“I beg, (said Rosalie, who had no inclination to have a quarrel begin between these two coats of different colours on her account), I beg that the conversation may drop; I have no intention, Mr. Hughson, of dancing at all.”
“Oh! (cried the young man, his opponent), the whole room will rise, by G — , against such an inhuman resolution.....No, no, that will never be allowed. — Here, Blagham, before you sit down to cards, you dog you, come and set this matter to rights for us.”
“I beg leave to retire from the discussion then, Sir, (said Rosalie rising), though I cannot imagine how either you, or Mr. Blagham, can be interested in a matter so immaterial to you both.”
“Eh! (cried Blagham) — why, my Rose of beauty, you have all your thorns about you to-night. Aye! aye! Sir, thus it is — thus it is — thus do these imperious little divinities treat us till they are married...Why now, there’s my Kitty as great a tyrant as that little lioness her sister; but you see she begins to look tame and demure already. Come, come, Miss Rose, frowns do not become the fair, child.” — He was proceeding in the same style, when, her patience being entirely exhausted, she snatched away her hand, which Blagham endeavoured to hold, and left the room.
Before she retuned the card tables were adjusted, and Mr. and Mrs. Lessington, who dearly loved a game at whist, were settled with Blagham, who really had, and Hughson who fancied he had, great skill in the game. Rosalie, therefore, seeing her two persecutors employed, and her father and mother deeply engaged, took out her work and sat down behind Mrs. Lessington, as much out of sight as possible: but this peaceful state she was not long suffered to enjoy. The idle man who remained insisted on making a party for a round table, and with whatever reluctance Rosalie was compelled to join them, and to be listening for three mortal hours to the sad attempts at wit which a commerce table never fails to produce.
At length, however, the evening ended; and for Rosalie the following arrived too soon.
Dragged to a scene, where she considered herself exposed as an animal in a market to the remarks and purchase of the best bidder, it was with extreme reluctance that Rosalie entered the ball-room; nor had she by any means taken that pains to add to the attractions of her person which her mother had insisted upon. The simplest and neatest muslin dress, without feathers, flowers, or ribbands, was all she put on; while her sister Maria came down as showy and blooming as ribbands and rouge could make her.
Mrs. Lessington would have reproved her youngest daughter for having thus neglected her admonitions; but, when she saw the three together, she could not help being sensible that Rosalie looked like a girl of fashion, while Catharine and Maria had the appearance of people dressed for the performance of strolling plays, with all the finery the property man could furnish. Without any remonstrance, therefore, she was suffered to go with the rest; but not so easily did she escape from the renewed importunities of Mr. Hughson to dance with him, who having engaged her father to interfere in his favour, she received so peremptory an order to accept him, accompanied by looks so angry and menacing, that she was compelled, though with extreme reluctance, to submit. Her sister on the point of being married was of course taken out by her lover, but by some mortifying fatality Miss Maria was unasked; and the first dance was nearly ended, when, to the extreme surprise of Rosalie, who with her skipping partner was arrived at the bottom, she saw (almost doubting the information of her eyes) her sister Maria standing up with Montalbert.
The change of her countenance, when it was her turn to take hands with him, expressed more forcibly than words could have done her astonishment. Montalbert perceived it. “You rather wonder to see me here?” said he.— “Wonder! (cried she) — Good Heavens! — and your friend, how does he do? — He is certainly better since you could leave him.” The figure of the dance obliged them to separate; but in a few moments declining to do down the dance, which was soon after over, Montalbert seated himself by her, taking without any scruple the place of her partner, whom she sent away for some negus. “You inquire after my friend, (said Montalbert), with an interest so tender, that, however I may envy his happiness in exciting that interest, it becomes me to satisfy your inquiries: yet you might, perhaps, obtain more satisfactory information from himself.”
“From himself! (cried Rosalie eagerly); is he here then?”
“Alas! (answered Montalbert, again deeply sighing), he seems insensible of the good fortune which I would purchase with worlds, if I possessed them, for there he is conversing with Lady —— , and Lady Anne —— , at the other end of the room. Shall I go and tell him, Madam, (added he coolly), that you desire to see him?”
“By no means, (replied Rosalie), by no means — not for the world!”
“Insensible fellow! (cried Montalbert) whom rank can a moment detain from Miss Rosalie Lessington. Ah! if he saw with my eyes — if his heart felt as mine does!” ——
“I am very glad, however, (said she, affecting not to understand this), I am extremely glad to find Mr. Charles Vyvian so much recovered; I was quite alarmed at his threatened illness on account of his mother.”
“On account of his mother!” repeated Montalbert.
“Yes, Sir, (said Rosalie gravely), certainly on the account of his mother.”
At this moment two persons of very different description approached them....Hughson came smirking and prancing with a glass of negus, and began telling how he had mixed it after a manner peculiar to himself; but seeing that Rosalie gave no attention to him, and that Montalbert made no offer to resign the place he had usurped, he remained looking even less wise than ordinary, till his dismay was increased by the appearance of Vyvian, who, putting him on one side with very little ceremony, entered into conversation with Rosalie, who expressed as warmly as she felt it the pleasure his recovery gave her. She loved Charles Vyvian exactly as she loved her brothers: brought up with him from her childhood, she had never considered him for a moment in any other light, nor did she suppose it possible, notwithstanding what her mother had said, that any other person could entertain an idea of his having for her any other attachment than that which might subsist between a brother and a sister. Vyvian was fourteen months younger than she was, and nothing could, in her apprehension, be more absurd than to suppose Vyvian, not yet eighteen, would see her in any other light than she thought of him. This gave to her manner towards him an ease which she was far from feeling when she conversed with Montalbert; and now, without any hesitation, or indeed any apprehension of impropriety, she rose from her seat, and walked with him to the end of the room, Montalbert taking his place in silence on the other side, while the luckless Hughson drank up himself what he had fetched for his partner, and then went with a rueful countenance to find at the sideboard below something more powerful to dissipate the chagrin he felt, as well as the awkward sensations of conscious inferiority. Rosalie, in the mean time, not thinking about him, was inquiring of Charles Vyvian why he prolonged his stay in the country, when he was well enough to go? “I thought, (said she), I thought you told me, that Mrs. Vyvian did not even know of your intentions of being at Holmwood. If she should hear of your remaining there on account of illness, ’tis so far from advice, I cannot imagine why you stay.”
“What would you think, (replied he in a low whisper, as if he was solicitous that his cousin might not hear him) — what would you think, Rosalie, if I were to tell you, that I went thither in the hope of seeing you; that I linger here for no other reason than because I cannot prevail upon myself to quit the country where you are?”
“I should think, (said Rosalie hesitating), and I should say, that I was very sorry Mr. Charles Vyvian should talk so wildly and improperly —— —— —— .” She was proceeding, though she hesitated, blushed, and was evidently disconcerted, when she was interrupted by her mother, who, coming towards her, said, with more appearance of anger than she had ever yet shown, “Why is it, Rose, that you thus quit Mr. Hughson! — I am astonished at your rudeness, child, and must insist upon having no more of such behaviour.” — Mrs. Les
sington then seized her hand, and giving it into that of Hughson, said, with a sort of convulsive laugh, “Here, Sir — I am sure Rose will be happy — he! he! he! — to go down the dance with you — I am sure she does not wish to be left out of this dance.”
Hughson then, endeavouring to smile and smirk in order to conceal the extreme vexation he felt, advanced to take her hand; but, from some unusual courage which at that moment she felt, some sudden impulse for which she could hardly account, and which she afterwards thought blameable, she snatched away the hand Hughson would have taken, and telling him disdainfully that she did not know that she should dance any more, she turned to the seat she had before occupied, whither Vyvian, wholly regardless of the evident anger of Mrs. Lessington, followed her.
Hughson, swelling with rage and resentment, which he had, however, no means of satisfying, now seemed to give up the point in absolute despair; but, accustomed as he had been to fancy that so clever a little fellow, with his fortune and expectations, might have his choice among the young women of the whole county, he could not repress the mortification he felt. The plan that Montalbert had adopted of dancing with Maria Lessington, in order to obtain the opportunity of conversing with her sister, had been so far from answering, that it had entirely baffled his purpose......He now saw himself engaged for the evening, and prevented from enjoying a moment’s conversation with Rosalie, while his more fortunate cousin was happy enough wholly to engross her attention.
Montalbert, however, who had seen too much of the world to be easily diverted from his design, made a false step as he was going down the dance that was now begun, and protesting he had hurt himself so as to make his going on impossible, was limping to a seat; but seizing on poor Hughson in his way, he cried, “My good Sir, I perceive your fair partner declines dancing any more; I am, most unfortunately for myself, disabled — It will be happy for you, for you will have the pleasure of taking one lovely sister instead of the other.”
Hughson, clever fellow as he thought himself, was so over awed by the easy manners and conscious superiority of Montalbert, that he had nothing to say, but advancing towards Miss Maria, as if this was an arrangement to which he was under the necessity of submitting, they sullenly finished the dance together; while Montalbert, availing himself of the success of his stratagem, seated himself on the other side of Rosalie, who, however unwilling to disoblige her mother, forgot in a few moments that she was likely to do so, while she attended sometimes to Vyvian as to a brother whom she loved, or as to a very young man whose wild sallies were pardonable; but to Montalbert she listened with sensations very different: she knew far less how to repress the oblique declarations he made to her — declarations which she trembled to listen to, while she felt conscious, though not daring to own it to herself, that all the future happiness of her days depended on their sincerity.
Mrs. Lessington had retired to cards after her last sharp remonstrance to her daughter, and the eagerness with which she always pursued her game, kept her in another room for some time. At length, however, she was either put out of the game by rotation, or some evil-disposed persons had whispered to her what was passing among the dancers; for about an hour and an half after her last rebuke she returned to the ball-room, and, in a voice and manner more angry than before, told Rosalie that she was going home, and should take her thither at the same time. “As to your sisters, (added she, laying great emphasis on her words), as they know better how to behave, I need not interrupt their amusement —— they shall stay as long as they please.”
Rejoiced to be released on any terms from a repetition of reproaches in a public room, she assured her mother that she was quite ready to attend her. “Very well, Miss, (replied Mrs. Lessington) — it is mighty well.......Come, Sir, (continued she, turning to Charles Vyvian), as we are old acquaintance, you know, you shall favour me with your arm —— but stop —— I must beg that you will first be so good as to accompany me to the top of the room, I must speak to Catharine and Maria.” — Without waiting for an answer from Vyvian, she took his arm, and led him away.
“My blessings on your dear Mama! (said Montalbert, smiling half maliciously) — how kind she is to me — but the moments are precious — tell me, I do beseech you, Rosalie, is it impossible for me to see you again before I leave this country — before I leave England — for years!”
“How is it possible?” answered Rosalie, hardly knowing what she said.
“It would be possible, (replied he), if you would only try to oblige me.”
“O no! no! (cried she with quickness), pray do not think of it; it would be utterly improper if it were not impossible.”
“Do you rise early? (said Montalbert, disregarding this faint repulse) — Do you never walk before breakfast?”
“Why will you ask?” answered Rosalie.
“Because, as I shall certainly quit Holmwood House after to-morrow — as I cannot again importune you — as I shall probably — ah! too probably — never see you again, let me entreat you only to see me for one half hour before I go?”
“I cannot indeed, Sir! (answered she). To what end would you ask, what I am sure you would think it very wrong were I to grant?”
“But if I am in the neighbourhood of your house, early on the morning after to-morrow, I might have a chance of saying adieu for the last time?”
Rosalie did not reply, for her mother was by this time returned, and sharply bidding her follow, went hastily to the hired chaise that waited for them.
CHAPTER 5
VERY bitter were the reproaches which Rosalie was compelled to hear during their way home. She bore them with patience and silence, conscious perhaps that they were not wholly unmerited; she was, indeed, willing enough to acknowledge that she should not so rudely have repulsed Hughson in positive disobedience of her father’s commands; but why her mother should make her conversation with Charles Vyvian so great a crime, she could not imagine, since in fact she had shown a much greater disposition to converse with his cousin than with him, and was perfectly conscious that she gave him no other preference than what arose from the long intimacy, that being so much together in childhood, had created between them.....
On this conversation, however, it was that Mrs. Lessington dwelt with acrimonious repetition — protesting to her daughter, that if Mrs. Vyvian were acquainted with the impropriety, folly, and disobedience she had been guilty of, that her favour would be forfeited for ever.
After listening to such sharp reproaches, intermingled with many assurances of the anger and resentment of both her parents, unless she behaved in a very different manner to Mr. Hughson, Rosalie obtained with some difficulty leave to retire, when, the image of Montalbert was the only one that she found rested forcibly on her mind: his conversation made a deeper impression the more she reflected on it. Montalbert was not only the most elegant and agreeable man she had ever conversed with, but he appeared to her to be the most unlikely man in the world to amuse himself with the cruel, yet too frequent folly of making professions that mean nothing. Montalbert therefore loved her. An idea so soothing acquired new power to charm her in proportion as she reflected on all he had said, and the manner in which he said it. How fortunate would be her destiny, should she become the wife of such a man, and how was it possible that her mother, who must see the marked preference he gave her, could hesitate a moment between him and such a man as Hughson. It was true Mr. Montalbert was a Catholic, but of what consequence was that? — Was not her mother’s earliest and best friend of the same persuasion? — Such were some of the contemplations which engrossed the thoughts of Rosalie, and, fatigued as she was, kept her from repose till she heard the whole party return. Loud mirth, which echoed throughout the house, declared the joyous hearts of the company. Rosalie particularly distinguished the boisterous laugh and horse-play of Blagham, and the ideot-like chuckle of Hughson. Rosalie delighted to have escaped this conclusion to the evening, and fearing that her sister, who shared her bed for that night, might either be elated with the
amusements of the latter part of the evening, or not yet have recovered of the ill-humour she had felt at the beginning of it as to enter into conversation with her, either to testify her pleasure or vent her ill-humour, Rosalie affected to be asleep. The next morning was fixed for their return home.
At breakfast every body affected to resent to Rosalie what had passed the evening before; and while Mr. Lessington regarded her with evident marks of displeasure, and would not speak to her, while her mother, still more angry, talked at her, and encouraged Blagham, in his strictures on the company who were to assembly, to ridicule the two travelled men, who were, he said, the greatest coxcombs he ever recollected to have seen —— to which Hughson very warmly assented, casting at the same time a look of resentment at Rosalie, as if to say, “Yet you, Miss, preferred these men to me?”
“For my part, (said Blagham), by the Lord, if I had a sister who preferred such
Frenchified chaps to honest Heart of Oak Englishmen, why I send her off to be a Signora or Mademoiselle among them — I should think such a bad taste a disgrace to my family. To be sure, in regard to these two fine gentlemen, they being Papists is reason enough for their being educated among your Seniors and Monseers; but what the use is of sending our young nobility and gentry to learn a parcel of useless coxcombry amongst them, I never could discover; and I own, Sir, (addressing himself to Mr. Lessington), that when I consider this matter, I cannot but think that the Legislature of our three kingdoms ought to interfere.”
Before Mr. Lessington, who never spoke without due consideration and emphasis, could return an answer, Miss Maria said, “Oh! there they go!”
“Who go?” inquired her mother.
“My sister Rose’s great and fine friends, (answered Maria), Mr. Vyvian and Mr. —— , I forget his name, that very finest of all fine men.”
Rosalie, who had seen them as well as her sister, could not help but blushing. Montalbert had looked earnestly in as he passed, and checked his horse a moment when he perceived he had caught her eye.
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