Miss Marjoribanks

by Mrs. Oliphant

  _Chapter X_

  It was nearly six weeks after this before all Miss Marjoribanks'sarrangements were completed, and she was able with satisfaction toherself to begin her campaign. It was just before Christmas, at the timeabove all others when society has need of a ruling spirit. For example,Mrs Chiley expected the Colonel's niece, Mary Chiley, who had beenmarried about six months before, and who was not fond of her husband'sfriends, and at the same time had no home of her own to go to, being anorphan. The Colonel had invited the young couple by way of doing a kindthing, but he grumbled a little at the necessity, and had never likedthe fellow, he said--and then what were two old people to do to amusethem? Then Mrs Centum had her two eldest boys home from school, and wasdriven out of her senses by the noise and the racket, as she confided toher visitors. "It is all very well to make pretty pictures aboutChristmas," said the exasperated mother, "but I should like to know howone can enjoy anything with such a commotion going on. I get up everymorning with a headache, I assure you; and then Mr Centum expects me tobe cheerful when he comes in to dinner; men are so unreasonable. Ishould like to know what _they_ would do if they had what we have to gothrough: to look after all the servants--and they are always out oftheir senses at Christmas--and to see that the children don't have toomuch pudding, and to support all the noise. The holidays are the hardestwork a poor woman can have," she concluded, with a sigh; and when it istaken into consideration that this particular Christmas was a wetChristmas, without any frost or possibility of amusement out of doors,English matrons in general will not refuse their sympathy to Mrs Centum.Mrs Woodburn perhaps was equally to be pitied in a different way. Shehad to receive several members of her husband's family, who were, likeMiss Marjoribanks, without any sense of humour, and who stared, and didnot in the least understand her when she "took off" any of herneighbours; not to say that some of them were Low-Church, and thoughtthe practice sinful. Under these circumstances it will be readilybelieved that the commencement of Lucilla's operations was looked uponwith great interest in Carlingford. It was so opportune that societyforgot its usual instincts of criticism, and forgave Miss Marjoribanksfor being more enlightened and enterprising than her neighbours; andthen most people were very anxious to see the drawing-room, now it hadbeen restored.

  This was a privilege, however, not accorded to the crowd. Mrs Chiley hadseen it under a vow of secrecy, and Mr Cavendish owned to having made arun upstairs one evening after one of Dr Marjoribanks's little dinners,when the other _convives_ were in the library, where Lucilla had erectedher temporary throne. But this clandestine inspection met with thefailure it deserved, for there was no light in the room except themoonlight, which made three white blotches on the carpet where thewindows were, burying everything else in the profoundest darkness; andthe spy knocked his foot against something which reduced him to suddenand well-merited agony. As for Mrs Chiley, she was discretion itself,and would say nothing even to her niece. "I mean to work her a footstoolin water-lilies, my dear, like the one I did for you when you weremarried," the old lady said; and that was the only light she would throwon the subject. "My opinion is that it must be in crimson," Mrs Woodburnsaid, when she heard this, "for I know your aunt's water-lilies. When Isee them growing, I always think of you. It would be quite like LucillaMarjoribanks to have it in crimson--for it is a cheerful colour, youknow, and quite different from the old furniture; and that would alwaysbe a comfort to her dear papa." From this it will be seen that thecuriosity of Carlingford was excited to a lively extent. Many peopleeven went so far as to give the Browns a sitting in their glass-house,with the hope of having a peep at the colour of the hangings at least.But Miss Marjoribanks was too sensible a woman to leave her virgindrawing-room exposed to the sun when there was any, and to thephotographers, who were perhaps more dangerous. "I think it is blue, formy part," said Miss Brown, who had got into the habit of rising early inhopes of finding the Doctor's household off its guard. "Lucilla wasalways a great one for blue; she thinks it is becoming to hercomplexion;" which, indeed, as the readers of this history are aware,was a matter of fact. As for Miss Marjoribanks, she did her best tokeep up this agreeable mystery. "For my part, I am fond of neutraltints," she herself said, when she was questioned on the subject;"anybody who knows me can easily guess my taste. I should have been borna Quaker, you know, I do so like the drabs and grays, and all those softcolours. You can have as much red and green as you like abroad, wherethe sun is strong, but here it would be bad style," said Lucilla; fromwhich the most simple-minded of her auditors drew the naturalconclusion. Thus all the world contemplated with excitement the firstThursday which was to open this enchanted chamber to their admiringeyes. "Don't expect any regular invitation," Miss Marjoribanks said. "Ihope you will all come, or as many of you as can. Papa has always somemen to dinner with him that day, you know, and it is so dreadfully slowfor me with a heap of men. That is why I fixed on Thursday. I want youto come every week, so it would be absurd to send an invitation; andremember it is not a party, only an Evening," said Lucilla. "I shallwear a white frock high, as I always do. Now be sure you come."

  "But we can't all go in high white frocks," said Mrs Chiley's niece,Mary, who, if her trousseau had been subtracted from the joys ofmarriage, would not, poor soul! have found very much left. Thisintimation dismayed the bride a little; for, to be sure, she had decidedwhich dress she was to wear before Lucilla spoke.

  "But, my dear, you are married," said Miss Marjoribanks; "that makes itquite different: come in that pretty pink that is so becoming. I don'twant to have any dowdies, for my part; and don't forget that I shallexpect you all at nine o'clock."

  When she had said this, Miss Marjoribanks proceeded on her way, sowinginvitations and gratification round her. She asked the youngest MissBrown to bring her music, in recognition of her ancient claims as thesongstress of society in Carlingford; for Lucilla had all that regardfor constituted rights which is so necessary to a revolutionary of thehighest class. She had no desire to shock anybody's prejudices or woundanybody's feelings. "And she has a nice little voice," Lucilla said toherself, with the most friendly and tolerant feelings. Thus MissMarjoribanks prepared to establish her kingdom with a benevolence whichwas almost Utopian, not upon the ruins of other thrones, but with thegoodwill and co-operation of the lesser powers, who were, to be sure,too feeble to resist her advance, but whose rights she was quite readyto recognise, and even to promote, in her own way.

  At the same time it is necessary here to indicate a certain vague andnot disagreeable danger, which appeared to some experienced persons toshadow Lucilla's conquering way. Mr Cavendish, who was a young man ofrefinement, not to say that he had a very nice property, had begun topay attention to Miss Marjoribanks in what Mrs Chiley thought quite amarked manner. To be sure, he could not pretend to the honour of takingher in to dinner, which was not his place, being a young man; but he didwhat was next best, and manoeuvred to get the place on her left hand,which, in a party composed chiefly of men, was not difficult to manage.For, to tell the truth, most of the gentlemen present were at thatspecial moment more interested in the dinner than in Lucilla. And afterdinner it was Mr Cavendish who was the first to leave the room; and tohear the two talking about all the places they had been to, and all thepeople they had met, was as good as a play, Mrs Chiley said. MrCavendish confided to Lucilla his opinions upon things in general, andaccepted the reproofs which she administered (for Miss Marjoribanks wasquite unquestionable in her orthodoxy, and thought it a duty, as shesaid, always to speak with respect of religion) when his sentiments weretoo speculative, and said, "How charming is divine philosophy!" so as,for the moment, to dazzle Lucilla herself, who thought it a very prettycompliment. He came to her assistance when she made tea, and generallyfulfilled all the duties which are expected of a man who is payingattention to a young lady. Old Mrs Chiley watched the nascent regardwith her kind old grandmotherly eyes. She calculated over in her ownmind the details of his possessions, so far as the public was aware ofthem, and found them o
n the whole satisfactory. He had a nice property,and then he was a very nice, indeed an unexceptionable young man; and toadd to this, it had been agreed to between Colonel Chiley and Mr Centum,and several other of the leading people in Carlingford, that he was themost likely man to represent the borough when old Mr Chiltern, who wasalways threatening to retire, fulfilled his promise. Mr Cavendish had avery handsome house a little out of town, where a lady would be nextthing to a county lady--indeed, quite a county lady, if her husband wasthe Member for Carlingford.

  All these thoughts passed through Mrs Chiley's mind, and, as wasnatural, in the precious moments after dinner, were suggested inoccasional words of meaning to the understanding ear of MissMarjoribanks. "My dear Lucilla, it is just the position that would suityou--with your talents!" the old lady said; and Lucilla did not say No.To be sure, she had not at the present moment the least inclination toget married, as she truly said; it would, indeed, to tell the truth,disturb her plans considerably; but still, if such was the intention ofProvidence, and if it was to the Member for Carlingford, Lucilla feltthat it was still credible that everything might be for the best.

  "But it is a great deal too soon to think of anything of that sort,"Miss Marjoribanks would reply. "If I had thought of that, I need neverhave come home at all; and especially when papa has been so good abouteverything." Yet for all that she was not ungracious to Mr Cavendishwhen he came in first as usual. To marry a man in his position wouldnot, after all, be deranging her plans to any serious extent. Indeed, itwould, if his hopes were realised, constitute Lucilla a kind of queen inCarlingford, and she could not but feel that, under these circumstances,it might be a kind of duty to reconsider her resolution. And thus thetime passed while the drawing-room was undergoing renovation. MrCavendish had been much tantalised, she said, by the absence of thepiano, which prevented them from having any music, and Lucilla had evenbeen tempted into a few snatches of song, which, to tell the truth, someof the gentlemen present, especially the Doctor himself and ColonelChiley, being old-fashioned, preferred without the accompaniment. Andthus it was, under the most brilliant auspices, and with the fullconfidence of all her future constituency, that Miss Marjoribankssuperintended the arrangement of the drawing-room on that momentousThursday, which was to be the real beginning of her great work inCarlingford.

  "My dear, you must leave yourself entirely in my hands," Lucilla said toBarbara Lake on the morning of that eventful day. "Don't get impatient.I dare say you don't know many people, and it may be a little slow foryou at first; but everybody has to put up with that, you know, for abeginning. And, by the bye, what are you going to wear?"

  "I have not thought about it," said Barbara, who had the painful prideof poverty, aggravated much by a sense that the comforts of other peoplewere an injury to her. Poor soul! she had been thinking of little elsefor at least a week past; and then she had not very much choice in herwardrobe; but her disposition was one which rejected sympathy, and shethought it would look best to pretend to be indifferent. At the sametime, she said this with a dull colour on her cheeks, the colour ofirritation; and she could not help asking herself why Lucilla, who wasnot so handsome as she was, had the power to array herself in gorgeousapparel, while she, Barbara, had nothing but a white frock. There aredifferences even in white frocks, though the masculine mind may beunaware of them. Barbara's muslin had been washed six times, and had avery different air from the vestal robes of her patroness. To be sure,Lucilla was not taken in, in the least, by her companion's look ofindifference, and would even have been delighted to bestow a prettydress upon Barbara, if that had been a possible thing to do.

  "There will be no dress," said Miss Marjoribanks, with solemnity. "Ihave insisted upon that. You know it is not a party, it is only anEvening. A white frock, _high_--that is all I mean to wear; and mind youdon't lose patience. I shall keep my eye on you; and after the first, Ifeel sure you will enjoy yourself. Good-bye for the present." When shehad uttered these encouraging words. Miss Marjoribanks went away topursue her preparations, and Barbara proceeded to get out her dress andexamine it. It was as important to her as all the complicatedparaphernalia of the evening's arrangements were to Lucilla. It is truethat there were greater interests involved in the case of the leader;but then Barbara was the soldier of fortune who had to open the oysterwith her sword, and she was feeling the point of it metaphorically whileshe pulled out the breadths of her white dress, and tried to think thatthey would not look limp at night; and what her sentiments lost inbreadth, as compared with Lucilla's, they gained in intensity, for--foranything she could tell--her life might change colour by means of thisThursday Evening; and such, indeed, was her hope. Barbara prepared forher first appearance in Grange Lane, with a mind wound up to any degreeof daring. It did not occur to her that she required to keep faith withMiss Marjoribanks in anything except the duet. As regarded othermatters, Barbara was quite unscrupulous, for at the bottom she could notbut feel that any one who was kind to her was taking an unwarrantableliberty. What right had Lucilla Marjoribanks to be kind to her? as ifshe was not as good as Lucilla any day! and though it might be worth herwhile to take advantage of it for the moment, it was still an insult, inits way, to be avenged if an opportunity ever should arise.

  The evening came, as evenings do come, quite indifferently whetherpeople are glad or sorry; and it was with a calmness which the otherladies regarded as next to miraculous, that Miss Marjoribanks tookColonel Chiley's arm to go to the dining-room. We say the other ladies,for on this great occasion Mrs Centum and Mrs Woodburn were both amongthe dinner-guests. "To see her eat her dinner as if she had nothing onher mind!" Mrs Centum said in amazement: "as for me, though nobody canblame me if anything goes wrong, I could enjoy nothing for thinking ofit. And I must say I was disappointed with the dinner," she added, witha certain air of satisfaction, in Mrs Woodburn's ear. It was when theywere going upstairs, and Lucilla was behind with Mrs Chiley. "The fussthe men have always made about these dinners! and except for a few madedishes that were really nothing, you know, I can't say _I_ saw anythingparticular in it. And as for Lucilla, I can't think she has anyfeeling," said the banker's wife.

  "Oh, my dear, it is because you don't understand," said Mrs Woodburn."She is kept up, you know, by a sense of duty. It is all because she hasset her heart on being a comfort to her dear papa!"

  Such, it is true, were the comments that were made upon thepublic-spirited young woman who was doing so much for Carlingford; butthen Lucilla only shared the fate of all the great benefactors of theworld. An hour later the glories of the furniture were veiled and hiddenby the robes of a radiant flood of society, embracing all that was mostfair and all that was most distinguished in Carlingford. No doubt therewas a world of heterogeneous elements; but then if there had not beendifficulties where would have been the use of Miss Marjoribanks'sgenius? Mr Bury and his sister, who had been unconsciously mollified bythe admirable dinner provided for them downstairs, found some straylambs in the assembly who were in need of them, and thus had the doublesatisfaction of combining pleasure with duty; and though there wereseveral people in the room whose lives were a burden to them inconsequence of Mrs Woodburn's remarkable gift, even they found itimpossible not to be amused by an occasional representation of anabsent individual, or by the dashing sketch of Lucilla, which she gaveat intervals in her corner, amid the smothered laughter of the audience,who were half ashamed of themselves. "She is never ill-tempered, youknow," the persons who felt themselves threatened in their turn said toeach other with a certain piteous resignation; and oddly enough it wasin general the most insignificant people about who were afraid of MrsWoodburn. It is needless to say that such a dread never entered theserene intelligence of Miss Marjoribanks, who believed in herself with areasonable and steady faith. As for old Mrs Chiley, who had so manyfunny little ways, and whom the mimic executed to perfection, she alsowas quite calm on the subject. "You know there is nothing to take off inme," the old lady would say; "I always was a simple body: and then I amold enough
to be all your grandmothers, my dear;" which was a sayingcalculated, as Miss Marjoribanks justly observed, to melt a heart ofstone.

  Then the Miss Browns had brought their photographs, in which most peoplein Grange Lane were caricatured hideously, but with such a charmingequality that the most _exigeant_ forgave the wrong to himself inlaughing at his neighbours. Miss Brown had brought her music too, andsang her feeble little strain to the applause of her immediateneighbours, and to the delight of those who were at a distance, and whocould talk louder and flirt more openly under cover of the music; andthere were other young ladies who had also come prepared with a littleroll of songs or "pieces." Lucilla, with her finger as it were upon thepulse of the company, let them all exhibit their powers with thatenlightened impartiality which we have already remarked in her. When MrCavendish came to her in his ingratiating way, and asked her how shecould possibly let all the sparrows chirp like that when the nightingalewas present, Miss Marjoribanks proved herself proof to the flattery. Shesaid, "Do go away, like a good man, and make yourself agreeable. Thereare so few men, you know, who can flirt in Carlingford. I have alwaysreckoned upon you as such a valuable assistant. It is always anadvantage to have a man who flirts," said Miss Marjoribanks. This was asentiment perhaps too large and enlightened, in the truest sense of theword, to meet, as it ought to have done, with the applause of heraudience. Most of the persons immediately surrounding her thought,indeed, that it was a mere _bon-mot_ to which Lucilla had givenutterance, and laughed accordingly; but it is needless to explain thatthese were persons quite unable to understand her genius.

  All this time she was keeping her eyes upon a figure in the corner of asofa, which looked as if it was glued there, and kept staring defianceat the world in general from under black and level brows. Lucilla, it istrue, had introduced Barbara Lake in the most flattering way to MrsChiley, and to some of the young ladies present; but then she was astranger, and an intruder into those regions of the blest, and she couldnot help feeling so. If her present companions had not whispered amongthemselves, "Miss Lake! what Miss Lake? Good gracious! Lake thedrawing-master's daughter!" she herself would still have remindedherself of her humble paternity. Barbara sat as if she could not movefrom that corner, looking out upon everybody with scared eyes, whichexpressed nothing but defiance, and in her own mind making thereflections of bitter poverty upon the airy pretty figures round her, inall the variations of that costume which Miss Marjoribanks had announcedas the standard of dress for the evening. Barbara's muslin, six timeswashed, was not more different from the spotless lightness of all thedraperies round her, than was her air of fright, and at the same time ofdefiance, from the gay babble and pleasant looks of the group which, bya chance combination, she seemed to form part of. She began to say toherself that she had much better go away, and that there never could beanything in common between those frivolous creatures and herself, a poorman's daughter; and she began to get dreadfully exasperated withLucilla, who had beguiled her into this scene, to make game of her, aspoor Barbara said; though, so far from making game of her, nobody tookmuch notice, after the first unsuccessful attempt at conversation, ofthe unfortunate young woman. It was when she was in this unhappy humourthat her eye fell upon Mr Cavendish, who was in the act of making theappeal to Lucilla which we have already recorded. Barbara had never asyet had a lover, but she had read an unlimited number of novels, whichcame to nearly the same thing, and she saw at a glance that this wassomebody who resembled the indispensable hero. She looked at him with acertain fierce interest, and remembered at that instant how often inbooks it is the humble heroine, behind backs, whom all the young ladiessnub, who wins the hero at the last. And then Miss Marjoribanks, thoughshe sent him away, smiled benignantly upon him. The colour flushed toBarbara's cheeks, and her eyes, which had grown dull and fixed betweenfright and spite, took sudden expression under her straight brows. Anintention, which was not so much an intention as an instinct, suddenlysprang into life within her, and, without knowing, she drew a longbreath of eagerness and impotence. He was standing quite near by thistime, doing his duty according to Miss Marjoribanks's orders, andflirting with all his might; and Barbara looked at him as a hungryschoolboy might be supposed to look at a tempting apple just out of hisreach. How was she to get at this suitor of Lucilla's? It would havegiven her so pure a delight to tear down the golden apple, and tread onit, and trample it to nothing; and then it came into her head that itmight be good to eat as well.

  It was at this moment that Miss Marjoribanks, who was in six places atonce, suddenly touched Barbara's shoulder. "Come with me a minute; Iwant to show you something," she said loud out. Barbara, on her side,looked round with a crimson countenance, feeling that her secretthoughts must be written in her guilty eyes. But then these were eyeswhich could be utterly destitute of expression when they pleased, thoughtheir owner, at present just at the beginning of her experience, was notquite aware of the fact. She stumbled to her feet with the awkwardmotion natural to that form of shyness which her temper and hertemperament united to produce in her. She did all but put her footthrough Miss Brown's delicate skirt, and she had neither the naturaldisposition nor the acquired grace which can carry off one of thosetrifling offences against society. Nevertheless, as she stood besideLucilla at the piano, the company in general owned a little thrill ofcuriosity. Who was she? A girl with splendid black hair, with brows aslevel as if they had been made with a line, with intense eyes whichlooked a little oblique under that straight bar of shadow. Her dress waslimp, but she was not such a figure as could be passed over even at anevening party; and then her face was a little flushed, and her eyes litup with excitement. She seemed to survey everybody with that defiantlook which was chiefly awkwardness and temper, but which looked likepride when she was standing up at her full height, and in a conspicuousposition, where everybody could see her. Most people concluded she wasan Italian whom Lucilla had picked up somewhere in her travels. As forMr Cavendish, he stopped short altogether in the occupation which MissMarjoribanks had allotted to him, and drew close to the piano. Hethought he had seen the face somewhere under a shabby bonnet in someby-street of Carlingford, and he was even sufficiently learned in femaleapparel to observe the limpness of her dress.

  This preface of curiosity had all been foreseen by Miss Marjoribanks,and she paused a moment, under pretence of selecting her music, to takethe full advantage of it: for Lucilla, like most persons of elevatedaims, was content to sacrifice herself to the success of her work; andthen all at once, before the Carlingford people knew what they weredoing, the two voices rose, bursting upon the astonished community likea sudden revelation. For it must be remembered that nobody inCarlingford, except the members of Dr Marjoribanks's dinner-party, hadever heard Lucilla sing, much less her companion; and the account whichthese gentlemen had carried home to their wives had been generallypooh-poohed and put down. "Mr Centum never listens to a note if he canhelp it," said the banker's wife, "and how could he know whether she hada nice voice or not?" which, indeed, was a powerful argument. But thisevening there could be no mistake about it. The words were arrested onthe very lips of the talkers; Mrs Woodburn paused in the midst of doingLucilla, and, as we have before said, Mr Cavendish broke a flirtationclean off at its most interesting moment. It is impossible to recordwhat they sang, for those events, as everybody is aware, happened a goodmany years ago, and the chances are that the present generation hasaltogether forgotten the duet which made so extraordinary an impressionon the inhabitants of Grange Lane. The applause with which theperformance was received reached the length of a perfect ovation.Barbara, for her part, who was not conscious of having ever beenapplauded before, flushed into splendid crimson, and shone out fromunder her straight eyebrows, intoxicated into absolute beauty. As forMiss Marjoribanks, she took it more calmly. Lucilla had the advantage ofknowing what she could do, and accordingly she was not surprised whenpeople found it remarkable. She consented, on urgent persuasion, torepeat the last verse of the duet, but when that was over, was sm
ilinglyobdurate. "Almost everybody can sing," said Miss Marjoribanks, with amagnificent depreciation of her own gift. "Perhaps Miss Brown will singus something; but as for me, you know, I am the mistress of the house."

  Lucilla went away as she spoke to attend to her guests, but she leftBarbara still crimson and splendid, triumphing over her limp dress andall her disadvantages, by the piano. Fortunately, for that eveningBarbara's pride and her shyness prevented her from yielding to therepeated demands addressed to her by the admiring audience. She said toMr Cavendish, with a disloyalty which that gentleman thought piquant,that "Miss Marjoribanks would not be pleased"; and the future Member forCarlingford thought he could not do better than obey the injunctions ofthe mistress of the feast by a little flirtation with the giftedunknown. To be sure, Barbara was not gifted in talk, and she was stilldefiant and contradictory; but then her eyes were blazing withexcitement under her level eyebrows, and she was as willing to beflirted with as if she had known a great deal better. And then MrCavendish had a weakness for a contralto. While this little by-play wasgoing on, Lucilla was moving about, the centre of a perfect tumult ofapplause. No more complete success could be imagined than that of thisfirst Thursday Evening, which was remarkable in the records ofCarlingford; and yet perhaps Miss Marjoribanks, like other conquerors,was destined to build her victory upon sacrifice. She did not feel anyalarm at the present moment; but even if she had, that would have madeno difference to Lucilla's proceedings. She was not the woman to shrinkfrom a sacrifice when it was for the promotion of the great object ofher life; and that, as everybody knew who knew Miss Marjoribanks, was tobe a comfort to her dear papa.