Vanity Fair (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by William Makepeace Thackeray

  Sharp watched this graceless bedside with indomitable patience. Nothing escaped her; and, like a prudent steward, she found a use for everything. She told many a good story about Miss Crawley‘s illness in after-days,-stories which made the lady blush through her artificial carnations. During the illness she was never out of temper; always alert; she slept light, having a perfectly clear conscience; and could take that refreshment at almost any minute‘s warning. And so you saw few traces of fatigue in her appearance. Her face might be a trifle paler, and the circles round her eyes a little blacker than usual; but whenever she came out from the sick-room she was always smiling, fresh, and neat, and looked as trim in her little dressing-gown and cap, as in her smartest evening suit.

  The captain thought so, and raved about her in uncouth convulsions. The barbed shaft of love had penetrated his dull hide. Six weeks—ap propinquity—opportunity—had victimized him completely. He made a confidant of his aunt at the Rectory, of all persons in the world. She rallied him about it; she had perceived his folly; she warned him; she finished by owning that little Sharp was the most clever, droll, odd, good-natured, simple, kindly creature in England. Rawdon must not trifle with her affections, though—dear Miss Crawley would never pardon him for that; for she, too, was quite overcome by the little governess, and loved Sharp like a daughter. Rawdon must go away—go back to his regiment and naughty London, and not play with a poor artless girl‘s feelings.

  Many and many a time this good-natured lady, compassionating the forlorn life-guardsman‘s condition, gave him an opportunity of seeing Miss Sharp at the Rectory, and of walking home with her, as we have seen. When men of a certain sort, ladies, are in love, though they see the hook and the string, and the whole apparatus with which they are to be taken, they gorge the bait nevertheless—they must come to it—they must swallow it—and are presently struck and landed gasping. Rawdon saw there was a manifest intention on Mrs. Bute‘s part to captivate him with Rebecca. He was not very wise; but he was a man about town, and had seen several seasons. A light dawned upon his dusky soul, as he thought, through a speech of Mrs. Bute‘s.

  ‘Mark my words, Rawdon,‘ she said. ‘You will have Miss Sharp one day for your relation.‘

  ‘What relation,—my cousin, hey, Mrs. Bute? Francis sweet on her, hey?‘ inquired the waggish officer.

  ‘More than that,‘ Mrs. Bute said, with a flash from her black eyes.

  ‘Not Pitt?—He sha‘n‘t have her. The sneak a‘n‘t worthy of her. He‘s booked to Lady Jane Sheepshanks.‘

  ‘You men perceive nothing. You silly, blind creature—if anything happens to Lady Crawley, Miss Sharp will be your mother-in-law; and that‘s what will happen.‘

  Rawdon Crawley, Esquire, gave vent to a prodigious whistle, in token of astonishment at this announcement. He couldn‘t deny it. His father‘s evident liking for Miss Sharp had not escaped him. He knew the old gentleman‘s character well; and a more unscrupulous old—whyou—he did not conclude the sentence, but walked home, curling his moustachios, and convinced he had found a clue to Mrs. Bute‘s mystery.

  ‘By Jove, it‘s too bad,‘ thought Rawdon, ‘too bad, by Jove! I do believe the woman wants the poor girl to be ruined, in order that she shouldn‘t come into the family as Lady Crawley.‘

  When he saw Rebecca alone, he rallied her about his father‘s attachment in his graceful way. She flung up her head scornfully, looked him full in the face, and said,—

  ‘Well, suppose he is fond of me. I know he is, and others too. You don‘t think I am afraid of him, Captain Crawley? You don‘t suppose I can‘t defend my own honour,‘ said the little woman, looking as stately as a queen.

  ‘Oh, ah, why—give you fair warning—look out, you know—that‘s all,‘ said the moustachio-twiddler.

  ‘You hint at something not honourable, then?‘ said she, flashing out.

  ‘Oh—Gad—really—Miss Rebecca,‘ the heavy dragoon interposed.

  ‘Do you suppose I have no feeling of self-respect, because I am poor and friendless, and because rich people have none? Do you think, because I am a governess, I have not as much sense, and feeling, and good breeding as you gentlefolks in Hampshire? I‘m a Montmorency. Do you suppose a Montmorency is not as good as a Crawley?‘

  When Miss Sharp was agitated, and alluded to her maternal relatives, she spoke with ever so slight a foreign accent, which gave a great charm to her clear ringing voice. ‘No,‘ she continued, kindling as she spoke to the captain; ‘I can endure poverty, but not shame—neglect, but not insult; and insult from—from you.‘

  Her feelings gave way, and she burst into tears.

  ‘Hang it, Miss Sharp—Rebecca—by Jove—upon my soul, I wouldn‘t for a thousand pounds. Stop, Rebecca!‘

  She was gone. She drove out with Miss Crawley that day. It was before the latter‘s illness. At dinner she was unusually brilliant and lively; but she would take no notice of the hints, or the nods, or the clumsy expostulations of the humiliated, infatuated guardsman. Skirmishes of this sort passed perpetually during the little campaign—tedious to relate, and similar in result. The Crawley heavy cavalry was maddened by defeat, and routed every day.

  If the baronet of Queen‘s Crawley had not had the fear of losing his sister‘s legacy before his eyes, he never would have permitted his dear girls to lose the educational blessings which their invaluable governess was conferring upon them. The old house at home seemed a desert without her, so useful and pleasant had Rebecca made herself there. Sir Pitt‘s letters were not copied and corrected; his books not made up; his household business and manifold schemes neglected, now that his little secretary was away. And it was easy to see how necessary such an amanuensis was to him, by the tenor and spelling of the numerous letters which he sent to her, entreating her and commanding her to return. Almost every day brought a frank from the baronet, enclosing the most urgent prayers to Becky for her return, or conveying pathetic statements to Miss Crawley, regarding the neglected state of his daughters‘ education; of which documents Miss Crawley took very little heed.

  Miss Briggs was not formally dismissed, but her place as companion was a sinecure and a derision; and her company was the fat spaniel in the drawing-room, or occasionally the discontented Firkin in the housekeeper‘s closet. Nor though the old lady would by no means hear of Rebecca‘s departure, was the latter regularly installed in office in Park Lane. Like many wealthy people, it was Miss Crawley‘s habit to accept as much service as she could get from her inferiors; and good-naturedly to take leave of them when she no longer found them useful. Gratitude among certain rich folks is scarcely natural or to be thought of. They take needy people‘s services as their due. Nor have you, O poor parasite and humble hanger-on, much reason to complain! Your friendship for Diveset is about as sincere as the return which it usually gets. It is money you love, and not the man; and were Croesuseu and his footman to change places, you know, you poor rogue, who would have the benefit of your allegiance.

  And I am not sure that, in spite of Rebecca‘s simplicity and activity, and gentleness and untiring good humour, the shrewd old London lady, upon whom these treasures of friendship were lavished, had not a lurking suspicion all the while of her affectionate nurse and friend. It must have often crossed Miss Crawley‘s mind that nobody does anything for nothing. If she measured her own feeling towards the world, she must have been pretty well able to gauge those of the world towards herself; and perhaps she reflected, that it is the ordinary lot of people to have no friends if they themselves care for nobody.

  Well, meanwhile, Becky was the greatest comfort and convenience to her, and she gave her a couple of new gowns, and an old necklace and shawl, and showed her friendship by abusing all her intimate acquaintances to her new confidante (than which there can‘t be a more touching proof of regard), and meditated vaguely some great future benefit—to marry her perhaps to Clump, the apothecary, or to settle her in some advantageous way of life; or, at any rate, to send her back to Queen‘s Crawley when s
he had done with her, and the full London season had begun.

  When Miss Crawley was convalescent and descended to the drawing-room, Becky sang to her, and otherwise amused her; when she was well enough to drive out, Becky accompanied her. And amongst the drives which they took, whither, of all places in the world, did Miss Crawley‘s admirable good nature and friendship actually induce her to penetrate, but to Russell Square, Bloomsbury, and the house of John Sedley, Esquire.

  Ere that event, many notes had passed, as may be imagined, between the two dear friends. During the months of Rebecca‘s stay in Hampshire, the eternal friendship had (must it be owned?) suffered considerable diminution, and grown so decrepit and feeble with old age as to threaten demise altogether. The fact is, both girls had their own real affairs to think of: Rebecca her advance with her employers—Amelia her own absorbing topic. When the two girls met, and flew into each other‘s arms with that impetuosity which distinguishes the behaviour of young ladies towards each other, Rebecca performed her part of the embrace with the most perfect briskness and energy. Poor little Amelia blushed as she kissed her friend, and thought she had been guilty of something very like coldness towards her.

  Their first interview was but a very short one. Amelia was just ready to go out for a walk. Miss Crawley was waiting in her carriage below, her people wondering at the locality in which they found themselves, and gazing upon honest Sambo, the black footman of Bloomsbury, as one of the queer natives of the place. But when Amelia came down with her kind smiling looks (Rebecca must introduce her to her friend, Miss Crawley was longing to see her, and was too ill to leave her carriage)—when, I say, Amelia a came down, the Park Lane shoulder-knot aristocracy wondered more and more that such a thing could come out of Bloomsbury; and Miss Crawley was fairly captivated by the sweet blushing face of the young lady who came forward so timidly and so gracefully to pay her respects to the protector of her friend.

  ‘What a complexion, my dear. What a sweet voice!‘ Miss Crawley said, as they drove away westward after the little interview. ‘My dear Sharp, your young friend is charming. Send for her to Park Lane, do you hear? Miss Crawley had a good taste. She liked natural manners—a little timidity only set them off. She liked pretty faces near her; as she liked pretty pictures and nice china. She talked of Amelia with rapture half a dozen times that day. She mentioned her to Rawdon Crawley, who came dutifully to partake of his aunt‘s chicken.

  Of course, on this Rebecca instantly stated, that Amelia was engaged to be married—to a Lieutenant Osborne—a very old flame.

  ‘Is he a man in a line-regiment?‘12 Captain Crawley asked, remembering after an effort, as became a guardsman, the number of the regiment, the—th.

  Rebecca thought that was the regiment. ‘The captain‘s name,‘ she said, ‘was Captain Dobbin.‘

  ‘A lanky gawky fellow,‘ said Crawley, ‘tumbles over everybody. I know him; and Osborne‘s a goodish-looking fellow, with large black whiskers?‘

  ‘Enormous,‘ Miss Rebecca Sharp said, ‘and enormously proud of them, I assure you.‘

  Captain Rawdon Crawley burst into a hoarse laugh by way of reply; and being pressed by the ladies to explain, did so when the explosion of hilarity was over. ‘He fancies he can play at billiards,‘ said he. ‘I won two hundred of him at the “Cocoa-Tree.” He play, the young flat! He‘d have played for anything that day, but his friend Captain Dobbin carried him off, hang him!‘

  ‘Rawdon, Rawdon, don‘t be so wicked,‘ Miss Crawley remarked, highly pleased.

  ‘Why, ma‘am, of all the young fellows I‘ve seen out of the line, I think this fellow‘s the greenest. Tarquin and Deuceace get what money they like out of him. He‘d go to the deuce to be seen with a lord. He pays their dinners at Greenwich, and they invite the company.‘

  ‘And very pretty company too, I dare say.‘

  ‘Quite right, Miss Sharp. Right, as usual, Miss Sharp. Uncommon pretty company,—haw, haw!‘ and the captain laughed more and more, thinking he had made a good joke.

  ‘Rawdon, don‘t be naughty!‘ his aunt exclaimed.

  ‘Well, his father‘s a City man—immensely rich, they say. Hang those City fellows, they must bleed; and I‘ve not done with him yet, I can tell you. Haw, haw!‘

  ‘Fie, Captain Crawley; I shall warn Amelia. A gambling husband!‘

  ‘Horrid, ain‘t he, hey?‘ the captain said with great solemnity; and then added, a sudden thought having struck him:—‘Gad, I say, ma‘am, we‘ll have him here.‘

  ‘Is he a presentable sort of a person?‘ the aunt inquired.

  ‘Presentable?—oh, very well. You wouldn‘t see any difference,‘ Captain Crawley answered. ‘Do let‘s have him, when you begin to see a few people; and his whatdyecallem—his inamorato—eh, Miss Sharp; that‘s what you call it—comes. Gad, I‘ll write him a note, and have him; and I‘ll try if he can play piquetev as well as billiards. Where does he live, Miss Sharp?‘

  Miss Sharp told Crawley the lieutenant‘s town address; and a few days after this conversation, Lieutenant Osborne received a letter, in Captain Rawdon‘s schoolboy hand, and enclosing a note of invitation from Miss Crawley.

  Rebecca dispatched also an invitation to her darling Amelia, who, you may be sure, was ready enough to accept it when she heard that George was to be of the party. It was arranged that Amelia was to spend the morning with the ladies of Park Lane, where all were very kind to her. Rebecca patronized her with calm superiority: she was so much the cleverer of the two, and her friend so gentle and unassuming, that she always yielded when anybody chose to command, and so took Rebecca‘s orders with perfect meekness and good humour. Miss Crawley‘s graciousness was also remarkable. She continued her raptures about little Amelia, talked about her before her face as if she were a doll, or a servant, or a picture, and admired her with the most benevolent wonder possible. I admire that admiration which the genteel world sometimes extends to the commonalty. There is no more agreeable object in life than to see May Fair folks condescending. Miss Crawley‘s prodigious benevolence rather fatigued poor little Amelia, and I am not sure that of the three ladies in Park Lane she did not find honest Miss Briggs the most agreeable. She sympathized with Briggs as with all neglected or gentle people: she wasn‘t what you call a woman of spirit.

  George came to dinner—a repast en garçonew with Captain Crawley.

  The great family coach of the Osbornes transported him to Park Lane from Russell Square; where the young ladies, who were not themselves invited, and professed the greatest indifference at that slight, nevertheless looked at Sir Pitt Crawley‘s name in the Baronetage; and learned everything which that work had to teach about the Crawley family and their pedigree, and the Binkies, their relatives, &c. &c. Rawdon Crawley received George Osborne with great frankness and graciousness: praised his play at billiards: asked him when he would have his revenge: was interested about Osborne‘s regiment: and would have proposed piquet to him that very evening, but Miss Crawley absolutely forbade any gambling in her house; so that the young lieutenant‘s purse was not lightened by his gallant patron, for that day at least. However, they made an engagement for the next, somewhere: to look at a horse that Crawley had to sell, and to try him in the Park; and to dine together, and to pass the evening with some jolly fellows. ‘That is, if you‘re not on duty to that pretty Miss Sedley,‘ Crawley said, with a knowing wink. ‘Monstrous nice girl, ‘pon my honour, though, Osborne,‘ he was good enough to add. ‘Lots of tin,ex I suppose, eh?‘

  Osborne wasn‘t on duty; he would join Crawley with pleasure: and the latter, when they met the next day, praised his new friend‘s horseman-ship—as he might with perfect honesty—and introduced him to three or four young men of the first fashion, whose acquaintance immensely elated the simple young officer.

  ‘How‘s little Miss Sharp, by the by,‘ Osborne inquired of his friend over their wine, with a dandified air. ‘Good-natured little girl that. Does she suit you well at Queen‘s Crawley? Miss Sedley liked her a good deal last
year.‘

  Captain Crawley looked savagely at the lieutenant out of his little blue eyes, and watched him when he went up to resume his acquaintance with the fair governess. Her conduct must have relieved Crawley if there was any jealousy in the bosom of that life-guardsman.

  When the young men went upstairs, and after Osborne‘s introduction to Miss Crawley, he walked up to Rebecca with a patronizing, easy swagger. He was going to be kind to her and protect her. He would even shake hands with her, as a friend of Amelia‘s; and saying, ‘Ah, Miss Sharp! how-dy-doo?‘ held out his left hand towards her, expecting that she would be quite confounded at the honour.

  Miss Sharp put out her right forefinger,—and gave him a little nod, so cool and killing, that Rawdon Crawley, watching the operations from the other room, could hardly restrain his laughter as he saw the lieutenant‘s entire discomfiture; the start he gave, the pause, and the perfect clumsiness with which he at length condescended to take the finger which was offered for his embrace.

  ‘She‘d beat the devil, by Jove!‘ the captain said, in a rapture: and the lieutenant, by way of beginning the conversation, agreeably asked Rebecca how she liked her new place.

  ‘My place?‘ said Miss Sharp, coolly, ‘how kind of you to remind me of it! It‘s a tolerably good place: the wages are pretty good—not so good as Miss Wirt‘s, I believe, with your sisters in Russell Square. How are those young ladies?—not that I ought to ask.‘

  ‘Why not?‘ Mr. Osborne said, amazed.

  ‘Why, they never condescended to speak to me, or to ask me into their house, whilst I was staying with Amelia; but we poor governesses, you know, are used to slights of this sort.‘

  ‘My dear Miss Sharp!‘ Osborne ejaculated.

  ‘At least in some families,‘ Rebecca continued. ‘You can‘t think what a difference there is though. We are not so wealthy in Hampshire as you lucky folks of the City. But then I am in a gentleman‘s family—good old English stock. I suppose you know Sir Pitt‘s father refused a peerage. And you see how I am treated. I am pretty comfortable. Indeed, it is rather a good place. But how very good of you to inquire!‘