Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (1993 page)

Geo.
(
to
MISS GARTH. Is it possible that Michael Vanstone knew nothing of his brother’s true position?

Miss G.
It is certain that he knew nothing. I, who lived in the same house with them, knew nothing. Is it likely that Andrew’s brother — estranged from him by a family quarrel — could have been better informed than I was? (
To
MR. PENDRIL). Well?

Mr. P.
(
continuing
) “Ten days since I received a hurried letter from your late brother, revealing the truth. I enclose a copy of the letter. Like many other people, the late Mr. Vanstone was not aware that a man’s marriage invalidates, by law, any previous will that he may have executed. Mr. Vanstone discovered this by accident, in the course of conversation with a friend. The will he had made before his marriage, providing amply for his daughters as well as for their mother, was now waste paper. The instant he became aware of that fact, he wrote to secure an interview with me, proposing to follow his letter to London in the course of a few hours. The train he travelled by was the train that met with the accident. And of the three passengers killed on the spot, your brother was one.”

Miss G.
Does the man live who could read that and deprive the children of their birthright?

Mr. P.
You will soon see. (
He resumes reading the letter.
) “On receiving the news of Mr. Vanstone’s death, I instantly started for Somersetshire. As the widow of a man who had died intestate, Mrs. Vanstone had her legal right to a third of his personal property. The one chance for her daughters was, that she should execute a will, leaving that third divided between them. When I reached the house, Mrs. Vanstone was insensible. She never rallied between that time and the time of her death. The cruel result, in plain words, is this: Mr. Vanstone’s daughters are Nobody’s Children, and the law leaves them penniless at their uncle’s mercy.”

Geo.
A law that punishes the children for the parents’ fault! A mockery of justice!

Mr. P.
No! a defence of Virtue

Geo.
The Virtue which defends itself by making the innocent suffer for the guilty is, to my mind, Vice in disguise. Go on! Go on!

Mr. P.
(
continuing
) “I have only to add, sir, that of the two young ladies thus sorely and undeservedly afflicted, the elder sister is a bedridden invalid, suffering from a spinal complaint. The younger is a beautiful girl of eighteen. One has been used to all the alleviations, the other to all the luxuries, that wealth can give. Both are now absolutely dependent on your decision. I will not do you the injustice of doubting what that decision will be.” (
He looks up.
) In those words I ended my letter.

Miss G.
The answer! Read the answer.

Geo.
(
looking towards the curtains
). One moment! Did I see the curtains move? (
He rises, examines the curtains, and returns to his place.
) No — I was mistaken. Let us hear the answer.

Mr. P.
(
taking up the reply
). From Mr. Michael Vanstone, in answer to Mr. Pendril. (
As
MR. PENDRIL
opens the letter, the whole attention of
GEORGE
and
MISS GARTH
being absorbed on him, the curtains at the back are softly parted, and
MAGDALEN VANSTONE
appears stealthily in view. She listens, without advancing into the room, her face expressing breathless attention and nothing more.
MR. PENDRIL
proceeds to read the letter.
) “Sir, — I acknowledge the receipt of your letter informing me that my brother has died intestate, leaving two illegitimate daughters, and that I am the heir to his property. I receive and keep this inheritance: first, as my right; secondly, as a compensation for former injustice which I (as the elder son) suffered at my father’s hands; and, thirdly, as a proper penalty paid by my younger brother for the base intrigue by which he succeeded in disinheriting me. So much for the money. The next question is the question of my brother’s bastard children.

Miss G.
Oh, if Magdalen heard that!

(MAGDALEN
shows no signs of emotion.
)

Mr. P.
(
reading
). “The elder of the two girls, as I understand, is bedridden. The younger is strong enough to work for her living. I will assist them — one to get into a charitable asylum, the other to start virtuously in life — by a present of one hundred pounds each. That sum paid, my duty is done, and my connexion with my late brother’s children is at an end.” (
He closes the letter.
)

Geo.
(
indignantly
). A personal interview is out of the question with such a man as that!

Miss G.
(
lifting her hands in despair
). How are we to tell Magdalen?

Mag.
(
advancing quietly, clothed in deep mourning
). There is no need to tell her. (
The persons present start to their feet in astonishment.
) She knows it already.

Miss G.
(
approaching her
) Magdalen!

Geo.
(
to himself
). Has she heard all?

Mag.
(
overhearing him, and quietly repeating
MR. PENDRIL’S
words
). “Mr. Vanstone’s daughters are Nobody’s Children, and the law leaves them penniless at their uncle’s mercy.”

Miss G.
(
shrinking back from
MAGDALEN). Magdalen! you frighten me!

Mag.
(
gently
). Frighten you? See how quiet I am! My listening has done no harm, Miss Garth. It has done good; it has spared you the distress of telling me the truth. Don’t be alarmed about Norah. I have closed the curtains. Norah can’t hear us. (
She crosses to
GEORGE.) Try not to think worse of me than I deserve, George. I can’t cry — my heart is numbed. (
She turns to
MR. PENDRIL.) There can be no harm, sir, in my being present now. Go on with the business. I promise to be quiet. I promise to disturb nobody.

(
She seats herself apart on a sofa. Her head drops on her bosom. She falls into thought.
)

Mr. P.
(
aside to
MISS GARTH,
indicating
MAGDALEN). Only eighteen! — and too deep for my sounding!

(
He returns to his place.
)

Geo.
(
aside to
MISS GARTH). Only eighteen! What patience — what courage — what admirable self-control!

Miss G.
Only eighteen! — and she frightens me. I, who have known her from a child!

Mag.
(
from the sofa
). Mr. Pendril, I have not heard all that you wrote to Michael Vanstone. Did you tell him how it happened that my sister and I are left helpless?

Mr. P.
Yes.

Mag.
Did he know that my father was on his way to you, to make a second will, when the accident killed him?

Mr. P.
I sent him a copy of your father’s letter.

Mag.
The letter which implored you to set aside all other engagements, and “relieve him from the dreadful thought that his daughters were unprovided for”? The letter which said he should “not rest in his grave, if he left us disinherited”?

Mr. P.
That letter.

Mag.
Did you tell him that my mother’s share in the money would have been left to us, if she could have lifted her dying hand in your presence?

Mr. P.
I have told him that — I have told him everything. What am I to write back, in answer to his offer of the hundred pounds?

Mag.
Let me think.

(
She rises and paces the room slowly.
)

Miss G.
(
astonished
). Think! Do you want to think before you refuse it?

Geo.
The man’s offer is an insult. A deliberate insult. Is it possible you don’t feel it?

Mag.
I told you just now, George, my heart was numbed. (
To
MR. PENDRIL.) I take it on myself, sir, to answer for Norah. Refuse, if you please, in Norah’s name.

Mr. P.
In her name only? What am I to say in yours?

Mag.
Tell Michael Vanstone to think again before he robs me of my birthright, and starts me in life with a hundred pounds. (
With quiet, deliberate emphasis.
) I will give him time to think.

(
She returns to the sofa.
MR. PENDRIL
takes pen, ink, and paper, and writes.
)

Geo.
(
to
Miss GARTH). What does she mean?

Miss G.
I don’t know. I am shaken in my opinion of her. I tell you again, she frightens me.

Geo.
There is something in her mind that she is hiding from us all. I don’t like it! I don’t like it!

Mag.
(
from the sofa
). Miss Garth, I want to know more about Michael Vanstone than I know now. Is he an old man?

Miss G.
Seventy-five, or seventy-six years old.

Mag.
Married?

Miss G.
A widower.

Mag.
Where does he live?

Miss G.
At Bolton-Manthorpe, near York.

Mag.
Has he any children?

Miss G.
He has one son — Mr. Noel Vanstone. Why do you ask these questions?

Mag.
(
gently
). I am sorry to have asked them, if you disapprove of it.

Mr. P.
You are aware, Miss Garth, that this house — with all that is in it — is now the property of Michael Vanstone. There is no need to hurry your departure —
 
—

Miss G.
If this is Michael Vanstone’s house, sir, Norah and Magdalen will leave it to~morrow — and leave it with
me.

Mr. P.
For London?

Miss G.
For my sister’s house in London. While I have a home, they have a home — with the old friend who loves them dearly. (MAGDALEN
suddenly rises, crosses to
MISS GARTH,
and silently kisses her. There is a stool at
MISS GARTH’S
feet.
MAGDALEN
seats herself on it, and rests her head on
MISS GARTH’S
lap. It is all done simply, without tears and without any extraordinary demonstrations of gratitude.
MISS GARTH
looks down at her with a sigh of relief.
) Ah, Magdalen! now I know you again!