Can You Forgive Her?

by Anthony Trollope

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  Three Politicians.

  Mr. Palliser was one of those politicians in possessing whom Englandhas perhaps more reason to be proud than of any other of herresources, and who, as a body, give to her that exquisite combinationof conservatism and progress which is her present strength and bestsecurity for the future. He could afford to learn to be a statesman,and had the industry wanted for such training. He was born in thepurple, noble himself, and heir to the highest rank as well as one ofthe greatest fortunes of the country, already very rich, surroundedby all the temptations of luxury and pleasure; and yet he devotedhimself to work with the grinding energy of a young pennilessbarrister labouring for a penniless wife, and did so without anymotive more selfish than that of being counted in the roll ofthe public servants of England. He was not a brilliant man, andunderstood well that such was the case. He was now listened to inthe House, as the phrase goes; but he was listened to as a laboriousman, who was in earnest in what he did, who got up his facts withaccuracy, and who, dull though he be, was worthy of confidence. Andhe was very dull. He rather prided himself on being dull, and onconquering in spite of his dullness. He never allowed himself ajoke in his speeches, nor attempted even the smallest flourish ofrhetoric. He was very careful in his language, labouring night andday to learn to express himself with accuracy, with no needlessrepetition of words, perspicuously with regard to the special objecthe might have in view. He had taught himself to believe that oratory,as oratory, was a sin against that honesty in politics by which hestrove to guide himself. He desired to use words for the purpose ofteaching things which he knew and which others did not know; and hedesired also to be honoured for his knowledge. But he had no desireto be honoured for the language in which his knowledge was conveyed.He was an upright, thin, laborious man; who by his parts alone couldhave served no political party materially, but whose parts weresufficient to make his education, integrity, and industry useful inthe highest degree. It is the trust which such men inspire whichmakes them so serviceable;--trust not only in their labour,--for anyman rising from the mass of the people may be equally laborious; noryet simply in their honesty and patriotism. The confidence is givento their labour, honesty, and patriotism joined to such a personalstake in the country as gives them a weight and ballast which nopolitician in England can possess without it.

  If he was dull as a statesman he was more dull in private life, andit may be imagined that such a woman as his wife would find somedifficulty in making his society the source of her happiness. Theirmarriage, in a point of view regarding business, had been a completesuccess,--and a success, too, when on the one side, that of LadyGlencora, there had been terrible dangers of shipwreck, and whenon his side also there had been some little fears of a mishap. Asregards her it has been told how near she went to throwing herself,with all her vast wealth, into the arms of a young man, whom nofather, no guardian could have regarded as a well-chosen husband forany girl;--one who as yet had shown no good qualities, who had beena spendthrift, unprincipled, and debauched. Alas, she had loved him!It is possible that her love and her wealth might have turned himfrom evil to good. But who would have ventured to risk her,--I willnot say her and her vast inheritances,--on such a chance? That evil,however, had been prevented, and those about her had managed to marryher to a young man, very steady by nature, with worldly prospects asbrilliant as her own, and with a station than which the world offersnothing higher. His little threatened mischance,--a passing fancy fora married lady who was too wise to receive vows which were profferednot in the most ardent manner,--had, from special reasons, given somelittle alarm to his uncle, which had just sufficed at the time tomake so very judicious a marriage doubly pleasant to that noble duke,So that all things and all people had conspired to shower substantialcomforts on the heads of this couple, when they were joined together,and men and women had not yet ceased to declare how happy were bothin the accumulated gifts of fortune.

  And as regards Mr. Palliser, I think that his married life, and thewife, whom he certainly had not chosen, but who had dropped upon him,suited him admirably. He wanted great wealth for that position atwhich he aimed. He had been rich before his marriage with his ownwealth,--so rich that he could throw thousands away if he wished it;but for him and his career was needed that colossal wealth whichwould make men talk about it,--which would necessitate an expansiveexpenditure, reaching far and wide, doing nothing, or less thannothing, for his own personal comfort, but giving to him at once thatrock-like solidity which is so necessary to our great aristocraticpoliticians. And his wife was, as far as he knew, all that hedesired. He had not dabbled much in the fountains of Venus, thoughhe had forgotten himself once, and sinned in coveting another man'swife. But his sin then had hardly polluted his natural character,and his desire had been of a kind which was almost more gratified inits disappointment than it would have been in its fruition. On themorning after the lady had frowned on him he had told himself that hewas very well out of that trouble. He knew that it would never be forhim to hang up on the walls of a temple a well-worn lute as a votiveoffering when leaving the pursuits of love. _Idoneus puellis_ henever could have been. So he married Lady Glencora and was satisfied.The story of Burgo Fitzgerald was told to him, and he supposed thatmost girls had some such story to tell. He thought little about it,and by no means understood her when she said to him, with all theimpressiveness which she could throw into the words, "You must knowthat I have really loved him." "You must love me now," he had repliedwith a smile; and then as regarded his mind, the thing was over. Andsince his marriage he had thought that things matrimonial had gonewell with him, and with her too. He gave her almost unlimited powerof enjoying her money, and interfered but little in her way oflife. Sometimes he would say a word of caution to her with referenceto those childish ways which hardly became the dull dignity ofhis position and his words then would have in them something ofunintentional severity,--whether instigated or not by the red-hairedRadical Member of Parliament, I will not pretend to say;--but onthe whole he was contented and loved his wife, as he thought, veryheartily, and at least better than he loved any one else. One causeof unhappiness, or rather one doubt as to his entire good fortune,was beginning to make itself felt, as his wife had to her sorrowalready discovered. He had hoped that before this he might have heardthat she would give him a child. But the days were young yet for thattrouble, and the care had not become a sorrow.

  But this judicious arrangement as to properties, this well-orderedalliance between families, had not perhaps suited her as well as ithad suited him. I think that she might have learned to forget herearly lover, or to look back upon it with a soft melancholy hardlyamounting to regret, had her new lord been more tender in his wayswith her. I do not know that Lady Glencora's heart was made of thatstern stuff which refuses to change its impressions; but it was aheart, and it required food. To love and fondle someone,--to beloved and fondled, were absolutely necessary to her happiness. Shewanted the little daily assurance of her supremacy in the man'sfeelings, the constant touch of love, half accidental half contrived,the passing glance of the eye telling perhaps of some little jokeunderstood only between them two rather than of love, the softness ofan occasional kiss given here and there when chance might bring themtogether, some half-pretended interest in her little doings, a nod, awink, a shake of the head, or even a pout. It should have been givento her to feed upon such food as this daily, and then she would haveforgotten Burgo Fitzgerald. But Mr. Palliser understood none of thesethings; and therefore the image of Burgo Fitzgerald in all his beautywas ever before her eyes.

  But not the less was Mr. Palliser a prosperous man, as to the successof whose career few who knew him had much doubt. It might be writtenin the book of his destiny that he would have to pass through someviolent domestic trouble, some ruin in the hopes of his home, of anature to destroy then and for ever the worldly prospects of othermen. But he was one who would pass through such violence, shouldit come upon him, without much scathe. To lose hi
s influence withhis party would be worse to him than to lose his wife, and publicdisgrace would hit him harder than private dishonour.

  And the present was the very moment in which success was, as wassaid, coming to him. He had already held laborious office under theCrown, but had never sat in the Cabinet. He had worked much harderthan Cabinet Ministers generally work,--but hitherto had workedwithout any reward that was worth his having. For the stipend whichhe had received had been nothing to him,--as the great stipend whichhe would receive, if his hopes were true, would also be nothing tohim. To have ascendancy over other men, to be known by his countrymenas one of their real rulers, to have an actual and acknowledged voicein the management of nations,--those were the rewards for which helooked; and now in truth it seemed as though they were coming to him.It was all but known that the existing Chancellor of the Exchequerwould separate himself from the Government, carrying various otherswith him, either before or immediately consequent on the meetingof Parliament;--and it was all but known, also, that Mr. Palliserwould fill his place, taking that high office at once, although hehad never hitherto sat in that august assembly which men call theCabinet. He could thus afford to put up with the small everydaycalamity of having a wife who loved another man better than she lovedhim.

  The presence of the Duke of St. Bungay at Matching was assumed to be asure sign of Mr. Palliser's coming triumph. The Duke was a statesmanof a very different class, but he also had been eminently successfulas an aristocratic pillar of the British Constitutional Republic. Hewas a minister of very many years' standing, being as used to cabinetsittings as other men are to their own armchairs; but he had neverbeen a hard-working man. Though a constant politician, he had evertaken politics easy whether in office or out. The world had saidbefore now that the Duke might be Premier, only that he would nottake the trouble. He had been consulted by a very distinguishedperson,--so the papers had said more than once,--as to the making ofPrime Ministers. His voice in council was esteemed to be very great.He was regarded as a strong rock of support to the liberal cause, andyet nobody ever knew what he did; nor was there much record of whathe said. The offices which he held, or had held, were generally thoseto which no very arduous duties were attached. In severe debates henever took upon himself the brunt of opposition oratory. What he saidin the House was generally short and pleasant,--with some slight,drolling, undercurrent of uninjurious satire running through it. Buthe was a walking miracle of the wisdom of common sense. He never losthis temper. He never made mistakes. He never grew either hot or coldin a cause. He was never reckless in politics, and never cowardly. Hesnubbed no man, and took snubbings from no man. He was a Knight ofthe Garter, a Lord Lieutenant of his county, and at sixty-two hadhis digestion unimpaired and his estate in excellent order. He was agreat buyer of pictures, which, perhaps, he did not understand, and agreat collector of books which certainly he never read. All the worldrespected him, and he was a man to whom the respect of all the worldwas as the breath of his nostrils.

  But even he was not without his peacock on the wall, his skeletonin the closet, his thorn in his side; though the peacock did notscream loud, the skeleton was not very terrible in his anatomicalarrangement, nor was the thorn likely to fester to a gangrene. TheDuke was always in awe about his wife.

  He was ever uneasy about his wife, but it must not be supposedthat he feared the machinations of any Burgo Fitzgerald as beingdestructive of his domestic comfort. The Duchess was and alwayshad been all that is proper. Ladies in high rank, when gifted withexcelling beauty, have often been made the marks of undeservedcalumny;--but no breath of slander had ever touched her name. I doubtif any man alive had ever had the courage even to wink at her sincethe Duke had first called her his own. Nor was she a spendthrift, ora gambler. She was not fast in her tastes, or given to any pursuitthat was objectionable. She was simply a fool, and as a fool was everfearing that she was the mark of ridicule. In all such miseries shewould complain sorrowfully, piteously, and occasionally very angrily,to her dear Duke and protector; till sometimes her dear Duke did notquite know what to do with her or how to protect her. It did not suithim, a Knight of the Garter and a Duke of St. Bungay, to beg mercyfor that poor wife of his from such a one as Mrs. Conway Sparkes; norwould it be more in his way to lodge a formal complaint against thatlady before his host or hostess,--as one boy at school may sometimesdo as regards another. "If you don't like the people, my dear, wewill go away," he said to her late on that evening of which we havespoken. "No," she replied, "I do not wish to go away. I have saidthat we would stay till December, and Longroyston won't be readybefore that. But I think that something ought to be done to silencethat woman." And the accent came strong upon "something," and thenagain with terrific violence upon "woman."

  The Duke did not know how to silence Mrs. Conway Sparkes. It wasa great principle of his life never to be angry with any one. Howcould he get at Mrs. Conway Sparkes? "I don't think she is worth yourattention," said the husband. "That's all very well, Duke," said thewife, "and perhaps she is not. But I find her in this house, and Idon't like to be laughed at. I think Lady Glencora should make herknow her place."

  "Lady Glencora is very young, my dear."

  "I don't know about being so very young," said the Duchess, whose earhad perhaps caught some little hint of poor Lady Glencora's almostunintentional mimicry. Now as appeals of this kind were being madefrequently to the Duke, and as he was often driven to say some word,of which he himself hardly approved, to some one in protection of hisDuchess, he was aware that the matter was an annoyance, and at timesalmost wished that her Grace was at--Longroyston.

  And there was a third politician staying at Matching Priory who hadnever yet risen to the rank of a statesman, but who had his hopes.This was Mr. Bott, the member for St. Helens, whom Lady Glencora haddescribed as a man who stood about, with red hair,--and perhaps toldtales of her to her husband. Mr. Bott was a person who certainly hadhad some success in life and who had won it for himself. He was notvery young, being at this time only just on the right side of fifty.He was now enjoying his second session in Parliament, having beenreturned as a pledged disciple of the Manchester school. Nor had heapparently been false to his pledges. At St. Helens he was still heldto be a good man and true. But they who sat on the same side withhim in the House and watched his political manoeuvres, knew that hewas striving hard to get his finger into the public pie. He was nota rich man, though he had made calico and had got into Parliament.And though he claimed to be a thoroughgoing Radical, he was a manwho liked to live with aristocrats, and was fond of listening to thewhispers of such as the Duke of St. Bungay or Mr. Palliser. It wassupposed that he did understand something of finance. He was at anyrate great in figures; and as he was possessed of much industry, andwas obedient withal, he was a man who might make himself useful to aChancellor of the Exchequer ambitious of changes.

  There are men who get into such houses as Matching Priory and whosepresence there is a mystery to many;--as to whom the ladies of thehouse never quite understand why they are entertaining such a guest."And Mr. Bott is coming," Mr. Palliser had said to his wife. "Mr.Bott!" Lady Glencora had answered. "Goodness me! who is Mr. Bott?""He is member for St. Helens," said Mr. Palliser. "A very serviceableman in his way." "And what am I to do with him?" asked Lady Glencora."I don't know that you can do anything with him. He is a man whohas a great deal of business, and I dare say he will spend most ofhis time in the library." So Mr. Bott arrived. But though a hugepile of letters and papers came to him every morning by post, heunfortunately did not seem to spend much of his time in the library.Perhaps he had not found the clue to that lost apartment. Twice hewent out shooting, but as on the first day he shot the keeper, andon the second very nearly shot the Duke, he gave that up. Hunting hedeclined, though much pressed to make an essay in that art by JeffreyPalliser. He seemed to spend his time, as Lady Glencora said, instanding about,--except at certain times when he was closeted withMr. Palliser, and when, it may be presumed, he made himself useful.On such
days he would be seen at the hour of lunch with fingersmuch stained with ink, and it was generally supposed that on thoseoccasions he had been counting up taxes and calculating the effectof great financial changes. He was a tall, wiry, strong man, with abald head and bristly red beard, which, however, was cut off from hisupper and under lip. This was unfortunate, as had he hidden his mouthhe would not have been in so marked a degree an ugly man. His upperlip was very long, and his mouth was mean. But he had found thatwithout the help of a razor to these parts he could not manage hissoup to his satisfaction, and preferring cleanliness to beauty hadshaved himself accordingly.

  "I shouldn't dislike Mr. Bott so much," Lady Glencora said to herhusband, "if he didn't rub his hands and smile so often, and seemto be going to say something when he really is not going to sayanything."

  "I don't think you need trouble yourself about him, my dear," Mr.Palliser had answered.

  "But when he looks at me in that way, I can't help stopping, asI think he is going to speak; and then he always says, 'Can I doanything for you, Lady Glen-cowrer?'"

  She instantly saw that her husband did not like this. "Don't be angrywith me, dear," she said. "You must admit that he is rather a bore."

  "I am not at all angry, Glencora," said the husband; "and if youinsist upon it, I will see that he leaves;--and in such case willof course never ask him again. But that might be prejudicial to me,as he is a man whom I trust in politics, and who may perhaps beserviceable to me."

  Of course Lady Glencora declared that Mr. Bott might remain as long ashe and her husband desired, and of course she mentioned his name nomore to Mr. Palliser; but from that time forth she regarded Mr. Bott asan enemy, and felt also that Mr. Bott regarded her in the same light.

  When it was known among outside politicians that the Duke of St.Bungay was staying at Matching Priory, outside politicians becamemore sure than ever that Mr. Palliser would be the new Chancellor ofthe Exchequer. The old minister and the young minister were of coursearranging matters together. But I doubt whether Mr. Palliser and theDuke ever spoke on any such topic during the entire visit. ThoughMr. Bott was occasionally closeted with Mr. Palliser, the Duke nevertroubled himself with such closetings. He went out shooting--on hispony, read his newspaper, wrote his notes, and looked with the eyeof a connoisseur over all Mr. Palliser's farming apparatus. "You seemto have a good man, I should say," said the Duke. "What! Hubbings?Yes;--he was a legacy from my uncle when he gave me up the Priory.""A very good man, I should say. Of course he won't make it pay; buthe'll make it look as though it did;--which is the next best thing.I could never get rent out of land that I farmed myself,--never." "Isuppose not," said Mr. Palliser, who did not care much about it. TheDuke would have talked to him by the hour together about farming hadMr. Palliser been so minded; but he talked to him very little aboutpolitics. Nor during the whole time of his stay at Matching did theDuke make any other allusion to Mr. Palliser's hopes as regardedthe ministry, than that in which he had told Lady Glencora at thedinner-table that her husband's ambition was the highest by whichany man could be moved.

  But Mr. Bott was sometimes honoured by a few words with the Duke.

  "We shall muster pretty strong, your Grace," Mr. Bott had said to himone day before dinner.

  "That depends on how the changes go," said the Duke.

  "I suppose there will be a change?"

  "Oh yes; there'll be a change,--certainly, I should say. And it willbe in your direction."

  "And in Palliser's?"

  "Yes; I should think so;--that is, if it suits him. By-the-by, Mr.Bott--" Then there was a little whispered communication, in whichperhaps Mr. Bott was undertaking some commission of that nature whichLady Glencora had called "telling."