young man's nobility. I would + have you give me a fair chance. Ask yourself what has + brought him as a lover to your feet. How it came to pass + that I was your lover you cannot but remember. But, for + you, it is your first duty not to marry a man unless you + love him. If you go to him because he can make you a + countess you will be vile indeed. If you go to him because + you find that he is in truth dearer to you than I am, + because you prefer his arm to mine, because he has wound + himself into your heart of hearts,--I shall think your + heart indeed hardly worth the having; but according to + your lights you will be doing right. In that case you + shall have no further word from me to trouble you. + + But I desire that I may have an answer to this in your own + handwriting. + + Your own sincere lover, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +In composing and copying and recopying this letter the tailor sat up +half the night, and then very early in the morning he himself carried +it to Keppel Street, thus adding nearly three miles to his usual walk +to Wigmore Street. The servant at the lodging-house was not up, and +could hardly be made to rise by the modest appeals which Daniel made +to the bell; but at last the delivery was effected, and the forlorn +lover hurried back to his work. + +The Countess as she sat at breakfast read the letter over and over +again, and could not bring herself to decide whether it was right +that it should be given to her daughter. She had not yet seen Lady +Anna since she had sent the poor offender away from the house in +anger, and had more than once repeated her assurance through Mrs. +Bluestone that she would not do so till a promise had been given +that the tailor should be repudiated. Should she make this letter +an excuse for going to the house in Bedford Square, and of seeing +her child, towards whom her very bowels were yearning? At this time, +though she was a countess, with the prospect of great wealth, her +condition was not enviable. From morning to night she was alone, +unless when she would sit for an hour in Mr. Goffe's office, or on +the rarer occasions of a visit to the chambers of Serjeant Bluestone. +She had no acquaintances in London whatever. She knew that she +was unfitted for London society even if it should be open to her. +She had spent her life in struggling with poverty and powerful +enemies,--almost alone,--taking comfort in her happiest moments in +the strength and goodness of her old friend Thomas Thwaite. She now +found that those old days had been happier than these later days. +Her girl had been with her and had been,--or had at any rate seemed +to be,--true to her. She had something then to hope, something to +expect, some happiness of glory to which she could look forward. +But now she was beginning to learn,--nay had already learned, that +there was nothing for her to expect. Her rank was allowed to her. +She no longer suffered from want of money. Her cause was about to +triumph,--as the lawyers on both sides had seemed to say. But in +what respect would the triumph be sweet to her? Even should her girl +become the Countess Lovel, she would not be the less isolated. None +of the Lovels wanted her society. She had banished her daughter to +Bedford Square, and the only effect of the banishment was that her +daughter was less miserable in Bedford Square than she would have +been with her mother in Keppel Street. + +She did not dare to act without advice, and therefore she took the +letter to Mr. Goffe. Had it not been for a few words towards the end +of the letter she would have sent it to her daughter at once. But the +man had said that her girl would be vile indeed if she married the +Earl for the sake of becoming a countess, and the widow of the late +Earl did not like to put such doctrine into the hands of Lady Anna. +If she delivered the letter of course she would endeavour to dictate +the answer;--but her girl could be stubborn as her mother; and how +would it be with them if quite another letter should be written than +that which the Countess would have dictated? + +Mr. Goffe read the letter and said that he would like to consider +it for a day. The letter was left with Mr. Goffe, and Mr. Goffe +consulted the Serjeant. The Serjeant took the letter home to Mrs. +Bluestone, and then another consultation was held. It found its +way to the very house in which the girl was living for whom it was +intended, but was not at last allowed to reach her hand. "It's a fine +manly letter," said the Serjeant. + +"Then the less proper to give it to her," said Mrs. Bluestone, whose +heart was all softness towards Lady Anna, but as hard as a millstone +towards the tailor. + +"If she does like this young lord the best, why shouldn't she tell +the man the truth?" said the Serjeant. + +"Of course she likes the young lord the best,--as is natural." + +"Then in God's name let her say so, and put an end to all this +trouble." + +"You see, my dear, it isn't always easy to understand a girl's mind +in such matters. I haven't a doubt which she likes best. She is not +at all the girl to have a vitiated taste about young men. But you see +this other man came first, and had the advantage of being her only +friend at the time. She has felt very grateful to him, and as yet she +is only beginning to learn the difference between gratitude and love. +I don't at all agree with her mother as to being severe with her. +I can't bear severity to young people, who ought to be made happy. +But I am quite sure that this tailor should be kept away from her +altogether. She must not see him or his handwriting. What would she +say to herself if she got that letter? 'If he is generous, I can be +generous too;' and if she ever wrote him a letter, pledging herself +to him, all would be over. As it is, she has promised to write to +Lord Lovel. We will hold her to that; and then, when she has given +a sort of a promise to the Earl, we will take care that the tailor +shall know it. It will be best for all parties. What we have got to +do is to save her from this man, who has been both her best friend +and her worst enemy." Mrs. Bluestone was an excellent woman, and +in this emergency was endeavouring to do her duty at considerable +trouble to herself and with no hope of any reward. The future +Countess when she should become a Countess would be nothing to her. +She was a good woman;--but she did not care what evil she inflicted +on the tailor, in her endeavours to befriend the daughter of the +Countess. + +The tailor's letter, unseen and undreamt of by Lady Anna, was sent +back through the Serjeant and Mr. Goffe to Lady Lovel, with strong +advice from Mr. Goffe that Lady Anna should not be allowed to see +it. "I don't hesitate to tell you, Lady Lovel, that I have consulted +the Serjeant, and that we are both of opinion that no intercourse +whatever should be permitted between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel +Thwaite." The unfortunate letter was therefore sent back to the +writer with the following note;--"The Countess Lovel presents her +compliments to Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and thinks it best to return the +enclosed. The Countess is of opinion that no intercourse whatever +should take place between her daughter and Mr. Daniel Thwaite." + +Then Daniel swore an oath to himself that the intercourse between +them should not thus be made to cease. He had acted as he thought +not only fairly but very honourably. Nay;--he was by no means sure +that that which had been intended for fairness and honour might not +have been sheer simplicity. He had purposely abstained from any +clandestine communication with the girl he loved,--even though she +was one to whom he had had access all his life, with whom he had +been allowed to grow up together;--who had eaten of his bread and +drank of his cup. Now her new friends,--and his own old friend the +Countess,--would keep no measures with him. There was to be no +intercourse whatever! But, by the God of heaven, there should be +intercourse! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE KESWICK POET. + + +Infinite difficulties were now complicating themselves on the head of +poor Daniel Thwaite. The packet which the Countess addressed to him +did not reach him in London, but was forwarded after him down to +Cumberland, whither he had hurried on receipt of news from Keswick +that his father was like to die. The old man had fallen in a fit, and +when the message was sent it was not thought likely that he would +ever see his son again. Daniel went down to the north as quickly as +his means would allow him, going by steamer to Whitehaven, and thence +by coach to Keswick. His entire wages were but thirty-five shillings +a week, and on that he could not afford to travel by the mail to +Keswick. But he did reach home in time to see his father alive, and +to stand by the bedside when the old man died. + +Though there was not time for many words between them, and though +the apathy of coming death had already clouded the mind of Thomas +Thwaite, so that he, for the most part, disregarded,--as dying men do +disregard,--those things which had been fullest of interest to him; +still something was said about the Countess and Lady Anna. "Just +don't mind them any further, Dan," said the father. + +"Indeed that will be best," said Daniel. + +"Yes, in truth. What can they be to the likes o' you? Give me a drop +of brandy, Dan." The drop of brandy was more to him now than the +Countess; but though he thought but little of this last word, his son +thought much of it. What could such as the Countess and her titled +daughter be to him, Daniel Thwaite, the broken tailor? For, in truth, +his father was dying, a broken man. There was as much owed by him +in Keswick as all the remaining property would pay; and as for the +business, it had come to that, that the business was not worth +preserving. + +The old tailor died and was buried, and all Keswick knew that he had +left nothing behind him, except the debt that was due to him by the +Countess, as to which, opinion in the world of Keswick varied very +much. There were those who said that the two Thwaites, father and +son, had known very well on which side their bread was buttered, +and that Daniel Thwaite would now, at his father's death, become +the owner of bonds to a vast amount on the Lovel property. It was +generally understood in Keswick that the Earl's claim was to be +abandoned, that the rights of the Countess and her daughter were to +be acknowledged, and that the Earl and his cousin were to become man +and wife. If so the bonds would be paid, and Daniel Thwaite would +become a rich man. Such was the creed of those who believed in the +debt. But there were others who did not believe in the existence +of any such bonds, and who ridiculed the idea of advances of money +having been made. The old tailor had, no doubt, relieved the +immediate wants of the Countess by giving her shelter and food, and +had wasted his substance in making journeys, and neglecting his +business; but that was supposed to be all. For such services on +behalf of the father, it was not probable that much money would be +paid to the son; and the less so, as it was known in Keswick that +Daniel Thwaite had quarrelled with the Countess. As this latter +opinion preponderated Daniel did not find that he was treated with +any marked respect in his native town. + +The old man did leave a will;--a very simple document, by which +everything that he had was left to his son. And there was this +paragraph in it; "I expect that the Countess Lovel will repay to my +son Daniel all moneys that I have advanced on her behalf." As for +bonds,--or any single bond,--Daniel could find none. There was an +account of certain small items due by the Countess, of long date, +and there was her ladyship's receipt for a sum of £500, which had +apparently been lent at the time of the trial for bigamy. Beyond this +he could find no record of any details whatever, and it seemed to him +that his claim was reduced to something less than £600. Nevertheless, +he had understood from his father that the whole of the old man's +savings had been spent on behalf of the two ladies, and he believed +that some time since he had heard a sum named exceeding £6,000. In +his difficulty he asked a local attorney, and the attorney advised +him to throw himself on the generosity of the Countess. He paid the +attorney some small fee, and made up his mind at once that he would +not take the lawyer's advice. He would not throw himself on the +generosity of the Countess. + +There was then still living in that neighbourhood a great man, a +poet, who had nearly carried to its close a life of great honour +and of many afflictions. He was one who, in these, his latter days, +eschewed all society, and cared to see no faces but those of the +surviving few whom he had loved in early life. And as those few +survivors lived far away, and as he was but little given to move from +home, his life was that of a recluse. Of the inhabitants of the place +around him, who for the most part had congregated there since he had +come among them, he saw but little, and his neighbours said that he +was sullen and melancholic. But, according to their degrees, he had +been a friend to Thomas Thwaite, and now, in his emergency, the son +called upon the poet. Indifferent visitors, who might be and often +were intruders, were but seldom admitted at that modest gate; but +Daniel Thwaite was at once shown into the presence of the man of +letters. They had not seen each other since Daniel was a youth, and +neither would have known the other. The poet was hardly yet an old +man, but he had all the characteristics of age. His shoulders were +bent, and his eyes were deep set in his head, and his lips were thin +and fast closed. But the beautiful oval of his face was still there, +in spite of the ravages of years, of labours, and of sorrow; and the +special brightness of his eye had not yet been dimmed. "I have been +sorry, Mr. Thwaite, to hear of your father's death," said the poet. +"I knew him well, but it was some years since, and I valued him as a +man of singular probity and spirit." Then Daniel craved permission +to tell his story;--and he told it all from the beginning to the +end,--how his father and he had worked for the Countess and her girl, +how their time and then their money had been spent for her; how he +had learned to love the girl, and how, as he believed, the girl had +loved him. And he told with absolute truth the whole story, as far +as he knew it, of what had been done in London during the last nine +months. He exaggerated nothing, and did not scruple to speak openly +of his own hopes. He showed his letter to the Countess, and her note +to him, and while doing so hid none of his own feelings. Did the poet +think that there was any reason why, in such circumstances, a tailor +should not marry the daughter of a Countess? And then he gave, as far +as he knew it, the history of the money that had been advanced, and +produced a copy of his father's will. "And now, sir, what would you +have me do?" + +"When you first spoke to the girl of love, should you not have spoken +to the mother also, Mr. Thwaite?" + +"Would you, sir, have done so?" + +"I will not say that;--but I think that I ought. Her girl was all +that she had." + +"It may be that I was wrong. But if the girl loves me now--" + +"I would not hurt your feelings for the world, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Do not spare them, sir. I did not come to you that soft things might +be said to me." + +"I do not think it of your father's son. Seeing what is your own +degree in life and what is theirs, that they are noble and of an old +nobility, among the few hot-house plants of the nation, and that you +are one of the people,--a blade of corn out of the open field, if I +may say so,--born to eat your bread in the sweat of your brow, can +you think that such a marriage would be other than distressing to +them?" + +"Is the hot-house plant stronger or better, or of higher use, than +the ear of corn?" + +"Have I said that it was, my friend? I will not say that either is +higher in God's sight than the other, or better, or of a nobler use. +But they are different; and though the differences may verge together +without evil when the limits are near, I do not believe in graftings +so violent as this." + +"You mean, sir, that one so low as a tailor should not seek to marry +so infinitely above himself as with the daughter of an Earl." + +"Yes, Mr. Thwaite, that is what I mean; though I hope that in coming +to me you knew me well enough to be sure that I would not willingly +offend you." + +"There is no offence;--there can be no offence. I am a tailor, and am +in no sort ashamed of my trade. But I did not think, sir, that you +believed in lords so absolutely as that." + +"I believe but in one Lord," said the poet. "In Him who, in His +wisdom and for His own purposes, made men of different degrees." + +"Has it been His doing, sir,--or the devil's?" + +"Nay, I will not discuss with you a question such as that. I will not +at any rate discuss it now." + +"I have read, sir, in your earlier books--" + +"Do not quote my books to me, either early or late. You ask me for +advice, and I give it according to my ability. The time may come too, +Mr. Thwaite,"--and this he said laughing,--"when you also will be +less hot in your abhorrence of a nobility than you are now." + +"Never!" + +"Ah;--'tis so that young men always make assurances to themselves of +their own present wisdom." + +"You think then that I should give her up entirely?" + +"I would leave her to herself, and to her mother,--and to this young +lord, if he be her lover." + +"But if she loves me! Oh, sir, she did love me once. If she loves me, +should I leave her to think, as time goes on, that I have forgotten +her? What chance can she have if I do not interfere to let her know +that I am true to her?" + +"She will have the chance of becoming Lady Lovel, and of loving her +husband." + +"Then, sir, you do not believe in vows of love?" + +"How am I to answer that?" said the poet. "Surely I do believe in +vows of love. I have written much of love, and have ever meant to +write the truth, as I knew it, or thought that I knew it. But the +love of which we poets sing is not the love of the outer world. It +is more ecstatic, but far less serviceable. It is the picture of +that which exists, but grand with imaginary attributes, as are the +portraits of ladies painted by artists who have thought rather of +their art than of their models. We tell of a constancy in love which +is hardly compatible with the usages of this as yet imperfect world. +Look abroad, and see whether girls do not love twice, and young men +thrice. They come together, and rub their feathers like birds, and +fancy that each has found in the other an eternity of weal or woe. +Then come the causes of their parting. Their fathers perhaps are +Capulets and Montagues, but their children, God be thanked, are +not Romeos and Juliets. Or money does not serve, or distance +intervenes, or simply a new face has the poor merit of novelty. +The constancy of which the poets sing is the unreal,--I may almost +say the unnecessary,--constancy of a Juliet. The constancy on +which our nature should pride itself is that of an Imogen. You read +Shakespeare, I hope, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I know the plays you quote, sir. Imogen was a king's daughter, and +married a simple gentleman." + +"I would not say that early vows should mean nothing," continued the +poet, unwilling to take notice of the point made against him. "I like +to hear that a girl has been true to her first kiss. But this girl +will have the warrant of all the world to justify a second choice. +And can you think that because your company was pleasant to her here +among your native mountains, when she knew none but you, that she +will be indifferent to the charms of such a one as you tell me this +Lord Lovel is? She will have regrets,--remorse even; she will sorrow, +because she knows that you have been good to her. But she will yield, +and her life will be happier with him,--unless he be a bad man, which +I do not know,--than it would be with you. Would there be no regrets, +think you, no remorse, when she found that as your wife she had +separated herself from all that she had been taught to regard as +delightful in this world? Would she be happy in quarrelling with her +mother and her new-found relatives? You think little of noble blood, +and perhaps I think as little of it in matters relating to myself. +But she is noble, and she will think of it. As for your money, +Mr. Thwaite, I should make it a matter of mere business with the +Countess, as though there was no question relating to her daughter. +She probably has an account of the money, and doubtless will pay you +when she has means at her disposal." + +Daniel left his Mentor without another word on his own behalf, +expressing thanks for the counsel that had been given to him, and +assuring the poet that he would endeavour to profit by it. Then he +walked away, over the very paths on which he had been accustomed to +stray with Anna Lovel, and endeavoured to digest the words that he +had heard. He could not bring himself to see their truth. That he +should not force the girl to marry him, if she loved another better +than she loved him, simply by the strength of her own obligation to +him, he could understand. But that it was natural that she should +transfer to another the affection that she had once bestowed upon +him, because that other was a lord, he would not allow. Not only +his heart but all his intellect rebelled against such a decision. A +transfer so violent would, he thought, show that she was incapable +of loving. And yet this doctrine had come to him from one who, as he +himself had said, had written much of love. + +But, though he argued after this fashion with himself, the words of +the old poet had had their efficacy. Whether the fault might be with +the girl, or with himself, or with the untoward circumstances of the +case, he determined to teach himself that he had lost her. He would +never love another woman. Though the Earl's daughter could not be +true to him, he, the suitor, would be true to the Earl's daughter. +There might no longer be Romeos among the noble Capulets and the +noble Montagues,--whom indeed he believed to be dead to faith; but +the salt of truth had not therefore perished from the world. He +would get what he could from this wretched wreck of his father's +property,--obtain payment if it might be possible of that poor £500 +for which he held the receipt,--and then go to some distant land in +which the wisest of counsellors would not counsel him that he was +unfit because of his trade to mate himself with noble blood. + +When he had proved his father's will he sent a copy of it up to the +Countess with the following letter;-- + + + Keswick, November 4, 183--. + + MY LADY, + + I do not know whether your ladyship will yet have heard + of my father's death. He died here on the 24th of last + month. He was taken with apoplexy on the 15th, and never + recovered from the fit. I think you will be sorry for him. + + I find myself bound to send your ladyship a copy of his + will. Your ladyship perhaps may have some account of what + money has passed between you and him. I have none except a + receipt for £500 given to you by him many years ago. There + is also a bill against your ladyship for £71 18_s._ 9_d._ + It may be that no more is due than this, but you will + know. I shall be happy to hear from your ladyship on the + subject, and am, + + Yours respectfully, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +But he still was resolved that before he departed for the far western +land he would obtain from Anna Lovel herself an expression of her +determination to renounce him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +LADY ANNA'S LETTER. + + +In the mean time the week had gone round, and Lady Anna's letter to +the Earl had not yet been written. An army was arrayed against the +girl to induce her to write such a letter as might make it almost +impossible for her afterwards to deny that she was engaged to the +lord, but the army had not as yet succeeded. The Countess had not +seen her daughter,--had been persistent in her refusal to let her +daughter come to her till she had at any rate repudiated her other +suitor; but she had written a strongly worded but short letter, +urging it as a great duty that Lady Anna Lovel was bound to support +her family and to defend her rank. Mrs. Bluestone, from day to day, +with soft loving words taught the same lesson. Alice Bluestone in +their daily conversations spoke of the tailor, or rather of this +promise to the tailor, with a horror which at any rate was not +affected. The Serjeant, almost with tears in his eyes, implored her +to put an end to the lawsuit. Even the Solicitor-General sent her +tender messages,--expressing his great hope that she might enable +them to have this matter adjusted early in November. All the details +of the case as it now stood had been explained to her over and over +again. If, when the day fixed for the trial should come round, it +could be said that she and the young Earl were engaged to each +other, the Earl would altogether abandon his claim,--and no further +statement would be made. The fact of the marriage in Cumberland would +then be proved,--the circumstances of the trial for bigamy would be +given in evidence,--and all the persons concerned would be together +anxious that the demands of the two ladies should be admitted in +full. It was the opinion of the united lawyers that were this done, +the rank of the Countess would be allowed, and that the property left +behind him by the old lord would be at once given up to those who +would inherit it under the order of things as thus established. The +Countess would receive that to which she would be entitled as widow, +the daughter would be the heir-at-law to the bulk of the personal +property, and the Earl would merely claim any real estate, if,--as +was very doubtful,--any real estate had been left in question. In +this case the disposition of the property would be just what they +would all desire, and the question of rank would be settled for +ever. But if the young lady should not have then agreed to this very +pleasant compromise, the Earl indeed would make no further endeavours +to invalidate the Cumberland marriage, and would retire from the +suit. But it would then be stated that there was a claimant in +Sicily,--or at least evidence in Italy, which if sifted might +possibly bar the claim of the Countess. The Solicitor-General did +not hesitate to say that he believed the living woman to be a weak +impostor, who had been first used by the Earl and had then put +forward a falsehood to get an income out of the property; but he was +by no means convinced that the other foreign woman, whom the Earl had +undoubtedly made his first wife, might not have been alive when the +second marriage was contracted. If it were so, the Countess would +be no Countess, Anna Lovel would simply be Anna Murray, penniless, +baseborn, and a fit wife for the tailor, should the tailor think fit +to take her. "If it be so," said Lady Anna through her tears, "let it +be so; and he will take me." + +It may have been that the army was too strong for its own +purpose,--too much of an army to gain a victory on that field,--that +a weaker combination of forces would have prevailed when all this +array failed. No one had a word to say for the tailor; no one +admitted that he had been a generous friend; no feeling was expressed +for him. It seemed to be taken for granted that he, from the +beginning, had laid his plans for obtaining possession of an enormous +income in the event of the Countess being proved to be a Countess. +There was no admission that he had done aught for love. Now, in all +these matters, Lady Anna was sure of but one thing alone, and that +was of the tailor's truth. Had they acknowledged that he was good and +noble, they might perhaps have persuaded her,--as the poet had almost +persuaded her lover,--that the fitness of things demanded that they +should be separated. + +But she had promised that she would write the letter by the end of +the week, and when the end of a fortnight had come she knew that +it must be written. She had declared over and over again to Mrs. +Bluestone that she must go away from Bedford Square. She could not +live there always, she said. She knew that she was in the way of +everybody. Why should she not go back to her own mother? "Does +mamma mean to say that I am never to live with her any more?" Mrs. +Bluestone promised that if she would write her letter and tell her +cousin that she would try to love him, she should go back to her +mother at once. "But I cannot live here always," persisted Lady Anna. +Mrs. Bluestone would not admit that there was any reason why her +visitor should not continue to live in Bedford Square as long as the +arrangement suited Lady Lovel. + +Various letters were written for her. The Countess wrote one which +was an unqualified acceptance of the Earl's offer, and which was +very short. Alice Bluestone wrote one which was full of poetry. Mrs. +Bluestone wrote a third, in which a great many ambiguous words were +used,--in which there was no definite promise, and no poetry. But +had this letter been sent it would have been almost impossible for +the girl afterwards to extricate herself from its obligations. +The Serjeant, perhaps, had lent a word or two, for the letter was +undoubtedly very clever. In this letter Lady Anna was made to say +that she would always have the greatest pleasure in receiving her +cousin's visits, and that she trusted that she might be able to +co-operate with her cousins in bringing the lawsuit to a close;--that +she certainly would not marry any one without her mother's consent, +but that she did not find herself able at the present to say more +than that. "It won't stop the Solicitor-General, you know," the +Serjeant had remarked, as he read it. "Bother the Solicitor-General!" +Mrs. Bluestone had answered, and had then gone on to show that it +would lead to that which would stop the learned gentleman. The +Serjeant had added a word or two, and great persuasion was used to +induce Lady Anna to use this epistle. + +But she would have none of it. "Oh, I couldn't, Mrs. Bluestone;--he +would know that I hadn't written all that." + +"You have promised to write, and you are bound to keep your promise," +said Mrs. Bluestone. + +"I believe I am bound to keep all my promises," said Lady Anna, +thinking of those which she had made to Daniel Thwaite. + +But at last she sat down and did write a letter for herself, +specially premising that no one should see it. When she had made her +promise, she certainly had not intended to write that which should be +shown to all the world. Mrs. Bluestone had begged that at any rate +the Countess might see it. "If mamma will let me go to her, of course +I will show it her," said Lady Anna. At last it was thought best to +allow her to write her own letter and to send it unseen. After many +struggles and with many tears she wrote her letter as follows;-- + + + Bedford Square, Tuesday. + + MY DEAR COUSIN, + + I am sorry that I have been so long in doing what I said + I would do. I don't think I ought to have promised, for I + find it very difficult to say anything, and I think that + it is wrong that I should write at all. It is not my fault + that there should be a lawsuit. I do not want to take + anything away from anybody, or to get anything for myself. + I think papa was very wicked when he said that mamma was + not his wife, and of course I wish it may all go as she + wishes. But I don't think anybody ought to ask me to do + what I feel to be wrong. + + Mr. Daniel Thwaite is not at all such a person as they + say. He and his father have been mamma's best friends, and + I shall never forget that. Old Mr. Thwaite is dead, and I + am very sorry to hear it. If you had known them as we did + you would understand what I feel. Of course he is not your + friend; but he is my friend, and I dare say that makes me + unfit to be friends with you. You are a nobleman and he + is a tradesman; but when we knew him first he was quite + as good as we, and I believe we owe him a great deal of + money, which mamma can't pay him. I have heard mamma say + before she was angry with him, that she would have been in + the workhouse, but for them, and that Mr. Daniel Thwaite + might now be very well off, and not a working tailor at + all as Mrs. Bluestone calls him, if they hadn't given all + they had to help us. I cannot bear after that to hear them + speak of him as they do. + + Of course I should like to do what mamma wants; but how + would you feel if you had promised somebody else? I do so + wish that all this might be stopped altogether. My dear + mamma will not allow me to see her; and though everybody + is very kind, I feel that I ought not to be here with Mrs. + Bluestone. Mamma talked of going abroad somewhere. I wish + she would, and take me away. I should see nobody then, and + there would be no trouble. But I suppose she hasn't got + enough money. This is a very poor letter, but I do not + know what else I can say. + + Believe me to be, + My dear cousin, + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +Then came, in a postscript, the one thing that she had to say,--"I +think that I ought to be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite." + +Lord Lovel after receiving this letter called in Bedford Square and +saw Mrs. Bluestone,--but he did not show the letter. His cousin was +out with the girls and he did not wait to see her. He merely said +that he had received a letter which had not given him much comfort. +"But I shall answer it," he said,--and the reader who has seen the +one letter shall see also the other. + + + Brown's Hotel, Albemarle Street, + 4th November, 183--. + + DEAREST ANNA, + + I have received your letter and am obliged to you for it, + though there is so little in it to flatter or to satisfy + me. I will begin by assuring you that, as far as I am + concerned, I do not wish to keep you from seeing Mr. + Daniel Thwaite. I believe in my heart of hearts that if + you were now to see him often you would feel aware that + a union between you and him could not make either of you + happy. You do not even say that you think it would do so. + + You defend him, as though I had accused him. I grant all + that you say in his favour. I do not doubt that his father + behaved to you and to your mother with true friendship. + But that will not make him fit to be the husband of Anna + Lovel. You do not even say that you think that he would be + fit. I fancy I understand it all, and I love you better + for the pride with which you cling to so firm a friend. + + But, dearest, it is different when we talk of marriage. I + imagine that you hardly dare now to think of becoming his + wife. I doubt whether you say even to yourself that you + love him with that kind of love. Do not suppose me vain + enough to believe that therefore you must love me. It is + not that. But if you would once tell yourself that he is + unfit to be your husband, then you might come to love me, + and would not be the less willing to do so, because all + your friends wish it. It must be something to you that you + should be able to put an end to all this trouble. + + Yours, dearest Anna, + Most affectionately, + + L. + + I called in Bedford Square this morning, but you were not + at home! + + +"But I do dare," she said to herself, when she had read the letter. +"Why should I not dare? And I do say to myself that I love him. +Why should I not love him now, when I was not ashamed to love him +before?" She was being persecuted; and as the step of the wayfarer +brings out the sweet scent of the herb which he crushes with his +heel, so did persecution with her extract from her heart that +strength of character which had hitherto been latent. Had they left +her at Yoxham, and said never a word to her about the tailor; had the +rector and the two aunts showered soft courtesies on her head,--they +might have vanquished her. But now the spirit of opposition was +stronger within her than ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER. + + +Monday, the 9th of November, was the day set down for the trial of +the case which had assumed the name of "Lovel versus Murray and +Another." This denomination had been adopted many months ago, when it +had been held to be practicable by the Lovel party to prove that the +lady who was now always called the Countess, was not entitled to bear +the name of Lovel, but was simply Josephine Murray, and her daughter +simply Anna Murray. Had there been another wife alive when the +mother was married that name and that name only could have been hers, +whether she had been the victim of the old Earl's fraud,--or had +herself been a party to it. The reader will have understood that +as the case went on the opinions of those who acted for the young +Earl, and more especially the opinion of the young Earl himself, had +been changed. Prompted to do so by various motives, they, who had +undertaken to prove that the Countess was no Countess, had freely +accorded to her her title, and had themselves entertained her +daughter with all due acknowledgment of rank and birth. Nevertheless +the name of the case remained and had become common in people's +mouths. The very persons who would always speak of the Countess Lovel +spoke also very familiarly of the coming trial in "Lovel v. Murray," +and now the 9th of November had come round and the case of "Lovel v. +Murray and Another" was to be tried. The nature of the case was +this. The two ladies, mother and daughter, had claimed the personal +property of the late lord as his widow and daughter. Against that +claim Earl Lovel made his claim, as heir-at-law, alleging that there +was no widow, and no legitimate child. The case had become infinitely +complicated by the alleged existence of the first wife,--in which +case she as widow would have inherited. But still the case went on +as Lovel v. Murray,--the Lovel so named being the Earl, and not the +alleged Italian widow. + +Such being the question presumably at issue, it became the duty of +the Solicitor-General to open the pleadings. In the ordinary course +of proceeding it would have been his task to begin by explaining +the state of the family, and by assuming that he could prove the +former marriage and the existence of the former wife at the time +of the latter marriage. His evidence would have been subject to +cross-examination, and then another counter-statement would have been +made on behalf of the Countess, and her witnesses would have been +brought forward. When all this had been done the judge would have +charged the jury, and with the jury would have rested the decision. +This would have taken many days, and all the joys and sorrows, all +the mingled hopes and anxieties of a long trial had been expected. +Bets had been freely made, odds being given at first on behalf of +Lord Lovel, and afterwards odds on behalf of the Countess. Interest +had been made to get places in the court, and the clubs had resounded +now with this fact and now with that which had just been brought home +from Sicily as certain. Then had come suddenly upon the world the +tidings that there would absolutely be no trial, that the great case +of "Lovel v. Murray and Another" was to be set at rest for ever by +the marriage of "Lovel" with "Another," and by the acceptance by +"Lovel" of "Murray" as his mother-in-law. But the quidnuncs would +not accept this solution. No doubt Lord Lovel might marry the second +party in the defence, and it was admitted on all hands that he +probably would do so;--but that would not stop the case. If there +were an Italian widow living, that widow was the heir to the +property. Another Lovel would take the place of Lord Lovel,--and the +cause of Lovel v. Murray must still be continued. The first marriage +could not be annulled, simply by the fact that it would suit the +young Earl that it should be annulled. Then, while this dispute was +in progress, it was told at all the clubs that there was to be no +marriage,--that the girl had got herself engaged to a tailor, and +that the tailor's mastery over her was so strong that she did not +dare to shake him off. Dreadful things were told about the tailor and +poor Lady Anna. There had been a secret marriage; there was going to +be a child;--the latter fact was known as a certain fact to a great +many men at the clubs;--the tailor had made everything safe in twenty +different ways. He was powerful over the girl equally by love, by +fear, and by written bond. The Countess had repelled her daughter +from her house by turning her out into the street by night, and had +threatened both murder and suicide. Half the fortune had been offered +to the tailor, in vain. The romance of the story had increased +greatly during the last few days preceding the trial,--but it was +admitted by all that the trial as a trial would be nothing. There +would probably be simply an adjournment. + +It would be hard to say how the story of the tailor leaked out, and +became at last public and notorious. It had been agreed among all the +lawyers that it should be kept secret,--but it may perhaps have been +from some one attached to them that it was first told abroad. No +doubt all Norton and Flick knew it, and all Goffe and Goffe. Mr. +Mainsail and his clerk, Mr. Hardy and his clerk, Serjeant Bluestone +and his clerk, all knew it; but they had all promised secrecy. The +clerk of the Solicitor-General was of course beyond suspicion. The +two Miss Bluestones had known the story, but they had solemnly +undertaken to be silent as the grave. Mrs. Bluestone was a lady with +most intimately confidential friends,--but she was sworn to secrecy. +It might have come from Sarah, the lady's-maid, whom the Countess +had unfortunately attached to her daughter when the first gleam of +prosperity had come upon them. + +Among the last who heard the story of the tailor,--the last of any +who professed the slightest interest in the events of the Lovel +family,--were the Lovels of Yoxham. The Earl had told them nothing. +In answer to his aunt's letters, and then in answer to a very urgent +appeal from his uncle, the young nobleman had sent only the most curt +and most ambiguous replies. When there was really something to tell +he would tell everything, but at present he could only say that he +hoped that everything would be well. That had been the extent of the +information given by the Earl to his relations, and the rector had +waxed wrathful. Nor was his wrath lessened, or the sorrow of the +two aunts mitigated, when the truth reached them by the mouth of +that very Lady Fitzwarren who had been made to walk out of the room +after--Anna Murray, as Lady Fitzwarren persisted in calling the +"young person" after she had heard the story of the tailor. She told +the story at Yoxham parsonage to the two aunts, and brought with her +a printed paragraph from a newspaper to prove the truth of it. As it +is necessary that we should now hurry into the court to hear what +the Solicitor-General had to say about the case, we cannot stop to +sympathize with the grief of the Lovels at Yoxham. We may, however, +pause for a moment to tell the burden of the poor rector's song for +that evening. "I knew how it would be from the beginning. I told you +so. I was sure of it. But nobody would believe me." + +The Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster was crowded on the 9th of +November. The case was to be heard before the Lord Chief Justice, +and it was known that at any rate Sir William Patterson would have +something to tell. If nothing else came of it, the telling of that +story would be worth the hearing. All the preliminaries of the trial +went on, as though every one believed that it was to be carried +through to the bitter end,--as though evidence were to be adduced and +rebutted, and further contradicted by other evidence, which would +again be rebutted with that pleasing animosity between rival lawyers, +which is so gratifying to the outside world, and apparently to +themselves also. The jurors were sworn in,--a special jury,--and long +was the time taken, and many the threats made by the Chief Justice, +before twelve gentlemen would consent to go into the box. Crowds were +round the doors of the court, of which every individual man would +have paid largely for standing-room to hear the trial; but when they +were wanted for use, men would not come forward to accept a seat, +with all that honour which belongs to a special juryman. And yet it +was supposed that at last there would be no question to submit to a +jury. + +About noon the Solicitor began his statement. He was full of smiles +and nods and pleasant talk, gestures indicative of a man who had +a piece of work before him in which he could take delight. It is +always satisfactory to see the assurance of a cock crowing in his own +farm-yard, and to admire his easy familiarity with things that are +awful to a stranger bird. If you, O reader, or I were bound to stand +up in that court, dressed in wig and gown, and to tell a story that +would take six hours in the telling, the one or the other of us +knowing it to be his special duty so to tell it that judge, and +counsellors, and jury, should all catch clearly every point that was +to be made,--how ill would that story be told, how would those points +escape the memory of the teller, and never come near the intellect of +the hearers! And how would the knowledge that it would be so, confuse +your tongue or mine,--and make exquisitely miserable that moment of +rising before the audience! But our Solicitor-General rose to his +legs a happy man, with all that grace of motion, that easy slowness, +that unassumed confidence which belongs to the ordinary doings of +our familiar life. Surely he must have known that he looked well +in his wig and gown, as with low voice and bent neck, with only +half-suppressed laughter, he whispered into the ears of the gentleman +who sat next to him some pleasant joke that had just occurred to him. +He could do that, though the eyes of all the court were upon him; so +great was the man! And then he began with a sweet low voice, almost +modest in its tones. For a few moments it might have been thought +that some young woman was addressing the court, so gentle, so dulcet +were the tones. + +"My lord, it is my intention on this occasion to do that which an +advocate can seldom do,--to make a clean breast of it, to tell the +court and the jury all that I know of this case, all that I think of +it, and all that I believe,--and in short to state a case as much in +the interest of my opponents as of my clients. The story with which I +must occupy the time of the court, I fear, for the whole remainder of +the day, with reference to the Lovel family, is replete with marvels +and romance. I shall tell you of great crimes and of singular +virtues, of sorrows that have been endured and conquered, and of +hopes that have been nearly realised; but the noble client on whose +behalf I am here called upon to address you, is not in any manner +the hero of this story. His heroism will be shown to consist in +this,--unless I mar the story in telling it,--that he is only anxious +to establish the truth, whether that truth be for him or against him. +We have now to deal with an ancient and noble family, of which my +client, the present Earl Lovel, is at this time the head and chief. +On the question now before us depends the possession of immense +wealth. Should this trial be carried to its natural conclusion it +will be for you to decide whether this wealth belongs to him as the +heir-at-law of the late Earl, or whether there was left some nearer +heir when that Earl died, whose rightful claim would bar that of my +client. But there is more to be tried than this,--and on that more +depends the right of two ladies to bear the name of Lovel. Such +right, or the absence of such right, would in this country of itself +be sufficient to justify, nay, to render absolutely necessary, some +trial before a jury in any case of well-founded doubt. Our titles +of honour bear so high a value among us, are so justly regarded as +the outward emblem of splendour and noble conduct, are recognised so +universally as passports to all society, that we are naturally prone +to watch their assumption with a caution most exact and scrupulous. +When the demand for such honour is made on behalf of a man it +generally includes the claim to some parliamentary privilege, the +right to which has to be decided not by a jury, but by the body to +which that privilege belongs. The claim to a peerage must be tried +before the House of Lords,--if made by a woman as by a man, because +the son of the heiress would be a peer of Parliament. In the case +with which we are now concerned no such right is in question. The +lady who claims to be the Countess Lovel, and her daughter who claims +to be Lady Anna Lovel, make no demand which renders necessary other +decision than that of a jury. It is as though any female commoner in +the land claimed to have been the wife of an alleged husband. But +not the less is the claim made to a great and a noble name; and as +a grave doubt has been thrown upon the justice of the demand made +by these ladies, it has become the duty of my client as the head of +the Lovels, as being himself, without any doubt, the Earl Lovel of +the day, to investigate the claim made, and to see that no false +pretenders are allowed to wear the highly prized honours of his +family. Independently of the great property which is at stake, the +nature of which it will be my duty to explain to you, the question at +issue whether the elder lady be or be not Countess Lovel, and whether +the younger lady be or be not Lady Anna Lovel, has demanded the +investigation which could not adequately have been made without this +judicial array. I will now state frankly to you our belief that these +two ladies are fully entitled to the names which they claim to bear; +and I will add to that statement a stronger assurance of my own +personal conviction and that of my client that they themselves are +fully assured of the truth and justice of their demand. I think it +right also to let you know that since these inquiries were first +commenced, since the day for this trial was fixed, the younger of +these ladies has been residing with the uncle of my client, under +the same roof with my client, as an honoured and most welcome guest, +and there, in the face of the whole country, has received that +appellation of nobility from all the assembled members of my client's +family, to dispute which I apparently now stand before you on that +client's behalf." The rector of Yoxham, who was in court, shook +his head vehemently when the statement was made that Lady Anna had +been his welcome guest; but nobody was then regarding the rector of +Yoxham, and he shook his head in vain. + +"You will at once ask why, if this be so, should the trial be +continued. 'As all is thus conceded,' you will say, 'that these two +ladies claim, whom in your indictment you have misnamed Murray, why +not, in God's name, give them their privileges, and the wealth which +should appertain to them, and release them from the persecution of +judicial proceedings?' In the first place I must answer that neither +my belief, nor that of my friends who are acting with me, nor even +that of my noble client himself, is sufficient to justify us in +abstaining from seeking a decision which shall be final as against +further claimants. If the young Earl should die, then would there be +another Earl, and that other Earl might also say, with grounds as +just as those on which we have acted, that the lady, whom I shall +henceforward call the Countess Lovel, is no Countess. We think that +she is,--but it will be for you to decide whether she is or is not, +after hearing the evidence which will, no doubt, be adduced of her +marriage,--and any evidence to the contrary which other parties may +bring before you. We shall adduce no evidence to the contrary, nor +do I think it probable that we shall ask a single question to shake +that with which my learned friend opposite is no doubt prepared. In +fact, there is no reason why my learned friend and I should not sit +together, having our briefs and our evidence in common. And then, as +the singular facts of this story become clear to you,--as I trust +that I may be able to make them clear,--you will learn that there are +other interests at stake beyond those of my client and of the two +ladies who appear here as his opponents. Two statements have been +made tending to invalidate the rights of Countess Lovel,--both having +originated with one who appears to have been the basest and blackest +human being with whose iniquities my experience as a lawyer has made +me conversant. I speak of the late Earl. It was asserted by him, +almost from the date of his marriage with the lady who is now his +widow,--falsely stated, as I myself do not doubt,--that when he +married her he had a former wife living. But it is, I understand, +capable of absolute proof that he also stated that this former wife +died soon after that second marriage,--which in such event would have +been but a mock marriage. Were such the truth,--should you come to +the belief that the late Earl spoke truth in so saying,--the whole +property at issue would become the undisputed possession of my +client. The late Earl died intestate, the will which he did leave +having been already set aside by my client as having been made when +the Earl was mad. The real wife, according to this story, would +be dead. The second wife, according to this story, would be no +wife,--and no widow. The daughter, according to this story, would +be no daughter in the eye of the law,--would, at any rate, be no +heiress. The Earl would be the undisputed heir to the personal +property, as he is to the real property and to the title. But we +disbelieve this story utterly,--we intend to offer no evidence to +show that the first wife,--for there was such a wife,--was living +when the second marriage was contracted. We have no such evidence, +and believe that none such can be found. Then that recreant nobleman, +in whose breast there was no touch of nobility, in whose heart was no +spark of mercy, made a second statement,--to this effect--that his +first wife had not died at all. His reason for this it is hardly for +us to seek. He may have done so, as affording a reason why he should +not go through a second marriage ceremony with the lady whom he had +so ill used. But that he did make this statement is certain,--and +it is also certain that he allowed an income to a certain woman as +though to a wife, that he allowed her to be called the Countess, +though he was then living with another Italian woman; and it is also +certain that this woman is still living,--or at least that she was +living some week or two ago. We believe her to have been an elder +sister of her who was the first wife, and whose death occurred before +the second marriage. Should it be proved that this living woman was +the legitimate wife of the late Earl, not only would the right be +barred of those two English ladies to whom all our sympathies are now +given, but no portion of the property in dispute would go either to +them or to my client. I am told that before his lordship, the Chief +Justice, shall have left the case in your hands, an application will +be made to the court on behalf of that living lady. I do not know how +that may be, but I am so informed. If such application be made,--if +there be any attempt to prove that she should inherit as widow,--then +will my client again contest the case. We believe that the Countess +Lovel, the English Countess, is the widow, and that Lady Anna Lovel +is Lady Anna Lovel, and is the heiress. Against them we will not +struggle. As was our bounden duty, we have sent not once only, but +twice and thrice, to Italy and to Sicily in search of evidence which, +if true, would prove that the English Countess was no Countess. We +have failed, and have no evidence which we think it right to ask a +jury to believe. We think that a mass of falsehood has been heaped +together among various persons in a remote part of a foreign country, +with the view of obtaining money, all of which was grounded on +the previous falsehoods of the late Earl. We will not use these +falsehoods with the object of disputing a right in the justice of +which we have ourselves the strongest confidence. We withdraw from +any such attempt. + +"But as yet I have only given you the preliminaries of my story." He +had, in truth, told his story. He had, at least, told all of it that +it will import that the reader should hear. He, indeed,--unfortunate +one,--will have heard the most of that story twice or thrice before. +But the audience in the Court of Queen's Bench still listened with +breathless attention, while, under this new head of his story he +told every detail again with much greater length than he had done in +the prelude which has been here given. He stated the facts of the +Cumberland marriage, apologizing to his learned friend the Serjeant +for taking, as he said, the very words out of his learned friend's +mouth. He expatiated with an eloquence that was as vehement as it +was touching on the demoniacal schemes of that wicked Earl, to whom, +during the whole of his fiendish life, women had been a prey. He +repudiated, with a scorn that was almost terrible in its wrath, the +idea that Josephine Murray had gone to the Earl's house with the name +of wife, knowing that she was, in fact, but a mistress. She herself +was in court, thickly veiled, under the care of one of the Goffes, +having been summoned there as a necessary witness, and could not +control her emotion as she listened to the words of warm eulogy with +which the adverse counsel told the history of her life. It seemed +to her then that justice was at last being done to her. Then the +Solicitor-General reverted again to the two Italian women,--the +Sicilian sisters, as he called them,--and at much length gave his +reasons for discrediting the evidence which he himself had sought, +that he might use it with the object of establishing the claim of his +client. And lastly, he described the nature of the possessions which +had been amassed by the late Earl, who, black with covetousness as he +was with every other sin, had so manipulated his property that almost +the whole of it had become personal, and was thus inheritable by a +female heiress. He knew, he said, that he was somewhat irregular +in alluding to facts,--or to fiction, if any one should call it +fiction,--which he did not intend to prove, or to attempt to prove; +but there was something, he said, beyond the common in the aspect +which this case had taken, something in itself so irregular, that he +thought he might perhaps be held to be excused in what he had done. +"For the sake of the whole Lovel family, for the sake of these two +most interesting ladies, who have been subjected, during a long +period of years, to most undeserved calamities, we are anxious to +establish the truth. I have told you what we believe to be the truth, +and as that in no single detail militates against the case as it will +be put forward by my learned friends opposite, we have no evidence to +offer. We are content to accept the marriage of the widowed Countess +as a marriage in every respect legal and binding." So saying the +Solicitor-General sat down. + +It was then past five o'clock, and the court, as a matter of course, +was adjourned, but it was adjourned by consent to the Wednesday, +instead of to the following day, in order that there might be due +consideration given to the nature of the proceedings that must +follow. As the thing stood at present it seemed that there need be no +further plea of "Lovel v. Murray and Another." It had been granted +that Murray was not Murray, but Lovel; yet it was thought that +something further would be done. + +It had all been very pretty; but yet there had been a feeling of +disappointment throughout the audience. Not a word had been said as +to that part of the whole case which was supposed to be the most +romantic. Not a word had been said about the tailor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +DANIEL THWAITE ALONE. + + +There were two persons in the court who heard the statement of the +Solicitor-General with equal interest,--and perhaps with equal +disapprobation,--whose motives and ideas on the subject were exactly +opposite. These two were the Rev. Mr. Lovel, the uncle of the +plaintiff, and Daniel Thwaite, the tailor, whose whole life had been +passed in furthering the cause of the defendants. The parson, from +the moment in which he had heard that the young lady whom he had +entertained in his house had engaged herself to marry the tailor, +had reverted to his old suspicions,--suspicions which, indeed, he +had never altogether laid aside. It had been very grievous to him to +prefer a doubtful Lady Anna to a most indubitable Lady Fitzwarren. +He liked the old-established things,--things which had always been +unsuspected, which were not only respectable but firm-rooted. For +twenty years he had been certain that the Countess was a false +countess; and he, too, had lamented with deep inward lamentation over +the loss of the wealth which ought to have gone to support the family +earldom. It was monstrous to him that the property of one Earl Lovel +should not appertain to the next Earl. He would on the moment have +had the laws with reference to the succession of personal property +altered, with retrospective action, so that so great an iniquity +should be impossible. When the case against the so-called Countess +was, as it were, abandoned by the Solicitor-General, and the +great interests at stake thrown up, he would have put the conduct +of the matter into other hands. Then had come upon him the +bitterness of having to entertain in his own house the now almost +undisputed,--though by him still suspected,--heiress, on behalf of +his nephew, of a nephew who did not treat him well. And now the +heiress had shown what she really was by declaring her intention +of marrying a tailor! When that became known, he did hope that the +Solicitor-General would change his purpose and fight the cause. + +The ladies of the family, the two aunts, had affected to disbelieve +the paragraph which Lady Fitzwarren had shown them with so much +triumph. The rector had declared that it was just the kind of thing +that he had expected. Aunt Julia, speaking freely, had said that it +was just the kind of thing which she, knowing the girl, could not +believe. Then the rector had come up to town to hear the trial, and +on the day preceding it had asked his nephew as to the truth of the +rumour which had reached him. "It is true," said the young lord, +knitting his brow, "but it had better not be talked about." + +"Why not talked about? All the world knows it. It has been in the +newspapers." + +"Any one wishing to oblige me will not mention it," said the Earl. +This was too bad. It could not be possible,--for the honour of all +the Lovels it could not surely be possible,--that Lord Lovel was +still seeking the hand of a young woman who had confessed that +she was engaged to marry a journeyman tailor! And yet to him, the +uncle,--to him who had not long since been in loco parentis to the +lord,--the lord would vouchsafe no further reply than that above +given! The rector almost made himself believe that, great as might +be the sorrow caused by such disruption, it would become his duty to +quarrel with the Head of his family! + +He listened with most attentive ears to every word spoken by the +Solicitor-General, and quarrelled with almost every word. Would not +any one have imagined that this advocate had been paid to plead +the cause, not of the Earl, but of the Countess? As regarded the +interests of the Earl, everything was surrendered. Appeal was made +for the sympathies of all the court,--and, through the newspapers, +for the sympathies of all England,--not on behalf of the Earl who was +being defrauded of his rights, but on behalf of the young woman who +had disgraced the name which she pretended to call her own,--and +whose only refuge from that disgrace must be in the fact that to that +name she had no righteous claim! Even when this apostate barrister +came to a recapitulation of the property at stake, and explained the +cause of its being vested, not in land as is now the case with the +bulk of the possessions of noble lords,--but in shares and funds and +ventures of commercial speculation here and there, after the fashion +of tradesmen,--he said not a word to stir up in the minds of the +jury a feeling of the injury which had been done to the present Earl. +"Only that I am told that he has a wife of his own I should think +that he meant to marry one of the women himself," said the indignant +rector in the letter which he wrote to his sister Julia. + +And the tailor was as indignant as the rector. He was summoned as a +witness and was therefore bound to attend,--at the loss of his day's +work. When he reached the court, which he did long before the judge +had taken his seat, he found it to be almost impossible to effect +an entrance. He gave his name to some officer about the place, +but learned that his name was altogether unknown. He showed his +subpoena and was told that he must wait till he was called. "Where +must I wait?" asked the angry radical. "Anywhere," said the man in +authority; "but you can't force your way in here." Then he remembered +that no one had as yet paid so dearly for this struggle, no one had +suffered so much, no one had been so instrumental in bringing the +truth to light, as he, and this was the way in which he was treated! +Had there been any justice in those concerned a seat would have been +provided for him in the court, even though his attendance had not +been required. There were hundreds there, brought thither by simple +curiosity, to whom priority of entrance into the court had been +accorded by favour, because they were wealthy, or because they were +men of rank, or because they had friends high in office. All his +wealth had been expended in this case; it was he who had been the +most constant friend of this Countess; but for him and his father +there might probably have been no question of a trial at this day. +And yet he was allowed to beg for admittance, and to be shoved out of +court because he had no friends. "The court is a public court, and is +open to the public," he said, as he thrust his shoulders forward with +a resolution that he would effect an entrance. Then he was taken in +hand by two constables and pushed back through the doorway,--to the +great detriment of the apple-woman who sat there in those days. + +But by pluck and resolution he succeeded in making good some inch of +standing room within the court before the Solicitor-General began his +statement, and he was able to hear every word that was said. That +statement was not more pleasing to him than to the rector of Yoxham. +His first quarrel was with the assertion that titles of nobility are +in England the outward emblem of noble conduct. No words that might +have been uttered could have been more directly antagonistic to his +feelings and political creed. It had been the accident of his life +that he should have been concerned with ladies who were noble by +marriage and birth, and that it had become a duty to him to help to +claim on their behalf empty names which were in themselves odious to +him. It had been the woman's right to be acknowledged as the wife of +the man who had disowned her, and the girl's right to be known as +his legitimate daughter. Therefore had he been concerned. But he had +declared to himself, from his first crude conception of an opinion +on the subject, that it would be hard to touch pitch and not be +defiled. The lords of whom he heard were, or were believed by +him to be, bloated with luxury, were both rich and idle, were +gamblers, debauchers of other men's wives, deniers of all rights +of citizenship, drones who were positively authorised to eat the +honey collected by the working bees. With his half-knowledge, his +ill-gotten and ill-digested information, with his reading which had +all been on one side, he had been unable as yet to catch a glimpse of +the fact that from the ranks of the nobility are taken the greater +proportion of the hardworking servants of the State. His eyes saw +merely the power, the privileges, the titles, the ribbons, and the +money;--and he hated a lord. When therefore the Solicitor-General +spoke of the recognised virtue of titles in England, the tailor +uttered words of scorn to his stranger neighbour. "And yet this man +calls himself a Liberal, and voted for the Reform Bill," he said. +"In course he did," replied the stranger; "that was the way of his +party." "There isn't an honest man among them all," said the tailor +to himself. This was at the beginning of the speech, and he listened +on through five long hours, not losing a word of the argument, +not missing a single point made in favour of the Countess and her +daughter. It became clear to him at any rate that the daughter would +inherit the money. When the Solicitor-General came to speak of +the nature of the evidence collected in Italy, Daniel Thwaite was +unconsciously carried away into a firm conviction that all those +concerned in the matter in Italy were swindlers. The girl was no +doubt the heiress. The feeling of all the court was with her,--as he +could well perceive. But in all that speech not one single word was +said of the friend who had been true to the girl and to her mother +through all their struggles and adversity. The name of Thomas Thwaite +was not once mentioned. It might have been expedient for them to +ignore him, Daniel, the son; but surely had there been any honour +among them, any feeling of common honesty towards folk so low in +the scale of humanity as tailors, some word would have been spoken +to tell of the friendship of the old man who had gone to his grave +almost a pauper because of his truth and constancy. But no;--there +was not a word! + +And he listened, with anxious ears, to learn whether anything would +be said as to that proposed "alliance,"--he had always heard it +called an alliance with a grim smile,--between the two noble cousins. +Heaven and earth had been moved to promote "the alliance." But the +Solicitor-General said not a word on the subject,--any more than he +did of that other disreputable social arrangement, which would have +been no more than a marriage. All the audience might suppose from +anything that was said there that the young lady was fancy free and +had never yet dreamed of a husband. Nevertheless there was hardly +one there who had not heard something of the story of the Earl's +suit,--and something also of the tailor's success. + +When the court broke up Daniel Thwaite had reached standing-room, +which brought him near to the seat that was occupied by Serjeant +Bluestone. He lingered as long as he could, and saw all the +barristers concerned standing with their heads together laughing, +chatting, and well pleased, as though the day had been for them a day +of pleasure. "I fancy the speculation is too bad for any one to take +it up," he heard the Serjeant say, among whose various gifts was not +that of being able to moderate his voice. "I dare say not," said +Daniel to himself as he left the court; "and yet we took it up when +the risk was greater, and when there was nothing to be gained." He +had as yet received no explicit answer to the note which he had +written to the Countess when he sent her the copy of his father's +will. He had, indeed, received a notice from Mr. Goffe that the +matter would receive immediate attention, and that the Countess hoped +to be able to settle the claim in a very short time. But that he +thought was not such a letter as should have been sent to him on +an occasion so full of interest to him! But they were all hard and +unjust and bad. The Countess was bad because she was a Countess,--the +lawyers because they were lawyers,--the whole Lovel family because +they were Lovels. At this moment poor Daniel Thwaite was very bitter +against all mankind. He would, he thought, go at once to the Western +world of which he was always dreaming, if he could only get that sum +of £500 which was manifestly due to him. + +But as he wandered away after the court was up, getting some wretched +solitary meal at a cheap eating-house on his road, he endeavoured to +fix his thoughts on the question of the girl's affection to himself. +Taking all that had been said in that courtly lawyer's speech this +morning as the groundwork of his present judgment, what should he +judge to be her condition at the moment? He had heard on all sides +that it was intended that she should marry the young Earl, and it +had been said in his hearing that such would be declared before the +judge. No such declaration had been made. Not a word had been uttered +to signify that such an "alliance" was contemplated. Efforts had +been made with him to induce him to withdraw his claim to the girl's +hand. The Countess had urged him, and the lawyers had urged him. +Most assuredly they would not have done so,--would have in no wise +troubled themselves with him at all,--had they been able to prevail +with Lady Anna. And why had they not so prevailed? The girl, +doubtless, had been subjected to every temptation. She was kept +secure from his interference. Hitherto he had not even made an effort +to see her since she had left the house in which he himself lived. +She had nothing to fear from him. She had been sojourning among those +Lovels, who would doubtless have made the way to deceit and luxury +easy for her. He could not doubt but that she had been solicited to +enter into this alliance. Could he be justified in flattering himself +that she had hitherto resisted temptation because in her heart of +hearts she was true to her first love? He was true. He was conscious +of his own constancy. He was sure of himself that he was bound to her +by his love, and not by the hope of any worldly advantage. And why +should he think that she was weaker, vainer, less noble than himself? +Had he not evidence to show him that she was strong enough to resist +a temptation to which he had never been subjected? He had read of +women who were above the gilt and glitter of the world. When he was +disposed to think that she would be false, no terms of reproach +seemed to him too severe to heap upon her name; and yet, when he +found that he had no ground on which to accuse her, even in his own +thoughts, of treachery to himself, he could hardly bring himself to +think it possible that she should not be treacherous. She had sworn +to him, as he had sworn to her, and was he not bound to believe her +oath? + +Then he remembered what the poet had said to him. The poet had +advised him to desist altogether, and had told him that it would +certainly be best for the girl that he should do so. The poet had not +based his advice on the ground that the girl would prove false, but +that it would be good for the girl to be allowed to be false,--good +for the girl that she should be encouraged to be false, in order that +she might become an earl's wife! But he thought that it would be bad +for any woman to be an earl's wife; and so thinking, how could he +abandon his love in order that he might hand her over to a fashion +of life which he himself despised? The poet must be wrong. He would +cling to his love till he should know that his love was false to him. +Should he ever learn that, then his love should be troubled with him +no further. + +But something must be done. Even, on her behalf, if she were true to +him, something must be done. Was it not pusillanimous in him to make +no attempt to see his love and to tell her that he at any rate was +true to her? These people, who were now his enemies, the lawyers and +the Lovels, with the Countess at the head of them, had used him like +a dog, had repudiated him without remorse, had not a word even to say +of the services which his father had rendered. Was he bound by honour +or duty to stand on any terms with them? Could there be anything due +to them from him? Did it not behove him as a man to find his way +into the girl's presence and to assist her with his courage? He did +not fear them. What cause had he to fear them? In all that had been +between them his actions to them had been kind and good, whereas they +were treating him with the basest ingratitude. + +But how should he see Lady Anna? As he thought of all this he +wandered up from Westminster, where he had eaten his dinner, to +Russell Square and into Keppel Street, hesitating whether he would +at once knock at the door and ask to see Lady Anna Lovel. Lady Anna +was still staying with Mrs. Bluestone; but Daniel Thwaite had not +believed the Countess when she told him that her daughter was not +living with her. He doubted, however, and did not knock at the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE. + + +It must not be thought that the Countess was unmoved when she +received Daniel Thwaite's letter from Keswick enclosing the copy +of his father's will. She was all alone, and she sat long in her +solitude, thinking of the friend who was gone and who had been always +true to her. She herself would have done for old Thomas Thwaite any +service which a woman could render to a man, so strongly did she feel +all that the man had done for her. As she had once said, no menial +office performed by her on behalf of the old tailor would have been +degrading to her. She had eaten his bread, and she never for a moment +forgot the obligation. The slow tears stood in her eyes as she +thought of the long long hours which she had passed in his company, +while, almost desponding herself, she had received courage from his +persistency. And her feeling for the son would have been the same, +had not the future position of her daughter and the standing of +the house of Lovel been at stake. It was not in her nature to be +ungrateful; but neither was it in her nature to postpone the whole +object of her existence to her gratitude. Even though she should +appear to the world as a monster of ingratitude, she must treat the +surviving Thwaite as her bitterest enemy as long as he maintained +his pretensions to her daughter's hand. She could have no friendly +communication with him. She herself would hold no communication +with him at all, if she might possibly avoid it, lest she should +be drawn into some renewed relation of friendship with him. He was +her enemy,--her enemy in such fierce degree that she was always +plotting the means of ridding herself altogether of his presence +and influence. To her thinking the man had turned upon her most +treacherously, and was using, for his own purposes and his own +aggrandizement, that familiarity with her affairs which he had +acquired by reason of his father's generosity. She believed but +little in his love; but whether he loved the girl or merely sought +her money, was all one to her. Her whole life had been passed in an +effort to prove her daughter to be a lady of rank, and she would +rather sacrifice her life in the basest manner than live to see all +her efforts annulled by a low marriage. Love, indeed, and romance! +What was the love of one individual, what was the romance of a +childish girl, to the honour and well-being of an ancient and noble +family? It was her ambition to see her girl become the Countess +Lovel, and no feeling of gratitude should stand in her way. She would +rather slay that lowborn artisan with her own hand than know that he +had the right to claim her as his mother-in-law. Nevertheless, the +slow tears crept down her cheeks as she thought of former days, and +of the little parlour behind the tailor's shop at Keswick, in which +the two children had been wont to play. + +But the money must be paid; or, at least, the debt must be +acknowledged. As soon as she had somewhat recovered herself she +opened the old desk which had for years been the receptacle of all +her papers, and taking out sundry scribbled documents, went to work +at a sum in addition. It cannot be said of her that she was a good +accountant, but she had been so far careful as to have kept entries +of all the monies she had received from Thomas Thwaite. She had once +carried in her head a correct idea of the entire sum she owed him; +but now she set down the items with dates, and made the account fair +on a sheet of note paper. So much money she certainly did owe to +Daniel Thwaite, and so much she would certainly pay if ever the means +of paying it should be hers. Then she went off with her account to +Mr. Goffe. + +Mr. Goffe did not think that the matter pressed. The payment of +large sums which have been long due never is pressing in the eyes of +lawyers. Men are always supposed to have a hundred pounds in their +waistcoat pockets; but arrangements have to be made for the settling +of thousands. "You had better let me write him a line and tell him +that it shall be looked to as soon as the question as to the property +is decided," said Mr. Goffe. But this did not suit the views of the +Countess. She spoke out very openly as to all she owed to the father, +and as to her eternal enmity to the son. It behoved her to pay the +debt, if only that she might be able to treat the man altogether as +an enemy. She had understood that, even pending the trial, a portion +of the income would be allowed by the courts for her use and for the +expenses of the trial. It was assented that this money should be +paid. Could steps be taken by which it might be settled at once? Mr. +Goffe, taking the memorandum, said that he would see what could be +done, and then wrote his short note to Daniel Thwaite. When he had +computed the interest which must undoubtedly be paid on the borrowed +money he found that a sum of about £9,000 was due to the tailor. +"Nine thousand pounds!" said one Mr. Goffe to another. "That will be +better to him than marrying the daughter of an earl." Could Daniel +have heard the words he would have taken the lawyer by the throat and +have endeavoured to teach him what love is. + +Then the trial came on. Before the day fixed had come round, but only +just before it, Mr. Goffe showed the account to Serjeant Bluestone. +"God bless my soul!" said the Serjeant. "There should be some +vouchers for such an amount as that." Mr. Goffe declared that there +were no vouchers, except for a very trifling part of it; but still +thought that the amount should be allowed. The Countess was quite +willing to make oath, if need be, that the money had been supplied +to her. Then the further consideration of the question was for the +moment postponed, and the trial came on. + +On the Tuesday, which had been left a vacant day as regarded the +trial, there was a meeting,--like all other proceedings in this +cause, very irregular in its nature,--at the chambers of the +Solicitor-General, at which Serjeant Bluestone attended with Messrs. +Hardy, Mainsail, Flick, and Goffe; and at this meeting, among other +matters of business, mention was made of the debt due by the Countess +to Daniel Thwaite. Of this debt the Solicitor-General had not as yet +heard,--though he had heard of the devoted friendship of the old +tailor. That support had been afforded to some extent,--that for +a period the shelter of old Thwaite's roof had been lent to the +Countess,--that the man had been generous and trusting, he did +know. He had learned, of course, that thence had sprung that early +familiarity which had enabled the younger Thwaite to make his +engagement with Lady Anna. That something should be paid when the +ladies came by their own he was aware. But the ladies were not his +clients, and into the circumstances he had not inquired. Now he was +astounded and almost scandalized by the amount of the debt. + +"Do you mean to say that he advanced £9,000 in hard cash?" said the +Solicitor-General. + +"That includes interest at five per cent., Sir William, and also a +small sum for bills paid by Thomas Thwaite on her behalf. She has had +in actual cash about £7,000." + +"And where has it gone?" + +"A good deal of it through my hands," said Mr. Goffe boldly. "During +two or three years she had no income at all, and during the last +twenty years she has been at law for her rights. He advanced all the +money when that trial for bigamy took place." + +"God bless my soul!" said Mr. Serjeant Bluestone. + +"Did he leave a will?" asked the Solicitor-General. + +"Oh, yes; a will which has been proved, and of which I have a copy. +There was nothing else to leave but this debt, and that is left to +the son." + +"It should certainly be paid without delay," said Mr. Hardy. Mr. +Mainsail questioned whether they could get the money. Mr. Goffe +doubted whether it could be had before the whole affair was settled. +Mr. Flick was sure that on due representation the amount would be +advanced at once. The income of the property was already accumulating +in the hands of the court, and there was an anxiety that all just +demands,--demands which might be considered to be justly made on the +family property,--should be paid without delay. "I think there would +hardly be a question," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Seven thousand pounds advanced by these two small tradesmen to the +Countess Lovel," said the Solicitor-General, "and that done at a time +when no relation of her own or of her husband would lend her a penny! +I wish I had known that when I went into court yesterday." + +"It would hardly have done any good," said the Serjeant. + +"It would have enabled one at any rate to give credit where credit is +due. And this son is the man who claims to be affianced to the Lady +Anna?" + +"The same man, Sir William," said Mr. Goffe. + +"One is almost inclined to think that he deserves her." + +"I can't agree with you there at all," said the Serjeant angrily. + +"One at any rate is not astonished that the young lady should think +so," continued the Solicitor-General. "Upon my word, I don't know how +we are to expect that she should throw her early lover overboard +after such evidence of devotion." + +"The marriage would be too incongruous," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Quite horrible," said the Serjeant. + +"It distresses one to think of it," said Mr. Goffe. + +"It would be much better that she should not be Lady Anna at all, if +she is to do that," said Mr. Mainsail. + +"Very much better," said Mr. Flick, shaking his head, and remembering +that he was employed by Lord Lovel and not by the Countess,--a fact +of which it seemed to him that the Solicitor-General altogether +forgot the importance. + +"Gentlemen, you have no romance among you," said Sir William. "Have +not generosity and valour always prevailed over wealth and rank with +ladies in story?" + +"I do not remember any valorous tailors who have succeeded with +ladies of high degree," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Did not the lady of the Strachy marry the yeoman of the wardrobe?" +asked the Solicitor-General. + +"I don't know that we care much about romance here," said the +Serjeant. "The marriage would be so abominable, that it is not to be +thought of." + +"The tailor should at any rate get his money," said the +Solicitor-General, "and I will undertake to say that if the case be +as represented by Mr. Goffe--" + +"It certainly is," said the attorney. + +"Then there will be no difficulty in raising the funds for paying it. +If he is not to have his wife, at any rate let him have his money. +I think, Mr. Flick, that intimation should be made to him that Earl +Lovel will join the Countess in immediate application to the court +for means to settle his claim. Circumstanced as we are at present, +there can be no doubt that such application will have the desired +result. It should, of course, be intimated that Serjeant Bluestone +and myself are both of opinion that the money should be allowed for +the purpose." + +As the immediate result of this conversation, Daniel Thwaite received +on the following morning letters both from Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick. +The former intimated to him that a sum of nine thousand odd pounds +was held to be due to him by the Countess, and that immediate steps +would be taken for its payment. That from Mr. Flick, which was much +shorter than the letter from his brother attorney, merely stated that +as a very large sum of money appeared to be due by the Countess Lovel +to the estate of the late Thomas Thwaite, for sums advanced to the +Countess during the last twenty years, the present Earl Lovel had +been advised to join the Countess in application to the courts, +that the amount due might be paid out of the income of the property +left by the late Earl; and that that application would be made +"_immediately_." Mr. Goffe in his letter, went on to make certain +suggestions, and to give much advice. As this very large debt, of +which no proof was extant, was freely admitted by the Countess, and +as steps were being at once taken to ensure payment of the whole +sum named to Daniel Thwaite, as his father's heir, it was hoped +that Daniel Thwaite would at once abandon his preposterous claim to +the hand of Lady Anna Lovel. Then Mr. Goffe put forward in glowing +colours the iniquity of which Daniel Thwaite would be guilty should +he continue his fruitless endeavours to postpone the re-establishment +of a noble family which was thus showing its united benevolence by +paying to him the money which it owed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE VERDICT. + + +On the Wednesday the court reassembled in all its judicial glory. +There was the same crowd, the same Lord Chief Justice, the same jury, +and the same array of friendly lawyers. There had been a rumour that +a third retinue of lawyers would appear on behalf of what was now +generally called the Italian interest, and certain words which had +fallen from the Solicitor-General on Monday had assured the world at +large that the Italian interest would be represented. It was known +that the Italian case had been confided to a firm of enterprising +solicitors, named Mowbray and Mopus, perhaps more feared than +respected, which was supposed to do a great amount of speculative +business. But no one from the house of Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus was +in court on the Wednesday morning; and no energetic barrister was +ever enriched by a fee from them on behalf of the Italian widow. +The speculation had been found to be too deep, the expenditure +which would be required in advance too great, and the prospect of +remuneration too remote even for Mowbray and Mopus. It appeared +afterwards that application had been made by those gentlemen for an +assurance that expenses incurred on behalf of the Italian Countess +should be paid out of the estate; but this had been refused. No +guarantee to this effect could be given, at any rate till it should +be seen whether the Italian lady had any show of justice on her side. +It was now the general belief that if there was any truth at all in +the Italian claim, it rested on the survivorship, at the time of the +Cumberland marriage, of a wife who had long since died. As the proof +of this would have given no penny to any one in Italy,--would simply +have shown that the Earl was the heir,--Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus +retired, and there was an end, for ever and a day, of the Italian +interest. + +Though there was the same throng in the court as on the Monday, +there did not seem to be the same hubbub on the opening of the day's +proceedings. The barristers were less busy with their papers, the +attorneys sat quite at their ease, and the Chief Justice, with an +assistant judge, who was his bench-fellow, appeared for some minutes +to be quite passive. Then the Solicitor-General arose and said that, +with permission, he would occupy the court for only a few minutes. +He had stated on Monday his belief that an application would be made +to the court on behalf of other interests than those which had been +represented when the court first met. It appeared that he had been +wrong in that surmise. Of course he had no knowledge on the subject, +but it did not appear that any learned gentleman was prepared to +address the court for any third party. As he, on behalf of his +client, had receded from the case, his Lordship would probably say +what, in his Lordship's opinion, should now be the proceeding of +the court. The Earl Lovel abandoned his plea, and perhaps the court +would, in those circumstances, decide that its jurisdiction in the +matter was over. Then the Lord Chief Justice, with his assistant +judge, retired for a while, and all the assembled crowd appeared to +be at liberty to discuss the matter just as everybody pleased. + +It was undoubtedly the opinion of the bar at large, and at that +moment of the world in general, that the Solicitor-General had done +badly for his client. The sum of money which was at stake was, they +said, too large to be played with. As the advocate of the Earl, Sir +William ought to have kept himself aloof from the Countess and her +daughter. In lieu of regarding his client, he had taken upon himself +to set things right in general, according to his idea of right. No +doubt he was a clever man, and knew how to address a jury, but he was +always thinking of himself, and bolstering up something of his own, +instead of thinking of his case and bolstering up his client. And +this conception of his character in general, and of his practice in +this particular, became the stronger, as it was gradually believed +that the living Italian Countess was certainly an impostor. There +would have been little good in fighting against the English Countess +on her behalf;--but if they could only have proved that the other +Italian woman, who was now dead, had been the real Countess when the +Cumberland marriage was made, then what a grand thing it would have +been for the Lovel family! Of those who held this opinion, the rector +of Yoxham was the strongest, and the most envenomed against the +Solicitor-General. During the whole of that Tuesday he went about +declaring that the interests of the Lovel family had been sacrificed +by their own counsel, and late in the afternoon he managed to get +hold of Mr. Hardy. Could nothing be done? Mr. Hardy was of opinion +that nothing could be done now; but in the course of the evening he +did, at the rector's instance, manage to see Sir William, and to ask +the question, "Could nothing be done?" + +"Nothing more than we propose to do." + +"Then the case is over," said Mr. Hardy. "I am assured that no one +will stir on behalf of that Italian lady." + +"If any one did stir it would only be loss of time and money. My dear +Hardy, I understand as well as any one what people are saying, and +I know what must be the feeling of many of the Lovels. But I can +only do my duty by my client to the best of my judgment. In the +first place, you must remember that he has himself acknowledged the +Countess." + +"By our advice," said Mr. Hardy. + +"You mean by mine. Exactly so;--but with such conviction on his own +part that he positively refuses to be a party to any suit which +shall be based on the assumption that she is not Countess Lovel. +Let an advocate be ever so obdurate, he can hardly carry on a case +in opposition to his client's instructions. We are acting for Lord +Lovel, and not for the Lovel family. And I feel assured of this, that +were we to attempt to set up the plea that that other woman was alive +when the marriage took place in Cumberland, you, yourself, would be +ashamed of the evidence which it would become your duty to endeavour +to foist upon the jury. We should certainly be beaten, and, in +the ultimate settlement of the property, we should have to do +with enemies instead of friends. The man was tried for bigamy and +acquitted. Would any jury get over that unless you had evidence +to offer to them that was plain as a pikestaff, and absolutely +incontrovertible?" + +"Do you still think the girl will marry the Earl?" + +"No; I do not. She seems to have a will of her own, and that will is +bent the other way. But I do think that a settlement may be made of +the property which shall be very much in the Earl's favour." When on +the following morning the Solicitor-General made his second speech, +which did not occupy above a quarter of an hour, it became manifest +that he did not intend to alter his course of proceeding, and while +the judges were absent it was said by everybody in the court that the +Countess and Lady Anna had gained their suit. + +"I consider it to be a most disgraceful course of proceeding on the +part of Sir William Patterson," said the rector to a middle-aged +legal functionary, who was managing clerk to Norton and Flick. + +"We all think, sir, that there was more fight in it," said the legal +functionary. + +"There was plenty of fight in it. I don't believe that any jury in +England would willingly have taken such an amount of property from +the head of the Lovel family. For the last twenty years,--ever since +I first heard of the pretended English marriage,--everybody has known +that she was no more a Countess than I am. I can't understand it; +upon my word I can't. I have not had much to do with law, but I've +always been brought up to think that an English barrister would be +true to his client. I believe a case can be tried again if it can be +shown that the lawyers have mismanaged it." The unfortunate rector, +when he made this suggestion, no doubt forgot that the client in this +case was in full agreement with the wicked advocate. + +The judges were absent for about half an hour, and on their return +the Chief Justice declared that his learned brother,--the Serjeant +namely,--had better proceed with the case on behalf of his clients. +He went on to explain that as the right to the property in dispute, +and indeed the immediate possession of that property, would be ruled +by the decision of the jury, it was imperative that they should hear +what the learned counsel for the so-called Countess and her daughter +had to say, and what evidence they had to offer, as to the validity +of her marriage. It was not to be supposed that he intended to throw +any doubt on that marriage, but such would be the safer course. No +doubt, in the ordinary course of succession, a widow and a daughter +would inherit and divide among them in certain fixed proportions the +personal property of a deceased but intestate husband and father, +without the intervention of any jury to declare their rights. But in +this case suspicion had been thrown and adverse statements had been +made; and as his learned brother was, as a matter of course, provided +with evidence to prove that which the plaintiff had come into the +court with the professed intention of disproving, the case had better +go on. Then he wrapped his robes around him and threw himself back +in the attitude of a listener. Serjeant Bluestone, already on his +legs, declared himself prepared and willing to proceed. No doubt +the course as now directed was the proper course to be pursued. The +Solicitor-General, rising gracefully and bowing to the court, gave +his consent with complaisant patronage. "Your Lordship, no doubt, +is right." His words were whispered, and very probably not heard; +but the smile, as coming from a Solicitor-General,--from such a +Solicitor-General as Sir William Patterson,--was sufficient to put +any judge at his ease. + +Then Serjeant Bluestone made his statement, and the case was +proceeded with after the fashion of such trials. It will not concern +us to follow the further proceedings of the court with any close +attention. The Solicitor-General went away, to some other business, +and much of the interest seemed to drop. The marriage in Cumberland +was proved; the trial for bigamy, with the acquittal of the Earl, was +proved; the two opposed statements of the Earl, as to the death of +the first wife, and afterwards as to the fact that she was living, +were proved. Serjeant Bluestone and Mr. Mainsail were very busy for +two days, having everything before them. Mr. Hardy, on behalf of the +young lord, kept his seat, but he said not a word--not even asking a +question of one of Serjeant Bluestone's witnesses. Twice the foreman +of the jury interposed, expressing an opinion, on behalf of himself +and his brethren, that the case need not be proceeded with further; +but the judge ruled that it was for the interest of the Countess,--he +ceased to style her the so-called Countess,--that her advocates +should be allowed to complete their case. In the afternoon of the +second day they did complete it, with great triumph and a fine +flourish of forensic oratory as to the cruel persecution which their +client had endured. The Solicitor-General came back into court in +time to hear the judge's charge, which was very short. The jury were +told that they had no alternative but to find a verdict for the +defendants. It was explained to them that this was a plea to show +that a certain marriage which had taken place in Cumberland in 181--, +was no real or valid marriage. Not only was that plea withdrawn, but +evidence had been adduced proving that that marriage was valid. Such +a marriage was, as a matter of course, primā facie valid, let what +statements might be made to the contrary by those concerned or not +concerned. In such case the burden of proof would rest entirely with +the makers of such statement. No such proof had been here attempted, +and the marriage must be declared a valid marriage. The jury had +nothing to do with the disposition of the property, and it would be +sufficient for them simply to find a verdict for the defendants. The +jury did as they were bid; but, going somewhat beyond this, declared +that they found the two defendants to be properly named the Countess +Lovel, and Lady Anna Lovel. So ended the case of "Lovel v. Murray and +Another." + +The Countess, who had been in the court all day, was taken home to +Keppel Street by the Serjeant in a glass coach that had been hired +to be in waiting for her. "And now, Lady Lovel," said Serjeant +Bluestone, as he took his seat opposite to her, "I can congratulate +your ladyship on the full restitution of your rights." She only shook +her head. "The battle has been fought and won at last, and I will +make free to say that I have never seen more admirable persistency +than you have shown since first that bad man astounded your ears by +his iniquity." + +"It has been all to no purpose," she said. + +"To no purpose, Lady Lovel! I may as well tell you now that it is +expected that his Majesty will send to congratulate you on the +restitution of your rights." + +Again she shook her head. "Ah, Serjeant Bluestone;--that will be but +of little service." + +"No further objection can now be made to the surrender of the whole +property. There are some mining shares as to which there may be a +question whether they are real or personal, but they amount to but +little. A third of the remainder, which will, I imagine, exceed--" + +"If it were ten times as much, Serjeant Bluestone, there would be no +comfort in it. If it were ten times that, it would not at all help to +heal my sorrow. I have sometimes thought that when one is marked for +trouble, no ease can come." + +"I don't think more of money than another man," began the Serjeant. + +"You do not understand." + +"Nor yet of titles,--though I feel for them, when they are worthily +worn, the highest respect," as he so spoke the Serjeant lifted his +hat from his brow. "But, upon my word, to have won such a case as +this justifies triumph." + +"I have won nothing,--nothing,--nothing!" + +"You mean about Lady Anna?" + +"Serjeant Bluestone, when first I was told that I was not that man's +wife, I swore to myself that I would die sooner than accept any lower +name; but when I found that I was a mother, then I swore that I would +live till my child should bear the name that of right belonged to +her." + +"She does bear it now." + +"What name does she propose to bear? I would sooner be poor, in +beggary,--still fighting, even without means to fight, for an empty +title,--still suffering, still conscious that all around me regarded +me as an impostor, than conquer only to know that she, for whom all +this has been done, has degraded her name and my own. If she does +this thing, or, if she has a mind so low, a spirit so mean, as to +think of doing it, would it not be better for all the world that she +should be the bastard child of a rich man's kept mistress, than the +acknowledged daughter of an earl, with a countess for her mother, and +a princely fortune to support her rank? If she marries this man, I +shall heartily wish that Lord Lovel had won the case. I care nothing +for myself now. I have lost all that. The king's message will comfort +me not at all. If she do this thing I shall only feel the evil we +have done in taking the money from the Earl. I would sooner see her +dead at my feet than know that she was that man's wife;--ay, though +I had stabbed her with my own hand!" + +The Serjeant for the nonce could say nothing more to her. She had +worked herself into such a passion that she would listen to no words +but her own, and think of nothing but the wrong that was still being +done to her. He put her down at the hall door in Keppel Street, +saying, as he lifted his hat again, that Mrs. Bluestone should come +and call upon her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +WILL YOU PROMISE? + + +The news of the verdict was communicated the same evening to Lady +Anna,--as to whose name there could now no longer be any dispute. "I +congratulate you, Lady Anna," said the Serjeant, holding her hand, +"that everything as far as this trial is concerned has gone just as +we could wish." + +"We owe it all to you," said the girl. + +"Not at all. My work has been very easy. In fact I have some feeling +of regret that I have not been placed in a position that would enable +me to earn my wages. The case was too good,--so that a poor aspiring +lawyer has not been able to add to his reputation. But as far as you +are concerned, my dear, everything has gone as you should wish. You +are now a very wealthy heiress, and the great duty devolves upon +you of disposing of your wealth in a fitting manner." Lady Anna +understood well what was meant, and was silent. Even when she was +alone, her success did not make her triumphant. She could anticipate +that the efforts of all her friends to make her false to her word +would be redoubled. Unless she could see Daniel Thwaite, it would be +impossible that she should not be conquered. + +The Serjeant told his wife the promise which he had made on her +behalf, and she, of course, undertook to go to Keppel Street on +the following morning. "You had better bring her here," said the +Serjeant. Mrs. Bluestone remarked that that might be sooner said than +done. "She'll be glad of an excuse to come," answered the Serjeant. +"On such an occasion as this, of course they must see each other. +Something must be arranged about the property. In a month or two, +when she is of age, she will have the undisputed right to do what +she pleases with about three hundred thousand pounds. It is a most +remarkable position for a young girl who has never yet had the +command of a penny, and who professes that she is engaged to marry a +working tailor. Of course her mother must see her." + +Mrs. Bluestone did call in Keppel Street, and sat with the Countess a +long time, undergoing a perfect hailstorm of passion. For a long time +Lady Lovel declared that she would never see her daughter again till +the girl had given a solemn promise that she would not marry Daniel +Thwaite. "Love her! Of course I love her. She is all that I have +in the world. But of what good is my love to me, if she disgraces +me? She has disgraced me already. When she could bring herself to +tell her cousin that she was engaged to this man, we were already +disgraced. When she once allowed the man to speak to her in that +strain, without withering him with her scorn, she disgraced us both. +For what have I done it all, if this is to be the end of it?" But at +last she assented and promised that she would come. No;--it would not +be necessary to send a carriage for her. The habits of her own life +need not be at all altered because she was now a Countess beyond +dispute, and also wealthy. She would be content to live as she had +ever lived. It had gone on too long for her to desire personal +comfort,--luxury for herself, or even social rank. The only pleasure +that she had anticipated, the only triumph that she desired, was to +be found in the splendour of her child. She would walk to Bedford +Square, and then walk back to her lodgings in Keppel Street. She +wanted no carriage. + +Early on the following day there was heard the knock at the door +which Lady Anna had been taught to expect. The coming visit had been +discussed in all its bearings, and it had been settled that Mrs. +Bluestone should be with the daughter when the mother arrived. It was +thought that in this way the first severity of the Countess would be +mitigated, and that the chance of some agreement between them might +be increased. Both the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone now conceived that +the young lady had a stronger will of her own than might have been +expected from her looks, her language, and her manners. She had not +as yet yielded an inch, though she would not argue the matter at +all when she was told that it was her positive duty to abandon the +tailor. She would sit quite silent; and if silence does give consent, +she consented to this doctrine. Mrs. Bluestone, with a diligence +which was equalled only by her good humour, insisted on the misery +which must come upon her young friend should she quarrel with the +Countess, and with all the Lovels,--on the unfitness of the tailor, +and the impossibility that such a marriage should make a lady +happy,--on the sacred duty which Lady Anna's rank imposed upon her to +support her order, and on the general blessedness of a well-preserved +and exclusive aristocracy. "I don't mean to say that nobly born +people are a bit better than commoners," said Mrs. Bluestone. +"Neither I nor my children have a drop of noble blood in our veins. +It is not that. But God Almighty has chosen that there should be +different ranks to carry out His purposes, and we have His word to +tell us that we should all do our duties in that state of life to +which it has pleased Him to call us." The excellent lady was somewhat +among the clouds in her theology, and apt to mingle the different +sources of religious instruction from which she was wont to draw +lessons for her own and her children's guidance; but she meant to +say that the proper state of life for an earl's daughter could not +include an attachment to a tailor; and Lady Anna took it as it was +meant. The nobly born young lady did not in heart deny the truth of +the lesson;--but she had learned another lesson, and she did not +know how to make the two compatible. That other lesson taught her to +believe that she ought to be true to her word;--that she specially +ought to be true to one who had ever been specially true to her. And +latterly there had grown upon her a feeling less favourable to the +Earl than that which he had inspired when she first saw him, and +which he had increased when they were together at Yoxham. It is hard +to say why the Earl had ceased to charm her, or by what acts or words +he had lowered himself in her eyes. He was as handsome as ever, as +much like a young Apollo, as gracious in his manner, and as gentle in +his gait. And he had been constant to her. Perhaps it was that she +had expected that one so godlike should have ceased to adore a woman +who had degraded herself to the level of a tailor, and that, so +conceiving, she had begun to think that his motives might be merely +human, and perhaps sordid. He ought to have abstained and seen her no +more after she had owned her own degradation. But she said nothing +of all this to Mrs. Bluestone. She made no answer to the sermons +preached to her. She certainly said no word tending to make that lady +think that the sermons had been of any avail. "She looks as soft as +butter," Mrs. Bluestone said that morning to her husband; "but she is +obstinate as a pig all the time." + +"I suppose her father was the same way before her," said the +Serjeant, "and God knows her mother is obstinate enough." + +When the Countess was shown into the room Lady Anna was trembling +with fear and emotion. Lady Lovel, during the last few weeks, since +her daughter had seen her, had changed the nature of her dress. +Hitherto, for years past, she had worn a brown stuff gown, hardly +ever varying even the shade of the sombre colour,--so that her +daughter had perhaps never seen her otherwise clad. No woman that +ever breathed was less subject to personal vanity than had been the +so-called Countess who lived in the little cottage outside Keswick. +Her own dress had been as nothing to her, and in the days of her +close familiarity with old Thomas Thwaite she had rebuked her friend +when he had besought her to attire herself in silk. "We'll go into +Keswick and get Anna a new ribbon," she would say, "and that will be +grandeur enough for her and me too." In this brown dress she had come +up to London, and so she had been clothed when her daughter last saw +her. But now she wore a new, full, black silk dress, which, plain +as it was, befitted her rank and gave an increased authority to her +commanding figure. Lady Anna trembled all the more, and her heart +sank still lower within her, because her mother no longer wore the +old brown gown. When the Countess entered the room she took no +immediate notice of Mrs. Bluestone, but went up to her child and +kissed her. "I am comforted, Anna, in seeing you once again," she +said. + +"Dear, dearest mamma!" + +"You have heard, I suppose, that the trial has been decided in your +favour?" + +"In yours, mamma." + +"We have explained it all to her, Lady Lovel, as well as we could. +The Serjeant yesterday evening gave us a little history of what +occurred. It seems to have been quite a triumph." + +"It may become a triumph," said the Countess;--"a triumph so complete +and glorious that I shall desire nothing further in this world. It +has been my work to win the prize; it is for her to wear it,--if she +will do so." + +"I hope you will both live to enjoy it many years," said Mrs. +Bluestone. "You will have much to say to each other, and I will leave +you now. We shall have lunch, Lady Lovel, at half-past one, and I +hope that you will join us." + +Then they were alone together. Lady Anna had not moved from her chair +since she had embraced her mother, but the Countess had stood during +the whole time that Mrs. Bluestone had been in the room. When the +room door was closed they both remained silent for a few moments, and +then the girl rushed across the room and threw herself on her knees +at her mother's feet. "Oh, mamma, mamma, tell me that you love me. +Oh, mamma, why have you not let me come to you? Oh, mamma, we never +were parted before." + +"My child never before was wilfully disobedient to me." + +"Oh, mamma;--tell me that you love me." + +"Love you! Yes, I love you. You do not doubt that, Anna. How could it +be possible that you should doubt it after twenty years of a mother's +care? You know I love you." + +"I know that I love you, mamma, and that it kills me to be sent away +from you. You will take me home with you now;--will you not?" + +"Home! You shall make your own home, and I will take you whither you +will. I will be a servant to minister to every whim; all the world +shall be a Paradise to you; you shall have every joy that wealth, and +love, and sweet friends can procure for you,--if you will obey me in +one thing." Lady Anna, still crouching upon the ground, hid her face +in her mother's dress, but she was silent. "It is not much that I ask +after a life spent in winning for you all that has now been won. I +only demand of you that you shall not disgrace yourself." + +"Oh, mamma, I am not disgraced." + +"Say that you will marry Lord Lovel, and all that shall be forgotten. +It shall at any rate be forgiven, or remembered only as the folly of +a child. Will you say that you will become Lord Lovel's wife?" + +"Oh, mamma!" + +"Answer me, Anna;--will you say that you will receive Lord Lovel as +your accepted lover? Get up, girl, and look me in the face. Of what +use is it to grovel there, while your spirit is in rebellion? Will +you do this? Will you save us all from destruction, misery, and +disgrace? Will you remember who you are;--what blood you have in your +veins;--what name it is that you bear? Stand up, and look me in the +face, if you dare." + +Lady Anna did stand up, and did look her mother in the face. "Mamma," +she said, "we should understand each other better if we were living +together as we ought to do." + +"I will never live with you till you have promised obedience. Will +you, at any rate, pledge to me your word that you will never become +the wife of Daniel Thwaite?" Then she paused, and stood looking at +the girl, perhaps for a minute. Lady Anna stood before her, with her +eyes turned upon the ground. "Answer me the question that I have +asked you. Will you promise me that you will never become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite?" + +"I have promised him that I would." + +"What is that to me? Is your duty to him higher than your duty to me? +Can you be bound by any promise to so great a crime as that would be? +I will ask you the question once more, and I will be governed by your +answer. If you will promise to discard this man, you shall return +home with me, and shall then choose everything for yourself. We will +go abroad and travel if you wish it, and all things shall be prepared +to give you pleasure. You shall have at once the full enjoyment of +all that has been won for you; and as for your cousin,--you shall not +for a while be troubled even by his name. It is the dear wish of my +heart that you should be the wife of Earl Lovel;--but I have one +wish dearer even than that,--one to which that shall be altogether +postponed. If you will save yourself, and me, and all your family +from the terrible disgrace with which you have threatened us,--I will +not again mention your cousin's name to you till it shall please you +to hear it. Anna, you knelt to me, just now. Shall I kneel to you?" + +"No, mamma, no;--I should die." + +"Then, my love, give me the promise that I have asked." + +"Mamma, he has been so good to us!" + +"And we will be good to him,--good to him in his degree. Of what +avail to me will have been his goodness, if he is to rob me of the +very treasure which his goodness helped to save? Is he to have all, +because he gave some aid? Is he to take from me my heart's blood, +because he bound up my arm when it was bruised? Because he helped me +some steps on earth, is he to imprison me afterwards in hell? Good! +No, he is not good in wishing so to destroy us. He is bad, greedy, +covetous, self-seeking, a very dog, and by the living God he shall +die like a dog unless you will free me from his fangs. You have not +answered me. Will you tell me that you will discard him as a suitor +for your hand? If you will say so, he shall receive tenfold reward +for his--goodness. Answer me, Anna;--I claim an answer from you." + +"Mamma!" + +"Speak, if you have anything to say. And remember the commandment, +Honour thy--" But she broke down, when she too remembered it, and +bore in mind that the precept would have called upon her daughter to +honour the memory of the deceased Earl. "But if you cannot do it for +love, you will never do it for duty." + +"Mamma, I am sure of one thing." + +"Of what are you sure?" + +"That I ought to be allowed to see him before I give him up." + +"You shall never be allowed to see him." + +"Listen to me, mamma, for a moment. When he asked me to--love him, we +were equals." + +"I deny it. You were never equals." + +"We lived as such,--except in this, that they had money for our +wants, and we had none to repay them." + +"Money can have nothing to do with it." + +"Only that we took it. And then he was everything to us. It seemed as +though it would be impossible to refuse anything that he asked. It +was impossible to me. As to being noble, I am sure that he was noble. +You always used to say that nobody else ever was so good as those +two. Did you not say so, mamma?" + +"If I praise my horse or my dog, do I say that they are of the same +nature as myself?" + +"But he is a man; quite as much a man as,--as any man could be." + +"You mean that you will not do as I bid you." + +"Let me see him, mamma. Let me see him but once. If I might see him, +perhaps I might do as you wish--about him. I cannot say anything more +unless I may see him." + +The Countess still stormed and still threatened, but she could not +move her daughter. She also found that the child had inherited +particles of the nature of her parents. But it was necessary that +some arrangement should be made as to the future life, both of Lady +Anna and of herself. She might bury herself where she would, in the +most desolate corner of the earth, but she could not leave Lady +Anna in Bedford Square. In a few months Lady Anna might choose any +residence she pleased for herself, and there could be no doubt whose +house she would share, if she were not still kept in subjection. The +two parted then in deep grief,--the mother almost cursing her child +in her anger, and Lady Anna overwhelmed with tears. "Will you not +kiss me, mamma, before you go?" + +"No, I will never kiss you again till you have shown me that you are +my child." + +But before she left the house, the Countess was closeted for a while +with Mrs. Bluestone, and, in spite of all that she had said, it was +agreed between them that it would be better to permit an interview +between the girl and Daniel Thwaite. "Let him say what he will," +argued Mrs. Bluestone, "she will not be more headstrong than she is +now. You will still be able to take her away with you to some foreign +country." + +"But he will treat her as though he were her lover," said the +Countess, unable to conceal the infinite disgust with which the idea +overwhelmed her. + +"What does it matter, Lady Lovel? We have got to get a promise from +her, somehow. Since she was much with him, she has seen people of +another sort, and she will feel the difference. It may be that she +wants to ask him to release her. At any rate she speaks as though she +might be released by what he would say to her. Unless she thought +it might be so herself, she would not make a conditional promise. I +would let them meet." + +"But where?" + +"In Keppel Street." + +"In my presence?" + +"No, not that; but you will, of course, be in the house,--so that she +cannot leave it with him. Let her come to you. It will be an excuse +for her doing so, and then she can remain. If she does not give the +promise, take her abroad, and teach her to forget it by degrees." So +it was arranged, and on that evening Mrs. Bluestone told Lady Anna +that she was to be allowed to meet Daniel Thwaite. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY. + + +There was of course much commotion among all circles of society in +London as soon as it was known to have been decided that the Countess +Lovel was the Countess Lovel, and that Lady Anna was the heiress +of the late Earl. Bets were paid,--and bets no doubt were left +unpaid,--to a great amount. Men at the clubs talked more about the +Lovels than they had done even during the month preceding the trial. +The Countess became on a sudden very popular. Exaggerated stories +were told of the romance of her past life,--though it would have been +well nigh impossible to exaggerate her sufferings. Her patience, her +long endurance and persistency were extolled by all. The wealth that +would accrue to her and to her daughter was of course doubled. Had +anybody seen her? Did anybody know her? Even the Murrays began to be +proud of her, and old Lady Jemima Magtaggart, who had been a Murray +before she married General Mag, as he was called, went at once and +called upon the Countess in Keppel Street. Being the first that +did so, before the Countess had suspected any invasion, she was +admitted,--and came away declaring that sorrow must have driven the +Countess mad. The Countess, no doubt, did not receive her distant +relative with any gentle courtesy. She had sworn to herself often, +that come what come might, she would never cross the threshold of a +Murray. Old Lord Swanage, who had married some very distant Lovel, +wrote to her a letter full of very proper feeling. It had been, he +said, quite impossible for him to know the truth before the truth had +come to light, and therefore he made no apology for not having before +this made overtures of friendship to his connection. He now begged to +express his great delight that she who had so well deserved success +had been successful, and to offer her his hand in friendship, should +she be inclined to accept it. The Countess answered him in a strain +which certainly showed that she was not mad. It was not her policy to +quarrel with any Lovel, and her letter was very courteous. She was +greatly obliged to him for his kindness, and had felt as strongly as +he could do that she could have no claim on her husband's relations +till she should succeed in establishing her rights. She accepted his +hand in the spirit in which it had been offered, and hoped that his +Lordship might yet become a friend of her daughter. For herself,--she +feared that all that she had suffered had made her unfit for much +social intercourse. Her strength, she said, had been sufficient to +carry her thus far, but was now failing her. + +Then, too, there came to her that great glory of which the lawyer had +given her a hint. She received a letter from the private secretary +of his Majesty the King, telling her that his Majesty had heard her +story with great interest, and now congratulated her heartily on the +re-establishment of her rank and position. She wrote a very curt +note, begging that her thanks might be given to his Majesty,--and +then she burned the private secretary's letter. No congratulations +were anything to her till she should see her daughter freed from the +debasement of her engagement to the tailor. + +Speculation was rife as to the kind of life which the Countess would +lead. That she would have wealth sufficient to blaze forth in London +with all the glories of Countess-ship, there was no doubt. Her own +share of the estate was put down as worth at least ten thousand a +year for her life, and this she would enjoy without deductions, and +with no other expenditure than that needed for herself. Her age was +ascertained to a day, and it was known that she was as yet only +forty-five. Was it not probable that some happy man might share +her wealth with her? What an excellent thing it would be for old +Lundy,--the Marquis of Lundy,--who had run through every shilling of +his own property! Before a week was over, the suggestion had been +made to old Lundy. "They say she is mad, but she can't be mad enough +for that," said the Marquis. + +The rector hurried home full of indignation, but he had a word or +two with his nephew before he started. "What do you mean to do now, +Frederic?" asked the rector with a very grave demeanour. + +"Do? I don't know that I shall do anything." + +"You give up the girl, then?" + +"My dear uncle; that is a sort of question that I don't think a man +ever likes to be asked." + +"But I suppose I may ask how you intend to live?" + +"I trust, uncle Charles, that I shall not, at any rate, be a burden +to my relatives." + +"Oh; very well; very well. Of course I have nothing more to say. I +think it right, all the same, to express my opinion that you have +been grossly misused by Sir William Patterson. Of course what I say +will have no weight with you; but that is my opinion." + +"I do not agree with you, uncle Charles." + +"Very well; I have nothing more to say. It is right that I should +let you know that I do not believe that this woman was ever Lord +Lovel's wife. I never did believe it, and I never will believe it. +All that about marrying the girl has been a take in from beginning +to end;--all planned to induce you to do just what you have done. No +word in courtesy should ever have been spoken to either of them." + +"I am as sure that she is the Countess as I am that I am the Earl." + +"Very well. It costs me nothing, but it costs you thirty thousand a +year. Do you mean to come down to Yoxham this winter?" + +"No." + +"Are the horses to be kept there?" Now hitherto the rich rector had +kept the poor lord's hunters without charging his nephew ought for +their expense. He was a man so constituted that it would have been +a misery to him that the head of his family should not have horses +to ride. But now he could not but remember all that he had done, all +that he was doing, and the return that was made to him. Nevertheless +he could have bit the tongue out of his mouth for asking the question +as soon as the words were spoken. + +"I will have them sold immediately," said the Earl. "They shall come +up to Tattersal's before the week is over." + +"I didn't mean that." + +"I am glad that you thought of it, uncle Charles. They shall be taken +away at once." + +"They are quite welcome to remain at Yoxham." + +"They shall be removed,--and sold," said the Earl. "Remember me to my +aunts. Good bye." Then the rector went down to Yoxham an angry and a +miserable man. + +There were very many who still agreed with the rector in thinking +that the Earl's case had been mismanaged. There was surely enough of +ground for a prolonged fight to have enabled the Lovel party to have +driven their opponents to a compromise. There was a feeling that the +Solicitor-General had been carried away by some romantic idea of +abstract right, and had acted in direct opposition to all the usages +of forensic advocacy as established in England. What was it to him +whether the Countess were or were not a real Countess? It had been +his duty to get what he could for the Earl, his client. There had +been much to get, and with patience no doubt something might have +been got. But he had gotten nothing. Many thought that he had +altogether cut his own throat, and that he would have to take the +first "puny" judgeship vacant. "He is a great man,--a very great man +indeed," said the Attorney-General, in answer to some one who was +abusing Sir William. "There is not one of us can hold a candle to +him. But, then, as I have always said, he ought to have been a poet!" + +In discussing the Solicitor-General's conduct men thought more +of Lady Anna than her mother. The truth about Lady Anna and her +engagement was generally known in a misty, hazy, half-truthful +manner. That she was engaged to marry Daniel Thwaite, who was now +becoming famous and the cause of a greatly increased business in +Wigmore Street, was certain. It was certain also that the Earl had +desired to marry her. But as to the condition in which the matter +stood at present there was a very divided opinion. Not a few were +positive that a written engagement had been given to the Earl that +he should have the heiress before the Solicitor-General had made his +speech,--but, according to these, the tailor's hold over the young +lady was so strong, that she now refused to abide by her own compact. +She was in the tailor's hands and the tailor could do what he liked +with her. It was known that Lady Anna was in Bedford Square, and not +a few walked before the Serjeant's house in the hopes of seeing her. +The romance at any rate was not over, and possibly there might even +yet be a compromise. If the Earl could get even five thousand a year +out of the property, it was thought that the Solicitor-General might +hold his own and in due time become at any rate a Chief Baron. + +In the mean time Daniel Thwaite remained in moody silence among the +workmen in Wigmore Street, unseen of any of those who rushed there +for new liveries in order that they might catch a glimpse of the +successful hero,--till one morning, about five days after the trial +was over, when he received a letter from Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe had the pleasure of informing him that an +accurate account of all money transactions between Countess Lovel +and his father had been kept by the Countess;--that the Countess on +behalf of herself and Lady Anna Lovel acknowledged a debt due to the +estate of the late Mr. Thomas Thwaite, amounting to £9,109 3_s._ +4_d._, and that a cheque to that amount should be at once handed to +him,--Daniel Thwaite the son,--if he would call at the chambers of +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, with a certified copy of the probate of the +will of Thomas Thwaite the father. + +Nine thousand pounds,--and that to be paid to him immediately,--on +that very day if he chose to call for it! The copy of the probate of +the will he had in his pocket at that moment. But he worked out his +day's work without going near Goffe and Goffe. And yet he thought +much of his money; and once, when one of his employers spoke to +him somewhat roughly, he remembered that he was probably a better +man than his master. What should he now do with himself and his +money,--how bestow himself,--how use it so that he might be of +service to the world? He would go no doubt to some country in which +there were no earls and no countesses;--but he could go nowhere till +he should know what might be his fate with the Earl's daughter, who +at present was his destiny. His mind was absolutely divided. In one +hour he would say to himself that the poet was certainly right;--and +in the next he was sure that the poet must have been wrong. As +regarded money, nine thousand pounds was as good to him as any sum +that could be named. He could do with that all that he required that +money should do for him. Could he at this time have had his own way +absolutely, he would have left all the remainder of the wealth behind +him, to be shared as they pleased to share it between the Earl and +the Countess, and he would have gone at once, taking with him the +girl whom he loved. He would have revelled in the pride of thinking +that all of them should say that he had wanted and had won the girl +only,--and not the wealth of the Lovels; that he had taken only what +was his own, and that his wife would be dependent on him, not he on +her. But this was not possible. It was now months since he had heard +the girl's voice, or had received any assurance from her that she +was still true to him. But, in lieu of this, he had the assurance +that she was in possession of enormous wealth, and that she was the +recognised cousin of lords and ladies by the dozen. + +When the evening came he saw one of his employers and told the man +that he wished that his place might be filled. Why was he going? Did +he expect to better himself? When was he going? Was he in earnest? +Daniel told the truth at once as far as the payment of the money was +concerned. He was to receive on the following day a sum of money +which had been due to his father, and, when that should have been +paid him, it would not suit him to work longer for weekly wages. The +tailor grumbled, but there was nothing else to be said. Thwaite might +leave them to-morrow if he wished. Thwaite took him at his word and +never returned to the shop in Wigmore Street after that night. + +On reaching his lodgings he found another letter,--from Serjeant +Bluestone. The Countess had so far given way as to accede to the +proposition that there should be a meeting between her daughter and +the tailor, and then there had arisen the question as to the manner +in which this meeting should be arranged. The Countess would not +write herself, nor would she allow her daughter to do so. It was +desirable, she thought, that as few people should know of the meeting +as possible, and at last, most unwillingly, the Serjeant undertook +the task of arranging it. He wrote therefore as follows;-- + + + Mr. Serjeant Bluestone presents his compliments to Mr. + Daniel Thwaite. Mr. Thwaite has no doubt heard of the + result of the trial by which the Countess Lovel and her + daughter have succeeded in obtaining the recognition of + their rank. It is in contemplation with the Countess and + Lady Anna Lovel to go abroad, but Lady Anna is desirous + before she goes of seeing the son of the man who was her + mother's staunch friend during many years of suffering. + Lady Anna will be at home, at No. ---- Keppel Street, at + eleven o'clock on Monday, 23rd instant, if Mr. Thwaite can + make it convenient to call then and there. + + Bedford Square, + 17th November, 18--. + + If Mr. Thwaite could call on the Serjeant before that + date, either early in the morning at his house, or on + Saturday at his chambers, ---- ----, Inner Temple, it + might perhaps be serviceable. + + +The postscript had not been added without much consideration. What +would the tailor think of this invitation? Would he not be disposed +to take it as encouragement in his pernicious suit? Would he not +go to Keppel Street with a determination to insist upon the girl's +promise? The Serjeant had thought that it would be best to let the +thing take its chance. But the Serjeant's wife, and the Serjeant's +daughters, and the Countess, too, had all agreed that something if +possible should be said to disabuse him of this idea. He was to have +nine thousand pounds paid to him. Surely that might be sufficient. +But, if he was greedy and wanted more money, more money should be +given to him. Only he must be made to understand that the marriage +was out of the question. So the Serjeant again gave way, and proposed +the interview. Daniel sent back his compliments to the Serjeant +and begged to say he would do as he was bid. He would call at the +Serjeant's chambers on the Saturday, and in Keppel Street on the +following Monday, at the hours named. + +On the next morning,--the first morning of his freedom from the +servitude of Wigmore Street,--he went to Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. He +got up late and breakfasted late, in order that he might feel what it +was to be an idle man. "I might now be as idle as the young Earl," +he said to himself; "but were I to attempt it, what should I do with +myself? How should I make the hours pass by?" He felt that he was +lauding himself as the idea passed through his mind, and struggled to +quench his own pride. "And yet," said he in his thoughts, "is it not +fit that I should know myself to be better than he is? If I have no +self-confidence, how can I be bold to persevere? The man that works +is to him that is idle, as light is to darkness." + +He was admitted at once to Mr. Goffe's private room, and was received +with a smiling welcome, and an outstretched hand. "I am delighted, +Mr. Thwaite, to be able to settle your claim on Lady Lovel with so +little delay. I hope you are satisfied with her ladyship's statement +of the account." + +"Much more than satisfied with the amount. It appeared to me that I +had no legal claim for more than a few hundred pounds." + +"We knew better than that, Mr. Thwaite. We should have seen that no +great injury was done. But luckily the Countess has been careful, and +has put down each sum advanced, item by item. Full interest has been +allowed at five per cent., as is quite proper. The Countess is an +excellent woman of business." + +"No doubt, Mr. Goffe. I could have wished that she would have +condescended to honour me with a line;--but that is a matter of +feeling." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite; there are reasons;--you must know that there are +reasons." + +"There may be good reasons or bad reasons." + +"And there may be good judgment in such matters and bad judgment. +But, however,--. You will like to have this money by a cheque, no +doubt. There it is, £9,109 3_s._ 4_d._ It is not often that we write +one cheque for a bigger sum than that, Mr. Thwaite. Shall I cross it +on your bankers? No bankers! With such a sum as that let me recommend +you to open an account at once." And Mr. Goffe absolutely walked down +to Fleet Street with Daniel Thwaite the tailor, and introduced him at +his own bank. The business was soon transacted, and Daniel Thwaite +went away westward, a capitalist, with a cheque book in his pocket. +What was he to do with himself? He walked east again before the day +was over, and made inquiries at various offices as to vessels sailing +for Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Quebec. Or how would it be with +him if he should be minded to go east instead of west? So he supplied +himself also with information as to vessels for Sydney. And what +should he do when he got to the new country? He did not mean to be a +tailor. He was astonished to find how little he had as yet realised +in his mind the details of the exodus which he had proposed to +himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING. + + +On the Saturday, Daniel was at the Serjeant's chambers early in the +morning,--long before the hour at which the Serjeant himself was wont +to attend. No time had in fact been named, and the tailor had chosen +to suppose that as he had been desired to be early in Bedford Square, +so had it also been intended that he should be early in the Temple. +For two hours he walked about the passages and the courts, thinking +ill of the lawyer for being so late at his business, and endeavouring +to determine what he would do with himself. He had not a friend in +the world, unless Lady Anna were a friend;--hardly an acquaintance. +And yet, remembering what his father had done, what he himself had +helped to do, he thought that he ought to have had many friends. +Those very persons who were now his bitterest enemies, the Countess +and all they who had supported her, should have been bound to him by +close ties. Yet he knew that it was impossible that they should not +hate him. He could understand their feelings with reference to their +own rank, though to him that rank was contemptible. Of course he was +alone. Of course he would fail. He was almost prepared to acknowledge +as much to the Serjeant. He had heard of a certain vessel that would +start in three days for the rising colony called New South Wales, and +he almost wished that he had taken his passage in her. + +At ten o'clock he had been desired to call at eleven, and as the +clock struck eleven he knocked at the Serjeant's door. "Serjeant +Bluestone is not here yet," said the clerk, who was disposed to be +annoyed by the man's pertinacity. + +"He told me to come early in the morning, and this is not early." + +"He is not here yet, sir." + +"You told me to come at eleven, and it is past eleven." + +"It is one minute past, and you can sit down and wait for him if you +please." Daniel refused to wait, and was again about to depart in +his wrath, when the Serjeant appeared upon the stairs. He introduced +himself, and expressed regret that he should have found his visitor +there before him. Daniel, muttering something, followed the lawyer +into his room, and then the door was closed. He stood till he was +invited to sit, and was determined to make himself disagreeable. This +man was one of his enemies,--was one who no doubt thought little +of him because he was a tailor, who suspected his motives, and was +anxious to rob him of his bride. The Serjeant retired for a moment +to an inner room, while the tailor girded up his loins and prepared +himself for battle. + +"Mr. Thwaite," said the Serjeant, as he re-entered the room, "you +probably know that I have been counsel for Lady Lovel and her +daughter in the late trial." Daniel assented by a nod of his head. +"My connection with the Countess would naturally have been then +closed. We have gained our cause, and there would be an end of it. +But as things have turned out it has been otherwise. Lady Anna Lovel +has been staying with Mrs. Bluestone." + +"In Bedford Square?" + +"Yes, at my house." + +"I did not know. The Countess told me she was not in Keppel Street, +but refused to inform me where she was staying. I should not have +interfered with her ladyship's plans, had she been less secret with +me." + +"Surely it was unnecessary that she should tell you." + +"Quite unnecessary;--but hardly unnatural after all that has +occurred. As the Countess is with you only a friend of late date, you +are probably unaware of the former friendship which existed between +us. There was a time in which I certainly did not think that Lady +Lovel would ever decline to speak to me about her daughter. But all +this is nothing to you, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"It is something to me, Mr. Thwaite, as her friend. Is there no +reason why she should have treated you thus? Ask your own +conscience." + +"My conscience is clear in the matter." + +"I have sent for you here, Mr. Thwaite, to ask you whether you cannot +yourself understand that this which you have proposed to do must +make you an enemy to the Countess, and annul and set aside all that +kindness which you have shown her? I put it to your own reason. Do +you think it possible that the Countess should be otherwise than +outraged at the proposition you have made to her?" + +"I have made no proposition to her ladyship." + +"Have you made none to her daughter?" + +"Certainly I have. I have asked her to be my wife." + +"Come, Mr. Thwaite, do not palter with me." + +"Palter with you! Who dares to say that I palter? I have never +paltered. Paltering is--lying, as I take it. Let the Countess be my +enemy. I have not said that she should not be so. She might have +answered my letter, I think, when the old man died. In our rank of +life we should have done so. It may be different with lords and +titled ladies. Let it pass, however. I did not mean to make any +complaint. I came here because you sent for me." + +"Yes;--I did send for you," said the Serjeant, wishing with all his +heart that he had never been persuaded to take a step which imposed +upon him so great a difficulty. "I did send for you. Lady Anna Lovel +has expressed a wish to see you, before she leaves London." + +"I will wait upon Lady Anna Lovel." + +"I need hardly tell you that her wish has been opposed by her +friends." + +"No doubt it was." + +"But she has said with so much earnestness that she cannot consider +herself to be absolved from the promise which she made to you when +she was a child--" + +"She was no child when she made it." + +"It does not signify. She cannot be absolved from the promise which I +suppose she did make--" + +"She certainly made it, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"Will you allow me to continue my statement? It will not occupy you +long. She assures her mother that she cannot consider herself to be +absolved from that promise without your sanction. She has been living +in my house for some weeks, and I do not myself doubt in the least +that were she thus freed an alliance would soon be arranged between +her and her cousin." + +"I have heard of that--alliance." + +"It would be in every respect a most satisfactory and happy marriage. +The young Earl has behaved with great consideration and forbearance +in abstaining from pushing his claims." + +"In abstaining from asking for that which he did not believe to be +his own." + +"You had better hear me to the end, Mr. Thwaite. All the friends of +the two young people desire it. The Earl himself is warmly attached +to his cousin." + +"So am I,--and have been for many years." + +"We all believe that she loves him." + +"Let her say so to me, Serjeant Bluestone, and there shall be an end +of it all. It seems to me that Lord Lovel and I have different ideas +about a woman. I would not take the hand of a girl who told me that +she loved another man, even though she was as dear to me, as,--as +Lady Anna is dear to me now. And as for what she might have in +her hand, it would go for naught with me, though I might have to +face beggary without her. It seems to me that Lord Lovel is less +particular in this matter." + +"I do not see that you and I have anything to do with that," replied +the Serjeant, hardly knowing what to say. + +"I have nothing to do with Lord Lovel, certainly,--nor has he with +me. As to his cousin,--it is for her to choose." + +"We think,--I am only telling you what we think;--but we think, Mr. +Thwaite, that the young lady's affections are fixed on her cousin. It +is natural that they should be so; and watching her as closely as we +can, we believe such to be the case. I will be quite on the square +with you, Mr. Thwaite." + +"With me and with everybody else, I hope, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"I hope so," said the Serjeant, laughing; "but at any rate I will +be so with you now. We have been unable to get from Lady Anna any +certain reply,--any assurance of her own wishes. She has told her +mother that she cannot accept Lord Lovel's addresses till she has +seen you." The Serjeant in this was not quite on the square, as Lady +Anna had never said so. "We believe that she considers it necessary, +to her conscience, to be made free by your permission, before she can +follow her own inclinations and accede to those of all her friends." + +"She shall have my permission in a moment,--if she will ask for it." + +"Could you not be more generous even than that?" + +"How more generous, Serjeant Bluestone?" + +"Offer it to her unasked. You have already said that you would +not accept her hand if you did not believe that you had her heart +also,--and the sentiment did you honour. Think of her condition, and +be generous to her." + +"Generous to her! You mean generous to Lady Lovel,--generous to Lord +Lovel,--generous to all the Lovels except her. It seems to me that +all the generosity is to be on one side." + +"By no means. We can be generous too." + +"If that be generosity, I will be generous. I will offer her that +permission. I will not wait till she asks for it. I will beg her to +tell me if it be true that she loves this cousin, and if she can say +that it is true, she shall want no permission from me to be free. She +shall be free." + +"It is not a question, you see, between yourself and Lord Lovel. It +is quite out of the question that she should in any event become your +wife. Even had she power to do it--" + +"She has the power." + +"Practically she has no such power, Mr. Thwaite. A young person such +as Lady Anna Lovel is and must be under the control of her natural +guardian. She is so altogether. Her mother could not,--and would +not,--constrain her to any marriage; but has quite sufficient power +over her to prevent any marriage. Lady Anna has never for a moment +supposed that she could become your wife since she learned what were +the feelings of her mother and her family." The Serjeant certainly +did not keep his promise of being "on the square." "But your +generosity is necessary to enable Lady Lovel to bring to a happy +termination all those sufferings with which her life has been +afflicted." + +"I do not owe much to the Countess; but if it be generous to do as I +have said I would do,--I will be generous. I will tell her daughter, +without any question asked from her, that she is free to marry her +cousin if she wishes." + +So far the Serjeant, though he had not been altogether as truthful +as he had promised, had been discreet. He had said nothing to set +the tailor vehemently against the Lovel interest, and had succeeded +in obtaining a useful pledge. But, in his next attempt, he was less +wise. "I think, you know, Mr. Thwaite, that the Countess also has +been generous." + +"As how?" + +"You have received £9,000 already, I believe." + +"I have received what I presume to be my own. If I have had more it +shall be refunded." + +"No;--no; by no means. Taking a liberal view of the matter, as the +Countess was bound to do in honour, she was, I think, right in paying +you what she has paid." + +"I want nothing from her in what you call honour. I want nothing +liberal. If the money be not mine in common honesty she shall have it +back again. I want nothing but my own." + +"I think you are a little high flown, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I dare say I may be,--to the thinking of a lawyer." + +"The Countess, who is in truth your friend,--and will always be your +friend if you will only be amenable to reason,--has been delighted +to think that you are now in possession of a sum of money which will +place you above want." + +"The Countess is very kind." + +"And I can say more than that. She and all her friends are aware how +much is due to your father's son. If you will only aid us in our +present project, if you will enable Lady Anna to become the wife of +her cousin the Earl, much more shall be done than the mere payment +of the debt which was due to you. It has been proposed to settle on +you for life an annuity of four hundred pounds a year. To this the +Countess, Earl Lovel, and Lady Anna will all agree." + +"Has the consent of Lady Anna been asked?" demanded the tailor, in a +voice which was low, but which the Serjeant felt at the moment to be +dangerous. + +"You may take my word that it shall be forthcoming," said the +Serjeant. + +"I will take your word for nothing, Serjeant Bluestone. I do not +think that among you all, you would dare to make such a proposition +to Lady Anna Lovel, and I wonder that you should dare to make it to +me. What have you seen in me to lead you to suppose that I would sell +myself for a bribe? And how can you have been so unwise as to offer +it after I have told you that she shall be free,--if she chooses to +be free? But it is all one. You deal in subterfuges till you think it +impossible that a man should be honest. You mine underground, till +your eyes see nothing in the open daylight. You walk crookedly, till +a straight path is an abomination to you. Four hundred a year is +nothing to me for such a purpose as this,--would have been nothing +to me even though no penny had been paid to me of the money which +is my own. I can easily understand what it is that makes the Earl +so devoted a lover. His devotion began when he had been told that +the money was hers and not his,--and that in no other way could he +get it. Mine began when no one believed that she would ever have +a shilling for her fortune,--when all who bore her name and her +mother's ridiculed their claim. Mine was growing when my father first +asked me whether I grudged that he should spend all that he had in +their behalf. Mine came from giving. His springs from the desire to +get. Make the four hundred, four thousand;--make it eight thousand, +Serjeant Bluestone, and offer it to him. I also will agree. With him +you may succeed. Good morning, Serjeant Bluestone. On Monday next I +will not be worse than my word,--even though you have offered me a +bribe." + +The Serjeant let the tailor go without a word further,--not, indeed, +having a word to say. He had been insulted in his own chambers,--told +that his word was worthless, and his honesty questionable. But he +had been so told, that at the moment he had been unable to stop the +speaker. He had sat, and smiled, and stroked his chin, and looked +at the tailor as though he had been endeavouring to comfort himself +with the idea that the man addressing him was merely an ignorant, +half-mad, enthusiastic tailor, from whom decent conduct could not be +expected. He was still smiling when Daniel Thwaite closed the door, +and he almost laughed as he asked his clerk whether that energetic +gentleman had taken himself down-stairs. "Oh, yes, sir; he glared +at me when I opened the door, and rushed down four steps at a time." +But, on the whole, the Serjeant was contented with the interview. It +would, no doubt, have been better had he said nothing of the four +hundred a year. But in the offering of bribes there is always that +danger. One can never be sure who will swallow his douceur at an easy +gulp, so as hardly to betray an effort, and who will refuse even to +open his lips. And then the latter man has the briber so much at +advantage. When the luscious morsel has been refused, it is so easy +to be indignant, so pleasant to be enthusiastically virtuous! The +bribe had been refused, and so far the Serjeant had failed;--but the +desired promise had been made, and the Serjeant felt certain that it +would be kept. He did not doubt but that Daniel Thwaite would himself +offer the girl her freedom. But there was something in the man, +though he was a tailor. He had an eye and a voice, and it might be +that freedom offered, as he could offer it, would not be accepted. + +Daniel, as he went out into the court from the lawyer's presence, was +less satisfied than the lawyer. He had told the lawyer that his word +was worth nothing, and yet he had believed much that the lawyer had +said to him. The lawyer had told him that the girl loved her cousin, +and only wanted his permission to be free that she might give her +hand and her heart together to the young lord. Was it not natural +that she should wish to do so? Within each hour, almost within +each minute, he regarded the matter in lights that were perfectly +antagonistic to each other. It was natural that she should wish to be +a Countess, and that she should love a young lord who was gentle and +beautiful;--and she should have his permission accorded freely. But +then, again, it was most unnatural, bestial, and almost monstrous, +that a girl should change her love for a man, going from one man to +another, simply because the latter man was gilt with gold, and decked +with jewels, and sweet with perfume from a hairdresser's. The poet +must have been wrong there. If love be anything but a dream, surely +it must adhere to the person, and not be liable to change at every +offered vantage of name or birth, of rank or wealth. + +But she should have the offer. She should certainly have the offer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME. + + +Lady Anna was not told till the Saturday that she was to meet her +lover, the tailor, on the following Monday. She was living at +this time, as it were, in chains, though the chains were gilded. +It was possible that she might be off at any moment with Daniel +Thwaite,--and now the more possible because he had money at his +command. If this should occur, then would the game which the Countess +and her friends were playing, be altogether lost. Then would the +checkmate have been absolute. The reader will have known that such +a step had never been contemplated by the man, and will also have +perceived that it would have been altogether opposed to the girl's +character; but it is hoped that the reader has looked more closely +into the man's motives and the girl's character than even her mother +was able to do. The Countess had thought that she had known her +daughter. She had been mistaken, and now there was hardly anything +of which she could not suspect her girl to be capable. Lady Anna was +watched, therefore, during every minute of the four and twenty hours. +A policeman was told off to protect the house at night from rope +ladders or any other less cumbrous ingenuity. The servants were set +on guard. Sarah, the lady's-maid, followed her mistress almost like +a ghost when the poor young lady went to her bedroom. Mrs. Bluestone, +or one of the girls, was always with her, either indoors or out of +doors. Out of doors, indeed, she never went without more guards than +one. A carriage had been hired,--a luxury with which Mrs. Bluestone +had hitherto dispensed,--and the carriage was always there when Lady +Anna suggested that she should like to leave the house. She was +warmly invited to go shopping, and made to understand that in the way +of ordinary shopping she could buy what she pleased. But her life was +inexpressibly miserable. "What does mamma mean to do?" she said to +Mrs. Bluestone on the Saturday morning. + +"In what way, my dear?" + +"Where does she mean to go? She won't live always in Keppel Street?" + +"No,--I do not think that she will live always in Keppel Street. It +depends a good deal upon you, I think." + +"I will go wherever she pleases to take me. The lawsuit is over now, +and I don't know why we should stay here. I am sure you can't like +it." + +To tell the truth, Mrs. Bluestone did not like it at all. +Circumstances had made her a gaoler, but by nature she was very ill +constituted for that office. The harshness of it was detestable to +her, and then there was no reason whatever why she should sacrifice +her domestic comfort for the Lovels. The thing had grown upon them, +till the Lovels had become an incubus to her. Personally, she liked +Lady Anna, but she was unable to treat Lady Anna as she would treat +any other girl that she liked. She had told the Serjeant more than +once that she could not endure it much longer. And the Serjeant did +not like it better than did his wife. It was all a labour of love, +and a most unpleasant labour. "The Countess must take her away," the +Serjeant had said. And now the Serjeant had been told by the tailor, +in his own chambers, that his word was worth nothing! + +"To tell you the truth, Lady Anna, we none of us like it,--not +because we do not like you, but because the whole thing is +disagreeable. You are creating very great misery, my dear, because +you are obstinate." + +"Because I won't marry my cousin?" + +"No, my dear; not because you won't marry your cousin. I have never +advised you to marry your cousin, unless you could love him. I don't +think girls should ever be told to marry this man or that. But it is +very proper that they should be told not to marry this man or that. +You are making everybody about you miserable, because you will not +give up a most improper engagement, made with a man who is in every +respect beneath you." + +"I wish I were dead," said Lady Anna. + +"It is very easy to say that, my dear; but what you ought to wish is, +to do your duty." + +"I do wish to do my duty, Mrs. Bluestone." + +"It can't be dutiful to stand out against your mother in this way. +You are breaking your mother's heart. And if you were to do this +thing, you would soon find that you had broken your own. It is +downright obstinacy. I don't like to be harsh, but as you are here, +in my charge, I am bound to tell you the truth." + +"I wish mamma would let me go away," said Lady Anna, bursting into +tears. + +"She will let you go at once, if you will only make the promise that +she asks of you." In saying this, Mrs. Bluestone was hardly more upon +the square than her husband had been, for she knew very well, at that +moment, that Lady Anna was to go to Keppel Street early on the Monday +morning, and she had quite made up her mind that her guest should not +come back to Bedford Square. She had now been moved to the special +severity which she had shown by certain annoyances of her own to +which she had been subjected by the presence of Lady Anna in her +house. She could neither entertain her friends nor go out to be +entertained by them, and had told the Serjeant more than once that +a great mistake had been made in having the girl there at all. But +judgment had operated with her as well as feeling. It was necessary +that Lady Anna should be made to understand before she saw the tailor +that she could not be happy, could not be comfortable, could not be +other than very wretched,--till she had altogether dismissed her +low-born lover. + +"I did not think you would be so unkind to me," sobbed Lady Anna +through her tears. + +"I do not mean to be unkind, but you must be told the truth. Every +minute that you spend in thinking of that man is a disgrace to you." + +"Then I shall be disgraced all my life," said Lady Anna, bursting out +of the room. + +On that day the Serjeant dined at his club, but came home about nine +o'clock. It had all been planned so that the information might be +given in the most solemn manner possible. The two girls were sitting +up in the drawing-room with the guest who, since the conversation in +the morning, had only seen Mrs. Bluestone during dinner. First there +was the knock at the door, and then, after a quarter of an hour, +which was spent up-stairs in perfect silence, there came a message. +Would Lady Anna have the kindness to go to the Serjeant in the +dining-room. In silence she left the room, and in silence descended +the broad staircase. The Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone were sitting +on one side of the fireplace, the Serjeant in his own peculiar +arm-chair, and the lady close to the fender, while a seat opposite to +them had been placed for Lady Anna. The room was gloomy with dark red +curtains and dark flock paper. On the table there burned two candles, +and no more. The Serjeant got up and motioned Lady Anna to a chair. +As soon as she had seated herself, he began his speech. "My dear +young lady, you must be no doubt aware that you are at present +causing a great deal of trouble to your best friends." + +"I don't want to cause anybody trouble," said Lady Anna, thinking +that the Serjeant in speaking of her best friends alluded to himself +and his wife. "I only want to go away." + +"I am coming to that directly, my dear. I cannot suppose that you +do not understand the extent of the sorrow that you have inflicted +on your parent by,--by the declaration which you made to Lord Lovel +in regard to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." There is nothing, perhaps, in the +way of exhortation and scolding which the ordinary daughter,--or +son,--dislikes so much as to be told of her, or his, "parent." "My +dear fellow, your father will be annoyed," is taken in good part. +"What will mamma say?" is seldom received amiss. But when young +people have their "parents" thrown at them, they feel themselves +to be aggrieved, and become at once antagonistic. Lady Anna became +strongly antagonistic. If her mother, who had always been to her +her "own, own mamma," was going to be her parent, there must be an +end of all hope of happiness. She said nothing, but compressed her +lips together. She would not allow herself to be led an inch any +way by a man who talked to her of her parent. "The very idea of +such a marriage as this man had suggested to you under the guise +of friendship was dreadful to her. It could be no more than an +idea;--but that you should have entertained it was dreadful. She has +since asked you again and again to repudiate the idea, and hitherto +you have refused to obey." + +"I can never know what mamma really wants till I go and live with her +again." + +"I am coming to that, Lady Anna. The Countess has informed Mrs. +Bluestone that you had refused to give the desired promise unless you +should be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite, intimating, I presume, +that his permission would be necessary to free you from your +imaginary bond to him." + +"It would be necessary." + +"Very well. The Countess naturally felt an abhorrence at allowing +you again to be in the presence of one so much beneath you,--who +had ventured to address you as he has done. It was a most natural +feeling. But it has occurred to Mrs. Bluestone and myself, that as +you entertain this idea of an obligation, you should be allowed to +extricate yourself from it after your own fashion. You are to meet +Mr. Thwaite,--on Monday,--at eleven o'clock,--in Keppel Street." + +"And I am not to come back again?" + +When one executes the office of gaoler without fee or reward, giving +up to one's prisoner one's best bedroom, and having a company dinner, +more or less, cooked for one's prisoner every day, one does not like +to be told too plainly of the anticipated joys of enfranchisement. +Mrs. Bluestone, who had done her best both for the mother and the +girl, and had done it all from pure motherly sympathy, was a little +hurt. "I am sure, Lady Anna, we shall not wish you to return," she +said. + +"Oh, Mrs. Bluestone, you don't understand me. I don't think you know +how unhappy I am because of mamma." + +Mrs. Bluestone relented at once. "If you will only do as your mamma +wishes, everything will be made happy for you." + +"Mr. Thwaite will be in Keppel Street at eleven o'clock on Monday," +continued the Serjeant, "and an opportunity will then be given you +of obtaining from him a release from that unfortunate promise which +I believe you once made him. I may tell you that he has expressed +himself willing to give you that release. The debt due to him, or +rather to his late father, has now been paid by the estate, and +I think you will find that he will make no difficulty. After that +anything that he may require shall be done to forward his views." + +"Am I to take my things?" she asked. + +"Sarah shall pack them up, and they shall be sent after you if it be +decided that you are to stay with Lady Lovel." They then went to bed. + +In all this neither the Serjeant nor his wife had been "on the +square." Neither of them had spoken truly to the girl. Mrs. Bluestone +had let the Countess know that with all her desire to assist her +ladyship, and her ladyship's daughter, she could not receive Lady +Anna back in Bedford Square. As for that sending of her things upon +certain conditions,--it was a simple falsehood. The things would +certainly be sent. And the Serjeant, without uttering an actual lie, +had endeavoured to make the girl think that the tailor was in pursuit +of money,--and of money only, though he must have known that it was +not so. The Serjeant no doubt hated a lie,--as most of us do hate +lies; and had a strong conviction that the devil is the father of +them. But then the lies which he hated, and as to the parentage of +which he was quite certain, were lies told to him. Who yet ever met +a man who did not in his heart of hearts despise an attempt made by +others to deceive--himself? They whom we have found to be gentler in +their judgment towards attempts made in another direction have been +more than one or two. The object which the Serjeant had in view was +so good that it seemed to him to warrant some slight deviation from +parallelogrammatic squareness;--though he held it as one of his first +rules of life that the end cannot justify the means. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +IT IS STILL TRUE. + + +On Sunday they all went to church, and not a word was said about the +tailor. Alice Bluestone was tender and valedictory; Mrs. Bluestone +was courteous and careful; the Serjeant was solemn and civil. Before +the day was over Lady Anna was quite sure that it was not intended +that she should come back to Bedford Square. Words were said by the +two girls, and by Sarah the waiting-maid, which made it certain that +the packing up was to be a real packing up. No hindrance was offered +to her when she busied herself about her own dresses and folded up +her stock of gloves and ribbons. On Monday morning after breakfast, +Mrs. Bluestone nearly broke down. "I am sure, my dear," she said, +"we have liked you very much, and if there has been anything +uncomfortable it has been from unfortunate circumstances." The +Serjeant bade God bless her when he walked off half an hour before +the carriage came to take her, and she knew that she was to sit no +longer as a guest at the Serjeant's table. She kissed the girls, was +kissed by Mrs. Bluestone, got into the carriage with the maid, and in +her heart said good-bye to Bedford Square for ever. + +It was but three minutes' drive from the Serjeant's house to that in +which her mother lived, and in that moment of time she was hardly +able to realise the fact that within half an hour she would be once +more in the presence of Daniel Thwaite. She did not at present at all +understand why this thing was to be done. When last she had seen her +mother, the Countess had solemnly declared, had almost sworn, that +they two should never see each other again. And now the meeting was +so close at hand that the man must already be near her. She put up +her face to the carriage window as though she almost expected to +see him on the pavement. And how would the meeting be arranged? +Would her mother be present? She took it for granted that her +mother would be present. She certainly anticipated no pleasure from +the meeting,--though she would be glad, very glad, to see Daniel +Thwaite once again. Before she had time to answer herself a question +the carriage had stopped, and she could see her mother at the +drawing-room window. She trembled as she went up-stairs, and hardly +could speak when she found herself in her mother's presence. If her +mother had worn the old brown gown it would have been better, but +there she was, arrayed in black silk,--in silk that was new and stiff +and broad and solemn,--a parent rather than a mother, and every inch +a Countess. "I am so glad to be with you again, mamma." + +"I shall not be less glad to have you with me, Anna,--if you will +behave yourself with propriety." + +"Give me a kiss, mamma." Then the Countess bent her head and allowed +her daughter's lips to touch her cheeks. In old days,--days that were +not so very old,--she would kiss her child as though such embraces +were the only food that nourished her. + +"Come up-stairs, and I will show you your room." Then the daughter +followed the mother in solemn silence. "You have heard that Mr. +Daniel Thwaite is coming here, to see you, at your own request. It +will not be many minutes before he is here. Take off your bonnet." +Again Lady Anna silently did as she was bid. "It would have been +better,--very much better,--that you should have done as you were +desired without subjecting me to this indignity. But as you have +taken into your head an idea that you cannot be absolved from an +impossible engagement without his permission, I have submitted. Do +not let it be long, and let me hear then that all this nonsense is +over. He has got what he desires, as a very large sum of money has +been paid to him." Then there came a knock at the door from Sarah, +who just showed her face to say that Mr. Thwaite was in the room +below. "Now go down. In ten minutes I shall expect to see you here +again;--or, after that, I shall come down to you." Lady Anna took her +mother by the hand, looking up with beseeching eyes into her mother's +face. "Go, my dear, and let this be done as quickly as possible. I +believe that you have too great a sense of propriety to let him do +more than speak to you. Remember,--you are the daughter of an earl; +and remember also all that I have done to establish your right for +you." + +"Mamma, I do not know what to do. I am afraid." + +"Shall I go with you, Anna?" + +"No, mamma;--it will be better without you. You do not know how good +he is." + +"If he will abandon this madness he shall be my friend of friends." + +"Oh, mamma, I am afraid. But I had better go." Then, trembling she +left the room and slowly descended the stairs. She had certainly +spoken the truth in saying that she was afraid. Up to this moment +she had not positively made up her mind whether she would or would +not yield to the entreaties of her friends. She had decided upon +nothing,--leaving in fact the arbitrament of her faith in the hands +of the man who had now come to see her. Throughout all that had been +said and done her sympathies had been with him, and had become the +stronger the more her friends had reviled him. She knew that they had +spoken evil of him, not because he was evil,--but with the unholy +view of making her believe what was false. She had seen through all +this, and had been aroused by it to a degree of firmness of which +her mother had not imagined her to be capable. Had they confined +themselves to the argument of present fitness, admitting the truth +and honesty of the man,--and admitting also that his love for her and +hers for him had been the natural growth of the familiar friendship +of their childhood and youth, their chance of moulding her to their +purposes would have been better. As it was they had never argued with +her on the subject without putting forward some statement which she +found herself bound to combat. She was told continually that she had +degraded herself; and she could understand that another Lady Anna +might degrade herself most thoroughly by listening to the suit of +a tailor. But she had not disgraced herself. Of that she was sure, +though she could not well explain to them her reasons when they +accused her. Circumstances, and her mother's mode of living, had +thrown her into intimacy with this man. For all practical purposes +of life he had been her equal,--and being so had become her dearest +friend. To take his hand, to lean on his arm, to ask his assistance, +to go to him in her troubles, to listen to his words and to believe +them, to think of him as one who might always be trusted, had +become a second nature to her. Of course she loved him. And now +the martyrdom through which she had passed in Bedford Square had +changed,--unconsciously as regarded her own thoughts,--but still +had changed her feelings in regard to her cousin. He was not to her +now the bright and shining thing, the godlike Phoebus, which he had +been in Wyndham Street and at Yoxham. In all their lectures to her +about her title and grandeur they had succeeded in inculcating an +idea of the solemnity of rank, but had robbed it in her eyes of all +its grace. She had only been the more tormented because the fact of +her being Lady Anna Lovel had been fully established. The feeling in +her bosom which was most hostile to the tailor's claim upon her was +her pity for her mother. + +She entered the room very gently, and found him standing by the +table, with his hands clasped together. "Sweetheart!" he said, as +soon as he saw her, calling her by a name which he used to use when +they were out in the fields together in Cumberland. + +"Daniel!" Then he came to her and took her hand. "If you have +anything to say, Daniel, you must be very quick, because mamma will +come in ten minutes." + +"Have you anything to say, sweetheart?" She had much to say if she +only knew how to say it; but she was silent. "Do you love me, Anna?" +Still she was silent. "If you have ceased to love me, pray tell me +so,--in all honesty." But yet she was silent. "If you are true to +me,--as I am to you, with all my heart,--will you not tell me so?" + +"Yes," she murmured. + +He heard her, though no other could have done so. + + + "A lover's ears will hear the lowest sound + When the suspicious head of theft is stopped." + + +"If so," said he, again taking her hand, "this story they have told +me is untrue." + +"What story, Daniel?" But she withdrew her hand quickly as she asked +him. + +"Nay;--it is mine; it shall be mine if you love me, dear. I will +tell you what story. They have said that you love your cousin, Earl +Lovel." + +"No;" said she scornfully, "I have never said so. It is not true." + +"You cannot love us both." His eye was fixed upon hers, that eye to +which in past years she had been accustomed to look for guidance, +sometimes in joy and sometimes in fear, and which she had always +obeyed. "Is not that true?" + +"Oh yes;--that is true of course." + +"You have never told him that you loved him." + +"Oh, never." + +"But you have told me so,--more than once; eh, sweetheart?" + +"Yes." + +"And it was true?" + +She paused a moment, and then gave him the same answer, "Yes." + +"And it is still true?" + +She repeated the word a third time. "Yes." But she again so spoke +that none but a lover's ear could have heard it. + +"If it be so, nothing but the hand of God shall separate us. You +know that they sent for me to come here." She nodded her head. "Do +you know why? In order that I might abandon my claim to your hand. +I will never give it up. But I made them a promise, and I will keep +it. I told them that if you preferred Lord Lovel to me, I would at +once make you free of your promise,--that I would offer to you such +freedom, if it would be freedom. I do offer it to you;--or rather, +Anna, I would have offered it, had you not already answered the +question. How can I offer it now?" Then he paused, and stood +regarding her with fixed eyes. "But there,--there; take back your +word if you will. If you think that it is better to be the wife of a +lord, because he is a lord, though you do not love him, than to lie +upon the breast of the man you do love,--you are free from me." Now +was the moment in which she must obey her mother, and satisfy her +friends, and support her rank, and decide that she would be one of +the noble ladies of England, if such decision were to be made at +all. She looked up into his face, and thought that after all it was +handsomer than that of the young Earl. He stood thus with dilated +nostrils, and fire in his eyes, and his lips just parted, and his +head erect,--a very man. Had she been so minded she would not have +dared to take his offer. They surely had not known the man when they +allowed him to have this interview. He repeated his words. "You are +free if you will say so;--but you must answer me." + +"I did answer you, Daniel." + +"My noble girl! And now, my heart's only treasure, I may speak out +and tell you what I think. It cannot be good that a woman should +purchase rank and wealth by giving herself to a man she does not +love. It must be bad,--monstrously bad. I never believed it when they +told it me of you. And yet when I did not hear of you or see you for +months--" + +"It was not my fault." + +"No, sweetheart;--and I tried to find comfort by so saying to myself. +'If she really loves me, she will be true,' I said. And yet who was I +that I should think that you would suffer so much for me? But I will +repay you,--if the truth and service of a life may repay such a debt +as that. At any rate hear this from me;--I will never doubt again." +And as he spoke he was moving towards her, thinking to take her in +his arms, when the door was opened and Countess Lovel was within the +room. The tailor was the first to speak. "Lady Lovel, I have asked +your daughter, and I find that it is her wish to adhere to the +engagement which she made with me in Cumberland. I need hardly say +that it is my wish also." + +"Anna! Is this true?" + +"Mamma; mamma! Oh, mamma!" + +"If it be so I will never speak word to you more." + +"You will; you will! Do not look at me like that. You will speak to +me!" + +"You shall never again be child of mine." But in saying this she had +forgotten herself, and now she remembered her proper cue. "I do not +believe a word of it. The man has come here and has insulted and +frightened you. He knows,--he must know,--that such a marriage is +impossible. It can never take place. It shall never take place. Mr. +Thwaite, as you are a living man, you shall never live to marry my +daughter." + +"My lady, in this matter of marriage your daughter must no doubt +decide for herself. Even now, by all the laws of God,--and I believe +of man too,--she is beyond your control either to give her in +marriage or to withhold her. In a few months she will be as much her +own mistress as you now are yours." + +"Sir, I am not asking you about my child. You are insolent." + +"I came here, Lady Lovel, because I was sent for." + +"And now you had better leave us. You made a promise which you have +broken." + +"By heavens, no. I made a promise and I have kept it. I said that I +would offer her freedom, and I have done so. I told her, and I tell +her again now, that if she will say that she prefers her cousin to +me, I will retire." The Countess looked at him and also recognised +the strength of his face, almost feeling that the man had grown in +personal dignity since he had received the money that was due to him. +"She does not prefer the Earl. She has given her heart to me; and +I hold it,--and will hold it. Look up, dear, and tell your mother +whether what I say be true." + +"It is true," said Lady Anna. + +"Then may the blight of hell rest upon you both!" said the Countess, +rushing to the door. But she returned. "Mr. Thwaite," she said, "I +will trouble you at once to leave the house, and never more to return +to it." + +"I will leave it certainly. Good bye, my own love." He attempted +again to take the girl by the hand, but the Countess, with violence, +rushed at them and separated them. "If you but touch him, I will +strike you," she said to her daughter. "As for you, it is her money +that you want. If it be necessary, you shall have, not hers, but +mine. Now go." + +"That is a slander, Lady Lovel. I want no one's money. I want the +girl I love,--whose heart I have won; and I will have her. Good +morning, Lady Lovel. Dear, dear Anna, for this time good bye. Do not +let any one make you think that I can ever be untrue to you." The +girl only looked at him. Then he left the room; and the mother and +the daughter were alone together. The Countess stood erect, looking +at her child, while Lady Anna, standing also, kept her eyes fixed +upon the ground. "Am I to believe it all,--as that man says?" asked +the Countess. + +"Yes, mamma." + +"Do you mean to say that you have renewed your engagement to that +low-born wretch?" + +"Mamma,--he is not a wretch." + +"Do you contradict me? After all, is it come to this?" + +"Mamma,--you, you--cursed me." + +"And you will be cursed. Do you think that you will do such +wickedness as this, that you can destroy all that I have done for +you, that you make yourself the cause of ruin to a whole family, and +that you will not be punished for it? You say that you love me." + +"You know that I love you, mamma." + +"And yet you do not scruple to drive me mad." + +"Mamma, it was you who brought us together." + +"Ungrateful child! Where else could I take you then?" + +"But I was there,--and of course I loved him. I could not cease to +love him because,--because they say that I am a grand lady." + +"Listen to me, Anna. You shall never marry him; never. With my own +hands I will kill him first;--or you." The girl stood looking into +her mother's face, and trembling. "Do you understand that?" + +"You do not mean it, mamma." + +"By the God above me, I do! Do you think that I will stop at anything +now;--after having done so much? Do you think that I will live to see +my daughter the wife of a foul, sweltering tailor? No, by heavens! He +tells you that when you are twenty-one, you will not be subject to my +control. I warn you to look to it. I will not lose my control, unless +when I see you married to some husband fitting your condition in +life. For the present you will live in your own room, as I will live +in mine. I will hold no intercourse whatever with you, till I have +constrained you to obey me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +LET HER DIE. + + +After the scene which was described in the last chapter there was a +very sad time indeed in Keppel Street. The Countess had been advised +by the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone to take her daughter immediately +abroad, in the event of the interview with Daniel Thwaite being +unsatisfactory. It was believed by all concerned, by the Bluestones, +and the Goffes, by Sir William Patterson who had been told of the +coming interview, and by the Countess herself, that this would not +be the case. They had all thought that Lady Anna would come out +from that meeting disengaged and free to marry whom she would,--and +they thought also that within a very few weeks of her emancipation +she would accept her cousin's hand. The Solicitor-General had +communicated with the Earl, who was still in town, and the Earl again +believed that he might win the heiress. But should the girl prove +obstinate;--"take her away at once,--very far away;--to Rome, or some +such place as that." Such had been Mrs. Bluestone's advice, and in +those days Rome was much more distant than it is now. "And don't let +anybody know where you are going," added the Serjeant,--"except Mr. +Goffe." The Countess had assented;--but when the moment came, there +were reasons against her sudden departure. Mr. Goffe told her that +she must wait at any rate for another fortnight. The presence of +herself and her daughter were necessary in London for the signing +of deeds and for the completion of the now merely formal proofs of +identity. And money was again scarce. A great deal of money had been +spent lately, and unless money was borrowed without security, and at +a great cost,--to which Mr. Goffe was averse,--the sum needed could +hardly be provided at once. Mr. Goffe recommended that no day earlier +than the 20th December should be fixed for their departure. + +It was now the end of November; and it became a question how the +intermediate time should be passed. The Countess was resolved that +she would hold no pleasant intercourse at all with her daughter. She +would not even tell the girl of her purpose of going abroad. From +hour to hour she assured herself with still increasing obduracy that +nothing but severity could avail anything. The girl must be cowed +and frightened into absolute submission,--even though at the expense +of her health. Even though it was to be effected by the absolute +crushing of her spirits,--this must be done. Though at the cost of +her life, it must be done. This woman had lived for the last twenty +years with but one object before her eyes,--an object sometimes +seeming to be near, more often distant, and not unfrequently +altogether beyond her reach, but which had so grown upon her +imagination as to become the heaven to which her very soul aspired. +To be and to be known to be among the highly born, the so-called +noble, the titled from old dates,--to be of those who were purely +aristocratic, had been all the world to her. As a child,--the +child of well-born but poor parents, she had received the idea. In +following it out she had thrown all thoughts of love to the wind and +had married a reprobate earl. Then had come her punishment,--or, as +she had conceived it, her most unmerited misfortunes. For many years +of her life her high courage and persistent demeanour had almost +atoned for the vice of her youth. The love of rank was strong in her +bosom as ever, but it was fostered for her child rather than for +herself. Through long, tedious, friendless, poverty-stricken years +she had endured all, still assuring herself that the day would come +when the world should call the sweet plant that grew by her side +by its proper name. The little children hooted after her daughter, +calling her girl in derision The Lady Anna,--when Lady Anna had been +more poorly clad and blessed with less of the comforts of home than +any of them. Years would roll by, and they should live to know that +the Lady Anna,--the sport of their infantine cruelty,--was Lady +Anna indeed. And as the girl became a woman the dream was becoming +a reality. The rank, the title, the general acknowledgment and +the wealth would all be there. Then came the first great decisive +triumph. Overtures of love and friendship were made from the other +side. Would Lady Anna consent to become the Countess Lovel, all +animosities might be buried, and everything be made pleasant, +prosperous, noble, and triumphant! + +It is easy to fill with air a half-inflated bladder. It is already so +buoyant with its own lightness, that it yields itself with ease to +receive the generous air. The imagination of the woman flew higher +than ever it had flown when the proposition came home to her in all +its bearings. Of course it had been in her mind that her daughter +should marry well;--but there had been natural fears. Her child had +not been educated, had not lived, had not been surrounded in her +young days, as are those girls from whom the curled darlings are wont +to choose their wives. She would too probably be rough in manner, +ungentle in speech, ungifted in accomplishments, as compared with +those who from their very cradles are encompassed by the blessings of +wealth and high social standing. But when she looked at her child's +beauty, she would hope. And then her child was soft, sweet-humoured, +winning in all her little ways, pretty even in the poor duds which +were supplied to her mainly by the generosity of the tailor. And so +she would hope, and sometimes despair;--and then hope again. But she +had never hoped for anything so good as this. Such a marriage would +not only put her daughter as high as a Lovel ought to be, but would +make it known in a remarkable manner to all coming ages that she, she +herself, she the despised and slandered one,--who had been treated +almost as woman had never been treated before,--was in very truth the +Countess Lovel by whose income the family had been restored to its +old splendour. + +And so the longing grew upon her. Then, almost for the first time, +did she begin to feel that it was necessary for the purposes of her +life that the girl whom she loved so thoroughly, should be a creature +in her hands, to be dealt with as she pleased. She would have had her +daughter accede to the proposed marriage even before she had seen +Lord Lovel, and was petulant when her daughter would not be as clay +in the sculptor's hand. But still the girl's refusal had been but as +the refusal of a girl. She should not have been as are other girls. +She should have known better. She should have understood what the +peculiarity of her position demanded. But it had not been so with +her. She had not soared as she should have done, above the love-laden +dreams of common maidens. And so the visit to Yoxham was permitted. +Then came the great blow,--struck as it were by a third hand, and +that the hand of an attorney. The Countess Lovel learned through Mr. +Goffe,--who had heard the tale from other lawyers,--that her daughter +Lady Anna Lovel had, with her own mouth, told her noble lover that +she was betrothed to a tailor! She felt at the moment that she could +have died,--cursing her child for this black ingratitude. + +But there might still be hope. The trial was going on,--or the work +which was progressing towards the trial, and she was surrounded by +those who could advise her. Doubtless what had happened was a great +misfortune. But there was room for hope;--room for most assured hope. +The Earl was not disposed to abandon the match, though he had, of +course, been greatly annoyed,--nay, disgusted and degraded by the +girl's communication. But he had consented to see the matter in the +proper light. The young tailor had got an influence over the girl +when she was a child, was doubtless in pursuit of money, and must +be paid. The folly of a child might be forgiven, and the Earl would +persevere. No one would know what had occurred, and the thing would +be forgotten as a freak of childhood. The Countess had succumbed to +the policy of all this;--but she was not deceived by the benevolent +falsehood. Lady Anna had been over twenty when she had been receiving +lover's vows from this man, reeking from his tailor's board. And her +girl, her daughter, had deceived her. That the girl had deceived her, +saying there was no other lover, was much; but it was much more and +worse and more damnable that there had been thorough deception as +to the girl's own appreciation of her rank. The sympathy tendered +through so many years must have been always pretended sympathy. With +these feelings hot within her bosom, she could not bring herself to +speak one kindly word to Lady Anna after the return from Yoxham. The +girl was asked to abandon her odious lover with stern severity. It +was demanded of her that she should do so with cruel threats. She +would never quite yield, though she had then no strength of purpose +sufficient to enable her to declare that she would not yield. We know +how she was banished to Bedford Square, and transferred from the +ruthless persistency of her mother, to the less stern but not less +fixed manoeuvres of Mrs. Bluestone. At that moment of her existence +she was herself in doubt. In Wyndham Street and at Yoxham she had +almost more than doubted. The softness of the new Elysium had well +nigh unnerved her. When that young man had caught her from stone to +stone as she passed over the ford at Bolton, she was almost ready +to give herself to him. But then had come upon her the sense of +sickness, that faint, overdone flavour of sugared sweetness, which +arises when sweet things become too luscious to the eater. She had +struggled to be honest and strong, and had just not fallen into the +pot of treacle. + +But, notwithstanding all this, they who saw her and knew the story, +were still sure that the lord must at last win the day. There was not +one who believed that such a girl could be true to such a troth as +she had made. Even the Solicitor-General, when he told the tale which +the amorous steward had remembered to his own encouragement, did not +think but what the girl and the girl's fortune would fall into the +hands of his client. Human nature demanded that it should be so. +That it should be as he wished it was so absolutely consonant with +all nature as he had known it, that he had preferred trusting to +this result, in his client's behalf, to leaving the case in a jury's +hands. At this moment he was sure he was right in his judgment. And +indeed he was right;--for no jury could have done anything for his +client. + +It went on till at last the wise men decided that the girl only +wanted to be relieved by her old lover, that she might take a new +lover with his permission. The girl was no doubt peculiar; but, as +far as the wise ones could learn from her manner,--for with words +she would say nothing,--that was her state of mind. So the interview +was planned,--to the infinite disgust of the Countess, who, however, +believed that it might avail; and we know what was the result. Lady +Anna, who long had doubted,--who had at last almost begun to doubt +whether Daniel Thwaite was true to her,--had renewed her pledges, +strengthened her former promises, and was now more firmly betrothed +than ever to him whom the Countess hated as a very fiend upon earth. +But there certainly should be no marriage! Though she pistolled the +man at the altar, there should be no marriage. + +And then there came upon her the infinite disgust arising from +the necessity of having to tell her sorrows to others,--who could +not sympathize with her, though their wishes were as hers. It was +hard upon her that no step could be taken by her in reference +to her daughter without the knowledge of Mr. Goffe and Serjeant +Bluestone,--and the consequent knowledge of Mr. Flick and the +Solicitor-General. It was necessary, too, that Lord Lovel should know +all. His conduct in many things must depend on the reception which +might probably be accorded to a renewal of his suit. Of course he +must be told. He had already been told that the tailor was to be +admitted to see his love, in order that she might be absolved by the +tailor from her first vow. It had not been pleasant,--but he had +acceded. Mr. Flick had taken upon himself to say that he was sure +that everything would be made pleasant. The Earl had frowned, and had +been very short with Mr. Flick. These confidences with lawyers about +his lovesuit, and his love's tone with her low-born lover, had not +been pleasant to Lord Lovel. But he had endured it,--and now he +must be told of the result. Oh, heavens;--what a hell of misery was +this girl making for her high-born relatives! But the story of the +tailor's visit to Keppel Street did not reach the unhappy ones at +Yoxham till months had passed away. + +Mr. Goffe was very injudicious in postponing the departure of the +two ladies--as the Solicitor-General told Mr. Flick afterwards very +plainly, when he heard of what had been done. "Money; she might have +had any money. I would have advanced it. You would have advanced it!" +"Oh certainly," said Mr. Flick, not, however, at all relishing the +idea of advancing money to his client's adversary. "I never heard of +such folly," continued Sir William. "That comes of trusting people +who should not be trusted." But it was too late then. Lady Anna was +lying ill in bed, in fever; and three doctors doubted whether she +would ever get up again. "Would it not be better that she should +die?" said her mother to herself, standing over her and looking at +her. It would,--so thought the mother then,--be better that she +should die than get up to become the wife of Daniel Thwaite. But how +much better that she should live and become the Countess Lovel! She +still loved her child, as only a mother can love her only child,--as +only a mother can love who has no hope of joy in the world, but what +is founded on her child. But the other passion had become so strong +in her bosom that it almost conquered her mother's yearnings. Was she +to fight for long years that she might be beaten at last when the +prize was so near her,--when the cup was almost at her lips? Were +the girl now to be taken to her grave, there would be an end at any +rate of the fear which now most heavily oppressed her. But the three +doctors were called in, one after another; and Lady Anna was tended +as though her life was as precious as that of any other daughter. + +These new tidings caused new perturbation among the lawyers. "They +say that Clerke and Holland have given her over," said Mr. Flick to +Sir William. + +"I am sorry to hear it," said Mr. Solicitor; "but girls do live +sometimes in spite of the doctors." + +"Yes; very true, Sir William; very true. But if it should go in that +way it might not perhaps be amiss for our client." + +"God forbid that he should prosper by his cousin's death, Mr. Flick. +But the Countess would be the heir." + +"The Countess is devoted to the Earl. We ought to do something, +Sir William. I don't think that we could claim above eight or +ten thousand pounds at most as real property. He put his money +everywhere, did that old man. There are shares in iron mines in the +Alleghanies, worth ever so much." + +"They are no good to us," said the Solicitor-General, alluding to his +client's interests. + +"Not worth a halfpenny to us, though they are paying twenty per cent. +on the paid-up capital. He seems to have determined that the real +heir should get nothing, even if there were no will. A wicked old +man!" + +"Very wicked, Mr. Flick." + +"A horrible old man! But we really ought to do something, Mr. +Solicitor. If the girl won't marry him there should be some +compromise, after all that we have done." + +"How can the girl marry any one, Mr. Flick,--if she's going to die?" + +A few days after this, Sir William called in Keppel Street and saw +the Countess, not with any idea of promoting a compromise,--for the +doing which this would not have been the time, nor would he have been +the fitting medium,--but in order that he might ask after Lady Anna's +health. The whole matter was in truth now going very much against the +Earl. Money had been allowed to the Countess and her daughter; and in +truth all the money was now their own, to do with it as they listed, +though there might be some delay before each was put into absolute +possession of her own proportion; but no money had been allowed, or +could be allowed, to the Earl. And, that the fact was so, was now +becoming known to all men. Hitherto credit had at any rate been +easy with the young lord. When the old Earl died, and when the will +was set aside, it was thought that he would be the heir. When the +lawsuit first came up, it was believed everywhere that some generous +compromise would be the worst that could befall him. After that the +marriage had been almost a certainty, and then it was known that +he had something of his own, so that tradesmen need not fear that +their bills would be paid. It can hardly be said that he had been +extravagant; but a lord must live, and an earl can hardly live and +maintain a house in the country on a thousand a year, even though he +has an uncle to keep his hunters for him. Some prudent men in London +were already beginning to ask for their money, and the young Earl was +in trouble. As Mr. Flick had said, it was quite time that something +should be done. Sir William still depended on the panacea of a +marriage, if only the girl would live. The marriage might be delayed; +but, if the cards were played prudently, might still make everything +comfortable. Such girls do not marry tailors, and will always prefer +lords to tradesmen! + +"I hope that you do not think that my calling is intrusive," he said. +The Countess, dressed all in black, with that funereal frown upon her +brow which she always now wore, with deep-sunk eyes, and care legible +in every feature of her handsome face, received him with a courtesy +that was as full of woe as it was graceful. She was very glad to make +his acquaintance. There was no intrusion. He would forgive her, she +thought, if he perceived that circumstances had almost overwhelmed +her with sorrow. "I have come to ask after your daughter," said he. + +"She has been very ill, Sir William." + +"Is she better now?" + +"I hardly know; I cannot say. They seemed to think this morning that +the fever was less violent." + +"Then she will recover, Lady Lovel." + +"They do not say so. But indeed I did not ask them. It is all in +God's hands. I sometimes think that it would be better that she +should die, and there be an end of it." + +This was the first time that these two had been in each other's +company, and the lawyer could not altogether repress the feeling of +horror with which he heard the mother speak in such a way of her only +child. "Oh, Lady Lovel, do not say that!" + +"But I do say it. Why should I not say it to you, who know all? Of +what good will her life be to herself, or to any one else, if she +pollute herself and her family by this marriage? It would be better +that she should be dead,--much better that she should be dead. She +is all that I have, Sir William. It is for her sake that I have been +struggling from the first moment in which I knew that I was to be a +mother. The whole care of my life has been to prove her to be her +father's daughter in the eye of the law. I doubt whether you can know +what it is to pursue one object, and only one, through your whole +life, with never-ending solicitude,--and to do it all on behalf of +another. If you did, you would understand my feeling now. It would be +better for her that she should die than become the wife of such a one +as Daniel Thwaite." + +"Lady Lovel, not only as a mother, but as a Christian, you should get +the better of that feeling." + +"Of course I should. No doubt every clergyman in England would tell +me the same thing. It is easy to say all that, sir. Wait till you +are tried. Wait till all your ambition is to be betrayed, every hope +rolled in the dust, till all the honours you have won are to be +soiled and degraded, till you are made a mark for general scorn and +public pity,--and then tell me how you love the child by whom such +evils are brought upon you!" + +"I trust that I may never be so tried, Lady Lovel." + +"I hope not; but think of all that before you preach to me. But I +do love her; and it is because I love her that I would fain see her +removed from the reproaches which her own madness will bring upon +her. Let her die;--if it be God's will. I can follow her without +one wish for a prolonged life. Then will a noble family be again +established, and her sorrowful tale will be told among the Lovels +with a tear and without a curse." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE. + + +All December went by, and the neighbours in the houses round spent +each his merry Christmas; and the snow and frost of January passed +over them, and February had come and nearly gone, before the +doctors dared to say that Lady Anna Lovel's life was not still in +danger. During this long period the world had known all about her +illness,--as it did know, or pretended to know, the whole history of +her life. The world had been informed that she was dying, and had, +upon the whole, been really very sorry for her. She had interested +the world, and the world had heard much of her youth and beauty,--of +the romance too of her story, of her fidelity to the tailor, and of +her persecutions. During these months of her illness the world was +disposed to think that the tailor was a fine fellow, and that he +ought to be taken by the hand. He had money now, and it was thought +that it would be a good thing to bring him into some club. There +was a very strong feeling at the Beaufort that if he were properly +proposed and seconded he would be elected,--not because he was going +to marry an heiress, but because he was losing the heiress whom he +was to have married. If the girl died, then Lord Lovel himself might +bring him forward at the Beaufort. Of all this Daniel himself knew +nothing; but he heard, as all the world heard, that Lady Anna was on +her deathbed. + +When the news first reached him,--after a fashion that seemed to him +to be hardly worthy of credit,--he called at the house in Keppel +Street and asked the question. Yes; Lady Anna was very ill; but, +as it happened, Sarah the lady's-maid opened the door, and Sarah +remembered the tailor. She had seen him when he was admitted to +her young mistress, and knew enough of the story to be aware that +he should be snubbed. Her first answer was given before she had +bethought herself; then she snubbed him, and told no one but the +Countess of his visit. After that Daniel went to one of the doctors, +and waited at his door with patience till he could be seen. The +unhappy man told his story plainly. He was Daniel Thwaite, late a +tailor, the man from Keswick, to whom Lady Anna Lovel was engaged. In +charity and loving kindness, would the doctor tell him of the state +of his beloved one? The doctor took him by the hand and asked him +in, and did tell him. His beloved one was then on the very point +of death. Whereupon Daniel wrote to the Countess in humble strains, +himself taking the letter, and waiting without in the street for any +answer that might be vouchsafed. If it was, as he was told, that his +beloved was dying, might he be allowed to stand once at her bedside +and kiss her hand? In about an hour an answer was brought to him at +the area gate. It consisted of his own letter, opened, and returned +to him without a word. He went away too sad to curse, but he declared +to himself that such cruelty in a woman's bosom could exist only in +the bosom of a countess. + +But as others heard early in February that Lady Anna was like to +recover, so did Daniel Thwaite. Indeed, his authority was better than +that which reached the clubs, for the doctor still stood his friend. +Could the doctor take a message from him to Lady Anna;--but one word? +No;--the doctor could take no message. That he would not do. But he +did not object to give to the lover a bulletin of the health of his +sweetheart. In this way Daniel knew sooner than most others when the +change took place in the condition of his beloved one. + +Lady Anna would be of age in May, and the plan of her betrothed was +as follows. He would do nothing till that time, and then he would +call upon her to allow their banns to be published in Bloomsbury +Church after the manner of the Church of England. He himself had +taken lodgings in Great Russell Street, thinking that his object +might be aided by living in the same parish. If, as was probable, he +would not be allowed to approach Lady Anna either in person, or by +letter, then he would have recourse to the law, and would allege that +the young lady was unduly kept a prisoner in custody. He was told +that such complaint would be as idle wind, coming from him,--that +no allegation of that kind could obtain any redress unless it came +from the young lady herself; but he flattered himself that he could +so make it that the young lady would at any rate obtain thereby the +privilege of speaking for herself. Let some one ask her what were her +wishes and he would be prepared to abide by her expression of them. + +In the meantime Lord Lovel also had been anxious;--but his anxiety +had been met in a very different fashion. For many days the Countess +saw him daily, so that there grew up between them a close intimacy. +When it was believed that the girl would die,--believed with that +sad assurance which made those who were concerned speak of her death +almost as a certainty, the Countess, sitting alone with the young +Earl, had told him that all would be his if the girl left them. He +had muttered something as to there being no reason for that. "Who +else should have it?" said the Countess. "Where should it go? Your +people, Lovel, have not understood me. It is for the family that I +have been fighting, fighting, fighting,--and never ceasing. Though +you have been my adversary,--it has been all for the Lovels. If she +goes,--it shall be yours at once. There is no one knows how little +I care for wealth myself." Then the girl had become better, and the +Countess again began her plots, and her plans, and her strategy. She +would take the girl abroad in May, in April if it might be possible. +They would go,--not to Rome then, but to the south of France, and, +as the weather became too warm for them, on to Switzerland and the +Tyrol. Would he, Lord Lovel, follow them? Would he follow them and +be constant in his suit, even though the frantic girl should still +talk of her tailor lover? If he would do so, as far as money was +concerned, all should be in common with them. For what was the money +wanted but that the Lovels might be great and noble and splendid? He +said that he would do so. He also loved the girl,--thought at least +during the tenderness created by her illness that he loved her with +all his heart. He sat hour after hour with the Countess in Keppel +Street,--sometimes seeing the girl as she lay unconscious, or +feigning that she was so; till at last he was daily at her bedside. +"You had better not talk to him, Anna," her mother would say, "but of +course he is anxious to see you." Then the Earl would kiss her hand, +and in her mother's presence she had not the courage,--perhaps she +had not the strength,--to withdraw it. In these days the Countess was +not cruelly stern as she had been. Bedside nursing hardly admits of +such cruelty of manner. But she never spoke to her child with little +tender endearing words, never embraced her,--but was to her a careful +nurse rather than a loving mother. + +Then by degrees the girl got better, and was able to talk. "Mamma," +she said one day, "won't you sit by me?" + +"No, my dear; you should not be encouraged to talk." + +"Sit by me, and let me hold your hand." For a moment the Countess +gave way, and sat by her daughter, allowing her hand to remain +pressed beneath the bedclothes;--but she rose abruptly, remembering +her grievance, remembering that it would be better that her child +should die, should die broken-hearted by unrelenting cruelty, than be +encouraged to think it possible that she should do as she desired. So +she rose abruptly and left the bedside without a word. + +"Mamma," said Lady Anna; "will Lord Lovel be here to-day?" + +"I suppose he will be here." + +"Will you let me speak to him for a minute?" + +"Surely you may speak to him." + +"I am strong now, mamma, and I think that I shall be well again some +day. I have so often wished that I might die." + +"You had better not talk about it, my dear." + +"But I should like to speak to him, mamma, without you." + +"What to say,--Anna?" + +"I hardly know;--but I should like to speak to him. I have something +to say about money." + +"Cannot I say it?" + +"No, mamma. I must say it myself,--if you will let me." The Countess +looked at her girl with suspicion, but she gave the permission +demanded. Of course it would be right that this lover should see his +love. The Countess was almost minded to require from Lady Anna an +assurance that no allusion should be made to Daniel Thwaite; but the +man's name had not been mentioned between them since the beginning +of the illness, and she was loth to mention it now. Nor would it +have been possible to prevent for long such an interview as that now +proposed. + +"He shall come in if he pleases," said the Countess; "but I hope you +will remember who you are and to whom you are speaking." + +"I will remember both, mamma," said Lady Anna. The Countess looked +down on her daughter's face, and could not help thinking that her +child was different from what she had been. There had been almost +defiance in the words spoken, though they had been spoken with the +voice of an invalid. + +At three o'clock that afternoon, according to his custom, Lord Lovel +came, and was at once told that he was to be spoken to by his cousin. +"She says it is about money," said the Countess. + +"About money?" + +"Yes;--and if she confines herself to that, do as she bids you. If +she is ever to be your wife it will be all right; and if not,--then +it will be better in your hands than in hers. In three months time +she can do as she pleases with it all." He was then taken into Lady +Anna's room. "Here is your cousin," said the Countess. "You must not +talk long or I shall interrupt you. If you wish to speak to him about +the property,--as the head of your family,--that will be very right; +but confine yourself to that for the present." Then the Countess left +them and closed the door. + +"It is not only about money, Lord Lovel." + +"You might call me Frederic now," said he tenderly. + +"No;--not now. If I am ever well again and we are then friends I will +do so. They tell me that there is ever so much money,--hundreds of +thousands of pounds. I forget how much." + +"Do not trouble yourself about that." + +"But I do trouble myself very much about it,--and I know that it +ought to be yours. There is one thing I want to tell you, which you +must believe. If I am ever any man's wife, I shall be the wife of +Daniel Thwaite." That dark frown came upon his face which she had +seen once before. "Pray believe that it is so," she continued. "Mamma +does not believe it,--will not believe it; but it is so. I love him +with all my heart. I think of him every minute. It is very very cruel +that I may not hear from him or send one word to tell him how I am. +There! My hand is on the Bible, and I swear to you that if I am ever +the wife of any man, I will be his wife." + +He looked down at her and saw that she was wan and thin and weak, and +he did not dare to preach to her the old family sermon as to his rank +and station. "But, Anna, why do you tell me this now?" he said. + +"That you may believe it and not trouble yourself with me any more. +You must believe it when I tell you so in this manner. I may perhaps +never live to rise from my bed. If I get well, I shall send to him, +or go. I will not be hindered. He is true to me, and I will be true +to him. You may tell mamma if you think proper. She would not believe +me, but perhaps she may believe you. But, Lord Lovel, it is not fit +that he should have all this money. He does not want it, and he would +not take it. Till I am married I may do what I please with it;--and +it shall be yours." + +"That cannot be." + +"Yes, it can. I know that I can make it yours if I please. They tell +me that--that you are not rich, as Lord Lovel should be, because all +this has been taken from you. That was the reason why you came to +me." + +"By heaven, Anna, I love you most truly." + +"It could not have been so when you had not seen me. Will you take a +message from me to Daniel Thwaite?" + +He thought awhile before he answered it. "No, I cannot do that." + +"Then I must find another messenger. Mr. Goffe will do it perhaps. He +shall tell me how much he wants to keep, and the rest shall be yours. +That is all. If you tell mamma, ask her not to be hard to me." He +stood over her and took her hand, but knew not how to speak a word +to her. He attempted to kiss her hand; but she raised herself on her +elbow, and shook her head and drew it from him. "It belongs to Daniel +Thwaite," she said. Then he left her and did not speak another word. + +"What has she said?" asked the Countess, with an attempt at smiling. + +"I do not know that I should tell you." + +"Surely, Lovel, you are bound to tell me." + +"She has offered me all her property,--or most of it." + +"She is right," said the Countess. + +"But she has sworn to me, on the Bible, that she will never be my +wife." + +"Tush!--it means nothing." + +"Ah yes;--it means much. It means all. She never loved me,--not for +an instant. That other man has been before me, and she is too firm to +be moved." + +"Did she say so?" + +He was silent for a moment and then replied, "Yes; she did say so." + +"Then let her die!" said the Countess. + +"Lady Lovel!" + +"Let her die. It will be better. Oh, God! that I should be brought to +this. And what will you do, my lord? Do you mean to say that you will +abandon her?" + +"I cannot ask her to be my wife again." + +"What;--because she has said this in her sickness,--when she is half +delirious,--while she is dreaming of the words that man spoke to her? +Have you no more strength than that? Are you so poor a creature?" + +"I think I have been a poor creature to ask her a second time at +all." + +"No; not so. Your duty and mine are the same,--as should be hers. We +must forget ourselves while we save the family. Do not I bear all? +Have not I borne everything--contumely, solitude, ill words, poverty, +and now this girl's unkindness? But even yet I will not give it up. +Take the property,--as it is offered." + +"I could not touch it." + +"If not for you, then for your children. Take it all, so that we may +be the stronger. But do not abandon us now, if you are a man." + +He would not stay to hear her further exhortations, but hurried away +from the house full of doubt and unhappiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +LADY ANNA'S OFFER. + + +Early in March Lady Anna was convalescent, but had not yet left the +house in Keppel Street,--and the confusion and dismay of the Countess +were greater than ever. Lady Anna had declared that she would not +leave England for the present. She was reminded that at any rate till +the 10th of May she was subject to her mother's control. But by this +time her mother's harshness to her had produced some corresponding +hardness in her. "Yes, mamma;--but I will not go abroad. Things +must be settled, and I am not well enough to go yet." The Countess +asserted that everything could be arranged abroad, that papers could +be sent after them, that Mr. Goffe could come out to them, and with +much show of authority persisted. She would do anything by which +she might be able to remove Lady Anna from the influence of Daniel +Thwaite at the time at which the girl would cease to be subject to +her. But in truth the girl had ceased to be subject to her. "No, +mamma, I will not go. If you will ask Serjeant Bluestone, or Sir +William Patterson, I am sure they will say that I ought not to be +made to go." There were some terrible scenes in which the mother was +driven almost to desperation. Lady Anna repeated to the Countess all +that she had said to Lord Lovel,--and swore to her mother with the +Bible in hand that if ever she became the wife of any man she would +be the wife of Daniel Thwaite. Then the Countess with great violence +knocked the book out of her daughter's grasp, and it was thrown to +the other side of the room. "If this is to go on," said the Countess, +"one of us must die." + +"Mamma, I have done nothing to make you so unkind to me. You have not +spoken one word of kindness to me since I came from Yoxham." + +"If this goes on I shall never speak a word of kindness to you +again," said the mother. + +But in the midst of all this there was one point on which they were +agreed,--on which they came sufficiently near together for action, +though there was still a wide difference between them. Some large +proportion of the property at stake was to be made over to Lord Lovel +on the day that gave the girl the legal power of transferring her +own possessions. The Countess began by presuming that the whole of +Lady Anna's wealth was to be so transferred,--not from any lack of +reverence for the great amount which was in question, but feeling +that for all good purposes it would be safer in the hands of the +Earl than in those of her own child. If it could be arranged that +the tailor could get nothing with his bride, then it might still +be possible that the tailor might refuse the match. At any rate a +quarrel might be fostered and the evil might be staved off. But to +this Lady Anna would not assent. If she might act in this business in +concert with Mr. Thwaite she would be able, she thought, to do better +by her cousin than she proposed. But as she was not allowed to learn +what were Mr. Thwaite's wishes, she would halve her property with her +cousin. As much as this she was willing to do,--and was determined to +do, acting on her own judgment. More she would not do,--unless she +could see Mr. Thwaite. As it stood, her proposition was one which +would, if carried out, bestow something like £10,000 a year upon +the Earl. Then Mr. Goffe was sent for, and Lady Anna was allowed to +communicate her suggestion to the lawyer. "That should require a +great deal of thought," said Mr. Goffe with solemnity. Lady Anna +declared that she had been thinking of it all the time she had been +ill. "But it should not be done in a hurry," said Mr. Goffe. Then +Lady Anna remarked that in the meantime, her cousin, the Earl, the +head of her family, would have nothing to support his title. Mr. +Goffe took his leave, promising to consult his partner, and to see +Mr. Flick. + +Mr. Goffe did consult his partner and did see Mr. Flick, and then +Serjeant Bluestone was asked his advice,--and the Solicitor-General. +The Serjeant had become somewhat tired of the Lovels, and did not +care to give any strong advice either in one direction or in the +other. The young lady, he said, might of course do what she liked +with her own when it was her own; but he thought that she should not +be hurried. He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had not the +slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,--not more than he +would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from her mother's +instead of from her father's relatives. He was still of opinion that +the two cousins might ultimately become man and wife if matters were +left tranquil and the girl were taken abroad for a year or two. Lady +Anna, however, would be of age in a few weeks, and must of course do +as she liked with her own. + +But they all felt that everything would at last be ruled by what the +Solicitor-General might say. The Solicitor-General was going out of +town for a week or ten days,--having the management of a great case +at the Spring Assizes. He would think over Lady Anna's proposition, +and say what he had to say when he returned. Lord Lovel, however, +had been his client, and he had said from first to last that more +was to be done for his client by amicable arrangement than by +hostile opposition. If the Earl could get £10,000 a year by amicable +arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have been right +in the eyes of all men, and it was probable,--as both Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick felt,--that he would not repudiate a settlement of the +family affairs by which he would be proved to have been a discreet +counsellor. + +In the meantime it behoved Lord Lovel himself to have an opinion. Mr. +Flick of course had told him of the offer,--which had in truth been +made directly to himself by his cousin. At this time his affairs were +not in a happy condition. A young earl, handsome and well esteemed, +may generally marry an heiress,--if not one heiress then another. +Though he be himself a poor man, his rank and position will stand in +lieu of wealth. And so would it have been with this young earl,--who +was very handsome and excellently well esteemed,--had it not been +that all the world knew that it was his especial business to marry +one especial heiress. He could hardly go about looking for other +honey, having, as he had, one particular hive devoted by public +opinion to himself. After a year or two he might have looked +elsewhere,--but what was he to do in the meantime? He was well nigh +penniless, and in debt. So he wrote a letter to his uncle, the +parson. + +It may be remembered that when the uncle and nephew last parted in +London there was not much love between them. From that day to this +they had not seen each other, nor had there been any communication +between them. The horses had been taken away and sold. The rector +had spoken to the ladies of his household more than once with great +bitterness of the young man's ingratitude; and they more than once +had spoken to the rector, with a woman's piteous tenderness, of the +young lord's poverty. But it was all sorrow and distress. For in +truth the rector could not be happy while he was on bad terms with +the head of his family. Then the young lord wrote as though there had +been nothing amiss between them. It had in truth all passed away from +his mind. This very liberal offer had been made to him. It amounted +to wealth in lieu of poverty,--to what would be comfortable wealth +even for an earl. Ten thousand a year was offered to him by his +cousin. Might he accept it? The rector took the letter in good part, +and begged his nephew to come at once to Yoxham. Whereupon the nephew +went to Yoxham. + +"What does Sir William say?" asked the rector, who, in spite of +his disapproval of all that Sir William had done, felt that the +Solicitor-General was the man whose influence in the matter would +really prevail. + +"He has said nothing as yet. He is out of town." + +"Ten thousand a year! Who was it made the offer?" + +"She made it herself." + +"Lady Anna?" + +"Yes;--Lady Anna. It is a noble offer." + +"Yes, indeed. But then if she has no right to any of it, what does it +amount to?" + +"But she has a right to all of it;--she and her mother between them." + +"I shall never believe it, Frederic--never; and not the less so +because they now want to bind you to them by such a compromise as +this." + +"I think you look at it in a wrong light, uncle Charles." + +"Well;--well. I will say nothing more about it. I don't see why you +shouldn't take it,--I don't indeed. It ought all to have been yours. +Everybody says that. You'll have to buy land, and it won't give you +nearly so much then. I hope you'll buy land all the same, and I do +hope it will be properly settled when you marry. As to marrying, you +will be able to do much better than what you used to think of." + +"We won't talk about that, uncle Charles," said the Earl. + +As far as the rector's opinion went, it was clear that the offer +might be accepted; but yet it was felt that very much must depend +on what the Solicitor-General might say. Then Miss Lovel gave her +opinion on the matter, which did not altogether agree with that of +her brother. She believed in Lady Anna, whereas the rector professed +that he did not. The rector and Lady Fitzwarren were perhaps the +only two persons who, after all that had been said and done, still +maintained that the Countess was an impostor, and that Lady Anna +would only be Anna Murray, if everybody had his due. Miss Lovel was +quite as anxious on behalf of the Earl as was her brother, but she +clung to the hope of a marriage. "I still think it might all come +right, if you would only wait," said aunt Julia. + +"It's all very well talking of waiting, but how am I to live?" + +"You could live here, Frederic. There is nothing my brother would +like so much. I thought he would break his heart when the horses were +taken away. It would only be for a year." + +"What would come of it?" + +"At the end of the year she would be your wife." + +"Never!" said the Earl. + +"Young men are so impatient." + +"Never, under any circumstances, would I ask her again. You may make +your mind up to that. As sure as you stand there, she will marry +Daniel Thwaite, if she lives another twelvemonth." + +"You really think so, Frederic?" + +"I am sure of it. After what she said to me, it would be impossible I +should doubt it." + +"And she will be Lady Anna Thwaite! Oh dear, how horrible. I wish +she had died when she was ill;--I do indeed. A journeyman tailor! +But something will prevent it. I really think that Providence will +interfere to prevent it!" But in reference to the money she gave in +her adhesion. If the great lawyer said that it might be taken,--then +it should be taken. At the end of a week the Earl hurried back to +London to see the great lawyer. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +NO DISGRACE AT ALL. + + +Before the Solicitor-General returned to town things had come to +a worse pass than ever. Lady Lovel had ordered her daughter to be +ready to start to Paris by a certain hour, on a certain day,--giving +her three days for preparation,--and Lady Anna had refused to go. +Whereupon the Countess had caused her own things to be packed up, and +those of her daughter. Sarah was now altogether in the confidence of +the Countess, so that Lady Anna had not even dominion over her own +clothes. The things were stowed away, and all the arrangements were +made for the journey; but Lady Anna refused to go, and when the hour +came could not be induced to get into the carriage. The lodgings had +been paid for to the day, and given up; so that the poor old woman +in Keppel Street was beside herself. Then the Countess, of necessity, +postponed her journey for twenty-four hours, telling her daughter +that on the next day she would procure the assistance of magistrates +and force the rebel to obedience. + +Hardly a word had been spoken between the mother and daughter +during those three days. There had been messages sent backwards and +forwards, and once or twice the Countess had violently entered Lady +Anna's bedroom, demanding submission. Lady Anna was always on the +bed when her mother entered, and, there lying, would shake her head, +and then with sobs accuse the Countess of unkindness. Lady Lovel had +become furious in her wrath, hardly knowing what she herself did or +said, always asserting her own authority, declaring her own power, +and exclaiming against the wicked ingratitude of her child. This +she did till the young waiting-woman was so frightened that she was +almost determined to leave the house abruptly, though keenly alive to +the profit and glory of serving a violent and rich countess. And the +old lady who let the lodgings was intensely anxious to be rid of her +lodgers, though her money was scrupulously paid, and no questions +asked as to extra charges. Lady Anna was silent and sullen. When +left to herself she spent her time at her writing-desk, of which she +had managed to keep the key. What meals she took were brought up to +her bedroom, so that a household more uncomfortable could hardly be +gathered under a roof. + +On the day fixed for that departure which did not take place, the +Countess wrote to Mr. Goffe for assistance,--and Lady Anna, by the +aid of the mistress of the house, wrote to Serjeant Bluestone. The +letter to Mr. Goffe was the first step taken towards obtaining that +assistance from civil authorities to which the Countess thought +herself to be entitled in order that her legal dominion over her +daughter might be enforced. Lady Anna wrote to the Serjeant, simply +begging that he would come to see her, putting her letter open into +the hands of the landlady. She implored him to come at once,--and, +as it happened, he called in Keppel Street that night, whereas Mr. +Goffe's visit was not made till the next morning. He asked for the +Countess, and was shown into the drawing-room. The whole truth +was soon made clear to him, for the Countess attempted to conceal +nothing. Her child was rebelling against authority, and she was sure +that the Serjeant would assist her in putting down and conquering +such pernicious obstinacy. But she found at once that the Serjeant +would not help her. "But Lady Anna will be herself of age in a day or +two," he said. + +"Not for nearly two months," said the Countess indignantly. + +"My dear Lady Lovel, under such circumstances you can hardly put +constraint upon her." + +"Why not? She is of age, or she is not. Till she be of age she is +bound to obey me." + +"True;--she is bound to obey you after a fashion, and so indeed she +would be had she been of age a month since. But such obligations here +in England go for very little, unless they are supported by reason." + +"The law is the law." + +"Yes;--but the law would be all in her favour before you could get it +to assist you,--even if you could get its assistance. In her peculiar +position, it is rational that she should choose to wait till she +be able to act for herself. Very great interests will be at her +disposal, and she will of course wish to be near those who can advise +her." + +"I am her only guardian. I can advise her." The Serjeant shook his +head. "You will not help me then?" + +"I fear I cannot help you, Lady Lovel." + +"Not though you know the reasons which induce me to take her away +from England before she slips entirely out of my hands and ruins all +our hopes?" But still the Serjeant shook his head. "Every one is +leagued against me," said the Countess, throwing up her hands in +despair. + +Then the Serjeant asked permission to visit Lady Anna, but was told +that he could not be allowed to do so. She was in bed, and there was +nothing to make it necessary that she should receive a visit from a +gentleman in her bedroom. "I am an old man," said the Serjeant, "and +have endeavoured to be a true and honest friend to the young lady. +I think, Lady Lovel, that you will do wrong to refuse my request. +I tell you fairly that I shall be bound to interfere on her behalf. +She has applied to me as her friend, and I feel myself constrained to +attend to her application." + +"She has applied to you?" + +"Yes, Lady Lovel. There is her letter." + +"She has deceived me again," said the Countess, tearing the letter +into atoms. But the Serjeant so far frightened her that she was +induced to promise that Mrs. Bluestone should see Lady Anna on the +following morning,--stipulating, however, that Mrs. Bluestone should +see herself before she went up-stairs. + +On the following morning Mr. Goffe came early. But Mr. Goffe +could give his client very little comfort. He was, however, less +uncomfortable than the Serjeant had been. He was of opinion that +Lady Anna certainly ought to go abroad, in obedience to her mother's +instructions, and was willing to go to her and tell her so, with what +solemnity of legal authority he might be able to assume; but he could +not say that anything could be done absolutely to enforce obedience. +Mr. Goffe suggested that perhaps a few gentle words might be +successful. "Gentle words!" said the Countess, who had become quite +unable to restrain herself. "The harshest words are only too gentle +for her. If I had known what she was, Mr. Goffe, I would never have +stirred in this business. They might have called me what they would, +and it would have been better." When Mr. Goffe came downstairs +he had not a word to say more as to the efficacy of gentleness. +He simply remarked that he did not think the young lady could be +induced to go, and suggested that everybody had better wait till the +Solicitor-General returned to town. + +Then Mrs. Bluestone came, almost on the heels of the attorney;--poor +Mrs. Bluestone, who now felt that it was a dreadful grievance both +to her and to her husband that they had had anything to do with the +Lovel family! She was very formal in her manner,--and, to tell the +truth for her, rather frightened. The Serjeant had asked her to call +and see Lady Anna Lovel. Might she be permitted to do so? Then the +Countess burst forth with a long story of all her wrongs,--with the +history of her whole life. Not beginning with her marriage,--but +working back to it from the intense misery, and equally intense +ambition of the present hour. She told it all; how everybody had been +against her,--how she had been all alone at the dreary Grange in +Westmoreland,--how she had been betrayed by her husband, and turned +out to poverty and scorn;--how she had borne it all for the sake of +the one child who was, by God's laws and man's, the heiress to her +father's name; how she had persevered,--intermingling it all with a +certain worship of high honours and hereditary position with which +Mrs. Bluestone was able in some degree to sympathise. She was clever, +and words came to her freely. It was almost impossible that any +hearer should refuse to sympathise with her,--any hearer who knew +that her words were true. And all that she told was true. The things +which she narrated had been done;--the wrongs had been endured;--and +the end of it all which she feared, was imminent. And the hearer +thought as did the speaker as to the baseness of this marriage with +the tailor,--thought as did the speaker of the excellence of the +marriage with the lord. But still there was something in the woman's +eye,--something in the tone of her voice, something in the very +motion of her hands as she told her story, which made Mrs. Bluestone +feel that Lady Anna should not be left under her mother's control. +It would be very well that the Lovel family should be supported, and +that Lady Anna should be kept within the pale of her own rank. But +there might be things worse than Lady Anna's defection,--and worse +even than the very downfall of the Lovels. + +After sitting for nearly two hours with the Countess, Mrs. Bluestone +was taken up-stairs. "Mrs. Bluestone has come to see you," said the +Countess, not entering the room, and retreating again immediately as +she closed the door. + +"This is very kind of you, Mrs. Bluestone," said Lady Anna, who was +sitting crouching in her dressing-gown over the fire. "But I thought +that perhaps the Serjeant would come." The lady, taken off her guard, +immediately said that the Serjeant had been there on the preceding +evening. "And mamma would not let me see him! But you will help me!" + +In this interview, as in that below, a long history was told to the +visitor, and was told with an eloquent energy which she certainly had +not expected. "They talk to me of ladies," said Lady Anna. "I was not +a lady. I knew nothing of ladies and their doings. I was a poor girl, +friendless but for my mother, sometimes almost without shoes to my +feet, often ragged, solitary, knowing nothing of ladies. Then there +came one lad, who played with me;--and it was mamma who brought us +together. He was good to me, when all others were bad. He played with +me, and gave me things, and taught me,--and loved me. Then when he +asked me to love him again, and to love him always, was I to think +that I could not,--because I was a lady! You despise him because he +is a tailor. A tailor was good to me, when no one else was good. How +could I despise him because he was a tailor? I did not despise him, +but I loved him with all my heart." + +"But when you came to know who you were, Lady Anna--" + +"Yes;--yes. I came to know who I was, and they brought my cousin to +me, and told me to love him, and bade me be a lady indeed. I felt it +too, for a time. I thought it would be pleasant to be a Countess, and +to go among great people; and he was pleasant, and I thought that I +could love him too, and do as they bade me. But when I thought of it +much,--when I thought of it alone,--I hated myself. In my heart of +hearts I loved him who had always been my friend. And when Lord Lovel +came to me at Bolton, and said that I must give my answer then,--I +told him all the truth. I am glad I told him the truth. He should not +have come again after that. If Daniel is so poor a creature because +he is a tailor,--must not I be poor who love him? And what must he be +when he comes to me again after that?" + +When Mrs. Bluestone descended from the room she was quite sure that +the girl would become Lady Anna Thwaite, and told the Countess that +such was her opinion. "By the God above me," said the Countess rising +from her chair;--"by the God above me, she never shall." But after +that the Countess gave up her project of forcing her daughter to go +abroad. The old lady of the house was told that the rooms would still +be required for some weeks to come,--perhaps for months; and having +had a conference on the subject with Mrs. Bluestone, did not refuse +her consent. + +At last Sir William returned to town, and was besieged on all sides, +as though in his hands lay the power of deciding what should become +of all the Lovel family. Mr. Goffe was as confidential with him as +Mr. Flick, and even Serjeant Bluestone condescended to appeal to him. +The young Earl was closeted with him on the day of his return, and he +had found on his desk the following note from the Countess;-- + +"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to the +Solicitor-General. The Countess is very anxious to leave England +with her daughter, but has hitherto been prevented by her child's +obstinacy. Sir William Patterson is so well aware of all the +circumstances that he no doubt can give the Countess advice as to the +manner in which she should proceed to enforce the obedience of her +daughter. The Countess Lovel would feel herself unwarranted in thus +trespassing on the Solicitor-General, were it not that it is her +chief anxiety to do everything for the good of Earl Lovel and the +family." + +"Look at that, my lord," said the Solicitor-General, showing the Earl +the letter. "I can do nothing for her." + +"What does she want to have done?" + +"She wants to carry her daughter away beyond the reach of Mr. +Thwaite. I am not a bit surprised; but she can't do it. The days +are gone by when a mother could lock her daughter up, or carry her +away,--at any rate in this country." + +"It is very sad." + +"It might have been much worse. Why should she not marry Mr. Thwaite? +Let them make the settlement as they propose, and then let the young +lady have her way. She will have her way,--whether her mother lets +her or no." + +"It will be a disgrace to the family, Sir William." + +"No disgrace at all! How many peers' daughters marry commoners in +England. It is not with us as it is with some German countries in +which noble blood is separated as by a barrier from blood that is not +noble. The man I am told is clever and honest. He will have great +means at his command, and I do not see why he should not make as +good a gentleman as the best of us. At any rate she must not be +persecuted." + +Sir William answered the Countess's letter as a matter of course, but +there was no comfort in his answer. "The Solicitor-General presents +his compliments to the Countess Lovel. With all the will in the world +to be of service, he fears that he can do no good by interfering +between the Countess and Lady Anna Lovel. If, however, he may venture +to give advice, he would suggest to the Countess that as Lady Anna +will be of age in a short time, no attempt should now be made to +exercise a control which must cease when that time shall arrive." +"They are all joined against me," said the Countess, when she read +the letter;--"every one of them! But still it shall never be. I will +not live to see it." + +Then there was a meeting between Mr. Flick and Sir William. Mr. Flick +must inform the ladies that nothing could be done till Lady Anna +was of age;--that not even could any instructions be taken from her +before that time as to what should subsequently be done. If, when +that time came, she should still be of a mind to share with her +cousin the property, she could then instruct Mr. Goffe to make out +the necessary deeds. + +All this was communicated by letter to the Countess, but Mr. Goffe +especially requested that the letter might be shown to Lady Anna, and +that he might receive a reply intimating that Lady Anna understood +its purport. If necessary he would call upon Lady Anna in Keppel +Street. After some delay and much consideration, the Countess sent +the attorney's letter to her daughter, and Lady Anna herself wrote +a reply. She perfectly understood the purport of Mr. Goffe's letter, +and would thank Mr. Goffe to call upon her on the 10th of May, when +the matter might, she hoped, be settled. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +NEARER AND NEARER. + + +So they went on living in utter misery till the month of May had come +round, and Lady Anna was at last pronounced to be convalescent. + +Late one night, long after midnight, the Countess crept into her +daughter's room and sat down by the bedside. Lady Anna was asleep, +and the Countess sat there and watched. At this time the girl had +passed her birthday, and was of age. Mr. Goffe had been closeted +with her and with her mother for two mornings running, Sir William +Patterson had also been with them, and instructions had been given as +to the property, upon which action was to be at once taken. Of that +proportion of the estate which fell to Lady Anna, one entire moiety +was to be made over to the Earl. While this was being arranged no +word was said as to Daniel Thwaite, or as to the marriage with +the lord. The settlement was made as though it were a thing of +itself; and they all had been much surprised,--the mother, the +Solicitor-General, and the attorney,--at the determination of purpose +and full comprehension of the whole affair which Lady Anna displayed. +When it came to the absolute doing of the matter,--the abandonment +of all this money,--the Countess became uneasy and discontented. +She also had wished that Lord Lovel should have the property,--but +her wish had been founded on a certain object to be attained, which +object was now farther from her than ever. But the property in +question was not hers, but her daughter's, and she made no loud +objection to the proceeding. The instructions were given, and the +deeds were to be forthcoming some time before the end of the month. + +It was on the night of the 11th of May that the Countess sat at her +child's bedside. She had brought up a taper with her, and there she +sat watching the sleeping girl. Thoughts wondrously at variance with +each other, and feelings thoroughly antagonistic, ran through her +brain and heart. This was her only child,--the one thing that there +was for her to love,--the only tie to the world that she possessed. +But for her girl, it would be good that she should be dead. And if +her girl should do this thing, which would make her life a burden to +her,--how good it would be for her to die! She did not fear to die, +and she feared nothing after death;--but with a coward's dread she +did fear the torment of her failure if this girl should become the +wife of Daniel Thwaite. In such case most certainly would she never +see the girl again,--and life then would be all a blank to her. But +she understood that though she should separate herself from the world +altogether, men would know of her failure, and would know that she +was devouring her own heart in the depth of her misery. If the girl +would but have done as her mother had proposed, would have followed +after her kind, and taken herself to those pleasant paths which had +been opened for her, with what a fond caressing worship, with what +infinite kisses and blessings, would she, the mother, have tended +the young Countess and assisted in making the world bright for the +high-born bride. But a tailor! Foh! What a degraded creature was her +child to cling to so base a love! + +She did, however, acknowledge to herself that the girl's clinging was +of a kind she had no power to lessen. The ivy to its standard tree +is not more loyal than was her daughter to this wretched man. But +the girl might die,--or the tailor might die,--or she, the miserable +mother, might die; and so this misery might be at an end. Nothing +but death could end it. Thoughts and dreams of other violence had +crossed her brain,--of carrying the girl away, of secluding her, of +frightening her from day to day into some childish, half-idiotic +submission. But for that the tame obedience of the girl would have +been necessary,--or that external assistance which she had sought, +in vain, to obtain among the lawyers. Such hopes were now gone, and +nothing remained but death. + +Why had not the girl gone when she was so like to go? Why had she not +died when it had seemed to be God's pleasure to take her? A little +indifference, some slight absence of careful tending, any chance +accident would have made that natural which was now,--which was +now so desirable and yet beyond reach! Yes;--so desirable! For +whose sake could it be wished that a life so degraded should be +prolonged? But there could be no such escape. With her eyes fixed on +vacancy, revolving it in her mind, she thought that she could kill +herself;--but she knew that she could not kill her child. + +But, should she destroy herself, there would be no vengeance in that. +Could she be alone, far out at sea, in some small skiff with that +low-born tailor, and then pull out the plug, and let him know what +he had done to her as they both went down together beneath the water, +that would be such a cure of the evil as would now best suit her +wishes. But there was no such sea, and no such boat. Death, however, +might still be within her grasp. + +Then she laid her hand on the girl's shoulder, and Lady Anna awoke. +"Oh, mamma;--is that you?" + +"It is I, my child." + +"Mamma, mamma; is anything the matter? Oh, mamma, kiss me." Then +the Countess stooped down and kissed the girl passionately. "Dear +mamma,--dearest mamma!" + +"Anna, will you do one thing for me? If I never speak to you of Lord +Lovel again, will you forget Daniel Thwaite?" She paused, but Lady +Anna had no answer ready. "Will you not say as much as that for me? +Say that you will forget him till I am gone." + +"Gone, mamma? You are not going!" + +"Till I am dead. I shall not live long, Anna. Say at least that you +will not see him or mention his name for twelve months. Surely, Anna, +you will do as much as that for a mother who has done so much for +you." But Lady Anna would make no promise. She turned her face to the +pillow and was dumb. "Answer me, my child. I may at least demand an +answer." + +"I will answer you to-morrow, mamma." Then the Countess fell on her +knees at the bedside and uttered a long, incoherent prayer, addressed +partly to the God of heaven, and partly to the poor girl who was +lying there in bed, supplicating with mad, passionate eagerness that +this evil thing might be turned away from her. Then she seized the +girl in her embrace and nearly smothered her with kisses. "My own, my +darling, my beauty, my all; save your mother from worse than death, +if you can;--if you can!" + +Had such tenderness come sooner it might have had deeper effect. As +it was, though the daughter was affected and harassed,--though she +was left panting with sobs and drowned in tears,--she could not but +remember the treatment she had suffered from her mother during the +last six months. Had the request for a year's delay come sooner, +it would have been granted; but now it was made after all measures +of cruelty had failed. Ten times during the night did she say that +she would yield,--and ten times again did she tell herself that +were she to yield now, she would be a slave all her life. She had +resolved,--whether right or wrong,--still, with a strong mind and a +great purpose, that she would not be turned from her way, and when +she arose in the morning she was resolved again. She went into her +mother's room and at once declared her purpose. "Mamma, it cannot be. +I am his, and I must not forget him or be ashamed of his name;--no, +not for a day." + +"Then go from me, thou ungrateful one, hard of heart, unnatural +child, base, cruel, and polluted. Go from me, if it be possible, for +ever!" + +Then did they live for some days separated for a second time, each +taking her meals in her own room; and Mrs. Richards, the owner of +the lodgings, went again to Mrs. Bluestone, declaring that she was +afraid of what might happen, and that she must pray to be relieved +from the presence of the ladies. Mrs. Bluestone had to explain that +the lodgings had been taken for the quarter, and that a mother and +daughter could not be put out into the street merely because they +lived on bad terms with each other. The old woman, as was natural, +increased her bills;--but that had no effect. + +On the 15th of May Lady Anna wrote a note to Daniel Thwaite, and sent +a copy of it to her mother before she had posted it. It was in two +lines;-- + + + DEAR DANIEL, + + Pray come and see me here. If you get this soon enough, + pray come on Tuesday about one. + + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA. + + +"Tell mamma," said she to Sarah, "that I intend to go out and put +that in the post to-day." The letter was addressed to Wyndham Street. +Now the Countess knew that Daniel Thwaite had left Wyndham Street. + +"Tell her," said the Countess, "tell her--; but, of what use to tell +her anything? Let the door be closed upon her. She shall never return +to me any more." The message was given to Lady Anna as she went +forth:--but she posted the letter, and then called in Bedford Square. +Mrs. Bluestone returned with her to Keppel Street; but as the door +was opened by Mrs. Richards, and as no difficulty was made as to Lady +Anna's entrance, Mrs. Bluestone returned home without asking to see +the Countess. + +This happened on a Saturday, but when Tuesday came Daniel Thwaite +did not come to Keppel Street. The note was delivered in course of +post at his old abode, and was redirected from Wyndham Street late on +Monday evening,--having no doubt given cause there for much curiosity +and inspection. Late on the Tuesday it did reach Daniel Thwaite's +residence in Great Russell Street, but he was then out, wandering +about the streets as was his wont, telling himself of all the horrors +of an idle life, and thinking what steps he should take next as to +the gaining of his bride. He had known to a day when she was of age, +and had determined that he would allow her one month from thence +before he would call upon her to say what should be their mutual +fate. She had reached that age but a few days, and now she had +written to him herself. + +On returning home he received the girl's letter, and when the early +morning had come,--the Wednesday morning, the day after that fixed +by Lady Anna,--he made up his mind as to his course of action. He +breakfasted at eight, knowing how useless it would be to stir early, +and then called in Keppel Street, leaving word with Mrs. Richards +herself that he would be there again at one o'clock to see Lady Anna. +"You can tell Lady Anna that I only got her note last night very +late." Then he went off to the hotel in Albemarle Street at which he +knew that Lord Lovel was living. It was something after nine when +he reached the house, and the Earl was not yet out of his bedroom. +Daniel, however, sent up his name, and the Earl begged that he would +go into the sitting-room and wait. "Tell Mr. Thwaite that I will not +keep him above a quarter of an hour." Then the tailor was shown into +the room where the breakfast things were laid, and there he waited. + +Within the last few weeks very much had been said to the Earl +about Daniel Thwaite by many people, and especially by the +Solicitor-General. "You may be sure that she will become his wife," +Sir William had said, "and I would advise you to accept him as her +husband. She is not a girl such as we at first conceived her to be. +She is firm of purpose, and very honest. Obstinate, if you will, +and,--if you will,--obstinate to a bad end. But she is generous, and +let her marry whom she will, you cannot cast her out. You will owe +everything to her high sense of honour;--and I am much mistaken if +you will not owe much to him. Accept them both, and make the best +of them. In five years he'll be in Parliament as likely as not. In +ten years he'll be Sir Daniel Thwaite,--if he cares for it. And in +fifteen years Lady Anna will be supposed by everybody to have made +a very happy marriage." Lord Lovel was at this time inclined to be +submissive in everything to his great adviser, and was now ready to +take Mr. Daniel Thwaite by the hand. + +He did take him by the hand as he entered the sitting-room, radiant +from his bath, clad in a short bright-coloured dressing-gown such +as young men then wore o' mornings, with embroidered slippers on +his feet, and a smile on his face. "I have heard much of you, Mr. +Thwaite," he said, "and am glad to meet you at last. Pray sit down. +I hope you have not breakfasted." + +Poor Daniel was hardly equal to the occasion. The young lord had +been to him always an enemy,--an enemy because the lord had been the +adversary of the Countess and her daughter, an enemy because the lord +was an earl and idle, an enemy because the lord was his rival. Though +he now was nearly sure that this last ground of enmity was at an +end, and though he had come to the Earl for certain purposes of his +own, he could not bring himself to feel that there should be good +fellowship between them. He took the hand that was offered to him, +but took it awkwardly, and sat down as he was bidden. "Thank your +lordship, but I breakfasted long since. If it will suit you, I will +walk about and call again." + +"Not at all. I can eat, and you can talk to me. Take a cup of tea at +any rate." The Earl rang for another teacup, and began to butter his +toast. + +"I believe your lordship knows that I have long been engaged to marry +your lordship's cousin,--Lady Anna Lovel." + +"Indeed I have been told so." + +"By herself." + +"Well;--yes; by herself." + +"I have been allowed to see her but once during the last eight or +nine months." + +"That has not been my fault, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I want you to understand, my lord, that it is not for her money that +I have sought her." + +"I have not accused you, surely." + +"But I have been accused. I am going to see her now,--if I can get +admittance to her. I shall press her to fix a day for our marriage, +and if she will do so, I shall leave no stone unturned to accomplish +it. She has a right to do with herself as she pleases, and no +consideration shall stop me but her wishes." + +"I shall not interfere." + +"I am glad of that, my lord." + +"But I will not answer for her mother. You cannot be surprised, Mr. +Thwaite, that Lady Lovel should be averse to such a marriage." + +"She was not averse to my father's company nor to mine a few years +since;--no nor twelve months since. But I say nothing about that. +Let her be averse. We cannot help it. I have come to you to say that +I hope something may be done about the money before she becomes my +wife. People say that you should have it." + +"Who says so?" + +"I cannot say who;--perhaps everybody. Should every shilling of it be +yours I should marry her as willingly to-morrow. They have given me +what is my own, and that is enough for me. For what is now hers and, +perhaps, should be yours, I will not interfere with it. When she is +my wife, I will guard for her and for those who may come after her +what belongs to her then; but as to what may be done before that, I +care nothing." + +On hearing this the Earl told him the whole story of the arrangement +which was then in progress;--how the property would in fact be +divided into three parts, of which the Countess would have one, he +one, and Lady Anna one. "There will be enough for us all," said the +Earl. + +"And much more than enough for me," said Daniel as he got up to take +his leave. "And now I am going to Keppel Street." + +"You have all my good wishes," said the Earl. The two men again shook +hands;--again the lord was radiant and good humoured;--and again the +tailor was ashamed and almost sullen. He knew that the young nobleman +had behaved well to him, and it was a disappointment to him that any +nobleman should behave well. + +Nevertheless as he walked away slowly towards Keppel Street,--for the +time still hung on his hands,--he began to feel that the great prize +of prizes was coming nearer within his grasp. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET. + + +Even the Bluestones were now convinced that Lady Anna Lovel must be +allowed to marry the Keswick tailor, and that it would be expedient +that no further impediment should be thrown in her way. Mrs. +Bluestone had been told, while walking to Keppel Street with the +young lady, of the purport of the letter and of the invitation given +to Daniel Thwaite. The Serjeant at once declared that the girl must +have her own way,--and the Solicitor-General, who also heard of it, +expressed himself very strongly. It was absurd to oppose her. She was +her own mistress. She had shown herself competent to manage her own +affairs. The Countess must be made to understand that she had better +yield at once with what best grace she could. Then it was that he +made that prophecy to the Earl as to the future success of the +fortunate tailor, and then too he wrote at great length to the +Countess, urging many reasons why her daughter should be allowed to +receive Mr. Daniel Thwaite. "Your ladyship has succeeded in very +much," wrote the Solicitor-General, "and even in respect of this +marriage you will have the satisfaction of feeling that the man is in +every way respectable and well-behaved. I hear that he is an educated +man, with culture much higher than is generally found in the state of +life which he has till lately filled, and that he is a man of high +feeling and noble purpose. The manner in which he has been persistent +in his attachment to your daughter is in itself evidence of this. And +I think that your ladyship is bound to remember that the sphere of +life in which he has hitherto been a labourer, would not have been so +humble in its nature had not the means which should have started him +in the world been applied to support and succour your own cause. I am +well aware of your feelings of warm gratitude to the father; but I +think you should bear in mind, on the son's behalf, that he has been +what he has been because his father was so staunch a friend to your +ladyship." There was very much more of it, all expressing the opinion +of Sir William that the Countess should at once open her doors to +Daniel Thwaite. + +The reader need hardly be told that this was wormwood to the +Countess. It did not in the least touch her heart and had but little +effect on her purpose. Gratitude;--yes! But if the whole result of +the exertion for which the receiver is bound to be grateful, is to +be neutralised by the greed of the conferrer of the favour,--if all +is to be taken that has been given, and much more also,--what ground +will there be left for gratitude? If I save a man's purse from a +thief, and then demand for my work twice what that purse contained, +the man had better have been left with the robbers. But she was told, +not only that she ought to accept the tailor as a son-in-law, but +also that she could not help herself. They should see whether she +could not help herself. They should be made to acknowledge that she +at any rate was in earnest in her endeavours to preserve pure and +unspotted the honour of the family. + +But what should she do? That she should put on a gala dress and a +smiling face and be carried off to church with a troop of lawyers and +their wives to see her daughter become the bride of a low journeyman, +was of course out of the question. By no act, by no word, by no +sign would she give aught of a mother's authority to nuptials so +disgraceful. Should her daughter become Lady Anna Thwaite, they two, +mother and daughter, would never see each other again. Of so much at +any rate she was sure. But could she be sure of nothing beyond that? +She could at any rate make an effort. + +Then there came upon her a mad idea,--an idea which was itself +evidence of insanity,--of the glory which would be hers if by any +means she could prevent the marriage. There would be a halo round her +name were she to perish in such a cause, let the destruction come +upon her in what form it might. She sat for hours meditating,--and at +every pause in her thoughts she assured herself that she could still +make an effort. + +She received Sir William's letter late on the Tuesday,--and during +that night she did not lie down or once fall asleep. The man, as she +knew, had been told to come at one on that day, and she had been +prepared; but he did not come, and she then thought that the letter, +which had been addressed to his late residence, had failed to reach +him. During the night she wrote a very long answer to Sir William +pleading her own cause, expatiating on her own feelings, and +palliating any desperate deed which she might be tempted to perform. +But, when the letter had been copied and folded, and duly sealed with +the Lovel arms, she locked it in her desk, and did not send it on its +way even on the following morning. When the morning came, shortly +after eight o'clock, Mrs. Richards brought up the message which +Daniel had left at the door. "Be we to let him in, my lady?" said +Mrs. Richards with supplicating hands upraised. Her sympathies were +all with Lady Anna, but she feared the Countess, and did not dare +in such a matter to act without the mother's sanction. The Countess +begged the woman to come to her in an hour for further instructions, +and at the time named Mrs. Richards, full of the importance of her +work, divided between terror and pleasurable excitement, again +toddled up-stairs. "Be we to let him in, my lady? God, he knows it's +hard upon the likes of me, who for the last three months doesn't know +whether I'm on my head or heels." The Countess very quietly requested +that when Mr. Thwaite should call he might be shown into the parlour. + +"I will see Mr. Thwaite myself, Mrs. Richards; but it will be better +that my daughter should not be disturbed by any intimation of his +coming." + +Then there was a consultation below stairs as to what should be done. +There had been many such consultations, but they had all ended in +favour of the Countess. Mrs. Richards from fear, and the lady's-maid +from favour, were disposed to assist the elder lady. Poor Lady Anna +throughout had been forced to fight her battles with no friend near +her. Now she had many friends,--many who were anxious to support her, +even the Bluestones, who had been so hard upon her while she was +along with them;--but they who were now her friends were never near +her to assist her with a word. + +So it came to pass that when Daniel Thwaite called at the house +exactly at one o'clock Lady Anna was not expecting him. On the +previous day at that hour she had sat waiting with anxious ears for +the knock at the door which might announce his coming. But she had +waited in vain. From one to two,--even till seven in the evening, she +had waited. But he had not come, and she had feared that some scheme +had been used against her. The people at the Post Office had been +bribed,--or the women in Wyndham Street had been false. But she would +not be hindered. She would go out alone and find him,--if he were to +be found in London. + +When he did come, she was not thinking of his coming. He was shown +into the dining-room, and within a minute afterwards the Countess +entered with stately step. She was well dressed, even to the +adjustment of her hair; and she was a woman so changed that he would +hardly have known her as that dear and valued friend whose slightest +word used to be a law to his father,--but who in those days never +seemed to waste a thought upon her attire. She had been out that +morning walking through the streets, and the blood had mounted to her +cheeks He acknowledged to himself that she looked like a noble and +high-born dame. There was a fire in her eye, and a look of scorn +about her mouth and nostrils, which had even for him a certain +fascination,--odious to him as were the pretensions of the so-called +great. She was the first to speak. "You have called to see my +daughter," she said. + +"Yes, Lady Lovel,--I have." + +"You cannot see her." + +"I came at her request." + +"I know you did, but you cannot see her. You can be hardly so +ignorant of the ways of the world, Mr. Thwaite, as to suppose that a +young lady can receive what visitors she pleases without the sanction +of her guardians." + +"Lady Anna Lovel has no guardian, my lady. She is of age, and is at +present her own guardian." + +"I am her mother, and shall exercise the authority of a mother over +her. You cannot see her. You had better go." + +"I shall not be stopped in this way, Lady Lovel." + +"Do you mean that you will force your way up to her? To do so you +will have to trample over me;--and there are constables in the +street. You cannot see her. You had better go." + +"Is she a prisoner?" + +"That is between her and me, and is no affair of yours. You are +intruding here, Mr. Thwaite, and cannot possibly gain anything by +your intrusion." Then she strode out in the passage, and motioned him +to the front door. "Mr. Thwaite, I will beg you to leave this house, +which for the present is mine. If you have any proper feeling you +will not stay after I have told you that you are not welcome." + +But Lady Anna, though she had not expected the coming of her lover, +had heard the sound of voices, and then became aware that the man was +below. As her mother was speaking she rushed down-stairs and threw +herself into her lover's arms. "It shall never be so in my presence," +said the Countess, trying to drag the girl from his embrace by the +shoulders. + +"Anna;--my own Anna," said Daniel in an ecstacy of bliss. It was not +only that his sweetheart was his own, but that her spirit was so +high. + +"Daniel!" she said, still struggling in his arms. + +By this time they were all in the parlour, whither the Countess +had been satisfied to retreat to escape the eyes of the women who +clustered at the top of the kitchen stairs. "Daniel Thwaite," said +the Countess, "if you do not leave this, the blood which will be shed +shall rest on your head," and so saying, she drew nigh to the window +and pulled down the blind. She then crossed over and did the same to +the other blind, and having done so, took her place close to a heavy +upright desk, which stood between the fireplace and the window. When +the two ladies first came to the house they had occupied only the +first and second floors;--but, since the success of their cause, the +whole had been taken, including the parlour in which this scene was +being acted; and the Countess spent many hours daily sitting at the +heavy desk in this dark gloomy chamber. + +"Whose blood shall be shed?" said Lady Anna, turning to her mother. + +"It is the raving of madness," said Daniel. + +"Whether it be madness or not, you shall find, sir, that it is +true. Take your hands from her. Would you disgrace the child in the +presence of her mother?" + +"There is no disgrace, mamma. He is my own, and I am his. Why should +you try to part us?" + +But now they were parted. He was not a man to linger much over the +sweetness of a caress when sterner work was in his hands to be +done. "Lady Lovel," he said, "you must see that this opposition is +fruitless. Ask your cousin, Lord Lovel, and he will tell you that it +is so." + +"I care nothing for my cousin. If he be false, I am true. Though all +the world be false, still will I be true. I do not ask her to marry +her cousin. I simply demand that she shall relinquish one who is +infinitely beneath her,--who is unfit to tie her very shoe-string." + +"He is my equal in all things," said Lady Anna, "and he shall be my +lord and husband." + +"I know of no inequalities such as those you speak of, Lady Lovel," +said the tailor. "The excellence of your daughter's merits I admit, +and am almost disposed to claim some goodness for myself, finding +that one so good can love me. But, Lady Lovel, I do not wish to +remain here now. You are disturbed." + +"I am disturbed, and you had better go." + +"I will go at once if you will let me name some early day on which I +may be allowed to meet Lady Anna,--alone. And I tell her here that if +she be not permitted so to see me, it will be her duty to leave her +mother's house, and come to me. There is my address, dear." Then he +handed to her a paper on which he had written the name of the street +and number at which he was now living. "You are free to come and go +as you list, and if you will send to me there, I will find you here +or elsewhere as you may command me. It is but a short five minutes' +walk beyond the house at which you were staying in Bedford Square." + +The Countess stood silent for a moment or two, looking at them, +during which neither the girl spoke nor her lover. "You will not +even allow her six months to think of it?" said the Countess. +"I will allow her six years if she says that she requires time to +think of it." + +"I do not want an hour,--not a minute," said Lady Anna. + +The mother flashed round upon her daughter. "Poor vain, degraded +wretch," she said. + +"She is a true woman, honest to the heart's core," said the lover. + +"You shall come to-morrow," said the Countess. "Do you hear me, +Anna?--he shall come to-morrow. There shall be an end of this in some +way, and I am broken-hearted. My life is over for me, and I may as +well lay me down and die. I hope God in his mercy may never send upon +another woman,--upon another wife, or another mother,--trouble such +as that with which I have been afflicted. But I tell you this, Anna; +that what evil a husband can do,--even let him be evil-minded as was +your father,--is nothing,--nothing,--nothing to the cruelty of a +cruel child. Go now, Mr. Thwaite; if you please. If you will return +at the same hour to-morrow she shall speak with you--alone. And then +she must do as she pleases." + +"Anna, I will come again to-morrow," said the tailor. But Lady Anna +did not answer him. She did not speak, but stayed looking at him till +he was gone. + +"To-morrow shall end it all. I can stand this no longer. I have +prayed to you,--a mother to her daughter; I have prayed to you for +mercy, and you will show me none. I have knelt to you." + +"Mamma!" + +"I will kneel again if it may avail." And the Countess did kneel. +"Will you not spare me?" + +"Get up, mamma; get up. What am I doing,--what have I done that you +should speak to me like this?" + +"I ask you from my very soul,--lest I commit some terrible crime. I +have sworn that I would not see this marriage,--and I will not see +it." + +"If he will consent I will delay it," said the girl trembling. + +"Must I beg to him then? Must I kneel to him? Must I ask him to save +me from the wrath to come? No, my child, I will not do that. If it +must come, let it come. When you were a little thing at my knees, the +gentlest babe that ever mother kissed, I did not think that you would +live to be so hard to me. You have your mother's brow, my child, but +you have your father's heart." + +"I will ask him to delay it," said Anna. + +"No;--if it be to come to that I will have no dealings with you. +What; that he,--he who has come between me and all my peace, he who +with his pretended friendship has robbed me of my all, that he is to +be asked to grant me a few weeks' delay before this pollution comes +upon me,--during which the whole world will know that Lady Anna Lovel +is to be the tailor's wife! Leave me. When he comes to-morrow, you +shall be sent for;--but I will see him first. Leave me, now. I would +be alone." + +Lady Anna made an attempt to take her mother's hand, but the Countess +repulsed her rudely. "Oh, mamma!" + +"We must be bitter enemies or loving friends, my child. As it is we +are bitter enemies; yes, the bitterest. Leave me now. There is no +room for further words between us." Then Lady Anna slunk up to her +own room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN. + + +The Countess Lovel had prepared herself on that morning for the doing +of a deed, but her heart had failed her. How she might have carried +herself through it had not her daughter came down to them,--how far +she might have been able to persevere, cannot be said now. But it +was certain that she had so far relented that even while the hated +man was there in her presence, she determined that she would once +again submit herself to make entreaties to her child, once again to +speak of all that she had endured, and to pray at least for delay if +nothing else could be accorded to her. If her girl would but promise +to remain with her for six months, then they might go abroad,--and +the chances afforded them by time and distance would be before her. +In that case she would lavish such love upon the girl, so many +indulgences, such sweets of wealth and ease, such store of caresses +and soft luxury, that surely the young heart might thus be turned +to the things which were fit for rank, and high blood, and splendid +possessions. It could not be but that her own child,--the child who +a few months since had been as gentle with her and as obedient as an +infant,--should give way to her as far as that. She tried it, and +her daughter had referred her prayer,--or had said that she would +refer it,--to the decision of her hated lover; and the mother had +at once lost all command of her temper. She had become fierce,--nay, +ferocious; and had lacked the guile and the self-command necessary to +carry out her purpose. Had she persevered Lady Anna must have granted +her the small boon that she then asked. But she had given way to her +wrath, and had declared that her daughter was her bitterest enemy. +As she seated herself at the old desk where Lady Anna left her, she +swore within her own bosom that the deed must be done. + +Even at the moment when she was resolving that she would kneel once +more at her daughter's knees, she prepared herself for the work that +she must do, should the daughter still be as hard as stone to her. +"Come again at one to-morrow," she said to the tailor; and the tailor +said that he would come. + +When she was alone she seated herself on her accustomed chair and +opened the old desk with a key that had now become familiar to her +hand. It was a huge piece of furniture,--such as is never made in +these days, but is found among every congregation of old household +goods,--with numberless drawers clustering below, with a vast body, +full of receptacles for bills, wills, deeds, and waste-paper, and +a tower of shelves above, ascending almost to the ceiling. In the +centre of the centre body was a square compartment, but this had been +left unlocked, so that its contents might be ready to her hand. Now +she opened it and took from it a pistol; and, looking warily over her +shoulder to see that the door was closed, and cautiously up at the +windows, lest some eye might be spying her action even through the +thick blinds, she took the weapon in her hand and held it up so that +she might feel, if possible, how it would be with her when she should +attempt the deed. She looked very narrowly at the lock, of which +the trigger was already back at its place, so that no exertion of +arrangement might be necessary for her at the fatal moment. Never as +yet had she fired a pistol;--never before had she held such a weapon +in her hand;--but she thought that she could do it when her passion +ran high. + +Then for the twentieth time she asked herself whether it would not +be easier to turn it against her own bosom,--against her own brain; +so that all might be over at once. Ah, yes;--so much easier! But how +then would it be with this man who had driven her, by his subtle +courage and persistent audacity, to utter destruction? Could he and +she be made to go down together in that boat which her fancy had +built for them, then indeed it might be well that she should seek her +own death. But were she now to destroy herself,--herself and only +herself,--then would her enemy be left to enjoy his rich prize, a +prize only the richer because she would have disappeared from the +world! And of her, if such had been her last deed, men would only +say that the mad Countess had gone on in her madness. With looks of +sad solemnity, but heartfelt satisfaction, all the Lovels, and that +wretched tailor, and her own daughter, would bestow some mock grief +on her funeral, and there would be an end for ever of Josephine +Countess Lovel,--and no one would remember her, or her deeds, or her +sufferings. When she wandered out from the house on that morning, +after hearing that Daniel Thwaite would be there at one, and had +walked nearly into the mid city so that she might not be watched, +and had bought her pistol and powder and bullets, and had then with +patience gone to work and taught herself how to prepare the weapon +for use, she certainly had not intended simply to make the triumph of +her enemy more easy. + +And yet she knew well what was the penalty of murder, and she knew +also that there could be no chance of escape. Very often had she +turned it in her mind, whether she could not destroy the man so that +the hand of the destroyer might be hidden. But it could not be so. +She could not dog him in the streets. She could not get at him in his +meals to poison him. She could not creep to his bedside and strangle +him in the silent watches of the night. And this woman's heart, even +while from day to day she was meditating murder,--while she was +telling herself that it would be a worthy deed to cut off from life +one whose life was a bar to her own success,--even then revolted from +the shrinking stealthy step, from the low cowardice of the hidden +murderer. To look him in the face and then to slay him,--when no +escape for herself would be possible, that would have in it something +that was almost noble; something at any rate bold,--something that +would not shame her. They would hang her for such a deed! Let them +do so. It was not hanging that she feared, but the tongues of those +who should speak of her when she was gone. They should not speak of +her as one who had utterly failed. They should tell of a woman who, +cruelly misused throughout her life, maligned, scorned, and tortured, +robbed of her own, neglected by her kindred, deserted and damned by +her husband, had still struggled through it all till she had proved +herself to be that which it was her right to call herself;--of +a woman who, though thwarted in her ambition by her own child, +and cheated of her triumph at the very moment of her success, had +dared rather to face an ignominious death than see all her efforts +frustrated by the maudlin fancy of a girl. Yes! She would face it +all. Let them do what they would with her. She hardly knew what might +be the mode of death adjudged to a Countess who had murdered. Let +them kill her as they would, they would kill a Countess;--and the +whole world would know her story. + +That day and night were very dreadful to her. She never asked a +question about her daughter. They had brought her food to her in that +lonely parlour, and she hardly heeded them as they laid the things +before her, and then removed them. Again and again did she unlock the +old desk, and see that the weapon was ready to her hand. Then she +opened that letter to Sir William Patterson, and added a postscript +to it. "What I have since done will explain everything." That was +all she added, and on the following morning, about noon, she put the +letter on the mantelshelf. Late at night she took herself to bed, +and was surprised to find that she slept. The key of the old desk +was under her pillow, and she placed her hand on it the moment that +she awoke. On leaving her own room she stood for a moment at her +daughter's door. It might be, if she killed the man, that she would +never see her child again. At that moment she was tempted to rush +into her daughter's room, to throw herself upon her daughter's bed, +and once again to beg for mercy and grace. She listened, and she knew +that her daughter slept. Then she went silently down to the dark +room and the old desk. Of what use would it be to abase herself? Her +daughter was the only thing that she could love; but her daughter's +heart was filled with the image of that low-born artisan. + +"Is Lady Anna up?" she asked the maid about ten o'clock. + +"Yes, my lady; she is breakfasting now." + +"Tell her that when--when Mr. Thwaite comes, I will send for her as +soon as I wish to see her." + +"I think Lady Anna understands that already, my lady." + +"Tell her what I say." + +"Yes, my lady. I will, my lady." Then the Countess spoke no further +word till, punctually at one o'clock, Daniel Thwaite was shown into +the room. "You keep your time, Mr. Thwaite," she said. + +"Working men should always do that, Lady Lovel," he replied, as +though anxious to irritate her by reminding her how humble was the +man who could aspire to be the son-in-law of a Countess. + +"All men should do so, I presume. I also am punctual. Well sir;--have +you anything else to say?" + +"Much to say,--to your daughter, Lady Lovel." + +"I do not know that you will ever see my daughter again." + +"Do you mean to say that she has been taken away from this?" The +Countess was silent, but moved away from the spot on which she stood +to receive him towards the old desk, which stood open,--with the +door of the centre space just ajar. "If it be so, you have deceived +me most grossly, Lady Lovel. But it can avail you nothing, for I +know that she will be true to me. Do you tell me that she has been +removed?" + +"I have told you no such thing." + +"Bid her come then,--as you promised me." + +"I have a word to say to you first. What if she should refuse to +come?" + +"I do not believe that she will refuse. You yourself heard what she +said yesterday. All earth and all heaven should not make me doubt +her, and certainly not your word, Lady Lovel. You know how it is, and +you know how it must be." + +"Yes,--I do; I do; I do." She was facing him with her back to the +window, and she put forth her left hand upon the open desk, and +thrust it forward as though to open the square door which stood +ajar;--but he did not notice her hand; he had his eye fixed upon her, +and suspected only deceit,--not violence. "Yes, I know how it must +be," she said, while her fingers approached nearer to the little +door. + +"Then let her come to me." + +"Will nothing turn you from it?" + +"Nothing will turn me from it." + +Then suddenly she withdrew her hand and confronted him more closely. +"Mine has been a hard life, Mr. Thwaite;--no life could have been +harder. But I have always had something before me for which to long, +and for which to hope;--something which I might reach if justice +should at length prevail." + +"You have got money and rank." + +"They are nothing--nothing. In all those many years, the thing that I +have looked for has been the splendour and glory of another, and the +satisfaction I might feel in having bestowed upon her all that she +owned. Do you think that I will stand by, after such a struggle, +and see you rob me of it all,--you,--you, who were one of the tools +which came to my hand to work with? From what you know of me, do you +think that my spirit could stoop so low? Answer me, if you have ever +thought of that. Let the eagles alone, and do not force yourself into +our nest. You will find, if you do, that you will be rent to pieces." + +"This is nothing, Lady Lovel. I came here,--at your bidding, to see +your daughter. Let me see her." + +"You will not go?" + +"Certainly I will not go." + +She looked at him as she slowly receded to her former +standing-ground, but he never for a moment suspected the nature of +her purpose. He began to think that some actual insanity had befallen +her, and was doubtful how he should act. But no fear of personal +violence affected him. He was merely questioning with himself whether +it would not be well for him to walk up-stairs into the upper room, +and seek Lady Anna there, as he stood watching the motion of her +eyes. + +"You had better go," said she, as she again put her left hand on the +flat board of the open desk. + +"You trifle with me, Lady Lovel," he answered. "As you will not allow +Lady Anna to come to me here, I will go to her elsewhere. I do not +doubt but that I shall find her in the house." Then he turned to +the door, intending to leave the room. He had been very near to her +while they were talking, so that he had some paces to traverse before +he could put his hand upon the lock,--but in doing so his back was +turned on her. In one respect it was better for her purpose that it +should be so. She could open the door of the compartment and put her +hand upon the pistol without having his eye upon her. But, as it +seemed to her at the moment, the chance of bringing her purpose to +its intended conclusion was less than it would have been had she been +able to fire at his face. She had let the moment go by,--the first +moment,--when he was close to her, and now there would be half the +room between them. But she was very quick. She seized the pistol, +and, transferring it to her right hand, she rushed after him, and +when the door was already half open she pulled the trigger. In the +agony of that moment she heard no sound, though she saw the flash. +She saw him shrink and pass the door, which he left unclosed, and +then she heard a scuffle in the passage, as though he had fallen +against the wall. She had provided herself especially with a second +barrel,--but that was now absolutely useless to her. There was no +power left to her wherewith to follow him and complete the work which +she had begun. She did not think that she had killed him, though +she was sure that he was struck. She did not believe that she had +accomplished anything of her wishes,--but had she held in her hand a +six-barrelled revolver, as of the present day, she could have done no +more with it. She was overwhelmed with so great a tremor at her own +violence that she was almost incapable of moving. She stood glaring +at the door, listening for what should come, and the moments seemed +to be hours. But she heard no sound whatever. A minute passed away +perhaps, and the man did not move. She looked around as if seeking +some way of escape,--as though, were it possible, she would get to +the street through the window. There was no mode of escape, unless +she would pass out through the door to the man who, as she knew, must +still be there. Then she heard him move. She heard him rise,--from +what posture she knew not, and step towards the stairs. She was still +standing with the pistol in her hand, but was almost unconscious that +she held it. At last her eye glanced upon it, and she was aware that +she was still armed. Should she rush after him, and try what she +could do with that other bullet? The thought crossed her mind, but +she knew that she could do nothing. Had all the Lovels depended upon +it, she could not have drawn that other trigger. She took the pistol, +put it back into its former hiding-place, mechanically locked the +little door, and then seated herself in her chair. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US. + + +The tailor's hand was on the lock of the door when he first saw the +flash of the fire, and then felt that he was wounded. Though his back +was turned to the woman he distinctly saw the flash, but he never +could remember that he had heard the report. He knew nothing of the +nature of the injury he had received, and was hardly aware of the +place in which he had been struck, when he half closed the door +behind him and then staggered against the opposite wall. For a moment +he was sick, almost to fainting, but yet he did not believe that he +had been grievously hurt. He was, however, disabled, weak, and almost +incapable of any action. He seated himself on the lowest stair, and +began to think. The woman had intended to murder him! She had lured +him there with the premeditated intention of destroying him! And this +was the mother of his bride,--the woman whom he intended to call his +mother-in-law! He was not dead, nor did he believe that he was like +to die; but had she killed him,--what must have been the fate of the +murderess! As it was, would it not be necessary that she should be +handed over to the law, and dealt with for the offence? He did not +know that they might not even hang her for the attempt. + +He said afterwards that he thought that he sat there for a quarter of +an hour. Three minutes, however, had not passed before Mrs. Richards, +ascending from the kitchen, found him upon the stairs. "What is it, +Mr. Thwaite?" said she. + +"Is anything the matter?" he asked with a faint smile. + +"The place is full of smoke," she said, "and there is a smell of +gunpowder." + +"There is no harm done at any rate," he answered. + +"I thought I heard a something go off," said Sarah, who was behind +Mrs. Richards. + +"Did you?" said he. "I heard nothing; but there certainly is a +smoke," and he still smiled. + +"What are you sitting there for, Mr. Thwaite?" asked Mrs. Richards. + +"You ain't no business to sit there, Mr. Thwaite," said Sarah. + +"You've been and done something to the Countess," said Mrs. Richards. + +"The Countess is all right. I'm going up-stairs to see Lady +Anna;--that's all. But I've hurt myself a little. I'm bad in my left +shoulder, and I sat down just to get a rest." As he spoke he was +still smiling. + +Then the woman looked at him and saw that he was very pale. At that +instant he was in great pain, though he felt that as the sense of +intense sickness was leaving him he would be able to go up-stairs and +say a word or two to his sweetheart, should he find her. "You ain't +just as you ought to be, Mr. Thwaite," said Mrs. Richards. He was +very haggard, and perspiration was on his brow, and she thought that +he had been drinking. + +"I am well enough," said he rising,--"only that I am much troubled by +a hurt in my arm. At any rate I will go up-stairs." Then he mounted +slowly, leaving the two women standing in the passage. + +Mrs. Richards gently opened the parlour door, and entered the room, +which was still reeking with smoke and the smell of the powder, and +there she found the Countess seated at the old desk, but with her +body and face turned round towards the door. "Is anything the matter, +my lady?" asked the woman. + +"Where has he gone?" + +"Mr. Thwaite has just stepped up-stairs,--this moment. He was very +queer like, my lady." + +"Is he hurt?" + +"We think he's been drinking, my lady," said Sarah. + +"He says that his shoulder is ever so bad," said Mrs. Richards. + +Then for the first time it occurred to the Countess that perhaps the +deed which she had done,--the attempt in which she had failed,--might +never be known. Instinctively she had hidden the pistol and had +locked the little door, and concealed the key within her bosom as +soon as she was alone. Then she thought that she would open the +window; but she had been afraid to move, and she had sat there +waiting while she heard the sound of voices in the passage. "Oh,--his +shoulder!" said she. "No,--he has not been drinking. He never drinks. +He has been very violent, but he never drinks. Well,--why do you +wait?" + +"There is such a smell of something," said Mrs. Richards. + +"Yes;--you had better open the windows. There was an accident. Thank +you;--that will do." + +"And is he to be alone,--with Lady Anna, up-stairs?" asked the maid. + +"He is to be alone with her. How can I help it? If she chooses to be +a scullion she must follow her bent. I have done all I could. Why do +you wait? I tell you that he is to be with her. Go away, and leave +me." Then they went and left her, wondering much, but guessing +nothing of the truth. She watched them till they had closed the door, +and then instantly opened the other window wide. It was now May, but +the weather was still cold. There had been rain the night before, and +it had been showery all the morning. She had come in from her walk +damp and chilled, and there was a fire in the grate. But she cared +nothing for the weather. Looking round the room she saw a morsel +of wadding near the floor, and she instantly burned it. She longed +to look at the pistol, but she did not dare to take it from its +hiding-place lest she should be discovered in the act. Every energy +of her mind was now strained to the effort of avoiding detection. +Should he choose to tell what had been done, then, indeed, all would +be over. But had he not resolved to be silent he would hardly have +borne the agony of the wound and gone up-stairs without speaking +of it. She almost forgot now the misery of the last year in the +intensity of her desire to escape the disgrace of punishment. A +sudden nervousness, a desire to do something by which she might help +to preserve herself, seized upon her. But there was nothing which she +could do. She could not follow him lest he should accuse her to her +face. It would be vain for her to leave the house till he should have +gone. Should she do so, she knew that she would not dare return to +it. So she sat, thinking, dreaming, plotting, crushed by an agony of +fear, looking anxiously at the door, listening for every footfall +within the house; and she watched too for the well-known click of +the area gate, dreading lest any one should go out to seek the +intervention of the constables. + +In the meantime Daniel Thwaite had gone up-stairs, and had knocked at +the drawing-room door. It was instantly opened by Lady Anna herself. +"I heard you come;--what a time you have been here!--I thought that +I should never see you." As she spoke she stood close to him that he +might embrace her. But the pain of his wound affected his whole body, +and he felt that he could hardly raise even his right arm. He was +aware now that the bullet had entered his back, somewhere on his left +shoulder. "Oh, Daniel;--are you ill?" she said, looking at him. + +"Yes, dear;--I am ill;--not very ill. Did you hear nothing?" + +"No!" + +"Nor yet see anything?" + +"No!" + +"I will tell you all another time;--only do not ask me now." She had +seated herself beside him and wound her arm round his back as though +to support him. "You must not touch me, dearest." + +"You have been hurt." + +"Yes;--I have been hurt. I am in pain, though I do not think that it +signifies. I had better go to a surgeon, and then you shall hear from +me." + +"Tell me, Daniel;--what is it, Daniel?" + +"I will tell you,--but not now. You shall know all, but I +should do harm were I to say it now. Say not a word to any one, +sweetheart,--unless your mother ask you." + +"What shall I tell her?" + +"That I am hurt,--but not seriously hurt;--and that the less said +the sooner mended. Tell her also that I shall expect no further +interruption to my letters when I write to you,--or to my visits when +I can come. God bless you, dearest;--one kiss, and now I will go." + +"You will send for me if you are ill, Daniel?" + +"If I am really ill, I will send for you." So saying, he left her, +went down-stairs, with great difficulty opened for himself the front +door, and departed. + +Lady Anna, though she had been told nothing of what had happened, +except that her lover was hurt, at once surmised something of what +had been done. Daniel Thwaite had suffered some hurt from her +mother's wrath. She sat for a while thinking what it might have been. +She had seen no sign of blood. Could it be that her mother had struck +him in her anger with some chance weapon that had come to hand? That +there had been violence she was sure,--and sure also that her mother +had been in fault. When Daniel had been some few minutes gone she +went down, that she might deliver his message. At the foot of the +stairs, and near the door of the parlour, she met Mrs. Richards. "I +suppose the young man has gone, my lady?" asked the woman. + +"Mr. Thwaite has gone." + +"And I make so bold, my lady, as to say that he ought not to come +here. There has been a doing of some kind, but I don't know what. He +says as how he's been hurt, and I'm sure I don't know how he should +be hurt here,--unless he brought it with him. I never had nothing of +the kind here before, long as I've been here. Of course your title +and that is all right, my lady; but the young man isn't fit;--that's +the truth of it. My belief is he'd been a drinking; and I won't have +it in my house." + +Lady Anna passed by her without a word and went into her mother's +room. The Countess was still seated in her chair, and neither rose +nor spoke when her daughter entered. "Mamma, Mr. Thwaite is hurt." + +"Well;--what of it? Is it much that ails him?" + +"He is in pain. What has been done, mamma?" The Countess looked at +her, striving to learn from the girl's face and manner what had been +told and what concealed. "Did you--strike him?" + +"Has he said that I struck him?" + +"No, mamma;--but something has been done that should not have been +done. I know it. He has sent you a message, mamma." + +"What was it?" asked the Countess, in a hoarse voice. + +"That he was hurt, but not seriously." + +"Oh;--he said that." + +"I fear he is hurt seriously." + +"But he said that he was not?" + +"Yes;--and that the less said the sooner mended." + +"Did he say that too?" + +"That was his message." + +The Countess gave a long sigh, then sobbed, and at last broke out +into hysteric tears. It was evident to her now that the man was +sparing her,--was endeavouring to spare her. He had told no one as +yet. "The least said the soonest mended." Oh yes;--if he would say +never a word to any one of what had occurred between them that day, +that would be best for her. But how could he not tell? When some +doctor should ask him how he had come by that wound, surely he would +tell then! It could not be possible that such a deed should have been +done there, in that little room, and that no one should know it! And +why should he not tell,--he who was her enemy? Had she caught him at +advantage, would she not have smote him, hip and thigh? And then she +reflected what it would be to owe perhaps her life to the mercy of +Daniel Thwaite,--to the mercy of her enemy, of him who knew,--if no +one else should know,--that she had attempted to murder him. It would +be better for her, should she be spared to do so, to go away to some +distant land, where she might hide her head for ever. + +"May I go to him, mamma, to see him?" Lady Anna asked. The Countess, +full of her own thoughts, sat silent, answering not a word. "I know +where he lives, mamma, and I fear that he is much hurt." + +"He will not--die," muttered the Countess. + +"God forbid that he should die;--but I will go to him." Then she +returned up-stairs without a word of opposition from her mother, put +on her bonnet, and sallied forth. No one stopped her or said a word +to her now, and she seemed to herself to be as free as air. She +walked up to the corner of Gower Street, and turned down into Bedford +Square, passing the house of the Serjeant. Then she asked her way +into Great Russell Street, which she found to be hardly more than a +stone's throw from the Serjeant's door, and soon found the number at +which her lover lived. No;--Mr. Thwaite was not at home. Yes;--she +might wait for him;--but he had no room but his bedroom. Then she +became very bold. "I am engaged to be his wife," she said. "Are +you the Lady Anna?" asked the woman, who had heard the story. Then +she was received with great distinction, and invited to sit down +in a parlour on the ground-floor. There she sat for three hours, +motionless, alone,--waiting,--waiting,--waiting. When it was quite +dark, at about six o'clock, Daniel Thwaite entered the room with his +left arm bound up. "My girl!" he said, with so much joy in his tone +that she could not but rejoice to hear him. "So you have found me +out, and have come to me!" + +"Yes, I have come. Tell me what it is. I know that you are hurt." + +"I have been hurt certainly. The doctor wanted me to go into a +hospital, but I trust that I may escape that. But I must take care of +myself. I had to come back here in a coach, because the man told me +not to walk." + +"How was it, Daniel? Oh, Daniel, you will tell me everything?" + +Then she sat beside him as he lay upon the couch, and listened to him +while he told her the whole story. He hid nothing from her, but as he +went on he made her understand that it was his intention to conceal +the whole deed, to say nothing of it, so that the perpetrator +should escape punishment, if it might be possible. She listened in +awe-struck silence as she heard the tale of her mother's guilt. And +he, with wonderful skill, with hearty love for the girl, and in true +mercy to her feelings, palliated the crime of the would-be murderess. +"She was beside herself with grief and emotion," he said, "and has +hardly surprised me by what she has done. Had I thought of it, I +should almost have expected it." + +"She may do it again, Daniel." + +"I think not. She will be cowed now, and quieter. She did not +interfere when you told her that you were coming to me? It will be +a lesson to her, and so it may be good for us." Then he bade her to +tell her mother that he, as far as he was concerned, would hold his +peace. If she would forget all past injuries, so would he. If she +would hold out her hand to him, he would take it. If she could not +bring herself to this,--could not bring herself as yet,--then let her +go apart. No notice should be taken of what she had done. "But she +must not again stand between us," he said. + +"Nothing shall stand between us," said Lady Anna. + +Then he told her, laughing as he did so, how hard it had been for +him to keep the story of his wound secret from the doctor, who had +already extracted the ball, and who was to visit him on the morrow. +The practitioner to whom he had gone, knowing nothing of gunshot +wounds, had taken him to a first-class surgeon, and the surgeon had +of course asked as to the cause of the wound. Daniel had said that it +was an accident as to which he could not explain the cause. "You mean +you will not tell," said the surgeon. "Exactly so. I will not tell. +It is my secret. That I did not do it myself you may judge from the +spot in which I was shot." To this the surgeon assented; and, though +he pressed the question, and said something as to the necessity for +an investigation, he could get no satisfaction. However, he had +learned Daniel's name and address. He was to call on the morrow, and +would then perhaps succeed in learning something of the mystery. "In +the meantime, my darling, I must go to bed, for it seems as though +every bone in my body was sore. I have brought an old woman with me +who is to look after me." + +Then she left him, promising that she would come on the morrow and +would nurse him. "Unless they lock me up, I will be here," she said. +Daniel Thwaite thought that in the present circumstances no further +attempt would be made to constrain her actions. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE LAWYERS AGREE. + + +When a month had passed by a great many people knew how Mr. Daniel +Thwaite had come by the wound in his back, but nobody knew it +"officially." There is a wide difference in the qualities of +knowledge regarding such matters. In affairs of public interest we +often know, or fancy that we know, down to every exact detail, how a +thing has been done,--who have given the bribes and who have taken +them,--who has told the lie and who has pretended to believe it,--who +has peculated and how the public purse has suffered,--who was in +love with such a one's wife and how the matter was detected, then +smothered up, and condoned; but there is no official knowledge, and +nothing can be done. The tailor and the Earl, the Countess and her +daughter, had become public property since the great trial had been +commenced, and many eyes were on them. Before a week had gone by it +was known in every club and in every great drawing-room that the +tailor had been shot in the shoulder,--and it was almost known that +the pistol had been fired by the hands of the Countess. The very +eminent surgeon into whose hands Daniel had luckily fallen did not +press his questions very far when his patient told him that it would +be for the welfare of many people that nothing further should be +asked on the matter. "An accident has occurred," said Daniel, "as to +which I do not intend to say anything further. I can assure you that +no injury has been done beyond that which I suffer." The eminent +surgeon no doubt spoke of the matter among his friends, but he always +declared that he had no certain knowledge as to the hand which fired +the pistol. + +The women in Keppel Street of course talked. There had certainly been +a smoke and a smell of gunpowder. Mrs. Richards had heard nothing. +Sarah thought that she had heard a noise. They both were sure that +Daniel Thwaite had been much the worse for drink,--a statement which +led to considerable confusion. No pistol was ever seen,--though +the weapon remained in the old desk for some days, and was at last +conveyed out of the house when the Countess left it with all her +belongings. She had been afraid to hide it more stealthily or even +throw it away, lest her doing so should be discovered. Had the law +interfered,--had any search-warrant been granted,--the pistol would, +of course, have been found. As it was, no one asked the Countess a +question on the subject. The lawyers who had been her friends, and +had endeavoured to guide her through her difficulties, became afraid +of her, and kept aloof from her. They had all gone over to the +opinion that Lady Anna should be allowed to marry the tailor, and had +on that account become her enemies. She was completely isolated, and +was now spoken of mysteriously,--as a woman who had suffered much, +and was nearly mad with grief, as a violent, determined, dangerous +being, who was interesting as a subject for conversation, but one not +at all desirable as an acquaintance. During the whole of this month +the Countess remained in Keppel Street, and was hardly ever seen by +any but the inmates of that house. + +Lady Anna had returned home all alone, on the evening of the day on +which the deed had been done, after leaving her lover in the hands +of the old nurse with whose services he had been furnished. The rain +was still falling as she came through Russell Square. The distance +was indeed short, but she was wet and cold and draggled when she +returned; and the criminality of the deed which her mother had +committed had come fully home to her mind during the short journey. +The door was opened to her by Mrs. Richards, and she at once asked +for the Countess. "Lady Anna, where have you been?" asked Mrs. +Richards, who was learning to take upon herself, during these +troubles, something of the privilege of finding fault. But Lady +Anna put her aside without a word, and went into the parlour. There +sat the Countess just as she had been left,--except that a pair of +candles stood upon the table, and that the tea-things had been laid +there. "You are all wet," she said. "Where have you been?" + +"He has told me all," the girl replied, without answering the +question. "Oh, mamma;--how could you do it?" + +"Who has driven me to it? It has been you,--you, you. Well;--what +else?" + +"Mamma, he has forgiven you." + +"Forgiven me! I will not have his forgiveness." + +"Oh, mamma;--if I forgive you, will you not be friends with us?" She +stooped over her mother, and kissed her, and then went on and told +what she had to tell. She stood and told it all in a low voice, so +that no ear but that of her mother should hear her,--how the ball had +hit him, how it had been extracted, how nothing had been and nothing +should be told, how Daniel would forgive it all and be her friend, +if she would let him. "But, mamma, I hope you will be sorry." The +Countess sat silent, moody, grim, with her eyes fixed on the table. +She would say nothing. "And, mamma,--I must go to him every day,--to +do things for him and to help to nurse him. Of course he will be my +husband now." Still the Countess said not a word, either of approval +or of dissent. Lady Anna sat down for a moment or two, hoping that +her mother would allow her to eat and drink in the room, and that +thus they might again begin to live together. But not a word was +spoken nor a motion made, and the silence became awful, so that the +girl did not dare to keep her seat. "Shall I go, mamma?" she said. + +"Yes;--you had better go." After that they did not see each other +again on that evening, and during the week or ten days following they +lived apart. + +On the following morning, after an early breakfast, Lady Anna went to +Great Russell Street, and there she remained the greater part of the +day. The people of the house understood that the couple were to be +married as soon as their lodger should be well, and had heard much of +the magnificence of the marriage. They were kind and good, and the +tailor declared very often that this was the happiest period of his +existence. Of all the good turns ever done to him, he said, the wound +in his back had been the best. As his sweetheart sat by his bedside +they planned their future life. They would still go to the distant +land on which his heart was set, though it might be only for awhile; +and she, with playfulness, declared that she would go there as Mrs. +Thwaite. "I suppose they can't prevent me calling myself Mrs. +Thwaite, if I please." + +"I am not so sure of that," said the tailor. "Evil burs stick fast." + +It would be vain now to tell of all the sweet lovers' words that were +spoken between them during those long hours;--but the man believed +that no girl had ever been so true to her lover through so many +difficulties as Lady Anna had been to him, and she was sure that she +had never varied in her wish to become the wife of the man who had +first asked her for her love. She thought much and she thought often +of the young lord; but she took the impress of her lover's mind, and +learned to regard her cousin, the Earl, as an idle, pretty popinjay, +born to eat, to drink, and to carry sweet perfumes. "Just a +butterfly," said the tailor. + +"One of the brightest butterflies," said the girl. + +"A woman should not be a butterfly,--not altogether a butterfly," he +answered. "But for a man it is surely a contemptible part. Do you +remember the young man who comes to Hotspur on the battlefield, or +him whom the king sent to Hamlet about the wager? When I saw Lord +Lovel at his breakfast table, I thought of them. I said to myself +that spermaceti was the 'sovereignest thing on earth for an inward +wound,' and I told myself that he was of 'very soft society, and +great showing.'" She smiled, though she did not know the words he +quoted, and assured him that her poor cousin Lord Lovel would not +trouble him much in the days that were to come. "He will not trouble +me at all, but as he is your cousin I would fain that he could be a +man. He had a sort of gown on which would have made a grand frock for +you, sweetheart;--only too smart I fear for my wife." She laughed +and was pleased,--and remembered without a shade either of regret +or remorse the manner in which the popinjay had helped her over the +stepping-stones at Bolton Abbey. + +But the tailor, though he thus scorned the lord, was quite willing +that a share of the property should be given up to him. "Unless you +did, how on earth could he wear such grand gowns as that? I can +understand that he wants it more than I do, and if there are to be +earls, I suppose they should be rich. We do not want it, my girl." + +"You will have half, Daniel," she said. + +"As far as that goes, I do not want a doit of it,--not a penny-piece. +When they paid me what became my own by my father's will, I was rich +enough,--rich enough for you and me too, my girl, if that was all. +But it is better that it should be divided. If he had it all he +would buy too many gowns; and it may be that with us some good will +come of it. As far as I can see, no good comes of money spent on +race-courses, and in gorgeous gowns." + +This went on from day to day throughout a month, and every day Lady +Anna took her place with her lover. After a while her mother came up +into the drawing-room in Keppel Street, and then the two ladies again +lived together. Little or nothing, however, was said between them +as to their future lives. The Countess was quiet, sullen,--and to a +bystander would have appeared to be indifferent. She had been utterly +vanquished by the awe inspired by her own deed, and by the fear which +had lasted for some days that she might be dragged to trial for the +offence. As that dread subsided she was unable to recover her former +spirits. She spoke no more of what she had done and what she had +suffered, but seemed to submit to the inevitable. She said nothing of +any future life that might be in store for her, and, as far as her +daughter could perceive, had no plans formed for the coming time. At +last Lady Anna found it necessary to speak of her own plans. "Mamma," +she said, "Mr. Thwaite wishes that banns should be read in church for +our marriage." + +"Banns!" exclaimed the Countess. + +"Yes, mamma; he thinks it best." The Countess made no further +observation. If the thing was to be, it mattered little to her +whether they were to be married by banns or by licence,--whether her +girl should walk down to church like a maid-servant, or be married +with all the pomp and magnificence to which her rank and wealth might +entitle her. How could there be splendour, how even decency, in such +a marriage as this? She at any rate would not be present, let them be +married in what way they would. On the fourth Sunday after the shot +had been fired the banns were read for the first time in Bloomsbury +Church, and the future bride was described as Anna Lovel,--commonly +called Lady Anna Lovel,--spinster. Neither on that occasion, or on +either of the two further callings, did any one get up in church to +declare that impediment existed why Daniel Thwaite the tailor and +Lady Anna Lovel should not be joined together in holy matrimony. + +In the mean time the lawyers had been at work dividing the property, +and in the process of doing so it had been necessary that Mr. Goffe +should have various interviews with the Countess. She also, as the +undisputed widow of the late intestate Earl, was now a very rich +woman, with an immense income at her control. But no one wanted +assistance from her. There was her revenue, and she was doomed to +live apart with it in her solitude,--with no fellow-creature to +rejoice with her in her triumph, with no dependant whom she could +make happy with her wealth. She was a woman with many faults,--but +covetousness was not one of them. If she could have given it all +to the young Earl,--and her daughter with it, she would have been +a happy woman. Had she been permitted to dream that it was all so +settled that her grandchild would become of all Earl Lovels the most +wealthy and most splendid, she would have triumphed indeed. But, as +it was, there was no spot in her future career brighter to her than +those long years of suffering which she had passed in the hope that +some day her child might be successful. Triumph indeed! There was +nothing before her but solitude and shame. + +Nevertheless she listened to Mr. Goffe, and signed the papers that +were put before her. When, however, he spoke to her of what was +necessary for the marriage,--as to the settlement, which must, Mr. +Goffe said, be made as to the remaining moiety of her daughter's +property,--she answered curtly that she knew nothing of that. Her +daughter's affairs were no concern of hers. She had, indeed, worked +hard to establish her daughter's rights, but her daughter was now of +age, and could do as she pleased with her own. She would not even +remain in the room while the matter was being discussed. "Lady Anna +and I have separate interests," she said haughtily. + +Lady Anna herself simply declared that half of her estate should be +made over to her cousin, and that the other half should go to her +husband. But the attorney was not satisfied to take instructions on +a matter of such moment from one so young. As to all that was to +appertain to the Earl, the matter was settled. The Solicitor-General +and Serjeant Bluestone had acceded to the arrangement, and the +Countess herself had given her assent before she had utterly +separated her own interests from those of her daughter. In regard +to so much, Mr. Goffe could go to work in conjunction with Mr. +Flick without a scruple; but as to that other matter there must be +consultations, conferences, and solemn debate. The young lady, no +doubt, might do as she pleased; but lawyers can be very powerful. Sir +William was asked for his opinion, and suggested that Daniel Thwaite +himself should be invited to attend at Mr. Goffe's chambers, as soon +as his wound would allow him to do so. Daniel, who did not care for +his wound so much as he should have done, was with Mr. Goffe on the +following morning, and heard a lengthy explanation from the attorney. +The Solicitor-General had been consulted;--this Mr. Goffe said, +feeling that a tailor would not have a word to say against so high +an authority;--the Solicitor-General had been consulted, and was of +opinion that Lady Anna's interests should be guarded with great care. +A very large property, he might say a splendid estate, was concerned. +Mr. Thwaite of course understood that the family had been averse +to this marriage,--naturally very averse. Now, however, they were +prepared to yield. + +The tailor interrupted the attorney at this period of his speech. "We +don't want anybody to yield, Mr. Goffe. We are going to do what we +please, and don't know anything about yielding." + +Mr. Goffe remarked that all that might be very well, but that, as so +large a property was at stake, the friends of the lady, according to +all usage, were bound to interfere. A settlement had already been +made in regard to the Earl. + +"You mean, Mr. Goffe, that Lady Anna has given her cousin half her +money?" + +The attorney went on to say that Mr. Thwaite might put it in that +way if he pleased. The deeds had already been executed. With regard +to the other moiety Mr. Thwaite would no doubt not object to a +trust-deed, by which it should be arranged that the money should be +invested in land, the interest to be appropriated to the use of Lady +Anna, and the property be settled on the eldest son. Mr. Thwaite +would, of course, have the advantage of the income during his wife's +life. The attorney, in explaining all this, made an exceedingly good +legal exposition, and then waited for the tailor's assent. + +"Are those Lady Anna's instructions?" + +Mr. Goffe replied that the proposal was made in accordance with the +advice of the Solicitor-General. + +"I'll have nothing to do with such a settlement," said the tailor. +"Lady Anna has given away half her money, and may give away the +whole if she pleases. She will be the same to me whether she comes +full-handed or empty. But when she is my wife her property shall be +my property,--and when I die there shall be no such abomination as an +eldest son." Mr. Goffe was persuasive, eloquent, indignant, and very +wise. All experience, all usage, all justice, all tradition, required +that there should be some such settlement as he had suggested. But it +was in vain. "I don't want my wife to have anything of her own before +marriage," said he; "but she certainly shall have nothing after +marriage,--independent of me." For a man with sound views of domestic +power and marital rights always choose a Radical! In this case there +was no staying him. The girl was all on his side, and Mr. Goffe, with +infinite grief, was obliged to content himself with binding up a +certain portion of the property to make an income for the widow, +should the tailor die before his wife. And thus the tailor's marriage +received the sanction of all the lawyers. + +A day or two after this Daniel Thwaite called upon the Countess. +It was now arranged that they should be married early in July, and +questions had arisen as to the manner of the ceremony. Who should +give away the bride? Of what nature should the marriage be? Should +there be any festival? Should there be bridesmaids? Where should they +go when they were married? What dresses should be bought? After what +fashion should they be prepared to live? Those, and questions of a +like nature, required to be answered, and Lady Anna felt that these +matters should not be fixed without some reference to her mother. +It had been her most heartfelt desire to reconcile the Countess to +the marriage,--to obtain, at any rate, so much recognition as would +enable her mother to be present in the church. But the Countess had +altogether refused to speak on the subject, and had remained silent, +gloomy, and impenetrable. Then Daniel had himself proposed that he +would see her, and on a certain morning he called. He sent up his +name, with his compliments, and the Countess allowed him to be shown +into her room. Lady Anna had begged that it might be so, and she had +yielded,--yielded without positive assent, as she had now done in +all matters relating to this disastrous marriage. On that morning, +however, she had spoken a word. "If Mr. Thwaite chooses to see me, I +must be alone." And she was alone when the tailor was shown into the +room. Up to that day he had worn his arm in a sling,--and should then +have continued to do so; but, on this visit of peace to her who had +attempted to be his murderer, he put aside this outward sign of the +injury she had inflicted on him. He smiled as he entered the room, +and she rose to receive him. She was no longer a young woman;--and no +woman of her age or of any other had gone through rougher usage;--but +she could not keep the blood out of her cheeks as her eyes met +his, nor could she summon to her support that hard persistency of +outward demeanour with which she had intended to arm herself for the +occasion. "So you have come to see me, Mr. Thwaite?" she said. + +"I have come, Lady Lovel, to shake hands with you, if it may be so, +before my marriage with your daughter. It is her wish that we should +be friends,--and mine also." So saying, he put out his hand, and the +Countess slowly gave him hers. "I hope the time may come, Lady Lovel, +when all animosity may be forgotten between you and me, and nothing +be borne in mind but the old friendship of former years." + +"I do not know that that can be," she said. + +"I hope it may be so. Time cures all things,--and I hope it may be +so." + +"There are sorrows, Mr. Thwaite, which no time can cure. You have +triumphed, and can look forward to the pleasures of success. I have +been foiled, and beaten, and broken to pieces. With me the last is +worse even than the first. I do not know that I can ever have another +friend. Your father was my friend." + +"And I would be so also." + +"You have been my enemy. All that he did to help me,--all that +others have done since to forward me on my way, has been brought +to nothing--by you! My joys have been turned to grief, my rank has +been made a disgrace, my wealth has become like ashes between my +teeth;--and it has been your doing. They tell me that you will be my +daughter's husband. I know that it must be so. But I do not see that +you can be my friend." + +"I had hoped to find you softer, Lady Lovel." + +"It is not my nature to be soft. All this has not tended to make me +soft. If my daughter will let me know from time to time that she is +alive, that is all that I shall require of her. As to her future +career, I cannot interest myself in it as I had hoped to do. +Good-bye, Mr. Thwaite. You need fear no further interference from +me." + +So the interview was over, and not a word had been said about the +attempt at murder. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +HARD LINES. + + +At the time that the murder was attempted Lord Lovel was in +London,--and had seen Daniel Thwaite on that morning; but before any +confirmed rumour had reached his ears he had left London again on his +road to Yoxham. He knew now that he would be endowed with something +like ten thousand a year out of the wealth of the late Earl, but +that he would not have the hand of his fair cousin, the late Earl's +daughter. Perhaps it was as well as it was. The girl had never loved +him, and he could now choose for himself;--and need not choose till +it should be his pleasure to settle himself as a married man. After +all, his marriage with Lady Anna would have been a constrained +marriage,--a marriage which he would have accepted as the means of +making his fortune. The girl certainly had pleased him;--but it +might be that a girl who preferred a tailor would not have continued +to please him. At any rate he could not be unhappy with his +newly-acquired fortune, and he went down to Yoxham to receive the +congratulation of his friends, thinking that it would become him now +to make some exertion towards reconciling his uncle and aunt to the +coming marriage. + +"Have you heard anything about Mr. Thwaite?" Mr. Flick said to him +the day before he started. The Earl had heard nothing. "They say that +he has been wounded by a pistol-ball." Lord Lovel stayed some days at +a friend's house on his road into Yorkshire, and when he reached the +rectory, the rector had received news from London. Mr. Thwaite the +tailor had been murdered, and it was surmised that the deed had been +done by the Countess. "I trust the papers were signed before you +left London," said the anxious rector. The documents making over +the property were all right, but the Earl would believe nothing of +the murder. Mr. Thwaite might have been wounded. He had heard so +much before,--but he was quite sure that it had not been done by the +Countess. On the following day further tidings came. Mr. Thwaite was +doing well, but everybody said that the attempt had been made by Lady +Lovel. Thus by degrees some idea of the facts as they had occurred +was received at the rectory. + +"You don't mean that you want us to have Mr. Thwaite here?" said the +rector, holding up his hands, upon hearing a proposition made to him +by his nephew a day or two later. + +"Why not, uncle Charles?" + +"I couldn't do it. I really don't think your aunt could bring herself +to sit down to table with him." + +"Aunt Jane?" + +"Yes, your aunt Jane,--or your aunt Julia either." Now a quieter lady +than aunt Jane, or one less likely to turn up her nose at any guest +whom her husband should choose to entertain, did not exist. + +"May I ask my aunts?" + +"What good can it do, Frederic?" + +"He's going to marry our cousin. He's not at all such a man as you +seem to think." + +"He has been a journeyman tailor all his life." + +"You'll find he'll make a very good sort of gentleman. Sir William +Patterson says that he'll be in Parliament before long." + +"Sir William! Sir William is always meddling. I have never thought +much about Sir William." + +"Come, uncle Charles,--you should be fair. If we had gone on +quarrelling and going to law, where should I have been now? I should +never have got a shilling out of the property. Everybody says so. No +doubt Sir William acted very wisely." + +"I am no lawyer. I can't say how it might have been. But I may have +my doubts if I like. I have always understood that Lady Lovel, as you +choose to call her, was never Lord Lovel's wife. For twenty years I +have been sure of it, and I can't change so quickly as some other +people." + +"She is Lady Lovel now. The King and Queen would receive her as such +if she went to Court. Her daughter is Lady Anna Lovel." + +"It may be so. It is possible." + +"If it be not so," said the young lord thumping the table, "where +have I got the money from?" This was an argument that the rector +could not answer;--so he merely shook his head. "I am bound to +acknowledge them after taking her money." + +"But not him. You haven't had any of his money. You needn't +acknowledge him." + +"We had better make the best of it, uncle Charles. He is going to +marry our cousin, and we should stand by her. Sir William very +strongly advises me to be present at the marriage, and to offer to +give her away." + +"The girl you were going to marry yourself!" + +"Or else that you should do it. That of course would be better." + +The rector of Yoxham groaned when the proposition was made to him. +What infinite vexation of spirit and degradation had come to him from +these spurious Lovels during the last twelve months! He had been made +to have the girl in his house and to give her precedence as Lady +Anna, though he did not believe in her; he had been constrained to +treat her as the desired bride of his august nephew the Earl,--till +she had refused the Earl's hand; after he had again repudiated her +and her mother because of her base attachment to a low-born artisan, +he had been made to re-accept her in spirit, because she had been +generous to his nephew;--and now he was asked to stand at the altar +and give her away to the tailor! And there could come to him neither +pleasure nor profit from the concern. All that he had endured he +had borne simply for the sake of his family and his nephew. "She is +degrading us all,--as far as she belongs to us," said the rector. "I +can't see why I should be asked to give her my countenance in doing +it." + +"Everybody says that it is very good of her to be true to the man she +loved when she was poor and in obscurity. Sir William says--" + +"---- Sir William!" muttered the rector between his teeth, as he +turned away in disgust. What had been the first word of that minatory +speech Lord Lovel did not clearly hear. He had been brought up as +a boy by his uncle, and had never known his uncle to offend by +swearing. No one in Yoxham would have believed it possible that the +parson of the parish should have done so. Mrs. Grimes would have +given evidence in any court in Yorkshire that it was absolutely +impossible. The archbishop would not have believed it though +his archdeacon had himself heard the word. All the man's known +antecedents since he had been at Yoxham were against the probability. +The entire close at York would have been indignant had such an +accusation been made. But his nephew in his heart of hearts believed +that the rector of Yoxham had damned the Solicitor-General. + +There was, however, more cause for malediction, and further +provocations to wrath, in store for the rector. The Earl had not as +yet opened all his budget, or let his uncle know the extent of the +sacrifice that was to be demanded from him. Sir William had been very +urgent with the young nobleman to accord everything that could be +accorded to his cousin. "It is not of course for me to dictate," he +had said, "but as I have been allowed so far to give advice somewhat +beyond the scope of my profession, perhaps you will let me say that +in mere honesty you owe her all that you can give. She has shared +everything with you, and need have given nothing. And he, my lord, +had he been so minded, might no doubt have hindered her from doing +what she has done. You owe it to your honour to accept her and her +husband with an open hand. Unless you can treat her with cousinly +regard you should not have taken what has been given to you as a +cousin. She has recognised you to your great advantage as the head of +her family, and you should certainly recognise her as belonging to +it. Let the marriage be held down at Yoxham. Get your uncle and aunt +to ask her down. Do you give her away, and let your uncle marry them. +If you can put me up for a night in some neighbouring farm-house, I +will come and be a spectator. It will be for your honour to treat her +after that fashion." The programme was a large one, and the Earl felt +that there might be some difficulty. + +But in the teeth of that dubious malediction he persevered, and his +next attack was upon aunt Julia. "You liked her;--did you not?" + +"Yes;--I liked her." The tone implied great doubt. "I liked her, till +I found that she had forgotten herself." + +"But she didn't forget herself. She just did what any girl would have +done, living as she was living. She has behaved nobly to me." + +"She has behaved no doubt conscientiously." + +"Come, aunt Julia! Did you ever know any other woman to give away +ten thousand a-year to a fellow simply because he was her cousin? We +should do something for her. Why should you not ask her down here +again?" + +"I don't think my brother would like it." + +"He will if you tell him. And we must make a gentleman of him." + +"My dear Frederic, you can never wash a blackamoor white." + +"Let us try. Don't you oppose it. It behoves me, for my honour, to +show her some regard after what she has done for me." + +Aunt Julia shook her head, and muttered to herself some further +remark about negroes. The inhabitants of the Yoxham rectory,--who +were well born, ladies and gentlemen without a stain, who were +hitherto free from all base intermarriages, and had nothing among +their male cousins below soldiers and sailors, parsons and lawyers, +who had successfully opposed an intended marriage between a cousin in +the third degree and an attorney because the alliance was below the +level of the Lovels, were peculiarly averse to any intermingling of +ranks. They were descended from ancient earls, and their chief was +an earl of the present day. There was but one titled young lady now +among them,--and she had only just won her right to be so considered. +There was but one Lady Anna,--and she was going to marry a tailor! +"Duty is duty," said aunt Julia as she hurried away. She meant her +nephew to understand that duty commanded her to shut her heart +against any cousin who could marry a tailor. + +The lord next attacked aunt Jane. "You wouldn't mind having her +here?" + +"Not if your uncle thought well of it," said Mrs. Lovel. + +"I'll tell you what my scheme is." Then he told it all. Lady Anna +was to be invited to the rectory. The tailor was to be entertained +somewhere near on the night preceding his wedding. The marriage was +to be celebrated by his uncle in Yoxham Church. Sir William was to +be asked to join them. And the whole thing was to be done exactly as +though they were all proud of the connection. + +"Does your uncle know?" asked Mrs. Lovel, who had been nearly stunned +by the proposition. + +"Not quite. I want you to suggest it. Only think, aunt Jane, what +she has done for us all!" Aunt Jane couldn't think that very much +had been done for her. They were not to be enriched by the cousin's +money. They had never been interested in the matter on their own +account. They wanted nothing. And yet they were to be called upon to +have a tailor at their board,--because Lord Lovel was the head of +their family. But the Earl was the Earl; and poor Mrs. Lovel knew how +much she owed to his position. "If you wish it of course I'll tell +him, Frederic." + +"I do wish it;--and I'll be so much obliged to you." + +The next morning the parson had been told all that was required of +him, and he came down to prayers as black as a thunder-cloud. It had +been before suggested to him that he should give the bride away, and +though he had grievously complained of the request, he knew that he +must do it should the Earl still demand it. He had no power to oppose +the head of the family. But he had never thought then that he would +be asked to pollute his own rectory by the presence of that odious +tailor. While he was shaving that morning very religious ideas had +filled his mind. What a horrible thing was wickedness! All this evil +had come upon him and his because the late Earl had been so very +wicked a man! He had sworn to his wife that he would not bear it. +He had done and was ready to do more almost than any other uncle in +England. But this he could not endure. Yet when he was shaving, and +thinking with religious horror of the iniquities of that iniquitous +old lord, he knew that he would have to yield. "I dare say they +wouldn't come," said aunt Julia. "He won't like to be with us any +more than we shall like to have him." There was some comfort in that +hope; and trusting to it the rector had yielded everything before the +third day was over. + +"And I may ask Sir William?" said the Earl. + +"Of course we shall be glad to see Sir William Patterson if you +choose to invite him," said the rector, still oppressed by gloom. +"Sir William Patterson is a gentleman no doubt, and a man of high +standing. Of course I and your aunt will be pleased to receive him. +As a lawyer I don't think much of him;--but that has nothing to do +with it." It may be remarked here that though Mr. Lovel lived for a +great many years after the transactions which are here recorded, he +never gave way in reference to the case that had been tried. If the +lawyers had persevered as they ought to have done, it would have been +found out that the Countess was no Countess, that the Lady Anna was +no Lady Anna, and that all the money had belonged by right to the +Earl. With that belief,--with that profession of belief,--he went to +his grave an old man of eighty. + +In the meantime he consented that the invitation should be given. The +Countess and her daughter were to be asked to Yoxham;--the use of the +parish church was to be offered for the ceremony; he was to propose +to marry them; the Earl was to give the bride away; and Daniel +Thwaite the tailor was to be asked to dine at Yoxham Rectory on the +day before the marriage! The letters were to be written from the +rectory by aunt Julia, and the Earl was to add what he pleased for +himself. "I suppose this sort of trial is sent to us for our good," +said the rector to his wife that night in the sanctity of their +bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES. + + +But the Countess never gave way an inch. The following was the answer +which she returned to the note written to her by aunt Julia;-- + +"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to Miss Lovel. The +Countess disapproves altogether of the marriage which is about to +take place between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and will +take no part in the ceremony." + +"By heavens,--she is the best Lovel of us all," said the rector when +he read the letter. + +This reply was received at Yoxham three days before any answer came +either from Lady Anna or from the tailor. Daniel had received his +communication from the young lord, who had called him "Dear Mr. +Thwaite," who had written quite familiarly about the coming nuptials +with "his cousin Anna,"--had bade him come down and join the family +"like a good fellow,"--and had signed himself, "Yours always most +sincerely, Lovel." "It almost takes my breath away," said the tailor +to his sweetheart, laughing. + +"They are cousins, you know," said Lady Anna. "And there was a little +girl there I loved so much." + +"They can't but despise me, you know," said the tailor. + +"Why should any one despise you?" + +"No one should,--unless I be mean and despicable. But they do,--you +may be sure. It is only human nature that they should. We are made of +different fabric,--though the stuff was originally the same. I don't +think I should be at my ease with them. I should be half afraid of +their gilt and their gingerbread, and should be ashamed of myself +because I was so. I should not know how to drink wine with them, and +should do a hundred things which would make them think me a beast." + +"I don't see why you shouldn't hold up your head with any man in +England," said Lady Anna. + +"And so I ought;--but I shouldn't. I should be awed by those whom +I feel to be my inferiors. I had rather not. We had better keep to +ourselves, dear!" But the girl begged for some delay. It was a matter +that required to be considered. If it were necessary for her to +quarrel with all her cousins for the sake of her husband,--with the +bright fainéant young Earl, with aunts Jane and Julia, with her +darling Minnie, she would do so. The husband should be to her in +all respects the first and foremost. For his sake, now that she had +resolved that she would be his, she would if necessary separate +herself from all the world. She had withstood the prayers of her +mother, and she was sure that nothing else could move her. But if +the cousins were willing to accept her husband, why should he not be +willing to be accepted? Pride in him might be as weak as pride in +them. If they would put out their hands to him, why should he refuse +to put out his own? "Give me a day, Daniel, to think about it." He +gave her the day, and then that great decider of all things, Sir +William, came to him, congratulating him, bidding him be of good +cheer, and saying fine things of the Lovel family generally. Our +tailor received him courteously, having learned to like the man, +understanding that he had behaved with honesty and wisdom in regard +to his client, and respecting him as one of the workers of the day; +but he declared that for the Lovel family, as a family,--"he did not +care for them particularly." "They are poles asunder from me," he +said. + +"Not so," replied Sir William. "They were poles asunder, if you will. +But by your good fortune and merit, if you will allow me to say so, +you have travelled from the one pole very far towards the other." + +"I like my own pole a deal the best, Sir William." + +"I am an older man than you, Mr. Thwaite, and allow me to assure you +that you are wrong." + +"Wrong in preferring those who work for their bread to those who eat +it in idleness?" + +"Not that;--but wrong in thinking that there is not hard work done +at the one pole as well as the other; and wrong also in not having +perceived that the best men who come up from age to age are always +migrating from that pole which you say you prefer, to the antipodean +pole to which you are tending yourself. I can understand your feeling +of contempt for an idle lordling, but you should remember that lords +have been made lords in nine cases out of ten for good work done by +them for the benefit of their country." + +"Why should the children of lords be such to the tenth and twentieth +generation?" + +"Come into parliament, Mr. Thwaite, and if you have views on that +subject opposed to hereditary peerages, express them there. It is a +fair subject for argument. At present, I think that the sense of the +country is in favour of an aristocracy of birth. But be that as it +may, do not allow yourself to despise that condition of society which +it is the ambition of all men to enter." + +"It is not my ambition." + +"Pardon me. When you were a workman among workmen, did you not wish +to be their leader? When you were foremost among them, did you not +wish to be their master? If you were a master tradesman, would you +not wish to lead and guide your brother tradesmen? Would you not +desire wealth in order that you might be assisted by it in your views +of ambition? If you were an alderman in your borough, would you +not wish to be the mayor? If mayor, would you not wish to be its +representative in Parliament? If in Parliament, would you not wish +to be heard there? Would you not then clothe yourself as those among +whom you lived, eat as they ate, drink as they drank, keep their +hours, fall into their habits, and be one of them? The theory of +equality is very grand." + +"The grandest thing in the world, Sir William." + +"It is one to which all legislative and all human efforts should +and must tend. All that is said and all that is done among people +that have emancipated themselves from the thraldom of individual +aggrandizement, serve to diminish in some degree the distance between +the high and the low. But could you establish absolute equality in +England to-morrow, as it was to have been established in France some +half century ago, the inequality of men's minds and character would +re-establish an aristocracy within twenty years. The energetic, the +talented, the honest, and the unselfish will always be moving towards +an aristocratic side of society, because their virtues will beget +esteem, and esteem will beget wealth,--and wealth gives power for +good offices." + +"As when one man throws away forty thousand a year on race-courses." + +"When you make much water boil, Mr. Thwaite, some of it will probably +boil over. When two men run a race, some strength must be wasted in +fruitless steps beyond the goal. It is the fault of many patriotic +men that, in their desire to put down the evils which exist they will +see only the power that is wasted, and have no eyes for the good work +done. The subject is so large that I should like to discuss it with +you when we have more time. For the present let me beg of you, for +your own sake as well as for her who is to be your wife, that you +will not repudiate civility offered to you by her family. It will +show a higher manliness in you to go among them, and accept among +them the position which your wife's wealth and your own acquirements +will give you, than to stand aloof moodily because they are +aristocrats." + +"You can make yourself understood when you speak, Sir William." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," said the lawyer, smiling. + +"I cannot, and so you have the best of me. But you can't make me like +a lord, or think that a young man ought to wear a silk gown." + +"I quite agree with you that the silk gowns should be kept for their +elders," and so the conversation was ended. + +Daniel Thwaite had not been made to like a lord, but the eloquence +of the urbane lawyer was not wasted on him. Thinking of it all as he +wandered alone through the streets, he began to believe that it would +be more manly to do as he was advised than to abstain because the +doing of the thing would in itself be disagreeable to him. On the +following day, Lady Anna was with him as usual; for the pretext of +his wound still afforded to her the means of paying to him those +daily visits which in happier circumstances he would naturally have +paid to her. "Would you like to go to Yoxham?" he said. She looked +wistfully up into his face. With her there was a real wish that the +poles might be joined together by her future husband. She had found, +as she had thought of it, that she could not make herself either +happy or contented except by marrying him, but it had not been +without regret that she had consented to destroy altogether the link +which bound her to the noble blood of the Lovels. She had been made +to appreciate the sweet flavour of aristocratic influences, and now +that the Lovels were willing to receive her in spite of her marriage, +she was more than willing to accept their offered friendship. "If you +really wish it, you shall go," he said. + +"But you must go also." + +"Yes;--for one day. And I must have a pair of gloves and a black +coat." + +"And a blue one,--to be married in." + +"Alas me! Must I have a pink silk gown to walk about in, early in the +morning?" + +"You shall if you like, and I'll make it for you." + +"I'd sooner see you darning my worsted stockings, sweetheart." + +"I can do that too." + +"And I shall have to go to church in a coach, and come back in +another, and all the people will smell sweet, and make eyes at me +behind my back, and wonder among themselves how the tailor will +behave himself." + +"The tailor must behave himself properly," said Lady Anna. + +"That's just what he won't do,--and can't do. I know you'll be +ashamed of me, and then we shall both be unhappy." + +"I won't be ashamed of you. I will never be ashamed of you. I will be +ashamed of them if they are not good to you. But, Daniel, you shall +not go if you do not like it. What does it all signify, if you are +not happy?" + +"I will go," said he. "And now I'll sit down and write a letter to my +lord." + +Two letters were written accepting the invitation. As that from the +tailor to the lord was short and characteristic it shall be given. + + + MY DEAR LORD, + + I am much obliged to you for your lordship's invitation + to Yoxham, and if accepting it will make me a good fellow, + I will accept it. I fear, however, that I can never be a + proper fellow to your lordship. Not the less do I feel + your courtesy, and I am, + + With all sincerity, + Your lordship's very obedient servant, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +Lady Anna's reply to aunt Julia was longer and less sententious, but +it signified her intention of going down to Yoxham a week before the +day settled for the marriage, which was now the 10th of July. She was +much obliged, she said, to the rector for his goodness in promising +to marry them; and as she had no friends of her own she hoped that +Minnie Lovel would be her bridesmaid. There were, however, sundry +other letters before the ceremony was performed, and among them was +one in which she was asked to bring Miss Alice Bluestone down with +her,--so that she might have one bridesmaid over and beyond those +provided by the Yoxham aristocracy. To this arrangement Miss Alice +Bluestone acceded joyfully,--in spite of that gulf, of which she had +spoken;--and, so accompanied, but without her lady's-maid, Lady Anna +returned to Yoxham that she might be there bound in holy matrimony +to Daniel Thwaite the tailor, by the hands of her cousin, the Rev. +Charles Lovel. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE MARRIAGE. + + +The marriage was nearly all that a marriage should be when a Lady +Anna is led to the hymeneal altar. As the ceremony was transferred +from Bloomsbury, London, to Yoxham, in Yorkshire, a licence had been +procured, and the banns of which Daniel Thwaite thought so much, had +been called in vain. Of course there are differences in aristocratic +marriages. All earls' daughters are not married at St. George's, +Hanover Square, nor is it absolutely necessary that a bishop should +tie the knot, or that the dresses should be described in a newspaper. +This was essentially a quiet marriage,--but it was quiet with a +splendid quietude, and the obscurity of it was graceful and decorous. +As soon as the thing was settled,--when it was a matter past doubt +that all the Lovels were to sanction the marriage,--the two aunts +went to work heartily. Another Lovel girl, hardly more than seen +before by any of the family, was gathered to the Lovel home as a +third bridesmaid, and for the fourth,--who should officiate, but the +eldest daughter of Lady Fitzwarren? The Fitzwarrens were not rich, +did not go to town annually, and the occasions for social brilliancy +in the country are few and far between! Lady Fitzwarren did not like +to refuse her old friend, Mrs. Lovel; and then Lady Anna was Lady +Anna,--or at any rate would be so, as far as the newspapers of the +day were concerned. Miss Fitzwarren allowed herself to be attired +in white and blue, and to officiate in the procession,--having, +however, assured her most intimate friend, Miss De Moleyns, that +no consideration on earth should induce her to allow herself to be +kissed by the tailor. + +In the week previous to the arrival of Daniel Thwaite, Lady Anna +again ingratiated herself with the ladies at the rectory. During the +days of her persecution she had been silent and apparently hard;--but +now she was again gentle, yielding, and soft. "I do like her manner, +all the same," said Minnie. "Yes, my dear. It's a pity that it should +be as it is to be, because she is very nice." Minnie loved her +friend, but thought it to be a thing of horror that her friend should +marry a tailor. It was almost as bad as the story of the Princess who +had to marry a bear;--worse indeed, for Minnie did not at all believe +that the tailor would ever turn out to be a gentleman, whereas she +had been sure from the first that the bear would turn into a prince. + +Daniel came to Yoxham, and saw very little of anybody at the rectory. +He was taken in at the house of a neighbouring squire, where he +dined as a matter of course. He did call at the rectory, and saw his +bride,--but on that occasion he did not even see the rector. The +squire took him to the church in the morning, dressed in a blue frock +coat, brown trousers, and a grey cravat. He was very much ashamed of +his own clothes, but there was nothing about him to attract attention +had not everybody known he was a tailor. The rector shook hands with +him politely but coldly. The ladies were more affectionate; and +Minnie looked up into his face long and anxiously. "He wasn't very +nice," she said afterwards, "but I thought he'd be worse than +that!" When the marriage was over he kissed his wife, but made no +attempt upon the bridesmaids. Then there was a breakfast at the +rectory,--which was a very handsome bridal banquet. On such occasions +the part of the bride is always easily played. It is her duty to look +pretty if she can, and should she fail in that,--as brides usually +do,--her failure is attributed to the natural emotions of the +occasion. The part of the bridegroom is more difficult. He should +be manly, pleasant, composed, never flippant, able to say a few +words when called upon, and quietly triumphant. This is almost more +than mortal can achieve, and bridegrooms generally manifest some +shortcomings at the awful moment. Daniel Thwaite was not successful. +He was silent and almost morose. When Lady Fitzwarren congratulated +him with high-flown words and a smile,--a smile that was intended to +combine something of ridicule with something of civility,--he almost +broke down in his attempt to answer her. "It is very good of you, my +lady," said he. Then she turned her back and whispered a word to the +parson, and Daniel was sure that she was laughing at him. The hero of +the day was the Solicitor-General. He made a speech, proposing health +and prosperity to the newly-married couple. He referred, but just +referred, to the trial, expressing the pleasure which all concerned +had felt in recognising the rights and rank of the fair and noble +bride as soon as the facts of the case had come to their knowledge. +Then he spoke of the truth and long-continued friendship and devoted +constancy of the bridegroom and his father, saying that in the long +experience of his life he had known nothing more touching or more +graceful than the love which in early days had sprung up between the +beautiful young girl and her earliest friend. He considered it to be +among the happinesses of his life that he had been able to make the +acquaintance of Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and he expressed a hope that he +might long be allowed to regard that gentleman as his friend. There +was much applause, in giving which the young Earl was certainly the +loudest. The rector could not bring himself to say a word. He was +striving to do his duty by the head of his family, but he could not +bring himself to say that the marriage between Lady Anna Lovel and +the tailor was a happy event. Poor Daniel was compelled to make some +speech in reply to his friend, Sir William. "I am bad at speaking," +said he, "and I hope I shall be excused. I can only say that I am +under deep obligation to Sir William Patterson for what he has done +for my wife." + +The couple went away with a carriage and four horses to York, and the +marriage was over. "I hope I have done right," said the rector in +whispered confidence to Lady Fitzwarren. + +"I think you have, Mr. Lovel. I'm sure you have. The circumstances +were very difficult, but I am sure you have done right. She must +always be considered as the legitimate child of her father." + +"They say so," murmured the rector sadly. + +"Just that. And as she will always be considered to be the Lady Anna, +you were bound to treat her as you have done. It was a pity that +it was not done earlier, so that she might have formed a worthier +connection. The Earl, however, has not been altogether overlooked, +and there is some comfort in that. I dare say Mr. Thwaite may be +a good sort of man, though he is--not just what the family could +have wished." These words were undoubtedly spoken by her ladyship +with much pleasure. The Fitzwarrens were poor, and the Lovels were +all rich. Even the young Earl was now fairly well to do in the +world,--thanks to the generosity of the newly-found cousin. It was, +therefore, pleasant to Lady Fitzwarren to allude to the family +misfortune which must in some degree alloy the prosperity of her +friends. Mr. Lovel understood it all, and sighed; but he felt no +anger. He was grateful to Lady Fitzwarren for coming to his house at +all on so mournful an occasion. + +And so we may bid farewell to Yoxham. The rector was an honest, +sincere man, unselfish, true to his instincts, genuinely English, +charitable, hospitable, a doer of good to those around him. In +judging of such a character we find the difficulty of drawing the +line between political sagacity and political prejudice. Had he been +other than he was, he would probably have been less serviceable in +his position. + +The bride and bridegroom went for their honeymoon into Devonshire, +and on their road they passed through London. Lady Anna Thwaite,--for +she had not at least as yet been able to drop her title,--wrote to +her mother telling her of her arrival, and requesting permission to +see her. On the following day she went alone to Keppel Street and was +admitted. "Dear, dear mamma," she said, throwing herself into the +arms of her mother. + +"So it is done?" said the Countess. + +"Yes;--mamma,--we are married. I wrote to you from York." + +"I got your letter, but I could not answer it. What could I say? +I wish it had not been so;--but it is done. You have chosen for +yourself, and I will not reproach you." + +"Do not reproach me now, mamma." + +"It would be useless. I will bear my sorrows in silence, such as they +are. Do not talk to me of him, but tell me what is the life that is +proposed for you." + +They were to stay in the south of Devonshire for a month and then to +sail for the new colony founded at the Antipodes. As to any permanent +mode of life no definite plan had yet been formed. They were bound +for Sydney, and when there, "my husband,"--as Lady Anna called +him, thinking that the word might be less painful to the ears of +her mother than the name of the man who had become so odious to +her,--would do as should seem good to him. They would at any rate +learn something of the new world that was springing up, and he would +then be able to judge whether he would best serve the purpose that he +had at heart by remaining there or by returning to England. "And now, +mamma, what will you do?" + +"Nothing," said the Countess. + +"But where will you live?" + +"If I could only find out, my child, where I might die, I would tell +you that." + +"Mamma, do not talk to me of dying." + +"How should I talk of my future life, my dear? For what should I +live? I had but you, and you have left me." + +"Come with me, mamma." + +"No, my dear. I could not live with him nor he with me. It will be +better that he and I should never see each other again." + +"But you will not stay here?" + +"No;--I shall not stay here. I must use myself to solitude, but the +solitude of London is unendurable. I shall go back to Cumberland if +I can find a home there. The mountains will remind me of the days +which, sad as they were, were less sad than the present. I little +dreamed then when I had gained everything my loss would be so great +as it has been. Was the Earl there?" + +"At our marriage? Oh yes, he was there." + +"I shall ask him to do me a kindness. Perhaps he will let me live at +Lovel Grange?" + +When the meeting was over Lady Anna returned to her husband +overwhelmed with tears. She was almost broken-hearted when she asked +herself whether she had in truth been cruel to her mother. But she +knew not how she could have done other than she had done. Her mother +had endeavoured to conquer her by hard usage,--and had failed. But +not the less her heart was very sore. "My dear," said the tailor to +her, "hearts will be sore. As the world goes yet awhile there must be +injustice; and sorrow will follow." + +When they had been gone from London about a month the Countess wrote +to her cousin the Earl and told him her wishes. "If you desire to +live there of course there must be an end of it. But if not, you +might let the old place to me. It will not be as if it were gone out +of the family. I will do what I can for the people around me, so that +they may learn not to hate the name of Lovel." + +The young lord told her that she should have the use of the house as +long as she pleased,--for her lifetime if it suited her to live there +so long. As for rent,--of course he could take none after all that +had been done for him. But the place should be leased to her so that +she need not fear to be disturbed. When the spring time came, after +the sailing of the vessel which took the tailor and his wife off to +the Antipodes, Lady Lovel travelled down with her maid to Cumberland, +leaving London without a friend to whom she could say adieu. And at +Lovel Grange she took up her abode, amidst the old furniture and the +old pictures, with everything to remind her of the black tragedy of +her youth, when her husband had come to her and had told her, with a +smile upon his lips and scorn in his eye, that she was not his wife, +and that the child which she bore would be a bastard. Over his wicked +word she had at any rate triumphed. Now she was living there in his +house the unquestioned and undoubted Countess Lovel, the mistress of +much of his wealth, while still were living around her those who had +known her when she was banished from her home. There, too often with +ill-directed generosity, she gave away her money, and became loved +of the poor around her. But in the way of society she saw no human +being, and rarely went beyond the valley in which stood the lonely +house to which she had been brought as a bride. + +Of the further doings of Mr. Daniel Thwaite and his wife Lady +Anna,--of how they travelled and saw many things; and how he became +perhaps a wiser man,--the present writer may, he hopes, live to tell. + + +Printed by Virtue and Co., City Road, London. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + +Specific changes in wording of the text are listed below. + + Volume I, Chapter XIX, paragraph 43. The word "Lady" was changed + to "Aunt" in the sentence: Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but AUNT + Julia made her farewells in the rectory drawing-room. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXVII, paragraph 1. The word "was" was changed + to "were" in the sentence: The Countess had assented;--but when + the moment came, there WERE reasons against her sudden departure. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 5. The word "or" was deleted + from the sentence: He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had + not the slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,--not more + than he would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from + her mother's instead of [OR] from her father's relatives. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 6. The word "not" was deleted + from the sentence: If the Earl could get £10,000 a year by + amicable arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have + been right in the eyes of all men, and it was [NOT] probable,--as + both Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick felt,--that he would not repudiate a + settlement of the family affairs by which he would be proved to + have been a discreet counsellor. + + Volume II, Chapter XLV, paragraph 20. "David" was changed to + "Daniel" in the sentence: Neither on that occasion, or on either + of the two further callings, did any one get up in church to + declare that impediment existed why DANIEL Thwaite the tailor and + Lady Anna Lovel should not be joined together in holy matrimony. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA*** + + +******* This file should be named 31274-8.txt or 31274-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/2/7/31274 + + + +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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p class="noindent">Title: Lady Anna</p> +<p class="noindent">Author: Anthony Trollope</p> +<p class="noindent">Release Date: February 14, 2010 [eBook #31274]<br /> +HTML version most recently updated: June 11, 2010</p> +<p class="noindent">Language: English</p> +<p class="noindent">Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p class="noindent">***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by<br /> + Delphine Lettau and Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.</h3> +<p> </p> +<h3>Links to Volumes</h3> +<div class="center"> +<table class="sm" style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="1"> +<tr><td><a href="#v1">VOLUME I.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#v2">VOLUME II.</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<p><a name="v1" id="v1"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1 class="title">LADY ANNA.</h1> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h2>ANTHONY TROLLOPE.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h4>IN TWO VOLUMES.</h4> +<h3>VOL. I.</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h4><span class="small">LONDON:</span><br /> +CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.<br /> +<span class="small">1874.</span></h4> + +<h5><i>[All rights reserved]</i></h5> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h6>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO.,<br /> +CITY ROAD.</h6> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>CONTENTS OF VOL. I.<br /> </h3> + +<div class="center"> +<table class="sm" style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3"> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">CHAPTER </td><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">I. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-1" >THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">II. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-2" >THE EARL'S WILL.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">III. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-3" >LADY ANNA.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">IV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-4" >THE TAILOR OF KESWICK.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">V. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-5" >THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-6" >YOXHAM RECTORY.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-7" >THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-8" >IMPOSSIBLE!</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">IX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-9" >IT ISN'T LAW.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">X. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-10" >THE FIRST INTERVIEW.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-11" >IT IS TOO LATE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-12" >HAVE THEY SURRENDERED?</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-13" >NEW FRIENDS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-14" >THE EARL ARRIVES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-15" >WHARFEDALE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-16" >FOR EVER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-17" >THE JOURNEY HOME.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-18" >TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-19" >LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-20" >LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-21" >DANIEL AND THE LAWYER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-22" >THERE IS A GULF FIXED.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-23" >BEDFORD SQUARE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c1-24" >THE DOG IN THE MANGER.</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h1>LADY ANNA.</h1> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> + +<p><a name="c1-1" id="c1-1"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> +<h4>THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Women have often been hardly used by men, but perhaps no harder +usage, no fiercer cruelty was ever experienced by a woman than that +which fell to the lot of Josephine Murray from the hands of Earl +Lovel, to whom she was married in the parish church of +Applethwaite,—a parish without a village, lying among the mountains +of Cumberland,—on the 1st of June, 181—. That her marriage was +valid according to all the forms of the Church, if Lord Lovel were +then capable of marrying, no one ever doubted; nor did the Earl ever +allege that it was not so. Lovel Grange is a small house, surrounded +by a small domain,—small as being the residence of a rich nobleman, +lying among the mountains which separate Cumberland from +Westmoreland, about ten miles from Keswick, very lovely, from the +brightness of its own green sward and the luxuriance of its wild +woodland, from the contiguity of overhanging mountains, and from the +beauty of Lovel Tarn, a small lake belonging to the property, studded +with little islands, each of which is covered with its own thicket of +hollies, birch, and dwarfed oaks. The house itself is poor, ill +built, with straggling passages and low rooms, and is a sombre, +ill-omened looking place. When Josephine Murray was brought there as +a bride she thought it to be very sombre and ill-omened; but she +loved the lakes and mountains, and dreamed of some vague mysterious +joy of life which was to come to her from the wildness of her +domicile.</p> + +<p>I fear that she had no other ground, firmer than this, on which to +found her hopes of happiness. She could not have thought Lord Lovel +to be a good man when she married him, and it can hardly be said that +she loved him. She was then twenty-four years old, and he had counted +double as many years. She was very beautiful, dark, with large, bold, +blue eyes, with hair almost black, tall, well made, almost robust, a +well-born, brave, ambitious woman, of whom it must be acknowledged +that she thought it very much to be the wife of a lord. Though our +story will be concerned much with her sufferings, the record of her +bridal days may be very short. It is with struggles that came to her +in after years that we shall be most concerned, and the reader, +therefore, need be troubled with no long description of Josephine +Murray as she was when she became the Countess Lovel. It is hoped +that her wrongs may be thought worthy of sympathy,—and may be felt +in some sort to atone for the ignoble motives of her marriage.</p> + +<p>The Earl, when he found his bride, had been living almost in solitude +for a twelvemonth. Among the neighbouring gentry in the lake country +he kept no friendly relations. His property there was small, and his +character was evil. He was an English earl, and as such known in some +unfamiliar fashion to those who know all earls; but he was a man +never seen in Parliament, who had spent the greater part of his +manhood abroad, who had sold estates in other counties, converting +unentailed acres into increased wealth, but wealth of a kind much +less acceptable to the general English aristocrat than that which +comes direct from land. Lovel Grange was his only remaining English +property, and when in London he had rooms at an hotel. He never +entertained, and he never accepted hospitality. It was known of him +that he was very rich, and men said that he was mad. Such was the man +whom Josephine Murray had chosen to marry because he was an earl.</p> + +<p>He had found her near Keswick, living with her father in a pretty +cottage looking down upon Derwentwater,—a thorough gentleman, for +Captain Murray had come of the right Murrays;—and thence he had +carried her to Lovel Grange. She had brought with her no penny of +fortune, and no settlement had been made on her. Her father, who was +then an old man, had mildly expostulated; but the ambition of the +daughter had prevailed, and the marriage was accomplished. The +beautiful young woman was carried off as a bride. It will be +unnecessary to relate what efforts had been made to take her away +from her father's house without bridal honours; but it must be told +that the Earl was a man who had never yet spared a woman in his lust. +It had been the rule, almost the creed of his life, that woman was +made to gratify the appetite of man, and that the man is but a poor +creature who does not lay hold of the sweetness that is offered to +him. He had so lived as to teach himself that those men who devote +themselves to their wives, as a wife devotes herself to her husband, +are the poor lubberly clods of creation, who had lacked the power to +reach the only purpose of living which could make life worth having. +Women had been to him a prey, as the fox is a prey to the huntsman +and the salmon to the angler. But he had acquired great skill in his +sport, and could pursue his game with all the craft which experience +will give. He could look at a woman as though he saw all heaven in +her eyes, and could listen to her as though the music of the spheres +was to be heard in her voice. Then he could whisper words which, to +many women, were as the music of the spheres, and he could persevere, +abandoning all other pleasures, devoting himself to the one +wickedness with a perseverance which almost made success certain. But +with Josephine Murray he could be successful on no other terms than +those which enabled her to walk out of the church with him as +Countess Lovel.</p> + +<p>She had not lived with him six months before he told her that the +marriage was no marriage, and that she was—his mistress. There was +an audacity about the man which threw aside all fear of the law, and +which was impervious to threats and interference. He assured her that +he loved her, and that she was welcome to live with him; but that she +was not his wife, and that the child which she bore could not be the +heir to his title, and could claim no heirship to his property. He +did love her,—having found her to be a woman of whose company he had +not tired in six months. He was going back to Italy, and he offered +to take her with him,—but he could not, he said, permit the farce of +her remaining at Lovel Grange and calling herself the Countess Lovel. +If she chose to go with him to Palermo, where he had a castle, and to +remain with him in his yacht, she might for the present travel under +the name of his wife. But she must know that she was not his wife. +She was only his mistress.</p> + +<p>Of course she told her father. Of course she invoked every Murray in +and out of Scotland. Of course there were many threats. A duel was +fought up near London, in which Lord Lovel consented to be shot at +twice,—declaring that after that he did not think that the +circumstances of the case required that he should be shot at any +more. In the midst of this a daughter was born to her and her father +died,—during which time she was still allowed to live at Lovel +Grange. But what was it expedient that she should do? He declared +that he had a former wife when he married her, and that therefore she +was not and could not be his wife. Should she institute a prosecution +against him for bigamy, thereby acknowledging that she was herself no +wife and that her child was illegitimate? From such evidence as she +could get, she believed that the Italian woman whom the Earl in +former years had married had died before her own marriage. The Earl +declared that the Countess, the real Countess, had not paid her debt +to nature, till some months after the little ceremony which had taken +place in Applethwaite Church. In a moment of weakness Josephine fell +at his feet and asked him to renew the ceremony. He stooped over her, +kissed her, and smiled. "My pretty child," he said, "why should I do +that?" He never kissed her again.</p> + +<p>What should she do? Before she had decided, he was in his yacht +sailing to Palermo;—sailing no doubt not alone. What should she do? +He had left her an income,—sufficient for the cast-off mistress of +an Earl,—some few hundreds a year, on condition that she would +quietly leave Lovel Grange, cease to call herself a Countess, and +take herself and her bairn,—whither she would. Every abode of sin in +London was open to her for what he cared. But what should she do? It +seemed to her to be incredible that so great a wrong should befall +her, and that the man should escape from her and be free from +punishment,—unless she chose to own the baseness of her own position +by prosecuting him for bigamy. The Murrays were not very generous in +their succour, as the old man had been much blamed for giving his +daughter to one of whom all the world knew nothing but evil. One +Murray had fired two shots on her behalf, in answer to each one of +which the Earl had fired into the air; but beyond this the Murrays +could do nothing. Josephine herself was haughty and proud, conscious +that her rank was greater than that of any of the Murrays with whom +she came in contact. But what should she do?</p> + +<p>The Earl had been gone five years, sailing about the world she knew +not where, when at last she determined to institute a prosecution for +bigamy. During these years she was still living at the Grange, with +her child, and the Courts of Law had allotted her some sum by way of +alimony till her cause should be decided; but upon this alimony she +found it very difficult to lay her hands,—quite impossible to lay +her hands upon the entirety of it. And then it came to pass that she +was eaten up by lawyers and tradesmen, and fell into bad repute as +asserting that claims made against her, should legally be made +against the very man whom she was about to prosecute because she was +not his wife. And this went on till further life at Lovel Grange +became impossible to her.</p> + +<p>In those days there was living in Keswick a certain Mr. Thomas +Thwaite, a tailor, who by degrees had taken a strong part in +denouncing the wrongs to which Lady Lovel had been subjected. He was +a powerful, sturdy man, with good means for his position, a +well-known Radical in a county in which Radicals have never been +popular, and in which fifty years ago they were much rarer than they +are now. At this time Keswick and its vicinities were beginning to be +known as the abodes of poets, and Thomas Thwaite was acquainted with +Southey and Wordsworth. He was an intelligent, up-standing, impulsive +man, who thought well of his own position in the world, and who could +speak his mind. He was tall, massive, and square; tender-hearted and +very generous; and he hated the Earl of Lovel with all his heart. +Once the two men had met since the story of the Countess's wrongs had +become known, and the tailor had struck the Earl to the ground. This +had occurred as the Earl was leaving Lovel Grange, and when he was +starting on his long journey. The scene took place after he had +parted from his Countess,—whom he never was to see again. He rose to +his feet and rushed at the tailor; but the two were separated, and +the Earl thought it best to go on upon his journey. Nothing further +was done as to the blow, and many years rolled by before the Earl +came back to Cumberland.</p> + +<p>It became impossible for the Countess and her daughter, the young +Lady Anna as she was usually called, to remain at Lovel Grange, and +they were taken to the house of Mr. Thwaite, in Keswick, as a +temporary residence. At this time the Countess was in debt, and +already there were lawsuits as to the practicability of obtaining +payment of those debts from the husband's estate. And as soon as it +was determined that the prosecution for bigamy should be instituted, +the confusion in this respect was increased. The Countess ceased to +call herself a countess, as she certainly would not be a countess +should she succeed in proving the Earl to have been guilty. And had +he been guilty of bigamy, the decree under which alimony was assigned +to her would become void. Should she succeed, she would be a +penniless unmarried female with a daughter, her child would be +unfathered and base, and he,—as far as she could see,—would be +beyond the reach of punishment. But, in truth, she and her friend the +tailor were not in quest of success. She and all her friends believed +that the Earl had committed no such crime. But if he were acquitted, +then would her claim to be called Lady Lovel, and to enjoy the +appanages of her rank, be substantiated. Or, at least, something +would have been done towards substantiating those claims. But during +this time she called herself Mrs. Murray, and the little Lady Anna +was called Anna Murray.</p> + +<p>It added much to the hardship of the woman's case that public +sympathy in distant parts of the country,—up in London, and in +southern counties, and even among a portion of the gentry in +Cumberland and Westmoreland,—did not go with her. She had married +without due care. Some men said,—and many women repeated the +story,—that she had known of the existence of the former wife, when +she had married the Earl. She had run into debt, and then repudiated +her debts. She was now residing in the house of a low radical tailor, +who had assaulted the man she called her husband; and she was living +under her maiden name. Tales were told of her which were utterly +false,—as when it was said that she drank. Others were reported +which had in them some grains of truth,—as that she was violent, +stiff-necked, and vindictive. Had they said of her that it had become +her one religion to assert her daughter's right,—per fas aut +nefas,—to assert it by right or wrong; to do justice to her child +let what injustice might be done to herself or others,—then the +truth would have been spoken.</p> + +<p>The case dragged itself on slowly, and little Anna Murray was a child +of nine years old when at last the Earl was acquitted of the criminal +charge which had been brought against him. During all this time he +had been absent. Even had there been a wish to bring him personally +into court, the law would have been powerless to reach him. But there +was no such wish. It had been found impossible to prove the former +marriage, which had taken place in Sicily;—or if not impossible, at +least no adequate proof was forthcoming. There was no real desire +that there should be such proof. The Earl's lawyers abstained, as far +as they could abstain, from taking any steps in the matter. They +spent what money was necessary, and the Attorney-General of the day +defended him. In doing so, the Attorney-General declared that he had +nothing to do with the Earl's treatment of the lady who now called +herself Mrs. Murray. He knew nothing of the circumstances of that +connection, and would not travel beyond his brief. He was there to +defend Earl Lovel on a charge of bigamy. This he did successfully, +and the Earl was acquitted. Then, in court, the counsel for the wife +declared that his client would again call herself Lady Lovel.</p> + +<p>But it was not so easy to induce other people to call her Lady Lovel.</p> + +<p>And now not only was she much hampered by money difficulties, but so +also was the tailor. But Thomas Thwaite never for a moment slackened +in his labours to make good the position of the woman whom he had +determined to succour; and for another and a longer period of eight +years the battle went on. It went on very slowly, as is the wont with +such battles; and very little way was made. The world, as a rule, did +not believe that she who now again called herself the Countess Lovel +was entitled to that name. The Murrays, her own people,—as far as +they were her own people,—had been taught to doubt her claim. If she +were a countess why had she thrown herself into the arms of an old +tailor? Why did she let her daughter play with the tailor's +child,—if, in truth, that daughter was the Lady Anna? Why, above all +things, was the name of the Lady Anna allowed to be mentioned, as it +was mentioned, in connection with that of Daniel Thwaite, the +tailor's son?</p> + +<p>During these eight weary years Lady Lovel,—for so she shall be +called,—lived in a small cottage about a mile from Keswick, on the +road to Grassmere and Ambleside, which she rented from quarter to +quarter. She still obtained a certain amount of alimony, which, +however, was dribbled out to her through various sieves, and which +reached her with protestations as to the impossibility of obtaining +anything like the moderate sum which had been awarded to her. And it +came at last to be the case that she hardly knew what she was +struggling to obtain. It was, of course, her object that all the +world should acknowledge her to be the Countess Lovel, and her +daughter to be the Lady Anna. But all the world could not be made to +do this by course of law. Nor could the law make her lord come home +and live with her, even such a cat and dog life as must in such case +have been hers. Her money rights were all that she could demand;—and +she found it to be impossible to get anybody to tell her what were +her money rights. To be kept out of the poorhouse seemed to be all +that she could claim. But the old tailor was true to her,—swearing +that she should even yet become Countess Lovel in very truth.</p> + +<p>Then, of a sudden, she heard one day,—that Earl Lovel was again at +the Grange, living there with a strange woman.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-2" id="c1-2"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> +<h4>THE EARL'S WILL.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Not a word had been heard in Keswick of the proposed return of the +old lord,—for the Earl was now an old man,—past his sixtieth year, +and in truth with as many signs of age as some men bear at eighty. +The life which he had led no doubt had had its allurements, but it is +one which hardly admits of a hale and happy evening. Men who make +women a prey, prey also on themselves. But there he was, back at +Lovel Grange, and no one knew why he had come, nor whence, nor how. +To Lovel Grange in those days, now some forty years ago, there was no +road for wheels but that which ran through Keswick. Through Keswick +he had passed in the middle of the night, taking on the post-horses +which he had brought with him from Grassmere, so that no one in the +town should see him and his companion. But it was soon known that he +was there, and known also that he had a companion. For months he +resided thus, and no one saw him but the domestics who waited upon +him. But rumours got abroad as to his conduct, and people through the +county declared that Earl Lovel was a maniac. Still his property was +in his own control, and he did what it listed him to do.</p> + +<p>As soon as men knew that he was in the land, claim after claim was +made upon him for money due on behalf of his wife, and loudest among +the claimants was Thomas Thwaite, the tailor. He was loudest and +fiercest among the claimants, but was loud and fierce not in enmity +to his old friend the Countess, but with a firm resolve to make the +lord pay the only price of his wickedness which could be exacted from +him. And if the Earl could be made to pay the claims against him +which were made by his wife's creditors, then would the law, so far, +have decided that the woman was his wife. No answer was made to any +letter addressed to the Earl, and no one calling at the Grange could +obtain speech or even sight of the noble owner. The lord's steward at +the Grange referred all comers to the lord's attorneys in London, and +the lord's attorneys simply repeated the allegation that the lady was +not the lord's wife. At last there came tidings that an inquiry was +to be made as to the state of the lord's health and the state of the +lord's mind, on behalf of Frederic Lovel, the distant heir to the +title. Let that question of the lord's marriage with Josephine Murray +go as it might, Frederic Lovel, who had never seen his far-away +cousin, must be the future earl. Of that there was no doubt;—and new +inquiries were to be made. But it might well be that the interest of +the young heir would be more deeply involved in the marriage question +than in other matters concerning the family. Lovel Grange and the few +mountain farms attached to the Cumberland estate must become his, let +the frantic Earl do what damage he might to those who bore his name; +but the bulk of the property, the wealth of the Lovels, the great +riches which had enabled this mighty lord to live as a beast of prey +among his kind, were at his own disposal. He had one child certainly, +the Lady Anna, who would inherit it all were the father to die +intestate, and were the marriage proved. The young heir and those +near to him altogether disbelieved the marriage,—as was natural. +They had never seen her who now called herself the Countess, but who +for some years after her child was born had called herself Mrs. +Murray,—who had been discarded by her own relations, and had taken +herself to live with a country tailor. As years had rolled by the +memory of what had really occurred in Applethwaite Church had become +indistinct; and, though the reader knows that that marriage was +capable of easy proof,—that there would have been but little +difficulty had the only difficulty consisted in proving that,—the +young heir and the distant Lovels were not assured of it. Their +interest was adverse, and they were determined to disbelieve. But the +Earl might, and probably would, leave all his wealth to a stranger. +He had never in any way noticed his heir. He cared for none that bore +his name. Those ties in the world which we call love, and deem +respectable, and regard as happy, because they have to do with +marriage and blood relationship as established by all laws since the +days of Moses, were odious to him and ridiculous in his sight, +because all obligations were distasteful to him,—and all laws, +except those which preserved to him the use of his own money. But now +there came up the great question whether he was mad or sane. It was +at once rumoured that he was about to leave the country, and fly back +to Sicily. Then it was announced that he was dead.</p> + +<p>And he was dead. He had died at the age of sixty-seven, in the arms +of the woman he had brought there. His evil career was over, and his +soul had gone to that future life for which he had made it fit by the +life he had led here. His body was buried in Applethwaite churchyard, +in the further corner of which long, straggling valley parish Lovel +Grange is situated. At his grave there stood no single mourner;—but +the young lord was there, of his right, disdaining even to wear a +crape band round his hat. But the woman remained shut up in her own +chamber,—a difficulty to the young lord and his lawyer, who could +hardly tell the foreigner to pack and begone before the body of her +late—lover had been laid in the grave. It had been simply intimated +to her that on such a date,—within a week from the funeral,—her +presence in the house could not longer be endured. She had flashed +round upon the lawyer, who had attempted to make this award known to +her in broken French, but had answered simply by some words of scorn, +spoken in Italian to her waiting-maid.</p> + +<p>Then the will was read in the presence of the young earl;—for there +was a will. Everything that the late lord had possessed was left, in +one line, to his best-beloved friend, the Signorina Camilla Spondi; +and it was stated, and very fully explained, that Camilla Spondi was +the Italian lady living at the Grange at the date on which the will +was made. Of the old lord's heir, the now existing Earl Lovel, no +mention was made whatever. There were, however, two other clauses or +parts in the will. There was a schedule giving in detail the +particulars of the property left to Camilla Spondi; and there was a +rambling statement that the maker of the will acknowledged Anna +Murray to be his illegitimate daughter,—that Anna Murray's mother +had never been the testator's legitimate wife, as his real wife, the +true Countess Lovel, for whom he had separately made adequate +provision, was still alive in Sicily at the date of that will,—and +that by a former will now destroyed he had made provision for Anna +Murray, which provision he had revoked in consequence of the +treatment which he had received from Josephine Murray and her +friends. They who believed the statements made in this will +afterwards asserted that Anna had been deprived of her inheritance by +the blow with which the tailor had felled the Earl to the earth.</p> + +<p>To Camilla Spondi intimation was given of the contents of the Earl's +will as far as they concerned her; but she was told at the same time +that no portion of the dead man's wealth would be placed in her hands +till the courts should have decided whether or no the old lord had +been sane or insane when he signed the document. A sum of money was, +however, given her, on condition that she should take her immediate +departure;—and she departed. With her personally we need have no +further concern. Of her cause and of her claim some mention must be +made; but in a few pages she will drop altogether from our story.</p> + +<p>A copy of the will was also sent to the lawyers who had hitherto +taken charge of the interests of the repudiated Countess, and it was +intimated that the allowance hitherto made to her must now of +necessity cease. If she thought fit to prosecute any further claim, +she must do so by proving her marriage;—and it was explained to her, +probably without much of legal or precise truth in the explanation, +that such proof must include the disproving of the assertion made in +the Earl's will. As it was the intention of the heir to set aside +that will, such assurance was, to say the least of it, disingenuous. +But the whole thing had now become so confused that it could hardly +be expected that lawyers should be ingenuous in discussing it.</p> + +<p>The young Earl clearly inherited the title and the small estate at +Lovel Grange. The Italian woman was primâ facie heiress to everything +else,—except to such portion of the large personal property as the +widow could claim as widow, in the event of her being able to prove +that she had been a wife. But in the event of the will being no will, +the Italian woman would have nothing. In such case the male heir +would have all if the marriage were no marriage;—but would have +nothing if the marriage could be made good. If the marriage could be +made good, the Lady Anna would have the entire property, except such +portion as would be claimed of right by her mother, the widow. Thus +the Italian woman and the young lord were combined in interest +against the mother and daughter as regarded the marriage; and the +young lord and the mother and daughter were combined against the +Italian woman as regarded the will;—but the young lord had to act +alone against the Italian woman, and against the mother and daughter +whom he and his friends regarded as swindlers and impostors. It was +for him to set aside the will in reference to the Italian woman, and +then to stand the brunt of the assault made upon him by the +soi-disant wife.</p> + +<p>In a very short time after the old Earl's death a double compromise +was offered on behalf of the young Earl. The money at stake was +immense. Would the Italian woman take £10,000, and go her way back to +Italy, renouncing all further claim; and would the soi-disant +Countess abandon her title, acknowledge her child to be illegitimate, +and go her way with another £10,000;—or with £20,000, as was soon +hinted by the gentlemen acting on the Earl's behalf? The proposition +was one somewhat difficult in the making, as the compromise, if made +with both, would be excellent, but could not be made to any good +effect with one only. The young Earl certainly could not afford to +buy off the Italian woman for £10,000, if the effect of such buying +off would only be to place the whole of the late lord's wealth in the +hands of his daughter and of his daughter's mother.</p> + +<p>The Italian woman consented. She declared with Italian energy that +her late loving friend had never been a day insane; but she knew +nothing of English laws, and but little of English money. She would +take the £10,000,—having had a calculation made for her of the +number of lire into which it would run. The number was enormous, and +she would take the offer. But when the proposal was mentioned to the +Countess, and explained to her by her old friend, Thomas Thwaite, who +had now become a poor man in her cause, she repudiated it with bitter +scorn,—with a scorn in which she almost included the old man who had +made it to her. "Is it for that, that I have been fighting?" she +said.</p> + +<p>"For that in part," said the old man.</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Thwaite, not for that at all; but that my girl may have her +birth allowed and her name acknowledged."</p> + +<p>"Her name shall be allowed and her birth shall be acknowledged," said +the tailor, in whose heart there was nothing base. "She shall be the +Lady Anna, and her mother shall be the Countess Lovel." The estate of +the Countess, if she had an estate, then owed the tailor some five or +six thousand pounds, and the compromise offered would have paid the +tailor every shilling and have left a comfortable income for the two +women.</p> + +<p>"For myself I care but little," said the mother, taking the tailor's +hand in hers and kissing it. "My child is the Lady Anna, and I do not +dare to barter away her rights." This took place down at the cottage +in Cumberland, and the tailor at once went up to London to make known +the decision of the Countess,—as he invariably called her.</p> + +<p>Then the lawyers went to work. As the double compromise could not be +effected, the single compromise could not stand. The Italian woman +raved and stamped, and swore that she must have her half million of +lire. But of course no right to such a claim had been made good to +her, and the lawyers on behalf of the young Earl went on with their +work. Public sympathy as a matter of course went with the young Earl. +As against the Italian woman he had with him every English man and +woman. It was horrible to the minds of English men and English women +that an old English Earldom should be starved in order that an +Italian harlot might revel in untold riches. It was felt by most men +and protested by all women that any sign of madness, be it what it +might,—however insignificant,—should be held to be sufficient +against such a claimant. Was not the fact that the man had made such +a will in itself sufficient proof of his madness? There were not a +few who protested that no further proof could be necessary. But with +us the law is the same for an Italian harlot and an English widow; +and it may well be that in its niceties it shall be found kinder to +the former than to the latter. But the Earl had been mad, and the law +said that he was mad when he had made his will,—and the Italian +woman went away, raging, into obscurity.</p> + +<p>The Italian woman was conquered, and now the battle was open and free +between the young Earl and the claimant Countess. Applications were +made on behalf of the Countess for funds from the estate wherewith to +prove the claim, and to a certain limited amount they were granted. +Such had been the life of the late Earl that it was held that the +cost of all litigation resulting from his misdeeds should be paid +from his estate;—but ready money was wanted, immediate ready money, +to be at the disposal of the Countess to any amount needed by her +agent, and this was hardly to be obtained. By this time public +sympathy ran almost entirely with the Earl. Though it was +acknowledged that the late lord was mad, and though it had become a +cause of rejoicing that the Italian woman had been sent away +penniless, howling into obscurity, because of the old man's madness, +still it was believed that he had written the truth when he declared +that the marriage had been a mock marriage. It would be better for +the English world that the young Earl should be a rich man, fit to do +honour to his position, fit to marry the daughter of a duke, fit to +carry on the glory of the English peerage, than that a woman, ill +reputed in the world, should be established as a Countess, with a +daughter dowered with tens of thousands, as to whom it was already +said that she was in love with a tailor's son. Nothing could be more +touching, more likely to awaken sympathy, than the manner in which +Josephine Murray had been carried away in marriage, and then roughly +told by the man who should have protected her from every harshly +blowing wind of heaven, that he had deceived her and that she was not +his wife. No usage to which woman had ever been subjected, as has +been said before, was more adapted to elicit compassion and energetic +aid. But nineteen years had now passed by since the deed was done, +and the facts were forgotten. One energetic friend there still +was,—or we may say two, the tailor and his son Daniel. But public +belief ran against the Countess, and nobody who was anybody in the +world would give her her title. Bets were laid, two and three to one +against her; and it was believed that she was an impostor. The Earl +had all the glory of success over his first opponent, and the loud +boasting of self-confident barristers buoyed up his cause.</p> + +<p>But loud-boasting barristers may nevertheless be wise lawyers, and +the question of a compromise was again mooted. If the lady would take +thirty thousand pounds and vanish, she should have the money clear of +deduction, and all expenses should be paid. The amount offered was +thought to be very liberal, but it did not amount to the annual +income that was at stake. It was rejected with scorn. Had it been +quadrupled, it would have been rejected with equal scorn. The +loud-boasting barristers were still confident; but—. Though it was +never admitted in words still it was felt that there might be a +doubt. What if the contending parties were to join forces, if the +Countess-ship of the Countess were to be admitted, and the +heiress-ship of the Lady Anna, and if the Earl and the Lady Anna were +to be united in holy wedlock? Might there not be a safe solution from +further difficulty in that way?</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-3" id="c1-3"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The idea of this further compromise, of this something more than +compromise, of this half acknowledgment of their own weakness, came +from Mr. Flick, of the firm of Norton and Flick, the solicitors who +were employed in substantiating the Earl's position. When Mr. Flick +mentioned it to Sir William Patterson, the great barrister, who was +at that time Solicitor-General and leading counsel on behalf of Lord +Lovel, Sir William Patterson stood aghast and was dismayed. Sir +William intended to make mince-meat of the Countess. It was said of +him that he intended to cross-examine the Countess off her legs, +right out of her claim, and almost into her grave. He certainly did +believe her to be an impostor, who had not thought herself to be +entitled to her name when she first assumed it.</p> + +<p>"I should be sorry, Mr. Flick, to be driven to think that anything of +that kind could be expedient."</p> + +<p>"It would make sure of the fortune to the family," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"And what about our friend, the Countess?"</p> + +<p>"Let her call herself Countess Lovel, Sir William. That will break no +bones. As to the formality of her own marriage, there can be no doubt +about that."</p> + +<p>"We can prove by Grogram that she was told that another wife was +living," said Sir William. Grogram was an old butler who had been in +the old Earl's service for thirty years.</p> + +<p>"I believe we can, Sir William; but—. It is quite clear that we +shall never get the other wife to come over and face an English jury. +It is of no use blinking it. The gentleman whom we have sent over +doubts her altogether. That there was a marriage is certain, but he +fears that this woman is not the old Countess. There were two +sisters, and it may be that this was the other sister."</p> + +<p>Sir William was a good deal dismayed, but he recovered himself. The +stakes were so high that it was quite possible that the gentleman who +had been sent over might have been induced to open his eyes to the +possibility of such personation by overtures from the other side. Sir +William was of opinion that Mr. Flick himself should go to Sicily. He +was not sure that he, Sir William, her Majesty's Solicitor-General, +would not make the journey in person. He was by no means disposed to +give way. "They tell me that the girl is no better than she should +be," he said to Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"I don't think so bad as that of her," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"Is she a lady,—or anything like a lady?"</p> + +<p>"I am told she is very beautiful."</p> + +<p>"I dare say;—and so was her mother before her. I never saw a +handsomer woman of her age than our friend the Countess. But I could +not recommend the young lord to marry an underbred, bad girl, and a +bastard who claims to be his cousin,—and support my proposition +merely on the ground of her looks."</p> + +<p>"Thirty-five thousand a year, Sir William!" pleaded the attorney.</p> + +<p>"I hope we can get the thirty-five thousand a year for our client +without paying so dear for them."</p> + +<p>It had been presumed that the real Countess, the original Countess, +the Italian lady whom the Earl had married in early life, would be +brought over, with properly attested documentary evidence in her +pocket, to prove that she was the existing Countess, and that any +other Countess must be either an impostor or a deluded dupe. No doubt +the old Earl had declared, when first informing Josephine Murray that +she was not his wife, that his real wife had died during the few +months which had intervened since his mock marriage; but it was +acknowledged on all sides, that the old Earl had been a villain and a +liar. It was no part of the duty of the young Earl, or of those who +acted for him, to defend the character of the old Earl. To wash that +blackamoor white, or even to make him whity-brown, was not necessary +to anybody. No one was now concerned to account for his crooked +courses. But if it could be shown that he had married the lady in +Italy,—as to which there was no doubt,—and that the lady was still +alive, or that she had been alive when the second marriage took +place, then the Lady Anna could not inherit the property which had +been freed from the grasp of the Italian mistress. But it seemed that +the lady, if she lived, could not be made to come. Mr. Flick did go +to Sicily, and came back renewing his advice to Sir William that Lord +Lovel should be advised to marry the Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>At this time the Countess, with her daughter, had moved their +residence from Keswick up to London, and was living in very humble +lodgings in a small street turning out of the New Road, near the +Yorkshire Stingo. Old Thomas Thwaite had accompanied them from +Cumberland, but the rooms had been taken for them by his son, Daniel +Thwaite, who was at this time foreman to a somewhat celebrated tailor +who carried on his business in Wigmore Street; and he, Daniel +Thwaite, had a bedroom in the house in which the Countess lodged. The +arrangement was not a wise one, as reports had already been spread +abroad as to the partiality of the Lady Anna for the young tailor. +But how should she not have been partial both to the father and to +the son, feeling as she did that they were the only two men who +befriended her cause and her mother's? As to the Countess herself, +she, perhaps, alone of all those who interested themselves in her +daughter's cause, had heard no word of these insinuations against her +child. To her both Thomas and Daniel Thwaite were dear friends, to +repay whom for their exertions with lavish generosity,—should the +means to do so ever come within her reach,—was one of the dreams of +her existence. But she was an ambitious woman, thinking much of her +rank, thinking much even of the blood of her own ancestors, +constantly urgent with her daughter in teaching her the duties and +privileges of wealth and rank. For the Countess never doubted that +she would at last attain success. That the Lady Anna should throw +herself away upon Daniel Thwaite did not occur to her as a +possibility. She had not even dreamed that Daniel Thwaite would +aspire to her daughter's hand. And yet every shop-boy and every +shop-girl in Keswick had been so saying for the last twelvemonth, and +rumours which had hitherto been confined to Keswick and its +neighbourhood, were now common in London. For the case was becoming +one of the celebrated causes of the age, and all the world was +talking of the Countess and her daughter. No momentary suspicion had +crossed the mind of the Countess till after their arrival in London; +and then when the suspicion did touch her it was not love that she +suspected,—but rather an unbecoming familiarity which she attributed +to her child's ignorance of the great life which awaited her. "My +dear," she said one day when Daniel Thwaite had left them, "you +should be less free in your manner with that young man."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, mamma?" said the daughter, blushing.</p> + +<p>"You had better call him Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"But I have called him Daniel ever since I was born."</p> + +<p>"He always calls you Lady Anna."</p> + +<p>"Sometimes he does, mamma."</p> + +<p>"I never heard him call you anything else," said the Countess, almost +with indignation. "It is all very well for the old man, because he is +an old man and has done so much for us."</p> + +<p>"So has Daniel;—quite as much, mamma. They have both done +everything."</p> + +<p>"True; they have both been warm friends; and if ever I forget them +may God forget me. I trust that we may both live to show them that +they are not forgotten. But it is not fitting that there should exist +between you and him the intimacy of equal positions. You are not and +cannot be his equal. He has been born to be a tailor, and you are the +daughter and heiress of an Earl."</p> + +<p>These last words were spoken in a tone that was almost awful to the +Lady Anna. She had heard so much of her father's rank and her +father's wealth,—rank and wealth which were always to be hers, but +which had never as yet reached her, which had been a perpetual +trouble to her, and a crushing weight upon her young life, that she +had almost learned to hate the title and the claim. Of course it was +a part of the religion of her life that her mother had been duly +married to her father. It was beyond a doubt to her that such was the +case. But the constant battling for denied rights, the assumption of +a position which could not be attained, the use of titles which were +simply ridiculous in themselves as connected with the kind of life +which she was obliged to lead,—these things had all become odious to +her. She lacked the ambition which gave her mother strength, and +would gladly have become Anna Murray or Anna Lovel, with a girl's +ordinary privilege of loving her lover, had such an easy life been +possible to her.</p> + +<p>In person she was very lovely, less tall and robust than her mother +had been, but with a sweeter, softer face. Her hair was less dark, +and her eyes were neither blue nor bold. But they were bright and +soft and very eloquent, and when laden with tears would have softened +the heart,—almost of her father. She was as yet less powerful than +her mother, both in body and mind, but probably better calculated to +make a happy home for a husband and children. She was affectionate, +self-denying, and feminine. Had that offer of compromise for thirty, +twenty, or for ten thousand pounds been made to her, she would have +accepted it willingly,—caring little for her name, little even for +fame, so that she might have been happy and quiet, and at liberty to +think of a lover as are other girls. In her present condition, how +could she have any happy love? She was the Lady Anna Lovel, heir to a +ducal fortune,—but she lived in small close lodgings in Wyndham +Street, New Road. She did not believe in the good time coming as did +her mother. Their enemy was an undoubted Earl, undoubtedly owner of +Lovel Grange of which she had heard all her life. Would it not be +better to take what the young lord chose to give them and to be at +rest? But she did not dare to express such thoughts to her mother. +Her mother would have crushed her with a look.</p> + +<p>"I have told Mr. Thwaite," the mother said to her daughter, "what we +were saying this morning."</p> + +<p>"About his son?"</p> + +<p>"Yes,—about his son."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"I was bound to do so."</p> + +<p>"And what did he say, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"He did not like it, and told me that he did not like it;—but he +admitted that it was true. He admitted that his son was no fitting +intimate for Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"What should we have done without him?"</p> + +<p>"Badly indeed; but that cannot change his duty, or ours. He is +helping us to struggle for that which is our own; but he would mar +his generosity if he put a taint on that which he is endeavouring to +restore to us."</p> + +<p>"Put a taint, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—a taint would rest upon your rank if you as Lady Anna Lovel +were familiar with Daniel Thwaite as with an equal. His father +understands it, and will speak to him."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, Daniel will be very angry."</p> + +<p>"Then will he be very unreasonable;—but, Anna, I will not have you +call him Daniel any more."</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-4" id="c1-4"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> +<h4>THE TAILOR OF KESWICK.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Old Thomas Thwaite was at this time up in London about the business +of the Countess, but had no intention of residing there. He still +kept his shop in Keswick, and still made coats and trousers for +Cumberland statesmen. He was by no means in a condition to retire +from business, having spent the savings of his life in the cause of +the Countess and her daughter. Men had told him that, had he not +struck the Earl in the yard of the Crown at Keswick, as horses were +being brought out for the lord's travelling carriage, ample provision +would have been made by the rich old sinner for his daughter. That +might have been so, or might not, but the saying instigated the +tailor to further zeal and increased generosity. To oppose an Earl, +even though it might be on behalf of a Countess, was a joy to him; to +set wrong right, and to put down cruelty and to relieve distressed +women was the pride of his heart,—especially when his efforts were +made in antagonism to one of high rank. And he was a man who would +certainly be thorough in his work, though his thoroughness should be +ruinous to himself. He had despised the Murrays, who ought to have +stuck to their distant cousin, and had exulted in his heart at +thinking that the world would say how much better and truer had been +the Keswick tailor than the well-born and comparatively wealthy +Scotch relations. And the poets of the lakes, who had not as yet +become altogether Tories, had taken him by the hand and praised him. +The rights of the Countess and the wrongs of the Countess had become +his life. But he still kept on a diminished business in the north, +and it was now needful that he should return to Cumberland. He had +heard that renewed offers of compromise were to be made,—though no +idea of the proposed marriage between the distant cousins had been +suggested to him. He had been discussing the question of some +compromise with the Countess when she spoke to him respecting his +son; and had recommended that certain terms should, if possible, be +effected. Let the money be divided, on condition that the marriage +were allowed. There could be no difficulty in this if the young lord +would accede to such an arrangement, as the marriage must be +acknowledged unless an adverse party should bring home proof from +Italy to the contrary. The sufficiency of the ceremony in +Applethwaite Church was incontestable. Let the money be divided, and +the Countess be Countess Lovel, and Lady Anna be the Lady Anna to all +the world. Old Thomas Thwaite himself had seemed to think that there +would be enough of triumph in such a settlement. "But the woman might +afterwards be bribed to come over and renew her claim," said the +Countess. "Unless it be absolutely settled now, they will say when I +am dead and gone that my daughter has no right to her name." Then the +tailor said that he would make further inquiry how that might be. He +was inclined to think that there might be a decision which should be +absolute, even though that decision should be reached by compromise +between the now contending parties.</p> + +<p>Then the Countess had said her word about Daniel Thwaite the son, and +Thomas Thwaite the father had heard it with ill-concealed anger. To +fight against an Earl on behalf of the Earl's injured wife had been +very sweet to him, but to be checked in his fight because he and his +were unfit to associate with the child of that injured wife, was very +bitter. And yet he had sense to know that what the Countess said to +him was true. As far as words went, he admitted the truth; but his +face was more eloquent than his words, and his face showed plainly +his displeasure.</p> + +<p>"It is not of you that I am speaking," said the Countess, laying her +hand upon the old man's sleeve.</p> + +<p>"Daniel is, at any rate, fitter than I," said the tailor. "He has +been educated, and I never was."</p> + +<p>"He is as good as gold. It is not of that I speak. You know what I +mean."</p> + +<p>"I know very well what you mean, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I have no friend like you, Mr. Thwaite;—none whom I love as I do +you. And next to you is your son. For myself, there is nothing that I +would not do for him or you;—no service, however menial, that I +would not render you with my own hands. There is no limit to the +gratitude which I owe you. But my girl is young, and if this burden +of rank and wealth is to be hers,—it is proper that she do honour to +it."</p> + +<p>"And it is not honourable that she should be seen speaking—to a +tailor?"</p> + +<p>"Ah,—if you choose to take it so!"</p> + +<p>"How should I take it? What I say is true. And what you say is true +also. I will speak to Daniel." But she knew well, as he left her, +that his heart was bitter against her.</p> + +<p>The old man did speak to his son, sitting with him up in the bed-room +over that which the Countess occupied. Old Thomas Thwaite was a +strong man, but his son was in some respects stronger. As his father +had said of him, he had been educated,—or rather instructed; and +instruction leads to the power of thinking. He looked deeper into +things than did his father, and was governed by wider and greater +motives. His father had been a Radical all his life, guided thereto +probably by some early training, and made steadfast in his creed by +feelings which induced him to hate the pretensions of an assumed +superiority. Old Thwaite could not endure to think that one man +should be considered to be worthier than another because he was +richer. He would admit the riches, and even the justice of the +riches,—having been himself, during much of his life, a rich man in +his own sphere; but would deny the worthiness; and would adduce, in +proof of his creed, the unworthiness of certain exalted sinners. The +career of the Earl Lovel had been to him a sure proof of the baseness +of English aristocracy generally. He had dreams of a republic in +which a tailor might be president or senator, or something almost +noble. But no rational scheme of governance among mankind had ever +entered his mind, and of pure politics he knew no more than the +journeyman who sat stitching upon his board.</p> + +<p>But Daniel Thwaite was a thoughtful man who had read many books. +More's Utopia and Harrington's Oceana, with many a tale written in +the same spirit, had taught him to believe that a perfect form of +government, or rather of policy, under which all men might be happy +and satisfied, was practicable upon earth, and was to be +achieved,—not merely by the slow amelioration of mankind under God's +fostering ordinances,—but by the continued efforts of good and wise +men who, by their goodness and wisdom, should be able to make the +multitude believe in them. To diminish the distances, not only +between the rich and the poor, but between the high and the low, was +the grand political theory upon which his mind was always running. +His father was ever thinking of himself and of Earl Lovel; while +Daniel Thwaite was considering the injustice of the difference +between ten thousand aristocrats and thirty million of people, who +were for the most part ignorant and hungry. But it was not that he +also had not thoughts of himself. Gradually he had come to learn that +he need not have been a tailor's foreman in Wigmore Street had not +his father spent on behalf of the Countess Lovel the means by which +he, the son, might already have become a master tradesman. And yet he +had never begrudged it. He had been as keen as his father in the +cause. It had been the romance of his life, since his life had been +capable of romance;—but with him it had been no respect for the rank +to which his father was so anxious to restore the Countess, no value +which he attached to the names claimed by the mother and the +daughter. He hated the countess-ship of the Countess, and the +ladyship of the Lady Anna. He would fain that they should have +abandoned them. They were to him odious signs of iniquitous +pretensions. But he was keen enough to punish and to remedy the +wickedness of the wicked Earl. He reverenced his father because he +assaulted the wicked Earl and struck him to the ground. He was heart +and soul in the cause of the injured wife. And then the one thing on +earth that was really dear to him was the Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>It had been the romance of his life. They had grown up together as +playmates in Cumberland. He had fought scores of battles on her +behalf with those who had denied that she was the Lady Anna,—even +though he had then hated the title. Boys had jeered him because of +his noble little sweetheart, and he had exulted at hearing her so +called. His only sister and his mother had died when he was young, +and there had been none in the house but his father and himself. As a +boy he had ever been at the cottage of the Countess, and he had sworn +to Lady Anna a thousand times that he would do and die in her +service. Now he was a strong man, and was more devoted to her than +ever. It was the great romance of his life. How could it be brought +to pass that the acknowledged daughter of an Earl, dowered with +enormous wealth, should become the wife of a tailor? And yet such was +his ambition and such his purpose. It was not that he cared for her +dower. It was not, at any rate, the hope of her dower that had +induced him to love her. His passion had grown and his purpose had +been formed before the old Earl had returned for the last time to +Lovel Grange,—when nothing was known of the manner in which his +wealth might be distributed. That her prospect of riches now joined +itself to his aspirations it would be an affectation to deny. The man +who is insensible to the power which money brings with it must be a +dolt; and Daniel Thwaite was not a dolt, and was fond of power. But +he was proud of heart, and he said to himself over and over again +that should it ever come to pass that the possession of the girl was +to depend on the abandonment of the wealth, the wealth should be +abandoned without a further thought.</p> + +<p>It may be imagined that with such a man the words which his father +would speak to him about the Lady Anna, suggesting the respectful +distance with which she should be approached by a tailor's foreman, +would be very bitter. They were bitter to the speaker and very bitter +to him who heard them. "Daniel," said the father, "this is a queer +life you are leading with the Countess and Lady Anna just beneath +you, in the same house."</p> + +<p>"It was a quiet house for them to come to;—and cheap."</p> + +<p>"Quiet enough, and as cheap as any, I dare say;—but I don't know +whether it is well that you should be thrown so much with them. They +are different from us." The son looked at his father, but made no +immediate reply. "Our lot has been cast with theirs because of their +difficulties," continued the old man, "but the time is coming when we +had better stand aloof."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, father?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that we are tailors, and these people are born nobles."</p> + +<p>"They have taken our help, father."</p> + +<p>"Well; yes, they have. But it is not for us to say anything of that. +It has been given with a heart."</p> + +<p>"Certainly with a heart."</p> + +<p>"And shall be given to the end. But the end of it will come soon now. +One will be a Countess and the other will be the Lady Anna. Are they +fit associates for such as you and me?"</p> + +<p>"If you ask me, father, I think they are."</p> + +<p>"They don't think so. You may be sure of that."</p> + +<p>"Have they said so, father?"</p> + +<p>"The Countess has said so. She has complained that you call her +daughter simply Anna. In future you must give her a handle to her +name." Daniel Thwaite was a dark brown man, with no tinge of +ruddiness about him, a thin spare man, almost swarthy, whose hands +were as brown as a nut, and whose cheeks and forehead were brown. But +now he blushed up to his eyes. The hue of the blood as it rushed to +his face forced itself through the darkness of his visage, and he +blushed, as such men do blush,—with a look of indignation on his +face. "Just call her Lady Anna," said the father.</p> + +<p>"The Countess has been complaining of me then?"</p> + +<p>"She has hinted that her daughter will be injured by your +familiarity, and she is right. I suppose that the Lady Anna Lovel +ought to be treated with deference by a tailor,—even though the +tailor may have spent his last farthing in her service."</p> + +<p>"Do not let us talk about the money, father."</p> + +<p>"Well; no. I'd as lief not think about the money either. The world is +not ripe yet, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"No;—the world is not ripe."</p> + +<p>"There must be earls and countesses."</p> + +<p>"I see no must in it. There are earls and countesses as there used to +be mastodons and other senseless, over-grown brutes roaming miserable +and hungry through the undrained woods,—cold, comfortless, unwieldy +things, which have perished in the general progress. The big things +have all to give way to the intellect of those which are more finely +made."</p> + +<p>"I hope men and women will not give way to bugs and fleas," said the +tailor, who was wont to ridicule his son's philosophy.</p> + +<p>The son was about to explain his theory of the perfected mean size of +intellectual created beings, when his heart was at the present moment +full of Anna Lovel. "Father," he said, "I think that the Countess +might have spared her observations."</p> + +<p>"I thought so too;—but as she said it, it was best that I should +tell you. You'll have to marry some day, and it wouldn't do that you +should look there for your sweetheart." When the matter was thus +brought home to him, Daniel Thwaite would argue it no further. "It +will all come to an end soon," continued the old man, "and it may be +that they had better not move till it is settled. They'll divide the +money, and there will be enough for both in all conscience. The +Countess will be the Countess, and the Lady Anna will be the Lady +Anna; and then there will be no more need of the old tailor from +Keswick. They will go into another world, and we shall hear from them +perhaps about Christmas time with a hamper of game, and may be a +little wine, as a gift."</p> + +<p>"You do not think that of them, father."</p> + +<p>"What else can they do? The lawyers will pay the money, and they will +be carried away. They cannot come to our house, nor can we go to +theirs. I shall leave to-morrow, my boy, at six o'clock; and my +advice to you is to trouble them with your presence as little as +possible. You may be sure that they do not want it."</p> + +<p>Daniel Thwaite was certainly not disposed to take his father's +advice, but then he knew much more than did his father. The above +scene took place in the evening, when the son's work was done. As he +crept down on the following morning by the door of the room in which +the two ladies slept, he could not but think of his father's words, +"It wouldn't do that you should look there for your sweetheart." Why +should it not do? But any such advice as that was now too late. He +had looked there for his sweetheart. He had spoken, and the girl had +answered him. He had held her close to his heart, and had pressed her +lips to his own, and had called her his Anna, his well-beloved, his +pearl, his treasure; and she,—she had only sighed in his arms, and +yielded to his embrace. She had wept alone when she thought of it, +with a conscious feeling that as she was the Lady Anna there could be +no happy love between herself and the only youth whom she had known. +But when he had spoken, and had clasped her to his heart, she had +never dreamed of rebuking him. She had known nothing better than he, +and desired nothing better than to live with him and to be loved by +him. She did not think that it could be possible to know any one +better. This weary, weary title filled her with dismay. Daniel, as he +walked along thinking of her embrace, thinking of those kisses, and +thinking also of his father's caution, swore to himself that the +difficulties in his way should never stop him in his course.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-5" id="c1-5"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> +<h4>THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>When Mr. Flick returned from Sicily he was very strongly in favour of +some compromise. He had seen the so-called Italian Countess,—who +certainly was now called Contessa by everybody around her,—and he +did not believe that she had ever been married to the old Earl. That +an Italian lady had been married to the old lord now twenty-five +years ago, he did believe,—probably the younger sister of this +woman,—and he also believed that this wife had been dead before the +marriage at Applethwaite. That was his private opinion. Mr. Flick +was, in his way, an honest man,—one who certainly would have taken +no conscious part in getting up an unjust claim; but he was now +acting as legal agent for the young Earl, and it was not his business +to get up evidence for the Earl's opponents. He did think that were +he to use all his ingenuity and the funds at his disposal he would be +able to reach the real truth in such a manner that it should be made +clear and indubitable to an English jury; but if the real truth were +adverse to his side, why search for it? He understood that the +English Countess would stand her ground on the legality of the +Applethwaite marriage, and on the acquittal of the old Earl as to the +charge of bigamy. The English Countess being firm, so far as that +ground would make her firm, it would in reality be for the other +side—for the young Earl—to prove a former marriage. The burden of +the proof would be with him, and not with the English Countess to +disprove it. Disingenuous lawyers—Mr. Flick, who though fairly +honest could be disingenuous, among the number—had declared the +contrary. But such was the case; and, as money was scarce with the +Countess and her friends, no attempt had been made on their part to +bring home evidence from Sicily. All this Mr. Flick knew, and doubted +how far it might be wise for him further to disturb that Sicilian +romance. The Italian Countess, who was a hideous, worn-out old woman, +professing to be forty-four, probably fifty-five, and looking as +though she were seventy-seven, would not stir a step towards England. +She would swear and had sworn any number of oaths. Documentary +evidence from herself, from various priests, from servants, and from +neighbours there was in plenty. Mr. Flick learned through his +interpreter that a certain old priest ridiculed the idea of there +being a doubt. And there were letters,—letters alleged to have been +written by the Earl to the living wife in the old days, which were +shown to Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick was an educated man, and knew many +things. He knew something of the manufacture of paper, and would not +look at the letters after the first touch. It was not for him to get +up evidence for the other side. The hideous old woman was clamorous +for money. The priests were clamorous for money. The neighbours were +clamorous for money. Had not they all sworn anything that was wanted, +and were they not to be paid? Some moderate payment was made to the +hideous, screeching, greedy old woman; some trivial payment—as to +which Mr. Flick was heartily ashamed of himself—was made to the old +priest; and then Mr. Flick hurried home, fully convinced that a +compromise should be made as to the money, and that the legality of +the titles claimed by the two English ladies should be allowed. It +might be that that hideous hag had once been the Countess Lovel. It +certainly was the case that the old Earl in latter years had so +called her, though he had never once seen her during his last +residence in Sicily. It might be that the clumsy fiction of the +letters had been perpetrated with the view of bolstering up a true +case with false evidence. But Mr. Flick thought that there should be +a compromise, and expressed his opinion very plainly to Sir William +Patterson. "You mean a marriage," said the Solicitor-General. At this +time Mr. Hardy, Q.C., the second counsel acting on behalf of the +Earl, was also present.</p> + +<p>"Not necessarily by a marriage, Sir William. They could divide the +money."</p> + +<p>"The girl is not of age," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"She is barely twenty as yet," said Sir William.</p> + +<p>"I think it might be managed on her behalf," said the attorney.</p> + +<p>"Who could be empowered to sacrifice her rights?" said Mr. Hardy, who +was a gruff man.</p> + +<p>"We might perhaps contrive to tide it over till she is of age," said +the Solicitor-General, who was a sweet-mannered, mild man among his +friends, though he could cross-examine a witness off his legs,—or +hers, if the necessity of the case required him to do so.</p> + +<p>"Of course we could do that, Sir William. What is a year in such a +case as this?"</p> + +<p>"Not much among lawyers, is it, Mr. Flick? You think that we +shouldn't bring our case into court."</p> + +<p>"It is a good case, Sir William, no doubt. There's the +woman,—Countess, we will call her,—ready to swear, and has sworn, +that she was the old Earl's wife. All the people round call her the +Countess. The Earl undoubtedly used to speak of her as the Countess, +and send her little dribbles of money, as being his Countess, during +the ten years and more after he left Lovel Grange. There is the old +priest who married them."</p> + +<p>"The devil's in it if that is not a good case," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"Go on, Mr. Flick," said the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"I've got all the documentary evidence of course, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"Go on, Mr. Flick."</p> + +<p>Mr. Flick scratched his head. "It's a very heavy interest, Sir +William."</p> + +<p>"No doubt it is. Go on."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I've anything further to say, except that I'd +arrange it if I could. Our client, Sir William, would be in a very +pretty position if he got half the income which is at stake."</p> + +<p>"Or the whole with the wife," said the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"Or the whole with the wife, Sir William. If he were to lose it all, +he'd be,—so to say, nowhere."</p> + +<p>"Nowhere at all," said the Solicitor-General. "The entailed property +isn't worth above a thousand a year."</p> + +<p>"I'd make some arrangement," said Mr. Flick, whose mind may perhaps +have had a not unnatural bend towards his own very large venture in +this concern. That his bill, including the honorarium of the +barristers, would sooner or later be paid out of the estate, he did +not doubt;—but a compromise would make the settlement easy and +pleasant.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hardy was in favour of continued fighting. A keener, honester, +more enlightened lawyer than Mr. Hardy did not wear silk at that +moment, but he had not the gift of seeing through darkness which +belonged to the Solicitor-General. When Mr. Flick told them of the +strength of their case, as based on various heads of evidence in +their favour, Mr. Hardy believed Mr. Flick's words and rejected Mr. +Flick's opinion. He believed in his heart that the English Countess +was an impostor, not herself believing in her own claim; and it would +be gall and wormwood to him to give to such a one a moiety of the +wealth which should go to support the ancient dignity and +aristocratic grace of the house of Lovel. He hated compromise and +desired justice,—and was a great rather than a successful lawyer. +Sir William had at once perceived that there was something in the +background on which it was his duty to calculate, which he was bound +to consider,—but with which at the same time it was inexpedient that +he should form a closer or more accurate acquaintance. He must do the +best he could for his client. Earl Lovel with a thousand a year, and +that probably already embarrassed, would be a poor, wretched +creature, a mock lord, an earl without the very essence of an +earldom. But Earl Lovel with fifteen or twenty thousand a year would +be as good as most other earls. It would be but the difference +between two powdered footmen and four, between four hunters and +eight, between Belgrave Square and Eaton Place. Sir William, had he +felt confident, would of course have preferred the four footmen for +his client, and the eight hunters, and Belgrave Square; even though +the poor English Countess should have starved, or been fed by the +tailor's bounty. But he was not confident. He began to think that +that wicked old Earl had been too wicked for them all. "They say +she's a very nice girl," said Sir William.</p> + +<p>"Very handsome indeed, I'm told," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"And in love with the son of the old tailor from Keswick," said Mr. +Hardy.</p> + +<p>"She'll prefer the lord to the tailor for a guinea," said Sir +William.</p> + +<p>And thus it was decided, after some indecisive fashion, that their +client should be sounded as to the expedience of a compromise. It was +certain to them that the poor woman would be glad to accept, for +herself and her daughter, half of the wealth at stake, which half +would be to her almost unlimited riches, on the condition that their +rank was secured to them,—their rank and all the privileges of +honest legitimacy. But as to such an arrangement the necessary delay +offered no doubt a serious impediment, and it was considered that the +wisest course would be to propose the marriage. But who should +propose it, and how should it be proposed? Sir William was quite +willing to make the suggestion to the young Lord or the young Lord's +family, whose consent must of course be first obtained; but who +should then break the ice to the Countess? "I suppose we must ask our +friend, the Serjeant," said Mr. Flick. Serjeant Bluestone was the +leading counsel for our Countess, and was vehemently energetic in +this case. He swore everywhere that the Solicitor-General hadn't a +leg to stand upon, and that the Solicitor-General knew that he hadn't +a leg. Let them bring that Italian Countess over if they dared. He'd +countess her, and discountess her too! Since he had first known the +English courts of law there had been no case hard as this was hard. +Had not the old Earl been acquitted of the charge of bigamy, when the +unfortunate woman had done her best to free herself from her +position? Serjeant Bluestone, who was a very violent man, taking up +all his cases as though the very holding of a brief opposite to him +was an insult to himself, had never before been so violent. "The +Serjeant will take it as a surrender," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"We must get round the Serjeant," said Sir William. "There are ladies +in the Lovel family; we must manage it through them." And so it was +arranged by the young Lord's lawyers that an attempt should be made +to marry him to the heiress.</p> + +<p>The two cousins had never seen each other. Lady Anna had hardly heard +of Frederic Lovel before her father's death; but, since that, had +been brought up to regard the young Lord as her natural enemy. The +young Lord had been taught from his youth upwards to look upon the +soi-disant Countess and her daughter as impostors who would some day +strive to rob him of his birthright;—and, in these latter days, as +impostors who were hard at work upon their project. And he had been +told of the intimacy between the Countess and the old tailor,—and +also of that between the so-called Lady Anna and the young tailor. To +these distant Lovels,—to Frederic Lovel who had been brought up with +the knowledge that he must be the Earl, and to his uncle and aunt by +whom he had been brought up,—the women down at Keswick had been +represented as vulgar, odious, and disreputable. We all know how firm +can be the faith of a family in such matters. The Lovels were not +without fear as to the result of the attempt that was being made. +They understood quite as well as did Mr. Flick the glory of the +position which would attend upon success, and the wretchedness +attendant upon a pauper earldom. They were nervous enough, and in +some moods frightened. But their trust in the justice of their cause +was unbounded. The old Earl, whose memory was horrible to them, had +purposely left two enemies in their way. There had been the Italian +mistress backed up by the will; and there had been this illegitimate +child. The one was vanquished; but the other—! Ah,—it would be bad +with them indeed if that enemy could not be vanquished too! They had +offered £30,000 to the enemy; but the enemy would not accept the +bribe. The idea of ending all their troubles by a marriage had never +occurred to them. Had Mrs. Lovel been asked about it, she would have +said that Anna Murray,—as she always studiously called the Lady +Anna, was not fit to be married.</p> + +<p>The young Lord, who a few months after his cousin's death had been +old enough to take his seat in the House of Peers, was a gayhearted, +kindly young man, who had been brought home from sea at the age of +twenty on the death of an elder brother. Some of the family had +wished that he should go on with his profession in spite of the +earldom; but it had been thought unfit that he should be an earl and +a midshipman at the same time, and his cousin's death while he was +still on shore settled the question. He was a fair-haired, well-made +young lad, looking like a sailor, and every inch a gentleman. Had he +believed that the Lady Anna was the Lady Anna, no earthly +consideration would have induced him to meddle with the money. Since +the old Lord's death, he had lived chiefly with his uncle Charles +Lovel, having passed some two or three months at Lovel Grange with +his uncle and aunt. Charles Lovel was a clergyman, with a good living +at Yoxham, in Yorkshire, who had married a rich wife, a woman with +some two thousand a year of her own, and was therefore well to do in +the world. His two sons were at Harrow, and he had one other child, a +daughter. With them also lived a Miss Lovel, Aunt Julia,—who was +supposed of all the Lovels to be the wisest and most strong-minded. +The parson, though a popular man, was not strong-minded. He was +passionate, loud, generous, affectionate and indiscreet. He was very +proud of his nephew's position as head of the family,—and very full +of his nephew's wrongs arising from the fraud of those Murray women. +He was a violent Tory, and had heard much of the Keswick Radical. He +never doubted for a moment that both old Thwaite and young Thwaite +were busy in concocting an enormous scheme of plunder by which to +enrich themselves. To hear that they had both been convicted and +transported was the hope of his life. That a Radical should not be +worthy of transportation was to him impossible. That a Radical should +be honest was to him incredible. But he was a thoroughly humane and +charitable man, whose good qualities were as little intelligible to +old Thomas Thwaite, as were those of Thomas Thwaite to him.</p> + +<p>To whom should the Solicitor-General first break the matter? He had +already had some intercourse with the Lovels, and had not been +impressed with a sense of the parson's wisdom. He was a Whig +Solicitor-General, for there were still Whigs in those days, and Mr. +Lovel had not much liked him. Mr. Flick had seen much of the +family,—having had many interviews with the young lord, with the +parson, and with Aunt Julia. It was at last settled by Sir William's +advice that a letter should be written to Aunt Julia by Mr. Flick, +suggesting that she should come up to town.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Lovel will be very angry," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"We must do the best we can for our client," said Sir William. The +letter was written, and Miss Lovel was informed in Mr. Flick's most +discreet style, that as Sir William Patterson was anxious to discuss +a matter concerning Lord Lovel's case in which a woman's voice would +probably be of more service than that of a man, perhaps Miss Lovel +would not object to the trouble of a journey to London. Miss Lovel +did come up, and her brother came with her.</p> + +<p>The interview took place in Sir William's chambers, and no one was +present but Sir William, Miss Lovel, and Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick had +been instructed to sit still and say nothing, unless he were asked a +question; and he obeyed his instructions. After some apologies, which +were perhaps too soft and sweet,—and which were by no means needed, +as Miss Lovel herself, though very wise, was neither soft nor +sweet,—the great man thus opened his case. "This is a very serious +matter, Miss Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Very serious indeed."</p> + +<p>"You can hardly perhaps conceive how great a load of responsibility +lies upon a lawyer's shoulders, when he has to give advice in such a +case as this, when perhaps the prosperity of a whole family may turn +upon his words."</p> + +<p>"He can only do his best."</p> + +<p>"Ah yes, Miss Lovel. That is easy to say; but how shall he know what +is the best?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose the truth will prevail at last. It is impossible to think +that a young man such as my nephew should be swindled out of a noble +fortune by the intrigues of two such women as these. I can't believe +it, and I won't believe it. Of course I am only a woman, but I always +thought it wrong to offer them even a shilling." Sir William smiled +and rubbed his head, fixing his eyes on those of the lady. Though he +smiled she could see that there was real sadness in his face. "You +don't mean to say you doubt?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do."</p> + +<p>"You think that a wicked scheme like this can succeed before an +English judge?"</p> + +<p>"But if the scheme be not wicked? Let me tell you one or two things, +Miss Lovel;—or rather my own private opinion on one or two points. I +do not believe that these two ladies are swindlers."</p> + +<p>"They are not ladies, and I feel sure that they are swindlers," said +Miss Lovel very firmly, turning her face as she spoke to the +attorney.</p> + +<p>"I am telling you, of course, merely my own opinion, and I will beg +you to believe of me that in forming it I have used all the +experience and all the caution which a long course of practice in +these matters has taught me. Your nephew is entitled to my best +services, and at the present moment I can perhaps do my duty to him +most thoroughly by asking you to listen to me." The lady closed her +lips together, and sat silent. "Whether Mrs. Murray, as we have +hitherto called her, was or was not the legal wife of the late Earl, +I will not just now express an opinion; but I am sure that she thinks +that she was. The marriage was formal and accurate. The Earl was +tried for bigamy, and acquitted. The people with whom we have to do +across the water, in Sicily, are not respectable. They cannot be +induced to come here to give evidence. An English jury will be +naturally averse to them. The question is one simply of facts for a +jury, and we cannot go beyond a jury. Had the daughter been a son, it +would have been in the House of Lords to decide which young man +should be the peer;—but, as it is, it is simply a question of +property, and of facts as to the ownership of the property. Should we +lose the case, your nephew would be—a very poor man."</p> + +<p>"A very poor man, indeed, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"His position would be distressing. I am bound to say that we should +go into court to try the case with very great distrust. Mr. Flick +quite agrees with me."</p> + +<p>"Quite so, Sir William," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>Miss Lovel again looked at the attorney, closed her lips tighter than +ever, but did not say a word.</p> + +<p>"In such cases as this prejudices will arise, Miss Lovel. It is +natural that you and your family should be prejudiced against these +ladies. For myself, I am not aware that anything true can be alleged +against them."</p> + +<p>"The girl has disgraced herself with a tailor's son," almost screamed +Miss Lovel.</p> + +<p>"You have been told so, but I do not believe it to be true. They +were, no doubt, brought up as children together; and Mr. Thwaite has +been most kind to both the ladies." It at once occurred to Miss Lovel +that Sir William was a Whig, and that there was in truth but little +difference between a Whig and a Radical. To be at heart a gentleman, +or at heart a lady, it was, to her thinking, necessary to be a Tory. +"It would be a thousand pities that so noble a property should pass +out of a family which, by its very splendour and ancient nobility, is +placed in need of ample means." On hearing this sentiment, which +might have become even a Tory, Miss Lovel relaxed somewhat the +muscles of her face. "Were the Earl to marry his +<span class="nowrap">cousin—"</span></p> + +<p>"She is not his cousin."</p> + +<p>"Were the Earl to marry the young lady who, it may be, will be proved +to be his cousin, the whole difficulty would be cleared away."</p> + +<p>"Marry her!"</p> + +<p>"I am told that she is very lovely, and that pains have been taken +with her education. Her mother was well born and well bred. If you +would get at the truth, Miss Lovel, you must teach yourself to +believe that they are not swindlers. They are no more swindlers than +I am a swindler. I will go further,—though perhaps you, and the +young Earl, and Mr. Flick, may think me unfit to be intrusted any +longer with this case, after such a declaration,—I believe, though +it is with a doubting belief, that the elder lady is the Countess +Lovel, and that her daughter is the legitimate child and the heir of +the late Earl."</p> + +<p>Mr. Flick sat with his mouth open as he heard this,—beating his +breast almost with despair. His opinion tallied exactly with Sir +William's. Indeed, it was by his opinion, hardly expressed, but +perfectly understood, that Sir William had been led. But he had not +thought that Sir William would be so bold and candid.</p> + +<p>"You believe that Anna Murray is the real heir?" gasped Miss Lovel.</p> + +<p>"I do,—with a doubting belief. I am inclined that way,—having to +form my opinion on very conflicting evidence." Mr. Flick was by this +time quite sure that Sir William was right, in his opinion,—though +perhaps wrong in declaring it,—having been corroborated in his own +belief by the reflex of it on a mind more powerful than his own. +"Thinking as I do," continued Sir William,—"with a natural bias +towards my own client,—what will a jury think, who will have no such +bias? If they are cousins,—distant cousins,—why should they not +marry and be happy, one bringing the title, and the other the wealth? +There could be no more rational union, Miss Lovel."</p> + +<p>Then there was a long pause before any one spoke a word. Mr. Flick +had been forbidden to speak, and Sir William, having made his +proposition, was determined to await the lady's reply. The lady was +aghast, and for awhile could neither think nor utter a word. At last +she opened her mouth. "I must speak to my brother about this."</p> + +<p>"Quite right, Miss Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Now I may go, Sir William?"</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Miss Lovel." And Miss Lovel went.</p> + +<p>"You have gone farther than I thought you would, Sir William," said +Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"I hardly went far enough, Mr. Flick. We must go farther yet if we +mean to save any part of the property for the young man. What should +we gain, even if we succeeded in proving that the Earl was married in +early life to the old Sicilian hag that still lives? She would +inherit the property then;—not the Earl."</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-6" id="c1-6"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> +<h4>YOXHAM RECTORY.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Miss Lovel, wise and strong-minded as she was, did not dare to come +to any decision on the proposition made to her without consulting +some one. Strong as she was, she found herself at once to be too weak +to speak to her nephew on the subject of her late interview with the +great lawyer without asking her brother's opinion. The parson had +accompanied her up to London, in a state of wrath against Sir +William, in that he had not been sent for instead of his sister, and +to him she told all that had been said. Her brother was away at his +club when she got back to her hotel, and she had some hours in which +to think of what had taken place. She could not at once bring herself +to believe that all her former beliefs were vain and ill founded.</p> + +<p>But if the opinion of the Solicitor-General had not prevailed with +her, it prevailed still less when it reached her brother second-hand. +She had been shaken, but Mr. Lovel at first was not shaken at all. +Sir William was a Whig and a traitor. He had never known a Whig who +was not a traitor. Sir William was throwing them over. The Murray +people, who were all Whigs, had got hold of him. He, Mr. Lovel, would +go at once to Mr. Hardy, and tell Mr. Hardy what he thought. The case +should be immediately taken out of the hands of Messrs. Norton and +Flick. Did not all the world know that these impostors were +impostors? Sir William should be exposed and degraded,—though, in +regard to this threatened degradation, Mr. Lovel was almost of +opinion that his party would like their Solicitor-General better for +having shown himself to be a traitor, and therefore proved himself to +be a good Whig. He stormed and flew about the room, using language +which hardly became his cloth. If his nephew married the girl, he +would never own his nephew again. If that swindle was to prevail, let +his nephew be poor and honest. He would give half of all he had +towards supporting the peerage, and was sure that his boys would +thank him for what he had done. But they should never call that woman +cousin; and as for himself, might his tongue be blistered if ever he +spoke of either of those women as Countess Lovel. He was inclined to +think that the whole case should immediately be taken out of the +hands of Norton and Flick, without further notice, and another +solicitor employed. But at last he consented to call on Mr. Norton on +the following morning.</p> + +<p>Mr. Norton was a heavy, honest old man, who attended to simple +conveyancing, and sat amidst the tin boxes of his broad-acred +clients. He had no alternative but to send for Mr. Flick, and Mr. +Flick came. When Mr. Lovel showed his anger, Mr. Flick became +somewhat indignant. Mr. Flick knew how to assert himself, and Mr. +Lovel was not quite the same man in the lawyer's chambers that he had +been in his own parlour at the hotel. Mr. Flick was of opinion that +no better counsel was to be had in England than the +Solicitor-General, and no opinion more worthy of trust than his. If +the Earl chose to put his case into other hands, of course he could +do so, but it would behove his lordship to be very careful lest he +should prejudice most important interests by showing his own weakness +to his opponents. Mr. Flick spoke in the interests of his client,—so +he said,—and not in his own. Mr. Flick was clearly of opinion that a +compromise should be arranged; and having given that opinion, could +say nothing more on the present occasion. On the next day the young +Earl saw Mr. Flick, and also saw Sir William, and was then told by +his aunt of the proposition which had been made. The parson retired +to Yoxham, and Miss Lovel remained in London with her nephew. By the +end of the week Miss Lovel was brought round to think that some +compromise was expedient. All this took place in May. The cause had +been fixed for trial in the following November, the long interval +having been allowed because of the difficulty expected in producing +the evidence necessary for rebutting the claims of the late Earl's +daughter.</p> + +<p>By the middle of June all the Lovels were again in London,—the +parson, his sister, the parson's wife, and the Earl. "I never saw the +young woman in my life," said the Earl to his aunt.</p> + +<p>"As for that," said his aunt, "no doubt you could see her if you +thought it wise to do so."</p> + +<p>"I suppose she might be asked to the rectory?" said Mrs. Lovel.</p> + +<p>"That would be giving up altogether," said the rector.</p> + +<p>"Sir William said that it would not be against us at all," said Aunt +Julia.</p> + +<p>"You would have to call her Lady Anna," said Mrs. Lovel.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't do it," said the rector. "It would be much better to give +her half."</p> + +<p>"But why should she take the half if the whole belongs to her?" said +the young lord. "And why should I ask even for the half if nothing +belongs to me?" At this time the young lord had become almost +despondent as to his alleged rights, and now and again had made +everybody belonging to him miserable by talking of withdrawing from +his claim. He had come to understand that Sir William believed that +the daughter was the real heir, and he thought that Sir William must +know better than others. He was down-hearted and low in spirits, but +not the less determined to be just in all that he did.</p> + +<p>"I have made inquiry," said Aunt Julia, "and I do believe that the +stories which we heard against the girl were untrue."</p> + +<p>"The tailor and his son have been their most intimate friends," said +Mr. Lovel.</p> + +<p>"Because they had none others," said Mrs. Lovel.</p> + +<p>It had been settled that by the 24th of June the lord was to say +whether he would or would not take Sir William's advice. If he would +do so, Sir William was to suggest what step should next be taken as +to making the necessary overtures to the two ladies. If he would not, +then Sir William was to advise how best the case might be carried on. +They were all again at Yoxham that day, and the necessary +communication was to be made to Mr. Flick by post. The young man had +been alone the whole morning thinking of his condition, and +undoubtedly the desire for the money had grown on him strongly. Why +should it not have done so? Is there a nobleman in Great Britain who +can say that he could lose the fortune which he possesses or the +fortune which he expects without an agony that would almost break his +heart? Young Lord Lovel sighed for the wealth without which his title +would only be to him a terrible burden, and yet he was resolved that +he would take no part in anything that was unjust. This girl, he +heard, was beautiful and soft and pleasant, and now they told him +that the evil things which had been reported against her had been +slanders. He was assured that she was neither coarse, nor vulgar, nor +unmaidenly. Two or three old men, of equal rank with his own,—men +who had been his father's friends and were allied to the Lovels, and +had been taken into confidence by Sir William,—told him that the +proper way out of the difficulty had been suggested to him. There +could be nothing, they said, more fitting than that two cousins so +situated should marry. With such an acknowledgment of her rank and +birth everybody would visit his wife. There was not a countess or a +duchess in London who would not be willing to take her by the hand. +His two aunts had gradually given way, and it was clear to him that +his uncle would give way,—even his uncle,—if he would but yield +himself. It was explained to him that if the girl came to Yoxham, +with the privilege of being called Lady Anna by the inhabitants of +the rectory, she would of course do so on the understanding that she +should accept her cousin's hand. "But she might not like me," said +the young Earl to his aunt.</p> + +<p>"Not like you!" said Mrs. Lovel, putting her hand up to his brow and +pushing away his hair. Was it possible that any girl should not like +such a man as that, and he an earl?</p> + +<p>"And if I did not like her, Aunt Lovel?"</p> + +<p>"Then I would not ask her to be my wife." He thought that there was +an injustice in this, and yet before the day was over he had +assented.</p> + +<p>"I do not think that I can call her Lady Anna," said the rector. "I +don't think I can bring my tongue to do it."</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-7" id="c1-7"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> +<h4>THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>There was considerable difficulty in making the overture to the two +ladies,—or rather in making it to the elder lady; for the +suggestion, if made to the daughter, must of course come to her from +her mother. It had been decided at last that the Lady Anna could not +be invited to the rectory till it had been positively settled that +she should be the Lady Anna without further opposition; and that all +opposition to the claim should be withdrawn, at any rate till it was +found that the young people were not inclined to be engaged to each +other. "How can I call her Lady Anna before I have made up my mind to +think that she is Lady Anna?" said the parson, almost in tears. As to +the rest of the family, it may be said that they had come silently to +think that the Countess was the Countess and that the Lady Anna was +the Lady Anna;—silently in reference to each other, for not one of +them except the young lord had positively owned to such a conviction. +Sir William Patterson had been too strong for them. It was true that +he was a Whig. It was possible that he was a traitor. But he was a +man of might, and his opinion had domineered over theirs. To make +things as straight as they could be made it would be well that the +young people should be married. What would be the Earldom of Lovel +without the wealth which the old mad Earl had amassed?</p> + +<p>Sir William and Mr. Flick were strongly in favour of the marriage, +and Mr. Hardy at last assented. The worst of it was that something of +all this doubt on the part of the Earl and his friends was sure to +reach the opposite party. "They are shaking in their shoes," Serjeant +Bluestone said to his junior counsel, Mr. Mainsail. "I do believe +they are not going to fight at all," he said to Mr. Goffe, the +attorney for the Countess. Mr. Mainsail rubbed his hands. Mr. Goffe +shook his head. Mr. Goffe was sure that they would fight. Mr. +Mainsail, who had worked like a horse in getting up and arranging all +the evidence on behalf of the Countess, and in sifting, as best he +might, the Italian documents, was delighted. All this Sir William +feared, and he felt that it was quite possible that the Earl's +overture might be rejected because the Earl would not be thought to +be worth having. "We must count upon his coronet," said Sir William +to Mr. Flick. "She could not do better even if the property were +undoubtedly her own."</p> + +<p>But how was the first suggestion to be made? Mr. Hardy was anxious +that everything should be straightforward,—and Sir William assented, +with a certain inward peevishness at Mr. Hardy's stiff-necked +propriety. Sir William was anxious to settle the thing comfortably +for all parties. Mr. Hardy was determined not only that right should +be done, but also that it should be done in a righteous manner. The +great question now was whether they could approach the widow and her +daughter otherwise than through Serjeant Bluestone. "The Serjeant is +such a blunderbuss," said the Solicitor-General. But the Serjeant was +counsel for these ladies, and it was at last settled that there +should be a general conference at Sir William's chambers. A very +short note was written by Mr. Flick to Mr. Goffe, stating that the +Solicitor-General thought that a meeting might be for the advantage +of all parties;—and the meeting was arranged. There were present the +two barristers and the one attorney for each side, and many an +anxious thought was given to the manner in which the meeting should +be conducted. Serjeant Bluestone was fully resolved that he would +hold his own against the Solicitor-General, and would speak his mind +freely. Mr. Mainsail got up little telling questions. Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick both felt that it would behove them to hold their peace, +unless questioned, but were equally determined to hang fast by their +clients. Mr. Hardy in his heart of hearts thought that his learned +friend was about to fling away his case. Sir William had quite made +up his mind as to his line of action. He seated them all most +courteously, giving them place according to their rank,—a great +arm-chair for Serjeant Bluestone, from which the Serjeant would +hardly be able to use his arms with his accustomed energy,—and then +he began at once. "Gentlemen," said he, "it would be a great pity +that this property should be wasted."</p> + +<p>"No fear of that, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"It would be a great pity that this property should be wasted," +repeated Sir William, bowing to the Serjeant, "and I am disposed to +think that the best thing the two young people can do is to marry +each other." Then he paused, and the three gentlemen opposite sat +erect, the barristers as speechless as the attorneys. But the +Solicitor-General had nothing to add. He had made his proposition, +and was desirous of seeing what effect it might have before he spoke +another word.</p> + +<p>"Then you acknowledge the Countess's marriage, of course," said the +Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, Serjeant, we acknowledge nothing. As a matter of course +she is the Countess till it be proved that another wife was living +when she was married."</p> + +<p>"Quite as a matter of course," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"Quite as a matter of course, if that will make the case stronger," +continued Sir William. "Her marriage was formal and regular. That she +believed her marriage to be a righteous marriage before God, I have +never doubted. God forbid that I should have a harsh thought against +a poor lady who has suffered so much cruel treatment."</p> + +<p>"Why have things been said then?" asked the Serjeant, beginning to +throw about his left arm.</p> + +<p>"If I am not mistaken," said Mr. Mainsail, "evidence has been +prepared to show that the Countess is a party to a contemplated +fraud."</p> + +<p>"Then you are mistaken, Mr. Mainsail," said Sir William. "I admit at +once and clearly that the lady is not suspected of any fraud. Whether +she be actually the Countess Lovel or not it may,—I fear it +must,—take years to prove, if the law be allowed to take its +course."</p> + +<p>"We think that we can dispose of any counter-claim in much less time +than that," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"It may be so. I myself think that it would not be so. Our evidence +in favour of the lady, who is now living some two leagues out of +Palermo, is very strong. She is a poor creature, old, +ignorant,—fairly well off through the bounty of the late Earl, but +always craving for some trifle more,—unwilling to come to this +country,—childless, and altogether indifferent to the second +marriage, except in so far as might interfere with her hopes of +getting some further subsidy from the Lovel family. One is not very +anxious on her behalf. One is only anxious,—can only be +anxious,—that the vast property at stake should not get into +improper hands."</p> + +<p>"And that justice should be done," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"And that justice should be done of course, as my friend observes. +Here is a young man who is undoubtedly Earl of Lovel, and who claims +a property as heir to the late Earl. And here is a young lady, I am +told very beautiful and highly educated, who is the daughter of the +late Earl, and who claims that property believing herself to be his +legitimate heiress. The question between them is most intricate."</p> + +<p>"The onus probandi lies with you, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"We acknowledge that it does, but the case on that account is none +the less intricate. With the view of avoiding litigation and expense, +and in the certainty that by such an arrangement the enjoyment of the +property will fall to the right owner, we propose that steps shall be +taken to bring these two young people together. The lady, whom for +the occasion I am quite willing to call the Countess, the mother of +the lady whom I hope the young Earl will make his own Countess, has +not been sounded on this subject."</p> + +<p>"I should hope not," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"My excellent friend takes me up a little short," said Sir William, +laughing. "You gentlemen will probably consult together on the +subject, and whatever may be the advice which you shall consider it +to be your duty to give to the mother,—and I am sure that you will +feel bound to let her know the proposition that has been made; I do +not hesitate to say that we have a right to expect that it shall be +made known to her,—I need hardly remark that were the young lady to +accept the young lord's hand we should all be in a boat together in +reference to the mother's rank, and to the widow's claim upon the +personal property left behind him by her late husband."</p> + +<p>And so the Solicitor-General had made his proposition, and the +conference was broken up with a promise that Mr. Flick should hear +from Mr. Goffe upon the subject. But the Serjeant had at once made up +his mind against the compromise now proposed. He desired the danger +and the dust and the glory of the battle. He was true to his clients' +interests, no doubt,—intended to be intensely true; but the +personal, doggish love of fighting prevailed in the man, and he was +clear as to the necessity of going on. "They know they are beat," he +said to Mr. Goffe. "Mr. Solicitor knows as well as I do that he has +not an inch of ground under his feet." Therefore Mr. Goffe wrote the +following letter to Messrs. Norton and +<span class="nowrap">Flick:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn,<br /> +1st July, 183—.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sirs</span>,</p> + +<p>In reference to the interview which took place at the +chambers of the Solicitor-General on the 27th ult., we are +to inform you that we are not disposed, as acting for our +clients, the Countess of Lovel and her daughter the Lady +Anna Lovel, to listen to the proposition then made. Apart +from the very strong feeling we entertain as to the +certainty of our client's success,—which certainly was +not weakened by what we heard on that occasion,—we are of +opinion that we could not interfere with propriety in +suggesting the marriage of two young persons who have not +as yet had any opportunity of becoming acquainted with +each other. Should the Earl of Lovel seek the hand of his +cousin, the Lady Anna Lovel, and marry her with the +consent of the Countess, we should be delighted at such a +family arrangement; but we do not think that we, as +lawyers,—or, if we may be allowed to say so, that you as +lawyers,—have anything to do with such a matter.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind10">We are, dear Sirs,</span><br /> +<span class="ind12">Yours very faithfully,</span></p> + +<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Goffe and Goffe</span>.</p> + +<p class="noindent">Messrs. Norton and Flick.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>"Balderdash!" said Sir William, when he had read the letter. "We are +not going to be done in that way. It was all very well going to that +Serjeant as he has the case in hand, though a worse messenger in an +affair of <span class="nowrap">love—"</span></p> + +<p>"Not love, as yet, Mr. Solicitor," said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"I mean it to be love, and I'm not going to be put off by Serjeant +Bluestone. We must get to the lady by some other means. Do you write +to that tailor down at Keswick, and say that you want to see him."</p> + +<p>"Will that be regular, Sir William?"</p> + +<p>"I'll stand the racket, Mr. Flick." Mr. Flick did write to Thomas +Thwaite, and Thomas Thwaite came up to London and called at Mr. +Flick's chambers.</p> + +<p>When Thomas Thwaite received his commission he was much rejoiced. +Injustice would be done him unless so much were owned on his behalf. +But, nevertheless, some feeling of disappointment which he could not +analyze crept across his heart. If once the girl were married to Earl +Lovel there would be an end of his services and of his son's. He had +never really entertained an idea that his son would marry the girl. +As the reader will perhaps remember, he had warned his son that he +must seek a sweetheart elsewhere. He had told himself over and over +again that when the Countess came to her own there must be an end of +this intimacy,—that there could be nothing in common between him, +the radical tailor of Keswick, and a really established Countess. The +Countess, while not yet really established, had already begged that +his son might be instructed not to call her daughter simply by her +Christian name. Old Thwaite on receiving this intimation of the +difference of their positions, though he had acknowledged its truth, +had felt himself bitterly aggrieved, and now the moment had come. Of +course the Countess would grasp at such an offer. Of course it would +give her all that she had desired, and much more than she expected. +In adjusting his feelings on the occasion the tailor thought but +little of the girl herself. Why should she not be satisfied? Of the +young Earl he had only heard that he was a handsome, modest, gallant +lad, who only wanted a fortune to make him one of the most popular of +the golden youth of England. Why should not the girl rejoice at the +prospect of winning such a husband? To have a husband must +necessarily be in her heart, whether she were the Lady Anna Lovel, or +plain Anna Murray. And what espousals could be so auspicious as +these? Feeling all this, without much of calculation, the tailor said +that he would do as he was bidden. "We have sent for you because we +know that you have been so old a friend," said Mr. Flick, who did not +quite approve of the emissary whom he had been instructed by Sir +William to employ.</p> + +<p>"I will do my best, sir," said Mr. Thwaite, making his bow. Thomas +Thwaite, as he went along the streets alone, determined that he would +perform this new duty imposed upon him without any reference to his +son.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-8" id="c1-8"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> +<h4>IMPOSSIBLE!<br /> </h4> + + +<p>"They sent for me, Lady Lovel, to bid me come to your ladyship and +ask your ladyship whether you would consent to a marriage between the +two young people." It was thus that the tailor repeated for the +second time the message which had been confided to him, showing the +gall and also the pride which were at work about his heart by the +repeated titles which he gave to his old friend.</p> + +<p>"They desire that Anna should marry the young lord!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lady. That's the meaning of it."</p> + +<p>"And what am I to be?"</p> + +<p>"Just the Countess Lovel,—with a third of the property as your own. +I suppose it would be a third; but you might trust the lawyers to +settle that properly. When once they take your daughter among them +they won't scrimp you in your honours. They'll all swear that the +marriage was good enough then. They know that already, and have made +this offer because they know it. Your ladyship needn't fear now but +what all the world will own you as the Countess Lovel. I don't +suppose I'll be troubled to come up to London any more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my friend!" The ejaculation she made feeling the necessity of +saying something to soothe the tailor's pride; but her heart was +fixed upon the fruition of that for which she had spent so many years +in struggling. Was it to come to her at last? Could it be that now, +now at once, people throughout the world would call her the Countess +Lovel, and would own her daughter to be the Lady Anna,—till she also +should become a countess? Of the young man she had heard nothing but +good, and it was impossible that she should have fear in that +direction, even had she been timorous by nature. But she was bold and +eager, hopeful in spite of all that she had suffered, full of +ambition, and not prone to feminine scruples. She had been fighting +all her life in order that she and her daughter might be acknowledged +to be among the aristocrats of her country. She was so far a loving, +devoted mother that in all her battles she thought more of her child +than of herself. She would have consented to carry on the battle in +poverty to the last gasp of her own breath, could she thereby have +insured success for her surviving daughter. But she was not a woman +likely to be dismayed at the idea of giving her girl in marriage to +an absolute stranger, when that stranger was such a one as the young +Earl Lovel. She herself had been a countess, but a wretched, +unacknowledged, poverty-stricken countess, for the last half of her +eventful life. This marriage would make her daughter a countess, +prosperous, accepted by all, and very wealthy. What better end could +there be to her long struggles? Of course she would assent.</p> + +<p>"I don't know why they should have troubled themselves to send for +me," said the tailor.</p> + +<p>"Because you are the best friend that I have in the world. Whom else +could I have trusted as I do you? Has the Earl agreed to it?"</p> + +<p>"They didn't tell me that, my lady."</p> + +<p>"They would hardly have sent, unless he had agreed. Don't you think +so, Mr. Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know much about such things, my lady."</p> + +<p>"You have told—Daniel?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Thwaite, do not talk to me in that way. It sounds as though +you were deserting me."</p> + +<p>"There'll be no reason for not deserting now. You'll have friends by +the score more fit to see you through this than old Thomas Thwaite. +And, to own the truth, now that the matter is coming to an end, I am +getting weary of it. I'm not so young as I was, and I'd be better +left at home to my business."</p> + +<p>"I hope that you may disregard your business now without imprudence, +Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"No, my lady;—a man should always stick to his business. I hope that +Daniel will do so better than his father before him,—so that his son +may never have to go out to be servant to another man."</p> + +<p>"You are speaking daggers to me."</p> + +<p>"I have not meant it then. I am rough by nature, I know, and perhaps +a little low just at present. There is something sad in the parting +of old friends."</p> + +<p>"Old friends needn't be parted, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"When your ladyship was good enough to point out to me my boy's +improper manner of speech to Lady Anna, I knew how it must be. You +were quite right, my lady. There can be no becoming friendship +between the future Lady Lovel and a journeyman tailor. I was wrong +from the beginning."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Thwaite! without such wrong where should we have been?"</p> + +<p>"There can be no holding ground of friendship between such as you and +such as we. Lords and ladies, earls and countesses, are our enemies, +and we are theirs. We may make their robes and take their money, and +deal with them as the Jew dealt with the Christians in the play; but +we cannot eat with them or drink with them."</p> + +<p>"How often have I eaten and drank at your table, when no other table +was spread for me?"</p> + +<p>"You were a Jew almost as ourselves then. We cannot now well stand +shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm as friends should do."</p> + +<p>"How often has my child lain in your arms when she was a baby, and +been quieter there than she would be even in her mother's?"</p> + +<p>"That has all gone by. Other arms will be open to receive her." As +the tailor said this he remembered how his boy used to take the +little child out to the mountain side, and how the two would ramble +away together through the long summer evenings; and he reflected that +the memory of those days was no doubt still strong in the heart of +his son. Some shadow of the grief which would surely fall upon the +young man now fell upon the father, and caused him almost to repent +of the work of his life. "Tailors should consort with tailors," he +said, "and lords and ladies should consort together."</p> + +<p>Something of the same feeling struck the Countess also. If it were +not for the son, the father, after all that he had done for them, +might be almost as near and as dear to them as ever. He might have +called the Lady Anna by her Christian name, at any rate till she had +been carried away as a bride by the Earl. But, though all this was so +exquisitely painful, it had been absolutely necessary to check the +son. "Ah, well," she said; "it is hardly to be hoped that so many +crooked things should be made straight without much pain. If you +knew, Mr. Thwaite, how little it is that I expect for myself!"</p> + +<p>"It is because I have known it that I am here."</p> + +<p>"It will be well for her,—will it not,—to be the wife of her +cousin?"</p> + +<p>"If he be a good man. A woman will not always make herself happy by +marrying an Earl."</p> + +<p>"How many daggers you can use, Mr. Thwaite! But this young man is +good. You yourself have said that you have heard so."</p> + +<p>"I have heard nothing to the contrary, my lady."</p> + +<p>"And what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Just explain it all to Lady Anna. I think it will be clear then."</p> + +<p>"You believe that she will be so easily pleased?"</p> + +<p>"Why should she not be pleased? She'll have some maiden scruples, +doubtless. What maid would not? But she'll exult at such an end to +all her troubles;—and what maid would not? Let them meet as soon as +may be and have it over. When he shall have placed the ring on her +finger, your battle will have been won."</p> + +<p>Then the tailor felt that his commission was done and he might take +his leave. It had been arranged that in the event of the Countess +consenting to the proposed marriage, he should call upon Mr. Flick to +explain that it was so. Had she dissented, a short note would have +been sufficient. Had such been the case, the Solicitor-General would +have instigated the young lord to go and try what he himself could do +with the Countess and her daughter. The tailor had suggested to the +mother that she should at once make the proposition known to Lady +Anna, but the Countess felt that one other word was necessary as her +old friend left her. "Will you go back at once to Keswick, Mr. +Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you will not tell your son of this,—yet?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lady. I will not tell my son of this,—yet. My son is +high-minded and stiff-necked, and of great heart. If he saw aught to +object to in this marriage, it might be that he would express himself +loudly." Then the tailor took his leave without even shaking hands +with the Countess.</p> + +<p>The woman sat alone for the next two hours, thinking of what had +passed. There had sprung up in these days a sort of friendship +between Mrs. Bluestone and the two Miss Bluestones and the Lady Anna, +arising rather from the forlorn condition of the young lady than from +any positive choice of affection. Mrs. Bluestone was kind and +motherly. The girls were girlish and good. The father was the Jupiter +Tonans of the household,—as was of course proper,—and was +worshipped in everything. To the world at large Serjeant Bluestone +was a thundering, blundering, sanguine, energetic lawyer, whom nobody +disliked very much though he was so big and noisy. But at home +Serjeant Bluestone was all the judges of the land rolled into one. +But he was a kind-hearted man, and he had sent his wife and girls to +call upon the disconsolate Countess. The disconsolate Lady Anna +having no other friends, had found the companionship of the Bluestone +girls to be pleasant to her, and she was now with them at the +Serjeant's house in Bedford Square. Mrs. Bluestone talked of the +wrongs and coming rights of the Countess Lovel wherever she went, and +the Bluestone girls had all the case at their fingers' ends. To doubt +that the Serjeant would succeed, or to doubt that the success of the +Countess and her daughter would have had any other source than the +Serjeant's eloquence and the Serjeant's zeal, would have been heresy +in Bedford Square. The grand idea that young Jack Bluestone, who was +up at Brasenose, should marry the Lady Anna, had occurred only to the +mother.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna was away with her friends as the Countess sat brooding over +the new hopes that had been opened to her. At first, she could not +tear her mind away from the position which she herself would occupy +as soon as her daughter should have been married and taken away from +her. The young Earl would not want his mother-in-law,—a +mother-in-law who had spent the best years of her life in the society +of a tailor. And the daughter, who would still be young enough to +begin a new life in a new sphere, would no longer want her mother to +help her. As regarded herself, the Countess was aware that the life +she had led so long, and the condition of agonizing struggling to +which she had been brought, had unfitted her for smiling, happy, +prosperous, aristocratic luxury. There was but one joy left for her, +and that was to be the joy of success. When that cup should have been +drained, there would be nothing left to her. She would have her rank, +of course,—and money enough to support it. She no longer feared that +any one would do her material injury. Her daughter's husband no doubt +would see that she had a fitting home, with all the appanages and +paraphernalia suited to a dowager Countess. But who would share her +home with her, and where should she find her friends? Even now the +two Miss Bluestones were more to her daughter than she was. When she +should be established in her new luxurious home, with servants +calling her my lady, with none to contradict her right, she would no +longer be enabled to sit late into the night discussing matters with +her friend the tailor. As regarded herself, it would have been better +for her, perhaps, if the fight had been carried on.</p> + +<p>But the fight had been, not for herself, but for her child; and the +victory for her girl would have been won by her own perseverance. Her +whole life had been devoted to establishing the rights of her +daughter, and it should be so devoted to the end. It had been her +great resolve that the world should acknowledge the rank of her girl, +and now it would be acknowledged. Not only would she become the +Countess Lovel by marriage, but the name which had been assumed for +her amidst the ridicule of many, and in opposition to the belief of +nearly all, would be proved to have been her just and proper title. +And then, at last, it would be known by all men that she herself, the +ill-used, suffering mother, had gone to the house of that wicked man, +not as his mistress, but as his true wife!</p> + +<p>Hardly a thought troubled her, then, as to the acquiescence of her +daughter. She had no faintest idea that the girl's heart had been +touched by the young tailor. She had so lived that she knew but +little of lovers and their love, and in her fear regarding Daniel +Thwaite she had not conceived danger such as that. It had to her +simply been unfitting that there should be close familiarity between +the two. She expected that her daughter would be ambitious, as she +was ambitious, and would rejoice greatly at such perfect success. She +herself had been preaching ambition and practising ambition all her +life. It had been the necessity of her career that she should think +more of her right to a noble name than of any other good thing under +the sun. It was only natural that she should believe that her +daughter shared the feeling.</p> + +<p>And then Lady Anna came in. "They wanted me to stay and dine, mamma, +but I did not like to think that you should be left alone."</p> + +<p>"I must get used to that, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Why, mamma? Wherever we have been, we have always been together. +Mrs. Bluestone was quite unhappy because you would not come. They are +so good-natured! I wish you would go there."</p> + +<p>"I am better here, my dear." Then there was a pause for a few +moments. "But I am glad that you have come home this evening."</p> + +<p>"Of course, I should come home."</p> + +<p>"I have something special to say to you."</p> + +<p>"To me, mamma! What is it, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"I think we will wait till after dinner. The things are here now. Go +up-stairs and take off your hat, and I will tell you after dinner."</p> + +<p>"Mamma," Lady Anna said, as soon as the maid had left the room, "has +old Mr. Thwaite been here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, he was here."</p> + +<p>"I thought so, because you have something to tell me. It is something +from him?"</p> + +<p>"Not from himself, Anna;—though he was the messenger. Come and sit +here, my dear,—close to me. Have you ever thought, Anna, that it +would be good for you to be married?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma; why should I?" But that surely was a lie! How often had +she thought that it would be good to be married to Daniel Thwaite and +to have done with this weary searching after rank! And now what could +her mother mean? Thomas Thwaite had been there, but it was impossible +that her mother should think that Daniel Thwaite would be a fit +husband for her daughter. "No, mamma;—why should I?"</p> + +<p>"It must be thought of, my dearest."</p> + +<p>"Why now?" She could understand perfectly that there was some special +cause for her mother's manner of speech.</p> + +<p>"After all that we have gone through, we are about to succeed at +last. They are willing to own everything, to give us all our +rights,—on one condition."</p> + +<p>"What condition, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Come nearer to me, dearest. It would not make you unhappy to think +that you were going to be the wife of a man you could love?"</p> + +<p>"No;—not if I really loved him."</p> + +<p>"You have heard of your cousin,—the young Earl?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma;—I have heard of him."</p> + +<p>"They say that he is everything that is good. What should you think +of having him for your husband?"</p> + +<p>"That would be impossible, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Impossible!—why impossible? What could be more fitting? Your rank +is equal to his;—higher even in this, that your father was himself +the Earl. In fortune you will be much more than his equal. In age you +are exactly suited. Why should it be impossible?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!"</p> + +<p>"What makes you say so, Anna?"</p> + +<p>"We have never seen each other."</p> + +<p>"Tush! my child. Why should you not see each other?"</p> + +<p>"And then we are his enemies."</p> + +<p>"We are no longer enemies, dearest. They have sent to say that if +we,—you and I,—will consent to this marriage, then will they +consent to it also. It is their wish, and it comes from them. There +can be no more proper ending to all this weary lawsuit. It is quite +right that the title and the name should be supported. It is quite +right that the fortune which your father left should, in this way, go +to support your father's family. You will be the Countess Lovel; and +all will have been conceded to us. There cannot possibly be any +fitter way out of our difficulties." Lady Anna sat looking at her +mother in dismay, but could say nothing. "You need have no fear about +the young man. Every one tells me that he is just the man that a +mother would welcome as a husband for her daughter. Will you not be +glad to see him?" But the Lady Anna would only say that it was +impossible. "Why impossible, my dear;—what do you mean by +impossible?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!"</p> + +<p>The Countess found that she was obliged to give the subject up for +that night, and could only comfort herself by endeavouring to believe +that the suddenness of the tidings had confused her child.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-9" id="c1-9"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> +<h4>IT ISN'T LAW.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On the next morning Lady Anna was ill, and would not leave her bed. +When her mother spoke to her, she declared that her head ached +wretchedly, and she could not be persuaded to dress herself.</p> + +<p>"Is it what I said to you last night?" asked the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, that is impossible," she said.</p> + +<p>It seemed to the mother that the mention of the young lord's name had +produced a horror in the daughter's mind which nothing could for the +present subdue. Before the day was over, however, the girl had +acknowledged that she was bound in duty, at any rate, to meet her +cousin; and the Countess, forced to satisfy herself with so much of +concession, and acting upon that, fixed herself in her purpose to go +on with the project. The lawyers on both sides would assist her. It +was for the advantage of them all that there should be such a +marriage. She determined, therefore, that she would at once see Mr. +Goffe, her own attorney, and give him to understand in general terms +that the case might be proceeded with on this new matrimonial basis.</p> + +<p>But there was a grievous doubt on her mind,—a fear, a spark of +suspicion, of which she had unintentionally given notice to Thomas +Thwaite when she asked him whether he had as yet spoken of the +proposed marriage to his son. He had understood what was passing in +her mind when she exacted from him a promise that nothing should as +yet be said to Daniel Thwaite upon the matter. And yet she assured +herself over and over again that her girl could not be so weak, so +vain, so foolish, so wicked as that! It could not be that, after all +the struggles of her life,—when at last success, perfect success, +was within their grasp, when all had been done and all well done, +when the great reward was then coming up to their very lips with a +full tide,—it could not be that in the very moment of victory all +should be lost through the base weakness of a young girl! Was it +possible that her daughter,—the daughter of one who had spent the +very marrow of her life in fighting for the position that was due to +her,—should spoil all by preferring a journeyman tailor to a young +nobleman of high rank, of ancient lineage, and one, too, who by his +marriage with herself would endow her with wealth sufficient to make +that rank splendid as well as illustrious? But if it were not so, +what had the girl meant by saying that it was impossible? That the +word should have been used once or twice in maidenly scruple, the +Countess could understand; but it had been repeated with a vehemence +beyond that which such natural timidity might have produced. And now +the girl professed herself to be ill in bed, and when the subject was +broached would only weep, and repeat the one word with which she had +expressed her repugnance to the match.</p> + +<p>Hitherto she had not been like this. She had, in her own quiet way, +shared her mother's aspirations, and had always sympathised with her +mother's sufferings; and she had been dutiful through it all, +carrying herself as one who was bound to special obedience by the +peculiarity of her parent's position. She had been keenly alive to +the wrongs that her mother endured, and had in every respect been a +loving child. But now she protested that she would not do the one +thing necessary to complete their triumph, and would give no reason +for not doing so. As the Countess thought of all this, she swore to +herself that she would prefer to divest her bosom of all soft +motherly feeling than be vanquished in this matter by her own child. +Her daughter should find that she could be stern and rough enough if +she were really thwarted. What would her life be worth to her if her +child, Lady Anna Lovel, the heiress and only legitimate offspring of +the late Earl Lovel, were to marry a—tailor?</p> + +<p>And then, again, she told herself that there was no sufficient excuse +for such alarm. Her daughter's demeanour had ever been modest. She +had never been given to easy friendship, or to that propensity to +men's acquaintance which the world calls flirting. It might be that +the very absence of such propensity,—the very fact that hitherto she +had never been thrust into society among her equals,—had produced +that feeling almost of horror which she had expressed. But she had +been driven, at any rate, to say that she would meet the young man; +and the Countess, acting upon that, called on Mr. Goffe in his +chambers, and explained to that gentleman that she proposed to settle +the whole question in dispute by giving her daughter to the young +Earl in marriage. Mr. Goffe, who had been present at the conference +among the lawyers, understood it all in a moment. The overture had +been made from the other side to his client.</p> + +<p>"Indeed, my lady!" said Mr. Goffe.</p> + +<p>"Do you not think it will be an excellent arrangement?"</p> + +<p>In his heart of hearts Mr. Goffe thought that it would be an +excellent arrangement; but he could not commit himself to such an +opinion. Serjeant Bluestone thought that the matter should be fought +out, and Mr. Goffe was not prepared to separate himself from his +legal adviser. As Serjeant Bluestone had said after the conference, +with much argumentative vehemence,—"If we were to agree to this, how +would it be if the marriage should not come off? The court can't +agree to a marriage. The court must direct to whom the property +belongs. They profess that they can prove that our marriage was no +marriage. They must do so, or else they must withdraw the allegation. +Suppose the Italian woman were to come forward afterwards with her +claim as the widow, where then would be my client's position, and her +title as dowager countess, and her claim upon her husband's personal +estate? I never heard anything more irregular in my life. It is just +like Patterson, who always thinks he can make laws according to the +light of his own reason." So Serjeant Bluestone had said to the +lawyers who were acting with him; and Mr. Goffe, though he did +himself think that this marriage would be the best thing in the +world, could not differ from the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>No doubt there might even yet be very great difficulties, even though +the young Earl and Lady Anna Lovel should agree to be married. Mr. +Goffe on that occasion said very little to the Countess, and she left +him with a feeling that a certain quantity of cold water had been +thrown upon the scheme. But she would not allow herself to be +disturbed by that. The marriage could go on without any consent on +the part of the lawyers, and the Countess was quite satisfied that, +should the marriage be once completed, the money and the titles would +all go as she desired. She had already begun to have more faith in +the Solicitor-General than in Mr. Goffe or in Serjeant Bluestone.</p> + +<p>But Serjeant Bluestone was not a man to bear such treatment and be +quiet under it. He heard that very day from Mr. Goffe what had been +done, and was loud in the expression of his displeasure. It was the +most irregular thing that he had ever known. No other man except +Patterson in the whole profession would have done it! The counsel on +the other side—probably Patterson himself—had been to his client, +and given advice to his client, and had done so after her own counsel +had decided that no such advice should be given! He would see the +Attorney-General, and ask the Attorney-General what he thought about +it. Now, it was supposed in legal circles, just at this period, that +the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were not the best +friends in the world; and the latter was wont to call the former an +old fogey, and the former to say of the latter that he might be a +very clever philosopher, but certainly no lawyer. And so by degrees +the thing got much talked about in the profession; and there was +perhaps a balance of opinion that the Solicitor-General had done +wrong.</p> + +<p>But this was certain,—that no one could be put into possession of +the property till the court had decided to whom it belonged. If the +Earl withdrew from his claim, the widow would simply be called on to +prove her own marriage,—which had in truth been proved more than +once already,—and the right of her legitimate child would follow as +a matter of course. It was by no means probable that the woman over +in Italy would make any claim on her own behalf,—and even, should +she do so, she could not find the means of supporting it. "They must +be asses," said the Solicitor-General, "not to see that I am fighting +their battle for them, and that I am doing so because I can best +secure my own client's interests by securing theirs also." But even +he became nervous after a day or two, and was anxious to learn that +the marriage scheme was progressing. He told his client, Lord Lovel, +that it would be well that the marriage should take place before the +court sat in November. "In that case settlements will, of course, +have been made, and we shall simply withdraw. We shall state the fact +of this new marriage, and assert ourselves to be convinced that the +old marriage was good and valid. But you should lose no time in the +wooing, my lord." At this time the Earl had not seen his cousin, and +it had not yet been decided when they should meet.</p> + +<p>"It is my duty to explain to you, Lady Lovel, as my client," said +Serjeant Bluestone to the Countess, "that this arrangement cannot +afford a satisfactory mode to you of establishing your own position."</p> + +<p>"It would be so happy for the whole family!"</p> + +<p>"As to that I can know nothing, Lady Lovel. If your daughter and the +Earl are attached to each other, there can be no reason on earth why +they should not be married. But it should be a separate thing. Your +position should not be made to depend upon hers."</p> + +<p>"But they will withdraw, Serjeant Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that they will withdraw? Supposing at the last +moment Lady Anna were to decline the alliance, would they withdraw +then? Not a bit of it. The matter would be further delayed, and +referred over to next year. You and your daughter would be kept out +of your money, and there would still be danger."</p> + +<p>"I should not care for that;—if they were married."</p> + +<p>"And they have set up this Italian countess,—who never was a +countess,—any more than I am. Now they have put her up, they are +bound to dispose of her. If she came forward afterwards, on her own +behalf, where would you all be then?"</p> + +<p>"My daughter would, at any rate, be safe."</p> + +<p>The Serjeant did not like it at all. He felt that he was being thrown +over, not only by his client the Countess,—as to which he might have +been indifferent, knowing that the world at large, the laity as +distinguished from the lawyers, the children of the world as all who +were not lawyers seemed to him to be, will do and must be expected to +do, foolish things continually. They cannot be persuaded to subject +themselves to lawyers in all their doings, and, of course, go wrong +when they do not do so. The infinite simplicity and silliness of +mankind and womankind at large were too well known to the Serjeant to +cause him dismay, let them be shown in ever so egregious a fashion. +But in this case the fault came from another lawyer, who had tampered +with his clients, and who seemed to be himself as ignorant as though +he belonged to the outside world. And this man had been made +Solicitor-General,—over the heads of half the profession,—simply +because he could make a speech in Parliament!</p> + +<p>But the Solicitor-General was himself becoming uneasy when at the end +of a fortnight he learned that the young people,—as he had come to +call them on all occasions,—had not as yet seen each other. He would +not like to have it said of him that he had thrown over his client. +And there were some who still believed that the Italian marriage had +been a real marriage, and the Italian wife alive at the time of the +Cumberland marriage,—though the Italian woman now living had never +been the countess. Mr. Hardy so believed, and, in his private +opinion, thought that the Solicitor-General had been very indiscreet.</p> + +<p>"I don't think that we could ever dare to face a jury," said Sir +William to Mr. Hardy when they discussed the matter, about a +fortnight after the proposition had been made.</p> + +<p>"Why did the Earl always say that the Italian woman was his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Because the Earl was a very devil."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Flick does not think so."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he does; but Mr. Flick, like all attorneys with a bad case, +does not choose to say quite what he thinks, even to his own counsel. +Mr. Flick does not like to throw his client over, nor do I, nor do +you. But with such a case we have no right to create increased +expenses, and all the agony of prolonged fallacious hope. The girl is +her father's heir. Do you suppose I would not stick to my brief if I +did not feel sure that it is so?"</p> + +<p>"Then let the Earl be told, and let the girl have her rights."</p> + +<p>"Ah! there you have me. It may be that such would be the juster +course; but then, Hardy, cannot you understand that though I am sure, +I am not quite sure; that though the case is a bad one, it may not be +quite bad enough to be thrown up? It is just the case in which a +compromise is expedient. If but a quarter, or but an eighth of a +probability be with you, take your proportion of the thing at stake. +But here is a compromise that gives all to each. Who would wish to +rob the girl of her noble name and great inheritance if she be the +heiress? Not I, though the Earl be my client. And yet how sad would +it be to have to tell that young man that there was nothing for him +but to submit to lose all the wealth belonging to the family of which +he has been born the head! If we can bring them together there will +be nothing to make sore the hearts of any of us."</p> + +<p>Mr. Hardy acknowledged to himself that the Solicitor-General pleaded +his own case very well; but yet he felt that it wasn't law.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-10" id="c1-10"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> +<h4>THE FIRST INTERVIEW.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>For some days after the intimation of her mother's purpose, Lady Anna +kept her bed. She begged that she might not see a doctor. She had a +headache,—nothing but a headache. But it was quite impossible that +she should ever marry Earl Lovel. This she said whenever her mother +would revert to that subject,—"I have not seen him, mamma; I do not +know him. I am sure it would be impossible." Then, when at last she +was induced to dress herself, she was still unwilling to be forced to +undergo the interview to which she had acknowledged that she must be +subjected. At last she consented to spend a day in Bedford Square; to +dine there, and to be brought home in the evening. The Countess was +at this time not very full of trust in the Serjeant, having learned +that he was opposed to the marriage scheme, but she was glad that her +daughter should be induced to go out, even to the Serjeant's house, +as after that visit the girl could have no ground on which to oppose +the meeting which was to be arranged. She could hardly plead that she +was too ill to see her cousin when she had dined with Mrs. Bluestone.</p> + +<p>During this time many plans had been proposed for the meeting. The +Solicitor-General, discussing the matter with the young lord, had +thought it best that Lady Anna should at once be asked down to +Yoxham,—as the Lady Anna; and the young lord would have been quite +satisfied with such an arrangement. He could have gone about his +obligatory wooing among his own friends, in the house to which he had +been accustomed, with much more ease than in a London lodging. But +his uncle, who had corresponded on the subject with Mr. Hardy, still +objected. "We should be giving up everything," he said, "if we were +once to call her Lady Anna. Where should we be then if they didn't +hit it off together? I don't believe, and I never shall believe, that +she is really Lady Anna Lovel." The Solicitor-General, when he heard +of this objection, shook his head, finding himself almost provoked to +anger. What asses were these people not to understand that he could +see further into the matter than they could do, and that their best +way out of their difficulty would be frankly to open their arms to +the heiress! Should they continue to be pig-headed and prejudiced, +everything would soon be gone.</p> + +<p>Then he had a scheme for inviting the girl to his own house, and to +that scheme he obtained his wife's consent. But here his courage +failed him; or, it might be fairer to say, that his prudence +prevailed. He was very anxious, intensely eager, so to arrange this +great family dispute that all should be benefited,—believing, nay +feeling positively certain that all concerned in the matter were +honest; but he must not go so far as to do himself an absolute and +grievous damage, should it at last turn out that he was wrong in any +of his surmises. So that plan was abandoned.</p> + +<p>There was nothing left for it but that the young Earl should himself +face the difficulty, and be introduced to the girl at the lodging in +Wyndham Street. But, as a prelude to this, a meeting was arranged at +Mr. Flick's chambers between the Countess and her proposed +son-in-law. That the Earl should go to his own attorney's chambers +was all in rule. While he was there the Countess came,—which was not +in rule, and almost induced the Serjeant to declare, when he heard +it, that he would have nothing more to do with the case. "My lord," +said the Countess, "I am glad to meet you, and I hope that we may be +friends." The young man was less collected, and stammered out a few +words that were intended to be civil.</p> + +<p>"It is a pity that you should have conflicting interests," said the +attorney.</p> + +<p>"I hope it need not continue to be so," said the Countess. "My heart, +Lord Lovel, is all in the welfare of our joint family. We will +begrudge you nothing if you will not begrudge us the names which are +our own, and without which we cannot live honourably before the +world." Then some other few words were muttered, and the Earl +promised to come to Wyndham Street at a certain hour. Not a word was +then said about the marriage. Even the Countess, with all her +resolution and all her courage, did not find herself able in set +terms to ask the young man to marry her daughter.</p> + +<p>"She is a very handsome woman," said the lord to the attorney, when +the Countess had left them.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed."</p> + +<p>"And like a lady."</p> + +<p>"Quite like a lady. She herself was of a good family."</p> + +<p>"I suppose she certainly was the late Earl's wife, Mr. Flick?"</p> + +<p>"Who can say, my lord? That is just the question. The +Solicitor-General thinks that she would prove her right, and I do not +know that I have ever found him to be wrong when he has had a +steadfast opinion."</p> + +<p>"Why should we not give it up to her at once?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't recommend that, my lord. Why should we give it up? The +interests at stake are very great. I couldn't for a moment think of +suggesting to you to give it up."</p> + +<p>"I want nothing, Mr. Flick, that does not belong to me."</p> + +<p>"Just so. But then perhaps it does belong to you. We can never be +sure. No doubt the safest way will be for you to contract an alliance +with this lady. Of course we should give it up then, but the +settlements would make the property all right." The young Earl did +not quite like it. He would rather have commenced his wooing after +the girl had been established in her own right, and when she would +have had no obligation on her to accept him. But he had consented, +and it was too late for him now to recede. It had been already +arranged that he should call in Wyndham Street at noon on the +following day, in order that he might be introduced to his cousin.</p> + +<p>On that evening the Countess sat late with her daughter, purposing +that on the morrow nothing should be said before the interview +calculated to disturb the girl's mind. But as they sat together +through the twilight and into the darkness of night, close by the +open window, through which the heavily laden air of the metropolis +came to them, hot with all the heat of a London July day, very many +words were spoken by the Countess. "It will be for you, to-morrow, to +make or to mar all that I have been doing since the day on which you +were born."</p> + +<p>"Oh! mamma, that is so terrible a thing to say!"</p> + +<p>"But terrible things must be said if they are true. It is so. It is +for you to decide whether we shall triumph, or be utterly and for +ever crushed."</p> + +<p>"I cannot understand it. Why should we be crushed? He would not wish +to marry me if this fortune were not mine. He is not coming, mamma, +because he loves me."</p> + +<p>"You say that because you do not understand. Do you suppose that my +name will be allowed to me if you should refuse your cousin's suit? +If so, you are very much mistaken. The fight will go on, and as we +have not money, we shall certainly go to the wall at last. Why should +you not love him? There is no one else that you care for."</p> + +<p>"No, mamma," she said slowly.</p> + +<p>"Then, what more can you want?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know him, mamma."</p> + +<p>"But you will know him. According to that, no girl would ever get +married. Is it not a great thing that you should be asked to assume +and to enjoy the rank which has belonged to your mother, but which +she has never been able to enjoy?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think, mamma, that I care much about rank."</p> + +<p>"Anna!" The mother's mind as she heard this flew off to the young +tailor. Had misery so great as this overtaken her after all?</p> + +<p>"I mean that I don't care so much about it. It has never done us any +good."</p> + +<p>"But if it is a thing that is your own, that you are born to, you +must bear it, whether it be in sorrow or in joy; whether it be a +blessing or a curse. If it be yours, you cannot fling it away from +you. You may disgrace it, but you must still have it. Though you were +to throw yourself away upon a chimney-sweeper, you must still be Lady +Anna, the daughter of Earl Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I needn't call myself so."</p> + +<p>"Others must call you so. It is your name, and you cannot be rid of +it. It is yours of right, as my name has been mine of right; and not +to assert it, not to live up to it, not to be proud of it, would +argue incredible baseness. 'Noblesse oblige.' You have heard that +motto, and know what it means. And then would you throw away from you +in some childish phantasy all that I have been struggling to win for +you during my whole life? Have you ever thought of what my life has +been, Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Would you have the heart to disappoint me, now that the victory is +won;—now that it may be made our own by your help? And what is it +that I am asking you to do? If this man were bad,—if he were such a +one as your father, if he were drunken, cruel, ill-conditioned, or +even heavy, foolish, or deformed; had you been told stories to set +you against him, as that he had been false with other women, I could +understand it. In that case we would at any rate find out the truth +before we went on. But of this man we hear that he is good, and +pleasant; an excellent young man, who has endeared himself to all who +know him. Such a one that all the girls of his own standing in the +world would give their eyes to win him."</p> + +<p>"Let some girl win him then who cares for him."</p> + +<p>"But he wishes to win you, dearest."</p> + +<p>"Not because he loves me. How can he love me when he never saw me? +How can I love him when I never saw him?"</p> + +<p>"He wishes to win you because he has heard what you are, and because +he knows that by doing so he can set things right which for many +years have been wrong."</p> + +<p>"It is because he would get all this money."</p> + +<p>"You would both get it. He desires nothing unfair. Whatever he takes +from you, so much he will give. And it is not only for this +generation. Is it nothing to you that the chiefs of your own family +who shall come after you shall be able to hold their heads up among +other British peers? Would you not wish that your own son should come +to be Earl Lovel, with wealth sufficient to support the dignity?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think it would make him happy, mamma."</p> + +<p>"There is something more in this, Anna, than I can understand. You +used not to be so. When we talked of these things in past years you +used not to be indifferent."</p> + +<p>"I was not asked then to—to—marry a man I did not care for."</p> + +<p>"There is something else, Anna."</p> + +<p>"No, mamma."</p> + +<p>"If there be nothing else you will learn to care for him. You will +see him to-morrow, and will be left alone with him. I will sit with +you for a time, and then I will leave you. All that I ask of you is +to receive him to-morrow without any prejudice against him. You must +remember how much depends on you, and that you are not as other girls +are." After that Lady Anna was allowed to go to her bed, and to weep +in solitude over the wretchedness of her condition. It was not only +that she loved Daniel Thwaite with all her heart,—loved him with a +love that had grown with every year of her growth;—but that she +feared him also. The man had become her master; and even could she +have brought herself to be false, she would have lacked the courage +to declare her falsehood to the man to whom she had vowed her love.</p> + +<p>On the following morning Lady Anna did not come down to breakfast, +and the Countess began to fear that she would be unable to induce her +girl to rise in time to receive their visitor. But the poor child had +resolved to receive the man's visit, and contemplated no such escape +as that. At eleven o'clock she slowly dressed herself, and before +twelve crept down into the one sitting-room which they occupied. The +Countess glanced round at her, anxious to see that she was looking +her best. Certain instructions had been given as to her dress, and +the garniture of her hair, and the disposal of her ribbons. All these +had been fairly well obeyed; but there was a fixed, determined +hardness in her face which made her mother fear that the Earl might +be dismayed. The mother knew that her child had never looked like +that before.</p> + +<p>Punctually at twelve the Earl was announced. The Countess received +him very pleasantly, and with great composure. She shook hands with +him as though they had known each other all their lives, and then +introduced him to her daughter with a sweet smile. "I hope you will +acknowledge her as your far-away cousin, my lord. Blood, they say, is +thicker than water; and, if so, you two ought to be friends."</p> + +<p>"I am sure I hope we may be," said the Earl.</p> + +<p>"I hope so too,—my lord," said the girl, as she left her hand quite +motionless in his.</p> + +<p>"We heard of you down in Cumberland," said the Countess. "It is long +since I have seen the old place, but I shall never forget it. There +is not a bush among the mountains there that I shall not +remember,—ay, into the next world, if aught of our memories are left +to us."</p> + +<p>"I love the mountains; but the house is very gloomy."</p> + +<p>"Gloomy indeed. If you found it sad, what must it have been to me? I +hope that I may tell you some day of all that I suffered there. There +are things to tell of which I have never yet spoken to human being. +She, poor child, has been too young and too tender to be troubled by +such a tale. I sometimes think that no tragedy ever written, no story +of horrors ever told, can have exceeded in description the things +which I endured in that one year of my married life." Then she went +on at length, not telling the details of that terrible year, but +speaking generally of the hardships of her life. "I have never +wondered, Lord Lovel, that you and your nearest relations should have +questioned my position. A bad man had surrounded me with such art in +his wickedness, that it has been almost beyond my strength to rid +myself of his toils." All this she had planned beforehand, having +resolved that she would rush into the midst of things at once, and if +possible enlist his sympathies on her side.</p> + +<p>"I hope it may be over now," he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied, rising slowly from her seat, "I hope it may be +over now." The moment had come in which she had to play the most +difficult stroke of her whole game, and much might depend on the way +in which she played it. She could not leave them together, walking +abruptly out of the room, without giving some excuse for so unusual a +proceeding. "Indeed, I hope it may be over now, both for us and for +you, Lord Lovel. That wicked man, in leaving behind such cause of +quarrel, has injured you almost as deeply as us. I pray God that you +and that dear girl there may so look into each other's hearts and +trust each other's purposes, that you may be able to set right the +ill which your predecessor did. If so, the family of Lovel for +centuries to come may be able to bless your names." Then with slow +steps she left the room.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna had spoken one word, and that was all. It certainly was not +for her now to speak. She sat leaning on the table, with her eyes +fixed upon the ground, not daring to look at the man who had been +brought to her as her future husband. A single glance she had taken +as he entered the room, and she had seen at once that he was fair and +handsome, that he still had that sweet winsome boyishness of face +which makes a girl feel that she need not fear a man,—that the man +has something of her own weakness, and need not be treated as one who +is wise, grand, or heroic. And she saw too in one glance how +different he was from Daniel Thwaite, the man to whom she had +absolutely given herself;—and she understood at the moment something +of the charm of luxurious softness and aristocratic luxury. Daniel +Thwaite was swarthy, hard-handed, blackbearded,—with a noble fire in +his eyes, but with an innate coarseness about his mouth which +betokened roughness as well as strength. Had it been otherwise with +her than it was, she might, she thought, have found it easy enough to +love this young earl. As it was, there was nothing for her to do but +to wait and answer him as best she might.</p> + +<p>"Lady Anna," he said.</p> + +<p>"My lord!"</p> + +<p>"Will it not be well that we should be friends?"</p> + +<p>"Oh,—friends;—yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you all and everything;—that is, about myself. I was +brought up to believe that you and your mother were just—impostors."</p> + +<p>"My lord, we are not impostors."</p> + +<p>"No;—I believe it. I am sure you are not. Mistakes have been made, +but it has not been of my doing. As a boy, what could I believe but +what I was told? I know now that you are and always have been as you +have called yourself. If nothing else comes of it, I will at any rate +say so much. The estate which your father left is no doubt yours. If +I could hinder it, there should be no more law."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Your mother says that she has suffered much. I am sure she has +suffered. I trust that all that is over now. I have come here to-day +more to say that on my own behalf than anything else." A shadow of a +shade of disappointment, the slightest semblance of a cloud, passed +across her heart as she heard this. But it was well. She could not +have married him, even if he had wished it, and now, as it seemed, +that difficulty was over. Her mother and those lawyers had been +mistaken, and it was well that he should tell her so at once.</p> + +<p>"It is very good of you, my lord."</p> + +<p>"I would not have you think of me that I could come to you hoping +that you would promise me your love before I had shown you whether I +had loved you or not."</p> + +<p>"No, my lord." She hardly understood him now,—whether he intended to +propose himself as a suitor for her hand or not.</p> + +<p>"You, Lady Anna, are your father's heir. I am your cousin, Earl +Lovel, as poor a peer as there is in England. They tell me that we +should marry because you are rich and I am an earl."</p> + +<p>"So they tell me;—but that will not make it right."</p> + +<p>"I would not have it so, even if I dared to think that you would +agree to it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, my lord; nor would I."</p> + +<p>"But if you could learn to love me—"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord;—no."</p> + +<p>"Do not answer me yet, my cousin. If I swore that I loved you,—loved +you so soon after seeing you,—and loved you, too, knowing you to be +so wealthy an <span class="nowrap">heiress—"</span></p> + +<p>"Ah, do not talk of that."</p> + +<p>"Well;—not of that. But if I said that I loved you, you would not +believe me."</p> + +<p>"It would not be true, my lord."</p> + +<p>"But I know that I shall love you. You will let me try? You are very +lovely, and they tell me you are sweet-humoured. I can believe well +that you are sweet and pleasant. You will let me try to love you, +Anna?"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Must it be so, so soon?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Why that? Is it because we are strangers to each other? That may be +cured;—if not quickly, as I would have it cured, slowly and by +degrees; slowly as you can wish, if only I may come where you shall +be. You have said that we may be friends."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes,—friends, I hope."</p> + +<p>"Friends at least. We are born cousins."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Cannot you call me by my name? Cousins, you know, do so. And +remember this, you will have and can have no nearer cousin than I am. +I am bound at least to be a brother to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, be my brother!"</p> + +<p>"That,—or more than that. I would fain be more than that. But I will +be that, at least. As I came to you, before I saw you, I felt that +whenever we knew each other I could not be less to you than that. If +I am your friend, I must be your best friend,—as being, though poor, +the head of your family. The Lovels should at least love each other; +and cousins may love, even though they should not love enough to be +man and wife."</p> + +<p>"I will love you so always."</p> + +<p>"Enough to be my wife?"</p> + +<p>"Enough to be your dear cousin,—your loving sister."</p> + +<p>"So it shall be,—unless it can be more. I would not ask you for more +now. I would not wish you to give more now. But think of me, and ask +yourself whether you can dare to give yourself to me altogether."</p> + +<p>"I cannot dare, my lord."</p> + +<p>"You would not call your brother, lord. My name is Frederic. But +Anna, dear Anna,"—and then he took her unresisting hand,—"you shall +not be asked for more now. But cousins, new-found cousins, who love +each other, and will stand by each other for help and aid against the +world, may surely kiss,—as would a brother and a sister. You will +not grudge me a kiss." Then she put up her cheek innocently, and he +kissed it gently,—hardly with a lover's kiss. "I will leave you +now," he said, still holding her hand. "But tell your mother +thus:—that she shall no longer be troubled by lawyers at the suit of +her cousin Frederic. She is to me the Countess Lovel, and she shall +be treated by me with the honour suited to her rank." And so he left +the house without seeing the Countess again.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-11" id="c1-11"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> +<h4>IT IS TOO LATE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The Countess had resolved that she would let their visitor depart +without saying a word to him. Whatever might be the result of the +interview, she was aware that she could not improve it by asking any +question from the young lord, or by hearing any account of it from +him. The ice had been broken, and it would now be her object to have +her daughter invited down to Yoxham as soon as possible. If once the +Earl's friends could be brought to be eager for the match on his +account, as was she on her daughter's behalf, then probably the thing +might be done. For herself, she expected no invitation, no immediate +comfort, no tender treatment, no intimate familiar cousinship. She +had endured hitherto, and would be contented to endure, so that +triumph might come at last. Nor did she question her daughter very +closely, anxious as she was to learn the truth.</p> + +<p>Could she have heard every word that had been spoken she would have +been sure of success. Could Daniel Thwaite have heard every word he +would have been sure that the girl was about to be false to him. But +the girl herself believed herself to have been true. The man had been +so soft with her, so tender, so pleasant,—so loving with his sweet +cousinly offers of affection, that she could not turn herself against +him. He had been to her eyes beautiful, noble,—almost divine. She +knew of herself that she could not be his wife,—that she was not fit +to be his wife,—because she had given her troth to the tailor's son. +When her cousin touched her check with his lips she remembered that +she had submitted to be kissed by one with whom her noble relative +could hold no fellowship whatever. A feeling of degradation came upon +her, as though by contact with this young man she was suddenly +awakened to a sense of what her own rank demanded from her. When her +mother had spoken to her of what she owed to her family, she had +thought only of all the friendship that she and her mother had +received from her lover and his father. But when Lord Lovel told her +what she was,—how she should ever be regarded by him as a dear +cousin,—how her mother should be accounted a countess, and receive +from him the respect due to her rank,—then she could understand how +unfitting were a union between the Lady Anna Lovel and Daniel +Thwaite, the journeyman tailor. Hitherto Daniel's face had been noble +in her eyes,—the face of a man who was manly, generous, and strong. +But after looking into the eyes of the young Earl, seeing how soft +was the down upon his lips, how ruddy the colour of his cheek, how +beautiful was his mouth with its pearl-white teeth, how noble the +curve of his nostrils, after feeling the softness of his hand, and +catching the sweetness of his breath, she came to know what it might +have been to be wooed by such a one as he.</p> + +<p>But not on that account did she meditate falseness. It was settled +firm as fate. The dominion of the tailor over her spirit had lasted +in truth for years. The sweet, perfumed graces of the young nobleman +had touched her senses but for a moment. Had she been false-minded +she had not courage to be false. But in truth she was not +false-minded. It was to her, as that sunny moment passed across her, +as to some hard-toiling youth who, while roaming listlessly among the +houses of the wealthy, hears, as he lingers on the pavement of a +summer night, the melodies which float upon the air from the open +balconies above him. A vague sense of unknown sweetness comes upon +him, mingled with an irritating feeling of envy that some favoured +son of Fortune should be able to stand over the shoulders of that +singing syren, while he can only listen with intrusive ears from the +street below. And so he lingers and is envious, and for a moment +curses his fate,—not knowing how weary may be the youth who stands, +how false the girl who sings. But he does not dream that his life is +to be altered for him, because he has chanced to hear the daughter of +a duchess warble through a window. And so it was with this girl. The +youth was very sweet to her, intensely sweet when he told her that he +would be a brother, perilously sweet when he bade her not to grudge +him one kiss. But she knew that she was not as he was. That she had +lost the right, could she ever have had the right, to live his life, +to drink of his cup, and to lie on his breast. So she passed on, as +the young man does in the street, and consoled herself with the +consciousness that strength after all may be preferable to sweetness.</p> + +<p>And she was an honest girl from her heart, and prone to truth, with a +strong glimmer of common sense in her character, of which her mother +hitherto had been altogether unaware. What right had her mother to +think that she could be fit to be this young lord's wife, having +brought her up in the companionship of small traders in Cumberland? +She never blamed her mother. She knew well that her mother had done +all that was possible on her behalf. But for that small trader they +would not even have had a roof to shelter them. But still there was +the fact, and she understood it. She was as her bringing up had made +her, and it was too late now to effect a change. Ah yes;—it was +indeed too late. It was all very well that lawyers should look upon +her as an instrument, as a piece of goods that might now, from the +accident of her ascertained birth, be made of great service to the +Lovel family. Let her be the lord's wife, and everything would be +right for everybody. It had been very easy to say that! But she had a +heart of her own,—a heart to be touched, and won, and given +away,—and lost. The man who had been so good to them had sought for +his reward, and had got it, and could not now be defrauded. Had she +been dishonest she would not have dared to defraud him; had she +dared, she would not have been so dishonest.</p> + +<p>"Did you like him?" asked the mother, not immediately after the +interview, but when the evening came.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes,—how should one not like him?"</p> + +<p>"How indeed! He is the finest, noblest youth that ever my eyes rested +on, and so like the Lovels."</p> + +<p>"Was my father like that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes indeed, in the shape of his face, and the tone of his voice, and +the movement of his eyes; though the sweetness of the countenance was +all gone in the Devil's training to which he had submitted himself. +And you too are like him, though darker, and with something of the +Murrays' greater breadth of face. But I can remember portraits at +Lovel Grange,—every one of them,—and all of them were alike. There +never was a Lovel but had that natural grace of appearance. You will +gaze at those portraits, dear, oftener even than I have done; and you +will be happy where I was,—oh—so miserable!"</p> + +<p>"I shall never see them, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I do not want to see them."</p> + +<p>"You say you like him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I like him."</p> + +<p>"And why should you not love him well enough to make him your +husband?"</p> + +<p>"I am not fit to be his wife."</p> + +<p>"You are fit;—none could be fitter; none others so fit. You are as +well born as he, and you have the wealth which he wants. You must +have it, if, as you tell me, he says that he will cease to claim it +as his own. There can be no question of fitness."</p> + +<p>"Money will not make a girl fit, mamma."</p> + +<p>"You have been brought up as a lady,—and are a lady. I swear I do +not know what you mean. If he thinks you fit, and you can like +him,—as you say you do,—what more can be wanted? Does he not wish +it?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. He said he did not, and then,—I think he said he +did."</p> + +<p>"Is that it?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma. It is not that; not that only. It is too late!"</p> + +<p>"Too late! How too late? Anna, you must tell me what you mean. I +insist upon it that you tell me what you mean. Why is it too late?" +But Lady Anna was not prepared to tell her meaning. She had certainly +not intended to say anything to her mother of her solemn promise to +Daniel Thwaite. It had been arranged between him and her that nothing +was to be said of it till this law business should be all over. He +had sworn to her that to him it made no difference, whether she +should be proclaimed to be the Lady Anna, the undoubted owner of +thousands a year, or Anna Murray, the illegitimate daughter of the +late Earl's mistress, a girl without a penny, and a nobody in the +world's esteem. No doubt they must shape their life very differently +in this event or in that. How he might demean himself should this +fortune be adjudged to the Earl, as he thought would be the case when +he first made the girl promise to be his wife, he knew well enough. +He would do as his father had done before him, and, he did not +doubt,—with better result. What might be his fate should the wealth +of the Lovels become the wealth of his intended wife, he did not yet +quite foreshadow to himself. How he should face and fight the world +when he came to be accused of having plotted to get all this wealth +for himself he did not know. He had dreams of distributing the +greater part among the Lovels and the Countess, and taking himself +and his wife with one-third of it to some new country in which they +would not in derision call his wife the Lady Anna, and in which he +would be as good a man as any earl. But let all that be as it might, +the girl was to keep her secret till the thing should be settled. +Now, in these latter days, it had come to be believed by him, as by +nearly everybody else, that the thing was well-nigh settled. The +Solicitor-General had thrown up the sponge. So said the bystanders. +And now there was beginning to be a rumour that everything was to be +set right by a family marriage. The Solicitor-General would not have +thrown up the sponge,—so said they who knew him best,—without +seeing a reason for doing so. Serjeant Bluestone was still indignant, +and Mr. Hardy was silent and moody. But the world at large were +beginning to observe that in this, as in all difficult cases, the +Solicitor-General tempered the innocence of the dove with the wisdom +of the serpent. In the meantime Lady Anna by no means intended to +allow the secret to pass her lips. Whether she ever could tell her +mother, she doubted; but she certainly would not do so an hour too +soon. "Why is it too late?" demanded the Countess, repeating her +question with stern severity of voice.</p> + +<p>"I mean that I have not lived all my life as his wife should live."</p> + +<p>"Trash! It is trash. What has there been in your life to disgrace +you. We have been poor and we have lived as poor people do live. We +have not been disgraced."</p> + +<p>"No, mamma."</p> + +<p>"I will not hear such nonsense. It is a reproach to me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, do not say that. I know how good you have been,—how you +have thought of me in every thing. Pray do not say that I reproach +you!" And she came and knelt at her mother's lap.</p> + +<p>"I will not, darling; but do not vex me by saying that you are unfit. +There is nothing else, dearest?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma," she said in a low tone, pausing before she told the +falsehood.</p> + +<p>"I think it will be arranged that you shall go down to Yoxham. The +people there even are beginning to know that we are right, and are +willing to acknowledge us. The Earl, whom I cannot but love already +for his gracious goodness, has himself declared that he will not +carry on the suit. Mr. Goffe has told me that they are anxious to see +you there. Of course you must go,—and will go as Lady Anna Lovel. +Mr. Goffe says that some money can now be allowed from the estate, +and you shall go as becomes the daughter of Earl Lovel when visiting +among her cousins. You will see this young man there. If he means to +love you and to be true to you, he will be much there. I do not doubt +but that you will continue to like him. And remember this, +Anna;—that even though your name be acknowledged,—even though all +the wealth be adjudged to be your own,—even though some judge on the +bench shall say that I am the widowed Countess Lovel, it may be all +undone some day,—unless you become this young man's wife. That woman +in Italy may be bolstered up at last, if you refuse him. But when you +are once the wife of young Lord Lovel, no one then can harm us. There +can be no going back after that." This the Countess said rather to +promote the marriage, than from any fear of the consequences which +she described. Daniel Thwaite was the enemy that now she dreaded, and +not the Italian woman, or the Lovel family.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna could only say that she would go to Yoxham, if she were +invited there by Mrs. Lovel.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-12" id="c1-12"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3> +<h4>HAVE THEY SURRENDERED?<br /> </h4> + + +<p>As all the world heard of what was going on, so did Daniel Thwaite +hear it among others. He was a hard-working, conscientious, moody +man, given much to silence among his fellow workmen;—one to whom +life was serious enough; not a happy man, though he had before him a +prospect of prosperity which would make most men happy. But he was +essentially a tender-hearted, affectionate man, who could make a +sacrifice of himself if he thought it needed for the happiness of one +he loved. When he heard of this proposed marriage, he asked himself +many questions as to his duty and as to the welfare of the girl. He +did love her with all his heart, and he believed thoroughly in her +affection for himself. He had, as yet, no sufficient reason to doubt +that she would be true to him;—but he knew well that an earl's +coronet must be tempting to a girl so circumstanced as was Lady Anna. +There were moments in which he thought that it was almost his duty to +give her up, and bid her go and live among those of her own rank. But +then he did not believe in rank. He utterly disbelieved in it; and in +his heart of hearts he felt that he would make a better and a fitter +husband to this girl than would an earl, with all an earl's +temptation to vice. He was ever thinking of some better world to +which he might take her, which had not been contaminated by empty +names and an impudent assumption of hereditary, and therefore false, +dignity. As regarded the money, it would be hers whether she married +him or the Earl. And if she loved him, as she had sworn that she did, +why should he be false to her? Or why, as yet, should he think that +she would prefer an empty, gilded lordling to the friend who had been +her friend as far back as her memory could carry her? If she asked to +be released, then indeed he would release her,—but not without +explaining to her, with such eloquence as he might be able to +use,—what it was she proposed to abandon, and what to take in place +of that which she lost. He was a man, silent and under self-control, +but self-confident also; and he did believe himself to be a better +man than young Earl Lovel.</p> + +<p>In making this resolution,—that he would give her back her troth if +she asked for it, but not without expressing to her his thoughts as +he did so,—he ignored the masterfulness of his own character. There +are men who exercise dominion, from the nature of their disposition, +and who do so from their youth upwards, without knowing, till +advanced life comes upon them, that any power of dominion belongs to +them. Men are persuasive, and imperious withal, who are unconscious +that they use burning words to others, whose words to them are never +even warm. So it was with this man when he spoke to himself in his +solitude of his purpose of resigning the titled heiress. To the +arguments, the entreaties, or the threats of others he would pay no +heed. The Countess might bluster about her rank, and he would heed +her not at all. He cared nothing for the whole tribe of Lovels. If +Lady Anna asked for release, she should be released. But not till she +had heard his words. How scalding these words might be, how powerful +to prevent the girl from really choosing her own fate, he did not +know himself.</p> + +<p>Though he lived in the same house with her he seldom saw her,—unless +when he would knock at the door of an evening, and say a few words to +her mother rather than to her. Since Thomas Thwaite had left London +for the last time the Countess had become almost cold to the young +man. She would not have been so if she could have helped it; but she +had begun to fear him, and she could not bring herself to be cordial +to him either in word or manner. He perceived it at once, and became, +himself, cold and constrained.</p> + +<p>Once, and once only, he met Lady Anna alone, after his father's +departure, and before her interview with Lord Lovel. Then he met her +on the stairs of the house while her mother was absent at the +lawyer's chambers.</p> + +<p>"Are you here, Daniel, at this hour?" she asked, going back to the +sitting-room, whither he followed her.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to see you, and I knew that your mother would be out. It is +not often that I do a thing in secret, even though it be to see the +girl that I love."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed. I do not see you often now."</p> + +<p>"Does that matter much to you, Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Lady Anna!"</p> + +<p>"I have been instructed, you know, that I am to call you so."</p> + +<p>"Not by me, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"No;—not by you; not as yet. Your mother's manners are much altered +to me. Is it not so?"</p> + +<p>"How can I tell? Mine are not."</p> + +<p>"It is no question of manners, sweetheart, between you and me. It has +not come to that, I hope. Do you wish for any change,—as regards +me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no."</p> + +<p>"As to my love, there can be no change in that. If it suits your +mother to be disdainful to me, I can bear it. I always thought that +it would come to be so some day."</p> + +<p>There was but little more said then. He asked her no further +question;—none at least that it was difficult for her to +answer,—and he soon took his leave. He was a passionate rather than +a tender lover, and having once held her in his arms, and kissed her +lips, and demanded from her a return of his caress, he was patient +now to wait till he could claim them as his own. But, two days after +the interview between Lord Lovel and his love, he a second time +contrived to find her alone.</p> + +<p>"I have come again," he said, "because I knew your mother is out. I +would not trouble you with secret meetings but that just now I have +much to say to you. And then, you may be gone from hence before I had +even heard that you were going."</p> + +<p>"I am always glad to see you, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"Are you, my sweetheart? Is that true?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, indeed it is."</p> + +<p>"I should be a traitor to doubt you,—and I do not doubt. I will +never doubt you if you tell me that you love me."</p> + +<p>"You know I love you."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Anna—; or shall I say Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Lady Anna,—if you wish to scorn me."</p> + +<p>"Then never will I call you so, till it shall come to pass that I do +wish to scorn you. But tell me. Is it true that Earl Lovel was with +you the other day?"</p> + +<p>"He was here the day before yesterday."</p> + +<p>"And why did he come."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Why did he come? you know that as far as I have yet heard he is +still your mother's enemy and yours, and is persecuting you to rob +you of your name and of your property. Did he come as a friend?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! certainly as a friend."</p> + +<p>"But he still makes his claim."</p> + +<p>"No;—he says that he will make it no longer, that he acknowledges +mamma as my father's widow, and me as my father's heir."</p> + +<p>"That is generous,—if that is all."</p> + +<p>"Very generous."</p> + +<p>"And he does this without condition? There is nothing to be given to +him to pay him for this surrender."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to give," she said, in that low, sweet, melancholy +voice which was common to her always when she spoke of herself.</p> + +<p>"You do not mean to deceive me, dear, I know; but there is a +something to be given; and I am told that he has asked for it, or +certainly will ask. And, indeed, I do not think that an earl, noble, +but poverty-stricken, would surrender everything without making some +counter claim which would lead him by another path to all that he has +been seeking. Anna, you know what I mean."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I know."</p> + +<p>"Has he made no such claim."</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell."</p> + +<p>"You cannot tell whether or no he has asked you to be his wife?"</p> + +<p>"No; I cannot tell. Do not look at me like that, Daniel. He came +here, and mamma left us together, and he was kind to me. Oh! so kind. +He said that he would be a cousin to me, and a brother."</p> + +<p>"A brother!"</p> + +<p>"That was what he said."</p> + +<p>"And he meant nothing more than that,—simply to be your brother?"</p> + +<p>"I think he did mean more. I think he meant that he would try to love +me so that he might be my husband."</p> + +<p>"And what said you to that?"</p> + +<p>"I told him that it could not be so."</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>"Why then again he said that we were cousins; that I had no nearer +cousin anywhere, and that he would be good to me and help me, and +that the lawsuit should not go on. Oh, Daniel, he was so good!"</p> + +<p>"Was that all?"</p> + +<p>"He kissed me, saying that cousins might kiss?"</p> + +<p>"No, Anna;—cousins such as you and he may not kiss. Do you hear me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I hear you."</p> + +<p>"If you mean to be true to me, there must be no more of that. Do you +not know that all this means that he is to win you to be his wife? +Did he not come to you with that object?"</p> + +<p>"I think he did, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"I think so too, my dear. Surrender! I'll tell you what that +surrender means. They perceive at last that they have not a shadow of +justice, or even a shadow of a chance of unjust success in their +claim. That with all their command of money, which is to be spent, +however, out of your property, they can do nothing; that their false +witnesses will not come to aid them; that they have not another inch +of ground on which to stand. Their great lawyer, Sir William +Patterson, dares not show himself in court with a case so false and +fraudulent. At last your mother's rights and yours are to be owned. +Then they turn themselves about, and think in what other way the +prize may be won. It is not likely that such a prize should be +surrendered by a noble lord. The young man is made to understand that +he cannot have it all without a burden, and that he must combine his +wealth with you. That is it, and at once he comes to you, asking you +to be his wife, so that in that way he may lay his hands on the +wealth of which he has striven to rob you."</p> + +<p>"Daniel, I do not think that he is like that!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you he is not only like it,—but that itself. Is it not clear +as noon-day? He comes here to talk of love who had never seen you +before. Is it thus that men love?"</p> + +<p>"But, Daniel, he did not talk so."</p> + +<p>"I wonder that he was so crafty, believing him as I do to be a fool. +He talked of cousinship and brotherhood, and yet gave you to know +that he meant you to be his wife. Was it not so?"</p> + +<p>"I think it was so, in very truth."</p> + +<p>"Of course it was so. Do brothers marry their sisters? Were it not +for the money, which must be yours, and which he is kind enough to +surrender, would he come to you then with his brotherhood, and his +cousinship, and his mock love? Tell me that, my lady! Can it be real +love,—to which there has been no forerunning acquaintance?"</p> + +<p>"I think not, indeed."</p> + +<p>"And must it not be lust of wealth? That may come by hearsay well +enough. It is a love which requires no great foreknowledge to burn +with real strength. He is a gay looking lad, no doubt."</p> + +<p>"I do not know as to gay, but he is beautiful."</p> + +<p>"Like enough, my girl; with soft hands, and curled hair, and a sweet +smell, and a bright colour, and a false heart. I have never seen the +lad; but for the false heart I can answer."</p> + +<p>"I do not think that he is false."</p> + +<p>"Not false! and yet he comes to you asking you to be his wife, just +at that nick of time in which he finds that you,—the right +owner,—are to have the fortune of which he has vainly endeavoured to +defraud you! Is it not so?"</p> + +<p>"He cannot be wrong to wish to keep up the glory of the family."</p> + +<p>"The glory of the family;—yes, the fame of the late lord, who lived +as though he were a fiend let loose from hell to devastate mankind. +The glory of the family! And how will he maintain it? At racecourses, +in betting-clubs, among loose women, with luscious wines, never doing +one stroke of work for man or God, consuming and never producing, +either idle altogether or working the work of the devil. That will be +the glory of the family. Anna Lovel, you shall give him his choice." +Then he took her hand in his. "Ask him whether he will have that +empty, or take all the wealth of the Lovels. You have my leave."</p> + +<p>"And if he took the empty hand what should I do?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"My brave girl, no; though the chance be but one in a thousand +against me, I would not run the risk. But I am putting it to +yourself, to your reason, to judge of his motives. Can it be that his +mind in this matter is not sordid and dishonest? As to you, the +choice is open to you."</p> + +<p>"No, Daniel; it is open no longer."</p> + +<p>"The choice is open to you. If you will tell me that your heart is so +set upon being the bride of a lord, that truth and honesty and love, +and all decent feeling from woman to man can be thrown to the wind, +to make way for such an ambition,—I will say not a word against it. +You are free."</p> + +<p>"Have I asked for freedom?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed! Had you done so, I should have made all this much +shorter."</p> + +<p>"Then why do you harass me by saying it?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is my duty. Can I know that he comes here seeking you for +his wife; can I hear it said on all sides that this family feud is to +be settled by a happy family marriage; can I find that you yourself +are willing to love him as a cousin or a brother,—without finding +myself compelled to speak? There are two men seeking you as their +wife. One can make you a countess; the other simply an honest man's +wife, and, so far as that can be low, lower than that title of your +own which they will not allow you to put before your name. If I am +still your choice, give me your hand." Of course she gave it him. "So +be it; and now I shall fear nothing." Then she told him that it was +intended that she should go to Yoxham as a visitor; but still he +declared that he would fear nothing.</p> + +<p>Early on the next morning he called on Mr. Goffe, the attorney, with +the object of making some inquiry as to the condition of the lawsuit. +Mr. Goffe did not much love the elder tailor, but he specially +disliked the younger. He was not able to be altogether uncivil to +them, because he knew all that they had done to succour his client; +but he avoided them when it was possible, and was chary of giving +them information. On this occasion Daniel asked whether it was true +that the other side had abandoned their claim.</p> + +<p>"Really Mr. Thwaite, I cannot say that they have," said Mr. Goffe.</p> + +<p>"Can you say that they have not?"</p> + +<p>"No; nor that either."</p> + +<p>"Had anything of that kind been decided, I suppose you would have +known it, Mr. Goffe?"</p> + +<p>"Really, sir, I cannot say. There are questions, Mr. Thwaite, which a +professional gentleman cannot answer, even to such friends as you and +your father have been. When any real settlement is to be made, the +Countess Lovel will, as a matter of course, be informed."</p> + +<p>"She should be informed at once," said Daniel Thwaite sternly: "and +so should they who have been concerned with her in this matter."</p> + +<p>"You, I know, have heavy claims on the Countess."</p> + +<p>"My father has claims, which will never vex her, whether paid or not +paid; but it is right that he should know the truth. I do not believe +that the Countess herself knows, though she has been led to think +that the claim has been surrendered."</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe was very sorry, but really he had nothing further to tell.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-13" id="c1-13"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3> +<h4>NEW FRIENDS.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The introduction to Yoxham followed quickly upon the Earl's visit to +Wyndham Street. There was a great consultation at the rectory before +a decision could be made as to the manner in which the invitation +should be given. The Earl thought that it should be sent to the +mother. The rector combated this view very strongly, still hoping +that though he might be driven to call the girl Lady Anna, he might +postpone the necessity of acknowledging the countess-ship of the +mother till the marriage should have been definitely acknowledged. +Mrs. Lovel thought that if the girl were Lady Anna, then the mother +must be the Countess Lovel, and that it would be as well to be hung +for a sheep as a lamb. But the wisdom of Aunt Julia sided with her +brother, though she did not share her brother's feelings of animosity +to the two women. "It is understood that the girl is to be invited, +and not the mother," said Miss Lovel; "and as it is quite possible +that the thing should fail,—in which case the lawsuit might possibly +go on,—the less we acknowledge the better." The Earl declared that +the lawsuit couldn't go on,—that he would not carry it on. "My dear +Frederic, you are not the only person concerned. The lady in Italy, +who still calls herself Countess Lovel, may renew the suit on her own +behalf as soon as you have abandoned it. Should she succeed, you +would have to make what best compromise you could with her respecting +the property. That is the way I understand it." This exposition of +the case by Miss Lovel was so clear that it carried the day, and +accordingly a letter was written by Mrs. Lovel, addressed to Lady +Anna Lovel, asking her to come and spend a few days at Yoxham. She +could bring her maid with her or not as she liked; but she could have +the service of Mrs. Lovel's lady's maid if she chose to come +unattended. The letter sounded cold when it was read, but the writer +signed herself, "Yours affectionately, Jane Lovel." It was addressed +to "The Lady Anna Lovel, to the care of Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, +solicitors, Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn."</p> + +<p>Lady Anna was allowed to read it first; but she read it in the +presence of her mother, to whom she handed it at once, as a matter of +course. A black frown came across the Countess's brow, and a look of +displeasure, almost of anger, rested on her countenance. "Is it +wrong, mamma?" asked the girl.</p> + +<p>"It is a part of the whole;—but, my dear, it shall not signify. +Conquerors cannot be conquerors all at once, nor can the vanquished +be expected to submit themselves with a grace. But it will come. And +though they should ignore me utterly, that will be as nothing. I have +not clung to this for years past to win their loves."</p> + +<p>"I will not go, mamma, if they are unkind to you."</p> + +<p>"You must go, my dear. It is only that they are weak enough to think +that they can acknowledge you, and yet continue to deny to me my +rights. But it matters nothing. Of course you shall go,—and you +shall go as the daughter of the Countess Lovel."</p> + +<p>That mention of the lady's-maid had been unfortunate. Mrs. Lovel had +simply desired to make it easy for the young lady to come without a +servant to wait upon her, and had treated her husband's far-away +cousin as elder ladies often do treat those who are younger when the +question of the maid may become a difficulty. But the Countess, who +would hardly herself have thought of it, now declared that her girl +should go attended as her rank demanded. Lady Anna, therefore, under +her mother's dictation, wrote the following +<span class="nowrap">reply:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Wyndham Street, 3rd August, 183—.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Mrs. Lovel</span>,</p> + +<p>I shall be happy to accept your kind invitation to Yoxham, +but can hardly do so before the 10th. On that day I will +leave London for York inside the mail-coach. Perhaps you +can be kind enough to have me met where the coach stops. +As you are so good as to say you can take her in, I will +bring my own maid.</p> + +<p class="ind15">Yours affectionately,</p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Anna Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>"But, mamma, I don't want a maid," said the girl, who had never been +waited on in her life, and who had more often than not made her +mother's bed and her own till they had come up to London.</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless you shall take one. You will have to make other changes +besides that; and the sooner that you begin to make them the easier +they will be to you."</p> + +<p>Then at once the Countess made a pilgrimage to Mr. Goffe in search of +funds wherewith to equip her girl properly for her new associations. +She was to go, as Lady Anna Lovel, to stay with Mrs. Lovel and Miss +Lovel and the little Lovels. And she was to go as one who was to be +the chosen bride of Earl Lovel. Of course she must be duly +caparisoned. Mr. Goffe made difficulties,—as lawyers always do,—but +the needful money was at last forthcoming. Representations had been +made in high legal quarters,—to the custodians for the moment of the +property which was to go to the established heir of the late Earl. +They had been made conjointly by Goffe and Goffe, and Norton and +Flick, and the money was forthcoming. Mr. Goffe suggested that a +great deal could not be wanted all at once for the young lady's +dress. The Countess smiled as she answered, "You hardly know, Mr. +Goffe, the straits to which we have been reduced. If I tell you that +this dress which I have on is the only one in which I can fitly +appear even in your chambers, perhaps you will think that I demean +myself." Mr. Goffe was touched, and signed a sufficient cheque. They +were going to succeed, and then everything would be easy. Even if +they did not succeed, he could get it passed in the accounts. And if +not that—well, he had run greater risks than this for clients whose +causes were of much less interest than this of the Countess and her +daughter.</p> + +<p>The Countess had mentioned her own gown, and had spoken strict truth +in what she had said of it;—but not a shilling of Mr. Goffe's money +went to the establishment of a wardrobe for herself. That her +daughter should go down to Yoxham Rectory in a manner befitting the +daughter of Earl Lovel was at this moment her chief object. Things +were purchased by which the poor girl, unaccustomed to such finery, +was astounded and almost stupefied. Two needlewomen were taken in at +the lodgings in Wyndham Street; parcels from Swan and +Edgar's,—Marshall and Snellgrove were not then, or at least had not +loomed to the grandeur of an entire block of houses,—addressed to +Lady Anna Lovel, were frequent at the door, somewhat to the disgust +of the shopmen, who did not like to send goods to Lady Anna Lovel in +Wyndham Street. But ready money was paid, and the parcels came home. +Lady Anna, poor girl, was dismayed much by the parcels, but she was +at her wits' end when the lady's-maid came,—a young lady, herself so +sweetly attired that Lady Anna would have envied her in the old +Cumberland days. "I shall not know what to say to her, mamma," said +Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"It will all come in two days, if you will only be equal to the +occasion," said the Countess, who in providing her child with this +expensive adjunct, had made some calculation that the more her +daughter was made to feel the luxuries of aristocratic life, the less +prone would she be to adapt herself to the roughnesses of Daniel +Thwaite the tailor.</p> + +<p>The Countess put her daughter into the mail-coach, and gave her much +parting advice. "Hold up your head when you are with them. That is +all that you have to do. Among them all your blood will be the best." +This theory of blood was one of which Lady Anna had never been able +even to realise the meaning. "And remember this too;—that you are in +truth the most wealthy. It is they that should honour you. Of course +you will be courteous and gentle with them,—it is your nature; but +do not for a moment allow yourself to be conscious that you are their +inferior." Lady Anna,—who could think but little of her birth,—to +whom it had been throughout her life a thing plaguesome rather than +profitable,—could remember only what she had been in Cumberland, and +her binding obligation to the tailor's son. She could remember but +that and the unutterable sweetness of the young man who had once +appeared before her,—to whom she knew that she must be inferior. +"Hold up your head among them, and claim your own always," said the +Countess.</p> + +<p>The rectory carriage was waiting for her at the inn yard in York, and +in it was Miss Lovel. When the hour had come it was thought better +that the wise woman of the family should go than any other. For the +ladies of Yoxham were quite as anxious as to the Lady Anna as was she +in respect of them. What sort of a girl was this that they were to +welcome among them as the Lady Anna,—who had lived all her life with +tailors, and with a mother of whom up to quite a late date they had +thought all manner of evil? The young lord had reported well of her, +saying that she was not only beautiful, but feminine, of soft modest +manners, and in all respects like a lady. The Earl, however, was but +a young man, likely to be taken by mere beauty; and it might be that +the girl had been clever enough to hoodwink him. So much evil had +been believed that a report stating that all was good could not be +accepted at once as true. Miss Lovel would be sure to find out, even +in the space of an hour's drive, and Miss Lovel went to meet her. She +did not leave the carriage, but sent the footman to help Lady Anna +Lovel from the coach. "My dear," said Miss Lovel, "I am very glad to +see you. Oh, you have brought a maid! We didn't think you would. +There is a seat behind which she can occupy."</p> + +<p>"Mamma thought it best. I hope it is not wrong, Mrs. Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I ought to have introduced myself. I am Miss Lovel, and the rector +of Yoxham is my brother. It does not signify about the maid in the +least. We can do very well with her. I suppose she has been with you +a long time."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed;—she only came the day before yesterday." And so Miss +Lovel learned the whole story of the lady's-maid.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna said very little, but Miss Lovel explained a good many +things during the journey. The young lord was not at Yoxham. He was +with a friend in Scotland, but would be home about the 20th. The two +boys were at home for the holidays, but would go back to school in a +fortnight. Minnie Lovel, the daughter, had a governess. The rectory, +for a parsonage, was a tolerably large house, and convenient. It had +been Lord Lovel's early home, but at present he was not much there. +"He thinks it right to go to Lovel Grange during a part of the +autumn. I suppose you have seen Lovel Grange."</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed. But you lived near it;—did you not?"</p> + +<p>"No, not near;—about fifteen miles, I think. I was born there, but +have never been there since I was a baby."</p> + +<p>"Oh!—you were born there. Of course you know that it is Lord Lovel's +seat now. I do not know that he likes it, though the scenery is +magnificent. But a landlord has to live, at least for some period of +the year, upon his property. You saw my nephew."</p> + +<p>"Yes; he came to us once."</p> + +<p>"I hope you liked him. We think him very nice. But then he is almost +the same as a son here. Do you care about visiting the poor?"</p> + +<p>"I have never tried," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear!"</p> + +<p>"We have been so poor ourselves;—we were just one of them." Then +Miss Lovel perceived that she had made a mistake. But she was +generous enough to recognize the unaffected simplicity of the girl, +and almost began to think well of her.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will come round the parish with us. We shall be very +glad. Yoxham is a large parish, with scattered hamlets, and there is +plenty to do. The manufactories are creeping up to us, and we have +already a large mill at Yoxham Lock. My brother has to keep two +curates now. Here we are, my dear, and I hope we shall be able to +make you happy."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Lovel did not like the maid, and Mr. Lovel did not like it at +all. "And yet we heard when we were up in town that they literally +had not anything to live on," said the parson. "I hope that, after +all, we may not be making fools of ourselves." But there was no help +for it, and the maid was of course taken in.</p> + +<p>The children had been instructed to call their cousin Lady +Anna,—unless they heard their mother drop the title, and then they +were to drop it also. They were not so young but what they had all +heard the indiscreet vigour with which their father had ridiculed the +claim to the title, and had been something at a loss to know whence +the change had come. "Perhaps they are as they call themselves," the +rector had said, "and, if so, heaven forbid that we should not give +them their due." After this the three young ones, discussing the +matter among themselves, had made up their minds that Lady Anna was +no cousin of theirs,—but "a humbug." When, however, they saw her +their hearts relented, and the girl became soft, and the boys became +civil. "Papa," said Minnie Lovel, on the second day, "I hope she is +our cousin."</p> + +<p>"I hope so too, my dear."</p> + +<p>"I think she is. She looks as if she ought to be because she is so +pretty."</p> + +<p>"Being pretty, my dear, is not enough. You should love people because +they are good."</p> + +<p>"But I would not like all the good people to be my cousins;—would +you, papa? Old widow Grimes is a very good old woman; but I don't +want to have her for a cousin."</p> + +<p>"My dear, you are talking about what you don't understand."</p> + +<p>But Minnie did in truth understand the matter better than her father. +Before three or four days had passed she knew that their guest was +lovable,—whether cousin or no cousin; and she knew also that the +newcomer was of such nature and breeding as made her fit to be a +cousin. All the family had as yet called her Lady Anna, but Minnie +thought that the time had come in which she might break through the +law. "I think I should like to call you just Anna, if you will let +me," she said. They two were in the guest's bedroom, and Minnie was +leaning against her new friend's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do so wish you would. I do so hate to be called Lady."</p> + +<p>"But you are Lady Anna,—arn't you?"</p> + +<p>"And you are Miss Mary Lovel, but you wouldn't like everybody in the +house to call you so. And then there has been so much said about it +all my life, that it makes me quite unhappy. I do so wish your mamma +wouldn't call me Lady Anna." Whereupon Minnie very demurely explained +that she could not answer for her mamma, but that she would always +call her friend Anna,—when papa wasn't by.</p> + +<p>But Minnie was better than her promise. "Mamma," she said the next +day, "do you know that she hates to be called Lady Anna."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it. She told me so. Everybody has always been talking +about it ever since she was born, and she says she is so sick of it."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear, people must be called by their names. If it is her +proper name she ought not to hate it. I can understand that people +should hate an assumed name."</p> + +<p>"I am Miss Mary Lovel, but I should not at all like it if everybody +called me Miss Mary. The servants call me Miss Mary, but if papa and +aunt Julia did so, I should think they were scolding me."</p> + +<p>"But Lady Anna is not papa's daughter."</p> + +<p>"She is his cousin. Isn't she his cousin, mamma? I don't think people +ought to call their cousins Lady Anna. I have promised that I won't. +Cousin Frederic said that she was his cousin. What will he call her?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell, my dear. We shall all know her better by that time." +Mrs. Lovel, however, followed her daughter's lead, and from that time +the poor girl was Anna to all of them,—except to the rector. He +listened, and thought that he would try it; but his heart failed him. +He would have preferred that she should be an impostor, were that +still possible. He would so much have preferred that she should not +exist at all! He did not care for her beauty. He did not feel the +charm of her simplicity. It was one of the hardships of the world +that he should be forced to have her there in his rectory. The Lovel +wealth was indispensable to the true heir of the Lovels, and on +behalf of his nephew and his family he had been induced to consent; +but he could not love the interloper. He still dreamed of coming +surprises that would set the matter right in a manner that would be +much preferable to a marriage. The girl might be innocent,—as his +wife and sister told him; but he was sure that the mother was an +intriguing woman. It would be such a pity that they should have +entertained the girl, if,—after all,—the woman should at last be +but a pseudo-countess! As others had ceased to call her Lady Anna, he +could not continue to do so; but he managed to live on with her +without calling her by any name.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Cousin Anna went about among the poor with Minnie and +Aunt Julia, and won golden opinions. She was soft, feminine, almost +humble,—but still with a dash of humour in her, when she was +sufficiently at her ease with them to be happy. There was very much +in the life which she thoroughly enjoyed. The green fields, and the +air which was so pleasant to her after the close heat of the narrow +London streets, and the bright parsonage garden, and the pleasant +services of the country church,—and doubtless also the luxuries of a +rich, well-ordered household. Those calculations of her mother had +not been made without a true basis. The softness, the niceness, the +ease, the grace of the people around her, won upon her day by day, +and hour by hour. The pleasant idleness of the drawing-room, with its +books and music, and unstrained chatter of family voices, grew upon +her as so many new charms. To come down with bright ribbons and clean +unruffled muslin to breakfast, with nothing to do which need ruffle +them unbecomingly, and then to dress for dinner with silk and gauds, +before ten days were over, had made life beautiful to her. She seemed +to live among roses and perfumes. There was no stern hardness in the +life, as there had of necessity been in that which she had ever lived +with her mother. The caresses of Minnie Lovel soothed and warmed her +heart;—and every now and again, when the eyes of Aunt Julia were not +upon her, she was tempted to romp with the boys. Oh! that they had +really been her brothers!</p> + +<p>But in the midst of all there was ever present to her the prospect of +some coming wretchedness. The life which she was leading could not be +her life. That Earl was coming,—that young Apollo,—and he would +again ask her to be his wife. She knew that she could not be his +wife. She was there, as she understood well, that she might give all +this wealth that was to be hers to the Lovel family; and when she +refused to give herself,—as the only way in which that wealth could +be conveyed,—they would turn her out from their pleasant home. Then +she must go back to the other life, and be the wife of Daniel +Thwaite; and soft things must be at an end with her.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-14" id="c1-14"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3> +<h4>THE EARL ARRIVES.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>At the end of a fortnight the boys had gone back to school, and Lord +Lovel was to reach the rectory in time for dinner that evening. There +was a little stir throughout the rectory, as an earl is an earl +though he be in his uncle's house, and rank will sway even aunts and +cousins. The parson at present was a much richer man than the +peer;—but the peer was at the head of all the Lovels, and then it +was expected that his poverty would quickly be made to disappear. All +that Lovel money which had been invested in bank shares, Indian +railways, Russian funds, Devon consols, and coal mines, was to become +his,—if not in one way, then in another. The Earl was to be a +topping man, and the rectory cook was ordered to do her best. The big +bedroom had been made ready, and the parson looked at his '99 port +and his '16 Margaux. In those days men drank port, and champagne at +country houses was not yet a necessity. To give the rector of Yoxham +his due it must be said of him that he would have done his very best +for the head of his family had there been no large fortune within the +young lord's grasp. The Lovels had ever been true to the Lovels, with +the exception of that late wretched Earl,—the Lady Anna's father.</p> + +<p>But if the rector and his wife were alive to the importance of the +expected arrival, what must have been the state of Lady Anna! They +had met but once before, and during that meeting they had been alone +together. There had grown up, she knew not how, during those few +minutes, a heavenly sweetness between them. He had talked to her with +a voice that had been to her ears as the voice of a god,—it had been +so sweet and full of music! He had caressed her,—but with a caress +so gentle and pure that it had been to her void of all taint of evil. +It had perplexed her for a moment,—but had left no sense of wrong +behind it. He had told her that he loved her,—that he would love her +dearly; but had not scared her in so telling her, though she knew she +could never give him back such love as that of which he spoke to her. +There had been a charm in it, of which she delighted to +dream,—fancying that she could remember it for ever, as a green +island in her life; but could so best remember it if she were assured +that she should never see him more. But now she was to see him again, +and the charm must be renewed,—or else the dream dispelled for ever. +Alas! it must be the latter. She knew that the charm must be +dispelled.</p> + +<p>But there was a doubt on her own mind whether it would not be +dispelled without any effort on her part. It would vanish at once if +he were to greet her as the Lovels had greeted her on her first +coming. She could partly understand that the manner of their meeting +in London had thrust upon him a necessity for flattering tenderness +with which he might well dispense when he met her among his family. +Had he really loved her,—had he meant to love her,—he would hardly +have been absent so long after her coming. She had been glad that he +had been absent,—so she assured herself,—because there could never +be any love between them. Daniel Thwaite had told her that the +brotherly love which had been offered was false love,—must be +false,—was no love at all. Do brothers marry sisters; and had not +this man already told her that he wished to make her his wife? And +then there must never be another kiss. Daniel Thwaite had told her +that; and he was, not only her lover, but her master also. This was +the rule by which she would certainly hold. She would be true to +Daniel Thwaite. And yet she looked for the lord's coming, as one +looks for the rising of the sun of an early morning,—watching for +that which shall make all the day beautiful.</p> + +<p>And he came. The rector and his wife, and Aunt Julia and Minnie, all +went out into the hall to meet him, and Anna was left alone in the +library, where they were wont to congregate before dinner. It was +already past seven, and every one was dressed. A quarter of an hour +was to be allowed to the lord, and he was to be hurried up at once to +his bedroom. She would not see him till he came down ready, and all +hurried, to lead his aunt to the dining-room. She heard the scuffle +in the hall. There were kisses;—and a big kiss from Minnie to her +much-prized Cousin Fred; and a loud welcome from the full-mouthed +rector. "And where is Anna?"—the lord asked. They were the first +words he spoke, and she heard them, ah! so plainly. It was the same +voice,—sweet, genial, and manly; sweet to her beyond all sweetness +that she could conceive.</p> + +<p>"You shall see her when you come down from dressing," said Mrs. +Lovel,—in a low voice, but still audible to the solitary girl.</p> + +<p>"I will see her before I go up to dress," said the lord, walking +through them, and in through the open door to the library. "So, here +you are. I am so glad to see you! I had sworn to go into Scotland +before the time was fixed for your coming,—before I had met +you,—and I could not escape. Have you thought ill of me because I +have not been here to welcome you sooner?"</p> + +<p>"No,—my lord."</p> + +<p>"There are horrible penalties for anybody who calls me lord in this +house;—are there not, Aunt Jane? But I see my uncle wants his +dinner."</p> + +<p>"I'll take you up-stairs, Fred," said Minnie, who was still holding +her cousin's hand.</p> + +<p>"I am coming. I will only say that I would sooner see you here than +in any house in England."</p> + +<p>Then he went, and during the few minutes that he spent in dressing +little or nothing was spoke in the library. The parson in his heart +was not pleased by the enthusiasm with which the young man greeted +this new cousin; and yet, why should he not be enthusiastic if it was +intended that they should be man and wife?</p> + +<p>"Now, Lady Anna," said the rector, as he offered her his arm to lead +her out to dinner. It was but a mild corrective to the warmth of his +nephew. The lord lingered a moment with his aunt in the library.</p> + +<p>"Have you not got beyond that with her yet?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Your uncle is more old fashioned than you are, Fred. Things did not +go so quick when he was young."</p> + +<p>In the evening he came and lounged on a double-seated ottoman behind +her, and she soon found herself answering a string of questions. Had +she been happy at Yoxham? Did she like the place? What had she been +doing? "Then you know Mrs. Grimes already?" She laughed as she said +that she did know Mrs. Grimes. "The lion of Yoxham is Mrs. Grimes. +She is supposed to have all the misfortunes and all the virtues to +which humanity is subject. And how do you and Minnie get on? Minnie +is my prime minister. The boys, I suppose, teased you out of your +life?"</p> + +<p>"I did like them so much! I never knew a boy till I saw them, Lord +Lovel."</p> + +<p>"They take care to make themselves known, at any rate. But they are +nice, good-humoured lads,—taking after their mother. Don't tell +their father I said so. Do you think it pretty about here?"</p> + +<p>"Beautifully pretty."</p> + +<p>"Just about Yoxham,—because there is so much wood. But this is not +the beautiful part of Yorkshire, you know. I wonder whether we could +make an expedition to Wharfedale and Bolton Abbey. You would say that +the Wharfe was pretty. We'll try and plan it. We should have to sleep +out one night; but that would make it all the jollier. There isn't a +better inn in England than the Devonshire arms;—and I don't think a +pleasanter spot. Aunt Jane,—couldn't we go for one night to Bolton +Abbey?"</p> + +<p>"It is very far, Frederic."</p> + +<p>"Thirty miles or so;—that ought to be nothing in Yorkshire. We'll +manage it. We could get post-horses from York, and the carriage would +take us all. My uncle, you must know, is very chary about the +carriage horses, thinking that the corn of idleness,—which is +destructive to young men and women,—is very good for cattle. But +we'll manage it, and you shall jump over the Stryd." Then he told her +the story how the youth was drowned—and how the monks moaned; and he +got away to other legends, to the white doe of Rylston, and +Landseer's picture of the abbey in olden times. She had heard nothing +before of these things,—or indeed of such things, and the hearing +them was very sweet to her. The parson, who was still displeased, +went to sleep. Minnie had been sent to bed, and Aunt Julia and Aunt +Jane every now and again put in a word. It was resolved before the +evening was over that the visit should be made to Bolton Abbey. Of +course, their nephew ought to have opportunities of making love to +the girl he was doomed to marry. "Good night, dearest," he said when +she went to bed. She was sure that the last word had been so spoken, +and that no ear but her own had heard it. She could not tell him that +such word should not be spoken; and yet she felt that the word would +be almost as offensive as the kiss to Daniel Thwaite. She must +contrive some means of telling him that she could not, would not, +must not be his dearest.</p> + +<p>She had now received two letters from her mother since she had been +at Yoxham, and in each of them there were laid down for her plain +instructions as to her conduct. It was now the middle of August, and +it was incumbent upon her to allow matters so to arrange themselves, +that the marriage might be declared to be a settled thing when the +case should come on in November. Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick had met each +other, and everything was now understood by the two parties of +lawyers. If the Earl and Lady Anna were then engaged with the mutual +consent of all interested,—and so engaged that a day could be fixed +for the wedding,—then, when the case was opened in court, would the +Solicitor-General declare that it was the intention of Lord Lovel to +make no further opposition to the claims of the Countess and her +daughter, and it would only remain for Serjeant Bluestone to put in +the necessary proofs of the Cumberland marriage and of the baptism of +Lady Anna. The Solicitor-General would at the same time state to the +court that an alliance had been arranged between these distant +cousins, and that in that way everything would be settled. But,—and +in this clause of her instructions the Countess was most +urgent,—this could not be done unless the marriage were positively +settled. Mr. Flick had been very urgent in pointing out to Mr. Goffe +that in truth their evidence was very strong to prove that when the +Earl married the now so-called Countess, his first wife was still +living, though they gave no credit to the woman who now called +herself the Countess. But, in either case,—whether the Italian +countess were now alive or now dead,—the daughter would be +illegitimate, and the second marriage void, if their surmise on this +head should prove to be well founded. But the Italian party could of +itself do nothing, and the proposed marriage would set everything +right. But the evidence must be brought into court and further +sifted, unless the marriage were a settled thing by November. All +this the Countess explained at great length in her letters, calling +upon her daughter to save herself, her mother, and the family.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna answered the first epistle,—or rather, wrote another in +return to it;—but she said nothing of her noble lover, except that +Lord Lovel had not as yet come to Yoxham. She confined herself to +simple details of her daily life, and a prayer that her dear mother +might be happy. The second letter from the Countess was severe in its +tone,—asking why no promise had been made, no assurance given,—no +allusion made to the only subject that could now be of interest. She +implored her child to tell her that she was disposed to listen to the +Earl's suit. This letter was in her pocket when the Earl arrived, and +she took it out and read it again after the Earl had whispered in her +ear that word so painfully sweet.</p> + +<p>She proposed to answer it before breakfast on the following morning. +At Yoxham rectory they breakfasted at ten, and she was always up at +least before eight. She determined as she laid herself down that she +would think of it all night. It might be best, she believed, to tell +her mother the whole truth,—that she had already promised everything +to Daniel Thwaite, and that she could not go back from her word. Then +she began to build castles in the air,—castles which she declared to +herself must ever be in the air,—of which Lord Lovel, and not Daniel +Thwaite, was the hero, owner, and master. She assured herself that +she was not picturing to herself any prospect of a really possible +life, but was simply dreaming of an impossible Elysium. How many +people would she make happy, were she able to let that young +Phœbus know in one half-uttered word,—or with a single silent +glance,—that she would in truth be his dearest. It could not be so. +She was well aware of that. But surely she might dream of it. All the +cares of that careful, careworn mother would then be at an end. How +delightful would it be to her to welcome that sorrowful one to her +own bright home, and to give joy where joy had never yet been known! +How all the lawyers would praise her, and tell her that she had saved +a noble family from ruin. She already began to have feelings about +the family to which she had been a stranger before she had come among +the Lovels. And if it really would make him happy, this Phœbus, +how glorious would that be! How fit he was to be made happy! Daniel +had said that he was sordid, false, fraudulent, and a fool;—but +Daniel did not, could not, understand the nature of the Lovels. And +then she herself;—how would it be with her? She had given her heart +to Daniel Thwaite, and she had but one heart to give. Had it not been +for that, it would have been very sweet to love that young curled +darling. There were two sorts of life, and now she had had an insight +into each. Daniel had told her that this soft, luxurious life was +thoroughly bad. He could not have known when saying so, how much was +done for their poor neighbours by such as even these Lovels. It could +not be wrong to be soft, and peaceful, and pretty, to enjoy sweet +smells, to sit softly, and eat off delicately painted china +plates,—as long as no one was defrauded, and many were comforted. +Daniel Thwaite, she believed, never went to church. Here at Yoxham +there were always morning prayers, and they went to church twice +every Sunday. She had found it very pleasant to go to church, and to +be led along in the easy path of self-indulgent piety on which they +all walked at Yoxham. The church seats at Yoxham were broad, with +soft cushions, and the hassocks were well stuffed. Surely, Daniel +Thwaite did not know everything. As she thus built her castles in the +air,—castles so impossible to be inhabited,—she fell asleep before +she had resolved what letter she should write.</p> + +<p>But in the morning she did write her letter. It must be written,—and +when the family were about the house, she would be too disturbed for +so great an effort. It ran as +<span class="nowrap">follows:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Yoxham, Friday.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dearest Mamma</span>,</p> + +<p>I am much obliged for your letter, which I got the day +before yesterday. Lord Lovel came here yesterday, or +perhaps I might have answered it then. Everybody here +seems to worship him almost, and he is so good to +everybody! We are all to go on a visit to Bolton Abbey, +and sleep at an inn somewhere, and I am sure I shall like +it very much, for they say it is most beautiful. If you +look at the map, it is nearly in a straight line between +here and Kendal, but only much nearer to York. The day is +not fixed yet, but I believe it will be very soon.</p> + +<p>I shall be so glad if the lawsuit can be got over, for +your sake, dearest mamma. I wish they could let you have +your title and your share of the money, and let Lord Lovel +have the rest, because he is head of the family. That +would be fairest, and I can't see why it should not be so. +Your share would be quite enough for you and me. I can't +say anything about what you speak of. He has said nothing, +and I'm sure I hope he won't. I don't think I could do it; +and I don't think the lawyers ought to want me to. I think +it is very wrong of them to say so. We are strangers, and +I feel almost sure that I could never be what he would +want. I don't think people ought to marry for money.</p> + +<p>Dearest mamma, pray do not be angry with me. If you are, +you will kill me. I am very happy here, and nobody has +said anything about my going away. Couldn't you ask +Serjeant Bluestone whether something couldn't be done to +divide the money, so that there might be no more law? I am +sure he could if he liked, with Mr. Goffe and the other +men.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind10">Dearest mamma, I am,</span><br /> +<span class="ind12">Your most affectionate Daughter,</span></p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Anna Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>When the moment came, and the pen was in her hand, she had not the +courage to mention the name of Daniel Thwaite. She knew that the +fearful story must be told, but at this moment she comforted +herself,—or tried to comfort herself,—by remembering that Daniel +himself had enjoined that their engagement must yet for a while be +kept secret.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-15" id="c1-15"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XV.</h3> +<h4>WHARFEDALE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The visit to Wharfedale was fixed for Monday and Tuesday, and on the +Monday morning they started, after an early breakfast. The party +consisted of Aunt Jane, Aunt Julia, Lady Anna, Minnie, and Mr. Cross, +one of the rector's curates. The rector would not accompany them, +excusing himself to the others generally on the ground that he could +not be absent from his parish on those two days. To his wife and +sister he explained that he was not able, as yet, to take pleasure in +such a party as this with Lady Anna. There was no knowing, he said, +what might happen. It was evident that he did not mean to open his +heart to Lady Anna, at any rate till the marriage should be settled.</p> + +<p>An open carriage, which would take them all, was ordered,—with four +post horses, and two antiquated postboys, with white hats and blue +jackets, and yellow breeches. Minnie and the curate sat on the box, +and there was a servant in the rumble. Rooms at the inn had been +ordered, and everything was done in proper lordly manner. The sun +shone brightly above their heads, and Anna, having as yet received no +further letter from her mother, was determined to be happy. Four +horses took them to Bolton Bridge, and then, having eaten lunch and +ordered dinner, they started for their ramble in the woods.</p> + +<p>The first thing to be seen at Bolton Abbey is, of course, the Abbey. +The Abbey itself, as a ruin,—a ruin not so ruinous but that a part +of it is used for a modern church,—is very well; but the glory of +Bolton Abbey is in the river which runs round it and in the wooded +banks which overhang it. No more luxuriant pasture, no richer +foliage, no brighter water, no more picturesque arrangement of the +freaks of nature, aided by the art and taste of man, is to be found, +perhaps, in England. Lady Anna, who had been used to wilder scenery +in her native county, was delighted. Nothing had ever been so +beautiful as the Abbey;—nothing so lovely as the running Wharfe! +Might they not climb up among those woods on the opposite bank? Lord +Lovel declared that, of course they would climb up among the +woods,—it was for that purpose they had come. That was the way to +the Stryd,—over which he was determined that Lady Anna should be +made to jump.</p> + +<p>But the river below the Abbey is to be traversed by stepping-stones, +which, to the female uninitiated foot, appear to be full of danger. +The Wharfe here is no insignificant brook, to be overcome by a long +stride and a jump. There is a causeway, of perhaps forty stones, +across it, each some eighteen inches distant from the other, which, +flat and excellent though they be, are perilous from their number. +Mrs. Lovel, who knew the place of old, had begun by declaring that no +consideration should induce her to cross the water. Aunt Julia had +proposed that they should go along the other bank, on the Abbey side +of the river, and thence cross by the bridge half a mile up. But the +Earl was resolved that he would take his cousin over the +stepping-stones; and Minnie and the curate were equally determined. +Minnie, indeed, had crossed the river, and was back again, while the +matter was still being discussed. Aunt Julia, who was strong-limbed, +as well as strong-minded, at last assented, the curate having +promised all necessary aid. Mrs. Lovel seated herself at a distance +to see the exploit; and then Lord Lovel started, with Lady Anna, +turning at every stone to give a hand to his cousin.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they are very dreadful!" said Lady Anna, when about a dozen had +been passed.</p> + +<p>The black water was flowing fast, fast beneath her feet; the stones +became smaller and smaller to her imagination, and the apertures +between them broader and broader.</p> + +<p>"Don't look at the water, dear," said the lord, "but come on quick."</p> + +<p>"I can't come on quick. I shall never get over. Oh, Frederic!" That +morning she had promised that she would call him Frederic. Even +Daniel could not think it wrong that she should call her cousin by +his Christian name. "It's no good, I can't do that one,—it's +crooked. Mayn't I go back again?"</p> + +<p>"You can't go back, dear. It is only up to your knees, if you do go +in. But take my hand. There,—all the others are straight,—you must +come on, or Aunt Julia will catch us. After two or three times, +you'll hop over like a milkmaid. There are only half-a-dozen more. +Here we are. Isn't that pretty?"</p> + +<p>"I thought I never should have got over. I wouldn't go back for +anything. But it is lovely; and I am so much obliged to you for +bringing me here. We can go back another way?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes;—but now we'll get up the bank. Give me your hand." Then he +took her along the narrow, twisting, steep paths, to the top of the +wooded bank, and they were soon beyond the reach of Aunt Julia, +Minnie, and the curate.</p> + +<p>It was very pleasant, very lovely, and very joyous; but there was +still present to her mind some great fear. The man was there with her +as an acknowledged lover,—a lover, acknowledged to be so by all but +herself; but she could not lawfully have any lover but him who was +now slaving at his trade in London. She must tell this gallant lord +that he must not be her lover; and, as they went along, she was +always meditating how she might best tell him, when the moment for +telling him should come. But on that morning, during the entire walk, +he said no word to her which seemed quite to justify the telling. He +called her by sweet, petting names,—Anna, my girl, pretty coz, and +such like. He would hold her hand twice longer than he would have +held that of either aunt in helping her over this or that little +difficulty,—and would help her when no help was needed. He talked to +her, of small things, as though he and she must needs have kindred +interests. He spoke to her of his uncle as though, near as his uncle +was, the connection were not nigh so close as that between him and +her. She understood it with a half understanding,—feeling that in +all this he was in truth making love to her, and yet telling herself +that he said no more than cousinship might warrant. But the autumn +colours were bright, and the river rippled, and the light breeze came +down from the mountains, and the last of the wild flowers were still +sweet in the woods. After a while she was able to forget her +difficulties, to cease to think of Daniel, and to find in her cousin, +not a lover, but simply the pleasantest friend that fortune had ever +sent her.</p> + +<p>And so they came, all alone,—for Aunt Julia, though both limbs and +mind were strong, had not been able to keep up with them,—all alone +to the Stryd. The Stryd is a narrow gully or passage, which the +waters have cut for themselves in the rocks, perhaps five or six feet +broad, where the river passes, but narrowed at the top by an +overhanging mass which in old days withstood the wearing of the +stream, till the softer stone below was cut away, and then was left +bridging over a part of the chasm below. There goes a story that a +mountain chieftain's son, hunting the stag across the valley when the +floods were out, in leaping the stream, from rock to rock, failed to +make good his footing, was carried down by the rushing waters, and +dashed to pieces among the rocks. Lord Lovel told her the tale, as +they sat looking at the now innocent brook, and then bade her follow +him as he leaped from edge to edge.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't do it;—indeed, I couldn't," said the shivering girl.</p> + +<p>"It is barely a step," said the Earl, jumping over, and back again. +"Going from this side, you couldn't miss to do it, if you tried."</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I should tumble in. It makes me sick to look at you while +you are leaping."</p> + +<p>"You'd jump over twice the distance on dry ground."</p> + +<p>"Then let me jump on dry ground."</p> + +<p>"I've set my heart upon it. Do you think I'd ask you if I wasn't +sure?"</p> + +<p>"You want to make another legend of me."</p> + +<p>"I want to leave Aunt Julia behind, which we shall certainly do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I can't afford to drown myself just that you may run away +from Aunt Julia. You can run by yourself, and I will wait for Aunt +Julia."</p> + +<p>"That is not exactly my plan. Be a brave girl, now, and stand up, and +do as I bid you."</p> + +<p>Then she stood up on the edge of the rock, holding tight by his arm. +How pleasant it was to be thus frightened, with such a protector near +her to insure her safety! And yet the chasm yawned, and the water ran +rapid and was very black. But if he asked her to make the spring, of +course she must make it. What would she not have done at his bidding?</p> + +<p>"I can almost touch you, you see," he said, as he stood opposite, +with his arm out ready to catch her hand.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Frederic, I don't think I can."</p> + +<p>"You can very well, if you will only jump."</p> + +<p>"It is ever so many yards."</p> + +<p>"It is three feet. I'll back Aunt Julia to do it for a promise of ten +shillings to the infirmary."</p> + +<p>"I'll give the ten shillings, if you'll only let me off."</p> + +<p>"I won't let you off,—so you might as well come at once."</p> + +<p>Then she stood and shuddered for a moment, looking with beseeching +eyes up into his face. Of course she meant to jump. Of course she +would have been disappointed had Aunt Julia come and interrupted her +jumping. Yes,—she would jump into his arms. She knew that he would +catch her. At that moment her memory of Daniel Thwaite had become +faint as the last shaded glimmer of twilight. She shut her eyes for +half a moment, then opened them, looked into his face, and made her +spring. As she did so, she struck her foot against a rising ledge of +the rock, and, though she covered more than the distance in her leap, +she stumbled as she came to the ground, and fell into his arms. She +had sprained her ankle, in her effort to recover herself.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt?" he asked, holding her close to his side.</p> + +<p>"No;—I think not;—only a little, that is. I was so awkward."</p> + +<p>"I shall never forgive myself if you are hurt."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to forgive. I'll sit down for a moment. It was my +own fault because I was so stupid,—and it does not in the least +signify. I know what it is now; I've sprained my ankle."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing so painful as that."</p> + +<p>"It hurts a little, but it will go off. It wasn't the jump, but I +twisted my foot somehow. If you look so unhappy, I'll get up and jump +back again."</p> + +<p>"I am unhappy, dearest."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but you mustn't." The prohibition might be taken as applying to +the epithet of endearment, and thereby her conscience be satisfied. +Then he bent over her, looking anxiously into her face as she winced +with the pain, and he took her hand and kissed it. "Oh, no," she +said, gently struggling to withdraw the hand which he held. "Here is +Aunt Julia. You had better just move." Not that she would have cared +a straw for the eyes of Aunt Julia, had it not been that the image of +Daniel Thwaite again rose strong before her mind. Then Aunt Julia, +and the curate, and Minnie were standing on the rock within a few +paces of them, but on the other side of the stream.</p> + +<p>"Is there anything the matter?" asked Miss Lovel.</p> + +<p>"She has sprained her ankle in jumping over the Stryd, and she cannot +walk. Perhaps Mr. Cross would not mind going back to the inn and +getting a carriage. The road is only a quarter of a mile above us, +and we could carry her up."</p> + +<p>"How could you be so foolish, Frederic, as to let her jump it?" said +the aunt.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind about my folly now. The thing is to get a carriage for +Anna." The curate immediately hurried back, jumping over the Stryd as +the nearest way to the inn; and Minnie also sprung across the stream +so that she might sit down beside her cousin and offer consolation. +Aunt Julia was left alone, and after a while was forced to walk back +by herself to the bridge.</p> + +<p>"Is she much hurt?" asked Minnie.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid she is hurt," said the lord.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear Minnie, it does not signify a bit," said Anna, lavishing +on her younger cousin the caresses which fate forbade her to give to +the elder. "I know I could walk home in a few minutes. I am better +now. It is one of those things which go away almost immediately. I'll +try and stand, Frederic, if you'll let me." Then she raised herself, +leaning upon him, and declared that she was nearly well,—and then +was reseated, still leaning on him.</p> + +<p>"Shall we attempt to get her up to the road, Minnie, or wait till Mr. +Cross comes to help us?" Lady Anna declared that she did not want any +help,—certainly not Mr. Cross's help, and that she could do very +well, just with Minnie's arm. They waited there sitting on the rocks +for half an hour, saying but little to each other, throwing into the +stream the dry bits of stick which the last flood had left upon the +stones, and each thinking how pleasant it was to sit there and dream, +listening to the running waters. Then Lady Anna hobbled up to the +carriage road, helped by a stronger arm than that of her cousin +Minnie.</p> + +<p>Of course there was some concern and dismay at the inn. Embrocations +were used, and doctors were talked of, and heads were shaken, and a +couch in the sitting-room was prepared, so that the poor injured one +might eat her dinner without being driven to the solitude of her own +bedroom.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-16" id="c1-16"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3> +<h4>FOR EVER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On the next morning the poor injured one was quite well,—but she was +still held to be subject to piteous concern. The two aunts shook +their heads when she said that she would walk down to the +stepping-stones that morning, before starting for Yoxham; but she was +quite sure that the sprain was gone, and the distance was not above +half a mile. They were not to start till two o'clock. Would Minnie +come down with her, and ramble about among the ruins?</p> + +<p>"Minnie, come out on the lawn," said the lord. "Don't you come with +me and Anna;—you can go where you like about the place by yourself."</p> + +<p>"Why mayn't I come?"</p> + +<p>"Never mind, but do as you're bid."</p> + +<p>"I know. You are going to make love to cousin Anna."</p> + +<p>"You are an impertinent little imp."</p> + +<p>"I am so glad, Frederic, because I do like her. I was sure she was a +real cousin. Don't you think she is very,—very nice?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty well."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"You go away and don't tease,—or else I'll never bring you to the +Stryd again." So it happened that Lord Lovel and Lady Anna went +across the meadow together, down to the river, and sauntered along +the margin till they came to the stepping-stones. He passed over, and +she followed him, almost without a word. Her heart was so full, that +she did not think now of the water running at her feet. It had hardly +seemed to her to make any difficulty as to the passage. She must +follow him whither he would lead her, but her mind misgave her,—that +they would not return sweet loving friends as they went out. "We +won't climb," said he, "because it might try your ankle too much. But +we will go in here by the meadow. I always think this is one of the +prettiest views there is," he said, throwing himself upon the grass.</p> + +<p>"It is all prettiest. It is like fairy land. Does the Duke let people +come here always?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I fancy so."</p> + +<p>"He must be very good-natured. Do you know the Duke?"</p> + +<p>"I never saw him in my life."</p> + +<p>"A duke sounds so awful to me."</p> + +<p>"You'll get used to them some day. Won't you sit down?" Then she +glided down to the ground at a little distance from him, and he at +once shifted his place so as to be almost close to her. "Your foot is +quite well?"</p> + +<p>"Quite well."</p> + +<p>"I thought for a few minutes that there was going to be some dreadful +accident, and I was so mad with myself for having made you jump it. +If you had broken your leg, how would you have borne it?"</p> + +<p>"Like other people, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Would you have been angry with me?"</p> + +<p>"I hope not. I am sure not. You were doing the best you could to give +me pleasure. I don't think I should have been angry at all. I don't +think we are ever angry with the people we really like."</p> + +<p>"Do you really like me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—I like you."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Is not that enough?"</p> + +<p>She answered the question as she might have answered it had it been +allowed to her, as to any girl that was free, to toy with his love, +knowing that she meant to accept it. It was easier so, than in any +other way. But her heart within her was sad, and could she have +stopped his further speech by any word rough and somewhat rude, she +would have done so. In truth, she did not know how to answer him +roughly. He deserved from her that all her words should be soft, and +sweet and pleasant. She believed him to be good and generous and kind +and loving. The hard things which Daniel Thwaite had said of him had +all vanished from her mind. To her thinking, it was no sin in him +that he should want her wealth,—he, the Earl, to whom by right the +wealth of the Lovels should belong. The sin was rather hers,—in that +she kept it from him. And then, if she could receive all that he was +willing to give, his heart, his name, his house and home, and sweet +belongings of natural gifts and personal advantages, how much more +would she take than what she gave! She could not speak to him +roughly, though,—alas!—the time had come in which she must speak to +him truly. It was not fitting that a girl should have two lovers.</p> + +<p>"No, dear,—not enough," he said.</p> + +<p>It can hardly be accounted a fault in him that at this time he felt +sure of her love. She had been so soft in her ways with him, so +gracious, yielding, and pretty in her manners, so manifestly pleased +by his company, so prone to lean upon him, that it could hardly be +that he should think otherwise. She had told him, when he spoke to +her more plainly up in London than he had yet done since they had +been together in the country, that she could never, never be his +wife. But what else could a girl say at a first meeting with a +proposed lover? Would he have wished that she should at once have +given herself up without one maidenly scruple, one word of feminine +recusancy? If love's course be made to run too smooth it loses all +its poetry, and half its sweetness. But now they knew each other;—at +least, he thought they did. The scruple might now be put away. The +feminine recusancy had done its work. For himself,—he felt that he +loved her in very truth. She was not harsh or loud,—vulgar, or given +to coarse manners, as might have been expected, and as he had been +warned by his friends that he would find her. That she was very +beautiful, all her enemies had acknowledged,—and he was quite +assured that her enemies had been right. She was the Lady Anna Lovel, +and he felt that he could make her his own without one shade of +regret to mar his triumph. Of the tailor's son,—though he had been +warned of him too,—he made no account whatever. That had been a +slander, which only endeared the girl to him the more;—a slander +against Lady Anna Lovel which had been an insult to his family. Among +all the ladies he knew, daughters of peers and high-bred commoners, +there were none,—there was not one less likely so to disgrace +herself than Lady Anna Lovel, his sweet cousin.</p> + +<p>"Do not think me too hurried, dear, if I speak to you again so soon, +of that of which I spoke once before." He had turned himself round +upon his arm, so as to be very close to her,—so that he would look +full into her face, and, if chance favoured him, could take her hand. +He paused, as though for an answer; but she did not speak to him a +word. "It is not long yet since we first met."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no;—not long."</p> + +<p>"And I know not what your feelings are. But, in very truth, I can say +that I love you dearly. Had nothing else come in the way to bring us +together, I am sure that I should have loved you." She, poor child, +believed him as though he were speaking to her the sweetest gospel. +And he, too, believed himself. He was easy of heart perhaps, but not +deceitful; anxious enough for his position in the world, but not +meanly covetous. Had she been distasteful to him as a woman, he would +have refused to make himself rich by the means that had been +suggested to him. As it was, he desired her as much as her money, and +had she given herself to him then would never have remembered,—would +never have known that the match had been sordid. "Do you believe me?" +he asked.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"And shall it be so?"</p> + +<p>Her face had been turned away, but now she slowly moved her neck so +that she could look at him. Should she be false to all her vows, and +try whether happiness might not be gained in that way? The manner of +doing it passed through her mind in that moment. She would write to +Daniel, and remind him of his promise to set her free if she so +willed it. She would never see him again. She would tell him that she +had striven to see things as he would have taught her, and had +failed. She would abuse herself, and ask for his pardon;—but having +thus judged for herself, she would never go back from such judgment. +It might be done,—if only she could persuade herself that it were +good to do it! But, as she thought of it, there came upon her a prick +of conscience so sharp, that she could not welcome the devil by +leaving it unheeded. How could she be foresworn to one who had been +so absolutely good,—whose all had been spent for her and for her +mother,—whose whole life had been one long struggle of friendship on +her behalf,—who had been the only playfellow of her youth, the only +man she had ever ventured to kiss,—the man whom she truly loved? He +had warned her against these gauds which were captivating her spirit, +and now, in the moment of her peril, she would remember his warnings.</p> + +<p>"Shall it be so?" Lord Lovel asked again, just stretching out his +hand, so that he could touch the fold of her garment.</p> + +<p>"It cannot be so," she said.</p> + +<p>"Cannot be!"</p> + +<p>"It cannot be so, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"It cannot now;—or do you mean the word to be for ever?"</p> + +<p>"For ever!" she replied.</p> + +<p>"I know that I have been hurried and sudden," he said,—purposely +passing by her last assurance; "and I do feel that you have a right +to resent the seeming assurance of such haste. But in our case, +dearest, the interests of so many are concerned, the doubts and +fears, the well-being, and even the future conduct of all our friends +are so bound up by the result, that I had hoped you would have +pardoned that which would otherwise have been unpardonable." Oh +heavens;—had it not been for Daniel Thwaite, how full of grace, how +becoming, how laden with flattering courtesy would have been every +word that he had uttered to her! "But," he continued, "if it really +be that you cannot love +<span class="nowrap">me—"</span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord Lovel, pray ask of me no further question."</p> + +<p>"I am bound to ask and to know,—for all our sakes."</p> + +<p>Then she rose quickly to her feet, and with altered gait and changed +countenance stood over him. "I am engaged," she said, "to be +married—to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." She had told it all, and felt that +she had told her own disgrace. He rose also, but stood mute before +her. This was the very thing of which they had all warned him, but as +to which he had been so sure that it was not so! She saw it all in +his eyes, reading much more there than he could read in hers. She was +degraded in his estimation, and felt that evil worse almost than the +loss of his love. For the last three weeks she had been a real Lovel +among the Lovels. That was all over now. Let this lawsuit go as it +might, let them give to her all the money, and make the title which +she hated ever so sure, she never again could be the equal friend of +her gentle relative, Earl Lovel. Minnie would never again spring into +her arms, swearing that she would do as she pleased with her own +cousin. She might be Lady Anna, but never Anna again to the two +ladies at the rectory. The perfume of his rank had been just scented, +to be dashed away from her for ever. "It is a secret at present," she +said, "or I should have told you sooner. If it is right that you +should repeat it, of course you must."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anna!"</p> + +<p>"It is true."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anna, for your sake as well as mine this makes me wretched +indeed!"</p> + +<p>"As for the money, Lord Lovel, if it be mine to give, you shall have +it."</p> + +<p>"You think then it is that which I have wanted?"</p> + +<p>"It is that which the family wants, and I can understand that it +should be wanted. As for myself,—for mamma and me,—you can hardly +understand how it has been with us when we were young. You despise +Mr. Thwaite,—because he is a tailor."</p> + +<p>"I am sure he is not fit to be the husband of Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"When Lady Anna Lovel had no other friend in the world, he sheltered +her and gave her a house to live in, and spent his earnings in her +defence, and would not yield when all those who might have been her +friends strove to wrong her. Where would mamma have been,—and +I,—had there been no Mr. Thwaite to comfort us? He was our only +friend,—he and his father. They were all we had. In my childhood I +had never a kind word from another child,—but only from him. Would +it have been right that he should have asked for anything, and that I +should have refused it?"</p> + +<p>"He should not have asked for this," said Lord Lovel hoarsely.</p> + +<p>"Why not he, as well as you? He is as much a man. If I could believe +in your love after two days, Lord Lovel, could I not trust his after +twenty years of friendship?"</p> + +<p>"You knew that he was beneath you."</p> + +<p>"He was not beneath me. He was above me. We were poor,—while he and +his father had money, which we took. He could give, while we +received. He was strong while we were weak,—and was strong to +comfort us. And then, Lord Lovel, what knew I of rank, living under +his father's wing? They told me I was the Lady Anna, and the children +scouted me. My mother was a countess. So she swore, and I at least +believed her. But if ever rank and title were a profitless burden, +they were to her. Do you think that I had learned then to love my +rank?"</p> + +<p>"You have learned better now."</p> + +<p>"I have learned,—but whether better I may doubt. There are lessons +which are quickly learned; and there are they who say that such are +the devil's lessons. I have not been strong enough not to learn. But +I must forget again, Lord Lovel. And you must forget also." He hardly +knew how to speak to her now;—whether it would be fit for him even +to wish to persuade her to be his, after she had told him that she +had given her troth to a tailor. His uneasy thoughts prompted him +with ideas which dismayed him. Could he take to his heart one who had +been pressed close in so vile a grasp? Could he accept a heart that +had once been promised to a tailor's workman? Would not all the world +know and say that he had done it solely for the money,—even should +he succeed in doing it? And yet to fail in this enterprise,—to +abandon all,—to give up so enticing a road to wealth! Then he +remembered what he had said,—how he had pledged himself to abandon +the lawsuit,—how convinced he had been that this girl was heiress to +the Lovel wealth, who now told him that she had engaged herself to +marry a tailor.</p> + +<p>There was nothing more that either of them could say to the other at +the moment, and they went back in silence to the inn.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-17" id="c1-17"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3> +<h4>THE JOURNEY HOME.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>In absolute silence Lord Lovel and Lady Anna walked back to the inn. +He had been dumbfoundered,—nearly so by her first abrupt statement, +and then altogether by the arguments with which she had defended +herself. She had nothing further to say. She had, indeed, said all, +and had marvelled at her own eloquence while she was speaking. Nor +was there absent from her a certain pride in that she had done the +thing that was right, and had dared to defend herself. She was full +of regrets,—almost of remorse; but, nevertheless, she was proud. He +knew it all now, and one of her great difficulties had been overcome.</p> + +<p>And she was fully resolved that as she had dared to tell him, and to +face his anger, his reproaches, his scorn, she would not falter +before the scorn and the reproaches, or the anger, of the other +Lovels,—of any of the Lovels of Yoxham. Her mother's reproaches +would be dreadful to her; her mother's anger would well-nigh kill +her; her mother's scorn would scorch her very soul. But sufficient +for the day was the evil thereof. At the present moment she could be +strong with the strength she had assumed. So she walked in at the +sitting-room window with a bold front, and the Earl followed her. The +two aunts were there, and it was plain to them both that something +was astray between the lovers. They had said among themselves that +Lady Anna would accept the offer the moment that it was in form made +to her. To their eyes the manner of their guest had been the manner +of a girl eager to be wooed; but they had both imagined that their +delicately nurtured and fastidious nephew might too probably be +offended by some solecism in conduct, some falling away from feminine +grace, such as might too readily be shown by one whose early life had +been subjected to rough associates. Even now it occurred to each of +them that it had been so. The Earl seated himself in a chair, +and took up a book, which they had brought with them. Lady Anna stood +at the open window, looking across at the broad field and the river +bank beyond; but neither of them spoke a word. There had certainly +been some quarrel. Then aunt Julia, in the cause of wisdom, asked a +<span class="nowrap">question;—</span></p> + +<p>"Where is Minnie? Did not Minnie go with you?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the Earl. "She went in some other direction at my bidding. +Mr. Cross is with her, I suppose." It was evident from the tone of +his voice that the displeasure of the head of all the Lovels was very +great.</p> + +<p>"We start soon, I suppose?" said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"After lunch, my dear; it is hardly one yet."</p> + +<p>"I will go up all the same, and see about my things."</p> + +<p>"Shall I help you, my dear?" asked Mrs. Lovel.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! I would sooner do it alone." Then she hurried into her room +and burst into a flood of tears, as soon as the door was closed +behind her.</p> + +<p>"Frederic, what ails her?" asked aunt Julia.</p> + +<p>"If anything ails her she must tell you herself," said the lord.</p> + +<p>"Something is amiss. You cannot wonder that we should be anxious, +knowing that we know how great is the importance of all this."</p> + +<p>"I cannot help your anxiety just at present, aunt Julia; but you +should always remember that there will be slips between the cup and +the lip."</p> + +<p>"Then there has been a slip? I knew it would be so. I always said so, +and so did my brother."</p> + +<p>"I wish you would all remember that about such an affair as this, the +less said the better." So saying, the lord walked out through the +window and sauntered down to the river side.</p> + +<p>"It's all over," said aunt Julia.</p> + +<p>"I don't see why we should suppose that at present," said aunt Jane.</p> + +<p>"It's all over. I knew it as soon as I saw her face when she came in. +She has said something, or done something, and it's all off. It will +be a matter of over twenty thousand pounds a year!"</p> + +<p>"He'll be sure to marry somebody with money," said aunt Jane. "What +with his title and his being so handsome, he is certain to do well, +you know."</p> + +<p>"Nothing like that will come in his way. I heard Mr. Flick say that +it was equal to half a million of money. And then it would have been +at once. If he goes up to London, and about, just as he is, he'll be +head over ears in debt before anybody knows what he is doing. I +wonder what it is. He likes pretty girls, and there's no denying that +she's handsome."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she wouldn't have him."</p> + +<p>"That's impossible, Jane. She came down here on purpose to have him. +She went out with him this morning to be made love to. They were +together three times longer yesterday, and he came home as sweet as +sugar to her. I wonder whether she can have wanted to make some +condition about the money."</p> + +<p>"What condition?"</p> + +<p>"That she and her mother should have it in their own keeping."</p> + +<p>"She doesn't seem to be that sort of a young woman," said aunt Jane.</p> + +<p>"There's no knowing what that Mr. Goffe, Serjeant Bluestone, and her +mother may have put her up to. Frederic wouldn't stand that kind of +thing for a minute, and he would be quite right. Better anything than +that a man shouldn't be his own master. I think you'd better go up to +her, Jane. She'll be more comfortable with you than with me." Then +aunt Jane, obedient as usual, went up to her young cousin's bedroom.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the young lord was standing on the river's brink, +thinking what he would do. He had, in truth, very much of which to +think, and points of most vital importance as to which he must +resolve what should be his action. Must this announcement which he +had heard from his cousin dissolve for ever the prospect of his +marriage with her; or was it open to him still, as a nobleman, a +gentleman, and a man of honour, to make use of all those influences +which he might command with the view of getting rid of that +impediment of a previous engagement? Being very ignorant of the world +at large, and altogether ignorant of this man in particular, he did +not doubt that the tailor might be bought off. Then he was sure that +all who would have access to Lady Anna would help him in such a +cause, and that her own mother would be the most forward to do so. +The girl would hardly hold to such a purpose if all the world,—all +her own world, were against her. She certainly would be beaten from +it if a bribe sufficient were offered to the tailor. That this must +be done for the sake of the Lovel family, so that Lady Anna Lovel +might not be known to have married a tailor, was beyond a doubt; but +it was not so clear to him that he could take to himself as his +Countess her who with her own lips had told him that she intended to +be the bride of a working artisan. As he thought of this, as his +imagination went to work on all the abominable circumstances of such +a betrothal, he threw from his hand into the stream with all the +vehemence of passion a little twig which he held. It was too, too +frightful, too disgusting; and then so absolutely unexpected, so +unlike her personal demeanour, so contrary to the look of her eyes, +to the tone of her voice, to every motion of her body! She had been +sweet, and gentle, and gracious, till he had almost come to think +that her natural feminine gifts of ladyship were more even than her +wealth, of better savour than her rank, were equal even to her +beauty, which he had sworn to himself during the past night to be +unsurpassed. And this sweet one had told him,—this one so soft and +gracious,—not that she was doomed by some hard fate to undergo the +degrading thraldom, but that she herself had willingly given herself +to a working tailor from love, and gratitude, and free selection! It +was a marvel to him that a thing so delicate should have so little +sense of her own delicacy! He did not think that he could condescend +to take the tailor's place.</p> + +<p>But if not,—if he would not take it, or if, as might still be +possible, the tailor's place could not be made vacant for him,—what +then? He had pledged his belief in the justice of his cousin's claim; +and had told her that, believing his own claim to be unjust, in no +case would he prosecute it. Was he now bound by that +assurance,—bound to it even to the making of the tailor's fortune; +or might he absent himself from any further action in the matter, +leaving it entirely in the hands of the lawyers? Might it not be best +for her happiness that he should do so? He had been told that even +though he should not succeed, there might arise almost interminable +delay. The tailor would want his money before he married, and thus +she might be rescued from her degradation till she should be old +enough to understand it. And yet how could he claim that of which he +had said, now a score of times, that he knew that it was not his own? +Could he cease to call this girl by the name which all his people had +acknowledged as her own, because she had refused to be his wife; and +declare his conviction that she was base-born only because she had +preferred to his own the addresses of a low-born man, reeking with +the sweat of a tailor's board? No, he could not do that. Let her +marry but the sweeper of a crossing, and he must still call her Lady +Anna,—if he called her anything.</p> + +<p>Something must be done, however. He had been told by the lawyers how +the matter might be made to right itself, if he and the young lady +could at once agree to be man and wife; but he had not been told what +would follow, should she decline to accept his offer. Mr. Flick and +the Solicitor-General must know how to shape their course before +November came round,—and would no doubt want all the time to shape +it that he could give them. What was he to say to Mr. Flick and to +the Solicitor-General? Was he at liberty to tell to them the secret +which the girl had told to him? That he was at liberty to say that +she had rejected his offer must be a matter of course; but might he +go beyond that, and tell them the whole story? It would be most +expedient for many reasons that they should know it. On her behalf +even it might be most salutary,—with that view of liberating her +from the grasp of her humiliating lover. But she had told it him, +against her own interests, at her own peril, to her own infinite +sorrow,—in order that she might thus allay hopes in which he would +otherwise have persevered. He knew enough of the little schemes and +by-ways of love, of the generosity and self-sacrifice of lovers, to +feel that he was bound to confidence. She had told him that if needs +were he might repeat her tale;—but she had told him at the same time +that her tale was a secret. He could not go with her secret to a +lawyer's chambers, and there divulge in the course of business that +which had been extracted from her by the necessity to which she had +submitted of setting him free. He could write to Mr. Flick,—if that +at last was his resolve,—that a marriage was altogether out of the +question, but he could not tell him why it was so.</p> + +<p>He wandered slowly on along the river, having decided only on +this,—only on this as a certainty,—that he must tell her secret +neither to the lawyers, nor to his own people. Then, as he walked, a +little hand touched his behind, and when he turned Minnie Lovel took +him by the arm. "Why are you all alone, Fred?"</p> + +<p>"I am meditating how wicked the world is,—and girls in particular."</p> + +<p>"Where is cousin Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Up at the house, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Is she wicked?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that everybody is wicked, because Eve ate the apple?"</p> + +<p>"Adam ate it too."</p> + +<p>"Who bade him?"</p> + +<p>"The devil," said the child whispering.</p> + +<p>"But he spoke by a woman's mouth. Why don't you go in and get ready +to go?"</p> + +<p>"So I will. Tell me one thing, Fred. May I be a bridesmaid when you +are married?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think you can."</p> + +<p>"I have set my heart upon it. Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because you'll be married first."</p> + +<p>"That's nonsense, Fred; and you know it's nonsense. Isn't cousin Anna +to be your wife?"</p> + +<p>"Look here, my darling. I'm awfully fond of you, and think you the +prettiest little girl in the world. But if you ask impertinent +questions I'll never speak to you again. Do you understand?" She +looked up into his face, and did understand that he was in earnest, +and, leaving him, walked slowly across the meadow back to the house +alone. "Tell them not to wait lunch for me," he hollowed after +her;—and she told her aunt Julia that cousin Frederic was very sulky +down by the river, and that they were not to wait for him.</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Lovel went up-stairs into Lady Anna's room not a word was +said about the occurrence of the morning. The elder lady was afraid +to ask a question, and the younger was fully determined to tell +nothing even had a question been asked her. Lord Lovel might say what +he pleased. Her secret was with him, and he could tell it if he +chose. She had given him permission to do so, of which no doubt he +would avail himself. But, on her own account, she would say nothing; +and when questioned she would merely admit the fact. She would +neither defend her engagement, nor would she submit to have it +censured. If they pleased she would return to her mother in London at +any shortest possible notice.</p> + +<p>The party lunched almost in silence, and when the horses were ready +Lord Lovel came in to help them into the carriage. When he had placed +the three ladies he desired Minnie to take the fourth seat, saying +that he would sit with Mr. Cross on the box. Minnie looked at his +face, but there was still the frown there, and she obeyed him without +any remonstrance. During the whole of the long journey home there was +hardly a word spoken. Lady Anna knew that she was in disgrace, and +was ignorant how much of her story had been told to the two elder +ladies. She sat almost motionless looking out upon the fields, and +accepting her position as one that was no longer thought worthy of +notice. Of course she must go back to London. She could not continue +to live at Yoxham, neither spoken to nor speaking. Minnie went to +sleep, and Minnie's mother and aunt now and then addressed a few +words to each other. Anna felt sure that to the latest day of her +existence she would remember that journey. On their arrival at the +Rectory door Mr. Cross helped the ladies out of the carriage, while +the lord affected to make himself busy with the shawls and luggage. +Then he vanished, and was seen no more till he appeared at dinner.</p> + +<p>"What sort of a trip have you had?" asked the rector, addressing +himself to the three ladies indifferently.</p> + +<p>For a moment nobody answered him, and then aunt Julia spoke. "It was +very pretty, as it always is at Bolton in summer. We were told that +the duke has not been there this year at all. The inn was +comfortable, and I think that the young people enjoyed themselves +yesterday very much." The subject was too important, too solemn, too +great, to allow of even a word to be said about it without proper +consideration.</p> + +<p>"Did Frederic like it?"</p> + +<p>"I think he did yesterday," said Mrs. Lovel. "I think we were all a +little tired coming home to-day."</p> + +<p>"Anna sprained her ankle, jumping over the Stryd," said Minnie.</p> + +<p>"Not seriously, I hope."</p> + +<p>"Oh dear no;—nothing at all to signify." It was the only word which +Anna spoke till it was suggested that she should go up to her room. +The girl obeyed, as a child might have done, and went up-stairs, +followed by Mrs. Lovel. "My dear," she said, "we cannot go on like +this. What is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"You must ask Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Have you quarrelled with him?"</p> + +<p>"I have not quarrelled, Mrs. Lovel. If he has quarrelled with me, I +cannot help it."</p> + +<p>"You know what we have all wished."</p> + +<p>"It can never be so."</p> + +<p>"Have you said so to Frederic?"</p> + +<p>"I have."</p> + +<p>"Have you given him any reason, Anna?"</p> + +<p>"I have," she said after a pause.</p> + +<p>"What reason, dear?"</p> + +<p>She thought for a moment before she replied. "I was obliged to tell +him the reason, Mrs. Lovel; but I don't think that I need tell +anybody else. Of course I must tell mamma."</p> + +<p>"Does your mamma know it?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet."</p> + +<p>"And is it a reason that must last for ever?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—for ever. But I do not know why everybody is to be angry with +me. Other girls may do as they please. If you are angry with me I had +better go back to London at once."</p> + +<p>"I do not know that anybody has been angry with you. We may be +disappointed without being angry." That was all that was said, and +then Lady Anna was left to dress for dinner. At dinner Lord Lovel had +so far composed himself as to be able to speak to his cousin, and an +effort at courtesy was made by them all,—except by the rector. But +the evening passed away in a manner very different from any that had +gone before it.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-18" id="c1-18"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3> +<h4>TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>During that night the young lord was still thinking of his future +conduct,—of what duty and honour demanded of him, and of the manner +in which he might best make duty and honour consort with his +interests. In all the emergencies of his short life he had hitherto +had some one to advise him,—some elder friend whose counsel he might +take even though he would seem to make little use of it when it was +offered to him. He had always somewhat disdained aunt Julia, but +nevertheless aunt Julia had been very useful to him. In latter days, +since the late Earl's death, when there came upon him, as the first +of his troubles, the necessity of setting aside that madman's will, +Mr. Flick had been his chief counsellor; and yet in all his +communications with Mr. Flick he had assumed to be his own guide and +master. Now it seemed that he must in truth guide himself, but he +knew not how to do it. Of one thing he felt certain. He must get away +from Yoxham and hurry up to London.</p> + +<p>It behoved him to keep his cousin's secret; but would he not be +keeping it with a sanctity sufficiently strict if he imparted it to +one sworn friend,—a friend who should be bound not to divulge it +further without his consent? If so, the Solicitor-General should be +his friend. An intimacy had grown up between the great lawyer and his +noble client, not social in its nature, but still sufficiently close, +as Lord Lovel thought, to admit of such confidence. He had begun to +be aware that without assistance of this nature he would not know how +to guide himself. Undoubtedly the wealth of the presumed heiress had +become dearer to him,—had become at least more important to +him,—since he had learned that it must probably be lost. Sir William +Patterson was a gentleman as well as a lawyer;—one who had not +simply risen to legal rank by diligence and intellect, but a +gentleman born and bred, who had been at a public school, and had +lived all his days with people of the right sort. Sir William was his +legal adviser, and he would commit Lady Anna's secret to the keeping +of Sir William.</p> + +<p>There was a coach which started in those days from York at noon, +reaching London early on the following day. He would go up by this +coach, and would thus avoid the necessity of much further association +with his family before he had decided what should be his conduct. But +he must see his cousin before he went. He therefore sent a note to +her before she had left her room on the following +<span class="nowrap">morning;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Anna</span>,</p> + +<p>I purpose starting for London in an hour or so, and wish +to say one word to you before I go. Will you meet me at +nine in the drawing-room? Do not mention my going to my +uncle or aunts, as it will be better that I should tell +them myself.</p> + +<p class="ind18">Yours, L.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>At ten minutes before nine Lady Anna was in the drawing-room waiting +for him, and at ten minutes past nine he joined her.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting." She gave him her hand, +and said that it did not signify in the least. She was always early. +"I find that I must go up to London at once," he said. To this she +made no answer, though he seemed to expect some reply. "In the first +place, I could not remain here in comfort after what you told me +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I shall be sorry to drive you away. It is your home; and as I must +go soon, had I not better go at once?"</p> + +<p>"No;—that is, I think not. I shall go at any rate. I have told none +of them what you told me yesterday."</p> + +<p>"I am glad of that, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"It is for you to tell it,—if it must be told."</p> + +<p>"I did tell your aunt Jane,—that you and I never can be as—you said +you wished."</p> + +<p>"I did wish it most heartily. You did not tell it—all."</p> + +<p>"No;—not all."</p> + +<p>"You astounded me so, that I could hardly speak to you as I should +have spoken. I did not mean to be uncourteous."</p> + +<p>"I did not think you uncourteous, Lord Lovel. I am sure you would not +be uncourteous to me."</p> + +<p>"But you astounded me. It is not that I think much of myself, or of +my rank as belonging to me. I know that I have but little to be proud +of. I am very poor,—and not clever like some young men who have not +large fortunes, but who can become statesmen and all that. But I do +think much of my order; I think much of being a gentleman,—and much +of ladies being ladies. Do you understand me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes;—I understand you."</p> + +<p>"If you are Lady Anna Lovel—"</p> + +<p>"I am Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I believe you are with all my heart. You speak like it, and look +like it. You are fit for any position. Everything is in your favour. +I do believe it. But if <span class="nowrap">so—"</span></p> + +<p>"Well, Lord Lovel;—if so?"</p> + +<p>"Surely you would not choose to—to—to degrade your rank. That is +the truth. If I be your cousin, and the head of your family, I have a +right to speak as such. What you told me would be degradation."</p> + +<p>She thought a moment, and then she replied to him,—"It would be no +disgrace."</p> + +<p>He too found himself compelled to think before he could speak again. +"Do you think that you could like your associates if you were to be +married to Mr. Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know who they would be. He would be my companion, and I +like him. I love him dearly. There! you need not tell me, Lord Lovel. +I know it all. He is not like you;—and I, when I had become his +wife, should not be like your aunt Jane. I should never see people of +that sort any more, I suppose. We should not live here in England at +all,—so that I should escape the scorn of all my cousins. I know +what I am doing, and why I am doing it;—and I do not think you ought +to tempt me."</p> + +<p>She knew at least that she was open to temptation. He could perceive +that, and was thankful for it. "I do not wish to tempt you, but I +would save you from unhappiness if I could. Such a marriage would be +unnatural. I have not seen Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Then, my lord, you have not seen a most excellent man, who, next to +my mother, is my best friend."</p> + +<p>"But he cannot be a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I do not know;—but I do know that I can be his wife. Is that all, +Lord Lovel?"</p> + +<p>"Not quite all. I fear that this weary lawsuit will come back upon us +in some shape. I cannot say whether I have the power to stop it if I +would. I must in part be guided by others."</p> + +<p>"I cannot do anything. If I could, I would not even ask for the money +for myself."</p> + +<p>"No, Lady Anna. You and I cannot decide it. I must again see my +lawyer. I do not mean the attorney,—but Sir William Patterson, the +Solicitor-General. May I tell him what you told me yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot hinder you."</p> + +<p>"But you can give me your permission. If he will promise me that it +shall go no farther,—then may I tell him? I shall hardly know what +to do unless he knows all that I know."</p> + +<p>"Everybody will know soon."</p> + +<p>"Nobody shall know from me,—but only he. Will you say that I may +tell him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes."</p> + +<p>"I am much indebted to you even for that. I cannot tell you now how +much I hoped when I got up yesterday morning at Bolton Bridge that I +should have to be indebted to you for making me the happiest man in +England. You must forgive me if I say that I still hope at heart that +this infatuation may be made to cease. And now, good-bye, Lady Anna."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>She at once went to her room, and sent down her maid to say that she +would not appear at prayers or at breakfast. She would not see him +again before he went. How probable it was that her eyes had rested on +his form for the last time! How beautiful he was, how full of grace, +how like a god! How pleasant she had found it to be near him; how +full of ineffable sweetness had been everything that he had touched, +all things of which he had spoken to her! He had almost overcome her, +as though she had eaten of the lotus. And she knew not whether the +charm was of God or devil. But she did know that she had struggled +against it,—because of her word, and because she owed a debt which +falsehood and ingratitude would ill repay. Lord Lovel had called her +Lady Anna now. Ah, yes; how good he was! When it became significant +to her that he should recognise her rank, he did so at once. He had +only dropped the title when, having been recognised, it had become a +stumbling-block to her. Now he was gone from her, and, if it was +possible, she would cease even to dream of him.</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Frederic, that the marriage is not to be?" the rector +said to him as he got into the dog-cart at the rectory door.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell. I do not know. I think not. But, uncle, would you +oblige me by not speaking of it just at present? You will know all +very soon."</p> + +<p>The rector stood on the gravel, watching the dog-cart as it +disappeared, with his hands in the pockets of his clerical trousers, +and with heavy signs of displeasure on his face. It was very well to +be uncle to an earl, and out of his wealth to do what he could to +assist, and, if possible, to dispel his noble nephew's poverty. But +surely something was due to him! It was not for his pleasure that +this girl,—whom he was forced to call Lady Anna, though he could +never believe her to be so, whom his wife and sister called cousin +Anna, though he still thought that she was not, and could not be, +cousin to anybody,—it was not for anything that he could get, that +he was entertaining her as an honoured guest at his rectory. And now +his nephew was gone, and the girl was left behind. And he was not to +be told whether there was to be a marriage or not! "I cannot tell. I +do not know. I think not." And then he was curtly requested to ask no +more questions. What was he to do with the girl? While the young Earl +and the lawyers were still pondering the question of her legitimacy, +the girl, whether a Lady Anna and a cousin,—or a mere nobody, who +was trying to rob the family,—was to be left on his hands! Why,—oh, +why had he allowed himself to be talked out of his own opinion? Why +had he ever permitted her to be invited to his rectory? Ah, how the +title stuck in his throat as he asked her to take the customary glass +of wine with him at dinner-time that evening!</p> + +<p>On reaching London, towards the end of August, Lord Lovel found that +the Solicitor-General was out of town. Sir William had gone down to +Somersetshire with the intention of saying some comforting words to +his constituents. Mr. Flick knew nothing of his movements; but his +clerk was found, and his clerk did not expect him back in London till +October. But, in answer to Lord Lovel's letter, Sir William undertook +to come up for one day. Sir William was a man who quite recognised +the importance of the case he had in hand.</p> + +<p>"Engaged to the tailor,—is she?" he said; not, however, with any +look of surprise.</p> + +<p>"But, Sir William,—you will not repeat this, even to Mr. Flick, or +to Mr. Hardy. I have promised Lady Anna that it shall not go beyond +you."</p> + +<p>"If she sticks to her bargain, it cannot be kept secret very +long;—nor would she wish it. It's just what we might have expected, +you know."</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't say so if you knew her."</p> + +<p>"H—m. I'm older than you, Lord Lovel. You see, she had nobody else +near her. A girl must cotton to somebody, and who was there? We ought +not to be angry with her."</p> + +<p>"But it shocks me so."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes. As far as I can learn his father and he have stood by +them very closely;—and did so, too, when there seemed to be but +little hope. But they might be paid for all they did at a less rate +than that. If she sticks to him nobody can beat him out of it. What I +mean is, that it was all fair game. He ran his chance, and did it in +a manly fashion." The Earl did not quite understand Sir William, who +seemed to take almost a favourable view of these monstrous +betrothals. "What I mean is, that nobody can touch him, or find fault +with him. He has not carried her away, and got up a marriage before +she was of age. He hasn't kept her from going out among her friends. +He hasn't—wronged her, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I think he has wronged her frightfully."</p> + +<p>"Ah,—well. We mean different things. I am obliged to look at it as +the world will look at it."</p> + +<p>"Think of the disgrace of such a marriage;—to a tailor."</p> + +<p>"Whose father had advanced her mother some five or six thousand +pounds to help her to win back her position. That's about the truth +of it. We must look at it all round, you know."</p> + +<p>"You think, then, that nothing should be done?"</p> + +<p>"I think that everything should be done that can be done. We have the +mother on our side. Very probably we may have old Thwaite on our +side. From what you say, it is quite possible that at this very +moment the girl herself may be on our side. Let her remain at Yoxham +as long as you can get her to stay, and let everything be done to +flatter and amuse her. Go down again yourself, and play the lover as +well as I do not doubt you know how to do it." It was clear then that +the great legal pundit did not think that an Earl should be ashamed +to carry on his suit to a lady who had confessed her attachment to a +journeyman tailor. "It will be a trouble to us all, of course, +because we must change our plan when the case comes on in November."</p> + +<p>"But you still think that she is the heiress?"</p> + +<p>"So strongly, that I feel all but sure of it. We shouldn't, in truth, +have had a leg to stand on, and we couldn't fight it. I may as well +tell you at once, my lord, that we couldn't do it with any chance of +success. And what should we have gained had we done so? Nothing! +Unless we could prove that the real wife were dead, we should have +been fighting for that Italian woman, whom I most thoroughly believe +to be an impostor."</p> + +<p>"Then there is nothing to be done?"</p> + +<p>"Very little in that way. But if the young lady be determined to +marry the tailor, I think we should simply give notice that we +withdraw our opposition to the English ladies, and state that we had +so informed the woman who asserts her own claim and calls herself a +Countess in Sicily; and we should let the Italian woman know that we +had done so. In such case, for aught anybody can say here, she might +come forward with her own case. She would find men here who would +take it up on speculation readily enough. There would be a variety of +complications, and no doubt very great delay. In such an event we +should question very closely the nature of the property; as, for +aught I have seen as yet, a portion of it might revert to you as real +estate. It is very various,—and it is not always easy to declare at +once what is real and what personal. Hitherto you have appeared as +contesting the right of the English widow to her rank, and not +necessarily as a claimant of the estate. The Italian widow, if a +widow, would be the heir, and not your lordship. For that, among +other reasons, the marriage would be most expedient. If the Italian +Countess were to succeed in proving that the Earl had a wife living +when he married Miss Murray,—which I feel sure he had not,—then we +should come forward again with our endeavours to show that that first +wife had died since,—as the Earl himself undoubtedly declared more +than once. It would be a long time before the tailor got his money +with his wife. The feeling of the court would be against him."</p> + +<p>"Could we buy the tailor, Sir William?"</p> + +<p>The Solicitor-General nursed his leg before he answered.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Flick could answer that question better than I can do. In fact, +Mr. Flick should know it all. The matter is too heavy for secrets, +Lord Lovel."</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-19" id="c1-19"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XIX.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>After the Earl was gone Lady Anna had but a bad time of it at Yoxham. +She herself could not so far regain her composure as to live on as +though no disruption had taken place. She knew that she was in +disgrace, and the feeling was dreadful to her. The two ladies were +civil, and tried to make the house pleasant, but they were not +cordial as they had been hitherto. For one happy halcyon week,—for a +day or two before the Earl had come, and for those bright days during +which he had been with them,—she had found herself to be really +admitted into the inner circle as one of the family. Mrs. Lovel had +been altogether gracious with her. Minnie had been her darling little +friend. Aunt Julia had been so far won as to be quite alive to the +necessity of winning. The rector himself had never quite given +way,—had never been so sure of his footing as to feel himself safe +in abandoning all power of receding; but the effect of this had been +to put the rector himself, rather than his guest, into the back +ground. The servants had believed in her, and even Mrs. Grimes had +spoken in her praise,—expressing an opinion that she was almost good +enough for the young Earl. All Yoxham had known that the two young +people were to be married, and all Yoxham had been satisfied. But now +everything was wrong. The Earl had fled, and all Yoxham knew that +everything was wrong. It was impossible that her position should be +as it had been.</p> + +<p>There were consultations behind her back as to what should be done, +of which,—though she heard no word of them,—she was aware. She went +out daily in the carriage with Mrs. Lovel, but aunt Julia did not go +with them. Aunt Julia on these occasions remained at home discussing +the momentous affair with her brother. What should be done? There was +a great dinner-party, specially convened to do honour to the Earl's +return, and not among them a single guest who had not heard that +there was to be a marriage. The guests came to see, not only the +Earl, but the Earl's bride. When they arrived the Earl had flown. +Mrs. Lovel expressed her deep sorrow that business of great +importance had made it necessary that the Earl should go to London. +Lady Anna was, of course, introduced to the strangers; but it was +evident to the merest tyro in such matters, that she was not +introduced as would have been a bride expectant. They had heard how +charming she was, how all the Lovels had accepted her, how deeply was +the Earl in love; and, lo, she sat in the house silent and almost +unregarded. Of course, the story of the lawsuit, with such variations +as rumour might give it, was known to them all. A twelvemonth +ago,—nay, at a period less remote than that,—the two female +claimants in Cumberland had always been spoken of in those parts as +wretched, wicked, vulgar impostors. Then came the reaction. Lady Anna +was the heiress, and Lady Anna was to be the Countess. It had flown +about the country during the last ten days that there was no one like +the Lady Anna. Now they came to see her, and another reaction had set +in. She was the Lady Anna they must suppose. All the Lovels, even the +rector, so called her. Mrs. Lovel introduced her as Lady Anna Lovel, +and the rector,—hating himself as he did so,—led her out to dinner +though there was a baronet's wife in the room,—the wife of a baronet +who dated back from James I. She was the Lady Anna, and therefore the +heiress;—but it was clear to them all that there was to be no +marriage.</p> + +<p>"Then poor Lord Lovel will absolutely not have enough to starve +upon," said the baronet's wife to the baronet, as soon as the +carriage door had been shut upon them.</p> + +<p>What were they to do with her? The dinner party had taken place on a +Wednesday,—the day after the Earl's departure; and on the Thursday +aunt Julia wrote to her nephew +<span class="nowrap">thus:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Yoxham Rectory, 3rd September.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Frederic</span>,</p> + +<p>My brother wishes me to write to you and say that we are +all here very uneasy about Lady Anna. We have only heard +from her that the match which was contemplated is not to +take place. Whether that be so from unwillingness on her +part or yours we have never yet been told;—but both to +your aunt Jane and myself she speaks of it as though the +decision were irrevocable. What had we better do? Of +course, it is our most anxious desire,—as it is our +pleasure and our duty,—to arrange everything according to +your wishes and welfare. Nothing can be of so much +importance to any of us in this world as your position in +it. If it is your wish that Lady Anna should remain here, +of course she shall remain. But if, in truth, there is no +longer any prospect of a marriage, will not her longer +sojourn beneath your uncle's roof be a trouble to all of +us,—and especially to her?</p> + +<p>Your aunt Jane thinks that it may be only a lover's +quarrel. For myself, I feel sure that you would not have +left us as you did, had it not been more than that. I +think that you owe it to your uncle to write to me,—or to +him, if you like it better,—and to give us some clue to +the state of things.</p> + +<p>I must not conceal from you the fact that my brother has +never felt convinced, as you do, that Lady Anna's mother +was, in truth, the Countess Lovel. At your request, and in +compliance with the advice of the Solicitor-General, he +has been willing to receive her here; and, as she has been +here, he has given her the rank which she claims. He took +her out to dinner yesterday before Lady Fitzwarren,—which +will never be forgiven should it turn out ultimately that +the first wife was alive when the Earl married Anna's +mother. Of course, while here she must be treated as Lady +Anna Lovel; but my brother does not wish to be forced so +to do, if it be intended that any further doubt should be +raised. In such case he desires to be free to hold his +former opinion. Therefore pray write to us, and tell us +what you wish to have done. I can assure you that we are +at present very uncomfortable.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind8">Believe me to be,</span><br /> +<span class="ind10">My dear Frederic,</span><br /> +<span class="ind12">Your most affectionate aunt,</span></p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Julia Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>The Earl received this before his interview with Sir William, but +left it unanswered till after he had seen that gentleman. Then he +wrote as <span class="nowrap">follows:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Carlton Club, 5th September, 183—.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Aunt Julia</span>,</p> + +<p>Will you tell my uncle that I think you had better get +Lady Anna to stay at the rectory as long as possible. I'll +let you know all about it very soon. Best love to aunt +Jane.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind10">I am,</span><br /> +<span class="ind12">Your affectionate nephew,</span></p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>This very short epistle was most unsatisfactory to the rector, but it +was felt by them all that nothing could be done. With such an +injunction before them, they could not give the girl a hint that they +wished her to go. What uncle or what aunt, with such a nephew as Lord +Lovel, so noble and so poor, could turn out an heiress with twenty +thousand a year, as long as there was the slightest chance of a +marriage? Not a doubt would have rankled in their minds had they been +quite sure that she was the heiress. But, as it was, the Earl ought +to have said more than he did say.</p> + +<p>"I cannot keep myself from feeling sometimes that Frederic does take +liberties with me," the rector said to his sister. But he submitted. +It was a part of the religion of the family,—and no little +part,—that they should cling to their head and chief. What would the +world have been to them if they could not talk with comfortable ease +and grace of their nephew Frederic?</p> + +<p>During this time Anna spoke more than once to Mrs. Lovel as to her +going. "I have been a long time here," she said, "and I'm sure that I +am in Mr. Lovel's way."</p> + +<p>"Not in the least, my dear. If you are happy, pray stay with us."</p> + +<p>This was before the arrival of the brief epistle,—when they were +waiting to know whether they were to dismiss their guest from Yoxham, +or to retain her.</p> + +<p>"As for being happy, nobody can be happy, I think, till all this is +settled. I will write to mamma, and tell her that I had better return +to her. Mamma is all alone."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I can advise, my dear; but as far as we are +concerned, we shall be very glad if you can stay."</p> + +<p>The brief epistle had not then arrived, and they were, in truth, +anxious that she should go;—but one cannot tell one's visitor to +depart from one's house without a downright rupture. Not even the +rector himself dared to make such rupture, without express sanction +from the Earl.</p> + +<p>Then Lady Anna, feeling that she must ask advice, wrote to her +mother. The Countess had answered her last letter with great +severity,—that letter in which the daughter had declared that people +ought not to be asked to marry for money. The Countess, whose whole +life had made her stern and unbending, said very hard things to her +child; had told her that she was ungrateful and disobedient, +unmindful of her family, neglectful of her duty, and willing to +sacrifice the prosperity and happiness of all belonging to her, for +some girlish feeling of mere romance. The Countess was sure that her +daughter would never forgive herself in after years, if she now +allowed to pass by this golden opportunity of remedying all the evil +that her father had done. "You are simply asked to do that which +every well-bred girl in England would be delighted to do," wrote the +Countess.</p> + +<p>"Ah! she does not know," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>But there had come upon her now a fear heavier and more awful than +that which she entertained for her mother. Earl Lovel knew her +secret, and Earl Lovel was to tell it to the Solicitor-General. She +hardly doubted that it might as well be told to all the judges on the +bench at once. Would it not be better that she should be married to +Daniel Thwaite out of hand, and so be freed from the burden of any +secret? The young lord had been thoroughly ashamed of her when she +told it. Those aunts at Yoxham would hardly speak to her if they knew +it. That lady before whom she had been made to walk out to dinner, +would disdain to sit in the same room with her if she knew it. It +must be known,—must be known to them all. But she need not remain +there, beneath their eyes, while they learned it. Her mother must +know it, and it would be better that she should tell her mother. She +would tell her mother,—and request that she might have permission to +return at once to the lodgings in Wyndham Street. So she wrote the +following letter,—in which, as the reader will perceive, she could +not even yet bring herself to tell her +<span class="nowrap">secret:—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Yoxham Rectory, Monday.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Mamma</span>,</p> + +<p>I want you to let me come home, because I think I have +been here long enough. Lord Lovel has gone away, and +though you are so very angry, it is better I should tell +you that we are not any longer friends. Dear, dear, +dearest mamma; I am so very unhappy that you should not be +pleased with me. I would die to-morrow if I could make you +happy. But it is all over now, and he would not do it even +if I could say that it should be so. He has gone away, and +is in London, and would tell you so himself if you would +ask him. He despises me, as I always knew he would,—and +so he has gone away. I don't think anything of myself, +because I knew it must be so; but I am so very unhappy +because you will be unhappy.</p> + +<p>I don't think they want to have me here any longer, and of +course there is no reason why they should. They were very +nice to me before all this happened, and they never say +anything illnatured to me now. But it is very different, +and there cannot be any good in remaining. You are all +alone, and I think you would be glad to see your poor +Anna, even though you are so angry with her. Pray let me +come home. I could start very well on Friday, and I think +I will do so, unless I hear from you to the contrary. I +can take my place by the coach, and go away at twelve +o'clock from York, and be at that place in London on +Saturday at eleven. I must take my place on Thursday. I +have plenty of money, as I have not spent any since I have +been here. Of course Sarah will come with me. She is not +nearly so nice since she knew that Lord Lovel was to go +away.</p> + +<p>Dear mamma, I do love you so much.</p> + +<p class="ind10">Your most affectionate daughter,</p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Anna</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>It was not wilfully that the poor girl gave her mother no opportunity +of answering her before she had taken her place by the coach. On +Thursday morning the place had to be taken, and on Thursday evening +she got her mother's letter. By the same post came the Earl's letter +to his aunt, desiring that Lady Anna might, if possible, be kept at +Yoxham. The places were taken, and it was impossible. "I don't see +why you should go," said aunt Julia, who clearly perceived that her +nephew had been instigated to pursue the marriage scheme since he had +been in town. Lady Anna urged that the money had been paid for two +places by the coach. "My brother could arrange that, I do not doubt," +said aunt Julia. But the Countess now expected her daughter, and Lady +Anna stuck to her resolve. Her mother's letter had not been +propitious to the movement. If the places were taken, of course she +must come. So said the Countess. It was not simply that the money +should not be lost, but that the people at Yoxham must not be allowed +to think that her daughter was over anxious to stay. "Does your mamma +want to have you back?" asked aunt Julia. Lady Anna would not say +that her mother wanted her back, but simply pleaded again that the +places had been taken.</p> + +<p>When the morning came for her departure, the carriage was ordered to +take her into York, and the question arose as to who should go with +her. It was incumbent on the rector, who held an honorary stall in +the cathedral, to be with the dean and his brother prebendaries on +that day, and the use of his own carriage would be convenient to him.</p> + +<p>"I think I'll have the gig," said the rector.</p> + +<p>"My dear Charles," pleaded his sister, "surely that will be foolish. +She can't hurt you."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that," said the rector. "I think she has hurt me very +much already. I shouldn't know how to talk to her."</p> + +<p>"You may be sure that Frederic means to go on with it," said Mrs. +Lovel.</p> + +<p>"It would have been better for Frederic if he had never seen her," +said the rector; "and I'm sure it would have been better for me."</p> + +<p>But he consented at last, and he himself handed Lady Anna into the +carriage. Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but Aunt Julia made her +farewells in the rectory drawing-room. She managed to get the girl to +herself for a moment or two, and thus she spoke to her. "I need not +tell you that, for yourself, my dear, I like you very much."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you, Miss Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I have heartily wished that you might be our Frederic's wife."</p> + +<p>"It can never be," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"I won't give up all hope. I don't pretend to understand what there +is amiss between you and Frederic, but I won't give it up. If it is +to be so, I hope that you and I may be loving friends till I die. +Give me a kiss, my dear." Lady Anna, whose eyes were suffused with +tears, threw herself into the arms of the elder lady and embraced +her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Lovel also kissed her, and bade God bless her as she parted from +her at the coach door; but the rector was less demonstrative. "I hope +you will have a pleasant journey," he said, taking off his clerical +hat.</p> + +<p>"Let it go as it may," said Mrs. Lovel, as she walked into the close +with her husband, "you may take my word, she's a good girl."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid she's sly," said the rector.</p> + +<p>"She's no more sly than I am," said Mrs. Lovel, who herself was by no +means sly.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-20" id="c1-20"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XX.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The Countess went into the City to meet her daughter at the Saracen's +Head, whither the York coach used to run, and received her almost in +silence. "Oh, mamma, dear mamma," said Lady Anna, "I am so glad to be +back with you again." Sarah, the lady's-maid, was there, useless, +officious, and long-eared. The Countess said almost nothing; she +submitted to be kissed, and she asked after the luggage. At that time +she had heard the whole story about Daniel Thwaite.</p> + +<p>The Solicitor-General had disregarded altogether his client's +injunctions as to secrecy. He had felt that in a matter of so great +importance it behoved him to look to his client's interests, rather +than his client's instructions. This promise of a marriage with the +tailor's son must be annihilated. On behalf of the whole Lovel family +it was his duty, as he thought, to see that this should be effected, +if possible,—and as quickly as possible. This was his duty, not only +as a lawyer employed in a particular case, but as a man who would be +bound to prevent any great evil which he saw looming in the future. +In his view of the case the marriage of Lady Anna Lovel, with a +colossal fortune, to Daniel Thwaite the tailor, would be a grievous +injury to the social world of his country,—and it was one of those +evils which may probably be intercepted by due and discreet +precautions. No doubt the tailor wanted money. The man was entitled +to some considerable reward for all that he had done and all that he +had suffered in the cause. But Sir William could not himself propose +the reward. He could not chaffer for terms with the tailor. He could +not be seen in that matter. But having heard the secret from the +Earl, he thought that he could get the work done. So he sent for Mr. +Flick, the attorney, and told Mr. Flick all that he knew. "Gone and +engaged herself to the tailor!" said Mr. Flick, holding up both his +hands. Then Sir William took Lady Anna's part. After all, such an +engagement was not,—as he thought,—unnatural. It had been made +while she was very young, when she knew no other man of her own age +in life, when she was greatly indebted to this man, when she had had +no opportunity of measuring a young tailor against a young lord. She +had done it probably in gratitude;—so said Sir William;—and now +clung to it from good faith rather than affection. Neither was he +severe upon the tailor. He was a man especially given to make excuses +for poor weak, erring, unlearned mortals, ignorant of the +law,—unless when a witness attempted to be impervious;—and now he +made excuses for Daniel Thwaite. The man might have done so much +worse than he was doing. There seemed already to be a noble reliance +on himself in his conduct. Lord Lovel thought that there had been no +correspondence while the young lady had been at Yoxham. There might +have been, but had not been, a clandestine marriage. Other reasons he +gave why Daniel Thwaite should not be regarded as altogether +villanous. But, nevertheless, the tailor must not be allowed to carry +off the prize. The prize was too great for him. What must be done? +Sir William condescended to ask Mr. Flick what he thought ought to be +done. "No doubt we should be very much guided by you, Mr. Solicitor," +said Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>"One thing is, I think, plain, Mr. Flick. You must see the Countess +and tell her, or get Mr. Goffe to do so. It is clear that she has +been kept in the dark between them. At present they are all living +together in the same house. She had better leave the place and go +elsewhere. They should be kept apart, and the girl, if necessary, +should be carried abroad."</p> + +<p>"I take it there is a difficulty about money, Mr. Solicitor."</p> + +<p>"There ought to be none,—and I will take it upon myself to say that +there need be none. It is a case in which the court will willingly +allow money out of the income of the property. The thing is so large +that there should be no grudging of money for needful purposes. +Seeing what primâ facie claims these ladies have, they are bound to +allow them to live decently, in accordance with their alleged rank, +till the case is settled. No doubt she is the heiress."</p> + +<p>"You feel quite sure, Sir William?"</p> + +<p>"I do;—though, as I have said before, it is a case of feeling sure, +and not being sure. Had that Italian woman been really the widow, +somebody would have brought her case forward more loudly."</p> + +<p>"But if the other Italian woman who died was the wife?"</p> + +<p>"You would have found it out when you were there. Somebody from the +country would have come to us with evidence, knowing how much we +could afford to pay for it. Mind you, the matter has been tried +before, in another shape. The old Earl was indicted for bigamy and +acquitted. We are bound to regard that young woman as Lady Anna +Lovel, and we are bound to regard her and her mother conjointly as +co-heiresses, in different degrees, to all the personal property +which the old Earl left behind him. We can't with safety take any +other view. There will still be difficulties in their way;—and very +serious difficulties, were she to marry this tailor; but, between you +and me, he would eventually get the money. Perhaps, Mr. Flick, you +had better see him. You would know how to get at his views without +compromising anybody. But, in the first place, let the Countess know +everything. After what has been done, you won't have any difficulty +in meeting Mr. Goffe."</p> + +<p>Mr. Flick had no difficulty in seeing Mr. Goffe,—though he felt that +there would be very much difficulty in seeing Mr. Daniel Thwaite. He +did tell Mr. Goffe the story of the wicked tailor,—by no means +making those excuses which the Solicitor-General had made for the +man's presumptuous covetousness. "I knew the trouble we should have +with that man," said Mr. Goffe, who had always disliked the Thwaites. +Then Mr. Flick went on to say that Mr. Goffe had better tell the +Countess,—and Mr. Goffe on this point agreed with his adversary. Two +or three days after that, but subsequently to the date of the last +letter which the mother had written to her daughter, Lady Lovel was +told that Lady Anna was engaged to marry Mr. Daniel Thwaite.</p> + +<p>She had suspected how it might be; her heart had for the last month +been heavy with the dread of this great calamity; she had made her +plans with the view of keeping the two apart; she had asked her +daughter questions founded on this very fear;—and yet she could not +for a while be brought to believe it. How did Mr. Goffe know? Mr. +Goffe had heard it from Mr. Flick, who had heard it from Sir William +Patterson; to whom the tale had been told by Lord Lovel. "And who +told Lord Lovel?" said the Countess flashing up in anger.</p> + +<p>"No doubt Lady Anna did so," said the attorney. But in spite of her +indignation she could retain her doubts. The attorney, however, was +certain. "There could be no hope but that it was so." She still +pretended not to believe it, though fully intending to take all due +precautions in the matter. Since Mr. Goffe thought that it would be +prudent, she would remove to other lodgings. She would think of that +plan of going abroad. She would be on her guard, she said. But she +would not admit it to be possible that Lady Anna Lovel, the daughter +of Earl Lovel, her daughter, should have so far disgraced herself.</p> + +<p>But she did believe it. Her heart had in truth told her that it was +true at the first word the lawyer had spoken to her. How blind she +must have been not to have known it! How grossly stupid not to have +understood those asseverations from the girl, that the marriage with +her cousin was impossible! Her child had not only deceived her, but +had possessed cunning enough to maintain her deception. It must have +been going on for at least the last twelvemonth, and she, the while, +had been kept in the dark by the manœuvres of a simple girl! And +then she thought of the depth of the degradation which was prepared +for her. Had she passed twenty years of unintermittent combat for +this,—that when all had been done, when at last success was won, +when the rank and wealth of her child had been made positively secure +before the world, when she was about to see the unquestioned coronet +of a Countess placed upon her child's brow,—all should be destroyed +through a passion so mean as this! Would it not have been better to +have died in poverty and obscurity,—while there were yet +doubts,—before any assured disgrace had rested on her? But, oh! to +have proved that she was a Countess, and her child the heiress of an +Earl, in order that the Lady Anna Lovel might become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite, the tailor!</p> + +<p>She made many resolutions; but the first was this, that she would +never smile upon the girl again till this baseness should have been +abandoned. She loved her girl as only mothers do love. More devoted +than the pelican, she would have given her heart's blood,—had given +all her life,—not only to nurture, but to aggrandize her child. The +establishment of her own position, her own honour, her own name, was +to her but the incidental result of her daughter's emblazonment in +the world. The child which she had borne to Earl Lovel, and which the +father had stigmatised as a bastard, should by her means be known as +the Lady Anna, the heiress of that father's wealth,—the wealthiest, +the fairest, the most noble of England's daughters. Then there had +come the sweet idea that this high-born heiress of the Lovels, should +herself become Countess Lovel, and the mother had risen higher in her +delighted pride. It had all been for her child! Had she not loved as +a mother, and with all a mother's tenderness? And for what?</p> + +<p>She would love still, but she would never again be tender till her +daughter should have repudiated her base,—her monstrous engagement. +She bound up all her faculties to harshness, and a stern resolution. +Her daughter had been deceitful, and she would now be ruthless. There +might be suffering, but had not she suffered? There might be sorrow, +but had not she sorrowed? There might be a contest, but had not she +ever been contesting? Sooner than that the tailor should reap the +fruit of her labours,—labours which had been commenced when she +first gave herself in marriage to that dark, dreadful man,—sooner +than that her child should make ignoble the blood which it had cost +her so much to ennoble, she would do deeds which should make even the +wickedness of her husband child's play in the world's esteem. It was +in this mood of mind that she went to meet her daughter at the +Saracen's Head.</p> + +<p>She had taken fresh lodgings very suddenly,—in Keppel Street, near +Russell Square, a long way from Wyndham Street. She had asked Mr. +Goffe to recommend her a place, and he had sent her to an old lady +with whom he himself had lodged in his bachelor's days. Keppel Street +cannot be called fashionable, and Russell Square is not much affected +by the nobility. Nevertheless the house was superior in all +qualifications to that which she was now leaving, and the rent was +considerably higher. But the affairs of the Countess in regard to +money were in the ascendant; and Mr. Goffe did not scruple to take +for her a "genteel" suite of drawing-rooms,—two rooms with +folding-doors, that is,—with the bedrooms above, first-class +lodging-house attendance, and a garret for the lady's-maid. "And then +it will be quite close to Mrs. Bluestone," said Mr. Goffe, who knew +of that intimacy.</p> + +<p>The drive in a glass coach home from the coach-yard to Keppel Street +was horrible to Lady Anna. Not a word was spoken, as Sarah, the +lady's-maid, sat with them in the carriage. Once or twice the poor +girl tried to get hold of her mother's hand, in order that she might +entice something of a caress. But the Countess would admit of no such +softness, and at last withdrew her hand roughly. "Oh mamma!" said +Lady Anna, unable to suppress her dismay. But the Countess said never +a word. Sarah, the lady's-maid, began to think that there must be a +second lover. "Is this Wyndham Street?" said Lady Anna when the coach +stopped.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear;—this is not Wyndham Street. I have taken another +abode. This is where we are to live. If you will get out I will +follow you, and Sarah will look to the luggage." Then the daughter +entered the house, and met the old woman curtseying to her. She at +once felt that she had been removed from contact with Daniel Thwaite, +and was sure that her mother knew her story. "That is your room," +said her mother. "You had better get your things off. Are you tired?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! so tired!" and Lady Anna burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"What will you have?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing! I think I will go to bed, mamma. Why are you unkind to +me? Do tell me. Anything is better than that you should be unkind."</p> + +<p>"Anna,—have not you been unkind to me?"</p> + +<p>"Never, mamma;—never. I have never meant to be unkind. I love you +better than all the world. I have never been unkind. But, you;—Oh, +mamma, if you look at me like that, I shall die."</p> + +<p>"Is it true that you have promised that you would be the wife of Mr. +Daniel Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Is it true? I will be open with you. Mr. Goffe tells me that you +have refused Lord Lovel, telling him that you must do so because you +were engaged to Mr. Daniel Thwaite. Is that true?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma;—it is true."</p> + +<p>"And you have given your word to that man?"</p> + +<p>"I have, mamma."</p> + +<p>"And yet you told me that there was no one else when I spoke to you +of Lord Lovel? You lied to me?" The girl sat confounded, astounded, +without power of utterance. She had travelled from York to London, +inside one of those awful vehicles of which we used to be so proud +when we talked of our stage coaches. She was thoroughly weary and +worn out. She had not breakfasted that morning, and was sick and ill +at ease, not only in heart, but in body also. Of course it was so. +Her mother knew that it was so. But this was no time for fond +compassion. It would be better, far better that she should die than +that she should not be compelled to abandon this grovelling +abasement. "Then you lied to me?" repeated the Countess still +standing over her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, you mean to kill me."</p> + +<p>"I would sooner die here, at your feet, this moment, and know that +you must follow me within an hour, than see you married to such a one +as that. You shall never marry him. Though I went into court myself +and swore that I was that lord's mistress,—that I knew it when I +went to him,—that you were born a brat beyond the law, that I had +lived a life of perjury, I would prevent such greater disgrace as +this. It shall never be. I will take you away where he shall never +hear of you. As to the money, it shall go to the winds, so that he +shall never touch it. Do you think that it is you that he cares for? +He has heard of all this wealth,—and you are but the bait upon his +hook to catch it."</p> + +<p>"You do not know him, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me of him, that I do not know him; impudent slut! Did +I not know him before you were born? Have I not known him all +through? Will you give me your word of honour that you will never see +him again?" Lady Anna tried to think, but her mind would not act for +her. Everything was turning round, and she became giddy and threw +herself on the bed. "Answer me, Anna. Will you give me your word of +honour that you will never see him again?"</p> + +<p>She might still have said yes. She felt that enough of speech was +left to her for so small an effort,—and she knew that if she did so +the agony of the moment would pass away from her. With that one word +spoken her mother would be kind to her, and would wait upon her; +would bring her tea, and would sit by her bedside, and caress her. +But she too was a Lovel, and she was, moreover, the daughter of her +who once had been Josephine Murray.</p> + +<p>"I cannot say that, mamma," she said, "because I have promised."</p> + +<p>Her mother dashed from the room, and she was left alone upon the bed.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-21" id="c1-21"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXI.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL AND THE LAWYER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>It has been said that the Countess, when she sent her daughter down +to Yoxham, laid her plans with the conviction that the associations +to which the girl would be subjected among the Lovels would fill her +heart and mind with a new-born craving for the kind of life which she +would find in the rector's family;—and she had been right. Daniel +Thwaite also had known that it would be so. He had been quite alive +to the fact that he and his conversation would be abased, and that +his power, both of pleasing and of governing, would be lessened, by +this new contact. But, had he been able to hinder her going, he would +not have done so. None of those who were now interested in his +conduct knew aught of the character of this man. Sir William +Patterson had given him credit for some honesty, but even he had not +perceived,—had had no opportunity of perceiving,—the staunch +uprightness which was as it were a backbone to the man in all his +doings. He was ambitious, discontented, sullen, and tyrannical. He +hated the domination of others, but was prone to domineer himself. He +suspected evil of all above him in rank, and the millennium to which +he looked forward was to be produced by the gradual extirpation of +all social distinctions. Gentlemen, so called, were to him as +savages, which had to be cleared away in order that that perfection +might come at last which the course of nature was to produce in +obedience to the ordinances of the Creator. But he was a man who +reverenced all laws,—and a law, if recognised as a law, was a law to +him whether enforced by a penalty, or simply exigent of obedience +from his conscience. This girl had been thrown in his way, and he had +first pitied and then loved her from his childhood. She had been +injured by the fiendish malice of her own father,—and that father +had been an Earl. He had been strong in fighting for the rights of +the mother,—not because it had been the mother's right to be a +Countess,—but in opposition to the Earl. At first,—indeed +throughout all these years of conflict, except the last year,—there +had been a question, not of money, but of right. The wife was +entitled to due support,—to what measure of support Daniel had never +known or inquired; but the daughter had been entitled to nothing. The +Earl, had he made his will before he was mad,—or, more probably, had +he not destroyed, when mad, the will which he had before made,—might +and would have left the girl without a shilling. In those days, when +Daniel's love was slowly growing, when he wandered about with the +child among the rocks, when the growing girl had first learned to +swear to him that he should always be her friend of friends, when the +love of the boy had first become the passion of the man, there had +been no thought of money in it. Money! Had he not been well aware +from his earliest understanding of the need of money for all noble +purposes, that the earnings of his father, which should have made the +world to him a world of promise, were being lavished in the service +of these forlorn women? He had never complained. They were welcome to +it all. That young girl was all the world to him; and it was right +that all should be spent; as though she had been a sister, as though +she had already been his wife. There had been no plot then by which +he was to become rich on the Earl's wealth. Then had come the will, +and the young Earl's claims, and the general belief of men in all +quarters that the young Earl was to win everything. What was left of +the tailor's savings was still being spent on behalf of the Countess. +The first fee that ever found its way into the pocket of Serjeant +Bluestone had come from the diminished hoard of old Thomas Thwaite. +Then the will had been set aside; and gradually the cause of the +Countess had grown to be in the ascendant. Was he to drop his love, +to confess himself unworthy, and to slink away out of her sight, +because the girl would become an heiress? Was he even to conceive so +badly of her as to think that she would drop her love because she was +an heiress? There was no such humility about him,—nor such absence +of self-esteem. But, as regarded her, he told himself at once that +she should have the chance of being base and noble,—all base, and +all noble as far as title and social standing could make her so,—if +such were her desire. He had come to her and offered her her +freedom;—had done so, indeed, with such hot language of indignant +protest against the gilded gingerbread of her interested suitor, as +would have frightened her from the acceptance of his offer had she +been minded to accept it;—but his words had been hot, not from a +premeditated purpose to thwart his own seeming liberality, but +because his nature was hot and his temper imperious. This lordling +was ready to wed his bride,—the girl he had known and succoured +throughout their joint lives,—simply because she was rich and the +lordling was a pauper. From the bottom of his heart he despised the +lordling. He had said to himself a score of times that he could be +well content to see the lord take the money, waste it among thieves +and prostitutes, and again become a pauper, while he had the girl to +sit with him at his board, and share with him the earnings of his +honest labour. Of course he had spoken out. But the girl should be at +liberty to do as she pleased.</p> + +<p>He wrote no line to her before she went, or while she was at Yoxham, +nor did he speak a word concerning her during her absence. But as he +sat at his work, or walked to and fro between his home and the shop, +or lay sleepless in bed, all his thoughts were of her. Twice or +thrice a week he would knock at the door of the Countess's room, and +say a word or two, as was rendered natural by their long previous +intercourse. But there had been no real intercourse between them. The +Countess told him nothing of her plans; nor did he ever speak to her +of his. Each suspected the other; and each was grimly civil. Once or +twice the Countess expressed a hope that the money advanced by Thomas +Thwaite might soon be repaid to him with much interest. Daniel would +always treat the subject with a noble indifference. His father, he +said, had never felt an hour's regret at having parted with his +money. Should it, perchance, come back to him, he would take it, no +doubt, with thanks.</p> + +<p>Then he heard one evening, as he returned from his work, that the +Countess was about to remove herself on the morrow to another home. +The woman of the house, who told him, did not know where the Countess +had fixed her future abode. He passed on up to his bedroom, washed +his hands, and immediately went down to his fellow-lodger. After the +first ordinary greeting, which was cold and almost unkind, he at once +asked his question. "They tell me that you go from this to-morrow +Lady Lovel." She paused a moment, and then bowed her head. "Where is +it that you are going to live?" She paused again, and paused long, +for she had to think what answer she would make him. "Do you object +to let me know?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite, I must object."</p> + +<p>Then at that moment there came upon him the memory of all that he and +his father had done, and not the thought of that which he intended to +do. This was the gratitude of a Countess! "In that case of course I +shall not ask again. I had hoped that we were friends."</p> + +<p>"Of course we are friends. Your father has been the best friend I +ever had. I shall write to your father and let him know. I am bound +to let your father know all that I do. But at present my case is in +the hands of my lawyers, and they have advised that I should tell no +one in London where I live."</p> + +<p>"Then good evening, Lady Lovel. I beg your pardon for having +intruded." He left the room without another word, throwing off the +dust from his feet as he went with violent indignation. He and she +must now be enemies. She had told him that she would separate herself +from him,—and they must be separated. Could he have expected better +things from a declared Countess? But how would it be with Lady Anna? +She also had a title. She also would have wealth She might become a +Countess if she wished it. Let him only know by one sign from her +that she did wish it, and he would take himself off at once to the +farther side of the globe, and live in a world contaminated by no +noble lords and titled ladies. As it happened the Countess might as +well have given him the address, as the woman at the lodgings +informed him on the next morning that the Countess had removed +herself to No. <span class="nowrap">——</span> +Keppel Street.</p> + +<p>He did not doubt that Lady Anna was about to return to London. That +quick removal would not otherwise have been made. But what mattered +it to him whether she were at Yoxham or in Keppel Street? He could do +nothing. There would come a time,—but it had not come as yet,—when +he must go to the girl boldly, let her be guarded as she might, and +demand her hand. But the demand must be made to herself and herself +only. When that time came there should be no question of money. +Whether she were the undisturbed owner of hundreds of thousands, or a +rejected claimant to her father's name, the demand should be made in +the same tone and with the same assurance. He knew well the whole +history of her life. She had been twenty years old last May, and it +was now September. When the next spring should come round she would +be her own mistress, free to take herself from her mother's hands, +and free to give herself to whom she would. He did not say that +nothing should be done during those eight months; but, according to +his lights, he could not make his demand with full force till she was +a woman, as free from all legal control, as was he as a man.</p> + +<p>The chances were much against him. He knew what were the allurements +of luxury. There were moments in which he told himself that of course +she would fall into the nets that were spread for her. But then again +there would grow within his bosom a belief in truth and honesty which +would buoy him up. How grand would be his victory, how great the +triumph of a human soul's nobility, if, after all these dangers, if +after all the enticements of wealth and rank, the girl should come to +him, and lying on his bosom, should tell him that she had never +wavered from him through it all! Of this, at any rate, he assured +himself,—that he would not go prying, with clandestine manœuvres, +about that house in Keppel Street. The Countess might have told him +where she intended to live without increasing her danger.</p> + +<p>While things were in this state with him he received a letter from +Messrs. Norton and Flick, the attorneys, asking him to call on Mr. +Flick at their chambers in Lincoln's Inn. The Solicitor-General had +suggested to the attorney that he should see the man, and Mr. Flick +had found himself bound to obey; but in truth he hardly knew what to +say to Daniel Thwaite. It must be his object of course to buy off the +tailor; but such arrangements are difficult, and require great +caution. And then Mr. Flick was employed by Earl Lovel, and this man +was the friend of the Earl's opponents in the case. Mr. Flick did +feel that the Solicitor-General was moving into great irregularities +in this cause. The cause itself was no doubt peculiar,—unlike any +other cause with which Mr. Flick had become acquainted in his +experience; there was no saying at the present moment who had opposed +interests, and who combined interests in the case; but still +etiquette is etiquette, and Mr. Flick was aware that such a house as +that of Messrs. Norton and Flick should not be irregular. +Nevertheless he sent for Daniel Thwaite.</p> + +<p>After having explained who he was, which Daniel knew very well, +without being told, Mr. Flick began his work. "You are aware, Mr. +Thwaite, that the friends on both sides are endeavouring to arrange +this question amicably without any further litigation."</p> + +<p>"I am aware that the friends of Lord Lovel, finding that they have no +ground to stand on at law, are endeavouring to gain their object by +other means."</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Thwaite. I cannot admit that for a moment. That would be +altogether an erroneous view of the proceeding."</p> + +<p>"Is Lady Anna Lovel the legitimate daughter of the late Earl?"</p> + +<p>"That is what we do not know. That is what nobody knows. You are not +a lawyer, Mr. Thwaite, or you would be aware that there is nothing +more difficult to decide than questions of legitimacy. It has +sometimes taken all the Courts a century to decide whether a marriage +is a marriage or not. You have heard of the great MacFarlane case. To +find out who was the MacFarlane they had to go back a hundred and +twenty years, and at last decide on the memory of a man whose +grandmother had told him that she had seen a woman wearing a +wedding-ring. The case cost over forty thousand pounds, and took +nineteen years. As far as I can see this is more complicated even +than that. We should in all probability have to depend on the +proceedings of the courts in Sicily, and you and I would never live +to see the end of it."</p> + +<p>"You would live on it, Mr. Flick, which is more than I could do."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite, that I think is a very improper observation; but, +however—. My object is to explain to you that all these difficulties +may be got over by a very proper and natural alliance between Earl +Lovel and the lady who is at present called by courtesy Lady Anna +Lovel."</p> + +<p>"By the Crown's courtesy, Mr. Flick," said the tailor, who understood +the nature of the titles which he hated.</p> + +<p>"We allow the name, I grant you, at present; and are anxious to +promote the marriage. We are all most anxious to bring to a close +this ruinous litigation. Now, I am told that the young lady feels +herself hampered by some childish promise that has been made—to +you."</p> + +<p>Daniel Thwaite had expected no such announcement as this. He did not +conceive that the girl would tell the story of her engagement, and +was unprepared at the moment for any reply. But he was not a man to +remain unready long. "Do you call it childish?" he said.</p> + +<p>"I do certainly."</p> + +<p>"Then what would her engagement be if now made with the Earl? The +engagement with me, as an engagement, is not yet twelve months old, +and has been repeated within the last month. She is an infant, Mr. +Flick, according to your language, and therefore, perhaps, a child in +the eye of the law. If Lord Lovel wishes to marry her, why doesn't he +do so? He is not hindered, I suppose, by her being a child."</p> + +<p>"Any marriage with you, you know, would in fact be impossible."</p> + +<p>"A marriage with me, Mr. Flick, would be quite as possible as one +with the Lord Lovel. When the lady is of age, no clergyman in England +dare refuse to marry us, if the rules prescribed by law have been +obeyed."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, Mr. Thwaite; I do not want to argue with you about the +law and about possibilities. The marriage would not be fitting, and +you know that it would not be fitting."</p> + +<p>"It would be most unfitting,—unless the lady wished it as well as I. +Just as much may be said of her marriage with Earl Lovel. To which of +us has she given her promise? which of us has she known and loved? +which of us has won her by long friendship and steady regard? and +which of us, Mr. Flick, is attracted to the marriage by the lately +assured wealth of the young woman? I never understood that Lord Lovel +was my rival when Lady Anna was regarded as the base-born child of +the deceased madman."</p> + +<p>"I suppose, Mr. Thwaite, you are not indifferent to her money?"</p> + +<p>"Then you suppose wrongly,—as lawyers mostly do when they take upon +themselves to attribute motives."</p> + +<p>"You are not civil, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"You did not send for me here, sir, in order that there should be +civilities between us. But I will at least be true. In regard to Lady +Anna's money, should it become mine by reason of her marriage with +me, I will guard it for her sake, and for that of the children she +may bear, with all my power. I will assert her right to it as a man +should do. But my purpose in seeking her hand will neither be +strengthened nor weakened by her money. I believe that it is hers. +Nay,—I know that the law will give it to her. On her behalf, as +being betrothed to her, I defy Lord Lovel and all other claimants. +But her money and her hand are two things apart, and I will never be +governed as to the one by any regard as to the other. Perhaps, Mr. +Flick, I have said enough,—and so, good morning." Then he went away.</p> + +<p>The lawyer had never dared to suggest the compromise which had been +his object in sending for the man. He had not dared to ask the tailor +how much ready money he would take down to abandon the lady, and thus +to relieve them all from that difficulty. No doubt he exercised a +wise discretion, as had he done so, Daniel Thwaite might have become +even more uncivil than before.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-22" id="c1-22"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXII.</h3> +<h4>THERE IS A GULF FIXED.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>"Do you think that you could be happier as the wife of such a one as +Daniel Thwaite, a creature infinitely beneath you, separated as you +would be from all your kith and kin, from all whose blood you share, +from me and from your family, than you would be as the bearer of a +proud name, the daughter and the wife of an Earl Lovel,—the mother +of the earl to come? I will not speak now of duty, or of fitness, or +of the happiness of others which must depend upon you. It is natural +that a girl should look to her own joys in marriage. Do you think +that your joy can consist in calling that man your husband?"</p> + +<p>It was thus that the Countess spoke to her daughter, who was then +lying worn out and ill on her bed in Keppel Street. For three days +she had been subject to such addresses as this, and during those +three days no word of tenderness had been spoken to her. The Countess +had been obdurate in her hardness,—still believing that she might +thus break her daughter's spirit, and force her to abandon her +engagement. But as yet she had not succeeded. The girl had been meek +and, in all other things, submissive. She had not defended her +conduct. She had not attempted to say that she had done well in +promising to be the tailor's bride. She had shown herself willing by +her silence to have her engagement regarded as a great calamity, as a +dreadful evil that had come upon the whole Lovel family. She had not +boldness to speak to her mother as she had spoken on the subject to +the Earl. She threw herself entirely upon her promise, and spoke of +her coming destiny as though it had been made irrevocable by her own +word. "I have promised him, mamma, and have sworn that it should be +so." That was the answer which she now made from her bed;—the answer +which she had made a dozen times during the last three days.</p> + +<p>"Is everybody belonging to you to be ruined because you once spoke a +foolish word?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma, it was often spoken,—very often, and he does not wish that +anybody should be ruined. He told me that Lord Lovel might have the +money."</p> + +<p>"Foolish, ungrateful girl! It is not for Lord Lovel that I am +pleading to you. It is for the name, and for your own honour. Do you +not constantly pray to God to keep you in that state of life to which +it has pleased Him to call you;—and are you not departing from it +wilfully and sinfully by such an act as this?" But still Lady Anna +continued to say that she was bound by the obligation which was upon +her.</p> + +<p>On the following day the Countess was frightened, believing that the +girl was really ill. In truth she was ill,—so that the doctor who +visited her declared that she must be treated with great care. She +was harassed in spirit,—so the doctor said,—and must be taken away, +so that she might be amused. The Countess was frightened, but still +was resolute. She not only loved her daughter,—but loved no other +human being on the face of the earth. Her daughter was all that she +had to bind her to the world around her. But she declared to herself +again and again that it would be better that her daughter should die +than live and be married to the tailor. It was a case in which +persecution even to the very gate of the grave would be wise and +warrantable,—if by such persecution this odious, monstrous marriage +might be avoided. And she did believe that persecution would avail at +last. If she were only steady in her resolve, the girl would never +dare to demand the right to leave her mother's house and walk off to +the church to be married to Daniel Thwaite, without the countenance +of a single friend. The girl's strength was not of that nature. But +were she, the Countess, to yield an inch, then this evil might come +upon them. She had heard that young people can always beat their +parents if they be sufficiently obdurate. Parents are soft-hearted to +their children, and are prone to yield. And so would she have been +soft-hearted, if the interests concerned had been less important, if +the deviation from duty had been less startling, or the union +proposed less monstrous and disgraceful. But in this case it behoved +her to be obdurate,—even though it should be to the very gates of +the grave. "I swear to you," she said, "that the day of your marriage +to Daniel Thwaite shall be the day of my death."</p> + +<p>In her straits she went to Serjeant Bluestone for advice. Now, the +Serjeant had hitherto been opposed to all compromise, feeling certain +that everything might be gained without the sacrifice of a single +right. He had not a word to say against a marriage between the two +cousins, but let the cousin who was the heiress be first placed in +possession of her rights. Let her be empowered, when she consented to +become Lady Lovel, to demand such a settlement of the property as +would be made on her behalf if she were the undisputed owner of the +property. Let her marry the lord if she would, but not do so in order +that she might obtain the partial enjoyment of that which was all her +own. And then, so the Serjeant had argued, the widowed Countess would +never be held to have established absolutely her own right to her +name, should any compromise be known to have been effected. People +might call her Countess Lovel; but, behind her back, they would say +that she was no countess. The Serjeant had been very hot about it, +especially disliking the interference of Sir William. But now, when +he heard this new story, his heat gave way. Anything must be done +that could be done;—everything must be done to prevent such a +termination to the career of the two ladies as would come from a +marriage with the tailor.</p> + +<p>But he was somewhat dismayed when he came to understand the condition +of affairs in Keppel Street. "How can I not be severe?" said the +Countess, when he remonstrated with her. "If I were tender with her +she would think that I was yielding. Is not everything at +stake,—everything for which my life has been devoted?" The Serjeant +called his wife into council, and then suggested that Lady Anna +should spend a week or two in Bedford Square. He assured the Countess +that she might be quite sure that Daniel Thwaite should find no +entrance within his doors.</p> + +<p>"But if Lord Lovel would do us the honour to visit us, we should be +most happy to see him," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna was removed to Bedford Square, and there became subject to +treatment that was milder, but not less persistent. Mrs. Bluestone +lectured her daily, treating her with the utmost respect, paying to +her rank a deference, which was not indeed natural to the good lady, +but which was assumed, so that Lady Anna might the better comprehend +the difference between her own position and that of the tailor. The +girls were told nothing of the tailor,—lest the disgrace of so +unnatural a partiality might shock their young minds; but they were +instructed that there was danger, and that they were always, in +speaking to their guest, to take it for granted that she was to +become Countess Lovel. Her maid, Sarah, went with her to the +Serjeant's, and was taken into a half-confidence. Lady Anna was never +to be left a moment alone. She was to be a prisoner with gilded +chains,—for whom a splendid, a glorious future was in prospect, if +only she would accept it.</p> + +<p>"I really think that she likes the lord the best," said Mrs. +Bluestone to her husband.</p> + +<p>"Then why the mischief won't she have him?" This was in October, and +that November term was fast approaching in which the cause was set +down for trial.</p> + +<p>"I almost think she would if he'd come and ask her again. Of course, +I have never mentioned the other man; but when I speak to her of Earl +Lovel, she always answers me as though she were almost in love with +him. I was inquiring yesterday what sort of a man he was, and she +said he was quite perfect. 'It is a thousand pities,' she said, 'that +he should not have this money. He ought to have it, as he is the +Earl.'"</p> + +<p>"Why doesn't she give it to him?"</p> + +<p>"I asked her that; but she shook, her head and said, that it could +never be. I think that man has made her swear some sort of awful +oath, and has frightened her."</p> + +<p>"No doubt he has made her swear an oath, but we all know how the gods +regard the perjuries of lovers," said the Serjeant. "We must get the +young lord here when he comes back to town."</p> + +<p>"Is he handsome?" asked Alice Bluestone, the younger daughter, who +had become Lady Anna's special friend in the family. Of course they +were talking of Lord Lovel.</p> + +<p>"Everybody says he is."</p> + +<p>"But what do you say?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think it matters much about a man being handsome,—but he is +beautiful. Not dark, like all the other Lovels; nor yet what you call +fair. I don't think that fair men ever look manly."</p> + +<p>"Oh no," said Alice, who was contemplating an engagement with a +black-haired young barrister.</p> + +<p>"Lord Lovel is brown,—with blue eyes; but it is the shape of his +face that is so perfect,—an oval, you know, that is not too long. +But it isn't that makes him look as he does. He looks as though +everybody in the world ought to do exactly what he tells them."</p> + +<p>"And why don't you, dear, do exactly what he tells you?"</p> + +<p>"Ah,—that is another question. I should do many things if he told +me. He is the head of our family. I think he ought to have all this +money, and be a rich great man, as the Earl Lovel should be."</p> + +<p>"And yet you won't be his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Would you,—if you had promised another man?"</p> + +<p>"Have you promised another man?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—I have."</p> + +<p>"Who is he, Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"They have not told you, then?"</p> + +<p>"No;—nobody has told me. I know they all want you to marry Lord +Lovel,—and I know he wants it. I know he is quite in love with you."</p> + +<p>"Ah;—I do not think that. But if he were, it could make no +difference. If you had once given your word to another man, would you +go back because a lord asked you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think I would ever give my word without asking mamma."</p> + +<p>"If he had been good to you, and you had loved him always, and he had +been your best friend,—what would you do then?"</p> + +<p>"Who is he, Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Do not call me Lady Anna, or I shall not like you. I will tell you, +but you must not say that I told you. Only I thought everybody knew. +I told Lord Lovel, and he, I think, has told all the world. It is Mr. +Daniel Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Daniel Thwaite!" said Alice, who had heard enough of the case to +know who the Thwaites were. "He is a tailor!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lady Anna proudly; "he is a tailor."</p> + +<p>"Surely that cannot be good," said Alice, who, having long since felt +what it was to be the daughter of a serjeant, had made up her mind +that she would marry nothing lower than a barrister.</p> + +<p>"It is what you call bad, I dare say."</p> + +<p>"I don't think a tailor can be a gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Perhaps I wasn't a lady when I promised him. But I did +promise. You can never know what he and his father did for us. I +think we should have died only for them. You don't know how we +lived;—in a little cottage, with hardly any money, with nobody to +come near us but they. Everybody else thought that we were vile and +wicked. It is true. But they always were good to us. Would not you +have loved him?"</p> + +<p>"I should have loved him in a kind of way."</p> + +<p>"When one takes so much, one must give in return what one has to +give," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"Do you love him still?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I love him."</p> + +<p>"And you wish to be his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes I think I don't. It is not that I am ashamed for myself. +What would it have signified if I had gone away with him straight +from Cumberland, before I had ever seen my cousins? Supposing that +mamma hadn't been the <span class="nowrap">Countess—"</span></p> + +<p>"But she is."</p> + +<p>"So they say now;—but if they had said that she was not, nobody +would have thought it wrong then for me to marry Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think it wrong yourself?"</p> + +<p>"It would be best for me to say that I would never marry any one at +all. He would be very angry with me."</p> + +<p>"Lord Lovel?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no;—not Lord Lovel. Daniel would be very angry, because he +really loves me. But it would not be so bad to him as though I became +Lord Lovel's wife. I will tell you the truth, dear. I am ashamed to +marry Mr. Thwaite,—not for myself, but because I am Lord Lovel's +cousin and mamma's daughter. And I should be ashamed to marry Lord +Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Why, dear?"</p> + +<p>"Because I should be false and ungrateful! I should be afraid to +stand before him if he looked at me. You do not know how he can look. +He, too, can command. He, too, is noble. They believe it is the money +he wants, and when they call him a tailor, they think that he must be +mean. He is not mean. He is clever, and can talk about things better +than my cousin. He can work hard and give away all that he earns. And +so could his father. They gave all they had to us, and have never +asked it again. I kissed him once,—and then he said I had paid all +my mother's debt." Alice Bluestone shrank within herself when she was +told by this daughter of a countess of such a deed. It was horrid to +her mind that a tailor should be kissed by a Lady Anna Lovel. But she +herself had perhaps been as generous to the black-browed young +barrister, and had thought no harm. "They think I do not +understand,—but I do. They all want this money, and then they accuse +him, and say he does it that he may become rich. He would give up all +the money,—just for me. How would you feel if it were like that with +you?"</p> + +<p>"I think that a girl who is a lady, should never marry a man who is +not a gentleman. You know the story of the rich man who could not get +to Abraham's bosom because there was a gulf fixed. That is how it +should be;—just as there is with royal people as to marrying +royalty. Otherwise everything would get mingled, and there would soon +be no difference. If there are to be differences, there should be +differences. That is the meaning of being a gentleman,—or a lady." +So spoke the young female Conservative with wisdom beyond her +years;—nor did she speak quite in vain.</p> + +<p>"I believe what I had better do would be to die," said Lady Anna. +"Everything would come right then."</p> + +<p>Some day or two after this Serjeant Bluestone sent a message up to +Lady Anna, on his return home from the courts, with a request that +she would have the great kindness to come down to him in his study. +The Serjeant had treated her with more than all the deference due to +her rank since she had been in his house, striving to teach her what +it was to be the daughter of an Earl and probable owner of twenty +thousand a year. The Serjeant, to give him his due, cared as little +as most men for the peerage. He vailed his bonnet to no one but a +judge,—and not always that with much ceremonious observance. But now +his conduct was a part of his duty to a client whom he was determined +to see established in her rights. He would have handed her her cup of +tea on his knees every morning, if by doing so he could have made +clear to her eyes how deep would be her degradation were she to marry +the tailor. The message was now brought to her by Mrs. Bluestone, who +almost apologized for asking her to trouble herself to walk +down-stairs to the back parlour. "My dear Lady Anna," said the +Serjeant, "may I ask you to sit down for a moment or two while I +speak to you? I have just left your mother."</p> + +<p>"How is dear mamma?" The Serjeant assured her that the Countess was +well in health. At this time Lady Anna had not visited her mother +since she had left Keppel Street, and had been told that Lady Lovel +had refused to see her till she had pledged herself never to marry +Daniel Thwaite. "I do so wish I might go to mamma!"</p> + +<p>"With all my heart I wish you could, Lady Anna. Nothing makes such +heart-burning sorrow as a family quarrel. But what can I say? You +know what your mother thinks?"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you manage that she should let me go there just once?"</p> + +<p>"I hope that we can manage it;—but I want you to listen to me first. +Lord Lovel is back in London." She pressed her lips together and +fastened one hand firmly on the other. If the assurance that was +required from her was ever to be exacted, it should not be exacted by +Serjeant Bluestone. "I have seen his lordship to-day," continued the +Serjeant, "and he has done me the honour to promise that he will dine +here to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Lord Lovel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—your cousin, Earl Lovel. There is no reason, I suppose, why +you should not meet him? He has not offended you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no.—But I have offended him."</p> + +<p>"I think not, Lady Anna. He does not speak of you as though there +were offence."</p> + +<p>"When we parted he would hardly look at me, because I told him—. You +know what I told him."</p> + +<p>"A gentleman is not necessarily offended because a lady does not +accept his first offer. Many gentlemen would be offended if that were +so;—and very many happy marriages would never have a chance of being +made. At any rate he is coming, and I thought that perhaps you would +excuse me if I endeavoured to explain how very much may depend on the +manner in which you may receive him. You must feel that things are +not going on quite happily now."</p> + +<p>"I am so unhappy, Serjeant Bluestone!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. It must be so. You are likely to be placed,—I think I +may say you certainly will be placed,—in such a position that the +whole prosperity of a noble and ancient family must depend on what +you may do. With one word you can make once more bright a fair name +that has long been beneath a cloud. Here in England the welfare of +the State depends on the conduct of our aristocracy!" Oh, Serjeant +Bluestone, Serjeant Bluestone! how could you so far belie your +opinion as to give expression to a sentiment utterly opposed to your +own convictions! But what is there that a counsel will not do for a +client? "If they whom Fate and Fortune have exalted, forget what the +country has a right to demand from them, farewell, alas, to the glory +of old England!" He had found this kind of thing very effective with +twelve men, and surely it might prevail with one poor girl. "It is +not for me, Lady Anna, to dictate to you the choice of a husband. But +it has become my duty to point out to you the importance of your own +choice, and to explain to you, if it may be possible, that you are +not like other young ladies. You have in your hands the marring or +the making of the whole family of Lovel. As for that suggestion of a +marriage to which you were induced to give ear by feelings of +gratitude, it would, if carried out, spread desolation in the bosom +of every relative to whom you are bound by the close ties of noble +blood." He finished his speech, and Lady Anna retired without a word.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-23" id="c1-23"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3> +<h4>BEDFORD SQUARE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The Earl, without asking any question on the subject, had found that +the Solicitor-General thought nothing of that objection which had +weighed so heavily on his own mind, as to carrying on his suit with a +girl who had been wooed successfully by a tailor. His own spirit +rebelled for a while against such condescension. When Lady Anna had +first told him that she had pledged her word to a lover low in the +scale of men, the thing had seemed to him to be over. What struggle +might be made to prevent the accomplishment of so base a marriage +must be effected for the sake of the family, and not on his own +special behoof. Not even for twenty thousand a year, not even for +Lady Anna Lovel, not for all the Lovels, would he take to his bosom +as his bride, the girl who had leaned with loving fondness on the +shoulders of Daniel Thwaite. But when he found that others did not +feel it as he felt it, he turned the matter over again in his +mind,—and by degrees relented. There had doubtless been much in the +whole affair which had placed it outside the pale of things which are +subject to the ordinary judgment of men. Lady Anna's position in the +world had been very singular. A debt of gratitude was due by her to +the tailor, which had seemed to exact from her some great payment. As +she had said herself, she had given the only thing which she had to +give. Now there would be much to give. The man doubtless deserved his +reward and should have it, but that reward must not be the hand of +the heiress of the Lovels. He, the Earl, would once again claim that +as his own.</p> + +<p>He had hurried out of town after seeing Sir William, but had not +returned to Yoxham. He went again to Scotland, and wrote no further +letter to the rectory after those three lines which the reader has +seen. Then he heard from Mr. Flick that Lady Anna was staying with +the Serjeant in Bedford Square, and he returned to London at the +lawyer's instance. It was so expedient that if possible something +should be settled before November!</p> + +<p>The only guests asked to meet the Earl at Serjeant Bluestone's, were +Sir William and Lady Patterson, and the black-browed young barrister. +The whole proceeding was very irregular,—as Mr. Flick, who knew what +was going on, said more than once to his old partner, Mr. Norton. +That the Solicitor-General should dine with the Serjeant might be all +very well,—though, as school boys say, they had never known each +other at home before. But that they should meet in this way the then +two opposing clients,—the two claimants to the vast property as to +which a cause was to come on for trial in a few weeks,—did bewilder +Mr. Flick. "I suppose the Solicitor-General sees his way, but he may +be in a mess yet," said Mr. Flick. Mr. Norton only scratched his +head. It was no work of his.</p> + +<p>Sir William, who arrived before the Earl, was introduced for the +first time to the young lady. "Lady Anna," he said, "for some months +past I have heard much of you. And now I have great pleasure in +meeting you." She smiled, and strove to look pleased, but she had not +a word to say to him. "You know I ought to be your enemy," he +continued laughing, "but I hope that is well nigh over. I should not +like to have to fight so fair a foe." Then the young lord arrived, +and the lawyers of course gave way to the lover.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna, from the moment in which she was told that he was to come, +had thought of nothing but the manner of their greeting. It was not +that she was uneasy as to her own fashion of receiving him. She could +smile and be silent, and give him her hand or leave it ungiven, as he +might demand. But in what manner would he accost her? She had felt +sure that he had despised her from the moment in which she had told +him of her engagement. Of course he had despised her. Those fine +sentiments about ladies and gentlemen, and the gulf which had been +fixed, had occurred to her before she heard them from the mouth of +Miss Alice Bluestone. She understood, as well as did her young +friend, what was the difference between her cousin the Earl, and her +lover the tailor. Of course it would be sweet to be able to love such +a one as her cousin. They all talked to her as though she was simply +obstinate and a fool, not perceiving, as she did herself, that the +untowardness of her fortune had prescribed this destiny for her. Good +as Daniel Thwaite might be,—as she knew that he was,—she felt +herself to be degraded in having promised to be his wife. The lessons +they had taught her had not been in vain. And she had been specially +degraded in the eyes of him, who was to her imagination the brightest +of human beings. They told her that she might still be his wife if +only she would consent to hold out her hand when he should ask for +it. She did not believe it. Were it true, it could make no +difference,—but she did not believe it. He had scorned her when she +told him the tale at Bolton Abbey. He had scorned her when he hurried +away from Yoxham. Now he was coming to the Serjeant's house, with the +express intention of meeting her again. Why should he come? Alas, +alas! She was sure that he would never speak to her again in that +bright sunny manner, with those dulcet honey words, which he had used +when first they saw each other in Wyndham Street.</p> + +<p>Nor was he less uneasy as to this meeting. He had not intended to +scorn her when he parted from her, but he had intended that she +should understand that there was an end of his suit. He had loved her +dearly, but there are obstacles to which love must yield. Had she +already married this tailor, how would it have been with him then? +That which had appeared to him to be most fit for him to do, had +suddenly become altogether unfit,—and he had told himself at the +moment that he must take back his love to himself as best he might. +He could not sue for that which had once been given to a tailor. But +now all that was changed, and he did intend to sue again. She was +very beautiful,—to his thinking the very pink of feminine grace, and +replete with charms;—soft in voice, soft in manner, with just enough +of spirit to give her character. What a happy chance it had been, +what marvellous fortune, that he should have been able to love this +girl whom it was so necessary that he should marry;—what a happy +chance, had it not been for this wretched tailor! But now, in spite +of the tailor, he would try his fate with her once again. He had not +intended to scorn her when he left her, but he knew that his manner +to her must have told her that his suit was over. How should he renew +it again in the presence of Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone and of Sir +William and Lady Patterson?</p> + +<p>He was first introduced to the wives of the two lawyers while Lady +Anna was sitting silent on the corner of a sofa. Mrs. Bluestone, +foreseeing how it would be, had endeavoured with much prudence to +establish her young friend at some distance from the other guests, in +order that the Earl might have the power of saying some word; but the +young barrister had taken this opportunity of making himself +agreeable, and stood opposite to her talking nothings about the +emptiness of London, and the glories of the season when it should +come. Lady Anna did not hear a word that the young barrister said. +Lady Anna's ear was straining itself to hear what Lord Lovel might +say, and her eye, though not quite turned towards him, was watching +his every motion. Of course he must speak to her. "Lady Anna is on +the sofa," said Mrs. Bluestone. Of course he knew that she was there. +He had seen her dear face the moment that he entered the room. He +walked up to her and gave her his hand, and smiled upon her.</p> + +<p>She had made up her little speech. "I hope they are quite well at +Yoxham," she said, in that low, soft, silver voice which he had told +himself would so well befit the future Countess Lovel.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes;—I believe so. I am a truant there, for I do not answer aunt +Julia's letters as punctually as I ought to do. I shall be down there +for the hunting I suppose next month." Then dinner was announced; and +as it was necessary that the Earl should take down Mrs. Bluestone and +the Serjeant Lady Anna,—so that the young barrister absolutely went +down to dinner with the wife of the Solicitor-General,—the +conversation was brought to an end. Nor was it possible that they +should be made to sit next each other at dinner. And then, when at +last the late evening came and they were all together in the +drawing-room, other things intervened and the half hour so passed +that hardly a word was spoken between them. But there was just one +word as he went away. "I shall call and see you," he said.</p> + +<p>"I don't think he means it," the Serjeant said to his wife that +evening, almost in anger.</p> + +<p>"Why not, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"He did not speak to her."</p> + +<p>"People can't speak at dinner-parties when there is anything +particular to say. If he didn't mean it, he wouldn't have come. And +if you'll all have a little patience she'll mean it too. I can't +forgive her mother for being so hard to her. She's one of the +sweetest creatures I ever came across."</p> + +<p>A little patience, and here was November coming! The Earl who had now +been dining in his house, meeting his own client there, must again +become the Serjeant's enemy in November, unless this matter were +settled. The Serjeant at present could see no other way of +proceeding. The Earl might no doubt retire from the suit, but a jury +must then decide whether the Italian woman had any just claim. And +against the claim of the Italian woman the Earl would again come +forward. The Serjeant as he thought of it, was almost sorry that he +had asked the Earl and the Solicitor-General to his house.</p> + +<p>On the very next morning,—early in the day,—the Earl was announced +in Bedford Square. The Serjeant was of course away at his chambers. +Lady Anna was in her room and Mrs. Bluestone was sitting with her +daughter. "I have come to see my cousin," said the Earl boldly.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad that you have come, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Thank you,—well; yes. I know you will not mind my saying so +outright. Though the papers say that we are enemies, we have many +things in common between us."</p> + +<p>"I will send her to you. My dear, we will go into the dining-room. +You will find lunch ready when you come down, Lord Lovel." Then she +left him, and he stood looking for a while at the books that were +laid about the table.</p> + +<p>It seemed to him to be an age, but at last the door was opened and +his cousin crept into the room. When he had parted from her at Yoxham +he had called her Lady Anna; but he was determined that she should at +any rate be again his cousin. "I could hardly speak to you +yesterday," he said, while he held her hand.</p> + +<p>"No;—Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"People never can, I think, at small parties like that. Dear Anna, +you surprised me so much by what you told me on the banks of the +Wharfe!" She did not know how to answer him even a word. "I know that +I was unkind to you."</p> + +<p>"I did not think so, my lord."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you just the plain truth. Even though it may be bitter, +the truth will be best between us, dearest. When first I heard what +you said, I believed that all must be over between you and me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," she said.</p> + +<p>"But I have thought about it since, and I will not have it so. I have +not come to reproach you."</p> + +<p>"You may if you will."</p> + +<p>"I have no right to do so, and would not if I had. I can understand +your feelings of deep gratitude and can respect them."</p> + +<p>"But I love him, my lord," said Lady Anna, holding her head on high +and speaking with much dignity. She could hardly herself understand +the feeling which induced her so to address him. When she was alone +thinking of him and of her other lover, her heart was inclined to +regret in that she had not known her cousin in her early days,—as +she had known Daniel Thwaite. She could tell herself, though she +could not tell any other human being, that when she had thought that +she was giving her heart to the young tailor, she had not quite known +what it was to have a heart to give. The young lord was as a god to +her; whereas Daniel was but a man,—to whom she owed so deep a debt +of gratitude that she must sacrifice herself, if needs, be, on his +behalf. And yet when the Earl spoke to her of her gratitude to this +man,—praising it, and professing that he also understood those very +feelings which had governed her conduct,—she blazed up almost in +wrath, and swore that she loved the tailor.</p> + +<p>The Earl's task was certainly difficult. It was his first impulse to +rush away again, as he had rushed away before. To rush away and leave +the country, and let the lawyers settle it all as they would. Could +it be possible that such a girl as this should love a journeyman +tailor, and should be proud of her love! He turned from her and +walked to the door and back again, during which time she had almost +repented of her audacity.</p> + +<p>"It is right that you should love him—as a friend," he said.</p> + +<p>"But I have sworn to be his wife."</p> + +<p>"And must you keep your oath?" As she did not answer him he pressed +on with his suit. "If he loves you I am sure he cannot wish to hurt +you, and you know that such a marriage as that would be very hurtful. +Can it be right that you should descend from your position to pay a +debt of gratitude, and that you should do it at the expense of all +those who belong to you? Would you break your mother's heart, and +mine, and bring disgrace upon your family merely because he was good +to you?"</p> + +<p>"He was good to my mother as well as me."</p> + +<p>"Will it not break her heart? Has she not told you so? But perhaps +you do not believe it, my love."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," she said.</p> + +<p>"Ah, dearest, you may believe. To my eyes you are the sweetest of all +God's creatures. Perhaps you think I say so only for the money's +sake."</p> + +<p>"No, my lord, I do not think that."</p> + +<p>"Of course much is due to him."</p> + +<p>"He wants nothing but that I should be his wife. He has said so, and +he is never false. I can trust him at any rate, even though I should +betray him. But I will not betray him. I will go away with him and +they shall not hear of me, and nobody will remember that I was my +father's daughter."</p> + +<p>"You are doubting even now, dear."</p> + +<p>"But I ought not to doubt. If I doubt it is because I am weak."</p> + +<p>"Then still be weak. Surely such weakness will be good when it will +please all those who must be dearest to you."</p> + +<p>"It will not please him, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Will you do this, dearest;—will you take one week to consider and +then write to me? You cannot refuse me that, knowing that the +happiness and the honour and the welfare of every Lovel depends upon +your answer."</p> + +<p>She felt that she could not refuse, and she gave him the promise. On +that day week she would write to him, and tell him then to what +resolve she should have brought herself. He came up close to her, +meaning to kiss her if she would let him; but she stood aloof, and +merely touched his hand. She would obey her betrothed,—at any rate +till she should have made up her mind that she would be untrue to +him. Lord Lovel could not press his wish, and left the house +unmindful of Mrs. Bluestone's luncheon.</p> + + +<p><a name="c1-24" id="c1-24"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3> +<h4>THE DOG IN THE MANGER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>During all this time Daniel Thwaite had been living alone, working +day after day and hour after hour among the men in Wigmore Street, +trusted by his employer, disliked by those over whom he was set in +some sort of authority, and befriended by none. He had too heavy a +weight on his spirits to be light of heart, even had his nature been +given to lightness. How could he even hope that the girl would resist +all the temptation that would be thrown in her way, all the arguments +that would be used to her, the natural entreaties that would be +showered upon her from all her friends? Nor did he so think of +himself, as to believe that his own personal gifts would bind her to +him when opposed by those other personal gifts which he knew belonged +to the lord. Measuring himself by his own standard, regarding that +man to be most manly who could be most useful in the world, he did +think himself to be infinitely superior to the Earl. He was the +working bee, whereas the Earl was the drone. And he was one who used +to the best of his abilities the mental faculties which had been +given to him; whereas the Earl,—so he believed,—was himself hardly +conscious of having had mental faculties bestowed upon him. The Earl +was, to his thinking, as were all earls, an excrescence upon society, +which had been produced by the evil habits and tendencies of mankind; +a thing to be got rid of before any near approach could be made to +that social perfection in the future coming of which he fully +believed. But, though useless, the Earl was beautiful to the eye. +Though purposeless, as regarded any true purpose of speech, his voice +was of silver and sweet to the ears. His hands, which could never +help him to a morsel of bread, were soft to the touch. He was sweet +with perfumes and idleness, and never reeked of the sweat of labour. +Was it possible that such a girl as Anna Lovel should resist the +popinjay, backed as he would be by her own instincts and by the +prayers of every one of her race? And then from time to time another +thought would strike him. Using his judgment as best he might on her +behalf, ought he to wish that she should do so? The idleness of an +earl might be bad, and equally bad the idleness of a countess. To be +the busy wife of a busy man, to be the mother of many children who +should be all taught to be busy on behalf of mankind, was, to his +thinking, the highest lot of woman. But there was a question with him +whether the accidents of her birth and fortune had not removed her +from the possibility of such joy as that. How would it be with her, +and him too, if, in after life, she should rebuke him because he had +not allowed her to be the wife of a nobleman? And how would it be +with him if hereafter men said of him that he held her to an oath +extracted from her in her childhood because of her wealth? He had +been able to answer Mr. Flick on that head, but he had more +difficulty in answering himself.</p> + +<p>He had written to his father after the Countess had left the house in +which he lodged, and his father had answered him. The old man was not +much given to the writing of letters. "About Lady Lovel and her +daughter," said he, "I won't take no more trouble, nor shouldn't you. +She and you is different, and must be." And that was all he said. +Yes;—he and Lady Anna were different, and must remain so. Of a +morning, when he went fresh to his work, he would resolve that he +would send her word that she was entirely free from him, and would +bid her do according to the nature of the Lovels. But in the evening, +as he would wander back, slowly, all alone, tired of his work, tired +of the black solitude of the life he was leading, longing for some +softness to break the harsh monotony of his labour, he would remember +all her prettinesses, and would, above all, remember the pretty oaths +with which she had sworn that she, Anna Lovel, loved him, Daniel +Thwaite, with all the woman's love which a woman could give. He would +remember the warm kiss which had seemed to make fresh for hours his +dry lips, and would try to believe that the bliss of which he had +thought so much might still be his own. Had she abandoned him, had +she assented to a marriage with the Earl, he would assuredly have +heard of it. He also knew well the day fixed for the trial, and +understood the importance which would be attached to an early +marriage, should that be possible,—or at least to a public +declaration of an engagement. At any rate she had not as yet been +false to him.</p> + +<p>One day he received at his place of work the following +<span class="nowrap">note;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Mr. Thwaite</span>,</p> + +<p>I wish to speak to you on most important business. Could +you call on me to-morrow at eight o'clock in the +evening,—here?</p> + +<p class="ind6">Yours very faithfully and always grateful,</p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">J. Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>And then the Countess had added her address in Keppel Street;—the +very address which, about a month back, she had refused to give him. +Of course he went to the Countess,—fully believing that Lady Anna +would also be at the house, though believing also that he would not +be allowed to see her. But at this time Lady Anna was still staying +with Mrs. Bluestone in Bedford Square.</p> + +<p>It was no doubt natural that every advantage should be taken of the +strong position which Lord Lovel held. When he had extracted a +promise from Lady Anna that she would write to him at the end of a +week, he told Sir William, Sir William told his wife, Lady Patterson +told Mrs. Bluestone, and Mrs. Bluestone told the Countess. They were +all now in league against the tailor. If they could only get a +promise from the girl before the cause came on,—anything that they +could even call a promise,—then the thing might be easy. United +together they would not be afraid of what the Italian woman might do. +And this undertaking to write to Lord Lovel was almost as good as a +promise. When a girl once hesitates with a lover, she has as good as +surrendered. To say even that she will think of it, is to accept the +man. Then Mrs. Bluestone and the Countess, putting their heads +together, determined that an appeal should be made to the tailor. Had +Sir William or the Serjeant been consulted, either would have been +probably strong against the measure. But the ladies acted on their +own judgment, and Daniel Thwaite presented himself in Keppel Street. +"It is very kind of you to come," said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"There is no great kindness in that," said Daniel, thinking perhaps +of those twenty years of service which had been given by him and by +his father.</p> + +<p>"I know you think that I have been ungrateful for all that you have +done for me." He did think so, and was silent. "But you would hardly +wish me to repay you for helping me in my struggle by giving up all +for which I have struggled."</p> + +<p>"I have asked for nothing, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Have you not?"</p> + +<p>"I have asked you for nothing."</p> + +<p>"But my daughter is all that I have in the world. Have you asked +nothing of her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lady Lovel. I have asked much from her, and she has given me +all that I have asked. But I have asked nothing, and now claim +nothing, as payment for service done. If Lady Anna thinks she is in +my debt after such fashion as that, I will soon make her free."</p> + +<p>"She does think so, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Let her tell me so with her own lips."</p> + +<p>"You will not think that I am lying to you."</p> + +<p>"And yet men do lie, and women too, without remorse, when the stakes +are high. I will believe no one but herself in this. Let her come +down and stand before me and look me in the face and tell me that it +is so,—and I promise you that there shall be no further difficulty. +I will not even ask to be alone with her. I will speak but a dozen +words to her, and you shall hear them."</p> + +<p>"She is not here, Mr. Thwaite. She is not living in this house."</p> + +<p>"Where is she then?"</p> + +<p>"She is staying with friends."</p> + +<p>"With the Lovels,—in Yorkshire?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think that good can be done by my telling you where she +is."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean me to understand that she is engaged to the Earl?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you this,—that she acknowledges herself to be bound to you, +but bound to you simply by gratitude. It seems that there was a +promise."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes,—there was a promise, Lady Lovel; a promise as firmly spoken +as when you told the late lord that you would be his wife."</p> + +<p>"I know that there was a promise,—though I, her mother, living with +her at the time, had no dream of such wickedness. There was a +promise, and by that she feels herself to be in some measure bound."</p> + +<p>"She should do so,—if words can ever mean anything."</p> + +<p>"I say she does,—but it is only by a feeling of gratitude. What;—is +it probable that she should wish to mate so much below her degree, if +she were now left to her own choice? Does it seem natural to you? She +loves the young Earl,—as why should she not? She has been thrown +into his company on purpose that she might learn to love him,—when +no one knew of this horrid promise which had been exacted from her +before she had seen any in the world from whom to choose."</p> + +<p>"She has seen two now, him and me, and she can choose as she pleases. +Let us both agree to take her at her word, and let us both be present +when that word is spoken. If she goes to him and offers him her hand +in my presence, I would not take it then though she were a princess, +in lieu of being Lady Anna Lovel. Will he treat me as fairly? Will he +be as bold to abide by her choice?"</p> + +<p>"You can never marry her, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Why can I never marry her? Would not my ring be as binding on her +finger as his? Would not the parson's word make me and her one flesh +and one bone as irretrievably as though I were ten times an earl? I +am a man and she a woman. What law of God, or of man,—what law of +nature can prevent us from being man and wife? I say that I can marry +her,—and with her consent, I will."</p> + +<p>"Never! You shall never live to call yourself the husband of my +daughter. I have striven and suffered,—as never woman strove and +suffered before, to give to my child the name and the rank which +belong to her. I did not do so that she might throw them away on such +a one as you. If you will deal honestly by +<span class="nowrap">us—"</span></p> + +<p>"I have dealt by you more than honestly."</p> + +<p>"If you will at once free her from this thraldom in which you hold +her, and allow her to act in accordance with the dictates of her own +<span class="nowrap">heart—"</span></p> + +<p>"That she shall do."</p> + +<p>"If you will not hinder us in building up again the honour of the +family, which was nigh ruined by the iniquities of my husband, we +will bless you."</p> + +<p>"I want but one blessing, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"And in regard to her money—"</p> + +<p>"I do not expect you to believe me, Countess; but her money counts as +nothing with me. If it becomes hers and she becomes my wife, as her +husband I will protect it for her. But there shall be no dealing +between you and me in regard to money."</p> + +<p>"There is money due to your father, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"If so, that can be paid when you come by your own. It was not lent +for the sake of a reward."</p> + +<p>"And you will not liberate that poor girl from her thraldom."</p> + +<p>"She can liberate herself if she will. I have told you what I will +do. Let her tell me to my face what she wishes."</p> + +<p>"That she shall never do, Mr. Thwaite;—no, by heavens. It is not +necessary that she should have your consent to make such an alliance +as her friends think proper for her. You have entangled her by a +promise, foolish on her part, and very wicked on yours, and you may +work us much trouble. You may delay the settlement of all this +question,—perhaps for years; and half ruin the estate by prolonged +lawsuits; you may make it impossible for me to pay your father what I +owe him till he, and I also, shall be no more; but you cannot, and +shall not, have access to my daughter."</p> + +<p>Daniel Thwaite, as he returned home, tried to think it all over +dispassionately. Was it as the Countess had represented? Was he +acting the part of the dog in the manger, robbing others of happiness +without the power of achieving his own? He loved the girl, and was he +making her miserable by his love? He was almost inclined to think +that the Countess had spoken truth in this respect.</p> + +<p> </p> + +<h4>END OF VOL. I.</h4> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h6>PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., CITY ROAD, LONDON.</h6> + +<p> </p> +<hr /> + +<p><a name="v2" id="v2"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1 class="title">LADY ANNA.</h1> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h5>BY</h5> + +<h2>ANTHONY TROLLOPE.</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h4>IN TWO VOLUMES.</h4> +<h3>VOL. II.</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h4><span class="small">LONDON:</span><br /> +CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.<br /> +<span class="small">1874.</span></h4> + +<h5><i>[All rights reserved]</i></h5> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h6>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO.,<br /> +CITY ROAD.</h6> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3>CONTENTS OF VOL. II.<br /> </h3> + +<div class="center"> +<table class="sm" style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3"> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">CHAPTER </td> <td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-25" >DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-26" >THE KESWICK POET.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-27" >LADY ANNA'S LETTER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-28" >LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-29" >DANIEL THWAITE ALONE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-30" >JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-31" >THE VERDICT.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-32" >WILL YOU PROMISE?</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-33" >DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-34" >I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-35" >THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-36" >IT IS STILL TRUE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-37" >LET HER DIE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-38" >LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIX. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-39" >LADY ANNA'S OFFER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XL. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-40" >NO DISGRACE AT ALL.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-41" >NEARER AND NEARER.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-42" >DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-43" >DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLIV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-44" >THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLV. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-45" >THE LAWYERS AGREE.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVI. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-46" >HARD LINES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-47" >THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVIII. </td> <td align="left"><a href="#c2-48" >THE MARRIAGE.</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h1>LADY ANNA.</h1> + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> + + +<p><a name="c2-25" id="c2-25"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXV.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On the day following that on which Daniel Thwaite had visited Lady +Lovel in Keppel Street, the Countess received from him a packet +containing a short note to herself, and the following letter +addressed to Lady Anna. The enclosure was open, and in the letter +addressed to the Countess the tailor simply asked her to read and to +send on to her daughter that which he had written, adding that if she +would do so he would promise to abide by any answer which might come +to him in Lady Anna's own handwriting. Daniel Thwaite when he made +this offer felt that he was giving up everything. Even though the +words might be written by the girl, they would be dictated by the +girl's mother, or by those lawyers who were now leagued together to +force her into a marriage with the Earl. But it was right, he +thought,—and upon the whole best for all parties,—that he should +give up everything. He could not bring himself to say so to the +Countess or to any of those lawyers, when he was sent for and told +that because of the lowliness of his position a marriage between him +and the highly born heiress was impossible. On such occasions he +revolted from the authority of those who endeavoured to extinguish +him. But, when alone, he could see at any rate as clearly as they +did, the difficulties which lay in his way. He also knew that there +was a great gulf fixed, as Miss Alice Bluestone had said,—though he +differed from the young lady as to the side of the gulf on which lay +heaven, and on which heaven's opposite. The letter to Lady Anna was +as <span class="nowrap">follows;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My Dearest</span>,</p> + +<p>This letter if it reaches you at all will be given to you +by your mother, who will have read it. It is sent to her +open that she may see what I say to you. She sent for me +and I went to her this evening, and she told me that it +was impossible that I should ever be your husband. I was +so bold as to tell her ladyship that there could be no +impossibility. When you are of age you can walk out from +your mother's house and marry me, as can I you; and no one +can hinder us. There is nothing in the law, either of God +or man, that can prevent you from becoming my wife,—if it +be your wish to be so. But your mother also said that it +was not your wish, and she went on to say that were you +not bound to me by ties of gratitude you would willingly +marry your cousin, Lord Lovel. Then I offered to meet you +in the presence of your mother,—and in the presence too +of Lord Lovel,—and to ask you then before all of us to +which of us two your heart was given. And I promised that +if in my presence you would stretch out your right hand to +the Earl neither you nor your mother should be troubled +further by Daniel Thwaite. But her ladyship swore to me, +with an oath, that I should never be allowed to see you +again.</p> + +<p>I therefore write to you, and bid you think much of what I +say to you before you answer me. You know well that I love +you. You do not suspect that I am trying to win you +because you are rich. You will remember that I loved you +when no one thought that you would be rich. I do love you +in my heart of hearts. I think of you in my dreams and +fancy then that all the world has become bright to me, +because we are walking together, hand-in-hand, where none +can come between to separate us. But I would not wish you +to be my wife, just because you have promised. If you do +not love me,—above all, if you love this other man,—say +so, and I will have done with it. Your mother says that +you are bound to me by gratitude. I do not wish you to be +my wife unless you are bound to me by love. Tell me then +how it is;—but, as you value my happiness and your own, +tell me the truth.</p> + +<p>I will not say that I shall think well of you, if you have +been carried away by this young man's nobility. I would +have you give me a fair chance. Ask yourself what has +brought him as a lover to your feet. How it came to pass +that I was your lover you cannot but remember. But, for +you, it is your first duty not to marry a man unless you +love him. If you go to him because he can make you a +countess you will be vile indeed. If you go to him because +you find that he is in truth dearer to you than I am, +because you prefer his arm to mine, because he has wound +himself into your heart of hearts,—I shall think your +heart indeed hardly worth the having; but according to +your lights you will be doing right. In that case you +shall have no further word from me to trouble you.</p> + +<p>But I desire that I may have an answer to this in your own +handwriting.</p> + +<p class="ind12">Your own sincere lover,</p> + +<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Daniel Thwaite</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>In composing and copying and recopying this letter the tailor sat up +half the night, and then very early in the morning he himself carried +it to Keppel Street, thus adding nearly three miles to his usual walk +to Wigmore Street. The servant at the lodging-house was not up, and +could hardly be made to rise by the modest appeals which Daniel made +to the bell; but at last the delivery was effected, and the forlorn +lover hurried back to his work.</p> + +<p>The Countess as she sat at breakfast read the letter over and over +again, and could not bring herself to decide whether it was right +that it should be given to her daughter. She had not yet seen Lady +Anna since she had sent the poor offender away from the house in +anger, and had more than once repeated her assurance through Mrs. +Bluestone that she would not do so till a promise had been given that +the tailor should be repudiated. Should she make this letter an +excuse for going to the house in Bedford Square, and of seeing her +child, towards whom her very bowels were yearning? At this time, +though she was a countess, with the prospect of great wealth, her +condition was not enviable. From morning to night she was alone, +unless when she would sit for an hour in Mr. Goffe's office, or on +the rarer occasions of a visit to the chambers of Serjeant Bluestone. +She had no acquaintances in London whatever. She knew that she was +unfitted for London society even if it should be open to her. She had +spent her life in struggling with poverty and powerful +enemies,—almost alone,—taking comfort in her happiest moments in +the strength and goodness of her old friend Thomas Thwaite. She now +found that those old days had been happier than these later days. Her +girl had been with her and had been,—or had at any rate seemed to +be,—true to her. She had something then to hope, something to +expect, some happiness of glory to which she could look forward. But +now she was beginning to learn,—nay had already learned, that there +was nothing for her to expect. Her rank was allowed to her. She no +longer suffered from want of money. Her cause was about to +triumph,—as the lawyers on both sides had seemed to say. But in what +respect would the triumph be sweet to her? Even should her girl +become the Countess Lovel, she would not be the less isolated. None +of the Lovels wanted her society. She had banished her daughter to +Bedford Square, and the only effect of the banishment was that her +daughter was less miserable in Bedford Square than she would have +been with her mother in Keppel Street.</p> + +<p>She did not dare to act without advice, and therefore she took the +letter to Mr. Goffe. Had it not been for a few words towards the end +of the letter she would have sent it to her daughter at once. But the +man had said that her girl would be vile indeed if she married the +Earl for the sake of becoming a countess, and the widow of the late +Earl did not like to put such doctrine into the hands of Lady Anna. +If she delivered the letter of course she would endeavour to dictate +the answer;—but her girl could be stubborn as her mother; and how +would it be with them if quite another letter should be written than +that which the Countess would have dictated?</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe read the letter and said that he would like to consider it +for a day. The letter was left with Mr. Goffe, and Mr. Goffe +consulted the Serjeant. The Serjeant took the letter home to Mrs. +Bluestone, and then another consultation was held. It found its way +to the very house in which the girl was living for whom it was +intended, but was not at last allowed to reach her hand. "It's a fine +manly letter," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"Then the less proper to give it to her," said Mrs. Bluestone, whose +heart was all softness towards Lady Anna, but as hard as a millstone +towards the tailor.</p> + +<p>"If she does like this young lord the best, why shouldn't she tell +the man the truth?" said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"Of course she likes the young lord the best,—as is natural."</p> + +<p>"Then in God's name let her say so, and put an end to all this +trouble."</p> + +<p>"You see, my dear, it isn't always easy to understand a girl's mind +in such matters. I haven't a doubt which she likes best. She is not +at all the girl to have a vitiated taste about young men. But you see +this other man came first, and had the advantage of being her only +friend at the time. She has felt very grateful to him, and as yet she +is only beginning to learn the difference between gratitude and love. +I don't at all agree with her mother as to being severe with her. I +can't bear severity to young people, who ought to be made happy. But +I am quite sure that this tailor should be kept away from her +altogether. She must not see him or his handwriting. What would she +say to herself if she got that letter? 'If he is generous, I can be +generous too;' and if she ever wrote him a letter, pledging herself +to him, all would be over. As it is, she has promised to write to +Lord Lovel. We will hold her to that; and then, when she has given a +sort of a promise to the Earl, we will take care that the tailor +shall know it. It will be best for all parties. What we have got to +do is to save her from this man, who has been both her best friend +and her worst enemy." Mrs. Bluestone was an excellent woman, and in +this emergency was endeavouring to do her duty at considerable +trouble to herself and with no hope of any reward. The future +Countess when she should become a Countess would be nothing to her. +She was a good woman;—but she did not care what evil she inflicted +on the tailor, in her endeavours to befriend the daughter of the +Countess.</p> + +<p>The tailor's letter, unseen and undreamt of by Lady Anna, was sent +back through the Serjeant and Mr. Goffe to Lady Lovel, with strong +advice from Mr. Goffe that Lady Anna should not be allowed to see it. +"I don't hesitate to tell you, Lady Lovel, that I have consulted the +Serjeant, and that we are both of opinion that no intercourse +whatever should be permitted between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel +Thwaite." The unfortunate letter was therefore sent back to the +writer with the following note;—"The Countess Lovel presents her +compliments to Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and thinks it best to return the +enclosed. The Countess is of opinion that no intercourse whatever +should take place between her daughter and Mr. Daniel Thwaite."</p> + +<p>Then Daniel swore an oath to himself that the intercourse between +them should not thus be made to cease. He had acted as he thought not +only fairly but very honourably. Nay;—he was by no means sure that +that which had been intended for fairness and honour might not have +been sheer simplicity. He had purposely abstained from any +clandestine communication with the girl he loved,—even though she +was one to whom he had had access all his life, with whom he had been +allowed to grow up together;—who had eaten of his bread and drank of +his cup. Now her new friends,—and his own old friend the +Countess,—would keep no measures with him. There was to be no +intercourse whatever! But, by the God of heaven, there should be +intercourse!</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-26" id="c2-26"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3> +<h4>THE KESWICK POET.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Infinite difficulties were now complicating themselves on the head of +poor Daniel Thwaite. The packet which the Countess addressed to him +did not reach him in London, but was forwarded after him down to +Cumberland, whither he had hurried on receipt of news from Keswick +that his father was like to die. The old man had fallen in a fit, and +when the message was sent it was not thought likely that he would +ever see his son again. Daniel went down to the north as quickly as +his means would allow him, going by steamer to Whitehaven, and thence +by coach to Keswick. His entire wages were but thirty-five shillings +a week, and on that he could not afford to travel by the mail to +Keswick. But he did reach home in time to see his father alive, and +to stand by the bedside when the old man died.</p> + +<p>Though there was not time for many words between them, and though the +apathy of coming death had already clouded the mind of Thomas +Thwaite, so that he, for the most part, disregarded,—as dying men do +disregard,—those things which had been fullest of interest to him; +still something was said about the Countess and Lady Anna. "Just +don't mind them any further, Dan," said the father.</p> + +<p>"Indeed that will be best," said Daniel.</p> + +<p>"Yes, in truth. What can they be to the likes o' you? Give me a drop +of brandy, Dan." The drop of brandy was more to him now than the +Countess; but though he thought but little of this last word, his son +thought much of it. What could such as the Countess and her titled +daughter be to him, Daniel Thwaite, the broken tailor? For, in truth, +his father was dying, a broken man. There was as much owed by him in +Keswick as all the remaining property would pay; and as for the +business, it had come to that, that the business was not worth +preserving.</p> + +<p>The old tailor died and was buried, and all Keswick knew that he had +left nothing behind him, except the debt that was due to him by the +Countess, as to which, opinion in the world of Keswick varied very +much. There were those who said that the two Thwaites, father and +son, had known very well on which side their bread was buttered, and +that Daniel Thwaite would now, at his father's death, become the +owner of bonds to a vast amount on the Lovel property. It was +generally understood in Keswick that the Earl's claim was to be +abandoned, that the rights of the Countess and her daughter were to +be acknowledged, and that the Earl and his cousin were to become man +and wife. If so the bonds would be paid, and Daniel Thwaite would +become a rich man. Such was the creed of those who believed in the +debt. But there were others who did not believe in the existence of +any such bonds, and who ridiculed the idea of advances of money +having been made. The old tailor had, no doubt, relieved the +immediate wants of the Countess by giving her shelter and food, and +had wasted his substance in making journeys, and neglecting his +business; but that was supposed to be all. For such services on +behalf of the father, it was not probable that much money would be +paid to the son; and the less so, as it was known in Keswick that +Daniel Thwaite had quarrelled with the Countess. As this latter +opinion preponderated Daniel did not find that he was treated with +any marked respect in his native town.</p> + +<p>The old man did leave a will;—a very simple document, by which +everything that he had was left to his son. And there was this +paragraph in it; "I expect that the Countess Lovel will repay to my +son Daniel all moneys that I have advanced on her behalf." As for +bonds,—or any single bond,—Daniel could find none. There was an +account of certain small items due by the Countess, of long date, and +there was her ladyship's receipt for a sum of £500, which had +apparently been lent at the time of the trial for bigamy. Beyond this +he could find no record of any details whatever, and it seemed to him +that his claim was reduced to something less than £600. Nevertheless, +he had understood from his father that the whole of the old man's +savings had been spent on behalf of the two ladies, and he believed +that some time since he had heard a sum named exceeding £6,000. In +his difficulty he asked a local attorney, and the attorney advised +him to throw himself on the generosity of the Countess. He paid the +attorney some small fee, and made up his mind at once that he would +not take the lawyer's advice. He would not throw himself on the +generosity of the Countess.</p> + +<p>There was then still living in that neighbourhood a great man, a +poet, who had nearly carried to its close a life of great honour and +of many afflictions. He was one who, in these, his latter days, +eschewed all society, and cared to see no faces but those of the +surviving few whom he had loved in early life. And as those few +survivors lived far away, and as he was but little given to move from +home, his life was that of a recluse. Of the inhabitants of the place +around him, who for the most part had congregated there since he had +come among them, he saw but little, and his neighbours said that he +was sullen and melancholic. But, according to their degrees, he had +been a friend to Thomas Thwaite, and now, in his emergency, the son +called upon the poet. Indifferent visitors, who might be and often +were intruders, were but seldom admitted at that modest gate; but +Daniel Thwaite was at once shown into the presence of the man of +letters. They had not seen each other since Daniel was a youth, and +neither would have known the other. The poet was hardly yet an old +man, but he had all the characteristics of age. His shoulders were +bent, and his eyes were deep set in his head, and his lips were thin +and fast closed. But the beautiful oval of his face was still there, +in spite of the ravages of years, of labours, and of sorrow; and the +special brightness of his eye had not yet been dimmed. "I have been +sorry, Mr. Thwaite, to hear of your father's death," said the poet. +"I knew him well, but it was some years since, and I valued him as a +man of singular probity and spirit." Then Daniel craved permission to +tell his story;—and he told it all from the beginning to the +end,—how his father and he had worked for the Countess and her girl, +how their time and then their money had been spent for her; how he +had learned to love the girl, and how, as he believed, the girl had +loved him. And he told with absolute truth the whole story, as far as +he knew it, of what had been done in London during the last nine +months. He exaggerated nothing, and did not scruple to speak openly +of his own hopes. He showed his letter to the Countess, and her note +to him, and while doing so hid none of his own feelings. Did the poet +think that there was any reason why, in such circumstances, a tailor +should not marry the daughter of a Countess? And then he gave, as far +as he knew it, the history of the money that had been advanced, and +produced a copy of his father's will. "And now, sir, what would you +have me do?"</p> + +<p>"When you first spoke to the girl of love, should you not have spoken +to the mother also, Mr. Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"Would you, sir, have done so?"</p> + +<p>"I will not say that;—but I think that I ought. Her girl was all +that she had."</p> + +<p>"It may be that I was wrong. But if the girl loves me +<span class="nowrap">now—"</span></p> + +<p>"I would not hurt your feelings for the world, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Do not spare them, sir. I did not come to you that soft things might +be said to me."</p> + +<p>"I do not think it of your father's son. Seeing what is your own +degree in life and what is theirs, that they are noble and of an old +nobility, among the few hot-house plants of the nation, and that you +are one of the people,—a blade of corn out of the open field, if I +may say so,—born to eat your bread in the sweat of your brow, can +you think that such a marriage would be other than distressing to +them?"</p> + +<p>"Is the hot-house plant stronger or better, or of higher use, than +the ear of corn?"</p> + +<p>"Have I said that it was, my friend? I will not say that either is +higher in God's sight than the other, or better, or of a nobler use. +But they are different; and though the differences may verge together +without evil when the limits are near, I do not believe in graftings +so violent as this."</p> + +<p>"You mean, sir, that one so low as a tailor should not seek to marry +so infinitely above himself as with the daughter of an Earl."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Mr. Thwaite, that is what I mean; though I hope that in coming +to me you knew me well enough to be sure that I would not willingly +offend you."</p> + +<p>"There is no offence;—there can be no offence. I am a tailor, and am +in no sort ashamed of my trade. But I did not think, sir, that you +believed in lords so absolutely as that."</p> + +<p>"I believe but in one Lord," said the poet. "In Him who, in His +wisdom and for His own purposes, made men of different degrees."</p> + +<p>"Has it been His doing, sir,—or the devil's?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I will not discuss with you a question such as that. I will not +at any rate discuss it now."</p> + +<p>"I have read, sir, in your earlier books—"</p> + +<p>"Do not quote my books to me, either early or late. You ask me for +advice, and I give it according to my ability. The time may come too, +Mr. Thwaite,"—and this he said laughing,—"when you also will be +less hot in your abhorrence of a nobility than you are now."</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"Ah;—'tis so that young men always make assurances to themselves of +their own present wisdom."</p> + +<p>"You think then that I should give her up entirely?"</p> + +<p>"I would leave her to herself, and to her mother,—and to this young +lord, if he be her lover."</p> + +<p>"But if she loves me! Oh, sir, she did love me once. If she loves me, +should I leave her to think, as time goes on, that I have forgotten +her? What chance can she have if I do not interfere to let her know +that I am true to her?"</p> + +<p>"She will have the chance of becoming Lady Lovel, and of loving her +husband."</p> + +<p>"Then, sir, you do not believe in vows of love?"</p> + +<p>"How am I to answer that?" said the poet. "Surely I do believe in +vows of love. I have written much of love, and have ever meant to +write the truth, as I knew it, or thought that I knew it. But the +love of which we poets sing is not the love of the outer world. It is +more ecstatic, but far less serviceable. It is the picture of that +which exists, but grand with imaginary attributes, as are the +portraits of ladies painted by artists who have thought rather of +their art than of their models. We tell of a constancy in love which +is hardly compatible with the usages of this as yet imperfect world. +Look abroad, and see whether girls do not love twice, and young men +thrice. They come together, and rub their feathers like birds, and +fancy that each has found in the other an eternity of weal or woe. +Then come the causes of their parting. Their fathers perhaps are +Capulets and Montagues, but their children, God be thanked, are not +Romeos and Juliets. Or money does not serve, or distance intervenes, +or simply a new face has the poor merit of novelty. The constancy of +which the poets sing is the unreal,—I may almost say the +unnecessary,—constancy of a Juliet. The constancy on which our +nature should pride itself is that of an Imogen. You read +Shakespeare, I hope, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"I know the plays you quote, sir. Imogen was a king's daughter, and +married a simple gentleman."</p> + +<p>"I would not say that early vows should mean nothing," continued the +poet, unwilling to take notice of the point made against him. "I like +to hear that a girl has been true to her first kiss. But this girl +will have the warrant of all the world to justify a second choice. +And can you think that because your company was pleasant to her here +among your native mountains, when she knew none but you, that she +will be indifferent to the charms of such a one as you tell me this +Lord Lovel is? She will have regrets,—remorse even; she will sorrow, +because she knows that you have been good to her. But she will yield, +and her life will be happier with him,—unless he be a bad man, which +I do not know,—than it would be with you. Would there be no regrets, +think you, no remorse, when she found that as your wife she had +separated herself from all that she had been taught to regard as +delightful in this world? Would she be happy in quarrelling with her +mother and her new-found relatives? You think little of noble blood, +and perhaps I think as little of it in matters relating to myself. +But she is noble, and she will think of it. As for your money, Mr. +Thwaite, I should make it a matter of mere business with the +Countess, as though there was no question relating to her daughter. +She probably has an account of the money, and doubtless will pay you +when she has means at her disposal."</p> + +<p>Daniel left his Mentor without another word on his own behalf, +expressing thanks for the counsel that had been given to him, and +assuring the poet that he would endeavour to profit by it. Then he +walked away, over the very paths on which he had been accustomed to +stray with Anna Lovel, and endeavoured to digest the words that he +had heard. He could not bring himself to see their truth. That he +should not force the girl to marry him, if she loved another better +than she loved him, simply by the strength of her own obligation to +him, he could understand. But that it was natural that she should +transfer to another the affection that she had once bestowed upon +him, because that other was a lord, he would not allow. Not only his +heart but all his intellect rebelled against such a decision. A +transfer so violent would, he thought, show that she was incapable of +loving. And yet this doctrine had come to him from one who, as he +himself had said, had written much of love.</p> + +<p>But, though he argued after this fashion with himself, the words of +the old poet had had their efficacy. Whether the fault might be with +the girl, or with himself, or with the untoward circumstances of the +case, he determined to teach himself that he had lost her. He would +never love another woman. Though the Earl's daughter could not be +true to him, he, the suitor, would be true to the Earl's daughter. +There might no longer be Romeos among the noble Capulets and the +noble Montagues,—whom indeed he believed to be dead to faith; but +the salt of truth had not therefore perished from the world. He would +get what he could from this wretched wreck of his father's +property,—obtain payment if it might be possible of that poor £500 +for which he held the receipt,—and then go to some distant land in +which the wisest of counsellors would not counsel him that he was +unfit because of his trade to mate himself with noble blood.</p> + +<p>When he had proved his father's will he sent a copy of it up to the +Countess with the following +<span class="nowrap">letter;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Keswick, November 4, 183—.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My Lady</span>,</p> + +<p>I do not know whether your ladyship will yet have heard of +my father's death. He died here on the 24th of last month. +He was taken with apoplexy on the 15th, and never +recovered from the fit. I think you will be sorry for him.</p> + +<p>I find myself bound to send your ladyship a copy of his +will. Your ladyship perhaps may have some account of what +money has passed between you and him. I have none except a +receipt for £500 given to you by him many years ago. There +is also a bill against your ladyship for £71 18<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i> +It may be that no more is due than this, but you will +know. I shall be happy to hear from your ladyship on the +subject, and am,</p> + +<p class="ind12">Yours respectfully,</p> + +<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Daniel Thwaite</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>But he still was resolved that before he departed for the far western +land he would obtain from Anna Lovel herself an expression of her +determination to renounce him.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-27" id="c2-27"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA'S LETTER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>In the mean time the week had gone round, and Lady Anna's letter to +the Earl had not yet been written. An army was arrayed against the +girl to induce her to write such a letter as might make it almost +impossible for her afterwards to deny that she was engaged to the +lord, but the army had not as yet succeeded. The Countess had not +seen her daughter,—had been persistent in her refusal to let her +daughter come to her till she had at any rate repudiated her other +suitor; but she had written a strongly worded but short letter, +urging it as a great duty that Lady Anna Lovel was bound to support +her family and to defend her rank. Mrs. Bluestone, from day to day, +with soft loving words taught the same lesson. Alice Bluestone in +their daily conversations spoke of the tailor, or rather of this +promise to the tailor, with a horror which at any rate was not +affected. The Serjeant, almost with tears in his eyes, implored her +to put an end to the lawsuit. Even the Solicitor-General sent her +tender messages,—expressing his great hope that she might enable +them to have this matter adjusted early in November. All the details +of the case as it now stood had been explained to her over and over +again. If, when the day fixed for the trial should come round, it +could be said that she and the young Earl were engaged to each other, +the Earl would altogether abandon his claim,—and no further +statement would be made. The fact of the marriage in Cumberland would +then be proved,—the circumstances of the trial for bigamy would be +given in evidence,—and all the persons concerned would be together +anxious that the demands of the two ladies should be admitted in +full. It was the opinion of the united lawyers that were this done, +the rank of the Countess would be allowed, and that the property left +behind him by the old lord would be at once given up to those who +would inherit it under the order of things as thus established. The +Countess would receive that to which she would be entitled as widow, +the daughter would be the heir-at-law to the bulk of the personal +property, and the Earl would merely claim any real estate, if,—as +was very doubtful,—any real estate had been left in question. In +this case the disposition of the property would be just what they +would all desire, and the question of rank would be settled for ever. +But if the young lady should not have then agreed to this very +pleasant compromise, the Earl indeed would make no further endeavours +to invalidate the Cumberland marriage, and would retire from the +suit. But it would then be stated that there was a claimant in +Sicily,—or at least evidence in Italy, which if sifted might +possibly bar the claim of the Countess. The Solicitor-General did not +hesitate to say that he believed the living woman to be a weak +impostor, who had been first used by the Earl and had then put +forward a falsehood to get an income out of the property; but he was +by no means convinced that the other foreign woman, whom the Earl had +undoubtedly made his first wife, might not have been alive when the +second marriage was contracted. If it were so, the Countess would be +no Countess, Anna Lovel would simply be Anna Murray, penniless, +baseborn, and a fit wife for the tailor, should the tailor think fit +to take her. "If it be so," said Lady Anna through her tears, "let it +be so; and he will take me."</p> + +<p>It may have been that the army was too strong for its own +purpose,—too much of an army to gain a victory on that field,—that +a weaker combination of forces would have prevailed when all this +array failed. No one had a word to say for the tailor; no one +admitted that he had been a generous friend; no feeling was expressed +for him. It seemed to be taken for granted that he, from the +beginning, had laid his plans for obtaining possession of an enormous +income in the event of the Countess being proved to be a Countess. +There was no admission that he had done aught for love. Now, in all +these matters, Lady Anna was sure of but one thing alone, and that +was of the tailor's truth. Had they acknowledged that he was good and +noble, they might perhaps have persuaded her,—as the poet had almost +persuaded her lover,—that the fitness of things demanded that they +should be separated.</p> + +<p>But she had promised that she would write the letter by the end of +the week, and when the end of a fortnight had come she knew that it +must be written. She had declared over and over again to Mrs. +Bluestone that she must go away from Bedford Square. She could not +live there always, she said. She knew that she was in the way of +everybody. Why should she not go back to her own mother? "Does mamma +mean to say that I am never to live with her any more?" Mrs. +Bluestone promised that if she would write her letter and tell her +cousin that she would try to love him, she should go back to her +mother at once. "But I cannot live here always," persisted Lady Anna. +Mrs. Bluestone would not admit that there was any reason why her +visitor should not continue to live in Bedford Square as long as the +arrangement suited Lady Lovel.</p> + +<p>Various letters were written for her. The Countess wrote one which +was an unqualified acceptance of the Earl's offer, and which was very +short. Alice Bluestone wrote one which was full of poetry. Mrs. +Bluestone wrote a third, in which a great many ambiguous words were +used,—in which there was no definite promise, and no poetry. But had +this letter been sent it would have been almost impossible for the +girl afterwards to extricate herself from its obligations. The +Serjeant, perhaps, had lent a word or two, for the letter was +undoubtedly very clever. In this letter Lady Anna was made to say +that she would always have the greatest pleasure in receiving her +cousin's visits, and that she trusted that she might be able to +co-operate with her cousins in bringing the lawsuit to a close;—that +she certainly would not marry any one without her mother's consent, +but that she did not find herself able at the present to say more +than that. "It won't stop the Solicitor-General, you know," the +Serjeant had remarked, as he read it. "Bother the Solicitor-General!" +Mrs. Bluestone had answered, and had then gone on to show that it +would lead to that which would stop the learned gentleman. The +Serjeant had added a word or two, and great persuasion was used to +induce Lady Anna to use this epistle.</p> + +<p>But she would have none of it. "Oh, I couldn't, Mrs. Bluestone;—he +would know that I hadn't written all that."</p> + +<p>"You have promised to write, and you are bound to keep your promise," +said Mrs. Bluestone.</p> + +<p>"I believe I am bound to keep all my promises," said Lady Anna, +thinking of those which she had made to Daniel Thwaite.</p> + +<p>But at last she sat down and did write a letter for herself, +specially premising that no one should see it. When she had made her +promise, she certainly had not intended to write that which should be +shown to all the world. Mrs. Bluestone had begged that at any rate +the Countess might see it. "If mamma will let me go to her, of course +I will show it her," said Lady Anna. At last it was thought best to +allow her to write her own letter and to send it unseen. After many +struggles and with many tears she wrote her letter as +<span class="nowrap">follows;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Bedford Square, Tuesday.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Cousin</span>,</p> + +<p>I am sorry that I have been so long in doing what I said I +would do. I don't think I ought to have promised, for I +find it very difficult to say anything, and I think that +it is wrong that I should write at all. It is not my fault +that there should be a lawsuit. I do not want to take +anything away from anybody, or to get anything for myself. +I think papa was very wicked when he said that mamma was +not his wife, and of course I wish it may all go as she +wishes. But I don't think anybody ought to ask me to do +what I feel to be wrong.</p> + +<p>Mr. Daniel Thwaite is not at all such a person as they +say. He and his father have been mamma's best friends, and +I shall never forget that. Old Mr. Thwaite is dead, and I +am very sorry to hear it. If you had known them as we did +you would understand what I feel. Of course he is not your +friend; but he is my friend, and I dare say that makes me +unfit to be friends with you. You are a nobleman and he is +a tradesman; but when we knew him first he was quite as +good as we, and I believe we owe him a great deal of +money, which mamma can't pay him. I have heard mamma say +before she was angry with him, that she would have been in +the workhouse, but for them, and that Mr. Daniel Thwaite +might now be very well off, and not a working tailor at +all as Mrs. Bluestone calls him, if they hadn't given all +they had to help us. I cannot bear after that to hear them +speak of him as they do.</p> + +<p>Of course I should like to do what mamma wants; but how +would you feel if you had promised somebody else? I do so +wish that all this might be stopped altogether. My dear +mamma will not allow me to see her; and though everybody +is very kind, I feel that I ought not to be here with Mrs. +Bluestone. Mamma talked of going abroad somewhere. I wish +she would, and take me away. I should see nobody then, and +there would be no trouble. But I suppose she hasn't got +enough money. This is a very poor letter, but I do not +know what else I can say.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind12">Believe me to be,</span><br /> +<span class="ind14">My dear cousin,</span><br /> +<span class="ind16">Yours affectionately,</span></p> + +<p class="ind18"><span class="smallcaps">Anna Lovel</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>Then came, in a postscript, the one thing that she had to say,—"I +think that I ought to be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite."</p> + +<p>Lord Lovel after receiving this letter called in Bedford Square and +saw Mrs. Bluestone,—but he did not show the letter. His cousin was +out with the girls and he did not wait to see her. He merely said +that he had received a letter which had not given him much comfort. +"But I shall answer it," he said,—and the reader who has seen the +one letter shall see also the other.<br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="jright">Brown's Hotel, Albemarle Street,<br /> +4th November, 183—.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dearest Anna</span>,</p> + +<p>I have received your letter and am obliged to you for it, +though there is so little in it to flatter or to satisfy +me. I will begin by assuring you that, as far as I am +concerned, I do not wish to keep you from seeing Mr. +Daniel Thwaite. I believe in my heart of hearts that if +you were now to see him often you would feel aware that a +union between you and him could not make either of you +happy. You do not even say that you think it would do so.</p> + +<p>You defend him, as though I had accused him. I grant all +that you say in his favour. I do not doubt that his father +behaved to you and to your mother with true friendship. +But that will not make him fit to be the husband of Anna +Lovel. You do not even say that you think that he would be +fit. I fancy I understand it all, and I love you better +for the pride with which you cling to so firm a friend.</p> + +<p>But, dearest, it is different when we talk of marriage. I +imagine that you hardly dare now to think of becoming his +wife. I doubt whether you say even to yourself that you +love him with that kind of love. Do not suppose me vain +enough to believe that therefore you must love me. It is +not that. But if you would once tell yourself that he is +unfit to be your husband, then you might come to love me, +and would not be the less willing to do so, because all +your friends wish it. It must be something to you that you +should be able to put an end to all this trouble.</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind14">Yours, dearest Anna,</span><br /> +<span class="ind16">Most affectionately,</span></p> + +<p class="ind20">L.</p> + +<p class="noindent">I called in Bedford Square this morning, but you were not +at home!<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>"But I do dare," she said to herself, when she had read the letter. +"Why should I not dare? And I do say to myself that I love him. Why +should I not love him now, when I was not ashamed to love him +before?" She was being persecuted; and as the step of the wayfarer +brings out the sweet scent of the herb which he crushes with his +heel, so did persecution with her extract from her heart that +strength of character which had hitherto been latent. Had they left +her at Yoxham, and said never a word to her about the tailor; had the +rector and the two aunts showered soft courtesies on her head,—they +might have vanquished her. But now the spirit of opposition was +stronger within her than ever.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-28" id="c2-28"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3> +<h4>LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Monday, the 9th of November, was the day set down for the trial of +the case which had assumed the name of "Lovel versus Murray and +Another." This denomination had been adopted many months ago, when it +had been held to be practicable by the Lovel party to prove that the +lady who was now always called the Countess, was not entitled to bear +the name of Lovel, but was simply Josephine Murray, and her daughter +simply Anna Murray. Had there been another wife alive when the mother +was married that name and that name only could have been hers, +whether she had been the victim of the old Earl's fraud,—or had +herself been a party to it. The reader will have understood that as +the case went on the opinions of those who acted for the young Earl, +and more especially the opinion of the young Earl himself, had been +changed. Prompted to do so by various motives, they, who had +undertaken to prove that the Countess was no Countess, had freely +accorded to her her title, and had themselves entertained her +daughter with all due acknowledgment of rank and birth. Nevertheless +the name of the case remained and had become common in people's +mouths. The very persons who would always speak of the Countess Lovel +spoke also very familiarly of the coming trial in "Lovel v. Murray," +and now the 9th of November had come round and the case of "Lovel v. +Murray and Another" was to be tried. The nature of the case was this. +The two ladies, mother and daughter, had claimed the personal +property of the late lord as his widow and daughter. Against that +claim Earl Lovel made his claim, as heir-at-law, alleging that there +was no widow, and no legitimate child. The case had become infinitely +complicated by the alleged existence of the first wife,—in which +case she as widow would have inherited. But still the case went on as +Lovel v. Murray,—the Lovel so named being the Earl, and not the +alleged Italian widow.</p> + +<p>Such being the question presumably at issue, it became the duty of +the Solicitor-General to open the pleadings. In the ordinary course +of proceeding it would have been his task to begin by explaining the +state of the family, and by assuming that he could prove the former +marriage and the existence of the former wife at the time of the +latter marriage. His evidence would have been subject to +cross-examination, and then another counter-statement would have been +made on behalf of the Countess, and her witnesses would have been +brought forward. When all this had been done the judge would have +charged the jury, and with the jury would have rested the decision. +This would have taken many days, and all the joys and sorrows, all +the mingled hopes and anxieties of a long trial had been expected. +Bets had been freely made, odds being given at first on behalf of +Lord Lovel, and afterwards odds on behalf of the Countess. Interest +had been made to get places in the court, and the clubs had resounded +now with this fact and now with that which had just been brought home +from Sicily as certain. Then had come suddenly upon the world the +tidings that there would absolutely be no trial, that the great case +of "Lovel v. Murray and Another" was to be set at rest for ever by +the marriage of "Lovel" with "Another," and by the acceptance by +"Lovel" of "Murray" as his mother-in-law. But the quidnuncs would not +accept this solution. No doubt Lord Lovel might marry the second +party in the defence, and it was admitted on all hands that he +probably would do so;—but that would not stop the case. If there +were an Italian widow living, that widow was the heir to the +property. Another Lovel would take the place of Lord Lovel,—and the +cause of Lovel v. Murray must still be continued. The first marriage +could not be annulled, simply by the fact that it would suit the +young Earl that it should be annulled. Then, while this dispute was +in progress, it was told at all the clubs that there was to be no +marriage,—that the girl had got herself engaged to a tailor, and +that the tailor's mastery over her was so strong that she did not +dare to shake him off. Dreadful things were told about the tailor and +poor Lady Anna. There had been a secret marriage; there was going to +be a child;—the latter fact was known as a certain fact to a great +many men at the clubs;—the tailor had made everything safe in twenty +different ways. He was powerful over the girl equally by love, by +fear, and by written bond. The Countess had repelled her daughter +from her house by turning her out into the street by night, and had +threatened both murder and suicide. Half the fortune had been offered +to the tailor, in vain. The romance of the story had increased +greatly during the last few days preceding the trial,—but it was +admitted by all that the trial as a trial would be nothing. There +would probably be simply an adjournment.</p> + +<p>It would be hard to say how the story of the tailor leaked out, and +became at last public and notorious. It had been agreed among all the +lawyers that it should be kept secret,—but it may perhaps have been +from some one attached to them that it was first told abroad. No +doubt all Norton and Flick knew it, and all Goffe and Goffe. Mr. +Mainsail and his clerk, Mr. Hardy and his clerk, Serjeant Bluestone +and his clerk, all knew it; but they had all promised secrecy. The +clerk of the Solicitor-General was of course beyond suspicion. The +two Miss Bluestones had known the story, but they had solemnly +undertaken to be silent as the grave. Mrs. Bluestone was a lady with +most intimately confidential friends,—but she was sworn to secrecy. +It might have come from Sarah, the lady's-maid, whom the Countess had +unfortunately attached to her daughter when the first gleam of +prosperity had come upon them.</p> + +<p>Among the last who heard the story of the tailor,—the last of any +who professed the slightest interest in the events of the Lovel +family,—were the Lovels of Yoxham. The Earl had told them nothing. +In answer to his aunt's letters, and then in answer to a very urgent +appeal from his uncle, the young nobleman had sent only the most curt +and most ambiguous replies. When there was really something to tell +he would tell everything, but at present he could only say that he +hoped that everything would be well. That had been the extent of the +information given by the Earl to his relations, and the rector had +waxed wrathful. Nor was his wrath lessened, or the sorrow of the two +aunts mitigated, when the truth reached them by the mouth of that +very Lady Fitzwarren who had been made to walk out of the room +after—Anna Murray, as Lady Fitzwarren persisted in calling the +"young person" after she had heard the story of the tailor. She told +the story at Yoxham parsonage to the two aunts, and brought with her +a printed paragraph from a newspaper to prove the truth of it. As it +is necessary that we should now hurry into the court to hear what the +Solicitor-General had to say about the case, we cannot stop to +sympathize with the grief of the Lovels at Yoxham. We may, however, +pause for a moment to tell the burden of the poor rector's song for +that evening. "I knew how it would be from the beginning. I told you +so. I was sure of it. But nobody would believe me."</p> + +<p>The Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster was crowded on the 9th of +November. The case was to be heard before the Lord Chief Justice, and +it was known that at any rate Sir William Patterson would have +something to tell. If nothing else came of it, the telling of that +story would be worth the hearing. All the preliminaries of the trial +went on, as though every one believed that it was to be carried +through to the bitter end,—as though evidence were to be adduced and +rebutted, and further contradicted by other evidence, which would +again be rebutted with that pleasing animosity between rival lawyers, +which is so gratifying to the outside world, and apparently to +themselves also. The jurors were sworn in,—a special jury,—and long +was the time taken, and many the threats made by the Chief Justice, +before twelve gentlemen would consent to go into the box. Crowds were +round the doors of the court, of which every individual man would +have paid largely for standing-room to hear the trial; but when they +were wanted for use, men would not come forward to accept a seat, +with all that honour which belongs to a special juryman. And yet it +was supposed that at last there would be no question to submit to a +jury.</p> + +<p>About noon the Solicitor began his statement. He was full of smiles +and nods and pleasant talk, gestures indicative of a man who had a +piece of work before him in which he could take delight. It is always +satisfactory to see the assurance of a cock crowing in his own +farm-yard, and to admire his easy familiarity with things that are +awful to a stranger bird. If you, O reader, or I were bound to stand +up in that court, dressed in wig and gown, and to tell a story that +would take six hours in the telling, the one or the other of us +knowing it to be his special duty so to tell it that judge, and +counsellors, and jury, should all catch clearly every point that was +to be made,—how ill would that story be told, how would those points +escape the memory of the teller, and never come near the intellect of +the hearers! And how would the knowledge that it would be so, confuse +your tongue or mine,—and make exquisitely miserable that moment of +rising before the audience! But our Solicitor-General rose to his +legs a happy man, with all that grace of motion, that easy slowness, +that unassumed confidence which belongs to the ordinary doings of our +familiar life. Surely he must have known that he looked well in his +wig and gown, as with low voice and bent neck, with only +half-suppressed laughter, he whispered into the ears of the gentleman +who sat next to him some pleasant joke that had just occurred to him. +He could do that, though the eyes of all the court were upon him; so +great was the man! And then he began with a sweet low voice, almost +modest in its tones. For a few moments it might have been thought +that some young woman was addressing the court, so gentle, so dulcet +were the tones.</p> + +<p>"My lord, it is my intention on this occasion to do that which an +advocate can seldom do,—to make a clean breast of it, to tell the +court and the jury all that I know of this case, all that I think of +it, and all that I believe,—and in short to state a case as much in +the interest of my opponents as of my clients. The story with which I +must occupy the time of the court, I fear, for the whole remainder of +the day, with reference to the Lovel family, is replete with marvels +and romance. I shall tell you of great crimes and of singular +virtues, of sorrows that have been endured and conquered, and of +hopes that have been nearly realised; but the noble client on whose +behalf I am here called upon to address you, is not in any manner the +hero of this story. His heroism will be shown to consist in +this,—unless I mar the story in telling it,—that he is only anxious +to establish the truth, whether that truth be for him or against him. +We have now to deal with an ancient and noble family, of which my +client, the present Earl Lovel, is at this time the head and chief. +On the question now before us depends the possession of immense +wealth. Should this trial be carried to its natural conclusion it +will be for you to decide whether this wealth belongs to him as the +heir-at-law of the late Earl, or whether there was left some nearer +heir when that Earl died, whose rightful claim would bar that of my +client. But there is more to be tried than this,—and on that more +depends the right of two ladies to bear the name of Lovel. Such +right, or the absence of such right, would in this country of itself +be sufficient to justify, nay, to render absolutely necessary, some +trial before a jury in any case of well-founded doubt. Our titles of +honour bear so high a value among us, are so justly regarded as the +outward emblem of splendour and noble conduct, are recognised so +universally as passports to all society, that we are naturally prone +to watch their assumption with a caution most exact and scrupulous. +When the demand for such honour is made on behalf of a man it +generally includes the claim to some parliamentary privilege, the +right to which has to be decided not by a jury, but by the body to +which that privilege belongs. The claim to a peerage must be tried +before the House of Lords,—if made by a woman as by a man, because +the son of the heiress would be a peer of Parliament. In the case +with which we are now concerned no such right is in question. The +lady who claims to be the Countess Lovel, and her daughter who claims +to be Lady Anna Lovel, make no demand which renders necessary other +decision than that of a jury. It is as though any female commoner in +the land claimed to have been the wife of an alleged husband. But not +the less is the claim made to a great and a noble name; and as a +grave doubt has been thrown upon the justice of the demand made by +these ladies, it has become the duty of my client as the head of the +Lovels, as being himself, without any doubt, the Earl Lovel of the +day, to investigate the claim made, and to see that no false +pretenders are allowed to wear the highly prized honours of his +family. Independently of the great property which is at stake, the +nature of which it will be my duty to explain to you, the question at +issue whether the elder lady be or be not Countess Lovel, and whether +the younger lady be or be not Lady Anna Lovel, has demanded the +investigation which could not adequately have been made without this +judicial array. I will now state frankly to you our belief that these +two ladies are fully entitled to the names which they claim to bear; +and I will add to that statement a stronger assurance of my own +personal conviction and that of my client that they themselves are +fully assured of the truth and justice of their demand. I think it +right also to let you know that since these inquiries were first +commenced, since the day for this trial was fixed, the younger of +these ladies has been residing with the uncle of my client, under the +same roof with my client, as an honoured and most welcome guest, and +there, in the face of the whole country, has received that +appellation of nobility from all the assembled members of my client's +family, to dispute which I apparently now stand before you on that +client's behalf." The rector of Yoxham, who was in court, shook his +head vehemently when the statement was made that Lady Anna had been +his welcome guest; but nobody was then regarding the rector of +Yoxham, and he shook his head in vain.</p> + +<p>"You will at once ask why, if this be so, should the trial be +continued. 'As all is thus conceded,' you will say, 'that these two +ladies claim, whom in your indictment you have misnamed Murray, why +not, in God's name, give them their privileges, and the wealth which +should appertain to them, and release them from the persecution of +judicial proceedings?' In the first place I must answer that neither +my belief, nor that of my friends who are acting with me, nor even +that of my noble client himself, is sufficient to justify us in +abstaining from seeking a decision which shall be final as against +further claimants. If the young Earl should die, then would there be +another Earl, and that other Earl might also say, with grounds as +just as those on which we have acted, that the lady, whom I shall +henceforward call the Countess Lovel, is no Countess. We think that +she is,—but it will be for you to decide whether she is or is not, +after hearing the evidence which will, no doubt, be adduced of her +marriage,—and any evidence to the contrary which other parties may +bring before you. We shall adduce no evidence to the contrary, nor do +I think it probable that we shall ask a single question to shake that +with which my learned friend opposite is no doubt prepared. In fact, +there is no reason why my learned friend and I should not sit +together, having our briefs and our evidence in common. And then, as +the singular facts of this story become clear to you,—as I trust +that I may be able to make them clear,—you will learn that there are +other interests at stake beyond those of my client and of the two +ladies who appear here as his opponents. Two statements have been +made tending to invalidate the rights of Countess Lovel,—both having +originated with one who appears to have been the basest and blackest +human being with whose iniquities my experience as a lawyer has made +me conversant. I speak of the late Earl. It was asserted by him, +almost from the date of his marriage with the lady who is now his +widow,—falsely stated, as I myself do not doubt,—that when he +married her he had a former wife living. But it is, I understand, +capable of absolute proof that he also stated that this former wife +died soon after that second marriage,—which in such event would have +been but a mock marriage. Were such the truth,—should you come to +the belief that the late Earl spoke truth in so saying,—the whole +property at issue would become the undisputed possession of my +client. The late Earl died intestate, the will which he did leave +having been already set aside by my client as having been made when +the Earl was mad. The real wife, according to this story, would be +dead. The second wife, according to this story, would be no +wife,—and no widow. The daughter, according to this story, would be +no daughter in the eye of the law,—would, at any rate, be no +heiress. The Earl would be the undisputed heir to the personal +property, as he is to the real property and to the title. But we +disbelieve this story utterly,—we intend to offer no evidence to +show that the first wife,—for there was such a wife,—was living +when the second marriage was contracted. We have no such evidence, +and believe that none such can be found. Then that recreant nobleman, +in whose breast there was no touch of nobility, in whose heart was no +spark of mercy, made a second statement,—to this effect—that his +first wife had not died at all. His reason for this it is hardly for +us to seek. He may have done so, as affording a reason why he should +not go through a second marriage ceremony with the lady whom he had +so ill used. But that he did make this statement is certain,—and it +is also certain that he allowed an income to a certain woman as +though to a wife, that he allowed her to be called the Countess, +though he was then living with another Italian woman; and it is also +certain that this woman is still living,—or at least that she was +living some week or two ago. We believe her to have been an elder +sister of her who was the first wife, and whose death occurred before +the second marriage. Should it be proved that this living woman was +the legitimate wife of the late Earl, not only would the right be +barred of those two English ladies to whom all our sympathies are now +given, but no portion of the property in dispute would go either to +them or to my client. I am told that before his lordship, the Chief +Justice, shall have left the case in your hands, an application will +be made to the court on behalf of that living lady. I do not know how +that may be, but I am so informed. If such application be made,—if +there be any attempt to prove that she should inherit as widow,—then +will my client again contest the case. We believe that the Countess +Lovel, the English Countess, is the widow, and that Lady Anna Lovel +is Lady Anna Lovel, and is the heiress. Against them we will not +struggle. As was our bounden duty, we have sent not once only, but +twice and thrice, to Italy and to Sicily in search of evidence which, +if true, would prove that the English Countess was no Countess. We +have failed, and have no evidence which we think it right to ask a +jury to believe. We think that a mass of falsehood has been heaped +together among various persons in a remote part of a foreign country, +with the view of obtaining money, all of which was grounded on the +previous falsehoods of the late Earl. We will not use these +falsehoods with the object of disputing a right in the justice of +which we have ourselves the strongest confidence. We withdraw from +any such attempt.</p> + +<p>"But as yet I have only given you the preliminaries of my story." He +had, in truth, told his story. He had, at least, told all of it that +it will import that the reader should hear. He, indeed,—unfortunate +one,—will have heard the most of that story twice or thrice before. +But the audience in the Court of Queen's Bench still listened with +breathless attention, while, under this new head of his story he told +every detail again with much greater length than he had done in the +prelude which has been here given. He stated the facts of the +Cumberland marriage, apologizing to his learned friend the Serjeant +for taking, as he said, the very words out of his learned friend's +mouth. He expatiated with an eloquence that was as vehement as it was +touching on the demoniacal schemes of that wicked Earl, to whom, +during the whole of his fiendish life, women had been a prey. He +repudiated, with a scorn that was almost terrible in its wrath, the +idea that Josephine Murray had gone to the Earl's house with the name +of wife, knowing that she was, in fact, but a mistress. She herself +was in court, thickly veiled, under the care of one of the Goffes, +having been summoned there as a necessary witness, and could not +control her emotion as she listened to the words of warm eulogy with +which the adverse counsel told the history of her life. It seemed to +her then that justice was at last being done to her. Then the +Solicitor-General reverted again to the two Italian women,—the +Sicilian sisters, as he called them,—and at much length gave his +reasons for discrediting the evidence which he himself had sought, +that he might use it with the object of establishing the claim of his +client. And lastly, he described the nature of the possessions which +had been amassed by the late Earl, who, black with covetousness as he +was with every other sin, had so manipulated his property that almost +the whole of it had become personal, and was thus inheritable by a +female heiress. He knew, he said, that he was somewhat irregular in +alluding to facts,—or to fiction, if any one should call it +fiction,—which he did not intend to prove, or to attempt to prove; +but there was something, he said, beyond the common in the aspect +which this case had taken, something in itself so irregular, that he +thought he might perhaps be held to be excused in what he had done. +"For the sake of the whole Lovel family, for the sake of these two +most interesting ladies, who have been subjected, during a long +period of years, to most undeserved calamities, we are anxious to +establish the truth. I have told you what we believe to be the truth, +and as that in no single detail militates against the case as it will +be put forward by my learned friends opposite, we have no evidence to +offer. We are content to accept the marriage of the widowed Countess +as a marriage in every respect legal and binding." So saying the +Solicitor-General sat down.</p> + +<p>It was then past five o'clock, and the court, as a matter of course, +was adjourned, but it was adjourned by consent to the Wednesday, +instead of to the following day, in order that there might be due +consideration given to the nature of the proceedings that must +follow. As the thing stood at present it seemed that there need be no +further plea of "Lovel v. Murray and Another." It had been granted +that Murray was not Murray, but Lovel; yet it was thought that +something further would be done.</p> + +<p>It had all been very pretty; but yet there had been a feeling of +disappointment throughout the audience. Not a word had been said as +to that part of the whole case which was supposed to be the most +romantic. Not a word had been said about the tailor.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-29" id="c2-29"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL THWAITE ALONE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>There were two persons in the court who heard the statement of the +Solicitor-General with equal interest,—and perhaps with equal +disapprobation,—whose motives and ideas on the subject were exactly +opposite. These two were the Rev. Mr. Lovel, the uncle of the +plaintiff, and Daniel Thwaite, the tailor, whose whole life had been +passed in furthering the cause of the defendants. The parson, from +the moment in which he had heard that the young lady whom he had +entertained in his house had engaged herself to marry the tailor, had +reverted to his old suspicions,—suspicions which, indeed, he had +never altogether laid aside. It had been very grievous to him to +prefer a doubtful Lady Anna to a most indubitable Lady Fitzwarren. He +liked the old-established things,—things which had always been +unsuspected, which were not only respectable but firm-rooted. For +twenty years he had been certain that the Countess was a false +countess; and he, too, had lamented with deep inward lamentation over +the loss of the wealth which ought to have gone to support the family +earldom. It was monstrous to him that the property of one Earl Lovel +should not appertain to the next Earl. He would on the moment have +had the laws with reference to the succession of personal property +altered, with retrospective action, so that so great an iniquity +should be impossible. When the case against the so-called Countess +was, as it were, abandoned by the Solicitor-General, and the great +interests at stake thrown up, he would have put the conduct of the +matter into other hands. Then had come upon him the bitterness of +having to entertain in his own house the now almost +undisputed,—though by him still suspected,—heiress, on behalf of +his nephew, of a nephew who did not treat him well. And now the +heiress had shown what she really was by declaring her intention of +marrying a tailor! When that became known, he did hope that the +Solicitor-General would change his purpose and fight the cause.</p> + +<p>The ladies of the family, the two aunts, had affected to disbelieve +the paragraph which Lady Fitzwarren had shown them with so much +triumph. The rector had declared that it was just the kind of thing +that he had expected. Aunt Julia, speaking freely, had said that it +was just the kind of thing which she, knowing the girl, could not +believe. Then the rector had come up to town to hear the trial, and +on the day preceding it had asked his nephew as to the truth of the +rumour which had reached him. "It is true," said the young lord, +knitting his brow, "but it had better not be talked about."</p> + +<p>"Why not talked about? All the world knows it. It has been in the +newspapers."</p> + +<p>"Any one wishing to oblige me will not mention it," said the Earl. +This was too bad. It could not be possible,—for the honour of all +the Lovels it could not surely be possible,—that Lord Lovel was +still seeking the hand of a young woman who had confessed that she +was engaged to marry a journeyman tailor! And yet to him, the +uncle,—to him who had not long since been in loco parentis to the +lord,—the lord would vouchsafe no further reply than that above +given! The rector almost made himself believe that, great as might be +the sorrow caused by such disruption, it would become his duty to +quarrel with the Head of his family!</p> + +<p>He listened with most attentive ears to every word spoken by the +Solicitor-General, and quarrelled with almost every word. Would not +any one have imagined that this advocate had been paid to plead the +cause, not of the Earl, but of the Countess? As regarded the +interests of the Earl, everything was surrendered. Appeal was made +for the sympathies of all the court,—and, through the newspapers, +for the sympathies of all England,—not on behalf of the Earl who was +being defrauded of his rights, but on behalf of the young woman who +had disgraced the name which she pretended to call her own,—and +whose only refuge from that disgrace must be in the fact that to that +name she had no righteous claim! Even when this apostate barrister +came to a recapitulation of the property at stake, and explained the +cause of its being vested, not in land as is now the case with the +bulk of the possessions of noble lords,—but in shares and funds and +ventures of commercial speculation here and there, after the fashion +of tradesmen,—he said not a word to stir up in the minds of the jury +a feeling of the injury which had been done to the present Earl. +"Only that I am told that he has a wife of his own I should think +that he meant to marry one of the women himself," said the indignant +rector in the letter which he wrote to his sister Julia.</p> + +<p>And the tailor was as indignant as the rector. He was summoned as a +witness and was therefore bound to attend,—at the loss of his day's +work. When he reached the court, which he did long before the judge +had taken his seat, he found it to be almost impossible to effect an +entrance. He gave his name to some officer about the place, but +learned that his name was altogether unknown. He showed his +subpœna and was told that he must wait till he was called. "Where +must I wait?" asked the angry radical. "Anywhere," said the man in +authority; "but you can't force your way in here." Then he remembered +that no one had as yet paid so dearly for this struggle, no one had +suffered so much, no one had been so instrumental in bringing the +truth to light, as he, and this was the way in which he was treated! +Had there been any justice in those concerned a seat would have been +provided for him in the court, even though his attendance had not +been required. There were hundreds there, brought thither by simple +curiosity, to whom priority of entrance into the court had been +accorded by favour, because they were wealthy, or because they were +men of rank, or because they had friends high in office. All his +wealth had been expended in this case; it was he who had been the +most constant friend of this Countess; but for him and his father +there might probably have been no question of a trial at this day. +And yet he was allowed to beg for admittance, and to be shoved out of +court because he had no friends. "The court is a public court, and is +open to the public," he said, as he thrust his shoulders forward with +a resolution that he would effect an entrance. Then he was taken in +hand by two constables and pushed back through the doorway,—to the +great detriment of the apple-woman who sat there in those days.</p> + +<p>But by pluck and resolution he succeeded in making good some inch of +standing room within the court before the Solicitor-General began his +statement, and he was able to hear every word that was said. That +statement was not more pleasing to him than to the rector of Yoxham. +His first quarrel was with the assertion that titles of nobility are +in England the outward emblem of noble conduct. No words that might +have been uttered could have been more directly antagonistic to his +feelings and political creed. It had been the accident of his life +that he should have been concerned with ladies who were noble by +marriage and birth, and that it had become a duty to him to help to +claim on their behalf empty names which were in themselves odious to +him. It had been the woman's right to be acknowledged as the wife of +the man who had disowned her, and the girl's right to be known as his +legitimate daughter. Therefore had he been concerned. But he had +declared to himself, from his first crude conception of an opinion on +the subject, that it would be hard to touch pitch and not be defiled. +The lords of whom he heard were, or were believed by him to be, +bloated with luxury, were both rich and idle, were gamblers, +debauchers of other men's wives, deniers of all rights of +citizenship, drones who were positively authorised to eat the honey +collected by the working bees. With his half-knowledge, his +ill-gotten and ill-digested information, with his reading which had +all been on one side, he had been unable as yet to catch a glimpse of +the fact that from the ranks of the nobility are taken the greater +proportion of the hardworking servants of the State. His eyes saw +merely the power, the privileges, the titles, the ribbons, and the +money;—and he hated a lord. When therefore the Solicitor-General +spoke of the recognised virtue of titles in England, the tailor +uttered words of scorn to his stranger neighbour. "And yet this man +calls himself a Liberal, and voted for the Reform Bill," he said. "In +course he did," replied the stranger; "that was the way of his +party." "There isn't an honest man among them all," said the tailor +to himself. This was at the beginning of the speech, and he listened +on through five long hours, not losing a word of the argument, not +missing a single point made in favour of the Countess and her +daughter. It became clear to him at any rate that the daughter would +inherit the money. When the Solicitor-General came to speak of the +nature of the evidence collected in Italy, Daniel Thwaite was +unconsciously carried away into a firm conviction that all those +concerned in the matter in Italy were swindlers. The girl was no +doubt the heiress. The feeling of all the court was with her,—as he +could well perceive. But in all that speech not one single word was +said of the friend who had been true to the girl and to her mother +through all their struggles and adversity. The name of Thomas Thwaite +was not once mentioned. It might have been expedient for them to +ignore him, Daniel, the son; but surely had there been any honour +among them, any feeling of common honesty towards folk so low in the +scale of humanity as tailors, some word would have been spoken to +tell of the friendship of the old man who had gone to his grave +almost a pauper because of his truth and constancy. But no;—there +was not a word!</p> + +<p>And he listened, with anxious ears, to learn whether anything would +be said as to that proposed "alliance,"—he had always heard it +called an alliance with a grim smile,—between the two noble cousins. +Heaven and earth had been moved to promote "the alliance." But the +Solicitor-General said not a word on the subject,—any more than he +did of that other disreputable social arrangement, which would have +been no more than a marriage. All the audience might suppose from +anything that was said there that the young lady was fancy free and +had never yet dreamed of a husband. Nevertheless there was hardly one +there who had not heard something of the story of the Earl's +suit,—and something also of the tailor's success.</p> + +<p>When the court broke up Daniel Thwaite had reached standing-room, +which brought him near to the seat that was occupied by Serjeant +Bluestone. He lingered as long as he could, and saw all the +barristers concerned standing with their heads together laughing, +chatting, and well pleased, as though the day had been for them a day +of pleasure. "I fancy the speculation is too bad for any one to take +it up," he heard the Serjeant say, among whose various gifts was not +that of being able to moderate his voice. "I dare say not," said +Daniel to himself as he left the court; "and yet we took it up when +the risk was greater, and when there was nothing to be gained." He +had as yet received no explicit answer to the note which he had +written to the Countess when he sent her the copy of his father's +will. He had, indeed, received a notice from Mr. Goffe that the +matter would receive immediate attention, and that the Countess hoped +to be able to settle the claim in a very short time. But that he +thought was not such a letter as should have been sent to him on an +occasion so full of interest to him! But they were all hard and +unjust and bad. The Countess was bad because she was a Countess,—the +lawyers because they were lawyers,—the whole Lovel family because +they were Lovels. At this moment poor Daniel Thwaite was very bitter +against all mankind. He would, he thought, go at once to the Western +world of which he was always dreaming, if he could only get that sum +of £500 which was manifestly due to him.</p> + +<p>But as he wandered away after the court was up, getting some wretched +solitary meal at a cheap eating-house on his road, he endeavoured to +fix his thoughts on the question of the girl's affection to himself. +Taking all that had been said in that courtly lawyer's speech this +morning as the groundwork of his present judgment, what should he +judge to be her condition at the moment? He had heard on all sides +that it was intended that she should marry the young Earl, and it had +been said in his hearing that such would be declared before the +judge. No such declaration had been made. Not a word had been uttered +to signify that such an "alliance" was contemplated. Efforts had been +made with him to induce him to withdraw his claim to the girl's hand. +The Countess had urged him, and the lawyers had urged him. Most +assuredly they would not have done so,—would have in no wise +troubled themselves with him at all,—had they been able to prevail +with Lady Anna. And why had they not so prevailed? The girl, +doubtless, had been subjected to every temptation. She was kept +secure from his interference. Hitherto he had not even made an effort +to see her since she had left the house in which he himself lived. +She had nothing to fear from him. She had been sojourning among those +Lovels, who would doubtless have made the way to deceit and luxury +easy for her. He could not doubt but that she had been solicited to +enter into this alliance. Could he be justified in flattering himself +that she had hitherto resisted temptation because in her heart of +hearts she was true to her first love? He was true. He was conscious +of his own constancy. He was sure of himself that he was bound to her +by his love, and not by the hope of any worldly advantage. And why +should he think that she was weaker, vainer, less noble than himself? +Had he not evidence to show him that she was strong enough to resist +a temptation to which he had never been subjected? He had read of +women who were above the gilt and glitter of the world. When he was +disposed to think that she would be false, no terms of reproach +seemed to him too severe to heap upon her name; and yet, when he +found that he had no ground on which to accuse her, even in his own +thoughts, of treachery to himself, he could hardly bring himself to +think it possible that she should not be treacherous. She had sworn +to him, as he had sworn to her, and was he not bound to believe her +oath?</p> + +<p>Then he remembered what the poet had said to him. The poet had +advised him to desist altogether, and had told him that it would +certainly be best for the girl that he should do so. The poet had not +based his advice on the ground that the girl would prove false, but +that it would be good for the girl to be allowed to be false,—good +for the girl that she should be encouraged to be false, in order that +she might become an earl's wife! But he thought that it would be bad +for any woman to be an earl's wife; and so thinking, how could he +abandon his love in order that he might hand her over to a fashion of +life which he himself despised? The poet must be wrong. He would +cling to his love till he should know that his love was false to him. +Should he ever learn that, then his love should be troubled with him +no further.</p> + +<p>But something must be done. Even, on her behalf, if she were true to +him, something must be done. Was it not pusillanimous in him to make +no attempt to see his love and to tell her that he at any rate was +true to her? These people, who were now his enemies, the lawyers and +the Lovels, with the Countess at the head of them, had used him like +a dog, had repudiated him without remorse, had not a word even to say +of the services which his father had rendered. Was he bound by honour +or duty to stand on any terms with them? Could there be anything due +to them from him? Did it not behove him as a man to find his way into +the girl's presence and to assist her with his courage? He did not +fear them. What cause had he to fear them? In all that had been +between them his actions to them had been kind and good, whereas they +were treating him with the basest ingratitude.</p> + +<p>But how should he see Lady Anna? As he thought of all this he +wandered up from Westminster, where he had eaten his dinner, to +Russell Square and into Keppel Street, hesitating whether he would at +once knock at the door and ask to see Lady Anna Lovel. Lady Anna was +still staying with Mrs. Bluestone; but Daniel Thwaite had not +believed the Countess when she told him that her daughter was not +living with her. He doubted, however, and did not knock at the door.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-30" id="c2-30"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXX.</h3> +<h4>JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>It must not be thought that the Countess was unmoved when she +received Daniel Thwaite's letter from Keswick enclosing the copy of +his father's will. She was all alone, and she sat long in her +solitude, thinking of the friend who was gone and who had been always +true to her. She herself would have done for old Thomas Thwaite any +service which a woman could render to a man, so strongly did she feel +all that the man had done for her. As she had once said, no menial +office performed by her on behalf of the old tailor would have been +degrading to her. She had eaten his bread, and she never for a moment +forgot the obligation. The slow tears stood in her eyes as she +thought of the long long hours which she had passed in his company, +while, almost desponding herself, she had received courage from his +persistency. And her feeling for the son would have been the same, +had not the future position of her daughter and the standing of the +house of Lovel been at stake. It was not in her nature to be +ungrateful; but neither was it in her nature to postpone the whole +object of her existence to her gratitude. Even though she should +appear to the world as a monster of ingratitude, she must treat the +surviving Thwaite as her bitterest enemy as long as he maintained his +pretensions to her daughter's hand. She could have no friendly +communication with him. She herself would hold no communication with +him at all, if she might possibly avoid it, lest she should be drawn +into some renewed relation of friendship with him. He was her +enemy,—her enemy in such fierce degree that she was always plotting +the means of ridding herself altogether of his presence and +influence. To her thinking the man had turned upon her most +treacherously, and was using, for his own purposes and his own +aggrandizement, that familiarity with her affairs which he had +acquired by reason of his father's generosity. She believed but +little in his love; but whether he loved the girl or merely sought +her money, was all one to her. Her whole life had been passed in an +effort to prove her daughter to be a lady of rank, and she would +rather sacrifice her life in the basest manner than live to see all +her efforts annulled by a low marriage. Love, indeed, and romance! +What was the love of one individual, what was the romance of a +childish girl, to the honour and well-being of an ancient and noble +family? It was her ambition to see her girl become the Countess +Lovel, and no feeling of gratitude should stand in her way. She would +rather slay that lowborn artisan with her own hand than know that he +had the right to claim her as his mother-in-law. Nevertheless, the +slow tears crept down her cheeks as she thought of former days, and +of the little parlour behind the tailor's shop at Keswick, in which +the two children had been wont to play.</p> + +<p>But the money must be paid; or, at least, the debt must be +acknowledged. As soon as she had somewhat recovered herself she +opened the old desk which had for years been the receptacle of all +her papers, and taking out sundry scribbled documents, went to work +at a sum in addition. It cannot be said of her that she was a good +accountant, but she had been so far careful as to have kept entries +of all the monies she had received from Thomas Thwaite. She had once +carried in her head a correct idea of the entire sum she owed him; +but now she set down the items with dates, and made the account fair +on a sheet of note paper. So much money she certainly did owe to +Daniel Thwaite, and so much she would certainly pay if ever the means +of paying it should be hers. Then she went off with her account to +Mr. Goffe.</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe did not think that the matter pressed. The payment of large +sums which have been long due never is pressing in the eyes of +lawyers. Men are always supposed to have a hundred pounds in their +waistcoat pockets; but arrangements have to be made for the settling +of thousands. "You had better let me write him a line and tell him +that it shall be looked to as soon as the question as to the property +is decided," said Mr. Goffe. But this did not suit the views of the +Countess. She spoke out very openly as to all she owed to the father, +and as to her eternal enmity to the son. It behoved her to pay the +debt, if only that she might be able to treat the man altogether as +an enemy. She had understood that, even pending the trial, a portion +of the income would be allowed by the courts for her use and for the +expenses of the trial. It was assented that this money should be +paid. Could steps be taken by which it might be settled at once? Mr. +Goffe, taking the memorandum, said that he would see what could be +done, and then wrote his short note to Daniel Thwaite. When he had +computed the interest which must undoubtedly be paid on the borrowed +money he found that a sum of about £9,000 was due to the tailor. +"Nine thousand pounds!" said one Mr. Goffe to another. "That will be +better to him than marrying the daughter of an earl." Could Daniel +have heard the words he would have taken the lawyer by the throat and +have endeavoured to teach him what love is.</p> + +<p>Then the trial came on. Before the day fixed had come round, but only +just before it, Mr. Goffe showed the account to Serjeant Bluestone. +"God bless my soul!" said the Serjeant. "There should be some +vouchers for such an amount as that." Mr. Goffe declared that there +were no vouchers, except for a very trifling part of it; but still +thought that the amount should be allowed. The Countess was quite +willing to make oath, if need be, that the money had been supplied to +her. Then the further consideration of the question was for the +moment postponed, and the trial came on.</p> + +<p>On the Tuesday, which had been left a vacant day as regarded the +trial, there was a meeting,—like all other proceedings in this +cause, very irregular in its nature,—at the chambers of the +Solicitor-General, at which Serjeant Bluestone attended with Messrs. +Hardy, Mainsail, Flick, and Goffe; and at this meeting, among other +matters of business, mention was made of the debt due by the Countess +to Daniel Thwaite. Of this debt the Solicitor-General had not as yet +heard,—though he had heard of the devoted friendship of the old +tailor. That support had been afforded to some extent,—that for a +period the shelter of old Thwaite's roof had been lent to the +Countess,—that the man had been generous and trusting, he did know. +He had learned, of course, that thence had sprung that early +familiarity which had enabled the younger Thwaite to make his +engagement with Lady Anna. That something should be paid when the +ladies came by their own he was aware. But the ladies were not his +clients, and into the circumstances he had not inquired. Now he was +astounded and almost scandalized by the amount of the debt.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that he advanced £9,000 in hard cash?" said the +Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"That includes interest at five per cent., Sir William, and also a +small sum for bills paid by Thomas Thwaite on her behalf. She has had +in actual cash about £7,000."</p> + +<p>"And where has it gone?"</p> + +<p>"A good deal of it through my hands," said Mr. Goffe boldly. "During +two or three years she had no income at all, and during the last +twenty years she has been at law for her rights. He advanced all the +money when that trial for bigamy took place."</p> + +<p>"God bless my soul!" said Mr. Serjeant Bluestone.</p> + +<p>"Did he leave a will?" asked the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes; a will which has been proved, and of which I have a copy. +There was nothing else to leave but this debt, and that is left to +the son."</p> + +<p>"It should certainly be paid without delay," said Mr. Hardy. Mr. +Mainsail questioned whether they could get the money. Mr. Goffe +doubted whether it could be had before the whole affair was settled. +Mr. Flick was sure that on due representation the amount would be +advanced at once. The income of the property was already accumulating +in the hands of the court, and there was an anxiety that all just +demands,—demands which might be considered to be justly made on the +family property,—should be paid without delay. "I think there would +hardly be a question," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"Seven thousand pounds advanced by these two small tradesmen to the +Countess Lovel," said the Solicitor-General, "and that done at a time +when no relation of her own or of her husband would lend her a penny! +I wish I had known that when I went into court yesterday."</p> + +<p>"It would hardly have done any good," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"It would have enabled one at any rate to give credit where credit is +due. And this son is the man who claims to be affianced to the Lady +Anna?"</p> + +<p>"The same man, Sir William," said Mr. Goffe.</p> + +<p>"One is almost inclined to think that he deserves her."</p> + +<p>"I can't agree with you there at all," said the Serjeant angrily.</p> + +<p>"One at any rate is not astonished that the young lady should think +so," continued the Solicitor-General. "Upon my word, I don't know how +we are to expect that she should throw her early lover overboard +after such evidence of devotion."</p> + +<p>"The marriage would be too incongruous," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"Quite horrible," said the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"It distresses one to think of it," said Mr. Goffe.</p> + +<p>"It would be much better that she should not be Lady Anna at all, if +she is to do that," said Mr. Mainsail.</p> + +<p>"Very much better," said Mr. Flick, shaking his head, and remembering +that he was employed by Lord Lovel and not by the Countess,—a fact +of which it seemed to him that the Solicitor-General altogether +forgot the importance.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, you have no romance among you," said Sir William. "Have +not generosity and valour always prevailed over wealth and rank with +ladies in story?"</p> + +<p>"I do not remember any valorous tailors who have succeeded with +ladies of high degree," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"Did not the lady of the Strachy marry the yeoman of the wardrobe?" +asked the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that we care much about romance here," said the +Serjeant. "The marriage would be so abominable, that it is not to be +thought of."</p> + +<p>"The tailor should at any rate get his money," said the +Solicitor-General, "and I will undertake to say that if the case be +as represented by Mr. <span class="nowrap">Goffe—"</span></p> + +<p>"It certainly is," said the attorney.</p> + +<p>"Then there will be no difficulty in raising the funds for paying it. +If he is not to have his wife, at any rate let him have his money. I +think, Mr. Flick, that intimation should be made to him that Earl +Lovel will join the Countess in immediate application to the court +for means to settle his claim. Circumstanced as we are at present, +there can be no doubt that such application will have the desired +result. It should, of course, be intimated that Serjeant Bluestone +and myself are both of opinion that the money should be allowed for +the purpose."</p> + +<p>As the immediate result of this conversation, Daniel Thwaite received +on the following morning letters both from Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick. +The former intimated to him that a sum of nine thousand odd pounds +was held to be due to him by the Countess, and that immediate steps +would be taken for its payment. That from Mr. Flick, which was much +shorter than the letter from his brother attorney, merely stated that +as a very large sum of money appeared to be due by the Countess Lovel +to the estate of the late Thomas Thwaite, for sums advanced to the +Countess during the last twenty years, the present Earl Lovel had +been advised to join the Countess in application to the courts, that +the amount due might be paid out of the income of the property left +by the late Earl; and that that application would be made +"<i>immediately</i>." Mr. Goffe in his letter, went on to make certain +suggestions, and to give much advice. As this very large debt, of +which no proof was extant, was freely admitted by the Countess, and +as steps were being at once taken to ensure payment of the whole sum +named to Daniel Thwaite, as his father's heir, it was hoped that +Daniel Thwaite would at once abandon his preposterous claim to the +hand of Lady Anna Lovel. Then Mr. Goffe put forward in glowing +colours the iniquity of which Daniel Thwaite would be guilty should +he continue his fruitless endeavours to postpone the re-establishment +of a noble family which was thus showing its united benevolence by +paying to him the money which it owed him.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-31" id="c2-31"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXI.</h3> +<h4>THE VERDICT.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On the Wednesday the court reassembled in all its judicial glory. +There was the same crowd, the same Lord Chief Justice, the same jury, +and the same array of friendly lawyers. There had been a rumour that +a third retinue of lawyers would appear on behalf of what was now +generally called the Italian interest, and certain words which had +fallen from the Solicitor-General on Monday had assured the world at +large that the Italian interest would be represented. It was known +that the Italian case had been confided to a firm of enterprising +solicitors, named Mowbray and Mopus, perhaps more feared than +respected, which was supposed to do a great amount of speculative +business. But no one from the house of Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus was +in court on the Wednesday morning; and no energetic barrister was +ever enriched by a fee from them on behalf of the Italian widow. The +speculation had been found to be too deep, the expenditure which +would be required in advance too great, and the prospect of +remuneration too remote even for Mowbray and Mopus. It appeared +afterwards that application had been made by those gentlemen for an +assurance that expenses incurred on behalf of the Italian Countess +should be paid out of the estate; but this had been refused. No +guarantee to this effect could be given, at any rate till it should +be seen whether the Italian lady had any show of justice on her side. +It was now the general belief that if there was any truth at all in +the Italian claim, it rested on the survivorship, at the time of the +Cumberland marriage, of a wife who had long since died. As the proof +of this would have given no penny to any one in Italy,—would simply +have shown that the Earl was the heir,—Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus +retired, and there was an end, for ever and a day, of the Italian +interest.</p> + +<p>Though there was the same throng in the court as on the Monday, there +did not seem to be the same hubbub on the opening of the day's +proceedings. The barristers were less busy with their papers, the +attorneys sat quite at their ease, and the Chief Justice, with an +assistant judge, who was his bench-fellow, appeared for some minutes +to be quite passive. Then the Solicitor-General arose and said that, +with permission, he would occupy the court for only a few minutes. He +had stated on Monday his belief that an application would be made to +the court on behalf of other interests than those which had been +represented when the court first met. It appeared that he had been +wrong in that surmise. Of course he had no knowledge on the subject, +but it did not appear that any learned gentleman was prepared to +address the court for any third party. As he, on behalf of his +client, had receded from the case, his Lordship would probably say +what, in his Lordship's opinion, should now be the proceeding of the +court. The Earl Lovel abandoned his plea, and perhaps the court +would, in those circumstances, decide that its jurisdiction in the +matter was over. Then the Lord Chief Justice, with his assistant +judge, retired for a while, and all the assembled crowd appeared to +be at liberty to discuss the matter just as everybody pleased.</p> + +<p>It was undoubtedly the opinion of the bar at large, and at that +moment of the world in general, that the Solicitor-General had done +badly for his client. The sum of money which was at stake was, they +said, too large to be played with. As the advocate of the Earl, Sir +William ought to have kept himself aloof from the Countess and her +daughter. In lieu of regarding his client, he had taken upon himself +to set things right in general, according to his idea of right. No +doubt he was a clever man, and knew how to address a jury, but he was +always thinking of himself, and bolstering up something of his own, +instead of thinking of his case and bolstering up his client. And +this conception of his character in general, and of his practice in +this particular, became the stronger, as it was gradually believed +that the living Italian Countess was certainly an impostor. There +would have been little good in fighting against the English Countess +on her behalf;—but if they could only have proved that the other +Italian woman, who was now dead, had been the real Countess when the +Cumberland marriage was made, then what a grand thing it would have +been for the Lovel family! Of those who held this opinion, the rector +of Yoxham was the strongest, and the most envenomed against the +Solicitor-General. During the whole of that Tuesday he went about +declaring that the interests of the Lovel family had been sacrificed +by their own counsel, and late in the afternoon he managed to get +hold of Mr. Hardy. Could nothing be done? Mr. Hardy was of opinion +that nothing could be done now; but in the course of the evening he +did, at the rector's instance, manage to see Sir William, and to ask +the question, "Could nothing be done?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing more than we propose to do."</p> + +<p>"Then the case is over," said Mr. Hardy. "I am assured that no one +will stir on behalf of that Italian lady."</p> + +<p>"If any one did stir it would only be loss of time and money. My dear +Hardy, I understand as well as any one what people are saying, and I +know what must be the feeling of many of the Lovels. But I can only +do my duty by my client to the best of my judgment. In the first +place, you must remember that he has himself acknowledged the +Countess."</p> + +<p>"By our advice," said Mr. Hardy.</p> + +<p>"You mean by mine. Exactly so;—but with such conviction on his own +part that he positively refuses to be a party to any suit which shall +be based on the assumption that she is not Countess Lovel. Let an +advocate be ever so obdurate, he can hardly carry on a case in +opposition to his client's instructions. We are acting for Lord +Lovel, and not for the Lovel family. And I feel assured of this, that +were we to attempt to set up the plea that that other woman was alive +when the marriage took place in Cumberland, you, yourself, would be +ashamed of the evidence which it would become your duty to endeavour +to foist upon the jury. We should certainly be beaten, and, in the +ultimate settlement of the property, we should have to do with +enemies instead of friends. The man was tried for bigamy and +acquitted. Would any jury get over that unless you had evidence to +offer to them that was plain as a pikestaff, and absolutely +incontrovertible?"</p> + +<p>"Do you still think the girl will marry the Earl?"</p> + +<p>"No; I do not. She seems to have a will of her own, and that will is +bent the other way. But I do think that a settlement may be made of +the property which shall be very much in the Earl's favour." When on +the following morning the Solicitor-General made his second speech, +which did not occupy above a quarter of an hour, it became manifest +that he did not intend to alter his course of proceeding, and while +the judges were absent it was said by everybody in the court that the +Countess and Lady Anna had gained their suit.</p> + +<p>"I consider it to be a most disgraceful course of proceeding on the +part of Sir William Patterson," said the rector to a middle-aged +legal functionary, who was managing clerk to Norton and Flick.</p> + +<p>"We all think, sir, that there was more fight in it," said the legal +functionary.</p> + +<p>"There was plenty of fight in it. I don't believe that any jury in +England would willingly have taken such an amount of property from +the head of the Lovel family. For the last twenty years,—ever since +I first heard of the pretended English marriage,—everybody has known +that she was no more a Countess than I am. I can't understand it; +upon my word I can't. I have not had much to do with law, but I've +always been brought up to think that an English barrister would be +true to his client. I believe a case can be tried again if it can be +shown that the lawyers have mismanaged it." The unfortunate rector, +when he made this suggestion, no doubt forgot that the client in this +case was in full agreement with the wicked advocate.</p> + +<p>The judges were absent for about half an hour, and on their return +the Chief Justice declared that his learned brother,—the Serjeant +namely,—had better proceed with the case on behalf of his clients. +He went on to explain that as the right to the property in dispute, +and indeed the immediate possession of that property, would be ruled +by the decision of the jury, it was imperative that they should hear +what the learned counsel for the so-called Countess and her daughter +had to say, and what evidence they had to offer, as to the validity +of her marriage. It was not to be supposed that he intended to throw +any doubt on that marriage, but such would be the safer course. No +doubt, in the ordinary course of succession, a widow and a daughter +would inherit and divide among them in certain fixed proportions the +personal property of a deceased but intestate husband and father, +without the intervention of any jury to declare their rights. But in +this case suspicion had been thrown and adverse statements had been +made; and as his learned brother was, as a matter of course, provided +with evidence to prove that which the plaintiff had come into the +court with the professed intention of disproving, the case had better +go on. Then he wrapped his robes around him and threw himself back in +the attitude of a listener. Serjeant Bluestone, already on his legs, +declared himself prepared and willing to proceed. No doubt the course +as now directed was the proper course to be pursued. The +Solicitor-General, rising gracefully and bowing to the court, gave +his consent with complaisant patronage. "Your Lordship, no doubt, is +right." His words were whispered, and very probably not heard; but +the smile, as coming from a Solicitor-General,—from such a +Solicitor-General as Sir William Patterson,—was sufficient to put +any judge at his ease.</p> + +<p>Then Serjeant Bluestone made his statement, and the case was +proceeded with after the fashion of such trials. It will not concern +us to follow the further proceedings of the court with any close +attention. The Solicitor-General went away, to some other business, +and much of the interest seemed to drop. The marriage in Cumberland +was proved; the trial for bigamy, with the acquittal of the Earl, was +proved; the two opposed statements of the Earl, as to the death of +the first wife, and afterwards as to the fact that she was living, +were proved. Serjeant Bluestone and Mr. Mainsail were very busy for +two days, having everything before them. Mr. Hardy, on behalf of the +young lord, kept his seat, but he said not a word—not even asking a +question of one of Serjeant Bluestone's witnesses. Twice the foreman +of the jury interposed, expressing an opinion, on behalf of himself +and his brethren, that the case need not be proceeded with further; +but the judge ruled that it was for the interest of the Countess,—he +ceased to style her the so-called Countess,—that her advocates +should be allowed to complete their case. In the afternoon of the +second day they did complete it, with great triumph and a fine +flourish of forensic oratory as to the cruel persecution which their +client had endured. The Solicitor-General came back into court in +time to hear the judge's charge, which was very short. The jury were +told that they had no alternative but to find a verdict for the +defendants. It was explained to them that this was a plea to show +that a certain marriage which had taken place in Cumberland in 181—, +was no real or valid marriage. Not only was that plea withdrawn, but +evidence had been adduced proving that that marriage was valid. Such +a marriage was, as a matter of course, primâ facie valid, let what +statements might be made to the contrary by those concerned or not +concerned. In such case the burden of proof would rest entirely with +the makers of such statement. No such proof had been here attempted, +and the marriage must be declared a valid marriage. The jury had +nothing to do with the disposition of the property, and it would be +sufficient for them simply to find a verdict for the defendants. The +jury did as they were bid; but, going somewhat beyond this, declared +that they found the two defendants to be properly named the Countess +Lovel, and Lady Anna Lovel. So ended the case of "Lovel v. Murray and +Another."</p> + +<p>The Countess, who had been in the court all day, was taken home to +Keppel Street by the Serjeant in a glass coach that had been hired to +be in waiting for her. "And now, Lady Lovel," said Serjeant +Bluestone, as he took his seat opposite to her, "I can congratulate +your ladyship on the full restitution of your rights." She only shook +her head. "The battle has been fought and won at last, and I will +make free to say that I have never seen more admirable persistency +than you have shown since first that bad man astounded your ears by +his iniquity."</p> + +<p>"It has been all to no purpose," she said.</p> + +<p>"To no purpose, Lady Lovel! I may as well tell you now that it is +expected that his Majesty will send to congratulate you on the +restitution of your rights."</p> + +<p>Again she shook her head. "Ah, Serjeant Bluestone;—that will be but +of little service."</p> + +<p>"No further objection can now be made to the surrender of the whole +property. There are some mining shares as to which there may be a +question whether they are real or personal, but they amount to but +little. A third of the remainder, which will, I imagine, +<span class="nowrap">exceed—"</span></p> + +<p>"If it were ten times as much, Serjeant Bluestone, there would be no +comfort in it. If it were ten times that, it would not at all help to +heal my sorrow. I have sometimes thought that when one is marked for +trouble, no ease can come."</p> + +<p>"I don't think more of money than another man," began the Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand."</p> + +<p>"Nor yet of titles,—though I feel for them, when they are worthily +worn, the highest respect," as he so spoke the Serjeant lifted his +hat from his brow. "But, upon my word, to have won such a case as +this justifies triumph."</p> + +<p>"I have won nothing,—nothing,—nothing!"</p> + +<p>"You mean about Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Serjeant Bluestone, when first I was told that I was not that man's +wife, I swore to myself that I would die sooner than accept any lower +name; but when I found that I was a mother, then I swore that I would +live till my child should bear the name that of right belonged to +her."</p> + +<p>"She does bear it now."</p> + +<p>"What name does she propose to bear? I would sooner be poor, in +beggary,—still fighting, even without means to fight, for an empty +title,—still suffering, still conscious that all around me regarded +me as an impostor, than conquer only to know that she, for whom all +this has been done, has degraded her name and my own. If she does +this thing, or, if she has a mind so low, a spirit so mean, as to +think of doing it, would it not be better for all the world that she +should be the bastard child of a rich man's kept mistress, than the +acknowledged daughter of an earl, with a countess for her mother, and +a princely fortune to support her rank? If she marries this man, I +shall heartily wish that Lord Lovel had won the case. I care nothing +for myself now. I have lost all that. The king's message will comfort +me not at all. If she do this thing I shall only feel the evil we +have done in taking the money from the Earl. I would sooner see her +dead at my feet than know that she was that man's wife;—ay, though I +had stabbed her with my own hand!"</p> + +<p>The Serjeant for the nonce could say nothing more to her. She had +worked herself into such a passion that she would listen to no words +but her own, and think of nothing but the wrong that was still being +done to her. He put her down at the hall door in Keppel Street, +saying, as he lifted his hat again, that Mrs. Bluestone should come +and call upon her.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-32" id="c2-32"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXII.</h3> +<h4>WILL YOU PROMISE?<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The news of the verdict was communicated the same evening to Lady +Anna,—as to whose name there could now no longer be any dispute. "I +congratulate you, Lady Anna," said the Serjeant, holding her hand, +"that everything as far as this trial is concerned has gone just as +we could wish."</p> + +<p>"We owe it all to you," said the girl.</p> + +<p>"Not at all. My work has been very easy. In fact I have some feeling +of regret that I have not been placed in a position that would enable +me to earn my wages. The case was too good,—so that a poor aspiring +lawyer has not been able to add to his reputation. But as far as you +are concerned, my dear, everything has gone as you should wish. You +are now a very wealthy heiress, and the great duty devolves upon you +of disposing of your wealth in a fitting manner." Lady Anna +understood well what was meant, and was silent. Even when she was +alone, her success did not make her triumphant. She could anticipate +that the efforts of all her friends to make her false to her word +would be redoubled. Unless she could see Daniel Thwaite, it would be +impossible that she should not be conquered.</p> + +<p>The Serjeant told his wife the promise which he had made on her +behalf, and she, of course, undertook to go to Keppel Street on the +following morning. "You had better bring her here," said the +Serjeant. Mrs. Bluestone remarked that that might be sooner said than +done. "She'll be glad of an excuse to come," answered the Serjeant. +"On such an occasion as this, of course they must see each other. +Something must be arranged about the property. In a month or two, +when she is of age, she will have the undisputed right to do what she +pleases with about three hundred thousand pounds. It is a most +remarkable position for a young girl who has never yet had the +command of a penny, and who professes that she is engaged to marry a +working tailor. Of course her mother must see her."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bluestone did call in Keppel Street, and sat with the Countess a +long time, undergoing a perfect hailstorm of passion. For a long time +Lady Lovel declared that she would never see her daughter again till +the girl had given a solemn promise that she would not marry Daniel +Thwaite. "Love her! Of course I love her. She is all that I have in +the world. But of what good is my love to me, if she disgraces me? +She has disgraced me already. When she could bring herself to tell +her cousin that she was engaged to this man, we were already +disgraced. When she once allowed the man to speak to her in that +strain, without withering him with her scorn, she disgraced us both. +For what have I done it all, if this is to be the end of it?" But at +last she assented and promised that she would come. No;—it would not +be necessary to send a carriage for her. The habits of her own life +need not be at all altered because she was now a Countess beyond +dispute, and also wealthy. She would be content to live as she had +ever lived. It had gone on too long for her to desire personal +comfort,—luxury for herself, or even social rank. The only pleasure +that she had anticipated, the only triumph that she desired, was to +be found in the splendour of her child. She would walk to Bedford +Square, and then walk back to her lodgings in Keppel Street. She +wanted no carriage.</p> + +<p>Early on the following day there was heard the knock at the door +which Lady Anna had been taught to expect. The coming visit had been +discussed in all its bearings, and it had been settled that Mrs. +Bluestone should be with the daughter when the mother arrived. It was +thought that in this way the first severity of the Countess would be +mitigated, and that the chance of some agreement between them might +be increased. Both the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone now conceived that +the young lady had a stronger will of her own than might have been +expected from her looks, her language, and her manners. She had not +as yet yielded an inch, though she would not argue the matter at all +when she was told that it was her positive duty to abandon the +tailor. She would sit quite silent; and if silence does give consent, +she consented to this doctrine. Mrs. Bluestone, with a diligence +which was equalled only by her good humour, insisted on the misery +which must come upon her young friend should she quarrel with the +Countess, and with all the Lovels,—on the unfitness of the tailor, +and the impossibility that such a marriage should make a lady +happy,—on the sacred duty which Lady Anna's rank imposed upon her to +support her order, and on the general blessedness of a well-preserved +and exclusive aristocracy. "I don't mean to say that nobly born +people are a bit better than commoners," said Mrs. Bluestone. +"Neither I nor my children have a drop of noble blood in our veins. +It is not that. But God Almighty has chosen that there should be +different ranks to carry out His purposes, and we have His word to +tell us that we should all do our duties in that state of life to +which it has pleased Him to call us." The excellent lady was somewhat +among the clouds in her theology, and apt to mingle the different +sources of religious instruction from which she was wont to draw +lessons for her own and her children's guidance; but she meant to say +that the proper state of life for an earl's daughter could not +include an attachment to a tailor; and Lady Anna took it as it was +meant. The nobly born young lady did not in heart deny the truth of +the lesson;—but she had learned another lesson, and she did not know +how to make the two compatible. That other lesson taught her to +believe that she ought to be true to her word;—that she specially +ought to be true to one who had ever been specially true to her. And +latterly there had grown upon her a feeling less favourable to the +Earl than that which he had inspired when she first saw him, and +which he had increased when they were together at Yoxham. It is hard +to say why the Earl had ceased to charm her, or by what acts or words +he had lowered himself in her eyes. He was as handsome as ever, as +much like a young Apollo, as gracious in his manner, and as gentle in +his gait. And he had been constant to her. Perhaps it was that she +had expected that one so godlike should have ceased to adore a woman +who had degraded herself to the level of a tailor, and that, so +conceiving, she had begun to think that his motives might be merely +human, and perhaps sordid. He ought to have abstained and seen her no +more after she had owned her own degradation. But she said nothing of +all this to Mrs. Bluestone. She made no answer to the sermons +preached to her. She certainly said no word tending to make that lady +think that the sermons had been of any avail. "She looks as soft as +butter," Mrs. Bluestone said that morning to her husband; "but she is +obstinate as a pig all the time."</p> + +<p>"I suppose her father was the same way before her," said the +Serjeant, "and God knows her mother is obstinate enough."</p> + +<p>When the Countess was shown into the room Lady Anna was trembling +with fear and emotion. Lady Lovel, during the last few weeks, since +her daughter had seen her, had changed the nature of her dress. +Hitherto, for years past, she had worn a brown stuff gown, hardly +ever varying even the shade of the sombre colour,—so that her +daughter had perhaps never seen her otherwise clad. No woman that +ever breathed was less subject to personal vanity than had been the +so-called Countess who lived in the little cottage outside Keswick. +Her own dress had been as nothing to her, and in the days of her +close familiarity with old Thomas Thwaite she had rebuked her friend +when he had besought her to attire herself in silk. "We'll go into +Keswick and get Anna a new ribbon," she would say, "and that will be +grandeur enough for her and me too." In this brown dress she had come +up to London, and so she had been clothed when her daughter last saw +her. But now she wore a new, full, black silk dress, which, plain as +it was, befitted her rank and gave an increased authority to her +commanding figure. Lady Anna trembled all the more, and her heart +sank still lower within her, because her mother no longer wore the +old brown gown. When the Countess entered the room she took no +immediate notice of Mrs. Bluestone, but went up to her child and +kissed her. "I am comforted, Anna, in seeing you once again," she +said.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dearest mamma!"</p> + +<p>"You have heard, I suppose, that the trial has been decided in your +favour?"</p> + +<p>"In yours, mamma."</p> + +<p>"We have explained it all to her, Lady Lovel, as well as we could. +The Serjeant yesterday evening gave us a little history of what +occurred. It seems to have been quite a triumph."</p> + +<p>"It may become a triumph," said the Countess;—"a triumph so complete +and glorious that I shall desire nothing further in this world. It +has been my work to win the prize; it is for her to wear it,—if she +will do so."</p> + +<p>"I hope you will both live to enjoy it many years," said Mrs. +Bluestone. "You will have much to say to each other, and I will leave +you now. We shall have lunch, Lady Lovel, at half-past one, and I +hope that you will join us."</p> + +<p>Then they were alone together. Lady Anna had not moved from her chair +since she had embraced her mother, but the Countess had stood during +the whole time that Mrs. Bluestone had been in the room. When the +room door was closed they both remained silent for a few moments, and +then the girl rushed across the room and threw herself on her knees +at her mother's feet. "Oh, mamma, mamma, tell me that you love me. +Oh, mamma, why have you not let me come to you? Oh, mamma, we never +were parted before."</p> + +<p>"My child never before was wilfully disobedient to me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma;—tell me that you love me."</p> + +<p>"Love you! Yes, I love you. You do not doubt that, Anna. How could it +be possible that you should doubt it after twenty years of a mother's +care? You know I love you."</p> + +<p>"I know that I love you, mamma, and that it kills me to be sent away +from you. You will take me home with you now;—will you not?"</p> + +<p>"Home! You shall make your own home, and I will take you whither you +will. I will be a servant to minister to every whim; all the world +shall be a Paradise to you; you shall have every joy that wealth, and +love, and sweet friends can procure for you,—if you will obey me in +one thing." Lady Anna, still crouching upon the ground, hid her face +in her mother's dress, but she was silent. "It is not much that I ask +after a life spent in winning for you all that has now been won. I +only demand of you that you shall not disgrace yourself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, I am not disgraced."</p> + +<p>"Say that you will marry Lord Lovel, and all that shall be forgotten. +It shall at any rate be forgiven, or remembered only as the folly of +a child. Will you say that you will become Lord Lovel's wife?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Answer me, Anna;—will you say that you will receive Lord Lovel as +your accepted lover? Get up, girl, and look me in the face. Of what +use is it to grovel there, while your spirit is in rebellion? Will +you do this? Will you save us all from destruction, misery, and +disgrace? Will you remember who you are;—what blood you have in your +veins;—what name it is that you bear? Stand up, and look me in the +face, if you dare."</p> + +<p>Lady Anna did stand up, and did look her mother in the face. "Mamma," +she said, "we should understand each other better if we were living +together as we ought to do."</p> + +<p>"I will never live with you till you have promised obedience. Will +you, at any rate, pledge to me your word that you will never become +the wife of Daniel Thwaite?" Then she paused, and stood looking at +the girl, perhaps for a minute. Lady Anna stood before her, with her +eyes turned upon the ground. "Answer me the question that I have +asked you. Will you promise me that you will never become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>"I have promised him that I would."</p> + +<p>"What is that to me? Is your duty to him higher than your duty to me? +Can you be bound by any promise to so great a crime as that would be? +I will ask you the question once more, and I will be governed by your +answer. If you will promise to discard this man, you shall return +home with me, and shall then choose everything for yourself. We will +go abroad and travel if you wish it, and all things shall be prepared +to give you pleasure. You shall have at once the full enjoyment of +all that has been won for you; and as for your cousin,—you shall not +for a while be troubled even by his name. It is the dear wish of my +heart that you should be the wife of Earl Lovel;—but I have one wish +dearer even than that,—one to which that shall be altogether +postponed. If you will save yourself, and me, and all your family +from the terrible disgrace with which you have threatened us,—I will +not again mention your cousin's name to you till it shall please you +to hear it. Anna, you knelt to me, just now. Shall I kneel to you?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma, no;—I should die."</p> + +<p>"Then, my love, give me the promise that I have asked."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, he has been so good to us!"</p> + +<p>"And we will be good to him,—good to him in his degree. Of what +avail to me will have been his goodness, if he is to rob me of the +very treasure which his goodness helped to save? Is he to have all, +because he gave some aid? Is he to take from me my heart's blood, +because he bound up my arm when it was bruised? Because he helped me +some steps on earth, is he to imprison me afterwards in hell? Good! +No, he is not good in wishing so to destroy us. He is bad, greedy, +covetous, self-seeking, a very dog, and by the living God he shall +die like a dog unless you will free me from his fangs. You have not +answered me. Will you tell me that you will discard him as a suitor +for your hand? If you will say so, he shall receive tenfold reward +for his—goodness. Answer me, Anna;—I claim an answer from you."</p> + +<p>"Mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Speak, if you have anything to say. And remember the commandment, +Honour <span class="nowrap">thy—"</span> +But she broke down, when she too remembered it, and +bore in mind that the precept would have called upon her daughter to +honour the memory of the deceased Earl. "But if you cannot do it for +love, you will never do it for duty."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, I am sure of one thing."</p> + +<p>"Of what are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"That I ought to be allowed to see him before I give him up."</p> + +<p>"You shall never be allowed to see him."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, mamma, for a moment. When he asked me to—love him, we +were equals."</p> + +<p>"I deny it. You were never equals."</p> + +<p>"We lived as such,—except in this, that they had money for our +wants, and we had none to repay them."</p> + +<p>"Money can have nothing to do with it."</p> + +<p>"Only that we took it. And then he was everything to us. It seemed as +though it would be impossible to refuse anything that he asked. It +was impossible to me. As to being noble, I am sure that he was noble. +You always used to say that nobody else ever was so good as those +two. Did you not say so, mamma?"</p> + +<p>"If I praise my horse or my dog, do I say that they are of the same +nature as myself?"</p> + +<p>"But he is a man; quite as much a man as,—as any man could be."</p> + +<p>"You mean that you will not do as I bid you."</p> + +<p>"Let me see him, mamma. Let me see him but once. If I might see him, +perhaps I might do as you wish—about him. I cannot say anything more +unless I may see him."</p> + +<p>The Countess still stormed and still threatened, but she could not +move her daughter. She also found that the child had inherited +particles of the nature of her parents. But it was necessary that +some arrangement should be made as to the future life, both of Lady +Anna and of herself. She might bury herself where she would, in the +most desolate corner of the earth, but she could not leave Lady Anna +in Bedford Square. In a few months Lady Anna might choose any +residence she pleased for herself, and there could be no doubt whose +house she would share, if she were not still kept in subjection. The +two parted then in deep grief,—the mother almost cursing her child +in her anger, and Lady Anna overwhelmed with tears. "Will you not +kiss me, mamma, before you go?"</p> + +<p>"No, I will never kiss you again till you have shown me that you are +my child."</p> + +<p>But before she left the house, the Countess was closeted for a while +with Mrs. Bluestone, and, in spite of all that she had said, it was +agreed between them that it would be better to permit an interview +between the girl and Daniel Thwaite. "Let him say what he will," +argued Mrs. Bluestone, "she will not be more headstrong than she is +now. You will still be able to take her away with you to some foreign +country."</p> + +<p>"But he will treat her as though he were her lover," said the +Countess, unable to conceal the infinite disgust with which the idea +overwhelmed her.</p> + +<p>"What does it matter, Lady Lovel? We have got to get a promise from +her, somehow. Since she was much with him, she has seen people of +another sort, and she will feel the difference. It may be that she +wants to ask him to release her. At any rate she speaks as though she +might be released by what he would say to her. Unless she thought it +might be so herself, she would not make a conditional promise. I +would let them meet."</p> + +<p>"But where?"</p> + +<p>"In Keppel Street."</p> + +<p>"In my presence?"</p> + +<p>"No, not that; but you will, of course, be in the house,—so that she +cannot leave it with him. Let her come to you. It will be an excuse +for her doing so, and then she can remain. If she does not give the +promise, take her abroad, and teach her to forget it by degrees." So +it was arranged, and on that evening Mrs. Bluestone told Lady Anna +that she was to be allowed to meet Daniel Thwaite.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-33" id="c2-33"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>There was of course much commotion among all circles of society in +London as soon as it was known to have been decided that the Countess +Lovel was the Countess Lovel, and that Lady Anna was the heiress of +the late Earl. Bets were paid,—and bets no doubt were left +unpaid,—to a great amount. Men at the clubs talked more about the +Lovels than they had done even during the month preceding the trial. +The Countess became on a sudden very popular. Exaggerated stories +were told of the romance of her past life,—though it would have been +well nigh impossible to exaggerate her sufferings. Her patience, her +long endurance and persistency were extolled by all. The wealth that +would accrue to her and to her daughter was of course doubled. Had +anybody seen her? Did anybody know her? Even the Murrays began to be +proud of her, and old Lady Jemima Magtaggart, who had been a Murray +before she married General Mag, as he was called, went at once and +called upon the Countess in Keppel Street. Being the first that did +so, before the Countess had suspected any invasion, she was +admitted,—and came away declaring that sorrow must have driven the +Countess mad. The Countess, no doubt, did not receive her distant +relative with any gentle courtesy. She had sworn to herself often, +that come what come might, she would never cross the threshold of a +Murray. Old Lord Swanage, who had married some very distant Lovel, +wrote to her a letter full of very proper feeling. It had been, he +said, quite impossible for him to know the truth before the truth had +come to light, and therefore he made no apology for not having before +this made overtures of friendship to his connection. He now begged to +express his great delight that she who had so well deserved success +had been successful, and to offer her his hand in friendship, should +she be inclined to accept it. The Countess answered him in a strain +which certainly showed that she was not mad. It was not her policy to +quarrel with any Lovel, and her letter was very courteous. She was +greatly obliged to him for his kindness, and had felt as strongly as +he could do that she could have no claim on her husband's relations +till she should succeed in establishing her rights. She accepted his +hand in the spirit in which it had been offered, and hoped that his +Lordship might yet become a friend of her daughter. For herself,—she +feared that all that she had suffered had made her unfit for much +social intercourse. Her strength, she said, had been sufficient to +carry her thus far, but was now failing her.</p> + +<p>Then, too, there came to her that great glory of which the lawyer had +given her a hint. She received a letter from the private secretary of +his Majesty the King, telling her that his Majesty had heard her +story with great interest, and now congratulated her heartily on the +re-establishment of her rank and position. She wrote a very curt +note, begging that her thanks might be given to his Majesty,—and +then she burned the private secretary's letter. No congratulations +were anything to her till she should see her daughter freed from the +debasement of her engagement to the tailor.</p> + +<p>Speculation was rife as to the kind of life which the Countess would +lead. That she would have wealth sufficient to blaze forth in London +with all the glories of Countess-ship, there was no doubt. Her own +share of the estate was put down as worth at least ten thousand a +year for her life, and this she would enjoy without deductions, and +with no other expenditure than that needed for herself. Her age was +ascertained to a day, and it was known that she was as yet only +forty-five. Was it not probable that some happy man might share her +wealth with her? What an excellent thing it would be for old +Lundy,—the Marquis of Lundy,—who had run through every shilling of +his own property! Before a week was over, the suggestion had been +made to old Lundy. "They say she is mad, but she can't be mad enough +for that," said the Marquis.</p> + +<p>The rector hurried home full of indignation, but he had a word or two +with his nephew before he started. "What do you mean to do now, +Frederic?" asked the rector with a very grave demeanour.</p> + +<p>"Do? I don't know that I shall do anything."</p> + +<p>"You give up the girl, then?"</p> + +<p>"My dear uncle; that is a sort of question that I don't think a man +ever likes to be asked."</p> + +<p>"But I suppose I may ask how you intend to live?"</p> + +<p>"I trust, uncle Charles, that I shall not, at any rate, be a burden +to my relatives."</p> + +<p>"Oh; very well; very well. Of course I have nothing more to say. I +think it right, all the same, to express my opinion that you have +been grossly misused by Sir William Patterson. Of course what I say +will have no weight with you; but that is my opinion."</p> + +<p>"I do not agree with you, uncle Charles."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I have nothing more to say. It is right that I should let +you know that I do not believe that this woman was ever Lord Lovel's +wife. I never did believe it, and I never will believe it. All that +about marrying the girl has been a take in from beginning to +end;—all planned to induce you to do just what you have done. No +word in courtesy should ever have been spoken to either of them."</p> + +<p>"I am as sure that she is the Countess as I am that I am the Earl."</p> + +<p>"Very well. It costs me nothing, but it costs you thirty thousand a +year. Do you mean to come down to Yoxham this winter?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are the horses to be kept there?" Now hitherto the rich rector had +kept the poor lord's hunters without charging his nephew ought for +their expense. He was a man so constituted that it would have been a +misery to him that the head of his family should not have horses to +ride. But now he could not but remember all that he had done, all +that he was doing, and the return that was made to him. Nevertheless +he could have bit the tongue out of his mouth for asking the question +as soon as the words were spoken.</p> + +<p>"I will have them sold immediately," said the Earl. "They shall come +up to Tattersal's before the week is over."</p> + +<p>"I didn't mean that."</p> + +<p>"I am glad that you thought of it, uncle Charles. They shall be taken +away at once."</p> + +<p>"They are quite welcome to remain at Yoxham."</p> + +<p>"They shall be removed,—and sold," said the Earl. "Remember me to my +aunts. Good bye." Then the rector went down to Yoxham an angry and a +miserable man.</p> + +<p>There were very many who still agreed with the rector in thinking +that the Earl's case had been mismanaged. There was surely enough of +ground for a prolonged fight to have enabled the Lovel party to have +driven their opponents to a compromise. There was a feeling that the +Solicitor-General had been carried away by some romantic idea of +abstract right, and had acted in direct opposition to all the usages +of forensic advocacy as established in England. What was it to him +whether the Countess were or were not a real Countess? It had been +his duty to get what he could for the Earl, his client. There had +been much to get, and with patience no doubt something might have +been got. But he had gotten nothing. Many thought that he had +altogether cut his own throat, and that he would have to take the +first "puny" judgeship vacant. "He is a great man,—a very great man +indeed," said the Attorney-General, in answer to some one who was +abusing Sir William. "There is not one of us can hold a candle to +him. But, then, as I have always said, he ought to have been a poet!"</p> + +<p>In discussing the Solicitor-General's conduct men thought more of +Lady Anna than her mother. The truth about Lady Anna and her +engagement was generally known in a misty, hazy, half-truthful +manner. That she was engaged to marry Daniel Thwaite, who was now +becoming famous and the cause of a greatly increased business in +Wigmore Street, was certain. It was certain also that the Earl had +desired to marry her. But as to the condition in which the matter +stood at present there was a very divided opinion. Not a few were +positive that a written engagement had been given to the Earl that he +should have the heiress before the Solicitor-General had made his +speech,—but, according to these, the tailor's hold over the young +lady was so strong, that she now refused to abide by her own compact. +She was in the tailor's hands and the tailor could do what he liked +with her. It was known that Lady Anna was in Bedford Square, and not +a few walked before the Serjeant's house in the hopes of seeing her. +The romance at any rate was not over, and possibly there might even +yet be a compromise. If the Earl could get even five thousand a year +out of the property, it was thought that the Solicitor-General might +hold his own and in due time become at any rate a Chief Baron.</p> + +<p>In the mean time Daniel Thwaite remained in moody silence among the +workmen in Wigmore Street, unseen of any of those who rushed there +for new liveries in order that they might catch a glimpse of the +successful hero,—till one morning, about five days after the trial +was over, when he received a letter from Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe had the pleasure of informing him that an +accurate account of all money transactions between Countess Lovel and +his father had been kept by the Countess;—that the Countess on +behalf of herself and Lady Anna Lovel acknowledged a debt due to the +estate of the late Mr. Thomas Thwaite, amounting to £9,109 3<i>s.</i> +4<i>d.</i>, and that a cheque to that amount should be at once handed to +him,—Daniel Thwaite the son,—if he would call at the chambers of +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, with a certified copy of the probate of the +will of Thomas Thwaite the father.</p> + +<p>Nine thousand pounds,—and that to be paid to him immediately,—on +that very day if he chose to call for it! The copy of the probate of +the will he had in his pocket at that moment. But he worked out his +day's work without going near Goffe and Goffe. And yet he thought +much of his money; and once, when one of his employers spoke to him +somewhat roughly, he remembered that he was probably a better man +than his master. What should he now do with himself and his +money,—how bestow himself,—how use it so that he might be of +service to the world? He would go no doubt to some country in which +there were no earls and no countesses;—but he could go nowhere till +he should know what might be his fate with the Earl's daughter, who +at present was his destiny. His mind was absolutely divided. In one +hour he would say to himself that the poet was certainly right;—and +in the next he was sure that the poet must have been wrong. As +regarded money, nine thousand pounds was as good to him as any sum +that could be named. He could do with that all that he required that +money should do for him. Could he at this time have had his own way +absolutely, he would have left all the remainder of the wealth behind +him, to be shared as they pleased to share it between the Earl and +the Countess, and he would have gone at once, taking with him the +girl whom he loved. He would have revelled in the pride of thinking +that all of them should say that he had wanted and had won the girl +only,—and not the wealth of the Lovels; that he had taken only what +was his own, and that his wife would be dependent on him, not he on +her. But this was not possible. It was now months since he had heard +the girl's voice, or had received any assurance from her that she was +still true to him. But, in lieu of this, he had the assurance that +she was in possession of enormous wealth, and that she was the +recognised cousin of lords and ladies by the dozen.</p> + +<p>When the evening came he saw one of his employers and told the man +that he wished that his place might be filled. Why was he going? Did +he expect to better himself? When was he going? Was he in earnest? +Daniel told the truth at once as far as the payment of the money was +concerned. He was to receive on the following day a sum of money +which had been due to his father, and, when that should have been +paid him, it would not suit him to work longer for weekly wages. The +tailor grumbled, but there was nothing else to be said. Thwaite might +leave them to-morrow if he wished. Thwaite took him at his word and +never returned to the shop in Wigmore Street after that night.</p> + +<p>On reaching his lodgings he found another letter,—from Serjeant +Bluestone. The Countess had so far given way as to accede to the +proposition that there should be a meeting between her daughter and +the tailor, and then there had arisen the question as to the manner +in which this meeting should be arranged. The Countess would not +write herself, nor would she allow her daughter to do so. It was +desirable, she thought, that as few people should know of the meeting +as possible, and at last, most unwillingly, the Serjeant undertook +the task of arranging it. He wrote therefore as +<span class="nowrap">follows;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p>Mr. Serjeant Bluestone presents his compliments to Mr. +Daniel Thwaite. Mr. Thwaite has no doubt heard of the +result of the trial by which the Countess Lovel and her +daughter have succeeded in obtaining the recognition of +their rank. It is in contemplation with the Countess and +Lady Anna Lovel to go abroad, but Lady Anna is desirous +before she goes of seeing the son of the man who was her +mother's staunch friend during many years of suffering. +Lady Anna will be at home, at No. +<span class="nowrap">——</span> +Keppel Street, at +eleven o'clock on Monday, 23rd instant, if Mr. Thwaite can +make it convenient to call then and there.</p> + +<p class="noindent">Bedford Square,<br /> +17th November, 18—.</p> + +<p>If Mr. Thwaite could call on the Serjeant before that +date, either early in the morning at his house, or on +Saturday at his chambers, <span class="nowrap">——</span> +<span class="nowrap">——,</span> Inner Temple, it +might perhaps be serviceable.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>The postscript had not been added without much consideration. What +would the tailor think of this invitation? Would he not be disposed +to take it as encouragement in his pernicious suit? Would he not go +to Keppel Street with a determination to insist upon the girl's +promise? The Serjeant had thought that it would be best to let the +thing take its chance. But the Serjeant's wife, and the Serjeant's +daughters, and the Countess, too, had all agreed that something if +possible should be said to disabuse him of this idea. He was to have +nine thousand pounds paid to him. Surely that might be sufficient. +But, if he was greedy and wanted more money, more money should be +given to him. Only he must be made to understand that the marriage +was out of the question. So the Serjeant again gave way, and proposed +the interview. Daniel sent back his compliments to the Serjeant and +begged to say he would do as he was bid. He would call at the +Serjeant's chambers on the Saturday, and in Keppel Street on the +following Monday, at the hours named.</p> + +<p>On the next morning,—the first morning of his freedom from the +servitude of Wigmore Street,—he went to Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. He +got up late and breakfasted late, in order that he might feel what it +was to be an idle man. "I might now be as idle as the young Earl," he +said to himself; "but were I to attempt it, what should I do with +myself? How should I make the hours pass by?" He felt that he was +lauding himself as the idea passed through his mind, and struggled to +quench his own pride. "And yet," said he in his thoughts, "is it not +fit that I should know myself to be better than he is? If I have no +self-confidence, how can I be bold to persevere? The man that works +is to him that is idle, as light is to darkness."</p> + +<p>He was admitted at once to Mr. Goffe's private room, and was received +with a smiling welcome, and an outstretched hand. "I am delighted, +Mr. Thwaite, to be able to settle your claim on Lady Lovel with so +little delay. I hope you are satisfied with her ladyship's statement +of the account."</p> + +<p>"Much more than satisfied with the amount. It appeared to me that I +had no legal claim for more than a few hundred pounds."</p> + +<p>"We knew better than that, Mr. Thwaite. We should have seen that no +great injury was done. But luckily the Countess has been careful, and +has put down each sum advanced, item by item. Full interest has been +allowed at five per cent., as is quite proper. The Countess is an +excellent woman of business."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, Mr. Goffe. I could have wished that she would have +condescended to honour me with a line;—but that is a matter of +feeling."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Thwaite; there are reasons;—you must know that there are +reasons."</p> + +<p>"There may be good reasons or bad reasons."</p> + +<p>"And there may be good judgment in such matters and bad judgment. +But, however,—. You will like to have this money by a cheque, no +doubt. There it is, £9,109 3<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> It is not often that we write +one cheque for a bigger sum than that, Mr. Thwaite. Shall I cross it +on your bankers? No bankers! With such a sum as that let me recommend +you to open an account at once." And Mr. Goffe absolutely walked down +to Fleet Street with Daniel Thwaite the tailor, and introduced him at +his own bank. The business was soon transacted, and Daniel Thwaite +went away westward, a capitalist, with a cheque book in his pocket. +What was he to do with himself? He walked east again before the day +was over, and made inquiries at various offices as to vessels sailing +for Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Quebec. Or how would it be with +him if he should be minded to go east instead of west? So he supplied +himself also with information as to vessels for Sydney. And what +should he do when he got to the new country? He did not mean to be a +tailor. He was astonished to find how little he had as yet realised +in his mind the details of the exodus which he had proposed to +himself.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-34" id="c2-34"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h3> +<h4>I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On the Saturday, Daniel was at the Serjeant's chambers early in the +morning,—long before the hour at which the Serjeant himself was wont +to attend. No time had in fact been named, and the tailor had chosen +to suppose that as he had been desired to be early in Bedford Square, +so had it also been intended that he should be early in the Temple. +For two hours he walked about the passages and the courts, thinking +ill of the lawyer for being so late at his business, and endeavouring +to determine what he would do with himself. He had not a friend in +the world, unless Lady Anna were a friend;—hardly an acquaintance. +And yet, remembering what his father had done, what he himself had +helped to do, he thought that he ought to have had many friends. +Those very persons who were now his bitterest enemies, the Countess +and all they who had supported her, should have been bound to him by +close ties. Yet he knew that it was impossible that they should not +hate him. He could understand their feelings with reference to their +own rank, though to him that rank was contemptible. Of course he was +alone. Of course he would fail. He was almost prepared to acknowledge +as much to the Serjeant. He had heard of a certain vessel that would +start in three days for the rising colony called New South Wales, and +he almost wished that he had taken his passage in her.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock he had been desired to call at eleven, and as the +clock struck eleven he knocked at the Serjeant's door. "Serjeant +Bluestone is not here yet," said the clerk, who was disposed to be +annoyed by the man's pertinacity.</p> + +<p>"He told me to come early in the morning, and this is not early."</p> + +<p>"He is not here yet, sir."</p> + +<p>"You told me to come at eleven, and it is past eleven."</p> + +<p>"It is one minute past, and you can sit down and wait for him if you +please." Daniel refused to wait, and was again about to depart in his +wrath, when the Serjeant appeared upon the stairs. He introduced +himself, and expressed regret that he should have found his visitor +there before him. Daniel, muttering something, followed the lawyer +into his room, and then the door was closed. He stood till he was +invited to sit, and was determined to make himself disagreeable. This +man was one of his enemies,—was one who no doubt thought little of +him because he was a tailor, who suspected his motives, and was +anxious to rob him of his bride. The Serjeant retired for a moment to +an inner room, while the tailor girded up his loins and prepared +himself for battle.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite," said the Serjeant, as he re-entered the room, "you +probably know that I have been counsel for Lady Lovel and her +daughter in the late trial." Daniel assented by a nod of his head. +"My connection with the Countess would naturally have been then +closed. We have gained our cause, and there would be an end of it. +But as things have turned out it has been otherwise. Lady Anna Lovel +has been staying with Mrs. Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"In Bedford Square?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, at my house."</p> + +<p>"I did not know. The Countess told me she was not in Keppel Street, +but refused to inform me where she was staying. I should not have +interfered with her ladyship's plans, had she been less secret with +me."</p> + +<p>"Surely it was unnecessary that she should tell you."</p> + +<p>"Quite unnecessary;—but hardly unnatural after all that has +occurred. As the Countess is with you only a friend of late date, you +are probably unaware of the former friendship which existed between +us. There was a time in which I certainly did not think that Lady +Lovel would ever decline to speak to me about her daughter. But all +this is nothing to you, Serjeant Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"It is something to me, Mr. Thwaite, as her friend. Is there no +reason why she should have treated you thus? Ask your own +conscience."</p> + +<p>"My conscience is clear in the matter."</p> + +<p>"I have sent for you here, Mr. Thwaite, to ask you whether you cannot +yourself understand that this which you have proposed to do must make +you an enemy to the Countess, and annul and set aside all that +kindness which you have shown her? I put it to your own reason. Do +you think it possible that the Countess should be otherwise than +outraged at the proposition you have made to her?"</p> + +<p>"I have made no proposition to her ladyship."</p> + +<p>"Have you made none to her daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I have. I have asked her to be my wife."</p> + +<p>"Come, Mr. Thwaite, do not palter with me."</p> + +<p>"Palter with you! Who dares to say that I palter? I have never +paltered. Paltering is—lying, as I take it. Let the Countess be my +enemy. I have not said that she should not be so. She might have +answered my letter, I think, when the old man died. In our rank of +life we should have done so. It may be different with lords and +titled ladies. Let it pass, however. I did not mean to make any +complaint. I came here because you sent for me."</p> + +<p>"Yes;—I did send for you," said the Serjeant, wishing with all his +heart that he had never been persuaded to take a step which imposed +upon him so great a difficulty. "I did send for you. Lady Anna Lovel +has expressed a wish to see you, before she leaves London."</p> + +<p>"I will wait upon Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I need hardly tell you that her wish has been opposed by her +friends."</p> + +<p>"No doubt it was."</p> + +<p>"But she has said with so much earnestness that she cannot consider +herself to be absolved from the promise which she made to you when +she was a <span class="nowrap">child—"</span></p> + +<p>"She was no child when she made it."</p> + +<p>"It does not signify. She cannot be absolved from the promise which I +suppose she did <span class="nowrap">make—"</span></p> + +<p>"She certainly made it, Serjeant Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"Will you allow me to continue my statement? It will not occupy you +long. She assures her mother that she cannot consider herself to be +absolved from that promise without your sanction. She has been living +in my house for some weeks, and I do not myself doubt in the least +that were she thus freed an alliance would soon be arranged between +her and her cousin."</p> + +<p>"I have heard of that—alliance."</p> + +<p>"It would be in every respect a most satisfactory and happy marriage. +The young Earl has behaved with great consideration and forbearance +in abstaining from pushing his claims."</p> + +<p>"In abstaining from asking for that which he did not believe to be +his own."</p> + +<p>"You had better hear me to the end, Mr. Thwaite. All the friends of +the two young people desire it. The Earl himself is warmly attached +to his cousin."</p> + +<p>"So am I,—and have been for many years."</p> + +<p>"We all believe that she loves him."</p> + +<p>"Let her say so to me, Serjeant Bluestone, and there shall be an end +of it all. It seems to me that Lord Lovel and I have different ideas +about a woman. I would not take the hand of a girl who told me that +she loved another man, even though she was as dear to me, as,—as +Lady Anna is dear to me now. And as for what she might have in her +hand, it would go for naught with me, though I might have to face +beggary without her. It seems to me that Lord Lovel is less +particular in this matter."</p> + +<p>"I do not see that you and I have anything to do with that," replied +the Serjeant, hardly knowing what to say.</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to do with Lord Lovel, certainly,—nor has he with +me. As to his cousin,—it is for her to choose."</p> + +<p>"We think,—I am only telling you what we think;—but we think, Mr. +Thwaite, that the young lady's affections are fixed on her cousin. It +is natural that they should be so; and watching her as closely as we +can, we believe such to be the case. I will be quite on the square +with you, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"With me and with everybody else, I hope, Serjeant Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said the Serjeant, laughing; "but at any rate I will be +so with you now. We have been unable to get from Lady Anna any +certain reply,—any assurance of her own wishes. She has told her +mother that she cannot accept Lord Lovel's addresses till she has +seen you." The Serjeant in this was not quite on the square, as Lady +Anna had never said so. "We believe that she considers it necessary, +to her conscience, to be made free by your permission, before she can +follow her own inclinations and accede to those of all her friends."</p> + +<p>"She shall have my permission in a moment,—if she will ask for it."</p> + +<p>"Could you not be more generous even than that?"</p> + +<p>"How more generous, Serjeant Bluestone?"</p> + +<p>"Offer it to her unasked. You have already said that you would not +accept her hand if you did not believe that you had her heart +also,—and the sentiment did you honour. Think of her condition, and +be generous to her."</p> + +<p>"Generous to her! You mean generous to Lady Lovel,—generous to Lord +Lovel,—generous to all the Lovels except her. It seems to me that +all the generosity is to be on one side."</p> + +<p>"By no means. We can be generous too."</p> + +<p>"If that be generosity, I will be generous. I will offer her that +permission. I will not wait till she asks for it. I will beg her to +tell me if it be true that she loves this cousin, and if she can say +that it is true, she shall want no permission from me to be free. She +shall be free."</p> + +<p>"It is not a question, you see, between yourself and Lord Lovel. It +is quite out of the question that she should in any event become your +wife. Even had she power to do +<span class="nowrap">it—"</span></p> + +<p>"She has the power."</p> + +<p>"Practically she has no such power, Mr. Thwaite. A young person such +as Lady Anna Lovel is and must be under the control of her natural +guardian. She is so altogether. Her mother could not,—and would +not,—constrain her to any marriage; but has quite sufficient power +over her to prevent any marriage. Lady Anna has never for a moment +supposed that she could become your wife since she learned what were +the feelings of her mother and her family." The Serjeant certainly +did not keep his promise of being "on the square." "But your +generosity is necessary to enable Lady Lovel to bring to a happy +termination all those sufferings with which her life has been +afflicted."</p> + +<p>"I do not owe much to the Countess; but if it be generous to do as I +have said I would do,—I will be generous. I will tell her daughter, +without any question asked from her, that she is free to marry her +cousin if she wishes."</p> + +<p>So far the Serjeant, though he had not been altogether as truthful as +he had promised, had been discreet. He had said nothing to set the +tailor vehemently against the Lovel interest, and had succeeded in +obtaining a useful pledge. But, in his next attempt, he was less +wise. "I think, you know, Mr. Thwaite, that the Countess also has +been generous."</p> + +<p>"As how?"</p> + +<p>"You have received £9,000 already, I believe."</p> + +<p>"I have received what I presume to be my own. If I have had more it +shall be refunded."</p> + +<p>"No;—no; by no means. Taking a liberal view of the matter, as the +Countess was bound to do in honour, she was, I think, right in paying +you what she has paid."</p> + +<p>"I want nothing from her in what you call honour. I want nothing +liberal. If the money be not mine in common honesty she shall have it +back again. I want nothing but my own."</p> + +<p>"I think you are a little high flown, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"I dare say I may be,—to the thinking of a lawyer."</p> + +<p>"The Countess, who is in truth your friend,—and will always be your +friend if you will only be amenable to reason,—has been delighted to +think that you are now in possession of a sum of money which will +place you above want."</p> + +<p>"The Countess is very kind."</p> + +<p>"And I can say more than that. She and all her friends are aware how +much is due to your father's son. If you will only aid us in our +present project, if you will enable Lady Anna to become the wife of +her cousin the Earl, much more shall be done than the mere payment of +the debt which was due to you. It has been proposed to settle on you +for life an annuity of four hundred pounds a year. To this the +Countess, Earl Lovel, and Lady Anna will all agree."</p> + +<p>"Has the consent of Lady Anna been asked?" demanded the tailor, in a +voice which was low, but which the Serjeant felt at the moment to be +dangerous.</p> + +<p>"You may take my word that it shall be forthcoming," said the +Serjeant.</p> + +<p>"I will take your word for nothing, Serjeant Bluestone. I do not +think that among you all, you would dare to make such a proposition +to Lady Anna Lovel, and I wonder that you should dare to make it to +me. What have you seen in me to lead you to suppose that I would sell +myself for a bribe? And how can you have been so unwise as to offer +it after I have told you that she shall be free,—if she chooses to +be free? But it is all one. You deal in subterfuges till you think it +impossible that a man should be honest. You mine underground, till +your eyes see nothing in the open daylight. You walk crookedly, till +a straight path is an abomination to you. Four hundred a year is +nothing to me for such a purpose as this,—would have been nothing to +me even though no penny had been paid to me of the money which is my +own. I can easily understand what it is that makes the Earl so +devoted a lover. His devotion began when he had been told that the +money was hers and not his,—and that in no other way could he get +it. Mine began when no one believed that she would ever have a +shilling for her fortune,—when all who bore her name and her +mother's ridiculed their claim. Mine was growing when my father first +asked me whether I grudged that he should spend all that he had in +their behalf. Mine came from giving. His springs from the desire to +get. Make the four hundred, four thousand;—make it eight thousand, +Serjeant Bluestone, and offer it to him. I also will agree. With him +you may succeed. Good morning, Serjeant Bluestone. On Monday next I +will not be worse than my word,—even though you have offered me a +bribe."</p> + +<p>The Serjeant let the tailor go without a word further,—not, indeed, +having a word to say. He had been insulted in his own chambers,—told +that his word was worthless, and his honesty questionable. But he had +been so told, that at the moment he had been unable to stop the +speaker. He had sat, and smiled, and stroked his chin, and looked at +the tailor as though he had been endeavouring to comfort himself with +the idea that the man addressing him was merely an ignorant, +half-mad, enthusiastic tailor, from whom decent conduct could not be +expected. He was still smiling when Daniel Thwaite closed the door, +and he almost laughed as he asked his clerk whether that energetic +gentleman had taken himself down-stairs. "Oh, yes, sir; he glared at +me when I opened the door, and rushed down four steps at a time." +But, on the whole, the Serjeant was contented with the interview. It +would, no doubt, have been better had he said nothing of the four +hundred a year. But in the offering of bribes there is always that +danger. One can never be sure who will swallow his douceur at an easy +gulp, so as hardly to betray an effort, and who will refuse even to +open his lips. And then the latter man has the briber so much at +advantage. When the luscious morsel has been refused, it is so easy +to be indignant, so pleasant to be enthusiastically virtuous! The +bribe had been refused, and so far the Serjeant had failed;—but the +desired promise had been made, and the Serjeant felt certain that it +would be kept. He did not doubt but that Daniel Thwaite would himself +offer the girl her freedom. But there was something in the man, +though he was a tailor. He had an eye and a voice, and it might be +that freedom offered, as he could offer it, would not be accepted.</p> + +<p>Daniel, as he went out into the court from the lawyer's presence, was +less satisfied than the lawyer. He had told the lawyer that his word +was worth nothing, and yet he had believed much that the lawyer had +said to him. The lawyer had told him that the girl loved her cousin, +and only wanted his permission to be free that she might give her +hand and her heart together to the young lord. Was it not natural +that she should wish to do so? Within each hour, almost within each +minute, he regarded the matter in lights that were perfectly +antagonistic to each other. It was natural that she should wish to be +a Countess, and that she should love a young lord who was gentle and +beautiful;—and she should have his permission accorded freely. But +then, again, it was most unnatural, bestial, and almost monstrous, +that a girl should change her love for a man, going from one man to +another, simply because the latter man was gilt with gold, and decked +with jewels, and sweet with perfume from a hairdresser's. The poet +must have been wrong there. If love be anything but a dream, surely +it must adhere to the person, and not be liable to change at every +offered vantage of name or birth, of rank or wealth.</p> + +<p>But she should have the offer. She should certainly have the offer.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-35" id="c2-35"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXV.</h3> +<h4>THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Lady Anna was not told till the Saturday that she was to meet her +lover, the tailor, on the following Monday. She was living at this +time, as it were, in chains, though the chains were gilded. It was +possible that she might be off at any moment with Daniel +Thwaite,—and now the more possible because he had money at his +command. If this should occur, then would the game which the Countess +and her friends were playing, be altogether lost. Then would the +checkmate have been absolute. The reader will have known that such a +step had never been contemplated by the man, and will also have +perceived that it would have been altogether opposed to the girl's +character; but it is hoped that the reader has looked more closely +into the man's motives and the girl's character than even her mother +was able to do. The Countess had thought that she had known her +daughter. She had been mistaken, and now there was hardly anything of +which she could not suspect her girl to be capable. Lady Anna was +watched, therefore, during every minute of the four and twenty hours. +A policeman was told off to protect the house at night from rope +ladders or any other less cumbrous ingenuity. The servants were set +on guard. Sarah, the lady's-maid, followed her mistress almost like a +ghost when the poor young lady went to her bedroom. Mrs. Bluestone, +or one of the girls, was always with her, either indoors or out of +doors. Out of doors, indeed, she never went without more guards than +one. A carriage had been hired,—a luxury with which Mrs. Bluestone +had hitherto dispensed,—and the carriage was always there when Lady +Anna suggested that she should like to leave the house. She was +warmly invited to go shopping, and made to understand that in the way +of ordinary shopping she could buy what she pleased. But her life was +inexpressibly miserable. "What does mamma mean to do?" she said to +Mrs. Bluestone on the Saturday morning.</p> + +<p>"In what way, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"Where does she mean to go? She won't live always in Keppel Street?"</p> + +<p>"No,—I do not think that she will live always in Keppel Street. It +depends a good deal upon you, I think."</p> + +<p>"I will go wherever she pleases to take me. The lawsuit is over now, +and I don't know why we should stay here. I am sure you can't like +it."</p> + +<p>To tell the truth, Mrs. Bluestone did not like it at all. +Circumstances had made her a gaoler, but by nature she was very ill +constituted for that office. The harshness of it was detestable to +her, and then there was no reason whatever why she should sacrifice +her domestic comfort for the Lovels. The thing had grown upon them, +till the Lovels had become an incubus to her. Personally, she liked +Lady Anna, but she was unable to treat Lady Anna as she would treat +any other girl that she liked. She had told the Serjeant more than +once that she could not endure it much longer. And the Serjeant did +not like it better than did his wife. It was all a labour of love, +and a most unpleasant labour. "The Countess must take her away," the +Serjeant had said. And now the Serjeant had been told by the tailor, +in his own chambers, that his word was worth nothing!</p> + +<p>"To tell you the truth, Lady Anna, we none of us like it,—not +because we do not like you, but because the whole thing is +disagreeable. You are creating very great misery, my dear, because +you are obstinate."</p> + +<p>"Because I won't marry my cousin?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear; not because you won't marry your cousin. I have never +advised you to marry your cousin, unless you could love him. I don't +think girls should ever be told to marry this man or that. But it is +very proper that they should be told not to marry this man or that. +You are making everybody about you miserable, because you will not +give up a most improper engagement, made with a man who is in every +respect beneath you."</p> + +<p>"I wish I were dead," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"It is very easy to say that, my dear; but what you ought to wish is, +to do your duty."</p> + +<p>"I do wish to do my duty, Mrs. Bluestone."</p> + +<p>"It can't be dutiful to stand out against your mother in this way. +You are breaking your mother's heart. And if you were to do this +thing, you would soon find that you had broken your own. It is +downright obstinacy. I don't like to be harsh, but as you are here, +in my charge, I am bound to tell you the truth."</p> + +<p>"I wish mamma would let me go away," said Lady Anna, bursting into +tears.</p> + +<p>"She will let you go at once, if you will only make the promise that +she asks of you." In saying this, Mrs. Bluestone was hardly more upon +the square than her husband had been, for she knew very well, at that +moment, that Lady Anna was to go to Keppel Street early on the Monday +morning, and she had quite made up her mind that her guest should not +come back to Bedford Square. She had now been moved to the special +severity which she had shown by certain annoyances of her own to +which she had been subjected by the presence of Lady Anna in her +house. She could neither entertain her friends nor go out to be +entertained by them, and had told the Serjeant more than once that a +great mistake had been made in having the girl there at all. But +judgment had operated with her as well as feeling. It was necessary +that Lady Anna should be made to understand before she saw the tailor +that she could not be happy, could not be comfortable, could not be +other than very wretched,—till she had altogether dismissed her +low-born lover.</p> + +<p>"I did not think you would be so unkind to me," sobbed Lady Anna +through her tears.</p> + +<p>"I do not mean to be unkind, but you must be told the truth. Every +minute that you spend in thinking of that man is a disgrace to you."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall be disgraced all my life," said Lady Anna, bursting out +of the room.</p> + +<p>On that day the Serjeant dined at his club, but came home about nine +o'clock. It had all been planned so that the information might be +given in the most solemn manner possible. The two girls were sitting +up in the drawing-room with the guest who, since the conversation in +the morning, had only seen Mrs. Bluestone during dinner. First there +was the knock at the door, and then, after a quarter of an hour, +which was spent up-stairs in perfect silence, there came a message. +Would Lady Anna have the kindness to go to the Serjeant in the +dining-room. In silence she left the room, and in silence descended +the broad staircase. The Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone were sitting on +one side of the fireplace, the Serjeant in his own peculiar +arm-chair, and the lady close to the fender, while a seat opposite to +them had been placed for Lady Anna. The room was gloomy with dark red +curtains and dark flock paper. On the table there burned two candles, +and no more. The Serjeant got up and motioned Lady Anna to a chair. +As soon as she had seated herself, he began his speech. "My dear +young lady, you must be no doubt aware that you are at present +causing a great deal of trouble to your best friends."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to cause anybody trouble," said Lady Anna, thinking +that the Serjeant in speaking of her best friends alluded to himself +and his wife. "I only want to go away."</p> + +<p>"I am coming to that directly, my dear. I cannot suppose that you do +not understand the extent of the sorrow that you have inflicted on +your parent by,—by the declaration which you made to Lord Lovel in +regard to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." There is nothing, perhaps, in the way +of exhortation and scolding which the ordinary daughter,—or +son,—dislikes so much as to be told of her, or his, "parent." "My +dear fellow, your father will be annoyed," is taken in good part. +"What will mamma say?" is seldom received amiss. But when young +people have their "parents" thrown at them, they feel themselves to +be aggrieved, and become at once antagonistic. Lady Anna became +strongly antagonistic. If her mother, who had always been to her her +"own, own mamma," was going to be her parent, there must be an end of +all hope of happiness. She said nothing, but compressed her lips +together. She would not allow herself to be led an inch any way by a +man who talked to her of her parent. "The very idea of such a +marriage as this man had suggested to you under the guise of +friendship was dreadful to her. It could be no more than an +idea;—but that you should have entertained it was dreadful. She has +since asked you again and again to repudiate the idea, and hitherto +you have refused to obey."</p> + +<p>"I can never know what mamma really wants till I go and live with her +again."</p> + +<p>"I am coming to that, Lady Anna. The Countess has informed Mrs. +Bluestone that you had refused to give the desired promise unless you +should be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite, intimating, I presume, +that his permission would be necessary to free you from your +imaginary bond to him."</p> + +<p>"It would be necessary."</p> + +<p>"Very well. The Countess naturally felt an abhorrence at allowing you +again to be in the presence of one so much beneath you,—who had +ventured to address you as he has done. It was a most natural +feeling. But it has occurred to Mrs. Bluestone and myself, that as +you entertain this idea of an obligation, you should be allowed to +extricate yourself from it after your own fashion. You are to meet +Mr. Thwaite,—on Monday,—at eleven o'clock,—in Keppel Street."</p> + +<p>"And I am not to come back again?"</p> + +<p>When one executes the office of gaoler without fee or reward, giving +up to one's prisoner one's best bedroom, and having a company dinner, +more or less, cooked for one's prisoner every day, one does not like +to be told too plainly of the anticipated joys of enfranchisement. +Mrs. Bluestone, who had done her best both for the mother and the +girl, and had done it all from pure motherly sympathy, was a little +hurt. "I am sure, Lady Anna, we shall not wish you to return," she +said.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mrs. Bluestone, you don't understand me. I don't think you know +how unhappy I am because of mamma."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bluestone relented at once. "If you will only do as your mamma +wishes, everything will be made happy for you."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite will be in Keppel Street at eleven o'clock on Monday," +continued the Serjeant, "and an opportunity will then be given you of +obtaining from him a release from that unfortunate promise which I +believe you once made him. I may tell you that he has expressed +himself willing to give you that release. The debt due to him, or +rather to his late father, has now been paid by the estate, and I +think you will find that he will make no difficulty. After that +anything that he may require shall be done to forward his views."</p> + +<p>"Am I to take my things?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Sarah shall pack them up, and they shall be sent after you if it be +decided that you are to stay with Lady Lovel." They then went to bed.</p> + +<p>In all this neither the Serjeant nor his wife had been "on the +square." Neither of them had spoken truly to the girl. Mrs. Bluestone +had let the Countess know that with all her desire to assist her +ladyship, and her ladyship's daughter, she could not receive Lady +Anna back in Bedford Square. As for that sending of her things upon +certain conditions,—it was a simple falsehood. The things would +certainly be sent. And the Serjeant, without uttering an actual lie, +had endeavoured to make the girl think that the tailor was in pursuit +of money,—and of money only, though he must have known that it was +not so. The Serjeant no doubt hated a lie,—as most of us do hate +lies; and had a strong conviction that the devil is the father of +them. But then the lies which he hated, and as to the parentage of +which he was quite certain, were lies told to him. Who yet ever met a +man who did not in his heart of hearts despise an attempt made by +others to deceive—himself? They whom we have found to be gentler in +their judgment towards attempts made in another direction have been +more than one or two. The object which the Serjeant had in view was +so good that it seemed to him to warrant some slight deviation from +parallelogrammatic squareness;—though he held it as one of his first +rules of life that the end cannot justify the means.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-36" id="c2-36"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h3> +<h4>IT IS STILL TRUE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>On Sunday they all went to church, and not a word was said about the +tailor. Alice Bluestone was tender and valedictory; Mrs. Bluestone +was courteous and careful; the Serjeant was solemn and civil. Before +the day was over Lady Anna was quite sure that it was not intended +that she should come back to Bedford Square. Words were said by the +two girls, and by Sarah the waiting-maid, which made it certain that +the packing up was to be a real packing up. No hindrance was offered +to her when she busied herself about her own dresses and folded up +her stock of gloves and ribbons. On Monday morning after breakfast, +Mrs. Bluestone nearly broke down. "I am sure, my dear," she said, "we +have liked you very much, and if there has been anything +uncomfortable it has been from unfortunate circumstances." The +Serjeant bade God bless her when he walked off half an hour before +the carriage came to take her, and she knew that she was to sit no +longer as a guest at the Serjeant's table. She kissed the girls, was +kissed by Mrs. Bluestone, got into the carriage with the maid, and in +her heart said good-bye to Bedford Square for ever.</p> + +<p>It was but three minutes' drive from the Serjeant's house to that in +which her mother lived, and in that moment of time she was hardly +able to realise the fact that within half an hour she would be once +more in the presence of Daniel Thwaite. She did not at present at all +understand why this thing was to be done. When last she had seen her +mother, the Countess had solemnly declared, had almost sworn, that +they two should never see each other again. And now the meeting was +so close at hand that the man must already be near her. She put up +her face to the carriage window as though she almost expected to see +him on the pavement. And how would the meeting be arranged? Would her +mother be present? She took it for granted that her mother would be +present. She certainly anticipated no pleasure from the +meeting,—though she would be glad, very glad, to see Daniel Thwaite +once again. Before she had time to answer herself a question the +carriage had stopped, and she could see her mother at the +drawing-room window. She trembled as she went up-stairs, and hardly +could speak when she found herself in her mother's presence. If her +mother had worn the old brown gown it would have been better, but +there she was, arrayed in black silk,—in silk that was new and stiff +and broad and solemn,—a parent rather than a mother, and every inch +a Countess. "I am so glad to be with you again, mamma."</p> + +<p>"I shall not be less glad to have you with me, Anna,—if you will +behave yourself with propriety."</p> + +<p>"Give me a kiss, mamma." Then the Countess bent her head and allowed +her daughter's lips to touch her cheeks. In old days,—days that were +not so very old,—she would kiss her child as though such embraces +were the only food that nourished her.</p> + +<p>"Come up-stairs, and I will show you your room." Then the daughter +followed the mother in solemn silence. "You have heard that Mr. +Daniel Thwaite is coming here, to see you, at your own request. It +will not be many minutes before he is here. Take off your bonnet." +Again Lady Anna silently did as she was bid. "It would have been +better,—very much better,—that you should have done as you were +desired without subjecting me to this indignity. But as you have +taken into your head an idea that you cannot be absolved from an +impossible engagement without his permission, I have submitted. Do +not let it be long, and let me hear then that all this nonsense is +over. He has got what he desires, as a very large sum of money has +been paid to him." Then there came a knock at the door from Sarah, +who just showed her face to say that Mr. Thwaite was in the room +below. "Now go down. In ten minutes I shall expect to see you here +again;—or, after that, I shall come down to you." Lady Anna took her +mother by the hand, looking up with beseeching eyes into her mother's +face. "Go, my dear, and let this be done as quickly as possible. I +believe that you have too great a sense of propriety to let him do +more than speak to you. Remember,—you are the daughter of an earl; +and remember also all that I have done to establish your right for +you."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, I do not know what to do. I am afraid."</p> + +<p>"Shall I go with you, Anna?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma;—it will be better without you. You do not know how good +he is."</p> + +<p>"If he will abandon this madness he shall be my friend of friends."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma, I am afraid. But I had better go." Then, trembling she +left the room and slowly descended the stairs. She had certainly +spoken the truth in saying that she was afraid. Up to this moment she +had not positively made up her mind whether she would or would not +yield to the entreaties of her friends. She had decided upon +nothing,—leaving in fact the arbitrament of her faith in the hands +of the man who had now come to see her. Throughout all that had been +said and done her sympathies had been with him, and had become the +stronger the more her friends had reviled him. She knew that they had +spoken evil of him, not because he was evil,—but with the unholy +view of making her believe what was false. She had seen through all +this, and had been aroused by it to a degree of firmness of which her +mother had not imagined her to be capable. Had they confined +themselves to the argument of present fitness, admitting the truth +and honesty of the man,—and admitting also that his love for her and +hers for him had been the natural growth of the familiar friendship +of their childhood and youth, their chance of moulding her to their +purposes would have been better. As it was they had never argued with +her on the subject without putting forward some statement which she +found herself bound to combat. She was told continually that she had +degraded herself; and she could understand that another Lady Anna +might degrade herself most thoroughly by listening to the suit of a +tailor. But she had not disgraced herself. Of that she was sure, +though she could not well explain to them her reasons when they +accused her. Circumstances, and her mother's mode of living, had +thrown her into intimacy with this man. For all practical purposes of +life he had been her equal,—and being so had become her dearest +friend. To take his hand, to lean on his arm, to ask his assistance, +to go to him in her troubles, to listen to his words and to believe +them, to think of him as one who might always be trusted, had become +a second nature to her. Of course she loved him. And now the +martyrdom through which she had passed in Bedford Square had +changed,—unconsciously as regarded her own thoughts,—but still had +changed her feelings in regard to her cousin. He was not to her now +the bright and shining thing, the godlike Phœbus, which he had +been in Wyndham Street and at Yoxham. In all their lectures to her +about her title and grandeur they had succeeded in inculcating an +idea of the solemnity of rank, but had robbed it in her eyes of all +its grace. She had only been the more tormented because the fact of +her being Lady Anna Lovel had been fully established. The feeling in +her bosom which was most hostile to the tailor's claim upon her was +her pity for her mother.</p> + +<p>She entered the room very gently, and found him standing by the +table, with his hands clasped together. "Sweetheart!" he said, as +soon as he saw her, calling her by a name which he used to use when +they were out in the fields together in Cumberland.</p> + +<p>"Daniel!" Then he came to her and took her hand. "If you have +anything to say, Daniel, you must be very quick, because mamma will +come in ten minutes."</p> + +<p>"Have you anything to say, sweetheart?" She had much to say if she +only knew how to say it; but she was silent. "Do you love me, Anna?" +Still she was silent. "If you have ceased to love me, pray tell me +so,—in all honesty." But yet she was silent. "If you are true to +me,—as I am to you, with all my heart,—will you not tell me so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured.</p> + +<p>He heard her, though no other could have done so.</p> + + +<div class="center"> +<table class="sm" style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="3"><tr><td align="left"> +<p class="noindent">"A lover's ears will hear the lowest sound<br /> + When the suspicious head of theft is stopped."</p> +</td></tr></table> +</div> + + +<p>"If so," said he, again taking her hand, "this story they have told +me is untrue."</p> + +<p>"What story, Daniel?" But she withdrew her hand quickly as she asked +him.</p> + +<p>"Nay;—it is mine; it shall be mine if you love me, dear. I will tell +you what story. They have said that you love your cousin, Earl +Lovel."</p> + +<p>"No;" said she scornfully, "I have never said so. It is not true."</p> + +<p>"You cannot love us both." His eye was fixed upon hers, that eye to +which in past years she had been accustomed to look for guidance, +sometimes in joy and sometimes in fear, and which she had always +obeyed. "Is not that true?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes;—that is true of course."</p> + +<p>"You have never told him that you loved him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, never."</p> + +<p>"But you have told me so,—more than once; eh, sweetheart?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And it was true?"</p> + +<p>She paused a moment, and then gave him the same answer, "Yes."</p> + +<p>"And it is still true?"</p> + +<p>She repeated the word a third time. "Yes." But she again so spoke +that none but a lover's ear could have heard it.</p> + +<p>"If it be so, nothing but the hand of God shall separate us. You know +that they sent for me to come here." She nodded her head. "Do you +know why? In order that I might abandon my claim to your hand. I will +never give it up. But I made them a promise, and I will keep it. I +told them that if you preferred Lord Lovel to me, I would at once +make you free of your promise,—that I would offer to you such +freedom, if it would be freedom. I do offer it to you;—or rather, +Anna, I would have offered it, had you not already answered the +question. How can I offer it now?" Then he paused, and stood +regarding her with fixed eyes. "But there,—there; take back your +word if you will. If you think that it is better to be the wife of a +lord, because he is a lord, though you do not love him, than to lie +upon the breast of the man you do love,—you are free from me." Now +was the moment in which she must obey her mother, and satisfy her +friends, and support her rank, and decide that she would be one of +the noble ladies of England, if such decision were to be made at all. +She looked up into his face, and thought that after all it was +handsomer than that of the young Earl. He stood thus with dilated +nostrils, and fire in his eyes, and his lips just parted, and his +head erect,—a very man. Had she been so minded she would not have +dared to take his offer. They surely had not known the man when they +allowed him to have this interview. He repeated his words. "You are +free if you will say so;—but you must answer me."</p> + +<p>"I did answer you, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"My noble girl! And now, my heart's only treasure, I may speak out +and tell you what I think. It cannot be good that a woman should +purchase rank and wealth by giving herself to a man she does not +love. It must be bad,—monstrously bad. I never believed it when they +told it me of you. And yet when I did not hear of you or see you for +<span class="nowrap">months—"</span></p> + +<p>"It was not my fault."</p> + +<p>"No, sweetheart;—and I tried to find comfort by so saying to myself. +'If she really loves me, she will be true,' I said. And yet who was I +that I should think that you would suffer so much for me? But I will +repay you,—if the truth and service of a life may repay such a debt +as that. At any rate hear this from me;—I will never doubt again." +And as he spoke he was moving towards her, thinking to take her in +his arms, when the door was opened and Countess Lovel was within the +room. The tailor was the first to speak. "Lady Lovel, I have asked +your daughter, and I find that it is her wish to adhere to the +engagement which she made with me in Cumberland. I need hardly say +that it is my wish also."</p> + +<p>"Anna! Is this true?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma; mamma! Oh, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"If it be so I will never speak word to you more."</p> + +<p>"You will; you will! Do not look at me like that. You will speak to +me!"</p> + +<p>"You shall never again be child of mine." But in saying this she had +forgotten herself, and now she remembered her proper cue. "I do not +believe a word of it. The man has come here and has insulted and +frightened you. He knows,—he must know,—that such a marriage is +impossible. It can never take place. It shall never take place. Mr. +Thwaite, as you are a living man, you shall never live to marry my +daughter."</p> + +<p>"My lady, in this matter of marriage your daughter must no doubt +decide for herself. Even now, by all the laws of God,—and I believe +of man too,—she is beyond your control either to give her in +marriage or to withhold her. In a few months she will be as much her +own mistress as you now are yours."</p> + +<p>"Sir, I am not asking you about my child. You are insolent."</p> + +<p>"I came here, Lady Lovel, because I was sent for."</p> + +<p>"And now you had better leave us. You made a promise which you have +broken."</p> + +<p>"By heavens, no. I made a promise and I have kept it. I said that I +would offer her freedom, and I have done so. I told her, and I tell +her again now, that if she will say that she prefers her cousin to +me, I will retire." The Countess looked at him and also recognised +the strength of his face, almost feeling that the man had grown in +personal dignity since he had received the money that was due to him. +"She does not prefer the Earl. She has given her heart to me; and I +hold it,—and will hold it. Look up, dear, and tell your mother +whether what I say be true."</p> + +<p>"It is true," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"Then may the blight of hell rest upon you both!" said the Countess, +rushing to the door. But she returned. "Mr. Thwaite," she said, "I +will trouble you at once to leave the house, and never more to return +to it."</p> + +<p>"I will leave it certainly. Good bye, my own love." He attempted +again to take the girl by the hand, but the Countess, with violence, +rushed at them and separated them. "If you but touch him, I will +strike you," she said to her daughter. "As for you, it is her money +that you want. If it be necessary, you shall have, not hers, but +mine. Now go."</p> + +<p>"That is a slander, Lady Lovel. I want no one's money. I want the +girl I love,—whose heart I have won; and I will have her. Good +morning, Lady Lovel. Dear, dear Anna, for this time good bye. Do not +let any one make you think that I can ever be untrue to you." The +girl only looked at him. Then he left the room; and the mother and +the daughter were alone together. The Countess stood erect, looking +at her child, while Lady Anna, standing also, kept her eyes fixed +upon the ground. "Am I to believe it all,—as that man says?" asked +the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that you have renewed your engagement to that +low-born wretch?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma,—he is not a wretch."</p> + +<p>"Do you contradict me? After all, is it come to this?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma,—you, you—cursed me."</p> + +<p>"And you will be cursed. Do you think that you will do such +wickedness as this, that you can destroy all that I have done for +you, that you make yourself the cause of ruin to a whole family, and +that you will not be punished for it? You say that you love me."</p> + +<p>"You know that I love you, mamma."</p> + +<p>"And yet you do not scruple to drive me mad."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, it was you who brought us together."</p> + +<p>"Ungrateful child! Where else could I take you then?"</p> + +<p>"But I was there,—and of course I loved him. I could not cease to +love him because,—because they say that I am a grand lady."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Anna. You shall never marry him; never. With my own +hands I will kill him first;—or you." The girl stood looking into +her mother's face, and trembling. "Do you understand that?"</p> + +<p>"You do not mean it, mamma."</p> + +<p>"By the God above me, I do! Do you think that I will stop at anything +now;—after having done so much? Do you think that I will live to see +my daughter the wife of a foul, sweltering tailor? No, by heavens! He +tells you that when you are twenty-one, you will not be subject to my +control. I warn you to look to it. I will not lose my control, unless +when I see you married to some husband fitting your condition in +life. For the present you will live in your own room, as I will live +in mine. I will hold no intercourse whatever with you, till I have +constrained you to obey me."</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-37" id="c2-37"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3> +<h4>LET HER DIE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>After the scene which was described in the last chapter there was a +very sad time indeed in Keppel Street. The Countess had been advised +by the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone to take her daughter immediately +abroad, in the event of the interview with Daniel Thwaite being +unsatisfactory. It was believed by all concerned, by the Bluestones, +and the Goffes, by Sir William Patterson who had been told of the +coming interview, and by the Countess herself, that this would not be +the case. They had all thought that Lady Anna would come out from +that meeting disengaged and free to marry whom she would,—and they +thought also that within a very few weeks of her emancipation she +would accept her cousin's hand. The Solicitor-General had +communicated with the Earl, who was still in town, and the Earl again +believed that he might win the heiress. But should the girl prove +obstinate;—"take her away at once,—very far away;—to Rome, or some +such place as that." Such had been Mrs. Bluestone's advice, and in +those days Rome was much more distant than it is now. "And don't let +anybody know where you are going," added the Serjeant,—"except Mr. +Goffe." The Countess had assented;—but when the moment came, there +were reasons against her sudden departure. Mr. Goffe told her that +she must wait at any rate for another fortnight. The presence of +herself and her daughter were necessary in London for the signing of +deeds and for the completion of the now merely formal proofs of +identity. And money was again scarce. A great deal of money had been +spent lately, and unless money was borrowed without security, and at +a great cost,—to which Mr. Goffe was averse,—the sum needed could +hardly be provided at once. Mr. Goffe recommended that no day earlier +than the 20th December should be fixed for their departure.</p> + +<p>It was now the end of November; and it became a question how the +intermediate time should be passed. The Countess was resolved that +she would hold no pleasant intercourse at all with her daughter. She +would not even tell the girl of her purpose of going abroad. From +hour to hour she assured herself with still increasing obduracy that +nothing but severity could avail anything. The girl must be cowed and +frightened into absolute submission,—even though at the expense of +her health. Even though it was to be effected by the absolute +crushing of her spirits,—this must be done. Though at the cost of +her life, it must be done. This woman had lived for the last twenty +years with but one object before her eyes,—an object sometimes +seeming to be near, more often distant, and not unfrequently +altogether beyond her reach, but which had so grown upon her +imagination as to become the heaven to which her very soul aspired. +To be and to be known to be among the highly born, the so-called +noble, the titled from old dates,—to be of those who were purely +aristocratic, had been all the world to her. As a child,—the child +of well-born but poor parents, she had received the idea. In +following it out she had thrown all thoughts of love to the wind and +had married a reprobate earl. Then had come her punishment,—or, as +she had conceived it, her most unmerited misfortunes. For many years +of her life her high courage and persistent demeanour had almost +atoned for the vice of her youth. The love of rank was strong in her +bosom as ever, but it was fostered for her child rather than for +herself. Through long, tedious, friendless, poverty-stricken years +she had endured all, still assuring herself that the day would come +when the world should call the sweet plant that grew by her side by +its proper name. The little children hooted after her daughter, +calling her girl in derision The Lady Anna,—when Lady Anna had been +more poorly clad and blessed with less of the comforts of home than +any of them. Years would roll by, and they should live to know that +the Lady Anna,—the sport of their infantine cruelty,—was Lady Anna +indeed. And as the girl became a woman the dream was becoming a +reality. The rank, the title, the general acknowledgment and the +wealth would all be there. Then came the first great decisive +triumph. Overtures of love and friendship were made from the other +side. Would Lady Anna consent to become the Countess Lovel, all +animosities might be buried, and everything be made pleasant, +prosperous, noble, and triumphant!</p> + +<p>It is easy to fill with air a half-inflated bladder. It is already so +buoyant with its own lightness, that it yields itself with ease to +receive the generous air. The imagination of the woman flew higher +than ever it had flown when the proposition came home to her in all +its bearings. Of course it had been in her mind that her daughter +should marry well;—but there had been natural fears. Her child had +not been educated, had not lived, had not been surrounded in her +young days, as are those girls from whom the curled darlings are wont +to choose their wives. She would too probably be rough in manner, +ungentle in speech, ungifted in accomplishments, as compared with +those who from their very cradles are encompassed by the blessings of +wealth and high social standing. But when she looked at her child's +beauty, she would hope. And then her child was soft, sweet-humoured, +winning in all her little ways, pretty even in the poor duds which +were supplied to her mainly by the generosity of the tailor. And so +she would hope, and sometimes despair;—and then hope again. But she +had never hoped for anything so good as this. Such a marriage would +not only put her daughter as high as a Lovel ought to be, but would +make it known in a remarkable manner to all coming ages that she, she +herself, she the despised and slandered one,—who had been treated +almost as woman had never been treated before,—was in very truth the +Countess Lovel by whose income the family had been restored to its +old splendour.</p> + +<p>And so the longing grew upon her. Then, almost for the first time, +did she begin to feel that it was necessary for the purposes of her +life that the girl whom she loved so thoroughly, should be a creature +in her hands, to be dealt with as she pleased. She would have had her +daughter accede to the proposed marriage even before she had seen +Lord Lovel, and was petulant when her daughter would not be as clay +in the sculptor's hand. But still the girl's refusal had been but as +the refusal of a girl. She should not have been as are other girls. +She should have known better. She should have understood what the +peculiarity of her position demanded. But it had not been so with +her. She had not soared as she should have done, above the love-laden +dreams of common maidens. And so the visit to Yoxham was permitted. +Then came the great blow,—struck as it were by a third hand, and +that the hand of an attorney. The Countess Lovel learned through Mr. +Goffe,—who had heard the tale from other lawyers,—that her daughter +Lady Anna Lovel had, with her own mouth, told her noble lover that +she was betrothed to a tailor! She felt at the moment that she could +have died,—cursing her child for this black ingratitude.</p> + +<p>But there might still be hope. The trial was going on,—or the work +which was progressing towards the trial, and she was surrounded by +those who could advise her. Doubtless what had happened was a great +misfortune. But there was room for hope;—room for most assured hope. +The Earl was not disposed to abandon the match, though he had, of +course, been greatly annoyed,—nay, disgusted and degraded by the +girl's communication. But he had consented to see the matter in the +proper light. The young tailor had got an influence over the girl +when she was a child, was doubtless in pursuit of money, and must be +paid. The folly of a child might be forgiven, and the Earl would +persevere. No one would know what had occurred, and the thing would +be forgotten as a freak of childhood. The Countess had succumbed to +the policy of all this;—but she was not deceived by the benevolent +falsehood. Lady Anna had been over twenty when she had been receiving +lover's vows from this man, reeking from his tailor's board. And her +girl, her daughter, had deceived her. That the girl had deceived her, +saying there was no other lover, was much; but it was much more and +worse and more damnable that there had been thorough deception as to +the girl's own appreciation of her rank. The sympathy tendered +through so many years must have been always pretended sympathy. With +these feelings hot within her bosom, she could not bring herself to +speak one kindly word to Lady Anna after the return from Yoxham. The +girl was asked to abandon her odious lover with stern severity. It +was demanded of her that she should do so with cruel threats. She +would never quite yield, though she had then no strength of purpose +sufficient to enable her to declare that she would not yield. We know +how she was banished to Bedford Square, and transferred from the +ruthless persistency of her mother, to the less stern but not less +fixed manœuvres of Mrs. Bluestone. At that moment of her existence +she was herself in doubt. In Wyndham Street and at Yoxham she had +almost more than doubted. The softness of the new Elysium had well +nigh unnerved her. When that young man had caught her from stone to +stone as she passed over the ford at Bolton, she was almost ready to +give herself to him. But then had come upon her the sense of +sickness, that faint, overdone flavour of sugared sweetness, which +arises when sweet things become too luscious to the eater. She had +struggled to be honest and strong, and had just not fallen into the +pot of treacle.</p> + +<p>But, notwithstanding all this, they who saw her and knew the story, +were still sure that the lord must at last win the day. There was not +one who believed that such a girl could be true to such a troth as +she had made. Even the Solicitor-General, when he told the tale which +the amorous steward had remembered to his own encouragement, did not +think but what the girl and the girl's fortune would fall into the +hands of his client. Human nature demanded that it should be so. That +it should be as he wished it was so absolutely consonant with all +nature as he had known it, that he had preferred trusting to this +result, in his client's behalf, to leaving the case in a jury's +hands. At this moment he was sure he was right in his judgment. And +indeed he was right;—for no jury could have done anything for his +client.</p> + +<p>It went on till at last the wise men decided that the girl only +wanted to be relieved by her old lover, that she might take a new +lover with his permission. The girl was no doubt peculiar; but, as +far as the wise ones could learn from her manner,—for with words she +would say nothing,—that was her state of mind. So the interview was +planned,—to the infinite disgust of the Countess, who, however, +believed that it might avail; and we know what was the result. Lady +Anna, who long had doubted,—who had at last almost begun to doubt +whether Daniel Thwaite was true to her,—had renewed her pledges, +strengthened her former promises, and was now more firmly betrothed +than ever to him whom the Countess hated as a very fiend upon earth. +But there certainly should be no marriage! Though she pistolled the +man at the altar, there should be no marriage.</p> + +<p>And then there came upon her the infinite disgust arising from the +necessity of having to tell her sorrows to others,—who could not +sympathize with her, though their wishes were as hers. It was hard +upon her that no step could be taken by her in reference to her +daughter without the knowledge of Mr. Goffe and Serjeant +Bluestone,—and the consequent knowledge of Mr. Flick and the +Solicitor-General. It was necessary, too, that Lord Lovel should know +all. His conduct in many things must depend on the reception which +might probably be accorded to a renewal of his suit. Of course he +must be told. He had already been told that the tailor was to be +admitted to see his love, in order that she might be absolved by the +tailor from her first vow. It had not been pleasant,—but he had +acceded. Mr. Flick had taken upon himself to say that he was sure +that everything would be made pleasant. The Earl had frowned, and had +been very short with Mr. Flick. These confidences with lawyers about +his lovesuit, and his love's tone with her low-born lover, had not +been pleasant to Lord Lovel. But he had endured it,—and now he must +be told of the result. Oh, heavens;—what a hell of misery was this +girl making for her high-born relatives! But the story of the +tailor's visit to Keppel Street did not reach the unhappy ones at +Yoxham till months had passed away.</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe was very injudicious in postponing the departure of the two +ladies—as the Solicitor-General told Mr. Flick afterwards very +plainly, when he heard of what had been done. "Money; she might have +had any money. I would have advanced it. You would have advanced it!" +"Oh certainly," said Mr. Flick, not, however, at all relishing the +idea of advancing money to his client's adversary. "I never heard of +such folly," continued Sir William. "That comes of trusting people +who should not be trusted." But it was too late then. Lady Anna was +lying ill in bed, in fever; and three doctors doubted whether she +would ever get up again. "Would it not be better that she should +die?" said her mother to herself, standing over her and looking at +her. It would,—so thought the mother then,—be better that she +should die than get up to become the wife of Daniel Thwaite. But how +much better that she should live and become the Countess Lovel! She +still loved her child, as only a mother can love her only child,—as +only a mother can love who has no hope of joy in the world, but what +is founded on her child. But the other passion had become so strong +in her bosom that it almost conquered her mother's yearnings. Was she +to fight for long years that she might be beaten at last when the +prize was so near her,—when the cup was almost at her lips? Were the +girl now to be taken to her grave, there would be an end at any rate +of the fear which now most heavily oppressed her. But the three +doctors were called in, one after another; and Lady Anna was tended +as though her life was as precious as that of any other daughter.</p> + +<p>These new tidings caused new perturbation among the lawyers. "They +say that Clerke and Holland have given her over," said Mr. Flick to +Sir William.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to hear it," said Mr. Solicitor; "but girls do live +sometimes in spite of the doctors."</p> + +<p>"Yes; very true, Sir William; very true. But if it should go in that +way it might not perhaps be amiss for our client."</p> + +<p>"God forbid that he should prosper by his cousin's death, Mr. Flick. +But the Countess would be the heir."</p> + +<p>"The Countess is devoted to the Earl. We ought to do something, Sir +William. I don't think that we could claim above eight or ten +thousand pounds at most as real property. He put his money +everywhere, did that old man. There are shares in iron mines in the +Alleghanies, worth ever so much."</p> + +<p>"They are no good to us," said the Solicitor-General, alluding to his +client's interests.</p> + +<p>"Not worth a halfpenny to us, though they are paying twenty per cent. +on the paid-up capital. He seems to have determined that the real +heir should get nothing, even if there were no will. A wicked old +man!"</p> + +<p>"Very wicked, Mr. Flick."</p> + +<p>"A horrible old man! But we really ought to do something, Mr. +Solicitor. If the girl won't marry him there should be some +compromise, after all that we have done."</p> + +<p>"How can the girl marry any one, Mr. Flick,—if she's going to die?"</p> + +<p>A few days after this, Sir William called in Keppel Street and saw +the Countess, not with any idea of promoting a compromise,—for the +doing which this would not have been the time, nor would he have been +the fitting medium,—but in order that he might ask after Lady Anna's +health. The whole matter was in truth now going very much against the +Earl. Money had been allowed to the Countess and her daughter; and in +truth all the money was now their own, to do with it as they listed, +though there might be some delay before each was put into absolute +possession of her own proportion; but no money had been allowed, or +could be allowed, to the Earl. And, that the fact was so, was now +becoming known to all men. Hitherto credit had at any rate been easy +with the young lord. When the old Earl died, and when the will was +set aside, it was thought that he would be the heir. When the lawsuit +first came up, it was believed everywhere that some generous +compromise would be the worst that could befall him. After that the +marriage had been almost a certainty, and then it was known that he +had something of his own, so that tradesmen need not fear that their +bills would be paid. It can hardly be said that he had been +extravagant; but a lord must live, and an earl can hardly live and +maintain a house in the country on a thousand a year, even though he +has an uncle to keep his hunters for him. Some prudent men in London +were already beginning to ask for their money, and the young Earl was +in trouble. As Mr. Flick had said, it was quite time that something +should be done. Sir William still depended on the panacea of a +marriage, if only the girl would live. The marriage might be delayed; +but, if the cards were played prudently, might still make everything +comfortable. Such girls do not marry tailors, and will always prefer +lords to tradesmen!</p> + +<p>"I hope that you do not think that my calling is intrusive," he said. +The Countess, dressed all in black, with that funereal frown upon her +brow which she always now wore, with deep-sunk eyes, and care legible +in every feature of her handsome face, received him with a courtesy +that was as full of woe as it was graceful. She was very glad to make +his acquaintance. There was no intrusion. He would forgive her, she +thought, if he perceived that circumstances had almost overwhelmed +her with sorrow. "I have come to ask after your daughter," said he.</p> + +<p>"She has been very ill, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"Is she better now?"</p> + +<p>"I hardly know; I cannot say. They seemed to think this morning that +the fever was less violent."</p> + +<p>"Then she will recover, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"They do not say so. But indeed I did not ask them. It is all in +God's hands. I sometimes think that it would be better that she +should die, and there be an end of it."</p> + +<p>This was the first time that these two had been in each other's +company, and the lawyer could not altogether repress the feeling of +horror with which he heard the mother speak in such a way of her only +child. "Oh, Lady Lovel, do not say that!"</p> + +<p>"But I do say it. Why should I not say it to you, who know all? Of +what good will her life be to herself, or to any one else, if she +pollute herself and her family by this marriage? It would be better +that she should be dead,—much better that she should be dead. She is +all that I have, Sir William. It is for her sake that I have been +struggling from the first moment in which I knew that I was to be a +mother. The whole care of my life has been to prove her to be her +father's daughter in the eye of the law. I doubt whether you can know +what it is to pursue one object, and only one, through your whole +life, with never-ending solicitude,—and to do it all on behalf of +another. If you did, you would understand my feeling now. It would be +better for her that she should die than become the wife of such a one +as Daniel Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"Lady Lovel, not only as a mother, but as a Christian, you should get +the better of that feeling."</p> + +<p>"Of course I should. No doubt every clergyman in England would tell +me the same thing. It is easy to say all that, sir. Wait till you are +tried. Wait till all your ambition is to be betrayed, every hope +rolled in the dust, till all the honours you have won are to be +soiled and degraded, till you are made a mark for general scorn and +public pity,—and then tell me how you love the child by whom such +evils are brought upon you!"</p> + +<p>"I trust that I may never be so tried, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I hope not; but think of all that before you preach to me. But I do +love her; and it is because I love her that I would fain see her +removed from the reproaches which her own madness will bring upon +her. Let her die;—if it be God's will. I can follow her without one +wish for a prolonged life. Then will a noble family be again +established, and her sorrowful tale will be told among the Lovels +with a tear and without a curse."</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-38" id="c2-38"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>All December went by, and the neighbours in the houses round spent +each his merry Christmas; and the snow and frost of January passed +over them, and February had come and nearly gone, before the doctors +dared to say that Lady Anna Lovel's life was not still in danger. +During this long period the world had known all about her +illness,—as it did know, or pretended to know, the whole history of +her life. The world had been informed that she was dying, and had, +upon the whole, been really very sorry for her. She had interested +the world, and the world had heard much of her youth and beauty,—of +the romance too of her story, of her fidelity to the tailor, and of +her persecutions. During these months of her illness the world was +disposed to think that the tailor was a fine fellow, and that he +ought to be taken by the hand. He had money now, and it was thought +that it would be a good thing to bring him into some club. There was +a very strong feeling at the Beaufort that if he were properly +proposed and seconded he would be elected,—not because he was going +to marry an heiress, but because he was losing the heiress whom he +was to have married. If the girl died, then Lord Lovel himself might +bring him forward at the Beaufort. Of all this Daniel himself knew +nothing; but he heard, as all the world heard, that Lady Anna was on +her deathbed.</p> + +<p>When the news first reached him,—after a fashion that seemed to him +to be hardly worthy of credit,—he called at the house in Keppel +Street and asked the question. Yes; Lady Anna was very ill; but, as +it happened, Sarah the lady's-maid opened the door, and Sarah +remembered the tailor. She had seen him when he was admitted to her +young mistress, and knew enough of the story to be aware that he +should be snubbed. Her first answer was given before she had +bethought herself; then she snubbed him, and told no one but the +Countess of his visit. After that Daniel went to one of the doctors, +and waited at his door with patience till he could be seen. The +unhappy man told his story plainly. He was Daniel Thwaite, late a +tailor, the man from Keswick, to whom Lady Anna Lovel was engaged. In +charity and loving kindness, would the doctor tell him of the state +of his beloved one? The doctor took him by the hand and asked him in, +and did tell him. His beloved one was then on the very point of +death. Whereupon Daniel wrote to the Countess in humble strains, +himself taking the letter, and waiting without in the street for any +answer that might be vouchsafed. If it was, as he was told, that his +beloved was dying, might he be allowed to stand once at her bedside +and kiss her hand? In about an hour an answer was brought to him at +the area gate. It consisted of his own letter, opened, and returned +to him without a word. He went away too sad to curse, but he declared +to himself that such cruelty in a woman's bosom could exist only in +the bosom of a countess.</p> + +<p>But as others heard early in February that Lady Anna was like to +recover, so did Daniel Thwaite. Indeed, his authority was better than +that which reached the clubs, for the doctor still stood his friend. +Could the doctor take a message from him to Lady Anna;—but one word? +No;—the doctor could take no message. That he would not do. But he +did not object to give to the lover a bulletin of the health of his +sweetheart. In this way Daniel knew sooner than most others when the +change took place in the condition of his beloved one.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna would be of age in May, and the plan of her betrothed was +as follows. He would do nothing till that time, and then he would +call upon her to allow their banns to be published in Bloomsbury +Church after the manner of the Church of England. He himself had +taken lodgings in Great Russell Street, thinking that his object +might be aided by living in the same parish. If, as was probable, he +would not be allowed to approach Lady Anna either in person, or by +letter, then he would have recourse to the law, and would allege that +the young lady was unduly kept a prisoner in custody. He was told +that such complaint would be as idle wind, coming from him,—that no +allegation of that kind could obtain any redress unless it came from +the young lady herself; but he flattered himself that he could so +make it that the young lady would at any rate obtain thereby the +privilege of speaking for herself. Let some one ask her what were her +wishes and he would be prepared to abide by her expression of them.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Lord Lovel also had been anxious;—but his anxiety +had been met in a very different fashion. For many days the Countess +saw him daily, so that there grew up between them a close intimacy. +When it was believed that the girl would die,—believed with that sad +assurance which made those who were concerned speak of her death +almost as a certainty, the Countess, sitting alone with the young +Earl, had told him that all would be his if the girl left them. He +had muttered something as to there being no reason for that. "Who +else should have it?" said the Countess. "Where should it go? Your +people, Lovel, have not understood me. It is for the family that I +have been fighting, fighting, fighting,—and never ceasing. Though +you have been my adversary,—it has been all for the Lovels. If she +goes,—it shall be yours at once. There is no one knows how little I +care for wealth myself." Then the girl had become better, and the +Countess again began her plots, and her plans, and her strategy. She +would take the girl abroad in May, in April if it might be possible. +They would go,—not to Rome then, but to the south of France, and, as +the weather became too warm for them, on to Switzerland and the +Tyrol. Would he, Lord Lovel, follow them? Would he follow them and be +constant in his suit, even though the frantic girl should still talk +of her tailor lover? If he would do so, as far as money was +concerned, all should be in common with them. For what was the money +wanted but that the Lovels might be great and noble and splendid? He +said that he would do so. He also loved the girl,—thought at least +during the tenderness created by her illness that he loved her with +all his heart. He sat hour after hour with the Countess in Keppel +Street,—sometimes seeing the girl as she lay unconscious, or +feigning that she was so; till at last he was daily at her bedside. +"You had better not talk to him, Anna," her mother would say, "but of +course he is anxious to see you." Then the Earl would kiss her hand, +and in her mother's presence she had not the courage,—perhaps she +had not the strength,—to withdraw it. In these days the Countess was +not cruelly stern as she had been. Bedside nursing hardly admits of +such cruelty of manner. But she never spoke to her child with little +tender endearing words, never embraced her,—but was to her a careful +nurse rather than a loving mother.</p> + +<p>Then by degrees the girl got better, and was able to talk. "Mamma," +she said one day, "won't you sit by me?"</p> + +<p>"No, my dear; you should not be encouraged to talk."</p> + +<p>"Sit by me, and let me hold your hand." For a moment the Countess +gave way, and sat by her daughter, allowing her hand to remain +pressed beneath the bedclothes;—but she rose abruptly, remembering +her grievance, remembering that it would be better that her child +should die, should die broken-hearted by unrelenting cruelty, than be +encouraged to think it possible that she should do as she desired. So +she rose abruptly and left the bedside without a word.</p> + +<p>"Mamma," said Lady Anna; "will Lord Lovel be here to-day?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose he will be here."</p> + +<p>"Will you let me speak to him for a minute?"</p> + +<p>"Surely you may speak to him."</p> + +<p>"I am strong now, mamma, and I think that I shall be well again some +day. I have so often wished that I might die."</p> + +<p>"You had better not talk about it, my dear."</p> + +<p>"But I should like to speak to him, mamma, without you."</p> + +<p>"What to say,—Anna?"</p> + +<p>"I hardly know;—but I should like to speak to him. I have something +to say about money."</p> + +<p>"Cannot I say it?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma. I must say it myself,—if you will let me." The Countess +looked at her girl with suspicion, but she gave the permission +demanded. Of course it would be right that this lover should see his +love. The Countess was almost minded to require from Lady Anna an +assurance that no allusion should be made to Daniel Thwaite; but the +man's name had not been mentioned between them since the beginning of +the illness, and she was loth to mention it now. Nor would it have +been possible to prevent for long such an interview as that now +proposed.</p> + +<p>"He shall come in if he pleases," said the Countess; "but I hope you +will remember who you are and to whom you are speaking."</p> + +<p>"I will remember both, mamma," said Lady Anna. The Countess looked +down on her daughter's face, and could not help thinking that her +child was different from what she had been. There had been almost +defiance in the words spoken, though they had been spoken with the +voice of an invalid.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock that afternoon, according to his custom, Lord Lovel +came, and was at once told that he was to be spoken to by his cousin. +"She says it is about money," said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"About money?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—and if she confines herself to that, do as she bids you. If +she is ever to be your wife it will be all right; and if not,—then +it will be better in your hands than in hers. In three months time +she can do as she pleases with it all." He was then taken into Lady +Anna's room. "Here is your cousin," said the Countess. "You must not +talk long or I shall interrupt you. If you wish to speak to him about +the property,—as the head of your family,—that will be very right; +but confine yourself to that for the present." Then the Countess left +them and closed the door.</p> + +<p>"It is not only about money, Lord Lovel."</p> + +<p>"You might call me Frederic now," said he tenderly.</p> + +<p>"No;—not now. If I am ever well again and we are then friends I will +do so. They tell me that there is ever so much money,—hundreds of +thousands of pounds. I forget how much."</p> + +<p>"Do not trouble yourself about that."</p> + +<p>"But I do trouble myself very much about it,—and I know that it +ought to be yours. There is one thing I want to tell you, which you +must believe. If I am ever any man's wife, I shall be the wife of +Daniel Thwaite." That dark frown came upon his face which she had +seen once before. "Pray believe that it is so," she continued. "Mamma +does not believe it,—will not believe it; but it is so. I love him +with all my heart. I think of him every minute. It is very very cruel +that I may not hear from him or send one word to tell him how I am. +There! My hand is on the Bible, and I swear to you that if I am ever +the wife of any man, I will be his wife."</p> + +<p>He looked down at her and saw that she was wan and thin and weak, and +he did not dare to preach to her the old family sermon as to his rank +and station. "But, Anna, why do you tell me this now?" he said.</p> + +<p>"That you may believe it and not trouble yourself with me any more. +You must believe it when I tell you so in this manner. I may perhaps +never live to rise from my bed. If I get well, I shall send to him, +or go. I will not be hindered. He is true to me, and I will be true +to him. You may tell mamma if you think proper. She would not believe +me, but perhaps she may believe you. But, Lord Lovel, it is not fit +that he should have all this money. He does not want it, and he would +not take it. Till I am married I may do what I please with it;—and +it shall be yours."</p> + +<p>"That cannot be."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it can. I know that I can make it yours if I please. They tell +me that—that you are not rich, as Lord Lovel should be, because all +this has been taken from you. That was the reason why you came to +me."</p> + +<p>"By heaven, Anna, I love you most truly."</p> + +<p>"It could not have been so when you had not seen me. Will you take a +message from me to Daniel Thwaite?"</p> + +<p>He thought awhile before he answered it. "No, I cannot do that."</p> + +<p>"Then I must find another messenger. Mr. Goffe will do it perhaps. He +shall tell me how much he wants to keep, and the rest shall be yours. +That is all. If you tell mamma, ask her not to be hard to me." He +stood over her and took her hand, but knew not how to speak a word to +her. He attempted to kiss her hand; but she raised herself on her +elbow, and shook her head and drew it from him. "It belongs to Daniel +Thwaite," she said. Then he left her and did not speak another word.</p> + +<p>"What has she said?" asked the Countess, with an attempt at smiling.</p> + +<p>"I do not know that I should tell you."</p> + +<p>"Surely, Lovel, you are bound to tell me."</p> + +<p>"She has offered me all her property,—or most of it."</p> + +<p>"She is right," said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"But she has sworn to me, on the Bible, that she will never be my +wife."</p> + +<p>"Tush!—it means nothing."</p> + +<p>"Ah yes;—it means much. It means all. She never loved me,—not for +an instant. That other man has been before me, and she is too firm to +be moved."</p> + +<p>"Did she say so?"</p> + +<p>He was silent for a moment and then replied, "Yes; she did say so."</p> + +<p>"Then let her die!" said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Lady Lovel!"</p> + +<p>"Let her die. It will be better. Oh, God! that I should be brought to +this. And what will you do, my lord? Do you mean to say that you will +abandon her?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot ask her to be my wife again."</p> + +<p>"What;—because she has said this in her sickness,—when she is half +delirious,—while she is dreaming of the words that man spoke to her? +Have you no more strength than that? Are you so poor a creature?"</p> + +<p>"I think I have been a poor creature to ask her a second time at +all."</p> + +<p>"No; not so. Your duty and mine are the same,—as should be hers. We +must forget ourselves while we save the family. Do not I bear all? +Have not I borne everything—contumely, solitude, ill words, poverty, +and now this girl's unkindness? But even yet I will not give it up. +Take the property,—as it is offered."</p> + +<p>"I could not touch it."</p> + +<p>"If not for you, then for your children. Take it all, so that we may +be the stronger. But do not abandon us now, if you are a man."</p> + +<p>He would not stay to hear her further exhortations, but hurried away +from the house full of doubt and unhappiness.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-39" id="c2-39"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h3> +<h4>LADY ANNA'S OFFER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Early in March Lady Anna was convalescent, but had not yet left the +house in Keppel Street,—and the confusion and dismay of the Countess +were greater than ever. Lady Anna had declared that she would not +leave England for the present. She was reminded that at any rate till +the 10th of May she was subject to her mother's control. But by this +time her mother's harshness to her had produced some corresponding +hardness in her. "Yes, mamma;—but I will not go abroad. Things must +be settled, and I am not well enough to go yet." The Countess +asserted that everything could be arranged abroad, that papers could +be sent after them, that Mr. Goffe could come out to them, and with +much show of authority persisted. She would do anything by which she +might be able to remove Lady Anna from the influence of Daniel +Thwaite at the time at which the girl would cease to be subject to +her. But in truth the girl had ceased to be subject to her. "No, +mamma, I will not go. If you will ask Serjeant Bluestone, or Sir +William Patterson, I am sure they will say that I ought not to be +made to go." There were some terrible scenes in which the mother was +driven almost to desperation. Lady Anna repeated to the Countess all +that she had said to Lord Lovel,—and swore to her mother with the +Bible in hand that if ever she became the wife of any man she would +be the wife of Daniel Thwaite. Then the Countess with great violence +knocked the book out of her daughter's grasp, and it was thrown to +the other side of the room. "If this is to go on," said the Countess, +"one of us must die."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, I have done nothing to make you so unkind to me. You have not +spoken one word of kindness to me since I came from Yoxham."</p> + +<p>"If this goes on I shall never speak a word of kindness to you +again," said the mother.</p> + +<p>But in the midst of all this there was one point on which they were +agreed,—on which they came sufficiently near together for action, +though there was still a wide difference between them. Some large +proportion of the property at stake was to be made over to Lord Lovel +on the day that gave the girl the legal power of transferring her own +possessions. The Countess began by presuming that the whole of Lady +Anna's wealth was to be so transferred,—not from any lack of +reverence for the great amount which was in question, but feeling +that for all good purposes it would be safer in the hands of the Earl +than in those of her own child. If it could be arranged that the +tailor could get nothing with his bride, then it might still be +possible that the tailor might refuse the match. At any rate a +quarrel might be fostered and the evil might be staved off. But to +this Lady Anna would not assent. If she might act in this business in +concert with Mr. Thwaite she would be able, she thought, to do better +by her cousin than she proposed. But as she was not allowed to learn +what were Mr. Thwaite's wishes, she would halve her property with her +cousin. As much as this she was willing to do,—and was determined to +do, acting on her own judgment. More she would not do,—unless she +could see Mr. Thwaite. As it stood, her proposition was one which +would, if carried out, bestow something like £10,000 a year upon the +Earl. Then Mr. Goffe was sent for, and Lady Anna was allowed to +communicate her suggestion to the lawyer. "That should require a +great deal of thought," said Mr. Goffe with solemnity. Lady Anna +declared that she had been thinking of it all the time she had been +ill. "But it should not be done in a hurry," said Mr. Goffe. Then +Lady Anna remarked that in the meantime, her cousin, the Earl, the +head of her family, would have nothing to support his title. Mr. +Goffe took his leave, promising to consult his partner, and to see +Mr. Flick.</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe did consult his partner and did see Mr. Flick, and then +Serjeant Bluestone was asked his advice,—and the Solicitor-General. +The Serjeant had become somewhat tired of the Lovels, and did not +care to give any strong advice either in one direction or in the +other. The young lady, he said, might of course do what she liked +with her own when it was her own; but he thought that she should not +be hurried. He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had not the +slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,—not more than he +would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from her mother's +instead of from her father's relatives. He was still of opinion that +the two cousins might ultimately become man and wife if matters were +left tranquil and the girl were taken abroad for a year or two. Lady +Anna, however, would be of age in a few weeks, and must of course do +as she liked with her own.</p> + +<p>But they all felt that everything would at last be ruled by what the +Solicitor-General might say. The Solicitor-General was going out of +town for a week or ten days,—having the management of a great case +at the Spring Assizes. He would think over Lady Anna's proposition, +and say what he had to say when he returned. Lord Lovel, however, had +been his client, and he had said from first to last that more was to +be done for his client by amicable arrangement than by hostile +opposition. If the Earl could get £10,000 a year by amicable +arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have been right +in the eyes of all men, and it was probable,—as both Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick felt,—that he would not repudiate a settlement of the +family affairs by which he would be proved to have been a discreet +counsellor.</p> + +<p>In the meantime it behoved Lord Lovel himself to have an opinion. Mr. +Flick of course had told him of the offer,—which had in truth been +made directly to himself by his cousin. At this time his affairs were +not in a happy condition. A young earl, handsome and well esteemed, +may generally marry an heiress,—if not one heiress then another. +Though he be himself a poor man, his rank and position will stand in +lieu of wealth. And so would it have been with this young earl,—who +was very handsome and excellently well esteemed,—had it not been +that all the world knew that it was his especial business to marry +one especial heiress. He could hardly go about looking for other +honey, having, as he had, one particular hive devoted by public +opinion to himself. After a year or two he might have looked +elsewhere,—but what was he to do in the meantime? He was well nigh +penniless, and in debt. So he wrote a letter to his uncle, the +parson.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that when the uncle and nephew last parted in +London there was not much love between them. From that day to this +they had not seen each other, nor had there been any communication +between them. The horses had been taken away and sold. The rector had +spoken to the ladies of his household more than once with great +bitterness of the young man's ingratitude; and they more than once +had spoken to the rector, with a woman's piteous tenderness, of the +young lord's poverty. But it was all sorrow and distress. For in +truth the rector could not be happy while he was on bad terms with +the head of his family. Then the young lord wrote as though there had +been nothing amiss between them. It had in truth all passed away from +his mind. This very liberal offer had been made to him. It amounted +to wealth in lieu of poverty,—to what would be comfortable wealth +even for an earl. Ten thousand a year was offered to him by his +cousin. Might he accept it? The rector took the letter in good part, +and begged his nephew to come at once to Yoxham. Whereupon the nephew +went to Yoxham.</p> + +<p>"What does Sir William say?" asked the rector, who, in spite of his +disapproval of all that Sir William had done, felt that the +Solicitor-General was the man whose influence in the matter would +really prevail.</p> + +<p>"He has said nothing as yet. He is out of town."</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand a year! Who was it made the offer?"</p> + +<p>"She made it herself."</p> + +<p>"Lady Anna?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—Lady Anna. It is a noble offer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. But then if she has no right to any of it, what does it +amount to?"</p> + +<p>"But she has a right to all of it;—she and her mother between them."</p> + +<p>"I shall never believe it, Frederic—never; and not the less so +because they now want to bind you to them by such a compromise as +this."</p> + +<p>"I think you look at it in a wrong light, uncle Charles."</p> + +<p>"Well;—well. I will say nothing more about it. I don't see why you +shouldn't take it,—I don't indeed. It ought all to have been yours. +Everybody says that. You'll have to buy land, and it won't give you +nearly so much then. I hope you'll buy land all the same, and I do +hope it will be properly settled when you marry. As to marrying, you +will be able to do much better than what you used to think of."</p> + +<p>"We won't talk about that, uncle Charles," said the Earl.</p> + +<p>As far as the rector's opinion went, it was clear that the offer +might be accepted; but yet it was felt that very much must depend on +what the Solicitor-General might say. Then Miss Lovel gave her +opinion on the matter, which did not altogether agree with that of +her brother. She believed in Lady Anna, whereas the rector professed +that he did not. The rector and Lady Fitzwarren were perhaps the only +two persons who, after all that had been said and done, still +maintained that the Countess was an impostor, and that Lady Anna +would only be Anna Murray, if everybody had his due. Miss Lovel was +quite as anxious on behalf of the Earl as was her brother, but she +clung to the hope of a marriage. "I still think it might all come +right, if you would only wait," said aunt Julia.</p> + +<p>"It's all very well talking of waiting, but how am I to live?"</p> + +<p>"You could live here, Frederic. There is nothing my brother would +like so much. I thought he would break his heart when the horses were +taken away. It would only be for a year."</p> + +<p>"What would come of it?"</p> + +<p>"At the end of the year she would be your wife."</p> + +<p>"Never!" said the Earl.</p> + +<p>"Young men are so impatient."</p> + +<p>"Never, under any circumstances, would I ask her again. You may make +your mind up to that. As sure as you stand there, she will marry +Daniel Thwaite, if she lives another twelvemonth."</p> + +<p>"You really think so, Frederic?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it. After what she said to me, it would be impossible I +should doubt it."</p> + +<p>"And she will be Lady Anna Thwaite! Oh dear, how horrible. I wish she +had died when she was ill;—I do indeed. A journeyman tailor! But +something will prevent it. I really think that Providence will +interfere to prevent it!" But in reference to the money she gave in +her adhesion. If the great lawyer said that it might be taken,—then +it should be taken. At the end of a week the Earl hurried back to +London to see the great lawyer.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-40" id="c2-40"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XL.</h3> +<h4>NO DISGRACE AT ALL.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Before the Solicitor-General returned to town things had come to a +worse pass than ever. Lady Lovel had ordered her daughter to be ready +to start to Paris by a certain hour, on a certain day,—giving her +three days for preparation,—and Lady Anna had refused to go. +Whereupon the Countess had caused her own things to be packed up, and +those of her daughter. Sarah was now altogether in the confidence of +the Countess, so that Lady Anna had not even dominion over her own +clothes. The things were stowed away, and all the arrangements were +made for the journey; but Lady Anna refused to go, and when the hour +came could not be induced to get into the carriage. The lodgings had +been paid for to the day, and given up; so that the poor old woman in +Keppel Street was beside herself. Then the Countess, of necessity, +postponed her journey for twenty-four hours, telling her daughter +that on the next day she would procure the assistance of magistrates +and force the rebel to obedience.</p> + +<p>Hardly a word had been spoken between the mother and daughter during +those three days. There had been messages sent backwards and +forwards, and once or twice the Countess had violently entered Lady +Anna's bedroom, demanding submission. Lady Anna was always on the bed +when her mother entered, and, there lying, would shake her head, and +then with sobs accuse the Countess of unkindness. Lady Lovel had +become furious in her wrath, hardly knowing what she herself did or +said, always asserting her own authority, declaring her own power, +and exclaiming against the wicked ingratitude of her child. This she +did till the young waiting-woman was so frightened that she was +almost determined to leave the house abruptly, though keenly alive to +the profit and glory of serving a violent and rich countess. And the +old lady who let the lodgings was intensely anxious to be rid of her +lodgers, though her money was scrupulously paid, and no questions +asked as to extra charges. Lady Anna was silent and sullen. When left +to herself she spent her time at her writing-desk, of which she had +managed to keep the key. What meals she took were brought up to her +bedroom, so that a household more uncomfortable could hardly be +gathered under a roof.</p> + +<p>On the day fixed for that departure which did not take place, the +Countess wrote to Mr. Goffe for assistance,—and Lady Anna, by the +aid of the mistress of the house, wrote to Serjeant Bluestone. The +letter to Mr. Goffe was the first step taken towards obtaining that +assistance from civil authorities to which the Countess thought +herself to be entitled in order that her legal dominion over her +daughter might be enforced. Lady Anna wrote to the Serjeant, simply +begging that he would come to see her, putting her letter open into +the hands of the landlady. She implored him to come at once,—and, as +it happened, he called in Keppel Street that night, whereas Mr. +Goffe's visit was not made till the next morning. He asked for the +Countess, and was shown into the drawing-room. The whole truth was +soon made clear to him, for the Countess attempted to conceal +nothing. Her child was rebelling against authority, and she was sure +that the Serjeant would assist her in putting down and conquering +such pernicious obstinacy. But she found at once that the Serjeant +would not help her. "But Lady Anna will be herself of age in a day or +two," he said.</p> + +<p>"Not for nearly two months," said the Countess indignantly.</p> + +<p>"My dear Lady Lovel, under such circumstances you can hardly put +constraint upon her."</p> + +<p>"Why not? She is of age, or she is not. Till she be of age she is +bound to obey me."</p> + +<p>"True;—she is bound to obey you after a fashion, and so indeed she +would be had she been of age a month since. But such obligations here +in England go for very little, unless they are supported by reason."</p> + +<p>"The law is the law."</p> + +<p>"Yes;—but the law would be all in her favour before you could get it +to assist you,—even if you could get its assistance. In her peculiar +position, it is rational that she should choose to wait till she be +able to act for herself. Very great interests will be at her +disposal, and she will of course wish to be near those who can advise +her."</p> + +<p>"I am her only guardian. I can advise her." The Serjeant shook his +head. "You will not help me then?"</p> + +<p>"I fear I cannot help you, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Not though you know the reasons which induce me to take her away +from England before she slips entirely out of my hands and ruins all +our hopes?" But still the Serjeant shook his head. "Every one is +leagued against me," said the Countess, throwing up her hands in +despair.</p> + +<p>Then the Serjeant asked permission to visit Lady Anna, but was told +that he could not be allowed to do so. She was in bed, and there was +nothing to make it necessary that she should receive a visit from a +gentleman in her bedroom. "I am an old man," said the Serjeant, "and +have endeavoured to be a true and honest friend to the young lady. I +think, Lady Lovel, that you will do wrong to refuse my request. I +tell you fairly that I shall be bound to interfere on her behalf. She +has applied to me as her friend, and I feel myself constrained to +attend to her application."</p> + +<p>"She has applied to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lady Lovel. There is her letter."</p> + +<p>"She has deceived me again," said the Countess, tearing the letter +into atoms. But the Serjeant so far frightened her that she was +induced to promise that Mrs. Bluestone should see Lady Anna on the +following morning,—stipulating, however, that Mrs. Bluestone should +see herself before she went up-stairs.</p> + +<p>On the following morning Mr. Goffe came early. But Mr. Goffe could +give his client very little comfort. He was, however, less +uncomfortable than the Serjeant had been. He was of opinion that Lady +Anna certainly ought to go abroad, in obedience to her mother's +instructions, and was willing to go to her and tell her so, with what +solemnity of legal authority he might be able to assume; but he could +not say that anything could be done absolutely to enforce obedience. +Mr. Goffe suggested that perhaps a few gentle words might be +successful. "Gentle words!" said the Countess, who had become quite +unable to restrain herself. "The harshest words are only too gentle +for her. If I had known what she was, Mr. Goffe, I would never have +stirred in this business. They might have called me what they would, +and it would have been better." When Mr. Goffe came downstairs he had +not a word to say more as to the efficacy of gentleness. He simply +remarked that he did not think the young lady could be induced to go, +and suggested that everybody had better wait till the +Solicitor-General returned to town.</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. Bluestone came, almost on the heels of the attorney;—poor +Mrs. Bluestone, who now felt that it was a dreadful grievance both to +her and to her husband that they had had anything to do with the +Lovel family! She was very formal in her manner,—and, to tell the +truth for her, rather frightened. The Serjeant had asked her to call +and see Lady Anna Lovel. Might she be permitted to do so? Then the +Countess burst forth with a long story of all her wrongs,—with the +history of her whole life. Not beginning with her marriage,—but +working back to it from the intense misery, and equally intense +ambition of the present hour. She told it all; how everybody had been +against her,—how she had been all alone at the dreary Grange in +Westmoreland,—how she had been betrayed by her husband, and turned +out to poverty and scorn;—how she had borne it all for the sake of +the one child who was, by God's laws and man's, the heiress to her +father's name; how she had persevered,—intermingling it all with a +certain worship of high honours and hereditary position with which +Mrs. Bluestone was able in some degree to sympathise. She was clever, +and words came to her freely. It was almost impossible that any +hearer should refuse to sympathise with her,—any hearer who knew +that her words were true. And all that she told was true. The things +which she narrated had been done;—the wrongs had been endured;—and +the end of it all which she feared, was imminent. And the hearer +thought as did the speaker as to the baseness of this marriage with +the tailor,—thought as did the speaker of the excellence of the +marriage with the lord. But still there was something in the woman's +eye,—something in the tone of her voice, something in the very +motion of her hands as she told her story, which made Mrs. Bluestone +feel that Lady Anna should not be left under her mother's control. It +would be very well that the Lovel family should be supported, and +that Lady Anna should be kept within the pale of her own rank. But +there might be things worse than Lady Anna's defection,—and worse +even than the very downfall of the Lovels.</p> + +<p>After sitting for nearly two hours with the Countess, Mrs. Bluestone +was taken up-stairs. "Mrs. Bluestone has come to see you," said the +Countess, not entering the room, and retreating again immediately as +she closed the door.</p> + +<p>"This is very kind of you, Mrs. Bluestone," said Lady Anna, who was +sitting crouching in her dressing-gown over the fire. "But I thought +that perhaps the Serjeant would come." The lady, taken off her guard, +immediately said that the Serjeant had been there on the preceding +evening. "And mamma would not let me see him! But you will help me!"</p> + +<p>In this interview, as in that below, a long history was told to the +visitor, and was told with an eloquent energy which she certainly had +not expected. "They talk to me of ladies," said Lady Anna. "I was not +a lady. I knew nothing of ladies and their doings. I was a poor girl, +friendless but for my mother, sometimes almost without shoes to my +feet, often ragged, solitary, knowing nothing of ladies. Then there +came one lad, who played with me;—and it was mamma who brought us +together. He was good to me, when all others were bad. He played with +me, and gave me things, and taught me,—and loved me. Then when he +asked me to love him again, and to love him always, was I to think +that I could not,—because I was a lady! You despise him because he +is a tailor. A tailor was good to me, when no one else was good. How +could I despise him because he was a tailor? I did not despise him, +but I loved him with all my heart."</p> + +<p>"But when you came to know who you were, Lady +<span class="nowrap">Anna—"</span></p> + +<p>"Yes;—yes. I came to know who I was, and they brought my cousin to +me, and told me to love him, and bade me be a lady indeed. I felt it +too, for a time. I thought it would be pleasant to be a Countess, and +to go among great people; and he was pleasant, and I thought that I +could love him too, and do as they bade me. But when I thought of it +much,—when I thought of it alone,—I hated myself. In my heart of +hearts I loved him who had always been my friend. And when Lord Lovel +came to me at Bolton, and said that I must give my answer then,—I +told him all the truth. I am glad I told him the truth. He should not +have come again after that. If Daniel is so poor a creature because +he is a tailor,—must not I be poor who love him? And what must he be +when he comes to me again after that?"</p> + +<p>When Mrs. Bluestone descended from the room she was quite sure that +the girl would become Lady Anna Thwaite, and told the Countess that +such was her opinion. "By the God above me," said the Countess rising +from her chair;—"by the God above me, she never shall." But after +that the Countess gave up her project of forcing her daughter to go +abroad. The old lady of the house was told that the rooms would still +be required for some weeks to come,—perhaps for months; and having +had a conference on the subject with Mrs. Bluestone, did not refuse +her consent.</p> + +<p>At last Sir William returned to town, and was besieged on all sides, +as though in his hands lay the power of deciding what should become +of all the Lovel family. Mr. Goffe was as confidential with him as +Mr. Flick, and even Serjeant Bluestone condescended to appeal to him. +The young Earl was closeted with him on the day of his return, and he +had found on his desk the following note from the +<span class="nowrap">Countess;—</span></p> + +<p>"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to the +Solicitor-General. The Countess is very anxious to leave England with +her daughter, but has hitherto been prevented by her child's +obstinacy. Sir William Patterson is so well aware of all the +circumstances that he no doubt can give the Countess advice as to the +manner in which she should proceed to enforce the obedience of her +daughter. The Countess Lovel would feel herself unwarranted in thus +trespassing on the Solicitor-General, were it not that it is her +chief anxiety to do everything for the good of Earl Lovel and the +family."</p> + +<p>"Look at that, my lord," said the Solicitor-General, showing the Earl +the letter. "I can do nothing for her."</p> + +<p>"What does she want to have done?"</p> + +<p>"She wants to carry her daughter away beyond the reach of Mr. +Thwaite. I am not a bit surprised; but she can't do it. The days are +gone by when a mother could lock her daughter up, or carry her +away,—at any rate in this country."</p> + +<p>"It is very sad."</p> + +<p>"It might have been much worse. Why should she not marry Mr. Thwaite? +Let them make the settlement as they propose, and then let the young +lady have her way. She will have her way,—whether her mother lets +her or no."</p> + +<p>"It will be a disgrace to the family, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"No disgrace at all! How many peers' daughters marry commoners in +England. It is not with us as it is with some German countries in +which noble blood is separated as by a barrier from blood that is not +noble. The man I am told is clever and honest. He will have great +means at his command, and I do not see why he should not make as good +a gentleman as the best of us. At any rate she must not be +persecuted."</p> + +<p>Sir William answered the Countess's letter as a matter of course, but +there was no comfort in his answer. "The Solicitor-General presents +his compliments to the Countess Lovel. With all the will in the world +to be of service, he fears that he can do no good by interfering +between the Countess and Lady Anna Lovel. If, however, he may venture +to give advice, he would suggest to the Countess that as Lady Anna +will be of age in a short time, no attempt should now be made to +exercise a control which must cease when that time shall arrive." +"They are all joined against me," said the Countess, when she read +the letter;—"every one of them! But still it shall never be. I will +not live to see it."</p> + +<p>Then there was a meeting between Mr. Flick and Sir William. Mr. Flick +must inform the ladies that nothing could be done till Lady Anna was +of age;—that not even could any instructions be taken from her +before that time as to what should subsequently be done. If, when +that time came, she should still be of a mind to share with her +cousin the property, she could then instruct Mr. Goffe to make out +the necessary deeds.</p> + +<p>All this was communicated by letter to the Countess, but Mr. Goffe +especially requested that the letter might be shown to Lady Anna, and +that he might receive a reply intimating that Lady Anna understood +its purport. If necessary he would call upon Lady Anna in Keppel +Street. After some delay and much consideration, the Countess sent +the attorney's letter to her daughter, and Lady Anna herself wrote a +reply. She perfectly understood the purport of Mr. Goffe's letter, +and would thank Mr. Goffe to call upon her on the 10th of May, when +the matter might, she hoped, be settled.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-41" id="c2-41"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLI.</h3> +<h4>NEARER AND NEARER.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>So they went on living in utter misery till the month of May had come +round, and Lady Anna was at last pronounced to be convalescent.</p> + +<p>Late one night, long after midnight, the Countess crept into her +daughter's room and sat down by the bedside. Lady Anna was asleep, +and the Countess sat there and watched. At this time the girl had +passed her birthday, and was of age. Mr. Goffe had been closeted with +her and with her mother for two mornings running, Sir William +Patterson had also been with them, and instructions had been given as +to the property, upon which action was to be at once taken. Of that +proportion of the estate which fell to Lady Anna, one entire moiety +was to be made over to the Earl. While this was being arranged no +word was said as to Daniel Thwaite, or as to the marriage with the +lord. The settlement was made as though it were a thing of itself; +and they all had been much surprised,—the mother, the +Solicitor-General, and the attorney,—at the determination of purpose +and full comprehension of the whole affair which Lady Anna displayed. +When it came to the absolute doing of the matter,—the abandonment of +all this money,—the Countess became uneasy and discontented. She +also had wished that Lord Lovel should have the property,—but her +wish had been founded on a certain object to be attained, which +object was now farther from her than ever. But the property in +question was not hers, but her daughter's, and she made no loud +objection to the proceeding. The instructions were given, and the +deeds were to be forthcoming some time before the end of the month.</p> + +<p>It was on the night of the 11th of May that the Countess sat at her +child's bedside. She had brought up a taper with her, and there she +sat watching the sleeping girl. Thoughts wondrously at variance with +each other, and feelings thoroughly antagonistic, ran through her +brain and heart. This was her only child,—the one thing that there +was for her to love,—the only tie to the world that she possessed. +But for her girl, it would be good that she should be dead. And if +her girl should do this thing, which would make her life a burden to +her,—how good it would be for her to die! She did not fear to die, +and she feared nothing after death;—but with a coward's dread she +did fear the torment of her failure if this girl should become the +wife of Daniel Thwaite. In such case most certainly would she never +see the girl again,—and life then would be all a blank to her. But +she understood that though she should separate herself from the world +altogether, men would know of her failure, and would know that she +was devouring her own heart in the depth of her misery. If the girl +would but have done as her mother had proposed, would have followed +after her kind, and taken herself to those pleasant paths which had +been opened for her, with what a fond caressing worship, with what +infinite kisses and blessings, would she, the mother, have tended the +young Countess and assisted in making the world bright for the +high-born bride. But a tailor! Foh! What a degraded creature was her +child to cling to so base a love!</p> + +<p>She did, however, acknowledge to herself that the girl's clinging was +of a kind she had no power to lessen. The ivy to its standard tree is +not more loyal than was her daughter to this wretched man. But the +girl might die,—or the tailor might die,—or she, the miserable +mother, might die; and so this misery might be at an end. Nothing but +death could end it. Thoughts and dreams of other violence had crossed +her brain,—of carrying the girl away, of secluding her, of +frightening her from day to day into some childish, half-idiotic +submission. But for that the tame obedience of the girl would have +been necessary,—or that external assistance which she had sought, in +vain, to obtain among the lawyers. Such hopes were now gone, and +nothing remained but death.</p> + +<p>Why had not the girl gone when she was so like to go? Why had she not +died when it had seemed to be God's pleasure to take her? A little +indifference, some slight absence of careful tending, any chance +accident would have made that natural which was now,—which was now +so desirable and yet beyond reach! Yes;—so desirable! For whose sake +could it be wished that a life so degraded should be prolonged? But +there could be no such escape. With her eyes fixed on vacancy, +revolving it in her mind, she thought that she could kill +herself;—but she knew that she could not kill her child.</p> + +<p>But, should she destroy herself, there would be no vengeance in that. +Could she be alone, far out at sea, in some small skiff with that +low-born tailor, and then pull out the plug, and let him know what he +had done to her as they both went down together beneath the water, +that would be such a cure of the evil as would now best suit her +wishes. But there was no such sea, and no such boat. Death, however, +might still be within her grasp.</p> + +<p>Then she laid her hand on the girl's shoulder, and Lady Anna awoke. +"Oh, mamma;—is that you?"</p> + +<p>"It is I, my child."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, mamma; is anything the matter? Oh, mamma, kiss me." Then the +Countess stooped down and kissed the girl passionately. "Dear +mamma,—dearest mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Anna, will you do one thing for me? If I never speak to you of Lord +Lovel again, will you forget Daniel Thwaite?" She paused, but Lady +Anna had no answer ready. "Will you not say as much as that for me? +Say that you will forget him till I am gone."</p> + +<p>"Gone, mamma? You are not going!"</p> + +<p>"Till I am dead. I shall not live long, Anna. Say at least that you +will not see him or mention his name for twelve months. Surely, Anna, +you will do as much as that for a mother who has done so much for +you." But Lady Anna would make no promise. She turned her face to the +pillow and was dumb. "Answer me, my child. I may at least demand an +answer."</p> + +<p>"I will answer you to-morrow, mamma." Then the Countess fell on her +knees at the bedside and uttered a long, incoherent prayer, addressed +partly to the God of heaven, and partly to the poor girl who was +lying there in bed, supplicating with mad, passionate eagerness that +this evil thing might be turned away from her. Then she seized the +girl in her embrace and nearly smothered her with kisses. "My own, my +darling, my beauty, my all; save your mother from worse than death, +if you can;—if you can!"</p> + +<p>Had such tenderness come sooner it might have had deeper effect. As +it was, though the daughter was affected and harassed,—though she +was left panting with sobs and drowned in tears,—she could not but +remember the treatment she had suffered from her mother during the +last six months. Had the request for a year's delay come sooner, it +would have been granted; but now it was made after all measures of +cruelty had failed. Ten times during the night did she say that she +would yield,—and ten times again did she tell herself that were she +to yield now, she would be a slave all her life. She had +resolved,—whether right or wrong,—still, with a strong mind and a +great purpose, that she would not be turned from her way, and when +she arose in the morning she was resolved again. She went into her +mother's room and at once declared her purpose. "Mamma, it cannot be. +I am his, and I must not forget him or be ashamed of his name;—no, +not for a day."</p> + +<p>"Then go from me, thou ungrateful one, hard of heart, unnatural +child, base, cruel, and polluted. Go from me, if it be possible, for +ever!"</p> + +<p>Then did they live for some days separated for a second time, each +taking her meals in her own room; and Mrs. Richards, the owner of the +lodgings, went again to Mrs. Bluestone, declaring that she was afraid +of what might happen, and that she must pray to be relieved from the +presence of the ladies. Mrs. Bluestone had to explain that the +lodgings had been taken for the quarter, and that a mother and +daughter could not be put out into the street merely because they +lived on bad terms with each other. The old woman, as was natural, +increased her bills;—but that had no effect.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of May Lady Anna wrote a note to Daniel Thwaite, and sent +a copy of it to her mother before she had posted it. It was in two +<span class="nowrap">lines;—</span><br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Daniel</span>,</p> + +<p>Pray come and see me here. If you get this soon enough, +pray come on Tuesday about one.</p> + +<p class="ind14">Yours affectionately,</p> + +<p class="ind20"><span class="smallcaps">Anna</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>"Tell mamma," said she to Sarah, "that I intend to go out and put +that in the post to-day." The letter was addressed to Wyndham Street. +Now the Countess knew that Daniel Thwaite had left Wyndham Street.</p> + +<p>"Tell her," said the Countess, "tell her—; but, of what use to tell +her anything? Let the door be closed upon her. She shall never return +to me any more." The message was given to Lady Anna as she went +forth:—but she posted the letter, and then called in Bedford Square. +Mrs. Bluestone returned with her to Keppel Street; but as the door +was opened by Mrs. Richards, and as no difficulty was made as to Lady +Anna's entrance, Mrs. Bluestone returned home without asking to see +the Countess.</p> + +<p>This happened on a Saturday, but when Tuesday came Daniel Thwaite did +not come to Keppel Street. The note was delivered in course of post +at his old abode, and was redirected from Wyndham Street late on +Monday evening,—having no doubt given cause there for much curiosity +and inspection. Late on the Tuesday it did reach Daniel Thwaite's +residence in Great Russell Street, but he was then out, wandering +about the streets as was his wont, telling himself of all the horrors +of an idle life, and thinking what steps he should take next as to +the gaining of his bride. He had known to a day when she was of age, +and had determined that he would allow her one month from thence +before he would call upon her to say what should be their mutual +fate. She had reached that age but a few days, and now she had +written to him herself.</p> + +<p>On returning home he received the girl's letter, and when the early +morning had come,—the Wednesday morning, the day after that fixed by +Lady Anna,—he made up his mind as to his course of action. He +breakfasted at eight, knowing how useless it would be to stir early, +and then called in Keppel Street, leaving word with Mrs. Richards +herself that he would be there again at one o'clock to see Lady Anna. +"You can tell Lady Anna that I only got her note last night very +late." Then he went off to the hotel in Albemarle Street at which he +knew that Lord Lovel was living. It was something after nine when he +reached the house, and the Earl was not yet out of his bedroom. +Daniel, however, sent up his name, and the Earl begged that he would +go into the sitting-room and wait. "Tell Mr. Thwaite that I will not +keep him above a quarter of an hour." Then the tailor was shown into +the room where the breakfast things were laid, and there he waited.</p> + +<p>Within the last few weeks very much had been said to the Earl about +Daniel Thwaite by many people, and especially by the +Solicitor-General. "You may be sure that she will become his wife," +Sir William had said, "and I would advise you to accept him as her +husband. She is not a girl such as we at first conceived her to be. +She is firm of purpose, and very honest. Obstinate, if you will, +and,—if you will,—obstinate to a bad end. But she is generous, and +let her marry whom she will, you cannot cast her out. You will owe +everything to her high sense of honour;—and I am much mistaken if +you will not owe much to him. Accept them both, and make the best of +them. In five years he'll be in Parliament as likely as not. In ten +years he'll be Sir Daniel Thwaite,—if he cares for it. And in +fifteen years Lady Anna will be supposed by everybody to have made a +very happy marriage." Lord Lovel was at this time inclined to be +submissive in everything to his great adviser, and was now ready to +take Mr. Daniel Thwaite by the hand.</p> + +<p>He did take him by the hand as he entered the sitting-room, radiant +from his bath, clad in a short bright-coloured dressing-gown such as +young men then wore o' mornings, with embroidered slippers on his +feet, and a smile on his face. "I have heard much of you, Mr. +Thwaite," he said, "and am glad to meet you at last. Pray sit down. I +hope you have not breakfasted."</p> + +<p>Poor Daniel was hardly equal to the occasion. The young lord had been +to him always an enemy,—an enemy because the lord had been the +adversary of the Countess and her daughter, an enemy because the lord +was an earl and idle, an enemy because the lord was his rival. Though +he now was nearly sure that this last ground of enmity was at an end, +and though he had come to the Earl for certain purposes of his own, +he could not bring himself to feel that there should be good +fellowship between them. He took the hand that was offered to him, +but took it awkwardly, and sat down as he was bidden. "Thank your +lordship, but I breakfasted long since. If it will suit you, I will +walk about and call again."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. I can eat, and you can talk to me. Take a cup of tea at +any rate." The Earl rang for another teacup, and began to butter his +toast.</p> + +<p>"I believe your lordship knows that I have long been engaged to marry +your lordship's cousin,—Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I have been told so."</p> + +<p>"By herself."</p> + +<p>"Well;—yes; by herself."</p> + +<p>"I have been allowed to see her but once during the last eight or +nine months."</p> + +<p>"That has not been my fault, Mr. Thwaite."</p> + +<p>"I want you to understand, my lord, that it is not for her money that +I have sought her."</p> + +<p>"I have not accused you, surely."</p> + +<p>"But I have been accused. I am going to see her now,—if I can get +admittance to her. I shall press her to fix a day for our marriage, +and if she will do so, I shall leave no stone unturned to accomplish +it. She has a right to do with herself as she pleases, and no +consideration shall stop me but her wishes."</p> + +<p>"I shall not interfere."</p> + +<p>"I am glad of that, my lord."</p> + +<p>"But I will not answer for her mother. You cannot be surprised, Mr. +Thwaite, that Lady Lovel should be averse to such a marriage."</p> + +<p>"She was not averse to my father's company nor to mine a few years +since;—no nor twelve months since. But I say nothing about that. Let +her be averse. We cannot help it. I have come to you to say that I +hope something may be done about the money before she becomes my +wife. People say that you should have it."</p> + +<p>"Who says so?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot say who;—perhaps everybody. Should every shilling of it be +yours I should marry her as willingly to-morrow. They have given me +what is my own, and that is enough for me. For what is now hers and, +perhaps, should be yours, I will not interfere with it. When she is +my wife, I will guard for her and for those who may come after her +what belongs to her then; but as to what may be done before that, I +care nothing."</p> + +<p>On hearing this the Earl told him the whole story of the arrangement +which was then in progress;—how the property would in fact be +divided into three parts, of which the Countess would have one, he +one, and Lady Anna one. "There will be enough for us all," said the +Earl.</p> + +<p>"And much more than enough for me," said Daniel as he got up to take +his leave. "And now I am going to Keppel Street."</p> + +<p>"You have all my good wishes," said the Earl. The two men again shook +hands;—again the lord was radiant and good humoured;—and again the +tailor was ashamed and almost sullen. He knew that the young nobleman +had behaved well to him, and it was a disappointment to him that any +nobleman should behave well.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless as he walked away slowly towards Keppel Street,—for the +time still hung on his hands,—he began to feel that the great prize +of prizes was coming nearer within his grasp.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-42" id="c2-42"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLII.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>Even the Bluestones were now convinced that Lady Anna Lovel must be +allowed to marry the Keswick tailor, and that it would be expedient +that no further impediment should be thrown in her way. Mrs. +Bluestone had been told, while walking to Keppel Street with the +young lady, of the purport of the letter and of the invitation given +to Daniel Thwaite. The Serjeant at once declared that the girl must +have her own way,—and the Solicitor-General, who also heard of it, +expressed himself very strongly. It was absurd to oppose her. She was +her own mistress. She had shown herself competent to manage her own +affairs. The Countess must be made to understand that she had better +yield at once with what best grace she could. Then it was that he +made that prophecy to the Earl as to the future success of the +fortunate tailor, and then too he wrote at great length to the +Countess, urging many reasons why her daughter should be allowed to +receive Mr. Daniel Thwaite. "Your ladyship has succeeded in very +much," wrote the Solicitor-General, "and even in respect of this +marriage you will have the satisfaction of feeling that the man is in +every way respectable and well-behaved. I hear that he is an educated +man, with culture much higher than is generally found in the state of +life which he has till lately filled, and that he is a man of high +feeling and noble purpose. The manner in which he has been persistent +in his attachment to your daughter is in itself evidence of this. And +I think that your ladyship is bound to remember that the sphere of +life in which he has hitherto been a labourer, would not have been so +humble in its nature had not the means which should have started him +in the world been applied to support and succour your own cause. I am +well aware of your feelings of warm gratitude to the father; but I +think you should bear in mind, on the son's behalf, that he has been +what he has been because his father was so staunch a friend to your +ladyship." There was very much more of it, all expressing the opinion +of Sir William that the Countess should at once open her doors to +Daniel Thwaite.</p> + +<p>The reader need hardly be told that this was wormwood to the +Countess. It did not in the least touch her heart and had but little +effect on her purpose. Gratitude;—yes! But if the whole result of +the exertion for which the receiver is bound to be grateful, is to be +neutralised by the greed of the conferrer of the favour,—if all is +to be taken that has been given, and much more also,—what ground +will there be left for gratitude? If I save a man's purse from a +thief, and then demand for my work twice what that purse contained, +the man had better have been left with the robbers. But she was told, +not only that she ought to accept the tailor as a son-in-law, but +also that she could not help herself. They should see whether she +could not help herself. They should be made to acknowledge that she +at any rate was in earnest in her endeavours to preserve pure and +unspotted the honour of the family.</p> + +<p>But what should she do? That she should put on a gala dress and a +smiling face and be carried off to church with a troop of lawyers and +their wives to see her daughter become the bride of a low journeyman, +was of course out of the question. By no act, by no word, by no sign +would she give aught of a mother's authority to nuptials so +disgraceful. Should her daughter become Lady Anna Thwaite, they two, +mother and daughter, would never see each other again. Of so much at +any rate she was sure. But could she be sure of nothing beyond that? +She could at any rate make an effort.</p> + +<p>Then there came upon her a mad idea,—an idea which was itself +evidence of insanity,—of the glory which would be hers if by any +means she could prevent the marriage. There would be a halo round her +name were she to perish in such a cause, let the destruction come +upon her in what form it might. She sat for hours meditating,—and at +every pause in her thoughts she assured herself that she could still +make an effort.</p> + +<p>She received Sir William's letter late on the Tuesday,—and during +that night she did not lie down or once fall asleep. The man, as she +knew, had been told to come at one on that day, and she had been +prepared; but he did not come, and she then thought that the letter, +which had been addressed to his late residence, had failed to reach +him. During the night she wrote a very long answer to Sir William +pleading her own cause, expatiating on her own feelings, and +palliating any desperate deed which she might be tempted to perform. +But, when the letter had been copied and folded, and duly sealed with +the Lovel arms, she locked it in her desk, and did not send it on its +way even on the following morning. When the morning came, shortly +after eight o'clock, Mrs. Richards brought up the message which +Daniel had left at the door. "Be we to let him in, my lady?" said +Mrs. Richards with supplicating hands upraised. Her sympathies were +all with Lady Anna, but she feared the Countess, and did not dare in +such a matter to act without the mother's sanction. The Countess +begged the woman to come to her in an hour for further instructions, +and at the time named Mrs. Richards, full of the importance of her +work, divided between terror and pleasurable excitement, again +toddled up-stairs. "Be we to let him in, my lady? God, he knows it's +hard upon the likes of me, who for the last three months doesn't know +whether I'm on my head or heels." The Countess very quietly requested +that when Mr. Thwaite should call he might be shown into the parlour.</p> + +<p>"I will see Mr. Thwaite myself, Mrs. Richards; but it will be better +that my daughter should not be disturbed by any intimation of his +coming."</p> + +<p>Then there was a consultation below stairs as to what should be done. +There had been many such consultations, but they had all ended in +favour of the Countess. Mrs. Richards from fear, and the lady's-maid +from favour, were disposed to assist the elder lady. Poor Lady Anna +throughout had been forced to fight her battles with no friend near +her. Now she had many friends,—many who were anxious to support her, +even the Bluestones, who had been so hard upon her while she was +along with them;—but they who were now her friends were never near +her to assist her with a word.</p> + +<p>So it came to pass that when Daniel Thwaite called at the house +exactly at one o'clock Lady Anna was not expecting him. On the +previous day at that hour she had sat waiting with anxious ears for +the knock at the door which might announce his coming. But she had +waited in vain. From one to two,—even till seven in the evening, she +had waited. But he had not come, and she had feared that some scheme +had been used against her. The people at the Post Office had been +bribed,—or the women in Wyndham Street had been false. But she would +not be hindered. She would go out alone and find him,—if he were to +be found in London.</p> + +<p>When he did come, she was not thinking of his coming. He was shown +into the dining-room, and within a minute afterwards the Countess +entered with stately step. She was well dressed, even to the +adjustment of her hair; and she was a woman so changed that he would +hardly have known her as that dear and valued friend whose slightest +word used to be a law to his father,—but who in those days never +seemed to waste a thought upon her attire. She had been out that +morning walking through the streets, and the blood had mounted to her +cheeks He acknowledged to himself that she looked like a noble and +high-born dame. There was a fire in her eye, and a look of scorn +about her mouth and nostrils, which had even for him a certain +fascination,—odious to him as were the pretensions of the so-called +great. She was the first to speak. "You have called to see my +daughter," she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lady Lovel,—I have."</p> + +<p>"You cannot see her."</p> + +<p>"I came at her request."</p> + +<p>"I know you did, but you cannot see her. You can be hardly so +ignorant of the ways of the world, Mr. Thwaite, as to suppose that a +young lady can receive what visitors she pleases without the sanction +of her guardians."</p> + +<p>"Lady Anna Lovel has no guardian, my lady. She is of age, and is at +present her own guardian."</p> + +<p>"I am her mother, and shall exercise the authority of a mother over +her. You cannot see her. You had better go."</p> + +<p>"I shall not be stopped in this way, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that you will force your way up to her? To do so you +will have to trample over me;—and there are constables in the +street. You cannot see her. You had better go."</p> + +<p>"Is she a prisoner?"</p> + +<p>"That is between her and me, and is no affair of yours. You are +intruding here, Mr. Thwaite, and cannot possibly gain anything by +your intrusion." Then she strode out in the passage, and motioned him +to the front door. "Mr. Thwaite, I will beg you to leave this house, +which for the present is mine. If you have any proper feeling you +will not stay after I have told you that you are not welcome."</p> + +<p>But Lady Anna, though she had not expected the coming of her lover, +had heard the sound of voices, and then became aware that the man was +below. As her mother was speaking she rushed down-stairs and threw +herself into her lover's arms. "It shall never be so in my presence," +said the Countess, trying to drag the girl from his embrace by the +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Anna;—my own Anna," said Daniel in an ecstacy of bliss. It was not +only that his sweetheart was his own, but that her spirit was so +high.</p> + +<p>"Daniel!" she said, still struggling in his arms.</p> + +<p>By this time they were all in the parlour, whither the Countess had +been satisfied to retreat to escape the eyes of the women who +clustered at the top of the kitchen stairs. "Daniel Thwaite," said +the Countess, "if you do not leave this, the blood which will be shed +shall rest on your head," and so saying, she drew nigh to the window +and pulled down the blind. She then crossed over and did the same to +the other blind, and having done so, took her place close to a heavy +upright desk, which stood between the fireplace and the window. When +the two ladies first came to the house they had occupied only the +first and second floors;—but, since the success of their cause, the +whole had been taken, including the parlour in which this scene was +being acted; and the Countess spent many hours daily sitting at the +heavy desk in this dark gloomy chamber.</p> + +<p>"Whose blood shall be shed?" said Lady Anna, turning to her mother.</p> + +<p>"It is the raving of madness," said Daniel.</p> + +<p>"Whether it be madness or not, you shall find, sir, that it is true. +Take your hands from her. Would you disgrace the child in the +presence of her mother?"</p> + +<p>"There is no disgrace, mamma. He is my own, and I am his. Why should +you try to part us?"</p> + +<p>But now they were parted. He was not a man to linger much over the +sweetness of a caress when sterner work was in his hands to be done. +"Lady Lovel," he said, "you must see that this opposition is +fruitless. Ask your cousin, Lord Lovel, and he will tell you that it +is so."</p> + +<p>"I care nothing for my cousin. If he be false, I am true. Though all +the world be false, still will I be true. I do not ask her to marry +her cousin. I simply demand that she shall relinquish one who is +infinitely beneath her,—who is unfit to tie her very shoe-string."</p> + +<p>"He is my equal in all things," said Lady Anna, "and he shall be my +lord and husband."</p> + +<p>"I know of no inequalities such as those you speak of, Lady Lovel," +said the tailor. "The excellence of your daughter's merits I admit, +and am almost disposed to claim some goodness for myself, finding +that one so good can love me. But, Lady Lovel, I do not wish to +remain here now. You are disturbed."</p> + +<p>"I am disturbed, and you had better go."</p> + +<p>"I will go at once if you will let me name some early day on which I +may be allowed to meet Lady Anna,—alone. And I tell her here that if +she be not permitted so to see me, it will be her duty to leave her +mother's house, and come to me. There is my address, dear." Then he +handed to her a paper on which he had written the name of the street +and number at which he was now living. "You are free to come and go +as you list, and if you will send to me there, I will find you here +or elsewhere as you may command me. It is but a short five minutes' +walk beyond the house at which you were staying in Bedford Square."</p> + +<p>The Countess stood silent for a moment or two, looking at them, +during which neither the girl spoke nor her lover. "You will not even +allow her six months to think of it?" said the Countess.</p> +<p>"I will allow her six years if she says that she requires time to +think of it."</p> + +<p>"I do not want an hour,—not a minute," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>The mother flashed round upon her daughter. "Poor vain, degraded +wretch," she said.</p> + +<p>"She is a true woman, honest to the heart's core," said the lover.</p> + +<p>"You shall come to-morrow," said the Countess. "Do you hear me, +Anna?—he shall come to-morrow. There shall be an end of this in some +way, and I am broken-hearted. My life is over for me, and I may as +well lay me down and die. I hope God in his mercy may never send upon +another woman,—upon another wife, or another mother,—trouble such +as that with which I have been afflicted. But I tell you this, Anna; +that what evil a husband can do,—even let him be evil-minded as was +your father,—is nothing,—nothing,—nothing to the cruelty of a +cruel child. Go now, Mr. Thwaite; if you please. If you will return +at the same hour to-morrow she shall speak with you—alone. And then +she must do as she pleases."</p> + +<p>"Anna, I will come again to-morrow," said the tailor. But Lady Anna +did not answer him. She did not speak, but stayed looking at him till +he was gone.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow shall end it all. I can stand this no longer. I have +prayed to you,—a mother to her daughter; I have prayed to you for +mercy, and you will show me none. I have knelt to you."</p> + +<p>"Mamma!"</p> + +<p>"I will kneel again if it may avail." And the Countess did kneel. +"Will you not spare me?"</p> + +<p>"Get up, mamma; get up. What am I doing,—what have I done that you +should speak to me like this?"</p> + +<p>"I ask you from my very soul,—lest I commit some terrible crime. I +have sworn that I would not see this marriage,—and I will not see +it."</p> + +<p>"If he will consent I will delay it," said the girl trembling.</p> + +<p>"Must I beg to him then? Must I kneel to him? Must I ask him to save +me from the wrath to come? No, my child, I will not do that. If it +must come, let it come. When you were a little thing at my knees, the +gentlest babe that ever mother kissed, I did not think that you would +live to be so hard to me. You have your mother's brow, my child, but +you have your father's heart."</p> + +<p>"I will ask him to delay it," said Anna.</p> + +<p>"No;—if it be to come to that I will have no dealings with you. +What; that he,—he who has come between me and all my peace, he who +with his pretended friendship has robbed me of my all, that he is to +be asked to grant me a few weeks' delay before this pollution comes +upon me,—during which the whole world will know that Lady Anna Lovel +is to be the tailor's wife! Leave me. When he comes to-morrow, you +shall be sent for;—but I will see him first. Leave me, now. I would +be alone."</p> + +<p>Lady Anna made an attempt to take her mother's hand, but the Countess +repulsed her rudely. "Oh, mamma!"</p> + +<p>"We must be bitter enemies or loving friends, my child. As it is we +are bitter enemies; yes, the bitterest. Leave me now. There is no +room for further words between us." Then Lady Anna slunk up to her +own room.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-43" id="c2-43"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLIII.</h3> +<h4>DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The Countess Lovel had prepared herself on that morning for the doing +of a deed, but her heart had failed her. How she might have carried +herself through it had not her daughter came down to them,—how far +she might have been able to persevere, cannot be said now. But it was +certain that she had so far relented that even while the hated man +was there in her presence, she determined that she would once again +submit herself to make entreaties to her child, once again to speak +of all that she had endured, and to pray at least for delay if +nothing else could be accorded to her. If her girl would but promise +to remain with her for six months, then they might go abroad,—and +the chances afforded them by time and distance would be before her. +In that case she would lavish such love upon the girl, so many +indulgences, such sweets of wealth and ease, such store of caresses +and soft luxury, that surely the young heart might thus be turned to +the things which were fit for rank, and high blood, and splendid +possessions. It could not be but that her own child,—the child who a +few months since had been as gentle with her and as obedient as an +infant,—should give way to her as far as that. She tried it, and her +daughter had referred her prayer,—or had said that she would refer +it,—to the decision of her hated lover; and the mother had at once +lost all command of her temper. She had become fierce,—nay, +ferocious; and had lacked the guile and the self-command necessary to +carry out her purpose. Had she persevered Lady Anna must have granted +her the small boon that she then asked. But she had given way to her +wrath, and had declared that her daughter was her bitterest enemy. As +she seated herself at the old desk where Lady Anna left her, she +swore within her own bosom that the deed must be done.</p> + +<p>Even at the moment when she was resolving that she would kneel once +more at her daughter's knees, she prepared herself for the work that +she must do, should the daughter still be as hard as stone to her. +"Come again at one to-morrow," she said to the tailor; and the tailor +said that he would come.</p> + +<p>When she was alone she seated herself on her accustomed chair and +opened the old desk with a key that had now become familiar to her +hand. It was a huge piece of furniture,—such as is never made in +these days, but is found among every congregation of old household +goods,—with numberless drawers clustering below, with a vast body, +full of receptacles for bills, wills, deeds, and waste-paper, and a +tower of shelves above, ascending almost to the ceiling. In the +centre of the centre body was a square compartment, but this had been +left unlocked, so that its contents might be ready to her hand. Now +she opened it and took from it a pistol; and, looking warily over her +shoulder to see that the door was closed, and cautiously up at the +windows, lest some eye might be spying her action even through the +thick blinds, she took the weapon in her hand and held it up so that +she might feel, if possible, how it would be with her when she should +attempt the deed. She looked very narrowly at the lock, of which the +trigger was already back at its place, so that no exertion of +arrangement might be necessary for her at the fatal moment. Never as +yet had she fired a pistol;—never before had she held such a weapon +in her hand;—but she thought that she could do it when her passion +ran high.</p> + +<p>Then for the twentieth time she asked herself whether it would not be +easier to turn it against her own bosom,—against her own brain; so +that all might be over at once. Ah, yes;—so much easier! But how +then would it be with this man who had driven her, by his subtle +courage and persistent audacity, to utter destruction? Could he and +she be made to go down together in that boat which her fancy had +built for them, then indeed it might be well that she should seek her +own death. But were she now to destroy herself,—herself and only +herself,—then would her enemy be left to enjoy his rich prize, a +prize only the richer because she would have disappeared from the +world! And of her, if such had been her last deed, men would only say +that the mad Countess had gone on in her madness. With looks of sad +solemnity, but heartfelt satisfaction, all the Lovels, and that +wretched tailor, and her own daughter, would bestow some mock grief +on her funeral, and there would be an end for ever of Josephine +Countess Lovel,—and no one would remember her, or her deeds, or her +sufferings. When she wandered out from the house on that morning, +after hearing that Daniel Thwaite would be there at one, and had +walked nearly into the mid city so that she might not be watched, and +had bought her pistol and powder and bullets, and had then with +patience gone to work and taught herself how to prepare the weapon +for use, she certainly had not intended simply to make the triumph of +her enemy more easy.</p> + +<p>And yet she knew well what was the penalty of murder, and she knew +also that there could be no chance of escape. Very often had she +turned it in her mind, whether she could not destroy the man so that +the hand of the destroyer might be hidden. But it could not be so. +She could not dog him in the streets. She could not get at him in his +meals to poison him. She could not creep to his bedside and strangle +him in the silent watches of the night. And this woman's heart, even +while from day to day she was meditating murder,—while she was +telling herself that it would be a worthy deed to cut off from life +one whose life was a bar to her own success,—even then revolted from +the shrinking stealthy step, from the low cowardice of the hidden +murderer. To look him in the face and then to slay him,—when no +escape for herself would be possible, that would have in it something +that was almost noble; something at any rate bold,—something that +would not shame her. They would hang her for such a deed! Let them do +so. It was not hanging that she feared, but the tongues of those who +should speak of her when she was gone. They should not speak of her +as one who had utterly failed. They should tell of a woman who, +cruelly misused throughout her life, maligned, scorned, and tortured, +robbed of her own, neglected by her kindred, deserted and damned by +her husband, had still struggled through it all till she had proved +herself to be that which it was her right to call herself;—of a +woman who, though thwarted in her ambition by her own child, and +cheated of her triumph at the very moment of her success, had dared +rather to face an ignominious death than see all her efforts +frustrated by the maudlin fancy of a girl. Yes! She would face it +all. Let them do what they would with her. She hardly knew what might +be the mode of death adjudged to a Countess who had murdered. Let +them kill her as they would, they would kill a Countess;—and the +whole world would know her story.</p> + +<p>That day and night were very dreadful to her. She never asked a +question about her daughter. They had brought her food to her in that +lonely parlour, and she hardly heeded them as they laid the things +before her, and then removed them. Again and again did she unlock the +old desk, and see that the weapon was ready to her hand. Then she +opened that letter to Sir William Patterson, and added a postscript +to it. "What I have since done will explain everything." That was all +she added, and on the following morning, about noon, she put the +letter on the mantelshelf. Late at night she took herself to bed, and +was surprised to find that she slept. The key of the old desk was +under her pillow, and she placed her hand on it the moment that she +awoke. On leaving her own room she stood for a moment at her +daughter's door. It might be, if she killed the man, that she would +never see her child again. At that moment she was tempted to rush +into her daughter's room, to throw herself upon her daughter's bed, +and once again to beg for mercy and grace. She listened, and she knew +that her daughter slept. Then she went silently down to the dark room +and the old desk. Of what use would it be to abase herself? Her +daughter was the only thing that she could love; but her daughter's +heart was filled with the image of that low-born artisan.</p> + +<p>"Is Lady Anna up?" she asked the maid about ten o'clock.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lady; she is breakfasting now."</p> + +<p>"Tell her that when—when Mr. Thwaite comes, I will send for her as +soon as I wish to see her."</p> + +<p>"I think Lady Anna understands that already, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Tell her what I say."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lady. I will, my lady." Then the Countess spoke no further +word till, punctually at one o'clock, Daniel Thwaite was shown into +the room. "You keep your time, Mr. Thwaite," she said.</p> + +<p>"Working men should always do that, Lady Lovel," he replied, as +though anxious to irritate her by reminding her how humble was the +man who could aspire to be the son-in-law of a Countess.</p> + +<p>"All men should do so, I presume. I also am punctual. Well sir;—have +you anything else to say?"</p> + +<p>"Much to say,—to your daughter, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"I do not know that you will ever see my daughter again."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that she has been taken away from this?" The +Countess was silent, but moved away from the spot on which she stood +to receive him towards the old desk, which stood open,—with the door +of the centre space just ajar. "If it be so, you have deceived me +most grossly, Lady Lovel. But it can avail you nothing, for I know +that she will be true to me. Do you tell me that she has been +removed?"</p> + +<p>"I have told you no such thing."</p> + +<p>"Bid her come then,—as you promised me."</p> + +<p>"I have a word to say to you first. What if she should refuse to +come?"</p> + +<p>"I do not believe that she will refuse. You yourself heard what she +said yesterday. All earth and all heaven should not make me doubt +her, and certainly not your word, Lady Lovel. You know how it is, and +you know how it must be."</p> + +<p>"Yes,—I do; I do; I do." She was facing him with her back to the +window, and she put forth her left hand upon the open desk, and +thrust it forward as though to open the square door which stood +ajar;—but he did not notice her hand; he had his eye fixed upon her, +and suspected only deceit,—not violence. "Yes, I know how it must +be," she said, while her fingers approached nearer to the little +door.</p> + +<p>"Then let her come to me."</p> + +<p>"Will nothing turn you from it?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing will turn me from it."</p> + +<p>Then suddenly she withdrew her hand and confronted him more closely. +"Mine has been a hard life, Mr. Thwaite;—no life could have been +harder. But I have always had something before me for which to long, +and for which to hope;—something which I might reach if justice +should at length prevail."</p> + +<p>"You have got money and rank."</p> + +<p>"They are nothing—nothing. In all those many years, the thing that I +have looked for has been the splendour and glory of another, and the +satisfaction I might feel in having bestowed upon her all that she +owned. Do you think that I will stand by, after such a struggle, and +see you rob me of it all,—you,—you, who were one of the tools which +came to my hand to work with? From what you know of me, do you think +that my spirit could stoop so low? Answer me, if you have ever +thought of that. Let the eagles alone, and do not force yourself into +our nest. You will find, if you do, that you will be rent to pieces."</p> + +<p>"This is nothing, Lady Lovel. I came here,—at your bidding, to see +your daughter. Let me see her."</p> + +<p>"You will not go?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I will not go."</p> + +<p>She looked at him as she slowly receded to her former +standing-ground, but he never for a moment suspected the nature of +her purpose. He began to think that some actual insanity had befallen +her, and was doubtful how he should act. But no fear of personal +violence affected him. He was merely questioning with himself whether +it would not be well for him to walk up-stairs into the upper room, +and seek Lady Anna there, as he stood watching the motion of her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"You had better go," said she, as she again put her left hand on the +flat board of the open desk.</p> + +<p>"You trifle with me, Lady Lovel," he answered. "As you will not allow +Lady Anna to come to me here, I will go to her elsewhere. I do not +doubt but that I shall find her in the house." Then he turned to the +door, intending to leave the room. He had been very near to her while +they were talking, so that he had some paces to traverse before he +could put his hand upon the lock,—but in doing so his back was +turned on her. In one respect it was better for her purpose that it +should be so. She could open the door of the compartment and put her +hand upon the pistol without having his eye upon her. But, as it +seemed to her at the moment, the chance of bringing her purpose to +its intended conclusion was less than it would have been had she been +able to fire at his face. She had let the moment go by,—the first +moment,—when he was close to her, and now there would be half the +room between them. But she was very quick. She seized the pistol, +and, transferring it to her right hand, she rushed after him, and +when the door was already half open she pulled the trigger. In the +agony of that moment she heard no sound, though she saw the flash. +She saw him shrink and pass the door, which he left unclosed, and +then she heard a scuffle in the passage, as though he had fallen +against the wall. She had provided herself especially with a second +barrel,—but that was now absolutely useless to her. There was no +power left to her wherewith to follow him and complete the work which +she had begun. She did not think that she had killed him, though she +was sure that he was struck. She did not believe that she had +accomplished anything of her wishes,—but had she held in her hand a +six-barrelled revolver, as of the present day, she could have done no +more with it. She was overwhelmed with so great a tremor at her own +violence that she was almost incapable of moving. She stood glaring +at the door, listening for what should come, and the moments seemed +to be hours. But she heard no sound whatever. A minute passed away +perhaps, and the man did not move. She looked around as if seeking +some way of escape,—as though, were it possible, she would get to +the street through the window. There was no mode of escape, unless +she would pass out through the door to the man who, as she knew, must +still be there. Then she heard him move. She heard him rise,—from +what posture she knew not, and step towards the stairs. She was still +standing with the pistol in her hand, but was almost unconscious that +she held it. At last her eye glanced upon it, and she was aware that +she was still armed. Should she rush after him, and try what she +could do with that other bullet? The thought crossed her mind, but +she knew that she could do nothing. Had all the Lovels depended upon +it, she could not have drawn that other trigger. She took the pistol, +put it back into its former hiding-place, mechanically locked the +little door, and then seated herself in her chair.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-44" id="c2-44"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLIV.</h3> +<h4>THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The tailor's hand was on the lock of the door when he first saw the +flash of the fire, and then felt that he was wounded. Though his back +was turned to the woman he distinctly saw the flash, but he never +could remember that he had heard the report. He knew nothing of the +nature of the injury he had received, and was hardly aware of the +place in which he had been struck, when he half closed the door +behind him and then staggered against the opposite wall. For a moment +he was sick, almost to fainting, but yet he did not believe that he +had been grievously hurt. He was, however, disabled, weak, and almost +incapable of any action. He seated himself on the lowest stair, and +began to think. The woman had intended to murder him! She had lured +him there with the premeditated intention of destroying him! And this +was the mother of his bride,—the woman whom he intended to call his +mother-in-law! He was not dead, nor did he believe that he was like +to die; but had she killed him,—what must have been the fate of the +murderess! As it was, would it not be necessary that she should be +handed over to the law, and dealt with for the offence? He did not +know that they might not even hang her for the attempt.</p> + +<p>He said afterwards that he thought that he sat there for a quarter of +an hour. Three minutes, however, had not passed before Mrs. Richards, +ascending from the kitchen, found him upon the stairs. "What is it, +Mr. Thwaite?" said she.</p> + +<p>"Is anything the matter?" he asked with a faint smile.</p> + +<p>"The place is full of smoke," she said, "and there is a smell of +gunpowder."</p> + +<p>"There is no harm done at any rate," he answered.</p> + +<p>"I thought I heard a something go off," said Sarah, who was behind +Mrs. Richards.</p> + +<p>"Did you?" said he. "I heard nothing; but there certainly is a +smoke," and he still smiled.</p> + +<p>"What are you sitting there for, Mr. Thwaite?" asked Mrs. Richards.</p> + +<p>"You ain't no business to sit there, Mr. Thwaite," said Sarah.</p> + +<p>"You've been and done something to the Countess," said Mrs. Richards.</p> + +<p>"The Countess is all right. I'm going up-stairs to see Lady +Anna;—that's all. But I've hurt myself a little. I'm bad in my left +shoulder, and I sat down just to get a rest." As he spoke he was +still smiling.</p> + +<p>Then the woman looked at him and saw that he was very pale. At that +instant he was in great pain, though he felt that as the sense of +intense sickness was leaving him he would be able to go up-stairs and +say a word or two to his sweetheart, should he find her. "You ain't +just as you ought to be, Mr. Thwaite," said Mrs. Richards. He was +very haggard, and perspiration was on his brow, and she thought that +he had been drinking.</p> + +<p>"I am well enough," said he rising,—"only that I am much troubled by +a hurt in my arm. At any rate I will go up-stairs." Then he mounted +slowly, leaving the two women standing in the passage.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Richards gently opened the parlour door, and entered the room, +which was still reeking with smoke and the smell of the powder, and +there she found the Countess seated at the old desk, but with her +body and face turned round towards the door. "Is anything the matter, +my lady?" asked the woman.</p> + +<p>"Where has he gone?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite has just stepped up-stairs,—this moment. He was very +queer like, my lady."</p> + +<p>"Is he hurt?"</p> + +<p>"We think he's been drinking, my lady," said Sarah.</p> + +<p>"He says that his shoulder is ever so bad," said Mrs. Richards.</p> + +<p>Then for the first time it occurred to the Countess that perhaps the +deed which she had done,—the attempt in which she had failed,—might +never be known. Instinctively she had hidden the pistol and had +locked the little door, and concealed the key within her bosom as +soon as she was alone. Then she thought that she would open the +window; but she had been afraid to move, and she had sat there +waiting while she heard the sound of voices in the passage. "Oh,—his +shoulder!" said she. "No,—he has not been drinking. He never drinks. +He has been very violent, but he never drinks. Well,—why do you +wait?"</p> + +<p>"There is such a smell of something," said Mrs. Richards.</p> + +<p>"Yes;—you had better open the windows. There was an accident. Thank +you;—that will do."</p> + +<p>"And is he to be alone,—with Lady Anna, up-stairs?" asked the maid.</p> + +<p>"He is to be alone with her. How can I help it? If she chooses to be +a scullion she must follow her bent. I have done all I could. Why do +you wait? I tell you that he is to be with her. Go away, and leave +me." Then they went and left her, wondering much, but guessing +nothing of the truth. She watched them till they had closed the door, +and then instantly opened the other window wide. It was now May, but +the weather was still cold. There had been rain the night before, and +it had been showery all the morning. She had come in from her walk +damp and chilled, and there was a fire in the grate. But she cared +nothing for the weather. Looking round the room she saw a morsel of +wadding near the floor, and she instantly burned it. She longed to +look at the pistol, but she did not dare to take it from its +hiding-place lest she should be discovered in the act. Every energy +of her mind was now strained to the effort of avoiding detection. +Should he choose to tell what had been done, then, indeed, all would +be over. But had he not resolved to be silent he would hardly have +borne the agony of the wound and gone up-stairs without speaking of +it. She almost forgot now the misery of the last year in the +intensity of her desire to escape the disgrace of punishment. A +sudden nervousness, a desire to do something by which she might help +to preserve herself, seized upon her. But there was nothing which she +could do. She could not follow him lest he should accuse her to her +face. It would be vain for her to leave the house till he should have +gone. Should she do so, she knew that she would not dare return to +it. So she sat, thinking, dreaming, plotting, crushed by an agony of +fear, looking anxiously at the door, listening for every footfall +within the house; and she watched too for the well-known click of the +area gate, dreading lest any one should go out to seek the +intervention of the constables.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Daniel Thwaite had gone up-stairs, and had knocked at +the drawing-room door. It was instantly opened by Lady Anna herself. +"I heard you come;—what a time you have been here!—I thought that I +should never see you." As she spoke she stood close to him that he +might embrace her. But the pain of his wound affected his whole body, +and he felt that he could hardly raise even his right arm. He was +aware now that the bullet had entered his back, somewhere on his left +shoulder. "Oh, Daniel;—are you ill?" she said, looking at him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear;—I am ill;—not very ill. Did you hear nothing?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Nor yet see anything?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you all another time;—only do not ask me now." She had +seated herself beside him and wound her arm round his back as though +to support him. "You must not touch me, dearest."</p> + +<p>"You have been hurt."</p> + +<p>"Yes;—I have been hurt. I am in pain, though I do not think that it +signifies. I had better go to a surgeon, and then you shall hear from +me."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Daniel;—what is it, Daniel?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you,—but not now. You shall know all, but I should do +harm were I to say it now. Say not a word to any one, +sweetheart,—unless your mother ask you."</p> + +<p>"What shall I tell her?"</p> + +<p>"That I am hurt,—but not seriously hurt;—and that the less said the +sooner mended. Tell her also that I shall expect no further +interruption to my letters when I write to you,—or to my visits when +I can come. God bless you, dearest;—one kiss, and now I will go."</p> + +<p>"You will send for me if you are ill, Daniel?"</p> + +<p>"If I am really ill, I will send for you." So saying, he left her, +went down-stairs, with great difficulty opened for himself the front +door, and departed.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna, though she had been told nothing of what had happened, +except that her lover was hurt, at once surmised something of what +had been done. Daniel Thwaite had suffered some hurt from her +mother's wrath. She sat for a while thinking what it might have been. +She had seen no sign of blood. Could it be that her mother had struck +him in her anger with some chance weapon that had come to hand? That +there had been violence she was sure,—and sure also that her mother +had been in fault. When Daniel had been some few minutes gone she +went down, that she might deliver his message. At the foot of the +stairs, and near the door of the parlour, she met Mrs. Richards. "I +suppose the young man has gone, my lady?" asked the woman.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Thwaite has gone."</p> + +<p>"And I make so bold, my lady, as to say that he ought not to come +here. There has been a doing of some kind, but I don't know what. He +says as how he's been hurt, and I'm sure I don't know how he should +be hurt here,—unless he brought it with him. I never had nothing of +the kind here before, long as I've been here. Of course your title +and that is all right, my lady; but the young man isn't fit;—that's +the truth of it. My belief is he'd been a drinking; and I won't have +it in my house."</p> + +<p>Lady Anna passed by her without a word and went into her mother's +room. The Countess was still seated in her chair, and neither rose +nor spoke when her daughter entered. "Mamma, Mr. Thwaite is hurt."</p> + +<p>"Well;—what of it? Is it much that ails him?"</p> + +<p>"He is in pain. What has been done, mamma?" The Countess looked at +her, striving to learn from the girl's face and manner what had been +told and what concealed. "Did you—strike him?"</p> + +<p>"Has he said that I struck him?"</p> + +<p>"No, mamma;—but something has been done that should not have been +done. I know it. He has sent you a message, mamma."</p> + +<p>"What was it?" asked the Countess, in a hoarse voice.</p> + +<p>"That he was hurt, but not seriously."</p> + +<p>"Oh;—he said that."</p> + +<p>"I fear he is hurt seriously."</p> + +<p>"But he said that he was not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—and that the less said the sooner mended."</p> + +<p>"Did he say that too?"</p> + +<p>"That was his message."</p> + +<p>The Countess gave a long sigh, then sobbed, and at last broke out +into hysteric tears. It was evident to her now that the man was +sparing her,—was endeavouring to spare her. He had told no one as +yet. "The least said the soonest mended." Oh yes;—if he would say +never a word to any one of what had occurred between them that day, +that would be best for her. But how could he not tell? When some +doctor should ask him how he had come by that wound, surely he would +tell then! It could not be possible that such a deed should have been +done there, in that little room, and that no one should know it! And +why should he not tell,—he who was her enemy? Had she caught him at +advantage, would she not have smote him, hip and thigh? And then she +reflected what it would be to owe perhaps her life to the mercy of +Daniel Thwaite,—to the mercy of her enemy, of him who knew,—if no +one else should know,—that she had attempted to murder him. It would +be better for her, should she be spared to do so, to go away to some +distant land, where she might hide her head for ever.</p> + +<p>"May I go to him, mamma, to see him?" Lady Anna asked. The Countess, +full of her own thoughts, sat silent, answering not a word. "I know +where he lives, mamma, and I fear that he is much hurt."</p> + +<p>"He will not—die," muttered the Countess.</p> + +<p>"God forbid that he should die;—but I will go to him." Then she +returned up-stairs without a word of opposition from her mother, put +on her bonnet, and sallied forth. No one stopped her or said a word +to her now, and she seemed to herself to be as free as air. She +walked up to the corner of Gower Street, and turned down into Bedford +Square, passing the house of the Serjeant. Then she asked her way +into Great Russell Street, which she found to be hardly more than a +stone's throw from the Serjeant's door, and soon found the number at +which her lover lived. No;—Mr. Thwaite was not at home. Yes;—she +might wait for him;—but he had no room but his bedroom. Then she +became very bold. "I am engaged to be his wife," she said. "Are you +the Lady Anna?" asked the woman, who had heard the story. Then she +was received with great distinction, and invited to sit down in a +parlour on the ground-floor. There she sat for three hours, +motionless, alone,—waiting,—waiting,—waiting. When it was quite +dark, at about six o'clock, Daniel Thwaite entered the room with his +left arm bound up. "My girl!" he said, with so much joy in his tone +that she could not but rejoice to hear him. "So you have found me +out, and have come to me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have come. Tell me what it is. I know that you are hurt."</p> + +<p>"I have been hurt certainly. The doctor wanted me to go into a +hospital, but I trust that I may escape that. But I must take care of +myself. I had to come back here in a coach, because the man told me +not to walk."</p> + +<p>"How was it, Daniel? Oh, Daniel, you will tell me everything?"</p> + +<p>Then she sat beside him as he lay upon the couch, and listened to him +while he told her the whole story. He hid nothing from her, but as he +went on he made her understand that it was his intention to conceal +the whole deed, to say nothing of it, so that the perpetrator should +escape punishment, if it might be possible. She listened in +awe-struck silence as she heard the tale of her mother's guilt. And +he, with wonderful skill, with hearty love for the girl, and in true +mercy to her feelings, palliated the crime of the would-be murderess. +"She was beside herself with grief and emotion," he said, "and has +hardly surprised me by what she has done. Had I thought of it, I +should almost have expected it."</p> + +<p>"She may do it again, Daniel."</p> + +<p>"I think not. She will be cowed now, and quieter. She did not +interfere when you told her that you were coming to me? It will be a +lesson to her, and so it may be good for us." Then he bade her to +tell her mother that he, as far as he was concerned, would hold his +peace. If she would forget all past injuries, so would he. If she +would hold out her hand to him, he would take it. If she could not +bring herself to this,—could not bring herself as yet,—then let her +go apart. No notice should be taken of what she had done. "But she +must not again stand between us," he said.</p> + +<p>"Nothing shall stand between us," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>Then he told her, laughing as he did so, how hard it had been for him +to keep the story of his wound secret from the doctor, who had +already extracted the ball, and who was to visit him on the morrow. +The practitioner to whom he had gone, knowing nothing of gunshot +wounds, had taken him to a first-class surgeon, and the surgeon had +of course asked as to the cause of the wound. Daniel had said that it +was an accident as to which he could not explain the cause. "You mean +you will not tell," said the surgeon. "Exactly so. I will not tell. +It is my secret. That I did not do it myself you may judge from the +spot in which I was shot." To this the surgeon assented; and, though +he pressed the question, and said something as to the necessity for +an investigation, he could get no satisfaction. However, he had +learned Daniel's name and address. He was to call on the morrow, and +would then perhaps succeed in learning something of the mystery. "In +the meantime, my darling, I must go to bed, for it seems as though +every bone in my body was sore. I have brought an old woman with me +who is to look after me."</p> + +<p>Then she left him, promising that she would come on the morrow and +would nurse him. "Unless they lock me up, I will be here," she said. +Daniel Thwaite thought that in the present circumstances no further +attempt would be made to constrain her actions.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-45" id="c2-45"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLV.</h3> +<h4>THE LAWYERS AGREE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>When a month had passed by a great many people knew how Mr. Daniel +Thwaite had come by the wound in his back, but nobody knew it +"officially." There is a wide difference in the qualities of +knowledge regarding such matters. In affairs of public interest we +often know, or fancy that we know, down to every exact detail, how a +thing has been done,—who have given the bribes and who have taken +them,—who has told the lie and who has pretended to believe it,—who +has peculated and how the public purse has suffered,—who was in love +with such a one's wife and how the matter was detected, then +smothered up, and condoned; but there is no official knowledge, and +nothing can be done. The tailor and the Earl, the Countess and her +daughter, had become public property since the great trial had been +commenced, and many eyes were on them. Before a week had gone by it +was known in every club and in every great drawing-room that the +tailor had been shot in the shoulder,—and it was almost known that +the pistol had been fired by the hands of the Countess. The very +eminent surgeon into whose hands Daniel had luckily fallen did not +press his questions very far when his patient told him that it would +be for the welfare of many people that nothing further should be +asked on the matter. "An accident has occurred," said Daniel, "as to +which I do not intend to say anything further. I can assure you that +no injury has been done beyond that which I suffer." The eminent +surgeon no doubt spoke of the matter among his friends, but he always +declared that he had no certain knowledge as to the hand which fired +the pistol.</p> + +<p>The women in Keppel Street of course talked. There had certainly been +a smoke and a smell of gunpowder. Mrs. Richards had heard nothing. +Sarah thought that she had heard a noise. They both were sure that +Daniel Thwaite had been much the worse for drink,—a statement which +led to considerable confusion. No pistol was ever seen,—though the +weapon remained in the old desk for some days, and was at last +conveyed out of the house when the Countess left it with all her +belongings. She had been afraid to hide it more stealthily or even +throw it away, lest her doing so should be discovered. Had the law +interfered,—had any search-warrant been granted,—the pistol would, +of course, have been found. As it was, no one asked the Countess a +question on the subject. The lawyers who had been her friends, and +had endeavoured to guide her through her difficulties, became afraid +of her, and kept aloof from her. They had all gone over to the +opinion that Lady Anna should be allowed to marry the tailor, and had +on that account become her enemies. She was completely isolated, and +was now spoken of mysteriously,—as a woman who had suffered much, +and was nearly mad with grief, as a violent, determined, dangerous +being, who was interesting as a subject for conversation, but one not +at all desirable as an acquaintance. During the whole of this month +the Countess remained in Keppel Street, and was hardly ever seen by +any but the inmates of that house.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna had returned home all alone, on the evening of the day on +which the deed had been done, after leaving her lover in the hands of +the old nurse with whose services he had been furnished. The rain was +still falling as she came through Russell Square. The distance was +indeed short, but she was wet and cold and draggled when she +returned; and the criminality of the deed which her mother had +committed had come fully home to her mind during the short journey. +The door was opened to her by Mrs. Richards, and she at once asked +for the Countess. "Lady Anna, where have you been?" asked Mrs. +Richards, who was learning to take upon herself, during these +troubles, something of the privilege of finding fault. But Lady Anna +put her aside without a word, and went into the parlour. There sat +the Countess just as she had been left,—except that a pair of +candles stood upon the table, and that the tea-things had been laid +there. "You are all wet," she said. "Where have you been?"</p> + +<p>"He has told me all," the girl replied, without answering the +question. "Oh, mamma;—how could you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Who has driven me to it? It has been you,—you, you. Well;—what +else?"</p> + +<p>"Mamma, he has forgiven you."</p> + +<p>"Forgiven me! I will not have his forgiveness."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mamma;—if I forgive you, will you not be friends with us?" She +stooped over her mother, and kissed her, and then went on and told +what she had to tell. She stood and told it all in a low voice, so +that no ear but that of her mother should hear her,—how the ball had +hit him, how it had been extracted, how nothing had been and nothing +should be told, how Daniel would forgive it all and be her friend, if +she would let him. "But, mamma, I hope you will be sorry." The +Countess sat silent, moody, grim, with her eyes fixed on the table. +She would say nothing. "And, mamma,—I must go to him every day,—to +do things for him and to help to nurse him. Of course he will be my +husband now." Still the Countess said not a word, either of approval +or of dissent. Lady Anna sat down for a moment or two, hoping that +her mother would allow her to eat and drink in the room, and that +thus they might again begin to live together. But not a word was +spoken nor a motion made, and the silence became awful, so that the +girl did not dare to keep her seat. "Shall I go, mamma?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Yes;—you had better go." After that they did not see each other +again on that evening, and during the week or ten days following they +lived apart.</p> + +<p>On the following morning, after an early breakfast, Lady Anna went to +Great Russell Street, and there she remained the greater part of the +day. The people of the house understood that the couple were to be +married as soon as their lodger should be well, and had heard much of +the magnificence of the marriage. They were kind and good, and the +tailor declared very often that this was the happiest period of his +existence. Of all the good turns ever done to him, he said, the wound +in his back had been the best. As his sweetheart sat by his bedside +they planned their future life. They would still go to the distant +land on which his heart was set, though it might be only for awhile; +and she, with playfulness, declared that she would go there as Mrs. +Thwaite. "I suppose they can't prevent me calling myself Mrs. +Thwaite, if I please."</p> + +<p>"I am not so sure of that," said the tailor. "Evil burs stick fast."</p> + +<p>It would be vain now to tell of all the sweet lovers' words that were +spoken between them during those long hours;—but the man believed +that no girl had ever been so true to her lover through so many +difficulties as Lady Anna had been to him, and she was sure that she +had never varied in her wish to become the wife of the man who had +first asked her for her love. She thought much and she thought often +of the young lord; but she took the impress of her lover's mind, and +learned to regard her cousin, the Earl, as an idle, pretty popinjay, +born to eat, to drink, and to carry sweet perfumes. "Just a +butterfly," said the tailor.</p> + +<p>"One of the brightest butterflies," said the girl.</p> + +<p>"A woman should not be a butterfly,—not altogether a butterfly," he +answered. "But for a man it is surely a contemptible part. Do you +remember the young man who comes to Hotspur on the battlefield, or +him whom the king sent to Hamlet about the wager? When I saw Lord +Lovel at his breakfast table, I thought of them. I said to myself +that spermaceti was the 'sovereignest thing on earth for an inward +wound,' and I told myself that he was of 'very soft society, and +great showing.'" She smiled, though she did not know the words he +quoted, and assured him that her poor cousin Lord Lovel would not +trouble him much in the days that were to come. "He will not trouble +me at all, but as he is your cousin I would fain that he could be a +man. He had a sort of gown on which would have made a grand frock for +you, sweetheart;—only too smart I fear for my wife." She laughed and +was pleased,—and remembered without a shade either of regret or +remorse the manner in which the popinjay had helped her over the +stepping-stones at Bolton Abbey.</p> + +<p>But the tailor, though he thus scorned the lord, was quite willing +that a share of the property should be given up to him. "Unless you +did, how on earth could he wear such grand gowns as that? I can +understand that he wants it more than I do, and if there are to be +earls, I suppose they should be rich. We do not want it, my girl."</p> + +<p>"You will have half, Daniel," she said.</p> + +<p>"As far as that goes, I do not want a doit of it,—not a penny-piece. +When they paid me what became my own by my father's will, I was rich +enough,—rich enough for you and me too, my girl, if that was all. +But it is better that it should be divided. If he had it all he would +buy too many gowns; and it may be that with us some good will come of +it. As far as I can see, no good comes of money spent on +race-courses, and in gorgeous gowns."</p> + +<p>This went on from day to day throughout a month, and every day Lady +Anna took her place with her lover. After a while her mother came up +into the drawing-room in Keppel Street, and then the two ladies again +lived together. Little or nothing, however, was said between them as +to their future lives. The Countess was quiet, sullen,—and to a +bystander would have appeared to be indifferent. She had been utterly +vanquished by the awe inspired by her own deed, and by the fear which +had lasted for some days that she might be dragged to trial for the +offence. As that dread subsided she was unable to recover her former +spirits. She spoke no more of what she had done and what she had +suffered, but seemed to submit to the inevitable. She said nothing of +any future life that might be in store for her, and, as far as her +daughter could perceive, had no plans formed for the coming time. At +last Lady Anna found it necessary to speak of her own plans. "Mamma," +she said, "Mr. Thwaite wishes that banns should be read in church for +our marriage."</p> + +<p>"Banns!" exclaimed the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma; he thinks it best." The Countess made no further +observation. If the thing was to be, it mattered little to her +whether they were to be married by banns or by licence,—whether her +girl should walk down to church like a maid-servant, or be married +with all the pomp and magnificence to which her rank and wealth might +entitle her. How could there be splendour, how even decency, in such +a marriage as this? She at any rate would not be present, let them be +married in what way they would. On the fourth Sunday after the shot +had been fired the banns were read for the first time in Bloomsbury +Church, and the future bride was described as Anna Lovel,—commonly +called Lady Anna Lovel,—spinster. Neither on that occasion, or on +either of the two further callings, did any one get up in church to +declare that impediment existed why Daniel Thwaite the tailor and +Lady Anna Lovel should not be joined together in holy matrimony.</p> + +<p>In the mean time the lawyers had been at work dividing the property, +and in the process of doing so it had been necessary that Mr. Goffe +should have various interviews with the Countess. She also, as the +undisputed widow of the late intestate Earl, was now a very rich +woman, with an immense income at her control. But no one wanted +assistance from her. There was her revenue, and she was doomed to +live apart with it in her solitude,—with no fellow-creature to +rejoice with her in her triumph, with no dependant whom she could +make happy with her wealth. She was a woman with many faults,—but +covetousness was not one of them. If she could have given it all to +the young Earl,—and her daughter with it, she would have been a +happy woman. Had she been permitted to dream that it was all so +settled that her grandchild would become of all Earl Lovels the most +wealthy and most splendid, she would have triumphed indeed. But, as +it was, there was no spot in her future career brighter to her than +those long years of suffering which she had passed in the hope that +some day her child might be successful. Triumph indeed! There was +nothing before her but solitude and shame.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless she listened to Mr. Goffe, and signed the papers that +were put before her. When, however, he spoke to her of what was +necessary for the marriage,—as to the settlement, which must, Mr. +Goffe said, be made as to the remaining moiety of her daughter's +property,—she answered curtly that she knew nothing of that. Her +daughter's affairs were no concern of hers. She had, indeed, worked +hard to establish her daughter's rights, but her daughter was now of +age, and could do as she pleased with her own. She would not even +remain in the room while the matter was being discussed. "Lady Anna +and I have separate interests," she said haughtily.</p> + +<p>Lady Anna herself simply declared that half of her estate should be +made over to her cousin, and that the other half should go to her +husband. But the attorney was not satisfied to take instructions on a +matter of such moment from one so young. As to all that was to +appertain to the Earl, the matter was settled. The Solicitor-General +and Serjeant Bluestone had acceded to the arrangement, and the +Countess herself had given her assent before she had utterly +separated her own interests from those of her daughter. In regard to +so much, Mr. Goffe could go to work in conjunction with Mr. Flick +without a scruple; but as to that other matter there must be +consultations, conferences, and solemn debate. The young lady, no +doubt, might do as she pleased; but lawyers can be very powerful. Sir +William was asked for his opinion, and suggested that Daniel Thwaite +himself should be invited to attend at Mr. Goffe's chambers, as soon +as his wound would allow him to do so. Daniel, who did not care for +his wound so much as he should have done, was with Mr. Goffe on the +following morning, and heard a lengthy explanation from the attorney. +The Solicitor-General had been consulted;—this Mr. Goffe said, +feeling that a tailor would not have a word to say against so high an +authority;—the Solicitor-General had been consulted, and was of +opinion that Lady Anna's interests should be guarded with great care. +A very large property, he might say a splendid estate, was concerned. +Mr. Thwaite of course understood that the family had been averse to +this marriage,—naturally very averse. Now, however, they were +prepared to yield.</p> + +<p>The tailor interrupted the attorney at this period of his speech. "We +don't want anybody to yield, Mr. Goffe. We are going to do what we +please, and don't know anything about yielding."</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe remarked that all that might be very well, but that, as so +large a property was at stake, the friends of the lady, according to +all usage, were bound to interfere. A settlement had already been +made in regard to the Earl.</p> + +<p>"You mean, Mr. Goffe, that Lady Anna has given her cousin half her +money?"</p> + +<p>The attorney went on to say that Mr. Thwaite might put it in that way +if he pleased. The deeds had already been executed. With regard to +the other moiety Mr. Thwaite would no doubt not object to a +trust-deed, by which it should be arranged that the money should be +invested in land, the interest to be appropriated to the use of Lady +Anna, and the property be settled on the eldest son. Mr. Thwaite +would, of course, have the advantage of the income during his wife's +life. The attorney, in explaining all this, made an exceedingly good +legal exposition, and then waited for the tailor's assent.</p> + +<p>"Are those Lady Anna's instructions?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Goffe replied that the proposal was made in accordance with the +advice of the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>"I'll have nothing to do with such a settlement," said the tailor. +"Lady Anna has given away half her money, and may give away the whole +if she pleases. She will be the same to me whether she comes +full-handed or empty. But when she is my wife her property shall be +my property,—and when I die there shall be no such abomination as an +eldest son." Mr. Goffe was persuasive, eloquent, indignant, and very +wise. All experience, all usage, all justice, all tradition, required +that there should be some such settlement as he had suggested. But it +was in vain. "I don't want my wife to have anything of her own before +marriage," said he; "but she certainly shall have nothing after +marriage,—independent of me." For a man with sound views of domestic +power and marital rights always choose a Radical! In this case there +was no staying him. The girl was all on his side, and Mr. Goffe, with +infinite grief, was obliged to content himself with binding up a +certain portion of the property to make an income for the widow, +should the tailor die before his wife. And thus the tailor's marriage +received the sanction of all the lawyers.</p> + +<p>A day or two after this Daniel Thwaite called upon the Countess. It +was now arranged that they should be married early in July, and +questions had arisen as to the manner of the ceremony. Who should +give away the bride? Of what nature should the marriage be? Should +there be any festival? Should there be bridesmaids? Where should they +go when they were married? What dresses should be bought? After what +fashion should they be prepared to live? Those, and questions of a +like nature, required to be answered, and Lady Anna felt that these +matters should not be fixed without some reference to her mother. It +had been her most heartfelt desire to reconcile the Countess to the +marriage,—to obtain, at any rate, so much recognition as would +enable her mother to be present in the church. But the Countess had +altogether refused to speak on the subject, and had remained silent, +gloomy, and impenetrable. Then Daniel had himself proposed that he +would see her, and on a certain morning he called. He sent up his +name, with his compliments, and the Countess allowed him to be shown +into her room. Lady Anna had begged that it might be so, and she had +yielded,—yielded without positive assent, as she had now done in all +matters relating to this disastrous marriage. On that morning, +however, she had spoken a word. "If Mr. Thwaite chooses to see me, I +must be alone." And she was alone when the tailor was shown into the +room. Up to that day he had worn his arm in a sling,—and should then +have continued to do so; but, on this visit of peace to her who had +attempted to be his murderer, he put aside this outward sign of the +injury she had inflicted on him. He smiled as he entered the room, +and she rose to receive him. She was no longer a young woman;—and no +woman of her age or of any other had gone through rougher usage;—but +she could not keep the blood out of her cheeks as her eyes met his, +nor could she summon to her support that hard persistency of outward +demeanour with which she had intended to arm herself for the +occasion. "So you have come to see me, Mr. Thwaite?" she said.</p> + +<p>"I have come, Lady Lovel, to shake hands with you, if it may be so, +before my marriage with your daughter. It is her wish that we should +be friends,—and mine also." So saying, he put out his hand, and the +Countess slowly gave him hers. "I hope the time may come, Lady Lovel, +when all animosity may be forgotten between you and me, and nothing +be borne in mind but the old friendship of former years."</p> + +<p>"I do not know that that can be," she said.</p> + +<p>"I hope it may be so. Time cures all things,—and I hope it may be +so."</p> + +<p>"There are sorrows, Mr. Thwaite, which no time can cure. You have +triumphed, and can look forward to the pleasures of success. I have +been foiled, and beaten, and broken to pieces. With me the last is +worse even than the first. I do not know that I can ever have another +friend. Your father was my friend."</p> + +<p>"And I would be so also."</p> + +<p>"You have been my enemy. All that he did to help me,—all that others +have done since to forward me on my way, has been brought to +nothing—by you! My joys have been turned to grief, my rank has been +made a disgrace, my wealth has become like ashes between my +teeth;—and it has been your doing. They tell me that you will be my +daughter's husband. I know that it must be so. But I do not see that +you can be my friend."</p> + +<p>"I had hoped to find you softer, Lady Lovel."</p> + +<p>"It is not my nature to be soft. All this has not tended to make me +soft. If my daughter will let me know from time to time that she is +alive, that is all that I shall require of her. As to her future +career, I cannot interest myself in it as I had hoped to do. +Good-bye, Mr. Thwaite. You need fear no further interference from +me."</p> + +<p>So the interview was over, and not a word had been said about the +attempt at murder.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-46" id="c2-46"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLVI.</h3> +<h4>HARD LINES.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>At the time that the murder was attempted Lord Lovel was in +London,—and had seen Daniel Thwaite on that morning; but before any +confirmed rumour had reached his ears he had left London again on his +road to Yoxham. He knew now that he would be endowed with something +like ten thousand a year out of the wealth of the late Earl, but that +he would not have the hand of his fair cousin, the late Earl's +daughter. Perhaps it was as well as it was. The girl had never loved +him, and he could now choose for himself;—and need not choose till +it should be his pleasure to settle himself as a married man. After +all, his marriage with Lady Anna would have been a constrained +marriage,—a marriage which he would have accepted as the means of +making his fortune. The girl certainly had pleased him;—but it might +be that a girl who preferred a tailor would not have continued to +please him. At any rate he could not be unhappy with his +newly-acquired fortune, and he went down to Yoxham to receive the +congratulation of his friends, thinking that it would become him now +to make some exertion towards reconciling his uncle and aunt to the +coming marriage.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard anything about Mr. Thwaite?" Mr. Flick said to him +the day before he started. The Earl had heard nothing. "They say that +he has been wounded by a pistol-ball." Lord Lovel stayed some days at +a friend's house on his road into Yorkshire, and when he reached the +rectory, the rector had received news from London. Mr. Thwaite the +tailor had been murdered, and it was surmised that the deed had been +done by the Countess. "I trust the papers were signed before you left +London," said the anxious rector. The documents making over the +property were all right, but the Earl would believe nothing of the +murder. Mr. Thwaite might have been wounded. He had heard so much +before,—but he was quite sure that it had not been done by the +Countess. On the following day further tidings came. Mr. Thwaite was +doing well, but everybody said that the attempt had been made by Lady +Lovel. Thus by degrees some idea of the facts as they had occurred +was received at the rectory.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean that you want us to have Mr. Thwaite here?" said the +rector, holding up his hands, upon hearing a proposition made to him +by his nephew a day or two later.</p> + +<p>"Why not, uncle Charles?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't do it. I really don't think your aunt could bring herself +to sit down to table with him."</p> + +<p>"Aunt Jane?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, your aunt Jane,—or your aunt Julia either." Now a quieter lady +than aunt Jane, or one less likely to turn up her nose at any guest +whom her husband should choose to entertain, did not exist.</p> + +<p>"May I ask my aunts?"</p> + +<p>"What good can it do, Frederic?"</p> + +<p>"He's going to marry our cousin. He's not at all such a man as you +seem to think."</p> + +<p>"He has been a journeyman tailor all his life."</p> + +<p>"You'll find he'll make a very good sort of gentleman. Sir William +Patterson says that he'll be in Parliament before long."</p> + +<p>"Sir William! Sir William is always meddling. I have never thought +much about Sir William."</p> + +<p>"Come, uncle Charles,—you should be fair. If we had gone on +quarrelling and going to law, where should I have been now? I should +never have got a shilling out of the property. Everybody says so. No +doubt Sir William acted very wisely."</p> + +<p>"I am no lawyer. I can't say how it might have been. But I may have +my doubts if I like. I have always understood that Lady Lovel, as you +choose to call her, was never Lord Lovel's wife. For twenty years I +have been sure of it, and I can't change so quickly as some other +people."</p> + +<p>"She is Lady Lovel now. The King and Queen would receive her as such +if she went to Court. Her daughter is Lady Anna Lovel."</p> + +<p>"It may be so. It is possible."</p> + +<p>"If it be not so," said the young lord thumping the table, "where +have I got the money from?" This was an argument that the rector +could not answer;—so he merely shook his head. "I am bound to +acknowledge them after taking her money."</p> + +<p>"But not him. You haven't had any of his money. You needn't +acknowledge him."</p> + +<p>"We had better make the best of it, uncle Charles. He is going to +marry our cousin, and we should stand by her. Sir William very +strongly advises me to be present at the marriage, and to offer to +give her away."</p> + +<p>"The girl you were going to marry yourself!"</p> + +<p>"Or else that you should do it. That of course would be better."</p> + +<p>The rector of Yoxham groaned when the proposition was made to him. +What infinite vexation of spirit and degradation had come to him from +these spurious Lovels during the last twelve months! He had been made +to have the girl in his house and to give her precedence as Lady +Anna, though he did not believe in her; he had been constrained to +treat her as the desired bride of his august nephew the Earl,—till +she had refused the Earl's hand; after he had again repudiated her +and her mother because of her base attachment to a low-born artisan, +he had been made to re-accept her in spirit, because she had been +generous to his nephew;—and now he was asked to stand at the altar +and give her away to the tailor! And there could come to him neither +pleasure nor profit from the concern. All that he had endured he had +borne simply for the sake of his family and his nephew. "She is +degrading us all,—as far as she belongs to us," said the rector. "I +can't see why I should be asked to give her my countenance in doing +it."</p> + +<p>"Everybody says that it is very good of her to be true to the man she +loved when she was poor and in obscurity. Sir William +<span class="nowrap">says—"</span></p> + +<p>"—— Sir William!" muttered the rector between his teeth, as he +turned away in disgust. What had been the first word of that minatory +speech Lord Lovel did not clearly hear. He had been brought up as a +boy by his uncle, and had never known his uncle to offend by +swearing. No one in Yoxham would have believed it possible that the +parson of the parish should have done so. Mrs. Grimes would have +given evidence in any court in Yorkshire that it was absolutely +impossible. The archbishop would not have believed it though his +archdeacon had himself heard the word. All the man's known +antecedents since he had been at Yoxham were against the probability. +The entire close at York would have been indignant had such an +accusation been made. But his nephew in his heart of hearts believed +that the rector of Yoxham had damned the Solicitor-General.</p> + +<p>There was, however, more cause for malediction, and further +provocations to wrath, in store for the rector. The Earl had not as +yet opened all his budget, or let his uncle know the extent of the +sacrifice that was to be demanded from him. Sir William had been very +urgent with the young nobleman to accord everything that could be +accorded to his cousin. "It is not of course for me to dictate," he +had said, "but as I have been allowed so far to give advice somewhat +beyond the scope of my profession, perhaps you will let me say that +in mere honesty you owe her all that you can give. She has shared +everything with you, and need have given nothing. And he, my lord, +had he been so minded, might no doubt have hindered her from doing +what she has done. You owe it to your honour to accept her and her +husband with an open hand. Unless you can treat her with cousinly +regard you should not have taken what has been given to you as a +cousin. She has recognised you to your great advantage as the head of +her family, and you should certainly recognise her as belonging to +it. Let the marriage be held down at Yoxham. Get your uncle and aunt +to ask her down. Do you give her away, and let your uncle marry them. +If you can put me up for a night in some neighbouring farm-house, I +will come and be a spectator. It will be for your honour to treat her +after that fashion." The programme was a large one, and the Earl felt +that there might be some difficulty.</p> + +<p>But in the teeth of that dubious malediction he persevered, and his +next attack was upon aunt Julia. "You liked her;—did you not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes;—I liked her." The tone implied great doubt. "I liked her, till +I found that she had forgotten herself."</p> + +<p>"But she didn't forget herself. She just did what any girl would have +done, living as she was living. She has behaved nobly to me."</p> + +<p>"She has behaved no doubt conscientiously."</p> + +<p>"Come, aunt Julia! Did you ever know any other woman to give away ten +thousand a-year to a fellow simply because he was her cousin? We +should do something for her. Why should you not ask her down here +again?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think my brother would like it."</p> + +<p>"He will if you tell him. And we must make a gentleman of him."</p> + +<p>"My dear Frederic, you can never wash a blackamoor white."</p> + +<p>"Let us try. Don't you oppose it. It behoves me, for my honour, to +show her some regard after what she has done for me."</p> + +<p>Aunt Julia shook her head, and muttered to herself some further +remark about negroes. The inhabitants of the Yoxham rectory,—who +were well born, ladies and gentlemen without a stain, who were +hitherto free from all base intermarriages, and had nothing among +their male cousins below soldiers and sailors, parsons and lawyers, +who had successfully opposed an intended marriage between a cousin in +the third degree and an attorney because the alliance was below the +level of the Lovels, were peculiarly averse to any intermingling of +ranks. They were descended from ancient earls, and their chief was an +earl of the present day. There was but one titled young lady now +among them,—and she had only just won her right to be so considered. +There was but one Lady Anna,—and she was going to marry a tailor! +"Duty is duty," said aunt Julia as she hurried away. She meant her +nephew to understand that duty commanded her to shut her heart +against any cousin who could marry a tailor.</p> + +<p>The lord next attacked aunt Jane. "You wouldn't mind having her +here?"</p> + +<p>"Not if your uncle thought well of it," said Mrs. Lovel.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what my scheme is." Then he told it all. Lady Anna was +to be invited to the rectory. The tailor was to be entertained +somewhere near on the night preceding his wedding. The marriage was +to be celebrated by his uncle in Yoxham Church. Sir William was to be +asked to join them. And the whole thing was to be done exactly as +though they were all proud of the connection.</p> + +<p>"Does your uncle know?" asked Mrs. Lovel, who had been nearly stunned +by the proposition.</p> + +<p>"Not quite. I want you to suggest it. Only think, aunt Jane, what she +has done for us all!" Aunt Jane couldn't think that very much had +been done for her. They were not to be enriched by the cousin's +money. They had never been interested in the matter on their own +account. They wanted nothing. And yet they were to be called upon to +have a tailor at their board,—because Lord Lovel was the head of +their family. But the Earl was the Earl; and poor Mrs. Lovel knew how +much she owed to his position. "If you wish it of course I'll tell +him, Frederic."</p> + +<p>"I do wish it;—and I'll be so much obliged to you."</p> + +<p>The next morning the parson had been told all that was required of +him, and he came down to prayers as black as a thunder-cloud. It had +been before suggested to him that he should give the bride away, and +though he had grievously complained of the request, he knew that he +must do it should the Earl still demand it. He had no power to oppose +the head of the family. But he had never thought then that he would +be asked to pollute his own rectory by the presence of that odious +tailor. While he was shaving that morning very religious ideas had +filled his mind. What a horrible thing was wickedness! All this evil +had come upon him and his because the late Earl had been so very +wicked a man! He had sworn to his wife that he would not bear it. He +had done and was ready to do more almost than any other uncle in +England. But this he could not endure. Yet when he was shaving, and +thinking with religious horror of the iniquities of that iniquitous +old lord, he knew that he would have to yield. "I dare say they +wouldn't come," said aunt Julia. "He won't like to be with us any +more than we shall like to have him." There was some comfort in that +hope; and trusting to it the rector had yielded everything before the +third day was over.</p> + +<p>"And I may ask Sir William?" said the Earl.</p> + +<p>"Of course we shall be glad to see Sir William Patterson if you +choose to invite him," said the rector, still oppressed by gloom. +"Sir William Patterson is a gentleman no doubt, and a man of high +standing. Of course I and your aunt will be pleased to receive him. +As a lawyer I don't think much of him;—but that has nothing to do +with it." It may be remarked here that though Mr. Lovel lived for a +great many years after the transactions which are here recorded, he +never gave way in reference to the case that had been tried. If the +lawyers had persevered as they ought to have done, it would have been +found out that the Countess was no Countess, that the Lady Anna was +no Lady Anna, and that all the money had belonged by right to the +Earl. With that belief,—with that profession of belief,—he went to +his grave an old man of eighty.</p> + +<p>In the meantime he consented that the invitation should be given. The +Countess and her daughter were to be asked to Yoxham;—the use of the +parish church was to be offered for the ceremony; he was to propose +to marry them; the Earl was to give the bride away; and Daniel +Thwaite the tailor was to be asked to dine at Yoxham Rectory on the +day before the marriage! The letters were to be written from the +rectory by aunt Julia, and the Earl was to add what he pleased for +himself. "I suppose this sort of trial is sent to us for our good," +said the rector to his wife that night in the sanctity of their +bedroom.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-47" id="c2-47"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLVII.</h3> +<h4>THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>But the Countess never gave way an inch. The following was the answer +which she returned to the note written to her by aunt +<span class="nowrap">Julia;—</span></p> + +<p>"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to Miss Lovel. The +Countess disapproves altogether of the marriage which is about to +take place between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and will +take no part in the ceremony."</p> + +<p>"By heavens,—she is the best Lovel of us all," said the rector when +he read the letter.</p> + +<p>This reply was received at Yoxham three days before any answer came +either from Lady Anna or from the tailor. Daniel had received his +communication from the young lord, who had called him "Dear Mr. +Thwaite," who had written quite familiarly about the coming nuptials +with "his cousin Anna,"—had bade him come down and join the family +"like a good fellow,"—and had signed himself, "Yours always most +sincerely, Lovel." "It almost takes my breath away," said the tailor +to his sweetheart, laughing.</p> + +<p>"They are cousins, you know," said Lady Anna. "And there was a little +girl there I loved so much."</p> + +<p>"They can't but despise me, you know," said the tailor.</p> + +<p>"Why should any one despise you?"</p> + +<p>"No one should,—unless I be mean and despicable. But they do,—you +may be sure. It is only human nature that they should. We are made of +different fabric,—though the stuff was originally the same. I don't +think I should be at my ease with them. I should be half afraid of +their gilt and their gingerbread, and should be ashamed of myself +because I was so. I should not know how to drink wine with them, and +should do a hundred things which would make them think me a beast."</p> + +<p>"I don't see why you shouldn't hold up your head with any man in +England," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"And so I ought;—but I shouldn't. I should be awed by those whom I +feel to be my inferiors. I had rather not. We had better keep to +ourselves, dear!" But the girl begged for some delay. It was a matter +that required to be considered. If it were necessary for her to +quarrel with all her cousins for the sake of her husband,—with the +bright fainéant young Earl, with aunts Jane and Julia, with her +darling Minnie, she would do so. The husband should be to her in all +respects the first and foremost. For his sake, now that she had +resolved that she would be his, she would if necessary separate +herself from all the world. She had withstood the prayers of her +mother, and she was sure that nothing else could move her. But if the +cousins were willing to accept her husband, why should he not be +willing to be accepted? Pride in him might be as weak as pride in +them. If they would put out their hands to him, why should he refuse +to put out his own? "Give me a day, Daniel, to think about it." He +gave her the day, and then that great decider of all things, Sir +William, came to him, congratulating him, bidding him be of good +cheer, and saying fine things of the Lovel family generally. Our +tailor received him courteously, having learned to like the man, +understanding that he had behaved with honesty and wisdom in regard +to his client, and respecting him as one of the workers of the day; +but he declared that for the Lovel family, as a family,—"he did not +care for them particularly." "They are poles asunder from me," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Not so," replied Sir William. "They were poles asunder, if you will. +But by your good fortune and merit, if you will allow me to say so, +you have travelled from the one pole very far towards the other."</p> + +<p>"I like my own pole a deal the best, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"I am an older man than you, Mr. Thwaite, and allow me to assure you +that you are wrong."</p> + +<p>"Wrong in preferring those who work for their bread to those who eat +it in idleness?"</p> + +<p>"Not that;—but wrong in thinking that there is not hard work done at +the one pole as well as the other; and wrong also in not having +perceived that the best men who come up from age to age are always +migrating from that pole which you say you prefer, to the antipodean +pole to which you are tending yourself. I can understand your feeling +of contempt for an idle lordling, but you should remember that lords +have been made lords in nine cases out of ten for good work done by +them for the benefit of their country."</p> + +<p>"Why should the children of lords be such to the tenth and twentieth +generation?"</p> + +<p>"Come into parliament, Mr. Thwaite, and if you have views on that +subject opposed to hereditary peerages, express them there. It is a +fair subject for argument. At present, I think that the sense of the +country is in favour of an aristocracy of birth. But be that as it +may, do not allow yourself to despise that condition of society which +it is the ambition of all men to enter."</p> + +<p>"It is not my ambition."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me. When you were a workman among workmen, did you not wish +to be their leader? When you were foremost among them, did you not +wish to be their master? If you were a master tradesman, would you +not wish to lead and guide your brother tradesmen? Would you not +desire wealth in order that you might be assisted by it in your views +of ambition? If you were an alderman in your borough, would you not +wish to be the mayor? If mayor, would you not wish to be its +representative in Parliament? If in Parliament, would you not wish to +be heard there? Would you not then clothe yourself as those among +whom you lived, eat as they ate, drink as they drank, keep their +hours, fall into their habits, and be one of them? The theory of +equality is very grand."</p> + +<p>"The grandest thing in the world, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"It is one to which all legislative and all human efforts should and +must tend. All that is said and all that is done among people that +have emancipated themselves from the thraldom of individual +aggrandizement, serve to diminish in some degree the distance between +the high and the low. But could you establish absolute equality in +England to-morrow, as it was to have been established in France some +half century ago, the inequality of men's minds and character would +re-establish an aristocracy within twenty years. The energetic, the +talented, the honest, and the unselfish will always be moving towards +an aristocratic side of society, because their virtues will beget +esteem, and esteem will beget wealth,—and wealth gives power for +good offices."</p> + +<p>"As when one man throws away forty thousand a year on race-courses."</p> + +<p>"When you make much water boil, Mr. Thwaite, some of it will probably +boil over. When two men run a race, some strength must be wasted in +fruitless steps beyond the goal. It is the fault of many patriotic +men that, in their desire to put down the evils which exist they will +see only the power that is wasted, and have no eyes for the good work +done. The subject is so large that I should like to discuss it with +you when we have more time. For the present let me beg of you, for +your own sake as well as for her who is to be your wife, that you +will not repudiate civility offered to you by her family. It will +show a higher manliness in you to go among them, and accept among +them the position which your wife's wealth and your own acquirements +will give you, than to stand aloof moodily because they are +aristocrats."</p> + +<p>"You can make yourself understood when you speak, Sir William."</p> + +<p>"I am glad to hear you say so," said the lawyer, smiling.</p> + +<p>"I cannot, and so you have the best of me. But you can't make me like +a lord, or think that a young man ought to wear a silk gown."</p> + +<p>"I quite agree with you that the silk gowns should be kept for their +elders," and so the conversation was ended.</p> + +<p>Daniel Thwaite had not been made to like a lord, but the eloquence of +the urbane lawyer was not wasted on him. Thinking of it all as he +wandered alone through the streets, he began to believe that it would +be more manly to do as he was advised than to abstain because the +doing of the thing would in itself be disagreeable to him. On the +following day, Lady Anna was with him as usual; for the pretext of +his wound still afforded to her the means of paying to him those +daily visits which in happier circumstances he would naturally have +paid to her. "Would you like to go to Yoxham?" he said. She looked +wistfully up into his face. With her there was a real wish that the +poles might be joined together by her future husband. She had found, +as she had thought of it, that she could not make herself either +happy or contented except by marrying him, but it had not been +without regret that she had consented to destroy altogether the link +which bound her to the noble blood of the Lovels. She had been made +to appreciate the sweet flavour of aristocratic influences, and now +that the Lovels were willing to receive her in spite of her marriage, +she was more than willing to accept their offered friendship. "If you +really wish it, you shall go," he said.</p> + +<p>"But you must go also."</p> + +<p>"Yes;—for one day. And I must have a pair of gloves and a black +coat."</p> + +<p>"And a blue one,—to be married in."</p> + +<p>"Alas me! Must I have a pink silk gown to walk about in, early in the +morning?"</p> + +<p>"You shall if you like, and I'll make it for you."</p> + +<p>"I'd sooner see you darning my worsted stockings, sweetheart."</p> + +<p>"I can do that too."</p> + +<p>"And I shall have to go to church in a coach, and come back in +another, and all the people will smell sweet, and make eyes at me +behind my back, and wonder among themselves how the tailor will +behave himself."</p> + +<p>"The tailor must behave himself properly," said Lady Anna.</p> + +<p>"That's just what he won't do,—and can't do. I know you'll be +ashamed of me, and then we shall both be unhappy."</p> + +<p>"I won't be ashamed of you. I will never be ashamed of you. I will be +ashamed of them if they are not good to you. But, Daniel, you shall +not go if you do not like it. What does it all signify, if you are +not happy?"</p> + +<p>"I will go," said he. "And now I'll sit down and write a letter to my +lord."</p> + +<p>Two letters were written accepting the invitation. As that from the +tailor to the lord was short and characteristic it shall be given.<br /> </p> + + +<blockquote> +<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Lord</span>,</p> + +<p>I am much obliged to you for your lordship's invitation to +Yoxham, and if accepting it will make me a good fellow, I +will accept it. I fear, however, that I can never be a +proper fellow to your lordship. Not the less do I feel +your courtesy, and I am,</p> + +<p class="noindent"><span class="ind8">With all sincerity,</span><br /> +<span class="ind10">Your lordship's very obedient servant,</span></p> + +<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Daniel Thwaite</span>.<br /> </p> +</blockquote> + + +<p>Lady Anna's reply to aunt Julia was longer and less sententious, but +it signified her intention of going down to Yoxham a week before the +day settled for the marriage, which was now the 10th of July. She was +much obliged, she said, to the rector for his goodness in promising +to marry them; and as she had no friends of her own she hoped that +Minnie Lovel would be her bridesmaid. There were, however, sundry +other letters before the ceremony was performed, and among them was +one in which she was asked to bring Miss Alice Bluestone down with +her,—so that she might have one bridesmaid over and beyond those +provided by the Yoxham aristocracy. To this arrangement Miss Alice +Bluestone acceded joyfully,—in spite of that gulf, of which she had +spoken;—and, so accompanied, but without her lady's-maid, Lady Anna +returned to Yoxham that she might be there bound in holy matrimony to +Daniel Thwaite the tailor, by the hands of her cousin, the Rev. +Charles Lovel.</p> + + +<p><a name="c2-48" id="c2-48"></a> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h3> +<h4>THE MARRIAGE.<br /> </h4> + + +<p>The marriage was nearly all that a marriage should be when a Lady +Anna is led to the hymeneal altar. As the ceremony was transferred +from Bloomsbury, London, to Yoxham, in Yorkshire, a licence had been +procured, and the banns of which Daniel Thwaite thought so much, had +been called in vain. Of course there are differences in aristocratic +marriages. All earls' daughters are not married at St. George's, +Hanover Square, nor is it absolutely necessary that a bishop should +tie the knot, or that the dresses should be described in a newspaper. +This was essentially a quiet marriage,—but it was quiet with a +splendid quietude, and the obscurity of it was graceful and decorous. +As soon as the thing was settled,—when it was a matter past doubt +that all the Lovels were to sanction the marriage,—the two aunts +went to work heartily. Another Lovel girl, hardly more than seen +before by any of the family, was gathered to the Lovel home as a +third bridesmaid, and for the fourth,—who should officiate, but the +eldest daughter of Lady Fitzwarren? The Fitzwarrens were not rich, +did not go to town annually, and the occasions for social brilliancy +in the country are few and far between! Lady Fitzwarren did not like +to refuse her old friend, Mrs. Lovel; and then Lady Anna was Lady +Anna,—or at any rate would be so, as far as the newspapers of the +day were concerned. Miss Fitzwarren allowed herself to be attired in +white and blue, and to officiate in the procession,—having, however, +assured her most intimate friend, Miss De Moleyns, that no +consideration on earth should induce her to allow herself to be +kissed by the tailor.</p> + +<p>In the week previous to the arrival of Daniel Thwaite, Lady Anna +again ingratiated herself with the ladies at the rectory. During the +days of her persecution she had been silent and apparently hard;—but +now she was again gentle, yielding, and soft. "I do like her manner, +all the same," said Minnie. "Yes, my dear. It's a pity that it should +be as it is to be, because she is very nice." Minnie loved her +friend, but thought it to be a thing of horror that her friend should +marry a tailor. It was almost as bad as the story of the Princess who +had to marry a bear;—worse indeed, for Minnie did not at all believe +that the tailor would ever turn out to be a gentleman, whereas she +had been sure from the first that the bear would turn into a prince.</p> + +<p>Daniel came to Yoxham, and saw very little of anybody at the rectory. +He was taken in at the house of a neighbouring squire, where he dined +as a matter of course. He did call at the rectory, and saw his +bride,—but on that occasion he did not even see the rector. The +squire took him to the church in the morning, dressed in a blue frock +coat, brown trousers, and a grey cravat. He was very much ashamed of +his own clothes, but there was nothing about him to attract attention +had not everybody known he was a tailor. The rector shook hands with +him politely but coldly. The ladies were more affectionate; and +Minnie looked up into his face long and anxiously. "He wasn't very +nice," she said afterwards, "but I thought he'd be worse than that!" +When the marriage was over he kissed his wife, but made no attempt +upon the bridesmaids. Then there was a breakfast at the +rectory,—which was a very handsome bridal banquet. On such occasions +the part of the bride is always easily played. It is her duty to look +pretty if she can, and should she fail in that,—as brides usually +do,—her failure is attributed to the natural emotions of the +occasion. The part of the bridegroom is more difficult. He should be +manly, pleasant, composed, never flippant, able to say a few words +when called upon, and quietly triumphant. This is almost more than +mortal can achieve, and bridegrooms generally manifest some +shortcomings at the awful moment. Daniel Thwaite was not successful. +He was silent and almost morose. When Lady Fitzwarren congratulated +him with high-flown words and a smile,—a smile that was intended to +combine something of ridicule with something of civility,—he almost +broke down in his attempt to answer her. "It is very good of you, my +lady," said he. Then she turned her back and whispered a word to the +parson, and Daniel was sure that she was laughing at him. The hero of +the day was the Solicitor-General. He made a speech, proposing health +and prosperity to the newly-married couple. He referred, but just +referred, to the trial, expressing the pleasure which all concerned +had felt in recognising the rights and rank of the fair and noble +bride as soon as the facts of the case had come to their knowledge. +Then he spoke of the truth and long-continued friendship and devoted +constancy of the bridegroom and his father, saying that in the long +experience of his life he had known nothing more touching or more +graceful than the love which in early days had sprung up between the +beautiful young girl and her earliest friend. He considered it to be +among the happinesses of his life that he had been able to make the +acquaintance of Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and he expressed a hope that he +might long be allowed to regard that gentleman as his friend. There +was much applause, in giving which the young Earl was certainly the +loudest. The rector could not bring himself to say a word. He was +striving to do his duty by the head of his family, but he could not +bring himself to say that the marriage between Lady Anna Lovel and +the tailor was a happy event. Poor Daniel was compelled to make some +speech in reply to his friend, Sir William. "I am bad at speaking," +said he, "and I hope I shall be excused. I can only say that I am +under deep obligation to Sir William Patterson for what he has done +for my wife."</p> + +<p>The couple went away with a carriage and four horses to York, and the +marriage was over. "I hope I have done right," said the rector in +whispered confidence to Lady Fitzwarren.</p> + +<p>"I think you have, Mr. Lovel. I'm sure you have. The circumstances +were very difficult, but I am sure you have done right. She must +always be considered as the legitimate child of her father."</p> + +<p>"They say so," murmured the rector sadly.</p> + +<p>"Just that. And as she will always be considered to be the Lady Anna, +you were bound to treat her as you have done. It was a pity that it +was not done earlier, so that she might have formed a worthier +connection. The Earl, however, has not been altogether overlooked, +and there is some comfort in that. I dare say Mr. Thwaite may be a +good sort of man, though he is—not just what the family could have +wished." These words were undoubtedly spoken by her ladyship with +much pleasure. The Fitzwarrens were poor, and the Lovels were all +rich. Even the young Earl was now fairly well to do in the +world,—thanks to the generosity of the newly-found cousin. It was, +therefore, pleasant to Lady Fitzwarren to allude to the family +misfortune which must in some degree alloy the prosperity of her +friends. Mr. Lovel understood it all, and sighed; but he felt no +anger. He was grateful to Lady Fitzwarren for coming to his house at +all on so mournful an occasion.</p> + +<p>And so we may bid farewell to Yoxham. The rector was an honest, +sincere man, unselfish, true to his instincts, genuinely English, +charitable, hospitable, a doer of good to those around him. In +judging of such a character we find the difficulty of drawing the +line between political sagacity and political prejudice. Had he been +other than he was, he would probably have been less serviceable in +his position.</p> + +<p>The bride and bridegroom went for their honeymoon into Devonshire, +and on their road they passed through London. Lady Anna Thwaite,—for +she had not at least as yet been able to drop her title,—wrote to +her mother telling her of her arrival, and requesting permission to +see her. On the following day she went alone to Keppel Street and was +admitted. "Dear, dear mamma," she said, throwing herself into the +arms of her mother.</p> + +<p>"So it is done?" said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Yes;—mamma,—we are married. I wrote to you from York."</p> + +<p>"I got your letter, but I could not answer it. What could I say? I +wish it had not been so;—but it is done. You have chosen for +yourself, and I will not reproach you."</p> + +<p>"Do not reproach me now, mamma."</p> + +<p>"It would be useless. I will bear my sorrows in silence, such as they +are. Do not talk to me of him, but tell me what is the life that is +proposed for you."</p> + +<p>They were to stay in the south of Devonshire for a month and then to +sail for the new colony founded at the Antipodes. As to any permanent +mode of life no definite plan had yet been formed. They were bound +for Sydney, and when there, "my husband,"—as Lady Anna called him, +thinking that the word might be less painful to the ears of her +mother than the name of the man who had become so odious to +her,—would do as should seem good to him. They would at any rate +learn something of the new world that was springing up, and he would +then be able to judge whether he would best serve the purpose that he +had at heart by remaining there or by returning to England. "And now, +mamma, what will you do?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing," said the Countess.</p> + +<p>"But where will you live?"</p> + +<p>"If I could only find out, my child, where I might die, I would tell +you that."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, do not talk to me of dying."</p> + +<p>"How should I talk of my future life, my dear? For what should I +live? I had but you, and you have left me."</p> + +<p>"Come with me, mamma."</p> + +<p>"No, my dear. I could not live with him nor he with me. It will be +better that he and I should never see each other again."</p> + +<p>"But you will not stay here?"</p> + +<p>"No;—I shall not stay here. I must use myself to solitude, but the +solitude of London is unendurable. I shall go back to Cumberland if I +can find a home there. The mountains will remind me of the days +which, sad as they were, were less sad than the present. I little +dreamed then when I had gained everything my loss would be so great +as it has been. Was the Earl there?"</p> + +<p>"At our marriage? Oh yes, he was there."</p> + +<p>"I shall ask him to do me a kindness. Perhaps he will let me live at +Lovel Grange?"</p> + +<p>When the meeting was over Lady Anna returned to her husband +overwhelmed with tears. She was almost broken-hearted when she asked +herself whether she had in truth been cruel to her mother. But she +knew not how she could have done other than she had done. Her mother +had endeavoured to conquer her by hard usage,—and had failed. But +not the less her heart was very sore. "My dear," said the tailor to +her, "hearts will be sore. As the world goes yet awhile there must be +injustice; and sorrow will follow."</p> + +<p>When they had been gone from London about a month the Countess wrote +to her cousin the Earl and told him her wishes. "If you desire to +live there of course there must be an end of it. But if not, you +might let the old place to me. It will not be as if it were gone out +of the family. I will do what I can for the people around me, so that +they may learn not to hate the name of Lovel."</p> + +<p>The young lord told her that she should have the use of the house as +long as she pleased,—for her lifetime if it suited her to live there +so long. As for rent,—of course he could take none after all that +had been done for him. But the place should be leased to her so that +she need not fear to be disturbed. When the spring time came, after +the sailing of the vessel which took the tailor and his wife off to +the Antipodes, Lady Lovel travelled down with her maid to Cumberland, +leaving London without a friend to whom she could say adieu. And at +Lovel Grange she took up her abode, amidst the old furniture and the +old pictures, with everything to remind her of the black tragedy of +her youth, when her husband had come to her and had told her, with a +smile upon his lips and scorn in his eye, that she was not his wife, +and that the child which she bore would be a bastard. Over his wicked +word she had at any rate triumphed. Now she was living there in his +house the unquestioned and undoubted Countess Lovel, the mistress of +much of his wealth, while still were living around her those who had +known her when she was banished from her home. There, too often with +ill-directed generosity, she gave away her money, and became loved of +the poor around her. But in the way of society she saw no human +being, and rarely went beyond the valley in which stood the lonely +house to which she had been brought as a bride.</p> + +<p>Of the further doings of Mr. Daniel Thwaite and his wife Lady +Anna,—of how they travelled and saw many things; and how he became +perhaps a wiser man,—the present writer may, he hopes, live to tell.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<hr class="narrow" /> +<p> </p> + +<h6>PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., CITY ROAD, LONDON.</h6> + +<p> </p> +<hr /> +<p> </p> + + +<h4>Transcriber's note:</h4> + +<div class="small"> +<p class="noindent">Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> + +<p class="noindent">Specific changes in wording of the +text are listed below.</p> + +<p class="noindentind">Volume I, Chapter XIX, paragraph 43. +The word "Lady" was changed to +"Aunt" in the sentence: Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but AUNT Julia +made her farewells in the rectory drawing-room.</p> + +<p class="noindentind">Volume II, Chapter XXXVII, paragraph 1. +The word "was" was changed to +"were" in the sentence: The Countess had assented;—but when the +moment came, there WERE reasons against her sudden departure.</p> + +<p class="noindentind">Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 5. +The word "or" was deleted from +the sentence: He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had not the +slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,—not more than he +would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from her mother's +instead of [OR] from her father's relatives.</p> + +<p class="noindentind">Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 6. +The word "not" was deleted +from the sentence: If the Earl could get £10,000 a year by amicable +arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have been right +in the eyes of all men, and it was [NOT] probable,—as both Mr. Goffe +and Mr. Flick felt,—that he would not repudiate a settlement of the +family affairs by which he would be proved to have been a discreet +counsellor.</p> + +<p class="noindentind">Volume II, Chapter XLV, paragraph 20. +"David" was changed to "Daniel" +in the sentence: Neither on that occasion, or on either of the two +further callings, did any one get up in church to declare that +impediment existed why DANIEL Thwaite the tailor and Lady Anna Lovel +should not be joined together in holy matrimony.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 31274-h.txt or 31274-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/2/7/31274">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/2/7/31274</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/31274.txt b/old/31274.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a30972 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/31274.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15076 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lady Anna, by Anthony Trollope + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lady Anna + + +Author: Anthony Trollope + + + +Release Date: February 14, 2010 [eBook #31274] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA*** + + +E-text prepared by Delphine Lettau and Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D. + + + +LADY ANNA. + +by + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. I. + + + + + + +London: +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. +1874. + +[All rights reserved.] + +London: +Printed by Virtue and Co., +City Road. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. I. + + I. THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL. + II. THE EARL'S WILL. + III. LADY ANNA. + IV. THE TAILOR OF KESWICK. + V. THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION. + VI. YOXHAM RECTORY. + VII. THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES. + VIII. IMPOSSIBLE! + IX. IT ISN'T LAW. + X. THE FIRST INTERVIEW. + XI. IT IS TOO LATE. + XII. HAVE THEY SURRENDERED? + XIII. NEW FRIENDS. + XIV. THE EARL ARRIVES. + XV. WHARFEDALE. + XVI. FOR EVER. + XVII. THE JOURNEY HOME. + XVIII. TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS. + XIX. LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON. + XX. LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION. + XXI. DANIEL AND THE LAWYER. + XXII. THERE IS A GULF FIXED. + XXIII. BEDFORD SQUARE. + XXIV. THE DOG IN THE MANGER. + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE EARLY HISTORY OF LADY LOVEL. + + +Women have often been hardly used by men, but perhaps no harder +usage, no fiercer cruelty was ever experienced by a woman than +that which fell to the lot of Josephine Murray from the hands +of Earl Lovel, to whom she was married in the parish church of +Applethwaite,--a parish without a village, lying among the mountains +of Cumberland,--on the 1st of June, 181--. That her marriage was +valid according to all the forms of the Church, if Lord Lovel were +then capable of marrying, no one ever doubted; nor did the Earl +ever allege that it was not so. Lovel Grange is a small house, +surrounded by a small domain,--small as being the residence of a rich +nobleman, lying among the mountains which separate Cumberland from +Westmoreland, about ten miles from Keswick, very lovely, from the +brightness of its own green sward and the luxuriance of its wild +woodland, from the contiguity of overhanging mountains, and from the +beauty of Lovel Tarn, a small lake belonging to the property, studded +with little islands, each of which is covered with its own thicket +of hollies, birch, and dwarfed oaks. The house itself is poor, ill +built, with straggling passages and low rooms, and is a sombre, +ill-omened looking place. When Josephine Murray was brought there +as a bride she thought it to be very sombre and ill-omened; but she +loved the lakes and mountains, and dreamed of some vague mysterious +joy of life which was to come to her from the wildness of her +domicile. + +I fear that she had no other ground, firmer than this, on which to +found her hopes of happiness. She could not have thought Lord Lovel +to be a good man when she married him, and it can hardly be said that +she loved him. She was then twenty-four years old, and he had counted +double as many years. She was very beautiful, dark, with large, bold, +blue eyes, with hair almost black, tall, well made, almost robust, a +well-born, brave, ambitious woman, of whom it must be acknowledged +that she thought it very much to be the wife of a lord. Though our +story will be concerned much with her sufferings, the record of her +bridal days may be very short. It is with struggles that came to +her in after years that we shall be most concerned, and the reader, +therefore, need be troubled with no long description of Josephine +Murray as she was when she became the Countess Lovel. It is hoped +that her wrongs may be thought worthy of sympathy,--and may be felt +in some sort to atone for the ignoble motives of her marriage. + +The Earl, when he found his bride, had been living almost in solitude +for a twelvemonth. Among the neighbouring gentry in the lake country +he kept no friendly relations. His property there was small, and his +character was evil. He was an English earl, and as such known in +some unfamiliar fashion to those who know all earls; but he was a +man never seen in Parliament, who had spent the greater part of his +manhood abroad, who had sold estates in other counties, converting +unentailed acres into increased wealth, but wealth of a kind much +less acceptable to the general English aristocrat than that which +comes direct from land. Lovel Grange was his only remaining English +property, and when in London he had rooms at an hotel. He never +entertained, and he never accepted hospitality. It was known of him +that he was very rich, and men said that he was mad. Such was the man +whom Josephine Murray had chosen to marry because he was an earl. + +He had found her near Keswick, living with her father in a pretty +cottage looking down upon Derwentwater,--a thorough gentleman, for +Captain Murray had come of the right Murrays;--and thence he had +carried her to Lovel Grange. She had brought with her no penny of +fortune, and no settlement had been made on her. Her father, who +was then an old man, had mildly expostulated; but the ambition +of the daughter had prevailed, and the marriage was accomplished. +The beautiful young woman was carried off as a bride. It will be +unnecessary to relate what efforts had been made to take her away +from her father's house without bridal honours; but it must be told +that the Earl was a man who had never yet spared a woman in his lust. +It had been the rule, almost the creed of his life, that woman was +made to gratify the appetite of man, and that the man is but a poor +creature who does not lay hold of the sweetness that is offered to +him. He had so lived as to teach himself that those men who devote +themselves to their wives, as a wife devotes herself to her husband, +are the poor lubberly clods of creation, who had lacked the power to +reach the only purpose of living which could make life worth having. +Women had been to him a prey, as the fox is a prey to the huntsman +and the salmon to the angler. But he had acquired great skill in his +sport, and could pursue his game with all the craft which experience +will give. He could look at a woman as though he saw all heaven in +her eyes, and could listen to her as though the music of the spheres +was to be heard in her voice. Then he could whisper words which, to +many women, were as the music of the spheres, and he could persevere, +abandoning all other pleasures, devoting himself to the one +wickedness with a perseverance which almost made success certain. +But with Josephine Murray he could be successful on no other terms +than those which enabled her to walk out of the church with him as +Countess Lovel. + +She had not lived with him six months before he told her that the +marriage was no marriage, and that she was--his mistress. There was +an audacity about the man which threw aside all fear of the law, and +which was impervious to threats and interference. He assured her that +he loved her, and that she was welcome to live with him; but that she +was not his wife, and that the child which she bore could not be the +heir to his title, and could claim no heirship to his property. He +did love her,--having found her to be a woman of whose company he had +not tired in six months. He was going back to Italy, and he offered +to take her with him,--but he could not, he said, permit the farce of +her remaining at Lovel Grange and calling herself the Countess Lovel. +If she chose to go with him to Palermo, where he had a castle, and to +remain with him in his yacht, she might for the present travel under +the name of his wife. But she must know that she was not his wife. +She was only his mistress. + +Of course she told her father. Of course she invoked every Murray +in and out of Scotland. Of course there were many threats. A duel +was fought up near London, in which Lord Lovel consented to be shot +at twice,--declaring that after that he did not think that the +circumstances of the case required that he should be shot at any +more. In the midst of this a daughter was born to her and her father +died,--during which time she was still allowed to live at Lovel +Grange. But what was it expedient that she should do? He declared +that he had a former wife when he married her, and that therefore she +was not and could not be his wife. Should she institute a prosecution +against him for bigamy, thereby acknowledging that she was herself +no wife and that her child was illegitimate? From such evidence as +she could get, she believed that the Italian woman whom the Earl in +former years had married had died before her own marriage. The Earl +declared that the Countess, the real Countess, had not paid her debt +to nature, till some months after the little ceremony which had taken +place in Applethwaite Church. In a moment of weakness Josephine fell +at his feet and asked him to renew the ceremony. He stooped over her, +kissed her, and smiled. "My pretty child," he said, "why should I do +that?" He never kissed her again. + +What should she do? Before she had decided, he was in his yacht +sailing to Palermo;--sailing no doubt not alone. What should she do? +He had left her an income,--sufficient for the cast-off mistress +of an Earl,--some few hundreds a year, on condition that she would +quietly leave Lovel Grange, cease to call herself a Countess, and +take herself and her bairn,--whither she would. Every abode of sin +in London was open to her for what he cared. But what should she +do? It seemed to her to be incredible that so great a wrong should +befall her, and that the man should escape from her and be free from +punishment,--unless she chose to own the baseness of her own position +by prosecuting him for bigamy. The Murrays were not very generous in +their succour, as the old man had been much blamed for giving his +daughter to one of whom all the world knew nothing but evil. One +Murray had fired two shots on her behalf, in answer to each one of +which the Earl had fired into the air; but beyond this the Murrays +could do nothing. Josephine herself was haughty and proud, conscious +that her rank was greater than that of any of the Murrays with whom +she came in contact. But what should she do? + +The Earl had been gone five years, sailing about the world she knew +not where, when at last she determined to institute a prosecution for +bigamy. During these years she was still living at the Grange, with +her child, and the Courts of Law had allotted her some sum by way of +alimony till her cause should be decided; but upon this alimony she +found it very difficult to lay her hands,--quite impossible to lay +her hands upon the entirety of it. And then it came to pass that +she was eaten up by lawyers and tradesmen, and fell into bad repute +as asserting that claims made against her, should legally be made +against the very man whom she was about to prosecute because she was +not his wife. And this went on till further life at Lovel Grange +became impossible to her. + +In those days there was living in Keswick a certain Mr. Thomas +Thwaite, a tailor, who by degrees had taken a strong part in +denouncing the wrongs to which Lady Lovel had been subjected. He +was a powerful, sturdy man, with good means for his position, a +well-known Radical in a county in which Radicals have never been +popular, and in which fifty years ago they were much rarer than they +are now. At this time Keswick and its vicinities were beginning to be +known as the abodes of poets, and Thomas Thwaite was acquainted with +Southey and Wordsworth. He was an intelligent, up-standing, impulsive +man, who thought well of his own position in the world, and who could +speak his mind. He was tall, massive, and square; tender-hearted and +very generous; and he hated the Earl of Lovel with all his heart. +Once the two men had met since the story of the Countess's wrongs +had become known, and the tailor had struck the Earl to the ground. +This had occurred as the Earl was leaving Lovel Grange, and when he +was starting on his long journey. The scene took place after he had +parted from his Countess,--whom he never was to see again. He rose to +his feet and rushed at the tailor; but the two were separated, and +the Earl thought it best to go on upon his journey. Nothing further +was done as to the blow, and many years rolled by before the Earl +came back to Cumberland. + +It became impossible for the Countess and her daughter, the young +Lady Anna as she was usually called, to remain at Lovel Grange, +and they were taken to the house of Mr. Thwaite, in Keswick, as a +temporary residence. At this time the Countess was in debt, and +already there were lawsuits as to the practicability of obtaining +payment of those debts from the husband's estate. And as soon as it +was determined that the prosecution for bigamy should be instituted, +the confusion in this respect was increased. The Countess ceased to +call herself a countess, as she certainly would not be a countess +should she succeed in proving the Earl to have been guilty. And +had he been guilty of bigamy, the decree under which alimony was +assigned to her would become void. Should she succeed, she would +be a penniless unmarried female with a daughter, her child would +be unfathered and base, and he,--as far as she could see,--would be +beyond the reach of punishment. But, in truth, she and her friend the +tailor were not in quest of success. She and all her friends believed +that the Earl had committed no such crime. But if he were acquitted, +then would her claim to be called Lady Lovel, and to enjoy the +appanages of her rank, be substantiated. Or, at least, something +would have been done towards substantiating those claims. But during +this time she called herself Mrs. Murray, and the little Lady Anna +was called Anna Murray. + +It added much to the hardship of the woman's case that public +sympathy in distant parts of the country,--up in London, and in +southern counties, and even among a portion of the gentry in +Cumberland and Westmoreland,--did not go with her. She had married +without due care. Some men said,--and many women repeated the +story,--that she had known of the existence of the former wife, when +she had married the Earl. She had run into debt, and then repudiated +her debts. She was now residing in the house of a low radical tailor, +who had assaulted the man she called her husband; and she was living +under her maiden name. Tales were told of her which were utterly +false,--as when it was said that she drank. Others were reported +which had in them some grains of truth,--as that she was violent, +stiff-necked, and vindictive. Had they said of her that it had +become her one religion to assert her daughter's right,--per fas aut +nefas,--to assert it by right or wrong; to do justice to her child +let what injustice might be done to herself or others,--then the +truth would have been spoken. + +The case dragged itself on slowly, and little Anna Murray was a child +of nine years old when at last the Earl was acquitted of the criminal +charge which had been brought against him. During all this time he +had been absent. Even had there been a wish to bring him personally +into court, the law would have been powerless to reach him. But there +was no such wish. It had been found impossible to prove the former +marriage, which had taken place in Sicily;--or if not impossible, at +least no adequate proof was forthcoming. There was no real desire +that there should be such proof. The Earl's lawyers abstained, as +far as they could abstain, from taking any steps in the matter. They +spent what money was necessary, and the Attorney-General of the day +defended him. In doing so, the Attorney-General declared that he had +nothing to do with the Earl's treatment of the lady who now called +herself Mrs. Murray. He knew nothing of the circumstances of that +connection, and would not travel beyond his brief. He was there to +defend Earl Lovel on a charge of bigamy. This he did successfully, +and the Earl was acquitted. Then, in court, the counsel for the wife +declared that his client would again call herself Lady Lovel. + +But it was not so easy to induce other people to call her Lady Lovel. + +And now not only was she much hampered by money difficulties, but so +also was the tailor. But Thomas Thwaite never for a moment slackened +in his labours to make good the position of the woman whom he had +determined to succour; and for another and a longer period of eight +years the battle went on. It went on very slowly, as is the wont with +such battles; and very little way was made. The world, as a rule, did +not believe that she who now again called herself the Countess Lovel +was entitled to that name. The Murrays, her own people,--as far as +they were her own people,--had been taught to doubt her claim. If +she were a countess why had she thrown herself into the arms of an +old tailor? Why did she let her daughter play with the tailor's +child,--if, in truth, that daughter was the Lady Anna? Why, above +all things, was the name of the Lady Anna allowed to be mentioned, +as it was mentioned, in connection with that of Daniel Thwaite, the +tailor's son? + +During these eight weary years Lady Lovel,--for so she shall be +called,--lived in a small cottage about a mile from Keswick, on the +road to Grassmere and Ambleside, which she rented from quarter to +quarter. She still obtained a certain amount of alimony, which, +however, was dribbled out to her through various sieves, and which +reached her with protestations as to the impossibility of obtaining +anything like the moderate sum which had been awarded to her. And +it came at last to be the case that she hardly knew what she was +struggling to obtain. It was, of course, her object that all the +world should acknowledge her to be the Countess Lovel, and her +daughter to be the Lady Anna. But all the world could not be made to +do this by course of law. Nor could the law make her lord come home +and live with her, even such a cat and dog life as must in such case +have been hers. Her money rights were all that she could demand;--and +she found it to be impossible to get anybody to tell her what were +her money rights. To be kept out of the poorhouse seemed to be all +that she could claim. But the old tailor was true to her,--swearing +that she should even yet become Countess Lovel in very truth. + +Then, of a sudden, she heard one day,--that Earl Lovel was again at +the Grange, living there with a strange woman. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EARL'S WILL. + + +Not a word had been heard in Keswick of the proposed return of the +old lord,--for the Earl was now an old man,--past his sixtieth year, +and in truth with as many signs of age as some men bear at eighty. +The life which he had led no doubt had had its allurements, but it +is one which hardly admits of a hale and happy evening. Men who make +women a prey, prey also on themselves. But there he was, back at +Lovel Grange, and no one knew why he had come, nor whence, nor how. +To Lovel Grange in those days, now some forty years ago, there was no +road for wheels but that which ran through Keswick. Through Keswick +he had passed in the middle of the night, taking on the post-horses +which he had brought with him from Grassmere, so that no one in the +town should see him and his companion. But it was soon known that +he was there, and known also that he had a companion. For months he +resided thus, and no one saw him but the domestics who waited upon +him. But rumours got abroad as to his conduct, and people through the +county declared that Earl Lovel was a maniac. Still his property was +in his own control, and he did what it listed him to do. + +As soon as men knew that he was in the land, claim after claim was +made upon him for money due on behalf of his wife, and loudest among +the claimants was Thomas Thwaite, the tailor. He was loudest and +fiercest among the claimants, but was loud and fierce not in enmity +to his old friend the Countess, but with a firm resolve to make the +lord pay the only price of his wickedness which could be exacted from +him. And if the Earl could be made to pay the claims against him +which were made by his wife's creditors, then would the law, so far, +have decided that the woman was his wife. No answer was made to any +letter addressed to the Earl, and no one calling at the Grange could +obtain speech or even sight of the noble owner. The lord's steward at +the Grange referred all comers to the lord's attorneys in London, and +the lord's attorneys simply repeated the allegation that the lady was +not the lord's wife. At last there came tidings that an inquiry was +to be made as to the state of the lord's health and the state of the +lord's mind, on behalf of Frederic Lovel, the distant heir to the +title. Let that question of the lord's marriage with Josephine Murray +go as it might, Frederic Lovel, who had never seen his far-away +cousin, must be the future earl. Of that there was no doubt;--and new +inquiries were to be made. But it might well be that the interest of +the young heir would be more deeply involved in the marriage question +than in other matters concerning the family. Lovel Grange and the few +mountain farms attached to the Cumberland estate must become his, let +the frantic Earl do what damage he might to those who bore his name; +but the bulk of the property, the wealth of the Lovels, the great +riches which had enabled this mighty lord to live as a beast of prey +among his kind, were at his own disposal. He had one child certainly, +the Lady Anna, who would inherit it all were the father to die +intestate, and were the marriage proved. The young heir and those +near to him altogether disbelieved the marriage,--as was natural. +They had never seen her who now called herself the Countess, but +who for some years after her child was born had called herself Mrs. +Murray,--who had been discarded by her own relations, and had taken +herself to live with a country tailor. As years had rolled by the +memory of what had really occurred in Applethwaite Church had become +indistinct; and, though the reader knows that that marriage was +capable of easy proof,--that there would have been but little +difficulty had the only difficulty consisted in proving that,--the +young heir and the distant Lovels were not assured of it. Their +interest was adverse, and they were determined to disbelieve. But the +Earl might, and probably would, leave all his wealth to a stranger. +He had never in any way noticed his heir. He cared for none that +bore his name. Those ties in the world which we call love, and deem +respectable, and regard as happy, because they have to do with +marriage and blood relationship as established by all laws since +the days of Moses, were odious to him and ridiculous in his sight, +because all obligations were distasteful to him,--and all laws, +except those which preserved to him the use of his own money. But now +there came up the great question whether he was mad or sane. It was +at once rumoured that he was about to leave the country, and fly back +to Sicily. Then it was announced that he was dead. + +And he was dead. He had died at the age of sixty-seven, in the arms +of the woman he had brought there. His evil career was over, and his +soul had gone to that future life for which he had made it fit by the +life he had led here. His body was buried in Applethwaite churchyard, +in the further corner of which long, straggling valley parish Lovel +Grange is situated. At his grave there stood no single mourner;--but +the young lord was there, of his right, disdaining even to wear a +crape band round his hat. But the woman remained shut up in her own +chamber,--a difficulty to the young lord and his lawyer, who could +hardly tell the foreigner to pack and begone before the body of her +late--lover had been laid in the grave. It had been simply intimated +to her that on such a date,--within a week from the funeral,--her +presence in the house could not longer be endured. She had flashed +round upon the lawyer, who had attempted to make this award known to +her in broken French, but had answered simply by some words of scorn, +spoken in Italian to her waiting-maid. + +Then the will was read in the presence of the young earl;--for there +was a will. Everything that the late lord had possessed was left, in +one line, to his best-beloved friend, the Signorina Camilla Spondi; +and it was stated, and very fully explained, that Camilla Spondi was +the Italian lady living at the Grange at the date on which the will +was made. Of the old lord's heir, the now existing Earl Lovel, no +mention was made whatever. There were, however, two other clauses +or parts in the will. There was a schedule giving in detail the +particulars of the property left to Camilla Spondi; and there was +a rambling statement that the maker of the will acknowledged Anna +Murray to be his illegitimate daughter,--that Anna Murray's mother +had never been the testator's legitimate wife, as his real wife, +the true Countess Lovel, for whom he had separately made adequate +provision, was still alive in Sicily at the date of that will,--and +that by a former will now destroyed he had made provision for +Anna Murray, which provision he had revoked in consequence of +the treatment which he had received from Josephine Murray and +her friends. They who believed the statements made in this will +afterwards asserted that Anna had been deprived of her inheritance by +the blow with which the tailor had felled the Earl to the earth. + +To Camilla Spondi intimation was given of the contents of the Earl's +will as far as they concerned her; but she was told at the same time +that no portion of the dead man's wealth would be placed in her hands +till the courts should have decided whether or no the old lord had +been sane or insane when he signed the document. A sum of money was, +however, given her, on condition that she should take her immediate +departure;--and she departed. With her personally we need have no +further concern. Of her cause and of her claim some mention must be +made; but in a few pages she will drop altogether from our story. + +A copy of the will was also sent to the lawyers who had hitherto +taken charge of the interests of the repudiated Countess, and it +was intimated that the allowance hitherto made to her must now of +necessity cease. If she thought fit to prosecute any further claim, +she must do so by proving her marriage;--and it was explained to her, +probably without much of legal or precise truth in the explanation, +that such proof must include the disproving of the assertion made in +the Earl's will. As it was the intention of the heir to set aside +that will, such assurance was, to say the least of it, disingenuous. +But the whole thing had now become so confused that it could hardly +be expected that lawyers should be ingenuous in discussing it. + +The young Earl clearly inherited the title and the small estate at +Lovel Grange. The Italian woman was prima facie heiress to everything +else,--except to such portion of the large personal property as the +widow could claim as widow, in the event of her being able to prove +that she had been a wife. But in the event of the will being no will, +the Italian woman would have nothing. In such case the male heir +would have all if the marriage were no marriage;--but would have +nothing if the marriage could be made good. If the marriage could +be made good, the Lady Anna would have the entire property, except +such portion as would be claimed of right by her mother, the widow. +Thus the Italian woman and the young lord were combined in interest +against the mother and daughter as regarded the marriage; and the +young lord and the mother and daughter were combined against the +Italian woman as regarded the will;--but the young lord had to act +alone against the Italian woman, and against the mother and daughter +whom he and his friends regarded as swindlers and impostors. It was +for him to set aside the will in reference to the Italian woman, +and then to stand the brunt of the assault made upon him by the +soi-disant wife. + +In a very short time after the old Earl's death a double compromise +was offered on behalf of the young Earl. The money at stake was +immense. Would the Italian woman take L10,000, and go her way back +to Italy, renouncing all further claim; and would the soi-disant +Countess abandon her title, acknowledge her child to be illegitimate, +and go her way with another L10,000;--or with L20,000, as was soon +hinted by the gentlemen acting on the Earl's behalf? The proposition +was one somewhat difficult in the making, as the compromise, if made +with both, would be excellent, but could not be made to any good +effect with one only. The young Earl certainly could not afford to +buy off the Italian woman for L10,000, if the effect of such buying +off would only be to place the whole of the late lord's wealth in the +hands of his daughter and of his daughter's mother. + +The Italian woman consented. She declared with Italian energy that +her late loving friend had never been a day insane; but she knew +nothing of English laws, and but little of English money. She would +take the L10,000,--having had a calculation made for her of the +number of lire into which it would run. The number was enormous, and +she would take the offer. But when the proposal was mentioned to the +Countess, and explained to her by her old friend, Thomas Thwaite, who +had now become a poor man in her cause, she repudiated it with bitter +scorn,--with a scorn in which she almost included the old man who +had made it to her. "Is it for that, that I have been fighting?" she +said. + +"For that in part," said the old man. + +"No, Mr. Thwaite, not for that at all; but that my girl may have her +birth allowed and her name acknowledged." + +"Her name shall be allowed and her birth shall be acknowledged," said +the tailor, in whose heart there was nothing base. "She shall be the +Lady Anna, and her mother shall be the Countess Lovel." The estate of +the Countess, if she had an estate, then owed the tailor some five or +six thousand pounds, and the compromise offered would have paid the +tailor every shilling and have left a comfortable income for the two +women. + +"For myself I care but little," said the mother, taking the tailor's +hand in hers and kissing it. "My child is the Lady Anna, and I do not +dare to barter away her rights." This took place down at the cottage +in Cumberland, and the tailor at once went up to London to make known +the decision of the Countess,--as he invariably called her. + +Then the lawyers went to work. As the double compromise could not be +effected, the single compromise could not stand. The Italian woman +raved and stamped, and swore that she must have her half million of +lire. But of course no right to such a claim had been made good to +her, and the lawyers on behalf of the young Earl went on with their +work. Public sympathy as a matter of course went with the young +Earl. As against the Italian woman he had with him every English man +and woman. It was horrible to the minds of English men and English +women that an old English Earldom should be starved in order that +an Italian harlot might revel in untold riches. It was felt by most +men and protested by all women that any sign of madness, be it what +it might,--however insignificant,--should be held to be sufficient +against such a claimant. Was not the fact that the man had made such +a will in itself sufficient proof of his madness? There were not a +few who protested that no further proof could be necessary. But with +us the law is the same for an Italian harlot and an English widow; +and it may well be that in its niceties it shall be found kinder to +the former than to the latter. But the Earl had been mad, and the +law said that he was mad when he had made his will,--and the Italian +woman went away, raging, into obscurity. + +The Italian woman was conquered, and now the battle was open and free +between the young Earl and the claimant Countess. Applications were +made on behalf of the Countess for funds from the estate wherewith to +prove the claim, and to a certain limited amount they were granted. +Such had been the life of the late Earl that it was held that the +cost of all litigation resulting from his misdeeds should be paid +from his estate;--but ready money was wanted, immediate ready +money, to be at the disposal of the Countess to any amount needed +by her agent, and this was hardly to be obtained. By this time +public sympathy ran almost entirely with the Earl. Though it was +acknowledged that the late lord was mad, and though it had become +a cause of rejoicing that the Italian woman had been sent away +penniless, howling into obscurity, because of the old man's madness, +still it was believed that he had written the truth when he declared +that the marriage had been a mock marriage. It would be better for +the English world that the young Earl should be a rich man, fit to +do honour to his position, fit to marry the daughter of a duke, fit +to carry on the glory of the English peerage, than that a woman, ill +reputed in the world, should be established as a Countess, with a +daughter dowered with tens of thousands, as to whom it was already +said that she was in love with a tailor's son. Nothing could be more +touching, more likely to awaken sympathy, than the manner in which +Josephine Murray had been carried away in marriage, and then roughly +told by the man who should have protected her from every harshly +blowing wind of heaven, that he had deceived her and that she was not +his wife. No usage to which woman had ever been subjected, as has +been said before, was more adapted to elicit compassion and energetic +aid. But nineteen years had now passed by since the deed was done, +and the facts were forgotten. One energetic friend there still +was,--or we may say two, the tailor and his son Daniel. But public +belief ran against the Countess, and nobody who was anybody in the +world would give her her title. Bets were laid, two and three to one +against her; and it was believed that she was an impostor. The Earl +had all the glory of success over his first opponent, and the loud +boasting of self-confident barristers buoyed up his cause. + +But loud-boasting barristers may nevertheless be wise lawyers, and +the question of a compromise was again mooted. If the lady would take +thirty thousand pounds and vanish, she should have the money clear +of deduction, and all expenses should be paid. The amount offered +was thought to be very liberal, but it did not amount to the annual +income that was at stake. It was rejected with scorn. Had it been +quadrupled, it would have been rejected with equal scorn. The +loud-boasting barristers were still confident; but--. Though it +was never admitted in words still it was felt that there might be +a doubt. What if the contending parties were to join forces, if +the Countess-ship of the Countess were to be admitted, and the +heiress-ship of the Lady Anna, and if the Earl and the Lady Anna were +to be united in holy wedlock? Might there not be a safe solution from +further difficulty in that way? + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +LADY ANNA. + + +The idea of this further compromise, of this something more than +compromise, of this half acknowledgment of their own weakness, came +from Mr. Flick, of the firm of Norton and Flick, the solicitors who +were employed in substantiating the Earl's position. When Mr. Flick +mentioned it to Sir William Patterson, the great barrister, who was +at that time Solicitor-General and leading counsel on behalf of Lord +Lovel, Sir William Patterson stood aghast and was dismayed. Sir +William intended to make mince-meat of the Countess. It was said of +him that he intended to cross-examine the Countess off her legs, +right out of her claim, and almost into her grave. He certainly did +believe her to be an impostor, who had not thought herself to be +entitled to her name when she first assumed it. + +"I should be sorry, Mr. Flick, to be driven to think that anything of +that kind could be expedient." + +"It would make sure of the fortune to the family," said Mr. Flick. + +"And what about our friend, the Countess?" + +"Let her call herself Countess Lovel, Sir William. That will break no +bones. As to the formality of her own marriage, there can be no doubt +about that." + +"We can prove by Grogram that she was told that another wife was +living," said Sir William. Grogram was an old butler who had been in +the old Earl's service for thirty years. + +"I believe we can, Sir William; but--. It is quite clear that we +shall never get the other wife to come over and face an English jury. +It is of no use blinking it. The gentleman whom we have sent over +doubts her altogether. That there was a marriage is certain, but +he fears that this woman is not the old Countess. There were two +sisters, and it may be that this was the other sister." + +Sir William was a good deal dismayed, but he recovered himself. The +stakes were so high that it was quite possible that the gentleman who +had been sent over might have been induced to open his eyes to the +possibility of such personation by overtures from the other side. Sir +William was of opinion that Mr. Flick himself should go to Sicily. He +was not sure that he, Sir William, her Majesty's Solicitor-General, +would not make the journey in person. He was by no means disposed to +give way. "They tell me that the girl is no better than she should +be," he said to Mr. Flick. + +"I don't think so bad as that of her," said Mr. Flick. + +"Is she a lady,--or anything like a lady?" + +"I am told she is very beautiful." + +"I dare say;--and so was her mother before her. I never saw a +handsomer woman of her age than our friend the Countess. But I could +not recommend the young lord to marry an underbred, bad girl, and a +bastard who claims to be his cousin,--and support my proposition +merely on the ground of her looks." + +"Thirty-five thousand a year, Sir William!" pleaded the attorney. + +"I hope we can get the thirty-five thousand a year for our client +without paying so dear for them." + +It had been presumed that the real Countess, the original Countess, +the Italian lady whom the Earl had married in early life, would be +brought over, with properly attested documentary evidence in her +pocket, to prove that she was the existing Countess, and that any +other Countess must be either an impostor or a deluded dupe. No doubt +the old Earl had declared, when first informing Josephine Murray +that she was not his wife, that his real wife had died during the +few months which had intervened since his mock marriage; but it was +acknowledged on all sides, that the old Earl had been a villain and a +liar. It was no part of the duty of the young Earl, or of those who +acted for him, to defend the character of the old Earl. To wash that +blackamoor white, or even to make him whity-brown, was not necessary +to anybody. No one was now concerned to account for his crooked +courses. But if it could be shown that he had married the lady in +Italy,--as to which there was no doubt,--and that the lady was still +alive, or that she had been alive when the second marriage took +place, then the Lady Anna could not inherit the property which had +been freed from the grasp of the Italian mistress. But it seemed that +the lady, if she lived, could not be made to come. Mr. Flick did go +to Sicily, and came back renewing his advice to Sir William that Lord +Lovel should be advised to marry the Lady Anna. + +At this time the Countess, with her daughter, had moved their +residence from Keswick up to London, and was living in very humble +lodgings in a small street turning out of the New Road, near the +Yorkshire Stingo. Old Thomas Thwaite had accompanied them from +Cumberland, but the rooms had been taken for them by his son, Daniel +Thwaite, who was at this time foreman to a somewhat celebrated +tailor who carried on his business in Wigmore Street; and he, Daniel +Thwaite, had a bedroom in the house in which the Countess lodged. The +arrangement was not a wise one, as reports had already been spread +abroad as to the partiality of the Lady Anna for the young tailor. +But how should she not have been partial both to the father and to +the son, feeling as she did that they were the only two men who +befriended her cause and her mother's? As to the Countess herself, +she, perhaps, alone of all those who interested themselves in her +daughter's cause, had heard no word of these insinuations against her +child. To her both Thomas and Daniel Thwaite were dear friends, to +repay whom for their exertions with lavish generosity,--should the +means to do so ever come within her reach,--was one of the dreams +of her existence. But she was an ambitious woman, thinking much +of her rank, thinking much even of the blood of her own ancestors, +constantly urgent with her daughter in teaching her the duties +and privileges of wealth and rank. For the Countess never doubted +that she would at last attain success. That the Lady Anna should +throw herself away upon Daniel Thwaite did not occur to her as a +possibility. She had not even dreamed that Daniel Thwaite would +aspire to her daughter's hand. And yet every shop-boy and every +shop-girl in Keswick had been so saying for the last twelvemonth, +and rumours which had hitherto been confined to Keswick and its +neighbourhood, were now common in London. For the case was becoming +one of the celebrated causes of the age, and all the world was +talking of the Countess and her daughter. No momentary suspicion had +crossed the mind of the Countess till after their arrival in London; +and then when the suspicion did touch her it was not love that she +suspected,--but rather an unbecoming familiarity which she attributed +to her child's ignorance of the great life which awaited her. "My +dear," she said one day when Daniel Thwaite had left them, "you +should be less free in your manner with that young man." + +"What do you mean, mamma?" said the daughter, blushing. + +"You had better call him Mr. Thwaite." + +"But I have called him Daniel ever since I was born." + +"He always calls you Lady Anna." + +"Sometimes he does, mamma." + +"I never heard him call you anything else," said the Countess, almost +with indignation. "It is all very well for the old man, because he is +an old man and has done so much for us." + +"So has Daniel;--quite as much, mamma. They have both done +everything." + +"True; they have both been warm friends; and if ever I forget them +may God forget me. I trust that we may both live to show them that +they are not forgotten. But it is not fitting that there should exist +between you and him the intimacy of equal positions. You are not and +cannot be his equal. He has been born to be a tailor, and you are the +daughter and heiress of an Earl." + +These last words were spoken in a tone that was almost awful to +the Lady Anna. She had heard so much of her father's rank and her +father's wealth,--rank and wealth which were always to be hers, +but which had never as yet reached her, which had been a perpetual +trouble to her, and a crushing weight upon her young life, that she +had almost learned to hate the title and the claim. Of course it was +a part of the religion of her life that her mother had been duly +married to her father. It was beyond a doubt to her that such was the +case. But the constant battling for denied rights, the assumption of +a position which could not be attained, the use of titles which were +simply ridiculous in themselves as connected with the kind of life +which she was obliged to lead,--these things had all become odious +to her. She lacked the ambition which gave her mother strength, and +would gladly have become Anna Murray or Anna Lovel, with a girl's +ordinary privilege of loving her lover, had such an easy life been +possible to her. + +In person she was very lovely, less tall and robust than her mother +had been, but with a sweeter, softer face. Her hair was less dark, +and her eyes were neither blue nor bold. But they were bright and +soft and very eloquent, and when laden with tears would have softened +the heart,--almost of her father. She was as yet less powerful than +her mother, both in body and mind, but probably better calculated to +make a happy home for a husband and children. She was affectionate, +self-denying, and feminine. Had that offer of compromise for thirty, +twenty, or for ten thousand pounds been made to her, she would have +accepted it willingly,--caring little for her name, little even for +fame, so that she might have been happy and quiet, and at liberty to +think of a lover as are other girls. In her present condition, how +could she have any happy love? She was the Lady Anna Lovel, heir to +a ducal fortune,--but she lived in small close lodgings in Wyndham +Street, New Road. She did not believe in the good time coming as did +her mother. Their enemy was an undoubted Earl, undoubtedly owner of +Lovel Grange of which she had heard all her life. Would it not be +better to take what the young lord chose to give them and to be at +rest? But she did not dare to express such thoughts to her mother. +Her mother would have crushed her with a look. + +"I have told Mr. Thwaite," the mother said to her daughter, "what we +were saying this morning." + +"About his son?" + +"Yes,--about his son." + +"Oh, mamma!" + +"I was bound to do so." + +"And what did he say, mamma?" + +"He did not like it, and told me that he did not like it;--but he +admitted that it was true. He admitted that his son was no fitting +intimate for Lady Anna Lovel." + +"What should we have done without him?" + +"Badly indeed; but that cannot change his duty, or ours. He is +helping us to struggle for that which is our own; but he would mar +his generosity if he put a taint on that which he is endeavouring to +restore to us." + +"Put a taint, mamma!" + +"Yes;--a taint would rest upon your rank if you as Lady Anna Lovel +were familiar with Daniel Thwaite as with an equal. His father +understands it, and will speak to him." + +"Mamma, Daniel will be very angry." + +"Then will he be very unreasonable;--but, Anna, I will not have you +call him Daniel any more." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE TAILOR OF KESWICK. + + +Old Thomas Thwaite was at this time up in London about the business +of the Countess, but had no intention of residing there. He still +kept his shop in Keswick, and still made coats and trousers for +Cumberland statesmen. He was by no means in a condition to retire +from business, having spent the savings of his life in the cause of +the Countess and her daughter. Men had told him that, had he not +struck the Earl in the yard of the Crown at Keswick, as horses were +being brought out for the lord's travelling carriage, ample provision +would have been made by the rich old sinner for his daughter. That +might have been so, or might not, but the saying instigated the +tailor to further zeal and increased generosity. To oppose an Earl, +even though it might be on behalf of a Countess, was a joy to him; to +set wrong right, and to put down cruelty and to relieve distressed +women was the pride of his heart,--especially when his efforts were +made in antagonism to one of high rank. And he was a man who would +certainly be thorough in his work, though his thoroughness should +be ruinous to himself. He had despised the Murrays, who ought to +have stuck to their distant cousin, and had exulted in his heart +at thinking that the world would say how much better and truer had +been the Keswick tailor than the well-born and comparatively wealthy +Scotch relations. And the poets of the lakes, who had not as yet +become altogether Tories, had taken him by the hand and praised him. +The rights of the Countess and the wrongs of the Countess had become +his life. But he still kept on a diminished business in the north, +and it was now needful that he should return to Cumberland. He had +heard that renewed offers of compromise were to be made,--though +no idea of the proposed marriage between the distant cousins had +been suggested to him. He had been discussing the question of some +compromise with the Countess when she spoke to him respecting his +son; and had recommended that certain terms should, if possible, be +effected. Let the money be divided, on condition that the marriage +were allowed. There could be no difficulty in this if the young +lord would accede to such an arrangement, as the marriage must +be acknowledged unless an adverse party should bring home proof +from Italy to the contrary. The sufficiency of the ceremony in +Applethwaite Church was incontestable. Let the money be divided, and +the Countess be Countess Lovel, and Lady Anna be the Lady Anna to all +the world. Old Thomas Thwaite himself had seemed to think that there +would be enough of triumph in such a settlement. "But the woman might +afterwards be bribed to come over and renew her claim," said the +Countess. "Unless it be absolutely settled now, they will say when I +am dead and gone that my daughter has no right to her name." Then the +tailor said that he would make further inquiry how that might be. He +was inclined to think that there might be a decision which should be +absolute, even though that decision should be reached by compromise +between the now contending parties. + +Then the Countess had said her word about Daniel Thwaite the son, and +Thomas Thwaite the father had heard it with ill-concealed anger. To +fight against an Earl on behalf of the Earl's injured wife had been +very sweet to him, but to be checked in his fight because he and his +were unfit to associate with the child of that injured wife, was very +bitter. And yet he had sense to know that what the Countess said to +him was true. As far as words went, he admitted the truth; but his +face was more eloquent than his words, and his face showed plainly +his displeasure. + +"It is not of you that I am speaking," said the Countess, laying her +hand upon the old man's sleeve. + +"Daniel is, at any rate, fitter than I," said the tailor. "He has +been educated, and I never was." + +"He is as good as gold. It is not of that I speak. You know what I +mean." + +"I know very well what you mean, Lady Lovel." + +"I have no friend like you, Mr. Thwaite;--none whom I love as I do +you. And next to you is your son. For myself, there is nothing that +I would not do for him or you;--no service, however menial, that I +would not render you with my own hands. There is no limit to the +gratitude which I owe you. But my girl is young, and if this burden +of rank and wealth is to be hers,--it is proper that she do honour to +it." + +"And it is not honourable that she should be seen speaking--to a +tailor?" + +"Ah,--if you choose to take it so!" + +"How should I take it? What I say is true. And what you say is true +also. I will speak to Daniel." But she knew well, as he left her, +that his heart was bitter against her. + +The old man did speak to his son, sitting with him up in the bed-room +over that which the Countess occupied. Old Thomas Thwaite was a +strong man, but his son was in some respects stronger. As his father +had said of him, he had been educated,--or rather instructed; and +instruction leads to the power of thinking. He looked deeper into +things than did his father, and was governed by wider and greater +motives. His father had been a Radical all his life, guided thereto +probably by some early training, and made steadfast in his creed by +feelings which induced him to hate the pretensions of an assumed +superiority. Old Thwaite could not endure to think that one man +should be considered to be worthier than another because he was +richer. He would admit the riches, and even the justice of the +riches,--having been himself, during much of his life, a rich man in +his own sphere; but would deny the worthiness; and would adduce, in +proof of his creed, the unworthiness of certain exalted sinners. The +career of the Earl Lovel had been to him a sure proof of the baseness +of English aristocracy generally. He had dreams of a republic in +which a tailor might be president or senator, or something almost +noble. But no rational scheme of governance among mankind had ever +entered his mind, and of pure politics he knew no more than the +journeyman who sat stitching upon his board. + +But Daniel Thwaite was a thoughtful man who had read many books. +More's Utopia and Harrington's Oceana, with many a tale written +in the same spirit, had taught him to believe that a perfect form +of government, or rather of policy, under which all men might be +happy and satisfied, was practicable upon earth, and was to be +achieved,--not merely by the slow amelioration of mankind under +God's fostering ordinances,--but by the continued efforts of good and +wise men who, by their goodness and wisdom, should be able to make +the multitude believe in them. To diminish the distances, not only +between the rich and the poor, but between the high and the low, was +the grand political theory upon which his mind was always running. +His father was ever thinking of himself and of Earl Lovel; while +Daniel Thwaite was considering the injustice of the difference +between ten thousand aristocrats and thirty million of people, who +were for the most part ignorant and hungry. But it was not that he +also had not thoughts of himself. Gradually he had come to learn that +he need not have been a tailor's foreman in Wigmore Street had not +his father spent on behalf of the Countess Lovel the means by which +he, the son, might already have become a master tradesman. And yet +he had never begrudged it. He had been as keen as his father in the +cause. It had been the romance of his life, since his life had been +capable of romance;--but with him it had been no respect for the +rank to which his father was so anxious to restore the Countess, +no value which he attached to the names claimed by the mother and +the daughter. He hated the countess-ship of the Countess, and +the ladyship of the Lady Anna. He would fain that they should +have abandoned them. They were to him odious signs of iniquitous +pretensions. But he was keen enough to punish and to remedy the +wickedness of the wicked Earl. He reverenced his father because he +assaulted the wicked Earl and struck him to the ground. He was heart +and soul in the cause of the injured wife. And then the one thing on +earth that was really dear to him was the Lady Anna. + +It had been the romance of his life. They had grown up together as +playmates in Cumberland. He had fought scores of battles on her +behalf with those who had denied that she was the Lady Anna,--even +though he had then hated the title. Boys had jeered him because of +his noble little sweetheart, and he had exulted at hearing her so +called. His only sister and his mother had died when he was young, +and there had been none in the house but his father and himself. As +a boy he had ever been at the cottage of the Countess, and he had +sworn to Lady Anna a thousand times that he would do and die in her +service. Now he was a strong man, and was more devoted to her than +ever. It was the great romance of his life. How could it be brought +to pass that the acknowledged daughter of an Earl, dowered with +enormous wealth, should become the wife of a tailor? And yet such +was his ambition and such his purpose. It was not that he cared for +her dower. It was not, at any rate, the hope of her dower that had +induced him to love her. His passion had grown and his purpose had +been formed before the old Earl had returned for the last time to +Lovel Grange,--when nothing was known of the manner in which his +wealth might be distributed. That her prospect of riches now joined +itself to his aspirations it would be an affectation to deny. The man +who is insensible to the power which money brings with it must be a +dolt; and Daniel Thwaite was not a dolt, and was fond of power. But +he was proud of heart, and he said to himself over and over again +that should it ever come to pass that the possession of the girl was +to depend on the abandonment of the wealth, the wealth should be +abandoned without a further thought. + +It may be imagined that with such a man the words which his father +would speak to him about the Lady Anna, suggesting the respectful +distance with which she should be approached by a tailor's foreman, +would be very bitter. They were bitter to the speaker and very bitter +to him who heard them. "Daniel," said the father, "this is a queer +life you are leading with the Countess and Lady Anna just beneath +you, in the same house." + +"It was a quiet house for them to come to;--and cheap." + +"Quiet enough, and as cheap as any, I dare say;--but I don't know +whether it is well that you should be thrown so much with them. They +are different from us." The son looked at his father, but made no +immediate reply. "Our lot has been cast with theirs because of their +difficulties," continued the old man, "but the time is coming when we +had better stand aloof." + +"What do you mean, father?" + +"I mean that we are tailors, and these people are born nobles." + +"They have taken our help, father." + +"Well; yes, they have. But it is not for us to say anything of that. +It has been given with a heart." + +"Certainly with a heart." + +"And shall be given to the end. But the end of it will come soon now. +One will be a Countess and the other will be the Lady Anna. Are they +fit associates for such as you and me?" + +"If you ask me, father, I think they are." + +"They don't think so. You may be sure of that." + +"Have they said so, father?" + +"The Countess has said so. She has complained that you call her +daughter simply Anna. In future you must give her a handle to +her name." Daniel Thwaite was a dark brown man, with no tinge of +ruddiness about him, a thin spare man, almost swarthy, whose hands +were as brown as a nut, and whose cheeks and forehead were brown. But +now he blushed up to his eyes. The hue of the blood as it rushed to +his face forced itself through the darkness of his visage, and he +blushed, as such men do blush,--with a look of indignation on his +face. "Just call her Lady Anna," said the father. + +"The Countess has been complaining of me then?" + +"She has hinted that her daughter will be injured by your +familiarity, and she is right. I suppose that the Lady Anna Lovel +ought to be treated with deference by a tailor,--even though the +tailor may have spent his last farthing in her service." + +"Do not let us talk about the money, father." + +"Well; no. I'd as lief not think about the money either. The world is +not ripe yet, Daniel." + +"No;--the world is not ripe." + +"There must be earls and countesses." + +"I see no must in it. There are earls and countesses as there used to +be mastodons and other senseless, over-grown brutes roaming miserable +and hungry through the undrained woods,--cold, comfortless, unwieldy +things, which have perished in the general progress. The big things +have all to give way to the intellect of those which are more finely +made." + +"I hope men and women will not give way to bugs and fleas," said the +tailor, who was wont to ridicule his son's philosophy. + +The son was about to explain his theory of the perfected mean size of +intellectual created beings, when his heart was at the present moment +full of Anna Lovel. "Father," he said, "I think that the Countess +might have spared her observations." + +"I thought so too;--but as she said it, it was best that I should +tell you. You'll have to marry some day, and it wouldn't do that you +should look there for your sweetheart." When the matter was thus +brought home to him, Daniel Thwaite would argue it no further. "It +will all come to an end soon," continued the old man, "and it may +be that they had better not move till it is settled. They'll divide +the money, and there will be enough for both in all conscience. The +Countess will be the Countess, and the Lady Anna will be the Lady +Anna; and then there will be no more need of the old tailor from +Keswick. They will go into another world, and we shall hear from them +perhaps about Christmas time with a hamper of game, and may be a +little wine, as a gift." + +"You do not think that of them, father." + +"What else can they do? The lawyers will pay the money, and they +will be carried away. They cannot come to our house, nor can we go +to theirs. I shall leave to-morrow, my boy, at six o'clock; and my +advice to you is to trouble them with your presence as little as +possible. You may be sure that they do not want it." + +Daniel Thwaite was certainly not disposed to take his father's +advice, but then he knew much more than did his father. The above +scene took place in the evening, when the son's work was done. As he +crept down on the following morning by the door of the room in which +the two ladies slept, he could not but think of his father's words, +"It wouldn't do that you should look there for your sweetheart." Why +should it not do? But any such advice as that was now too late. He +had looked there for his sweetheart. He had spoken, and the girl had +answered him. He had held her close to his heart, and had pressed her +lips to his own, and had called her his Anna, his well-beloved, his +pearl, his treasure; and she,--she had only sighed in his arms, and +yielded to his embrace. She had wept alone when she thought of it, +with a conscious feeling that as she was the Lady Anna there could be +no happy love between herself and the only youth whom she had known. +But when he had spoken, and had clasped her to his heart, she had +never dreamed of rebuking him. She had known nothing better than he, +and desired nothing better than to live with him and to be loved by +him. She did not think that it could be possible to know any one +better. This weary, weary title filled her with dismay. Daniel, as +he walked along thinking of her embrace, thinking of those kisses, +and thinking also of his father's caution, swore to himself that the +difficulties in his way should never stop him in his course. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL MAKES A PROPOSITION. + + +When Mr. Flick returned from Sicily he was very strongly in favour +of some compromise. He had seen the so-called Italian Countess,--who +certainly was now called Contessa by everybody around her,--and he +did not believe that she had ever been married to the old Earl. That +an Italian lady had been married to the old lord now twenty-five +years ago, he did believe,--probably the younger sister of this +woman,--and he also believed that this wife had been dead before the +marriage at Applethwaite. That was his private opinion. Mr. Flick +was, in his way, an honest man,--one who certainly would have taken +no conscious part in getting up an unjust claim; but he was now +acting as legal agent for the young Earl, and it was not his business +to get up evidence for the Earl's opponents. He did think that were +he to use all his ingenuity and the funds at his disposal he would +be able to reach the real truth in such a manner that it should be +made clear and indubitable to an English jury; but if the real truth +were adverse to his side, why search for it? He understood that +the English Countess would stand her ground on the legality of the +Applethwaite marriage, and on the acquittal of the old Earl as to the +charge of bigamy. The English Countess being firm, so far as that +ground would make her firm, it would in reality be for the other +side--for the young Earl--to prove a former marriage. The burden of +the proof would be with him, and not with the English Countess to +disprove it. Disingenuous lawyers--Mr. Flick, who though fairly +honest could be disingenuous, among the number--had declared the +contrary. But such was the case; and, as money was scarce with the +Countess and her friends, no attempt had been made on their part to +bring home evidence from Sicily. All this Mr. Flick knew, and doubted +how far it might be wise for him further to disturb that Sicilian +romance. The Italian Countess, who was a hideous, worn-out old woman, +professing to be forty-four, probably fifty-five, and looking as +though she were seventy-seven, would not stir a step towards England. +She would swear and had sworn any number of oaths. Documentary +evidence from herself, from various priests, from servants, and +from neighbours there was in plenty. Mr. Flick learned through his +interpreter that a certain old priest ridiculed the idea of there +being a doubt. And there were letters,--letters alleged to have been +written by the Earl to the living wife in the old days, which were +shown to Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick was an educated man, and knew many +things. He knew something of the manufacture of paper, and would not +look at the letters after the first touch. It was not for him to get +up evidence for the other side. The hideous old woman was clamorous +for money. The priests were clamorous for money. The neighbours were +clamorous for money. Had not they all sworn anything that was wanted, +and were they not to be paid? Some moderate payment was made to the +hideous, screeching, greedy old woman; some trivial payment--as to +which Mr. Flick was heartily ashamed of himself--was made to the +old priest; and then Mr. Flick hurried home, fully convinced that +a compromise should be made as to the money, and that the legality +of the titles claimed by the two English ladies should be allowed. +It might be that that hideous hag had once been the Countess Lovel. +It certainly was the case that the old Earl in latter years had +so called her, though he had never once seen her during his last +residence in Sicily. It might be that the clumsy fiction of the +letters had been perpetrated with the view of bolstering up a true +case with false evidence. But Mr. Flick thought that there should be +a compromise, and expressed his opinion very plainly to Sir William +Patterson. "You mean a marriage," said the Solicitor-General. At this +time Mr. Hardy, Q.C., the second counsel acting on behalf of the +Earl, was also present. + +"Not necessarily by a marriage, Sir William. They could divide the +money." + +"The girl is not of age," said Mr. Hardy. + +"She is barely twenty as yet," said Sir William. + +"I think it might be managed on her behalf," said the attorney. + +"Who could be empowered to sacrifice her rights?" said Mr. Hardy, who +was a gruff man. + +"We might perhaps contrive to tide it over till she is of age," said +the Solicitor-General, who was a sweet-mannered, mild man among his +friends, though he could cross-examine a witness off his legs,--or +hers, if the necessity of the case required him to do so. + +"Of course we could do that, Sir William. What is a year in such a +case as this?" + +"Not much among lawyers, is it, Mr. Flick? You think that we +shouldn't bring our case into court." + +"It is a good case, Sir William, no doubt. There's the +woman,--Countess, we will call her,--ready to swear, and has sworn, +that she was the old Earl's wife. All the people round call her the +Countess. The Earl undoubtedly used to speak of her as the Countess, +and send her little dribbles of money, as being his Countess, during +the ten years and more after he left Lovel Grange. There is the old +priest who married them." + +"The devil's in it if that is not a good case," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Go on, Mr. Flick," said the Solicitor-General. + +"I've got all the documentary evidence of course, Sir William." + +"Go on, Mr. Flick." + +Mr. Flick scratched his head. "It's a very heavy interest, Sir +William." + +"No doubt it is. Go on." + +"I don't know that I've anything further to say, except that I'd +arrange it if I could. Our client, Sir William, would be in a very +pretty position if he got half the income which is at stake." + +"Or the whole with the wife," said the Solicitor-General. + +"Or the whole with the wife, Sir William. If he were to lose it all, +he'd be,--so to say, nowhere." + +"Nowhere at all," said the Solicitor-General. "The entailed property +isn't worth above a thousand a year." + +"I'd make some arrangement," said Mr. Flick, whose mind may perhaps +have had a not unnatural bend towards his own very large venture +in this concern. That his bill, including the honorarium of the +barristers, would sooner or later be paid out of the estate, he did +not doubt;--but a compromise would make the settlement easy and +pleasant. + +Mr. Hardy was in favour of continued fighting. A keener, honester, +more enlightened lawyer than Mr. Hardy did not wear silk at that +moment, but he had not the gift of seeing through darkness which +belonged to the Solicitor-General. When Mr. Flick told them of the +strength of their case, as based on various heads of evidence in +their favour, Mr. Hardy believed Mr. Flick's words and rejected Mr. +Flick's opinion. He believed in his heart that the English Countess +was an impostor, not herself believing in her own claim; and it +would be gall and wormwood to him to give to such a one a moiety +of the wealth which should go to support the ancient dignity and +aristocratic grace of the house of Lovel. He hated compromise and +desired justice,--and was a great rather than a successful lawyer. +Sir William had at once perceived that there was something in the +background on which it was his duty to calculate, which he was bound +to consider,--but with which at the same time it was inexpedient +that he should form a closer or more accurate acquaintance. He must +do the best he could for his client. Earl Lovel with a thousand +a year, and that probably already embarrassed, would be a poor, +wretched creature, a mock lord, an earl without the very essence of +an earldom. But Earl Lovel with fifteen or twenty thousand a year +would be as good as most other earls. It would be but the difference +between two powdered footmen and four, between four hunters and +eight, between Belgrave Square and Eaton Place. Sir William, had he +felt confident, would of course have preferred the four footmen for +his client, and the eight hunters, and Belgrave Square; even though +the poor English Countess should have starved, or been fed by the +tailor's bounty. But he was not confident. He began to think that +that wicked old Earl had been too wicked for them all. "They say +she's a very nice girl," said Sir William. + +"Very handsome indeed, I'm told," said Mr. Flick. + +"And in love with the son of the old tailor from Keswick," said Mr. +Hardy. + +"She'll prefer the lord to the tailor for a guinea," said Sir +William. + +And thus it was decided, after some indecisive fashion, that their +client should be sounded as to the expedience of a compromise. It +was certain to them that the poor woman would be glad to accept, for +herself and her daughter, half of the wealth at stake, which half +would be to her almost unlimited riches, on the condition that their +rank was secured to them,--their rank and all the privileges of +honest legitimacy. But as to such an arrangement the necessary delay +offered no doubt a serious impediment, and it was considered that +the wisest course would be to propose the marriage. But who should +propose it, and how should it be proposed? Sir William was quite +willing to make the suggestion to the young Lord or the young Lord's +family, whose consent must of course be first obtained; but who +should then break the ice to the Countess? "I suppose we must ask our +friend, the Serjeant," said Mr. Flick. Serjeant Bluestone was the +leading counsel for our Countess, and was vehemently energetic in +this case. He swore everywhere that the Solicitor-General hadn't a +leg to stand upon, and that the Solicitor-General knew that he hadn't +a leg. Let them bring that Italian Countess over if they dared. He'd +countess her, and discountess her too! Since he had first known the +English courts of law there had been no case hard as this was hard. +Had not the old Earl been acquitted of the charge of bigamy, when +the unfortunate woman had done her best to free herself from her +position? Serjeant Bluestone, who was a very violent man, taking up +all his cases as though the very holding of a brief opposite to him +was an insult to himself, had never before been so violent. "The +Serjeant will take it as a surrender," said Mr. Flick. + +"We must get round the Serjeant," said Sir William. "There are ladies +in the Lovel family; we must manage it through them." And so it was +arranged by the young Lord's lawyers that an attempt should be made +to marry him to the heiress. + +The two cousins had never seen each other. Lady Anna had hardly heard +of Frederic Lovel before her father's death; but, since that, had +been brought up to regard the young Lord as her natural enemy. The +young Lord had been taught from his youth upwards to look upon the +soi-disant Countess and her daughter as impostors who would some day +strive to rob him of his birthright;--and, in these latter days, as +impostors who were hard at work upon their project. And he had been +told of the intimacy between the Countess and the old tailor,--and +also of that between the so-called Lady Anna and the young tailor. To +these distant Lovels,--to Frederic Lovel who had been brought up with +the knowledge that he must be the Earl, and to his uncle and aunt +by whom he had been brought up,--the women down at Keswick had been +represented as vulgar, odious, and disreputable. We all know how +firm can be the faith of a family in such matters. The Lovels were +not without fear as to the result of the attempt that was being +made. They understood quite as well as did Mr. Flick the glory of +the position which would attend upon success, and the wretchedness +attendant upon a pauper earldom. They were nervous enough, and in +some moods frightened. But their trust in the justice of their cause +was unbounded. The old Earl, whose memory was horrible to them, had +purposely left two enemies in their way. There had been the Italian +mistress backed up by the will; and there had been this illegitimate +child. The one was vanquished; but the other--! Ah,--it would be bad +with them indeed if that enemy could not be vanquished too! They had +offered L30,000 to the enemy; but the enemy would not accept the +bribe. The idea of ending all their troubles by a marriage had never +occurred to them. Had Mrs. Lovel been asked about it, she would have +said that Anna Murray,--as she always studiously called the Lady +Anna, was not fit to be married. + +The young Lord, who a few months after his cousin's death had been +old enough to take his seat in the House of Peers, was a gayhearted, +kindly young man, who had been brought home from sea at the age of +twenty on the death of an elder brother. Some of the family had +wished that he should go on with his profession in spite of the +earldom; but it had been thought unfit that he should be an earl and +a midshipman at the same time, and his cousin's death while he was +still on shore settled the question. He was a fair-haired, well-made +young lad, looking like a sailor, and every inch a gentleman. +Had he believed that the Lady Anna was the Lady Anna, no earthly +consideration would have induced him to meddle with the money. Since +the old Lord's death, he had lived chiefly with his uncle Charles +Lovel, having passed some two or three months at Lovel Grange with +his uncle and aunt. Charles Lovel was a clergyman, with a good living +at Yoxham, in Yorkshire, who had married a rich wife, a woman with +some two thousand a year of her own, and was therefore well to do in +the world. His two sons were at Harrow, and he had one other child, +a daughter. With them also lived a Miss Lovel, Aunt Julia,--who was +supposed of all the Lovels to be the wisest and most strong-minded. +The parson, though a popular man, was not strong-minded. He was +passionate, loud, generous, affectionate and indiscreet. He was very +proud of his nephew's position as head of the family,--and very full +of his nephew's wrongs arising from the fraud of those Murray women. +He was a violent Tory, and had heard much of the Keswick Radical. He +never doubted for a moment that both old Thwaite and young Thwaite +were busy in concocting an enormous scheme of plunder by which to +enrich themselves. To hear that they had both been convicted and +transported was the hope of his life. That a Radical should not be +worthy of transportation was to him impossible. That a Radical should +be honest was to him incredible. But he was a thoroughly humane and +charitable man, whose good qualities were as little intelligible to +old Thomas Thwaite, as were those of Thomas Thwaite to him. + +To whom should the Solicitor-General first break the matter? He +had already had some intercourse with the Lovels, and had not +been impressed with a sense of the parson's wisdom. He was a Whig +Solicitor-General, for there were still Whigs in those days, and +Mr. Lovel had not much liked him. Mr. Flick had seen much of the +family,--having had many interviews with the young lord, with the +parson, and with Aunt Julia. It was at last settled by Sir William's +advice that a letter should be written to Aunt Julia by Mr. Flick, +suggesting that she should come up to town. + +"Mr. Lovel will be very angry," said Mr. Flick. + +"We must do the best we can for our client," said Sir William. The +letter was written, and Miss Lovel was informed in Mr. Flick's most +discreet style, that as Sir William Patterson was anxious to discuss +a matter concerning Lord Lovel's case in which a woman's voice would +probably be of more service than that of a man, perhaps Miss Lovel +would not object to the trouble of a journey to London. Miss Lovel +did come up, and her brother came with her. + +The interview took place in Sir William's chambers, and no one was +present but Sir William, Miss Lovel, and Mr. Flick. Mr. Flick had +been instructed to sit still and say nothing, unless he were asked +a question; and he obeyed his instructions. After some apologies, +which were perhaps too soft and sweet,--and which were by no means +needed, as Miss Lovel herself, though very wise, was neither soft nor +sweet,--the great man thus opened his case. "This is a very serious +matter, Miss Lovel." + +"Very serious indeed." + +"You can hardly perhaps conceive how great a load of responsibility +lies upon a lawyer's shoulders, when he has to give advice in such a +case as this, when perhaps the prosperity of a whole family may turn +upon his words." + +"He can only do his best." + +"Ah yes, Miss Lovel. That is easy to say; but how shall he know what +is the best?" + +"I suppose the truth will prevail at last. It is impossible to think +that a young man such as my nephew should be swindled out of a noble +fortune by the intrigues of two such women as these. I can't believe +it, and I won't believe it. Of course I am only a woman, but I always +thought it wrong to offer them even a shilling." Sir William smiled +and rubbed his head, fixing his eyes on those of the lady. Though he +smiled she could see that there was real sadness in his face. "You +don't mean to say you doubt?" she said. + +"Indeed I do." + +"You think that a wicked scheme like this can succeed before an +English judge?" + +"But if the scheme be not wicked? Let me tell you one or two things, +Miss Lovel;--or rather my own private opinion on one or two points. +I do not believe that these two ladies are swindlers." + +"They are not ladies, and I feel sure that they are swindlers," +said Miss Lovel very firmly, turning her face as she spoke to the +attorney. + +"I am telling you, of course, merely my own opinion, and I will +beg you to believe of me that in forming it I have used all the +experience and all the caution which a long course of practice in +these matters has taught me. Your nephew is entitled to my best +services, and at the present moment I can perhaps do my duty to him +most thoroughly by asking you to listen to me." The lady closed her +lips together, and sat silent. "Whether Mrs. Murray, as we have +hitherto called her, was or was not the legal wife of the late Earl, +I will not just now express an opinion; but I am sure that she thinks +that she was. The marriage was formal and accurate. The Earl was +tried for bigamy, and acquitted. The people with whom we have to +do across the water, in Sicily, are not respectable. They cannot +be induced to come here to give evidence. An English jury will be +naturally averse to them. The question is one simply of facts for +a jury, and we cannot go beyond a jury. Had the daughter been a +son, it would have been in the House of Lords to decide which young +man should be the peer;--but, as it is, it is simply a question of +property, and of facts as to the ownership of the property. Should we +lose the case, your nephew would be--a very poor man." + +"A very poor man, indeed, Sir William." + +"His position would be distressing. I am bound to say that we should +go into court to try the case with very great distrust. Mr. Flick +quite agrees with me." + +"Quite so, Sir William," said Mr. Flick. + +Miss Lovel again looked at the attorney, closed her lips tighter than +ever, but did not say a word. + +"In such cases as this prejudices will arise, Miss Lovel. It is +natural that you and your family should be prejudiced against these +ladies. For myself, I am not aware that anything true can be alleged +against them." + +"The girl has disgraced herself with a tailor's son," almost screamed +Miss Lovel. + +"You have been told so, but I do not believe it to be true. They +were, no doubt, brought up as children together; and Mr. Thwaite has +been most kind to both the ladies." It at once occurred to Miss Lovel +that Sir William was a Whig, and that there was in truth but little +difference between a Whig and a Radical. To be at heart a gentleman, +or at heart a lady, it was, to her thinking, necessary to be a Tory. +"It would be a thousand pities that so noble a property should pass +out of a family which, by its very splendour and ancient nobility, +is placed in need of ample means." On hearing this sentiment, which +might have become even a Tory, Miss Lovel relaxed somewhat the +muscles of her face. "Were the Earl to marry his cousin--" + +"She is not his cousin." + +"Were the Earl to marry the young lady who, it may be, will be proved +to be his cousin, the whole difficulty would be cleared away." + +"Marry her!" + +"I am told that she is very lovely, and that pains have been taken +with her education. Her mother was well born and well bred. If you +would get at the truth, Miss Lovel, you must teach yourself to +believe that they are not swindlers. They are no more swindlers than +I am a swindler. I will go further,--though perhaps you, and the +young Earl, and Mr. Flick, may think me unfit to be intrusted any +longer with this case, after such a declaration,--I believe, though +it is with a doubting belief, that the elder lady is the Countess +Lovel, and that her daughter is the legitimate child and the heir of +the late Earl." + +Mr. Flick sat with his mouth open as he heard this,--beating his +breast almost with despair. His opinion tallied exactly with Sir +William's. Indeed, it was by his opinion, hardly expressed, but +perfectly understood, that Sir William had been led. But he had not +thought that Sir William would be so bold and candid. + +"You believe that Anna Murray is the real heir?" gasped Miss Lovel. + +"I do,--with a doubting belief. I am inclined that way,--having to +form my opinion on very conflicting evidence." Mr. Flick was by this +time quite sure that Sir William was right, in his opinion,--though +perhaps wrong in declaring it,--having been corroborated in his own +belief by the reflex of it on a mind more powerful than his own. +"Thinking as I do," continued Sir William,--"with a natural bias +towards my own client,--what will a jury think, who will have no such +bias? If they are cousins,--distant cousins,--why should they not +marry and be happy, one bringing the title, and the other the wealth? +There could be no more rational union, Miss Lovel." + +Then there was a long pause before any one spoke a word. Mr. Flick +had been forbidden to speak, and Sir William, having made his +proposition, was determined to await the lady's reply. The lady was +aghast, and for awhile could neither think nor utter a word. At last +she opened her mouth. "I must speak to my brother about this." + +"Quite right, Miss Lovel." + +"Now I may go, Sir William?" + +"Good morning, Miss Lovel." And Miss Lovel went. + +"You have gone farther than I thought you would, Sir William," said +Mr. Flick. + +"I hardly went far enough, Mr. Flick. We must go farther yet if we +mean to save any part of the property for the young man. What should +we gain, even if we succeeded in proving that the Earl was married +in early life to the old Sicilian hag that still lives? She would +inherit the property then;--not the Earl." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +YOXHAM RECTORY. + + +Miss Lovel, wise and strong-minded as she was, did not dare to come +to any decision on the proposition made to her without consulting +some one. Strong as she was, she found herself at once to be too weak +to speak to her nephew on the subject of her late interview with +the great lawyer without asking her brother's opinion. The parson +had accompanied her up to London, in a state of wrath against Sir +William, in that he had not been sent for instead of his sister, and +to him she told all that had been said. Her brother was away at his +club when she got back to her hotel, and she had some hours in which +to think of what had taken place. She could not at once bring herself +to believe that all her former beliefs were vain and ill founded. + +But if the opinion of the Solicitor-General had not prevailed with +her, it prevailed still less when it reached her brother second-hand. +She had been shaken, but Mr. Lovel at first was not shaken at all. +Sir William was a Whig and a traitor. He had never known a Whig who +was not a traitor. Sir William was throwing them over. The Murray +people, who were all Whigs, had got hold of him. He, Mr. Lovel, would +go at once to Mr. Hardy, and tell Mr. Hardy what he thought. The +case should be immediately taken out of the hands of Messrs. Norton +and Flick. Did not all the world know that these impostors were +impostors? Sir William should be exposed and degraded,--though, +in regard to this threatened degradation, Mr. Lovel was almost of +opinion that his party would like their Solicitor-General better for +having shown himself to be a traitor, and therefore proved himself to +be a good Whig. He stormed and flew about the room, using language +which hardly became his cloth. If his nephew married the girl, he +would never own his nephew again. If that swindle was to prevail, +let his nephew be poor and honest. He would give half of all he had +towards supporting the peerage, and was sure that his boys would +thank him for what he had done. But they should never call that woman +cousin; and as for himself, might his tongue be blistered if ever he +spoke of either of those women as Countess Lovel. He was inclined +to think that the whole case should immediately be taken out of +the hands of Norton and Flick, without further notice, and another +solicitor employed. But at last he consented to call on Mr. Norton on +the following morning. + +Mr. Norton was a heavy, honest old man, who attended to simple +conveyancing, and sat amidst the tin boxes of his broad-acred +clients. He had no alternative but to send for Mr. Flick, and Mr. +Flick came. When Mr. Lovel showed his anger, Mr. Flick became +somewhat indignant. Mr. Flick knew how to assert himself, and Mr. +Lovel was not quite the same man in the lawyer's chambers that +he had been in his own parlour at the hotel. Mr. Flick was of +opinion that no better counsel was to be had in England than the +Solicitor-General, and no opinion more worthy of trust than his. If +the Earl chose to put his case into other hands, of course he could +do so, but it would behove his lordship to be very careful lest he +should prejudice most important interests by showing his own weakness +to his opponents. Mr. Flick spoke in the interests of his client,--so +he said,--and not in his own. Mr. Flick was clearly of opinion that a +compromise should be arranged; and having given that opinion, could +say nothing more on the present occasion. On the next day the young +Earl saw Mr. Flick, and also saw Sir William, and was then told by +his aunt of the proposition which had been made. The parson retired +to Yoxham, and Miss Lovel remained in London with her nephew. By +the end of the week Miss Lovel was brought round to think that some +compromise was expedient. All this took place in May. The cause had +been fixed for trial in the following November, the long interval +having been allowed because of the difficulty expected in producing +the evidence necessary for rebutting the claims of the late Earl's +daughter. + +By the middle of June all the Lovels were again in London,--the +parson, his sister, the parson's wife, and the Earl. "I never saw the +young woman in my life," said the Earl to his aunt. + +"As for that," said his aunt, "no doubt you could see her if you +thought it wise to do so." + +"I suppose she might be asked to the rectory?" said Mrs. Lovel. + +"That would be giving up altogether," said the rector. + +"Sir William said that it would not be against us at all," said Aunt +Julia. + +"You would have to call her Lady Anna," said Mrs. Lovel. + +"I couldn't do it," said the rector. "It would be much better to give +her half." + +"But why should she take the half if the whole belongs to her?" said +the young lord. "And why should I ask even for the half if nothing +belongs to me?" At this time the young lord had become almost +despondent as to his alleged rights, and now and again had made +everybody belonging to him miserable by talking of withdrawing from +his claim. He had come to understand that Sir William believed that +the daughter was the real heir, and he thought that Sir William must +know better than others. He was down-hearted and low in spirits, but +not the less determined to be just in all that he did. + +"I have made inquiry," said Aunt Julia, "and I do believe that the +stories which we heard against the girl were untrue." + +"The tailor and his son have been their most intimate friends," said +Mr. Lovel. + +"Because they had none others," said Mrs. Lovel. + +It had been settled that by the 24th of June the lord was to say +whether he would or would not take Sir William's advice. If he would +do so, Sir William was to suggest what step should next be taken as +to making the necessary overtures to the two ladies. If he would not, +then Sir William was to advise how best the case might be carried +on. They were all again at Yoxham that day, and the necessary +communication was to be made to Mr. Flick by post. The young man +had been alone the whole morning thinking of his condition, and +undoubtedly the desire for the money had grown on him strongly. Why +should it not have done so? Is there a nobleman in Great Britain who +can say that he could lose the fortune which he possesses or the +fortune which he expects without an agony that would almost break his +heart? Young Lord Lovel sighed for the wealth without which his title +would only be to him a terrible burden, and yet he was resolved that +he would take no part in anything that was unjust. This girl, he +heard, was beautiful and soft and pleasant, and now they told him +that the evil things which had been reported against her had been +slanders. He was assured that she was neither coarse, nor vulgar, nor +unmaidenly. Two or three old men, of equal rank with his own,--men +who had been his father's friends and were allied to the Lovels, and +had been taken into confidence by Sir William,--told him that the +proper way out of the difficulty had been suggested to him. There +could be nothing, they said, more fitting than that two cousins so +situated should marry. With such an acknowledgment of her rank and +birth everybody would visit his wife. There was not a countess or a +duchess in London who would not be willing to take her by the hand. +His two aunts had gradually given way, and it was clear to him that +his uncle would give way,--even his uncle,--if he would but yield +himself. It was explained to him that if the girl came to Yoxham, +with the privilege of being called Lady Anna by the inhabitants of +the rectory, she would of course do so on the understanding that she +should accept her cousin's hand. "But she might not like me," said +the young Earl to his aunt. + +"Not like you!" said Mrs. Lovel, putting her hand up to his brow and +pushing away his hair. Was it possible that any girl should not like +such a man as that, and he an earl? + +"And if I did not like her, Aunt Lovel?" + +"Then I would not ask her to be my wife." He thought that there +was an injustice in this, and yet before the day was over he had +assented. + +"I do not think that I can call her Lady Anna," said the rector. "I +don't think I can bring my tongue to do it." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL PERSEVERES. + + +There was considerable difficulty in making the overture to the +two ladies,--or rather in making it to the elder lady; for the +suggestion, if made to the daughter, must of course come to her from +her mother. It had been decided at last that the Lady Anna could not +be invited to the rectory till it had been positively settled that +she should be the Lady Anna without further opposition; and that all +opposition to the claim should be withdrawn, at any rate till it was +found that the young people were not inclined to be engaged to each +other. "How can I call her Lady Anna before I have made up my mind to +think that she is Lady Anna?" said the parson, almost in tears. As to +the rest of the family, it may be said that they had come silently to +think that the Countess was the Countess and that the Lady Anna was +the Lady Anna;--silently in reference to each other, for not one of +them except the young lord had positively owned to such a conviction. +Sir William Patterson had been too strong for them. It was true that +he was a Whig. It was possible that he was a traitor. But he was a +man of might, and his opinion had domineered over theirs. To make +things as straight as they could be made it would be well that the +young people should be married. What would be the Earldom of Lovel +without the wealth which the old mad Earl had amassed? + +Sir William and Mr. Flick were strongly in favour of the marriage, +and Mr. Hardy at last assented. The worst of it was that something of +all this doubt on the part of the Earl and his friends was sure to +reach the opposite party. "They are shaking in their shoes," Serjeant +Bluestone said to his junior counsel, Mr. Mainsail. "I do believe +they are not going to fight at all," he said to Mr. Goffe, the +attorney for the Countess. Mr. Mainsail rubbed his hands. Mr. Goffe +shook his head. Mr. Goffe was sure that they would fight. Mr. +Mainsail, who had worked like a horse in getting up and arranging all +the evidence on behalf of the Countess, and in sifting, as best he +might, the Italian documents, was delighted. All this Sir William +feared, and he felt that it was quite possible that the Earl's +overture might be rejected because the Earl would not be thought to +be worth having. "We must count upon his coronet," said Sir William +to Mr. Flick. "She could not do better even if the property were +undoubtedly her own." + +But how was the first suggestion to be made? Mr. Hardy was anxious +that everything should be straightforward,--and Sir William assented, +with a certain inward peevishness at Mr. Hardy's stiff-necked +propriety. Sir William was anxious to settle the thing comfortably +for all parties. Mr. Hardy was determined not only that right should +be done, but also that it should be done in a righteous manner. The +great question now was whether they could approach the widow and her +daughter otherwise than through Serjeant Bluestone. "The Serjeant is +such a blunderbuss," said the Solicitor-General. But the Serjeant +was counsel for these ladies, and it was at last settled that there +should be a general conference at Sir William's chambers. A very +short note was written by Mr. Flick to Mr. Goffe, stating that the +Solicitor-General thought that a meeting might be for the advantage +of all parties;--and the meeting was arranged. There were present +the two barristers and the one attorney for each side, and many an +anxious thought was given to the manner in which the meeting should +be conducted. Serjeant Bluestone was fully resolved that he would +hold his own against the Solicitor-General, and would speak his mind +freely. Mr. Mainsail got up little telling questions. Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick both felt that it would behove them to hold their peace, +unless questioned, but were equally determined to hang fast by their +clients. Mr. Hardy in his heart of hearts thought that his learned +friend was about to fling away his case. Sir William had quite +made up his mind as to his line of action. He seated them all most +courteously, giving them place according to their rank,--a great +arm-chair for Serjeant Bluestone, from which the Serjeant would +hardly be able to use his arms with his accustomed energy,--and then +he began at once. "Gentlemen," said he, "it would be a great pity +that this property should be wasted." + +"No fear of that, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant. + +"It would be a great pity that this property should be wasted," +repeated Sir William, bowing to the Serjeant, "and I am disposed to +think that the best thing the two young people can do is to marry +each other." Then he paused, and the three gentlemen opposite sat +erect, the barristers as speechless as the attorneys. But the +Solicitor-General had nothing to add. He had made his proposition, +and was desirous of seeing what effect it might have before he spoke +another word. + +"Then you acknowledge the Countess's marriage, of course," said the +Serjeant. + +"Pardon me, Serjeant, we acknowledge nothing. As a matter of course +she is the Countess till it be proved that another wife was living +when she was married." + +"Quite as a matter of course," said the Serjeant. + +"Quite as a matter of course, if that will make the case stronger," +continued Sir William. "Her marriage was formal and regular. That she +believed her marriage to be a righteous marriage before God, I have +never doubted. God forbid that I should have a harsh thought against +a poor lady who has suffered so much cruel treatment." + +"Why have things been said then?" asked the Serjeant, beginning to +throw about his left arm. + +"If I am not mistaken," said Mr. Mainsail, "evidence has been +prepared to show that the Countess is a party to a contemplated +fraud." + +"Then you are mistaken, Mr. Mainsail," said Sir William. "I admit +at once and clearly that the lady is not suspected of any fraud. +Whether she be actually the Countess Lovel or not it may,--I fear +it must,--take years to prove, if the law be allowed to take its +course." + +"We think that we can dispose of any counter-claim in much less time +than that," said the Serjeant. + +"It may be so. I myself think that it would not be so. Our +evidence in favour of the lady, who is now living some two leagues +out of Palermo, is very strong. She is a poor creature, old, +ignorant,--fairly well off through the bounty of the late Earl, +but always craving for some trifle more,--unwilling to come to +this country,--childless, and altogether indifferent to the second +marriage, except in so far as might interfere with her hopes of +getting some further subsidy from the Lovel family. One is not +very anxious on her behalf. One is only anxious,--can only be +anxious,--that the vast property at stake should not get into +improper hands." + +"And that justice should be done," said Mr. Hardy. + +"And that justice should be done of course, as my friend observes. +Here is a young man who is undoubtedly Earl of Lovel, and who claims +a property as heir to the late Earl. And here is a young lady, I am +told very beautiful and highly educated, who is the daughter of the +late Earl, and who claims that property believing herself to be his +legitimate heiress. The question between them is most intricate." + +"The onus probandi lies with you, Mr. Solicitor," said the Serjeant. + +"We acknowledge that it does, but the case on that account is none +the less intricate. With the view of avoiding litigation and expense, +and in the certainty that by such an arrangement the enjoyment of the +property will fall to the right owner, we propose that steps shall be +taken to bring these two young people together. The lady, whom for +the occasion I am quite willing to call the Countess, the mother of +the lady whom I hope the young Earl will make his own Countess, has +not been sounded on this subject." + +"I should hope not," said the Serjeant. + +"My excellent friend takes me up a little short," said Sir William, +laughing. "You gentlemen will probably consult together on the +subject, and whatever may be the advice which you shall consider it +to be your duty to give to the mother,--and I am sure that you will +feel bound to let her know the proposition that has been made; I do +not hesitate to say that we have a right to expect that it shall be +made known to her,--I need hardly remark that were the young lady to +accept the young lord's hand we should all be in a boat together in +reference to the mother's rank, and to the widow's claim upon the +personal property left behind him by her late husband." + +And so the Solicitor-General had made his proposition, and the +conference was broken up with a promise that Mr. Flick should hear +from Mr. Goffe upon the subject. But the Serjeant had at once made +up his mind against the compromise now proposed. He desired the +danger and the dust and the glory of the battle. He was true to his +clients' interests, no doubt,--intended to be intensely true; but the +personal, doggish love of fighting prevailed in the man, and he was +clear as to the necessity of going on. "They know they are beat," he +said to Mr. Goffe. "Mr. Solicitor knows as well as I do that he has +not an inch of ground under his feet." Therefore Mr. Goffe wrote the +following letter to Messrs. Norton and Flick:-- + + + Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn, + 1st July, 183--. + + DEAR SIRS, + + In reference to the interview which took place at the + chambers of the Solicitor-General on the 27th ult., we + are to inform you that we are not disposed, as acting for + our clients, the Countess of Lovel and her daughter the + Lady Anna Lovel, to listen to the proposition then made. + Apart from the very strong feeling we entertain as to the + certainty of our client's success,--which certainly was + not weakened by what we heard on that occasion,--we are + of opinion that we could not interfere with propriety in + suggesting the marriage of two young persons who have not + as yet had any opportunity of becoming acquainted with + each other. Should the Earl of Lovel seek the hand of + his cousin, the Lady Anna Lovel, and marry her with the + consent of the Countess, we should be delighted at such + a family arrangement; but we do not think that we, as + lawyers,--or, if we may be allowed to say so, that you as + lawyers,--have anything to do with such a matter. + + We are, dear Sirs, + Yours very faithfully, + + GOFFE AND GOFFE. + + Messrs. Norton and Flick. + + +"Balderdash!" said Sir William, when he had read the letter. "We are +not going to be done in that way. It was all very well going to that +Serjeant as he has the case in hand, though a worse messenger in an +affair of love--" + +"Not love, as yet, Mr. Solicitor," said Mr. Flick. + +"I mean it to be love, and I'm not going to be put off by Serjeant +Bluestone. We must get to the lady by some other means. Do you write +to that tailor down at Keswick, and say that you want to see him." + +"Will that be regular, Sir William?" + +"I'll stand the racket, Mr. Flick." Mr. Flick did write to Thomas +Thwaite, and Thomas Thwaite came up to London and called at Mr. +Flick's chambers. + +When Thomas Thwaite received his commission he was much rejoiced. +Injustice would be done him unless so much were owned on his behalf. +But, nevertheless, some feeling of disappointment which he could not +analyze crept across his heart. If once the girl were married to Earl +Lovel there would be an end of his services and of his son's. He had +never really entertained an idea that his son would marry the girl. +As the reader will perhaps remember, he had warned his son that he +must seek a sweetheart elsewhere. He had told himself over and over +again that when the Countess came to her own there must be an end of +this intimacy,--that there could be nothing in common between him, +the radical tailor of Keswick, and a really established Countess. +The Countess, while not yet really established, had already begged +that his son might be instructed not to call her daughter simply by +her Christian name. Old Thwaite on receiving this intimation of the +difference of their positions, though he had acknowledged its truth, +had felt himself bitterly aggrieved, and now the moment had come. Of +course the Countess would grasp at such an offer. Of course it would +give her all that she had desired, and much more than she expected. +In adjusting his feelings on the occasion the tailor thought but +little of the girl herself. Why should she not be satisfied? Of the +young Earl he had only heard that he was a handsome, modest, gallant +lad, who only wanted a fortune to make him one of the most popular +of the golden youth of England. Why should not the girl rejoice +at the prospect of winning such a husband? To have a husband must +necessarily be in her heart, whether she were the Lady Anna Lovel, +or plain Anna Murray. And what espousals could be so auspicious as +these? Feeling all this, without much of calculation, the tailor said +that he would do as he was bidden. "We have sent for you because we +know that you have been so old a friend," said Mr. Flick, who did +not quite approve of the emissary whom he had been instructed by Sir +William to employ. + +"I will do my best, sir," said Mr. Thwaite, making his bow. Thomas +Thwaite, as he went along the streets alone, determined that he would +perform this new duty imposed upon him without any reference to his +son. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +IMPOSSIBLE! + + +"They sent for me, Lady Lovel, to bid me come to your ladyship and +ask your ladyship whether you would consent to a marriage between +the two young people." It was thus that the tailor repeated for the +second time the message which had been confided to him, showing the +gall and also the pride which were at work about his heart by the +repeated titles which he gave to his old friend. + +"They desire that Anna should marry the young lord!" + +"Yes, my lady. That's the meaning of it." + +"And what am I to be?" + +"Just the Countess Lovel,--with a third of the property as your own. +I suppose it would be a third; but you might trust the lawyers to +settle that properly. When once they take your daughter among them +they won't scrimp you in your honours. They'll all swear that the +marriage was good enough then. They know that already, and have made +this offer because they know it. Your ladyship needn't fear now +but what all the world will own you as the Countess Lovel. I don't +suppose I'll be troubled to come up to London any more." + +"Oh, my friend!" The ejaculation she made feeling the necessity of +saying something to soothe the tailor's pride; but her heart was +fixed upon the fruition of that for which she had spent so many years +in struggling. Was it to come to her at last? Could it be that now, +now at once, people throughout the world would call her the Countess +Lovel, and would own her daughter to be the Lady Anna,--till she also +should become a countess? Of the young man she had heard nothing +but good, and it was impossible that she should have fear in that +direction, even had she been timorous by nature. But she was bold +and eager, hopeful in spite of all that she had suffered, full of +ambition, and not prone to feminine scruples. She had been fighting +all her life in order that she and her daughter might be acknowledged +to be among the aristocrats of her country. She was so far a loving, +devoted mother that in all her battles she thought more of her child +than of herself. She would have consented to carry on the battle in +poverty to the last gasp of her own breath, could she thereby have +insured success for her surviving daughter. But she was not a woman +likely to be dismayed at the idea of giving her girl in marriage +to an absolute stranger, when that stranger was such a one as the +young Earl Lovel. She herself had been a countess, but a wretched, +unacknowledged, poverty-stricken countess, for the last half of her +eventful life. This marriage would make her daughter a countess, +prosperous, accepted by all, and very wealthy. What better end could +there be to her long struggles? Of course she would assent. + +"I don't know why they should have troubled themselves to send for +me," said the tailor. + +"Because you are the best friend that I have in the world. Whom else +could I have trusted as I do you? Has the Earl agreed to it?" + +"They didn't tell me that, my lady." + +"They would hardly have sent, unless he had agreed. Don't you think +so, Mr. Thwaite?" + +"I don't know much about such things, my lady." + +"You have told--Daniel?" + +"No, my lady." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite, do not talk to me in that way. It sounds as though +you were deserting me." + +"There'll be no reason for not deserting now. You'll have friends by +the score more fit to see you through this than old Thomas Thwaite. +And, to own the truth, now that the matter is coming to an end, I am +getting weary of it. I'm not so young as I was, and I'd be better +left at home to my business." + +"I hope that you may disregard your business now without imprudence, +Mr. Thwaite." + +"No, my lady;--a man should always stick to his business. I hope that +Daniel will do so better than his father before him,--so that his son +may never have to go out to be servant to another man." + +"You are speaking daggers to me." + +"I have not meant it then. I am rough by nature, I know, and perhaps +a little low just at present. There is something sad in the parting +of old friends." + +"Old friends needn't be parted, Mr. Thwaite." + +"When your ladyship was good enough to point out to me my boy's +improper manner of speech to Lady Anna, I knew how it must be. You +were quite right, my lady. There can be no becoming friendship +between the future Lady Lovel and a journeyman tailor. I was wrong +from the beginning." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite! without such wrong where should we have been?" + +"There can be no holding ground of friendship between such as you and +such as we. Lords and ladies, earls and countesses, are our enemies, +and we are theirs. We may make their robes and take their money, and +deal with them as the Jew dealt with the Christians in the play; but +we cannot eat with them or drink with them." + +"How often have I eaten and drank at your table, when no other table +was spread for me?" + +"You were a Jew almost as ourselves then. We cannot now well stand +shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm as friends should do." + +"How often has my child lain in your arms when she was a baby, and +been quieter there than she would be even in her mother's?" + +"That has all gone by. Other arms will be open to receive her." As +the tailor said this he remembered how his boy used to take the +little child out to the mountain side, and how the two would ramble +away together through the long summer evenings; and he reflected that +the memory of those days was no doubt still strong in the heart of +his son. Some shadow of the grief which would surely fall upon the +young man now fell upon the father, and caused him almost to repent +of the work of his life. "Tailors should consort with tailors," he +said, "and lords and ladies should consort together." + +Something of the same feeling struck the Countess also. If it were +not for the son, the father, after all that he had done for them, +might be almost as near and as dear to them as ever. He might have +called the Lady Anna by her Christian name, at any rate till she had +been carried away as a bride by the Earl. But, though all this was so +exquisitely painful, it had been absolutely necessary to check the +son. "Ah, well," she said; "it is hardly to be hoped that so many +crooked things should be made straight without much pain. If you +knew, Mr. Thwaite, how little it is that I expect for myself!" + +"It is because I have known it that I am here." + +"It will be well for her,--will it not,--to be the wife of her +cousin?" + +"If he be a good man. A woman will not always make herself happy by +marrying an Earl." + +"How many daggers you can use, Mr. Thwaite! But this young man is +good. You yourself have said that you have heard so." + +"I have heard nothing to the contrary, my lady." + +"And what shall I do?" + +"Just explain it all to Lady Anna. I think it will be clear then." + +"You believe that she will be so easily pleased?" + +"Why should she not be pleased? She'll have some maiden scruples, +doubtless. What maid would not? But she'll exult at such an end to +all her troubles;--and what maid would not? Let them meet as soon as +may be and have it over. When he shall have placed the ring on her +finger, your battle will have been won." + +Then the tailor felt that his commission was done and he might take +his leave. It had been arranged that in the event of the Countess +consenting to the proposed marriage, he should call upon Mr. Flick to +explain that it was so. Had she dissented, a short note would have +been sufficient. Had such been the case, the Solicitor-General would +have instigated the young lord to go and try what he himself could do +with the Countess and her daughter. The tailor had suggested to the +mother that she should at once make the proposition known to Lady +Anna, but the Countess felt that one other word was necessary as +her old friend left her. "Will you go back at once to Keswick, Mr. +Thwaite?" + +"To-morrow morning, my lady." + +"Perhaps you will not tell your son of this,--yet?" + +"No, my lady. I will not tell my son of this,--yet. My son is +high-minded and stiff-necked, and of great heart. If he saw aught to +object to in this marriage, it might be that he would express himself +loudly." Then the tailor took his leave without even shaking hands +with the Countess. + +The woman sat alone for the next two hours, thinking of what had +passed. There had sprung up in these days a sort of friendship +between Mrs. Bluestone and the two Miss Bluestones and the Lady +Anna, arising rather from the forlorn condition of the young lady +than from any positive choice of affection. Mrs. Bluestone was kind +and motherly. The girls were girlish and good. The father was the +Jupiter Tonans of the household,--as was of course proper,--and was +worshipped in everything. To the world at large Serjeant Bluestone +was a thundering, blundering, sanguine, energetic lawyer, whom nobody +disliked very much though he was so big and noisy. But at home +Serjeant Bluestone was all the judges of the land rolled into one. +But he was a kind-hearted man, and he had sent his wife and girls +to call upon the disconsolate Countess. The disconsolate Lady Anna +having no other friends, had found the companionship of the Bluestone +girls to be pleasant to her, and she was now with them at the +Serjeant's house in Bedford Square. Mrs. Bluestone talked of the +wrongs and coming rights of the Countess Lovel wherever she went, and +the Bluestone girls had all the case at their fingers' ends. To doubt +that the Serjeant would succeed, or to doubt that the success of the +Countess and her daughter would have had any other source than the +Serjeant's eloquence and the Serjeant's zeal, would have been heresy +in Bedford Square. The grand idea that young Jack Bluestone, who was +up at Brasenose, should marry the Lady Anna, had occurred only to the +mother. + +Lady Anna was away with her friends as the Countess sat brooding over +the new hopes that had been opened to her. At first, she could not +tear her mind away from the position which she herself would occupy +as soon as her daughter should have been married and taken away +from her. The young Earl would not want his mother-in-law,--a +mother-in-law who had spent the best years of her life in the society +of a tailor. And the daughter, who would still be young enough to +begin a new life in a new sphere, would no longer want her mother to +help her. As regarded herself, the Countess was aware that the life +she had led so long, and the condition of agonizing struggling to +which she had been brought, had unfitted her for smiling, happy, +prosperous, aristocratic luxury. There was but one joy left for her, +and that was to be the joy of success. When that cup should have been +drained, there would be nothing left to her. She would have her rank, +of course,--and money enough to support it. She no longer feared that +any one would do her material injury. Her daughter's husband no doubt +would see that she had a fitting home, with all the appanages and +paraphernalia suited to a dowager Countess. But who would share her +home with her, and where should she find her friends? Even now the +two Miss Bluestones were more to her daughter than she was. When +she should be established in her new luxurious home, with servants +calling her my lady, with none to contradict her right, she would no +longer be enabled to sit late into the night discussing matters with +her friend the tailor. As regarded herself, it would have been better +for her, perhaps, if the fight had been carried on. + +But the fight had been, not for herself, but for her child; and the +victory for her girl would have been won by her own perseverance. +Her whole life had been devoted to establishing the rights of her +daughter, and it should be so devoted to the end. It had been her +great resolve that the world should acknowledge the rank of her girl, +and now it would be acknowledged. Not only would she become the +Countess Lovel by marriage, but the name which had been assumed for +her amidst the ridicule of many, and in opposition to the belief of +nearly all, would be proved to have been her just and proper title. +And then, at last, it would be known by all men that she herself, the +ill-used, suffering mother, had gone to the house of that wicked man, +not as his mistress, but as his true wife! + +Hardly a thought troubled her, then, as to the acquiescence of her +daughter. She had no faintest idea that the girl's heart had been +touched by the young tailor. She had so lived that she knew but +little of lovers and their love, and in her fear regarding Daniel +Thwaite she had not conceived danger such as that. It had to her +simply been unfitting that there should be close familiarity between +the two. She expected that her daughter would be ambitious, as she +was ambitious, and would rejoice greatly at such perfect success. +She herself had been preaching ambition and practising ambition all +her life. It had been the necessity of her career that she should +think more of her right to a noble name than of any other good thing +under the sun. It was only natural that she should believe that her +daughter shared the feeling. + +And then Lady Anna came in. "They wanted me to stay and dine, mamma, +but I did not like to think that you should be left alone." + +"I must get used to that, my dear." + +"Why, mamma? Wherever we have been, we have always been together. +Mrs. Bluestone was quite unhappy because you would not come. They are +so good-natured! I wish you would go there." + +"I am better here, my dear." Then there was a pause for a few +moments. "But I am glad that you have come home this evening." + +"Of course, I should come home." + +"I have something special to say to you." + +"To me, mamma! What is it, mamma?" + +"I think we will wait till after dinner. The things are here now. Go +up-stairs and take off your hat, and I will tell you after dinner." + +"Mamma," Lady Anna said, as soon as the maid had left the room, "has +old Mr. Thwaite been here?" + +"Yes, my dear, he was here." + +"I thought so, because you have something to tell me. It is something +from him?" + +"Not from himself, Anna;--though he was the messenger. Come and sit +here, my dear,--close to me. Have you ever thought, Anna, that it +would be good for you to be married?" + +"No, mamma; why should I?" But that surely was a lie! How often had +she thought that it would be good to be married to Daniel Thwaite and +to have done with this weary searching after rank! And now what could +her mother mean? Thomas Thwaite had been there, but it was impossible +that her mother should think that Daniel Thwaite would be a fit +husband for her daughter. "No, mamma;--why should I?" + +"It must be thought of, my dearest." + +"Why now?" She could understand perfectly that there was some special +cause for her mother's manner of speech. + +"After all that we have gone through, we are about to succeed +at last. They are willing to own everything, to give us all our +rights,--on one condition." + +"What condition, mamma?" + +"Come nearer to me, dearest. It would not make you unhappy to think +that you were going to be the wife of a man you could love?" + +"No;--not if I really loved him." + +"You have heard of your cousin,--the young Earl?" + +"Yes, mamma;--I have heard of him." + +"They say that he is everything that is good. What should you think +of having him for your husband?" + +"That would be impossible, mamma." + +"Impossible!--why impossible? What could be more fitting? Your rank +is equal to his;--higher even in this, that your father was himself +the Earl. In fortune you will be much more than his equal. In age you +are exactly suited. Why should it be impossible?" + +"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!" + +"What makes you say so, Anna?" + +"We have never seen each other." + +"Tush! my child. Why should you not see each other?" + +"And then we are his enemies." + +"We are no longer enemies, dearest. They have sent to say that if +we,--you and I,--will consent to this marriage, then will they +consent to it also. It is their wish, and it comes from them. There +can be no more proper ending to all this weary lawsuit. It is quite +right that the title and the name should be supported. It is quite +right that the fortune which your father left should, in this way, +go to support your father's family. You will be the Countess Lovel; +and all will have been conceded to us. There cannot possibly be any +fitter way out of our difficulties." Lady Anna sat looking at her +mother in dismay, but could say nothing. "You need have no fear +about the young man. Every one tells me that he is just the man +that a mother would welcome as a husband for her daughter. Will +you not be glad to see him?" But the Lady Anna would only say that +it was impossible. "Why impossible, my dear;--what do you mean by +impossible?" + +"Oh, mamma, it is impossible!" + +The Countess found that she was obliged to give the subject up for +that night, and could only comfort herself by endeavouring to believe +that the suddenness of the tidings had confused her child. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IT ISN'T LAW. + + +On the next morning Lady Anna was ill, and would not leave her bed. +When her mother spoke to her, she declared that her head ached +wretchedly, and she could not be persuaded to dress herself. + +"Is it what I said to you last night?" asked the Countess. + +"Oh, mamma, that is impossible," she said. + +It seemed to the mother that the mention of the young lord's name +had produced a horror in the daughter's mind which nothing could for +the present subdue. Before the day was over, however, the girl had +acknowledged that she was bound in duty, at any rate, to meet her +cousin; and the Countess, forced to satisfy herself with so much of +concession, and acting upon that, fixed herself in her purpose to +go on with the project. The lawyers on both sides would assist her. +It was for the advantage of them all that there should be such a +marriage. She determined, therefore, that she would at once see Mr. +Goffe, her own attorney, and give him to understand in general terms +that the case might be proceeded with on this new matrimonial basis. + +But there was a grievous doubt on her mind,--a fear, a spark of +suspicion, of which she had unintentionally given notice to Thomas +Thwaite when she asked him whether he had as yet spoken of the +proposed marriage to his son. He had understood what was passing in +her mind when she exacted from him a promise that nothing should as +yet be said to Daniel Thwaite upon the matter. And yet she assured +herself over and over again that her girl could not be so weak, so +vain, so foolish, so wicked as that! It could not be that, after all +the struggles of her life,--when at last success, perfect success, +was within their grasp, when all had been done and all well done, +when the great reward was then coming up to their very lips with a +full tide,--it could not be that in the very moment of victory all +should be lost through the base weakness of a young girl! Was it +possible that her daughter,--the daughter of one who had spent the +very marrow of her life in fighting for the position that was due to +her,--should spoil all by preferring a journeyman tailor to a young +nobleman of high rank, of ancient lineage, and one, too, who by his +marriage with herself would endow her with wealth sufficient to make +that rank splendid as well as illustrious? But if it were not so, +what had the girl meant by saying that it was impossible? That the +word should have been used once or twice in maidenly scruple, the +Countess could understand; but it had been repeated with a vehemence +beyond that which such natural timidity might have produced. And now +the girl professed herself to be ill in bed, and when the subject was +broached would only weep, and repeat the one word with which she had +expressed her repugnance to the match. + +Hitherto she had not been like this. She had, in her own quiet way, +shared her mother's aspirations, and had always sympathised with +her mother's sufferings; and she had been dutiful through it all, +carrying herself as one who was bound to special obedience by the +peculiarity of her parent's position. She had been keenly alive to +the wrongs that her mother endured, and had in every respect been a +loving child. But now she protested that she would not do the one +thing necessary to complete their triumph, and would give no reason +for not doing so. As the Countess thought of all this, she swore +to herself that she would prefer to divest her bosom of all soft +motherly feeling than be vanquished in this matter by her own child. +Her daughter should find that she could be stern and rough enough if +she were really thwarted. What would her life be worth to her if her +child, Lady Anna Lovel, the heiress and only legitimate offspring of +the late Earl Lovel, were to marry a--tailor? + +And then, again, she told herself that there was no sufficient excuse +for such alarm. Her daughter's demeanour had ever been modest. She +had never been given to easy friendship, or to that propensity to +men's acquaintance which the world calls flirting. It might be that +the very absence of such propensity,--the very fact that hitherto she +had never been thrust into society among her equals,--had produced +that feeling almost of horror which she had expressed. But she had +been driven, at any rate, to say that she would meet the young man; +and the Countess, acting upon that, called on Mr. Goffe in his +chambers, and explained to that gentleman that she proposed to settle +the whole question in dispute by giving her daughter to the young +Earl in marriage. Mr. Goffe, who had been present at the conference +among the lawyers, understood it all in a moment. The overture had +been made from the other side to his client. + +"Indeed, my lady!" said Mr. Goffe. + +"Do you not think it will be an excellent arrangement?" + +In his heart of hearts Mr. Goffe thought that it would be an +excellent arrangement; but he could not commit himself to such an +opinion. Serjeant Bluestone thought that the matter should be fought +out, and Mr. Goffe was not prepared to separate himself from his +legal adviser. As Serjeant Bluestone had said after the conference, +with much argumentative vehemence,--"If we were to agree to this, +how would it be if the marriage should not come off? The court can't +agree to a marriage. The court must direct to whom the property +belongs. They profess that they can prove that our marriage was no +marriage. They must do so, or else they must withdraw the allegation. +Suppose the Italian woman were to come forward afterwards with her +claim as the widow, where then would be my client's position, and her +title as dowager countess, and her claim upon her husband's personal +estate? I never heard anything more irregular in my life. It is +just like Patterson, who always thinks he can make laws according +to the light of his own reason." So Serjeant Bluestone had said to +the lawyers who were acting with him; and Mr. Goffe, though he did +himself think that this marriage would be the best thing in the +world, could not differ from the Serjeant. + +No doubt there might even yet be very great difficulties, even though +the young Earl and Lady Anna Lovel should agree to be married. Mr. +Goffe on that occasion said very little to the Countess, and she +left him with a feeling that a certain quantity of cold water had +been thrown upon the scheme. But she would not allow herself to be +disturbed by that. The marriage could go on without any consent on +the part of the lawyers, and the Countess was quite satisfied that, +should the marriage be once completed, the money and the titles would +all go as she desired. She had already begun to have more faith in +the Solicitor-General than in Mr. Goffe or in Serjeant Bluestone. + +But Serjeant Bluestone was not a man to bear such treatment and be +quiet under it. He heard that very day from Mr. Goffe what had been +done, and was loud in the expression of his displeasure. It was the +most irregular thing that he had ever known. No other man except +Patterson in the whole profession would have done it! The counsel on +the other side--probably Patterson himself--had been to his client, +and given advice to his client, and had done so after her own counsel +had decided that no such advice should be given! He would see the +Attorney-General, and ask the Attorney-General what he thought about +it. Now, it was supposed in legal circles, just at this period, that +the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were not the best +friends in the world; and the latter was wont to call the former an +old fogey, and the former to say of the latter that he might be a +very clever philosopher, but certainly no lawyer. And so by degrees +the thing got much talked about in the profession; and there was +perhaps a balance of opinion that the Solicitor-General had done +wrong. + +But this was certain,--that no one could be put into possession of +the property till the court had decided to whom it belonged. If the +Earl withdrew from his claim, the widow would simply be called on to +prove her own marriage,--which had in truth been proved more than +once already,--and the right of her legitimate child would follow as +a matter of course. It was by no means probable that the woman over +in Italy would make any claim on her own behalf,--and even, should +she do so, she could not find the means of supporting it. "They must +be asses," said the Solicitor-General, "not to see that I am fighting +their battle for them, and that I am doing so because I can best +secure my own client's interests by securing theirs also." But even +he became nervous after a day or two, and was anxious to learn that +the marriage scheme was progressing. He told his client, Lord Lovel, +that it would be well that the marriage should take place before the +court sat in November. "In that case settlements will, of course, +have been made, and we shall simply withdraw. We shall state the fact +of this new marriage, and assert ourselves to be convinced that the +old marriage was good and valid. But you should lose no time in the +wooing, my lord." At this time the Earl had not seen his cousin, and +it had not yet been decided when they should meet. + +"It is my duty to explain to you, Lady Lovel, as my client," said +Serjeant Bluestone to the Countess, "that this arrangement cannot +afford a satisfactory mode to you of establishing your own position." + +"It would be so happy for the whole family!" + +"As to that I can know nothing, Lady Lovel. If your daughter and the +Earl are attached to each other, there can be no reason on earth why +they should not be married. But it should be a separate thing. Your +position should not be made to depend upon hers." + +"But they will withdraw, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"How do you know that they will withdraw? Supposing at the last +moment Lady Anna were to decline the alliance, would they withdraw +then? Not a bit of it. The matter would be further delayed, and +referred over to next year. You and your daughter would be kept out +of your money, and there would still be danger." + +"I should not care for that;--if they were married." + +"And they have set up this Italian countess,--who never was a +countess,--any more than I am. Now they have put her up, they are +bound to dispose of her. If she came forward afterwards, on her own +behalf, where would you all be then?" + +"My daughter would, at any rate, be safe." + +The Serjeant did not like it at all. He felt that he was being thrown +over, not only by his client the Countess,--as to which he might +have been indifferent, knowing that the world at large, the laity as +distinguished from the lawyers, the children of the world as all who +were not lawyers seemed to him to be, will do and must be expected to +do, foolish things continually. They cannot be persuaded to subject +themselves to lawyers in all their doings, and, of course, go wrong +when they do not do so. The infinite simplicity and silliness of +mankind and womankind at large were too well known to the Serjeant to +cause him dismay, let them be shown in ever so egregious a fashion. +But in this case the fault came from another lawyer, who had tampered +with his clients, and who seemed to be himself as ignorant as +though he belonged to the outside world. And this man had been made +Solicitor-General,--over the heads of half the profession,--simply +because he could make a speech in Parliament! + +But the Solicitor-General was himself becoming uneasy when at the end +of a fortnight he learned that the young people,--as he had come to +call them on all occasions,--had not as yet seen each other. He would +not like to have it said of him that he had thrown over his client. +And there were some who still believed that the Italian marriage +had been a real marriage, and the Italian wife alive at the time of +the Cumberland marriage,--though the Italian woman now living had +never been the countess. Mr. Hardy so believed, and, in his private +opinion, thought that the Solicitor-General had been very indiscreet. + +"I don't think that we could ever dare to face a jury," said Sir +William to Mr. Hardy when they discussed the matter, about a +fortnight after the proposition had been made. + +"Why did the Earl always say that the Italian woman was his wife?" + +"Because the Earl was a very devil." + +"Mr. Flick does not think so." + +"Yes, he does; but Mr. Flick, like all attorneys with a bad case, +does not choose to say quite what he thinks, even to his own counsel. +Mr. Flick does not like to throw his client over, nor do I, nor +do you. But with such a case we have no right to create increased +expenses, and all the agony of prolonged fallacious hope. The girl is +her father's heir. Do you suppose I would not stick to my brief if I +did not feel sure that it is so?" + +"Then let the Earl be told, and let the girl have her rights." + +"Ah! there you have me. It may be that such would be the juster +course; but then, Hardy, cannot you understand that though I am sure, +I am not quite sure; that though the case is a bad one, it may not +be quite bad enough to be thrown up? It is just the case in which +a compromise is expedient. If but a quarter, or but an eighth of a +probability be with you, take your proportion of the thing at stake. +But here is a compromise that gives all to each. Who would wish to +rob the girl of her noble name and great inheritance if she be the +heiress? Not I, though the Earl be my client. And yet how sad would +it be to have to tell that young man that there was nothing for him +but to submit to lose all the wealth belonging to the family of which +he has been born the head! If we can bring them together there will +be nothing to make sore the hearts of any of us." + +Mr. Hardy acknowledged to himself that the Solicitor-General pleaded +his own case very well; but yet he felt that it wasn't law. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE FIRST INTERVIEW. + + +For some days after the intimation of her mother's purpose, Lady Anna +kept her bed. She begged that she might not see a doctor. She had a +headache,--nothing but a headache. But it was quite impossible that +she should ever marry Earl Lovel. This she said whenever her mother +would revert to that subject,--"I have not seen him, mamma; I do not +know him. I am sure it would be impossible." Then, when at last she +was induced to dress herself, she was still unwilling to be forced to +undergo the interview to which she had acknowledged that she must be +subjected. At last she consented to spend a day in Bedford Square; to +dine there, and to be brought home in the evening. The Countess was +at this time not very full of trust in the Serjeant, having learned +that he was opposed to the marriage scheme, but she was glad that her +daughter should be induced to go out, even to the Serjeant's house, +as after that visit the girl could have no ground on which to oppose +the meeting which was to be arranged. She could hardly plead that she +was too ill to see her cousin when she had dined with Mrs. Bluestone. + +During this time many plans had been proposed for the meeting. The +Solicitor-General, discussing the matter with the young lord, had +thought it best that Lady Anna should at once be asked down to +Yoxham,--as the Lady Anna; and the young lord would have been quite +satisfied with such an arrangement. He could have gone about his +obligatory wooing among his own friends, in the house to which he had +been accustomed, with much more ease than in a London lodging. But +his uncle, who had corresponded on the subject with Mr. Hardy, still +objected. "We should be giving up everything," he said, "if we were +once to call her Lady Anna. Where should we be then if they didn't +hit it off together? I don't believe, and I never shall believe, that +she is really Lady Anna Lovel." The Solicitor-General, when he heard +of this objection, shook his head, finding himself almost provoked to +anger. What asses were these people not to understand that he could +see further into the matter than they could do, and that their best +way out of their difficulty would be frankly to open their arms to +the heiress! Should they continue to be pig-headed and prejudiced, +everything would soon be gone. + +Then he had a scheme for inviting the girl to his own house, and to +that scheme he obtained his wife's consent. But here his courage +failed him; or, it might be fairer to say, that his prudence +prevailed. He was very anxious, intensely eager, so to arrange this +great family dispute that all should be benefited,--believing, nay +feeling positively certain that all concerned in the matter were +honest; but he must not go so far as to do himself an absolute and +grievous damage, should it at last turn out that he was wrong in any +of his surmises. So that plan was abandoned. + +There was nothing left for it but that the young Earl should himself +face the difficulty, and be introduced to the girl at the lodging in +Wyndham Street. But, as a prelude to this, a meeting was arranged +at Mr. Flick's chambers between the Countess and her proposed +son-in-law. That the Earl should go to his own attorney's chambers +was all in rule. While he was there the Countess came,--which was not +in rule, and almost induced the Serjeant to declare, when he heard +it, that he would have nothing more to do with the case. "My lord," +said the Countess, "I am glad to meet you, and I hope that we may be +friends." The young man was less collected, and stammered out a few +words that were intended to be civil. + +"It is a pity that you should have conflicting interests," said the +attorney. + +"I hope it need not continue to be so," said the Countess. "My heart, +Lord Lovel, is all in the welfare of our joint family. We will +begrudge you nothing if you will not begrudge us the names which +are our own, and without which we cannot live honourably before +the world." Then some other few words were muttered, and the Earl +promised to come to Wyndham Street at a certain hour. Not a word +was then said about the marriage. Even the Countess, with all her +resolution and all her courage, did not find herself able in set +terms to ask the young man to marry her daughter. + +"She is a very handsome woman," said the lord to the attorney, when +the Countess had left them. + +"Yes, indeed." + +"And like a lady." + +"Quite like a lady. She herself was of a good family." + +"I suppose she certainly was the late Earl's wife, Mr. Flick?" + +"Who can say, my lord? That is just the question. The +Solicitor-General thinks that she would prove her right, and I do +not know that I have ever found him to be wrong when he has had a +steadfast opinion." + +"Why should we not give it up to her at once?" + +"I couldn't recommend that, my lord. Why should we give it up? The +interests at stake are very great. I couldn't for a moment think of +suggesting to you to give it up." + +"I want nothing, Mr. Flick, that does not belong to me." + +"Just so. But then perhaps it does belong to you. We can never +be sure. No doubt the safest way will be for you to contract an +alliance with this lady. Of course we should give it up then, but the +settlements would make the property all right." The young Earl did +not quite like it. He would rather have commenced his wooing after +the girl had been established in her own right, and when she would +have had no obligation on her to accept him. But he had consented, +and it was too late for him now to recede. It had been already +arranged that he should call in Wyndham Street at noon on the +following day, in order that he might be introduced to his cousin. + +On that evening the Countess sat late with her daughter, purposing +that on the morrow nothing should be said before the interview +calculated to disturb the girl's mind. But as they sat together +through the twilight and into the darkness of night, close by the +open window, through which the heavily laden air of the metropolis +came to them, hot with all the heat of a London July day, very many +words were spoken by the Countess. "It will be for you, to-morrow, to +make or to mar all that I have been doing since the day on which you +were born." + +"Oh! mamma, that is so terrible a thing to say!" + +"But terrible things must be said if they are true. It is so. It is +for you to decide whether we shall triumph, or be utterly and for +ever crushed." + +"I cannot understand it. Why should we be crushed? He would not wish +to marry me if this fortune were not mine. He is not coming, mamma, +because he loves me." + +"You say that because you do not understand. Do you suppose that my +name will be allowed to me if you should refuse your cousin's suit? +If so, you are very much mistaken. The fight will go on, and as we +have not money, we shall certainly go to the wall at last. Why should +you not love him? There is no one else that you care for." + +"No, mamma," she said slowly. + +"Then, what more can you want?" + +"I do not know him, mamma." + +"But you will know him. According to that, no girl would ever get +married. Is it not a great thing that you should be asked to assume +and to enjoy the rank which has belonged to your mother, but which +she has never been able to enjoy?" + +"I do not think, mamma, that I care much about rank." + +"Anna!" The mother's mind as she heard this flew off to the young +tailor. Had misery so great as this overtaken her after all? + +"I mean that I don't care so much about it. It has never done us any +good." + +"But if it is a thing that is your own, that you are born to, you +must bear it, whether it be in sorrow or in joy; whether it be a +blessing or a curse. If it be yours, you cannot fling it away from +you. You may disgrace it, but you must still have it. Though you were +to throw yourself away upon a chimney-sweeper, you must still be Lady +Anna, the daughter of Earl Lovel." + +"I needn't call myself so." + +"Others must call you so. It is your name, and you cannot be rid of +it. It is yours of right, as my name has been mine of right; and not +to assert it, not to live up to it, not to be proud of it, would +argue incredible baseness. 'Noblesse oblige.' You have heard that +motto, and know what it means. And then would you throw away from you +in some childish phantasy all that I have been struggling to win for +you during my whole life? Have you ever thought of what my life has +been, Anna?" + +"Yes, mamma." + +"Would you have the heart to disappoint me, now that the victory is +won;--now that it may be made our own by your help? And what is it +that I am asking you to do? If this man were bad,--if he were such a +one as your father, if he were drunken, cruel, ill-conditioned, or +even heavy, foolish, or deformed; had you been told stories to set +you against him, as that he had been false with other women, I could +understand it. In that case we would at any rate find out the truth +before we went on. But of this man we hear that he is good, and +pleasant; an excellent young man, who has endeared himself to all who +know him. Such a one that all the girls of his own standing in the +world would give their eyes to win him." + +"Let some girl win him then who cares for him." + +"But he wishes to win you, dearest." + +"Not because he loves me. How can he love me when he never saw me? +How can I love him when I never saw him?" + +"He wishes to win you because he has heard what you are, and because +he knows that by doing so he can set things right which for many +years have been wrong." + +"It is because he would get all this money." + +"You would both get it. He desires nothing unfair. Whatever he +takes from you, so much he will give. And it is not only for this +generation. Is it nothing to you that the chiefs of your own family +who shall come after you shall be able to hold their heads up among +other British peers? Would you not wish that your own son should come +to be Earl Lovel, with wealth sufficient to support the dignity?" + +"I don't think it would make him happy, mamma." + +"There is something more in this, Anna, than I can understand. You +used not to be so. When we talked of these things in past years you +used not to be indifferent." + +"I was not asked then to--to--marry a man I did not care for." + +"There is something else, Anna." + +"No, mamma." + +"If there be nothing else you will learn to care for him. You will +see him to-morrow, and will be left alone with him. I will sit with +you for a time, and then I will leave you. All that I ask of you is +to receive him to-morrow without any prejudice against him. You must +remember how much depends on you, and that you are not as other girls +are." After that Lady Anna was allowed to go to her bed, and to weep +in solitude over the wretchedness of her condition. It was not only +that she loved Daniel Thwaite with all her heart,--loved him with +a love that had grown with every year of her growth;--but that she +feared him also. The man had become her master; and even could she +have brought herself to be false, she would have lacked the courage +to declare her falsehood to the man to whom she had vowed her love. + +On the following morning Lady Anna did not come down to breakfast, +and the Countess began to fear that she would be unable to induce her +girl to rise in time to receive their visitor. But the poor child had +resolved to receive the man's visit, and contemplated no such escape +as that. At eleven o'clock she slowly dressed herself, and before +twelve crept down into the one sitting-room which they occupied. The +Countess glanced round at her, anxious to see that she was looking +her best. Certain instructions had been given as to her dress, and +the garniture of her hair, and the disposal of her ribbons. All +these had been fairly well obeyed; but there was a fixed, determined +hardness in her face which made her mother fear that the Earl might +be dismayed. The mother knew that her child had never looked like +that before. + +Punctually at twelve the Earl was announced. The Countess received +him very pleasantly, and with great composure. She shook hands with +him as though they had known each other all their lives, and then +introduced him to her daughter with a sweet smile. "I hope you will +acknowledge her as your far-away cousin, my lord. Blood, they say, is +thicker than water; and, if so, you two ought to be friends." + +"I am sure I hope we may be," said the Earl. + +"I hope so too,--my lord," said the girl, as she left her hand quite +motionless in his. + +"We heard of you down in Cumberland," said the Countess. "It is +long since I have seen the old place, but I shall never forget it. +There is not a bush among the mountains there that I shall not +remember,--ay, into the next world, if aught of our memories are left +to us." + +"I love the mountains; but the house is very gloomy." + +"Gloomy indeed. If you found it sad, what must it have been to me? I +hope that I may tell you some day of all that I suffered there. There +are things to tell of which I have never yet spoken to human being. +She, poor child, has been too young and too tender to be troubled +by such a tale. I sometimes think that no tragedy ever written, no +story of horrors ever told, can have exceeded in description the +things which I endured in that one year of my married life." Then +she went on at length, not telling the details of that terrible year, +but speaking generally of the hardships of her life. "I have never +wondered, Lord Lovel, that you and your nearest relations should have +questioned my position. A bad man had surrounded me with such art in +his wickedness, that it has been almost beyond my strength to rid +myself of his toils." All this she had planned beforehand, having +resolved that she would rush into the midst of things at once, and if +possible enlist his sympathies on her side. + +"I hope it may be over now," he said. + +"Yes," she replied, rising slowly from her seat, "I hope it may be +over now." The moment had come in which she had to play the most +difficult stroke of her whole game, and much might depend on the way +in which she played it. She could not leave them together, walking +abruptly out of the room, without giving some excuse for so unusual +a proceeding. "Indeed, I hope it may be over now, both for us and +for you, Lord Lovel. That wicked man, in leaving behind such cause +of quarrel, has injured you almost as deeply as us. I pray God that +you and that dear girl there may so look into each other's hearts +and trust each other's purposes, that you may be able to set right +the ill which your predecessor did. If so, the family of Lovel for +centuries to come may be able to bless your names." Then with slow +steps she left the room. + +Lady Anna had spoken one word, and that was all. It certainly was not +for her now to speak. She sat leaning on the table, with her eyes +fixed upon the ground, not daring to look at the man who had been +brought to her as her future husband. A single glance she had taken +as he entered the room, and she had seen at once that he was fair +and handsome, that he still had that sweet winsome boyishness of +face which makes a girl feel that she need not fear a man,--that the +man has something of her own weakness, and need not be treated as +one who is wise, grand, or heroic. And she saw too in one glance +how different he was from Daniel Thwaite, the man to whom she had +absolutely given herself;--and she understood at the moment something +of the charm of luxurious softness and aristocratic luxury. Daniel +Thwaite was swarthy, hard-handed, blackbearded,--with a noble fire +in his eyes, but with an innate coarseness about his mouth which +betokened roughness as well as strength. Had it been otherwise with +her than it was, she might, she thought, have found it easy enough to +love this young earl. As it was, there was nothing for her to do but +to wait and answer him as best she might. + +"Lady Anna," he said. + +"My lord!" + +"Will it not be well that we should be friends?" + +"Oh,--friends;--yes, my lord." + +"I will tell you all and everything;--that is, about myself. I was +brought up to believe that you and your mother were just--impostors." + +"My lord, we are not impostors." + +"No;--I believe it. I am sure you are not. Mistakes have been made, +but it has not been of my doing. As a boy, what could I believe but +what I was told? I know now that you are and always have been as you +have called yourself. If nothing else comes of it, I will at any rate +say so much. The estate which your father left is no doubt yours. If +I could hinder it, there should be no more law." + +"Thank you, my lord." + +"Your mother says that she has suffered much. I am sure she has +suffered. I trust that all that is over now. I have come here to-day +more to say that on my own behalf than anything else." A shadow of a +shade of disappointment, the slightest semblance of a cloud, passed +across her heart as she heard this. But it was well. She could not +have married him, even if he had wished it, and now, as it seemed, +that difficulty was over. Her mother and those lawyers had been +mistaken, and it was well that he should tell her so at once. + +"It is very good of you, my lord." + +"I would not have you think of me that I could come to you hoping +that you would promise me your love before I had shown you whether I +had loved you or not." + +"No, my lord." She hardly understood him now,--whether he intended to +propose himself as a suitor for her hand or not. + +"You, Lady Anna, are your father's heir. I am your cousin, Earl +Lovel, as poor a peer as there is in England. They tell me that we +should marry because you are rich and I am an earl." + +"So they tell me;--but that will not make it right." + +"I would not have it so, even if I dared to think that you would +agree to it." + +"Oh, no, my lord; nor would I." + +"But if you could learn to love me--" + +"No, my lord;--no." + +"Do not answer me yet, my cousin. If I swore that I loved you,--loved +you so soon after seeing you,--and loved you, too, knowing you to be +so wealthy an heiress--" + +"Ah, do not talk of that." + +"Well;--not of that. But if I said that I loved you, you would not +believe me." + +"It would not be true, my lord." + +"But I know that I shall love you. You will let me try? You are very +lovely, and they tell me you are sweet-humoured. I can believe well +that you are sweet and pleasant. You will let me try to love you, +Anna?" + +"No, my lord." + +"Must it be so, so soon?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Why that? Is it because we are strangers to each other? That may +be cured;--if not quickly, as I would have it cured, slowly and by +degrees; slowly as you can wish, if only I may come where you shall +be. You have said that we may be friends." + +"Oh yes,--friends, I hope." + +"Friends at least. We are born cousins." + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Cannot you call me by my name? Cousins, you know, do so. And +remember this, you will have and can have no nearer cousin than I am. +I am bound at least to be a brother to you." + +"Oh, be my brother!" + +"That,--or more than that. I would fain be more than that. But I will +be that, at least. As I came to you, before I saw you, I felt that +whenever we knew each other I could not be less to you than that. If +I am your friend, I must be your best friend,--as being, though poor, +the head of your family. The Lovels should at least love each other; +and cousins may love, even though they should not love enough to be +man and wife." + +"I will love you so always." + +"Enough to be my wife?" + +"Enough to be your dear cousin,--your loving sister." + +"So it shall be,--unless it can be more. I would not ask you for more +now. I would not wish you to give more now. But think of me, and ask +yourself whether you can dare to give yourself to me altogether." + +"I cannot dare, my lord." + +"You would not call your brother, lord. My name is Frederic. But +Anna, dear Anna,"--and then he took her unresisting hand,--"you shall +not be asked for more now. But cousins, new-found cousins, who love +each other, and will stand by each other for help and aid against +the world, may surely kiss,--as would a brother and a sister. You +will not grudge me a kiss." Then she put up her cheek innocently, +and he kissed it gently,--hardly with a lover's kiss. "I will leave +you now," he said, still holding her hand. "But tell your mother +thus:--that she shall no longer be troubled by lawyers at the suit of +her cousin Frederic. She is to me the Countess Lovel, and she shall +be treated by me with the honour suited to her rank." And so he left +the house without seeing the Countess again. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +IT IS TOO LATE. + + +The Countess had resolved that she would let their visitor depart +without saying a word to him. Whatever might be the result of the +interview, she was aware that she could not improve it by asking any +question from the young lord, or by hearing any account of it from +him. The ice had been broken, and it would now be her object to have +her daughter invited down to Yoxham as soon as possible. If once the +Earl's friends could be brought to be eager for the match on his +account, as was she on her daughter's behalf, then probably the thing +might be done. For herself, she expected no invitation, no immediate +comfort, no tender treatment, no intimate familiar cousinship. She +had endured hitherto, and would be contented to endure, so that +triumph might come at last. Nor did she question her daughter very +closely, anxious as she was to learn the truth. + +Could she have heard every word that had been spoken she would have +been sure of success. Could Daniel Thwaite have heard every word he +would have been sure that the girl was about to be false to him. But +the girl herself believed herself to have been true. The man had been +so soft with her, so tender, so pleasant,--so loving with his sweet +cousinly offers of affection, that she could not turn herself against +him. He had been to her eyes beautiful, noble,--almost divine. She +knew of herself that she could not be his wife,--that she was not fit +to be his wife,--because she had given her troth to the tailor's son. +When her cousin touched her check with his lips she remembered that +she had submitted to be kissed by one with whom her noble relative +could hold no fellowship whatever. A feeling of degradation came +upon her, as though by contact with this young man she was suddenly +awakened to a sense of what her own rank demanded from her. When +her mother had spoken to her of what she owed to her family, she +had thought only of all the friendship that she and her mother had +received from her lover and his father. But when Lord Lovel told +her what she was,--how she should ever be regarded by him as a dear +cousin,--how her mother should be accounted a countess, and receive +from him the respect due to her rank,--then she could understand +how unfitting were a union between the Lady Anna Lovel and Daniel +Thwaite, the journeyman tailor. Hitherto Daniel's face had been noble +in her eyes,--the face of a man who was manly, generous, and strong. +But after looking into the eyes of the young Earl, seeing how soft +was the down upon his lips, how ruddy the colour of his cheek, how +beautiful was his mouth with its pearl-white teeth, how noble the +curve of his nostrils, after feeling the softness of his hand, and +catching the sweetness of his breath, she came to know what it might +have been to be wooed by such a one as he. + +But not on that account did she meditate falseness. It was settled +firm as fate. The dominion of the tailor over her spirit had lasted +in truth for years. The sweet, perfumed graces of the young nobleman +had touched her senses but for a moment. Had she been false-minded +she had not courage to be false. But in truth she was not +false-minded. It was to her, as that sunny moment passed across her, +as to some hard-toiling youth who, while roaming listlessly among +the houses of the wealthy, hears, as he lingers on the pavement of +a summer night, the melodies which float upon the air from the open +balconies above him. A vague sense of unknown sweetness comes upon +him, mingled with an irritating feeling of envy that some favoured +son of Fortune should be able to stand over the shoulders of that +singing syren, while he can only listen with intrusive ears from the +street below. And so he lingers and is envious, and for a moment +curses his fate,--not knowing how weary may be the youth who stands, +how false the girl who sings. But he does not dream that his life is +to be altered for him, because he has chanced to hear the daughter of +a duchess warble through a window. And so it was with this girl. The +youth was very sweet to her, intensely sweet when he told her that he +would be a brother, perilously sweet when he bade her not to grudge +him one kiss. But she knew that she was not as he was. That she had +lost the right, could she ever have had the right, to live his life, +to drink of his cup, and to lie on his breast. So she passed on, +as the young man does in the street, and consoled herself with the +consciousness that strength after all may be preferable to sweetness. + +And she was an honest girl from her heart, and prone to truth, with a +strong glimmer of common sense in her character, of which her mother +hitherto had been altogether unaware. What right had her mother to +think that she could be fit to be this young lord's wife, having +brought her up in the companionship of small traders in Cumberland? +She never blamed her mother. She knew well that her mother had done +all that was possible on her behalf. But for that small trader they +would not even have had a roof to shelter them. But still there was +the fact, and she understood it. She was as her bringing up had made +her, and it was too late now to effect a change. Ah yes;--it was +indeed too late. It was all very well that lawyers should look upon +her as an instrument, as a piece of goods that might now, from the +accident of her ascertained birth, be made of great service to the +Lovel family. Let her be the lord's wife, and everything would be +right for everybody. It had been very easy to say that! But she +had a heart of her own,--a heart to be touched, and won, and given +away,--and lost. The man who had been so good to them had sought +for his reward, and had got it, and could not now be defrauded. Had +she been dishonest she would not have dared to defraud him; had she +dared, she would not have been so dishonest. + +"Did you like him?" asked the mother, not immediately after the +interview, but when the evening came. + +"Oh yes,--how should one not like him?" + +"How indeed! He is the finest, noblest youth that ever my eyes rested +on, and so like the Lovels." + +"Was my father like that?" + +"Yes indeed, in the shape of his face, and the tone of his voice, and +the movement of his eyes; though the sweetness of the countenance was +all gone in the Devil's training to which he had submitted himself. +And you too are like him, though darker, and with something of the +Murrays' greater breadth of face. But I can remember portraits at +Lovel Grange,--every one of them,--and all of them were alike. There +never was a Lovel but had that natural grace of appearance. You will +gaze at those portraits, dear, oftener even than I have done; and you +will be happy where I was,--oh--so miserable!" + +"I shall never see them, mamma." + +"Why not?" + +"I do not want to see them." + +"You say you like him?" + +"Yes; I like him." + +"And why should you not love him well enough to make him your +husband?" + +"I am not fit to be his wife." + +"You are fit;--none could be fitter; none others so fit. You are as +well born as he, and you have the wealth which he wants. You must +have it, if, as you tell me, he says that he will cease to claim it +as his own. There can be no question of fitness." + +"Money will not make a girl fit, mamma." + +"You have been brought up as a lady,--and are a lady. I swear I +do not know what you mean. If he thinks you fit, and you can like +him,--as you say you do,--what more can be wanted? Does he not wish +it?" + +"I do not know. He said he did not, and then,--I think he said he +did." + +"Is that it?" + +"No, mamma. It is not that; not that only. It is too late!" + +"Too late! How too late? Anna, you must tell me what you mean. I +insist upon it that you tell me what you mean. Why is it too late?" +But Lady Anna was not prepared to tell her meaning. She had certainly +not intended to say anything to her mother of her solemn promise to +Daniel Thwaite. It had been arranged between him and her that nothing +was to be said of it till this law business should be all over. He +had sworn to her that to him it made no difference, whether she +should be proclaimed to be the Lady Anna, the undoubted owner of +thousands a year, or Anna Murray, the illegitimate daughter of the +late Earl's mistress, a girl without a penny, and a nobody in the +world's esteem. No doubt they must shape their life very differently +in this event or in that. How he might demean himself should this +fortune be adjudged to the Earl, as he thought would be the case when +he first made the girl promise to be his wife, he knew well enough. +He would do as his father had done before him, and, he did not +doubt,--with better result. What might be his fate should the wealth +of the Lovels become the wealth of his intended wife, he did not yet +quite foreshadow to himself. How he should face and fight the world +when he came to be accused of having plotted to get all this wealth +for himself he did not know. He had dreams of distributing the +greater part among the Lovels and the Countess, and taking himself +and his wife with one-third of it to some new country in which they +would not in derision call his wife the Lady Anna, and in which he +would be as good a man as any earl. But let all that be as it might, +the girl was to keep her secret till the thing should be settled. +Now, in these latter days, it had come to be believed by him, as by +nearly everybody else, that the thing was well-nigh settled. The +Solicitor-General had thrown up the sponge. So said the bystanders. +And now there was beginning to be a rumour that everything was to +be set right by a family marriage. The Solicitor-General would not +have thrown up the sponge,--so said they who knew him best,--without +seeing a reason for doing so. Serjeant Bluestone was still indignant, +and Mr. Hardy was silent and moody. But the world at large were +beginning to observe that in this, as in all difficult cases, the +Solicitor-General tempered the innocence of the dove with the wisdom +of the serpent. In the meantime Lady Anna by no means intended to +allow the secret to pass her lips. Whether she ever could tell her +mother, she doubted; but she certainly would not do so an hour too +soon. "Why is it too late?" demanded the Countess, repeating her +question with stern severity of voice. + +"I mean that I have not lived all my life as his wife should live." + +"Trash! It is trash. What has there been in your life to disgrace +you. We have been poor and we have lived as poor people do live. We +have not been disgraced." + +"No, mamma." + +"I will not hear such nonsense. It is a reproach to me." + +"Oh, mamma, do not say that. I know how good you have been,--how you +have thought of me in every thing. Pray do not say that I reproach +you!" And she came and knelt at her mother's lap. + +"I will not, darling; but do not vex me by saying that you are unfit. +There is nothing else, dearest?" + +"No, mamma," she said in a low tone, pausing before she told the +falsehood. + +"I think it will be arranged that you shall go down to Yoxham. The +people there even are beginning to know that we are right, and are +willing to acknowledge us. The Earl, whom I cannot but love already +for his gracious goodness, has himself declared that he will not +carry on the suit. Mr. Goffe has told me that they are anxious to see +you there. Of course you must go,--and will go as Lady Anna Lovel. +Mr. Goffe says that some money can now be allowed from the estate, +and you shall go as becomes the daughter of Earl Lovel when visiting +among her cousins. You will see this young man there. If he means +to love you and to be true to you, he will be much there. I do not +doubt but that you will continue to like him. And remember this, +Anna;--that even though your name be acknowledged,--even though all +the wealth be adjudged to be your own,--even though some judge on the +bench shall say that I am the widowed Countess Lovel, it may be all +undone some day,--unless you become this young man's wife. That woman +in Italy may be bolstered up at last, if you refuse him. But when you +are once the wife of young Lord Lovel, no one then can harm us. There +can be no going back after that." This the Countess said rather to +promote the marriage, than from any fear of the consequences which +she described. Daniel Thwaite was the enemy that now she dreaded, and +not the Italian woman, or the Lovel family. + +Lady Anna could only say that she would go to Yoxham, if she were +invited there by Mrs. Lovel. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +HAVE THEY SURRENDERED? + + +As all the world heard of what was going on, so did Daniel Thwaite +hear it among others. He was a hard-working, conscientious, moody +man, given much to silence among his fellow workmen;--one to whom +life was serious enough; not a happy man, though he had before him +a prospect of prosperity which would make most men happy. But he was +essentially a tender-hearted, affectionate man, who could make a +sacrifice of himself if he thought it needed for the happiness of one +he loved. When he heard of this proposed marriage, he asked himself +many questions as to his duty and as to the welfare of the girl. He +did love her with all his heart, and he believed thoroughly in her +affection for himself. He had, as yet, no sufficient reason to doubt +that she would be true to him;--but he knew well that an earl's +coronet must be tempting to a girl so circumstanced as was Lady Anna. +There were moments in which he thought that it was almost his duty +to give her up, and bid her go and live among those of her own rank. +But then he did not believe in rank. He utterly disbelieved in it; +and in his heart of hearts he felt that he would make a better and a +fitter husband to this girl than would an earl, with all an earl's +temptation to vice. He was ever thinking of some better world to +which he might take her, which had not been contaminated by empty +names and an impudent assumption of hereditary, and therefore false, +dignity. As regarded the money, it would be hers whether she married +him or the Earl. And if she loved him, as she had sworn that she did, +why should he be false to her? Or why, as yet, should he think that +she would prefer an empty, gilded lordling to the friend who had been +her friend as far back as her memory could carry her? If she asked +to be released, then indeed he would release her,--but not without +explaining to her, with such eloquence as he might be able to +use,--what it was she proposed to abandon, and what to take in place +of that which she lost. He was a man, silent and under self-control, +but self-confident also; and he did believe himself to be a better +man than young Earl Lovel. + +In making this resolution,--that he would give her back her troth if +she asked for it, but not without expressing to her his thoughts as +he did so,--he ignored the masterfulness of his own character. There +are men who exercise dominion, from the nature of their disposition, +and who do so from their youth upwards, without knowing, till +advanced life comes upon them, that any power of dominion belongs to +them. Men are persuasive, and imperious withal, who are unconscious +that they use burning words to others, whose words to them are never +even warm. So it was with this man when he spoke to himself in his +solitude of his purpose of resigning the titled heiress. To the +arguments, the entreaties, or the threats of others he would pay no +heed. The Countess might bluster about her rank, and he would heed +her not at all. He cared nothing for the whole tribe of Lovels. If +Lady Anna asked for release, she should be released. But not till she +had heard his words. How scalding these words might be, how powerful +to prevent the girl from really choosing her own fate, he did not +know himself. + +Though he lived in the same house with her he seldom saw her,--unless +when he would knock at the door of an evening, and say a few words to +her mother rather than to her. Since Thomas Thwaite had left London +for the last time the Countess had become almost cold to the young +man. She would not have been so if she could have helped it; but she +had begun to fear him, and she could not bring herself to be cordial +to him either in word or manner. He perceived it at once, and became, +himself, cold and constrained. + +Once, and once only, he met Lady Anna alone, after his father's +departure, and before her interview with Lord Lovel. Then he met +her on the stairs of the house while her mother was absent at the +lawyer's chambers. + +"Are you here, Daniel, at this hour?" she asked, going back to the +sitting-room, whither he followed her. + +"I wanted to see you, and I knew that your mother would be out. It is +not often that I do a thing in secret, even though it be to see the +girl that I love." + +"No, indeed. I do not see you often now." + +"Does that matter much to you, Lady Anna?" + +"Lady Anna!" + +"I have been instructed, you know, that I am to call you so." + +"Not by me, Daniel." + +"No;--not by you; not as yet. Your mother's manners are much altered +to me. Is it not so?" + +"How can I tell? Mine are not." + +"It is no question of manners, sweetheart, between you and me. It has +not come to that, I hope. Do you wish for any change,--as regards +me?" + +"Oh, no." + +"As to my love, there can be no change in that. If it suits your +mother to be disdainful to me, I can bear it. I always thought that +it would come to be so some day." + +There was but little more said then. He asked her no further +question;--none at least that it was difficult for her to +answer,--and he soon took his leave. He was a passionate rather than +a tender lover, and having once held her in his arms, and kissed her +lips, and demanded from her a return of his caress, he was patient +now to wait till he could claim them as his own. But, two days after +the interview between Lord Lovel and his love, he a second time +contrived to find her alone. + +"I have come again," he said, "because I knew your mother is out. I +would not trouble you with secret meetings but that just now I have +much to say to you. And then, you may be gone from hence before I had +even heard that you were going." + +"I am always glad to see you, Daniel." + +"Are you, my sweetheart? Is that true?" + +"Indeed, indeed it is." + +"I should be a traitor to doubt you,--and I do not doubt. I will +never doubt you if you tell me that you love me." + +"You know I love you." + +"Tell me, Anna--; or shall I say Lady Anna?" + +"Lady Anna,--if you wish to scorn me." + +"Then never will I call you so, till it shall come to pass that I do +wish to scorn you. But tell me. Is it true that Earl Lovel was with +you the other day?" + +"He was here the day before yesterday." + +"And why did he come." + +"Why?" + +"Why did he come? you know that as far as I have yet heard he is +still your mother's enemy and yours, and is persecuting you to rob +you of your name and of your property. Did he come as a friend?" + +"Oh, yes! certainly as a friend." + +"But he still makes his claim." + +"No;--he says that he will make it no longer, that he acknowledges +mamma as my father's widow, and me as my father's heir." + +"That is generous,--if that is all." + +"Very generous." + +"And he does this without condition? There is nothing to be given to +him to pay him for this surrender." + +"There is nothing to give," she said, in that low, sweet, melancholy +voice which was common to her always when she spoke of herself. + +"You do not mean to deceive me, dear, I know; but there is a +something to be given; and I am told that he has asked for it, or +certainly will ask. And, indeed, I do not think that an earl, noble, +but poverty-stricken, would surrender everything without making some +counter claim which would lead him by another path to all that he has +been seeking. Anna, you know what I mean." + +"Yes; I know." + +"Has he made no such claim." + +"I cannot tell." + +"You cannot tell whether or no he has asked you to be his wife?" + +"No; I cannot tell. Do not look at me like that, Daniel. He came +here, and mamma left us together, and he was kind to me. Oh! so kind. +He said that he would be a cousin to me, and a brother." + +"A brother!" + +"That was what he said." + +"And he meant nothing more than that,--simply to be your brother?" + +"I think he did mean more. I think he meant that he would try to love +me so that he might be my husband." + +"And what said you to that?" + +"I told him that it could not be so." + +"And then?" + +"Why then again he said that we were cousins; that I had no nearer +cousin anywhere, and that he would be good to me and help me, and +that the lawsuit should not go on. Oh, Daniel, he was so good!" + +"Was that all?" + +"He kissed me, saying that cousins might kiss?" + +"No, Anna;--cousins such as you and he may not kiss. Do you hear me?" + +"Yes, I hear you." + +"If you mean to be true to me, there must be no more of that. Do you +not know that all this means that he is to win you to be his wife? +Did he not come to you with that object?" + +"I think he did, Daniel." + +"I think so too, my dear. Surrender! I'll tell you what that +surrender means. They perceive at last that they have not a shadow +of justice, or even a shadow of a chance of unjust success in their +claim. That with all their command of money, which is to be spent, +however, out of your property, they can do nothing; that their false +witnesses will not come to aid them; that they have not another +inch of ground on which to stand. Their great lawyer, Sir William +Patterson, dares not show himself in court with a case so false and +fraudulent. At last your mother's rights and yours are to be owned. +Then they turn themselves about, and think in what other way the +prize may be won. It is not likely that such a prize should be +surrendered by a noble lord. The young man is made to understand that +he cannot have it all without a burden, and that he must combine his +wealth with you. That is it, and at once he comes to you, asking +you to be his wife, so that in that way he may lay his hands on the +wealth of which he has striven to rob you." + +"Daniel, I do not think that he is like that!" + +"I tell you he is not only like it,--but that itself. Is it not clear +as noon-day? He comes here to talk of love who had never seen you +before. Is it thus that men love?" + +"But, Daniel, he did not talk so." + +"I wonder that he was so crafty, believing him as I do to be a fool. +He talked of cousinship and brotherhood, and yet gave you to know +that he meant you to be his wife. Was it not so?" + +"I think it was so, in very truth." + +"Of course it was so. Do brothers marry their sisters? Were it not +for the money, which must be yours, and which he is kind enough to +surrender, would he come to you then with his brotherhood, and his +cousinship, and his mock love? Tell me that, my lady! Can it be real +love,--to which there has been no forerunning acquaintance?" + +"I think not, indeed." + +"And must it not be lust of wealth? That may come by hearsay well +enough. It is a love which requires no great foreknowledge to burn +with real strength. He is a gay looking lad, no doubt." + +"I do not know as to gay, but he is beautiful." + +"Like enough, my girl; with soft hands, and curled hair, and a sweet +smell, and a bright colour, and a false heart. I have never seen the +lad; but for the false heart I can answer." + +"I do not think that he is false." + +"Not false! and yet he comes to you asking you to be his wife, +just at that nick of time in which he finds that you,--the right +owner,--are to have the fortune of which he has vainly endeavoured to +defraud you! Is it not so?" + +"He cannot be wrong to wish to keep up the glory of the family." + +"The glory of the family;--yes, the fame of the late lord, who lived +as though he were a fiend let loose from hell to devastate mankind. +The glory of the family! And how will he maintain it? At racecourses, +in betting-clubs, among loose women, with luscious wines, never doing +one stroke of work for man or God, consuming and never producing, +either idle altogether or working the work of the devil. That will be +the glory of the family. Anna Lovel, you shall give him his choice." +Then he took her hand in his. "Ask him whether he will have that +empty, or take all the wealth of the Lovels. You have my leave." + +"And if he took the empty hand what should I do?" she asked. + +"My brave girl, no; though the chance be but one in a thousand +against me, I would not run the risk. But I am putting it to +yourself, to your reason, to judge of his motives. Can it be that +his mind in this matter is not sordid and dishonest? As to you, the +choice is open to you." + +"No, Daniel; it is open no longer." + +"The choice is open to you. If you will tell me that your heart is so +set upon being the bride of a lord, that truth and honesty and love, +and all decent feeling from woman to man can be thrown to the wind, +to make way for such an ambition,--I will say not a word against it. +You are free." + +"Have I asked for freedom?" + +"No, indeed! Had you done so, I should have made all this much +shorter." + +"Then why do you harass me by saying it?" + +"Because it is my duty. Can I know that he comes here seeking you for +his wife; can I hear it said on all sides that this family feud is to +be settled by a happy family marriage; can I find that you yourself +are willing to love him as a cousin or a brother,--without finding +myself compelled to speak? There are two men seeking you as their +wife. One can make you a countess; the other simply an honest man's +wife, and, so far as that can be low, lower than that title of your +own which they will not allow you to put before your name. If I am +still your choice, give me your hand." Of course she gave it him. +"So be it; and now I shall fear nothing." Then she told him that it +was intended that she should go to Yoxham as a visitor; but still he +declared that he would fear nothing. + +Early on the next morning he called on Mr. Goffe, the attorney, with +the object of making some inquiry as to the condition of the lawsuit. +Mr. Goffe did not much love the elder tailor, but he specially +disliked the younger. He was not able to be altogether uncivil to +them, because he knew all that they had done to succour his client; +but he avoided them when it was possible, and was chary of giving +them information. On this occasion Daniel asked whether it was true +that the other side had abandoned their claim. + +"Really Mr. Thwaite, I cannot say that they have," said Mr. Goffe. + +"Can you say that they have not?" + +"No; nor that either." + +"Had anything of that kind been decided, I suppose you would have +known it, Mr. Goffe?" + +"Really, sir, I cannot say. There are questions, Mr. Thwaite, which a +professional gentleman cannot answer, even to such friends as you and +your father have been. When any real settlement is to be made, the +Countess Lovel will, as a matter of course, be informed." + +"She should be informed at once," said Daniel Thwaite sternly: "and +so should they who have been concerned with her in this matter." + +"You, I know, have heavy claims on the Countess." + +"My father has claims, which will never vex her, whether paid or not +paid; but it is right that he should know the truth. I do not believe +that the Countess herself knows, though she has been led to think +that the claim has been surrendered." + +Mr. Goffe was very sorry, but really he had nothing further to tell. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NEW FRIENDS. + + +The introduction to Yoxham followed quickly upon the Earl's visit to +Wyndham Street. There was a great consultation at the rectory before +a decision could be made as to the manner in which the invitation +should be given. The Earl thought that it should be sent to the +mother. The rector combated this view very strongly, still hoping +that though he might be driven to call the girl Lady Anna, he might +postpone the necessity of acknowledging the countess-ship of the +mother till the marriage should have been definitely acknowledged. +Mrs. Lovel thought that if the girl were Lady Anna, then the mother +must be the Countess Lovel, and that it would be as well to be hung +for a sheep as a lamb. But the wisdom of Aunt Julia sided with her +brother, though she did not share her brother's feelings of animosity +to the two women. "It is understood that the girl is to be invited, +and not the mother," said Miss Lovel; "and as it is quite possible +that the thing should fail,--in which case the lawsuit might possibly +go on,--the less we acknowledge the better." The Earl declared that +the lawsuit couldn't go on,--that he would not carry it on. "My dear +Frederic, you are not the only person concerned. The lady in Italy, +who still calls herself Countess Lovel, may renew the suit on her +own behalf as soon as you have abandoned it. Should she succeed, you +would have to make what best compromise you could with her respecting +the property. That is the way I understand it." This exposition of +the case by Miss Lovel was so clear that it carried the day, and +accordingly a letter was written by Mrs. Lovel, addressed to Lady +Anna Lovel, asking her to come and spend a few days at Yoxham. She +could bring her maid with her or not as she liked; but she could +have the service of Mrs. Lovel's lady's maid if she chose to come +unattended. The letter sounded cold when it was read, but the writer +signed herself, "Yours affectionately, Jane Lovel." It was addressed +to "The Lady Anna Lovel, to the care of Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, +solicitors, Raymond's Buildings, Gray's Inn." + +Lady Anna was allowed to read it first; but she read it in the +presence of her mother, to whom she handed it at once, as a matter +of course. A black frown came across the Countess's brow, and a look +of displeasure, almost of anger, rested on her countenance. "Is it +wrong, mamma?" asked the girl. + +"It is a part of the whole;--but, my dear, it shall not signify. +Conquerors cannot be conquerors all at once, nor can the vanquished +be expected to submit themselves with a grace. But it will come. And +though they should ignore me utterly, that will be as nothing. I have +not clung to this for years past to win their loves." + +"I will not go, mamma, if they are unkind to you." + +"You must go, my dear. It is only that they are weak enough to think +that they can acknowledge you, and yet continue to deny to me my +rights. But it matters nothing. Of course you shall go,--and you +shall go as the daughter of the Countess Lovel." + +That mention of the lady's-maid had been unfortunate. Mrs. Lovel had +simply desired to make it easy for the young lady to come without +a servant to wait upon her, and had treated her husband's far-away +cousin as elder ladies often do treat those who are younger when the +question of the maid may become a difficulty. But the Countess, who +would hardly herself have thought of it, now declared that her girl +should go attended as her rank demanded. Lady Anna, therefore, under +her mother's dictation, wrote the following reply:-- + + + Wyndham Street, 3rd August, 183--. + + DEAR MRS. LOVEL, + + I shall be happy to accept your kind invitation to Yoxham, + but can hardly do so before the 10th. On that day I will + leave London for York inside the mail-coach. Perhaps you + can be kind enough to have me met where the coach stops. + As you are so good as to say you can take her in, I will + bring my own maid. + + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +"But, mamma, I don't want a maid," said the girl, who had never been +waited on in her life, and who had more often than not made her +mother's bed and her own till they had come up to London. + +"Nevertheless you shall take one. You will have to make other changes +besides that; and the sooner that you begin to make them the easier +they will be to you." + +Then at once the Countess made a pilgrimage to Mr. Goffe in search of +funds wherewith to equip her girl properly for her new associations. +She was to go, as Lady Anna Lovel, to stay with Mrs. Lovel and +Miss Lovel and the little Lovels. And she was to go as one who was +to be the chosen bride of Earl Lovel. Of course she must be duly +caparisoned. Mr. Goffe made difficulties,--as lawyers always do,--but +the needful money was at last forthcoming. Representations had been +made in high legal quarters,--to the custodians for the moment of the +property which was to go to the established heir of the late Earl. +They had been made conjointly by Goffe and Goffe, and Norton and +Flick, and the money was forthcoming. Mr. Goffe suggested that a +great deal could not be wanted all at once for the young lady's +dress. The Countess smiled as she answered, "You hardly know, Mr. +Goffe, the straits to which we have been reduced. If I tell you that +this dress which I have on is the only one in which I can fitly +appear even in your chambers, perhaps you will think that I demean +myself." Mr. Goffe was touched, and signed a sufficient cheque. They +were going to succeed, and then everything would be easy. Even if +they did not succeed, he could get it passed in the accounts. And if +not that--well, he had run greater risks than this for clients whose +causes were of much less interest than this of the Countess and her +daughter. + +The Countess had mentioned her own gown, and had spoken strict truth +in what she had said of it;--but not a shilling of Mr. Goffe's +money went to the establishment of a wardrobe for herself. That her +daughter should go down to Yoxham Rectory in a manner befitting the +daughter of Earl Lovel was at this moment her chief object. Things +were purchased by which the poor girl, unaccustomed to such finery, +was astounded and almost stupefied. Two needlewomen were taken +in at the lodgings in Wyndham Street; parcels from Swan and +Edgar's,--Marshall and Snellgrove were not then, or at least had not +loomed to the grandeur of an entire block of houses,--addressed to +Lady Anna Lovel, were frequent at the door, somewhat to the disgust +of the shopmen, who did not like to send goods to Lady Anna Lovel in +Wyndham Street. But ready money was paid, and the parcels came home. +Lady Anna, poor girl, was dismayed much by the parcels, but she was +at her wits' end when the lady's-maid came,--a young lady, herself +so sweetly attired that Lady Anna would have envied her in the old +Cumberland days. "I shall not know what to say to her, mamma," said +Lady Anna. + +"It will all come in two days, if you will only be equal to the +occasion," said the Countess, who in providing her child with this +expensive adjunct, had made some calculation that the more her +daughter was made to feel the luxuries of aristocratic life, the less +prone would she be to adapt herself to the roughnesses of Daniel +Thwaite the tailor. + +The Countess put her daughter into the mail-coach, and gave her much +parting advice. "Hold up your head when you are with them. That is +all that you have to do. Among them all your blood will be the best." +This theory of blood was one of which Lady Anna had never been able +even to realise the meaning. "And remember this too;--that you are in +truth the most wealthy. It is they that should honour you. Of course +you will be courteous and gentle with them,--it is your nature; but +do not for a moment allow yourself to be conscious that you are their +inferior." Lady Anna,--who could think but little of her birth,--to +whom it had been throughout her life a thing plaguesome rather than +profitable,--could remember only what she had been in Cumberland, +and her binding obligation to the tailor's son. She could remember +but that and the unutterable sweetness of the young man who had once +appeared before her,--to whom she knew that she must be inferior. +"Hold up your head among them, and claim your own always," said the +Countess. + +The rectory carriage was waiting for her at the inn yard in York, and +in it was Miss Lovel. When the hour had come it was thought better +that the wise woman of the family should go than any other. For the +ladies of Yoxham were quite as anxious as to the Lady Anna as was she +in respect of them. What sort of a girl was this that they were to +welcome among them as the Lady Anna,--who had lived all her life with +tailors, and with a mother of whom up to quite a late date they had +thought all manner of evil? The young lord had reported well of her, +saying that she was not only beautiful, but feminine, of soft modest +manners, and in all respects like a lady. The Earl, however, was but +a young man, likely to be taken by mere beauty; and it might be that +the girl had been clever enough to hoodwink him. So much evil had +been believed that a report stating that all was good could not be +accepted at once as true. Miss Lovel would be sure to find out, even +in the space of an hour's drive, and Miss Lovel went to meet her. She +did not leave the carriage, but sent the footman to help Lady Anna +Lovel from the coach. "My dear," said Miss Lovel, "I am very glad +to see you. Oh, you have brought a maid! We didn't think you would. +There is a seat behind which she can occupy." + +"Mamma thought it best. I hope it is not wrong, Mrs. Lovel." + +"I ought to have introduced myself. I am Miss Lovel, and the rector +of Yoxham is my brother. It does not signify about the maid in the +least. We can do very well with her. I suppose she has been with you +a long time." + +"No, indeed;--she only came the day before yesterday." And so Miss +Lovel learned the whole story of the lady's-maid. + +Lady Anna said very little, but Miss Lovel explained a good many +things during the journey. The young lord was not at Yoxham. He was +with a friend in Scotland, but would be home about the 20th. The two +boys were at home for the holidays, but would go back to school in a +fortnight. Minnie Lovel, the daughter, had a governess. The rectory, +for a parsonage, was a tolerably large house, and convenient. It had +been Lord Lovel's early home, but at present he was not much there. +"He thinks it right to go to Lovel Grange during a part of the +autumn. I suppose you have seen Lovel Grange." + +"Never." + +"Oh, indeed. But you lived near it;--did you not?" + +"No, not near;--about fifteen miles, I think. I was born there, but +have never been there since I was a baby." + +"Oh!--you were born there. Of course you know that it is Lord Lovel's +seat now. I do not know that he likes it, though the scenery is +magnificent. But a landlord has to live, at least for some period of +the year, upon his property. You saw my nephew." + +"Yes; he came to us once." + +"I hope you liked him. We think him very nice. But then he is almost +the same as a son here. Do you care about visiting the poor?" + +"I have never tried," said Lady Anna. + +"Oh dear!" + +"We have been so poor ourselves;--we were just one of them." Then +Miss Lovel perceived that she had made a mistake. But she was +generous enough to recognize the unaffected simplicity of the girl, +and almost began to think well of her. + +"I hope you will come round the parish with us. We shall be very +glad. Yoxham is a large parish, with scattered hamlets, and there is +plenty to do. The manufactories are creeping up to us, and we have +already a large mill at Yoxham Lock. My brother has to keep two +curates now. Here we are, my dear, and I hope we shall be able to +make you happy." + +Mrs. Lovel did not like the maid, and Mr. Lovel did not like it at +all. "And yet we heard when we were up in town that they literally +had not anything to live on," said the parson. "I hope that, after +all, we may not be making fools of ourselves." But there was no help +for it, and the maid was of course taken in. + +The children had been instructed to call their cousin Lady +Anna,--unless they heard their mother drop the title, and then they +were to drop it also. They were not so young but what they had all +heard the indiscreet vigour with which their father had ridiculed the +claim to the title, and had been something at a loss to know whence +the change had come. "Perhaps they are as they call themselves," the +rector had said, "and, if so, heaven forbid that we should not give +them their due." After this the three young ones, discussing the +matter among themselves, had made up their minds that Lady Anna was +no cousin of theirs,--but "a humbug." When, however, they saw her +their hearts relented, and the girl became soft, and the boys became +civil. "Papa," said Minnie Lovel, on the second day, "I hope she is +our cousin." + +"I hope so too, my dear." + +"I think she is. She looks as if she ought to be because she is so +pretty." + +"Being pretty, my dear, is not enough. You should love people because +they are good." + +"But I would not like all the good people to be my cousins;--would +you, papa? Old widow Grimes is a very good old woman; but I don't +want to have her for a cousin." + +"My dear, you are talking about what you don't understand." + +But Minnie did in truth understand the matter better than her father. +Before three or four days had passed she knew that their guest was +lovable,--whether cousin or no cousin; and she knew also that the +newcomer was of such nature and breeding as made her fit to be a +cousin. All the family had as yet called her Lady Anna, but Minnie +thought that the time had come in which she might break through the +law. "I think I should like to call you just Anna, if you will let +me," she said. They two were in the guest's bedroom, and Minnie was +leaning against her new friend's shoulder. + +"Oh, I do so wish you would. I do so hate to be called Lady." + +"But you are Lady Anna,--arn't you?" + +"And you are Miss Mary Lovel, but you wouldn't like everybody in the +house to call you so. And then there has been so much said about it +all my life, that it makes me quite unhappy. I do so wish your mamma +wouldn't call me Lady Anna." Whereupon Minnie very demurely explained +that she could not answer for her mamma, but that she would always +call her friend Anna,--when papa wasn't by. + +But Minnie was better than her promise. "Mamma," she said the next +day, "do you know that she hates to be called Lady Anna." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"I am sure of it. She told me so. Everybody has always been talking +about it ever since she was born, and she says she is so sick of it." + +"But, my dear, people must be called by their names. If it is her +proper name she ought not to hate it. I can understand that people +should hate an assumed name." + +"I am Miss Mary Lovel, but I should not at all like it if everybody +called me Miss Mary. The servants call me Miss Mary, but if papa and +aunt Julia did so, I should think they were scolding me." + +"But Lady Anna is not papa's daughter." + +"She is his cousin. Isn't she his cousin, mamma? I don't think people +ought to call their cousins Lady Anna. I have promised that I won't. +Cousin Frederic said that she was his cousin. What will he call her?" + +"I cannot tell, my dear. We shall all know her better by that time." +Mrs. Lovel, however, followed her daughter's lead, and from that time +the poor girl was Anna to all of them,--except to the rector. He +listened, and thought that he would try it; but his heart failed him. +He would have preferred that she should be an impostor, were that +still possible. He would so much have preferred that she should not +exist at all! He did not care for her beauty. He did not feel the +charm of her simplicity. It was one of the hardships of the world +that he should be forced to have her there in his rectory. The Lovel +wealth was indispensable to the true heir of the Lovels, and on +behalf of his nephew and his family he had been induced to consent; +but he could not love the interloper. He still dreamed of coming +surprises that would set the matter right in a manner that would be +much preferable to a marriage. The girl might be innocent,--as his +wife and sister told him; but he was sure that the mother was an +intriguing woman. It would be such a pity that they should have +entertained the girl, if,--after all,--the woman should at last be +but a pseudo-countess! As others had ceased to call her Lady Anna, +he could not continue to do so; but he managed to live on with her +without calling her by any name. + +In the meantime Cousin Anna went about among the poor with Minnie +and Aunt Julia, and won golden opinions. She was soft, feminine, +almost humble,--but still with a dash of humour in her, when she was +sufficiently at her ease with them to be happy. There was very much +in the life which she thoroughly enjoyed. The green fields, and the +air which was so pleasant to her after the close heat of the narrow +London streets, and the bright parsonage garden, and the pleasant +services of the country church,--and doubtless also the luxuries of +a rich, well-ordered household. Those calculations of her mother had +not been made without a true basis. The softness, the niceness, the +ease, the grace of the people around her, won upon her day by day, +and hour by hour. The pleasant idleness of the drawing-room, with its +books and music, and unstrained chatter of family voices, grew upon +her as so many new charms. To come down with bright ribbons and clean +unruffled muslin to breakfast, with nothing to do which need ruffle +them unbecomingly, and then to dress for dinner with silk and gauds, +before ten days were over, had made life beautiful to her. She seemed +to live among roses and perfumes. There was no stern hardness in the +life, as there had of necessity been in that which she had ever lived +with her mother. The caresses of Minnie Lovel soothed and warmed her +heart;--and every now and again, when the eyes of Aunt Julia were not +upon her, she was tempted to romp with the boys. Oh! that they had +really been her brothers! + +But in the midst of all there was ever present to her the prospect of +some coming wretchedness. The life which she was leading could not +be her life. That Earl was coming,--that young Apollo,--and he would +again ask her to be his wife. She knew that she could not be his +wife. She was there, as she understood well, that she might give all +this wealth that was to be hers to the Lovel family; and when she +refused to give herself,--as the only way in which that wealth could +be conveyed,--they would turn her out from their pleasant home. +Then she must go back to the other life, and be the wife of Daniel +Thwaite; and soft things must be at an end with her. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE EARL ARRIVES. + + +At the end of a fortnight the boys had gone back to school, and Lord +Lovel was to reach the rectory in time for dinner that evening. There +was a little stir throughout the rectory, as an earl is an earl +though he be in his uncle's house, and rank will sway even aunts +and cousins. The parson at present was a much richer man than the +peer;--but the peer was at the head of all the Lovels, and then it +was expected that his poverty would quickly be made to disappear. +All that Lovel money which had been invested in bank shares, Indian +railways, Russian funds, Devon consols, and coal mines, was to become +his,--if not in one way, then in another. The Earl was to be a +topping man, and the rectory cook was ordered to do her best. The big +bedroom had been made ready, and the parson looked at his '99 port +and his '16 Margaux. In those days men drank port, and champagne at +country houses was not yet a necessity. To give the rector of Yoxham +his due it must be said of him that he would have done his very best +for the head of his family had there been no large fortune within the +young lord's grasp. The Lovels had ever been true to the Lovels, with +the exception of that late wretched Earl,--the Lady Anna's father. + +But if the rector and his wife were alive to the importance of the +expected arrival, what must have been the state of Lady Anna! They +had met but once before, and during that meeting they had been alone +together. There had grown up, she knew not how, during those few +minutes, a heavenly sweetness between them. He had talked to her with +a voice that had been to her ears as the voice of a god,--it had been +so sweet and full of music! He had caressed her,--but with a caress +so gentle and pure that it had been to her void of all taint of evil. +It had perplexed her for a moment,--but had left no sense of wrong +behind it. He had told her that he loved her,--that he would love +her dearly; but had not scared her in so telling her, though she +knew she could never give him back such love as that of which he +spoke to her. There had been a charm in it, of which she delighted +to dream,--fancying that she could remember it for ever, as a green +island in her life; but could so best remember it if she were assured +that she should never see him more. But now she was to see him again, +and the charm must be renewed,--or else the dream dispelled for +ever. Alas! it must be the latter. She knew that the charm must be +dispelled. + +But there was a doubt on her own mind whether it would not be +dispelled without any effort on her part. It would vanish at once +if he were to greet her as the Lovels had greeted her on her first +coming. She could partly understand that the manner of their meeting +in London had thrust upon him a necessity for flattering tenderness +with which he might well dispense when he met her among his family. +Had he really loved her,--had he meant to love her,--he would hardly +have been absent so long after her coming. She had been glad that +he had been absent,--so she assured herself,--because there could +never be any love between them. Daniel Thwaite had told her that +the brotherly love which had been offered was false love,--must be +false,--was no love at all. Do brothers marry sisters; and had not +this man already told her that he wished to make her his wife? And +then there must never be another kiss. Daniel Thwaite had told her +that; and he was, not only her lover, but her master also. This was +the rule by which she would certainly hold. She would be true to +Daniel Thwaite. And yet she looked for the lord's coming, as one +looks for the rising of the sun of an early morning,--watching for +that which shall make all the day beautiful. + +And he came. The rector and his wife, and Aunt Julia and Minnie, all +went out into the hall to meet him, and Anna was left alone in the +library, where they were wont to congregate before dinner. It was +already past seven, and every one was dressed. A quarter of an hour +was to be allowed to the lord, and he was to be hurried up at once to +his bedroom. She would not see him till he came down ready, and all +hurried, to lead his aunt to the dining-room. She heard the scuffle +in the hall. There were kisses;--and a big kiss from Minnie to her +much-prized Cousin Fred; and a loud welcome from the full-mouthed +rector. "And where is Anna?"--the lord asked. They were the first +words he spoke, and she heard them, ah! so plainly. It was the same +voice,--sweet, genial, and manly; sweet to her beyond all sweetness +that she could conceive. + +"You shall see her when you come down from dressing," said Mrs. +Lovel,--in a low voice, but still audible to the solitary girl. + +"I will see her before I go up to dress," said the lord, walking +through them, and in through the open door to the library. "So, here +you are. I am so glad to see you! I had sworn to go into Scotland +before the time was fixed for your coming,--before I had met +you,--and I could not escape. Have you thought ill of me because I +have not been here to welcome you sooner?" + +"No,--my lord." + +"There are horrible penalties for anybody who calls me lord in this +house;--are there not, Aunt Jane? But I see my uncle wants his +dinner." + +"I'll take you up-stairs, Fred," said Minnie, who was still holding +her cousin's hand. + +"I am coming. I will only say that I would sooner see you here than +in any house in England." + +Then he went, and during the few minutes that he spent in dressing +little or nothing was spoke in the library. The parson in his heart +was not pleased by the enthusiasm with which the young man greeted +this new cousin; and yet, why should he not be enthusiastic if it was +intended that they should be man and wife? + +"Now, Lady Anna," said the rector, as he offered her his arm to lead +her out to dinner. It was but a mild corrective to the warmth of his +nephew. The lord lingered a moment with his aunt in the library. + +"Have you not got beyond that with her yet?" he asked. + +"Your uncle is more old fashioned than you are, Fred. Things did not +go so quick when he was young." + +In the evening he came and lounged on a double-seated ottoman behind +her, and she soon found herself answering a string of questions. Had +she been happy at Yoxham? Did she like the place? What had she been +doing? "Then you know Mrs. Grimes already?" She laughed as she said +that she did know Mrs. Grimes. "The lion of Yoxham is Mrs. Grimes. +She is supposed to have all the misfortunes and all the virtues to +which humanity is subject. And how do you and Minnie get on? Minnie +is my prime minister. The boys, I suppose, teased you out of your +life?" + +"I did like them so much! I never knew a boy till I saw them, Lord +Lovel." + +"They take care to make themselves known, at any rate. But they are +nice, good-humoured lads,--taking after their mother. Don't tell +their father I said so. Do you think it pretty about here?" + +"Beautifully pretty." + +"Just about Yoxham,--because there is so much wood. But this is not +the beautiful part of Yorkshire, you know. I wonder whether we could +make an expedition to Wharfedale and Bolton Abbey. You would say that +the Wharfe was pretty. We'll try and plan it. We should have to sleep +out one night; but that would make it all the jollier. There isn't a +better inn in England than the Devonshire arms;--and I don't think a +pleasanter spot. Aunt Jane,--couldn't we go for one night to Bolton +Abbey?" + +"It is very far, Frederic." + +"Thirty miles or so;--that ought to be nothing in Yorkshire. We'll +manage it. We could get post-horses from York, and the carriage +would take us all. My uncle, you must know, is very chary about +the carriage horses, thinking that the corn of idleness,--which is +destructive to young men and women,--is very good for cattle. But +we'll manage it, and you shall jump over the Stryd." Then he told +her the story how the youth was drowned--and how the monks moaned; +and he got away to other legends, to the white doe of Rylston, and +Landseer's picture of the abbey in olden times. She had heard nothing +before of these things,--or indeed of such things, and the hearing +them was very sweet to her. The parson, who was still displeased, +went to sleep. Minnie had been sent to bed, and Aunt Julia and Aunt +Jane every now and again put in a word. It was resolved before the +evening was over that the visit should be made to Bolton Abbey. Of +course, their nephew ought to have opportunities of making love to +the girl he was doomed to marry. "Good night, dearest," he said when +she went to bed. She was sure that the last word had been so spoken, +and that no ear but her own had heard it. She could not tell him +that such word should not be spoken; and yet she felt that the word +would be almost as offensive as the kiss to Daniel Thwaite. She must +contrive some means of telling him that she could not, would not, +must not be his dearest. + +She had now received two letters from her mother since she had been +at Yoxham, and in each of them there were laid down for her plain +instructions as to her conduct. It was now the middle of August, and +it was incumbent upon her to allow matters so to arrange themselves, +that the marriage might be declared to be a settled thing when the +case should come on in November. Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick had met +each other, and everything was now understood by the two parties of +lawyers. If the Earl and Lady Anna were then engaged with the mutual +consent of all interested,--and so engaged that a day could be fixed +for the wedding,--then, when the case was opened in court, would the +Solicitor-General declare that it was the intention of Lord Lovel +to make no further opposition to the claims of the Countess and her +daughter, and it would only remain for Serjeant Bluestone to put in +the necessary proofs of the Cumberland marriage and of the baptism +of Lady Anna. The Solicitor-General would at the same time state +to the court that an alliance had been arranged between these +distant cousins, and that in that way everything would be settled. +But,--and in this clause of her instructions the Countess was most +urgent,--this could not be done unless the marriage were positively +settled. Mr. Flick had been very urgent in pointing out to Mr. Goffe +that in truth their evidence was very strong to prove that when +the Earl married the now so-called Countess, his first wife was +still living, though they gave no credit to the woman who now +called herself the Countess. But, in either case,--whether the +Italian countess were now alive or now dead,--the daughter would be +illegitimate, and the second marriage void, if their surmise on this +head should prove to be well founded. But the Italian party could of +itself do nothing, and the proposed marriage would set everything +right. But the evidence must be brought into court and further +sifted, unless the marriage were a settled thing by November. All +this the Countess explained at great length in her letters, calling +upon her daughter to save herself, her mother, and the family. + +Lady Anna answered the first epistle,--or rather, wrote another in +return to it;--but she said nothing of her noble lover, except that +Lord Lovel had not as yet come to Yoxham. She confined herself to +simple details of her daily life, and a prayer that her dear mother +might be happy. The second letter from the Countess was severe in its +tone,--asking why no promise had been made, no assurance given,--no +allusion made to the only subject that could now be of interest. She +implored her child to tell her that she was disposed to listen to the +Earl's suit. This letter was in her pocket when the Earl arrived, and +she took it out and read it again after the Earl had whispered in her +ear that word so painfully sweet. + +She proposed to answer it before breakfast on the following morning. +At Yoxham rectory they breakfasted at ten, and she was always up at +least before eight. She determined as she laid herself down that she +would think of it all night. It might be best, she believed, to tell +her mother the whole truth,--that she had already promised everything +to Daniel Thwaite, and that she could not go back from her word. Then +she began to build castles in the air,--castles which she declared to +herself must ever be in the air,--of which Lord Lovel, and not Daniel +Thwaite, was the hero, owner, and master. She assured herself that +she was not picturing to herself any prospect of a really possible +life, but was simply dreaming of an impossible Elysium. How many +people would she make happy, were she able to let that young +Phoebus know in one half-uttered word,--or with a single silent +glance,--that she would in truth be his dearest. It could not be so. +She was well aware of that. But surely she might dream of it. All the +cares of that careful, careworn mother would then be at an end. How +delightful would it be to her to welcome that sorrowful one to her +own bright home, and to give joy where joy had never yet been known! +How all the lawyers would praise her, and tell her that she had saved +a noble family from ruin. She already began to have feelings about +the family to which she had been a stranger before she had come among +the Lovels. And if it really would make him happy, this Phoebus, +how glorious would that be! How fit he was to be made happy! Daniel +had said that he was sordid, false, fraudulent, and a fool;--but +Daniel did not, could not, understand the nature of the Lovels. And +then she herself;--how would it be with her? She had given her heart +to Daniel Thwaite, and she had but one heart to give. Had it not been +for that, it would have been very sweet to love that young curled +darling. There were two sorts of life, and now she had had an insight +into each. Daniel had told her that this soft, luxurious life was +thoroughly bad. He could not have known when saying so, how much +was done for their poor neighbours by such as even these Lovels. It +could not be wrong to be soft, and peaceful, and pretty, to enjoy +sweet smells, to sit softly, and eat off delicately painted china +plates,--as long as no one was defrauded, and many were comforted. +Daniel Thwaite, she believed, never went to church. Here at Yoxham +there were always morning prayers, and they went to church twice +every Sunday. She had found it very pleasant to go to church, and to +be led along in the easy path of self-indulgent piety on which they +all walked at Yoxham. The church seats at Yoxham were broad, with +soft cushions, and the hassocks were well stuffed. Surely, Daniel +Thwaite did not know everything. As she thus built her castles in the +air,--castles so impossible to be inhabited,--she fell asleep before +she had resolved what letter she should write. + +But in the morning she did write her letter. It must be written,--and +when the family were about the house, she would be too disturbed for +so great an effort. It ran as follows:-- + + + Yoxham, Friday. + + DEAREST MAMMA, + + I am much obliged for your letter, which I got the + day before yesterday. Lord Lovel came here yesterday, + or perhaps I might have answered it then. Everybody + here seems to worship him almost, and he is so good to + everybody! We are all to go on a visit to Bolton Abbey, + and sleep at an inn somewhere, and I am sure I shall like + it very much, for they say it is most beautiful. If you + look at the map, it is nearly in a straight line between + here and Kendal, but only much nearer to York. The day is + not fixed yet, but I believe it will be very soon. + + I shall be so glad if the lawsuit can be got over, for + your sake, dearest mamma. I wish they could let you have + your title and your share of the money, and let Lord Lovel + have the rest, because he is head of the family. That + would be fairest, and I can't see why it should not be so. + Your share would be quite enough for you and me. I can't + say anything about what you speak of. He has said nothing, + and I'm sure I hope he won't. I don't think I could do it; + and I don't think the lawyers ought to want me to. I think + it is very wrong of them to say so. We are strangers, and + I feel almost sure that I could never be what he would + want. I don't think people ought to marry for money. + + Dearest mamma, pray do not be angry with me. If you are, + you will kill me. I am very happy here, and nobody has + said anything about my going away. Couldn't you ask + Serjeant Bluestone whether something couldn't be done to + divide the money, so that there might be no more law? I am + sure he could if he liked, with Mr. Goffe and the other + men. + + Dearest mamma, I am, + Your most affectionate Daughter, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +When the moment came, and the pen was in her hand, she had not +the courage to mention the name of Daniel Thwaite. She knew that +the fearful story must be told, but at this moment she comforted +herself,--or tried to comfort herself,--by remembering that Daniel +himself had enjoined that their engagement must yet for a while be +kept secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WHARFEDALE. + + +The visit to Wharfedale was fixed for Monday and Tuesday, and on the +Monday morning they started, after an early breakfast. The party +consisted of Aunt Jane, Aunt Julia, Lady Anna, Minnie, and Mr. Cross, +one of the rector's curates. The rector would not accompany them, +excusing himself to the others generally on the ground that he could +not be absent from his parish on those two days. To his wife and +sister he explained that he was not able, as yet, to take pleasure in +such a party as this with Lady Anna. There was no knowing, he said, +what might happen. It was evident that he did not mean to open his +heart to Lady Anna, at any rate till the marriage should be settled. + +An open carriage, which would take them all, was ordered,--with four +post horses, and two antiquated postboys, with white hats and blue +jackets, and yellow breeches. Minnie and the curate sat on the box, +and there was a servant in the rumble. Rooms at the inn had been +ordered, and everything was done in proper lordly manner. The sun +shone brightly above their heads, and Anna, having as yet received +no further letter from her mother, was determined to be happy. Four +horses took them to Bolton Bridge, and then, having eaten lunch and +ordered dinner, they started for their ramble in the woods. + +The first thing to be seen at Bolton Abbey is, of course, the Abbey. +The Abbey itself, as a ruin,--a ruin not so ruinous but that a part +of it is used for a modern church,--is very well; but the glory of +Bolton Abbey is in the river which runs round it and in the wooded +banks which overhang it. No more luxuriant pasture, no richer +foliage, no brighter water, no more picturesque arrangement of the +freaks of nature, aided by the art and taste of man, is to be found, +perhaps, in England. Lady Anna, who had been used to wilder scenery +in her native county, was delighted. Nothing had ever been so +beautiful as the Abbey;--nothing so lovely as the running Wharfe! +Might they not climb up among those woods on the opposite bank? +Lord Lovel declared that, of course they would climb up among the +woods,--it was for that purpose they had come. That was the way to +the Stryd,--over which he was determined that Lady Anna should be +made to jump. + +But the river below the Abbey is to be traversed by stepping-stones, +which, to the female uninitiated foot, appear to be full of danger. +The Wharfe here is no insignificant brook, to be overcome by a long +stride and a jump. There is a causeway, of perhaps forty stones, +across it, each some eighteen inches distant from the other, which, +flat and excellent though they be, are perilous from their number. +Mrs. Lovel, who knew the place of old, had begun by declaring that +no consideration should induce her to cross the water. Aunt Julia +had proposed that they should go along the other bank, on the Abbey +side of the river, and thence cross by the bridge half a mile up. +But the Earl was resolved that he would take his cousin over the +stepping-stones; and Minnie and the curate were equally determined. +Minnie, indeed, had crossed the river, and was back again, while the +matter was still being discussed. Aunt Julia, who was strong-limbed, +as well as strong-minded, at last assented, the curate having +promised all necessary aid. Mrs. Lovel seated herself at a distance +to see the exploit; and then Lord Lovel started, with Lady Anna, +turning at every stone to give a hand to his cousin. + +"Oh, they are very dreadful!" said Lady Anna, when about a dozen had +been passed. + +The black water was flowing fast, fast beneath her feet; the stones +became smaller and smaller to her imagination, and the apertures +between them broader and broader. + +"Don't look at the water, dear," said the lord, "but come on quick." + +"I can't come on quick. I shall never get over. Oh, Frederic!" That +morning she had promised that she would call him Frederic. Even +Daniel could not think it wrong that she should call her cousin +by his Christian name. "It's no good, I can't do that one,--it's +crooked. Mayn't I go back again?" + +"You can't go back, dear. It is only up to your knees, if you do +go in. But take my hand. There,--all the others are straight,--you +must come on, or Aunt Julia will catch us. After two or three times, +you'll hop over like a milkmaid. There are only half-a-dozen more. +Here we are. Isn't that pretty?" + +"I thought I never should have got over. I wouldn't go back for +anything. But it is lovely; and I am so much obliged to you for +bringing me here. We can go back another way?" + +"Oh, yes;--but now we'll get up the bank. Give me your hand." Then +he took her along the narrow, twisting, steep paths, to the top of +the wooded bank, and they were soon beyond the reach of Aunt Julia, +Minnie, and the curate. + +It was very pleasant, very lovely, and very joyous; but there was +still present to her mind some great fear. The man was there with her +as an acknowledged lover,--a lover, acknowledged to be so by all but +herself; but she could not lawfully have any lover but him who was +now slaving at his trade in London. She must tell this gallant lord +that he must not be her lover; and, as they went along, she was +always meditating how she might best tell him, when the moment for +telling him should come. But on that morning, during the entire walk, +he said no word to her which seemed quite to justify the telling. He +called her by sweet, petting names,--Anna, my girl, pretty coz, and +such like. He would hold her hand twice longer than he would have +held that of either aunt in helping her over this or that little +difficulty,--and would help her when no help was needed. He talked to +her, of small things, as though he and she must needs have kindred +interests. He spoke to her of his uncle as though, near as his uncle +was, the connection were not nigh so close as that between him and +her. She understood it with a half understanding,--feeling that in +all this he was in truth making love to her, and yet telling herself +that he said no more than cousinship might warrant. But the autumn +colours were bright, and the river rippled, and the light breeze +came down from the mountains, and the last of the wild flowers were +still sweet in the woods. After a while she was able to forget her +difficulties, to cease to think of Daniel, and to find in her cousin, +not a lover, but simply the pleasantest friend that fortune had ever +sent her. + +And so they came, all alone,--for Aunt Julia, though both limbs and +mind were strong, had not been able to keep up with them,--all alone +to the Stryd. The Stryd is a narrow gully or passage, which the +waters have cut for themselves in the rocks, perhaps five or six +feet broad, where the river passes, but narrowed at the top by an +overhanging mass which in old days withstood the wearing of the +stream, till the softer stone below was cut away, and then was left +bridging over a part of the chasm below. There goes a story that a +mountain chieftain's son, hunting the stag across the valley when the +floods were out, in leaping the stream, from rock to rock, failed to +make good his footing, was carried down by the rushing waters, and +dashed to pieces among the rocks. Lord Lovel told her the tale, as +they sat looking at the now innocent brook, and then bade her follow +him as he leaped from edge to edge. + +"I couldn't do it;--indeed, I couldn't," said the shivering girl. + +"It is barely a step," said the Earl, jumping over, and back again. +"Going from this side, you couldn't miss to do it, if you tried." + +"I'm sure I should tumble in. It makes me sick to look at you while +you are leaping." + +"You'd jump over twice the distance on dry ground." + +"Then let me jump on dry ground." + +"I've set my heart upon it. Do you think I'd ask you if I wasn't +sure?" + +"You want to make another legend of me." + +"I want to leave Aunt Julia behind, which we shall certainly do." + +"Oh, but I can't afford to drown myself just that you may run away +from Aunt Julia. You can run by yourself, and I will wait for Aunt +Julia." + +"That is not exactly my plan. Be a brave girl, now, and stand up, and +do as I bid you." + +Then she stood up on the edge of the rock, holding tight by his arm. +How pleasant it was to be thus frightened, with such a protector near +her to insure her safety! And yet the chasm yawned, and the water ran +rapid and was very black. But if he asked her to make the spring, of +course she must make it. What would she not have done at his bidding? + +"I can almost touch you, you see," he said, as he stood opposite, +with his arm out ready to catch her hand. + +"Oh, Frederic, I don't think I can." + +"You can very well, if you will only jump." + +"It is ever so many yards." + +"It is three feet. I'll back Aunt Julia to do it for a promise of ten +shillings to the infirmary." + +"I'll give the ten shillings, if you'll only let me off." + +"I won't let you off,--so you might as well come at once." + +Then she stood and shuddered for a moment, looking with beseeching +eyes up into his face. Of course she meant to jump. Of course she +would have been disappointed had Aunt Julia come and interrupted her +jumping. Yes,--she would jump into his arms. She knew that he would +catch her. At that moment her memory of Daniel Thwaite had become +faint as the last shaded glimmer of twilight. She shut her eyes for +half a moment, then opened them, looked into his face, and made her +spring. As she did so, she struck her foot against a rising ledge of +the rock, and, though she covered more than the distance in her leap, +she stumbled as she came to the ground, and fell into his arms. She +had sprained her ankle, in her effort to recover herself. + +"Are you hurt?" he asked, holding her close to his side. + +"No;--I think not;--only a little, that is. I was so awkward." + +"I shall never forgive myself if you are hurt." + +"There is nothing to forgive. I'll sit down for a moment. It was my +own fault because I was so stupid,--and it does not in the least +signify. I know what it is now; I've sprained my ankle." + +"There is nothing so painful as that." + +"It hurts a little, but it will go off. It wasn't the jump, but I +twisted my foot somehow. If you look so unhappy, I'll get up and jump +back again." + +"I am unhappy, dearest." + +"Oh, but you mustn't." The prohibition might be taken as applying to +the epithet of endearment, and thereby her conscience be satisfied. +Then he bent over her, looking anxiously into her face as she winced +with the pain, and he took her hand and kissed it. "Oh, no," she +said, gently struggling to withdraw the hand which he held. "Here is +Aunt Julia. You had better just move." Not that she would have cared +a straw for the eyes of Aunt Julia, had it not been that the image +of Daniel Thwaite again rose strong before her mind. Then Aunt Julia, +and the curate, and Minnie were standing on the rock within a few +paces of them, but on the other side of the stream. + +"Is there anything the matter?" asked Miss Lovel. + +"She has sprained her ankle in jumping over the Stryd, and she cannot +walk. Perhaps Mr. Cross would not mind going back to the inn and +getting a carriage. The road is only a quarter of a mile above us, +and we could carry her up." + +"How could you be so foolish, Frederic, as to let her jump it?" said +the aunt. + +"Don't mind about my folly now. The thing is to get a carriage for +Anna." The curate immediately hurried back, jumping over the Stryd as +the nearest way to the inn; and Minnie also sprung across the stream +so that she might sit down beside her cousin and offer consolation. +Aunt Julia was left alone, and after a while was forced to walk back +by herself to the bridge. + +"Is she much hurt?" asked Minnie. + +"I am afraid she is hurt," said the lord. + +"Dear, dear Minnie, it does not signify a bit," said Anna, lavishing +on her younger cousin the caresses which fate forbade her to give to +the elder. "I know I could walk home in a few minutes. I am better +now. It is one of those things which go away almost immediately. I'll +try and stand, Frederic, if you'll let me." Then she raised herself, +leaning upon him, and declared that she was nearly well,--and then +was reseated, still leaning on him. + +"Shall we attempt to get her up to the road, Minnie, or wait till Mr. +Cross comes to help us?" Lady Anna declared that she did not want any +help,--certainly not Mr. Cross's help, and that she could do very +well, just with Minnie's arm. They waited there sitting on the rocks +for half an hour, saying but little to each other, throwing into the +stream the dry bits of stick which the last flood had left upon the +stones, and each thinking how pleasant it was to sit there and dream, +listening to the running waters. Then Lady Anna hobbled up to the +carriage road, helped by a stronger arm than that of her cousin +Minnie. + +Of course there was some concern and dismay at the inn. Embrocations +were used, and doctors were talked of, and heads were shaken, and a +couch in the sitting-room was prepared, so that the poor injured one +might eat her dinner without being driven to the solitude of her own +bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +FOR EVER. + + +On the next morning the poor injured one was quite well,--but she +was still held to be subject to piteous concern. The two aunts +shook their heads when she said that she would walk down to the +stepping-stones that morning, before starting for Yoxham; but she was +quite sure that the sprain was gone, and the distance was not above +half a mile. They were not to start till two o'clock. Would Minnie +come down with her, and ramble about among the ruins? + +"Minnie, come out on the lawn," said the lord. "Don't you come with +me and Anna;--you can go where you like about the place by yourself." + +"Why mayn't I come?" + +"Never mind, but do as you're bid." + +"I know. You are going to make love to cousin Anna." + +"You are an impertinent little imp." + +"I am so glad, Frederic, because I do like her. I was sure she was a +real cousin. Don't you think she is very,--very nice?" + +"Pretty well." + +"Is that all?" + +"You go away and don't tease,--or else I'll never bring you to the +Stryd again." So it happened that Lord Lovel and Lady Anna went +across the meadow together, down to the river, and sauntered along +the margin till they came to the stepping-stones. He passed over, and +she followed him, almost without a word. Her heart was so full, that +she did not think now of the water running at her feet. It had hardly +seemed to her to make any difficulty as to the passage. She must +follow him whither he would lead her, but her mind misgave her,--that +they would not return sweet loving friends as they went out. "We +won't climb," said he, "because it might try your ankle too much. But +we will go in here by the meadow. I always think this is one of the +prettiest views there is," he said, throwing himself upon the grass. + +"It is all prettiest. It is like fairy land. Does the Duke let people +come here always?" + +"Yes, I fancy so." + +"He must be very good-natured. Do you know the Duke?" + +"I never saw him in my life." + +"A duke sounds so awful to me." + +"You'll get used to them some day. Won't you sit down?" Then she +glided down to the ground at a little distance from him, and he at +once shifted his place so as to be almost close to her. "Your foot is +quite well?" + +"Quite well." + +"I thought for a few minutes that there was going to be some dreadful +accident, and I was so mad with myself for having made you jump it. +If you had broken your leg, how would you have borne it?" + +"Like other people, I suppose." + +"Would you have been angry with me?" + +"I hope not. I am sure not. You were doing the best you could to give +me pleasure. I don't think I should have been angry at all. I don't +think we are ever angry with the people we really like." + +"Do you really like me?" + +"Yes;--I like you." + +"Is that all?" + +"Is not that enough?" + +She answered the question as she might have answered it had it been +allowed to her, as to any girl that was free, to toy with his love, +knowing that she meant to accept it. It was easier so, than in any +other way. But her heart within her was sad, and could she have +stopped his further speech by any word rough and somewhat rude, she +would have done so. In truth, she did not know how to answer him +roughly. He deserved from her that all her words should be soft, and +sweet and pleasant. She believed him to be good and generous and kind +and loving. The hard things which Daniel Thwaite had said of him had +all vanished from her mind. To her thinking, it was no sin in him +that he should want her wealth,--he, the Earl, to whom by right the +wealth of the Lovels should belong. The sin was rather hers,--in that +she kept it from him. And then, if she could receive all that he +was willing to give, his heart, his name, his house and home, and +sweet belongings of natural gifts and personal advantages, how much +more would she take than what she gave! She could not speak to him +roughly, though,--alas!--the time had come in which she must speak to +him truly. It was not fitting that a girl should have two lovers. + +"No, dear,--not enough," he said. + +It can hardly be accounted a fault in him that at this time he felt +sure of her love. She had been so soft in her ways with him, so +gracious, yielding, and pretty in her manners, so manifestly pleased +by his company, so prone to lean upon him, that it could hardly be +that he should think otherwise. She had told him, when he spoke to +her more plainly up in London than he had yet done since they had +been together in the country, that she could never, never be his +wife. But what else could a girl say at a first meeting with a +proposed lover? Would he have wished that she should at once have +given herself up without one maidenly scruple, one word of feminine +recusancy? If love's course be made to run too smooth it loses all +its poetry, and half its sweetness. But now they knew each other;--at +least, he thought they did. The scruple might now be put away. The +feminine recusancy had done its work. For himself,--he felt that he +loved her in very truth. She was not harsh or loud,--vulgar, or given +to coarse manners, as might have been expected, and as he had been +warned by his friends that he would find her. That she was very +beautiful, all her enemies had acknowledged,--and he was quite +assured that her enemies had been right. She was the Lady Anna Lovel, +and he felt that he could make her his own without one shade of +regret to mar his triumph. Of the tailor's son,--though he had been +warned of him too,--he made no account whatever. That had been a +slander, which only endeared the girl to him the more;--a slander +against Lady Anna Lovel which had been an insult to his family. Among +all the ladies he knew, daughters of peers and high-bred commoners, +there were none,--there was not one less likely so to disgrace +herself than Lady Anna Lovel, his sweet cousin. + +"Do not think me too hurried, dear, if I speak to you again so soon, +of that of which I spoke once before." He had turned himself round +upon his arm, so as to be very close to her,--so that he would look +full into her face, and, if chance favoured him, could take her hand. +He paused, as though for an answer; but she did not speak to him a +word. "It is not long yet since we first met." + +"Oh, no;--not long." + +"And I know not what your feelings are. But, in very truth, I can say +that I love you dearly. Had nothing else come in the way to bring us +together, I am sure that I should have loved you." She, poor child, +believed him as though he were speaking to her the sweetest gospel. +And he, too, believed himself. He was easy of heart perhaps, but not +deceitful; anxious enough for his position in the world, but not +meanly covetous. Had she been distasteful to him as a woman, he +would have refused to make himself rich by the means that had been +suggested to him. As it was, he desired her as much as her money, and +had she given herself to him then would never have remembered,--would +never have known that the match had been sordid. "Do you believe me?" +he asked. + +"Oh, yes." + +"And shall it be so?" + +Her face had been turned away, but now she slowly moved her neck so +that she could look at him. Should she be false to all her vows, and +try whether happiness might not be gained in that way? The manner +of doing it passed through her mind in that moment. She would write +to Daniel, and remind him of his promise to set her free if she so +willed it. She would never see him again. She would tell him that +she had striven to see things as he would have taught her, and had +failed. She would abuse herself, and ask for his pardon;--but having +thus judged for herself, she would never go back from such judgment. +It might be done,--if only she could persuade herself that it were +good to do it! But, as she thought of it, there came upon her a prick +of conscience so sharp, that she could not welcome the devil by +leaving it unheeded. How could she be foresworn to one who had been +so absolutely good,--whose all had been spent for her and for her +mother,--whose whole life had been one long struggle of friendship on +her behalf,--who had been the only playfellow of her youth, the only +man she had ever ventured to kiss,--the man whom she truly loved? He +had warned her against these gauds which were captivating her spirit, +and now, in the moment of her peril, she would remember his warnings. + +"Shall it be so?" Lord Lovel asked again, just stretching out his +hand, so that he could touch the fold of her garment. + +"It cannot be so," she said. + +"Cannot be!" + +"It cannot be so, Lord Lovel." + +"It cannot now;--or do you mean the word to be for ever?" + +"For ever!" she replied. + +"I know that I have been hurried and sudden," he said,--purposely +passing by her last assurance; "and I do feel that you have a right +to resent the seeming assurance of such haste. But in our case, +dearest, the interests of so many are concerned, the doubts and +fears, the well-being, and even the future conduct of all our friends +are so bound up by the result, that I had hoped you would have +pardoned that which would otherwise have been unpardonable." Oh +heavens;--had it not been for Daniel Thwaite, how full of grace, how +becoming, how laden with flattering courtesy would have been every +word that he had uttered to her! "But," he continued, "if it really +be that you cannot love me--" + +"Oh, Lord Lovel, pray ask of me no further question." + +"I am bound to ask and to know,--for all our sakes." + +Then she rose quickly to her feet, and with altered gait and changed +countenance stood over him. "I am engaged," she said, "to be +married--to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." She had told it all, and felt that +she had told her own disgrace. He rose also, but stood mute before +her. This was the very thing of which they had all warned him, but as +to which he had been so sure that it was not so! She saw it all in +his eyes, reading much more there than he could read in hers. She was +degraded in his estimation, and felt that evil worse almost than the +loss of his love. For the last three weeks she had been a real Lovel +among the Lovels. That was all over now. Let this lawsuit go as it +might, let them give to her all the money, and make the title which +she hated ever so sure, she never again could be the equal friend +of her gentle relative, Earl Lovel. Minnie would never again spring +into her arms, swearing that she would do as she pleased with her +own cousin. She might be Lady Anna, but never Anna again to the two +ladies at the rectory. The perfume of his rank had been just scented, +to be dashed away from her for ever. "It is a secret at present," +she said, "or I should have told you sooner. If it is right that you +should repeat it, of course you must." + +"Oh, Anna!" + +"It is true." + +"Oh, Anna, for your sake as well as mine this makes me wretched +indeed!" + +"As for the money, Lord Lovel, if it be mine to give, you shall have +it." + +"You think then it is that which I have wanted?" + +"It is that which the family wants, and I can understand that it +should be wanted. As for myself,--for mamma and me,--you can hardly +understand how it has been with us when we were young. You despise +Mr. Thwaite,--because he is a tailor." + +"I am sure he is not fit to be the husband of Lady Anna Lovel." + +"When Lady Anna Lovel had no other friend in the world, he sheltered +her and gave her a house to live in, and spent his earnings in her +defence, and would not yield when all those who might have been +her friends strove to wrong her. Where would mamma have been,--and +I,--had there been no Mr. Thwaite to comfort us? He was our only +friend,--he and his father. They were all we had. In my childhood I +had never a kind word from another child,--but only from him. Would +it have been right that he should have asked for anything, and that +I should have refused it?" + +"He should not have asked for this," said Lord Lovel hoarsely. + +"Why not he, as well as you? He is as much a man. If I could believe +in your love after two days, Lord Lovel, could I not trust his after +twenty years of friendship?" + +"You knew that he was beneath you." + +"He was not beneath me. He was above me. We were poor,--while he +and his father had money, which we took. He could give, while we +received. He was strong while we were weak,--and was strong to +comfort us. And then, Lord Lovel, what knew I of rank, living under +his father's wing? They told me I was the Lady Anna, and the children +scouted me. My mother was a countess. So she swore, and I at least +believed her. But if ever rank and title were a profitless burden, +they were to her. Do you think that I had learned then to love my +rank?" + +"You have learned better now." + +"I have learned,--but whether better I may doubt. There are lessons +which are quickly learned; and there are they who say that such are +the devil's lessons. I have not been strong enough not to learn. But +I must forget again, Lord Lovel. And you must forget also." He hardly +knew how to speak to her now;--whether it would be fit for him even +to wish to persuade her to be his, after she had told him that she +had given her troth to a tailor. His uneasy thoughts prompted him +with ideas which dismayed him. Could he take to his heart one who had +been pressed close in so vile a grasp? Could he accept a heart that +had once been promised to a tailor's workman? Would not all the world +know and say that he had done it solely for the money,--even should +he succeed in doing it? And yet to fail in this enterprise,--to +abandon all,--to give up so enticing a road to wealth! Then he +remembered what he had said,--how he had pledged himself to abandon +the lawsuit,--how convinced he had been that this girl was heiress to +the Lovel wealth, who now told him that she had engaged herself to +marry a tailor. + +There was nothing more that either of them could say to the other at +the moment, and they went back in silence to the inn. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE JOURNEY HOME. + + +In absolute silence Lord Lovel and Lady Anna walked back to the inn. +He had been dumbfoundered,--nearly so by her first abrupt statement, +and then altogether by the arguments with which she had defended +herself. She had nothing further to say. She had, indeed, said all, +and had marvelled at her own eloquence while she was speaking. Nor +was there absent from her a certain pride in that she had done the +thing that was right, and had dared to defend herself. She was full +of regrets,--almost of remorse; but, nevertheless, she was proud. He +knew it all now, and one of her great difficulties had been overcome. + +And she was fully resolved that as she had dared to tell him, and +to face his anger, his reproaches, his scorn, she would not falter +before the scorn and the reproaches, or the anger, of the other +Lovels,--of any of the Lovels of Yoxham. Her mother's reproaches +would be dreadful to her; her mother's anger would well-nigh kill +her; her mother's scorn would scorch her very soul. But sufficient +for the day was the evil thereof. At the present moment she could be +strong with the strength she had assumed. So she walked in at the +sitting-room window with a bold front, and the Earl followed her. The +two aunts were there, and it was plain to them both that something +was astray between the lovers. They had said among themselves that +Lady Anna would accept the offer the moment that it was in form +made to her. To their eyes the manner of their guest had been the +manner of a girl eager to be wooed; but they had both imagined that +their delicately nurtured and fastidious nephew might too probably +be offended by some solecism in conduct, some falling away from +feminine grace, such as might too readily be shown by one whose early +life had been subjected to rough associates. Even now it occurred to +each of them that it had been so. The Earl seated himself in a chair, +and took up a book, which they had brought with them. Lady Anna stood +at the open window, looking across at the broad field and the river +bank beyond; but neither of them spoke a word. There had certainly +been some quarrel. Then aunt Julia, in the cause of wisdom, asked a +question;-- + +"Where is Minnie? Did not Minnie go with you?" + +"No," said the Earl. "She went in some other direction at my bidding. +Mr. Cross is with her, I suppose." It was evident from the tone of +his voice that the displeasure of the head of all the Lovels was very +great. + +"We start soon, I suppose?" said Lady Anna. + +"After lunch, my dear; it is hardly one yet." + +"I will go up all the same, and see about my things." + +"Shall I help you, my dear?" asked Mrs. Lovel. + +"Oh, no! I would sooner do it alone." Then she hurried into her room +and burst into a flood of tears, as soon as the door was closed +behind her. + +"Frederic, what ails her?" asked aunt Julia. + +"If anything ails her she must tell you herself," said the lord. + +"Something is amiss. You cannot wonder that we should be anxious, +knowing that we know how great is the importance of all this." + +"I cannot help your anxiety just at present, aunt Julia; but you +should always remember that there will be slips between the cup and +the lip." + +"Then there has been a slip? I knew it would be so. I always said so, +and so did my brother." + +"I wish you would all remember that about such an affair as this, the +less said the better." So saying, the lord walked out through the +window and sauntered down to the river side. + +"It's all over," said aunt Julia. + +"I don't see why we should suppose that at present," said aunt Jane. + +"It's all over. I knew it as soon as I saw her face when she came in. +She has said something, or done something, and it's all off. It will +be a matter of over twenty thousand pounds a year!" + +"He'll be sure to marry somebody with money," said aunt Jane. "What +with his title and his being so handsome, he is certain to do well, +you know." + +"Nothing like that will come in his way. I heard Mr. Flick say that +it was equal to half a million of money. And then it would have been +at once. If he goes up to London, and about, just as he is, he'll +be head over ears in debt before anybody knows what he is doing. I +wonder what it is. He likes pretty girls, and there's no denying that +she's handsome." + +"Perhaps she wouldn't have him." + +"That's impossible, Jane. She came down here on purpose to have him. +She went out with him this morning to be made love to. They were +together three times longer yesterday, and he came home as sweet +as sugar to her. I wonder whether she can have wanted to make some +condition about the money." + +"What condition?" + +"That she and her mother should have it in their own keeping." + +"She doesn't seem to be that sort of a young woman," said aunt Jane. + +"There's no knowing what that Mr. Goffe, Serjeant Bluestone, and her +mother may have put her up to. Frederic wouldn't stand that kind of +thing for a minute, and he would be quite right. Better anything than +that a man shouldn't be his own master. I think you'd better go up to +her, Jane. She'll be more comfortable with you than with me." Then +aunt Jane, obedient as usual, went up to her young cousin's bedroom. + +In the meantime the young lord was standing on the river's brink, +thinking what he would do. He had, in truth, very much of which +to think, and points of most vital importance as to which he must +resolve what should be his action. Must this announcement which he +had heard from his cousin dissolve for ever the prospect of his +marriage with her; or was it open to him still, as a nobleman, a +gentleman, and a man of honour, to make use of all those influences +which he might command with the view of getting rid of that +impediment of a previous engagement? Being very ignorant of the world +at large, and altogether ignorant of this man in particular, he did +not doubt that the tailor might be bought off. Then he was sure that +all who would have access to Lady Anna would help him in such a +cause, and that her own mother would be the most forward to do so. +The girl would hardly hold to such a purpose if all the world,--all +her own world, were against her. She certainly would be beaten from +it if a bribe sufficient were offered to the tailor. That this must +be done for the sake of the Lovel family, so that Lady Anna Lovel +might not be known to have married a tailor, was beyond a doubt; +but it was not so clear to him that he could take to himself as his +Countess her who with her own lips had told him that she intended +to be the bride of a working artisan. As he thought of this, as his +imagination went to work on all the abominable circumstances of such +a betrothal, he threw from his hand into the stream with all the +vehemence of passion a little twig which he held. It was too, too +frightful, too disgusting; and then so absolutely unexpected, so +unlike her personal demeanour, so contrary to the look of her eyes, +to the tone of her voice, to every motion of her body! She had been +sweet, and gentle, and gracious, till he had almost come to think +that her natural feminine gifts of ladyship were more even than +her wealth, of better savour than her rank, were equal even to her +beauty, which he had sworn to himself during the past night to be +unsurpassed. And this sweet one had told him,--this one so soft and +gracious,--not that she was doomed by some hard fate to undergo the +degrading thraldom, but that she herself had willingly given herself +to a working tailor from love, and gratitude, and free selection! It +was a marvel to him that a thing so delicate should have so little +sense of her own delicacy! He did not think that he could condescend +to take the tailor's place. + +But if not,--if he would not take it, or if, as might still be +possible, the tailor's place could not be made vacant for him,--what +then? He had pledged his belief in the justice of his cousin's +claim; and had told her that, believing his own claim to be +unjust, in no case would he prosecute it. Was he now bound by that +assurance,--bound to it even to the making of the tailor's fortune; +or might he absent himself from any further action in the matter, +leaving it entirely in the hands of the lawyers? Might it not be best +for her happiness that he should do so? He had been told that even +though he should not succeed, there might arise almost interminable +delay. The tailor would want his money before he married, and thus +she might be rescued from her degradation till she should be old +enough to understand it. And yet how could he claim that of which he +had said, now a score of times, that he knew that it was not his own? +Could he cease to call this girl by the name which all his people had +acknowledged as her own, because she had refused to be his wife; and +declare his conviction that she was base-born only because she had +preferred to his own the addresses of a low-born man, reeking with +the sweat of a tailor's board? No, he could not do that. Let her +marry but the sweeper of a crossing, and he must still call her Lady +Anna,--if he called her anything. + +Something must be done, however. He had been told by the lawyers how +the matter might be made to right itself, if he and the young lady +could at once agree to be man and wife; but he had not been told what +would follow, should she decline to accept his offer. Mr. Flick and +the Solicitor-General must know how to shape their course before +November came round,--and would no doubt want all the time to shape +it that he could give them. What was he to say to Mr. Flick and to +the Solicitor-General? Was he at liberty to tell to them the secret +which the girl had told to him? That he was at liberty to say that +she had rejected his offer must be a matter of course; but might +he go beyond that, and tell them the whole story? It would be most +expedient for many reasons that they should know it. On her behalf +even it might be most salutary,--with that view of liberating her +from the grasp of her humiliating lover. But she had told it him, +against her own interests, at her own peril, to her own infinite +sorrow,--in order that she might thus allay hopes in which he would +otherwise have persevered. He knew enough of the little schemes and +by-ways of love, of the generosity and self-sacrifice of lovers, to +feel that he was bound to confidence. She had told him that if needs +were he might repeat her tale;--but she had told him at the same time +that her tale was a secret. He could not go with her secret to a +lawyer's chambers, and there divulge in the course of business that +which had been extracted from her by the necessity to which she had +submitted of setting him free. He could write to Mr. Flick,--if that +at last was his resolve,--that a marriage was altogether out of the +question, but he could not tell him why it was so. + +He wandered slowly on along the river, having decided only on +this,--only on this as a certainty,--that he must tell her secret +neither to the lawyers, nor to his own people. Then, as he walked, a +little hand touched his behind, and when he turned Minnie Lovel took +him by the arm. "Why are you all alone, Fred?" + +"I am meditating how wicked the world is,--and girls in particular." + +"Where is cousin Anna?" + +"Up at the house, I suppose." + +"Is she wicked?" + +"Don't you know that everybody is wicked, because Eve ate the apple?" + +"Adam ate it too." + +"Who bade him?" + +"The devil," said the child whispering. + +"But he spoke by a woman's mouth. Why don't you go in and get ready +to go?" + +"So I will. Tell me one thing, Fred. May I be a bridesmaid when you +are married?" + +"I don't think you can." + +"I have set my heart upon it. Why not?" + +"Because you'll be married first." + +"That's nonsense, Fred; and you know it's nonsense. Isn't cousin Anna +to be your wife?" + +"Look here, my darling. I'm awfully fond of you, and think you the +prettiest little girl in the world. But if you ask impertinent +questions I'll never speak to you again. Do you understand?" She +looked up into his face, and did understand that he was in earnest, +and, leaving him, walked slowly across the meadow back to the house +alone. "Tell them not to wait lunch for me," he hollowed after +her;--and she told her aunt Julia that cousin Frederic was very sulky +down by the river, and that they were not to wait for him. + +When Mrs. Lovel went up-stairs into Lady Anna's room not a word was +said about the occurrence of the morning. The elder lady was afraid +to ask a question, and the younger was fully determined to tell +nothing even had a question been asked her. Lord Lovel might say +what he pleased. Her secret was with him, and he could tell it if he +chose. She had given him permission to do so, of which no doubt he +would avail himself. But, on her own account, she would say nothing; +and when questioned she would merely admit the fact. She would +neither defend her engagement, nor would she submit to have it +censured. If they pleased she would return to her mother in London at +any shortest possible notice. + +The party lunched almost in silence, and when the horses were ready +Lord Lovel came in to help them into the carriage. When he had placed +the three ladies he desired Minnie to take the fourth seat, saying +that he would sit with Mr. Cross on the box. Minnie looked at his +face, but there was still the frown there, and she obeyed him without +any remonstrance. During the whole of the long journey home there was +hardly a word spoken. Lady Anna knew that she was in disgrace, and +was ignorant how much of her story had been told to the two elder +ladies. She sat almost motionless looking out upon the fields, and +accepting her position as one that was no longer thought worthy of +notice. Of course she must go back to London. She could not continue +to live at Yoxham, neither spoken to nor speaking. Minnie went to +sleep, and Minnie's mother and aunt now and then addressed a few +words to each other. Anna felt sure that to the latest day of her +existence she would remember that journey. On their arrival at the +Rectory door Mr. Cross helped the ladies out of the carriage, while +the lord affected to make himself busy with the shawls and luggage. +Then he vanished, and was seen no more till he appeared at dinner. + +"What sort of a trip have you had?" asked the rector, addressing +himself to the three ladies indifferently. + +For a moment nobody answered him, and then aunt Julia spoke. "It +was very pretty, as it always is at Bolton in summer. We were told +that the duke has not been there this year at all. The inn was +comfortable, and I think that the young people enjoyed themselves +yesterday very much." The subject was too important, too solemn, too +great, to allow of even a word to be said about it without proper +consideration. + +"Did Frederic like it?" + +"I think he did yesterday," said Mrs. Lovel. "I think we were all a +little tired coming home to-day." + +"Anna sprained her ankle, jumping over the Stryd," said Minnie. + +"Not seriously, I hope." + +"Oh dear no;--nothing at all to signify." It was the only word which +Anna spoke till it was suggested that she should go up to her room. +The girl obeyed, as a child might have done, and went up-stairs, +followed by Mrs. Lovel. "My dear," she said, "we cannot go on like +this. What is the matter?" + +"You must ask Lord Lovel." + +"Have you quarrelled with him?" + +"I have not quarrelled, Mrs. Lovel. If he has quarrelled with me, I +cannot help it." + +"You know what we have all wished." + +"It can never be so." + +"Have you said so to Frederic?" + +"I have." + +"Have you given him any reason, Anna?" + +"I have," she said after a pause. + +"What reason, dear?" + +She thought for a moment before she replied. "I was obliged to tell +him the reason, Mrs. Lovel; but I don't think that I need tell +anybody else. Of course I must tell mamma." + +"Does your mamma know it?" + +"Not yet." + +"And is it a reason that must last for ever?" + +"Yes;--for ever. But I do not know why everybody is to be angry with +me. Other girls may do as they please. If you are angry with me I had +better go back to London at once." + +"I do not know that anybody has been angry with you. We may be +disappointed without being angry." That was all that was said, and +then Lady Anna was left to dress for dinner. At dinner Lord Lovel had +so far composed himself as to be able to speak to his cousin, and an +effort at courtesy was made by them all,--except by the rector. But +the evening passed away in a manner very different from any that had +gone before it. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TOO HEAVY FOR SECRETS. + + +During that night the young lord was still thinking of his future +conduct,--of what duty and honour demanded of him, and of the +manner in which he might best make duty and honour consort with his +interests. In all the emergencies of his short life he had hitherto +had some one to advise him,--some elder friend whose counsel he might +take even though he would seem to make little use of it when it +was offered to him. He had always somewhat disdained aunt Julia, +but nevertheless aunt Julia had been very useful to him. In latter +days, since the late Earl's death, when there came upon him, as the +first of his troubles, the necessity of setting aside that madman's +will, Mr. Flick had been his chief counsellor; and yet in all his +communications with Mr. Flick he had assumed to be his own guide and +master. Now it seemed that he must in truth guide himself, but he +knew not how to do it. Of one thing he felt certain. He must get away +from Yoxham and hurry up to London. + +It behoved him to keep his cousin's secret; but would he not be +keeping it with a sanctity sufficiently strict if he imparted it to +one sworn friend,--a friend who should be bound not to divulge it +further without his consent? If so, the Solicitor-General should be +his friend. An intimacy had grown up between the great lawyer and his +noble client, not social in its nature, but still sufficiently close, +as Lord Lovel thought, to admit of such confidence. He had begun to +be aware that without assistance of this nature he would not know +how to guide himself. Undoubtedly the wealth of the presumed heiress +had become dearer to him,--had become at least more important to +him,--since he had learned that it must probably be lost. Sir +William Patterson was a gentleman as well as a lawyer;--one who had +not simply risen to legal rank by diligence and intellect, but a +gentleman born and bred, who had been at a public school, and had +lived all his days with people of the right sort. Sir William was his +legal adviser, and he would commit Lady Anna's secret to the keeping +of Sir William. + +There was a coach which started in those days from York at noon, +reaching London early on the following day. He would go up by this +coach, and would thus avoid the necessity of much further association +with his family before he had decided what should be his conduct. But +he must see his cousin before he went. He therefore sent a note to +her before she had left her room on the following morning;-- + + + DEAR ANNA, + + I purpose starting for London in an hour or so, and wish + to say one word to you before I go. Will you meet me at + nine in the drawing-room? Do not mention my going to my + uncle or aunts, as it will be better that I should tell + them myself. + + Yours, L. + + +At ten minutes before nine Lady Anna was in the drawing-room waiting +for him, and at ten minutes past nine he joined her. + +"I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting." She gave him her hand, +and said that it did not signify in the least. She was always early. +"I find that I must go up to London at once," he said. To this she +made no answer, though he seemed to expect some reply. "In the first +place, I could not remain here in comfort after what you told me +yesterday." + +"I shall be sorry to drive you away. It is your home; and as I must +go soon, had I not better go at once?" + +"No;--that is, I think not. I shall go at any rate. I have told none +of them what you told me yesterday." + +"I am glad of that, Lord Lovel." + +"It is for you to tell it,--if it must be told." + +"I did tell your aunt Jane,--that you and I never can be as--you said +you wished." + +"I did wish it most heartily. You did not tell it--all." + +"No;--not all." + +"You astounded me so, that I could hardly speak to you as I should +have spoken. I did not mean to be uncourteous." + +"I did not think you uncourteous, Lord Lovel. I am sure you would not +be uncourteous to me." + +"But you astounded me. It is not that I think much of myself, or of +my rank as belonging to me. I know that I have but little to be proud +of. I am very poor,--and not clever like some young men who have not +large fortunes, but who can become statesmen and all that. But I do +think much of my order; I think much of being a gentleman,--and much +of ladies being ladies. Do you understand me?" + +"Oh, yes;--I understand you." + +"If you are Lady Anna Lovel--" + +"I am Lady Anna Lovel." + +"I believe you are with all my heart. You speak like it, and look +like it. You are fit for any position. Everything is in your favour. +I do believe it. But if so--" + +"Well, Lord Lovel;--if so?" + +"Surely you would not choose to--to--to degrade your rank. That is +the truth. If I be your cousin, and the head of your family, I have a +right to speak as such. What you told me would be degradation." + +She thought a moment, and then she replied to him,--"It would be no +disgrace." + +He too found himself compelled to think before he could speak again. +"Do you think that you could like your associates if you were to be +married to Mr. Thwaite?" + +"I do not know who they would be. He would be my companion, and I +like him. I love him dearly. There! you need not tell me, Lord Lovel. +I know it all. He is not like you;--and I, when I had become his +wife, should not be like your aunt Jane. I should never see people +of that sort any more, I suppose. We should not live here in England +at all,--so that I should escape the scorn of all my cousins. I know +what I am doing, and why I am doing it;--and I do not think you ought +to tempt me." + +She knew at least that she was open to temptation. He could perceive +that, and was thankful for it. "I do not wish to tempt you, but I +would save you from unhappiness if I could. Such a marriage would be +unnatural. I have not seen Mr. Thwaite." + +"Then, my lord, you have not seen a most excellent man, who, next to +my mother, is my best friend." + +"But he cannot be a gentleman." + +"I do not know;--but I do know that I can be his wife. Is that all, +Lord Lovel?" + +"Not quite all. I fear that this weary lawsuit will come back upon us +in some shape. I cannot say whether I have the power to stop it if I +would. I must in part be guided by others." + +"I cannot do anything. If I could, I would not even ask for the money +for myself." + +"No, Lady Anna. You and I cannot decide it. I must again see my +lawyer. I do not mean the attorney,--but Sir William Patterson, the +Solicitor-General. May I tell him what you told me yesterday?" + +"I cannot hinder you." + +"But you can give me your permission. If he will promise me that it +shall go no farther,--then may I tell him? I shall hardly know what +to do unless he knows all that I know." + +"Everybody will know soon." + +"Nobody shall know from me,--but only he. Will you say that I may +tell him?" + +"Oh, yes." + +"I am much indebted to you even for that. I cannot tell you now how +much I hoped when I got up yesterday morning at Bolton Bridge that I +should have to be indebted to you for making me the happiest man in +England. You must forgive me if I say that I still hope at heart that +this infatuation may be made to cease. And now, good-bye, Lady Anna." + +"Good-bye, Lord Lovel." + +She at once went to her room, and sent down her maid to say that she +would not appear at prayers or at breakfast. She would not see him +again before he went. How probable it was that her eyes had rested on +his form for the last time! How beautiful he was, how full of grace, +how like a god! How pleasant she had found it to be near him; how +full of ineffable sweetness had been everything that he had touched, +all things of which he had spoken to her! He had almost overcome her, +as though she had eaten of the lotus. And she knew not whether the +charm was of God or devil. But she did know that she had struggled +against it,--because of her word, and because she owed a debt which +falsehood and ingratitude would ill repay. Lord Lovel had called her +Lady Anna now. Ah, yes; how good he was! When it became significant +to her that he should recognise her rank, he did so at once. He had +only dropped the title when, having been recognised, it had become +a stumbling-block to her. Now he was gone from her, and, if it was +possible, she would cease even to dream of him. + +"I suppose, Frederic, that the marriage is not to be?" the rector +said to him as he got into the dog-cart at the rectory door. + +"I cannot tell. I do not know. I think not. But, uncle, would you +oblige me by not speaking of it just at present? You will know all +very soon." + +The rector stood on the gravel, watching the dog-cart as it +disappeared, with his hands in the pockets of his clerical trousers, +and with heavy signs of displeasure on his face. It was very well to +be uncle to an earl, and out of his wealth to do what he could to +assist, and, if possible, to dispel his noble nephew's poverty. But +surely something was due to him! It was not for his pleasure that +this girl,--whom he was forced to call Lady Anna, though he could +never believe her to be so, whom his wife and sister called cousin +Anna, though he still thought that she was not, and could not be, +cousin to anybody,--it was not for anything that he could get, that +he was entertaining her as an honoured guest at his rectory. And now +his nephew was gone, and the girl was left behind. And he was not to +be told whether there was to be a marriage or not! "I cannot tell. I +do not know. I think not." And then he was curtly requested to ask no +more questions. What was he to do with the girl? While the young Earl +and the lawyers were still pondering the question of her legitimacy, +the girl, whether a Lady Anna and a cousin,--or a mere nobody, who +was trying to rob the family,--was to be left on his hands! Why,--oh, +why had he allowed himself to be talked out of his own opinion? Why +had he ever permitted her to be invited to his rectory? Ah, how the +title stuck in his throat as he asked her to take the customary glass +of wine with him at dinner-time that evening! + +On reaching London, towards the end of August, Lord Lovel found that +the Solicitor-General was out of town. Sir William had gone down to +Somersetshire with the intention of saying some comforting words to +his constituents. Mr. Flick knew nothing of his movements; but his +clerk was found, and his clerk did not expect him back in London till +October. But, in answer to Lord Lovel's letter, Sir William undertook +to come up for one day. Sir William was a man who quite recognised +the importance of the case he had in hand. + +"Engaged to the tailor,--is she?" he said; not, however, with any +look of surprise. + +"But, Sir William,--you will not repeat this, even to Mr. Flick, or +to Mr. Hardy. I have promised Lady Anna that it shall not go beyond +you." + +"If she sticks to her bargain, it cannot be kept secret very +long;--nor would she wish it. It's just what we might have expected, +you know." + +"You wouldn't say so if you knew her." + +"H--m. I'm older than you, Lord Lovel. You see, she had nobody else +near her. A girl must cotton to somebody, and who was there? We ought +not to be angry with her." + +"But it shocks me so." + +"Well, yes. As far as I can learn his father and he have stood by +them very closely;--and did so, too, when there seemed to be but +little hope. But they might be paid for all they did at a less rate +than that. If she sticks to him nobody can beat him out of it. What +I mean is, that it was all fair game. He ran his chance, and did it +in a manly fashion." The Earl did not quite understand Sir William, +who seemed to take almost a favourable view of these monstrous +betrothals. "What I mean is, that nobody can touch him, or find fault +with him. He has not carried her away, and got up a marriage before +she was of age. He hasn't kept her from going out among her friends. +He hasn't--wronged her, I suppose?" + +"I think he has wronged her frightfully." + +"Ah,--well. We mean different things. I am obliged to look at it as +the world will look at it." + +"Think of the disgrace of such a marriage;--to a tailor." + +"Whose father had advanced her mother some five or six thousand +pounds to help her to win back her position. That's about the truth +of it. We must look at it all round, you know." + +"You think, then, that nothing should be done?" + +"I think that everything should be done that can be done. We have +the mother on our side. Very probably we may have old Thwaite on +our side. From what you say, it is quite possible that at this very +moment the girl herself may be on our side. Let her remain at Yoxham +as long as you can get her to stay, and let everything be done to +flatter and amuse her. Go down again yourself, and play the lover as +well as I do not doubt you know how to do it." It was clear then that +the great legal pundit did not think that an Earl should be ashamed +to carry on his suit to a lady who had confessed her attachment to +a journeyman tailor. "It will be a trouble to us all, of course, +because we must change our plan when the case comes on in November." + +"But you still think that she is the heiress?" + +"So strongly, that I feel all but sure of it. We shouldn't, in truth, +have had a leg to stand on, and we couldn't fight it. I may as well +tell you at once, my lord, that we couldn't do it with any chance +of success. And what should we have gained had we done so? Nothing! +Unless we could prove that the real wife were dead, we should have +been fighting for that Italian woman, whom I most thoroughly believe +to be an impostor." + +"Then there is nothing to be done?" + +"Very little in that way. But if the young lady be determined to +marry the tailor, I think we should simply give notice that we +withdraw our opposition to the English ladies, and state that we had +so informed the woman who asserts her own claim and calls herself a +Countess in Sicily; and we should let the Italian woman know that we +had done so. In such case, for aught anybody can say here, she might +come forward with her own case. She would find men here who would +take it up on speculation readily enough. There would be a variety +of complications, and no doubt very great delay. In such an event +we should question very closely the nature of the property; as, for +aught I have seen as yet, a portion of it might revert to you as real +estate. It is very various,--and it is not always easy to declare +at once what is real and what personal. Hitherto you have appeared +as contesting the right of the English widow to her rank, and not +necessarily as a claimant of the estate. The Italian widow, if a +widow, would be the heir, and not your lordship. For that, among +other reasons, the marriage would be most expedient. If the Italian +Countess were to succeed in proving that the Earl had a wife living +when he married Miss Murray,--which I feel sure he had not,--then we +should come forward again with our endeavours to show that that first +wife had died since,--as the Earl himself undoubtedly declared more +than once. It would be a long time before the tailor got his money +with his wife. The feeling of the court would be against him." + +"Could we buy the tailor, Sir William?" + +The Solicitor-General nursed his leg before he answered. + +"Mr. Flick could answer that question better than I can do. In fact, +Mr. Flick should know it all. The matter is too heavy for secrets, +Lord Lovel." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +LADY ANNA RETURNS TO LONDON. + + +After the Earl was gone Lady Anna had but a bad time of it at Yoxham. +She herself could not so far regain her composure as to live on +as though no disruption had taken place. She knew that she was in +disgrace, and the feeling was dreadful to her. The two ladies were +civil, and tried to make the house pleasant, but they were not +cordial as they had been hitherto. For one happy halcyon week,--for a +day or two before the Earl had come, and for those bright days during +which he had been with them,--she had found herself to be really +admitted into the inner circle as one of the family. Mrs. Lovel +had been altogether gracious with her. Minnie had been her darling +little friend. Aunt Julia had been so far won as to be quite alive to +the necessity of winning. The rector himself had never quite given +way,--had never been so sure of his footing as to feel himself safe +in abandoning all power of receding; but the effect of this had been +to put the rector himself, rather than his guest, into the back +ground. The servants had believed in her, and even Mrs. Grimes had +spoken in her praise,--expressing an opinion that she was almost good +enough for the young Earl. All Yoxham had known that the two young +people were to be married, and all Yoxham had been satisfied. But now +everything was wrong. The Earl had fled, and all Yoxham knew that +everything was wrong. It was impossible that her position should be +as it had been. + +There were consultations behind her back as to what should be done, +of which,--though she heard no word of them,--she was aware. She went +out daily in the carriage with Mrs. Lovel, but aunt Julia did not go +with them. Aunt Julia on these occasions remained at home discussing +the momentous affair with her brother. What should be done? There +was a great dinner-party, specially convened to do honour to the +Earl's return, and not among them a single guest who had not heard +that there was to be a marriage. The guests came to see, not only +the Earl, but the Earl's bride. When they arrived the Earl had +flown. Mrs. Lovel expressed her deep sorrow that business of great +importance had made it necessary that the Earl should go to London. +Lady Anna was, of course, introduced to the strangers; but it +was evident to the merest tyro in such matters, that she was not +introduced as would have been a bride expectant. They had heard how +charming she was, how all the Lovels had accepted her, how deeply was +the Earl in love; and, lo, she sat in the house silent and almost +unregarded. Of course, the story of the lawsuit, with such variations +as rumour might give it, was known to them all. A twelvemonth +ago,--nay, at a period less remote than that,--the two female +claimants in Cumberland had always been spoken of in those parts as +wretched, wicked, vulgar impostors. Then came the reaction. Lady Anna +was the heiress, and Lady Anna was to be the Countess. It had flown +about the country during the last ten days that there was no one like +the Lady Anna. Now they came to see her, and another reaction had set +in. She was the Lady Anna they must suppose. All the Lovels, even the +rector, so called her. Mrs. Lovel introduced her as Lady Anna Lovel, +and the rector,--hating himself as he did so,--led her out to dinner +though there was a baronet's wife in the room,--the wife of a baronet +who dated back from James I. She was the Lady Anna, and therefore +the heiress;--but it was clear to them all that there was to be no +marriage. + +"Then poor Lord Lovel will absolutely not have enough to starve +upon," said the baronet's wife to the baronet, as soon as the +carriage door had been shut upon them. + +What were they to do with her? The dinner party had taken place on a +Wednesday,--the day after the Earl's departure; and on the Thursday +aunt Julia wrote to her nephew thus:-- + + + Yoxham Rectory, 3rd September. + + MY DEAR FREDERIC, + + My brother wishes me to write to you and say that we are + all here very uneasy about Lady Anna. We have only heard + from her that the match which was contemplated is not + to take place. Whether that be so from unwillingness on + her part or yours we have never yet been told;--but both + to your aunt Jane and myself she speaks of it as though + the decision were irrevocable. What had we better do? + Of course, it is our most anxious desire,--as it is our + pleasure and our duty,--to arrange everything according + to your wishes and welfare. Nothing can be of so much + importance to any of us in this world as your position in + it. If it is your wish that Lady Anna should remain here, + of course she shall remain. But if, in truth, there is no + longer any prospect of a marriage, will not her longer + sojourn beneath your uncle's roof be a trouble to all of + us,--and especially to her? + + Your aunt Jane thinks that it may be only a lover's + quarrel. For myself, I feel sure that you would not have + left us as you did, had it not been more than that. I + think that you owe it to your uncle to write to me,--or to + him, if you like it better,--and to give us some clue to + the state of things. + + I must not conceal from you the fact that my brother has + never felt convinced, as you do, that Lady Anna's mother + was, in truth, the Countess Lovel. At your request, and in + compliance with the advice of the Solicitor-General, he + has been willing to receive her here; and, as she has been + here, he has given her the rank which she claims. He took + her out to dinner yesterday before Lady Fitzwarren,--which + will never be forgiven should it turn out ultimately that + the first wife was alive when the Earl married Anna's + mother. Of course, while here she must be treated as Lady + Anna Lovel; but my brother does not wish to be forced so + to do, if it be intended that any further doubt should be + raised. In such case he desires to be free to hold his + former opinion. Therefore pray write to us, and tell us + what you wish to have done. I can assure you that we are + at present very uncomfortable. + + Believe me to be, + My dear Frederic, + Your most affectionate aunt, + + JULIA LOVEL. + + +The Earl received this before his interview with Sir William, but +left it unanswered till after he had seen that gentleman. Then he +wrote as follows:-- + + + Carlton Club, 5th September, 183--. + + MY DEAR AUNT JULIA, + + Will you tell my uncle that I think you had better get + Lady Anna to stay at the rectory as long as possible. I'll + let you know all about it very soon. Best love to aunt + Jane. + + I am, + Your affectionate nephew, + + LOVEL. + + +This very short epistle was most unsatisfactory to the rector, but +it was felt by them all that nothing could be done. With such an +injunction before them, they could not give the girl a hint that they +wished her to go. What uncle or what aunt, with such a nephew as Lord +Lovel, so noble and so poor, could turn out an heiress with twenty +thousand a year, as long as there was the slightest chance of a +marriage? Not a doubt would have rankled in their minds had they been +quite sure that she was the heiress. But, as it was, the Earl ought +to have said more than he did say. + +"I cannot keep myself from feeling sometimes that Frederic does take +liberties with me," the rector said to his sister. But he submitted. +It was a part of the religion of the family,--and no little +part,--that they should cling to their head and chief. What would the +world have been to them if they could not talk with comfortable ease +and grace of their nephew Frederic? + +During this time Anna spoke more than once to Mrs. Lovel as to her +going. "I have been a long time here," she said, "and I'm sure that +I am in Mr. Lovel's way." + +"Not in the least, my dear. If you are happy, pray stay with us." + +This was before the arrival of the brief epistle,--when they were +waiting to know whether they were to dismiss their guest from Yoxham, +or to retain her. + +"As for being happy, nobody can be happy, I think, till all this is +settled. I will write to mamma, and tell her that I had better return +to her. Mamma is all alone." + +"I don't know that I can advise, my dear; but as far as we are +concerned, we shall be very glad if you can stay." + +The brief epistle had not then arrived, and they were, in truth, +anxious that she should go;--but one cannot tell one's visitor to +depart from one's house without a downright rupture. Not even the +rector himself dared to make such rupture, without express sanction +from the Earl. + +Then Lady Anna, feeling that she must ask advice, wrote to her +mother. The Countess had answered her last letter with great +severity,--that letter in which the daughter had declared that people +ought not to be asked to marry for money. The Countess, whose whole +life had made her stern and unbending, said very hard things to +her child; had told her that she was ungrateful and disobedient, +unmindful of her family, neglectful of her duty, and willing to +sacrifice the prosperity and happiness of all belonging to her, for +some girlish feeling of mere romance. The Countess was sure that her +daughter would never forgive herself in after years, if she now +allowed to pass by this golden opportunity of remedying all the evil +that her father had done. "You are simply asked to do that which +every well-bred girl in England would be delighted to do," wrote the +Countess. + +"Ah! she does not know," said Lady Anna. + +But there had come upon her now a fear heavier and more awful than +that which she entertained for her mother. Earl Lovel knew her +secret, and Earl Lovel was to tell it to the Solicitor-General. She +hardly doubted that it might as well be told to all the judges on the +bench at once. Would it not be better that she should be married to +Daniel Thwaite out of hand, and so be freed from the burden of any +secret? The young lord had been thoroughly ashamed of her when she +told it. Those aunts at Yoxham would hardly speak to her if they knew +it. That lady before whom she had been made to walk out to dinner, +would disdain to sit in the same room with her if she knew it. It +must be known,--must be known to them all. But she need not remain +there, beneath their eyes, while they learned it. Her mother must +know it, and it would be better that she should tell her mother. She +would tell her mother,--and request that she might have permission to +return at once to the lodgings in Wyndham Street. So she wrote the +following letter,--in which, as the reader will perceive, she could +not even yet bring herself to tell her secret:-- + + + Yoxham Rectory, Monday. + + MY DEAR MAMMA, + + I want you to let me come home, because I think I have + been here long enough. Lord Lovel has gone away, and + though you are so very angry, it is better I should + tell you that we are not any longer friends. Dear, dear, + dearest mamma; I am so very unhappy that you should not be + pleased with me. I would die to-morrow if I could make you + happy. But it is all over now, and he would not do it even + if I could say that it should be so. He has gone away, and + is in London, and would tell you so himself if you would + ask him. He despises me, as I always knew he would,--and + so he has gone away. I don't think anything of myself, + because I knew it must be so; but I am so very unhappy + because you will be unhappy. + + I don't think they want to have me here any longer, and of + course there is no reason why they should. They were very + nice to me before all this happened, and they never say + anything illnatured to me now. But it is very different, + and there cannot be any good in remaining. You are all + alone, and I think you would be glad to see your poor + Anna, even though you are so angry with her. Pray let me + come home. I could start very well on Friday, and I think + I will do so, unless I hear from you to the contrary. I + can take my place by the coach, and go away at twelve + o'clock from York, and be at that place in London on + Saturday at eleven. I must take my place on Thursday. I + have plenty of money, as I have not spent any since I have + been here. Of course Sarah will come with me. She is not + nearly so nice since she knew that Lord Lovel was to go + away. + + Dear mamma, I do love you so much. + + Your most affectionate daughter, + + ANNA. + + +It was not wilfully that the poor girl gave her mother no opportunity +of answering her before she had taken her place by the coach. On +Thursday morning the place had to be taken, and on Thursday evening +she got her mother's letter. By the same post came the Earl's letter +to his aunt, desiring that Lady Anna might, if possible, be kept at +Yoxham. The places were taken, and it was impossible. "I don't see +why you should go," said aunt Julia, who clearly perceived that her +nephew had been instigated to pursue the marriage scheme since he had +been in town. Lady Anna urged that the money had been paid for two +places by the coach. "My brother could arrange that, I do not doubt," +said aunt Julia. But the Countess now expected her daughter, and +Lady Anna stuck to her resolve. Her mother's letter had not been +propitious to the movement. If the places were taken, of course she +must come. So said the Countess. It was not simply that the money +should not be lost, but that the people at Yoxham must not be allowed +to think that her daughter was over anxious to stay. "Does your mamma +want to have you back?" asked aunt Julia. Lady Anna would not say +that her mother wanted her back, but simply pleaded again that the +places had been taken. + +When the morning came for her departure, the carriage was ordered to +take her into York, and the question arose as to who should go with +her. It was incumbent on the rector, who held an honorary stall in +the cathedral, to be with the dean and his brother prebendaries on +that day, and the use of his own carriage would be convenient to him. + +"I think I'll have the gig," said the rector. + +"My dear Charles," pleaded his sister, "surely that will be foolish. +She can't hurt you." + +"I don't know that," said the rector. "I think she has hurt me very +much already. I shouldn't know how to talk to her." + +"You may be sure that Frederic means to go on with it," said Mrs. +Lovel. + +"It would have been better for Frederic if he had never seen her," +said the rector; "and I'm sure it would have been better for me." + +But he consented at last, and he himself handed Lady Anna into the +carriage. Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but Aunt Julia made her +farewells in the rectory drawing-room. She managed to get the girl to +herself for a moment or two, and thus she spoke to her. "I need not +tell you that, for yourself, my dear, I like you very much." + +"Oh, thank you, Miss Lovel." + +"I have heartily wished that you might be our Frederic's wife." + +"It can never be," said Lady Anna. + +"I won't give up all hope. I don't pretend to understand what there +is amiss between you and Frederic, but I won't give it up. If it is +to be so, I hope that you and I may be loving friends till I die. +Give me a kiss, my dear." Lady Anna, whose eyes were suffused with +tears, threw herself into the arms of the elder lady and embraced +her. + +Mrs. Lovel also kissed her, and bade God bless her as she parted from +her at the coach door; but the rector was less demonstrative. "I hope +you will have a pleasant journey," he said, taking off his clerical +hat. + +"Let it go as it may," said Mrs. Lovel, as she walked into the close +with her husband, "you may take my word, she's a good girl." + +"I'm afraid she's sly," said the rector. + +"She's no more sly than I am," said Mrs. Lovel, who herself was by no +means sly. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LADY ANNA'S RECEPTION. + + +The Countess went into the City to meet her daughter at the Saracen's +Head, whither the York coach used to run, and received her almost in +silence. "Oh, mamma, dear mamma," said Lady Anna, "I am so glad to +be back with you again." Sarah, the lady's-maid, was there, useless, +officious, and long-eared. The Countess said almost nothing; she +submitted to be kissed, and she asked after the luggage. At that time +she had heard the whole story about Daniel Thwaite. + +The Solicitor-General had disregarded altogether his client's +injunctions as to secrecy. He had felt that in a matter of so great +importance it behoved him to look to his client's interests, rather +than his client's instructions. This promise of a marriage with the +tailor's son must be annihilated. On behalf of the whole Lovel family +it was his duty, as he thought, to see that this should be effected, +if possible,--and as quickly as possible. This was his duty, not only +as a lawyer employed in a particular case, but as a man who would be +bound to prevent any great evil which he saw looming in the future. +In his view of the case the marriage of Lady Anna Lovel, with a +colossal fortune, to Daniel Thwaite the tailor, would be a grievous +injury to the social world of his country,--and it was one of +those evils which may probably be intercepted by due and discreet +precautions. No doubt the tailor wanted money. The man was entitled +to some considerable reward for all that he had done and all that he +had suffered in the cause. But Sir William could not himself propose +the reward. He could not chaffer for terms with the tailor. He could +not be seen in that matter. But having heard the secret from the +Earl, he thought that he could get the work done. So he sent for Mr. +Flick, the attorney, and told Mr. Flick all that he knew. "Gone and +engaged herself to the tailor!" said Mr. Flick, holding up both his +hands. Then Sir William took Lady Anna's part. After all, such an +engagement was not,--as he thought,--unnatural. It had been made +while she was very young, when she knew no other man of her own age +in life, when she was greatly indebted to this man, when she had +had no opportunity of measuring a young tailor against a young lord. +She had done it probably in gratitude;--so said Sir William;--and +now clung to it from good faith rather than affection. Neither was +he severe upon the tailor. He was a man especially given to make +excuses for poor weak, erring, unlearned mortals, ignorant of the +law,--unless when a witness attempted to be impervious;--and now he +made excuses for Daniel Thwaite. The man might have done so much +worse than he was doing. There seemed already to be a noble reliance +on himself in his conduct. Lord Lovel thought that there had been no +correspondence while the young lady had been at Yoxham. There might +have been, but had not been, a clandestine marriage. Other reasons +he gave why Daniel Thwaite should not be regarded as altogether +villanous. But, nevertheless, the tailor must not be allowed to carry +off the prize. The prize was too great for him. What must be done? +Sir William condescended to ask Mr. Flick what he thought ought to be +done. "No doubt we should be very much guided by you, Mr. Solicitor," +said Mr. Flick. + +"One thing is, I think, plain, Mr. Flick. You must see the Countess +and tell her, or get Mr. Goffe to do so. It is clear that she has +been kept in the dark between them. At present they are all living +together in the same house. She had better leave the place and go +elsewhere. They should be kept apart, and the girl, if necessary, +should be carried abroad." + +"I take it there is a difficulty about money, Mr. Solicitor." + +"There ought to be none,--and I will take it upon myself to say that +there need be none. It is a case in which the court will willingly +allow money out of the income of the property. The thing is so large +that there should be no grudging of money for needful purposes. +Seeing what prima facie claims these ladies have, they are bound to +allow them to live decently, in accordance with their alleged rank, +till the case is settled. No doubt she is the heiress." + +"You feel quite sure, Sir William?" + +"I do;--though, as I have said before, it is a case of feeling sure, +and not being sure. Had that Italian woman been really the widow, +somebody would have brought her case forward more loudly." + +"But if the other Italian woman who died was the wife?" + +"You would have found it out when you were there. Somebody from the +country would have come to us with evidence, knowing how much we +could afford to pay for it. Mind you, the matter has been tried +before, in another shape. The old Earl was indicted for bigamy and +acquitted. We are bound to regard that young woman as Lady Anna +Lovel, and we are bound to regard her and her mother conjointly as +co-heiresses, in different degrees, to all the personal property +which the old Earl left behind him. We can't with safety take any +other view. There will still be difficulties in their way;--and very +serious difficulties, were she to marry this tailor; but, between you +and me, he would eventually get the money. Perhaps, Mr. Flick, you +had better see him. You would know how to get at his views without +compromising anybody. But, in the first place, let the Countess know +everything. After what has been done, you won't have any difficulty +in meeting Mr. Goffe." + +Mr. Flick had no difficulty in seeing Mr. Goffe,--though he felt that +there would be very much difficulty in seeing Mr. Daniel Thwaite. +He did tell Mr. Goffe the story of the wicked tailor,--by no means +making those excuses which the Solicitor-General had made for the +man's presumptuous covetousness. "I knew the trouble we should have +with that man," said Mr. Goffe, who had always disliked the Thwaites. +Then Mr. Flick went on to say that Mr. Goffe had better tell the +Countess,--and Mr. Goffe on this point agreed with his adversary. Two +or three days after that, but subsequently to the date of the last +letter which the mother had written to her daughter, Lady Lovel was +told that Lady Anna was engaged to marry Mr. Daniel Thwaite. + +She had suspected how it might be; her heart had for the last month +been heavy with the dread of this great calamity; she had made her +plans with the view of keeping the two apart; she had asked her +daughter questions founded on this very fear;--and yet she could not +for a while be brought to believe it. How did Mr. Goffe know? Mr. +Goffe had heard it from Mr. Flick, who had heard it from Sir William +Patterson; to whom the tale had been told by Lord Lovel. "And who +told Lord Lovel?" said the Countess flashing up in anger. + +"No doubt Lady Anna did so," said the attorney. But in spite of her +indignation she could retain her doubts. The attorney, however, was +certain. "There could be no hope but that it was so." She still +pretended not to believe it, though fully intending to take all due +precautions in the matter. Since Mr. Goffe thought that it would be +prudent, she would remove to other lodgings. She would think of that +plan of going abroad. She would be on her guard, she said. But she +would not admit it to be possible that Lady Anna Lovel, the daughter +of Earl Lovel, her daughter, should have so far disgraced herself. + +But she did believe it. Her heart had in truth told her that it was +true at the first word the lawyer had spoken to her. How blind she +must have been not to have known it! How grossly stupid not to have +understood those asseverations from the girl, that the marriage with +her cousin was impossible! Her child had not only deceived her, but +had possessed cunning enough to maintain her deception. It must have +been going on for at least the last twelvemonth, and she, the while, +had been kept in the dark by the manoeuvres of a simple girl! And +then she thought of the depth of the degradation which was prepared +for her. Had she passed twenty years of unintermittent combat for +this,--that when all had been done, when at last success was won, +when the rank and wealth of her child had been made positively +secure before the world, when she was about to see the unquestioned +coronet of a Countess placed upon her child's brow,--all should be +destroyed through a passion so mean as this! Would it not have been +better to have died in poverty and obscurity,--while there were yet +doubts,--before any assured disgrace had rested on her? But, oh! to +have proved that she was a Countess, and her child the heiress of +an Earl, in order that the Lady Anna Lovel might become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite, the tailor! + +She made many resolutions; but the first was this, that she would +never smile upon the girl again till this baseness should have been +abandoned. She loved her girl as only mothers do love. More devoted +than the pelican, she would have given her heart's blood,--had given +all her life,--not only to nurture, but to aggrandize her child. The +establishment of her own position, her own honour, her own name, was +to her but the incidental result of her daughter's emblazonment in +the world. The child which she had borne to Earl Lovel, and which the +father had stigmatised as a bastard, should by her means be known as +the Lady Anna, the heiress of that father's wealth,--the wealthiest, +the fairest, the most noble of England's daughters. Then there had +come the sweet idea that this high-born heiress of the Lovels, should +herself become Countess Lovel, and the mother had risen higher in her +delighted pride. It had all been for her child! Had she not loved as +a mother, and with all a mother's tenderness? And for what? + +She would love still, but she would never again be tender till her +daughter should have repudiated her base,--her monstrous engagement. +She bound up all her faculties to harshness, and a stern resolution. +Her daughter had been deceitful, and she would now be ruthless. There +might be suffering, but had not she suffered? There might be sorrow, +but had not she sorrowed? There might be a contest, but had not she +ever been contesting? Sooner than that the tailor should reap the +fruit of her labours,--labours which had been commenced when she +first gave herself in marriage to that dark, dreadful man,--sooner +than that her child should make ignoble the blood which it had cost +her so much to ennoble, she would do deeds which should make even +the wickedness of her husband child's play in the world's esteem. It +was in this mood of mind that she went to meet her daughter at the +Saracen's Head. + +She had taken fresh lodgings very suddenly,--in Keppel Street, near +Russell Square, a long way from Wyndham Street. She had asked Mr. +Goffe to recommend her a place, and he had sent her to an old lady +with whom he himself had lodged in his bachelor's days. Keppel +Street cannot be called fashionable, and Russell Square is not much +affected by the nobility. Nevertheless the house was superior in +all qualifications to that which she was now leaving, and the rent +was considerably higher. But the affairs of the Countess in regard +to money were in the ascendant; and Mr. Goffe did not scruple to +take for her a "genteel" suite of drawing-rooms,--two rooms with +folding-doors, that is,--with the bedrooms above, first-class +lodging-house attendance, and a garret for the lady's-maid. "And then +it will be quite close to Mrs. Bluestone," said Mr. Goffe, who knew +of that intimacy. + +The drive in a glass coach home from the coach-yard to Keppel Street +was horrible to Lady Anna. Not a word was spoken, as Sarah, the +lady's-maid, sat with them in the carriage. Once or twice the poor +girl tried to get hold of her mother's hand, in order that she might +entice something of a caress. But the Countess would admit of no such +softness, and at last withdrew her hand roughly. "Oh mamma!" said +Lady Anna, unable to suppress her dismay. But the Countess said never +a word. Sarah, the lady's-maid, began to think that there must be a +second lover. "Is this Wyndham Street?" said Lady Anna when the coach +stopped. + +"No, my dear;--this is not Wyndham Street. I have taken another +abode. This is where we are to live. If you will get out I will +follow you, and Sarah will look to the luggage." Then the daughter +entered the house, and met the old woman curtseying to her. She at +once felt that she had been removed from contact with Daniel Thwaite, +and was sure that her mother knew her story. "That is your room," +said her mother. "You had better get your things off. Are you tired?" + +"Oh! so tired!" and Lady Anna burst into tears. + +"What will you have?" + +"Oh, nothing! I think I will go to bed, mamma. Why are you unkind to +me? Do tell me. Anything is better than that you should be unkind." + +"Anna,--have not you been unkind to me?" + +"Never, mamma;--never. I have never meant to be unkind. I love you +better than all the world. I have never been unkind. But, you;--Oh, +mamma, if you look at me like that, I shall die." + +"Is it true that you have promised that you would be the wife of Mr. +Daniel Thwaite?" + +"Mamma!" + +"Is it true? I will be open with you. Mr. Goffe tells me that you +have refused Lord Lovel, telling him that you must do so because you +were engaged to Mr. Daniel Thwaite. Is that true?" + +"Yes, mamma;--it is true." + +"And you have given your word to that man?" + +"I have, mamma." + +"And yet you told me that there was no one else when I spoke to you +of Lord Lovel? You lied to me?" The girl sat confounded, astounded, +without power of utterance. She had travelled from York to London, +inside one of those awful vehicles of which we used to be so proud +when we talked of our stage coaches. She was thoroughly weary and +worn out. She had not breakfasted that morning, and was sick and +ill at ease, not only in heart, but in body also. Of course it was +so. Her mother knew that it was so. But this was no time for fond +compassion. It would be better, far better that she should die +than that she should not be compelled to abandon this grovelling +abasement. "Then you lied to me?" repeated the Countess still +standing over her. + +"Oh, mamma, you mean to kill me." + +"I would sooner die here, at your feet, this moment, and know that +you must follow me within an hour, than see you married to such a one +as that. You shall never marry him. Though I went into court myself +and swore that I was that lord's mistress,--that I knew it when I +went to him,--that you were born a brat beyond the law, that I had +lived a life of perjury, I would prevent such greater disgrace as +this. It shall never be. I will take you away where he shall never +hear of you. As to the money, it shall go to the winds, so that he +shall never touch it. Do you think that it is you that he cares for? +He has heard of all this wealth,--and you are but the bait upon his +hook to catch it." + +"You do not know him, mamma." + +"Will you tell me of him, that I do not know him; impudent slut! +Did I not know him before you were born? Have I not known him all +through? Will you give me your word of honour that you will never see +him again?" Lady Anna tried to think, but her mind would not act for +her. Everything was turning round, and she became giddy and threw +herself on the bed. "Answer me, Anna. Will you give me your word of +honour that you will never see him again?" + +She might still have said yes. She felt that enough of speech was +left to her for so small an effort,--and she knew that if she did so +the agony of the moment would pass away from her. With that one word +spoken her mother would be kind to her, and would wait upon her; +would bring her tea, and would sit by her bedside, and caress her. +But she too was a Lovel, and she was, moreover, the daughter of her +who once had been Josephine Murray. + +"I cannot say that, mamma," she said, "because I have promised." + +Her mother dashed from the room, and she was left alone upon the bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +DANIEL AND THE LAWYER. + + +It has been said that the Countess, when she sent her daughter down +to Yoxham, laid her plans with the conviction that the associations +to which the girl would be subjected among the Lovels would fill her +heart and mind with a new-born craving for the kind of life which she +would find in the rector's family;--and she had been right. Daniel +Thwaite also had known that it would be so. He had been quite alive +to the fact that he and his conversation would be abased, and that +his power, both of pleasing and of governing, would be lessened, +by this new contact. But, had he been able to hinder her going, he +would not have done so. None of those who were now interested in +his conduct knew aught of the character of this man. Sir William +Patterson had given him credit for some honesty, but even he had +not perceived,--had had no opportunity of perceiving,--the staunch +uprightness which was as it were a backbone to the man in all his +doings. He was ambitious, discontented, sullen, and tyrannical. He +hated the domination of others, but was prone to domineer himself. He +suspected evil of all above him in rank, and the millennium to which +he looked forward was to be produced by the gradual extirpation +of all social distinctions. Gentlemen, so called, were to him as +savages, which had to be cleared away in order that that perfection +might come at last which the course of nature was to produce in +obedience to the ordinances of the Creator. But he was a man who +reverenced all laws,--and a law, if recognised as a law, was a law +to him whether enforced by a penalty, or simply exigent of obedience +from his conscience. This girl had been thrown in his way, and he +had first pitied and then loved her from his childhood. She had been +injured by the fiendish malice of her own father,--and that father +had been an Earl. He had been strong in fighting for the rights +of the mother,--not because it had been the mother's right to be +a Countess,--but in opposition to the Earl. At first,--indeed +throughout all these years of conflict, except the last year,--there +had been a question, not of money, but of right. The wife was +entitled to due support,--to what measure of support Daniel had never +known or inquired; but the daughter had been entitled to nothing. The +Earl, had he made his will before he was mad,--or, more probably, had +he not destroyed, when mad, the will which he had before made,--might +and would have left the girl without a shilling. In those days, when +Daniel's love was slowly growing, when he wandered about with the +child among the rocks, when the growing girl had first learned to +swear to him that he should always be her friend of friends, when the +love of the boy had first become the passion of the man, there had +been no thought of money in it. Money! Had he not been well aware +from his earliest understanding of the need of money for all noble +purposes, that the earnings of his father, which should have made the +world to him a world of promise, were being lavished in the service +of these forlorn women? He had never complained. They were welcome to +it all. That young girl was all the world to him; and it was right +that all should be spent; as though she had been a sister, as though +she had already been his wife. There had been no plot then by which +he was to become rich on the Earl's wealth. Then had come the will, +and the young Earl's claims, and the general belief of men in all +quarters that the young Earl was to win everything. What was left of +the tailor's savings was still being spent on behalf of the Countess. +The first fee that ever found its way into the pocket of Serjeant +Bluestone had come from the diminished hoard of old Thomas Thwaite. +Then the will had been set aside; and gradually the cause of the +Countess had grown to be in the ascendant. Was he to drop his love, +to confess himself unworthy, and to slink away out of her sight, +because the girl would become an heiress? Was he even to conceive so +badly of her as to think that she would drop her love because she +was an heiress? There was no such humility about him,--nor such +absence of self-esteem. But, as regarded her, he told himself at once +that she should have the chance of being base and noble,--all base, +and all noble as far as title and social standing could make her +so,--if such were her desire. He had come to her and offered her her +freedom;--had done so, indeed, with such hot language of indignant +protest against the gilded gingerbread of her interested suitor, as +would have frightened her from the acceptance of his offer had she +been minded to accept it;--but his words had been hot, not from +a premeditated purpose to thwart his own seeming liberality, but +because his nature was hot and his temper imperious. This lordling +was ready to wed his bride,--the girl he had known and succoured +throughout their joint lives,--simply because she was rich and the +lordling was a pauper. From the bottom of his heart he despised the +lordling. He had said to himself a score of times that he could be +well content to see the lord take the money, waste it among thieves +and prostitutes, and again become a pauper, while he had the girl to +sit with him at his board, and share with him the earnings of his +honest labour. Of course he had spoken out. But the girl should be at +liberty to do as she pleased. + +He wrote no line to her before she went, or while she was at Yoxham, +nor did he speak a word concerning her during her absence. But as he +sat at his work, or walked to and fro between his home and the shop, +or lay sleepless in bed, all his thoughts were of her. Twice or +thrice a week he would knock at the door of the Countess's room, and +say a word or two, as was rendered natural by their long previous +intercourse. But there had been no real intercourse between them. The +Countess told him nothing of her plans; nor did he ever speak to her +of his. Each suspected the other; and each was grimly civil. Once or +twice the Countess expressed a hope that the money advanced by Thomas +Thwaite might soon be repaid to him with much interest. Daniel would +always treat the subject with a noble indifference. His father, he +said, had never felt an hour's regret at having parted with his +money. Should it, perchance, come back to him, he would take it, no +doubt, with thanks. + +Then he heard one evening, as he returned from his work, that the +Countess was about to remove herself on the morrow to another home. +The woman of the house, who told him, did not know where the Countess +had fixed her future abode. He passed on up to his bedroom, washed +his hands, and immediately went down to his fellow-lodger. After the +first ordinary greeting, which was cold and almost unkind, he at once +asked his question. "They tell me that you go from this to-morrow +Lady Lovel." She paused a moment, and then bowed her head. "Where is +it that you are going to live?" She paused again, and paused long, +for she had to think what answer she would make him. "Do you object +to let me know?" he asked. + +"Mr. Thwaite, I must object." + +Then at that moment there came upon him the memory of all that he and +his father had done, and not the thought of that which he intended to +do. This was the gratitude of a Countess! "In that case of course I +shall not ask again. I had hoped that we were friends." + +"Of course we are friends. Your father has been the best friend I +ever had. I shall write to your father and let him know. I am bound +to let your father know all that I do. But at present my case is in +the hands of my lawyers, and they have advised that I should tell no +one in London where I live." + +"Then good evening, Lady Lovel. I beg your pardon for having +intruded." He left the room without another word, throwing off the +dust from his feet as he went with violent indignation. He and she +must now be enemies. She had told him that she would separate herself +from him,--and they must be separated. Could he have expected better +things from a declared Countess? But how would it be with Lady Anna? +She also had a title. She also would have wealth She might become a +Countess if she wished it. Let him only know by one sign from her +that she did wish it, and he would take himself off at once to the +farther side of the globe, and live in a world contaminated by no +noble lords and titled ladies. As it happened the Countess might +as well have given him the address, as the woman at the lodgings +informed him on the next morning that the Countess had removed +herself to No. ---- Keppel Street. + +He did not doubt that Lady Anna was about to return to London. That +quick removal would not otherwise have been made. But what mattered +it to him whether she were at Yoxham or in Keppel Street? He could do +nothing. There would come a time,--but it had not come as yet,--when +he must go to the girl boldly, let her be guarded as she might, and +demand her hand. But the demand must be made to herself and herself +only. When that time came there should be no question of money. +Whether she were the undisturbed owner of hundreds of thousands, or +a rejected claimant to her father's name, the demand should be made +in the same tone and with the same assurance. He knew well the whole +history of her life. She had been twenty years old last May, and it +was now September. When the next spring should come round she would +be her own mistress, free to take herself from her mother's hands, +and free to give herself to whom she would. He did not say that +nothing should be done during those eight months; but, according to +his lights, he could not make his demand with full force till she was +a woman, as free from all legal control, as was he as a man. + +The chances were much against him. He knew what were the allurements +of luxury. There were moments in which he told himself that of course +she would fall into the nets that were spread for her. But then again +there would grow within his bosom a belief in truth and honesty which +would buoy him up. How grand would be his victory, how great the +triumph of a human soul's nobility, if, after all these dangers, if +after all the enticements of wealth and rank, the girl should come +to him, and lying on his bosom, should tell him that she had never +wavered from him through it all! Of this, at any rate, he assured +himself,--that he would not go prying, with clandestine manoeuvres, +about that house in Keppel Street. The Countess might have told him +where she intended to live without increasing her danger. + +While things were in this state with him he received a letter from +Messrs. Norton and Flick, the attorneys, asking him to call on Mr. +Flick at their chambers in Lincoln's Inn. The Solicitor-General had +suggested to the attorney that he should see the man, and Mr. Flick +had found himself bound to obey; but in truth he hardly knew what to +say to Daniel Thwaite. It must be his object of course to buy off +the tailor; but such arrangements are difficult, and require great +caution. And then Mr. Flick was employed by Earl Lovel, and this man +was the friend of the Earl's opponents in the case. Mr. Flick did +feel that the Solicitor-General was moving into great irregularities +in this cause. The cause itself was no doubt peculiar,--unlike +any other cause with which Mr. Flick had become acquainted in his +experience; there was no saying at the present moment who had +opposed interests, and who combined interests in the case; but +still etiquette is etiquette, and Mr. Flick was aware that such a +house as that of Messrs. Norton and Flick should not be irregular. +Nevertheless he sent for Daniel Thwaite. + +After having explained who he was, which Daniel knew very well, +without being told, Mr. Flick began his work. "You are aware, Mr. +Thwaite, that the friends on both sides are endeavouring to arrange +this question amicably without any further litigation." + +"I am aware that the friends of Lord Lovel, finding that they have no +ground to stand on at law, are endeavouring to gain their object by +other means." + +"No, Mr. Thwaite. I cannot admit that for a moment. That would be +altogether an erroneous view of the proceeding." + +"Is Lady Anna Lovel the legitimate daughter of the late Earl?" + +"That is what we do not know. That is what nobody knows. You are not +a lawyer, Mr. Thwaite, or you would be aware that there is nothing +more difficult to decide than questions of legitimacy. It has +sometimes taken all the Courts a century to decide whether a marriage +is a marriage or not. You have heard of the great MacFarlane case. +To find out who was the MacFarlane they had to go back a hundred +and twenty years, and at last decide on the memory of a man whose +grandmother had told him that she had seen a woman wearing a +wedding-ring. The case cost over forty thousand pounds, and took +nineteen years. As far as I can see this is more complicated even +than that. We should in all probability have to depend on the +proceedings of the courts in Sicily, and you and I would never live +to see the end of it." + +"You would live on it, Mr. Flick, which is more than I could do." + +"Mr. Thwaite, that I think is a very improper observation; but, +however--. My object is to explain to you that all these difficulties +may be got over by a very proper and natural alliance between Earl +Lovel and the lady who is at present called by courtesy Lady Anna +Lovel." + +"By the Crown's courtesy, Mr. Flick," said the tailor, who understood +the nature of the titles which he hated. + +"We allow the name, I grant you, at present; and are anxious to +promote the marriage. We are all most anxious to bring to a close +this ruinous litigation. Now, I am told that the young lady feels +herself hampered by some childish promise that has been made--to +you." + +Daniel Thwaite had expected no such announcement as this. He did not +conceive that the girl would tell the story of her engagement, and +was unprepared at the moment for any reply. But he was not a man to +remain unready long. "Do you call it childish?" he said. + +"I do certainly." + +"Then what would her engagement be if now made with the Earl? The +engagement with me, as an engagement, is not yet twelve months old, +and has been repeated within the last month. She is an infant, Mr. +Flick, according to your language, and therefore, perhaps, a child in +the eye of the law. If Lord Lovel wishes to marry her, why doesn't he +do so? He is not hindered, I suppose, by her being a child." + +"Any marriage with you, you know, would in fact be impossible." + +"A marriage with me, Mr. Flick, would be quite as possible as one +with the Lord Lovel. When the lady is of age, no clergyman in England +dare refuse to marry us, if the rules prescribed by law have been +obeyed." + +"Well, well, Mr. Thwaite; I do not want to argue with you about the +law and about possibilities. The marriage would not be fitting, and +you know that it would not be fitting." + +"It would be most unfitting,--unless the lady wished it as well as I. +Just as much may be said of her marriage with Earl Lovel. To which of +us has she given her promise? which of us has she known and loved? +which of us has won her by long friendship and steady regard? and +which of us, Mr. Flick, is attracted to the marriage by the lately +assured wealth of the young woman? I never understood that Lord Lovel +was my rival when Lady Anna was regarded as the base-born child of +the deceased madman." + +"I suppose, Mr. Thwaite, you are not indifferent to her money?" + +"Then you suppose wrongly,--as lawyers mostly do when they take upon +themselves to attribute motives." + +"You are not civil, Mr. Thwaite." + +"You did not send for me here, sir, in order that there should be +civilities between us. But I will at least be true. In regard to Lady +Anna's money, should it become mine by reason of her marriage with +me, I will guard it for her sake, and for that of the children she +may bear, with all my power. I will assert her right to it as a +man should do. But my purpose in seeking her hand will neither be +strengthened nor weakened by her money. I believe that it is hers. +Nay,--I know that the law will give it to her. On her behalf, as +being betrothed to her, I defy Lord Lovel and all other claimants. +But her money and her hand are two things apart, and I will never be +governed as to the one by any regard as to the other. Perhaps, Mr. +Flick, I have said enough,--and so, good morning." Then he went away. + +The lawyer had never dared to suggest the compromise which had been +his object in sending for the man. He had not dared to ask the tailor +how much ready money he would take down to abandon the lady, and thus +to relieve them all from that difficulty. No doubt he exercised a +wise discretion, as had he done so, Daniel Thwaite might have become +even more uncivil than before. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THERE IS A GULF FIXED. + + +"Do you think that you could be happier as the wife of such a one as +Daniel Thwaite, a creature infinitely beneath you, separated as you +would be from all your kith and kin, from all whose blood you share, +from me and from your family, than you would be as the bearer of a +proud name, the daughter and the wife of an Earl Lovel,--the mother +of the earl to come? I will not speak now of duty, or of fitness, or +of the happiness of others which must depend upon you. It is natural +that a girl should look to her own joys in marriage. Do you think +that your joy can consist in calling that man your husband?" + +It was thus that the Countess spoke to her daughter, who was then +lying worn out and ill on her bed in Keppel Street. For three days +she had been subject to such addresses as this, and during those +three days no word of tenderness had been spoken to her. The Countess +had been obdurate in her hardness,--still believing that she might +thus break her daughter's spirit, and force her to abandon her +engagement. But as yet she had not succeeded. The girl had been +meek and, in all other things, submissive. She had not defended her +conduct. She had not attempted to say that she had done well in +promising to be the tailor's bride. She had shown herself willing by +her silence to have her engagement regarded as a great calamity, as a +dreadful evil that had come upon the whole Lovel family. She had not +boldness to speak to her mother as she had spoken on the subject to +the Earl. She threw herself entirely upon her promise, and spoke of +her coming destiny as though it had been made irrevocable by her own +word. "I have promised him, mamma, and have sworn that it should be +so." That was the answer which she now made from her bed;--the answer +which she had made a dozen times during the last three days. + +"Is everybody belonging to you to be ruined because you once spoke a +foolish word?" + +"Mamma, it was often spoken,--very often, and he does not wish that +anybody should be ruined. He told me that Lord Lovel might have the +money." + +"Foolish, ungrateful girl! It is not for Lord Lovel that I am +pleading to you. It is for the name, and for your own honour. Do you +not constantly pray to God to keep you in that state of life to which +it has pleased Him to call you;--and are you not departing from it +wilfully and sinfully by such an act as this?" But still Lady Anna +continued to say that she was bound by the obligation which was upon +her. + +On the following day the Countess was frightened, believing that the +girl was really ill. In truth she was ill,--so that the doctor who +visited her declared that she must be treated with great care. She +was harassed in spirit,--so the doctor said,--and must be taken away, +so that she might be amused. The Countess was frightened, but still +was resolute. She not only loved her daughter,--but loved no other +human being on the face of the earth. Her daughter was all that she +had to bind her to the world around her. But she declared to herself +again and again that it would be better that her daughter should +die than live and be married to the tailor. It was a case in which +persecution even to the very gate of the grave would be wise and +warrantable,--if by such persecution this odious, monstrous marriage +might be avoided. And she did believe that persecution would avail at +last. If she were only steady in her resolve, the girl would never +dare to demand the right to leave her mother's house and walk off to +the church to be married to Daniel Thwaite, without the countenance +of a single friend. The girl's strength was not of that nature. But +were she, the Countess, to yield an inch, then this evil might come +upon them. She had heard that young people can always beat their +parents if they be sufficiently obdurate. Parents are soft-hearted to +their children, and are prone to yield. And so would she have been +soft-hearted, if the interests concerned had been less important, +if the deviation from duty had been less startling, or the union +proposed less monstrous and disgraceful. But in this case it behoved +her to be obdurate,--even though it should be to the very gates of +the grave. "I swear to you," she said, "that the day of your marriage +to Daniel Thwaite shall be the day of my death." + +In her straits she went to Serjeant Bluestone for advice. Now, the +Serjeant had hitherto been opposed to all compromise, feeling certain +that everything might be gained without the sacrifice of a single +right. He had not a word to say against a marriage between the two +cousins, but let the cousin who was the heiress be first placed in +possession of her rights. Let her be empowered, when she consented +to become Lady Lovel, to demand such a settlement of the property as +would be made on her behalf if she were the undisputed owner of the +property. Let her marry the lord if she would, but not do so in order +that she might obtain the partial enjoyment of that which was all her +own. And then, so the Serjeant had argued, the widowed Countess would +never be held to have established absolutely her own right to her +name, should any compromise be known to have been effected. People +might call her Countess Lovel; but, behind her back, they would say +that she was no countess. The Serjeant had been very hot about it, +especially disliking the interference of Sir William. But now, when +he heard this new story, his heat gave way. Anything must be done +that could be done;--everything must be done to prevent such a +termination to the career of the two ladies as would come from a +marriage with the tailor. + +But he was somewhat dismayed when he came to understand the condition +of affairs in Keppel Street. "How can I not be severe?" said the +Countess, when he remonstrated with her. "If I were tender with +her she would think that I was yielding. Is not everything at +stake,--everything for which my life has been devoted?" The Serjeant +called his wife into council, and then suggested that Lady Anna +should spend a week or two in Bedford Square. He assured the Countess +that she might be quite sure that Daniel Thwaite should find no +entrance within his doors. + +"But if Lord Lovel would do us the honour to visit us, we should be +most happy to see him," said the Serjeant. + +Lady Anna was removed to Bedford Square, and there became subject to +treatment that was milder, but not less persistent. Mrs. Bluestone +lectured her daily, treating her with the utmost respect, paying to +her rank a deference, which was not indeed natural to the good lady, +but which was assumed, so that Lady Anna might the better comprehend +the difference between her own position and that of the tailor. The +girls were told nothing of the tailor,--lest the disgrace of so +unnatural a partiality might shock their young minds; but they +were instructed that there was danger, and that they were always, +in speaking to their guest, to take it for granted that she was +to become Countess Lovel. Her maid, Sarah, went with her to the +Serjeant's, and was taken into a half-confidence. Lady Anna was never +to be left a moment alone. She was to be a prisoner with gilded +chains,--for whom a splendid, a glorious future was in prospect, if +only she would accept it. + +"I really think that she likes the lord the best," said Mrs. +Bluestone to her husband. + +"Then why the mischief won't she have him?" This was in October, and +that November term was fast approaching in which the cause was set +down for trial. + +"I almost think she would if he'd come and ask her again. Of course, +I have never mentioned the other man; but when I speak to her of Earl +Lovel, she always answers me as though she were almost in love with +him. I was inquiring yesterday what sort of a man he was, and she +said he was quite perfect. 'It is a thousand pities,' she said, 'that +he should not have this money. He ought to have it, as he is the +Earl.'" + +"Why doesn't she give it to him?" + +"I asked her that; but she shook, her head and said, that it could +never be. I think that man has made her swear some sort of awful +oath, and has frightened her." + +"No doubt he has made her swear an oath, but we all know how the gods +regard the perjuries of lovers," said the Serjeant. "We must get the +young lord here when he comes back to town." + +"Is he handsome?" asked Alice Bluestone, the younger daughter, who +had become Lady Anna's special friend in the family. Of course they +were talking of Lord Lovel. + +"Everybody says he is." + +"But what do you say?" + +"I don't think it matters much about a man being handsome,--but he is +beautiful. Not dark, like all the other Lovels; nor yet what you call +fair. I don't think that fair men ever look manly." + +"Oh no," said Alice, who was contemplating an engagement with a +black-haired young barrister. + +"Lord Lovel is brown,--with blue eyes; but it is the shape of his +face that is so perfect,--an oval, you know, that is not too long. +But it isn't that makes him look as he does. He looks as though +everybody in the world ought to do exactly what he tells them." + +"And why don't you, dear, do exactly what he tells you?" + +"Ah,--that is another question. I should do many things if he told +me. He is the head of our family. I think he ought to have all this +money, and be a rich great man, as the Earl Lovel should be." + +"And yet you won't be his wife?" + +"Would you,--if you had promised another man?" + +"Have you promised another man?" + +"Yes;--I have." + +"Who is he, Lady Anna?" + +"They have not told you, then?" + +"No;--nobody has told me. I know they all want you to marry Lord +Lovel,--and I know he wants it. I know he is quite in love with you." + +"Ah;--I do not think that. But if he were, it could make no +difference. If you had once given your word to another man, would you +go back because a lord asked you?" + +"I don't think I would ever give my word without asking mamma." + +"If he had been good to you, and you had loved him always, and he had +been your best friend,--what would you do then?" + +"Who is he, Lady Anna?" + +"Do not call me Lady Anna, or I shall not like you. I will tell you, +but you must not say that I told you. Only I thought everybody knew. +I told Lord Lovel, and he, I think, has told all the world. It is Mr. +Daniel Thwaite." + +"Mr. Daniel Thwaite!" said Alice, who had heard enough of the case to +know who the Thwaites were. "He is a tailor!" + +"Yes," said Lady Anna proudly; "he is a tailor." + +"Surely that cannot be good," said Alice, who, having long since felt +what it was to be the daughter of a serjeant, had made up her mind +that she would marry nothing lower than a barrister. + +"It is what you call bad, I dare say." + +"I don't think a tailor can be a gentleman." + +"I don't know. Perhaps I wasn't a lady when I promised him. But I +did promise. You can never know what he and his father did for us. +I think we should have died only for them. You don't know how we +lived;--in a little cottage, with hardly any money, with nobody to +come near us but they. Everybody else thought that we were vile and +wicked. It is true. But they always were good to us. Would not you +have loved him?" + +"I should have loved him in a kind of way." + +"When one takes so much, one must give in return what one has to +give," said Lady Anna. + +"Do you love him still?" + +"Of course I love him." + +"And you wish to be his wife?" + +"Sometimes I think I don't. It is not that I am ashamed for myself. +What would it have signified if I had gone away with him straight +from Cumberland, before I had ever seen my cousins? Supposing that +mamma hadn't been the Countess--" + +"But she is." + +"So they say now;--but if they had said that she was not, nobody +would have thought it wrong then for me to marry Mr. Thwaite." + +"Don't you think it wrong yourself?" + +"It would be best for me to say that I would never marry any one at +all. He would be very angry with me." + +"Lord Lovel?" + +"Oh no;--not Lord Lovel. Daniel would be very angry, because he +really loves me. But it would not be so bad to him as though I became +Lord Lovel's wife. I will tell you the truth, dear. I am ashamed to +marry Mr. Thwaite,--not for myself, but because I am Lord Lovel's +cousin and mamma's daughter. And I should be ashamed to marry Lord +Lovel." + +"Why, dear?" + +"Because I should be false and ungrateful! I should be afraid to +stand before him if he looked at me. You do not know how he can look. +He, too, can command. He, too, is noble. They believe it is the money +he wants, and when they call him a tailor, they think that he must be +mean. He is not mean. He is clever, and can talk about things better +than my cousin. He can work hard and give away all that he earns. And +so could his father. They gave all they had to us, and have never +asked it again. I kissed him once,--and then he said I had paid all +my mother's debt." Alice Bluestone shrank within herself when she was +told by this daughter of a countess of such a deed. It was horrid +to her mind that a tailor should be kissed by a Lady Anna Lovel. +But she herself had perhaps been as generous to the black-browed +young barrister, and had thought no harm. "They think I do not +understand,--but I do. They all want this money, and then they accuse +him, and say he does it that he may become rich. He would give up all +the money,--just for me. How would you feel if it were like that with +you?" + +"I think that a girl who is a lady, should never marry a man who is +not a gentleman. You know the story of the rich man who could not +get to Abraham's bosom because there was a gulf fixed. That is how +it should be;--just as there is with royal people as to marrying +royalty. Otherwise everything would get mingled, and there would soon +be no difference. If there are to be differences, there should be +differences. That is the meaning of being a gentleman,--or a lady." +So spoke the young female Conservative with wisdom beyond her +years;--nor did she speak quite in vain. + +"I believe what I had better do would be to die," said Lady Anna. +"Everything would come right then." + +Some day or two after this Serjeant Bluestone sent a message up to +Lady Anna, on his return home from the courts, with a request that +she would have the great kindness to come down to him in his study. +The Serjeant had treated her with more than all the deference due to +her rank since she had been in his house, striving to teach her what +it was to be the daughter of an Earl and probable owner of twenty +thousand a year. The Serjeant, to give him his due, cared as little +as most men for the peerage. He vailed his bonnet to no one but a +judge,--and not always that with much ceremonious observance. But now +his conduct was a part of his duty to a client whom he was determined +to see established in her rights. He would have handed her her cup +of tea on his knees every morning, if by doing so he could have made +clear to her eyes how deep would be her degradation were she to marry +the tailor. The message was now brought to her by Mrs. Bluestone, +who almost apologized for asking her to trouble herself to walk +down-stairs to the back parlour. "My dear Lady Anna," said the +Serjeant, "may I ask you to sit down for a moment or two while I +speak to you? I have just left your mother." + +"How is dear mamma?" The Serjeant assured her that the Countess was +well in health. At this time Lady Anna had not visited her mother +since she had left Keppel Street, and had been told that Lady Lovel +had refused to see her till she had pledged herself never to marry +Daniel Thwaite. "I do so wish I might go to mamma!" + +"With all my heart I wish you could, Lady Anna. Nothing makes such +heart-burning sorrow as a family quarrel. But what can I say? You +know what your mother thinks?" + +"Couldn't you manage that she should let me go there just once?" + +"I hope that we can manage it;--but I want you to listen to me first. +Lord Lovel is back in London." She pressed her lips together and +fastened one hand firmly on the other. If the assurance that was +required from her was ever to be exacted, it should not be exacted by +Serjeant Bluestone. "I have seen his lordship to-day," continued the +Serjeant, "and he has done me the honour to promise that he will dine +here to-morrow." + +"Lord Lovel?" + +"Yes;--your cousin, Earl Lovel. There is no reason, I suppose, why +you should not meet him? He has not offended you?" + +"Oh no.--But I have offended him." + +"I think not, Lady Anna. He does not speak of you as though there +were offence." + +"When we parted he would hardly look at me, because I told him--. You +know what I told him." + +"A gentleman is not necessarily offended because a lady does not +accept his first offer. Many gentlemen would be offended if that were +so;--and very many happy marriages would never have a chance of being +made. At any rate he is coming, and I thought that perhaps you would +excuse me if I endeavoured to explain how very much may depend on the +manner in which you may receive him. You must feel that things are +not going on quite happily now." + +"I am so unhappy, Serjeant Bluestone!" + +"Yes, indeed. It must be so. You are likely to be placed,--I think I +may say you certainly will be placed,--in such a position that the +whole prosperity of a noble and ancient family must depend on what +you may do. With one word you can make once more bright a fair name +that has long been beneath a cloud. Here in England the welfare of +the State depends on the conduct of our aristocracy!" Oh, Serjeant +Bluestone, Serjeant Bluestone! how could you so far belie your +opinion as to give expression to a sentiment utterly opposed to your +own convictions! But what is there that a counsel will not do for a +client? "If they whom Fate and Fortune have exalted, forget what the +country has a right to demand from them, farewell, alas, to the glory +of old England!" He had found this kind of thing very effective with +twelve men, and surely it might prevail with one poor girl. "It is +not for me, Lady Anna, to dictate to you the choice of a husband. But +it has become my duty to point out to you the importance of your own +choice, and to explain to you, if it may be possible, that you are +not like other young ladies. You have in your hands the marring or +the making of the whole family of Lovel. As for that suggestion of +a marriage to which you were induced to give ear by feelings of +gratitude, it would, if carried out, spread desolation in the bosom +of every relative to whom you are bound by the close ties of noble +blood." He finished his speech, and Lady Anna retired without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +BEDFORD SQUARE. + + +The Earl, without asking any question on the subject, had found that +the Solicitor-General thought nothing of that objection which had +weighed so heavily on his own mind, as to carrying on his suit with +a girl who had been wooed successfully by a tailor. His own spirit +rebelled for a while against such condescension. When Lady Anna had +first told him that she had pledged her word to a lover low in the +scale of men, the thing had seemed to him to be over. What struggle +might be made to prevent the accomplishment of so base a marriage +must be effected for the sake of the family, and not on his own +special behoof. Not even for twenty thousand a year, not even for +Lady Anna Lovel, not for all the Lovels, would he take to his bosom +as his bride, the girl who had leaned with loving fondness on the +shoulders of Daniel Thwaite. But when he found that others did +not feel it as he felt it, he turned the matter over again in his +mind,--and by degrees relented. There had doubtless been much in the +whole affair which had placed it outside the pale of things which are +subject to the ordinary judgment of men. Lady Anna's position in the +world had been very singular. A debt of gratitude was due by her to +the tailor, which had seemed to exact from her some great payment. As +she had said herself, she had given the only thing which she had to +give. Now there would be much to give. The man doubtless deserved his +reward and should have it, but that reward must not be the hand of +the heiress of the Lovels. He, the Earl, would once again claim that +as his own. + +He had hurried out of town after seeing Sir William, but had not +returned to Yoxham. He went again to Scotland, and wrote no further +letter to the rectory after those three lines which the reader has +seen. Then he heard from Mr. Flick that Lady Anna was staying with +the Serjeant in Bedford Square, and he returned to London at the +lawyer's instance. It was so expedient that if possible something +should be settled before November! + +The only guests asked to meet the Earl at Serjeant Bluestone's, were +Sir William and Lady Patterson, and the black-browed young barrister. +The whole proceeding was very irregular,--as Mr. Flick, who knew what +was going on, said more than once to his old partner, Mr. Norton. +That the Solicitor-General should dine with the Serjeant might be all +very well,--though, as school boys say, they had never known each +other at home before. But that they should meet in this way the then +two opposing clients,--the two claimants to the vast property as to +which a cause was to come on for trial in a few weeks,--did bewilder +Mr. Flick. "I suppose the Solicitor-General sees his way, but he may +be in a mess yet," said Mr. Flick. Mr. Norton only scratched his +head. It was no work of his. + +Sir William, who arrived before the Earl, was introduced for the +first time to the young lady. "Lady Anna," he said, "for some months +past I have heard much of you. And now I have great pleasure in +meeting you." She smiled, and strove to look pleased, but she had +not a word to say to him. "You know I ought to be your enemy," he +continued laughing, "but I hope that is well nigh over. I should not +like to have to fight so fair a foe." Then the young lord arrived, +and the lawyers of course gave way to the lover. + +Lady Anna, from the moment in which she was told that he was to come, +had thought of nothing but the manner of their greeting. It was not +that she was uneasy as to her own fashion of receiving him. She could +smile and be silent, and give him her hand or leave it ungiven, as he +might demand. But in what manner would he accost her? She had felt +sure that he had despised her from the moment in which she had told +him of her engagement. Of course he had despised her. Those fine +sentiments about ladies and gentlemen, and the gulf which had been +fixed, had occurred to her before she heard them from the mouth +of Miss Alice Bluestone. She understood, as well as did her young +friend, what was the difference between her cousin the Earl, and her +lover the tailor. Of course it would be sweet to be able to love such +a one as her cousin. They all talked to her as though she was simply +obstinate and a fool, not perceiving, as she did herself, that the +untowardness of her fortune had prescribed this destiny for her. +Good as Daniel Thwaite might be,--as she knew that he was,--she felt +herself to be degraded in having promised to be his wife. The lessons +they had taught her had not been in vain. And she had been specially +degraded in the eyes of him, who was to her imagination the brightest +of human beings. They told her that she might still be his wife +if only she would consent to hold out her hand when he should ask +for it. She did not believe it. Were it true, it could make no +difference,--but she did not believe it. He had scorned her when she +told him the tale at Bolton Abbey. He had scorned her when he hurried +away from Yoxham. Now he was coming to the Serjeant's house, with +the express intention of meeting her again. Why should he come? Alas, +alas! She was sure that he would never speak to her again in that +bright sunny manner, with those dulcet honey words, which he had used +when first they saw each other in Wyndham Street. + +Nor was he less uneasy as to this meeting. He had not intended to +scorn her when he parted from her, but he had intended that she +should understand that there was an end of his suit. He had loved her +dearly, but there are obstacles to which love must yield. Had she +already married this tailor, how would it have been with him then? +That which had appeared to him to be most fit for him to do, had +suddenly become altogether unfit,--and he had told himself at the +moment that he must take back his love to himself as best he might. +He could not sue for that which had once been given to a tailor. But +now all that was changed, and he did intend to sue again. She was +very beautiful,--to his thinking the very pink of feminine grace, and +replete with charms;--soft in voice, soft in manner, with just enough +of spirit to give her character. What a happy chance it had been, +what marvellous fortune, that he should have been able to love this +girl whom it was so necessary that he should marry;--what a happy +chance, had it not been for this wretched tailor! But now, in spite +of the tailor, he would try his fate with her once again. He had not +intended to scorn her when he left her, but he knew that his manner +to her must have told her that his suit was over. How should he renew +it again in the presence of Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone and of Sir +William and Lady Patterson? + +He was first introduced to the wives of the two lawyers while Lady +Anna was sitting silent on the corner of a sofa. Mrs. Bluestone, +foreseeing how it would be, had endeavoured with much prudence to +establish her young friend at some distance from the other guests, +in order that the Earl might have the power of saying some word; but +the young barrister had taken this opportunity of making himself +agreeable, and stood opposite to her talking nothings about the +emptiness of London, and the glories of the season when it should +come. Lady Anna did not hear a word that the young barrister said. +Lady Anna's ear was straining itself to hear what Lord Lovel might +say, and her eye, though not quite turned towards him, was watching +his every motion. Of course he must speak to her. "Lady Anna is on +the sofa," said Mrs. Bluestone. Of course he knew that she was there. +He had seen her dear face the moment that he entered the room. He +walked up to her and gave her his hand, and smiled upon her. + +She had made up her little speech. "I hope they are quite well at +Yoxham," she said, in that low, soft, silver voice which he had told +himself would so well befit the future Countess Lovel. + +"Oh yes;--I believe so. I am a truant there, for I do not answer aunt +Julia's letters as punctually as I ought to do. I shall be down there +for the hunting I suppose next month." Then dinner was announced; and +as it was necessary that the Earl should take down Mrs. Bluestone +and the Serjeant Lady Anna,--so that the young barrister absolutely +went down to dinner with the wife of the Solicitor-General,--the +conversation was brought to an end. Nor was it possible that they +should be made to sit next each other at dinner. And then, when +at last the late evening came and they were all together in the +drawing-room, other things intervened and the half hour so passed +that hardly a word was spoken between them. But there was just one +word as he went away. "I shall call and see you," he said. + +"I don't think he means it," the Serjeant said to his wife that +evening, almost in anger. + +"Why not, my dear?" + +"He did not speak to her." + +"People can't speak at dinner-parties when there is anything +particular to say. If he didn't mean it, he wouldn't have come. And +if you'll all have a little patience she'll mean it too. I can't +forgive her mother for being so hard to her. She's one of the +sweetest creatures I ever came across." + +A little patience, and here was November coming! The Earl who had +now been dining in his house, meeting his own client there, must +again become the Serjeant's enemy in November, unless this matter +were settled. The Serjeant at present could see no other way of +proceeding. The Earl might no doubt retire from the suit, but a jury +must then decide whether the Italian woman had any just claim. And +against the claim of the Italian woman the Earl would again come +forward. The Serjeant as he thought of it, was almost sorry that he +had asked the Earl and the Solicitor-General to his house. + +On the very next morning,--early in the day,--the Earl was announced +in Bedford Square. The Serjeant was of course away at his chambers. +Lady Anna was in her room and Mrs. Bluestone was sitting with her +daughter. "I have come to see my cousin," said the Earl boldly. + +"I am so glad that you have come, Lord Lovel." + +"Thank you,--well; yes. I know you will not mind my saying so +outright. Though the papers say that we are enemies, we have many +things in common between us." + +"I will send her to you. My dear, we will go into the dining-room. +You will find lunch ready when you come down, Lord Lovel." Then she +left him, and he stood looking for a while at the books that were +laid about the table. + +It seemed to him to be an age, but at last the door was opened and +his cousin crept into the room. When he had parted from her at Yoxham +he had called her Lady Anna; but he was determined that she should +at any rate be again his cousin. "I could hardly speak to you +yesterday," he said, while he held her hand. + +"No;--Lord Lovel." + +"People never can, I think, at small parties like that. Dear Anna, +you surprised me so much by what you told me on the banks of the +Wharfe!" She did not know how to answer him even a word. "I know that +I was unkind to you." + +"I did not think so, my lord." + +"I will tell you just the plain truth. Even though it may be bitter, +the truth will be best between us, dearest. When first I heard what +you said, I believed that all must be over between you and me." + +"Oh, yes," she said. + +"But I have thought about it since, and I will not have it so. I have +not come to reproach you." + +"You may if you will." + +"I have no right to do so, and would not if I had. I can understand +your feelings of deep gratitude and can respect them." + +"But I love him, my lord," said Lady Anna, holding her head on high +and speaking with much dignity. She could hardly herself understand +the feeling which induced her so to address him. When she was alone +thinking of him and of her other lover, her heart was inclined to +regret in that she had not known her cousin in her early days,--as +she had known Daniel Thwaite. She could tell herself, though she +could not tell any other human being, that when she had thought that +she was giving her heart to the young tailor, she had not quite known +what it was to have a heart to give. The young lord was as a god to +her; whereas Daniel was but a man,--to whom she owed so deep a debt +of gratitude that she must sacrifice herself, if needs, be, on his +behalf. And yet when the Earl spoke to her of her gratitude to this +man,--praising it, and professing that he also understood those very +feelings which had governed her conduct,--she blazed up almost in +wrath, and swore that she loved the tailor. + +The Earl's task was certainly difficult. It was his first impulse to +rush away again, as he had rushed away before. To rush away and leave +the country, and let the lawyers settle it all as they would. Could +it be possible that such a girl as this should love a journeyman +tailor, and should be proud of her love! He turned from her and +walked to the door and back again, during which time she had almost +repented of her audacity. + +"It is right that you should love him--as a friend," he said. + +"But I have sworn to be his wife." + +"And must you keep your oath?" As she did not answer him he pressed +on with his suit. "If he loves you I am sure he cannot wish to hurt +you, and you know that such a marriage as that would be very hurtful. +Can it be right that you should descend from your position to pay a +debt of gratitude, and that you should do it at the expense of all +those who belong to you? Would you break your mother's heart, and +mine, and bring disgrace upon your family merely because he was good +to you?" + +"He was good to my mother as well as me." + +"Will it not break her heart? Has she not told you so? But perhaps +you do not believe it, my love." + +"I do not know," she said. + +"Ah, dearest, you may believe. To my eyes you are the sweetest of +all God's creatures. Perhaps you think I say so only for the money's +sake." + +"No, my lord, I do not think that." + +"Of course much is due to him." + +"He wants nothing but that I should be his wife. He has said so, and +he is never false. I can trust him at any rate, even though I should +betray him. But I will not betray him. I will go away with him and +they shall not hear of me, and nobody will remember that I was my +father's daughter." + +"You are doubting even now, dear." + +"But I ought not to doubt. If I doubt it is because I am weak." + +"Then still be weak. Surely such weakness will be good when it will +please all those who must be dearest to you." + +"It will not please him, Lord Lovel." + +"Will you do this, dearest;--will you take one week to consider +and then write to me? You cannot refuse me that, knowing that the +happiness and the honour and the welfare of every Lovel depends upon +your answer." + +She felt that she could not refuse, and she gave him the promise. +On that day week she would write to him, and tell him then to what +resolve she should have brought herself. He came up close to her, +meaning to kiss her if she would let him; but she stood aloof, and +merely touched his hand. She would obey her betrothed,--at any rate +till she should have made up her mind that she would be untrue +to him. Lord Lovel could not press his wish, and left the house +unmindful of Mrs. Bluestone's luncheon. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE DOG IN THE MANGER. + + +During all this time Daniel Thwaite had been living alone, working +day after day and hour after hour among the men in Wigmore Street, +trusted by his employer, disliked by those over whom he was set in +some sort of authority, and befriended by none. He had too heavy a +weight on his spirits to be light of heart, even had his nature been +given to lightness. How could he even hope that the girl would resist +all the temptation that would be thrown in her way, all the arguments +that would be used to her, the natural entreaties that would be +showered upon her from all her friends? Nor did he so think of +himself, as to believe that his own personal gifts would bind her to +him when opposed by those other personal gifts which he knew belonged +to the lord. Measuring himself by his own standard, regarding that +man to be most manly who could be most useful in the world, he did +think himself to be infinitely superior to the Earl. He was the +working bee, whereas the Earl was the drone. And he was one who used +to the best of his abilities the mental faculties which had been +given to him; whereas the Earl,--so he believed,--was himself hardly +conscious of having had mental faculties bestowed upon him. The Earl +was, to his thinking, as were all earls, an excrescence upon society, +which had been produced by the evil habits and tendencies of mankind; +a thing to be got rid of before any near approach could be made +to that social perfection in the future coming of which he fully +believed. But, though useless, the Earl was beautiful to the eye. +Though purposeless, as regarded any true purpose of speech, his voice +was of silver and sweet to the ears. His hands, which could never +help him to a morsel of bread, were soft to the touch. He was sweet +with perfumes and idleness, and never reeked of the sweat of labour. +Was it possible that such a girl as Anna Lovel should resist the +popinjay, backed as he would be by her own instincts and by the +prayers of every one of her race? And then from time to time another +thought would strike him. Using his judgment as best he might on her +behalf, ought he to wish that she should do so? The idleness of an +earl might be bad, and equally bad the idleness of a countess. To be +the busy wife of a busy man, to be the mother of many children who +should be all taught to be busy on behalf of mankind, was, to his +thinking, the highest lot of woman. But there was a question with him +whether the accidents of her birth and fortune had not removed her +from the possibility of such joy as that. How would it be with her, +and him too, if, in after life, she should rebuke him because he +had not allowed her to be the wife of a nobleman? And how would it +be with him if hereafter men said of him that he held her to an +oath extracted from her in her childhood because of her wealth? He +had been able to answer Mr. Flick on that head, but he had more +difficulty in answering himself. + +He had written to his father after the Countess had left the house +in which he lodged, and his father had answered him. The old man was +not much given to the writing of letters. "About Lady Lovel and her +daughter," said he, "I won't take no more trouble, nor shouldn't you. +She and you is different, and must be." And that was all he said. +Yes;--he and Lady Anna were different, and must remain so. Of a +morning, when he went fresh to his work, he would resolve that he +would send her word that she was entirely free from him, and would +bid her do according to the nature of the Lovels. But in the evening, +as he would wander back, slowly, all alone, tired of his work, tired +of the black solitude of the life he was leading, longing for some +softness to break the harsh monotony of his labour, he would remember +all her prettinesses, and would, above all, remember the pretty oaths +with which she had sworn that she, Anna Lovel, loved him, Daniel +Thwaite, with all the woman's love which a woman could give. He +would remember the warm kiss which had seemed to make fresh for hours +his dry lips, and would try to believe that the bliss of which he +had thought so much might still be his own. Had she abandoned him, +had she assented to a marriage with the Earl, he would assuredly +have heard of it. He also knew well the day fixed for the trial, +and understood the importance which would be attached to an early +marriage, should that be possible,--or at least to a public +declaration of an engagement. At any rate she had not as yet been +false to him. + +One day he received at his place of work the following note;-- + + + DEAR MR. THWAITE, + + I wish to speak to you on most important business. + Could you call on me to-morrow at eight o'clock in the + evening,--here? + + Yours very faithfully and always grateful, + + J. LOVEL. + + +And then the Countess had added her address in Keppel Street;--the +very address which, about a month back, she had refused to give him. +Of course he went to the Countess,--fully believing that Lady Anna +would also be at the house, though believing also that he would not +be allowed to see her. But at this time Lady Anna was still staying +with Mrs. Bluestone in Bedford Square. + +It was no doubt natural that every advantage should be taken of +the strong position which Lord Lovel held. When he had extracted a +promise from Lady Anna that she would write to him at the end of a +week, he told Sir William, Sir William told his wife, Lady Patterson +told Mrs. Bluestone, and Mrs. Bluestone told the Countess. They +were all now in league against the tailor. If they could only get a +promise from the girl before the cause came on,--anything that they +could even call a promise,--then the thing might be easy. United +together they would not be afraid of what the Italian woman might do. +And this undertaking to write to Lord Lovel was almost as good as a +promise. When a girl once hesitates with a lover, she has as good +as surrendered. To say even that she will think of it, is to accept +the man. Then Mrs. Bluestone and the Countess, putting their heads +together, determined that an appeal should be made to the tailor. Had +Sir William or the Serjeant been consulted, either would have been +probably strong against the measure. But the ladies acted on their +own judgment, and Daniel Thwaite presented himself in Keppel Street. +"It is very kind of you to come," said the Countess. + +"There is no great kindness in that," said Daniel, thinking perhaps +of those twenty years of service which had been given by him and by +his father. + +"I know you think that I have been ungrateful for all that you have +done for me." He did think so, and was silent. "But you would hardly +wish me to repay you for helping me in my struggle by giving up all +for which I have struggled." + +"I have asked for nothing, Lady Lovel." + +"Have you not?" + +"I have asked you for nothing." + +"But my daughter is all that I have in the world. Have you asked +nothing of her?" + +"Yes, Lady Lovel. I have asked much from her, and she has given +me all that I have asked. But I have asked nothing, and now claim +nothing, as payment for service done. If Lady Anna thinks she is in +my debt after such fashion as that, I will soon make her free." + +"She does think so, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Let her tell me so with her own lips." + +"You will not think that I am lying to you." + +"And yet men do lie, and women too, without remorse, when the stakes +are high. I will believe no one but herself in this. Let her come +down and stand before me and look me in the face and tell me that it +is so,--and I promise you that there shall be no further difficulty. +I will not even ask to be alone with her. I will speak but a dozen +words to her, and you shall hear them." + +"She is not here, Mr. Thwaite. She is not living in this house." + +"Where is she then?" + +"She is staying with friends." + +"With the Lovels,--in Yorkshire?" + +"I do not think that good can be done by my telling you where she +is." + +"Do you mean me to understand that she is engaged to the Earl?" + +"I tell you this,--that she acknowledges herself to be bound to you, +but bound to you simply by gratitude. It seems that there was a +promise." + +"Oh yes,--there was a promise, Lady Lovel; a promise as firmly spoken +as when you told the late lord that you would be his wife." + +"I know that there was a promise,--though I, her mother, living +with her at the time, had no dream of such wickedness. There was a +promise, and by that she feels herself to be in some measure bound." + +"She should do so,--if words can ever mean anything." + +"I say she does,--but it is only by a feeling of gratitude. What;--is +it probable that she should wish to mate so much below her degree, +if she were now left to her own choice? Does it seem natural to you? +She loves the young Earl,--as why should she not? She has been thrown +into his company on purpose that she might learn to love him,--when +no one knew of this horrid promise which had been exacted from her +before she had seen any in the world from whom to choose." + +"She has seen two now, him and me, and she can choose as she pleases. +Let us both agree to take her at her word, and let us both be present +when that word is spoken. If she goes to him and offers him her hand +in my presence, I would not take it then though she were a princess, +in lieu of being Lady Anna Lovel. Will he treat me as fairly? Will he +be as bold to abide by her choice?" + +"You can never marry her, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Why can I never marry her? Would not my ring be as binding on her +finger as his? Would not the parson's word make me and her one flesh +and one bone as irretrievably as though I were ten times an earl? I +am a man and she a woman. What law of God, or of man,--what law of +nature can prevent us from being man and wife? I say that I can marry +her,--and with her consent, I will." + +"Never! You shall never live to call yourself the husband of my +daughter. I have striven and suffered,--as never woman strove and +suffered before, to give to my child the name and the rank which +belong to her. I did not do so that she might throw them away on such +a one as you. If you will deal honestly by us--" + +"I have dealt by you more than honestly." + +"If you will at once free her from this thraldom in which you hold +her, and allow her to act in accordance with the dictates of her own +heart--" + +"That she shall do." + +"If you will not hinder us in building up again the honour of the +family, which was nigh ruined by the iniquities of my husband, we +will bless you." + +"I want but one blessing, Lady Lovel." + +"And in regard to her money--" + +"I do not expect you to believe me, Countess; but her money counts +as nothing with me. If it becomes hers and she becomes my wife, as +her husband I will protect it for her. But there shall be no dealing +between you and me in regard to money." + +"There is money due to your father, Mr. Thwaite." + +"If so, that can be paid when you come by your own. It was not lent +for the sake of a reward." + +"And you will not liberate that poor girl from her thraldom." + +"She can liberate herself if she will. I have told you what I will +do. Let her tell me to my face what she wishes." + +"That she shall never do, Mr. Thwaite;--no, by heavens. It is not +necessary that she should have your consent to make such an alliance +as her friends think proper for her. You have entangled her by a +promise, foolish on her part, and very wicked on yours, and you +may work us much trouble. You may delay the settlement of all this +question,--perhaps for years; and half ruin the estate by prolonged +lawsuits; you may make it impossible for me to pay your father what +I owe him till he, and I also, shall be no more; but you cannot, and +shall not, have access to my daughter." + +Daniel Thwaite, as he returned home, tried to think it all over +dispassionately. Was it as the Countess had represented? Was he +acting the part of the dog in the manger, robbing others of happiness +without the power of achieving his own? He loved the girl, and was +he making her miserable by his love? He was almost inclined to think +that the Countess had spoken truth in this respect. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + +Printed by Virtue and Co., City Road, London. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +by + +ANTHONY TROLLOPE. + +In Two Volumes. + +VOL. II. + + + + + + +London: +Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. +1874. + +[All rights reserved.] + +London: +Printed by Virtue and Co., +City Road. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. II. + + XXV. DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER. + XXVI. THE KESWICK POET. + XXVII. LADY ANNA'S LETTER. + XXVIIII. LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER. + XXIX. DANIEL THWAITE ALONE. + XXX. JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE. + XXXI. THE VERDICT. + XXXII. WILL YOU PROMISE? + XXXIII. DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY. + XXXIV. I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING. + XXXV. THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME. + XXXVI. IT IS STILL TRUE. + XXXVII. LET HER DIE. + XXXVIII. LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE. + XXXIX. LADY ANNA'S OFFER. + XL. NO DISGRACE AT ALL. + XLI. NEARER AND NEARER. + XLII. DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET. + XLIII. DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN. + XLIV. THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US. + XLV. THE LAWYERS AGREE. + XLVI. HARD LINES. + XLVII. THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES. + XLVIII. THE MARRIAGE. + + + + +LADY ANNA. + +CHAPTER XXV. + +DANIEL THWAITE'S LETTER. + + +On the day following that on which Daniel Thwaite had visited Lady +Lovel in Keppel Street, the Countess received from him a packet +containing a short note to herself, and the following letter +addressed to Lady Anna. The enclosure was open, and in the letter +addressed to the Countess the tailor simply asked her to read and to +send on to her daughter that which he had written, adding that if she +would do so he would promise to abide by any answer which might come +to him in Lady Anna's own handwriting. Daniel Thwaite when he made +this offer felt that he was giving up everything. Even though the +words might be written by the girl, they would be dictated by the +girl's mother, or by those lawyers who were now leagued together +to force her into a marriage with the Earl. But it was right, he +thought,--and upon the whole best for all parties,--that he should +give up everything. He could not bring himself to say so to the +Countess or to any of those lawyers, when he was sent for and told +that because of the lowliness of his position a marriage between him +and the highly born heiress was impossible. On such occasions he +revolted from the authority of those who endeavoured to extinguish +him. But, when alone, he could see at any rate as clearly as they +did, the difficulties which lay in his way. He also knew that there +was a great gulf fixed, as Miss Alice Bluestone had said,--though he +differed from the young lady as to the side of the gulf on which lay +heaven, and on which heaven's opposite. The letter to Lady Anna was +as follows;-- + + + MY DEAREST, + + This letter if it reaches you at all will be given to you + by your mother, who will have read it. It is sent to her + open that she may see what I say to you. She sent for me + and I went to her this evening, and she told me that it + was impossible that I should ever be your husband. I was + so bold as to tell her ladyship that there could be no + impossibility. When you are of age you can walk out from + your mother's house and marry me, as can I you; and no one + can hinder us. There is nothing in the law, either of God + or man, that can prevent you from becoming my wife,--if it + be your wish to be so. But your mother also said that it + was not your wish, and she went on to say that were you + not bound to me by ties of gratitude you would willingly + marry your cousin, Lord Lovel. Then I offered to meet you + in the presence of your mother,--and in the presence too + of Lord Lovel,--and to ask you then before all of us to + which of us two your heart was given. And I promised that + if in my presence you would stretch out your right hand to + the Earl neither you nor your mother should be troubled + further by Daniel Thwaite. But her ladyship swore to me, + with an oath, that I should never be allowed to see you + again. + + I therefore write to you, and bid you think much of what + I say to you before you answer me. You know well that I + love you. You do not suspect that I am trying to win you + because you are rich. You will remember that I loved you + when no one thought that you would be rich. I do love you + in my heart of hearts. I think of you in my dreams and + fancy then that all the world has become bright to me, + because we are walking together, hand-in-hand, where none + can come between to separate us. But I would not wish you + to be my wife, just because you have promised. If you do + not love me,--above all, if you love this other man,--say + so, and I will have done with it. Your mother says that + you are bound to me by gratitude. I do not wish you to be + my wife unless you are bound to me by love. Tell me then + how it is;--but, as you value my happiness and your own, + tell me the truth. + + I will not say that I shall think well of you, if you have + been carried away by this young man's nobility. I would + have you give me a fair chance. Ask yourself what has + brought him as a lover to your feet. How it came to pass + that I was your lover you cannot but remember. But, for + you, it is your first duty not to marry a man unless you + love him. If you go to him because he can make you a + countess you will be vile indeed. If you go to him because + you find that he is in truth dearer to you than I am, + because you prefer his arm to mine, because he has wound + himself into your heart of hearts,--I shall think your + heart indeed hardly worth the having; but according to + your lights you will be doing right. In that case you + shall have no further word from me to trouble you. + + But I desire that I may have an answer to this in your own + handwriting. + + Your own sincere lover, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +In composing and copying and recopying this letter the tailor sat up +half the night, and then very early in the morning he himself carried +it to Keppel Street, thus adding nearly three miles to his usual walk +to Wigmore Street. The servant at the lodging-house was not up, and +could hardly be made to rise by the modest appeals which Daniel made +to the bell; but at last the delivery was effected, and the forlorn +lover hurried back to his work. + +The Countess as she sat at breakfast read the letter over and over +again, and could not bring herself to decide whether it was right +that it should be given to her daughter. She had not yet seen Lady +Anna since she had sent the poor offender away from the house in +anger, and had more than once repeated her assurance through Mrs. +Bluestone that she would not do so till a promise had been given +that the tailor should be repudiated. Should she make this letter +an excuse for going to the house in Bedford Square, and of seeing +her child, towards whom her very bowels were yearning? At this time, +though she was a countess, with the prospect of great wealth, her +condition was not enviable. From morning to night she was alone, +unless when she would sit for an hour in Mr. Goffe's office, or on +the rarer occasions of a visit to the chambers of Serjeant Bluestone. +She had no acquaintances in London whatever. She knew that she +was unfitted for London society even if it should be open to her. +She had spent her life in struggling with poverty and powerful +enemies,--almost alone,--taking comfort in her happiest moments in +the strength and goodness of her old friend Thomas Thwaite. She now +found that those old days had been happier than these later days. +Her girl had been with her and had been,--or had at any rate seemed +to be,--true to her. She had something then to hope, something to +expect, some happiness of glory to which she could look forward. +But now she was beginning to learn,--nay had already learned, that +there was nothing for her to expect. Her rank was allowed to her. +She no longer suffered from want of money. Her cause was about to +triumph,--as the lawyers on both sides had seemed to say. But in +what respect would the triumph be sweet to her? Even should her girl +become the Countess Lovel, she would not be the less isolated. None +of the Lovels wanted her society. She had banished her daughter to +Bedford Square, and the only effect of the banishment was that her +daughter was less miserable in Bedford Square than she would have +been with her mother in Keppel Street. + +She did not dare to act without advice, and therefore she took the +letter to Mr. Goffe. Had it not been for a few words towards the end +of the letter she would have sent it to her daughter at once. But the +man had said that her girl would be vile indeed if she married the +Earl for the sake of becoming a countess, and the widow of the late +Earl did not like to put such doctrine into the hands of Lady Anna. +If she delivered the letter of course she would endeavour to dictate +the answer;--but her girl could be stubborn as her mother; and how +would it be with them if quite another letter should be written than +that which the Countess would have dictated? + +Mr. Goffe read the letter and said that he would like to consider +it for a day. The letter was left with Mr. Goffe, and Mr. Goffe +consulted the Serjeant. The Serjeant took the letter home to Mrs. +Bluestone, and then another consultation was held. It found its +way to the very house in which the girl was living for whom it was +intended, but was not at last allowed to reach her hand. "It's a fine +manly letter," said the Serjeant. + +"Then the less proper to give it to her," said Mrs. Bluestone, whose +heart was all softness towards Lady Anna, but as hard as a millstone +towards the tailor. + +"If she does like this young lord the best, why shouldn't she tell +the man the truth?" said the Serjeant. + +"Of course she likes the young lord the best,--as is natural." + +"Then in God's name let her say so, and put an end to all this +trouble." + +"You see, my dear, it isn't always easy to understand a girl's mind +in such matters. I haven't a doubt which she likes best. She is not +at all the girl to have a vitiated taste about young men. But you see +this other man came first, and had the advantage of being her only +friend at the time. She has felt very grateful to him, and as yet she +is only beginning to learn the difference between gratitude and love. +I don't at all agree with her mother as to being severe with her. +I can't bear severity to young people, who ought to be made happy. +But I am quite sure that this tailor should be kept away from her +altogether. She must not see him or his handwriting. What would she +say to herself if she got that letter? 'If he is generous, I can be +generous too;' and if she ever wrote him a letter, pledging herself +to him, all would be over. As it is, she has promised to write to +Lord Lovel. We will hold her to that; and then, when she has given +a sort of a promise to the Earl, we will take care that the tailor +shall know it. It will be best for all parties. What we have got to +do is to save her from this man, who has been both her best friend +and her worst enemy." Mrs. Bluestone was an excellent woman, and +in this emergency was endeavouring to do her duty at considerable +trouble to herself and with no hope of any reward. The future +Countess when she should become a Countess would be nothing to her. +She was a good woman;--but she did not care what evil she inflicted +on the tailor, in her endeavours to befriend the daughter of the +Countess. + +The tailor's letter, unseen and undreamt of by Lady Anna, was sent +back through the Serjeant and Mr. Goffe to Lady Lovel, with strong +advice from Mr. Goffe that Lady Anna should not be allowed to see +it. "I don't hesitate to tell you, Lady Lovel, that I have consulted +the Serjeant, and that we are both of opinion that no intercourse +whatever should be permitted between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel +Thwaite." The unfortunate letter was therefore sent back to the +writer with the following note;--"The Countess Lovel presents her +compliments to Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and thinks it best to return the +enclosed. The Countess is of opinion that no intercourse whatever +should take place between her daughter and Mr. Daniel Thwaite." + +Then Daniel swore an oath to himself that the intercourse between +them should not thus be made to cease. He had acted as he thought +not only fairly but very honourably. Nay;--he was by no means sure +that that which had been intended for fairness and honour might not +have been sheer simplicity. He had purposely abstained from any +clandestine communication with the girl he loved,--even though she +was one to whom he had had access all his life, with whom he had +been allowed to grow up together;--who had eaten of his bread and +drank of his cup. Now her new friends,--and his own old friend the +Countess,--would keep no measures with him. There was to be no +intercourse whatever! But, by the God of heaven, there should be +intercourse! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE KESWICK POET. + + +Infinite difficulties were now complicating themselves on the head of +poor Daniel Thwaite. The packet which the Countess addressed to him +did not reach him in London, but was forwarded after him down to +Cumberland, whither he had hurried on receipt of news from Keswick +that his father was like to die. The old man had fallen in a fit, and +when the message was sent it was not thought likely that he would +ever see his son again. Daniel went down to the north as quickly as +his means would allow him, going by steamer to Whitehaven, and thence +by coach to Keswick. His entire wages were but thirty-five shillings +a week, and on that he could not afford to travel by the mail to +Keswick. But he did reach home in time to see his father alive, and +to stand by the bedside when the old man died. + +Though there was not time for many words between them, and though +the apathy of coming death had already clouded the mind of Thomas +Thwaite, so that he, for the most part, disregarded,--as dying men do +disregard,--those things which had been fullest of interest to him; +still something was said about the Countess and Lady Anna. "Just +don't mind them any further, Dan," said the father. + +"Indeed that will be best," said Daniel. + +"Yes, in truth. What can they be to the likes o' you? Give me a drop +of brandy, Dan." The drop of brandy was more to him now than the +Countess; but though he thought but little of this last word, his son +thought much of it. What could such as the Countess and her titled +daughter be to him, Daniel Thwaite, the broken tailor? For, in truth, +his father was dying, a broken man. There was as much owed by him +in Keswick as all the remaining property would pay; and as for the +business, it had come to that, that the business was not worth +preserving. + +The old tailor died and was buried, and all Keswick knew that he had +left nothing behind him, except the debt that was due to him by the +Countess, as to which, opinion in the world of Keswick varied very +much. There were those who said that the two Thwaites, father and +son, had known very well on which side their bread was buttered, +and that Daniel Thwaite would now, at his father's death, become +the owner of bonds to a vast amount on the Lovel property. It was +generally understood in Keswick that the Earl's claim was to be +abandoned, that the rights of the Countess and her daughter were to +be acknowledged, and that the Earl and his cousin were to become man +and wife. If so the bonds would be paid, and Daniel Thwaite would +become a rich man. Such was the creed of those who believed in the +debt. But there were others who did not believe in the existence +of any such bonds, and who ridiculed the idea of advances of money +having been made. The old tailor had, no doubt, relieved the +immediate wants of the Countess by giving her shelter and food, and +had wasted his substance in making journeys, and neglecting his +business; but that was supposed to be all. For such services on +behalf of the father, it was not probable that much money would be +paid to the son; and the less so, as it was known in Keswick that +Daniel Thwaite had quarrelled with the Countess. As this latter +opinion preponderated Daniel did not find that he was treated with +any marked respect in his native town. + +The old man did leave a will;--a very simple document, by which +everything that he had was left to his son. And there was this +paragraph in it; "I expect that the Countess Lovel will repay to my +son Daniel all moneys that I have advanced on her behalf." As for +bonds,--or any single bond,--Daniel could find none. There was an +account of certain small items due by the Countess, of long date, +and there was her ladyship's receipt for a sum of L500, which had +apparently been lent at the time of the trial for bigamy. Beyond this +he could find no record of any details whatever, and it seemed to him +that his claim was reduced to something less than L600. Nevertheless, +he had understood from his father that the whole of the old man's +savings had been spent on behalf of the two ladies, and he believed +that some time since he had heard a sum named exceeding L6,000. In +his difficulty he asked a local attorney, and the attorney advised +him to throw himself on the generosity of the Countess. He paid the +attorney some small fee, and made up his mind at once that he would +not take the lawyer's advice. He would not throw himself on the +generosity of the Countess. + +There was then still living in that neighbourhood a great man, a +poet, who had nearly carried to its close a life of great honour +and of many afflictions. He was one who, in these, his latter days, +eschewed all society, and cared to see no faces but those of the +surviving few whom he had loved in early life. And as those few +survivors lived far away, and as he was but little given to move from +home, his life was that of a recluse. Of the inhabitants of the place +around him, who for the most part had congregated there since he had +come among them, he saw but little, and his neighbours said that he +was sullen and melancholic. But, according to their degrees, he had +been a friend to Thomas Thwaite, and now, in his emergency, the son +called upon the poet. Indifferent visitors, who might be and often +were intruders, were but seldom admitted at that modest gate; but +Daniel Thwaite was at once shown into the presence of the man of +letters. They had not seen each other since Daniel was a youth, and +neither would have known the other. The poet was hardly yet an old +man, but he had all the characteristics of age. His shoulders were +bent, and his eyes were deep set in his head, and his lips were thin +and fast closed. But the beautiful oval of his face was still there, +in spite of the ravages of years, of labours, and of sorrow; and the +special brightness of his eye had not yet been dimmed. "I have been +sorry, Mr. Thwaite, to hear of your father's death," said the poet. +"I knew him well, but it was some years since, and I valued him as a +man of singular probity and spirit." Then Daniel craved permission +to tell his story;--and he told it all from the beginning to the +end,--how his father and he had worked for the Countess and her girl, +how their time and then their money had been spent for her; how he +had learned to love the girl, and how, as he believed, the girl had +loved him. And he told with absolute truth the whole story, as far +as he knew it, of what had been done in London during the last nine +months. He exaggerated nothing, and did not scruple to speak openly +of his own hopes. He showed his letter to the Countess, and her note +to him, and while doing so hid none of his own feelings. Did the poet +think that there was any reason why, in such circumstances, a tailor +should not marry the daughter of a Countess? And then he gave, as far +as he knew it, the history of the money that had been advanced, and +produced a copy of his father's will. "And now, sir, what would you +have me do?" + +"When you first spoke to the girl of love, should you not have spoken +to the mother also, Mr. Thwaite?" + +"Would you, sir, have done so?" + +"I will not say that;--but I think that I ought. Her girl was all +that she had." + +"It may be that I was wrong. But if the girl loves me now--" + +"I would not hurt your feelings for the world, Mr. Thwaite." + +"Do not spare them, sir. I did not come to you that soft things might +be said to me." + +"I do not think it of your father's son. Seeing what is your own +degree in life and what is theirs, that they are noble and of an old +nobility, among the few hot-house plants of the nation, and that you +are one of the people,--a blade of corn out of the open field, if I +may say so,--born to eat your bread in the sweat of your brow, can +you think that such a marriage would be other than distressing to +them?" + +"Is the hot-house plant stronger or better, or of higher use, than +the ear of corn?" + +"Have I said that it was, my friend? I will not say that either is +higher in God's sight than the other, or better, or of a nobler use. +But they are different; and though the differences may verge together +without evil when the limits are near, I do not believe in graftings +so violent as this." + +"You mean, sir, that one so low as a tailor should not seek to marry +so infinitely above himself as with the daughter of an Earl." + +"Yes, Mr. Thwaite, that is what I mean; though I hope that in coming +to me you knew me well enough to be sure that I would not willingly +offend you." + +"There is no offence;--there can be no offence. I am a tailor, and am +in no sort ashamed of my trade. But I did not think, sir, that you +believed in lords so absolutely as that." + +"I believe but in one Lord," said the poet. "In Him who, in His +wisdom and for His own purposes, made men of different degrees." + +"Has it been His doing, sir,--or the devil's?" + +"Nay, I will not discuss with you a question such as that. I will not +at any rate discuss it now." + +"I have read, sir, in your earlier books--" + +"Do not quote my books to me, either early or late. You ask me for +advice, and I give it according to my ability. The time may come too, +Mr. Thwaite,"--and this he said laughing,--"when you also will be +less hot in your abhorrence of a nobility than you are now." + +"Never!" + +"Ah;--'tis so that young men always make assurances to themselves of +their own present wisdom." + +"You think then that I should give her up entirely?" + +"I would leave her to herself, and to her mother,--and to this young +lord, if he be her lover." + +"But if she loves me! Oh, sir, she did love me once. If she loves me, +should I leave her to think, as time goes on, that I have forgotten +her? What chance can she have if I do not interfere to let her know +that I am true to her?" + +"She will have the chance of becoming Lady Lovel, and of loving her +husband." + +"Then, sir, you do not believe in vows of love?" + +"How am I to answer that?" said the poet. "Surely I do believe in +vows of love. I have written much of love, and have ever meant to +write the truth, as I knew it, or thought that I knew it. But the +love of which we poets sing is not the love of the outer world. It +is more ecstatic, but far less serviceable. It is the picture of +that which exists, but grand with imaginary attributes, as are the +portraits of ladies painted by artists who have thought rather of +their art than of their models. We tell of a constancy in love which +is hardly compatible with the usages of this as yet imperfect world. +Look abroad, and see whether girls do not love twice, and young men +thrice. They come together, and rub their feathers like birds, and +fancy that each has found in the other an eternity of weal or woe. +Then come the causes of their parting. Their fathers perhaps are +Capulets and Montagues, but their children, God be thanked, are +not Romeos and Juliets. Or money does not serve, or distance +intervenes, or simply a new face has the poor merit of novelty. +The constancy of which the poets sing is the unreal,--I may almost +say the unnecessary,--constancy of a Juliet. The constancy on +which our nature should pride itself is that of an Imogen. You read +Shakespeare, I hope, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I know the plays you quote, sir. Imogen was a king's daughter, and +married a simple gentleman." + +"I would not say that early vows should mean nothing," continued the +poet, unwilling to take notice of the point made against him. "I like +to hear that a girl has been true to her first kiss. But this girl +will have the warrant of all the world to justify a second choice. +And can you think that because your company was pleasant to her here +among your native mountains, when she knew none but you, that she +will be indifferent to the charms of such a one as you tell me this +Lord Lovel is? She will have regrets,--remorse even; she will sorrow, +because she knows that you have been good to her. But she will yield, +and her life will be happier with him,--unless he be a bad man, which +I do not know,--than it would be with you. Would there be no regrets, +think you, no remorse, when she found that as your wife she had +separated herself from all that she had been taught to regard as +delightful in this world? Would she be happy in quarrelling with her +mother and her new-found relatives? You think little of noble blood, +and perhaps I think as little of it in matters relating to myself. +But she is noble, and she will think of it. As for your money, +Mr. Thwaite, I should make it a matter of mere business with the +Countess, as though there was no question relating to her daughter. +She probably has an account of the money, and doubtless will pay you +when she has means at her disposal." + +Daniel left his Mentor without another word on his own behalf, +expressing thanks for the counsel that had been given to him, and +assuring the poet that he would endeavour to profit by it. Then he +walked away, over the very paths on which he had been accustomed to +stray with Anna Lovel, and endeavoured to digest the words that he +had heard. He could not bring himself to see their truth. That he +should not force the girl to marry him, if she loved another better +than she loved him, simply by the strength of her own obligation to +him, he could understand. But that it was natural that she should +transfer to another the affection that she had once bestowed upon +him, because that other was a lord, he would not allow. Not only +his heart but all his intellect rebelled against such a decision. A +transfer so violent would, he thought, show that she was incapable +of loving. And yet this doctrine had come to him from one who, as he +himself had said, had written much of love. + +But, though he argued after this fashion with himself, the words of +the old poet had had their efficacy. Whether the fault might be with +the girl, or with himself, or with the untoward circumstances of the +case, he determined to teach himself that he had lost her. He would +never love another woman. Though the Earl's daughter could not be +true to him, he, the suitor, would be true to the Earl's daughter. +There might no longer be Romeos among the noble Capulets and the +noble Montagues,--whom indeed he believed to be dead to faith; but +the salt of truth had not therefore perished from the world. He +would get what he could from this wretched wreck of his father's +property,--obtain payment if it might be possible of that poor L500 +for which he held the receipt,--and then go to some distant land in +which the wisest of counsellors would not counsel him that he was +unfit because of his trade to mate himself with noble blood. + +When he had proved his father's will he sent a copy of it up to the +Countess with the following letter;-- + + + Keswick, November 4, 183--. + + MY LADY, + + I do not know whether your ladyship will yet have heard + of my father's death. He died here on the 24th of last + month. He was taken with apoplexy on the 15th, and never + recovered from the fit. I think you will be sorry for him. + + I find myself bound to send your ladyship a copy of his + will. Your ladyship perhaps may have some account of what + money has passed between you and him. I have none except a + receipt for L500 given to you by him many years ago. There + is also a bill against your ladyship for L71 18_s._ 9_d._ + It may be that no more is due than this, but you will + know. I shall be happy to hear from your ladyship on the + subject, and am, + + Yours respectfully, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +But he still was resolved that before he departed for the far western +land he would obtain from Anna Lovel herself an expression of her +determination to renounce him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +LADY ANNA'S LETTER. + + +In the mean time the week had gone round, and Lady Anna's letter to +the Earl had not yet been written. An army was arrayed against the +girl to induce her to write such a letter as might make it almost +impossible for her afterwards to deny that she was engaged to the +lord, but the army had not as yet succeeded. The Countess had not +seen her daughter,--had been persistent in her refusal to let her +daughter come to her till she had at any rate repudiated her other +suitor; but she had written a strongly worded but short letter, +urging it as a great duty that Lady Anna Lovel was bound to support +her family and to defend her rank. Mrs. Bluestone, from day to day, +with soft loving words taught the same lesson. Alice Bluestone in +their daily conversations spoke of the tailor, or rather of this +promise to the tailor, with a horror which at any rate was not +affected. The Serjeant, almost with tears in his eyes, implored her +to put an end to the lawsuit. Even the Solicitor-General sent her +tender messages,--expressing his great hope that she might enable +them to have this matter adjusted early in November. All the details +of the case as it now stood had been explained to her over and over +again. If, when the day fixed for the trial should come round, it +could be said that she and the young Earl were engaged to each +other, the Earl would altogether abandon his claim,--and no further +statement would be made. The fact of the marriage in Cumberland would +then be proved,--the circumstances of the trial for bigamy would be +given in evidence,--and all the persons concerned would be together +anxious that the demands of the two ladies should be admitted in +full. It was the opinion of the united lawyers that were this done, +the rank of the Countess would be allowed, and that the property left +behind him by the old lord would be at once given up to those who +would inherit it under the order of things as thus established. The +Countess would receive that to which she would be entitled as widow, +the daughter would be the heir-at-law to the bulk of the personal +property, and the Earl would merely claim any real estate, if,--as +was very doubtful,--any real estate had been left in question. In +this case the disposition of the property would be just what they +would all desire, and the question of rank would be settled for +ever. But if the young lady should not have then agreed to this very +pleasant compromise, the Earl indeed would make no further endeavours +to invalidate the Cumberland marriage, and would retire from the +suit. But it would then be stated that there was a claimant in +Sicily,--or at least evidence in Italy, which if sifted might +possibly bar the claim of the Countess. The Solicitor-General did +not hesitate to say that he believed the living woman to be a weak +impostor, who had been first used by the Earl and had then put +forward a falsehood to get an income out of the property; but he was +by no means convinced that the other foreign woman, whom the Earl had +undoubtedly made his first wife, might not have been alive when the +second marriage was contracted. If it were so, the Countess would +be no Countess, Anna Lovel would simply be Anna Murray, penniless, +baseborn, and a fit wife for the tailor, should the tailor think fit +to take her. "If it be so," said Lady Anna through her tears, "let it +be so; and he will take me." + +It may have been that the army was too strong for its own +purpose,--too much of an army to gain a victory on that field,--that +a weaker combination of forces would have prevailed when all this +array failed. No one had a word to say for the tailor; no one +admitted that he had been a generous friend; no feeling was expressed +for him. It seemed to be taken for granted that he, from the +beginning, had laid his plans for obtaining possession of an enormous +income in the event of the Countess being proved to be a Countess. +There was no admission that he had done aught for love. Now, in all +these matters, Lady Anna was sure of but one thing alone, and that +was of the tailor's truth. Had they acknowledged that he was good and +noble, they might perhaps have persuaded her,--as the poet had almost +persuaded her lover,--that the fitness of things demanded that they +should be separated. + +But she had promised that she would write the letter by the end of +the week, and when the end of a fortnight had come she knew that +it must be written. She had declared over and over again to Mrs. +Bluestone that she must go away from Bedford Square. She could not +live there always, she said. She knew that she was in the way of +everybody. Why should she not go back to her own mother? "Does +mamma mean to say that I am never to live with her any more?" Mrs. +Bluestone promised that if she would write her letter and tell her +cousin that she would try to love him, she should go back to her +mother at once. "But I cannot live here always," persisted Lady Anna. +Mrs. Bluestone would not admit that there was any reason why her +visitor should not continue to live in Bedford Square as long as the +arrangement suited Lady Lovel. + +Various letters were written for her. The Countess wrote one which +was an unqualified acceptance of the Earl's offer, and which was +very short. Alice Bluestone wrote one which was full of poetry. Mrs. +Bluestone wrote a third, in which a great many ambiguous words were +used,--in which there was no definite promise, and no poetry. But +had this letter been sent it would have been almost impossible for +the girl afterwards to extricate herself from its obligations. +The Serjeant, perhaps, had lent a word or two, for the letter was +undoubtedly very clever. In this letter Lady Anna was made to say +that she would always have the greatest pleasure in receiving her +cousin's visits, and that she trusted that she might be able to +co-operate with her cousins in bringing the lawsuit to a close;--that +she certainly would not marry any one without her mother's consent, +but that she did not find herself able at the present to say more +than that. "It won't stop the Solicitor-General, you know," the +Serjeant had remarked, as he read it. "Bother the Solicitor-General!" +Mrs. Bluestone had answered, and had then gone on to show that it +would lead to that which would stop the learned gentleman. The +Serjeant had added a word or two, and great persuasion was used to +induce Lady Anna to use this epistle. + +But she would have none of it. "Oh, I couldn't, Mrs. Bluestone;--he +would know that I hadn't written all that." + +"You have promised to write, and you are bound to keep your promise," +said Mrs. Bluestone. + +"I believe I am bound to keep all my promises," said Lady Anna, +thinking of those which she had made to Daniel Thwaite. + +But at last she sat down and did write a letter for herself, +specially premising that no one should see it. When she had made her +promise, she certainly had not intended to write that which should be +shown to all the world. Mrs. Bluestone had begged that at any rate +the Countess might see it. "If mamma will let me go to her, of course +I will show it her," said Lady Anna. At last it was thought best to +allow her to write her own letter and to send it unseen. After many +struggles and with many tears she wrote her letter as follows;-- + + + Bedford Square, Tuesday. + + MY DEAR COUSIN, + + I am sorry that I have been so long in doing what I said + I would do. I don't think I ought to have promised, for I + find it very difficult to say anything, and I think that + it is wrong that I should write at all. It is not my fault + that there should be a lawsuit. I do not want to take + anything away from anybody, or to get anything for myself. + I think papa was very wicked when he said that mamma was + not his wife, and of course I wish it may all go as she + wishes. But I don't think anybody ought to ask me to do + what I feel to be wrong. + + Mr. Daniel Thwaite is not at all such a person as they + say. He and his father have been mamma's best friends, and + I shall never forget that. Old Mr. Thwaite is dead, and I + am very sorry to hear it. If you had known them as we did + you would understand what I feel. Of course he is not your + friend; but he is my friend, and I dare say that makes me + unfit to be friends with you. You are a nobleman and he + is a tradesman; but when we knew him first he was quite + as good as we, and I believe we owe him a great deal of + money, which mamma can't pay him. I have heard mamma say + before she was angry with him, that she would have been in + the workhouse, but for them, and that Mr. Daniel Thwaite + might now be very well off, and not a working tailor at + all as Mrs. Bluestone calls him, if they hadn't given all + they had to help us. I cannot bear after that to hear them + speak of him as they do. + + Of course I should like to do what mamma wants; but how + would you feel if you had promised somebody else? I do so + wish that all this might be stopped altogether. My dear + mamma will not allow me to see her; and though everybody + is very kind, I feel that I ought not to be here with Mrs. + Bluestone. Mamma talked of going abroad somewhere. I wish + she would, and take me away. I should see nobody then, and + there would be no trouble. But I suppose she hasn't got + enough money. This is a very poor letter, but I do not + know what else I can say. + + Believe me to be, + My dear cousin, + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA LOVEL. + + +Then came, in a postscript, the one thing that she had to say,--"I +think that I ought to be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite." + +Lord Lovel after receiving this letter called in Bedford Square and +saw Mrs. Bluestone,--but he did not show the letter. His cousin was +out with the girls and he did not wait to see her. He merely said +that he had received a letter which had not given him much comfort. +"But I shall answer it," he said,--and the reader who has seen the +one letter shall see also the other. + + + Brown's Hotel, Albemarle Street, + 4th November, 183--. + + DEAREST ANNA, + + I have received your letter and am obliged to you for it, + though there is so little in it to flatter or to satisfy + me. I will begin by assuring you that, as far as I am + concerned, I do not wish to keep you from seeing Mr. + Daniel Thwaite. I believe in my heart of hearts that if + you were now to see him often you would feel aware that + a union between you and him could not make either of you + happy. You do not even say that you think it would do so. + + You defend him, as though I had accused him. I grant all + that you say in his favour. I do not doubt that his father + behaved to you and to your mother with true friendship. + But that will not make him fit to be the husband of Anna + Lovel. You do not even say that you think that he would be + fit. I fancy I understand it all, and I love you better + for the pride with which you cling to so firm a friend. + + But, dearest, it is different when we talk of marriage. I + imagine that you hardly dare now to think of becoming his + wife. I doubt whether you say even to yourself that you + love him with that kind of love. Do not suppose me vain + enough to believe that therefore you must love me. It is + not that. But if you would once tell yourself that he is + unfit to be your husband, then you might come to love me, + and would not be the less willing to do so, because all + your friends wish it. It must be something to you that you + should be able to put an end to all this trouble. + + Yours, dearest Anna, + Most affectionately, + + L. + + I called in Bedford Square this morning, but you were not + at home! + + +"But I do dare," she said to herself, when she had read the letter. +"Why should I not dare? And I do say to myself that I love him. +Why should I not love him now, when I was not ashamed to love him +before?" She was being persecuted; and as the step of the wayfarer +brings out the sweet scent of the herb which he crushes with his +heel, so did persecution with her extract from her heart that +strength of character which had hitherto been latent. Had they left +her at Yoxham, and said never a word to her about the tailor; had the +rector and the two aunts showered soft courtesies on her head,--they +might have vanquished her. But now the spirit of opposition was +stronger within her than ever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +LOVEL V. MURRAY AND ANOTHER. + + +Monday, the 9th of November, was the day set down for the trial of +the case which had assumed the name of "Lovel versus Murray and +Another." This denomination had been adopted many months ago, when it +had been held to be practicable by the Lovel party to prove that the +lady who was now always called the Countess, was not entitled to bear +the name of Lovel, but was simply Josephine Murray, and her daughter +simply Anna Murray. Had there been another wife alive when the +mother was married that name and that name only could have been hers, +whether she had been the victim of the old Earl's fraud,--or had +herself been a party to it. The reader will have understood that +as the case went on the opinions of those who acted for the young +Earl, and more especially the opinion of the young Earl himself, had +been changed. Prompted to do so by various motives, they, who had +undertaken to prove that the Countess was no Countess, had freely +accorded to her her title, and had themselves entertained her +daughter with all due acknowledgment of rank and birth. Nevertheless +the name of the case remained and had become common in people's +mouths. The very persons who would always speak of the Countess Lovel +spoke also very familiarly of the coming trial in "Lovel v. Murray," +and now the 9th of November had come round and the case of "Lovel v. +Murray and Another" was to be tried. The nature of the case was +this. The two ladies, mother and daughter, had claimed the personal +property of the late lord as his widow and daughter. Against that +claim Earl Lovel made his claim, as heir-at-law, alleging that there +was no widow, and no legitimate child. The case had become infinitely +complicated by the alleged existence of the first wife,--in which +case she as widow would have inherited. But still the case went on +as Lovel v. Murray,--the Lovel so named being the Earl, and not the +alleged Italian widow. + +Such being the question presumably at issue, it became the duty of +the Solicitor-General to open the pleadings. In the ordinary course +of proceeding it would have been his task to begin by explaining +the state of the family, and by assuming that he could prove the +former marriage and the existence of the former wife at the time +of the latter marriage. His evidence would have been subject to +cross-examination, and then another counter-statement would have been +made on behalf of the Countess, and her witnesses would have been +brought forward. When all this had been done the judge would have +charged the jury, and with the jury would have rested the decision. +This would have taken many days, and all the joys and sorrows, all +the mingled hopes and anxieties of a long trial had been expected. +Bets had been freely made, odds being given at first on behalf of +Lord Lovel, and afterwards odds on behalf of the Countess. Interest +had been made to get places in the court, and the clubs had resounded +now with this fact and now with that which had just been brought home +from Sicily as certain. Then had come suddenly upon the world the +tidings that there would absolutely be no trial, that the great case +of "Lovel v. Murray and Another" was to be set at rest for ever by +the marriage of "Lovel" with "Another," and by the acceptance by +"Lovel" of "Murray" as his mother-in-law. But the quidnuncs would +not accept this solution. No doubt Lord Lovel might marry the second +party in the defence, and it was admitted on all hands that he +probably would do so;--but that would not stop the case. If there +were an Italian widow living, that widow was the heir to the +property. Another Lovel would take the place of Lord Lovel,--and the +cause of Lovel v. Murray must still be continued. The first marriage +could not be annulled, simply by the fact that it would suit the +young Earl that it should be annulled. Then, while this dispute was +in progress, it was told at all the clubs that there was to be no +marriage,--that the girl had got herself engaged to a tailor, and +that the tailor's mastery over her was so strong that she did not +dare to shake him off. Dreadful things were told about the tailor and +poor Lady Anna. There had been a secret marriage; there was going to +be a child;--the latter fact was known as a certain fact to a great +many men at the clubs;--the tailor had made everything safe in twenty +different ways. He was powerful over the girl equally by love, by +fear, and by written bond. The Countess had repelled her daughter +from her house by turning her out into the street by night, and had +threatened both murder and suicide. Half the fortune had been offered +to the tailor, in vain. The romance of the story had increased +greatly during the last few days preceding the trial,--but it was +admitted by all that the trial as a trial would be nothing. There +would probably be simply an adjournment. + +It would be hard to say how the story of the tailor leaked out, and +became at last public and notorious. It had been agreed among all the +lawyers that it should be kept secret,--but it may perhaps have been +from some one attached to them that it was first told abroad. No +doubt all Norton and Flick knew it, and all Goffe and Goffe. Mr. +Mainsail and his clerk, Mr. Hardy and his clerk, Serjeant Bluestone +and his clerk, all knew it; but they had all promised secrecy. The +clerk of the Solicitor-General was of course beyond suspicion. The +two Miss Bluestones had known the story, but they had solemnly +undertaken to be silent as the grave. Mrs. Bluestone was a lady with +most intimately confidential friends,--but she was sworn to secrecy. +It might have come from Sarah, the lady's-maid, whom the Countess +had unfortunately attached to her daughter when the first gleam of +prosperity had come upon them. + +Among the last who heard the story of the tailor,--the last of any +who professed the slightest interest in the events of the Lovel +family,--were the Lovels of Yoxham. The Earl had told them nothing. +In answer to his aunt's letters, and then in answer to a very urgent +appeal from his uncle, the young nobleman had sent only the most curt +and most ambiguous replies. When there was really something to tell +he would tell everything, but at present he could only say that he +hoped that everything would be well. That had been the extent of the +information given by the Earl to his relations, and the rector had +waxed wrathful. Nor was his wrath lessened, or the sorrow of the +two aunts mitigated, when the truth reached them by the mouth of +that very Lady Fitzwarren who had been made to walk out of the room +after--Anna Murray, as Lady Fitzwarren persisted in calling the +"young person" after she had heard the story of the tailor. She told +the story at Yoxham parsonage to the two aunts, and brought with her +a printed paragraph from a newspaper to prove the truth of it. As it +is necessary that we should now hurry into the court to hear what +the Solicitor-General had to say about the case, we cannot stop to +sympathize with the grief of the Lovels at Yoxham. We may, however, +pause for a moment to tell the burden of the poor rector's song for +that evening. "I knew how it would be from the beginning. I told you +so. I was sure of it. But nobody would believe me." + +The Court of Queen's Bench at Westminster was crowded on the 9th of +November. The case was to be heard before the Lord Chief Justice, +and it was known that at any rate Sir William Patterson would have +something to tell. If nothing else came of it, the telling of that +story would be worth the hearing. All the preliminaries of the trial +went on, as though every one believed that it was to be carried +through to the bitter end,--as though evidence were to be adduced and +rebutted, and further contradicted by other evidence, which would +again be rebutted with that pleasing animosity between rival lawyers, +which is so gratifying to the outside world, and apparently to +themselves also. The jurors were sworn in,--a special jury,--and long +was the time taken, and many the threats made by the Chief Justice, +before twelve gentlemen would consent to go into the box. Crowds were +round the doors of the court, of which every individual man would +have paid largely for standing-room to hear the trial; but when they +were wanted for use, men would not come forward to accept a seat, +with all that honour which belongs to a special juryman. And yet it +was supposed that at last there would be no question to submit to a +jury. + +About noon the Solicitor began his statement. He was full of smiles +and nods and pleasant talk, gestures indicative of a man who had +a piece of work before him in which he could take delight. It is +always satisfactory to see the assurance of a cock crowing in his own +farm-yard, and to admire his easy familiarity with things that are +awful to a stranger bird. If you, O reader, or I were bound to stand +up in that court, dressed in wig and gown, and to tell a story that +would take six hours in the telling, the one or the other of us +knowing it to be his special duty so to tell it that judge, and +counsellors, and jury, should all catch clearly every point that was +to be made,--how ill would that story be told, how would those points +escape the memory of the teller, and never come near the intellect of +the hearers! And how would the knowledge that it would be so, confuse +your tongue or mine,--and make exquisitely miserable that moment of +rising before the audience! But our Solicitor-General rose to his +legs a happy man, with all that grace of motion, that easy slowness, +that unassumed confidence which belongs to the ordinary doings of +our familiar life. Surely he must have known that he looked well +in his wig and gown, as with low voice and bent neck, with only +half-suppressed laughter, he whispered into the ears of the gentleman +who sat next to him some pleasant joke that had just occurred to him. +He could do that, though the eyes of all the court were upon him; so +great was the man! And then he began with a sweet low voice, almost +modest in its tones. For a few moments it might have been thought +that some young woman was addressing the court, so gentle, so dulcet +were the tones. + +"My lord, it is my intention on this occasion to do that which an +advocate can seldom do,--to make a clean breast of it, to tell the +court and the jury all that I know of this case, all that I think of +it, and all that I believe,--and in short to state a case as much in +the interest of my opponents as of my clients. The story with which I +must occupy the time of the court, I fear, for the whole remainder of +the day, with reference to the Lovel family, is replete with marvels +and romance. I shall tell you of great crimes and of singular +virtues, of sorrows that have been endured and conquered, and of +hopes that have been nearly realised; but the noble client on whose +behalf I am here called upon to address you, is not in any manner +the hero of this story. His heroism will be shown to consist in +this,--unless I mar the story in telling it,--that he is only anxious +to establish the truth, whether that truth be for him or against him. +We have now to deal with an ancient and noble family, of which my +client, the present Earl Lovel, is at this time the head and chief. +On the question now before us depends the possession of immense +wealth. Should this trial be carried to its natural conclusion it +will be for you to decide whether this wealth belongs to him as the +heir-at-law of the late Earl, or whether there was left some nearer +heir when that Earl died, whose rightful claim would bar that of my +client. But there is more to be tried than this,--and on that more +depends the right of two ladies to bear the name of Lovel. Such +right, or the absence of such right, would in this country of itself +be sufficient to justify, nay, to render absolutely necessary, some +trial before a jury in any case of well-founded doubt. Our titles +of honour bear so high a value among us, are so justly regarded as +the outward emblem of splendour and noble conduct, are recognised so +universally as passports to all society, that we are naturally prone +to watch their assumption with a caution most exact and scrupulous. +When the demand for such honour is made on behalf of a man it +generally includes the claim to some parliamentary privilege, the +right to which has to be decided not by a jury, but by the body to +which that privilege belongs. The claim to a peerage must be tried +before the House of Lords,--if made by a woman as by a man, because +the son of the heiress would be a peer of Parliament. In the case +with which we are now concerned no such right is in question. The +lady who claims to be the Countess Lovel, and her daughter who claims +to be Lady Anna Lovel, make no demand which renders necessary other +decision than that of a jury. It is as though any female commoner in +the land claimed to have been the wife of an alleged husband. But +not the less is the claim made to a great and a noble name; and as +a grave doubt has been thrown upon the justice of the demand made +by these ladies, it has become the duty of my client as the head of +the Lovels, as being himself, without any doubt, the Earl Lovel of +the day, to investigate the claim made, and to see that no false +pretenders are allowed to wear the highly prized honours of his +family. Independently of the great property which is at stake, the +nature of which it will be my duty to explain to you, the question at +issue whether the elder lady be or be not Countess Lovel, and whether +the younger lady be or be not Lady Anna Lovel, has demanded the +investigation which could not adequately have been made without this +judicial array. I will now state frankly to you our belief that these +two ladies are fully entitled to the names which they claim to bear; +and I will add to that statement a stronger assurance of my own +personal conviction and that of my client that they themselves are +fully assured of the truth and justice of their demand. I think it +right also to let you know that since these inquiries were first +commenced, since the day for this trial was fixed, the younger of +these ladies has been residing with the uncle of my client, under +the same roof with my client, as an honoured and most welcome guest, +and there, in the face of the whole country, has received that +appellation of nobility from all the assembled members of my client's +family, to dispute which I apparently now stand before you on that +client's behalf." The rector of Yoxham, who was in court, shook +his head vehemently when the statement was made that Lady Anna had +been his welcome guest; but nobody was then regarding the rector of +Yoxham, and he shook his head in vain. + +"You will at once ask why, if this be so, should the trial be +continued. 'As all is thus conceded,' you will say, 'that these two +ladies claim, whom in your indictment you have misnamed Murray, why +not, in God's name, give them their privileges, and the wealth which +should appertain to them, and release them from the persecution of +judicial proceedings?' In the first place I must answer that neither +my belief, nor that of my friends who are acting with me, nor even +that of my noble client himself, is sufficient to justify us in +abstaining from seeking a decision which shall be final as against +further claimants. If the young Earl should die, then would there be +another Earl, and that other Earl might also say, with grounds as +just as those on which we have acted, that the lady, whom I shall +henceforward call the Countess Lovel, is no Countess. We think that +she is,--but it will be for you to decide whether she is or is not, +after hearing the evidence which will, no doubt, be adduced of her +marriage,--and any evidence to the contrary which other parties may +bring before you. We shall adduce no evidence to the contrary, nor +do I think it probable that we shall ask a single question to shake +that with which my learned friend opposite is no doubt prepared. In +fact, there is no reason why my learned friend and I should not sit +together, having our briefs and our evidence in common. And then, as +the singular facts of this story become clear to you,--as I trust +that I may be able to make them clear,--you will learn that there are +other interests at stake beyond those of my client and of the two +ladies who appear here as his opponents. Two statements have been +made tending to invalidate the rights of Countess Lovel,--both having +originated with one who appears to have been the basest and blackest +human being with whose iniquities my experience as a lawyer has made +me conversant. I speak of the late Earl. It was asserted by him, +almost from the date of his marriage with the lady who is now his +widow,--falsely stated, as I myself do not doubt,--that when he +married her he had a former wife living. But it is, I understand, +capable of absolute proof that he also stated that this former wife +died soon after that second marriage,--which in such event would have +been but a mock marriage. Were such the truth,--should you come to +the belief that the late Earl spoke truth in so saying,--the whole +property at issue would become the undisputed possession of my +client. The late Earl died intestate, the will which he did leave +having been already set aside by my client as having been made when +the Earl was mad. The real wife, according to this story, would +be dead. The second wife, according to this story, would be no +wife,--and no widow. The daughter, according to this story, would +be no daughter in the eye of the law,--would, at any rate, be no +heiress. The Earl would be the undisputed heir to the personal +property, as he is to the real property and to the title. But we +disbelieve this story utterly,--we intend to offer no evidence to +show that the first wife,--for there was such a wife,--was living +when the second marriage was contracted. We have no such evidence, +and believe that none such can be found. Then that recreant nobleman, +in whose breast there was no touch of nobility, in whose heart was no +spark of mercy, made a second statement,--to this effect--that his +first wife had not died at all. His reason for this it is hardly for +us to seek. He may have done so, as affording a reason why he should +not go through a second marriage ceremony with the lady whom he had +so ill used. But that he did make this statement is certain,--and +it is also certain that he allowed an income to a certain woman as +though to a wife, that he allowed her to be called the Countess, +though he was then living with another Italian woman; and it is also +certain that this woman is still living,--or at least that she was +living some week or two ago. We believe her to have been an elder +sister of her who was the first wife, and whose death occurred before +the second marriage. Should it be proved that this living woman was +the legitimate wife of the late Earl, not only would the right be +barred of those two English ladies to whom all our sympathies are now +given, but no portion of the property in dispute would go either to +them or to my client. I am told that before his lordship, the Chief +Justice, shall have left the case in your hands, an application will +be made to the court on behalf of that living lady. I do not know how +that may be, but I am so informed. If such application be made,--if +there be any attempt to prove that she should inherit as widow,--then +will my client again contest the case. We believe that the Countess +Lovel, the English Countess, is the widow, and that Lady Anna Lovel +is Lady Anna Lovel, and is the heiress. Against them we will not +struggle. As was our bounden duty, we have sent not once only, but +twice and thrice, to Italy and to Sicily in search of evidence which, +if true, would prove that the English Countess was no Countess. We +have failed, and have no evidence which we think it right to ask a +jury to believe. We think that a mass of falsehood has been heaped +together among various persons in a remote part of a foreign country, +with the view of obtaining money, all of which was grounded on +the previous falsehoods of the late Earl. We will not use these +falsehoods with the object of disputing a right in the justice of +which we have ourselves the strongest confidence. We withdraw from +any such attempt. + +"But as yet I have only given you the preliminaries of my story." He +had, in truth, told his story. He had, at least, told all of it that +it will import that the reader should hear. He, indeed,--unfortunate +one,--will have heard the most of that story twice or thrice before. +But the audience in the Court of Queen's Bench still listened with +breathless attention, while, under this new head of his story he +told every detail again with much greater length than he had done in +the prelude which has been here given. He stated the facts of the +Cumberland marriage, apologizing to his learned friend the Serjeant +for taking, as he said, the very words out of his learned friend's +mouth. He expatiated with an eloquence that was as vehement as it +was touching on the demoniacal schemes of that wicked Earl, to whom, +during the whole of his fiendish life, women had been a prey. He +repudiated, with a scorn that was almost terrible in its wrath, the +idea that Josephine Murray had gone to the Earl's house with the name +of wife, knowing that she was, in fact, but a mistress. She herself +was in court, thickly veiled, under the care of one of the Goffes, +having been summoned there as a necessary witness, and could not +control her emotion as she listened to the words of warm eulogy with +which the adverse counsel told the history of her life. It seemed +to her then that justice was at last being done to her. Then the +Solicitor-General reverted again to the two Italian women,--the +Sicilian sisters, as he called them,--and at much length gave his +reasons for discrediting the evidence which he himself had sought, +that he might use it with the object of establishing the claim of his +client. And lastly, he described the nature of the possessions which +had been amassed by the late Earl, who, black with covetousness as he +was with every other sin, had so manipulated his property that almost +the whole of it had become personal, and was thus inheritable by a +female heiress. He knew, he said, that he was somewhat irregular +in alluding to facts,--or to fiction, if any one should call it +fiction,--which he did not intend to prove, or to attempt to prove; +but there was something, he said, beyond the common in the aspect +which this case had taken, something in itself so irregular, that he +thought he might perhaps be held to be excused in what he had done. +"For the sake of the whole Lovel family, for the sake of these two +most interesting ladies, who have been subjected, during a long +period of years, to most undeserved calamities, we are anxious to +establish the truth. I have told you what we believe to be the truth, +and as that in no single detail militates against the case as it will +be put forward by my learned friends opposite, we have no evidence to +offer. We are content to accept the marriage of the widowed Countess +as a marriage in every respect legal and binding." So saying the +Solicitor-General sat down. + +It was then past five o'clock, and the court, as a matter of course, +was adjourned, but it was adjourned by consent to the Wednesday, +instead of to the following day, in order that there might be due +consideration given to the nature of the proceedings that must +follow. As the thing stood at present it seemed that there need be no +further plea of "Lovel v. Murray and Another." It had been granted +that Murray was not Murray, but Lovel; yet it was thought that +something further would be done. + +It had all been very pretty; but yet there had been a feeling of +disappointment throughout the audience. Not a word had been said as +to that part of the whole case which was supposed to be the most +romantic. Not a word had been said about the tailor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +DANIEL THWAITE ALONE. + + +There were two persons in the court who heard the statement of the +Solicitor-General with equal interest,--and perhaps with equal +disapprobation,--whose motives and ideas on the subject were exactly +opposite. These two were the Rev. Mr. Lovel, the uncle of the +plaintiff, and Daniel Thwaite, the tailor, whose whole life had been +passed in furthering the cause of the defendants. The parson, from +the moment in which he had heard that the young lady whom he had +entertained in his house had engaged herself to marry the tailor, +had reverted to his old suspicions,--suspicions which, indeed, he +had never altogether laid aside. It had been very grievous to him to +prefer a doubtful Lady Anna to a most indubitable Lady Fitzwarren. +He liked the old-established things,--things which had always been +unsuspected, which were not only respectable but firm-rooted. For +twenty years he had been certain that the Countess was a false +countess; and he, too, had lamented with deep inward lamentation over +the loss of the wealth which ought to have gone to support the family +earldom. It was monstrous to him that the property of one Earl Lovel +should not appertain to the next Earl. He would on the moment have +had the laws with reference to the succession of personal property +altered, with retrospective action, so that so great an iniquity +should be impossible. When the case against the so-called Countess +was, as it were, abandoned by the Solicitor-General, and the +great interests at stake thrown up, he would have put the conduct +of the matter into other hands. Then had come upon him the +bitterness of having to entertain in his own house the now almost +undisputed,--though by him still suspected,--heiress, on behalf of +his nephew, of a nephew who did not treat him well. And now the +heiress had shown what she really was by declaring her intention +of marrying a tailor! When that became known, he did hope that the +Solicitor-General would change his purpose and fight the cause. + +The ladies of the family, the two aunts, had affected to disbelieve +the paragraph which Lady Fitzwarren had shown them with so much +triumph. The rector had declared that it was just the kind of thing +that he had expected. Aunt Julia, speaking freely, had said that it +was just the kind of thing which she, knowing the girl, could not +believe. Then the rector had come up to town to hear the trial, and +on the day preceding it had asked his nephew as to the truth of the +rumour which had reached him. "It is true," said the young lord, +knitting his brow, "but it had better not be talked about." + +"Why not talked about? All the world knows it. It has been in the +newspapers." + +"Any one wishing to oblige me will not mention it," said the Earl. +This was too bad. It could not be possible,--for the honour of all +the Lovels it could not surely be possible,--that Lord Lovel was +still seeking the hand of a young woman who had confessed that +she was engaged to marry a journeyman tailor! And yet to him, the +uncle,--to him who had not long since been in loco parentis to the +lord,--the lord would vouchsafe no further reply than that above +given! The rector almost made himself believe that, great as might +be the sorrow caused by such disruption, it would become his duty to +quarrel with the Head of his family! + +He listened with most attentive ears to every word spoken by the +Solicitor-General, and quarrelled with almost every word. Would not +any one have imagined that this advocate had been paid to plead +the cause, not of the Earl, but of the Countess? As regarded the +interests of the Earl, everything was surrendered. Appeal was made +for the sympathies of all the court,--and, through the newspapers, +for the sympathies of all England,--not on behalf of the Earl who was +being defrauded of his rights, but on behalf of the young woman who +had disgraced the name which she pretended to call her own,--and +whose only refuge from that disgrace must be in the fact that to that +name she had no righteous claim! Even when this apostate barrister +came to a recapitulation of the property at stake, and explained the +cause of its being vested, not in land as is now the case with the +bulk of the possessions of noble lords,--but in shares and funds and +ventures of commercial speculation here and there, after the fashion +of tradesmen,--he said not a word to stir up in the minds of the +jury a feeling of the injury which had been done to the present Earl. +"Only that I am told that he has a wife of his own I should think +that he meant to marry one of the women himself," said the indignant +rector in the letter which he wrote to his sister Julia. + +And the tailor was as indignant as the rector. He was summoned as a +witness and was therefore bound to attend,--at the loss of his day's +work. When he reached the court, which he did long before the judge +had taken his seat, he found it to be almost impossible to effect +an entrance. He gave his name to some officer about the place, +but learned that his name was altogether unknown. He showed his +subpoena and was told that he must wait till he was called. "Where +must I wait?" asked the angry radical. "Anywhere," said the man in +authority; "but you can't force your way in here." Then he remembered +that no one had as yet paid so dearly for this struggle, no one had +suffered so much, no one had been so instrumental in bringing the +truth to light, as he, and this was the way in which he was treated! +Had there been any justice in those concerned a seat would have been +provided for him in the court, even though his attendance had not +been required. There were hundreds there, brought thither by simple +curiosity, to whom priority of entrance into the court had been +accorded by favour, because they were wealthy, or because they were +men of rank, or because they had friends high in office. All his +wealth had been expended in this case; it was he who had been the +most constant friend of this Countess; but for him and his father +there might probably have been no question of a trial at this day. +And yet he was allowed to beg for admittance, and to be shoved out of +court because he had no friends. "The court is a public court, and is +open to the public," he said, as he thrust his shoulders forward with +a resolution that he would effect an entrance. Then he was taken in +hand by two constables and pushed back through the doorway,--to the +great detriment of the apple-woman who sat there in those days. + +But by pluck and resolution he succeeded in making good some inch of +standing room within the court before the Solicitor-General began his +statement, and he was able to hear every word that was said. That +statement was not more pleasing to him than to the rector of Yoxham. +His first quarrel was with the assertion that titles of nobility are +in England the outward emblem of noble conduct. No words that might +have been uttered could have been more directly antagonistic to his +feelings and political creed. It had been the accident of his life +that he should have been concerned with ladies who were noble by +marriage and birth, and that it had become a duty to him to help to +claim on their behalf empty names which were in themselves odious to +him. It had been the woman's right to be acknowledged as the wife of +the man who had disowned her, and the girl's right to be known as +his legitimate daughter. Therefore had he been concerned. But he had +declared to himself, from his first crude conception of an opinion +on the subject, that it would be hard to touch pitch and not be +defiled. The lords of whom he heard were, or were believed by +him to be, bloated with luxury, were both rich and idle, were +gamblers, debauchers of other men's wives, deniers of all rights +of citizenship, drones who were positively authorised to eat the +honey collected by the working bees. With his half-knowledge, his +ill-gotten and ill-digested information, with his reading which had +all been on one side, he had been unable as yet to catch a glimpse of +the fact that from the ranks of the nobility are taken the greater +proportion of the hardworking servants of the State. His eyes saw +merely the power, the privileges, the titles, the ribbons, and the +money;--and he hated a lord. When therefore the Solicitor-General +spoke of the recognised virtue of titles in England, the tailor +uttered words of scorn to his stranger neighbour. "And yet this man +calls himself a Liberal, and voted for the Reform Bill," he said. +"In course he did," replied the stranger; "that was the way of his +party." "There isn't an honest man among them all," said the tailor +to himself. This was at the beginning of the speech, and he listened +on through five long hours, not losing a word of the argument, +not missing a single point made in favour of the Countess and her +daughter. It became clear to him at any rate that the daughter would +inherit the money. When the Solicitor-General came to speak of +the nature of the evidence collected in Italy, Daniel Thwaite was +unconsciously carried away into a firm conviction that all those +concerned in the matter in Italy were swindlers. The girl was no +doubt the heiress. The feeling of all the court was with her,--as he +could well perceive. But in all that speech not one single word was +said of the friend who had been true to the girl and to her mother +through all their struggles and adversity. The name of Thomas Thwaite +was not once mentioned. It might have been expedient for them to +ignore him, Daniel, the son; but surely had there been any honour +among them, any feeling of common honesty towards folk so low in +the scale of humanity as tailors, some word would have been spoken +to tell of the friendship of the old man who had gone to his grave +almost a pauper because of his truth and constancy. But no;--there +was not a word! + +And he listened, with anxious ears, to learn whether anything would +be said as to that proposed "alliance,"--he had always heard it +called an alliance with a grim smile,--between the two noble cousins. +Heaven and earth had been moved to promote "the alliance." But the +Solicitor-General said not a word on the subject,--any more than he +did of that other disreputable social arrangement, which would have +been no more than a marriage. All the audience might suppose from +anything that was said there that the young lady was fancy free and +had never yet dreamed of a husband. Nevertheless there was hardly +one there who had not heard something of the story of the Earl's +suit,--and something also of the tailor's success. + +When the court broke up Daniel Thwaite had reached standing-room, +which brought him near to the seat that was occupied by Serjeant +Bluestone. He lingered as long as he could, and saw all the +barristers concerned standing with their heads together laughing, +chatting, and well pleased, as though the day had been for them a day +of pleasure. "I fancy the speculation is too bad for any one to take +it up," he heard the Serjeant say, among whose various gifts was not +that of being able to moderate his voice. "I dare say not," said +Daniel to himself as he left the court; "and yet we took it up when +the risk was greater, and when there was nothing to be gained." He +had as yet received no explicit answer to the note which he had +written to the Countess when he sent her the copy of his father's +will. He had, indeed, received a notice from Mr. Goffe that the +matter would receive immediate attention, and that the Countess hoped +to be able to settle the claim in a very short time. But that he +thought was not such a letter as should have been sent to him on +an occasion so full of interest to him! But they were all hard and +unjust and bad. The Countess was bad because she was a Countess,--the +lawyers because they were lawyers,--the whole Lovel family because +they were Lovels. At this moment poor Daniel Thwaite was very bitter +against all mankind. He would, he thought, go at once to the Western +world of which he was always dreaming, if he could only get that sum +of L500 which was manifestly due to him. + +But as he wandered away after the court was up, getting some wretched +solitary meal at a cheap eating-house on his road, he endeavoured to +fix his thoughts on the question of the girl's affection to himself. +Taking all that had been said in that courtly lawyer's speech this +morning as the groundwork of his present judgment, what should he +judge to be her condition at the moment? He had heard on all sides +that it was intended that she should marry the young Earl, and it +had been said in his hearing that such would be declared before the +judge. No such declaration had been made. Not a word had been uttered +to signify that such an "alliance" was contemplated. Efforts had +been made with him to induce him to withdraw his claim to the girl's +hand. The Countess had urged him, and the lawyers had urged him. +Most assuredly they would not have done so,--would have in no wise +troubled themselves with him at all,--had they been able to prevail +with Lady Anna. And why had they not so prevailed? The girl, +doubtless, had been subjected to every temptation. She was kept +secure from his interference. Hitherto he had not even made an effort +to see her since she had left the house in which he himself lived. +She had nothing to fear from him. She had been sojourning among those +Lovels, who would doubtless have made the way to deceit and luxury +easy for her. He could not doubt but that she had been solicited to +enter into this alliance. Could he be justified in flattering himself +that she had hitherto resisted temptation because in her heart of +hearts she was true to her first love? He was true. He was conscious +of his own constancy. He was sure of himself that he was bound to her +by his love, and not by the hope of any worldly advantage. And why +should he think that she was weaker, vainer, less noble than himself? +Had he not evidence to show him that she was strong enough to resist +a temptation to which he had never been subjected? He had read of +women who were above the gilt and glitter of the world. When he was +disposed to think that she would be false, no terms of reproach +seemed to him too severe to heap upon her name; and yet, when he +found that he had no ground on which to accuse her, even in his own +thoughts, of treachery to himself, he could hardly bring himself to +think it possible that she should not be treacherous. She had sworn +to him, as he had sworn to her, and was he not bound to believe her +oath? + +Then he remembered what the poet had said to him. The poet had +advised him to desist altogether, and had told him that it would +certainly be best for the girl that he should do so. The poet had not +based his advice on the ground that the girl would prove false, but +that it would be good for the girl to be allowed to be false,--good +for the girl that she should be encouraged to be false, in order that +she might become an earl's wife! But he thought that it would be bad +for any woman to be an earl's wife; and so thinking, how could he +abandon his love in order that he might hand her over to a fashion +of life which he himself despised? The poet must be wrong. He would +cling to his love till he should know that his love was false to him. +Should he ever learn that, then his love should be troubled with him +no further. + +But something must be done. Even, on her behalf, if she were true to +him, something must be done. Was it not pusillanimous in him to make +no attempt to see his love and to tell her that he at any rate was +true to her? These people, who were now his enemies, the lawyers and +the Lovels, with the Countess at the head of them, had used him like +a dog, had repudiated him without remorse, had not a word even to say +of the services which his father had rendered. Was he bound by honour +or duty to stand on any terms with them? Could there be anything due +to them from him? Did it not behove him as a man to find his way +into the girl's presence and to assist her with his courage? He did +not fear them. What cause had he to fear them? In all that had been +between them his actions to them had been kind and good, whereas they +were treating him with the basest ingratitude. + +But how should he see Lady Anna? As he thought of all this he +wandered up from Westminster, where he had eaten his dinner, to +Russell Square and into Keppel Street, hesitating whether he would +at once knock at the door and ask to see Lady Anna Lovel. Lady Anna +was still staying with Mrs. Bluestone; but Daniel Thwaite had not +believed the Countess when she told him that her daughter was not +living with her. He doubted, however, and did not knock at the door. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +JUSTICE IS TO BE DONE. + + +It must not be thought that the Countess was unmoved when she +received Daniel Thwaite's letter from Keswick enclosing the copy +of his father's will. She was all alone, and she sat long in her +solitude, thinking of the friend who was gone and who had been always +true to her. She herself would have done for old Thomas Thwaite any +service which a woman could render to a man, so strongly did she feel +all that the man had done for her. As she had once said, no menial +office performed by her on behalf of the old tailor would have been +degrading to her. She had eaten his bread, and she never for a moment +forgot the obligation. The slow tears stood in her eyes as she +thought of the long long hours which she had passed in his company, +while, almost desponding herself, she had received courage from his +persistency. And her feeling for the son would have been the same, +had not the future position of her daughter and the standing of +the house of Lovel been at stake. It was not in her nature to be +ungrateful; but neither was it in her nature to postpone the whole +object of her existence to her gratitude. Even though she should +appear to the world as a monster of ingratitude, she must treat the +surviving Thwaite as her bitterest enemy as long as he maintained +his pretensions to her daughter's hand. She could have no friendly +communication with him. She herself would hold no communication +with him at all, if she might possibly avoid it, lest she should +be drawn into some renewed relation of friendship with him. He was +her enemy,--her enemy in such fierce degree that she was always +plotting the means of ridding herself altogether of his presence +and influence. To her thinking the man had turned upon her most +treacherously, and was using, for his own purposes and his own +aggrandizement, that familiarity with her affairs which he had +acquired by reason of his father's generosity. She believed but +little in his love; but whether he loved the girl or merely sought +her money, was all one to her. Her whole life had been passed in an +effort to prove her daughter to be a lady of rank, and she would +rather sacrifice her life in the basest manner than live to see all +her efforts annulled by a low marriage. Love, indeed, and romance! +What was the love of one individual, what was the romance of a +childish girl, to the honour and well-being of an ancient and noble +family? It was her ambition to see her girl become the Countess +Lovel, and no feeling of gratitude should stand in her way. She would +rather slay that lowborn artisan with her own hand than know that he +had the right to claim her as his mother-in-law. Nevertheless, the +slow tears crept down her cheeks as she thought of former days, and +of the little parlour behind the tailor's shop at Keswick, in which +the two children had been wont to play. + +But the money must be paid; or, at least, the debt must be +acknowledged. As soon as she had somewhat recovered herself she +opened the old desk which had for years been the receptacle of all +her papers, and taking out sundry scribbled documents, went to work +at a sum in addition. It cannot be said of her that she was a good +accountant, but she had been so far careful as to have kept entries +of all the monies she had received from Thomas Thwaite. She had once +carried in her head a correct idea of the entire sum she owed him; +but now she set down the items with dates, and made the account fair +on a sheet of note paper. So much money she certainly did owe to +Daniel Thwaite, and so much she would certainly pay if ever the means +of paying it should be hers. Then she went off with her account to +Mr. Goffe. + +Mr. Goffe did not think that the matter pressed. The payment of +large sums which have been long due never is pressing in the eyes of +lawyers. Men are always supposed to have a hundred pounds in their +waistcoat pockets; but arrangements have to be made for the settling +of thousands. "You had better let me write him a line and tell him +that it shall be looked to as soon as the question as to the property +is decided," said Mr. Goffe. But this did not suit the views of the +Countess. She spoke out very openly as to all she owed to the father, +and as to her eternal enmity to the son. It behoved her to pay the +debt, if only that she might be able to treat the man altogether as +an enemy. She had understood that, even pending the trial, a portion +of the income would be allowed by the courts for her use and for the +expenses of the trial. It was assented that this money should be +paid. Could steps be taken by which it might be settled at once? Mr. +Goffe, taking the memorandum, said that he would see what could be +done, and then wrote his short note to Daniel Thwaite. When he had +computed the interest which must undoubtedly be paid on the borrowed +money he found that a sum of about L9,000 was due to the tailor. +"Nine thousand pounds!" said one Mr. Goffe to another. "That will be +better to him than marrying the daughter of an earl." Could Daniel +have heard the words he would have taken the lawyer by the throat and +have endeavoured to teach him what love is. + +Then the trial came on. Before the day fixed had come round, but only +just before it, Mr. Goffe showed the account to Serjeant Bluestone. +"God bless my soul!" said the Serjeant. "There should be some +vouchers for such an amount as that." Mr. Goffe declared that there +were no vouchers, except for a very trifling part of it; but still +thought that the amount should be allowed. The Countess was quite +willing to make oath, if need be, that the money had been supplied +to her. Then the further consideration of the question was for the +moment postponed, and the trial came on. + +On the Tuesday, which had been left a vacant day as regarded the +trial, there was a meeting,--like all other proceedings in this +cause, very irregular in its nature,--at the chambers of the +Solicitor-General, at which Serjeant Bluestone attended with Messrs. +Hardy, Mainsail, Flick, and Goffe; and at this meeting, among other +matters of business, mention was made of the debt due by the Countess +to Daniel Thwaite. Of this debt the Solicitor-General had not as yet +heard,--though he had heard of the devoted friendship of the old +tailor. That support had been afforded to some extent,--that for +a period the shelter of old Thwaite's roof had been lent to the +Countess,--that the man had been generous and trusting, he did +know. He had learned, of course, that thence had sprung that early +familiarity which had enabled the younger Thwaite to make his +engagement with Lady Anna. That something should be paid when the +ladies came by their own he was aware. But the ladies were not his +clients, and into the circumstances he had not inquired. Now he was +astounded and almost scandalized by the amount of the debt. + +"Do you mean to say that he advanced L9,000 in hard cash?" said the +Solicitor-General. + +"That includes interest at five per cent., Sir William, and also a +small sum for bills paid by Thomas Thwaite on her behalf. She has had +in actual cash about L7,000." + +"And where has it gone?" + +"A good deal of it through my hands," said Mr. Goffe boldly. "During +two or three years she had no income at all, and during the last +twenty years she has been at law for her rights. He advanced all the +money when that trial for bigamy took place." + +"God bless my soul!" said Mr. Serjeant Bluestone. + +"Did he leave a will?" asked the Solicitor-General. + +"Oh, yes; a will which has been proved, and of which I have a copy. +There was nothing else to leave but this debt, and that is left to +the son." + +"It should certainly be paid without delay," said Mr. Hardy. Mr. +Mainsail questioned whether they could get the money. Mr. Goffe +doubted whether it could be had before the whole affair was settled. +Mr. Flick was sure that on due representation the amount would be +advanced at once. The income of the property was already accumulating +in the hands of the court, and there was an anxiety that all just +demands,--demands which might be considered to be justly made on the +family property,--should be paid without delay. "I think there would +hardly be a question," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Seven thousand pounds advanced by these two small tradesmen to the +Countess Lovel," said the Solicitor-General, "and that done at a time +when no relation of her own or of her husband would lend her a penny! +I wish I had known that when I went into court yesterday." + +"It would hardly have done any good," said the Serjeant. + +"It would have enabled one at any rate to give credit where credit is +due. And this son is the man who claims to be affianced to the Lady +Anna?" + +"The same man, Sir William," said Mr. Goffe. + +"One is almost inclined to think that he deserves her." + +"I can't agree with you there at all," said the Serjeant angrily. + +"One at any rate is not astonished that the young lady should think +so," continued the Solicitor-General. "Upon my word, I don't know how +we are to expect that she should throw her early lover overboard +after such evidence of devotion." + +"The marriage would be too incongruous," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Quite horrible," said the Serjeant. + +"It distresses one to think of it," said Mr. Goffe. + +"It would be much better that she should not be Lady Anna at all, if +she is to do that," said Mr. Mainsail. + +"Very much better," said Mr. Flick, shaking his head, and remembering +that he was employed by Lord Lovel and not by the Countess,--a fact +of which it seemed to him that the Solicitor-General altogether +forgot the importance. + +"Gentlemen, you have no romance among you," said Sir William. "Have +not generosity and valour always prevailed over wealth and rank with +ladies in story?" + +"I do not remember any valorous tailors who have succeeded with +ladies of high degree," said Mr. Hardy. + +"Did not the lady of the Strachy marry the yeoman of the wardrobe?" +asked the Solicitor-General. + +"I don't know that we care much about romance here," said the +Serjeant. "The marriage would be so abominable, that it is not to be +thought of." + +"The tailor should at any rate get his money," said the +Solicitor-General, "and I will undertake to say that if the case be +as represented by Mr. Goffe--" + +"It certainly is," said the attorney. + +"Then there will be no difficulty in raising the funds for paying it. +If he is not to have his wife, at any rate let him have his money. +I think, Mr. Flick, that intimation should be made to him that Earl +Lovel will join the Countess in immediate application to the court +for means to settle his claim. Circumstanced as we are at present, +there can be no doubt that such application will have the desired +result. It should, of course, be intimated that Serjeant Bluestone +and myself are both of opinion that the money should be allowed for +the purpose." + +As the immediate result of this conversation, Daniel Thwaite received +on the following morning letters both from Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick. +The former intimated to him that a sum of nine thousand odd pounds +was held to be due to him by the Countess, and that immediate steps +would be taken for its payment. That from Mr. Flick, which was much +shorter than the letter from his brother attorney, merely stated that +as a very large sum of money appeared to be due by the Countess Lovel +to the estate of the late Thomas Thwaite, for sums advanced to the +Countess during the last twenty years, the present Earl Lovel had +been advised to join the Countess in application to the courts, +that the amount due might be paid out of the income of the property +left by the late Earl; and that that application would be made +"_immediately_." Mr. Goffe in his letter, went on to make certain +suggestions, and to give much advice. As this very large debt, of +which no proof was extant, was freely admitted by the Countess, and +as steps were being at once taken to ensure payment of the whole +sum named to Daniel Thwaite, as his father's heir, it was hoped +that Daniel Thwaite would at once abandon his preposterous claim to +the hand of Lady Anna Lovel. Then Mr. Goffe put forward in glowing +colours the iniquity of which Daniel Thwaite would be guilty should +he continue his fruitless endeavours to postpone the re-establishment +of a noble family which was thus showing its united benevolence by +paying to him the money which it owed him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE VERDICT. + + +On the Wednesday the court reassembled in all its judicial glory. +There was the same crowd, the same Lord Chief Justice, the same jury, +and the same array of friendly lawyers. There had been a rumour that +a third retinue of lawyers would appear on behalf of what was now +generally called the Italian interest, and certain words which had +fallen from the Solicitor-General on Monday had assured the world at +large that the Italian interest would be represented. It was known +that the Italian case had been confided to a firm of enterprising +solicitors, named Mowbray and Mopus, perhaps more feared than +respected, which was supposed to do a great amount of speculative +business. But no one from the house of Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus was +in court on the Wednesday morning; and no energetic barrister was +ever enriched by a fee from them on behalf of the Italian widow. +The speculation had been found to be too deep, the expenditure +which would be required in advance too great, and the prospect of +remuneration too remote even for Mowbray and Mopus. It appeared +afterwards that application had been made by those gentlemen for an +assurance that expenses incurred on behalf of the Italian Countess +should be paid out of the estate; but this had been refused. No +guarantee to this effect could be given, at any rate till it should +be seen whether the Italian lady had any show of justice on her side. +It was now the general belief that if there was any truth at all in +the Italian claim, it rested on the survivorship, at the time of the +Cumberland marriage, of a wife who had long since died. As the proof +of this would have given no penny to any one in Italy,--would simply +have shown that the Earl was the heir,--Messrs. Mowbray and Mopus +retired, and there was an end, for ever and a day, of the Italian +interest. + +Though there was the same throng in the court as on the Monday, +there did not seem to be the same hubbub on the opening of the day's +proceedings. The barristers were less busy with their papers, the +attorneys sat quite at their ease, and the Chief Justice, with an +assistant judge, who was his bench-fellow, appeared for some minutes +to be quite passive. Then the Solicitor-General arose and said that, +with permission, he would occupy the court for only a few minutes. +He had stated on Monday his belief that an application would be made +to the court on behalf of other interests than those which had been +represented when the court first met. It appeared that he had been +wrong in that surmise. Of course he had no knowledge on the subject, +but it did not appear that any learned gentleman was prepared to +address the court for any third party. As he, on behalf of his +client, had receded from the case, his Lordship would probably say +what, in his Lordship's opinion, should now be the proceeding of +the court. The Earl Lovel abandoned his plea, and perhaps the court +would, in those circumstances, decide that its jurisdiction in the +matter was over. Then the Lord Chief Justice, with his assistant +judge, retired for a while, and all the assembled crowd appeared to +be at liberty to discuss the matter just as everybody pleased. + +It was undoubtedly the opinion of the bar at large, and at that +moment of the world in general, that the Solicitor-General had done +badly for his client. The sum of money which was at stake was, they +said, too large to be played with. As the advocate of the Earl, Sir +William ought to have kept himself aloof from the Countess and her +daughter. In lieu of regarding his client, he had taken upon himself +to set things right in general, according to his idea of right. No +doubt he was a clever man, and knew how to address a jury, but he was +always thinking of himself, and bolstering up something of his own, +instead of thinking of his case and bolstering up his client. And +this conception of his character in general, and of his practice in +this particular, became the stronger, as it was gradually believed +that the living Italian Countess was certainly an impostor. There +would have been little good in fighting against the English Countess +on her behalf;--but if they could only have proved that the other +Italian woman, who was now dead, had been the real Countess when the +Cumberland marriage was made, then what a grand thing it would have +been for the Lovel family! Of those who held this opinion, the rector +of Yoxham was the strongest, and the most envenomed against the +Solicitor-General. During the whole of that Tuesday he went about +declaring that the interests of the Lovel family had been sacrificed +by their own counsel, and late in the afternoon he managed to get +hold of Mr. Hardy. Could nothing be done? Mr. Hardy was of opinion +that nothing could be done now; but in the course of the evening he +did, at the rector's instance, manage to see Sir William, and to ask +the question, "Could nothing be done?" + +"Nothing more than we propose to do." + +"Then the case is over," said Mr. Hardy. "I am assured that no one +will stir on behalf of that Italian lady." + +"If any one did stir it would only be loss of time and money. My dear +Hardy, I understand as well as any one what people are saying, and +I know what must be the feeling of many of the Lovels. But I can +only do my duty by my client to the best of my judgment. In the +first place, you must remember that he has himself acknowledged the +Countess." + +"By our advice," said Mr. Hardy. + +"You mean by mine. Exactly so;--but with such conviction on his own +part that he positively refuses to be a party to any suit which +shall be based on the assumption that she is not Countess Lovel. +Let an advocate be ever so obdurate, he can hardly carry on a case +in opposition to his client's instructions. We are acting for Lord +Lovel, and not for the Lovel family. And I feel assured of this, that +were we to attempt to set up the plea that that other woman was alive +when the marriage took place in Cumberland, you, yourself, would be +ashamed of the evidence which it would become your duty to endeavour +to foist upon the jury. We should certainly be beaten, and, in +the ultimate settlement of the property, we should have to do +with enemies instead of friends. The man was tried for bigamy and +acquitted. Would any jury get over that unless you had evidence +to offer to them that was plain as a pikestaff, and absolutely +incontrovertible?" + +"Do you still think the girl will marry the Earl?" + +"No; I do not. She seems to have a will of her own, and that will is +bent the other way. But I do think that a settlement may be made of +the property which shall be very much in the Earl's favour." When on +the following morning the Solicitor-General made his second speech, +which did not occupy above a quarter of an hour, it became manifest +that he did not intend to alter his course of proceeding, and while +the judges were absent it was said by everybody in the court that the +Countess and Lady Anna had gained their suit. + +"I consider it to be a most disgraceful course of proceeding on the +part of Sir William Patterson," said the rector to a middle-aged +legal functionary, who was managing clerk to Norton and Flick. + +"We all think, sir, that there was more fight in it," said the legal +functionary. + +"There was plenty of fight in it. I don't believe that any jury in +England would willingly have taken such an amount of property from +the head of the Lovel family. For the last twenty years,--ever since +I first heard of the pretended English marriage,--everybody has known +that she was no more a Countess than I am. I can't understand it; +upon my word I can't. I have not had much to do with law, but I've +always been brought up to think that an English barrister would be +true to his client. I believe a case can be tried again if it can be +shown that the lawyers have mismanaged it." The unfortunate rector, +when he made this suggestion, no doubt forgot that the client in this +case was in full agreement with the wicked advocate. + +The judges were absent for about half an hour, and on their return +the Chief Justice declared that his learned brother,--the Serjeant +namely,--had better proceed with the case on behalf of his clients. +He went on to explain that as the right to the property in dispute, +and indeed the immediate possession of that property, would be ruled +by the decision of the jury, it was imperative that they should hear +what the learned counsel for the so-called Countess and her daughter +had to say, and what evidence they had to offer, as to the validity +of her marriage. It was not to be supposed that he intended to throw +any doubt on that marriage, but such would be the safer course. No +doubt, in the ordinary course of succession, a widow and a daughter +would inherit and divide among them in certain fixed proportions the +personal property of a deceased but intestate husband and father, +without the intervention of any jury to declare their rights. But in +this case suspicion had been thrown and adverse statements had been +made; and as his learned brother was, as a matter of course, provided +with evidence to prove that which the plaintiff had come into the +court with the professed intention of disproving, the case had better +go on. Then he wrapped his robes around him and threw himself back +in the attitude of a listener. Serjeant Bluestone, already on his +legs, declared himself prepared and willing to proceed. No doubt +the course as now directed was the proper course to be pursued. The +Solicitor-General, rising gracefully and bowing to the court, gave +his consent with complaisant patronage. "Your Lordship, no doubt, +is right." His words were whispered, and very probably not heard; +but the smile, as coming from a Solicitor-General,--from such a +Solicitor-General as Sir William Patterson,--was sufficient to put +any judge at his ease. + +Then Serjeant Bluestone made his statement, and the case was +proceeded with after the fashion of such trials. It will not concern +us to follow the further proceedings of the court with any close +attention. The Solicitor-General went away, to some other business, +and much of the interest seemed to drop. The marriage in Cumberland +was proved; the trial for bigamy, with the acquittal of the Earl, was +proved; the two opposed statements of the Earl, as to the death of +the first wife, and afterwards as to the fact that she was living, +were proved. Serjeant Bluestone and Mr. Mainsail were very busy for +two days, having everything before them. Mr. Hardy, on behalf of the +young lord, kept his seat, but he said not a word--not even asking a +question of one of Serjeant Bluestone's witnesses. Twice the foreman +of the jury interposed, expressing an opinion, on behalf of himself +and his brethren, that the case need not be proceeded with further; +but the judge ruled that it was for the interest of the Countess,--he +ceased to style her the so-called Countess,--that her advocates +should be allowed to complete their case. In the afternoon of the +second day they did complete it, with great triumph and a fine +flourish of forensic oratory as to the cruel persecution which their +client had endured. The Solicitor-General came back into court in +time to hear the judge's charge, which was very short. The jury were +told that they had no alternative but to find a verdict for the +defendants. It was explained to them that this was a plea to show +that a certain marriage which had taken place in Cumberland in 181--, +was no real or valid marriage. Not only was that plea withdrawn, but +evidence had been adduced proving that that marriage was valid. Such +a marriage was, as a matter of course, prima facie valid, let what +statements might be made to the contrary by those concerned or not +concerned. In such case the burden of proof would rest entirely with +the makers of such statement. No such proof had been here attempted, +and the marriage must be declared a valid marriage. The jury had +nothing to do with the disposition of the property, and it would be +sufficient for them simply to find a verdict for the defendants. The +jury did as they were bid; but, going somewhat beyond this, declared +that they found the two defendants to be properly named the Countess +Lovel, and Lady Anna Lovel. So ended the case of "Lovel v. Murray and +Another." + +The Countess, who had been in the court all day, was taken home to +Keppel Street by the Serjeant in a glass coach that had been hired +to be in waiting for her. "And now, Lady Lovel," said Serjeant +Bluestone, as he took his seat opposite to her, "I can congratulate +your ladyship on the full restitution of your rights." She only shook +her head. "The battle has been fought and won at last, and I will +make free to say that I have never seen more admirable persistency +than you have shown since first that bad man astounded your ears by +his iniquity." + +"It has been all to no purpose," she said. + +"To no purpose, Lady Lovel! I may as well tell you now that it is +expected that his Majesty will send to congratulate you on the +restitution of your rights." + +Again she shook her head. "Ah, Serjeant Bluestone;--that will be but +of little service." + +"No further objection can now be made to the surrender of the whole +property. There are some mining shares as to which there may be a +question whether they are real or personal, but they amount to but +little. A third of the remainder, which will, I imagine, exceed--" + +"If it were ten times as much, Serjeant Bluestone, there would be no +comfort in it. If it were ten times that, it would not at all help to +heal my sorrow. I have sometimes thought that when one is marked for +trouble, no ease can come." + +"I don't think more of money than another man," began the Serjeant. + +"You do not understand." + +"Nor yet of titles,--though I feel for them, when they are worthily +worn, the highest respect," as he so spoke the Serjeant lifted his +hat from his brow. "But, upon my word, to have won such a case as +this justifies triumph." + +"I have won nothing,--nothing,--nothing!" + +"You mean about Lady Anna?" + +"Serjeant Bluestone, when first I was told that I was not that man's +wife, I swore to myself that I would die sooner than accept any lower +name; but when I found that I was a mother, then I swore that I would +live till my child should bear the name that of right belonged to +her." + +"She does bear it now." + +"What name does she propose to bear? I would sooner be poor, in +beggary,--still fighting, even without means to fight, for an empty +title,--still suffering, still conscious that all around me regarded +me as an impostor, than conquer only to know that she, for whom all +this has been done, has degraded her name and my own. If she does +this thing, or, if she has a mind so low, a spirit so mean, as to +think of doing it, would it not be better for all the world that she +should be the bastard child of a rich man's kept mistress, than the +acknowledged daughter of an earl, with a countess for her mother, and +a princely fortune to support her rank? If she marries this man, I +shall heartily wish that Lord Lovel had won the case. I care nothing +for myself now. I have lost all that. The king's message will comfort +me not at all. If she do this thing I shall only feel the evil we +have done in taking the money from the Earl. I would sooner see her +dead at my feet than know that she was that man's wife;--ay, though +I had stabbed her with my own hand!" + +The Serjeant for the nonce could say nothing more to her. She had +worked herself into such a passion that she would listen to no words +but her own, and think of nothing but the wrong that was still being +done to her. He put her down at the hall door in Keppel Street, +saying, as he lifted his hat again, that Mrs. Bluestone should come +and call upon her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +WILL YOU PROMISE? + + +The news of the verdict was communicated the same evening to Lady +Anna,--as to whose name there could now no longer be any dispute. "I +congratulate you, Lady Anna," said the Serjeant, holding her hand, +"that everything as far as this trial is concerned has gone just as +we could wish." + +"We owe it all to you," said the girl. + +"Not at all. My work has been very easy. In fact I have some feeling +of regret that I have not been placed in a position that would enable +me to earn my wages. The case was too good,--so that a poor aspiring +lawyer has not been able to add to his reputation. But as far as you +are concerned, my dear, everything has gone as you should wish. You +are now a very wealthy heiress, and the great duty devolves upon +you of disposing of your wealth in a fitting manner." Lady Anna +understood well what was meant, and was silent. Even when she was +alone, her success did not make her triumphant. She could anticipate +that the efforts of all her friends to make her false to her word +would be redoubled. Unless she could see Daniel Thwaite, it would be +impossible that she should not be conquered. + +The Serjeant told his wife the promise which he had made on her +behalf, and she, of course, undertook to go to Keppel Street on +the following morning. "You had better bring her here," said the +Serjeant. Mrs. Bluestone remarked that that might be sooner said than +done. "She'll be glad of an excuse to come," answered the Serjeant. +"On such an occasion as this, of course they must see each other. +Something must be arranged about the property. In a month or two, +when she is of age, she will have the undisputed right to do what +she pleases with about three hundred thousand pounds. It is a most +remarkable position for a young girl who has never yet had the +command of a penny, and who professes that she is engaged to marry a +working tailor. Of course her mother must see her." + +Mrs. Bluestone did call in Keppel Street, and sat with the Countess a +long time, undergoing a perfect hailstorm of passion. For a long time +Lady Lovel declared that she would never see her daughter again till +the girl had given a solemn promise that she would not marry Daniel +Thwaite. "Love her! Of course I love her. She is all that I have +in the world. But of what good is my love to me, if she disgraces +me? She has disgraced me already. When she could bring herself to +tell her cousin that she was engaged to this man, we were already +disgraced. When she once allowed the man to speak to her in that +strain, without withering him with her scorn, she disgraced us both. +For what have I done it all, if this is to be the end of it?" But at +last she assented and promised that she would come. No;--it would not +be necessary to send a carriage for her. The habits of her own life +need not be at all altered because she was now a Countess beyond +dispute, and also wealthy. She would be content to live as she had +ever lived. It had gone on too long for her to desire personal +comfort,--luxury for herself, or even social rank. The only pleasure +that she had anticipated, the only triumph that she desired, was to +be found in the splendour of her child. She would walk to Bedford +Square, and then walk back to her lodgings in Keppel Street. She +wanted no carriage. + +Early on the following day there was heard the knock at the door +which Lady Anna had been taught to expect. The coming visit had been +discussed in all its bearings, and it had been settled that Mrs. +Bluestone should be with the daughter when the mother arrived. It was +thought that in this way the first severity of the Countess would be +mitigated, and that the chance of some agreement between them might +be increased. Both the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone now conceived that +the young lady had a stronger will of her own than might have been +expected from her looks, her language, and her manners. She had not +as yet yielded an inch, though she would not argue the matter at +all when she was told that it was her positive duty to abandon the +tailor. She would sit quite silent; and if silence does give consent, +she consented to this doctrine. Mrs. Bluestone, with a diligence +which was equalled only by her good humour, insisted on the misery +which must come upon her young friend should she quarrel with the +Countess, and with all the Lovels,--on the unfitness of the tailor, +and the impossibility that such a marriage should make a lady +happy,--on the sacred duty which Lady Anna's rank imposed upon her to +support her order, and on the general blessedness of a well-preserved +and exclusive aristocracy. "I don't mean to say that nobly born +people are a bit better than commoners," said Mrs. Bluestone. +"Neither I nor my children have a drop of noble blood in our veins. +It is not that. But God Almighty has chosen that there should be +different ranks to carry out His purposes, and we have His word to +tell us that we should all do our duties in that state of life to +which it has pleased Him to call us." The excellent lady was somewhat +among the clouds in her theology, and apt to mingle the different +sources of religious instruction from which she was wont to draw +lessons for her own and her children's guidance; but she meant to +say that the proper state of life for an earl's daughter could not +include an attachment to a tailor; and Lady Anna took it as it was +meant. The nobly born young lady did not in heart deny the truth of +the lesson;--but she had learned another lesson, and she did not +know how to make the two compatible. That other lesson taught her to +believe that she ought to be true to her word;--that she specially +ought to be true to one who had ever been specially true to her. And +latterly there had grown upon her a feeling less favourable to the +Earl than that which he had inspired when she first saw him, and +which he had increased when they were together at Yoxham. It is hard +to say why the Earl had ceased to charm her, or by what acts or words +he had lowered himself in her eyes. He was as handsome as ever, as +much like a young Apollo, as gracious in his manner, and as gentle in +his gait. And he had been constant to her. Perhaps it was that she +had expected that one so godlike should have ceased to adore a woman +who had degraded herself to the level of a tailor, and that, so +conceiving, she had begun to think that his motives might be merely +human, and perhaps sordid. He ought to have abstained and seen her no +more after she had owned her own degradation. But she said nothing +of all this to Mrs. Bluestone. She made no answer to the sermons +preached to her. She certainly said no word tending to make that lady +think that the sermons had been of any avail. "She looks as soft as +butter," Mrs. Bluestone said that morning to her husband; "but she is +obstinate as a pig all the time." + +"I suppose her father was the same way before her," said the +Serjeant, "and God knows her mother is obstinate enough." + +When the Countess was shown into the room Lady Anna was trembling +with fear and emotion. Lady Lovel, during the last few weeks, since +her daughter had seen her, had changed the nature of her dress. +Hitherto, for years past, she had worn a brown stuff gown, hardly +ever varying even the shade of the sombre colour,--so that her +daughter had perhaps never seen her otherwise clad. No woman that +ever breathed was less subject to personal vanity than had been the +so-called Countess who lived in the little cottage outside Keswick. +Her own dress had been as nothing to her, and in the days of her +close familiarity with old Thomas Thwaite she had rebuked her friend +when he had besought her to attire herself in silk. "We'll go into +Keswick and get Anna a new ribbon," she would say, "and that will be +grandeur enough for her and me too." In this brown dress she had come +up to London, and so she had been clothed when her daughter last saw +her. But now she wore a new, full, black silk dress, which, plain +as it was, befitted her rank and gave an increased authority to her +commanding figure. Lady Anna trembled all the more, and her heart +sank still lower within her, because her mother no longer wore the +old brown gown. When the Countess entered the room she took no +immediate notice of Mrs. Bluestone, but went up to her child and +kissed her. "I am comforted, Anna, in seeing you once again," she +said. + +"Dear, dearest mamma!" + +"You have heard, I suppose, that the trial has been decided in your +favour?" + +"In yours, mamma." + +"We have explained it all to her, Lady Lovel, as well as we could. +The Serjeant yesterday evening gave us a little history of what +occurred. It seems to have been quite a triumph." + +"It may become a triumph," said the Countess;--"a triumph so complete +and glorious that I shall desire nothing further in this world. It +has been my work to win the prize; it is for her to wear it,--if she +will do so." + +"I hope you will both live to enjoy it many years," said Mrs. +Bluestone. "You will have much to say to each other, and I will leave +you now. We shall have lunch, Lady Lovel, at half-past one, and I +hope that you will join us." + +Then they were alone together. Lady Anna had not moved from her chair +since she had embraced her mother, but the Countess had stood during +the whole time that Mrs. Bluestone had been in the room. When the +room door was closed they both remained silent for a few moments, and +then the girl rushed across the room and threw herself on her knees +at her mother's feet. "Oh, mamma, mamma, tell me that you love me. +Oh, mamma, why have you not let me come to you? Oh, mamma, we never +were parted before." + +"My child never before was wilfully disobedient to me." + +"Oh, mamma;--tell me that you love me." + +"Love you! Yes, I love you. You do not doubt that, Anna. How could it +be possible that you should doubt it after twenty years of a mother's +care? You know I love you." + +"I know that I love you, mamma, and that it kills me to be sent away +from you. You will take me home with you now;--will you not?" + +"Home! You shall make your own home, and I will take you whither you +will. I will be a servant to minister to every whim; all the world +shall be a Paradise to you; you shall have every joy that wealth, and +love, and sweet friends can procure for you,--if you will obey me in +one thing." Lady Anna, still crouching upon the ground, hid her face +in her mother's dress, but she was silent. "It is not much that I ask +after a life spent in winning for you all that has now been won. I +only demand of you that you shall not disgrace yourself." + +"Oh, mamma, I am not disgraced." + +"Say that you will marry Lord Lovel, and all that shall be forgotten. +It shall at any rate be forgiven, or remembered only as the folly of +a child. Will you say that you will become Lord Lovel's wife?" + +"Oh, mamma!" + +"Answer me, Anna;--will you say that you will receive Lord Lovel as +your accepted lover? Get up, girl, and look me in the face. Of what +use is it to grovel there, while your spirit is in rebellion? Will +you do this? Will you save us all from destruction, misery, and +disgrace? Will you remember who you are;--what blood you have in your +veins;--what name it is that you bear? Stand up, and look me in the +face, if you dare." + +Lady Anna did stand up, and did look her mother in the face. "Mamma," +she said, "we should understand each other better if we were living +together as we ought to do." + +"I will never live with you till you have promised obedience. Will +you, at any rate, pledge to me your word that you will never become +the wife of Daniel Thwaite?" Then she paused, and stood looking at +the girl, perhaps for a minute. Lady Anna stood before her, with her +eyes turned upon the ground. "Answer me the question that I have +asked you. Will you promise me that you will never become the wife of +Daniel Thwaite?" + +"I have promised him that I would." + +"What is that to me? Is your duty to him higher than your duty to me? +Can you be bound by any promise to so great a crime as that would be? +I will ask you the question once more, and I will be governed by your +answer. If you will promise to discard this man, you shall return +home with me, and shall then choose everything for yourself. We will +go abroad and travel if you wish it, and all things shall be prepared +to give you pleasure. You shall have at once the full enjoyment of +all that has been won for you; and as for your cousin,--you shall not +for a while be troubled even by his name. It is the dear wish of my +heart that you should be the wife of Earl Lovel;--but I have one +wish dearer even than that,--one to which that shall be altogether +postponed. If you will save yourself, and me, and all your family +from the terrible disgrace with which you have threatened us,--I will +not again mention your cousin's name to you till it shall please you +to hear it. Anna, you knelt to me, just now. Shall I kneel to you?" + +"No, mamma, no;--I should die." + +"Then, my love, give me the promise that I have asked." + +"Mamma, he has been so good to us!" + +"And we will be good to him,--good to him in his degree. Of what +avail to me will have been his goodness, if he is to rob me of the +very treasure which his goodness helped to save? Is he to have all, +because he gave some aid? Is he to take from me my heart's blood, +because he bound up my arm when it was bruised? Because he helped me +some steps on earth, is he to imprison me afterwards in hell? Good! +No, he is not good in wishing so to destroy us. He is bad, greedy, +covetous, self-seeking, a very dog, and by the living God he shall +die like a dog unless you will free me from his fangs. You have not +answered me. Will you tell me that you will discard him as a suitor +for your hand? If you will say so, he shall receive tenfold reward +for his--goodness. Answer me, Anna;--I claim an answer from you." + +"Mamma!" + +"Speak, if you have anything to say. And remember the commandment, +Honour thy--" But she broke down, when she too remembered it, and +bore in mind that the precept would have called upon her daughter to +honour the memory of the deceased Earl. "But if you cannot do it for +love, you will never do it for duty." + +"Mamma, I am sure of one thing." + +"Of what are you sure?" + +"That I ought to be allowed to see him before I give him up." + +"You shall never be allowed to see him." + +"Listen to me, mamma, for a moment. When he asked me to--love him, we +were equals." + +"I deny it. You were never equals." + +"We lived as such,--except in this, that they had money for our +wants, and we had none to repay them." + +"Money can have nothing to do with it." + +"Only that we took it. And then he was everything to us. It seemed as +though it would be impossible to refuse anything that he asked. It +was impossible to me. As to being noble, I am sure that he was noble. +You always used to say that nobody else ever was so good as those +two. Did you not say so, mamma?" + +"If I praise my horse or my dog, do I say that they are of the same +nature as myself?" + +"But he is a man; quite as much a man as,--as any man could be." + +"You mean that you will not do as I bid you." + +"Let me see him, mamma. Let me see him but once. If I might see him, +perhaps I might do as you wish--about him. I cannot say anything more +unless I may see him." + +The Countess still stormed and still threatened, but she could not +move her daughter. She also found that the child had inherited +particles of the nature of her parents. But it was necessary that +some arrangement should be made as to the future life, both of Lady +Anna and of herself. She might bury herself where she would, in the +most desolate corner of the earth, but she could not leave Lady +Anna in Bedford Square. In a few months Lady Anna might choose any +residence she pleased for herself, and there could be no doubt whose +house she would share, if she were not still kept in subjection. The +two parted then in deep grief,--the mother almost cursing her child +in her anger, and Lady Anna overwhelmed with tears. "Will you not +kiss me, mamma, before you go?" + +"No, I will never kiss you again till you have shown me that you are +my child." + +But before she left the house, the Countess was closeted for a while +with Mrs. Bluestone, and, in spite of all that she had said, it was +agreed between them that it would be better to permit an interview +between the girl and Daniel Thwaite. "Let him say what he will," +argued Mrs. Bluestone, "she will not be more headstrong than she is +now. You will still be able to take her away with you to some foreign +country." + +"But he will treat her as though he were her lover," said the +Countess, unable to conceal the infinite disgust with which the idea +overwhelmed her. + +"What does it matter, Lady Lovel? We have got to get a promise from +her, somehow. Since she was much with him, she has seen people of +another sort, and she will feel the difference. It may be that she +wants to ask him to release her. At any rate she speaks as though she +might be released by what he would say to her. Unless she thought +it might be so herself, she would not make a conditional promise. I +would let them meet." + +"But where?" + +"In Keppel Street." + +"In my presence?" + +"No, not that; but you will, of course, be in the house,--so that she +cannot leave it with him. Let her come to you. It will be an excuse +for her doing so, and then she can remain. If she does not give the +promise, take her abroad, and teach her to forget it by degrees." So +it was arranged, and on that evening Mrs. Bluestone told Lady Anna +that she was to be allowed to meet Daniel Thwaite. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +DANIEL THWAITE RECEIVES HIS MONEY. + + +There was of course much commotion among all circles of society in +London as soon as it was known to have been decided that the Countess +Lovel was the Countess Lovel, and that Lady Anna was the heiress +of the late Earl. Bets were paid,--and bets no doubt were left +unpaid,--to a great amount. Men at the clubs talked more about the +Lovels than they had done even during the month preceding the trial. +The Countess became on a sudden very popular. Exaggerated stories +were told of the romance of her past life,--though it would have been +well nigh impossible to exaggerate her sufferings. Her patience, her +long endurance and persistency were extolled by all. The wealth that +would accrue to her and to her daughter was of course doubled. Had +anybody seen her? Did anybody know her? Even the Murrays began to be +proud of her, and old Lady Jemima Magtaggart, who had been a Murray +before she married General Mag, as he was called, went at once and +called upon the Countess in Keppel Street. Being the first that +did so, before the Countess had suspected any invasion, she was +admitted,--and came away declaring that sorrow must have driven the +Countess mad. The Countess, no doubt, did not receive her distant +relative with any gentle courtesy. She had sworn to herself often, +that come what come might, she would never cross the threshold of a +Murray. Old Lord Swanage, who had married some very distant Lovel, +wrote to her a letter full of very proper feeling. It had been, he +said, quite impossible for him to know the truth before the truth had +come to light, and therefore he made no apology for not having before +this made overtures of friendship to his connection. He now begged to +express his great delight that she who had so well deserved success +had been successful, and to offer her his hand in friendship, should +she be inclined to accept it. The Countess answered him in a strain +which certainly showed that she was not mad. It was not her policy to +quarrel with any Lovel, and her letter was very courteous. She was +greatly obliged to him for his kindness, and had felt as strongly as +he could do that she could have no claim on her husband's relations +till she should succeed in establishing her rights. She accepted his +hand in the spirit in which it had been offered, and hoped that his +Lordship might yet become a friend of her daughter. For herself,--she +feared that all that she had suffered had made her unfit for much +social intercourse. Her strength, she said, had been sufficient to +carry her thus far, but was now failing her. + +Then, too, there came to her that great glory of which the lawyer had +given her a hint. She received a letter from the private secretary +of his Majesty the King, telling her that his Majesty had heard her +story with great interest, and now congratulated her heartily on the +re-establishment of her rank and position. She wrote a very curt +note, begging that her thanks might be given to his Majesty,--and +then she burned the private secretary's letter. No congratulations +were anything to her till she should see her daughter freed from the +debasement of her engagement to the tailor. + +Speculation was rife as to the kind of life which the Countess would +lead. That she would have wealth sufficient to blaze forth in London +with all the glories of Countess-ship, there was no doubt. Her own +share of the estate was put down as worth at least ten thousand a +year for her life, and this she would enjoy without deductions, and +with no other expenditure than that needed for herself. Her age was +ascertained to a day, and it was known that she was as yet only +forty-five. Was it not probable that some happy man might share +her wealth with her? What an excellent thing it would be for old +Lundy,--the Marquis of Lundy,--who had run through every shilling of +his own property! Before a week was over, the suggestion had been +made to old Lundy. "They say she is mad, but she can't be mad enough +for that," said the Marquis. + +The rector hurried home full of indignation, but he had a word or +two with his nephew before he started. "What do you mean to do now, +Frederic?" asked the rector with a very grave demeanour. + +"Do? I don't know that I shall do anything." + +"You give up the girl, then?" + +"My dear uncle; that is a sort of question that I don't think a man +ever likes to be asked." + +"But I suppose I may ask how you intend to live?" + +"I trust, uncle Charles, that I shall not, at any rate, be a burden +to my relatives." + +"Oh; very well; very well. Of course I have nothing more to say. I +think it right, all the same, to express my opinion that you have +been grossly misused by Sir William Patterson. Of course what I say +will have no weight with you; but that is my opinion." + +"I do not agree with you, uncle Charles." + +"Very well; I have nothing more to say. It is right that I should +let you know that I do not believe that this woman was ever Lord +Lovel's wife. I never did believe it, and I never will believe it. +All that about marrying the girl has been a take in from beginning +to end;--all planned to induce you to do just what you have done. No +word in courtesy should ever have been spoken to either of them." + +"I am as sure that she is the Countess as I am that I am the Earl." + +"Very well. It costs me nothing, but it costs you thirty thousand a +year. Do you mean to come down to Yoxham this winter?" + +"No." + +"Are the horses to be kept there?" Now hitherto the rich rector had +kept the poor lord's hunters without charging his nephew ought for +their expense. He was a man so constituted that it would have been +a misery to him that the head of his family should not have horses +to ride. But now he could not but remember all that he had done, all +that he was doing, and the return that was made to him. Nevertheless +he could have bit the tongue out of his mouth for asking the question +as soon as the words were spoken. + +"I will have them sold immediately," said the Earl. "They shall come +up to Tattersal's before the week is over." + +"I didn't mean that." + +"I am glad that you thought of it, uncle Charles. They shall be taken +away at once." + +"They are quite welcome to remain at Yoxham." + +"They shall be removed,--and sold," said the Earl. "Remember me to my +aunts. Good bye." Then the rector went down to Yoxham an angry and a +miserable man. + +There were very many who still agreed with the rector in thinking +that the Earl's case had been mismanaged. There was surely enough of +ground for a prolonged fight to have enabled the Lovel party to have +driven their opponents to a compromise. There was a feeling that the +Solicitor-General had been carried away by some romantic idea of +abstract right, and had acted in direct opposition to all the usages +of forensic advocacy as established in England. What was it to him +whether the Countess were or were not a real Countess? It had been +his duty to get what he could for the Earl, his client. There had +been much to get, and with patience no doubt something might have +been got. But he had gotten nothing. Many thought that he had +altogether cut his own throat, and that he would have to take the +first "puny" judgeship vacant. "He is a great man,--a very great man +indeed," said the Attorney-General, in answer to some one who was +abusing Sir William. "There is not one of us can hold a candle to +him. But, then, as I have always said, he ought to have been a poet!" + +In discussing the Solicitor-General's conduct men thought more +of Lady Anna than her mother. The truth about Lady Anna and her +engagement was generally known in a misty, hazy, half-truthful +manner. That she was engaged to marry Daniel Thwaite, who was now +becoming famous and the cause of a greatly increased business in +Wigmore Street, was certain. It was certain also that the Earl had +desired to marry her. But as to the condition in which the matter +stood at present there was a very divided opinion. Not a few were +positive that a written engagement had been given to the Earl that +he should have the heiress before the Solicitor-General had made his +speech,--but, according to these, the tailor's hold over the young +lady was so strong, that she now refused to abide by her own compact. +She was in the tailor's hands and the tailor could do what he liked +with her. It was known that Lady Anna was in Bedford Square, and not +a few walked before the Serjeant's house in the hopes of seeing her. +The romance at any rate was not over, and possibly there might even +yet be a compromise. If the Earl could get even five thousand a year +out of the property, it was thought that the Solicitor-General might +hold his own and in due time become at any rate a Chief Baron. + +In the mean time Daniel Thwaite remained in moody silence among the +workmen in Wigmore Street, unseen of any of those who rushed there +for new liveries in order that they might catch a glimpse of the +successful hero,--till one morning, about five days after the trial +was over, when he received a letter from Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe had the pleasure of informing him that an +accurate account of all money transactions between Countess Lovel +and his father had been kept by the Countess;--that the Countess on +behalf of herself and Lady Anna Lovel acknowledged a debt due to the +estate of the late Mr. Thomas Thwaite, amounting to L9,109 3_s._ +4_d._, and that a cheque to that amount should be at once handed to +him,--Daniel Thwaite the son,--if he would call at the chambers of +Messrs. Goffe and Goffe, with a certified copy of the probate of the +will of Thomas Thwaite the father. + +Nine thousand pounds,--and that to be paid to him immediately,--on +that very day if he chose to call for it! The copy of the probate of +the will he had in his pocket at that moment. But he worked out his +day's work without going near Goffe and Goffe. And yet he thought +much of his money; and once, when one of his employers spoke to +him somewhat roughly, he remembered that he was probably a better +man than his master. What should he now do with himself and his +money,--how bestow himself,--how use it so that he might be of +service to the world? He would go no doubt to some country in which +there were no earls and no countesses;--but he could go nowhere till +he should know what might be his fate with the Earl's daughter, who +at present was his destiny. His mind was absolutely divided. In one +hour he would say to himself that the poet was certainly right;--and +in the next he was sure that the poet must have been wrong. As +regarded money, nine thousand pounds was as good to him as any sum +that could be named. He could do with that all that he required that +money should do for him. Could he at this time have had his own way +absolutely, he would have left all the remainder of the wealth behind +him, to be shared as they pleased to share it between the Earl and +the Countess, and he would have gone at once, taking with him the +girl whom he loved. He would have revelled in the pride of thinking +that all of them should say that he had wanted and had won the girl +only,--and not the wealth of the Lovels; that he had taken only what +was his own, and that his wife would be dependent on him, not he on +her. But this was not possible. It was now months since he had heard +the girl's voice, or had received any assurance from her that she +was still true to him. But, in lieu of this, he had the assurance +that she was in possession of enormous wealth, and that she was the +recognised cousin of lords and ladies by the dozen. + +When the evening came he saw one of his employers and told the man +that he wished that his place might be filled. Why was he going? Did +he expect to better himself? When was he going? Was he in earnest? +Daniel told the truth at once as far as the payment of the money was +concerned. He was to receive on the following day a sum of money +which had been due to his father, and, when that should have been +paid him, it would not suit him to work longer for weekly wages. The +tailor grumbled, but there was nothing else to be said. Thwaite might +leave them to-morrow if he wished. Thwaite took him at his word and +never returned to the shop in Wigmore Street after that night. + +On reaching his lodgings he found another letter,--from Serjeant +Bluestone. The Countess had so far given way as to accede to the +proposition that there should be a meeting between her daughter and +the tailor, and then there had arisen the question as to the manner +in which this meeting should be arranged. The Countess would not +write herself, nor would she allow her daughter to do so. It was +desirable, she thought, that as few people should know of the meeting +as possible, and at last, most unwillingly, the Serjeant undertook +the task of arranging it. He wrote therefore as follows;-- + + + Mr. Serjeant Bluestone presents his compliments to Mr. + Daniel Thwaite. Mr. Thwaite has no doubt heard of the + result of the trial by which the Countess Lovel and her + daughter have succeeded in obtaining the recognition of + their rank. It is in contemplation with the Countess and + Lady Anna Lovel to go abroad, but Lady Anna is desirous + before she goes of seeing the son of the man who was her + mother's staunch friend during many years of suffering. + Lady Anna will be at home, at No. ---- Keppel Street, at + eleven o'clock on Monday, 23rd instant, if Mr. Thwaite can + make it convenient to call then and there. + + Bedford Square, + 17th November, 18--. + + If Mr. Thwaite could call on the Serjeant before that + date, either early in the morning at his house, or on + Saturday at his chambers, ---- ----, Inner Temple, it + might perhaps be serviceable. + + +The postscript had not been added without much consideration. What +would the tailor think of this invitation? Would he not be disposed +to take it as encouragement in his pernicious suit? Would he not +go to Keppel Street with a determination to insist upon the girl's +promise? The Serjeant had thought that it would be best to let the +thing take its chance. But the Serjeant's wife, and the Serjeant's +daughters, and the Countess, too, had all agreed that something if +possible should be said to disabuse him of this idea. He was to have +nine thousand pounds paid to him. Surely that might be sufficient. +But, if he was greedy and wanted more money, more money should be +given to him. Only he must be made to understand that the marriage +was out of the question. So the Serjeant again gave way, and proposed +the interview. Daniel sent back his compliments to the Serjeant +and begged to say he would do as he was bid. He would call at the +Serjeant's chambers on the Saturday, and in Keppel Street on the +following Monday, at the hours named. + +On the next morning,--the first morning of his freedom from the +servitude of Wigmore Street,--he went to Messrs. Goffe and Goffe. He +got up late and breakfasted late, in order that he might feel what it +was to be an idle man. "I might now be as idle as the young Earl," +he said to himself; "but were I to attempt it, what should I do with +myself? How should I make the hours pass by?" He felt that he was +lauding himself as the idea passed through his mind, and struggled to +quench his own pride. "And yet," said he in his thoughts, "is it not +fit that I should know myself to be better than he is? If I have no +self-confidence, how can I be bold to persevere? The man that works +is to him that is idle, as light is to darkness." + +He was admitted at once to Mr. Goffe's private room, and was received +with a smiling welcome, and an outstretched hand. "I am delighted, +Mr. Thwaite, to be able to settle your claim on Lady Lovel with so +little delay. I hope you are satisfied with her ladyship's statement +of the account." + +"Much more than satisfied with the amount. It appeared to me that I +had no legal claim for more than a few hundred pounds." + +"We knew better than that, Mr. Thwaite. We should have seen that no +great injury was done. But luckily the Countess has been careful, and +has put down each sum advanced, item by item. Full interest has been +allowed at five per cent., as is quite proper. The Countess is an +excellent woman of business." + +"No doubt, Mr. Goffe. I could have wished that she would have +condescended to honour me with a line;--but that is a matter of +feeling." + +"Oh, Mr. Thwaite; there are reasons;--you must know that there are +reasons." + +"There may be good reasons or bad reasons." + +"And there may be good judgment in such matters and bad judgment. +But, however,--. You will like to have this money by a cheque, no +doubt. There it is, L9,109 3_s._ 4_d._ It is not often that we write +one cheque for a bigger sum than that, Mr. Thwaite. Shall I cross it +on your bankers? No bankers! With such a sum as that let me recommend +you to open an account at once." And Mr. Goffe absolutely walked down +to Fleet Street with Daniel Thwaite the tailor, and introduced him at +his own bank. The business was soon transacted, and Daniel Thwaite +went away westward, a capitalist, with a cheque book in his pocket. +What was he to do with himself? He walked east again before the day +was over, and made inquiries at various offices as to vessels sailing +for Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Quebec. Or how would it be with +him if he should be minded to go east instead of west? So he supplied +himself also with information as to vessels for Sydney. And what +should he do when he got to the new country? He did not mean to be a +tailor. He was astonished to find how little he had as yet realised +in his mind the details of the exodus which he had proposed to +himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +I WILL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR NOTHING. + + +On the Saturday, Daniel was at the Serjeant's chambers early in the +morning,--long before the hour at which the Serjeant himself was wont +to attend. No time had in fact been named, and the tailor had chosen +to suppose that as he had been desired to be early in Bedford Square, +so had it also been intended that he should be early in the Temple. +For two hours he walked about the passages and the courts, thinking +ill of the lawyer for being so late at his business, and endeavouring +to determine what he would do with himself. He had not a friend in +the world, unless Lady Anna were a friend;--hardly an acquaintance. +And yet, remembering what his father had done, what he himself had +helped to do, he thought that he ought to have had many friends. +Those very persons who were now his bitterest enemies, the Countess +and all they who had supported her, should have been bound to him by +close ties. Yet he knew that it was impossible that they should not +hate him. He could understand their feelings with reference to their +own rank, though to him that rank was contemptible. Of course he was +alone. Of course he would fail. He was almost prepared to acknowledge +as much to the Serjeant. He had heard of a certain vessel that would +start in three days for the rising colony called New South Wales, and +he almost wished that he had taken his passage in her. + +At ten o'clock he had been desired to call at eleven, and as the +clock struck eleven he knocked at the Serjeant's door. "Serjeant +Bluestone is not here yet," said the clerk, who was disposed to be +annoyed by the man's pertinacity. + +"He told me to come early in the morning, and this is not early." + +"He is not here yet, sir." + +"You told me to come at eleven, and it is past eleven." + +"It is one minute past, and you can sit down and wait for him if you +please." Daniel refused to wait, and was again about to depart in +his wrath, when the Serjeant appeared upon the stairs. He introduced +himself, and expressed regret that he should have found his visitor +there before him. Daniel, muttering something, followed the lawyer +into his room, and then the door was closed. He stood till he was +invited to sit, and was determined to make himself disagreeable. This +man was one of his enemies,--was one who no doubt thought little +of him because he was a tailor, who suspected his motives, and was +anxious to rob him of his bride. The Serjeant retired for a moment +to an inner room, while the tailor girded up his loins and prepared +himself for battle. + +"Mr. Thwaite," said the Serjeant, as he re-entered the room, "you +probably know that I have been counsel for Lady Lovel and her +daughter in the late trial." Daniel assented by a nod of his head. +"My connection with the Countess would naturally have been then +closed. We have gained our cause, and there would be an end of it. +But as things have turned out it has been otherwise. Lady Anna Lovel +has been staying with Mrs. Bluestone." + +"In Bedford Square?" + +"Yes, at my house." + +"I did not know. The Countess told me she was not in Keppel Street, +but refused to inform me where she was staying. I should not have +interfered with her ladyship's plans, had she been less secret with +me." + +"Surely it was unnecessary that she should tell you." + +"Quite unnecessary;--but hardly unnatural after all that has +occurred. As the Countess is with you only a friend of late date, you +are probably unaware of the former friendship which existed between +us. There was a time in which I certainly did not think that Lady +Lovel would ever decline to speak to me about her daughter. But all +this is nothing to you, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"It is something to me, Mr. Thwaite, as her friend. Is there no +reason why she should have treated you thus? Ask your own +conscience." + +"My conscience is clear in the matter." + +"I have sent for you here, Mr. Thwaite, to ask you whether you cannot +yourself understand that this which you have proposed to do must +make you an enemy to the Countess, and annul and set aside all that +kindness which you have shown her? I put it to your own reason. Do +you think it possible that the Countess should be otherwise than +outraged at the proposition you have made to her?" + +"I have made no proposition to her ladyship." + +"Have you made none to her daughter?" + +"Certainly I have. I have asked her to be my wife." + +"Come, Mr. Thwaite, do not palter with me." + +"Palter with you! Who dares to say that I palter? I have never +paltered. Paltering is--lying, as I take it. Let the Countess be my +enemy. I have not said that she should not be so. She might have +answered my letter, I think, when the old man died. In our rank of +life we should have done so. It may be different with lords and +titled ladies. Let it pass, however. I did not mean to make any +complaint. I came here because you sent for me." + +"Yes;--I did send for you," said the Serjeant, wishing with all his +heart that he had never been persuaded to take a step which imposed +upon him so great a difficulty. "I did send for you. Lady Anna Lovel +has expressed a wish to see you, before she leaves London." + +"I will wait upon Lady Anna Lovel." + +"I need hardly tell you that her wish has been opposed by her +friends." + +"No doubt it was." + +"But she has said with so much earnestness that she cannot consider +herself to be absolved from the promise which she made to you when +she was a child--" + +"She was no child when she made it." + +"It does not signify. She cannot be absolved from the promise which I +suppose she did make--" + +"She certainly made it, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"Will you allow me to continue my statement? It will not occupy you +long. She assures her mother that she cannot consider herself to be +absolved from that promise without your sanction. She has been living +in my house for some weeks, and I do not myself doubt in the least +that were she thus freed an alliance would soon be arranged between +her and her cousin." + +"I have heard of that--alliance." + +"It would be in every respect a most satisfactory and happy marriage. +The young Earl has behaved with great consideration and forbearance +in abstaining from pushing his claims." + +"In abstaining from asking for that which he did not believe to be +his own." + +"You had better hear me to the end, Mr. Thwaite. All the friends of +the two young people desire it. The Earl himself is warmly attached +to his cousin." + +"So am I,--and have been for many years." + +"We all believe that she loves him." + +"Let her say so to me, Serjeant Bluestone, and there shall be an end +of it all. It seems to me that Lord Lovel and I have different ideas +about a woman. I would not take the hand of a girl who told me that +she loved another man, even though she was as dear to me, as,--as +Lady Anna is dear to me now. And as for what she might have in +her hand, it would go for naught with me, though I might have to +face beggary without her. It seems to me that Lord Lovel is less +particular in this matter." + +"I do not see that you and I have anything to do with that," replied +the Serjeant, hardly knowing what to say. + +"I have nothing to do with Lord Lovel, certainly,--nor has he with +me. As to his cousin,--it is for her to choose." + +"We think,--I am only telling you what we think;--but we think, Mr. +Thwaite, that the young lady's affections are fixed on her cousin. It +is natural that they should be so; and watching her as closely as we +can, we believe such to be the case. I will be quite on the square +with you, Mr. Thwaite." + +"With me and with everybody else, I hope, Serjeant Bluestone." + +"I hope so," said the Serjeant, laughing; "but at any rate I will +be so with you now. We have been unable to get from Lady Anna any +certain reply,--any assurance of her own wishes. She has told her +mother that she cannot accept Lord Lovel's addresses till she has +seen you." The Serjeant in this was not quite on the square, as Lady +Anna had never said so. "We believe that she considers it necessary, +to her conscience, to be made free by your permission, before she can +follow her own inclinations and accede to those of all her friends." + +"She shall have my permission in a moment,--if she will ask for it." + +"Could you not be more generous even than that?" + +"How more generous, Serjeant Bluestone?" + +"Offer it to her unasked. You have already said that you would +not accept her hand if you did not believe that you had her heart +also,--and the sentiment did you honour. Think of her condition, and +be generous to her." + +"Generous to her! You mean generous to Lady Lovel,--generous to Lord +Lovel,--generous to all the Lovels except her. It seems to me that +all the generosity is to be on one side." + +"By no means. We can be generous too." + +"If that be generosity, I will be generous. I will offer her that +permission. I will not wait till she asks for it. I will beg her to +tell me if it be true that she loves this cousin, and if she can say +that it is true, she shall want no permission from me to be free. She +shall be free." + +"It is not a question, you see, between yourself and Lord Lovel. It +is quite out of the question that she should in any event become your +wife. Even had she power to do it--" + +"She has the power." + +"Practically she has no such power, Mr. Thwaite. A young person such +as Lady Anna Lovel is and must be under the control of her natural +guardian. She is so altogether. Her mother could not,--and would +not,--constrain her to any marriage; but has quite sufficient power +over her to prevent any marriage. Lady Anna has never for a moment +supposed that she could become your wife since she learned what were +the feelings of her mother and her family." The Serjeant certainly +did not keep his promise of being "on the square." "But your +generosity is necessary to enable Lady Lovel to bring to a happy +termination all those sufferings with which her life has been +afflicted." + +"I do not owe much to the Countess; but if it be generous to do as I +have said I would do,--I will be generous. I will tell her daughter, +without any question asked from her, that she is free to marry her +cousin if she wishes." + +So far the Serjeant, though he had not been altogether as truthful +as he had promised, had been discreet. He had said nothing to set +the tailor vehemently against the Lovel interest, and had succeeded +in obtaining a useful pledge. But, in his next attempt, he was less +wise. "I think, you know, Mr. Thwaite, that the Countess also has +been generous." + +"As how?" + +"You have received L9,000 already, I believe." + +"I have received what I presume to be my own. If I have had more it +shall be refunded." + +"No;--no; by no means. Taking a liberal view of the matter, as the +Countess was bound to do in honour, she was, I think, right in paying +you what she has paid." + +"I want nothing from her in what you call honour. I want nothing +liberal. If the money be not mine in common honesty she shall have it +back again. I want nothing but my own." + +"I think you are a little high flown, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I dare say I may be,--to the thinking of a lawyer." + +"The Countess, who is in truth your friend,--and will always be your +friend if you will only be amenable to reason,--has been delighted +to think that you are now in possession of a sum of money which will +place you above want." + +"The Countess is very kind." + +"And I can say more than that. She and all her friends are aware how +much is due to your father's son. If you will only aid us in our +present project, if you will enable Lady Anna to become the wife of +her cousin the Earl, much more shall be done than the mere payment +of the debt which was due to you. It has been proposed to settle on +you for life an annuity of four hundred pounds a year. To this the +Countess, Earl Lovel, and Lady Anna will all agree." + +"Has the consent of Lady Anna been asked?" demanded the tailor, in a +voice which was low, but which the Serjeant felt at the moment to be +dangerous. + +"You may take my word that it shall be forthcoming," said the +Serjeant. + +"I will take your word for nothing, Serjeant Bluestone. I do not +think that among you all, you would dare to make such a proposition +to Lady Anna Lovel, and I wonder that you should dare to make it to +me. What have you seen in me to lead you to suppose that I would sell +myself for a bribe? And how can you have been so unwise as to offer +it after I have told you that she shall be free,--if she chooses to +be free? But it is all one. You deal in subterfuges till you think it +impossible that a man should be honest. You mine underground, till +your eyes see nothing in the open daylight. You walk crookedly, till +a straight path is an abomination to you. Four hundred a year is +nothing to me for such a purpose as this,--would have been nothing +to me even though no penny had been paid to me of the money which +is my own. I can easily understand what it is that makes the Earl +so devoted a lover. His devotion began when he had been told that +the money was hers and not his,--and that in no other way could he +get it. Mine began when no one believed that she would ever have +a shilling for her fortune,--when all who bore her name and her +mother's ridiculed their claim. Mine was growing when my father first +asked me whether I grudged that he should spend all that he had in +their behalf. Mine came from giving. His springs from the desire to +get. Make the four hundred, four thousand;--make it eight thousand, +Serjeant Bluestone, and offer it to him. I also will agree. With him +you may succeed. Good morning, Serjeant Bluestone. On Monday next I +will not be worse than my word,--even though you have offered me a +bribe." + +The Serjeant let the tailor go without a word further,--not, indeed, +having a word to say. He had been insulted in his own chambers,--told +that his word was worthless, and his honesty questionable. But he +had been so told, that at the moment he had been unable to stop the +speaker. He had sat, and smiled, and stroked his chin, and looked +at the tailor as though he had been endeavouring to comfort himself +with the idea that the man addressing him was merely an ignorant, +half-mad, enthusiastic tailor, from whom decent conduct could not be +expected. He was still smiling when Daniel Thwaite closed the door, +and he almost laughed as he asked his clerk whether that energetic +gentleman had taken himself down-stairs. "Oh, yes, sir; he glared +at me when I opened the door, and rushed down four steps at a time." +But, on the whole, the Serjeant was contented with the interview. It +would, no doubt, have been better had he said nothing of the four +hundred a year. But in the offering of bribes there is always that +danger. One can never be sure who will swallow his douceur at an easy +gulp, so as hardly to betray an effort, and who will refuse even to +open his lips. And then the latter man has the briber so much at +advantage. When the luscious morsel has been refused, it is so easy +to be indignant, so pleasant to be enthusiastically virtuous! The +bribe had been refused, and so far the Serjeant had failed;--but the +desired promise had been made, and the Serjeant felt certain that it +would be kept. He did not doubt but that Daniel Thwaite would himself +offer the girl her freedom. But there was something in the man, +though he was a tailor. He had an eye and a voice, and it might be +that freedom offered, as he could offer it, would not be accepted. + +Daniel, as he went out into the court from the lawyer's presence, was +less satisfied than the lawyer. He had told the lawyer that his word +was worth nothing, and yet he had believed much that the lawyer had +said to him. The lawyer had told him that the girl loved her cousin, +and only wanted his permission to be free that she might give her +hand and her heart together to the young lord. Was it not natural +that she should wish to do so? Within each hour, almost within +each minute, he regarded the matter in lights that were perfectly +antagonistic to each other. It was natural that she should wish to be +a Countess, and that she should love a young lord who was gentle and +beautiful;--and she should have his permission accorded freely. But +then, again, it was most unnatural, bestial, and almost monstrous, +that a girl should change her love for a man, going from one man to +another, simply because the latter man was gilt with gold, and decked +with jewels, and sweet with perfume from a hairdresser's. The poet +must have been wrong there. If love be anything but a dream, surely +it must adhere to the person, and not be liable to change at every +offered vantage of name or birth, of rank or wealth. + +But she should have the offer. She should certainly have the offer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +THE SERJEANT AND MRS. BLUESTONE AT HOME. + + +Lady Anna was not told till the Saturday that she was to meet her +lover, the tailor, on the following Monday. She was living at +this time, as it were, in chains, though the chains were gilded. +It was possible that she might be off at any moment with Daniel +Thwaite,--and now the more possible because he had money at his +command. If this should occur, then would the game which the Countess +and her friends were playing, be altogether lost. Then would the +checkmate have been absolute. The reader will have known that such +a step had never been contemplated by the man, and will also have +perceived that it would have been altogether opposed to the girl's +character; but it is hoped that the reader has looked more closely +into the man's motives and the girl's character than even her mother +was able to do. The Countess had thought that she had known her +daughter. She had been mistaken, and now there was hardly anything +of which she could not suspect her girl to be capable. Lady Anna was +watched, therefore, during every minute of the four and twenty hours. +A policeman was told off to protect the house at night from rope +ladders or any other less cumbrous ingenuity. The servants were set +on guard. Sarah, the lady's-maid, followed her mistress almost like +a ghost when the poor young lady went to her bedroom. Mrs. Bluestone, +or one of the girls, was always with her, either indoors or out of +doors. Out of doors, indeed, she never went without more guards than +one. A carriage had been hired,--a luxury with which Mrs. Bluestone +had hitherto dispensed,--and the carriage was always there when Lady +Anna suggested that she should like to leave the house. She was +warmly invited to go shopping, and made to understand that in the way +of ordinary shopping she could buy what she pleased. But her life was +inexpressibly miserable. "What does mamma mean to do?" she said to +Mrs. Bluestone on the Saturday morning. + +"In what way, my dear?" + +"Where does she mean to go? She won't live always in Keppel Street?" + +"No,--I do not think that she will live always in Keppel Street. It +depends a good deal upon you, I think." + +"I will go wherever she pleases to take me. The lawsuit is over now, +and I don't know why we should stay here. I am sure you can't like +it." + +To tell the truth, Mrs. Bluestone did not like it at all. +Circumstances had made her a gaoler, but by nature she was very ill +constituted for that office. The harshness of it was detestable to +her, and then there was no reason whatever why she should sacrifice +her domestic comfort for the Lovels. The thing had grown upon them, +till the Lovels had become an incubus to her. Personally, she liked +Lady Anna, but she was unable to treat Lady Anna as she would treat +any other girl that she liked. She had told the Serjeant more than +once that she could not endure it much longer. And the Serjeant did +not like it better than did his wife. It was all a labour of love, +and a most unpleasant labour. "The Countess must take her away," the +Serjeant had said. And now the Serjeant had been told by the tailor, +in his own chambers, that his word was worth nothing! + +"To tell you the truth, Lady Anna, we none of us like it,--not +because we do not like you, but because the whole thing is +disagreeable. You are creating very great misery, my dear, because +you are obstinate." + +"Because I won't marry my cousin?" + +"No, my dear; not because you won't marry your cousin. I have never +advised you to marry your cousin, unless you could love him. I don't +think girls should ever be told to marry this man or that. But it is +very proper that they should be told not to marry this man or that. +You are making everybody about you miserable, because you will not +give up a most improper engagement, made with a man who is in every +respect beneath you." + +"I wish I were dead," said Lady Anna. + +"It is very easy to say that, my dear; but what you ought to wish is, +to do your duty." + +"I do wish to do my duty, Mrs. Bluestone." + +"It can't be dutiful to stand out against your mother in this way. +You are breaking your mother's heart. And if you were to do this +thing, you would soon find that you had broken your own. It is +downright obstinacy. I don't like to be harsh, but as you are here, +in my charge, I am bound to tell you the truth." + +"I wish mamma would let me go away," said Lady Anna, bursting into +tears. + +"She will let you go at once, if you will only make the promise that +she asks of you." In saying this, Mrs. Bluestone was hardly more upon +the square than her husband had been, for she knew very well, at that +moment, that Lady Anna was to go to Keppel Street early on the Monday +morning, and she had quite made up her mind that her guest should not +come back to Bedford Square. She had now been moved to the special +severity which she had shown by certain annoyances of her own to +which she had been subjected by the presence of Lady Anna in her +house. She could neither entertain her friends nor go out to be +entertained by them, and had told the Serjeant more than once that +a great mistake had been made in having the girl there at all. But +judgment had operated with her as well as feeling. It was necessary +that Lady Anna should be made to understand before she saw the tailor +that she could not be happy, could not be comfortable, could not be +other than very wretched,--till she had altogether dismissed her +low-born lover. + +"I did not think you would be so unkind to me," sobbed Lady Anna +through her tears. + +"I do not mean to be unkind, but you must be told the truth. Every +minute that you spend in thinking of that man is a disgrace to you." + +"Then I shall be disgraced all my life," said Lady Anna, bursting out +of the room. + +On that day the Serjeant dined at his club, but came home about nine +o'clock. It had all been planned so that the information might be +given in the most solemn manner possible. The two girls were sitting +up in the drawing-room with the guest who, since the conversation in +the morning, had only seen Mrs. Bluestone during dinner. First there +was the knock at the door, and then, after a quarter of an hour, +which was spent up-stairs in perfect silence, there came a message. +Would Lady Anna have the kindness to go to the Serjeant in the +dining-room. In silence she left the room, and in silence descended +the broad staircase. The Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone were sitting +on one side of the fireplace, the Serjeant in his own peculiar +arm-chair, and the lady close to the fender, while a seat opposite to +them had been placed for Lady Anna. The room was gloomy with dark red +curtains and dark flock paper. On the table there burned two candles, +and no more. The Serjeant got up and motioned Lady Anna to a chair. +As soon as she had seated herself, he began his speech. "My dear +young lady, you must be no doubt aware that you are at present +causing a great deal of trouble to your best friends." + +"I don't want to cause anybody trouble," said Lady Anna, thinking +that the Serjeant in speaking of her best friends alluded to himself +and his wife. "I only want to go away." + +"I am coming to that directly, my dear. I cannot suppose that you +do not understand the extent of the sorrow that you have inflicted +on your parent by,--by the declaration which you made to Lord Lovel +in regard to Mr. Daniel Thwaite." There is nothing, perhaps, in the +way of exhortation and scolding which the ordinary daughter,--or +son,--dislikes so much as to be told of her, or his, "parent." "My +dear fellow, your father will be annoyed," is taken in good part. +"What will mamma say?" is seldom received amiss. But when young +people have their "parents" thrown at them, they feel themselves +to be aggrieved, and become at once antagonistic. Lady Anna became +strongly antagonistic. If her mother, who had always been to her +her "own, own mamma," was going to be her parent, there must be an +end of all hope of happiness. She said nothing, but compressed her +lips together. She would not allow herself to be led an inch any +way by a man who talked to her of her parent. "The very idea of +such a marriage as this man had suggested to you under the guise +of friendship was dreadful to her. It could be no more than an +idea;--but that you should have entertained it was dreadful. She has +since asked you again and again to repudiate the idea, and hitherto +you have refused to obey." + +"I can never know what mamma really wants till I go and live with her +again." + +"I am coming to that, Lady Anna. The Countess has informed Mrs. +Bluestone that you had refused to give the desired promise unless you +should be allowed to see Mr. Daniel Thwaite, intimating, I presume, +that his permission would be necessary to free you from your +imaginary bond to him." + +"It would be necessary." + +"Very well. The Countess naturally felt an abhorrence at allowing +you again to be in the presence of one so much beneath you,--who +had ventured to address you as he has done. It was a most natural +feeling. But it has occurred to Mrs. Bluestone and myself, that as +you entertain this idea of an obligation, you should be allowed to +extricate yourself from it after your own fashion. You are to meet +Mr. Thwaite,--on Monday,--at eleven o'clock,--in Keppel Street." + +"And I am not to come back again?" + +When one executes the office of gaoler without fee or reward, giving +up to one's prisoner one's best bedroom, and having a company dinner, +more or less, cooked for one's prisoner every day, one does not like +to be told too plainly of the anticipated joys of enfranchisement. +Mrs. Bluestone, who had done her best both for the mother and the +girl, and had done it all from pure motherly sympathy, was a little +hurt. "I am sure, Lady Anna, we shall not wish you to return," she +said. + +"Oh, Mrs. Bluestone, you don't understand me. I don't think you know +how unhappy I am because of mamma." + +Mrs. Bluestone relented at once. "If you will only do as your mamma +wishes, everything will be made happy for you." + +"Mr. Thwaite will be in Keppel Street at eleven o'clock on Monday," +continued the Serjeant, "and an opportunity will then be given you +of obtaining from him a release from that unfortunate promise which +I believe you once made him. I may tell you that he has expressed +himself willing to give you that release. The debt due to him, or +rather to his late father, has now been paid by the estate, and +I think you will find that he will make no difficulty. After that +anything that he may require shall be done to forward his views." + +"Am I to take my things?" she asked. + +"Sarah shall pack them up, and they shall be sent after you if it be +decided that you are to stay with Lady Lovel." They then went to bed. + +In all this neither the Serjeant nor his wife had been "on the +square." Neither of them had spoken truly to the girl. Mrs. Bluestone +had let the Countess know that with all her desire to assist her +ladyship, and her ladyship's daughter, she could not receive Lady +Anna back in Bedford Square. As for that sending of her things upon +certain conditions,--it was a simple falsehood. The things would +certainly be sent. And the Serjeant, without uttering an actual lie, +had endeavoured to make the girl think that the tailor was in pursuit +of money,--and of money only, though he must have known that it was +not so. The Serjeant no doubt hated a lie,--as most of us do hate +lies; and had a strong conviction that the devil is the father of +them. But then the lies which he hated, and as to the parentage of +which he was quite certain, were lies told to him. Who yet ever met +a man who did not in his heart of hearts despise an attempt made by +others to deceive--himself? They whom we have found to be gentler in +their judgment towards attempts made in another direction have been +more than one or two. The object which the Serjeant had in view was +so good that it seemed to him to warrant some slight deviation from +parallelogrammatic squareness;--though he held it as one of his first +rules of life that the end cannot justify the means. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +IT IS STILL TRUE. + + +On Sunday they all went to church, and not a word was said about the +tailor. Alice Bluestone was tender and valedictory; Mrs. Bluestone +was courteous and careful; the Serjeant was solemn and civil. Before +the day was over Lady Anna was quite sure that it was not intended +that she should come back to Bedford Square. Words were said by the +two girls, and by Sarah the waiting-maid, which made it certain that +the packing up was to be a real packing up. No hindrance was offered +to her when she busied herself about her own dresses and folded up +her stock of gloves and ribbons. On Monday morning after breakfast, +Mrs. Bluestone nearly broke down. "I am sure, my dear," she said, +"we have liked you very much, and if there has been anything +uncomfortable it has been from unfortunate circumstances." The +Serjeant bade God bless her when he walked off half an hour before +the carriage came to take her, and she knew that she was to sit no +longer as a guest at the Serjeant's table. She kissed the girls, was +kissed by Mrs. Bluestone, got into the carriage with the maid, and in +her heart said good-bye to Bedford Square for ever. + +It was but three minutes' drive from the Serjeant's house to that in +which her mother lived, and in that moment of time she was hardly +able to realise the fact that within half an hour she would be once +more in the presence of Daniel Thwaite. She did not at present at all +understand why this thing was to be done. When last she had seen her +mother, the Countess had solemnly declared, had almost sworn, that +they two should never see each other again. And now the meeting was +so close at hand that the man must already be near her. She put up +her face to the carriage window as though she almost expected to +see him on the pavement. And how would the meeting be arranged? +Would her mother be present? She took it for granted that her +mother would be present. She certainly anticipated no pleasure from +the meeting,--though she would be glad, very glad, to see Daniel +Thwaite once again. Before she had time to answer herself a question +the carriage had stopped, and she could see her mother at the +drawing-room window. She trembled as she went up-stairs, and hardly +could speak when she found herself in her mother's presence. If her +mother had worn the old brown gown it would have been better, but +there she was, arrayed in black silk,--in silk that was new and stiff +and broad and solemn,--a parent rather than a mother, and every inch +a Countess. "I am so glad to be with you again, mamma." + +"I shall not be less glad to have you with me, Anna,--if you will +behave yourself with propriety." + +"Give me a kiss, mamma." Then the Countess bent her head and allowed +her daughter's lips to touch her cheeks. In old days,--days that were +not so very old,--she would kiss her child as though such embraces +were the only food that nourished her. + +"Come up-stairs, and I will show you your room." Then the daughter +followed the mother in solemn silence. "You have heard that Mr. +Daniel Thwaite is coming here, to see you, at your own request. It +will not be many minutes before he is here. Take off your bonnet." +Again Lady Anna silently did as she was bid. "It would have been +better,--very much better,--that you should have done as you were +desired without subjecting me to this indignity. But as you have +taken into your head an idea that you cannot be absolved from an +impossible engagement without his permission, I have submitted. Do +not let it be long, and let me hear then that all this nonsense is +over. He has got what he desires, as a very large sum of money has +been paid to him." Then there came a knock at the door from Sarah, +who just showed her face to say that Mr. Thwaite was in the room +below. "Now go down. In ten minutes I shall expect to see you here +again;--or, after that, I shall come down to you." Lady Anna took her +mother by the hand, looking up with beseeching eyes into her mother's +face. "Go, my dear, and let this be done as quickly as possible. I +believe that you have too great a sense of propriety to let him do +more than speak to you. Remember,--you are the daughter of an earl; +and remember also all that I have done to establish your right for +you." + +"Mamma, I do not know what to do. I am afraid." + +"Shall I go with you, Anna?" + +"No, mamma;--it will be better without you. You do not know how good +he is." + +"If he will abandon this madness he shall be my friend of friends." + +"Oh, mamma, I am afraid. But I had better go." Then, trembling she +left the room and slowly descended the stairs. She had certainly +spoken the truth in saying that she was afraid. Up to this moment +she had not positively made up her mind whether she would or would +not yield to the entreaties of her friends. She had decided upon +nothing,--leaving in fact the arbitrament of her faith in the hands +of the man who had now come to see her. Throughout all that had been +said and done her sympathies had been with him, and had become the +stronger the more her friends had reviled him. She knew that they had +spoken evil of him, not because he was evil,--but with the unholy +view of making her believe what was false. She had seen through all +this, and had been aroused by it to a degree of firmness of which +her mother had not imagined her to be capable. Had they confined +themselves to the argument of present fitness, admitting the truth +and honesty of the man,--and admitting also that his love for her and +hers for him had been the natural growth of the familiar friendship +of their childhood and youth, their chance of moulding her to their +purposes would have been better. As it was they had never argued with +her on the subject without putting forward some statement which she +found herself bound to combat. She was told continually that she had +degraded herself; and she could understand that another Lady Anna +might degrade herself most thoroughly by listening to the suit of +a tailor. But she had not disgraced herself. Of that she was sure, +though she could not well explain to them her reasons when they +accused her. Circumstances, and her mother's mode of living, had +thrown her into intimacy with this man. For all practical purposes +of life he had been her equal,--and being so had become her dearest +friend. To take his hand, to lean on his arm, to ask his assistance, +to go to him in her troubles, to listen to his words and to believe +them, to think of him as one who might always be trusted, had +become a second nature to her. Of course she loved him. And now +the martyrdom through which she had passed in Bedford Square had +changed,--unconsciously as regarded her own thoughts,--but still +had changed her feelings in regard to her cousin. He was not to her +now the bright and shining thing, the godlike Phoebus, which he had +been in Wyndham Street and at Yoxham. In all their lectures to her +about her title and grandeur they had succeeded in inculcating an +idea of the solemnity of rank, but had robbed it in her eyes of all +its grace. She had only been the more tormented because the fact of +her being Lady Anna Lovel had been fully established. The feeling in +her bosom which was most hostile to the tailor's claim upon her was +her pity for her mother. + +She entered the room very gently, and found him standing by the +table, with his hands clasped together. "Sweetheart!" he said, as +soon as he saw her, calling her by a name which he used to use when +they were out in the fields together in Cumberland. + +"Daniel!" Then he came to her and took her hand. "If you have +anything to say, Daniel, you must be very quick, because mamma will +come in ten minutes." + +"Have you anything to say, sweetheart?" She had much to say if she +only knew how to say it; but she was silent. "Do you love me, Anna?" +Still she was silent. "If you have ceased to love me, pray tell me +so,--in all honesty." But yet she was silent. "If you are true to +me,--as I am to you, with all my heart,--will you not tell me so?" + +"Yes," she murmured. + +He heard her, though no other could have done so. + + + "A lover's ears will hear the lowest sound + When the suspicious head of theft is stopped." + + +"If so," said he, again taking her hand, "this story they have told +me is untrue." + +"What story, Daniel?" But she withdrew her hand quickly as she asked +him. + +"Nay;--it is mine; it shall be mine if you love me, dear. I will +tell you what story. They have said that you love your cousin, Earl +Lovel." + +"No;" said she scornfully, "I have never said so. It is not true." + +"You cannot love us both." His eye was fixed upon hers, that eye to +which in past years she had been accustomed to look for guidance, +sometimes in joy and sometimes in fear, and which she had always +obeyed. "Is not that true?" + +"Oh yes;--that is true of course." + +"You have never told him that you loved him." + +"Oh, never." + +"But you have told me so,--more than once; eh, sweetheart?" + +"Yes." + +"And it was true?" + +She paused a moment, and then gave him the same answer, "Yes." + +"And it is still true?" + +She repeated the word a third time. "Yes." But she again so spoke +that none but a lover's ear could have heard it. + +"If it be so, nothing but the hand of God shall separate us. You +know that they sent for me to come here." She nodded her head. "Do +you know why? In order that I might abandon my claim to your hand. +I will never give it up. But I made them a promise, and I will keep +it. I told them that if you preferred Lord Lovel to me, I would at +once make you free of your promise,--that I would offer to you such +freedom, if it would be freedom. I do offer it to you;--or rather, +Anna, I would have offered it, had you not already answered the +question. How can I offer it now?" Then he paused, and stood +regarding her with fixed eyes. "But there,--there; take back your +word if you will. If you think that it is better to be the wife of a +lord, because he is a lord, though you do not love him, than to lie +upon the breast of the man you do love,--you are free from me." Now +was the moment in which she must obey her mother, and satisfy her +friends, and support her rank, and decide that she would be one of +the noble ladies of England, if such decision were to be made at +all. She looked up into his face, and thought that after all it was +handsomer than that of the young Earl. He stood thus with dilated +nostrils, and fire in his eyes, and his lips just parted, and his +head erect,--a very man. Had she been so minded she would not have +dared to take his offer. They surely had not known the man when they +allowed him to have this interview. He repeated his words. "You are +free if you will say so;--but you must answer me." + +"I did answer you, Daniel." + +"My noble girl! And now, my heart's only treasure, I may speak out +and tell you what I think. It cannot be good that a woman should +purchase rank and wealth by giving herself to a man she does not +love. It must be bad,--monstrously bad. I never believed it when they +told it me of you. And yet when I did not hear of you or see you for +months--" + +"It was not my fault." + +"No, sweetheart;--and I tried to find comfort by so saying to myself. +'If she really loves me, she will be true,' I said. And yet who was I +that I should think that you would suffer so much for me? But I will +repay you,--if the truth and service of a life may repay such a debt +as that. At any rate hear this from me;--I will never doubt again." +And as he spoke he was moving towards her, thinking to take her in +his arms, when the door was opened and Countess Lovel was within the +room. The tailor was the first to speak. "Lady Lovel, I have asked +your daughter, and I find that it is her wish to adhere to the +engagement which she made with me in Cumberland. I need hardly say +that it is my wish also." + +"Anna! Is this true?" + +"Mamma; mamma! Oh, mamma!" + +"If it be so I will never speak word to you more." + +"You will; you will! Do not look at me like that. You will speak to +me!" + +"You shall never again be child of mine." But in saying this she had +forgotten herself, and now she remembered her proper cue. "I do not +believe a word of it. The man has come here and has insulted and +frightened you. He knows,--he must know,--that such a marriage is +impossible. It can never take place. It shall never take place. Mr. +Thwaite, as you are a living man, you shall never live to marry my +daughter." + +"My lady, in this matter of marriage your daughter must no doubt +decide for herself. Even now, by all the laws of God,--and I believe +of man too,--she is beyond your control either to give her in +marriage or to withhold her. In a few months she will be as much her +own mistress as you now are yours." + +"Sir, I am not asking you about my child. You are insolent." + +"I came here, Lady Lovel, because I was sent for." + +"And now you had better leave us. You made a promise which you have +broken." + +"By heavens, no. I made a promise and I have kept it. I said that I +would offer her freedom, and I have done so. I told her, and I tell +her again now, that if she will say that she prefers her cousin to +me, I will retire." The Countess looked at him and also recognised +the strength of his face, almost feeling that the man had grown in +personal dignity since he had received the money that was due to him. +"She does not prefer the Earl. She has given her heart to me; and +I hold it,--and will hold it. Look up, dear, and tell your mother +whether what I say be true." + +"It is true," said Lady Anna. + +"Then may the blight of hell rest upon you both!" said the Countess, +rushing to the door. But she returned. "Mr. Thwaite," she said, "I +will trouble you at once to leave the house, and never more to return +to it." + +"I will leave it certainly. Good bye, my own love." He attempted +again to take the girl by the hand, but the Countess, with violence, +rushed at them and separated them. "If you but touch him, I will +strike you," she said to her daughter. "As for you, it is her money +that you want. If it be necessary, you shall have, not hers, but +mine. Now go." + +"That is a slander, Lady Lovel. I want no one's money. I want the +girl I love,--whose heart I have won; and I will have her. Good +morning, Lady Lovel. Dear, dear Anna, for this time good bye. Do not +let any one make you think that I can ever be untrue to you." The +girl only looked at him. Then he left the room; and the mother and +the daughter were alone together. The Countess stood erect, looking +at her child, while Lady Anna, standing also, kept her eyes fixed +upon the ground. "Am I to believe it all,--as that man says?" asked +the Countess. + +"Yes, mamma." + +"Do you mean to say that you have renewed your engagement to that +low-born wretch?" + +"Mamma,--he is not a wretch." + +"Do you contradict me? After all, is it come to this?" + +"Mamma,--you, you--cursed me." + +"And you will be cursed. Do you think that you will do such +wickedness as this, that you can destroy all that I have done for +you, that you make yourself the cause of ruin to a whole family, and +that you will not be punished for it? You say that you love me." + +"You know that I love you, mamma." + +"And yet you do not scruple to drive me mad." + +"Mamma, it was you who brought us together." + +"Ungrateful child! Where else could I take you then?" + +"But I was there,--and of course I loved him. I could not cease to +love him because,--because they say that I am a grand lady." + +"Listen to me, Anna. You shall never marry him; never. With my own +hands I will kill him first;--or you." The girl stood looking into +her mother's face, and trembling. "Do you understand that?" + +"You do not mean it, mamma." + +"By the God above me, I do! Do you think that I will stop at anything +now;--after having done so much? Do you think that I will live to see +my daughter the wife of a foul, sweltering tailor? No, by heavens! He +tells you that when you are twenty-one, you will not be subject to my +control. I warn you to look to it. I will not lose my control, unless +when I see you married to some husband fitting your condition in +life. For the present you will live in your own room, as I will live +in mine. I will hold no intercourse whatever with you, till I have +constrained you to obey me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +LET HER DIE. + + +After the scene which was described in the last chapter there was a +very sad time indeed in Keppel Street. The Countess had been advised +by the Serjeant and Mrs. Bluestone to take her daughter immediately +abroad, in the event of the interview with Daniel Thwaite being +unsatisfactory. It was believed by all concerned, by the Bluestones, +and the Goffes, by Sir William Patterson who had been told of the +coming interview, and by the Countess herself, that this would not +be the case. They had all thought that Lady Anna would come out +from that meeting disengaged and free to marry whom she would,--and +they thought also that within a very few weeks of her emancipation +she would accept her cousin's hand. The Solicitor-General had +communicated with the Earl, who was still in town, and the Earl again +believed that he might win the heiress. But should the girl prove +obstinate;--"take her away at once,--very far away;--to Rome, or some +such place as that." Such had been Mrs. Bluestone's advice, and in +those days Rome was much more distant than it is now. "And don't let +anybody know where you are going," added the Serjeant,--"except Mr. +Goffe." The Countess had assented;--but when the moment came, there +were reasons against her sudden departure. Mr. Goffe told her that +she must wait at any rate for another fortnight. The presence of +herself and her daughter were necessary in London for the signing +of deeds and for the completion of the now merely formal proofs of +identity. And money was again scarce. A great deal of money had been +spent lately, and unless money was borrowed without security, and at +a great cost,--to which Mr. Goffe was averse,--the sum needed could +hardly be provided at once. Mr. Goffe recommended that no day earlier +than the 20th December should be fixed for their departure. + +It was now the end of November; and it became a question how the +intermediate time should be passed. The Countess was resolved that +she would hold no pleasant intercourse at all with her daughter. She +would not even tell the girl of her purpose of going abroad. From +hour to hour she assured herself with still increasing obduracy that +nothing but severity could avail anything. The girl must be cowed +and frightened into absolute submission,--even though at the expense +of her health. Even though it was to be effected by the absolute +crushing of her spirits,--this must be done. Though at the cost of +her life, it must be done. This woman had lived for the last twenty +years with but one object before her eyes,--an object sometimes +seeming to be near, more often distant, and not unfrequently +altogether beyond her reach, but which had so grown upon her +imagination as to become the heaven to which her very soul aspired. +To be and to be known to be among the highly born, the so-called +noble, the titled from old dates,--to be of those who were purely +aristocratic, had been all the world to her. As a child,--the +child of well-born but poor parents, she had received the idea. In +following it out she had thrown all thoughts of love to the wind and +had married a reprobate earl. Then had come her punishment,--or, as +she had conceived it, her most unmerited misfortunes. For many years +of her life her high courage and persistent demeanour had almost +atoned for the vice of her youth. The love of rank was strong in her +bosom as ever, but it was fostered for her child rather than for +herself. Through long, tedious, friendless, poverty-stricken years +she had endured all, still assuring herself that the day would come +when the world should call the sweet plant that grew by her side +by its proper name. The little children hooted after her daughter, +calling her girl in derision The Lady Anna,--when Lady Anna had been +more poorly clad and blessed with less of the comforts of home than +any of them. Years would roll by, and they should live to know that +the Lady Anna,--the sport of their infantine cruelty,--was Lady +Anna indeed. And as the girl became a woman the dream was becoming +a reality. The rank, the title, the general acknowledgment and +the wealth would all be there. Then came the first great decisive +triumph. Overtures of love and friendship were made from the other +side. Would Lady Anna consent to become the Countess Lovel, all +animosities might be buried, and everything be made pleasant, +prosperous, noble, and triumphant! + +It is easy to fill with air a half-inflated bladder. It is already so +buoyant with its own lightness, that it yields itself with ease to +receive the generous air. The imagination of the woman flew higher +than ever it had flown when the proposition came home to her in all +its bearings. Of course it had been in her mind that her daughter +should marry well;--but there had been natural fears. Her child had +not been educated, had not lived, had not been surrounded in her +young days, as are those girls from whom the curled darlings are wont +to choose their wives. She would too probably be rough in manner, +ungentle in speech, ungifted in accomplishments, as compared with +those who from their very cradles are encompassed by the blessings of +wealth and high social standing. But when she looked at her child's +beauty, she would hope. And then her child was soft, sweet-humoured, +winning in all her little ways, pretty even in the poor duds which +were supplied to her mainly by the generosity of the tailor. And so +she would hope, and sometimes despair;--and then hope again. But she +had never hoped for anything so good as this. Such a marriage would +not only put her daughter as high as a Lovel ought to be, but would +make it known in a remarkable manner to all coming ages that she, she +herself, she the despised and slandered one,--who had been treated +almost as woman had never been treated before,--was in very truth the +Countess Lovel by whose income the family had been restored to its +old splendour. + +And so the longing grew upon her. Then, almost for the first time, +did she begin to feel that it was necessary for the purposes of her +life that the girl whom she loved so thoroughly, should be a creature +in her hands, to be dealt with as she pleased. She would have had her +daughter accede to the proposed marriage even before she had seen +Lord Lovel, and was petulant when her daughter would not be as clay +in the sculptor's hand. But still the girl's refusal had been but as +the refusal of a girl. She should not have been as are other girls. +She should have known better. She should have understood what the +peculiarity of her position demanded. But it had not been so with +her. She had not soared as she should have done, above the love-laden +dreams of common maidens. And so the visit to Yoxham was permitted. +Then came the great blow,--struck as it were by a third hand, and +that the hand of an attorney. The Countess Lovel learned through Mr. +Goffe,--who had heard the tale from other lawyers,--that her daughter +Lady Anna Lovel had, with her own mouth, told her noble lover that +she was betrothed to a tailor! She felt at the moment that she could +have died,--cursing her child for this black ingratitude. + +But there might still be hope. The trial was going on,--or the work +which was progressing towards the trial, and she was surrounded by +those who could advise her. Doubtless what had happened was a great +misfortune. But there was room for hope;--room for most assured hope. +The Earl was not disposed to abandon the match, though he had, of +course, been greatly annoyed,--nay, disgusted and degraded by the +girl's communication. But he had consented to see the matter in the +proper light. The young tailor had got an influence over the girl +when she was a child, was doubtless in pursuit of money, and must +be paid. The folly of a child might be forgiven, and the Earl would +persevere. No one would know what had occurred, and the thing would +be forgotten as a freak of childhood. The Countess had succumbed to +the policy of all this;--but she was not deceived by the benevolent +falsehood. Lady Anna had been over twenty when she had been receiving +lover's vows from this man, reeking from his tailor's board. And her +girl, her daughter, had deceived her. That the girl had deceived her, +saying there was no other lover, was much; but it was much more and +worse and more damnable that there had been thorough deception as +to the girl's own appreciation of her rank. The sympathy tendered +through so many years must have been always pretended sympathy. With +these feelings hot within her bosom, she could not bring herself to +speak one kindly word to Lady Anna after the return from Yoxham. The +girl was asked to abandon her odious lover with stern severity. It +was demanded of her that she should do so with cruel threats. She +would never quite yield, though she had then no strength of purpose +sufficient to enable her to declare that she would not yield. We know +how she was banished to Bedford Square, and transferred from the +ruthless persistency of her mother, to the less stern but not less +fixed manoeuvres of Mrs. Bluestone. At that moment of her existence +she was herself in doubt. In Wyndham Street and at Yoxham she had +almost more than doubted. The softness of the new Elysium had well +nigh unnerved her. When that young man had caught her from stone to +stone as she passed over the ford at Bolton, she was almost ready +to give herself to him. But then had come upon her the sense of +sickness, that faint, overdone flavour of sugared sweetness, which +arises when sweet things become too luscious to the eater. She had +struggled to be honest and strong, and had just not fallen into the +pot of treacle. + +But, notwithstanding all this, they who saw her and knew the story, +were still sure that the lord must at last win the day. There was not +one who believed that such a girl could be true to such a troth as +she had made. Even the Solicitor-General, when he told the tale which +the amorous steward had remembered to his own encouragement, did not +think but what the girl and the girl's fortune would fall into the +hands of his client. Human nature demanded that it should be so. +That it should be as he wished it was so absolutely consonant with +all nature as he had known it, that he had preferred trusting to +this result, in his client's behalf, to leaving the case in a jury's +hands. At this moment he was sure he was right in his judgment. And +indeed he was right;--for no jury could have done anything for his +client. + +It went on till at last the wise men decided that the girl only +wanted to be relieved by her old lover, that she might take a new +lover with his permission. The girl was no doubt peculiar; but, as +far as the wise ones could learn from her manner,--for with words +she would say nothing,--that was her state of mind. So the interview +was planned,--to the infinite disgust of the Countess, who, however, +believed that it might avail; and we know what was the result. Lady +Anna, who long had doubted,--who had at last almost begun to doubt +whether Daniel Thwaite was true to her,--had renewed her pledges, +strengthened her former promises, and was now more firmly betrothed +than ever to him whom the Countess hated as a very fiend upon earth. +But there certainly should be no marriage! Though she pistolled the +man at the altar, there should be no marriage. + +And then there came upon her the infinite disgust arising from +the necessity of having to tell her sorrows to others,--who could +not sympathize with her, though their wishes were as hers. It was +hard upon her that no step could be taken by her in reference +to her daughter without the knowledge of Mr. Goffe and Serjeant +Bluestone,--and the consequent knowledge of Mr. Flick and the +Solicitor-General. It was necessary, too, that Lord Lovel should know +all. His conduct in many things must depend on the reception which +might probably be accorded to a renewal of his suit. Of course he +must be told. He had already been told that the tailor was to be +admitted to see his love, in order that she might be absolved by the +tailor from her first vow. It had not been pleasant,--but he had +acceded. Mr. Flick had taken upon himself to say that he was sure +that everything would be made pleasant. The Earl had frowned, and had +been very short with Mr. Flick. These confidences with lawyers about +his lovesuit, and his love's tone with her low-born lover, had not +been pleasant to Lord Lovel. But he had endured it,--and now he +must be told of the result. Oh, heavens;--what a hell of misery was +this girl making for her high-born relatives! But the story of the +tailor's visit to Keppel Street did not reach the unhappy ones at +Yoxham till months had passed away. + +Mr. Goffe was very injudicious in postponing the departure of the +two ladies--as the Solicitor-General told Mr. Flick afterwards very +plainly, when he heard of what had been done. "Money; she might have +had any money. I would have advanced it. You would have advanced it!" +"Oh certainly," said Mr. Flick, not, however, at all relishing the +idea of advancing money to his client's adversary. "I never heard of +such folly," continued Sir William. "That comes of trusting people +who should not be trusted." But it was too late then. Lady Anna was +lying ill in bed, in fever; and three doctors doubted whether she +would ever get up again. "Would it not be better that she should +die?" said her mother to herself, standing over her and looking at +her. It would,--so thought the mother then,--be better that she +should die than get up to become the wife of Daniel Thwaite. But how +much better that she should live and become the Countess Lovel! She +still loved her child, as only a mother can love her only child,--as +only a mother can love who has no hope of joy in the world, but what +is founded on her child. But the other passion had become so strong +in her bosom that it almost conquered her mother's yearnings. Was she +to fight for long years that she might be beaten at last when the +prize was so near her,--when the cup was almost at her lips? Were +the girl now to be taken to her grave, there would be an end at any +rate of the fear which now most heavily oppressed her. But the three +doctors were called in, one after another; and Lady Anna was tended +as though her life was as precious as that of any other daughter. + +These new tidings caused new perturbation among the lawyers. "They +say that Clerke and Holland have given her over," said Mr. Flick to +Sir William. + +"I am sorry to hear it," said Mr. Solicitor; "but girls do live +sometimes in spite of the doctors." + +"Yes; very true, Sir William; very true. But if it should go in that +way it might not perhaps be amiss for our client." + +"God forbid that he should prosper by his cousin's death, Mr. Flick. +But the Countess would be the heir." + +"The Countess is devoted to the Earl. We ought to do something, +Sir William. I don't think that we could claim above eight or +ten thousand pounds at most as real property. He put his money +everywhere, did that old man. There are shares in iron mines in the +Alleghanies, worth ever so much." + +"They are no good to us," said the Solicitor-General, alluding to his +client's interests. + +"Not worth a halfpenny to us, though they are paying twenty per cent. +on the paid-up capital. He seems to have determined that the real +heir should get nothing, even if there were no will. A wicked old +man!" + +"Very wicked, Mr. Flick." + +"A horrible old man! But we really ought to do something, Mr. +Solicitor. If the girl won't marry him there should be some +compromise, after all that we have done." + +"How can the girl marry any one, Mr. Flick,--if she's going to die?" + +A few days after this, Sir William called in Keppel Street and saw +the Countess, not with any idea of promoting a compromise,--for the +doing which this would not have been the time, nor would he have been +the fitting medium,--but in order that he might ask after Lady Anna's +health. The whole matter was in truth now going very much against the +Earl. Money had been allowed to the Countess and her daughter; and in +truth all the money was now their own, to do with it as they listed, +though there might be some delay before each was put into absolute +possession of her own proportion; but no money had been allowed, or +could be allowed, to the Earl. And, that the fact was so, was now +becoming known to all men. Hitherto credit had at any rate been +easy with the young lord. When the old Earl died, and when the will +was set aside, it was thought that he would be the heir. When the +lawsuit first came up, it was believed everywhere that some generous +compromise would be the worst that could befall him. After that the +marriage had been almost a certainty, and then it was known that +he had something of his own, so that tradesmen need not fear that +their bills would be paid. It can hardly be said that he had been +extravagant; but a lord must live, and an earl can hardly live and +maintain a house in the country on a thousand a year, even though he +has an uncle to keep his hunters for him. Some prudent men in London +were already beginning to ask for their money, and the young Earl was +in trouble. As Mr. Flick had said, it was quite time that something +should be done. Sir William still depended on the panacea of a +marriage, if only the girl would live. The marriage might be delayed; +but, if the cards were played prudently, might still make everything +comfortable. Such girls do not marry tailors, and will always prefer +lords to tradesmen! + +"I hope that you do not think that my calling is intrusive," he said. +The Countess, dressed all in black, with that funereal frown upon her +brow which she always now wore, with deep-sunk eyes, and care legible +in every feature of her handsome face, received him with a courtesy +that was as full of woe as it was graceful. She was very glad to make +his acquaintance. There was no intrusion. He would forgive her, she +thought, if he perceived that circumstances had almost overwhelmed +her with sorrow. "I have come to ask after your daughter," said he. + +"She has been very ill, Sir William." + +"Is she better now?" + +"I hardly know; I cannot say. They seemed to think this morning that +the fever was less violent." + +"Then she will recover, Lady Lovel." + +"They do not say so. But indeed I did not ask them. It is all in +God's hands. I sometimes think that it would be better that she +should die, and there be an end of it." + +This was the first time that these two had been in each other's +company, and the lawyer could not altogether repress the feeling of +horror with which he heard the mother speak in such a way of her only +child. "Oh, Lady Lovel, do not say that!" + +"But I do say it. Why should I not say it to you, who know all? Of +what good will her life be to herself, or to any one else, if she +pollute herself and her family by this marriage? It would be better +that she should be dead,--much better that she should be dead. She +is all that I have, Sir William. It is for her sake that I have been +struggling from the first moment in which I knew that I was to be a +mother. The whole care of my life has been to prove her to be her +father's daughter in the eye of the law. I doubt whether you can know +what it is to pursue one object, and only one, through your whole +life, with never-ending solicitude,--and to do it all on behalf of +another. If you did, you would understand my feeling now. It would be +better for her that she should die than become the wife of such a one +as Daniel Thwaite." + +"Lady Lovel, not only as a mother, but as a Christian, you should get +the better of that feeling." + +"Of course I should. No doubt every clergyman in England would tell +me the same thing. It is easy to say all that, sir. Wait till you +are tried. Wait till all your ambition is to be betrayed, every hope +rolled in the dust, till all the honours you have won are to be +soiled and degraded, till you are made a mark for general scorn and +public pity,--and then tell me how you love the child by whom such +evils are brought upon you!" + +"I trust that I may never be so tried, Lady Lovel." + +"I hope not; but think of all that before you preach to me. But I +do love her; and it is because I love her that I would fain see her +removed from the reproaches which her own madness will bring upon +her. Let her die;--if it be God's will. I can follow her without +one wish for a prolonged life. Then will a noble family be again +established, and her sorrowful tale will be told among the Lovels +with a tear and without a curse." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +LADY ANNA'S BEDSIDE. + + +All December went by, and the neighbours in the houses round spent +each his merry Christmas; and the snow and frost of January passed +over them, and February had come and nearly gone, before the +doctors dared to say that Lady Anna Lovel's life was not still in +danger. During this long period the world had known all about her +illness,--as it did know, or pretended to know, the whole history of +her life. The world had been informed that she was dying, and had, +upon the whole, been really very sorry for her. She had interested +the world, and the world had heard much of her youth and beauty,--of +the romance too of her story, of her fidelity to the tailor, and of +her persecutions. During these months of her illness the world was +disposed to think that the tailor was a fine fellow, and that he +ought to be taken by the hand. He had money now, and it was thought +that it would be a good thing to bring him into some club. There +was a very strong feeling at the Beaufort that if he were properly +proposed and seconded he would be elected,--not because he was going +to marry an heiress, but because he was losing the heiress whom he +was to have married. If the girl died, then Lord Lovel himself might +bring him forward at the Beaufort. Of all this Daniel himself knew +nothing; but he heard, as all the world heard, that Lady Anna was on +her deathbed. + +When the news first reached him,--after a fashion that seemed to him +to be hardly worthy of credit,--he called at the house in Keppel +Street and asked the question. Yes; Lady Anna was very ill; but, +as it happened, Sarah the lady's-maid opened the door, and Sarah +remembered the tailor. She had seen him when he was admitted to +her young mistress, and knew enough of the story to be aware that +he should be snubbed. Her first answer was given before she had +bethought herself; then she snubbed him, and told no one but the +Countess of his visit. After that Daniel went to one of the doctors, +and waited at his door with patience till he could be seen. The +unhappy man told his story plainly. He was Daniel Thwaite, late a +tailor, the man from Keswick, to whom Lady Anna Lovel was engaged. In +charity and loving kindness, would the doctor tell him of the state +of his beloved one? The doctor took him by the hand and asked him +in, and did tell him. His beloved one was then on the very point +of death. Whereupon Daniel wrote to the Countess in humble strains, +himself taking the letter, and waiting without in the street for any +answer that might be vouchsafed. If it was, as he was told, that his +beloved was dying, might he be allowed to stand once at her bedside +and kiss her hand? In about an hour an answer was brought to him at +the area gate. It consisted of his own letter, opened, and returned +to him without a word. He went away too sad to curse, but he declared +to himself that such cruelty in a woman's bosom could exist only in +the bosom of a countess. + +But as others heard early in February that Lady Anna was like to +recover, so did Daniel Thwaite. Indeed, his authority was better than +that which reached the clubs, for the doctor still stood his friend. +Could the doctor take a message from him to Lady Anna;--but one word? +No;--the doctor could take no message. That he would not do. But he +did not object to give to the lover a bulletin of the health of his +sweetheart. In this way Daniel knew sooner than most others when the +change took place in the condition of his beloved one. + +Lady Anna would be of age in May, and the plan of her betrothed was +as follows. He would do nothing till that time, and then he would +call upon her to allow their banns to be published in Bloomsbury +Church after the manner of the Church of England. He himself had +taken lodgings in Great Russell Street, thinking that his object +might be aided by living in the same parish. If, as was probable, he +would not be allowed to approach Lady Anna either in person, or by +letter, then he would have recourse to the law, and would allege that +the young lady was unduly kept a prisoner in custody. He was told +that such complaint would be as idle wind, coming from him,--that +no allegation of that kind could obtain any redress unless it came +from the young lady herself; but he flattered himself that he could +so make it that the young lady would at any rate obtain thereby the +privilege of speaking for herself. Let some one ask her what were her +wishes and he would be prepared to abide by her expression of them. + +In the meantime Lord Lovel also had been anxious;--but his anxiety +had been met in a very different fashion. For many days the Countess +saw him daily, so that there grew up between them a close intimacy. +When it was believed that the girl would die,--believed with that +sad assurance which made those who were concerned speak of her death +almost as a certainty, the Countess, sitting alone with the young +Earl, had told him that all would be his if the girl left them. He +had muttered something as to there being no reason for that. "Who +else should have it?" said the Countess. "Where should it go? Your +people, Lovel, have not understood me. It is for the family that I +have been fighting, fighting, fighting,--and never ceasing. Though +you have been my adversary,--it has been all for the Lovels. If she +goes,--it shall be yours at once. There is no one knows how little +I care for wealth myself." Then the girl had become better, and the +Countess again began her plots, and her plans, and her strategy. She +would take the girl abroad in May, in April if it might be possible. +They would go,--not to Rome then, but to the south of France, and, +as the weather became too warm for them, on to Switzerland and the +Tyrol. Would he, Lord Lovel, follow them? Would he follow them and +be constant in his suit, even though the frantic girl should still +talk of her tailor lover? If he would do so, as far as money was +concerned, all should be in common with them. For what was the money +wanted but that the Lovels might be great and noble and splendid? He +said that he would do so. He also loved the girl,--thought at least +during the tenderness created by her illness that he loved her with +all his heart. He sat hour after hour with the Countess in Keppel +Street,--sometimes seeing the girl as she lay unconscious, or +feigning that she was so; till at last he was daily at her bedside. +"You had better not talk to him, Anna," her mother would say, "but of +course he is anxious to see you." Then the Earl would kiss her hand, +and in her mother's presence she had not the courage,--perhaps she +had not the strength,--to withdraw it. In these days the Countess was +not cruelly stern as she had been. Bedside nursing hardly admits of +such cruelty of manner. But she never spoke to her child with little +tender endearing words, never embraced her,--but was to her a careful +nurse rather than a loving mother. + +Then by degrees the girl got better, and was able to talk. "Mamma," +she said one day, "won't you sit by me?" + +"No, my dear; you should not be encouraged to talk." + +"Sit by me, and let me hold your hand." For a moment the Countess +gave way, and sat by her daughter, allowing her hand to remain +pressed beneath the bedclothes;--but she rose abruptly, remembering +her grievance, remembering that it would be better that her child +should die, should die broken-hearted by unrelenting cruelty, than be +encouraged to think it possible that she should do as she desired. So +she rose abruptly and left the bedside without a word. + +"Mamma," said Lady Anna; "will Lord Lovel be here to-day?" + +"I suppose he will be here." + +"Will you let me speak to him for a minute?" + +"Surely you may speak to him." + +"I am strong now, mamma, and I think that I shall be well again some +day. I have so often wished that I might die." + +"You had better not talk about it, my dear." + +"But I should like to speak to him, mamma, without you." + +"What to say,--Anna?" + +"I hardly know;--but I should like to speak to him. I have something +to say about money." + +"Cannot I say it?" + +"No, mamma. I must say it myself,--if you will let me." The Countess +looked at her girl with suspicion, but she gave the permission +demanded. Of course it would be right that this lover should see his +love. The Countess was almost minded to require from Lady Anna an +assurance that no allusion should be made to Daniel Thwaite; but the +man's name had not been mentioned between them since the beginning +of the illness, and she was loth to mention it now. Nor would it +have been possible to prevent for long such an interview as that now +proposed. + +"He shall come in if he pleases," said the Countess; "but I hope you +will remember who you are and to whom you are speaking." + +"I will remember both, mamma," said Lady Anna. The Countess looked +down on her daughter's face, and could not help thinking that her +child was different from what she had been. There had been almost +defiance in the words spoken, though they had been spoken with the +voice of an invalid. + +At three o'clock that afternoon, according to his custom, Lord Lovel +came, and was at once told that he was to be spoken to by his cousin. +"She says it is about money," said the Countess. + +"About money?" + +"Yes;--and if she confines herself to that, do as she bids you. If +she is ever to be your wife it will be all right; and if not,--then +it will be better in your hands than in hers. In three months time +she can do as she pleases with it all." He was then taken into Lady +Anna's room. "Here is your cousin," said the Countess. "You must not +talk long or I shall interrupt you. If you wish to speak to him about +the property,--as the head of your family,--that will be very right; +but confine yourself to that for the present." Then the Countess left +them and closed the door. + +"It is not only about money, Lord Lovel." + +"You might call me Frederic now," said he tenderly. + +"No;--not now. If I am ever well again and we are then friends I will +do so. They tell me that there is ever so much money,--hundreds of +thousands of pounds. I forget how much." + +"Do not trouble yourself about that." + +"But I do trouble myself very much about it,--and I know that it +ought to be yours. There is one thing I want to tell you, which you +must believe. If I am ever any man's wife, I shall be the wife of +Daniel Thwaite." That dark frown came upon his face which she had +seen once before. "Pray believe that it is so," she continued. "Mamma +does not believe it,--will not believe it; but it is so. I love him +with all my heart. I think of him every minute. It is very very cruel +that I may not hear from him or send one word to tell him how I am. +There! My hand is on the Bible, and I swear to you that if I am ever +the wife of any man, I will be his wife." + +He looked down at her and saw that she was wan and thin and weak, and +he did not dare to preach to her the old family sermon as to his rank +and station. "But, Anna, why do you tell me this now?" he said. + +"That you may believe it and not trouble yourself with me any more. +You must believe it when I tell you so in this manner. I may perhaps +never live to rise from my bed. If I get well, I shall send to him, +or go. I will not be hindered. He is true to me, and I will be true +to him. You may tell mamma if you think proper. She would not believe +me, but perhaps she may believe you. But, Lord Lovel, it is not fit +that he should have all this money. He does not want it, and he would +not take it. Till I am married I may do what I please with it;--and +it shall be yours." + +"That cannot be." + +"Yes, it can. I know that I can make it yours if I please. They tell +me that--that you are not rich, as Lord Lovel should be, because all +this has been taken from you. That was the reason why you came to +me." + +"By heaven, Anna, I love you most truly." + +"It could not have been so when you had not seen me. Will you take a +message from me to Daniel Thwaite?" + +He thought awhile before he answered it. "No, I cannot do that." + +"Then I must find another messenger. Mr. Goffe will do it perhaps. He +shall tell me how much he wants to keep, and the rest shall be yours. +That is all. If you tell mamma, ask her not to be hard to me." He +stood over her and took her hand, but knew not how to speak a word +to her. He attempted to kiss her hand; but she raised herself on her +elbow, and shook her head and drew it from him. "It belongs to Daniel +Thwaite," she said. Then he left her and did not speak another word. + +"What has she said?" asked the Countess, with an attempt at smiling. + +"I do not know that I should tell you." + +"Surely, Lovel, you are bound to tell me." + +"She has offered me all her property,--or most of it." + +"She is right," said the Countess. + +"But she has sworn to me, on the Bible, that she will never be my +wife." + +"Tush!--it means nothing." + +"Ah yes;--it means much. It means all. She never loved me,--not for +an instant. That other man has been before me, and she is too firm to +be moved." + +"Did she say so?" + +He was silent for a moment and then replied, "Yes; she did say so." + +"Then let her die!" said the Countess. + +"Lady Lovel!" + +"Let her die. It will be better. Oh, God! that I should be brought to +this. And what will you do, my lord? Do you mean to say that you will +abandon her?" + +"I cannot ask her to be my wife again." + +"What;--because she has said this in her sickness,--when she is half +delirious,--while she is dreaming of the words that man spoke to her? +Have you no more strength than that? Are you so poor a creature?" + +"I think I have been a poor creature to ask her a second time at +all." + +"No; not so. Your duty and mine are the same,--as should be hers. We +must forget ourselves while we save the family. Do not I bear all? +Have not I borne everything--contumely, solitude, ill words, poverty, +and now this girl's unkindness? But even yet I will not give it up. +Take the property,--as it is offered." + +"I could not touch it." + +"If not for you, then for your children. Take it all, so that we may +be the stronger. But do not abandon us now, if you are a man." + +He would not stay to hear her further exhortations, but hurried away +from the house full of doubt and unhappiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +LADY ANNA'S OFFER. + + +Early in March Lady Anna was convalescent, but had not yet left the +house in Keppel Street,--and the confusion and dismay of the Countess +were greater than ever. Lady Anna had declared that she would not +leave England for the present. She was reminded that at any rate till +the 10th of May she was subject to her mother's control. But by this +time her mother's harshness to her had produced some corresponding +hardness in her. "Yes, mamma;--but I will not go abroad. Things +must be settled, and I am not well enough to go yet." The Countess +asserted that everything could be arranged abroad, that papers could +be sent after them, that Mr. Goffe could come out to them, and with +much show of authority persisted. She would do anything by which +she might be able to remove Lady Anna from the influence of Daniel +Thwaite at the time at which the girl would cease to be subject to +her. But in truth the girl had ceased to be subject to her. "No, +mamma, I will not go. If you will ask Serjeant Bluestone, or Sir +William Patterson, I am sure they will say that I ought not to be +made to go." There were some terrible scenes in which the mother was +driven almost to desperation. Lady Anna repeated to the Countess all +that she had said to Lord Lovel,--and swore to her mother with the +Bible in hand that if ever she became the wife of any man she would +be the wife of Daniel Thwaite. Then the Countess with great violence +knocked the book out of her daughter's grasp, and it was thrown to +the other side of the room. "If this is to go on," said the Countess, +"one of us must die." + +"Mamma, I have done nothing to make you so unkind to me. You have not +spoken one word of kindness to me since I came from Yoxham." + +"If this goes on I shall never speak a word of kindness to you +again," said the mother. + +But in the midst of all this there was one point on which they were +agreed,--on which they came sufficiently near together for action, +though there was still a wide difference between them. Some large +proportion of the property at stake was to be made over to Lord Lovel +on the day that gave the girl the legal power of transferring her +own possessions. The Countess began by presuming that the whole of +Lady Anna's wealth was to be so transferred,--not from any lack of +reverence for the great amount which was in question, but feeling +that for all good purposes it would be safer in the hands of the +Earl than in those of her own child. If it could be arranged that +the tailor could get nothing with his bride, then it might still +be possible that the tailor might refuse the match. At any rate a +quarrel might be fostered and the evil might be staved off. But to +this Lady Anna would not assent. If she might act in this business in +concert with Mr. Thwaite she would be able, she thought, to do better +by her cousin than she proposed. But as she was not allowed to learn +what were Mr. Thwaite's wishes, she would halve her property with her +cousin. As much as this she was willing to do,--and was determined to +do, acting on her own judgment. More she would not do,--unless she +could see Mr. Thwaite. As it stood, her proposition was one which +would, if carried out, bestow something like L10,000 a year upon +the Earl. Then Mr. Goffe was sent for, and Lady Anna was allowed to +communicate her suggestion to the lawyer. "That should require a +great deal of thought," said Mr. Goffe with solemnity. Lady Anna +declared that she had been thinking of it all the time she had been +ill. "But it should not be done in a hurry," said Mr. Goffe. Then +Lady Anna remarked that in the meantime, her cousin, the Earl, the +head of her family, would have nothing to support his title. Mr. +Goffe took his leave, promising to consult his partner, and to see +Mr. Flick. + +Mr. Goffe did consult his partner and did see Mr. Flick, and then +Serjeant Bluestone was asked his advice,--and the Solicitor-General. +The Serjeant had become somewhat tired of the Lovels, and did not +care to give any strong advice either in one direction or in the +other. The young lady, he said, might of course do what she liked +with her own when it was her own; but he thought that she should not +be hurried. He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had not the +slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,--not more than he +would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from her mother's +instead of from her father's relatives. He was still of opinion that +the two cousins might ultimately become man and wife if matters were +left tranquil and the girl were taken abroad for a year or two. Lady +Anna, however, would be of age in a few weeks, and must of course do +as she liked with her own. + +But they all felt that everything would at last be ruled by what the +Solicitor-General might say. The Solicitor-General was going out of +town for a week or ten days,--having the management of a great case +at the Spring Assizes. He would think over Lady Anna's proposition, +and say what he had to say when he returned. Lord Lovel, however, +had been his client, and he had said from first to last that more +was to be done for his client by amicable arrangement than by +hostile opposition. If the Earl could get L10,000 a year by amicable +arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have been right +in the eyes of all men, and it was probable,--as both Mr. Goffe and +Mr. Flick felt,--that he would not repudiate a settlement of the +family affairs by which he would be proved to have been a discreet +counsellor. + +In the meantime it behoved Lord Lovel himself to have an opinion. Mr. +Flick of course had told him of the offer,--which had in truth been +made directly to himself by his cousin. At this time his affairs were +not in a happy condition. A young earl, handsome and well esteemed, +may generally marry an heiress,--if not one heiress then another. +Though he be himself a poor man, his rank and position will stand in +lieu of wealth. And so would it have been with this young earl,--who +was very handsome and excellently well esteemed,--had it not been +that all the world knew that it was his especial business to marry +one especial heiress. He could hardly go about looking for other +honey, having, as he had, one particular hive devoted by public +opinion to himself. After a year or two he might have looked +elsewhere,--but what was he to do in the meantime? He was well nigh +penniless, and in debt. So he wrote a letter to his uncle, the +parson. + +It may be remembered that when the uncle and nephew last parted in +London there was not much love between them. From that day to this +they had not seen each other, nor had there been any communication +between them. The horses had been taken away and sold. The rector +had spoken to the ladies of his household more than once with great +bitterness of the young man's ingratitude; and they more than once +had spoken to the rector, with a woman's piteous tenderness, of the +young lord's poverty. But it was all sorrow and distress. For in +truth the rector could not be happy while he was on bad terms with +the head of his family. Then the young lord wrote as though there had +been nothing amiss between them. It had in truth all passed away from +his mind. This very liberal offer had been made to him. It amounted +to wealth in lieu of poverty,--to what would be comfortable wealth +even for an earl. Ten thousand a year was offered to him by his +cousin. Might he accept it? The rector took the letter in good part, +and begged his nephew to come at once to Yoxham. Whereupon the nephew +went to Yoxham. + +"What does Sir William say?" asked the rector, who, in spite of +his disapproval of all that Sir William had done, felt that the +Solicitor-General was the man whose influence in the matter would +really prevail. + +"He has said nothing as yet. He is out of town." + +"Ten thousand a year! Who was it made the offer?" + +"She made it herself." + +"Lady Anna?" + +"Yes;--Lady Anna. It is a noble offer." + +"Yes, indeed. But then if she has no right to any of it, what does it +amount to?" + +"But she has a right to all of it;--she and her mother between them." + +"I shall never believe it, Frederic--never; and not the less so +because they now want to bind you to them by such a compromise as +this." + +"I think you look at it in a wrong light, uncle Charles." + +"Well;--well. I will say nothing more about it. I don't see why you +shouldn't take it,--I don't indeed. It ought all to have been yours. +Everybody says that. You'll have to buy land, and it won't give you +nearly so much then. I hope you'll buy land all the same, and I do +hope it will be properly settled when you marry. As to marrying, you +will be able to do much better than what you used to think of." + +"We won't talk about that, uncle Charles," said the Earl. + +As far as the rector's opinion went, it was clear that the offer +might be accepted; but yet it was felt that very much must depend +on what the Solicitor-General might say. Then Miss Lovel gave her +opinion on the matter, which did not altogether agree with that of +her brother. She believed in Lady Anna, whereas the rector professed +that he did not. The rector and Lady Fitzwarren were perhaps the +only two persons who, after all that had been said and done, still +maintained that the Countess was an impostor, and that Lady Anna +would only be Anna Murray, if everybody had his due. Miss Lovel was +quite as anxious on behalf of the Earl as was her brother, but she +clung to the hope of a marriage. "I still think it might all come +right, if you would only wait," said aunt Julia. + +"It's all very well talking of waiting, but how am I to live?" + +"You could live here, Frederic. There is nothing my brother would +like so much. I thought he would break his heart when the horses were +taken away. It would only be for a year." + +"What would come of it?" + +"At the end of the year she would be your wife." + +"Never!" said the Earl. + +"Young men are so impatient." + +"Never, under any circumstances, would I ask her again. You may make +your mind up to that. As sure as you stand there, she will marry +Daniel Thwaite, if she lives another twelvemonth." + +"You really think so, Frederic?" + +"I am sure of it. After what she said to me, it would be impossible I +should doubt it." + +"And she will be Lady Anna Thwaite! Oh dear, how horrible. I wish +she had died when she was ill;--I do indeed. A journeyman tailor! +But something will prevent it. I really think that Providence will +interfere to prevent it!" But in reference to the money she gave in +her adhesion. If the great lawyer said that it might be taken,--then +it should be taken. At the end of a week the Earl hurried back to +London to see the great lawyer. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +NO DISGRACE AT ALL. + + +Before the Solicitor-General returned to town things had come to +a worse pass than ever. Lady Lovel had ordered her daughter to be +ready to start to Paris by a certain hour, on a certain day,--giving +her three days for preparation,--and Lady Anna had refused to go. +Whereupon the Countess had caused her own things to be packed up, and +those of her daughter. Sarah was now altogether in the confidence of +the Countess, so that Lady Anna had not even dominion over her own +clothes. The things were stowed away, and all the arrangements were +made for the journey; but Lady Anna refused to go, and when the hour +came could not be induced to get into the carriage. The lodgings had +been paid for to the day, and given up; so that the poor old woman +in Keppel Street was beside herself. Then the Countess, of necessity, +postponed her journey for twenty-four hours, telling her daughter +that on the next day she would procure the assistance of magistrates +and force the rebel to obedience. + +Hardly a word had been spoken between the mother and daughter +during those three days. There had been messages sent backwards and +forwards, and once or twice the Countess had violently entered Lady +Anna's bedroom, demanding submission. Lady Anna was always on the +bed when her mother entered, and, there lying, would shake her head, +and then with sobs accuse the Countess of unkindness. Lady Lovel had +become furious in her wrath, hardly knowing what she herself did or +said, always asserting her own authority, declaring her own power, +and exclaiming against the wicked ingratitude of her child. This +she did till the young waiting-woman was so frightened that she was +almost determined to leave the house abruptly, though keenly alive to +the profit and glory of serving a violent and rich countess. And the +old lady who let the lodgings was intensely anxious to be rid of her +lodgers, though her money was scrupulously paid, and no questions +asked as to extra charges. Lady Anna was silent and sullen. When +left to herself she spent her time at her writing-desk, of which she +had managed to keep the key. What meals she took were brought up to +her bedroom, so that a household more uncomfortable could hardly be +gathered under a roof. + +On the day fixed for that departure which did not take place, the +Countess wrote to Mr. Goffe for assistance,--and Lady Anna, by the +aid of the mistress of the house, wrote to Serjeant Bluestone. The +letter to Mr. Goffe was the first step taken towards obtaining that +assistance from civil authorities to which the Countess thought +herself to be entitled in order that her legal dominion over her +daughter might be enforced. Lady Anna wrote to the Serjeant, simply +begging that he would come to see her, putting her letter open into +the hands of the landlady. She implored him to come at once,--and, +as it happened, he called in Keppel Street that night, whereas Mr. +Goffe's visit was not made till the next morning. He asked for the +Countess, and was shown into the drawing-room. The whole truth +was soon made clear to him, for the Countess attempted to conceal +nothing. Her child was rebelling against authority, and she was sure +that the Serjeant would assist her in putting down and conquering +such pernicious obstinacy. But she found at once that the Serjeant +would not help her. "But Lady Anna will be herself of age in a day or +two," he said. + +"Not for nearly two months," said the Countess indignantly. + +"My dear Lady Lovel, under such circumstances you can hardly put +constraint upon her." + +"Why not? She is of age, or she is not. Till she be of age she is +bound to obey me." + +"True;--she is bound to obey you after a fashion, and so indeed she +would be had she been of age a month since. But such obligations here +in England go for very little, unless they are supported by reason." + +"The law is the law." + +"Yes;--but the law would be all in her favour before you could get it +to assist you,--even if you could get its assistance. In her peculiar +position, it is rational that she should choose to wait till she +be able to act for herself. Very great interests will be at her +disposal, and she will of course wish to be near those who can advise +her." + +"I am her only guardian. I can advise her." The Serjeant shook his +head. "You will not help me then?" + +"I fear I cannot help you, Lady Lovel." + +"Not though you know the reasons which induce me to take her away +from England before she slips entirely out of my hands and ruins all +our hopes?" But still the Serjeant shook his head. "Every one is +leagued against me," said the Countess, throwing up her hands in +despair. + +Then the Serjeant asked permission to visit Lady Anna, but was told +that he could not be allowed to do so. She was in bed, and there was +nothing to make it necessary that she should receive a visit from a +gentleman in her bedroom. "I am an old man," said the Serjeant, "and +have endeavoured to be a true and honest friend to the young lady. +I think, Lady Lovel, that you will do wrong to refuse my request. +I tell you fairly that I shall be bound to interfere on her behalf. +She has applied to me as her friend, and I feel myself constrained to +attend to her application." + +"She has applied to you?" + +"Yes, Lady Lovel. There is her letter." + +"She has deceived me again," said the Countess, tearing the letter +into atoms. But the Serjeant so far frightened her that she was +induced to promise that Mrs. Bluestone should see Lady Anna on the +following morning,--stipulating, however, that Mrs. Bluestone should +see herself before she went up-stairs. + +On the following morning Mr. Goffe came early. But Mr. Goffe +could give his client very little comfort. He was, however, less +uncomfortable than the Serjeant had been. He was of opinion that +Lady Anna certainly ought to go abroad, in obedience to her mother's +instructions, and was willing to go to her and tell her so, with what +solemnity of legal authority he might be able to assume; but he could +not say that anything could be done absolutely to enforce obedience. +Mr. Goffe suggested that perhaps a few gentle words might be +successful. "Gentle words!" said the Countess, who had become quite +unable to restrain herself. "The harshest words are only too gentle +for her. If I had known what she was, Mr. Goffe, I would never have +stirred in this business. They might have called me what they would, +and it would have been better." When Mr. Goffe came downstairs +he had not a word to say more as to the efficacy of gentleness. +He simply remarked that he did not think the young lady could be +induced to go, and suggested that everybody had better wait till the +Solicitor-General returned to town. + +Then Mrs. Bluestone came, almost on the heels of the attorney;--poor +Mrs. Bluestone, who now felt that it was a dreadful grievance both +to her and to her husband that they had had anything to do with the +Lovel family! She was very formal in her manner,--and, to tell the +truth for her, rather frightened. The Serjeant had asked her to call +and see Lady Anna Lovel. Might she be permitted to do so? Then the +Countess burst forth with a long story of all her wrongs,--with the +history of her whole life. Not beginning with her marriage,--but +working back to it from the intense misery, and equally intense +ambition of the present hour. She told it all; how everybody had been +against her,--how she had been all alone at the dreary Grange in +Westmoreland,--how she had been betrayed by her husband, and turned +out to poverty and scorn;--how she had borne it all for the sake of +the one child who was, by God's laws and man's, the heiress to her +father's name; how she had persevered,--intermingling it all with a +certain worship of high honours and hereditary position with which +Mrs. Bluestone was able in some degree to sympathise. She was clever, +and words came to her freely. It was almost impossible that any +hearer should refuse to sympathise with her,--any hearer who knew +that her words were true. And all that she told was true. The things +which she narrated had been done;--the wrongs had been endured;--and +the end of it all which she feared, was imminent. And the hearer +thought as did the speaker as to the baseness of this marriage with +the tailor,--thought as did the speaker of the excellence of the +marriage with the lord. But still there was something in the woman's +eye,--something in the tone of her voice, something in the very +motion of her hands as she told her story, which made Mrs. Bluestone +feel that Lady Anna should not be left under her mother's control. +It would be very well that the Lovel family should be supported, and +that Lady Anna should be kept within the pale of her own rank. But +there might be things worse than Lady Anna's defection,--and worse +even than the very downfall of the Lovels. + +After sitting for nearly two hours with the Countess, Mrs. Bluestone +was taken up-stairs. "Mrs. Bluestone has come to see you," said the +Countess, not entering the room, and retreating again immediately as +she closed the door. + +"This is very kind of you, Mrs. Bluestone," said Lady Anna, who was +sitting crouching in her dressing-gown over the fire. "But I thought +that perhaps the Serjeant would come." The lady, taken off her guard, +immediately said that the Serjeant had been there on the preceding +evening. "And mamma would not let me see him! But you will help me!" + +In this interview, as in that below, a long history was told to the +visitor, and was told with an eloquent energy which she certainly had +not expected. "They talk to me of ladies," said Lady Anna. "I was not +a lady. I knew nothing of ladies and their doings. I was a poor girl, +friendless but for my mother, sometimes almost without shoes to my +feet, often ragged, solitary, knowing nothing of ladies. Then there +came one lad, who played with me;--and it was mamma who brought us +together. He was good to me, when all others were bad. He played with +me, and gave me things, and taught me,--and loved me. Then when he +asked me to love him again, and to love him always, was I to think +that I could not,--because I was a lady! You despise him because he +is a tailor. A tailor was good to me, when no one else was good. How +could I despise him because he was a tailor? I did not despise him, +but I loved him with all my heart." + +"But when you came to know who you were, Lady Anna--" + +"Yes;--yes. I came to know who I was, and they brought my cousin to +me, and told me to love him, and bade me be a lady indeed. I felt it +too, for a time. I thought it would be pleasant to be a Countess, and +to go among great people; and he was pleasant, and I thought that I +could love him too, and do as they bade me. But when I thought of it +much,--when I thought of it alone,--I hated myself. In my heart of +hearts I loved him who had always been my friend. And when Lord Lovel +came to me at Bolton, and said that I must give my answer then,--I +told him all the truth. I am glad I told him the truth. He should not +have come again after that. If Daniel is so poor a creature because +he is a tailor,--must not I be poor who love him? And what must he be +when he comes to me again after that?" + +When Mrs. Bluestone descended from the room she was quite sure that +the girl would become Lady Anna Thwaite, and told the Countess that +such was her opinion. "By the God above me," said the Countess rising +from her chair;--"by the God above me, she never shall." But after +that the Countess gave up her project of forcing her daughter to go +abroad. The old lady of the house was told that the rooms would still +be required for some weeks to come,--perhaps for months; and having +had a conference on the subject with Mrs. Bluestone, did not refuse +her consent. + +At last Sir William returned to town, and was besieged on all sides, +as though in his hands lay the power of deciding what should become +of all the Lovel family. Mr. Goffe was as confidential with him as +Mr. Flick, and even Serjeant Bluestone condescended to appeal to him. +The young Earl was closeted with him on the day of his return, and he +had found on his desk the following note from the Countess;-- + +"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to the +Solicitor-General. The Countess is very anxious to leave England +with her daughter, but has hitherto been prevented by her child's +obstinacy. Sir William Patterson is so well aware of all the +circumstances that he no doubt can give the Countess advice as to the +manner in which she should proceed to enforce the obedience of her +daughter. The Countess Lovel would feel herself unwarranted in thus +trespassing on the Solicitor-General, were it not that it is her +chief anxiety to do everything for the good of Earl Lovel and the +family." + +"Look at that, my lord," said the Solicitor-General, showing the Earl +the letter. "I can do nothing for her." + +"What does she want to have done?" + +"She wants to carry her daughter away beyond the reach of Mr. +Thwaite. I am not a bit surprised; but she can't do it. The days +are gone by when a mother could lock her daughter up, or carry her +away,--at any rate in this country." + +"It is very sad." + +"It might have been much worse. Why should she not marry Mr. Thwaite? +Let them make the settlement as they propose, and then let the young +lady have her way. She will have her way,--whether her mother lets +her or no." + +"It will be a disgrace to the family, Sir William." + +"No disgrace at all! How many peers' daughters marry commoners in +England. It is not with us as it is with some German countries in +which noble blood is separated as by a barrier from blood that is not +noble. The man I am told is clever and honest. He will have great +means at his command, and I do not see why he should not make as +good a gentleman as the best of us. At any rate she must not be +persecuted." + +Sir William answered the Countess's letter as a matter of course, but +there was no comfort in his answer. "The Solicitor-General presents +his compliments to the Countess Lovel. With all the will in the world +to be of service, he fears that he can do no good by interfering +between the Countess and Lady Anna Lovel. If, however, he may venture +to give advice, he would suggest to the Countess that as Lady Anna +will be of age in a short time, no attempt should now be made to +exercise a control which must cease when that time shall arrive." +"They are all joined against me," said the Countess, when she read +the letter;--"every one of them! But still it shall never be. I will +not live to see it." + +Then there was a meeting between Mr. Flick and Sir William. Mr. Flick +must inform the ladies that nothing could be done till Lady Anna +was of age;--that not even could any instructions be taken from her +before that time as to what should subsequently be done. If, when +that time came, she should still be of a mind to share with her +cousin the property, she could then instruct Mr. Goffe to make out +the necessary deeds. + +All this was communicated by letter to the Countess, but Mr. Goffe +especially requested that the letter might be shown to Lady Anna, and +that he might receive a reply intimating that Lady Anna understood +its purport. If necessary he would call upon Lady Anna in Keppel +Street. After some delay and much consideration, the Countess sent +the attorney's letter to her daughter, and Lady Anna herself wrote +a reply. She perfectly understood the purport of Mr. Goffe's letter, +and would thank Mr. Goffe to call upon her on the 10th of May, when +the matter might, she hoped, be settled. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. + +NEARER AND NEARER. + + +So they went on living in utter misery till the month of May had come +round, and Lady Anna was at last pronounced to be convalescent. + +Late one night, long after midnight, the Countess crept into her +daughter's room and sat down by the bedside. Lady Anna was asleep, +and the Countess sat there and watched. At this time the girl had +passed her birthday, and was of age. Mr. Goffe had been closeted +with her and with her mother for two mornings running, Sir William +Patterson had also been with them, and instructions had been given as +to the property, upon which action was to be at once taken. Of that +proportion of the estate which fell to Lady Anna, one entire moiety +was to be made over to the Earl. While this was being arranged no +word was said as to Daniel Thwaite, or as to the marriage with +the lord. The settlement was made as though it were a thing of +itself; and they all had been much surprised,--the mother, the +Solicitor-General, and the attorney,--at the determination of purpose +and full comprehension of the whole affair which Lady Anna displayed. +When it came to the absolute doing of the matter,--the abandonment +of all this money,--the Countess became uneasy and discontented. +She also had wished that Lord Lovel should have the property,--but +her wish had been founded on a certain object to be attained, which +object was now farther from her than ever. But the property in +question was not hers, but her daughter's, and she made no loud +objection to the proceeding. The instructions were given, and the +deeds were to be forthcoming some time before the end of the month. + +It was on the night of the 11th of May that the Countess sat at her +child's bedside. She had brought up a taper with her, and there she +sat watching the sleeping girl. Thoughts wondrously at variance with +each other, and feelings thoroughly antagonistic, ran through her +brain and heart. This was her only child,--the one thing that there +was for her to love,--the only tie to the world that she possessed. +But for her girl, it would be good that she should be dead. And if +her girl should do this thing, which would make her life a burden to +her,--how good it would be for her to die! She did not fear to die, +and she feared nothing after death;--but with a coward's dread she +did fear the torment of her failure if this girl should become the +wife of Daniel Thwaite. In such case most certainly would she never +see the girl again,--and life then would be all a blank to her. But +she understood that though she should separate herself from the world +altogether, men would know of her failure, and would know that she +was devouring her own heart in the depth of her misery. If the girl +would but have done as her mother had proposed, would have followed +after her kind, and taken herself to those pleasant paths which had +been opened for her, with what a fond caressing worship, with what +infinite kisses and blessings, would she, the mother, have tended +the young Countess and assisted in making the world bright for the +high-born bride. But a tailor! Foh! What a degraded creature was her +child to cling to so base a love! + +She did, however, acknowledge to herself that the girl's clinging was +of a kind she had no power to lessen. The ivy to its standard tree +is not more loyal than was her daughter to this wretched man. But +the girl might die,--or the tailor might die,--or she, the miserable +mother, might die; and so this misery might be at an end. Nothing +but death could end it. Thoughts and dreams of other violence had +crossed her brain,--of carrying the girl away, of secluding her, of +frightening her from day to day into some childish, half-idiotic +submission. But for that the tame obedience of the girl would have +been necessary,--or that external assistance which she had sought, +in vain, to obtain among the lawyers. Such hopes were now gone, and +nothing remained but death. + +Why had not the girl gone when she was so like to go? Why had she not +died when it had seemed to be God's pleasure to take her? A little +indifference, some slight absence of careful tending, any chance +accident would have made that natural which was now,--which was +now so desirable and yet beyond reach! Yes;--so desirable! For +whose sake could it be wished that a life so degraded should be +prolonged? But there could be no such escape. With her eyes fixed on +vacancy, revolving it in her mind, she thought that she could kill +herself;--but she knew that she could not kill her child. + +But, should she destroy herself, there would be no vengeance in that. +Could she be alone, far out at sea, in some small skiff with that +low-born tailor, and then pull out the plug, and let him know what +he had done to her as they both went down together beneath the water, +that would be such a cure of the evil as would now best suit her +wishes. But there was no such sea, and no such boat. Death, however, +might still be within her grasp. + +Then she laid her hand on the girl's shoulder, and Lady Anna awoke. +"Oh, mamma;--is that you?" + +"It is I, my child." + +"Mamma, mamma; is anything the matter? Oh, mamma, kiss me." Then +the Countess stooped down and kissed the girl passionately. "Dear +mamma,--dearest mamma!" + +"Anna, will you do one thing for me? If I never speak to you of Lord +Lovel again, will you forget Daniel Thwaite?" She paused, but Lady +Anna had no answer ready. "Will you not say as much as that for me? +Say that you will forget him till I am gone." + +"Gone, mamma? You are not going!" + +"Till I am dead. I shall not live long, Anna. Say at least that you +will not see him or mention his name for twelve months. Surely, Anna, +you will do as much as that for a mother who has done so much for +you." But Lady Anna would make no promise. She turned her face to the +pillow and was dumb. "Answer me, my child. I may at least demand an +answer." + +"I will answer you to-morrow, mamma." Then the Countess fell on her +knees at the bedside and uttered a long, incoherent prayer, addressed +partly to the God of heaven, and partly to the poor girl who was +lying there in bed, supplicating with mad, passionate eagerness that +this evil thing might be turned away from her. Then she seized the +girl in her embrace and nearly smothered her with kisses. "My own, my +darling, my beauty, my all; save your mother from worse than death, +if you can;--if you can!" + +Had such tenderness come sooner it might have had deeper effect. As +it was, though the daughter was affected and harassed,--though she +was left panting with sobs and drowned in tears,--she could not but +remember the treatment she had suffered from her mother during the +last six months. Had the request for a year's delay come sooner, +it would have been granted; but now it was made after all measures +of cruelty had failed. Ten times during the night did she say that +she would yield,--and ten times again did she tell herself that +were she to yield now, she would be a slave all her life. She had +resolved,--whether right or wrong,--still, with a strong mind and a +great purpose, that she would not be turned from her way, and when +she arose in the morning she was resolved again. She went into her +mother's room and at once declared her purpose. "Mamma, it cannot be. +I am his, and I must not forget him or be ashamed of his name;--no, +not for a day." + +"Then go from me, thou ungrateful one, hard of heart, unnatural +child, base, cruel, and polluted. Go from me, if it be possible, for +ever!" + +Then did they live for some days separated for a second time, each +taking her meals in her own room; and Mrs. Richards, the owner of +the lodgings, went again to Mrs. Bluestone, declaring that she was +afraid of what might happen, and that she must pray to be relieved +from the presence of the ladies. Mrs. Bluestone had to explain that +the lodgings had been taken for the quarter, and that a mother and +daughter could not be put out into the street merely because they +lived on bad terms with each other. The old woman, as was natural, +increased her bills;--but that had no effect. + +On the 15th of May Lady Anna wrote a note to Daniel Thwaite, and sent +a copy of it to her mother before she had posted it. It was in two +lines;-- + + + DEAR DANIEL, + + Pray come and see me here. If you get this soon enough, + pray come on Tuesday about one. + + Yours affectionately, + + ANNA. + + +"Tell mamma," said she to Sarah, "that I intend to go out and put +that in the post to-day." The letter was addressed to Wyndham Street. +Now the Countess knew that Daniel Thwaite had left Wyndham Street. + +"Tell her," said the Countess, "tell her--; but, of what use to tell +her anything? Let the door be closed upon her. She shall never return +to me any more." The message was given to Lady Anna as she went +forth:--but she posted the letter, and then called in Bedford Square. +Mrs. Bluestone returned with her to Keppel Street; but as the door +was opened by Mrs. Richards, and as no difficulty was made as to Lady +Anna's entrance, Mrs. Bluestone returned home without asking to see +the Countess. + +This happened on a Saturday, but when Tuesday came Daniel Thwaite +did not come to Keppel Street. The note was delivered in course of +post at his old abode, and was redirected from Wyndham Street late on +Monday evening,--having no doubt given cause there for much curiosity +and inspection. Late on the Tuesday it did reach Daniel Thwaite's +residence in Great Russell Street, but he was then out, wandering +about the streets as was his wont, telling himself of all the horrors +of an idle life, and thinking what steps he should take next as to +the gaining of his bride. He had known to a day when she was of age, +and had determined that he would allow her one month from thence +before he would call upon her to say what should be their mutual +fate. She had reached that age but a few days, and now she had +written to him herself. + +On returning home he received the girl's letter, and when the early +morning had come,--the Wednesday morning, the day after that fixed +by Lady Anna,--he made up his mind as to his course of action. He +breakfasted at eight, knowing how useless it would be to stir early, +and then called in Keppel Street, leaving word with Mrs. Richards +herself that he would be there again at one o'clock to see Lady Anna. +"You can tell Lady Anna that I only got her note last night very +late." Then he went off to the hotel in Albemarle Street at which he +knew that Lord Lovel was living. It was something after nine when +he reached the house, and the Earl was not yet out of his bedroom. +Daniel, however, sent up his name, and the Earl begged that he would +go into the sitting-room and wait. "Tell Mr. Thwaite that I will not +keep him above a quarter of an hour." Then the tailor was shown into +the room where the breakfast things were laid, and there he waited. + +Within the last few weeks very much had been said to the Earl +about Daniel Thwaite by many people, and especially by the +Solicitor-General. "You may be sure that she will become his wife," +Sir William had said, "and I would advise you to accept him as her +husband. She is not a girl such as we at first conceived her to be. +She is firm of purpose, and very honest. Obstinate, if you will, +and,--if you will,--obstinate to a bad end. But she is generous, and +let her marry whom she will, you cannot cast her out. You will owe +everything to her high sense of honour;--and I am much mistaken if +you will not owe much to him. Accept them both, and make the best +of them. In five years he'll be in Parliament as likely as not. In +ten years he'll be Sir Daniel Thwaite,--if he cares for it. And in +fifteen years Lady Anna will be supposed by everybody to have made +a very happy marriage." Lord Lovel was at this time inclined to be +submissive in everything to his great adviser, and was now ready to +take Mr. Daniel Thwaite by the hand. + +He did take him by the hand as he entered the sitting-room, radiant +from his bath, clad in a short bright-coloured dressing-gown such +as young men then wore o' mornings, with embroidered slippers on +his feet, and a smile on his face. "I have heard much of you, Mr. +Thwaite," he said, "and am glad to meet you at last. Pray sit down. +I hope you have not breakfasted." + +Poor Daniel was hardly equal to the occasion. The young lord had +been to him always an enemy,--an enemy because the lord had been the +adversary of the Countess and her daughter, an enemy because the lord +was an earl and idle, an enemy because the lord was his rival. Though +he now was nearly sure that this last ground of enmity was at an +end, and though he had come to the Earl for certain purposes of his +own, he could not bring himself to feel that there should be good +fellowship between them. He took the hand that was offered to him, +but took it awkwardly, and sat down as he was bidden. "Thank your +lordship, but I breakfasted long since. If it will suit you, I will +walk about and call again." + +"Not at all. I can eat, and you can talk to me. Take a cup of tea at +any rate." The Earl rang for another teacup, and began to butter his +toast. + +"I believe your lordship knows that I have long been engaged to marry +your lordship's cousin,--Lady Anna Lovel." + +"Indeed I have been told so." + +"By herself." + +"Well;--yes; by herself." + +"I have been allowed to see her but once during the last eight or +nine months." + +"That has not been my fault, Mr. Thwaite." + +"I want you to understand, my lord, that it is not for her money that +I have sought her." + +"I have not accused you, surely." + +"But I have been accused. I am going to see her now,--if I can get +admittance to her. I shall press her to fix a day for our marriage, +and if she will do so, I shall leave no stone unturned to accomplish +it. She has a right to do with herself as she pleases, and no +consideration shall stop me but her wishes." + +"I shall not interfere." + +"I am glad of that, my lord." + +"But I will not answer for her mother. You cannot be surprised, Mr. +Thwaite, that Lady Lovel should be averse to such a marriage." + +"She was not averse to my father's company nor to mine a few years +since;--no nor twelve months since. But I say nothing about that. +Let her be averse. We cannot help it. I have come to you to say that +I hope something may be done about the money before she becomes my +wife. People say that you should have it." + +"Who says so?" + +"I cannot say who;--perhaps everybody. Should every shilling of it be +yours I should marry her as willingly to-morrow. They have given me +what is my own, and that is enough for me. For what is now hers and, +perhaps, should be yours, I will not interfere with it. When she is +my wife, I will guard for her and for those who may come after her +what belongs to her then; but as to what may be done before that, I +care nothing." + +On hearing this the Earl told him the whole story of the arrangement +which was then in progress;--how the property would in fact be +divided into three parts, of which the Countess would have one, he +one, and Lady Anna one. "There will be enough for us all," said the +Earl. + +"And much more than enough for me," said Daniel as he got up to take +his leave. "And now I am going to Keppel Street." + +"You have all my good wishes," said the Earl. The two men again shook +hands;--again the lord was radiant and good humoured;--and again the +tailor was ashamed and almost sullen. He knew that the young nobleman +had behaved well to him, and it was a disappointment to him that any +nobleman should behave well. + +Nevertheless as he walked away slowly towards Keppel Street,--for the +time still hung on his hands,--he began to feel that the great prize +of prizes was coming nearer within his grasp. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. + +DANIEL THWAITE COMES TO KEPPEL STREET. + + +Even the Bluestones were now convinced that Lady Anna Lovel must be +allowed to marry the Keswick tailor, and that it would be expedient +that no further impediment should be thrown in her way. Mrs. +Bluestone had been told, while walking to Keppel Street with the +young lady, of the purport of the letter and of the invitation given +to Daniel Thwaite. The Serjeant at once declared that the girl must +have her own way,--and the Solicitor-General, who also heard of it, +expressed himself very strongly. It was absurd to oppose her. She was +her own mistress. She had shown herself competent to manage her own +affairs. The Countess must be made to understand that she had better +yield at once with what best grace she could. Then it was that he +made that prophecy to the Earl as to the future success of the +fortunate tailor, and then too he wrote at great length to the +Countess, urging many reasons why her daughter should be allowed to +receive Mr. Daniel Thwaite. "Your ladyship has succeeded in very +much," wrote the Solicitor-General, "and even in respect of this +marriage you will have the satisfaction of feeling that the man is in +every way respectable and well-behaved. I hear that he is an educated +man, with culture much higher than is generally found in the state of +life which he has till lately filled, and that he is a man of high +feeling and noble purpose. The manner in which he has been persistent +in his attachment to your daughter is in itself evidence of this. And +I think that your ladyship is bound to remember that the sphere of +life in which he has hitherto been a labourer, would not have been so +humble in its nature had not the means which should have started him +in the world been applied to support and succour your own cause. I am +well aware of your feelings of warm gratitude to the father; but I +think you should bear in mind, on the son's behalf, that he has been +what he has been because his father was so staunch a friend to your +ladyship." There was very much more of it, all expressing the opinion +of Sir William that the Countess should at once open her doors to +Daniel Thwaite. + +The reader need hardly be told that this was wormwood to the +Countess. It did not in the least touch her heart and had but little +effect on her purpose. Gratitude;--yes! But if the whole result of +the exertion for which the receiver is bound to be grateful, is to +be neutralised by the greed of the conferrer of the favour,--if all +is to be taken that has been given, and much more also,--what ground +will there be left for gratitude? If I save a man's purse from a +thief, and then demand for my work twice what that purse contained, +the man had better have been left with the robbers. But she was told, +not only that she ought to accept the tailor as a son-in-law, but +also that she could not help herself. They should see whether she +could not help herself. They should be made to acknowledge that she +at any rate was in earnest in her endeavours to preserve pure and +unspotted the honour of the family. + +But what should she do? That she should put on a gala dress and a +smiling face and be carried off to church with a troop of lawyers and +their wives to see her daughter become the bride of a low journeyman, +was of course out of the question. By no act, by no word, by no +sign would she give aught of a mother's authority to nuptials so +disgraceful. Should her daughter become Lady Anna Thwaite, they two, +mother and daughter, would never see each other again. Of so much at +any rate she was sure. But could she be sure of nothing beyond that? +She could at any rate make an effort. + +Then there came upon her a mad idea,--an idea which was itself +evidence of insanity,--of the glory which would be hers if by any +means she could prevent the marriage. There would be a halo round her +name were she to perish in such a cause, let the destruction come +upon her in what form it might. She sat for hours meditating,--and at +every pause in her thoughts she assured herself that she could still +make an effort. + +She received Sir William's letter late on the Tuesday,--and during +that night she did not lie down or once fall asleep. The man, as she +knew, had been told to come at one on that day, and she had been +prepared; but he did not come, and she then thought that the letter, +which had been addressed to his late residence, had failed to reach +him. During the night she wrote a very long answer to Sir William +pleading her own cause, expatiating on her own feelings, and +palliating any desperate deed which she might be tempted to perform. +But, when the letter had been copied and folded, and duly sealed with +the Lovel arms, she locked it in her desk, and did not send it on its +way even on the following morning. When the morning came, shortly +after eight o'clock, Mrs. Richards brought up the message which +Daniel had left at the door. "Be we to let him in, my lady?" said +Mrs. Richards with supplicating hands upraised. Her sympathies were +all with Lady Anna, but she feared the Countess, and did not dare +in such a matter to act without the mother's sanction. The Countess +begged the woman to come to her in an hour for further instructions, +and at the time named Mrs. Richards, full of the importance of her +work, divided between terror and pleasurable excitement, again +toddled up-stairs. "Be we to let him in, my lady? God, he knows it's +hard upon the likes of me, who for the last three months doesn't know +whether I'm on my head or heels." The Countess very quietly requested +that when Mr. Thwaite should call he might be shown into the parlour. + +"I will see Mr. Thwaite myself, Mrs. Richards; but it will be better +that my daughter should not be disturbed by any intimation of his +coming." + +Then there was a consultation below stairs as to what should be done. +There had been many such consultations, but they had all ended in +favour of the Countess. Mrs. Richards from fear, and the lady's-maid +from favour, were disposed to assist the elder lady. Poor Lady Anna +throughout had been forced to fight her battles with no friend near +her. Now she had many friends,--many who were anxious to support her, +even the Bluestones, who had been so hard upon her while she was +along with them;--but they who were now her friends were never near +her to assist her with a word. + +So it came to pass that when Daniel Thwaite called at the house +exactly at one o'clock Lady Anna was not expecting him. On the +previous day at that hour she had sat waiting with anxious ears for +the knock at the door which might announce his coming. But she had +waited in vain. From one to two,--even till seven in the evening, she +had waited. But he had not come, and she had feared that some scheme +had been used against her. The people at the Post Office had been +bribed,--or the women in Wyndham Street had been false. But she would +not be hindered. She would go out alone and find him,--if he were to +be found in London. + +When he did come, she was not thinking of his coming. He was shown +into the dining-room, and within a minute afterwards the Countess +entered with stately step. She was well dressed, even to the +adjustment of her hair; and she was a woman so changed that he would +hardly have known her as that dear and valued friend whose slightest +word used to be a law to his father,--but who in those days never +seemed to waste a thought upon her attire. She had been out that +morning walking through the streets, and the blood had mounted to her +cheeks He acknowledged to himself that she looked like a noble and +high-born dame. There was a fire in her eye, and a look of scorn +about her mouth and nostrils, which had even for him a certain +fascination,--odious to him as were the pretensions of the so-called +great. She was the first to speak. "You have called to see my +daughter," she said. + +"Yes, Lady Lovel,--I have." + +"You cannot see her." + +"I came at her request." + +"I know you did, but you cannot see her. You can be hardly so +ignorant of the ways of the world, Mr. Thwaite, as to suppose that a +young lady can receive what visitors she pleases without the sanction +of her guardians." + +"Lady Anna Lovel has no guardian, my lady. She is of age, and is at +present her own guardian." + +"I am her mother, and shall exercise the authority of a mother over +her. You cannot see her. You had better go." + +"I shall not be stopped in this way, Lady Lovel." + +"Do you mean that you will force your way up to her? To do so you +will have to trample over me;--and there are constables in the +street. You cannot see her. You had better go." + +"Is she a prisoner?" + +"That is between her and me, and is no affair of yours. You are +intruding here, Mr. Thwaite, and cannot possibly gain anything by +your intrusion." Then she strode out in the passage, and motioned him +to the front door. "Mr. Thwaite, I will beg you to leave this house, +which for the present is mine. If you have any proper feeling you +will not stay after I have told you that you are not welcome." + +But Lady Anna, though she had not expected the coming of her lover, +had heard the sound of voices, and then became aware that the man was +below. As her mother was speaking she rushed down-stairs and threw +herself into her lover's arms. "It shall never be so in my presence," +said the Countess, trying to drag the girl from his embrace by the +shoulders. + +"Anna;--my own Anna," said Daniel in an ecstacy of bliss. It was not +only that his sweetheart was his own, but that her spirit was so +high. + +"Daniel!" she said, still struggling in his arms. + +By this time they were all in the parlour, whither the Countess +had been satisfied to retreat to escape the eyes of the women who +clustered at the top of the kitchen stairs. "Daniel Thwaite," said +the Countess, "if you do not leave this, the blood which will be shed +shall rest on your head," and so saying, she drew nigh to the window +and pulled down the blind. She then crossed over and did the same to +the other blind, and having done so, took her place close to a heavy +upright desk, which stood between the fireplace and the window. When +the two ladies first came to the house they had occupied only the +first and second floors;--but, since the success of their cause, the +whole had been taken, including the parlour in which this scene was +being acted; and the Countess spent many hours daily sitting at the +heavy desk in this dark gloomy chamber. + +"Whose blood shall be shed?" said Lady Anna, turning to her mother. + +"It is the raving of madness," said Daniel. + +"Whether it be madness or not, you shall find, sir, that it is +true. Take your hands from her. Would you disgrace the child in the +presence of her mother?" + +"There is no disgrace, mamma. He is my own, and I am his. Why should +you try to part us?" + +But now they were parted. He was not a man to linger much over the +sweetness of a caress when sterner work was in his hands to be +done. "Lady Lovel," he said, "you must see that this opposition is +fruitless. Ask your cousin, Lord Lovel, and he will tell you that it +is so." + +"I care nothing for my cousin. If he be false, I am true. Though all +the world be false, still will I be true. I do not ask her to marry +her cousin. I simply demand that she shall relinquish one who is +infinitely beneath her,--who is unfit to tie her very shoe-string." + +"He is my equal in all things," said Lady Anna, "and he shall be my +lord and husband." + +"I know of no inequalities such as those you speak of, Lady Lovel," +said the tailor. "The excellence of your daughter's merits I admit, +and am almost disposed to claim some goodness for myself, finding +that one so good can love me. But, Lady Lovel, I do not wish to +remain here now. You are disturbed." + +"I am disturbed, and you had better go." + +"I will go at once if you will let me name some early day on which I +may be allowed to meet Lady Anna,--alone. And I tell her here that if +she be not permitted so to see me, it will be her duty to leave her +mother's house, and come to me. There is my address, dear." Then he +handed to her a paper on which he had written the name of the street +and number at which he was now living. "You are free to come and go +as you list, and if you will send to me there, I will find you here +or elsewhere as you may command me. It is but a short five minutes' +walk beyond the house at which you were staying in Bedford Square." + +The Countess stood silent for a moment or two, looking at them, +during which neither the girl spoke nor her lover. "You will not +even allow her six months to think of it?" said the Countess. +"I will allow her six years if she says that she requires time to +think of it." + +"I do not want an hour,--not a minute," said Lady Anna. + +The mother flashed round upon her daughter. "Poor vain, degraded +wretch," she said. + +"She is a true woman, honest to the heart's core," said the lover. + +"You shall come to-morrow," said the Countess. "Do you hear me, +Anna?--he shall come to-morrow. There shall be an end of this in some +way, and I am broken-hearted. My life is over for me, and I may as +well lay me down and die. I hope God in his mercy may never send upon +another woman,--upon another wife, or another mother,--trouble such +as that with which I have been afflicted. But I tell you this, Anna; +that what evil a husband can do,--even let him be evil-minded as was +your father,--is nothing,--nothing,--nothing to the cruelty of a +cruel child. Go now, Mr. Thwaite; if you please. If you will return +at the same hour to-morrow she shall speak with you--alone. And then +she must do as she pleases." + +"Anna, I will come again to-morrow," said the tailor. But Lady Anna +did not answer him. She did not speak, but stayed looking at him till +he was gone. + +"To-morrow shall end it all. I can stand this no longer. I have +prayed to you,--a mother to her daughter; I have prayed to you for +mercy, and you will show me none. I have knelt to you." + +"Mamma!" + +"I will kneel again if it may avail." And the Countess did kneel. +"Will you not spare me?" + +"Get up, mamma; get up. What am I doing,--what have I done that you +should speak to me like this?" + +"I ask you from my very soul,--lest I commit some terrible crime. I +have sworn that I would not see this marriage,--and I will not see +it." + +"If he will consent I will delay it," said the girl trembling. + +"Must I beg to him then? Must I kneel to him? Must I ask him to save +me from the wrath to come? No, my child, I will not do that. If it +must come, let it come. When you were a little thing at my knees, the +gentlest babe that ever mother kissed, I did not think that you would +live to be so hard to me. You have your mother's brow, my child, but +you have your father's heart." + +"I will ask him to delay it," said Anna. + +"No;--if it be to come to that I will have no dealings with you. +What; that he,--he who has come between me and all my peace, he who +with his pretended friendship has robbed me of my all, that he is to +be asked to grant me a few weeks' delay before this pollution comes +upon me,--during which the whole world will know that Lady Anna Lovel +is to be the tailor's wife! Leave me. When he comes to-morrow, you +shall be sent for;--but I will see him first. Leave me, now. I would +be alone." + +Lady Anna made an attempt to take her mother's hand, but the Countess +repulsed her rudely. "Oh, mamma!" + +"We must be bitter enemies or loving friends, my child. As it is we +are bitter enemies; yes, the bitterest. Leave me now. There is no +room for further words between us." Then Lady Anna slunk up to her +own room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +DANIEL THWAITE COMES AGAIN. + + +The Countess Lovel had prepared herself on that morning for the doing +of a deed, but her heart had failed her. How she might have carried +herself through it had not her daughter came down to them,--how far +she might have been able to persevere, cannot be said now. But it +was certain that she had so far relented that even while the hated +man was there in her presence, she determined that she would once +again submit herself to make entreaties to her child, once again to +speak of all that she had endured, and to pray at least for delay if +nothing else could be accorded to her. If her girl would but promise +to remain with her for six months, then they might go abroad,--and +the chances afforded them by time and distance would be before her. +In that case she would lavish such love upon the girl, so many +indulgences, such sweets of wealth and ease, such store of caresses +and soft luxury, that surely the young heart might thus be turned +to the things which were fit for rank, and high blood, and splendid +possessions. It could not be but that her own child,--the child who +a few months since had been as gentle with her and as obedient as an +infant,--should give way to her as far as that. She tried it, and +her daughter had referred her prayer,--or had said that she would +refer it,--to the decision of her hated lover; and the mother had +at once lost all command of her temper. She had become fierce,--nay, +ferocious; and had lacked the guile and the self-command necessary to +carry out her purpose. Had she persevered Lady Anna must have granted +her the small boon that she then asked. But she had given way to her +wrath, and had declared that her daughter was her bitterest enemy. +As she seated herself at the old desk where Lady Anna left her, she +swore within her own bosom that the deed must be done. + +Even at the moment when she was resolving that she would kneel once +more at her daughter's knees, she prepared herself for the work that +she must do, should the daughter still be as hard as stone to her. +"Come again at one to-morrow," she said to the tailor; and the tailor +said that he would come. + +When she was alone she seated herself on her accustomed chair and +opened the old desk with a key that had now become familiar to her +hand. It was a huge piece of furniture,--such as is never made in +these days, but is found among every congregation of old household +goods,--with numberless drawers clustering below, with a vast body, +full of receptacles for bills, wills, deeds, and waste-paper, and +a tower of shelves above, ascending almost to the ceiling. In the +centre of the centre body was a square compartment, but this had been +left unlocked, so that its contents might be ready to her hand. Now +she opened it and took from it a pistol; and, looking warily over her +shoulder to see that the door was closed, and cautiously up at the +windows, lest some eye might be spying her action even through the +thick blinds, she took the weapon in her hand and held it up so that +she might feel, if possible, how it would be with her when she should +attempt the deed. She looked very narrowly at the lock, of which +the trigger was already back at its place, so that no exertion of +arrangement might be necessary for her at the fatal moment. Never as +yet had she fired a pistol;--never before had she held such a weapon +in her hand;--but she thought that she could do it when her passion +ran high. + +Then for the twentieth time she asked herself whether it would not +be easier to turn it against her own bosom,--against her own brain; +so that all might be over at once. Ah, yes;--so much easier! But how +then would it be with this man who had driven her, by his subtle +courage and persistent audacity, to utter destruction? Could he and +she be made to go down together in that boat which her fancy had +built for them, then indeed it might be well that she should seek her +own death. But were she now to destroy herself,--herself and only +herself,--then would her enemy be left to enjoy his rich prize, a +prize only the richer because she would have disappeared from the +world! And of her, if such had been her last deed, men would only +say that the mad Countess had gone on in her madness. With looks of +sad solemnity, but heartfelt satisfaction, all the Lovels, and that +wretched tailor, and her own daughter, would bestow some mock grief +on her funeral, and there would be an end for ever of Josephine +Countess Lovel,--and no one would remember her, or her deeds, or her +sufferings. When she wandered out from the house on that morning, +after hearing that Daniel Thwaite would be there at one, and had +walked nearly into the mid city so that she might not be watched, +and had bought her pistol and powder and bullets, and had then with +patience gone to work and taught herself how to prepare the weapon +for use, she certainly had not intended simply to make the triumph of +her enemy more easy. + +And yet she knew well what was the penalty of murder, and she knew +also that there could be no chance of escape. Very often had she +turned it in her mind, whether she could not destroy the man so that +the hand of the destroyer might be hidden. But it could not be so. +She could not dog him in the streets. She could not get at him in his +meals to poison him. She could not creep to his bedside and strangle +him in the silent watches of the night. And this woman's heart, even +while from day to day she was meditating murder,--while she was +telling herself that it would be a worthy deed to cut off from life +one whose life was a bar to her own success,--even then revolted from +the shrinking stealthy step, from the low cowardice of the hidden +murderer. To look him in the face and then to slay him,--when no +escape for herself would be possible, that would have in it something +that was almost noble; something at any rate bold,--something that +would not shame her. They would hang her for such a deed! Let them +do so. It was not hanging that she feared, but the tongues of those +who should speak of her when she was gone. They should not speak of +her as one who had utterly failed. They should tell of a woman who, +cruelly misused throughout her life, maligned, scorned, and tortured, +robbed of her own, neglected by her kindred, deserted and damned by +her husband, had still struggled through it all till she had proved +herself to be that which it was her right to call herself;--of +a woman who, though thwarted in her ambition by her own child, +and cheated of her triumph at the very moment of her success, had +dared rather to face an ignominious death than see all her efforts +frustrated by the maudlin fancy of a girl. Yes! She would face it +all. Let them do what they would with her. She hardly knew what might +be the mode of death adjudged to a Countess who had murdered. Let +them kill her as they would, they would kill a Countess;--and the +whole world would know her story. + +That day and night were very dreadful to her. She never asked a +question about her daughter. They had brought her food to her in that +lonely parlour, and she hardly heeded them as they laid the things +before her, and then removed them. Again and again did she unlock the +old desk, and see that the weapon was ready to her hand. Then she +opened that letter to Sir William Patterson, and added a postscript +to it. "What I have since done will explain everything." That was +all she added, and on the following morning, about noon, she put the +letter on the mantelshelf. Late at night she took herself to bed, +and was surprised to find that she slept. The key of the old desk +was under her pillow, and she placed her hand on it the moment that +she awoke. On leaving her own room she stood for a moment at her +daughter's door. It might be, if she killed the man, that she would +never see her child again. At that moment she was tempted to rush +into her daughter's room, to throw herself upon her daughter's bed, +and once again to beg for mercy and grace. She listened, and she knew +that her daughter slept. Then she went silently down to the dark +room and the old desk. Of what use would it be to abase herself? Her +daughter was the only thing that she could love; but her daughter's +heart was filled with the image of that low-born artisan. + +"Is Lady Anna up?" she asked the maid about ten o'clock. + +"Yes, my lady; she is breakfasting now." + +"Tell her that when--when Mr. Thwaite comes, I will send for her as +soon as I wish to see her." + +"I think Lady Anna understands that already, my lady." + +"Tell her what I say." + +"Yes, my lady. I will, my lady." Then the Countess spoke no further +word till, punctually at one o'clock, Daniel Thwaite was shown into +the room. "You keep your time, Mr. Thwaite," she said. + +"Working men should always do that, Lady Lovel," he replied, as +though anxious to irritate her by reminding her how humble was the +man who could aspire to be the son-in-law of a Countess. + +"All men should do so, I presume. I also am punctual. Well sir;--have +you anything else to say?" + +"Much to say,--to your daughter, Lady Lovel." + +"I do not know that you will ever see my daughter again." + +"Do you mean to say that she has been taken away from this?" The +Countess was silent, but moved away from the spot on which she stood +to receive him towards the old desk, which stood open,--with the +door of the centre space just ajar. "If it be so, you have deceived +me most grossly, Lady Lovel. But it can avail you nothing, for I +know that she will be true to me. Do you tell me that she has been +removed?" + +"I have told you no such thing." + +"Bid her come then,--as you promised me." + +"I have a word to say to you first. What if she should refuse to +come?" + +"I do not believe that she will refuse. You yourself heard what she +said yesterday. All earth and all heaven should not make me doubt +her, and certainly not your word, Lady Lovel. You know how it is, and +you know how it must be." + +"Yes,--I do; I do; I do." She was facing him with her back to the +window, and she put forth her left hand upon the open desk, and +thrust it forward as though to open the square door which stood +ajar;--but he did not notice her hand; he had his eye fixed upon her, +and suspected only deceit,--not violence. "Yes, I know how it must +be," she said, while her fingers approached nearer to the little +door. + +"Then let her come to me." + +"Will nothing turn you from it?" + +"Nothing will turn me from it." + +Then suddenly she withdrew her hand and confronted him more closely. +"Mine has been a hard life, Mr. Thwaite;--no life could have been +harder. But I have always had something before me for which to long, +and for which to hope;--something which I might reach if justice +should at length prevail." + +"You have got money and rank." + +"They are nothing--nothing. In all those many years, the thing that I +have looked for has been the splendour and glory of another, and the +satisfaction I might feel in having bestowed upon her all that she +owned. Do you think that I will stand by, after such a struggle, +and see you rob me of it all,--you,--you, who were one of the tools +which came to my hand to work with? From what you know of me, do you +think that my spirit could stoop so low? Answer me, if you have ever +thought of that. Let the eagles alone, and do not force yourself into +our nest. You will find, if you do, that you will be rent to pieces." + +"This is nothing, Lady Lovel. I came here,--at your bidding, to see +your daughter. Let me see her." + +"You will not go?" + +"Certainly I will not go." + +She looked at him as she slowly receded to her former +standing-ground, but he never for a moment suspected the nature of +her purpose. He began to think that some actual insanity had befallen +her, and was doubtful how he should act. But no fear of personal +violence affected him. He was merely questioning with himself whether +it would not be well for him to walk up-stairs into the upper room, +and seek Lady Anna there, as he stood watching the motion of her +eyes. + +"You had better go," said she, as she again put her left hand on the +flat board of the open desk. + +"You trifle with me, Lady Lovel," he answered. "As you will not allow +Lady Anna to come to me here, I will go to her elsewhere. I do not +doubt but that I shall find her in the house." Then he turned to +the door, intending to leave the room. He had been very near to her +while they were talking, so that he had some paces to traverse before +he could put his hand upon the lock,--but in doing so his back was +turned on her. In one respect it was better for her purpose that it +should be so. She could open the door of the compartment and put her +hand upon the pistol without having his eye upon her. But, as it +seemed to her at the moment, the chance of bringing her purpose to +its intended conclusion was less than it would have been had she been +able to fire at his face. She had let the moment go by,--the first +moment,--when he was close to her, and now there would be half the +room between them. But she was very quick. She seized the pistol, +and, transferring it to her right hand, she rushed after him, and +when the door was already half open she pulled the trigger. In the +agony of that moment she heard no sound, though she saw the flash. +She saw him shrink and pass the door, which he left unclosed, and +then she heard a scuffle in the passage, as though he had fallen +against the wall. She had provided herself especially with a second +barrel,--but that was now absolutely useless to her. There was no +power left to her wherewith to follow him and complete the work which +she had begun. She did not think that she had killed him, though +she was sure that he was struck. She did not believe that she had +accomplished anything of her wishes,--but had she held in her hand a +six-barrelled revolver, as of the present day, she could have done no +more with it. She was overwhelmed with so great a tremor at her own +violence that she was almost incapable of moving. She stood glaring +at the door, listening for what should come, and the moments seemed +to be hours. But she heard no sound whatever. A minute passed away +perhaps, and the man did not move. She looked around as if seeking +some way of escape,--as though, were it possible, she would get to +the street through the window. There was no mode of escape, unless +she would pass out through the door to the man who, as she knew, must +still be there. Then she heard him move. She heard him rise,--from +what posture she knew not, and step towards the stairs. She was still +standing with the pistol in her hand, but was almost unconscious that +she held it. At last her eye glanced upon it, and she was aware that +she was still armed. Should she rush after him, and try what she +could do with that other bullet? The thought crossed her mind, but +she knew that she could do nothing. Had all the Lovels depended upon +it, she could not have drawn that other trigger. She took the pistol, +put it back into its former hiding-place, mechanically locked the +little door, and then seated herself in her chair. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +THE ATTEMPT AND NOT THE DEED CONFOUNDS US. + + +The tailor's hand was on the lock of the door when he first saw the +flash of the fire, and then felt that he was wounded. Though his back +was turned to the woman he distinctly saw the flash, but he never +could remember that he had heard the report. He knew nothing of the +nature of the injury he had received, and was hardly aware of the +place in which he had been struck, when he half closed the door +behind him and then staggered against the opposite wall. For a moment +he was sick, almost to fainting, but yet he did not believe that he +had been grievously hurt. He was, however, disabled, weak, and almost +incapable of any action. He seated himself on the lowest stair, and +began to think. The woman had intended to murder him! She had lured +him there with the premeditated intention of destroying him! And this +was the mother of his bride,--the woman whom he intended to call his +mother-in-law! He was not dead, nor did he believe that he was like +to die; but had she killed him,--what must have been the fate of the +murderess! As it was, would it not be necessary that she should be +handed over to the law, and dealt with for the offence? He did not +know that they might not even hang her for the attempt. + +He said afterwards that he thought that he sat there for a quarter of +an hour. Three minutes, however, had not passed before Mrs. Richards, +ascending from the kitchen, found him upon the stairs. "What is it, +Mr. Thwaite?" said she. + +"Is anything the matter?" he asked with a faint smile. + +"The place is full of smoke," she said, "and there is a smell of +gunpowder." + +"There is no harm done at any rate," he answered. + +"I thought I heard a something go off," said Sarah, who was behind +Mrs. Richards. + +"Did you?" said he. "I heard nothing; but there certainly is a +smoke," and he still smiled. + +"What are you sitting there for, Mr. Thwaite?" asked Mrs. Richards. + +"You ain't no business to sit there, Mr. Thwaite," said Sarah. + +"You've been and done something to the Countess," said Mrs. Richards. + +"The Countess is all right. I'm going up-stairs to see Lady +Anna;--that's all. But I've hurt myself a little. I'm bad in my left +shoulder, and I sat down just to get a rest." As he spoke he was +still smiling. + +Then the woman looked at him and saw that he was very pale. At that +instant he was in great pain, though he felt that as the sense of +intense sickness was leaving him he would be able to go up-stairs and +say a word or two to his sweetheart, should he find her. "You ain't +just as you ought to be, Mr. Thwaite," said Mrs. Richards. He was +very haggard, and perspiration was on his brow, and she thought that +he had been drinking. + +"I am well enough," said he rising,--"only that I am much troubled by +a hurt in my arm. At any rate I will go up-stairs." Then he mounted +slowly, leaving the two women standing in the passage. + +Mrs. Richards gently opened the parlour door, and entered the room, +which was still reeking with smoke and the smell of the powder, and +there she found the Countess seated at the old desk, but with her +body and face turned round towards the door. "Is anything the matter, +my lady?" asked the woman. + +"Where has he gone?" + +"Mr. Thwaite has just stepped up-stairs,--this moment. He was very +queer like, my lady." + +"Is he hurt?" + +"We think he's been drinking, my lady," said Sarah. + +"He says that his shoulder is ever so bad," said Mrs. Richards. + +Then for the first time it occurred to the Countess that perhaps the +deed which she had done,--the attempt in which she had failed,--might +never be known. Instinctively she had hidden the pistol and had +locked the little door, and concealed the key within her bosom as +soon as she was alone. Then she thought that she would open the +window; but she had been afraid to move, and she had sat there +waiting while she heard the sound of voices in the passage. "Oh,--his +shoulder!" said she. "No,--he has not been drinking. He never drinks. +He has been very violent, but he never drinks. Well,--why do you +wait?" + +"There is such a smell of something," said Mrs. Richards. + +"Yes;--you had better open the windows. There was an accident. Thank +you;--that will do." + +"And is he to be alone,--with Lady Anna, up-stairs?" asked the maid. + +"He is to be alone with her. How can I help it? If she chooses to be +a scullion she must follow her bent. I have done all I could. Why do +you wait? I tell you that he is to be with her. Go away, and leave +me." Then they went and left her, wondering much, but guessing +nothing of the truth. She watched them till they had closed the door, +and then instantly opened the other window wide. It was now May, but +the weather was still cold. There had been rain the night before, and +it had been showery all the morning. She had come in from her walk +damp and chilled, and there was a fire in the grate. But she cared +nothing for the weather. Looking round the room she saw a morsel +of wadding near the floor, and she instantly burned it. She longed +to look at the pistol, but she did not dare to take it from its +hiding-place lest she should be discovered in the act. Every energy +of her mind was now strained to the effort of avoiding detection. +Should he choose to tell what had been done, then, indeed, all would +be over. But had he not resolved to be silent he would hardly have +borne the agony of the wound and gone up-stairs without speaking +of it. She almost forgot now the misery of the last year in the +intensity of her desire to escape the disgrace of punishment. A +sudden nervousness, a desire to do something by which she might help +to preserve herself, seized upon her. But there was nothing which she +could do. She could not follow him lest he should accuse her to her +face. It would be vain for her to leave the house till he should have +gone. Should she do so, she knew that she would not dare return to +it. So she sat, thinking, dreaming, plotting, crushed by an agony of +fear, looking anxiously at the door, listening for every footfall +within the house; and she watched too for the well-known click of +the area gate, dreading lest any one should go out to seek the +intervention of the constables. + +In the meantime Daniel Thwaite had gone up-stairs, and had knocked at +the drawing-room door. It was instantly opened by Lady Anna herself. +"I heard you come;--what a time you have been here!--I thought that +I should never see you." As she spoke she stood close to him that he +might embrace her. But the pain of his wound affected his whole body, +and he felt that he could hardly raise even his right arm. He was +aware now that the bullet had entered his back, somewhere on his left +shoulder. "Oh, Daniel;--are you ill?" she said, looking at him. + +"Yes, dear;--I am ill;--not very ill. Did you hear nothing?" + +"No!" + +"Nor yet see anything?" + +"No!" + +"I will tell you all another time;--only do not ask me now." She had +seated herself beside him and wound her arm round his back as though +to support him. "You must not touch me, dearest." + +"You have been hurt." + +"Yes;--I have been hurt. I am in pain, though I do not think that it +signifies. I had better go to a surgeon, and then you shall hear from +me." + +"Tell me, Daniel;--what is it, Daniel?" + +"I will tell you,--but not now. You shall know all, but I +should do harm were I to say it now. Say not a word to any one, +sweetheart,--unless your mother ask you." + +"What shall I tell her?" + +"That I am hurt,--but not seriously hurt;--and that the less said +the sooner mended. Tell her also that I shall expect no further +interruption to my letters when I write to you,--or to my visits when +I can come. God bless you, dearest;--one kiss, and now I will go." + +"You will send for me if you are ill, Daniel?" + +"If I am really ill, I will send for you." So saying, he left her, +went down-stairs, with great difficulty opened for himself the front +door, and departed. + +Lady Anna, though she had been told nothing of what had happened, +except that her lover was hurt, at once surmised something of what +had been done. Daniel Thwaite had suffered some hurt from her +mother's wrath. She sat for a while thinking what it might have been. +She had seen no sign of blood. Could it be that her mother had struck +him in her anger with some chance weapon that had come to hand? That +there had been violence she was sure,--and sure also that her mother +had been in fault. When Daniel had been some few minutes gone she +went down, that she might deliver his message. At the foot of the +stairs, and near the door of the parlour, she met Mrs. Richards. "I +suppose the young man has gone, my lady?" asked the woman. + +"Mr. Thwaite has gone." + +"And I make so bold, my lady, as to say that he ought not to come +here. There has been a doing of some kind, but I don't know what. He +says as how he's been hurt, and I'm sure I don't know how he should +be hurt here,--unless he brought it with him. I never had nothing of +the kind here before, long as I've been here. Of course your title +and that is all right, my lady; but the young man isn't fit;--that's +the truth of it. My belief is he'd been a drinking; and I won't have +it in my house." + +Lady Anna passed by her without a word and went into her mother's +room. The Countess was still seated in her chair, and neither rose +nor spoke when her daughter entered. "Mamma, Mr. Thwaite is hurt." + +"Well;--what of it? Is it much that ails him?" + +"He is in pain. What has been done, mamma?" The Countess looked at +her, striving to learn from the girl's face and manner what had been +told and what concealed. "Did you--strike him?" + +"Has he said that I struck him?" + +"No, mamma;--but something has been done that should not have been +done. I know it. He has sent you a message, mamma." + +"What was it?" asked the Countess, in a hoarse voice. + +"That he was hurt, but not seriously." + +"Oh;--he said that." + +"I fear he is hurt seriously." + +"But he said that he was not?" + +"Yes;--and that the less said the sooner mended." + +"Did he say that too?" + +"That was his message." + +The Countess gave a long sigh, then sobbed, and at last broke out +into hysteric tears. It was evident to her now that the man was +sparing her,--was endeavouring to spare her. He had told no one as +yet. "The least said the soonest mended." Oh yes;--if he would say +never a word to any one of what had occurred between them that day, +that would be best for her. But how could he not tell? When some +doctor should ask him how he had come by that wound, surely he would +tell then! It could not be possible that such a deed should have been +done there, in that little room, and that no one should know it! And +why should he not tell,--he who was her enemy? Had she caught him at +advantage, would she not have smote him, hip and thigh? And then she +reflected what it would be to owe perhaps her life to the mercy of +Daniel Thwaite,--to the mercy of her enemy, of him who knew,--if no +one else should know,--that she had attempted to murder him. It would +be better for her, should she be spared to do so, to go away to some +distant land, where she might hide her head for ever. + +"May I go to him, mamma, to see him?" Lady Anna asked. The Countess, +full of her own thoughts, sat silent, answering not a word. "I know +where he lives, mamma, and I fear that he is much hurt." + +"He will not--die," muttered the Countess. + +"God forbid that he should die;--but I will go to him." Then she +returned up-stairs without a word of opposition from her mother, put +on her bonnet, and sallied forth. No one stopped her or said a word +to her now, and she seemed to herself to be as free as air. She +walked up to the corner of Gower Street, and turned down into Bedford +Square, passing the house of the Serjeant. Then she asked her way +into Great Russell Street, which she found to be hardly more than a +stone's throw from the Serjeant's door, and soon found the number at +which her lover lived. No;--Mr. Thwaite was not at home. Yes;--she +might wait for him;--but he had no room but his bedroom. Then she +became very bold. "I am engaged to be his wife," she said. "Are +you the Lady Anna?" asked the woman, who had heard the story. Then +she was received with great distinction, and invited to sit down +in a parlour on the ground-floor. There she sat for three hours, +motionless, alone,--waiting,--waiting,--waiting. When it was quite +dark, at about six o'clock, Daniel Thwaite entered the room with his +left arm bound up. "My girl!" he said, with so much joy in his tone +that she could not but rejoice to hear him. "So you have found me +out, and have come to me!" + +"Yes, I have come. Tell me what it is. I know that you are hurt." + +"I have been hurt certainly. The doctor wanted me to go into a +hospital, but I trust that I may escape that. But I must take care of +myself. I had to come back here in a coach, because the man told me +not to walk." + +"How was it, Daniel? Oh, Daniel, you will tell me everything?" + +Then she sat beside him as he lay upon the couch, and listened to him +while he told her the whole story. He hid nothing from her, but as he +went on he made her understand that it was his intention to conceal +the whole deed, to say nothing of it, so that the perpetrator +should escape punishment, if it might be possible. She listened in +awe-struck silence as she heard the tale of her mother's guilt. And +he, with wonderful skill, with hearty love for the girl, and in true +mercy to her feelings, palliated the crime of the would-be murderess. +"She was beside herself with grief and emotion," he said, "and has +hardly surprised me by what she has done. Had I thought of it, I +should almost have expected it." + +"She may do it again, Daniel." + +"I think not. She will be cowed now, and quieter. She did not +interfere when you told her that you were coming to me? It will be +a lesson to her, and so it may be good for us." Then he bade her to +tell her mother that he, as far as he was concerned, would hold his +peace. If she would forget all past injuries, so would he. If she +would hold out her hand to him, he would take it. If she could not +bring herself to this,--could not bring herself as yet,--then let her +go apart. No notice should be taken of what she had done. "But she +must not again stand between us," he said. + +"Nothing shall stand between us," said Lady Anna. + +Then he told her, laughing as he did so, how hard it had been for +him to keep the story of his wound secret from the doctor, who had +already extracted the ball, and who was to visit him on the morrow. +The practitioner to whom he had gone, knowing nothing of gunshot +wounds, had taken him to a first-class surgeon, and the surgeon had +of course asked as to the cause of the wound. Daniel had said that it +was an accident as to which he could not explain the cause. "You mean +you will not tell," said the surgeon. "Exactly so. I will not tell. +It is my secret. That I did not do it myself you may judge from the +spot in which I was shot." To this the surgeon assented; and, though +he pressed the question, and said something as to the necessity for +an investigation, he could get no satisfaction. However, he had +learned Daniel's name and address. He was to call on the morrow, and +would then perhaps succeed in learning something of the mystery. "In +the meantime, my darling, I must go to bed, for it seems as though +every bone in my body was sore. I have brought an old woman with me +who is to look after me." + +Then she left him, promising that she would come on the morrow and +would nurse him. "Unless they lock me up, I will be here," she said. +Daniel Thwaite thought that in the present circumstances no further +attempt would be made to constrain her actions. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE LAWYERS AGREE. + + +When a month had passed by a great many people knew how Mr. Daniel +Thwaite had come by the wound in his back, but nobody knew it +"officially." There is a wide difference in the qualities of +knowledge regarding such matters. In affairs of public interest we +often know, or fancy that we know, down to every exact detail, how a +thing has been done,--who have given the bribes and who have taken +them,--who has told the lie and who has pretended to believe it,--who +has peculated and how the public purse has suffered,--who was in +love with such a one's wife and how the matter was detected, then +smothered up, and condoned; but there is no official knowledge, and +nothing can be done. The tailor and the Earl, the Countess and her +daughter, had become public property since the great trial had been +commenced, and many eyes were on them. Before a week had gone by it +was known in every club and in every great drawing-room that the +tailor had been shot in the shoulder,--and it was almost known that +the pistol had been fired by the hands of the Countess. The very +eminent surgeon into whose hands Daniel had luckily fallen did not +press his questions very far when his patient told him that it would +be for the welfare of many people that nothing further should be +asked on the matter. "An accident has occurred," said Daniel, "as to +which I do not intend to say anything further. I can assure you that +no injury has been done beyond that which I suffer." The eminent +surgeon no doubt spoke of the matter among his friends, but he always +declared that he had no certain knowledge as to the hand which fired +the pistol. + +The women in Keppel Street of course talked. There had certainly been +a smoke and a smell of gunpowder. Mrs. Richards had heard nothing. +Sarah thought that she had heard a noise. They both were sure that +Daniel Thwaite had been much the worse for drink,--a statement which +led to considerable confusion. No pistol was ever seen,--though +the weapon remained in the old desk for some days, and was at last +conveyed out of the house when the Countess left it with all her +belongings. She had been afraid to hide it more stealthily or even +throw it away, lest her doing so should be discovered. Had the law +interfered,--had any search-warrant been granted,--the pistol would, +of course, have been found. As it was, no one asked the Countess a +question on the subject. The lawyers who had been her friends, and +had endeavoured to guide her through her difficulties, became afraid +of her, and kept aloof from her. They had all gone over to the +opinion that Lady Anna should be allowed to marry the tailor, and had +on that account become her enemies. She was completely isolated, and +was now spoken of mysteriously,--as a woman who had suffered much, +and was nearly mad with grief, as a violent, determined, dangerous +being, who was interesting as a subject for conversation, but one not +at all desirable as an acquaintance. During the whole of this month +the Countess remained in Keppel Street, and was hardly ever seen by +any but the inmates of that house. + +Lady Anna had returned home all alone, on the evening of the day on +which the deed had been done, after leaving her lover in the hands +of the old nurse with whose services he had been furnished. The rain +was still falling as she came through Russell Square. The distance +was indeed short, but she was wet and cold and draggled when she +returned; and the criminality of the deed which her mother had +committed had come fully home to her mind during the short journey. +The door was opened to her by Mrs. Richards, and she at once asked +for the Countess. "Lady Anna, where have you been?" asked Mrs. +Richards, who was learning to take upon herself, during these +troubles, something of the privilege of finding fault. But Lady +Anna put her aside without a word, and went into the parlour. There +sat the Countess just as she had been left,--except that a pair of +candles stood upon the table, and that the tea-things had been laid +there. "You are all wet," she said. "Where have you been?" + +"He has told me all," the girl replied, without answering the +question. "Oh, mamma;--how could you do it?" + +"Who has driven me to it? It has been you,--you, you. Well;--what +else?" + +"Mamma, he has forgiven you." + +"Forgiven me! I will not have his forgiveness." + +"Oh, mamma;--if I forgive you, will you not be friends with us?" She +stooped over her mother, and kissed her, and then went on and told +what she had to tell. She stood and told it all in a low voice, so +that no ear but that of her mother should hear her,--how the ball had +hit him, how it had been extracted, how nothing had been and nothing +should be told, how Daniel would forgive it all and be her friend, +if she would let him. "But, mamma, I hope you will be sorry." The +Countess sat silent, moody, grim, with her eyes fixed on the table. +She would say nothing. "And, mamma,--I must go to him every day,--to +do things for him and to help to nurse him. Of course he will be my +husband now." Still the Countess said not a word, either of approval +or of dissent. Lady Anna sat down for a moment or two, hoping that +her mother would allow her to eat and drink in the room, and that +thus they might again begin to live together. But not a word was +spoken nor a motion made, and the silence became awful, so that the +girl did not dare to keep her seat. "Shall I go, mamma?" she said. + +"Yes;--you had better go." After that they did not see each other +again on that evening, and during the week or ten days following they +lived apart. + +On the following morning, after an early breakfast, Lady Anna went to +Great Russell Street, and there she remained the greater part of the +day. The people of the house understood that the couple were to be +married as soon as their lodger should be well, and had heard much of +the magnificence of the marriage. They were kind and good, and the +tailor declared very often that this was the happiest period of his +existence. Of all the good turns ever done to him, he said, the wound +in his back had been the best. As his sweetheart sat by his bedside +they planned their future life. They would still go to the distant +land on which his heart was set, though it might be only for awhile; +and she, with playfulness, declared that she would go there as Mrs. +Thwaite. "I suppose they can't prevent me calling myself Mrs. +Thwaite, if I please." + +"I am not so sure of that," said the tailor. "Evil burs stick fast." + +It would be vain now to tell of all the sweet lovers' words that were +spoken between them during those long hours;--but the man believed +that no girl had ever been so true to her lover through so many +difficulties as Lady Anna had been to him, and she was sure that she +had never varied in her wish to become the wife of the man who had +first asked her for her love. She thought much and she thought often +of the young lord; but she took the impress of her lover's mind, and +learned to regard her cousin, the Earl, as an idle, pretty popinjay, +born to eat, to drink, and to carry sweet perfumes. "Just a +butterfly," said the tailor. + +"One of the brightest butterflies," said the girl. + +"A woman should not be a butterfly,--not altogether a butterfly," he +answered. "But for a man it is surely a contemptible part. Do you +remember the young man who comes to Hotspur on the battlefield, or +him whom the king sent to Hamlet about the wager? When I saw Lord +Lovel at his breakfast table, I thought of them. I said to myself +that spermaceti was the 'sovereignest thing on earth for an inward +wound,' and I told myself that he was of 'very soft society, and +great showing.'" She smiled, though she did not know the words he +quoted, and assured him that her poor cousin Lord Lovel would not +trouble him much in the days that were to come. "He will not trouble +me at all, but as he is your cousin I would fain that he could be a +man. He had a sort of gown on which would have made a grand frock for +you, sweetheart;--only too smart I fear for my wife." She laughed +and was pleased,--and remembered without a shade either of regret +or remorse the manner in which the popinjay had helped her over the +stepping-stones at Bolton Abbey. + +But the tailor, though he thus scorned the lord, was quite willing +that a share of the property should be given up to him. "Unless you +did, how on earth could he wear such grand gowns as that? I can +understand that he wants it more than I do, and if there are to be +earls, I suppose they should be rich. We do not want it, my girl." + +"You will have half, Daniel," she said. + +"As far as that goes, I do not want a doit of it,--not a penny-piece. +When they paid me what became my own by my father's will, I was rich +enough,--rich enough for you and me too, my girl, if that was all. +But it is better that it should be divided. If he had it all he +would buy too many gowns; and it may be that with us some good will +come of it. As far as I can see, no good comes of money spent on +race-courses, and in gorgeous gowns." + +This went on from day to day throughout a month, and every day Lady +Anna took her place with her lover. After a while her mother came up +into the drawing-room in Keppel Street, and then the two ladies again +lived together. Little or nothing, however, was said between them +as to their future lives. The Countess was quiet, sullen,--and to a +bystander would have appeared to be indifferent. She had been utterly +vanquished by the awe inspired by her own deed, and by the fear which +had lasted for some days that she might be dragged to trial for the +offence. As that dread subsided she was unable to recover her former +spirits. She spoke no more of what she had done and what she had +suffered, but seemed to submit to the inevitable. She said nothing of +any future life that might be in store for her, and, as far as her +daughter could perceive, had no plans formed for the coming time. At +last Lady Anna found it necessary to speak of her own plans. "Mamma," +she said, "Mr. Thwaite wishes that banns should be read in church for +our marriage." + +"Banns!" exclaimed the Countess. + +"Yes, mamma; he thinks it best." The Countess made no further +observation. If the thing was to be, it mattered little to her +whether they were to be married by banns or by licence,--whether her +girl should walk down to church like a maid-servant, or be married +with all the pomp and magnificence to which her rank and wealth might +entitle her. How could there be splendour, how even decency, in such +a marriage as this? She at any rate would not be present, let them be +married in what way they would. On the fourth Sunday after the shot +had been fired the banns were read for the first time in Bloomsbury +Church, and the future bride was described as Anna Lovel,--commonly +called Lady Anna Lovel,--spinster. Neither on that occasion, or on +either of the two further callings, did any one get up in church to +declare that impediment existed why Daniel Thwaite the tailor and +Lady Anna Lovel should not be joined together in holy matrimony. + +In the mean time the lawyers had been at work dividing the property, +and in the process of doing so it had been necessary that Mr. Goffe +should have various interviews with the Countess. She also, as the +undisputed widow of the late intestate Earl, was now a very rich +woman, with an immense income at her control. But no one wanted +assistance from her. There was her revenue, and she was doomed to +live apart with it in her solitude,--with no fellow-creature to +rejoice with her in her triumph, with no dependant whom she could +make happy with her wealth. She was a woman with many faults,--but +covetousness was not one of them. If she could have given it all +to the young Earl,--and her daughter with it, she would have been +a happy woman. Had she been permitted to dream that it was all so +settled that her grandchild would become of all Earl Lovels the most +wealthy and most splendid, she would have triumphed indeed. But, as +it was, there was no spot in her future career brighter to her than +those long years of suffering which she had passed in the hope that +some day her child might be successful. Triumph indeed! There was +nothing before her but solitude and shame. + +Nevertheless she listened to Mr. Goffe, and signed the papers that +were put before her. When, however, he spoke to her of what was +necessary for the marriage,--as to the settlement, which must, Mr. +Goffe said, be made as to the remaining moiety of her daughter's +property,--she answered curtly that she knew nothing of that. Her +daughter's affairs were no concern of hers. She had, indeed, worked +hard to establish her daughter's rights, but her daughter was now of +age, and could do as she pleased with her own. She would not even +remain in the room while the matter was being discussed. "Lady Anna +and I have separate interests," she said haughtily. + +Lady Anna herself simply declared that half of her estate should be +made over to her cousin, and that the other half should go to her +husband. But the attorney was not satisfied to take instructions on +a matter of such moment from one so young. As to all that was to +appertain to the Earl, the matter was settled. The Solicitor-General +and Serjeant Bluestone had acceded to the arrangement, and the +Countess herself had given her assent before she had utterly +separated her own interests from those of her daughter. In regard +to so much, Mr. Goffe could go to work in conjunction with Mr. +Flick without a scruple; but as to that other matter there must be +consultations, conferences, and solemn debate. The young lady, no +doubt, might do as she pleased; but lawyers can be very powerful. Sir +William was asked for his opinion, and suggested that Daniel Thwaite +himself should be invited to attend at Mr. Goffe's chambers, as soon +as his wound would allow him to do so. Daniel, who did not care for +his wound so much as he should have done, was with Mr. Goffe on the +following morning, and heard a lengthy explanation from the attorney. +The Solicitor-General had been consulted;--this Mr. Goffe said, +feeling that a tailor would not have a word to say against so high +an authority;--the Solicitor-General had been consulted, and was of +opinion that Lady Anna's interests should be guarded with great care. +A very large property, he might say a splendid estate, was concerned. +Mr. Thwaite of course understood that the family had been averse +to this marriage,--naturally very averse. Now, however, they were +prepared to yield. + +The tailor interrupted the attorney at this period of his speech. "We +don't want anybody to yield, Mr. Goffe. We are going to do what we +please, and don't know anything about yielding." + +Mr. Goffe remarked that all that might be very well, but that, as so +large a property was at stake, the friends of the lady, according to +all usage, were bound to interfere. A settlement had already been +made in regard to the Earl. + +"You mean, Mr. Goffe, that Lady Anna has given her cousin half her +money?" + +The attorney went on to say that Mr. Thwaite might put it in that +way if he pleased. The deeds had already been executed. With regard +to the other moiety Mr. Thwaite would no doubt not object to a +trust-deed, by which it should be arranged that the money should be +invested in land, the interest to be appropriated to the use of Lady +Anna, and the property be settled on the eldest son. Mr. Thwaite +would, of course, have the advantage of the income during his wife's +life. The attorney, in explaining all this, made an exceedingly good +legal exposition, and then waited for the tailor's assent. + +"Are those Lady Anna's instructions?" + +Mr. Goffe replied that the proposal was made in accordance with the +advice of the Solicitor-General. + +"I'll have nothing to do with such a settlement," said the tailor. +"Lady Anna has given away half her money, and may give away the +whole if she pleases. She will be the same to me whether she comes +full-handed or empty. But when she is my wife her property shall be +my property,--and when I die there shall be no such abomination as an +eldest son." Mr. Goffe was persuasive, eloquent, indignant, and very +wise. All experience, all usage, all justice, all tradition, required +that there should be some such settlement as he had suggested. But it +was in vain. "I don't want my wife to have anything of her own before +marriage," said he; "but she certainly shall have nothing after +marriage,--independent of me." For a man with sound views of domestic +power and marital rights always choose a Radical! In this case there +was no staying him. The girl was all on his side, and Mr. Goffe, with +infinite grief, was obliged to content himself with binding up a +certain portion of the property to make an income for the widow, +should the tailor die before his wife. And thus the tailor's marriage +received the sanction of all the lawyers. + +A day or two after this Daniel Thwaite called upon the Countess. +It was now arranged that they should be married early in July, and +questions had arisen as to the manner of the ceremony. Who should +give away the bride? Of what nature should the marriage be? Should +there be any festival? Should there be bridesmaids? Where should they +go when they were married? What dresses should be bought? After what +fashion should they be prepared to live? Those, and questions of a +like nature, required to be answered, and Lady Anna felt that these +matters should not be fixed without some reference to her mother. +It had been her most heartfelt desire to reconcile the Countess to +the marriage,--to obtain, at any rate, so much recognition as would +enable her mother to be present in the church. But the Countess had +altogether refused to speak on the subject, and had remained silent, +gloomy, and impenetrable. Then Daniel had himself proposed that he +would see her, and on a certain morning he called. He sent up his +name, with his compliments, and the Countess allowed him to be shown +into her room. Lady Anna had begged that it might be so, and she had +yielded,--yielded without positive assent, as she had now done in +all matters relating to this disastrous marriage. On that morning, +however, she had spoken a word. "If Mr. Thwaite chooses to see me, I +must be alone." And she was alone when the tailor was shown into the +room. Up to that day he had worn his arm in a sling,--and should then +have continued to do so; but, on this visit of peace to her who had +attempted to be his murderer, he put aside this outward sign of the +injury she had inflicted on him. He smiled as he entered the room, +and she rose to receive him. She was no longer a young woman;--and no +woman of her age or of any other had gone through rougher usage;--but +she could not keep the blood out of her cheeks as her eyes met +his, nor could she summon to her support that hard persistency of +outward demeanour with which she had intended to arm herself for the +occasion. "So you have come to see me, Mr. Thwaite?" she said. + +"I have come, Lady Lovel, to shake hands with you, if it may be so, +before my marriage with your daughter. It is her wish that we should +be friends,--and mine also." So saying, he put out his hand, and the +Countess slowly gave him hers. "I hope the time may come, Lady Lovel, +when all animosity may be forgotten between you and me, and nothing +be borne in mind but the old friendship of former years." + +"I do not know that that can be," she said. + +"I hope it may be so. Time cures all things,--and I hope it may be +so." + +"There are sorrows, Mr. Thwaite, which no time can cure. You have +triumphed, and can look forward to the pleasures of success. I have +been foiled, and beaten, and broken to pieces. With me the last is +worse even than the first. I do not know that I can ever have another +friend. Your father was my friend." + +"And I would be so also." + +"You have been my enemy. All that he did to help me,--all that +others have done since to forward me on my way, has been brought +to nothing--by you! My joys have been turned to grief, my rank has +been made a disgrace, my wealth has become like ashes between my +teeth;--and it has been your doing. They tell me that you will be my +daughter's husband. I know that it must be so. But I do not see that +you can be my friend." + +"I had hoped to find you softer, Lady Lovel." + +"It is not my nature to be soft. All this has not tended to make me +soft. If my daughter will let me know from time to time that she is +alive, that is all that I shall require of her. As to her future +career, I cannot interest myself in it as I had hoped to do. +Good-bye, Mr. Thwaite. You need fear no further interference from +me." + +So the interview was over, and not a word had been said about the +attempt at murder. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. + +HARD LINES. + + +At the time that the murder was attempted Lord Lovel was in +London,--and had seen Daniel Thwaite on that morning; but before any +confirmed rumour had reached his ears he had left London again on his +road to Yoxham. He knew now that he would be endowed with something +like ten thousand a year out of the wealth of the late Earl, but +that he would not have the hand of his fair cousin, the late Earl's +daughter. Perhaps it was as well as it was. The girl had never loved +him, and he could now choose for himself;--and need not choose till +it should be his pleasure to settle himself as a married man. After +all, his marriage with Lady Anna would have been a constrained +marriage,--a marriage which he would have accepted as the means of +making his fortune. The girl certainly had pleased him;--but it +might be that a girl who preferred a tailor would not have continued +to please him. At any rate he could not be unhappy with his +newly-acquired fortune, and he went down to Yoxham to receive the +congratulation of his friends, thinking that it would become him now +to make some exertion towards reconciling his uncle and aunt to the +coming marriage. + +"Have you heard anything about Mr. Thwaite?" Mr. Flick said to him +the day before he started. The Earl had heard nothing. "They say that +he has been wounded by a pistol-ball." Lord Lovel stayed some days at +a friend's house on his road into Yorkshire, and when he reached the +rectory, the rector had received news from London. Mr. Thwaite the +tailor had been murdered, and it was surmised that the deed had been +done by the Countess. "I trust the papers were signed before you +left London," said the anxious rector. The documents making over +the property were all right, but the Earl would believe nothing of +the murder. Mr. Thwaite might have been wounded. He had heard so +much before,--but he was quite sure that it had not been done by the +Countess. On the following day further tidings came. Mr. Thwaite was +doing well, but everybody said that the attempt had been made by Lady +Lovel. Thus by degrees some idea of the facts as they had occurred +was received at the rectory. + +"You don't mean that you want us to have Mr. Thwaite here?" said the +rector, holding up his hands, upon hearing a proposition made to him +by his nephew a day or two later. + +"Why not, uncle Charles?" + +"I couldn't do it. I really don't think your aunt could bring herself +to sit down to table with him." + +"Aunt Jane?" + +"Yes, your aunt Jane,--or your aunt Julia either." Now a quieter lady +than aunt Jane, or one less likely to turn up her nose at any guest +whom her husband should choose to entertain, did not exist. + +"May I ask my aunts?" + +"What good can it do, Frederic?" + +"He's going to marry our cousin. He's not at all such a man as you +seem to think." + +"He has been a journeyman tailor all his life." + +"You'll find he'll make a very good sort of gentleman. Sir William +Patterson says that he'll be in Parliament before long." + +"Sir William! Sir William is always meddling. I have never thought +much about Sir William." + +"Come, uncle Charles,--you should be fair. If we had gone on +quarrelling and going to law, where should I have been now? I should +never have got a shilling out of the property. Everybody says so. No +doubt Sir William acted very wisely." + +"I am no lawyer. I can't say how it might have been. But I may have +my doubts if I like. I have always understood that Lady Lovel, as you +choose to call her, was never Lord Lovel's wife. For twenty years I +have been sure of it, and I can't change so quickly as some other +people." + +"She is Lady Lovel now. The King and Queen would receive her as such +if she went to Court. Her daughter is Lady Anna Lovel." + +"It may be so. It is possible." + +"If it be not so," said the young lord thumping the table, "where +have I got the money from?" This was an argument that the rector +could not answer;--so he merely shook his head. "I am bound to +acknowledge them after taking her money." + +"But not him. You haven't had any of his money. You needn't +acknowledge him." + +"We had better make the best of it, uncle Charles. He is going to +marry our cousin, and we should stand by her. Sir William very +strongly advises me to be present at the marriage, and to offer to +give her away." + +"The girl you were going to marry yourself!" + +"Or else that you should do it. That of course would be better." + +The rector of Yoxham groaned when the proposition was made to him. +What infinite vexation of spirit and degradation had come to him from +these spurious Lovels during the last twelve months! He had been made +to have the girl in his house and to give her precedence as Lady +Anna, though he did not believe in her; he had been constrained to +treat her as the desired bride of his august nephew the Earl,--till +she had refused the Earl's hand; after he had again repudiated her +and her mother because of her base attachment to a low-born artisan, +he had been made to re-accept her in spirit, because she had been +generous to his nephew;--and now he was asked to stand at the altar +and give her away to the tailor! And there could come to him neither +pleasure nor profit from the concern. All that he had endured he +had borne simply for the sake of his family and his nephew. "She is +degrading us all,--as far as she belongs to us," said the rector. "I +can't see why I should be asked to give her my countenance in doing +it." + +"Everybody says that it is very good of her to be true to the man she +loved when she was poor and in obscurity. Sir William says--" + +"---- Sir William!" muttered the rector between his teeth, as he +turned away in disgust. What had been the first word of that minatory +speech Lord Lovel did not clearly hear. He had been brought up as +a boy by his uncle, and had never known his uncle to offend by +swearing. No one in Yoxham would have believed it possible that the +parson of the parish should have done so. Mrs. Grimes would have +given evidence in any court in Yorkshire that it was absolutely +impossible. The archbishop would not have believed it though +his archdeacon had himself heard the word. All the man's known +antecedents since he had been at Yoxham were against the probability. +The entire close at York would have been indignant had such an +accusation been made. But his nephew in his heart of hearts believed +that the rector of Yoxham had damned the Solicitor-General. + +There was, however, more cause for malediction, and further +provocations to wrath, in store for the rector. The Earl had not as +yet opened all his budget, or let his uncle know the extent of the +sacrifice that was to be demanded from him. Sir William had been very +urgent with the young nobleman to accord everything that could be +accorded to his cousin. "It is not of course for me to dictate," he +had said, "but as I have been allowed so far to give advice somewhat +beyond the scope of my profession, perhaps you will let me say that +in mere honesty you owe her all that you can give. She has shared +everything with you, and need have given nothing. And he, my lord, +had he been so minded, might no doubt have hindered her from doing +what she has done. You owe it to your honour to accept her and her +husband with an open hand. Unless you can treat her with cousinly +regard you should not have taken what has been given to you as a +cousin. She has recognised you to your great advantage as the head of +her family, and you should certainly recognise her as belonging to +it. Let the marriage be held down at Yoxham. Get your uncle and aunt +to ask her down. Do you give her away, and let your uncle marry them. +If you can put me up for a night in some neighbouring farm-house, I +will come and be a spectator. It will be for your honour to treat her +after that fashion." The programme was a large one, and the Earl felt +that there might be some difficulty. + +But in the teeth of that dubious malediction he persevered, and his +next attack was upon aunt Julia. "You liked her;--did you not?" + +"Yes;--I liked her." The tone implied great doubt. "I liked her, till +I found that she had forgotten herself." + +"But she didn't forget herself. She just did what any girl would have +done, living as she was living. She has behaved nobly to me." + +"She has behaved no doubt conscientiously." + +"Come, aunt Julia! Did you ever know any other woman to give away +ten thousand a-year to a fellow simply because he was her cousin? We +should do something for her. Why should you not ask her down here +again?" + +"I don't think my brother would like it." + +"He will if you tell him. And we must make a gentleman of him." + +"My dear Frederic, you can never wash a blackamoor white." + +"Let us try. Don't you oppose it. It behoves me, for my honour, to +show her some regard after what she has done for me." + +Aunt Julia shook her head, and muttered to herself some further +remark about negroes. The inhabitants of the Yoxham rectory,--who +were well born, ladies and gentlemen without a stain, who were +hitherto free from all base intermarriages, and had nothing among +their male cousins below soldiers and sailors, parsons and lawyers, +who had successfully opposed an intended marriage between a cousin in +the third degree and an attorney because the alliance was below the +level of the Lovels, were peculiarly averse to any intermingling of +ranks. They were descended from ancient earls, and their chief was +an earl of the present day. There was but one titled young lady now +among them,--and she had only just won her right to be so considered. +There was but one Lady Anna,--and she was going to marry a tailor! +"Duty is duty," said aunt Julia as she hurried away. She meant her +nephew to understand that duty commanded her to shut her heart +against any cousin who could marry a tailor. + +The lord next attacked aunt Jane. "You wouldn't mind having her +here?" + +"Not if your uncle thought well of it," said Mrs. Lovel. + +"I'll tell you what my scheme is." Then he told it all. Lady Anna +was to be invited to the rectory. The tailor was to be entertained +somewhere near on the night preceding his wedding. The marriage was +to be celebrated by his uncle in Yoxham Church. Sir William was to +be asked to join them. And the whole thing was to be done exactly as +though they were all proud of the connection. + +"Does your uncle know?" asked Mrs. Lovel, who had been nearly stunned +by the proposition. + +"Not quite. I want you to suggest it. Only think, aunt Jane, what +she has done for us all!" Aunt Jane couldn't think that very much +had been done for her. They were not to be enriched by the cousin's +money. They had never been interested in the matter on their own +account. They wanted nothing. And yet they were to be called upon to +have a tailor at their board,--because Lord Lovel was the head of +their family. But the Earl was the Earl; and poor Mrs. Lovel knew how +much she owed to his position. "If you wish it of course I'll tell +him, Frederic." + +"I do wish it;--and I'll be so much obliged to you." + +The next morning the parson had been told all that was required of +him, and he came down to prayers as black as a thunder-cloud. It had +been before suggested to him that he should give the bride away, and +though he had grievously complained of the request, he knew that he +must do it should the Earl still demand it. He had no power to oppose +the head of the family. But he had never thought then that he would +be asked to pollute his own rectory by the presence of that odious +tailor. While he was shaving that morning very religious ideas had +filled his mind. What a horrible thing was wickedness! All this evil +had come upon him and his because the late Earl had been so very +wicked a man! He had sworn to his wife that he would not bear it. +He had done and was ready to do more almost than any other uncle in +England. But this he could not endure. Yet when he was shaving, and +thinking with religious horror of the iniquities of that iniquitous +old lord, he knew that he would have to yield. "I dare say they +wouldn't come," said aunt Julia. "He won't like to be with us any +more than we shall like to have him." There was some comfort in that +hope; and trusting to it the rector had yielded everything before the +third day was over. + +"And I may ask Sir William?" said the Earl. + +"Of course we shall be glad to see Sir William Patterson if you +choose to invite him," said the rector, still oppressed by gloom. +"Sir William Patterson is a gentleman no doubt, and a man of high +standing. Of course I and your aunt will be pleased to receive him. +As a lawyer I don't think much of him;--but that has nothing to do +with it." It may be remarked here that though Mr. Lovel lived for a +great many years after the transactions which are here recorded, he +never gave way in reference to the case that had been tried. If the +lawyers had persevered as they ought to have done, it would have been +found out that the Countess was no Countess, that the Lady Anna was +no Lady Anna, and that all the money had belonged by right to the +Earl. With that belief,--with that profession of belief,--he went to +his grave an old man of eighty. + +In the meantime he consented that the invitation should be given. The +Countess and her daughter were to be asked to Yoxham;--the use of the +parish church was to be offered for the ceremony; he was to propose +to marry them; the Earl was to give the bride away; and Daniel +Thwaite the tailor was to be asked to dine at Yoxham Rectory on the +day before the marriage! The letters were to be written from the +rectory by aunt Julia, and the Earl was to add what he pleased for +himself. "I suppose this sort of trial is sent to us for our good," +said the rector to his wife that night in the sanctity of their +bedroom. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. + +THINGS ARRANGE THEMSELVES. + + +But the Countess never gave way an inch. The following was the answer +which she returned to the note written to her by aunt Julia;-- + +"The Countess Lovel presents her compliments to Miss Lovel. The +Countess disapproves altogether of the marriage which is about to +take place between Lady Anna Lovel and Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and will +take no part in the ceremony." + +"By heavens,--she is the best Lovel of us all," said the rector when +he read the letter. + +This reply was received at Yoxham three days before any answer came +either from Lady Anna or from the tailor. Daniel had received his +communication from the young lord, who had called him "Dear Mr. +Thwaite," who had written quite familiarly about the coming nuptials +with "his cousin Anna,"--had bade him come down and join the family +"like a good fellow,"--and had signed himself, "Yours always most +sincerely, Lovel." "It almost takes my breath away," said the tailor +to his sweetheart, laughing. + +"They are cousins, you know," said Lady Anna. "And there was a little +girl there I loved so much." + +"They can't but despise me, you know," said the tailor. + +"Why should any one despise you?" + +"No one should,--unless I be mean and despicable. But they do,--you +may be sure. It is only human nature that they should. We are made of +different fabric,--though the stuff was originally the same. I don't +think I should be at my ease with them. I should be half afraid of +their gilt and their gingerbread, and should be ashamed of myself +because I was so. I should not know how to drink wine with them, and +should do a hundred things which would make them think me a beast." + +"I don't see why you shouldn't hold up your head with any man in +England," said Lady Anna. + +"And so I ought;--but I shouldn't. I should be awed by those whom +I feel to be my inferiors. I had rather not. We had better keep to +ourselves, dear!" But the girl begged for some delay. It was a matter +that required to be considered. If it were necessary for her to +quarrel with all her cousins for the sake of her husband,--with the +bright faineant young Earl, with aunts Jane and Julia, with her +darling Minnie, she would do so. The husband should be to her in +all respects the first and foremost. For his sake, now that she had +resolved that she would be his, she would if necessary separate +herself from all the world. She had withstood the prayers of her +mother, and she was sure that nothing else could move her. But if +the cousins were willing to accept her husband, why should he not be +willing to be accepted? Pride in him might be as weak as pride in +them. If they would put out their hands to him, why should he refuse +to put out his own? "Give me a day, Daniel, to think about it." He +gave her the day, and then that great decider of all things, Sir +William, came to him, congratulating him, bidding him be of good +cheer, and saying fine things of the Lovel family generally. Our +tailor received him courteously, having learned to like the man, +understanding that he had behaved with honesty and wisdom in regard +to his client, and respecting him as one of the workers of the day; +but he declared that for the Lovel family, as a family,--"he did not +care for them particularly." "They are poles asunder from me," he +said. + +"Not so," replied Sir William. "They were poles asunder, if you will. +But by your good fortune and merit, if you will allow me to say so, +you have travelled from the one pole very far towards the other." + +"I like my own pole a deal the best, Sir William." + +"I am an older man than you, Mr. Thwaite, and allow me to assure you +that you are wrong." + +"Wrong in preferring those who work for their bread to those who eat +it in idleness?" + +"Not that;--but wrong in thinking that there is not hard work done +at the one pole as well as the other; and wrong also in not having +perceived that the best men who come up from age to age are always +migrating from that pole which you say you prefer, to the antipodean +pole to which you are tending yourself. I can understand your feeling +of contempt for an idle lordling, but you should remember that lords +have been made lords in nine cases out of ten for good work done by +them for the benefit of their country." + +"Why should the children of lords be such to the tenth and twentieth +generation?" + +"Come into parliament, Mr. Thwaite, and if you have views on that +subject opposed to hereditary peerages, express them there. It is a +fair subject for argument. At present, I think that the sense of the +country is in favour of an aristocracy of birth. But be that as it +may, do not allow yourself to despise that condition of society which +it is the ambition of all men to enter." + +"It is not my ambition." + +"Pardon me. When you were a workman among workmen, did you not wish +to be their leader? When you were foremost among them, did you not +wish to be their master? If you were a master tradesman, would you +not wish to lead and guide your brother tradesmen? Would you not +desire wealth in order that you might be assisted by it in your views +of ambition? If you were an alderman in your borough, would you +not wish to be the mayor? If mayor, would you not wish to be its +representative in Parliament? If in Parliament, would you not wish +to be heard there? Would you not then clothe yourself as those among +whom you lived, eat as they ate, drink as they drank, keep their +hours, fall into their habits, and be one of them? The theory of +equality is very grand." + +"The grandest thing in the world, Sir William." + +"It is one to which all legislative and all human efforts should +and must tend. All that is said and all that is done among people +that have emancipated themselves from the thraldom of individual +aggrandizement, serve to diminish in some degree the distance between +the high and the low. But could you establish absolute equality in +England to-morrow, as it was to have been established in France some +half century ago, the inequality of men's minds and character would +re-establish an aristocracy within twenty years. The energetic, the +talented, the honest, and the unselfish will always be moving towards +an aristocratic side of society, because their virtues will beget +esteem, and esteem will beget wealth,--and wealth gives power for +good offices." + +"As when one man throws away forty thousand a year on race-courses." + +"When you make much water boil, Mr. Thwaite, some of it will probably +boil over. When two men run a race, some strength must be wasted in +fruitless steps beyond the goal. It is the fault of many patriotic +men that, in their desire to put down the evils which exist they will +see only the power that is wasted, and have no eyes for the good work +done. The subject is so large that I should like to discuss it with +you when we have more time. For the present let me beg of you, for +your own sake as well as for her who is to be your wife, that you +will not repudiate civility offered to you by her family. It will +show a higher manliness in you to go among them, and accept among +them the position which your wife's wealth and your own acquirements +will give you, than to stand aloof moodily because they are +aristocrats." + +"You can make yourself understood when you speak, Sir William." + +"I am glad to hear you say so," said the lawyer, smiling. + +"I cannot, and so you have the best of me. But you can't make me like +a lord, or think that a young man ought to wear a silk gown." + +"I quite agree with you that the silk gowns should be kept for their +elders," and so the conversation was ended. + +Daniel Thwaite had not been made to like a lord, but the eloquence +of the urbane lawyer was not wasted on him. Thinking of it all as he +wandered alone through the streets, he began to believe that it would +be more manly to do as he was advised than to abstain because the +doing of the thing would in itself be disagreeable to him. On the +following day, Lady Anna was with him as usual; for the pretext of +his wound still afforded to her the means of paying to him those +daily visits which in happier circumstances he would naturally have +paid to her. "Would you like to go to Yoxham?" he said. She looked +wistfully up into his face. With her there was a real wish that the +poles might be joined together by her future husband. She had found, +as she had thought of it, that she could not make herself either +happy or contented except by marrying him, but it had not been +without regret that she had consented to destroy altogether the link +which bound her to the noble blood of the Lovels. She had been made +to appreciate the sweet flavour of aristocratic influences, and now +that the Lovels were willing to receive her in spite of her marriage, +she was more than willing to accept their offered friendship. "If you +really wish it, you shall go," he said. + +"But you must go also." + +"Yes;--for one day. And I must have a pair of gloves and a black +coat." + +"And a blue one,--to be married in." + +"Alas me! Must I have a pink silk gown to walk about in, early in the +morning?" + +"You shall if you like, and I'll make it for you." + +"I'd sooner see you darning my worsted stockings, sweetheart." + +"I can do that too." + +"And I shall have to go to church in a coach, and come back in +another, and all the people will smell sweet, and make eyes at me +behind my back, and wonder among themselves how the tailor will +behave himself." + +"The tailor must behave himself properly," said Lady Anna. + +"That's just what he won't do,--and can't do. I know you'll be +ashamed of me, and then we shall both be unhappy." + +"I won't be ashamed of you. I will never be ashamed of you. I will be +ashamed of them if they are not good to you. But, Daniel, you shall +not go if you do not like it. What does it all signify, if you are +not happy?" + +"I will go," said he. "And now I'll sit down and write a letter to my +lord." + +Two letters were written accepting the invitation. As that from the +tailor to the lord was short and characteristic it shall be given. + + + MY DEAR LORD, + + I am much obliged to you for your lordship's invitation + to Yoxham, and if accepting it will make me a good fellow, + I will accept it. I fear, however, that I can never be a + proper fellow to your lordship. Not the less do I feel + your courtesy, and I am, + + With all sincerity, + Your lordship's very obedient servant, + + DANIEL THWAITE. + + +Lady Anna's reply to aunt Julia was longer and less sententious, but +it signified her intention of going down to Yoxham a week before the +day settled for the marriage, which was now the 10th of July. She was +much obliged, she said, to the rector for his goodness in promising +to marry them; and as she had no friends of her own she hoped that +Minnie Lovel would be her bridesmaid. There were, however, sundry +other letters before the ceremony was performed, and among them was +one in which she was asked to bring Miss Alice Bluestone down with +her,--so that she might have one bridesmaid over and beyond those +provided by the Yoxham aristocracy. To this arrangement Miss Alice +Bluestone acceded joyfully,--in spite of that gulf, of which she had +spoken;--and, so accompanied, but without her lady's-maid, Lady Anna +returned to Yoxham that she might be there bound in holy matrimony +to Daniel Thwaite the tailor, by the hands of her cousin, the Rev. +Charles Lovel. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. + +THE MARRIAGE. + + +The marriage was nearly all that a marriage should be when a Lady +Anna is led to the hymeneal altar. As the ceremony was transferred +from Bloomsbury, London, to Yoxham, in Yorkshire, a licence had been +procured, and the banns of which Daniel Thwaite thought so much, had +been called in vain. Of course there are differences in aristocratic +marriages. All earls' daughters are not married at St. George's, +Hanover Square, nor is it absolutely necessary that a bishop should +tie the knot, or that the dresses should be described in a newspaper. +This was essentially a quiet marriage,--but it was quiet with a +splendid quietude, and the obscurity of it was graceful and decorous. +As soon as the thing was settled,--when it was a matter past doubt +that all the Lovels were to sanction the marriage,--the two aunts +went to work heartily. Another Lovel girl, hardly more than seen +before by any of the family, was gathered to the Lovel home as a +third bridesmaid, and for the fourth,--who should officiate, but the +eldest daughter of Lady Fitzwarren? The Fitzwarrens were not rich, +did not go to town annually, and the occasions for social brilliancy +in the country are few and far between! Lady Fitzwarren did not like +to refuse her old friend, Mrs. Lovel; and then Lady Anna was Lady +Anna,--or at any rate would be so, as far as the newspapers of the +day were concerned. Miss Fitzwarren allowed herself to be attired +in white and blue, and to officiate in the procession,--having, +however, assured her most intimate friend, Miss De Moleyns, that +no consideration on earth should induce her to allow herself to be +kissed by the tailor. + +In the week previous to the arrival of Daniel Thwaite, Lady Anna +again ingratiated herself with the ladies at the rectory. During the +days of her persecution she had been silent and apparently hard;--but +now she was again gentle, yielding, and soft. "I do like her manner, +all the same," said Minnie. "Yes, my dear. It's a pity that it should +be as it is to be, because she is very nice." Minnie loved her +friend, but thought it to be a thing of horror that her friend should +marry a tailor. It was almost as bad as the story of the Princess who +had to marry a bear;--worse indeed, for Minnie did not at all believe +that the tailor would ever turn out to be a gentleman, whereas she +had been sure from the first that the bear would turn into a prince. + +Daniel came to Yoxham, and saw very little of anybody at the rectory. +He was taken in at the house of a neighbouring squire, where he +dined as a matter of course. He did call at the rectory, and saw his +bride,--but on that occasion he did not even see the rector. The +squire took him to the church in the morning, dressed in a blue frock +coat, brown trousers, and a grey cravat. He was very much ashamed of +his own clothes, but there was nothing about him to attract attention +had not everybody known he was a tailor. The rector shook hands with +him politely but coldly. The ladies were more affectionate; and +Minnie looked up into his face long and anxiously. "He wasn't very +nice," she said afterwards, "but I thought he'd be worse than +that!" When the marriage was over he kissed his wife, but made no +attempt upon the bridesmaids. Then there was a breakfast at the +rectory,--which was a very handsome bridal banquet. On such occasions +the part of the bride is always easily played. It is her duty to look +pretty if she can, and should she fail in that,--as brides usually +do,--her failure is attributed to the natural emotions of the +occasion. The part of the bridegroom is more difficult. He should +be manly, pleasant, composed, never flippant, able to say a few +words when called upon, and quietly triumphant. This is almost more +than mortal can achieve, and bridegrooms generally manifest some +shortcomings at the awful moment. Daniel Thwaite was not successful. +He was silent and almost morose. When Lady Fitzwarren congratulated +him with high-flown words and a smile,--a smile that was intended to +combine something of ridicule with something of civility,--he almost +broke down in his attempt to answer her. "It is very good of you, my +lady," said he. Then she turned her back and whispered a word to the +parson, and Daniel was sure that she was laughing at him. The hero of +the day was the Solicitor-General. He made a speech, proposing health +and prosperity to the newly-married couple. He referred, but just +referred, to the trial, expressing the pleasure which all concerned +had felt in recognising the rights and rank of the fair and noble +bride as soon as the facts of the case had come to their knowledge. +Then he spoke of the truth and long-continued friendship and devoted +constancy of the bridegroom and his father, saying that in the long +experience of his life he had known nothing more touching or more +graceful than the love which in early days had sprung up between the +beautiful young girl and her earliest friend. He considered it to be +among the happinesses of his life that he had been able to make the +acquaintance of Mr. Daniel Thwaite, and he expressed a hope that he +might long be allowed to regard that gentleman as his friend. There +was much applause, in giving which the young Earl was certainly the +loudest. The rector could not bring himself to say a word. He was +striving to do his duty by the head of his family, but he could not +bring himself to say that the marriage between Lady Anna Lovel and +the tailor was a happy event. Poor Daniel was compelled to make some +speech in reply to his friend, Sir William. "I am bad at speaking," +said he, "and I hope I shall be excused. I can only say that I am +under deep obligation to Sir William Patterson for what he has done +for my wife." + +The couple went away with a carriage and four horses to York, and the +marriage was over. "I hope I have done right," said the rector in +whispered confidence to Lady Fitzwarren. + +"I think you have, Mr. Lovel. I'm sure you have. The circumstances +were very difficult, but I am sure you have done right. She must +always be considered as the legitimate child of her father." + +"They say so," murmured the rector sadly. + +"Just that. And as she will always be considered to be the Lady Anna, +you were bound to treat her as you have done. It was a pity that +it was not done earlier, so that she might have formed a worthier +connection. The Earl, however, has not been altogether overlooked, +and there is some comfort in that. I dare say Mr. Thwaite may be +a good sort of man, though he is--not just what the family could +have wished." These words were undoubtedly spoken by her ladyship +with much pleasure. The Fitzwarrens were poor, and the Lovels were +all rich. Even the young Earl was now fairly well to do in the +world,--thanks to the generosity of the newly-found cousin. It was, +therefore, pleasant to Lady Fitzwarren to allude to the family +misfortune which must in some degree alloy the prosperity of her +friends. Mr. Lovel understood it all, and sighed; but he felt no +anger. He was grateful to Lady Fitzwarren for coming to his house at +all on so mournful an occasion. + +And so we may bid farewell to Yoxham. The rector was an honest, +sincere man, unselfish, true to his instincts, genuinely English, +charitable, hospitable, a doer of good to those around him. In +judging of such a character we find the difficulty of drawing the +line between political sagacity and political prejudice. Had he been +other than he was, he would probably have been less serviceable in +his position. + +The bride and bridegroom went for their honeymoon into Devonshire, +and on their road they passed through London. Lady Anna Thwaite,--for +she had not at least as yet been able to drop her title,--wrote to +her mother telling her of her arrival, and requesting permission to +see her. On the following day she went alone to Keppel Street and was +admitted. "Dear, dear mamma," she said, throwing herself into the +arms of her mother. + +"So it is done?" said the Countess. + +"Yes;--mamma,--we are married. I wrote to you from York." + +"I got your letter, but I could not answer it. What could I say? +I wish it had not been so;--but it is done. You have chosen for +yourself, and I will not reproach you." + +"Do not reproach me now, mamma." + +"It would be useless. I will bear my sorrows in silence, such as they +are. Do not talk to me of him, but tell me what is the life that is +proposed for you." + +They were to stay in the south of Devonshire for a month and then to +sail for the new colony founded at the Antipodes. As to any permanent +mode of life no definite plan had yet been formed. They were bound +for Sydney, and when there, "my husband,"--as Lady Anna called +him, thinking that the word might be less painful to the ears of +her mother than the name of the man who had become so odious to +her,--would do as should seem good to him. They would at any rate +learn something of the new world that was springing up, and he would +then be able to judge whether he would best serve the purpose that he +had at heart by remaining there or by returning to England. "And now, +mamma, what will you do?" + +"Nothing," said the Countess. + +"But where will you live?" + +"If I could only find out, my child, where I might die, I would tell +you that." + +"Mamma, do not talk to me of dying." + +"How should I talk of my future life, my dear? For what should I +live? I had but you, and you have left me." + +"Come with me, mamma." + +"No, my dear. I could not live with him nor he with me. It will be +better that he and I should never see each other again." + +"But you will not stay here?" + +"No;--I shall not stay here. I must use myself to solitude, but the +solitude of London is unendurable. I shall go back to Cumberland if +I can find a home there. The mountains will remind me of the days +which, sad as they were, were less sad than the present. I little +dreamed then when I had gained everything my loss would be so great +as it has been. Was the Earl there?" + +"At our marriage? Oh yes, he was there." + +"I shall ask him to do me a kindness. Perhaps he will let me live at +Lovel Grange?" + +When the meeting was over Lady Anna returned to her husband +overwhelmed with tears. She was almost broken-hearted when she asked +herself whether she had in truth been cruel to her mother. But she +knew not how she could have done other than she had done. Her mother +had endeavoured to conquer her by hard usage,--and had failed. But +not the less her heart was very sore. "My dear," said the tailor to +her, "hearts will be sore. As the world goes yet awhile there must be +injustice; and sorrow will follow." + +When they had been gone from London about a month the Countess wrote +to her cousin the Earl and told him her wishes. "If you desire to +live there of course there must be an end of it. But if not, you +might let the old place to me. It will not be as if it were gone out +of the family. I will do what I can for the people around me, so that +they may learn not to hate the name of Lovel." + +The young lord told her that she should have the use of the house as +long as she pleased,--for her lifetime if it suited her to live there +so long. As for rent,--of course he could take none after all that +had been done for him. But the place should be leased to her so that +she need not fear to be disturbed. When the spring time came, after +the sailing of the vessel which took the tailor and his wife off to +the Antipodes, Lady Lovel travelled down with her maid to Cumberland, +leaving London without a friend to whom she could say adieu. And at +Lovel Grange she took up her abode, amidst the old furniture and the +old pictures, with everything to remind her of the black tragedy of +her youth, when her husband had come to her and had told her, with a +smile upon his lips and scorn in his eye, that she was not his wife, +and that the child which she bore would be a bastard. Over his wicked +word she had at any rate triumphed. Now she was living there in his +house the unquestioned and undoubted Countess Lovel, the mistress of +much of his wealth, while still were living around her those who had +known her when she was banished from her home. There, too often with +ill-directed generosity, she gave away her money, and became loved +of the poor around her. But in the way of society she saw no human +being, and rarely went beyond the valley in which stood the lonely +house to which she had been brought as a bride. + +Of the further doings of Mr. Daniel Thwaite and his wife Lady +Anna,--of how they travelled and saw many things; and how he became +perhaps a wiser man,--the present writer may, he hopes, live to tell. + + +Printed by Virtue and Co., City Road, London. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + +Specific changes in wording of the text are listed below. + + Volume I, Chapter XIX, paragraph 43. The word "Lady" was changed + to "Aunt" in the sentence: Mrs. Lovel accompanied them, but AUNT + Julia made her farewells in the rectory drawing-room. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXVII, paragraph 1. The word "was" was changed + to "were" in the sentence: The Countess had assented;--but when + the moment came, there WERE reasons against her sudden departure. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 5. The word "or" was deleted + from the sentence: He pointed it out as a fact that the Earl had + not the slightest claim upon any portion of the estate,--not more + than he would have had if this money had come to Lady Anna from + her mother's instead of [OR] from her father's relatives. + + Volume II, Chapter XXXIX, paragraph 6. The word "not" was deleted + from the sentence: If the Earl could get L10,000 a year by + amicable arrangement, the Solicitor-General would be shown to have + been right in the eyes of all men, and it was [NOT] probable,--as + both Mr. Goffe and Mr. Flick felt,--that he would not repudiate a + settlement of the family affairs by which he would be proved to + have been a discreet counsellor. + + Volume II, Chapter XLV, paragraph 20. "David" was changed to + "Daniel" in the sentence: Neither on that occasion, or on either + of the two further callings, did any one get up in church to + declare that impediment existed why DANIEL Thwaite the tailor and + Lady Anna Lovel should not be joined together in holy matrimony. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LADY ANNA*** + + +******* This file should be named 31274.txt or 31274.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/2/7/31274 + + + +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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