CHAPTER XXXVII.
INVASIONS.
'He muttered, "Eggs and bacon, Lobster, and duck, and toasted cheese."' _Phantasmagoria._
'When did Bernard Underwood say his people were coming?'
'On Wednesday.'
'To-day! That's right. I can take you over to-morrow to call on them.'
'So soon!'
'Welcomes can't be too soon.'
'If one is not settled in?'
'The furniture was left to them.'
'That's all men know about it!'
'I know this, that if I don't go to-morrow, I have not another free dayfor a fortnight.'
'It is all very well for you. I daresay the man-kind have a room insome trim, or don't know it if they have not; but to fall promiscuouslyon the female sect, with their little amenities in an experimentalstate of development, is the way to be obnoxious. Can't you go solus,and make pretty speeches?'
'No, Ethel; it must be attention here from woman to woman. It may helpthem to start in the neighbourhood.'
'I submit. How are we to go? What is the distance?'
'Twelve miles. Suppose we went by railway, and took a boat up fromEwmouth. What do you say to that, Daisy?'
'That I have had quite enough specimens of the family in Master Bernardand his clerical brother.'
'You liked the former specimens well enough. Eh! Do you rememberDaisiana?'
An angry flush rose to Gertrude May's cheeks, but she tried to answercomposedly, 'The man-kind, as Ethel calls them, are no matter; but whatcan woman-kind be, after a life-struggle to preserve gentility over astationer's shop?'
'The more reason they should be susceptible to mortification fromtheir father's old friends,' said Dr. May, as he left the room.
'No, you can't get off, Daisy,' said Ethel. 'It must be done, and Ionly wish it could be a little later, for fear we should inflict morevexation than pleasure.'
'No; it can't be helped. He is going to run a-muck and take us in histrain,' said the spoilt child, shrugging her shoulders.
On the Thursday morning, at the Vale Leston breakfast-table it was,'The first thing is to make the drawing-room habitable before any onecalls.'
'No one will presume on such barbarity till after Sunday!' exclaimedCherry.
'Unless the Miss Hepburns should--' said Wilmet.
'No,' decidedly stated Clement; 'they told me they should wait tillMonday.'
'And your library is as respectable as it is in the nature of the maleanimal to keep its lair,' said Cherry; 'so I don't mind if a gentlemancomes, such as Captain Audley.'
'You need not trouble yourself about Captain Audley,' interposedBernard. 'Never calls on ladies by any chance; hates 'em worse thanpoison.'
'Bosh, Bear! We met him at a picnic,' quoth Lance.
'That was long ago, and it grows on him; and it's monstrous hard lineson Charlie, now he's big enough to be spooney, that he never will goanywhere among humans. He's gone off in his yacht now to shoot seals,and cut the Arckey--Archey--Archidiaconal meeting.'
'Archidiaconal? He's not a churchwarden, is he?'
'What is it, Clem? You know. A whole lot of fine ladies and swells anddons and big-wigs coming to Ewmouth to go on about Gothic arches, andRoman camps, and Britons' bones, and all that sort of rubbish.'
'Does Stoneborough derive archaeology from arches?' said Felix.
'Perhaps he thinks Archidiaconal functions consist in looking afterthem,' added Will.
'I remember now,' said Clement; 'there is really to be a meeting of theArchaeological Society at Ewmouth, and it is to be apprehended that theymay make a descent upon this place.'
'Happy hunting grounds,' said Felix. 'I only hope they will give us duenotice.'
The bare idea quickened the breakfast. By ten o'clock a survey hadbeen taken, and Cherry had thankfully accepted Wilmet's assurance thatthere were sufficient resources scattered through the house to repairthe ravages of Mrs. Fulbert without more serious expense than that of apiece of chintz; and having resigned the command into her hands, beheldher consulting Clement on the possibility of being driven into Ewmouth,which he undertook to do in person in his dog-cart without loss oftime. An exchange of all the other existing vehicles had been arrangedfor one roomy waggonette, and a basket pony-carriage, fit for Cherryto drive if ever she took courage--they had only been kept to meet theexigencies of the arrival _en masse_.
By a quarter to one Dr. May had landed his daughters at the gardensteps, and was walking them up to the cloister door, when they weregreeted with a hideous whistling bray, followed by the apparition of afigure with a pink and white shirt and grey legs, a great deal of dustand brown moustaches, upon inflated cheeks puffing vigorously througha big golden tube, which he next proceeded to spy down with one eye,and through that telescope became aware of one of the new comers, anduttered an ejaculation, 'Dr. May, by all that's lucky!' at the sametime, using both eyes more naturally, he perceived the two ladies,blushed up to the eyes, and came forward with an apologetic greetingand hands far too dusty for any grasp less eager than the doctor's.'Grown out of knowledge, but you're an old friend, I see.'
'I'm sorry to be in this awful mess, but I want to get the organ torights before Saturday, when I must get back,' he said, as he led themthrough a world of organ-pipes, scattered here, there, and everywhere,and conducted them straight to the drawing-room. There the scenedisclosed a giddy fabric, consisting of the round table, pushed up toa window and surmounted by a chair, and that again by a footstool, onthe top of all a lady, dropping a measuring-tape to the floor, wherea little girl was holding it by the ring at the end. The floor wasbespread with slippery glossy lengths of chintz, patterned with pinkand purple heather, on which a third sister was performing with a bigpair of scissors in a crawling position on the floor, and a fourthwas supplying the yawning shelves of a chiffonier with books. Ethel'sprognostic was justified to the full.
'Wilmet!' exclaimed Lance, 'take care! How could you? Why didn't yousend me up?'
'I should not have trusted you; but now you may help me, down.' Andthere she became conscious of the guests, but with a curious simplicityand dignity, she took no notice of them; while they thought it best toengross themselves in shaking hands with the lame sister, with her whoscrambled up from the floor with a red and fagged visage, and with thelittle one, who, amid all the dust and confusion, looked as dainty andshining-haired as if she had been newly adorned for a feast.
'Here she is on the ordinary level of society!' said Geraldine. 'Thisis Mrs. Harewood, Dr. May--Wilmet, whom I think you remember.'
Wilmet had brought her composure down with her, and astonished thevisitors therewith, as well as by the rare quality of her beauty,reminding Ethel of the fair matronly dames of early Italian art, bothfor her silence and her substantial stateliness. Nor was there theleast flutter or affectation about Cherry; she thought the adventurefun, and had seen in a moment what sort of treatment was suitable tothe present company, so she merrily observed, 'Now that Lance hasgiven you a pleasing peep behind the scenes, won't you come to a lessdismantled region?'
'It is only the consequence of resigning oneself to one's gentlemen,'returned Ethel. 'If I had had my way, you should have had time to "bigyour bower."'
'Ah! but we could not afford to miss a kind welcome,' said Geraldine,with the little pathos of sweetness that was such an attraction. 'Mybrother is surveying his new domains, but he will come in almostdirectly to early dinner. You are come for it? You'll come and take offyour hats. Lance!'
Lance had fled, so soon as he had extricated Wilmet from her perilousattitude. No wonder; particular as he was about young ladies, hisdeshabille, nearly as bad as that of Cleomenes, must have been dreadfulto him; and it was Wilmet who gave Cherry an arm over the oak floor.They put Dr. May into the library, where Clement came to light; whilethey took the daughters upstairs, where they were almost as muchpleased to see, as the sisters to show, the beauties of the quaintold house, and were perfectly sensi
ble of the well-bred simplicity,playfulness, and absence of all false shame, so entirely different fromwhat they had expected.
Ethel had been prepared to spend her day in a state of good-humouredforbearance and repression of Gertrude's intolerance. Instead of whichshe found herself in that state of ease which comes of accordanceof tone, and she saw--what she had never beheld before--in her keenunvenerative sister, who had never formed any kind of attachment outof her own family and not many in it, the process of falling intoan enthusiasm. That lame Miss Underwood, like an old fairy with herivory-headed crutch stick; her marked eye-brows, thin expressive face,with its flashes of fun and plaintive sweetness, youthful complexionand pronounced features, was--what Daisy called--'so uncommon' as tostrike her fancy, to a wonderful degree, and she had hardly eyes orears to spare for anybody else; when at the sound of the dinner-bell,which had a charming little extinguisher of its own at the top ofthe octagon tower, the whole of the party were exhibited in thedining-room--Felix and John Harewood from a round of inspection withthe bailiff; Angela from the kitchen-garden. She had been set to workunpacking books with Robina, but becoming discursive, had flown offto a tour on the leads with Bernard. 'So much less considerate thanStella!' sighed Robin, left to the tasks that could only fall to thequietest and strongest female of the family. For one happy half hourshe was cheered by Will, who volunteered help, gave her all the volumeswrong, or put them upside-down, then lighting on Chaucer, read aloudPalaemon and Arcite, with comments, until Angela burst in, and whirledhim away to shake an apple-tree for half a dozen urchins, with whom shehad made acquaintance in the churchyard; and Robina had toiled on alonetill, on Wilmet's return, she was swept into the furniture vortex.
Dr. May's heart, like Ethel's, warmed to the long table so like theirown best days; and the perfect absence of pretension in the plain legof mutton and vegetables delighted them eagerly. Moreover, he wasdazzled by Wilmet's grand beauty, and the general comeliness of his oldfriend's family, while he talked with immense satisfaction to Felix andMajor Harewood; but some strange change had fallen on Daisy.
She had been only fourteen at the time of her escapade on the Kitten'sTail, and now at nineteen the presence of the gentleman concerned in itseemed actually to keep her silent, so that she did not respond to theadvances of her nearest contemporaries, Robina and Angela, one of whomhad a good deal more manner and the other a good deal more assurancethan she could boast; and though Lance had reappeared in irreproachablecostume, she daunted his attempts at conversation by her evidentdetermination to listen to the elders' discussion of architects.
'Aren't you going to the Church?' asked Robina, finding him leaningagainst the cloister door when there had been a move to show the Churchto the visitors.
'No use in crowding them up with all the ruck. I shall strip, and goback to my organ-pipes. I shall not come here much. 'Tis no use beingin a false position.'
'Nonsense. A false position is pretending to be what one is not.'
'Here I pretend to be on equality, and am shown my place,' said Lance,disconsolately; for he was very soft-hearted, and had an immense turnfor young ladies.
'You're annihilated by a breath,' said Robin; 'besides, it was onlyshyness.'
'Shy? You should have seen her last time!'
'That's the very reason. If you only knew how horrid things done at oneend of one's teens feel at the other!'
However, with Robina things were mending. Will had recovered histemper. There had been nothing to remind him of the obnoxiousfamily at Repworth, when the pointlace had yielded perforce to theheather-patterned chintz, which was crackling about in all directionsunder the needles of all the ladies, and even of Krishnu. Everybody,except Angela, who said it hurt her fingers, was at work at petticoatsfor ottomans and robes for armchairs, or coats for curious setteesrouted out from upstairs, while Wilmet used the sewing-machine onthe curtains, to supply the place of the brocade borne off by Mrs.Fulbert, and brought to light exquisite tamboured work of LadyGeraldine's that happily had been entirely unappreciated in the lastreign.
Robina was stitching away the next day, when she had a treat. Billcame after her with the blottiest of all rolls of MS., being an essayto prove that the sun, the dawn, and the clouds, were _not_ the originof everything and everybody everywhere in legend and mythology, andhe wanted a pair of ears to which to read it, so that he might hearit himself before submitting it to John. Lance was perpetrating worsescreeches than ever with his organ-pipes, and could not Robin bring herneedling out of the sound of them and listen to a fellow?
Ample space was no small privilege to a family accustomed to be crampedand crowded, and there was a pleasant sense of expansion in sittingdown under the cedar-tree, with Bill luxuriously spread on the grass.
Such a sense Felix had in sorting his papers into the numerous drawersand pigeon-holes in his ample study-table, trusting himself not tomake them so many traps for losing things, since he did not hold withBill, that it is best to have no partitions, and have only one placeto search through. Clement was making over to him the memoranda of thetransactions conducted in his absence, when horses' feet were heard atthe front-door, and Clement reconnoitring at the window, said, 'Mr.Milwright--the Rector of Ewford--no doubt it is about the Archaeology.'
'A friend of yours?'
'Not particularly. I sat next him at the Visitation, and as theCharge ended, he touched me and said, "I'll show you the only bit offourteenth-century glass in the choir;" and when we came out, and heheard my name, he said, "I congratulate you on the possession of thefinest specimen of Cistercian architecture in the rural deanery." I'mafraid he minds his ecclesiology more than his ecclesia.'
By this time the entrance was effected of a lively well-bred man ofmiddle age, not at all the conventional antiquarian, though stillwith one master idea. He apologized for his early call, but explainedhis purpose, namely to ask permission to conduct a party of thearchaeologists over the Church and Priory, and to make a preliminaryinspection at once, to compare his old notes and prepare fresh ones.They were both willingly granted; and Felix went to summon his sisters,who would gladly profit by the primary survey without a crowd, and bedelighted to learn the traditions of the place, which were necessarilya good deal lost to them. When the pair under the cedar looked round onhearing voices, Robina exclaimed with surprise and recognition of theguest.
'How do you know him?' asked her companion.
'He was staying at the Towers last winter. He was once a curate atRepworth.'
'Will he know you?'
'Not so likely as if he had seen me as a brass; but I must go and speakto him.'
'Such an enchanting encounter in your exile!'
'Nonsense! I only don't choose to seem ashamed of my vocation,' sheanswered rather proudly, as she came forward to join the party, forwhose benefit Mr. Milwright was drawing the plan of the original Priorywith his stick in the gravel. Felix was about to introduce her, butshe held out her hand, saying, 'I have had the pleasure of meeting Mr.Milwright before at Repworth. I am one of the governesses.'
He made civil acknowledgment, but would hardly have cared if she hadavowed herself kitchen-maid there. He knew only that two intelligentauditors had come up; and all were soon absorbed in the interest of hisdiscourse, an entirely new pleasure to most.
To read in the peculiarity of the dog-tooth round the pointed arch, asclearly as in Arabic figures, the date when the church was founded,and to bring out stone by stone each fresh stage of improvement; tosee when a building prior came from France, and put in a flamboyantwindow in the south transept; when a sturdy baron atoned for ravagesin Brittany, by giving that perpendicular tower and cloister; andwhen, in a spirit of renovation, the last effort broke forth in thosemarvellous fan pendants in the Lady Chapel--these were feats delightfulto enter into, and it was amusing as well as instructive to see theecclesiologist poke into rubbishy corners, and disinter fragmentsof capitals and mouldings, sedilia and piscinae, altars, and prior'scoffin-lids with floriated crosses, giving an
account of their originas confidently as if he had had a pre-existence as a brother in thePriory. Moreover, his intentions furnished an excellent pretext fordoing away with the seventy-five yards of black without outraging thesquire's memory; indeed, Clement undid a good deal of it to facilitatethe researches, and no one could pass it without a sly tweak to detachanother nail.
'I'll keep the hatchment over the door as long as man can wish,' saidFelix; 'but the Church in mourning I cannot stand.'
'And I think the three-decker might come down too,' added Clement. 'Itis clearly within the chancel, and is your undisputed property.'
In which opinion Mr. Milwright, as a Rector, confirmed him, andlikewise bestowed some good advice as to the manner of the intendedrestoration. 'The worst of it is,' he said, 'it can't be done undersome thousands; and there's so much work of that sort about, the publicis nearly wrung dry. However, it would be the very time to set asubscription going.'
'Paying toll,' said Felix, drily. 'No. I think the Rectory ought to doit gradually.'
'Oh, I beg your pardon.' And Mr. Milwright recollected that he hadheard something of young Underwood being in trade, and concluded thathe had made a good thing of it; and when on the way to the house somequestion was asked as to what was usual on such domiciliary visits,he did not scruple to say that a luncheon was usually bestowed by theinhabitants.
The visit to the house was still more entertaining. The long roomwas explained to be the remnant of the old hospitium below, with thePrior's chamber above; but the cellar was the oldest part of the house.Felix had been thither to take stock of the wine, and had only carriedaway a sense of the elaborate arrangement of the bins, and the agesit would take to consume their contents; but Mr. Milwright passed allthese, and finally made a set like a pointer at a big beer-barrel,pointing to a low door behind it. Golightly was sent for to assistin moving it, which he did with great reluctance, asserting on theauthority of Mrs. Macnamara (Sibby) that it led to nothing but ruinsand foul air.
'Ah!' said Mr. Milwright, 'I am glad my friend Dobby is not quiteforgotten.'
'Indeed, Sir, if you mean to imply that I ever was actuated by sucha superstition!' cried Golightly, giving all his strength to assisthis young masters; while Angela capered about in delight at havingacquired a ghost as well as a prophecy, and Felix recollected havingbeen threatened with Dobby by a young nursery-maid. The door provedto lead to a vaulted passage cut out in the solid rock, and ending ina beautiful semicircular chamber with melon-like divisions, unitingin one large boss at the summit, carved with the five stars which hadbeen the shield of the Priory. The bad conscience of some despoilingUnderwood had probably led to the idea of a walled-up monk, whosephantom was accustomed to take his walks abroad, rattling a chain,under the pleasing name of Dobby.
But the vault was a grand possession, and the access to it was tobe made as favourable as circumstances would permit. Mr. Milwrightnext showed that the big knobs at the posts of the balustrade of thestaircase unscrewed for the insertion of flambeaux, since the buildersof the mansion, following instincts bequeathed from times of peril,had put their banqueting-room at the top of the house. All thatwas now divided by floor and wainscot into the long corridor and arabbit-warren of rooms, had once been a banqueting-hall, the ceilingof which, in the upper story, still showed handsome chequer-work ofplaster mouldings, the intersections alternately adorned with roods andcrowns, L.U., and J.R. The octagon tower at the end was of earlierdate, and had formed a part of the principal entrance, flanking one ofthe two great gateway towers, of which only one stump remained, builtinto a wood shed.
And, as to the Prior's kitchen, a splendid octagon, with eight archesfor as many fires, and a chimney in the middle, it had been so hemmedin with sheds and leans-to, that though it existed as a coalhole, noone had yet explored it. Geraldine was ashamed, both as housewife andantiquary; but she had been so much engrossed during these two firstdays that she had by no means learnt all the ins and outs of her newold home, of which all felt much prouder than before, and on therenovation of which Mr. Milwright preached as earnestly as that of theChurch.
He took leave, having greatly excited the whole family as to the comingfeast of antiquities, and their own especial share of it.
'What shall you do about this luncheon?' asked Wilmet, when the partynext assembled round the long table.
'Give it,' briefly answered Felix.
'It will be tremendously expensive.'
'An elegant cold collation from the pastrycook at Ewmouth would be; butI don't see why we should not have a few cold joints. Eh, Cherry?'
'Like our celebrated supper to the Minsterham choir,' responded she.
'You neither of you know what it will lead to,' was the old phrase intowhich Wilmet relapsed.
'Never mind her,' interposed her husband. 'She is demoralized byregimental dejeuners.'
'It serves you right for dragging me to them,' retorted Wilmet.
'I don't do so to please you, my dear, but because I can't have MajorHarewood said to mew up his handsome wife out of sight.'
'I own,' she said, not quite pleased, 'I am afraid of this affair beingmore expensive than Felix imagines. If it is done at all, it must bedone properly.'
'Of course it must,' pronounced Bernard. 'If it is to be a snobbishconcern, I wash my hands of it. I shall go off to Jem Shaw out of theway!'
'I'll tell you how to make it snobbish, Bear,' said Cherry. 'To havethe very same waiters in the very same cotton gloves, handing about thevery same lobster-salad, in the very same moulds, and and tongues inthe very same ruffles, with the very same carrot and turnip flowers onthem, that have haunted the archaeologists at every meal.'
'Bravo, Cherry!' broke in Will. 'Commend me to the unconventionalwoman!'
'Whereas,' proceeded Cherry, still directing herself on Bernard, 'nosnob ever had such a place as the hospitium, nor such a salt-cellar asAmelia showed me this morning, and which I'm sadly afraid was filchedfrom my Lord Prior, nor such wonderful old China plates and dishes,with all the acts of the romance of the willow pattern.'
'It's all plates and dishes so far, with nothing on them, like aSpanish don,' said Lance.
'Stay a bit,' said Cherry. 'We'll get a big piece of hung beef,and break into Mrs. Froggatt's parting gift of hams. Then Will andBear shall kill us some rabbits, and they and the pigeons in thatdelicious old dovecote will make no end of pies; and what with thechick-a-biddies in the yard, and the unlimited lobsters Tripp talksof, and a big dish of curds and cream, and Wilmet's famous lemoncheesecakes, and all the melons and the cucumbers, and the apricocksand mulberries, the purple grapes, green figs, and dewberries, I thinkBear's snob will be rather surprised! Then we'll have clean plates onthe side-table, and let the gentlemen fetch them for the ladies; andif John will lend us Zadok, and Miss Lightfoot and Mr. Golightly actaccording to their names, I think we shall manage it all without anyoutgoing except for the solid eatables.'
'And drinkables there are enough and to spare in the cellar,' saidFelix; 'and John must sit in judgment on them. It seems to me a clearmatter of hospitality to feed hungry and tired people who turn up atone's house, and they must be content without mere display. In fact Isee how to pay for such a feast as Cherry's genius sketches, and ourtickets into the bargain. I'll write up to the "Old World," and offeran account of the whole concern.'
'Learning is better than house and land,' muttered Will.
'But it makes extra work of your holiday,' objected Wilmet.
'Reporting comes as natural to me as listening,' said Felix; 'besides,I mean this to be only a sketch at the end of each day. I won't go as areporter this time, it is thrusting it too much down people's throats;and besides, this is rather out of Pur's line.'
'I shall do it for that,' said Cherry. 'I won't have poor Purneglected.'
'We must have my father up here,' added John. 'What a banquet it willbe to him!'
'He might deliver his mind of his lecture on mediaeval seals, which gotso much too learned for Minsterham,' add
ed Will.
There ensued a dispute for the possession of the Librarian. Majorand Mrs. Harewood meant to move off to their lodgings at the GlebeFarm on the Monday, for even these two days showed that Theodore andKit were incompatible elements in the household. The poor littleuncle's uncertain conscience had been so far reached, that he knew hemust keep his hands off; but to see the child noticed by any one heloved was misery to him, and 'Master Kistofer' was by no means safefrom being the aggressor. He viewed all toys as his exclusive right,and did not scruple to snatch from the astonished fingers; and as hewas active and enterprising, and could climb stairs and open doors,it was never certain where he might next appear, nor would he obeyanybody except his own natural lawful authorities. Poor Stella wascontinually on the alert; indeed she was the greatest sufferer, forher only weapon against her nephew was coaxing, the sight of whichexcited Theodore to a passion of jealousy; and though she never uttereda murmur, she was undergoing a perpetual agony between them. The onlysafety was when Kit was in the charge of Zadok, whose dark face wasTheodore's horror, and another reason for relieving the Priory of theestablishment. John apologized for the luxury of such an attendant asKrishnu. He had brought him home with the idea of letting him study atSt. Augustine's, but his care had become a necessity during that tardyconvalescence; and when it proved that his attainments were not up tothe St Augustine's mark, and that he had no strong inclination to makethem so, but shrank from leaving his master, the decision was welcome.He was northern mountaineer enough to bear the climate; and Wilmetdeclared that he did the work of half there besides his own properbusiness. He certainly was invaluable in those days of bustle andarrival, and would have been more so but for the unlucky feud betweenKit and Theodore. However, the farm was so near, that the safe membersof the family could be together almost as much as ever.
Visitors thickened. The reported excursion of the Archaeological Societymade every one feel that it was expedient that the first call shouldhave been previously made. Sunday was the limit Even the Miss Hepburnscame not till that day; Clement merely presented them when he broughtdown his imposing staff of new assistants to the horse-boxes that soconveniently partitioned the classes, and gladly made over the bigboys to the well-practised Squire--a set of little stolid urchins toAngela, and all the infants to Stella. If he hoped his display wouldinduce the former teachers to withdraw, he was mistaken; their closewhite-trimmed bonnets still kept guard over the girls.
On the Monday they called, and kept on safe commonplace ground, likethe ladies they were, and grew so cordial that Wilmet proposed walkingback to see the invalid and introduce Robina, her namesake godchild.
The girl's staid looks and manners gave great satisfaction, in contrastwith Geraldine and Angela, who were thought flighty, and demonstrationswere made which led to the explanation that she was only on a visit athome. 'A governess!' The four ladies were horror-struck. 'So selfish ofMr. Underwood!'
Robin swelled up like her kind preparing for duels on the October lawn.'My BROTHER!' she said, in the emphatic tone that never meant any onebut Felix.
'It is entirely her own choice,' added Wilmet.
'Nothing should have induced him to consent,' said Miss Isabella,decidedly.
'We did not see it in that light,' said Wilmet. 'He has worked so hardfor us all, that we are glad to do anything to relieve him.'
'It can't be necessary!' exclaimed Miss Bridget, who always spokebreathlessly, and looking appealingly to Isabella.
'Not absolutely necessary,' said Wilmet; 'but you know that so manywould be a burthen on a much larger property.'
There was a gasp all round at this, and Miss Isabella warmly said, 'Mydear Mrs. Harewood, do not let yourself be blinded. We know perfectlywhat the property is, and allowing for Mrs. Fulbert's settlement andany follies of the poor young man, I can assure you there is no reasonyour sisters should not remain at home, which is the only proper placefor young women. I speak to you, as the married sister, who, as yourbrother Edward tells me, have acted the part of a mother. It is yourbounden duty to protect your sisters.' (Wilmet had to frown at Robin,who sprang up in her chair.) 'Of course your brother is meaning tomarry;' (The negative went for nothing.) 'You cannot expect anythingelse; but still it is his first obligation not to cast them off, but toprovide a home for them near at hand--the only becoming thing.'
'Home is quite ready for us all, always,' cried Robina. 'My brotherwould never let us want that; but while I can, I had rather maintainmyself than be a burthen upon him.'
'Ah! my dear, that is a dangerous because plausible spirit of prideand independence. As those who have tried can tell you, very littlesuffices single women, who have long ago broken with the world.'
This beautiful sentiment was received with an assenting breath by theother three, while Miss Isabella triumphantly added, 'And that yourbrother is bound to provide.'
'I saw it stated,' continued Miss Martha, 'that no one worthy the nameof man will permit the ladies of his family to go out into the worldfor maintenance.'
'A man that provideth not for his own household,' whispered sadly evengentle Miss Hepburn.
'And, Isabella--tell them,' pursued Miss Bridget, 'from facts we know--'
'Yes,' said Miss Isabella, striking the nail. 'If it is alleged toyou that the estate is not sufficient, I warn you that there must besomething wrong about the matter.'
'You know,' said Wilmet, feeling it almost wrong to extend the misdeedsof the dead so much, 'the estate does not come clear.'
'I allow for that, but I know from Mrs. Fulbert herself what that is;and, pardon me, that is no sufficient plea, and you ought not to beallowed to think it is. Why, the Rectory alone is twelve hundred ayear!'
Was Felix's secret to be kept at the expense of his character? However,Miss Martha brought some relief, by saying, 'And of course it can't betrue that those persons who were staying with Mr. Edward were monks,come down to take possession of the Priory and restore it?'
The sisters laughed, and Wilmet explained. 'They were formerfellow-curates of his. They came down to help, because he was so muchknocked up.'
'Then,' said Miss Isabella, hushing some further observations thatevidently quivered on her sisters' tongues, 'we may assure our friendsthat there is no truth in the preposterous rumour of a so-calledrestitution.'
'Certainly not of the Priory,' said Wilmet.
'Nor the Rectory?' chimed in Miss Bridget.
'I am hardly at liberty to answer,' said Wilmet. 'I do not know what mybrother means to do, nor will he act hastily; but I know he has strongfeelings about tithes, and that all the rest wish to be no hindrance inthe way of what he thinks right.'
'To sacrifice his family to a scruple!'
'Quite fanatical!'
'And we heard he was so sensible!' mourned the sisterhood; while theirspokeswoman returned to the charge.
'You remember, my dear lady, that the wealth which corrupted the clergywas curtailed by the wisdom of our forefathers?'
'Tithes!' breathed Robin, for here she thought they had an indisputablestronghold.
'We are not under the Jewish dispensation,' said Miss Isabella, with ahalf severe, half triumphant expression; 'but I see how it is. I havetraced it all along--the system of works.'
'Yes, Isabella; you saw from the time that Mr. Edward, dear misguidedyoung man, took from the poor dear children that precious hymn,
"Till to Redemption's[1] work you cling By a simple faith, 'Doing' is a deadly thing, 'Doing' ends in death."'
So sighed Bridget; while Martha added, 'If Mr. Underwood would onlycome to discuss it with Isabella, I am sure she would convince him.'
'And then you need not be sacrificed, my dear!' said the eldest lady.
'Nor his position in society!' added another.
'For you know, Mrs. Harewood, it is hardly fair towards theneighbourhood to connect it with trade. Our county people are notaccustomed to it.'
'I daresay not,' said Wilmet, who had risen during the last saying
s.'Good-bye! I will tell my brother what you say.'
'Do so, my dear; I cannot bear to see a family I have known so long,suffer for, I must say, a mere Judaizing scruple!'
Robina uttered two gasps on her way home. 'Doing ends in death!' Theother--'Single women who have broken with the world!'
Confession to Felix of the betrayal of his purpose was needful. He tookit coolly enough. 'Never mind! We can't charge poor Fulbert's memorywith such a _deficit;_ but there are not many who will probe so hard.'
As Cherry saw, he could stand its being talked of much better as avery chimerical and unjustifiable action than even as simple honesty.'Do you mean to encounter them?' she asked. 'I see now the meaning ofPerseus going among the Graiae,-for they seem to have but one eye; and Ithink poor Clement would be glad if they had but one tooth.'
'No,' said that misguided young man; 'don't be unfair on them. Theyare not in the least spiteful. Miss Martha is the only one who has thegossip in her, and her sisters always repress her. They are very goodwomen, and I believe I have learnt much from them.'
He said it with melancholy candour; and Robina indignantly recurredto their unconscious worldliness about what was due to the county; towhich Clement replied, that he feared that they would find that Felix'sresolution _did_ cost them something besides mere luxury.
Cherry understood this when the Staples family called. The fatherwas all that was warm and cordial; and his wife meant to be thesame, but she patronized. She expatiated on the rapacity of Mrs.Fulbert in carrying off so many handsome articles, and gave a sort of'all very well' commendation of the substitutes. And she profferedrecommendations to shops and servants, and the use of her name, andeven chaperonage, in a manner that made Cherry shrink into herselfwith dry thanks. It was credible that Mrs. Staples pitied the presentUnderwoods, and thought they had been so much damaged by their presentcircumstances as not to know how to do justice to their promotion.
The daughter Felix and Lance had liked best was married to Mr. Welsh,the member for Ewmouth, a self-made man, and great shipowner, who,though disappointed that working among the people had not imbued Mr.Underwood with popular politics, was friendly and pleasant; and hiswife, a merry prosperous young matron, much more lady-like than hermother, and drolly vehement in her new opinions, was only vexed thatthe new comers declined her dinner-parties, and could only be engagedto lunch on the first great archaeological day. She knew nothing aboutarchaeologists, but she should keep open house, and it would be greatfun.
Very different were the next visitors--namely, Sir Vesey Hammond,the patriarch of the county, the undisturbed forty years' member,the very picture of a country gentleman, white-haired, clear-eyed,ruddy-cheeked, tall and robust, all vigorous health, and bringing analmost equally beautiful old wife. Theirs was a real welcome. They hadcome fifteen miles to give it; for had not Sir Vesey been a friend ofgreat-uncle Fulbert, and had not Mary been the admiration of both? Didnot Lady Hammond recollect the twins, and was not she equally readyto do homage to 'Master Kistofer'? Nay! did she not even appease anylurking furniture regrets, by exclaiming, 'I am so fond of this room,and now it looks like old times. I never could like it as Mrs. FulbertUnderwood made it, but now it is so bright and fresh and liveable! Ah!there's the dear old treble-seated settee again. I must go and sit init for old acquaintance' sake!'
There was a wonderful matronly charm about her, with her dark eyesthat had last none of their softness, her snowy hair, and her sweetold face; and all the sisters drew round, unspeakably attracted by themotherliness that gave them a sense of what had been so long wanting tothem.
Her husband seemed to be satisfying himself that the new squire'spolitics neither disgraced him, nor he his politics. Cherry caught anecho of--'tells me you have been editing a Conservative paper.'
'Yes, Sir; I do so still.'
'I am glad of it. You are a benefactor to the country!'
Wherewith Cherry had to respond to the old lady; and when next her earswere open county matters had set in, and the baronet was hailing auseful auxiliary, and pressing Felix to come to dinner, next Thursday,to be introduced to the lord-lieutenant of the county; and she foundherself included by both in the invitation.
There was a pause for an answer, and the colour came into Felix's face.'You are very kind, Sir Vesey; but my sister is rather an invalid, andI am still in business--only backwards and forwards here. In short, asI told Mr. Staples just now, we cannot afford dinner visiting.'
'I understand,' said Sir Vesey, quickly and kindly, and no doubtcrediting poor Fulbert with a good deal. 'We are quite out of distancefor mere dinners. Fifteen miles is far too much for driving home atnight; but could not you and your sister come and spend a couple ofnights? We would meet you at the station.'
Lady Hammond not only backed the invitation with all her might, butguessing perhaps that the lame invalid wanted help, extended it toa second sister. It was impossible to decline, it was not a case ofreciprocity; and when Felix mentioned his acceptance to Mr. Staples, hefound the worthy man as gratified at his adoption by Sir Vesey as if ithad been a personal compliment.
Robina was the other sister who was to go; for, said Cherry, 'She hascustoms and costumes adapted to high society, which can't be said forall of us!' Robina thought Angela should benefit by the introduction,but Felix declared that he could not trust Cherry to her--a cruelstroke which she did not quite deserve, for she had a good deal of thenursing instinct.
The expedition was chiefly memorable to Cherry in that she first sawFelix there as a country gentleman, and could judge of his appearanceamong others. The party was, however, mostly of the higher order of'county people,' above the mark of even the original Underwoods, moreof the London-going type of which members are made. They and theirwoman-kind were not as full of talent and brilliancy as Cherry'sartist friends, but had none of the stiff dullness of her cousinTom's circle. They were well bred, and had no lack of sensible andfairly intellectual talk about the subjects of the day, and all wereintimately at home with one another. All the gentlemen, and most ofthe ladies, were addressed by their host like one who had known themfrom boys and girls. Yet though every one was so intimate, there wasno exclusiveness, and the two girls were at once let into the circle,as it were, and made one with the rest of the ladies; in truth, Cherryeffected one of her usual conquests, and quite subdued Sir Vesey'sheart as he drove her from the station. The dinner and appointmentswould not have been pronounced by Mrs. Tom Underwood _comifo;_ theylagged a good deal behind the complications of delicacies, and vessels,and implements, which modern luxury delights in multiplying, and thedresses were of a quieter style than Cherry expected, so that it by nomeans fulfilled her awful notions of a state dinner in the country.
And how did her own Squire hold his place compared with others? Lookingat him critically, as she tried to do, she saw that his complexion wasdevoid of the embrowning of sun and wind, his hands were over-white anddelicate, and too many cares had pressed on his young shoulders not tohave rounded them; so that he did not look like the active athleticmen who had led an out-of-door life; but in look, movement, and tone,he was as thorough a gentleman as any one. Evening dress was perhapsmost favourable to him, for he had rejected, with a sort of dislike,all semi-sporting morning costumes; and there was a little precision inhis neatness, not like the ideal squire, but thoroughly individual inhim, and the effect of his doing whatever he was about in the best wayhe could. When Bernard once declared that Felix's dress looked as if itwere always Sunday, Stella gravely made answer, 'I think it is alwaysthe Fourth Commandment with him!' In which, perhaps, the little womanfound the key of his nature.
There was no lack of ease about him; he did perhaps say 'Sir' morethan is the ordinary custom, but this had rather a graceful effect toan elderly man; and he had no backwardness in conversation, but wasas well-informed and intelligent as any newly-arrived squire could beexpected to be, or more so. If he did not shoot, or hunt, that was hisown affair: these were not men of the calibre to appreciate nothingelse; t
hey felt they had got a sensible, honourable, practical manamong them, and accepted him as a fellow-worker for the welfare oftheir county. If he did sell books elsewhere, that was nothing to them;they felt he was a gentleman, and that was all they wanted.
Perhaps it was altogether more gratification than enjoyment, whereall was so new and strange; but the second evening was pleasanterthan the first, and the last breakfast made them like old friends. Theintroductions during those two evenings had been very opportune, ingiving a little foothold among the denizens of the county before thegreat gathering of the antiquaries.
Ewmouth had been selected as head-quarters, on account of its castle,its church, and a bit of Roman wall, besides a Roman villa, and severalcurious churches within distance for excursions. The names of readersof papers were very promising, and included 'Mediaeval Seals, by theReverend Christopher Harewood.' These lectures were to be given in themornings; in the afternoons the excursions were to take place, and oneevening there was to be a soiree at Mr. Welsh's.
Tickets for the week cost a guinea. Felix took one apiece for himselfand Geraldine; and Wilmet, not caring for such things, made her ticketover to Robina. This week would nearly finish William Harewood'sholiday. A few days later he was to meet a reading-party at a vastold farm-house called Penbeacon, in the moors at the source of theLeston--five miles off, but still in the vast straggling parish, whoseacreage little corresponded to its population.
Clement and the Harewoods, meantime, spent their leisure moments inrouting in Abednego Tripp's rubbish holes, and bringing out quantitiesof fragments of lace-work canopies, heads of saints and demons,and shattered Priors' coffin-lids. The black cloth came down; twodivisions of the three-decker were stored away in the hay-loft overthe vicarage-stable. The third and lowest was to serve Clement for hissermon, and Abednego must make the best of a place in the choir. As tothe trumpeting angel at the top of the sounding-board, Felix was soconstant to it, that he carefully dusted it, proved it to be reallyrather graceful, and set it up against the wall in his own bedroom.Will Harewood declared it was the idol representing the Pursuivant,and he rejoined that he only hoped that the Pursuivant might sound inaccordance with that trumpet.
[Footnote 1: The real word is too sacred for quotation. (_Author_)]
[Transcriber's note: "real word": 'Jesus', in the original hymn (J.Proctor and I.D. Sankey, 'Nothing, either great or small').]
The Pillars of the House; Or, Under Wode, Under Rode, Vol. 2 (of 2) Page 14
