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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9767.txt b/9767.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d3d87b --- /dev/null +++ b/9767.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2164 @@ +Project Gutenberg EBook, Alice, or The Mysteries, by Lytton, Book V +#207 in our series by Edward Bulwer Lytton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + + +Title: Alice, or The Mysteries, Book V + +Author: Edward Bulwer Lytton + +Release Date: January 2006 [EBook #9767] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 15, 2003] + + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ALICE, BY LYTTON, BOOK V *** + + + + + +Produced by Dagny; and by David Widger + + + +Corrected and updated text and HTML PG Editions of the complete +11 volume set may be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9774/9774.txt + +https://www.gutenberg.org/files/9774/9774-h/9774-h.htm + + + + + +BOOK V. + + "FOOLS blind to truth; nor know their erring soul + How much the half is better than the whole." + --HESIOD: _Op. et Dies_, 40. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Do as the Heavens have done; forget your evil; + With them, forgive yourself.--_The Winter's Tale_. + + . . . The sweet'st companion that e'er man + Bred his hopes out of.--_Ibid._ + +THE curate of Brook-Green was sitting outside his door. The vicarage +which he inhabited was a straggling, irregular, but picturesque +building,--humble enough to suit the means of the curate, yet large +enough to accommodate the vicar. It had been built in an age when the +_indigentes et pauperes_ for whom universities were founded supplied, +more than they do now, the fountains of the Christian ministry, when +pastor and flock were more on an equality. + +From under a rude and arched porch, with an oaken settle on either side +for the poor visitor, the door opened at once upon the old-fashioned +parlour,--a homely but pleasant room, with one wide but low cottage +casement, beneath which stood the dark shining table that supported the +large Bible in its green baize cover; the Concordance, and the last +Sunday's sermon, in its jetty case. There by the fireplace stood the +bachelor's round elbow-chair, with a needlework cushion at the back; a +walnut-tree bureau, another table or two, half a dozen plain chairs, +constituted the rest of the furniture, saving some two or three hundred +volumes, ranged in neat shelves on the clean wainscoted walls. There was +another room, to which you ascended by two steps, communicating with this +parlour, smaller but finer, and inhabited only on festive days, when Lady +Vargrave, or some other quiet neighbour, came to drink tea with the good +curate. + +An old housekeeper and her grandson--a young fellow of about two and +twenty, who tended the garden, milked the cow, and did in fact what he +was wanted to do--composed the establishment of the humble minister. + +We have digressed from Mr. Aubrey himself. + +The curate was seated, then, one fine summer morning, on a bench at the +left of his porch, screened from the sun by the cool boughs of a +chestnut-tree, the shadow of which half covered the little lawn that +separated the precincts of the house from those of silent Death and +everlasting Hope; above the irregular and moss-grown paling rose the +village church; and, through openings in the trees, beyond the +burial-ground, partially gleamed the white walls of Lady Vargrave's +cottage, and were seen at a distance the sails on the-- + + "Mighty waters, rolling evermore." + +The old man was calmly enjoying the beauty of the morning, the freshness +of the air, the warmth of the dancing beam, and not least, perhaps, his +own peaceful thoughts,--the spontaneous children of a contemplative +spirit and a quiet conscience. His was the age when we most sensitively +enjoy the mere sense of existence,--when the face of Nature and a passive +conviction of the benevolence of our Great Father suffice to create a +serene and ineffable happiness, which rarely visits us till we have done +with the passions; till memories, if more alive than heretofore, are yet +mellowed in the hues of time, and Faith softens into harmony all their +asperities and harshness; till nothing within us remains to cast a shadow +over the things without; and on the verge of life, the Angels are nearer +to us than of yore. There is an old age which has more youth of heart +than youth itself! + +As the old man thus sat, the little gate through which, on Sabbath days, +he was wont to pass from the humble mansion to the house of God +noiselessly opened, and Lady Vargrave appeared. + +The curate rose when he perceived her; and the lady's fair features were +lighted up with a gentle pleasure, as she pressed his hand and returned +his salutation. + +There was a peculiarity in Lady Vargrave's countenance which I have +rarely seen in others. Her smile, which was singularly expressive, came +less from the lip than from the eyes; it was almost as if the brow +smiled; it was as the sudden and momentary vanishing of a light but +melancholy cloud that usually rested upon the features, placid as they +were. + +They sat down on the rustic bench, and the sea-breeze wantoned amongst +the quivering leaves of the chestnut-tree that overhung their seat. + +"I have come, as usual, to consult my kind friend," said Lady Vargrave; +"and, as usual also, it is about our absent Evelyn." + +"Have you heard again from her, this morning?" + +"Yes; and her letter increases the anxiety which your observation, so +much deeper than mine, first awakened." + +"Does she then write much of Lord Vargrave?" + +"Not a great deal; but the little she does say, betrays how much she +shrinks from the union my poor husband desired: more, indeed, than ever! +But this is not all, nor the worst; for you know that the late lord had +provided against that probability--he loved her so tenderly, his ambition +for her only came from his affection; and the letter he left behind him +pardons and releases her, if she revolts from the choice he himself +preferred." + +"Lord Vargrave is, perhaps, a generous, he certainly seems a candid, man, +and he must be sensible that his uncle has already done all that justice +required." + +"I think so. But this, as I said, is not all; I have brought the letter +to show you. It seems to me as you apprehended. This Mr. Maltravers has +wound himself about her thoughts more than she herself imagines; you see +how she dwells on all that concerns him, and how, after checking herself, +she returns again and again to the same subject." + +The curate put on his spectacles, and took the letter. It was a strange +thing, that old gray-haired minister evincing such grave interest in the +secrets of that young heart! But they who would take charge of the soul +must never be too wise to regard the heart! + +Lady Vargrave looked over his shoulder as he bent down to read, and at +times placed her finger on such passages as she wished him to note. The +old curate nodded as she did so; but neither spoke till the letter was +concluded. + +The curate then folded up the epistle, took off his spectacles, hemmed, +and looked grave. + +"Well," said Lady Vargrave, anxiously, "well?" + +"My dear friend, the letter requires consideration. In the first place, +it is clear to me that, in spite of Lord Vargrave's presence at the +rectory, his lordship so manages matters that the poor child is unable of +herself to bring that matter to a conclusion. And, indeed, to a mind so +sensitively delicate and honourable, it is no easy task." + +"Shall I write to Lord Vargrave?" + +"Let us think of it. In the meanwhile, this Mr. Maltravers--" + +"Ah, this Mr. Maltravers!" + +"The child shows us more of her heart than she thinks of; and yet I +myself am puzzled. If you observe, she has only once or twice spoken of +the Colonel Legard whom she has made acquaintance with; while she treats +at length of Mr. Maltravers, and confesses the effect he has produced on +her mind. Yet, do you know, I more dread the caution respecting the +first than all the candour that betrays the influence of the last? There +is a great difference between first fancy and first love." + +"Is there?" said the lady, abstractedly. + +"Again, neither of us is acquainted with this singular man,--I mean +Maltravers; his character, temper, and principles, of all of which Evelyn +is too young, too guileless, to judge for herself. One thing, however, +in her letter speaks in his favour." + +"What is that?" + +"He absents himself from her. This, if he has discovered her secret, or +if he himself is sensible of too great a charm in her presence, would be +the natural course that an honourable and a strong mind would pursue." + +"What!--if he love her?" + +"Yes; while he believes her hand is engaged to another." + +"True! What shall be done--if Evelyn should love, and love in vain? Ah, +it is the misery of a whole existence!" + +"Perhaps she had better return to us," said Mr. Aubrey; "and yet, if +already it be too late, and her affections are engaged, we should still +remain in ignorance respecting the motives and mind of the object of her +attachment; and he, too, might not know the true nature of the obstacle +connected with Lord Vargrave's claims." + +"Shall I, then, go to her? You know how I shrink from strangers; how I +fear curiosity, doubts, and questions; how [and Lady Vargrave's voice +faltered]--how unfitted I am for--for--" she stopped short, and a faint +blush overspread her cheeks. + +The curate understood her, and was moved. + +"Dear friend," said he, "will you intrust this charge to myself? You +know how Evelyn is endeared to me by certain recollections! Perhaps, +better than you, I may be enabled silently to examine if this man be +worthy of her, and one who could secure her happiness; perhaps, better +than you I may ascertain the exact nature of her own feelings towards +him; perhaps, too, better than you I may effect an understanding with +Lord Vargrave." + +"You are always my kindest friend," said the lady, with emotion; "how +much I already owe you! what hopes beyond the grave! what--" + +"Hush!" interrupted the curate, gently; "your own good heart and pure +intentions have worked out your own atonement--may I hope also your own +content? Let us return to our Evelyn. Poor child! how unlike this +despondent letter to her gay light spirits when with us! We acted for +the best; yet perhaps we did wrong to yield her up to strangers. And +this Maltravers--with her enthusiasm and quick susceptibilities to +genius, she was half prepared to imagine him all she depicts him to be. +He must have a spell in his works that I have not discovered, for at +times it seems to operate even on you." + +"Because," said Lady Vargrave, "they remind me of _his_ conversation, +_his_ habits of thought. If like _him_ in other things, Evelyn may +indeed be happy!" + +"And if," said the curate, curiously,--"if now that you are free, you +were ever to meet with him again, and his memory had been as faithful as +yours; and if he offered the sole atonement in his power, for all that +his early error cost you; if such a chance should happen in the +vicissitudes of life, you would--" + +The curate stopped short; for he was struck by the exceeding paleness of +his friend's cheek, and the tremor of her delicate frame. + +"If that were to happen," said she, in a very low voice; "if we were to +meet again, and if he were--as you and Mrs. Leslie seem to think--poor, +and, like myself, humbly born, if my fortune could assist him, if my love +could still--changed, altered as I am--ah! do not talk of it--I cannot +bear the thought of happiness! And yet, if before I die I _could_ but +see him again!" She clasped her hands fervently as she spoke, and the +blush that overspread her face threw over it so much of bloom and +freshness, that even Evelyn, at that moment, would scarcely have seemed +more young. "Enough!" she added, after a little while, as the glow died +away. "It is but a foolish hope; all earthly love is buried; and my +heart is there!"--she pointed to the heavens, and both were silent. + + + +CHAPTER II. + + QUIBUS otio vel magnifice, vel molliter, vivere copia era + incerta pro certis malebant.*--SALLUST. + + * "They who had the means to live at ease, either in splendour or + in luxury, preferred the uncertainty of change to their natural + security." + +LORD RABY--one of the wealthiest and most splendid noblemen in +England--was prouder, perhaps, of his provincial distinctions than the +eminence of his rank or the fashion of his wife. The magnificent +chateaux, the immense estates, of our English peers tend to preserve to +us in spite of the freedom, bustle, and commercial grandeur of our people +more of the Norman attributes of aristocracy than can be found in other +countries. In his county, the great noble is a petty prince; his house +is a court; his possessions and munificence are a boast to every +proprietor in his district. They are as fond of talking of _the_ earl's +or _the_ duke's movements and entertainments, as Dangeau was of the +gossip of the Tuileries and Versailles. + +Lord Raby, while affecting, as lieutenant of the county, to make no +political distinctions between squire and squire--hospitable and affable +to all--still, by that very absence of exclusiveness, gave a tone to the +politics of the whole county; and converted many who had once thought +differently on the respective virtues of Whigs and Tories. A great man +never loses so much as when he exhibits intolerance, or parades the right +of persecution. + +"My tenants shall vote exactly as they please," said Lord Raby; and he +was never known to have a tenant vote against his wishes! Keeping a +vigilant eye on all the interests, and conciliating all the proprietors, +in the county, he not only never lost a friend, but he kept together a +body of partisans that constantly added to its numbers. + +Sir John Merton's colleague, a young Lord Nelthorpe, who could not speak +three sentences if you took away his hat, and who, constant at Almack's, +was not only inaudible but invisible in parliament, had no chance of +being re-elected. Lord Nelthorpe's father, the Earl of Mainwaring, was a +new peer; and, next to Lord Raby, the richest nobleman in the county. +Now, though they were much of the same politics, Lord Raby hated Lord +Mainwaring. They were too near each other,--they clashed; they had the +jealousy of rival princes! + +Lord Raby was delighted at the notion of getting rid of Lord +Nelthorpe,--it would be so sensible a blow to the Mainwaring interest. +The party had been looking out for a new candidate, and Maltravers had +been much talked of. It is true that, when in parliament some years +before, the politics of Maltravers had differed from those of Lord Raby +and his set. But Maltravers had of late taken no share in politics, had +uttered no political opinions, was intimate with the electioneering +Mertons, was supposed to be a discontented man,--and politicians believe +in no discontent that is not political. Whispers were afloat that +Maltravers had grown wise, and changed his views: some remarks of his, +more theoretical than practical, were quoted in favour of this notion. +Parties, too, had much changed since Maltravers had appeared on the busy +scene,--new questions had arisen, and the old ones had died off. + +Lord Raby and his party thought that, if Maltravers could be secured to +them, no one would better suit their purpose. Political faction loves +converts better even than consistent adherents. A man's rise in life +generally dates from a well-timed _rat_. His high reputation, his +provincial rank as the representative of the oldest commoner's family in +the county, his age, which combined the energy of one period with the +experience of another,--all united to accord Maltravers a preference over +richer men. Lord Raby had been pointedly courteous and flattering to the +master of Burleigh; and he now contrived it so, that the brilliant +entertainment he was about to give might appear in compliment to a +distinguished neighbour, returned to fix his residence on his patrimonial +property, while in reality it might serve an electioneering +purpose,--serve to introduce Maltravers to the county, as if under his +lordship's own wing, and minister to political uses that went beyond the +mere representation of the county. + +Lord Vargrave had, during his stay at Merton Rectory, paid several visits +to Knaresdean, and held many private conversations with the marquess: the +result of these conversations was a close union of schemes and interests +between the two noblemen. Dissatisfied with the political conduct of +government, Lord Raby was also dissatisfied that, from various party +reasons, a nobleman beneath himself in rank, and as he thought in +influence, had obtained a preference in a recent vacancy among the +Knights of the Garter. And if Vargrave had a talent in the world it was +in discovering the weak points of men whom he sought to gain, and making +the vanities of others conduce to his own ambition. + +The festivities of Knaresdean gave occasion to Lord Raby to unite at his +house the more prominent of those who thought and acted in concert with +Lord Vargrave; and in this secret senate the operations for the following +session were to be seriously discussed and gravely determined. + +On the day which was to be concluded with the ball at Knaresdean, Lord +Vargrave went before the rest of the Merton party, for he was engaged to +dine with the marquess. + +On arriving at Knaresdean, Lumley found Lord Saxingham and some other +politicians, who had arrived the preceding day, closeted with Lord Raby; +and Vargrave, who shone to yet greater advantage in the diplomacy of +party management than in the arena of parliament, brought penetration, +energy, and decision to timid and fluctuating counsels. Lord Vargrave +lingered in the room after the first bell had summoned the other guests +to depart. + +"My dear lord," said he then, "though no one would be more glad than +myself to secure Maltravers to our side, I very much doubt whether you +will succeed in doing so. On the one hand, he appears altogether +disgusted with politics and parliament; and on the other hand, I fancy +that reports of his change of opinions are, if not wholly unfounded, very +unduly coloured. Moreover, to do him justice, I think that he is not one +to be blinded and flattered into the pale of a party; and your bird will +fly away after you have wasted a bucketful of salt on his tail." + +"Very possibly," said Lord Raby, laughing,--"you know him better than I +do. But there are many purposes to serve in this matter,--purposes too +provincial to interest you. In the first place, we shall humble the +Nelthorpe interest, merely by showing that we _do_ think of a new member; +secondly, we shall get up a manifestation of feeling that would be +impossible, unless we were provided with a centre of attraction; thirdly, +we shall rouse a certain emulation among other county gentlemen, and if +Maltravers decline, we shall have many applicants; and fourthly, suppose +Maltravers has not changed his opinions, we shall make him suspected by +the party he really does belong to, and which would be somewhat +formidable if he were to head them. In fact, these are mere county +tactics that you can't be expected to understand." + +"I see you are quite right: meanwhile you will at least have an +opportunity (though I say it, who should not say it) to present to the +county one of the prettiest young ladies that ever graced the halls of +Knaresdean." + +"Ah, Miss Cameron! I have heard much of her beauty: you are a lucky +fellow, Vargrave! By the by, are we to say anything of the engagement?" + +"Why, indeed, my dear lord, it is now so publicly known, that it would be +false delicacy to affect concealment." + +"Very well; I understand." + +"How long I have detained you--a thousand pardons!--I have but just time +to dress. In four or five months I must remember to leave you a longer +time for your toilet." + +"Me--how?" + +"Oh, the Duke of ----- can't live long; and I always observe that when a +handsome man has the Garter, he takes a long time pulling up his +stockings." + +"Ha, ha! you are so droll, Vargrave." + +"Ha, ha! I must be off." + +"The more publicity is given to this arrangement, the more difficult for +Evelyn to shy at the leap," muttered Vargrave to himself as he closed the +door. "Thus do I make all things useful to myself!" + +The dinner party were assembled in the great drawing-room, when +Maltravers and Cleveland, also invited guests to the banquet, were +announced. Lord Raby received the former with marked _empressement_; and +the stately marchioness honoured him with her most gracious smile. +Formal presentations to the rest of the guests were interchanged; and it +was not till the circle was fully gone through that Maltravers perceived, +seated by himself in a corner, to which he had shrunk on the entrance of +Maltravers, a gray-haired solitary man,--it was Lord Saxingham! The last +time they had met was in the death-chamber of Florence; and the old man +forgot for the moment the anticipated dukedom, and the dreamed-of +premiership, and his heart flew back to the grave of his only child! +They saluted each other, and shook hands in silence. And Vargrave--whose +eye was on them--Vargrave, whose arts had made that old man childless, +felt not a pang of remorse! Living ever in the future, Vargrave almost +seemed to have lost his memory. He knew not what regret was. It is a +condition of life with men thoroughly worldly that they never look +behind! + +The signal was given: in due order the party were marshalled into the +great hall,--a spacious and lofty chamber, which had received its last +alteration from the hand of Inigo Jones; though the massive ceiling, with +its antique and grotesque masques, betrayed a much earlier date, and +contrasted with the Corinthian pilasters that adorned the walls, and +supported the music-gallery, from which waved the flags of modern warfare +and its mimicries,--the eagle of Napoleon, a token of the services of +Lord Raby's brother (a distinguished cavalry officer in command at +Waterloo), in juxtaposition with a much gayer and more glittering banner, +emblematic of the martial fame of Lord Raby himself, as Colonel of the +B-----shire volunteers! + +The music pealed from the gallery, the plate glittered on the board; the +ladies wore diamonds, and the gentlemen who had them wore stars. It was +a very fine sight, that banquet!--such as became the festive day of a +lord-lieutenant whose ancestors had now defied, and now intermarried, +with royalty. But there was very little talk, and no merriment. People +at the top of the table drank wine with those at the bottom; and +gentlemen and ladies seated next to each other whispered languidly in +monosyllabic commune. On one side, Maltravers was flanked by a Lady +Somebody Something, who was rather deaf, and very much frightened for +fear he should talk Greek; on the other side he was relieved by Sir John +Merton,--very civil, very pompous, and talking, at strictured intervals, +about county matters, in a measured intonation, savouring of the +House-of-Commons jerk at the end of the sentence. + +As the dinner advanced to its close, Sir John became a little more +diffuse, though his voice sank into a whisper. + +"I fear there will be a split in the Cabinet before parliament meets." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes; Vargrave and the premier cannot pull together very long. Clever +man, Vargrave! but he has not enough stake in the country for a leader!" + +"All men have public character to stake; and if that be good, I suppose +no stake can be better?" + +"Humph!--yes--very true; but still, when a man has land and money, his +opinions, in a country like this, very properly carry more weight with +them. If Vargrave, for instance, had Lord Raby's property, no man could +be more fit for a leader,--a prime minister. We might then be sure that +he would have no selfish interest to further: he would not play tricks +with his party--you understand?" + +"Perfectly." + +"I am not a party man, as you may remember; indeed, you and I have voted +alike on the same questions. Measures, not men,--that is my maxim; but +still I don't like to see men placed above their proper stations." + +"Maltravers, a glass of wine," said Lord Vargrave across the table. +"Will you join us, Sir John?" + +Sir John bowed. + +"Certainly," he resumed, "Vargrave is a pleasant man and a good speaker; +but still they say he is far from rich,--embarrassed, indeed. However, +when he marries Miss Cameron it may make a great difference,--give him +more respectability; do you know what her fortune is--something immense?" + +"Yes, I believe so; I don't know." + +"My brother says that Vargrave is most amiable. The young lady is very +handsome, almost too handsome for a wife--don't you think so? Beauties +are all very well in a ballroom; but they are not calculated for domestic +life. I am sure you agree with me. I have heard, indeed, that Miss +Cameron is rather learned; but there is so much scandal in a country +neighbourhood,--people are so ill-natured. I dare say she is not more +learned than other young ladies, poor girl! What do you think?" + +"Miss Cameron is--is very accomplished, I believe. And so you think the +Government cannot stand?" + +"I don't say that,--very far from it; but I fear there must be a change. +However, if the country gentlemen hold together, I do not doubt but what +we shall weather the storm. The landed interest, Mr. Maltravers, is the +great stay of this country,--the sheet-anchor, I may say. I suppose Lord +Vargrave, who seems, I must say, to have right notions on this head, will +invest Miss Cameron's fortune in land. But though one may buy an estate, +one can't buy an old family, Mr. Maltravers!--you and I may be thankful +for that. By the way, who was Miss Cameron's mother, Lady +Vargrave?--something low, I fear; nobody knows." + +"I am not acquainted with Lady Vargrave; your sister-in-law speaks of her +most highly. And the daughter in herself is a sufficient guarantee for +the virtues of the mother." + +"Yes; and Vargrave on one side, at least, has himself nothing in the way +of family to boast of." + +The ladies left the hall, the gentlemen re-seated themselves. Lord Raby +made some remark on politics to Sir John Merton, and the whole round of +talkers immediately followed their leader. + +"It is a thousand pities, Sir John," said Lord Raby, "that you have not a +colleague more worthy of you; Nelthorpe never attends a committee, does +he?" + +"I cannot say that he is a very active member; but he is young, and we +must make allowances for him," said Sir John, discreetly; for he had no +desire to oust his colleague,--it was agreeable enough to be _the_ +efficient member. + +"In these times," said Lord Raby, loftily, "allowances are not to be made +for systematic neglect of duty; we shall have a stormy session; the +Opposition is no longer to be despised; perhaps a dissolution may be +nearer at hand than we think for. As for Nelthorpe, he cannot come in +again." + +"That I am quite sure of," said a fat country gentleman of great weight +in the county; "he not only was absent on the great Malt question, but he +never answered my letter respecting the Canal Company." + +"Not answered your letter!" said Lord Raby, lifting up his hands and eyes +in amaze and horror. "What conduct! Ah, Mr. Maltravers, you are the man +for us!" + +"Hear! hear!" cried the fat squire. + +"Hear!" echoed Vargrave; and the approving sound went round the table. + +Lord Raby rose. "Gentlemen, fill your glasses; a health to our +distinguished neighbour!" + +The company applauded; each in his turn smiled, nodded, and drank to +Maltravers, who, though taken by surprise, saw at once the course to +pursue. He returned thanks simply and shortly; and without pointedly +noticing the allusion in which Lord Raby had indulged, remarked, +incidentally, that he had retired, certainly for some years--perhaps +forever--from political life. + +Vargrave smiled significantly at Lord Raby, and hastened to lead the +conversation into party discussion. Wrapped in his proud disdain of what +he considered the contests of factions for toys and shadows, Maltravers +remained silent; and the party soon broke up, and adjourned to the +ballroom. + + + +CHAPTER III. + + LE plus grand defaut de la penetration n'est pas de n'aller + point jusqu'au but,--c'est de la passer.*--LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. + + * "The greatest defect of penetration is not that of not going + just up to the point,--'tis the passing it." + +EVELYN had looked forward to the ball at Knaresdean with feelings deeper +than those which usually inflame the fancy of a girl proud of her dress +and confident of her beauty. Whether or not she _loved_ Maltravers, in +the true acceptation of the word "love," it is certain that he had +acquired a most powerful command over her mind and imagination. She felt +the warmest interest in his welfare, the most anxious desire for his +esteem, the deepest regret at the thought of their estrangement. At +Knaresdean she should meet Maltravers,--in crowds, it is true; but still +she should meet him; she should see him towering superior above the herd; +she should hear him praised; she should mark him, the observed of all. +But there was another and a deeper source of joy within her. A letter +had been that morning received from Aubrey, in which he had announced his +arrival for the next day. The letter, though affectionate, was short. +Evelyn had been some months absent,--Lady Vargrave was anxious to make +arrangements for her return; but it was to be at her option whether she +would accompany the curate home. Now, besides her delight at seeing once +more the dear old man, and hearing from his lips that her mother was well +and happy, Evelyn hailed in his arrival the means of extricating herself +from her position with Lord Vargrave. She would confide in him her +increased repugnance to that union, he would confer with Lord Vargrave; +and then--and then--did there come once more the thought of Maltravers? +No! I fear it was not Maltravers who called forth that smile and that +sigh! Strange girl, you know not your own mind!--but few of us, at your +age, do. + +In all the gayety of hope, in the pride of dress and half-conscious +loveliness, Evelyn went with a light step into Caroline's room. Miss +Merton had already dismissed her woman, and was seated by her +writing-table, leaning her cheek thoughtfully on her hand. + +"Is it time to go?" said she, looking up. "Well, we shall put Papa, and +the coachman, and the horses, too, in excellent humour. How well you +look! Really, Evelyn, you are indeed beautiful!" and Caroline gazed with +honest but not unenvious admiration at the fairy form so rounded and yet +so delicate, and the face that seemed to blush at its own charms. + +"I am sure I can return the flattery," said Evelyn, laughing bashfully. + +"Oh, as for me, I am well enough in my way: and hereafter, I dare say, we +may be rival beauties. I hope we shall remain good friends, and rule the +world with divided empire. Do you not long for the stir, and excitement, +and ambition of London?---for ambition is open to us as to men!" + +"No, indeed," replied Evelyn, smiling; "I could be ambitious, indeed; but +it would not be for myself, but for--" + +"A husband, perhaps; well, you will have ample scope for such sympathy. +Lord Vargrave--" + +"Lord Vargrave again?" and Evelyn's smile vanished, and she turned away. + +"Ah," said Caroline, "I should have made Vargrave an excellent wife--pity +he does not think so! As it is, I must set up for myself and become a +_maitresse femme_. So you think I look well to-night? I am glad of +it--Lord Doltimore is one who will be guided by what other people say." + +"You are not serious about Lord Doltimore?" + +"Most sadly serious." + +"Impossible! you could not speak so if you loved him." + +"Loved him! no! but I intend to marry him." + +Evelyn was revolted, but still incredulous. + +"And you, too, will marry one whom you do not love--'tis our fate--" + +"Never!" + +"We shall see." + +Evelyn's heart was damped, and her spirits fell. + +"Tell me now," said Caroline, pressing on the wrung withers, "do you not +think this excitement, partial and provincial though it be--the sense of +beauty, the hope of conquest, the consciousness of power--better than the +dull monotony of the Devonshire cottage? Be honest--" + +"No, no, indeed!" answered Evelyn, tearfully and passionately; "one hour +with my mother, one smile from her lips, were worth it all." + +"And in your visions of marriage, you think then of nothing but roses and +doves,--love in a cottage!" + +"Love _in a home_, no matter whether a palace or a cottage," returned +Evelyn. + +"Home!" repeated Caroline, bitterly; "home,--home is the English synonym +for the French _ennui_. But I hear Papa on the stairs." + +A ballroom--what a scene of commonplace! how hackneyed in novels! how +trite in ordinary life! and yet ballrooms have a character and a +sentiment of their own, for all tempers and all ages. Something in the +lights, the crowd, the music, conduces to stir up many of the thoughts +that belong to fancy and romance. It is a melancholy scene to men after +a certain age. It revives many of those lighter and more graceful images +connected with the wandering desires of youth,--shadows that crossed us, +and seemed love, but were not; having much of the grace and charm, but +none of the passion and the tragedy, of love. So many of our earliest +and gentlest recollections are connected with those chalked floors, and +that music painfully gay, and those quiet nooks and corners, where the +talk that hovers about the heart and does not touch it has been held. +Apart and unsympathizing in that austerer wisdom which comes to us after +deep passions have been excited, we see form after form chasing the +butterflies that dazzle us no longer among the flowers that have evermore +lost their fragrance. + +Somehow or other, it is one of the scenes that remind us most forcibly of +the loss of youth! We are brought so closely in contact with the young +and with the short-lived pleasures that once pleased us, and have +forfeited all bloom. Happy the man who turns from "the tinkling cymbal" +and "the gallery of pictures," and can think of some watchful eye and +some kind heart _at home_; but those who have no home--and they are a +numerous tribe--never feel lonelier hermits or sadder moralists than in +such a crowd. + +Maltravers leaned abstractedly against the wall, and some such +reflections, perhaps, passed within, as the plumes waved and the diamonds +glittered around him. Ever too proud to be vain, the _monstrari digito_ +had not flattered even in the commencement of his career. And now he +heeded not the eyes that sought his look, nor the admiring murmur of lips +anxious to be overheard. Affluent, well-born, unmarried, and still in +the prime of life,--in the small circles of a province, Ernest Maltravers +would in himself have been an object of interest to the diplomacy of +mothers and daughters; and the false glare of reputation necessarily +deepened curiosity, and widened the range of speculators and observers. + +Suddenly, however, a new object of attention excited new interest; new +whispers ran through the crowd, and these awakened Maltravers from his +revery. He looked up, and beheld all eyes fixed upon one form! His own +eyes encountered those of Evelyn Cameron! + +It was the first time he had seen this beautiful young person in all the +_eclat_, pomp, and circumstance of her station, as the heiress of the +opulent Templeton,--the first time he had seen her the cynosure of +crowds, who, had her features been homely, would have admired the charms +of her fortune in her face. And now, as radiant with youth, and the +flush of excitement on her soft cheek, she met his eye, he said to +himself: "And could I have wished one so new to the world to have united +her lot with a man for whom all that to her is delight has grown +wearisome and stale? Could I have been justified in stealing her from +the admiration that, at her age and to her sex, has so sweet a flattery? +Or, on the other hand, could I have gone back to her years, and +sympathized with feelings that time has taught me to despise? Better as +it is." + +Influenced by these thoughts, the greeting of Maltravers disappointed and +saddened Evelyn, she knew not why; it was constrained and grave. + +"Does not Miss Cameron look well?" whispered Mrs. Merton, on whose arm +the heiress leaned. "You observe what a sensation she creates?" + +Evelyn overheard, and blushed as she stole a glance at Maltravers. There +was something mournful in the admiration which spoke in his deep earnest +eyes. + +"Everywhere," said he, calmly, and in the same tone, "everywhere Miss +Cameron appears, she must outshine all others." He turned to Evelyn, and +said with a smile, "You must learn to inure yourself to admiration; a +year or two hence, and you will not blush at your own gifts!" + +"And you, too, contribute to spoil me!--fie!" + +"Are you so easily spoiled? If I meet you hereafter, you will think my +compliments cold to the common language of others." + +"You do not know me,--perhaps you never will." + +"I am contented with the fair pages I have already read." + +"Where is Lady Raby?" asked Mrs. Merton. "Oh, I see; Evelyn, my love, we +must present ourselves to our hostess." + +The ladies moved on; and when Maltravers next caught a glance of Evelyn, +she was with Lady Raby, and Lord Vargrave also was by her side. + +The whispers round him had grown louder. + +"Very lovely indeed! so young, too! and she is really going to be married +to Lord Vargrave: so much older than she is,--quite a sacrifice!" + +"Scarcely so. He is so agreeable, and still handsome. But are you sure +that the thing is settled?" + +"Oh, yes. Lord Raby himself told me so. It will take place very soon." + +"But do you know who her mother was? I cannot make out." + +"Nothing particular. You know the late Lord Vargrave was a man of low +birth. I believe she was a widow of his own rank; she lives quite in +seclusion." + +"How d' ye do, Mr. Maltravers? So glad to see you," said the quick, +shrill voice of Mrs. Hare. "Beautiful ball! Nobody does things like +Lord Raby; don't you dance?" + +"No, madam." + +"Oh, you young gentlemen are so _fine_ nowadays!" (Mrs. Hare, laying +stress on the word _young_, thought she had paid a very elegant +compliment, and ran on with increased complacency.) + +"You are going to let Burleigh, I hear, to Lord Doltimore,--is it true? +No! really now, what stories people do tell. Elegant man, Lord +Doltimore! Is it true, that Miss Caroline is going to marry his +lordship? Great match! No scandal, I hope; you'll excuse _me_! Two +weddings on the _tapis_,--quite stirring for our stupid county. Lady +Vargrave and Lady Doltimore, two new peeresses. Which do you think is +the handsomer? Miss Merton is the taller, but there is something fierce +in her eyes. Don't you think so? By the by, I wish you joy,--you'll +excuse _me_." + +"Wish me joy, madam?" + +"Oh, you are so close. Mr. Hare says he shall support you. You will +have all the ladies with you. Well, I declare, Lord Vargrave is going to +dance. How old is he, do you think?" + +Maltravers uttered an audible _pshaw_, and moved away; but his penance +was not over. Lord Vargrave, much as he disliked dancing, still thought +it wise to ask the fair hand of Evelyn; and Evelyn, also, could not +refuse. + +And now, as the crowd gathered round the red ropes, Maltravers had to +undergo new exclamations at Evelyn's beauty and Vargrave's luck. +Impatiently he turned from the spot, with that gnawing sickness of the +heart which none but the jealous know. He longed to depart, yet dreaded +to do so. It was the last time he should see Evelyn, perhaps for years; +the last time he should see her as Miss Cameron! + +He passed into another room, deserted by all save four old +gentlemen--Cleveland one of them--immersed in whist; and threw himself +upon an ottoman, placed in a recess by the oriel window. There, half +concealed by the draperies, he communed and reasoned with himself. His +heart was sad within him; he never felt before _how_ deeply and _how_ +passionately he loved Evelyn; how firmly that love had fastened upon the +very core of his heart! Strange, indeed, it was in a girl so young, of +whom he had seen but little,--and that little in positions of such quiet +and ordinary interest,--to excite a passion so intense in a man who had +gone through strong emotions and stern trials! But all love is +unaccountable. The solitude in which Maltravers had lived, the absence +of all other excitement, perhaps had contributed largely to fan the +flame. And his affections had so long slept, and after long sleep the +passions wake with such giant strength! He felt now too well that the +last rose of life had bloomed for him; it was blighted in its birth, but +it could never be replaced. Henceforth, indeed, he should be alone, the +hopes of home were gone forever; and the other occupations of mind and +soul--literature, pleasure, ambition--were already forsworn at the very +age in which by most men they are most indulged! + +O Youth! begin not thy career too soon, and let one passion succeed in +its due order to another; so that every season of life may have its +appropriate pursuit and charm! + +The hours waned; still Maltravers stirred not; nor were his meditations +disturbed, except by occasional ejaculations from the four old gentlemen, +as between each deal they moralized over the caprices of the cards. + +At length, close beside him he heard that voice, the lightest sound of +which could send the blood rushing through his veins; and from his +retreat he saw Caroline and Evelyn, seated close by. + +"I beg pardon," said the former, in a low voice,--"I beg pardon, Evelyn, +for calling you away; but I longed to tell you. The die is cast. Lord +Doltimore has proposed, and I have accepted him! Alas, alas! I half +wish I could retract!" + +"Dearest Caroline!" said the silver voice of Evelyn, "for Heaven's sake, +do not thus wantonly resolve on your own unhappiness! You wrong +yourself, Caroline! you do, indeed! You are not the vain ambitious +character you affect to be! Ah, what is it you require? Wealth? Are +you not my friend; am I not rich enough for both? Rank? What can it +give you to compensate for the misery of a union without love? Pray, +forgive me for speaking thus. Do not think me presumptuous, or romantic; +but, indeed, indeed, I know from my own heart what yours must undergo!" + +Caroline pressed her friend's hand with emotion. + +"You are a bad comforter, Evelyn. My mother, my father, will preach a +very different doctrine. I am foolish, indeed, to be so sad in obtaining +the very object I have sought! Poor Doltimore! he little knows the +nature, the feelings of her whom he thinks he has made the happiest of +her sex; he little knows--" Caroline paused, turned pale as death, and +then went rapidly on, "but you, Evelyn, _you_ will meet the same fate; we +shall bear it together." + +"No! no! do not think so! Where I give my hand, there shall I give my +heart." + +At this time Maltravers half rose, and sighed audibly. + +"Hush!" said Caroline, in alarm. At the same moment, the whist-table +broke up, and Cleveland approached Maltravers. + +"I am at your service," said he; "I know you will not stay the supper. +You will find me in the next room; I am just going to speak to Lord +Saxingham." The gallant old gentleman then paid a compliment to the +young ladies, and walked away. + +"So you too are a deserter from the ballroom!" said Miss Merton to +Maltravers as she rose. + +"I am not very well; but do not let me frighten you away." + +"Oh, no! I hear the music; it is the last quadrille before supper: and +here is my fortunate partner looking for me." + +"I have been everywhere in search of you," said Lord Doltimore, in an +accent of tender reproach: "come, we are almost too late now." + +Caroline put her arm into Lord Doltimore's, who hurried her into the +ballroom. + +Miss Cameron looked irresolute whether or not to follow, when Maltravers +seated himself beside her; and the paleness of his brow, and something +that bespoke pain in the compressed lip, went at once to her heart. In +her childlike tenderness, she would have given worlds for the sister's +privilege of sympathy and soothing. The room was now deserted; they were +alone. + +The words that he had overheard from Evelyn's lips, "Where I shall give +my hand, there shall I give my heart," Maltravers interpreted but in one +sense,--"she loved her betrothed;" and strange as it may seem, at that +thought, which put the last seal upon his fate, selfish anguish was less +felt than deep compassion. So young, so courted, so tempted as she must +be--and with such a protector!--the cold, the unsympathizing, the +heartless Vargrave! She, too, whose feelings, so warm, ever trembled on +her lip and eye. Oh! when she awoke from her dream, and knew whom she +had loved, what might be her destiny, what her danger! + +"Miss Cameron," said Maltravers, "let me for one moment detain you; I +will not trespass long. May I once, and for the last time, assume the +austere rights of friendship? I have seen much of life, Miss Cameron, +and my experience has been purchased dearly; and harsh and hermit-like as +I may have grown, I have not outlived such feelings as you are well +formed to excite. Nay,"--and Maltravers smiled sadly--"I am not about to +compliment or flatter, I speak not to you as the young to the young; the +difference of our years, that takes away sweetness from flattery, leaves +still sincerity to friendship. You have inspired me with a deep +interest,--deeper than I thought that living beauty could ever rouse in +me again! It may be that something in the tone of your voice, your +manner, a nameless grace that I cannot define, reminds me of one whom I +knew in youth,--one who had not your advantages of education, wealth, +birth; but to whom Nature was more kind than Fortune." + +He paused a moment; and without looking towards Evelyn, thus renewed,-- + +"You are entering life under brilliant auspices. Ah, let me hope that +the noonday will keep the promise of the dawn! You are susceptible, +imaginative; do not demand too much, or dream too fondly. When you are +wedded, do not imagine that wedded life is exempt from its trials and its +cares; if you know yourself beloved--and beloved you must be--do not ask +from the busy and anxious spirit of man all which Romance promises and +Life but rarely yields. And oh!" continued Maltravers, with an absorbing +and earnest passion, that poured forth its language with almost +breathless rapidity,--"if ever your heart rebels, if ever it be +dissatisfied, fly the false sentiment as a sin! Thrown, as from your +rank you must be, on a world of a thousand perils, with no guide so +constant and so safe as your own innocence, make not that world too dear +a friend. Were it possible that your own home ever could be lonely or +unhappy, reflect that to woman the unhappiest home is happier than all +excitement abroad. You will have a thousand suitors hereafter: believe +that the asp lurks under the flatterer's tongue, and resolve, come what +may, to be contented with your lot. How many have I known, lovely and +pure as you, who have suffered the very affections--the very beauty of +their nature--to destroy them! Listen to me as a warner, as a brother, +as a pilot who has passed the seas on which your vessel is about to +launch. And ever, ever let me know, in whatever lands your name may +reach me, that one who has brought back to me all my faith in human +excellence, while the idol of our sex, is the glory of her own. Forgive +me this strange impertinence; my heart is full, and has overflowed. And +now, Miss Cameron--Evelyn Cameron--this is my last offence, and my last +farewell!" + +He held out his hand, and involuntarily, unknowingly, she clasped it, as +if to detain him till she could summon words to reply. Suddenly he heard +Lord Vargrave's voice behind. The spell was broken; the next moment +Evelyn was alone, and the throng swept into the room towards the banquet, +and laughter and gay voices were heard, and Lord Vargrave was again by +Evelyn's side! + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + To you + This journey is devoted. + _Lover's Progress_, Act iv. sc. 1. + +AS Cleveland and Maltravers returned homeward, the latter abruptly +checked the cheerful garrulity of his friend. "I have a favour, a great +favour to ask of you." + +"And what is that?" + +"Let us leave Burleigh tomorrow; I care not at what hour; we need go but +two or three stages if you are fatigued." + +"Most hospitable host! and why?" + +"It is torture, it is agony to me, to breathe the air of Burleigh," cried +Maltravers, wildly. "Can you not guess my secret? Have I then concealed +it so well? I love, I adore Evelyn Cameron, and she is betrothed to--she +loves--another!" + +Mr. Cleveland was breathless with amaze; Maltravers had indeed so well +concealed his secret, and now his emotion was so impetuous, that it +startled and alarmed the old man, who had never himself experienced a +passion, though he had indulged a sentiment. He sought to console and +soothe; but after the first burst of agony, Maltravers recovered himself, +and said gently,-- + +"Let us never return to this subject again: it is right that I should +conquer this madness, and conquer it I will! Now you know my weakness, +you will indulge it. My cure, cannot commence until I can no longer see +from my casements the very roof that shelters the affianced bride of +another." + +"Certainly, then, we will set off to-morrow: my friend! is it indeed--" + +"Ah, cease," interrupted the proud man; "no compassion, I implore: give +me but time and silence,--they are the only remedies." + +Before noon the next day, Burleigh was once more deserted by its lord. +As the carriage drove through the village, Mrs. Elton saw it from her +open window; but her patron, too absorbed at that hour even for +benevolence, forgot her existence and yet so complicated are the webs of +fate, that in the breast of that lowly stranger was locked a secret of +the most vital moment to Maltravers. + +"Where is he going; where is the squire going?" asked Mrs. Elton, +anxiously. + +"Dear heart!" said the cottager, "they do say he be going for a short +time to foren parts. But he will be back at Christmas." + +"And at Christmas I may be gone hence forever," muttered the invalid; +"but what will that matter to him--to any one?" + +At the first stage Maltravers and his friend were detained a short time +for the want of horses. Lord Raby's house had been filled with guests on +the preceding night, and the stables of this little inn, dignified with +the sign of the Raby Arms, and about two miles distant from the great +man's place, had been exhausted by numerous claimants returning homeward +from Knaresdean. It was a quiet, solitary post-house, and patience, till +some jaded horses should return, was the only remedy; the host, assuring +the travellers that he expected four horses every moment, invited them +within. The morning was cold, and the fire not unacceptable to Mr. +Cleveland; so they went into the little parlour. Here they found an +elderly gentleman of very prepossessing appearance, who was waiting for +the same object. He moved courteously from the fireplace as the +travellers entered, and pushed the "B-----shire Chronicle" towards +Cleveland: Cleveland bowed urbanely. "A cold day, sir; the autumn begins +to show itself." + +"It is true, sir," answered the old gentleman; "and I feel the cold the +more, having just quitted the genial atmosphere of the South." + +"Of Italy?" + +"No, of England only. I see by this paper (I am not much of a +politician) that there is a chance of a dissolution of parliament, and +that Mr. Maltravers is likely to come forward for this county; are you +acquainted with him, sir?" + +"A little," said Cleveland, smiling. + +"He is a man I am much interested in," said the old gentleman; "and I +hope soon to be honoured with his acquaintance." + +"Indeed! and you are going into his neighbourhood?" asked Cleveland, +looking more attentively at the stranger, and much pleased with a certain +simple candour in his countenance and manner. + +"Yes, to Merton Rectory." + +Maltravers, who had been hitherto stationed by the window, turned round. + +"To Merton Rectory?" repeated Cleveland. "You are acquainted with Mr. +Merton, then?" + +"Not yet; but I know some of his family. However, my visit is rather to +a young lady who is staying at the rectory,--Miss Cameron." + +Maltravers sighed heavily; and the old gentleman looked at him curiously. +"Perhaps, sir, if you know that neighbourhood, you may have seen--" + +"Miss Cameron! Certainly; it is an honour not easily forgotten." + +The old gentleman looked pleased. + +"The dear child!" said he, with a burst of honest affection, and he +passed his hand over his eyes. Maltravers drew near to him. + +"You know Miss Cameron; you are to be envied, sir," said he. + +"I have known her since she was a child; Lady Vargrave is my dearest +friend." + +"Lady Vargrave must be worthy of such a daughter. Only under the light +of a sweet disposition and pure heart could that beautiful nature have +been trained and reared." + +Maltravers spoke with enthusiasm; and, as if fearful to trust himself +more, left the room. + +"That gentleman speaks not more warmly than justly," said the old man, +with some surprise. "He has a countenance which, if physiognomy be a +true science, declares his praise to be no common compliment; may I +inquire his name?" + +"Maltravers," replied Cleveland, a little vain of the effect his +ex-pupil's name was to produce. + +The curate--for it was he--started and changed countenance. + +"Maltravers! but he is not about to leave the county?" + +"Yes, for a few months." + +Here the host entered. Four horses, that had been only fourteen miles, +had just re-entered the yard. If Mr. Maltravers could spare two to that +gentleman, who had, indeed, pre-engaged them? + +"Certainly," said Cleveland; "but be quick." + +"And is Lord Vargrave still at Mr. Merton's?" asked the curate, musingly. + +"Oh, yes, I believe so. Miss Cameron is to be married to him very +shortly,--is it not so?" + +"I cannot say," returned Aubrey, rather bewildered. "You know Lord +Vargrave, sir?" + +"Extremely well!" + +"And you think him worthy of Miss Cameron?" + +"That is a question for her to answer. But I see the horses are put to. +Good-day, sir! Will you tell your fair young friend that you have met an +old gentleman who wishes her all happiness; and if she ask you his name, +say Cleveland?" + +So saying, Mr. Cleveland bowed, and re-entered the carriage. But +Maltravers was yet missing. In fact, he returned to the house by the +back way, and went once more into the little parlour. It was something +to see again one who would so soon see Evelyn! + +"If I mistake not," said Maltravers, "you are that Mr. Aubrey on whose +virtues I have often heard Miss Cameron delight to linger? Will you +believe my regret that our acquaintance is now so brief?" + +As Maltravers spoke thus simply, there was in his countenance, his voice, +a melancholy sweetness, which greatly conciliated the good curate; and as +Aubrey gazed upon his noble features and lofty mien, he no longer +wondered at the fascination he had appeared to exercise over the young +Evelyn. + +"And may I not hope, Mr. Maltravers," said he, "that before long our +acquaintance may be renewed? Could not Miss Cameron," he added, with a +smile and a penetrating look, "tempt you into Devonshire?" + +Maltravers shook his head, and, muttering something not very audible, +quitted the room. The curate heard the whirl of the wheels, and the host +entered to inform him that his own carriage was now ready. + +"There is something in this," thought Aubrey, "which I do not comprehend. +His manner, his trembling voice, bespoke emotions he struggled to +conceal. Can Lord Vargrave have gained his point? Is Evelyn, indeed, no +longer free?" + + + +CHAPTER V. + + CERTES, c'est un grand cas, Icas, + Que toujours tracas ou fracas + Vous faites d'une ou d'autre sort; + C'est le diable qui vous emporte!*--VOITURE. + + * "Certes, it is the fact, Icas, that you are always engaged in + tricks or scrapes of some sort or other; it must be the devil + that bewitches you." + +LORD VARGRAVE had passed the night of the ball and the following morning +at Knaresdean. It was necessary to bring the counsels of the scheming +conclave to a full and definite conclusion; and this was at last +effected. Their strength numbered, friends and foes alike canvassed and +considered, and due account taken of the waverers to be won over, it +really did seem, even to the least sanguine, that the Saxingham or +Vargrave party was one that might well aspire either to dictate to, or to +break up, a government. Nothing now was left to consider but the +favourable hour for action. In high spirits, Lord Vargrave returned +about the middle of the day to the rectory. + +"So," thought he, as he reclined in his carriage,--"so, in politics, the +prospect clears as the sun breaks out. The party I have espoused is one +that must be the most durable, for it possesses the greatest property and +the most stubborn prejudice--what elements for Party! All that I now +require is a sufficient fortune to back my ambition. Nothing can clog my +way but these cursed debts, this disreputable want of gold. And yet +Evelyn alarms me! Were I younger, or had I not made my position too +soon, I would marry her by fraud or by force,--run off with her to +Gretna, and make Vulcan minister to Plutus. But this would never do at +my years, and with my reputation. A pretty story for the newspapers, +d-----n them! Well, nothing venture, nothing have; I will brave the +hazard! Meanwhile, Doltimore is mine; Caroline will rule him, and I rule +her. His vote and his boroughs are something,--his money will be more +immediately useful: I must do him the honour to borrow a few +thousands,--Caroline must manage that for me. The fool is miserly, +though a spendthrift; and looked black when I delicately hinted the other +day that I wanted a friend--_id est_, a loan! money and friendship same +thing,--distinction without a difference!" Thus cogitating, Vargrave +whiled away the minutes till his carriage stopped at Mr. Merton's door. + +As he entered the hall he met Caroline, who had just quitted her own +room. + +"How lucky I am that you have on your bonnet! I long for a walk with you +round the lawn." + +"And I, too, am glad to see you, Lord Vargrave," said Caroline, putting +her arm in his. + +"Accept my best congratulations, my own sweet friend," said Vargrave, +when they were in the grounds. "You have no idea how happy Doltimore is. +He came to Knaresdean yesterday to communicate the news, and his +neckcloth was primmer than ever. C'est un bon enfant." + +"Ah, how can you talk thus? Do you feel no pain at the thought +that--that I am another's?" + +"Your heart will be ever mine,--and that is the true fidelity. What +else, too, could be done? As for Lord Doltimore, we will go shares in +him. Come, cheer thee, _m'amie_; I rattle on thus to keep up your +spirits. Do not fancy I am happy!" + +Caroline let fall a few tears; but beneath the influence of Vargrave's +sophistries and flatteries, she gradually recovered her usual hard and +worldly tone of mind. + +"And where is Evelyn?" asked Vargrave. "Do you know, the little witch +seemed to be half mad the night of the ball. Her head was turned; and +when she sat next me at supper, she not only answered every question I +put to her _a tort et a travers_, but I fancied every moment she was +going to burst out crying. Can you tell what was the matter with her?" + +"She was grieved to hear that I was to be married to the man I do not +love. Ah, Vargrave, she has more heart than you have!" + +"But she never fancies that you love me?" asked Lumley, in alarm. "You +women are so confoundedly confidential!" + +"No, she does not suspect our secret." + +"Then I scarcely think your approaching marriage was a sufficient cause +for so much distraction." + +"Perhaps she may have overheard some of the impertinent whispers about +her mother,--'Who was Lady Vargrave?' and 'What Cameron was Lady +Vargrave's first husband?' _I_ overheard a hundred such vulgar +questions; and provincial people whisper so loud." + +"Ah, that is a very probable solution of the mystery; and for my part, I +am almost as much puzzled as any one else can be to know who Lady +Vargrave was!" + +"Did not your uncle tell you?" + +"He told me that she was of no very elevated birth and station,--nothing +more; and she herself, with her quiet, say-nothing manner, slips through +all my careless questionings like an eel. She is still a beautiful +creature, more regularly handsome than even Evelyn; and old Templeton had +a very sweet tooth at the back of his head, though he never opened his +mouth wide enough to show it." + +"She must ever at least have been blameless, to judge by an air which, +even now, is more like that of a child than a matron." + +"Yes; she has not much of the widow about her, poor soul! But her +education, except in music, has not been very carefully attended to; and +she knows about as much of the world as the Bishop of Autun (better known +as Prince Talleyrand) knows of the Bible. If she were not so simple, she +would be silly; but silliness is never simple,--always cunning; however, +there is some cunning in her keeping her past Cameronian Chronicles so +close. Perhaps I may know more about her in a short time, for I intend +going to C-----, where my uncle once lived, in order to see if I can +revive under the rose--since peers are only contraband +electioneerers--his old parliamentary influence in that city: and they +may tell me more there than I now know." + +"Did the late lord marry at C-----?" + +"No; in Devonshire. I do not even know if Mrs. Cameron ever was at +C-----." + +"You must be curious to know who the father of your intended wife was?" + +"Her father! No; I have no curiosity in that quarter. And, to tell you +the truth, I am much too busy about the Present to be raking into that +heap of rubbish we call the Past. I fancy that both your good +grandmother and that comely old curate of Brook-Green know everything +about Lady Vargrave; and, as they esteem her so much, I take it for +granted she is _sans tache_." + +"How could I be so stupid! _A propos_ of the curate, I forgot to tell +you that he is here. He arrived about two hours ago, and has been +closeted with Evelyn ever since!" + +"The deuce! What brought the old man hither?" + +"That I know not. Papa received a letter from him yesterday morning, to +say that he would be here to-day. Perhaps Lady Vargrave thinks it time +for Evelyn to return home." + +"What am I to do?" said Vargrave, anxiously. "Dare I yet venture to +propose?" + +"I am sure it will be in vain, Vargrave. You must prepare for +disappointment." + +"And ruin," muttered Vargrave, gloomily. "Hark you, Caroline, she may +refuse me if she pleases. But I am not a man to be baffled. Have her I +will, by one means or another; revenge urges me to it almost as much as +ambition. That girl's thread of life has been the dark line in my woof; +she has robbed me of fortune, she now thwarts me in my career, she +humbles me in my vanity. But, like a hound that has tasted blood, I will +run her down, whatever winding she takes." + +"Vargrave, you terrify me! Reflect; we do not live in an age when +violence--" + +"Tush!" interrupted Lumley, with one of those dark looks which at times, +though very rarely, swept away all its customary character from that +smooth, shrewd countenance. "Tush! We live in an age as favourable to +intellect and to energy as ever was painted in romance. I have that +faith in fortune and myself that I tell you, with a prophet's voice, that +Evelyn shall fulfil the wish of my dying uncle. But the bell summons us +back." + +On returning to the house, Lord Vargrave's valet gave him a letter which +had arrived that morning. It was from Mr. Gustavus Douce, and ran +thus:-- + + + FLEET STREET, ----- 20, 18--. + +MY LORD,--It is with the greatest regret that I apprise you, for Self & +Co., that we shall not be able in the present state of the Money Market +to renew your Lordship's bill for 10,000 pounds, due the 28th instant. +Respectfully calling your Lordship's attention to the same, I have the +honour to be, for Self & Co., my Lord, + + Your Lordship's most obedient and most obliged humble servant, + GUSTAVUS DOUCE. + +To the Right Hon. LORD VARGRAVE, etc. + + +This letter sharpened Lord Vargrave's anxiety and resolve; nay, it seemed +almost to sharpen his sharp features as he muttered sundry denunciations +on Messrs. Douce and Co., while arranging his neckcloth at the glass. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + _Sol._ Why, please your honourable lordship, we were talking + here and there,--this and that.--_The Stranger_. + +AUBREY had been closeted with Evelyn the whole morning; and, simultaneous +with his arrival, came to her the news of the departure of Maltravers. +It was an intelligence that greatly agitated and unnerved her; and, +coupling that event with his solemn words on the previous night, Evelyn +asked herself, in wonder, what sentiments she could have inspired in +Maltravers. Could he love her,--her, so young, so inferior, so +uninformed? Impossible! Alas! alas! for Maltravers! His genius, his +gifts, his towering qualities,--all that won the admiration, almost the +awe, of Evelyn,--placed him at a distance from her heart! When she asked +herself if he loved her, she did not ask, even in that hour, if she loved +him. But even the question she did ask, her judgment answered erringly +in the negative. Why should he love, and yet fly her? She understood +not his high-wrought scruples, his self-deluding belief. Aubrey was more +puzzled than enlightened by his conversation with his pupil; only one +thing seemed certain,--her delight to return to the cottage and her +mother. + +Evelyn could not sufficiently recover her composure to mix with the party +below; and Aubrey, at the sound of the second dinner-bell, left her to +her solitude, and bore her excuses to Mrs. Merton. + +"Dear me!" said that worthy lady; "I am so sorry. I thought Miss Cameron +looked fatigued at breakfast, and there was something hysterical in her +spirits; and I suppose the surprise of your arrival has upset her. +Caroline, my dear, you had better go and see what she would like to have +taken up to her room,--a little soup and the wing of a chicken." + +"My dear," said Mr. Merton, rather pompously, "I think it would be but a +proper respect to Miss Cameron, if you yourself accompanied Caroline." + +"I assure you," said the curate, alarmed at the avalanche of politeness +that threatened poor Evelyn,--"I assure you that Miss Cameron would +prefer being left alone at present; as you say, Mrs. Merton, her spirits +are rather agitated." + +But Mrs. Merton, with a sliding bow, had already quitted the room, and +Caroline with her. + +"Come back, Sophy! Cecilia, come back!" said Mr. Merton, settling his +_jabot_. + +"Oh, dear Evy! poor dear Evy!--Evy is ill!" said Sophy; "I may go to Evy? +I must go, Papa!" + +"No, my dear, you are too noisy; these children are quite spoiled, Mr. +Aubrey." + +The old man looked at them benevolently, and drew them to his knee; and, +while Cissy stroked his long white hair, and Sophy ran on about dear +Evy's prettiness and goodness, Lord Vargrave sauntered into the room. + +On seeing the curate, his frank face lighted up with surprise and +pleasure; he hastened to him, seized him by both hands, expressed the +most heartfelt delight at seeing him, inquired tenderly after Lady +Vargrave, and, not till he was out of breath, and Mrs. Merton and +Caroline returning apprised him of Miss Cameron's indisposition, did his +rapture vanish; and, as a moment before he was all joy, so now he was all +sorrow. + +The dinner passed off dully enough; the children, re-admitted to dessert, +made a little relief to all parties; and when they and the two ladies +went, Aubrey himself quickly rose to join Evelyn. + +"Are you going to Miss Cameron?" said Lord Vargrave; "pray say how +unhappy I feel at her illness. I think these grapes--they are very +fine--could not hurt her. May I ask you to present them with my +best--best and most anxious regards? I shall be so uneasy till you +return. Now, Merton (as the door closed on the curate), let's have +another bottle of this famous claret! Droll old fellow that,--quite a +character!" + +"He is a great favourite with Lady Vargrave and Miss Cameron, I believe," +said Mr. Merton. "A mere village priest, I suppose; no talent, no +energy--or he could not be a curate at that age." + +"Very true,--a shrewd remark. The Church is as good a profession as any +other for getting on, if a man has anything in him. I shall live to see +_you_ a bishop!" + +Mr. Merton shook his head. + +"Yes, I shall; though you have hitherto disdained to exhibit any one of +the three orthodox qualifications for a mitre." + +"And what are they, my lord?" + +"Editing a Greek play, writing a political pamphlet, and apostatizing at +the proper moment." + +"Ha, ha! your lordship is severe on us." + +"Not I; I often wish I had been brought up to the Church,--famous +profession, properly understood. By Jupiter, I should have been a +capital bishop!" + +In his capacity of parson, Mr. Merton tried to look grave; in his +capacity of a gentlemanlike, liberal fellow, he gave up the attempt, and +laughed pleasantly at the joke of the rising man. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + WILL nothing please you? + What do you think of the Court?--_The Plain Dealer_. + +ON one subject Aubrey found no difficulty in ascertaining Evelyn's wishes +and condition of mind. The experiment of her visit, so far as Vargrave's +hopes were concerned, had utterly failed; she could not contemplate the +prospect of his alliance, and she poured out to the curate, frankly and +fully, all her desire to effect a release from her engagement. As it was +now settled that she should return with Aubrey to Brook-Green, it was +indeed necessary to come to the long-delayed understanding with her +betrothed. Yet this was difficult, for he had so little pressed, so +distantly alluded to, their engagement, that it was like a forwardness, +an indelicacy in Evelyn to forestall the longed-for yet dreaded +explanation. This, however, Aubrey took upon himself; and at this +promise Evelyn felt as the slave may feel when the chain is stricken off. + +At breakfast, Mr. Aubrey communicated to the Mertons Evelyn's intention +to return with him to Brook-Green on the following day. Lord Vargrave +started, bit his lip, but said nothing. + +Not so silent was Mr. Merton. + +"Return with you! my dear Mr. Aubrey, just consider; it is impossible! +You see Miss Cameron's rank of life, her position,--so very strange; no +servants of her own here but her woman,--no carriage even! You would not +have her travel in a post-chaise such a long journey! Lord Vargrave, you +can never consent to that, I am sure?" + +"Were it only as Miss Cameron's _guardian_," said Lord Vargrave, +pointedly, "I should certainly object to such a mode of performing such a +journey. Perhaps Mr. Aubrey means to perfect the project by taking two +outside places on the top of the coach?" + +"Pardon me," said the curate, mildly, "but I am not so ignorant of what +is due to Miss Cameron as you suppose. Lady Vargrave's carriage, which +brought me hither, will be no unsuitable vehicle for Lady Vargrave's +daughter; and Miss Cameron is not, I trust, quite so spoiled by all your +friendly attentions as to be unable to perform a journey of two days with +no other protector than myself." + +"I forgot Lady Vargrave's carriage,--or rather I was not aware that you +had used it, my dear sir," said Mr. Merton. "But you must not blame us, +if we are sorry to lose Miss Cameron so suddenly; I was in hopes that +_you_ too would stay at least a week with us." + +The curate bowed at the rector's condescending politeness; and just as he +was about to answer, Mrs. Merton put in,-- + +"And you see I had set my heart on her being Caroline's bridesmaid." + +Caroline turned pale, and glanced at Vargrave, who appeared solely +absorbed in breaking toast into his tea,--a delicacy he had never before +been known to favour. + +There was an awkward pause. The servant opportunely entered with a small +parcel of books, a note to Mr. Merton, and that most blessed of all +blessed things in the country,--the letter-bag. + +"What is this?" said the rector, opening his note, while Mrs. Merton +unlocked the bag and dispensed the contents: "Left Burleigh for some +months, a day or two sooner than he had expected; excuse French +leave-taking; return Miss Merton's books, much obliged; gamekeeper has +orders to place the Burleigh preserves at my disposal. So we have lost +our neighbour!" + +"Did you not know Mr. Maltravers was gone?" said Caroline. "I heard so +from Jenkins last night; he accompanies Mr. Cleveland to Paris." + +"Indeed!" said Mrs. Merton, opening her eyes. "What could take him to +Paris?" + +"Pleasure, I suppose," answered Caroline. "I'm sure I should rather have +wondered what could detain him at Burleigh." + +Vargrave was all this while breaking open seals and running his eyes over +sundry scrawls with the practised rapidity of the man of business; he +came to the last letter. His countenance brightened. + +"Royal invitation, or rather command, to Windsor," he cried. "I am +afraid I, too, must leave you, this very day." + +"Bless me!" exclaimed Mrs. Merton; "is that from the king? Do let me +see!" + +"Not exactly from the king; the same thing though:" and Lord Vargrave, +carelessly pushing the gracious communication towards the impatient hand +and loyal gaze of Mrs. Merton, carefully put the other letters in his +pocket, and walked musingly to the window. + +Aubrey seized the opportunity to approach him. "My lord, can I speak +with you a few moments?" + +"Me! certainly; will you come to my dressing-room?" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + . . . THERE was never + Poor gentleman had such a sudden fortune. + + BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER: _The Captain_, Act v. sc. 5. + +"MY LORD," said the curate, as Vargrave, leaning back in his chair, +appeared to examine the shape of his boots, while in reality "his +sidelong looks;" not "of love," were fixed upon his companion,--"I need +scarcely refer to the wish of the late lord, your uncle, relative to Miss +Cameron and yourself; nor need I, to one of a generous spirit, add that +an engagement could be only so far binding as both the parties whose +happiness is concerned should be willing in proper time and season to +fulfil it." + +"Sir!" said Vargrave, impatiently waving his hand; and, in his irritable +surmise of what was to come, losing his habitual self-control, "I know +not what all this has to do with you; surely you trespass upon ground +sacred to Miss Cameron and myself? Whatever you have to say, let me beg +you to come at once to the point." + +"My lord, I will obey you. Miss Cameron--and, I may add, with Lady +Vargrave's consent--deputes me to say that, although she feels compelled +to decline the honour of your lordship's alliance, yet if in any +arrangement of the fortune bequeathed to her she could testify to you, my +lord, her respect and friendship, it would afford her the most sincere +gratification." + +Lord Vargrave started. + +"Sir," said he, "I know not if I am to thank you for this information, +the announcement of which so strangely coincides with your arrival. But +allow me to say that there needs no ambassador between Miss Cameron and +myself. It is due, sir, to my station, to my relationship, to my +character of guardian, to my long and faithful affection, to all +considerations which men of the world understand, which men of feeling +sympathize with, to receive from Miss Cameron alone the rejection of my +suit." + +"Unquestionably Miss Cameron will grant your lordship the interview you +have a right to seek; but pardon me, I thought it might save you both +much pain, if the meeting were prepared by a third person; and on any +matter of business, any atonement to your lordship--" + +"Atonement! what can atone to me?" exclaimed Vargrave, as he walked to +and fro the room in great disorder and excitement. "Can you give me back +years of hope and expectancy,--the manhood wasted in a vain dream? Had I +not been taught to look to this reward, should I have rejected all +occasion--while my youth was not yet all gone, while my heart was not yet +all occupied--to form a suitable alliance? Nay, should I have indulged +in a high and stirring career, for which my own fortune is by no means +qualified? Atonement! atonement! Talk of atonement to boys! Sir, I +stand before you a man whose private happiness is blighted, whose public +prospects are darkened, life wasted, fortunes ruined, the schemes of an +existence built upon one hope, which was lawfully indulged, overthrown; +and you talk to me of _atonement_!" + +Selfish as the nature of this complaint might be, Aubrey was struck with +its justice. + +"My lord," said he, a little embarrassed, "I cannot deny that there is +truth in much of what you say. Alas! it proves how vain it is for man to +calculate on the future; how unhappily your uncle erred in imposing +conditions, which the chances of life and the caprices of affection could +at any time dissolve! But this is blame that attaches only to the dead: +can you blame the living?" + +"Sir, I considered myself bound by my uncle's prayer to keep my hand and +heart disengaged, that this title--miserable and barren distinction +though it be!--might, as he so ardently desired, descend to Evelyn. I +had a right to expect similar honour upon her side!" + +"Surely, my lord, you, to whom the late lord on his death-bed confided +all the motives of his conduct and the secret of his life, cannot but be +aware that, while desirous of promoting your worldly welfare, and uniting +in one line his rank and his fortune, your uncle still had Evelyn's +happiness at heart as his warmest wish; you must know that, if that +happiness were forfeited by a marriage with you, the marriage became but +a secondary consideration. Lord Vargrave's will in itself was a proof of +this. He did not impose as an absolute condition upon Evelyn her union +with yourself; he did not make the forfeiture of her whole wealth the +penalty of her rejection of that alliance. By the definite limit of the +forfeit, he intimated a distinction between a command and a desire. And +surely, when you consider all circumstances, your lordship must think +that, what with that forfeit and the estate settled upon the title, your +uncle did all that in a worldly point of view equity and even affection +could exact from him." + +Vargrave smiled bitterly, but said nothing. + +"And if this be doubted, I have clearer proof of his intentions. Such +was his confidence in Lady Vargrave, that in the letter he addressed to +her before his death, and which I now submit to your lordship, you will +observe that he not only expressly leaves it to Lady Vargrave's +discretion to communicate to Evelyn that history of which she is at +present ignorant, but that he also clearly defines the line of conduct he +wished to be adopted with respect to Evelyn and yourself. Permit me to +point out the passage." + +Impatiently Lord Vargrave ran his eye over the letter placed in his hand, +till he came to these lines:-- + + +"And if, when she has arrived at the proper age to form a judgment, +Evelyn should decide against Lumley's claims, you know that on no account +would I sacrifice her happiness; that all I require is, that fair play be +given to his pretensions, due indulgence to the scheme I have long had at +heart. Let her be brought up to consider him her future husband; let her +not be prejudiced against him; let her fairly judge for herself, when the +time arrives." + + +"You see, my lord," said Mr. Aubrey, as he took back the letter, "that +this letter bears the same date as your uncle's will. What he desired +has been done. Be just, my lord, be just, and exonerate us all from +blame: who can dictate to the affections?" + +"And I am to understand that I have no chance, now or hereafter, of +obtaining the affections of Evelyn? Surely, at your age, Mr. Aubrey, you +cannot encourage the heated romance common to all girls of Evelyn's age. +Persons of our rank do not marry like the Corydon and Phyllis of a +pastoral. At my years, I never was fool enough to expect that I should +inspire a girl of seventeen with what is called a passionate attachment. +But happy marriages are based upon suitable circumstances, mutual +knowledge and indulgence, respect, esteem. Come, sir, let me hope +yet,--let me hope that, on the same day, I may congratulate you on your +preferment and you may congratulate me upon my marriage." + +Vargrave said this with a cheerful and easy smile; and the tone of his +voice was that of a man who wished to convey serious meaning in a jesting +accent. + +Mr. Aubrey, meek as he was, felt the insult of the hinted bribe, and +coloured with a resentment no sooner excited than checked. "Excuse me, +my lord, I have now said all; the rest had better be left to your ward +herself." + +"Be it so, sir. I will ask you, then, to convey my request to Evelyn to +honour me with a last and parting interview." + +Vargrave flung himself on his chair, and Aubrey left him. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + THUS airy Strephon tuned his lyre.--SHENSTONE. + +IN his meeting with Evelyn, Vargrave certainly exerted to the utmost all +his ability and all his art. He felt that violence, that sarcasm, that +selfish complaint would not avail in a man who was not loved,--though +they are often admirable cards in the hands of a man who is. As his own +heart was perfectly untouched in the matter, except by rage and +disappointment,--feelings which with him never lasted very long,--he +could play coolly his losing game. His keen and ready intellect taught +him that all he could now expect was to bequeath sentiments of generous +compassion and friendly interest; to create a favourable impression, +which he might hereafter improve; to reserve, in short, some spot of +vantage-ground in the country from which he was to affect to withdraw all +his forces. He had known, in his experience of women, which, whether as +an actor or a spectator, was large and various--though not among very +delicate and refined natures--that a lady often takes a fancy to a suitor +_after_ she has rejected him; that precisely _because_ she has once +rejected she ultimately accepts him. And even this chance was, in +circumstances so desperate, not to be neglected. He assumed, therefore, +the countenance, the postures, and the voice of heart-broken but +submissive despair; he affected a nobleness and magnanimity in his grief, +which touched Evelyn to the quick, and took her by surprise. + +"It is enough," said he, in sad and faltering accents; "quite enough for +me to know that you cannot love me,--that I should fail in rendering you +happy. Say no more, Evelyn, say no more! Let me spare you, at least, +the pain your generous nature must feel in my anguish. I resign all +pretensions to your hand; you are free!--may you be happy!" + +"Oh, Lord Vargrave! oh, Lumley!" said Evelyn, weeping, and moved by a +thousand recollections of early years. "If I could but prove in any +other way my grateful sense of your merits, your too partial appreciation +of me, my regard for my lost benefactor, then, indeed, nor till then, +could I be happy. Oh that this wealth, so little desired by me, had been +more at my disposal! but as it is, the day that sees me in possession of +it, shall see it placed under your disposition, your control. This is +but justice,--common justice to you; you were the nearest relation of the +departed. I had no claim on him,--none but affection. Affection! and +yet I disobey him!" + +There was much in all this that secretly pleased Vargrave; but it only +seemed to redouble his grief. + +"Talk not thus, my ward, my friend--ah, still my friend," said he, +putting his handkerchief to his eyes. "I repine not; I am more than +satisfied. Still let me preserve my privilege of guardian, of +adviser,--a privilege dearer to me than all the wealth of the Indies!" + +Lord Vargrave had some faint suspicion that Legard had created an undue +interest in Evelyn's heart; and on this point he delicately and +indirectly sought to sound her. Her replies convinced him that if Evelyn +had conceived any prepossession for Legard, there had not been time or +opportunity to ripen it into deep attachment. Of Maltravers he had no +fear. The habitual self-control of that reserved personage deceived him +partly; and his low opinion of mankind deceived him still more. For if +there had been any love between Maltravers and Evelyn, why should the +former not have stood his ground, and declared his suit? Lumley would +have "bah'd" and "pish'd" at the thought of any punctilious regard for +engagements so easily broken having power either to check passion for +beauty, or to restrain self-interest in the chase of an heiress. He had +known Maltravers ambitious; and with him, ambition and self-interest +meant the same. Thus, by the very _finesse_ of his character--while +Vargrave ever with the worldly was a keen and almost infallible +observer--with natures of a more refined, or a higher order, he always +missed the mark by overshooting. Besides, had a suspicion of Maltravers +ever crossed him, Caroline's communications would have dispelled it. It +was more strange that Caroline should have been blind; nor would she have +been so had she been less absorbed in her own schemes and destinies. All +her usual penetration had of late settled in self; and an uneasy +feeling--half arising from conscientious reluctance to aid Vargrave's +objects, half from jealous irritation at the thought of Vargrave's +marrying another--had prevented her from seeking any very intimate or +confidential communication with Evelyn herself. + +The dreaded conference was over; Evelyn parted from Vargrave with the +very feelings he had calculated on exciting,--the moment he ceased to be +her lover, her old childish regard for him recommenced. She pitied his +dejection, she respected his generosity, she was deeply grateful for his +forbearance. But still--still she was free; and her heart bounded within +her at the thought. + +Meanwhile, Vargrave, after his solemn farewell to Evelyn, retreated again +to his own room, where he remained till his post-horses arrived. Then, +descending into the drawing-room, he was pleased to find neither Aubrey +nor Evelyn there. He knew that much affectation would be thrown away +upon Mr. and Mrs. Merton; he thanked them for their hospitality, with +grave and brief cordiality, and then turned to Caroline, who stood apart +by the window. + +"All is up with me at present," he whispered. "I leave you, Caroline, in +anticipation of fortune, rank, and prosperity; that is some comfort. For +myself, I see only difficulties, embarrassment, and poverty in the +future; but I despond of nothing. Hereafter you may serve me, as I have +served you. Adieu!--I have been advising Caroline not to spoil +Doltimore, Mrs. Merton; he is conceited enough already. Good-by! God +bless you all! love to your little girls. Let me know if I can serve you +in any way, Merton,--good-by again!" And thus, sentence by sentence, +Vargrave talked himself into his carriage. As it drove by the +drawing-room windows, he saw Caroline standing motionless where he had +left her; he kissed his hand,--her eyes were fixed mournfully on his. +Hard, wayward, and worldly as Caroline Merton was, Vargrave was yet not +worthy of the affection he had inspired; for she could _feel_, and he +could not,--the distinction, perhaps, between the sexes. And there still +stood Caroline Merton, recalling the last tones of that indifferent +voice, till she felt her hand seized, and turned round to see Lord +Doltimore, and smile upon the happy lover, persuaded that he was adored! + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ALICE BY LYTTON, BOOK V *** +By Edward Bulwer Lytton + +****** This file should be named 9767.txt or 9767.zip ******* + +Produced by Dagny; and by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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