St. George and St. Michael

by George MacDonald

  CHAPTER XIV

  SEVERAL PEOPLE

  Lord Worcester had taken such a liking to Dorothy, partly at firstbecause of the good store of merriment with which she and her mastiffhad provided him, that he was disappointed when he found her place wasnot to be at his table but the housekeeper's. As he said himself,however, he did not meddle with women's matters, and indeed it would notdo for lady Margaret to show her so much favour above her other women,of whom at least one was her superior in rank, and all were relatives aswell as herself.

  Dorothy did not much relish their society, but she had not much of itexcept at meals, when, however, they always treated her as aninterloper. Every day she saw more or less of lady Margaret, and foundin her such sweetness, if not quite evenness of temper, as well asgaiety of disposition, that she learned to admire as well as love her.Sometimes she had her to read to her, sometimes to work with her, andalmost every day she made her practise a little on the harpsichord.Hence she not only improved rapidly in performance, but grew capable ofreceiving more and more delight from music. There was a fine littleorgan in the chapel, on which blind young Delaware, the son of themarquis's master of the horse, used to play delightfully; and althoughshe never entered the place, she would stand outside listening to hismusic for an hour at a time in the twilight, or sometimes even afterdark. For as yet she indulged without question all the habits of herhitherto free life, as far as was possible within the castle walls, andthe outermost of these were of great circuit, enclosing lawns,shrubberies, wildernesses, flower and kitchen gardens, orchards, greatfish-ponds, little lakes with fountains, islands, and summer-houses--notto mention the farmyard, and indeed a little park, in which were some ofthe finest trees upon the estate.

  The gentlewomen with whom Dorothy was, by her position in the household,associated, were three in number. One was a rather elderly, ratherplain, rather pious lady, who did not insist on her pretensions toeither of the epithets. The second was a short, plump, round-faced,good-natured, smiling woman of sixty,--excelling in fasts andmortifications, which somehow seemed to agree with her body as well asher soul. The third was only two or three years older than Dorothy, andwas pretty, except when she began to speak, and then for a moment therewas a strange discord in her features. She took a dislike to Dorothy, asshe said herself, the instant she cast her eyes upon her. She could notbear that prim, set face, she said. The country-bred heifer evidentlythought herself superior to every one in the castle. She was persuadedthe minx was a sly one, and would carry tales. So judged mistress AmandaSerafina Fuller, after her kind. Nor was it wonderful that, being suchas she was, she should recoil with antipathy from one whose nature had atendency to ripen over soon, and stunt its slow orbicular expansion tothe premature and false completeness of a narrow and self-sufficingconscientiousness.

  Doubtless if Dorothy had shown any marked acknowledgment of theprecedency of their rights--any eagerness to conciliate the aboriginesof the circle, the ladies would have been more friendly inclined; butwhile capable of endless love and veneration, there was little of theconciliatory in her nature. Hence Mrs. Doughty looked upon her with arather stately, indifference, my lady Broughton with a mild wish to saveher poor, proud, protestant soul, and mistress Amanda Serafina said shehated her; but then ever since the Fall there has been a disproportionbetwixt the feelings of young ladies and the language in which theyrepresent them. Mrs. Doughty neglected her, and Dorothy did not know it;lady Broughton said solemn things to her, and she never saw the point ofthem; but when mistress Amanda half closed her eyes and looked at her insnake-Geraldine fashion, she met her with a full, wide-orbed,questioning gaze, before which Amanda's eyes dropped, and she sank fullfathom five towards the abyss of real hatred.

  During the dinner hour, the three generally talked together in animpregnable manner--not that they were by any means bosom-friends, fortwo of them had never before united in anything except despising good,soft lady Broughton. When they were altogether in their mistress'spresence, they behaved to Dorothy and to each other with studiouspoliteness.

  The ladies Elizabeth and Anne, had their gentlewomen also, in all onlythree, however, who also ate at the housekeeper's table, but keptsomewhat apart from the rest--yet were, in a distant way, friendly toDorothy.

  But hers, as we have seen, was a nature far more capable of attachingitself to a few than of pleasing many; and her heart went out to ladyMargaret, whom she would have come ere long to regard as a mother, hadshe not behaved to her more like an elder sister. Lady Margaret's owngenuine behaviour had indeed little of the matronly in it; when herhusband came into the room, she seemed to grow instantly younger, andher manner changed almost to that of a playful girl. It is true, Dorothyhad been struck with the dignity of her manner amid all the frankness ofher reception, but she soon found that, although her nature was full ofall real dignities, that which belonged to her carriage never appearedin the society of those she loved, and was assumed only, like the thinshelter of a veil, in the presence of those whom she either knew ortrusted less. Before her ladies, she never appeared without somerestraint--manifest in a certain measuredness of movement, slowness ofspeech, and choice of phrase; but before a month was over, Dorothy wasdelighted to find that the reserve instantly vanished when she happenedto be left alone with her.

  She took an early opportunity of informing her mistress of therelationship between herself and Scudamore, stating that she knew littleor nothing of him, having seen him only once before she came to thecastle. The youth on his part took the first fitting opportunity ofaddressing her in lady Margaret's presence, and soon they were known tobe cousins all over the castle.

  With lady Margaret's help, Dorothy came to a tolerable understanding ofScudamore. Indeed her ladyship's judgment seemed but a development ofher own feeling concerning him.

  'Rowland is not a bad fellow,' she said, 'but I cannot fully understandwhence he comes in such grace with my lord Worcester. If it were myhusband now, I should not marvel: he is so much occupied with things andengines, that he has as little time as natural inclination to doubt anyone who will only speak largely enough to satisfy his idea. But my lordof Worcester knows well enough that seldom are two things more unlikethan men and their words. Yet that is not what I mean to say of yourcousin: he is no hypocrite--means not to be false, but has no rule ofright in him so far as I can find. He is pleasant company; his gaiety,his quips, his readiness of retort, his courtesy and what not, make hima favourite; and my lord hath in a manner reared him, which goes toexplain much. He is quick yet indolent, good-natured but selfish,generous but counting enjoyment the first thing,--though, to speak truthof him, I have never known him do a dishonourable action. But, in aword, the star of duty has not yet appeared above his horizon. Pardonme, Dorothy, if I am severe upon him. More or less I may misjudge him,but this is how I read him; and if you wonder that I should be able soto divide him, I have but to tell you that I should be unapt indeed if Ihad not yet learned of my husband to look into the heart of both men andthings.'

  'But, madam,' Dorothy ventured to say, 'have you not even now told methat from very goodness my lord is easily betrayed?'

  'Well replied, my child! It is true, but only while he has had no reasonto mistrust. Let him once perceive ground for dissatisfaction orsuspicion, and his eye is keen as light itself to penetrate andunravel.'

  Such good qualities as lady Margaret accorded her cousin were of a sortmore fitted to please a less sedate and sober-minded damsel thanDorothy, who was fashioned rather after the model of a puritan than aroyalist maiden. Pleased with his address and his behaviour to herselfas she could hardly fail to be, she yet felt a lingering mistrust ofhim, which sprang quite as much from the immediate impression as fromher mistress's judgment of him, for it always gave her a sense of notcoming near the real man in him. There is one thing a hypocrite even cannever do, and that is, hide the natural signs of his hypocrisy; andRowland, who was no hypocrite, only a man not half so honourable as hechose to take himself for, could not conceal his un
reality from the eyesof his simple country cousin. Little, however, did Dorothy herselfsuspect whence she had the idea,--that it was her girlhood's conversewith real, sturdy, honest, straight-forward, simple manhood, in theperson of the youth of fiery temper, and obstinate, opinionated,sometimes even rude behaviour, whom she had chastised with terms ofcontemptuous rebuke, which had rendered her so soon capable ofdistinguishing between a profound and a shallow, a genuine and an unrealnature, even when the latter comprehended a certain power offascination, active enough to be recognisable by most of the women inthe castle.

  Concerning this matter, it will suffice to say that lord Worcester--whoruled his household with such authoritative wisdom that honest Dr. Baylyavers he never saw a better-ordered family--never saw a man drunk orheard an oath amongst his servants, all the time he was chaplain in thecastle,--would have been scandalized to know the freedoms his favouriteindulged himself in, and regarded as privileged familiarities.

  There was much coming and going of visitors--more now upon statebusiness than matters of friendship or ceremony; and occasional solemnconferences were held in the marquis's private room, at which sometimeslord John, who was a personal friend of the king's, and sometimes lordCharles, the governor of the castle, with perhaps this or that officerof dignity in the household, would be present; but whoever was or wasnot present, lord Herbert when at home was always there, sometimes alonewith his father and commissioners from the king. His absences, however,had grown frequent now that his majesty had appointed him general ofSouth Wales, and he had considerable forces under his command--mostlyraised by himself, and maintained at his own and his father's expense.

  It was some time after Dorothy had twice in one day met him darkling,before she saw him in the light, and was able to peruse his countenance,which she did carefully, with the mingled instinct and insight ofcurious and thoughtful girlhood. He had come home from a journey,changed his clothes, and had some food; and now he appeared in hiswife's parlour--to sun himself a little, he said. When he entered,Dorothy, who was seated at her mistress's embroidery frame, while shewas herself busy mending some Flanders lace, rose to leave the room. Buthe prayed her to be seated, saying gayly,

  'I would have you see, cousin, that I am no beast of prey that loves thedarkness. I can endure the daylight. Come, my lady, have you nothing toamuse your soldier with? No good news to tell him? How is my littleMolly?'

  During the conjugal talk that followed, his cousin had good opportunityof making her observations. First she saw a fair, well-proportionedforehead, with eyes whose remarkable clearness looked as if it oweditself to the mingling of manly confidence with feminine trustfulness.They were dark, not very large, but rather prominent, and full of light.His nose was a little aquiline, and perfectly formed. A soft obedientmoustache, brushed thoroughly aside, revealed right generous lips, aboutwhich hovered a certain sweetness ever ready to break into the blossomof a smile. That and a small tuft below was all the hair he wore uponhis face. Rare conjunction, the whole of the countenance was remarkableboth for symmetry and expression--the latter mainly a brightintelligence; and if, strangely enough, the predominant sweetness anddelicacy at first suggested genius unsupported by practical faculty,there was a plentifulness and strength in the chin which helped tocorrect the suggestion, and with the brightness and prominence of theeyes and the radiance of the whole, to give a brave, almost bold look toa face which could hardly fail to remind those who knew them of thelovely verses of Matthew Raydon, describing that of sir Philip Sidney:

  A sweet attractive kinde of grace, A full assurance given by lookes, Continuall comfort in a face, The lineaments of Gospell-bookes; I trowe that countenance cannot lie Whose thoughts are legible in the eie.

  Notwithstanding the disadvantages of the fashion, in the mechanicalpursuits to which he had hitherto devoted his life, he wore, likeMilton's Adam, his wavy hair down to his shoulders. In his youth, it hadbeen thick and curling; now it was thinner and straighter, yet curledwhere it lay. His hands were small, with the taper fingers that indicatethe artist, while his thumb was that of the artizan, square at the tip,with the first joint curved a good deal back. That they were hard andsomething discoloured was not for Dorothy to wonder at, when sheremembered what she had both heard and seen of his occupations.

  I may here mention that what aided Dorothy much in the interpretation oflord Herbert's countenance and the understanding of his character--forit was not on this first observation of him that she could discover allI have now set down--and tended largely to the development of theimmense reverence she conceived for him, was what she saw of hisbehaviour to his father one evening not long after, when, having beeninvited to the marquis's table, she sat nearly opposite him at supper.With a willing ear and ready smile for every one who addressed him,notably courteous where all were courteous, he gave chief observance,amounting to an almost tender homage, to his father. His thoughts seemedto wait upon him with a fearless devotion. He listened intently to allhis jokes, and laughed at them heartily, evidently enjoying them evenwhen they were not very good; spoke to him with profound though easyrespect; made haste to hand him whatever he seemed to want, preventingScudamore; and indeed conducted himself like a dutiful youth, ratherthan a man over forty. Their confident behaviour, wherein the authorityof the one and the submission of the other were acknowledged withco-relative love, was beautiful to behold.

  When husband and wife had conferred for a while, the former stretched ona settee embroidered by the skilful hands of the latest-vanishedcountess, his mother, and the latter seated near him on a narrowtall-backed chair, mending her lace, there came a pause in theirlow-toned conversation, and his lordship looking up seemed anew tobecome aware of the presence of Dorothy.

  'Well, cousin,' he said, 'how have you fared since we half-saw eachother a fortnight ago?'

  'I have fared well indeed, my lord, I thank you,' said Dorothy, 'as yourlordship may judge, knowing whom I serve. In two short weeks my ladyloads me with kindness enough to requite the loyalty of a life.'

  'Look you, cousin, that I should believe such laudation of any less thanan angel?' said his lordship with mock gravity.

  'No, my lord,' answered Dorothy.

  There was a moment's pause; then lord Herbert laughed aloud.

  'Excellent well, mistress Dorothy!' he cried. 'Thank your cousin, mylady, for a compliment worthy of an Irishwoman.'

  'I thank you, Dorothy,' said her mistress; 'although, Irishwoman as Iam, my lord hath put me out of love with compliments.'

  'When they are true and come unbidden, my lady,' said Dorothy.

  'What! are there such compliments, cousin?' said lord Herbert.

  'There are birds of Paradise, my lord, though rarely encountered.'

  'Birds of Paradise indeed! they alight not in this world. Birds ofParadise have no legs, they say.

  'They need them not, my lord. Once alighted, they fly no more.'

  'How is it then they alight so seldom?'

  'Because men shoo them away. One flew now from my heart to seek mylady's, but your lordship frighted it.'

  'And so it flew back to Paradise--eh, mistress Dorothy?' said lordHerbert, smiling archly.

  The supper bell rang, and instead of replying, Dorothy looked up for herdismissal.

  'Go to supper, my lady,' said lord Herbert. 'I have but just dined, andwill see what Caspar is about.'

  'I want no supper but my Herbert,' returned lady Margaret. 'Thou wiltnot go to that hateful workshop?'

  'I have so little time at home now--'

  'That you must spend it from your lady?--Go to supper, Dorothy.'