CHAPTER XIII.
PEGASUS IN HARNESS.
'Fear not on that rugged high-way Life may want its lawful zest, Sunny glens are on the mountain, Where the weary heart may rest.' _Charles Gavan Duffy._
There was much relief and comfort in that visit of Mr. Audley's. Forone thing, Geraldine was able to pour out all her troubles, as she hadbeen used to do ever since her father had left her in his charge--herrepentance for the stirrings of her naturally fretful, plaintivetemper, for her fits of impatience and her hard judgments, and, whatsurprised him chiefly, for jealousy.
'Yes,' she repeated, at his word of surprise, 'I am jealous!'
'Indeed!'
'I never knew it till the choral festival. I used to be very fond ofher, but--I'm sure it is jealousy; I don't like to see her more eagerlyattended to than myself. Not that there is anything to complain of. Henever neglected me in his life.'
Mr. Audley smiled. 'People would tell you it is the natural lot ofsisters.'
Then she saw that he knew all about it; for, in fact, Felix had, ratherto the general surprise, observed that the Miss Pearsons would liketo meet Mr. Audley, and the trio had spent a musical evening with theUnderwood party.
'Oh,' she cried, 'is it all my own horridness? Or is it really--'
'My own horridness or my own discernment?' said he, taking the wordsout of her mouth. 'My dear, such an affair as this would be generallythe family jest.'
'Oh!'
'It is just as well it should not be so here,' continued Mr. Audley,'for nonsense is not always a cure, and the talk would be mischievous;besides, I think both are unconscious.'
'He is, I believe,' said Cherry.
'At any rate, he is more than ordinarily full of sense andself-control, and may safely be trusted to do nothing imprudent. Sheis pretty and attractive, and of course he likes to be with her; butI should think it very unlikely it would go farther. Has any one elseobserved it?'
'Not Wilmet, only Lance.'
'And has not made fun of it? That speaks well for Master Lance'sdiscretion. Yet you all feel the weight of life too heavily. I hadrather have found you amused by these little prepossessions, thanweighing them seriously, and wearing yourself to fritters.'
'I _will_ try not to mind, but I can't help being afraid for him! Itmust be very wrong to be almost turned against her because he likesher; and yet, what is all very well as my friend does not seem enoughfor Felix.'
'Nor will it be. My dear Cherry, such things come on and go off twentytimes in a man's life. You will treat the symptoms more lightly beforeyou have done with your seven brothers. Meantime, don't fret yourconscience over fancies, unless you have spoken or acted unkindly orfretfully.'
'O Mr. Audley, what shall I do when you are quite gone? All this time Ihave felt as if I were without my pilot.'
Mr. Audley, too, had been thinking this over, and wished to put hermore formally under the spiritual charge of Mr. Willoughby of St.Faith's, feeling that the morbid and sensitive nature needed externalsupport, and that it was not right to deprive it of what the Churchsanctions.
Her only doubt was Felix's approval. His nature did not readily acceptprogress beyond that to which he had been bred up; and in borderlands like these, an unfavourable medium made much difference to theclearness of the sight. Clement's contempt for what had satisfied hisfather annoyed him; and his mind was self-reliant, his soul accustomedto find its requirements met by the system around him, and hischaracter averse to intermeddling; so that it was against the grainwith him that spiritual guidance should be sought outside the family,or, at any rate, outside the parish. He thought such direction weakenedthe nature; and Mr. Audley, after warning him against taking thedisease for the effect of the remedy, had to laugh at him as a Britishhouseholder. After all, he yielded, because he thought Mr. Audley hada certain right over Geraldine, and that it was proper to defer to hisjudgment; while his guardian trusted to a sight of St. Matthew's forthe overthrowal of the prejudices that Clement had managed to excite.
Before leaving England, Mr. Audley was resolved that little Theodoreshould be shown to some London physician. The child was five yearsold, but looked no more than three. He could totter in an uncertainrun, and understood a few simple sentences, but came no nearer tolanguage than the appropriation of a musical sound to every one whomhe knew. There was nothing unpleasant about him, except his constantpurring and humming; he was perfectly docile, loved music, and couldbe amused by simple recurring games. His affections seemed to havegone out chiefly to Felix and to Sibby; and as to his twin-sister, heseemed lost without her, and she seemed to view him as the complementof herself--like a sort of left hand, giving him things to hold in hisfeeble grasp, saying her lessons to him, and talking as if to a doll.There was something sad in the very resemblance; for their eyes were ofthe same shade of deep blue, their long soft hair of the same flaxentint, their faces equally fair; but while hers was all colour, light,and life, his was pale and vacant, and scarcely ever stirred intoexpression.
Mr. Audley thought it right to ascertain whether treatment could be ofany use; and finding that his father's London house was only occupiedby his brother the Captain, he arranged that Felix should come up totown with the child and Sibby, when the law business could be arranged,and there would be an opportunity of his seeing something of the world.
He had never had a holiday before, and Mr. Froggatt rivalled hisguardian in his desire that it should not be too short. The first callwas by appointment on the doctor. He was not used to have patients likeTheodore brought by youths of Felix's age, and was touched by the careand tenderness of the young man, as he tried to overcome the alarm thatwas rendering the little one impracticable, when it was desirable toexhibit his slender store of accomplishments. His nearest approach tohis natural state was when perched on his brother's knee, with his backto the strange faces, listening as Felix whistled the tunes he lovedbest.
After all, little was gained by the consultation, except the assurancethat the poor little fellow was as well situated as was possible. A fewdirections for treatment and discipline were given, but very littlehope was held out of any important change for the better.
The verdict disappointed Felix to an extent that surprised Mr.Audley, who had better understood the hopelessness of the case. Ofall the family, Felix had the most of the parental instinct for themost helpless; and while he warmly thanked his friend, he looked somournfully at the child who clung to him, that Mr. Audley said in avoice of sympathy, 'It is a burthen, but one that will never bring thesting of sin.'
'Not a burthen,' said Felix. 'No; as my father said when he gave him tome, he is the Gift of God, the son of my right hand. May it always beable to work for you!' he murmured, as he bent his head over the littleone.
'And I think the gift will bring a blessing!' said Mr. Audley.
Theodore was sent home with Sibby, thus restoring Stella to herself,for she had been greatly lost without her speechless companion; butFelix remained in London for a week of business and pleasure. CaptainAudley was very good-natured and friendly, and abetted his brotherin all his arrangements for showing Felix as much of life as waspossible in a week, assuring him that every new experience was a dutyto the Pursuivant--a plea that Felix, with his lover-like devotionto every detail of his paper, admitted with a smile. Edgar was ofalmost all their expeditions, and dined with them nearly every day.That young gentleman's peculiar pleasantness had very nearly avertedthe remonstrances with which his brother and his guardian had come uparmed. There he was, finding his work real, and not a royal road toimmediate wealth, idling, lounging, and gratifying his taste for artand music; and when his employer stormed and threatened, listeningwith aggravating coolness, and even sweetness, merely hinting thathis occupation was a mistake; and living all the time as a son ofthe house, with a handsome allowance, and free access to societyand amusement. Thus, when Mr. Audley talked to him, he smiled witha certain resignation, and observed that he was conc
erned for poorold Tom, to have been unlucky enough to have drawn such a fellow ashimself. Probably it was a judgment on him for not having come forwardsooner, when he _might_ have had Felix! And when Mr. Audley upheldFelix as an example of hearty sacrifice of taste and inclination, itwas to obtain an enthusiastic response. Nobody breathed equal to dearold Fee, and it was the most ardent desire of Edgar's heart to takesome of the burthen from his shoulders! When it was hinted that such anallowance as Tom Underwood gave afforded the opportunity, Edgar smiledbetween melancholy and scorn, saying, 'Times must have altered sinceyour time, Mr. Audley.--No, I forgot. Expense is the rule in our line.Swells can do as they please.'
However, there things rested; Mr. Underwood treated him exactly like anidle son, storming at him sometimes, but really both fond and proud ofhim, and very gracious to Felix, whom he invited once to a very dulland dazzling dinner, and once sent to the opera with his ladies.
Felix's Sunday was chiefly spent at St. Matthew's, which he wasvery glad to see without Tina's spectacles. He was amazed to findso much more good sense and reality than the effect on Clement hadled him to expect; and Mr. Fulmort, who struck him as one of themost practical-looking men he had ever seen, spoke in high terms ofClement's steadiness and wish to do right; but added, 'I am afraid wehave rather spoilt him. He came up to us so unlike the kind of boy wegenerally get, that we may have made rather too much of him at first.'
Felix smiled. 'Perhaps we had knocked him about, and made too little ofhim at home,' he said.
'Besides, _esprit de corps_ in so small a place as this is apt tobecome so concentrated as not to be many removes from egotism. Idaresay we have been a terrible bore to you.'
Felix laughed. 'We have always been very grateful to you, Sir.'
'I understand. I am glad he is going farther a-field. He will be muchimproved by seeing other places, and having his exclusiveness andconceit shaken out of him; but we shall always regard him as the childof the house, and I only hope he may end by working among us.'
'Poor fellow! Conceit has been pretty well shaken out for the present,'said Felix.
'I hope it may last. He was rather hurt at my not making his misfortuneof more importance: but it seems to have been accident, all except thepriggish self-confidence that led to it.'
Felix increased much in cordiality towards Mr. Fulmort, and at the sametime mounted many stages in Clement's estimation on the discovery that,however behindhand his ecclesiastical advantages might be, the Vicarwas exceedingly impressed by his excellence.
A day or two after Felix's arrival, Ferdinand Travis was firstencountered riding a spirited horse in the park, looking remarkablyhandsome, though still of the small-limbed slender make that recalledhis Indian blood. His delight in the meeting was extreme, and he seemedto be as simple and good as ever. He was in deep mourning, having newlyheard of his father having been killed in an American railway accident;and though his uncle seemed proud of him, and continued his liberalallowance, the loss and blank were greatly felt--all the more thathe had not found it easy to make friends among his brother officersin the Life Guards. His foreign air was somehow uncongenial; he hadno vivacity or cleverness, and being little inclined to some of theamusements of his contemporaries, and on his guard against others, heseemed to find his life rather dull and weary. He did not seem to haveanything to love except his horses, especially the creature he wasthen riding, Brown Murad. He had obtained it after such competition,that he viewed the purchase as an achievement; while Felix heard theamount with an incredulous shudder, and marvelled at Mr. Audley's notregarding it as wildly preposterous. It was a dangerous position; andthough Mr. Audley certified himself, through his soldier brother, thatTravis was steadiness itself--neither betted, gamed, nor ran intodebt--yet while he seemed personally acquainted with all the horsesthat ran, and apparently entered into no literature but the 'RacingCalendar,' it was impossible not to be anxious about him, even thoughhe seemed perfectly happy to be allowed to be with his two godfathers,and followed them everywhere, from the Houses of Parliament to St.Matthew's.
This was not the last expedition Felix had to make to London thatspring. After many appointments of the time, and as many delays, atelegram suddenly summoned him in the beginning of May to bring Fulbertup to London, when the business would be wound up, and Captain Audleywould take his brother and the boy in his yacht to Alexandria, there tojoin the overland passengers.
So Fulbert's farewells were made in the utmost haste, and mixed upwith Wilmet's solicitous directions for his proper use of all herpreparations for his comfort on the voyage; and Lance could only beseen for the brief moments of halt at the Minsterham Station, duringwhich neither spoke three words, but Lance hung on the step till thetrain was in motion, and then was snatched back, and well shaken andreprimanded, by a guard; while Fulbert leant out after him at evengreater peril of his life, long after the last wave of the trencher caphad ceased to be visible.
Felix believed that this parting was more felt than that with all theother eleven; and while Fulbert subsided into his corner, the elderbrother felt much oppressed by the sense that it was his duty to givesome good advice, together with great perplexity what it should be,how it should be expressed, and whether it would be endured. He wouldhave been thankful for some of Clement's propensity for preaching whenhe found himself _tete-a-tete_ with Fulbert in a cab; but while he wasstill considering of the right end by which to take this difficultsubject, he was startled by his beginning, 'Felix, I say, I'm glad youare going to get shut of me.'
'I believe it is for your good,' said Felix.
'You'll get on better without me,' repeated Fulbert; then, with aneffort, 'Look here. It isn't that I don't know you're a brick and allthat, but somehow nothing riles me like your meddling with me.'
'I know it,' answered Felix. 'I wish I could have helped it; but whatcould be done, when there was nobody else?'
'Ay,' responded Fulbert, 'I know I have been a sulky, nasty brute toyou, and I should do it again; and yet I wish I hadn't.'
'I should be as bad myself if I were a junior,' was the moralreflection Felix produced for his brother's benefit. 'Only, Ful, if youtry that on with Mr. Audley out there, you'll come to grief.'
'I don't mean to,' said Fulbert.
'And you'll keep in mind what my father meant us to be, Ful--that wehave got to live so as to meet him again.'
Fulbert nodded his head emphatically.
'It is his name you have to keep unstained in the new country,' addedFelix, the fresh thought rising to his lips; but it was met by a gushof feeling that quite astonished him.
'Ay, and yours, Felix! I do--I do want to be a help, and not a drag toyou. I _really_ don't think so much of any of them--not even Lance--asof you. I _hope_ I shouldn't have been better to my father than I havebeen to you; and when--when I'm out there, I do hope to show--that I docare.'
The boy was fighting with very hard sobs, and for all the frightfulfaces he made the tears were running down his cheeks. Felix's eyes wereoverflowing too, but with much of sudden comfort and thankfulness.
'I always knew you were a good fellow, Ful,' he said, with his hand onhis brother's knee; 'and I think you'll keep so, with Mr. Audley tokeep you up to things, and show you how to be helped.'
All after this was bustle and hurry. Fulbert had to be sent alone totake leave of Alda, while his brother and Mr. Audley transacted theirbusiness. Edgar came back with him; and after some hurried rushings outin search of necessaries forgotten, the last farewells were spoken, andFulbert, with the two Audley brothers, was out of sight; while Felix,after drawing a long, deep sigh, looked at his watch, and spoke ofgoing to see Alda.
'Don't run your head into a hornet's nest,' said Edgar; 'it's all upwith me there. Come this way, and I'll tell you all about it.'
'All up with you!'
'There are limits to human endurance, and Tom and I have over-passedeach other's. I don't blame him, poor man; he wanted raw material toserve as an importer of hides and tallow, but you, the gen
uine article,were bespoken, and my father was not in a state for the pleading ofpersonal predilections.'
'What is it now?'
'Only a set of etchings from Atalanta in Caledon. That was the strawthat broke the camel's back,' said Edgar, so coolly as to make Felixexclaim--
'How much or how little do you mean?'
'Separated on account of irreconcilable incompatibility.'
'Impossible!'
'Possible, because true.'
'Why did you not tell before Mr. Audley was gone?'
'It would have been bad taste to obtrude one's own little affairs, andleave him with vexatious intelligence to ruminate on his voyage. Nay,who knows but that he might have thought it his duty to wait to composematters, and so a bright light might have been lost to the Antipodes.'
'You actually mean me to understand that you have broken with TomUnderwood!'
'The etchings were the text of an awful row, in which the old gentlemanexposed himself more than I am willing to repeat, and called on me tochoose between his hides and tallow and what he was pleased to call mytomfoolery.'
Felix groaned.
'Exactly so. You are conscious that his demand was not only tyrannicalbut impracticable. One can't change the conditions of one's nature.'
'Are you absolutely dismissed?'
'Nothing can be more so.'
'And what do you mean to do?' demanded Felix, stung, though to acertain degree reassured, by his tranquillity.
'Study art.'
'And live--?'
'On my own two hundred. You will advance it? I only want sixteen monthsof years of discretion, and then I'll pay it back with more thaninterest.'
'I must know more first,' said Felix. 'I must understand what termsyou are on with Tom Underwood, and whether you have any reasonable ordefinite plans.'
'Spoken like an acting partner! Well, come to Renville, he will satisfyyou as to my plans. I am to be his pupil; he teaches at the SouthKensington Museum, and is respectability itself. In fact, he requiresmy responsible brother to be presented to him. Come along.'
'Stay, Edgar. I do not think it right by Tom Underwood to see any onebefore him. I shall go to him before anything else is done.'
'Do not delude yourself with the hope of patching up matters likeAudley last winter, losing me five months of time and old Tom oftemper.'
'How long ago was this?'
'The crisis was yesterday. I was just packing to come home when Fulbertburst upon the scene.'
Nothing could be worse news, yet Edgar's perfect self-possessiongreatly disarmed Felix. Never having thought his brother and the workwell suited, he was the less disposed to anger, especially as theyoke of patronage was trying to his character; but he persisted inseeing Thomas Underwood before taking any steps for Edgar's futurecareer, feeling that this was only due to the cousin to whom hisfather had entrusted the lad. So Edgar, with a shrug, piloted him tothe Metropolitan Railway, and then to the counting-house where, in thedepths of the City, Kedge and Underwood dealt for the produce of thecorrals of South America.
Edgar, as he entered the office full of clerks, nodded to theirbald-headed middle-aged senior in a half-patronizing manner. 'Don't beafraid, Mr. Spooner; I'm not coming back on your hands, whatever thisgood brother of mine may intend. Is the Governor in?'
'Mr. Underwood is in his room, Mr. Edgar,' was the very severe answer;'but after this most serious annoyance, I would not answer for theconsequences.'
'Wouldn't you indeed?' said Edgar quietly, in a nonchalant tone thatmade the younger lads bend down to sniggle behind their desks, while hemoved on to the staircase.
Mr. Spooner and he were visibly old foes; but the senior devoured hiswrath so far as to come forward and offer a chair to Felix, repeating,however, 'Mr. Underwood is very seriously annoyed.'
Before Felix could attempt an answer, Edgar had re-descended, newspaperin hand. 'Go up, Felix,' he said, threw himself into the chair,and proceeded to read the paper; while Felix obeyed, and found theprincipal standing at his door, ready to meet him.
'What, Felix Underwood! Glad to see you. This intolerable affair can'thave brought you up already, though?'
'No, Sir; I was telegraphed for late last night, to bring up my brotherFulbert to start with Mr. Audley.'
'Oh, ay. Well, I hope he'll have a better bargain of him than I've hadin Edgar. You've heard his impudence?'
'I am exceedingly sorry--'
Then Mr. Underwood broke out with his account of Edgar's folly andingratitude, after all the care and expense of his education. He hadtaken up with a set of geniuses for friends, was always rehearsing foramateur performances with them, keeping untimely hours; and cominglate to the office, to cast up accounts, or copy invoices in hissleep, make caricatures on his blotting-paper, or still worse, become'besotted' with some design for a drawing or series of drawings, andin the frenzy of execution know no more what was said to him than apost. Finally, 'the ladies' being as mad as himself, as Mr. Underwoodsaid, had asked him to draw for a bazaar, and in his frenzy of geniusover the etchings he had entirely forgotten an important message, andthen said he could not help it. On being told that if so he was not fitfor his profession, he merely replied, 'Exactly so, the experiment hadbeen unsuccessful;' and when his meekness had brought down a furioustempest of wrath, and threats of dismissal, he had responded, 'with hisintolerable cool insolence,' that 'this would be best for all parties.'
'This is the offence?' anxiously asked Felix.
'Offence? What greater offence would you have?'
'Certainly nothing can be much worse as to business,' said Felix.'But when he told me what had happened, I was afraid that he might berunning into temptation.'
'Oh! as to that, there's no harm in the lad--Spooner allows that--nothing low about him.'
'And his friends?'
'How should I know? Raffs those fellows always are, sure to bring himto the dogs!'
'Did you ever hear of an artist named Renville?'
'Ay?' meditatively. 'He was the master the girls had at one time,wasn't he?'
'Then he is respectable? I ask because Edgar wants to study under him.'
'Eh! what?' demanded Mr. Underwood, in manifest astonishment. 'Is thelad gone crazy?'
'I thought you had dismissed him, Sir.'
'Well, well,' said Mr. Underwood, taken aback, 'I told him only what hedeserved, and he chose to take it as final. I thought you were come tospeak for him.'
'You are very kind, Sir, but I doubt whether he would resume his workhere, or indeed if it would not be an abuse of your kindness to inducehim.'
'Eh! what?' again exclaimed Thomas. 'You give in to his ungratefulfolly! Felix Underwood, I thought you at least were reasonable!'
The imperious passionate manner, rather than the actual words,made Felix side the more with the wayward genius, and feel thathaving sacrificed himself for the good of the family, he might savehis brother from the gloomy office and piles of ledgers and billsbelow-stairs. 'Sir,' he said, 'I am sorry Edgar has not been betterfitted to return the timely help you have given us, but I am afraidthat such unwilling work as his could never be of service to you.'
'Why on earth should it be unwilling? Better men than he have satat a desk before now! I've no patience with young men's intolerableconceit. There have I done everything for this young fellow, and heis unwilling, _unwilling_ indeed, to give his mind to the simplestbusiness for six hours a day.'
'It is wrong,' said Felix, 'but his powers lie in such a differentline.'
'Fiddling and daubing! Pah! If anything could be more incomprehensiblethan his not being able to cast up an account or take a message; it isyour backing him up!'
'I am afraid he is too old for coercion.'
'No coercion like having not a penny in the world. Pray, how is he tolive?'
'His own means will help him through his studies.'
'His own--L200! About as much as he has made ducks and drakes of in ayear. Besides, he is not of age.'
'No; but
I have something of my own to advance for him.'
Wherewith there began a fresh storm. Thomas Underwood was greatlymortified at the desertion of one brother, and still more at theacquiescence of the other. He would no doubt have been ready toretain the handsome engaging youth, grumbling and enduring, as a sortof expensive luxury; and in his wrath, disappointment, and sense ofingratitude at finding that his restive protege was not to be drivenback to him, he became so abusive, that Felix could hardly keep histongue or temper in check; but when he declared that if any supportwere given to Edgar's lunatic project, the whole family except Aldashould be left to their own resources for the rest of their lives, itwas with quiet determination that the reply was made, with studied,though difficult, respectfulness:--
'Sir, we are much obliged for what you have done for us, but we hopeto be able to work for ourselves and for one another without becomingdependent. You cannot suppose that such a consideration would affectmy opinion respecting Edgar.' (N.B.--If Mr. Underwood _had_ supposedit, he felt as if it were impossible, as all his cousin Edward'shigh spirit glowed in that young man's eyes, and strengthened thestudiously calm voice.) 'I think,' continued Felix, 'that no one canbe doing right whose work is not thorough. If Edgar cannot or will notapply himself in earnest to your business, he will be doing better bystudying art with a will than in pretending to work here, and abusingyour forbearance. That would be so improper towards you, and so wrongin him, that it would be simply unjustifiable in me to try to persuadeyou into allowing it.'
Somehow, Mr. Underwood had not at all expected such a reply; and asluckily want of breath had forced him to wait and really hear it, asensation came over him of old times when Edward Underwood had arguedwith him; and it was with much less heat that he returned, with aneffort at irony, 'And so you take the bread out of the mouths of theothers to support my fine gentleman in his absurd nonsense?'
'No, Sir; what I advance is entirely my own.'
'Oh, ay; didn't I hear something about a legacy?'
'Yes, from Admiral Chester. A thousand pounds. It has only just beenpaid to me.'
'That you may throw it away on this young scamp's fancies?'
'No, Sir, I hope not. Half of it goes into the business at Bexley. Wesign the deed of partnership next week. It will make a great differenceto me. The rest is ready for emergencies.'
'Tomfooleries,' muttered Mr. Underwood. 'Pray, what are the plans forthis making a new Michael Angelo? Am I expected to give him the run ofmy house? I shall do no such thing!'
'No, Sir, it would not be proper to ask it. This Renville takes pupilsfor the Royal Academy, and Edgar would board and lodge there; but Ihope you will still be good enough to allow him to call on Alda, andnot let him be entirely left to himself. He is much to blame, but it isnot as if he had run into bad dissipation.'
'That's true,' said Mr. Underwood. 'A terrible disappointment thatyoung dog has been to me, Felix Underwood; but as you put it, there'san honesty in the thing! Where is my fine gentleman?'
'Downstairs, Sir.'
Mr. Underwood breathed through a mysterious tube, and Edgar appeared,with his usual easy grace, and with a sharp glance at Felix as if toinquire whether there were to be any attack on his newly-found liberty.
'Look here, Edgar,' was the address. 'Your brother--a much better onethan you deserve--'
'Thrue for you,' muttered Edgar between his teeth.
'--Says what has some sense in it, that "nothing is so ruinous as doingthings by halves," and that you ought to be ashamed of hanging abouthere doing nothing--'
A quick glance passed between the brothers.
'--So he is for letting you have your way; and if he chooses tosupport you, and you choose to rob him--for I think it nothing lessthan robbery--why there--I can't help it. So I put it to you for thelast time: will you buckle steadily to your work here like a rationalbeing, or cast yourself loose to live as a beggarly artist on what yourbrother can give you by pinching the rest?'
'Thank you, Sir; I hope the sooner to help him to feed the rest, bytaking the plunge you think so desperate,' said Edgar, with moregravity than usual.
'Oh, indeed!' sneered Mr. Underwood. 'Remember, not a farthing of minegoes to such folly! I don't understand it! I thought once you'd havebeen as good as a son to me,' he added in a very different tone, as helooked at the fine young man in whom he yearned to take pride.
'I wish I could, Sir,' said Edgar, with real feeling. 'I wish you hadhit upon any one of us but my unlucky self. You've been very good tome, but what a man can't do, he can't; and if I gave in now, it wouldonly be the same over again. But we don't part in anger, Uncle,' hecontinued, with a trembling of voice.
'Anger?! No, my boy. I'm only vexed at the whole thing; but I don'twant to lose sight of you altogether. You'll stay with us till you'vefound decent lodgings, and you'll be welcome to look in on a Sunday.'Mr. Underwood spoke in a tone between asking and granting a favour.
'Thank you, Sir, with all my heart,' said Edgar.
'And you'll come to dine and sleep?' he added to Felix. 'You've notseen your sister.'
'No, thank you, Sir, I cannot to-day; I must be at home tonight.'
They shook hands cordially; but as Edgar crossed the counting-house,he paused to open his own desk and pocket some of the contents, sayinglightly as he did so, 'There's promotion in store for some of youyoungsters--I congratulate you, Mr. Spooner; you're free of a burthento your spirit.'
'Indeed, Mr. Edgar, I'm very sorry if--'
'Don't throw away your sorrow, Mr. Spooner; I was foredoomed your soulto cross, and I bear no malice to you for having been crossed. Shakehands, and wish me success as a painter.'
'I wish you success, Mr. Edgar; but it will not be met with in anyprofession without application and regularity.'
Edgar forbore from any reply but a low and deferential bow, such as toprovoke another smothered laugh from the other young clerks, to whomFelix suspected, as he looked round, the favoured kinsman was subjectof jealousy, admiration, or imitation, according to character. However,Edgar shook hands with each, with some little word of infinite butgracious superiority, and on coming out exclaimed, 'Ban, ban, Caliban!You who are emancipated from a Redstone, congratulate me!'
Felix neither observed on the vast difference between the excellentconfidential Spooner and pettily jealous Redstone, nor on the extremelydissimilar mode of emancipation. He was more occupied with themomentous responsibility of having assisted to cut his brother loosefrom the protection to which his father had confided him. Mr. Audley'swarning that he was inclined to be weak where Edgar was concerned,came before him. Yet the life of luxury and unfulfilled duties wasin his eyes such a wrongful course, that he felt justified in havingput an end to it; and his heart warmed with hope and exultation ashe recollected how Etty's success had been owing to his brother'said, and felt himself putting Edgar's foot on the first round of theladder, and freeing his ascent from all that had hitherto trammelledit. Such bright visions haunted him when talking was impossible onthe omnibus, outside which Edgar had exalted him--he did not wellknow why till on descending at Charing Cross, he found he was to havean interview with Mr. Renville, who was copying a picture in theNational Gallery, and whom he found, to his great relief, to be no wildBohemian, but a simple painstaking business-like man, who had marrieda German hausfrau, and lodged a few art students with unexceptionablereferences. Knowing Edgar already, he had measured his powers, andassured Felix that his talent was undoubted, though whether that talentamounted to genius could only be decided when the preliminary studieswere accomplished; but even if it were not of the very highest order,(a supposition that rather hurt Felix's feelings,) the less aspiringwalks of the profession would afford sufficient security of maintenanceto justify the expense of the study. He talked with sense and coolness;and his charges, though falling severely on such funds as were at thedisposal of the young pillar of the house, were, Edgar declared, andFelix could well believe, very moderate. The time was to be furtherdecided after reference
to Mrs. Renville.
'Will you not come home first?' asked Felix, as they descended thesteps.
'Not in the character of the discarded! Who knows the effect it mighthave on old Froggy? By-the-by, I hope this advance does not make anydifference to the terms of your bondage.'
'Nothing important.'
'Draw bills to any amount on the R.A. of the future!'
The light hopeful tone contrasted with Clement's grave thankfulness,and sorrow at being an expense; but Felix really preferred it, as farless embarrassing.
'Could you come down in a month's time?' he continued. 'Lance is to beconfirmed at the Cathedral, and it might be an opportunity for you.'
'I cannot lose this month's work at the Academy, it is the mostimportant in the year.'
'It might be arranged for you to come down for the day. You could seeany one you pleased here.'
'Has Tina excited you to consign me to the Whittingtonian Fathers?'
'No.' Felix had almost rested there, but presently added, gravely, 'Iconstantly feel the impossibility of getting through this world andkeeping straight without help--the help that is provided for us,' headded, lamely enough.
'Dear old Blunderbore,' said Edgar, affectionately; 'what comesnaturally to you, No. 1, letter A, in a flock of girls and boys, can'tbe the same when one has got out into this wicked world. Go on in yourown groove, and leave me to my aberrations. Don't vex yourself, oldfellow. A popular journalist must have got far enough to know that mendon't concern themselves about these little affairs in one another.'
'Brothers do.'
'Not unless they partake of the sister. Come! You have had nosustenance since breakfast at six o'clock, have you? Come in here, andlearn what soup means.'
'There's no time. The train is at five.'
'Time! You don't mean to walk?'
'I do; and get something to eat at the station.'
'I declare, Fee, your unsophistication would be refreshing if it werenot a disgrace to your profession. Why are you not reporter to the"Teetotal Times?" No wonder if the Pursuivant has a flavour of weaktea!'
Felix smiled rather sadly, aware that this was meant to lead himaway from the last subject. He perceived that the door between hisfavourite brother's soul and his own was closed, and that knockingwould only cause it to be bolted and barred. It might be true, as Mr.Audley had told him, that Edgar's was not so much real scepticism asthe talk of the day, and the regarding the doubts of deeper thinkersas a dispensation from all irksome claims; but this was poor solace,while his brother rattled on: 'My dear Blunderbore, the hasty-puddingon which you characteristically breakfast is a delusion as to economy.Renville's little Frau will keep us better and at less expense thanever Wilmet conceived. You wrap yourself in your virtue, and refuse tospend a couple of shillings, as deeming it robbery of the fry at home.You wear out at least a shilling's worth of boot leather, pay twopencefor a roll and fourpence for a more villainous compound called coffee;come home in a state of inanition, cram down a quartern loaf and aquarter of a pound of rancid butter, washed down with weak tea; and ifself-satisfaction and exhaustion combined are soporific, it is onlyto leave you a prey to night-mare. Then, to say nothing of poornessof blood producing paucity of ideas, it is fearful to think of thedoctor's bill you are laying up!'
'Nonsense, Edgar; I am in perfect health.'
Edgar went off into a learned dissertation on the qualities of food andliquor, and the expedience of enriching the blood, and giving substanceto the constitution. He was, in fact, much more robust and athletic, aswell as much taller, than his brother, who looked like one who led anindoor life without cultivating his strength, but had no token of lackof health or activity. Always of small appetite, he did not care howlong he fasted, and was so much used to be on his feet, that the longwalk through the streets seemed to fatigue him less than Edgar, whonevertheless kept with him, as finding real pleasure in his company.
The only pauses were at the sight of an accordion in a shop windowlabelled at so low a price, that Felix ventured on it for Theodore; andagain when Edgar insisted on stuffing his pockets with bon-bons for thebabes, as antidotes, he said, to the Blunderbore diet.
'I beg to observe, it was not Blunderbore that lived on hasty-pudding.That was the Welsh giant,' said Felix.
'Ay! Blunderbore had three heads, and was buried up to the neck,completing the resemblance! Well, some day I'll give you all a hoist,old fellow, and then you'll be immortalized for having developed thePresident of the Royal Academy out of his slough of hides and tallow.'
Felix went home through the summer twilight, tired and heavy-hearted,to find Wilmet sitting up over a supper not much less rigorously frugalthan Edgar had foretold. Telling Wilmet was perhaps the worst of itto Felix. True, she forbore to reprove or lament when she understoodthat the deed was actually accomplished, and saw that he was fatiguedand out of spirits; but her 'Indeed! Oh! Felix!' and her involuntarygesture and attitude of dismay, went as far as a volume of reproach andevil augury. He was weary beyond vindicating himself or Edgar; but thenext morning, when Wilmet and Angela had started for school, there wasa sense that the cat was away, and Geraldine looking up under her longblack eyelashes, whispered, 'Oh! it is so nice in you to have let himloose, dear Fee! It was such cruel waste to pin him down there!'
'It was mockery for him to pretend to work there against the grain, andlive in all that ease and luxury,' said Felix, greatly appreciatingher sympathy. 'That must be so clearly wrong, that the more I think itover, the more I trust I did right in not trying to make it up again,as Mr. Audley did.'
'It was only a pity he did!' said Cherry; 'but of course it was foryour sake, that you might not have him thrown back on your hands.'
'And for Edgar's own protection too,' said Felix; 'but I cannot thinklazy insufficient work, and constant amusement, otherwise than sounworthy, that I am sure Mr. Audley would think it more honest andright to put an end to them, even at some risk.'
'Risk!' said the little sister, ruffling up her feathers; 'he is sureto succeed, and you know it.'
'I did only mean risk in that sense,' said Felix, gravely; 'but I hopehe is safely and satisfactorily placed. Renville seems an excellentperson, and more trustworthy perhaps because he only commits himself toEdgar's capability.
'Capability!' contemptuously repeated Cherry. 'No one but you and Ireally understand what Edgar can do!'
'I could have shaken the fellow for his coldness,' said Felix, smiling;'but no doubt it was right of him, and Edgar will soon show--'
'That he will! Only look at the beauty and freedom of this outline,' asshe opened her portfolio.
'Don't beguile me, Cherry; I can't stay. I've all yesterday's work tomake up.'
'Here are all the proofs, ready. Only just look at the sentence Imarked for you. O Felix, how lucky Edgar has you for a brother, to savehim from being blighted and crushed!'
'Is that head yours or his? Yours! I should say he was lucky to havesuch an unenvious sister. You would draw as well as he if you only hadthe teaching.'
'Oh no, don't say that! It spoils his! Though I do wish my drawingcould be of some use.'
'Never mind about use. You are our pleasure,' as he saw herdissatisfied; 'besides, what would _Pur_ (the household abbreviation ofPursuivant) do without the sub?'
This was much pleasanter! Cherry smiled at his kiss, and he randownstairs, exulting--like herself--in their artist brother's futurefame.
When he returned to the sitting-room in the evening twilight, thefirst voice he heard, through Theodore's humming, was Wilmet's, as inmitigation--'I daresay he is well educated, and not vulgar.'
'Oh! but the sound of it!' cried Alice Knevett's voice. 'A meretradesman!'
'Who is the unfortunate?' asked Felix, coming forward.
'O Mr. Underwood, how you do steal upon one! Yes, I'm furious! Here'smy old friend Florence Spelman--the dearest girl in the world, and sopretty--gone and engaged herself to young Schneider, of Schneider andCo., on the tailor's advertisements, you k
now! It is one of the firsthouses in London, and he's very rich and handsome and all that; butisn't it dreadful? All her friends will have to drop her! And I was sofond of her.'
'Is it trade itself, or the kind of trade, that outrages yourfeelings?' asked Felix, in a tone of raillery.
'Oh, a tailor is too horrible! As if all trade wasn't bad enough,' saidAlice, laughing; then recollecting herself she turned, blushing andconfused, to Cherry--'At least--I mean--your brother makes one forget.He isn't in the least like _that!_'
'I never wish to forget anything he is!' said Cherry, proudly lookingup to him.
'Ah! you don't know what is in my pocket!' said Felix, leaning his backagainst the mantleshelf.
'Oh! what!' cried Alice and Geraldine both together; while Wilmetlooked at him as if she wished to put him in mind of the presence of astranger.
'Guess!' he said.
'Somebody has left you a fortune! Oh! delightful!' cried Alice,clasping her hands.
'Mr. Thomas Underwood will take Edgar's art study on himself,'exclaimed the more moderate Geraldine.
'You burn, Cherry. It comes from that quarter. Here's a letter by theevening's post to offer me, if I have not closed with Mr. Froggatt, toinvest in Kedge and Underwood's concern, and begin with L300 a year asclerk.'
'It can't be possible,' said Wilmet, the only one to speak, as theother two girls looked rather blank.
'Just so far that the deed of partnership here is not signed.'
'What is the business?' asked Alice.
'He is a South American merchant, and deals with Rio for hides andtallow, if you prefer that to books and stationery,' said Felix, in awould-be light tone.
'Oh, but a South American merchant! That sounds quite delightful!'cried Alice. 'And you'll have to live in dear, dear London! How I envyyou!'
'That must be the effect you had upon him, Felix!' said Cherry, proudly.
'Well, I thought I had been a specimen of the obstinate,' observedFelix. 'Here is his letter.'
He gave it as of right to Wilmet; but other eyes remarked the addressto F. C. Underwood, Esquire, an unusual thing, since, as Mr. Froggatthad never aspired to the squirehood, Felix made all his brothers andsisters write only the Mister, and thus entirely deprived himself ofthe pleasure of Alda's correspondence.
'Where will you live? Oh! you'll let me come and stay with yousometimes!' cried Alice.
Felix smiled as he answered, 'I'm afraid our house is not built yet.'
'Miss Pearson's maid for Miss Alice,' said Martha, at the door.
'Oh dear, how tiresome! but you'll tell me all about it to-morrow. Howhorrid it will be here when you are all gone!'
'We are not gone yet,' said Wilmet, repressively. 'And if you please,Alice, do not talk of this.'
'No,' said Felix, 'it must be entirely a family matter. I know we cantrust to you.'
'Thank you! I'm so glad I was there! It is so nice to have a secret ofyours--and this is a beauty! Why, you'll be a great man with a house inLondon, just like Mr. Underwood of Centry.'
'Pleasing ambition,' Cherry could not help muttering, with an ironicalsmile, as Alice laughed and nodded herself away.
'Ready sympathy is a pleasant thing,' returned Felix.
'You don't mean that you think this feasible?' said Wilmet, with anegative inflection in her voice.
'I think it ought to be considered before it is absolutely too late.'
Both were surprised, having always thought that he considered hisdestiny as fixed; and as Geraldine looked on while the other twodiscussed pounds, shillings, and pence, it was plain to her that he hadan inclination to the change. The probability of rising, the benefitof lodging Edgar, the nearness to Alda, the probable openings for theyounger lads, were advantages; but against these Wilmet set the heavyLondon house-rent, rates and taxes--from which they were free--theexpense of living, the loss of her present situation, the dangers ofdeterioration of health. As to Edgar, his habits must be formed, hewas already in a respectable family, and Lance and Bernard ought notto be risked for his sake. In fact Wilmet looked on London with a sagecountry girl's prudent horror of the great and wicked capital; andwhen that experienced man of the world, Felix, tried to prove that shedid it injustice, he was met with a volley of alarming anecdotes. Hehinted that ladies' schools might need teachers there, but was met bythe difficulty of forming a new connection; and when he suggested thatCherry's talent might be cultivated, Wilmet hotly exclaimed, 'She couldnever go about to classes and schools of art!'
'Not alone, certainly,' said Cherry, wistfully.
'Edgar is as good as nobody, and I should be of no use in places likethat,' added Wilmet.
'I'm afraid you don't look very chaperonish,' said Felix, contemplatingthe fair exquisitely-moulded face, the more Grecian for the youthfulseverity that curved the lip and fixed the eye. 'If we could only turnher inside out, Cherry, she would be a dozen duennas in one!'
'And then the Pursuivant. You would not like to desert poor Pur,' addedCherry.
'I could do that better in town in some ways.'
'Mr. Underwood would think that as bad as Edgar's drawing,' saidWilmet. 'No, no, Felix, you have learnt one business thoroughly, andit would be foolish to begin a fresh one now. Besides, how about Mr.Froggatt?'
'Of course I should do nothing in such haste as to inconvenienceMr. Froggatt,' said Felix; 'and no one is more anxious for our realbenefit, if this were possible.'
'But you see it won't do,' reiterated Wilmet.
'Perhaps not,' he answered, with more of a sigh than his sistersexpected.
Rather nettled, Wilmet set to work with pencil and paper to calculateexpenses; Geraldine looked up at Felix, who had taken up a book, andbegan to whistle, 'For a' that, an' a' that.'
Presently Wilmet, by way of making assurance sure, went off for heraccount-book; when he looked up and said,' How should you have likedthis, Cherry?'
'I don't know. I've not thought. Did you?'
'I hadn't time before our Pallas Athene settled it; and I believe sheis right, if she would not lay it in quite so hard. It only seemeda pity to lose our last chance of a lift in life without at leastconsidering it.'
'I thought you did not care about lifts in life.'
'I ought not. But when it is brought home that we have slipped downtwo degrees in the social scale, it is tempting to step up one again!However, it plainly cannot be.'
Yet when Wilmet mustered her irrefragable figures to prove how muchpoorer they would be in London than on their present income at Bexley,he would not go into details, saying that he wanted to hear no moreabout it, in a tone that a little hurt her. He was so uniformly gentleand gracious, that what would have passed unnoticed in most brothers,was noticed anxiously in him; and as Wilmet darned his shirt sleeve,a glistening came between her eyes and her needle, as she felt therequital of her prudence rather hard. Must all men pant to be out inthe world, and be angry with women for withholding them?
Nor was Geraldine devoid of the old prick, when she thought of thedegrees in the social scale in connection with the words abouttradesmen and merchants.
Wilmet was not quite happy without knowing that the letter of refusalwas written, and was more vexed than she liked to show when Felixlaughed at her for supposing he could have made time to write it on abusy Saturday, even if there had been any London post to send it by.Poor Alice Knevett got a considerable snubbing for bursting in to askthe decision, and lamenting over it when she had heard it; but shestood her ground with a certain pertinacity of her own: and so late inthe evening, that Wilmet had gone up to put Stella to bed, Felix cameup with the letter in his hand. It was so carefully expressed, thatCherry could not help saying saucily that it was worthy of the editorof the Pursuivant; while Alice, much impressed by the long words,enthusiastically broke out, 'It is a most beautiful letter, only itought to have said just the other thing!'
'Why, what would you have done without Cherry?' said Felix.
'I'd have come to stay with her! And it is such a pi
ty! A merchant isa gentleman, and I am sure you could get to be anything--a member ofparliament, or a baronet, or--' as if her imagination could not gofarther; but she looked up at him with a dew of eagerness glisteningin her bright hazel eyes. 'I was telling Cherry it does seem such adreadful horrible pity that you should be nailed down in this littlehole of a place for life.'
Felix smiled--a man's superior, gratified, but half melancholysmile--as he answered, 'At any rate, you won't lose the pleasures ofimagination or of pity.'
'But I want to see you have the spirit to try,' cried Alice, eagerly.'I know you could.'
'It would not be right,' said Felix, sitting down by her, and in fullearnest gentleness and gravity setting before her the reasons thatCherry had hardly thought it worth while really to explain--namely, theimpossibility of their being able to pay their way and meet the needfulexpenses, and the evils of the young, inexperienced household residingin London, resigning security for dependence.
Alice, flattered by being treated as a sensible person, said, 'Yes,'and 'I see,' at all the proper places; then drew a sigh, saying, 'It isvery good in you.'
'I knew you would see it in the right light,' replied Felix.
'Oh!' but the sigh recurred. 'I can't help being sorry, you know.'
'There is nothing to be sorry for,' he said gratefully. 'I wasdisappointed at first myself; but for sheer usefulness to one'sneighbour, I believe that this present position, if I have senseto make use of it rightly, is as good as any; and the meredesire of station and promotion is--when one comes to look at itproperly--nonsense after all.'
She opened her eyes in amazement, and made a little exclamation.
'They may be well when they come,' said Felix in answer; 'but I havethought it over well to-night, and I see that to do anything doubtfullyright for their sake would be a risk for all that I have no right torun.'
Alice hung her head, overcome by the pure air of the region where hewas lifting her; and in a sort of shyness at the serious tone in whichhe had spoken, he added, smiling,
'Then you'll forgive the "sound of it."'
'O Mr. Underwood,' she said, in the simplest and most earnest voicethat Cherry had ever heard from her, 'I'm ashamed to recollect thatnonsense!'
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