Framley Parsonage (52 page)

‘But, Ludovic, I am so anxious to see you settled.’

‘All in good time, mother!’

‘Ah, but the good time is passing away. Years run so very quickly. I hope
you think about marrying, Ludovic’

‘But, mother, what if I brought you a wife that you did not approve?’

‘I will approve of any one that you love; that is –’

‘That is, if you love her also; eh, mother?’

‘But I rely with such confidence on your taste. I know that you can like no one that is not ladylike and good.’

‘Ladylike and good! Will that suffice?’ said he, thinking of Lucy Robarts.

‘Yes; it will suffice, if you love her. I don’t want you to care for money. Griselda will have a fortune that would have been convenient; but I do not wish you to care for that.’ And thus, as they stood together in Miss Dunstable’s crowded room, the mother and son settled between themselves that the Lufton-Grantly alliance treaty was not to be ratified. ‘I suppose I must let Mrs Grantly know,’ said
Lady Lufton to herself, as Griselda returned to her side. There had not been above a dozen words spoken between Lord Dumbello and his partner, but that young lady also had now fully made up her mind that the treaty above mentioned should never be brought into operation.

We must go back to our hostess, whom we should not have left for so long a time, seeing that this chapter is written to show
how well she could conduct herself in great emergencies. She had declared that after a while she would be able to leave her position near the entrance door, and find out her own peculiar friends among the crowd; but the opportunity for doing so did not come till very late in the evening. There was a continuation of arrivals; she was wearied to death with making little speeches, and had more than
once declared that she must depute Mrs Harold Smith to take her place.

That lady stuck to her through all her labours with admirable
constancy, and made the work bearable. Without some such constancy on a friend’s part, it would have been unbearable. And it must be acknowledged that this was much to the credit of Mrs Harold Smith. Her own hopes with reference to the great heiress had all been
shattered, and her answer had been given to her in very plain language. But, nevertheless, she was true to her friendship, and was almost as willing to endure fatigue on the occasion as though she had a sister-in-law’s right in the house.

At about one o’clock her brother came. He had not yet seen Miss Dunstable since the offer had been made, and had now with difficulty been persuaded by his sister
to show himself.

‘What can be the use?’ said he. ‘The game is up with me now;’ – meaning, poor, ruined ne’er-do-well, not only that that game with Miss Dunstable was up, but that the great game of his whole life was being brought to an uncomfortable termination.

‘Nonsense,’ said his sister. ‘Do you mean to despair because a man like the Duke of Omnium wants his money? What has been good security
for him will be good security for another;’ and then Mrs Harold Smith made herself more agreeable than ever to Miss Dunstable.

When Miss Dunstable was nearly worn out, but was still endeavouring to buoy herself up by a hope of the still-expected great arrival – for she knew that the hero would show himself only at a very late hour if it were to be her good fortune that he showed himself at all
– Mr Sowerby walked up the stairs. He had schooled himself to go through this ordeal with all the cool effrontery which was at his command; but it was clearly to be seen that all his effrontery did not stand him in sufficient stead, and that the interview would have been embarrassing had it not been for the genuine good humour of the lady.

‘Here is my brother,’ said Mrs Harold Smith, showing
by the tremulousness of the whisper that she looked forward to the meeting with some amount of apprehension.

‘How do you do, Mr Sowerby?’ said Miss Dunstable, walking almost into the doorway to welcome him. ‘Better late than never.’

‘I have only just got away from the House,’ said he, as he gave her his hand.

‘Oh, I know well that you are
sans reproche
among senators; – as Mr Harold Smith is
sans peur;
¹
– eh, my dear?’

‘I must confess that you have contrived to be uncommonly severe upon them both,’ said Mrs Harold, laughing; ‘and as regards poor Harold, most undeservedly so: Nathaniel is here, and may defend himself.’

‘And no one is better able to do so on all occasions. But, my dear Mr Sowerby, I am dying of despair. Do you think he’ll come?’

‘He? who?’

‘You stupid man – as if
there were more than one he! There were two, but the other has been.’

‘Upon my word, I don’t understand,’ said Mr Sowerby, now again at his ease. ‘But can I do anything? shall I go and fetch any one? Oh, Tom Towers! I fear I can’t help you. But here he is at the foot of the stairs!’ And then Mr Sowerby stood back with his sister to make way for the great representative man of the age.

‘Angels
and ministers of grace, assist me!’
²
said Miss Dunstable. ‘How on earth am I to behave myself? Mr Sowerby, do you think that I ought to kneel down? My dear, will he have a reporter at his back in the royal livery?’ And then Miss Dunstable advanced two or three steps, – not into the doorway, as she had done for Mr Sowerby – put out her hand, and smiled her sweetest on Mr Towers, of the
Jupiter
.

‘Mr Towers,’ she said, ‘I am delighted to have this opportunity of seeing you in my own house.’

‘Miss Dunstable, I am immensely honoured by the privilege of being here,’ said he.

‘The honour done is all conferred on me,’ and she bowed and curtseyed with very stately grace. Each thoroughly understood the badinage of the other; and then, in a few moments, they were engaged in very easy conversation.

‘By-the-by, Sowerby, what do you think of this threatened dissolution?’ said Tom Towers.

‘We are all in the hands of Providence,’ said Mr Sowerby, striving to take the matter without any outward show of emotion. But the question was one of terrible import to him, and up to this time he had heard of no such threat. Nor had Mrs Harold
Smith, nor Miss Dunstable, nor had a hundred others who now
either listened to the vaticinations of Mr Towers, or to the immediate report made of them. But it is given to some men to originate such tidings, and the performance of the prophecy is often brought about by the authority of the prophet. On the following morning the rumour that there would be a dissolution was current in all high circles. ‘They have no conscience in such matters; no conscience whatever,’
said a small god, speaking of the giants, – a small god, whose constituency was expensive.

Mr Towers stood there chatting for about twenty minutes, and then took his departure without making his way into the room. He had answered the purpose for which he had been invited, and left Miss Dunstable in a happy frame of mind.

‘I am very glad that he came,’ said Mrs Harold Smith, with an air of triumph.

‘Yes, I am glad,’ said Miss Dunstable, ‘though I am thoroughly ashamed that I should be so. After all, what good has he done to me or to any one?’ And having uttered this moral reflection, she made her way into the rooms, and soon discovered Dr Thorne standing by himself against the wall.

‘Well, doctor,’ she said, ‘where are Mary and Frank? You do not look at all comfortable, standing here by
yourself.’

‘I am quite as comfortable as I expected, thank you,’ said he. ‘They are in the room somewhere, and as, I believe, equally happy.’

‘That’s spiteful in you, doctor, to speak in that way. What would you say if you were called on to endure all that I have gone through this evening?’

‘There is no accounting for tastes, but I presume you like it.’

‘I am not so sure of that. Give me your
arm, and let me get some supper. One always likes the idea of having done hard work, and one always likes to have been successful.’

‘We all know that virtue is its own reward,’ said the doctor.

‘Well, that is something hard upon me,’ said Miss Dunstable, as she sat down to table. ‘And you really think that no good of any sort can come from my giving such a party as this?’

‘Oh, yes; some people,
no doubt, have been amused.’

‘It is all vanity in your estimation,’ said Miss Dunstable; ‘vanity
and vexation of spirit.
³
Well; there is a good deal of the latter, certainly. Sherry, if you please. I would give anything for a glass of beer, but that is out of the question. Vanity and vexation of spirit! And yet I meant to do good.’

‘Pray, do not suppose that I am condemning you, Miss Dunstable.’

‘Ah, but I do suppose it. Not only you, but another also, whose judgment I care for perhaps more than yours; and that, let me tell you, is saying a great deal. You do condemn me, Dr Thorne, and I also condemn myself. It is not that I have done wrong, but the game is not worth the candle.’

‘Ah; that’s the question.’

‘The game is not worth the candle. And yet it was a triumph to have both the
duke and Tom Towers. You must confess that I have not managed badly.’

Soon after that the Greshams went away, and in an hour’s time or so, Miss Dunstable was allowed to drag herself to her own bed.

That is the great question to be asked on all such occasions, ‘Is the game worth the candle?’

I
T
has been mentioned cursorily – the reader no doubt, will have forgotten it – that Mrs Grantly was not specially invited by her husband to go up to town with the view of being present at Miss Dunstable’s party. Mrs Grantly said nothing on the subject, but she was somewhat chagrined; not on account of the loss she sustained with reference to that celebrated assembly,
but because she felt that her daughter’s affairs required the supervision of a mother’s eye. She also doubted the final ratification of that Lufton-Grantly treaty, and, doubting it, she did not feel quite satisfied that her daughter should be left in Lady Lufton’s hands. She had said a word or two to the archdeacon before he went up, but only a word or two, for she hesitated to trust him in
so delicate a matter.
She was, therefore, not a little surprised at receiving, on the second morning after her husband’s departure, a letter from him desiring her immediate presence in London. She was surprised; but her heart was filled rather with hope than dismay, for she had full confidence in her daughter’s discretion.

On the morning after the party, Lady Lufton and Griselda had breakfasted
together as usual, but each felt that the manner of the other was altered. Lady Lufton thought that her young friend was somewhat less attentive, and perhaps less meek in her demeanour, than usual; and Griselda felt that Lady Lufton was less affectionate. Very little, however, was said between them, and Lady Lufton expressed no surprise when Griselda begged to be left alone at home, instead of
accompanying her ladyship when the carriage came to the door.

Nobody called in Bruton Street that afternoon – no one, at least, was let in – except the archdeacon. He came there late in the day, and remained with his daughter till Lady Lufton returned. Then he took his leave, with more abruptness than was usual with him, and without saying anything special to account for the duration of his visit.
Neither did Griselda say anything special; and so the evening wore away, each feeling in some unconscious manner that she was on less intimate terms with the other than had previously been the case.

On the next day also Griselda would not go out, but at four o’clock a servant brought a letter to her from Mount Street. Her mother had arrived in London and wished to see her at once. Mrs Grantly
sent her love to Lady Lufton, and would call at half-past five, or at any later hour at which it might be convenient for Lady Lufton to see her. Griselda was to stay and dine in Mount Street; so said the letter. Lady Lufton declared that she would be very happy to see Mrs Grantly at the hour named; and then, armed with this message, Griselda started for her mother’s lodgings.

‘I’ll send the carriage
for you,’ said Lady Lufton. ‘I suppose about ten will do.’

‘Thank you,’ said Griselda, ‘that will do very nicely;’ and then she went.

Exactly at half-past five Mrs Grantly was shown into Lady
Lufton’s drawing-room. Her daughter did not come with her, and Lady Lufton could see by the expression of her friend’s face that business was to be discussed. Indeed, it was necessary that she herself should
discuss business, for Mrs Grantly must now be told that the family treaty could not be ratified. The gentleman declined the alliance, and poor Lady Lufton was uneasy in her mind at the nature of the task before her.

‘Your coming up has been rather unexpected,’ said Lady Lufton, as soon as her friend was seated on the sofa.

‘Yes, indeed; I got a letter from the archdeacon only this morning, which
made it absolutely necessary that I should come.’

‘No bad news, I hope?’ said Lady Lufton.

‘No; I can’t call it bad news. But, dear Lady Lufton, things won’t always turn out exactly as one would have them.’

‘No, indeed,’ said her ladyship, remembering that it was incumbent on her to explain to Mrs Grantly now at this present interview the tidings with which her mind was fraught. She would,
however, let Mrs Grantly first tell her own story, feeling, perhaps, that the one might possibly bear upon the other.

‘Poor dear Griselda!’ said Mrs Grantly, almost with a sigh. ‘I need not tell you, Lady Lufton, what my hopes were regarding her.’

‘Has she told you anything – anything that –’

‘She would have spoken to you at once – and it was due to you that she should have done so – but she
was timid; and not unnaturally so. And then it was right that she should see her father and me before she quite made up her own mind. But I may say that it is settled now.’

‘What is settled?’ asked Lady Lufton.

‘Of course it is impossible for any one to tell beforehand how these things will turn out,’ continued Mrs Grantly, beating about the bush rather more than was necessary. ‘The dearest
wish of my heart was to see her married to Lord Lufton. I should so much have wished to have her in the same county with me, and such a match as that would have fully satisfied my ambition.’