ASHBY PARK was certainly a very
delightful residence. The mansion
was stately without, commodious
and elegant within; the park
was spacious and beautiful, chiefly
on account of its magnificent
old trees, its stately herds
of deer, its broad sheet of water,
and the ancient woods that stretched
beyond it: for there was no broken
ground to give variety to the
landscape, and but very little
of that undulating swell which
adds so greatly to the charm
of park scenery. And so, this
was the place Rosalie Murray
had so longed to call her own,
that she must have a share of
it, on whatever terms it might
be offered - whatever price was
to be paid for the title of mistress,
and whoever was to be her partner
in the honour and bliss of such
a possession! Well I am not disposed
to censure
her now.
She received me very kindly;
and, though I was a poor clergyman's
daughter, a governess, and a
schoolmistress, she welcomed
me with unaffected pleasure to
her home; and - what surprised
me rather - took some pains to
make my visit agreeable. I could
see, it is true, that she expected
me to be greatly struck with
the magnificence that surrounded
her; and, I confess, I was rather
annoyed at her evident efforts
to reassure me, and prevent me
from being overwhelmed by so
much grandeur - too much awed
at the idea of encountering her
husband and mother-in-law, or
too much ashamed of my own humble
appearance. I was not ashamed
of it at all; for, though plain,
I had taken good care not to
shabby or mean, and should have
been pretty considerably at my
ease, if my condescending hostess
had not taken such manifest pains
to make me so; and, as for the
magnificence that surrounded
her, nothing that met my eyes
struck me or affected me half
so much as her own altered appearance.
Whether from the influence of
fashionable dissipation, or some
other evil, a space of little
more than twelve months had had
the effect that might be expected
from as many years, in reducing
the plumpness of her form, the
freshness of her complexion,
the vivacity of her movements,
and the exuberance of her spirits.
I wished to know if she was
unhappy; but I felt it was not
my province to inquire: I might
endeavour to win her confidence;
but, if she chose to conceal
her matrimonial cares from me,
I would trouble her with no obtrusive
questions. I, therefore, at first,
confined myself to a few general
inquiries about her health and
welfare, and a few commendations
on the beauty of the park, and
of the little girl that should
have been a boy: a small delicate
infant of seven or eight weeks
old, whom its mother seemed to
regard with no remarkable degree
of interest or affection, though
full as much as I expected her
to show.
Shortly after my arrival, she
commissioned her maid to conduct
me to my room and see that I
had everything I wanted; it was
a small, unpretending, but sufficiently
comfortable apartment. When I
descended thence - having divested
myself of all travelling encumbrances,
and arranged my toilet with due
consideration for the feelings
of my lady hostess, she conducted
me herself to the room I was
to occupy when I chose to be
alone, or when she was engaged
with visitors, or obliged to
be with her mother-in-law, or
otherwise prevented, as she said,
from enjoying the pleasure of
my society. It was a quiet, tidy
little sitting-room; and I was
not sorry to be provided with
such a harbour of refuge.
'And some time,' said she,
'I will show you the library:
I never examined its shelves,
but, I daresay, it is full of
wise books; and you may go and
burrow among them whenever you
please. And now you shall have
some tea - it will soon be dinner-time,
but I thought, as you were accustomed
to dine at one, you would perhaps
like better to have a cup of
tea about this time, and to dine
when we lunch: and then, you
know, you can have your tea in
this room, and that will save
you from having to dine with
Lady Ashby and Sir Thomas: which
would be rather awkward - at
least, not awkward, but rather
- a - you know what I mean. I
thought you mightn't like it
so well - especially as we may
have other ladies and gentlemen
to dine with us occasionally.'
'Certainly,' said I, 'I would
much rather have it as you say,
and, if you have no objection,
I should prefer having all my
meals in this room.'
'Why so?'
'Because, I imagine, it would
be more agreeable to Lady Ashby
and Sir Thomas.'
'Nothing of the kind.'
'At any rate it would be more
agreeable to me.'
She made some faint objections,
but soon conceded; and I could
see that the proposal was a considerable
relief to her.
'Now, come into the drawing-room,'
said she. 'There's the dressing
bell; but I won't go yet: it's
no use dressing when there's
no one to see you; and I want
to have a little discourse.'
The drawing-room was certainly
an imposing apartment, and very
elegantly furnished; but I saw
its young mistress glance towards
me as we entered, as if to notice
how I was impressed by the spectacle,
and accordingly I determined
to preserve an aspect of stony
indifference, as if I saw nothing
at all remarkable. But this was
only for a moment: immediately
conscience whispered, 'Why should
I disappoint her to save my pride?
No - rather let me sacrifice
my pride to give her a little
innocent gratification.' And
I honestly looked round, and
told her it was a noble room,
and very tastefully furnished.
She said little, but I saw she
was pleased.
She showed me her fat French
poodle, that lay curled up on
a silk cushion, and the two fine
Italian paintings: which, however,
she would not give me time to
examine, but, saying I must look
at them some other day, insisted
upon my admiring the little jewelled
watch she had purchased in Geneva;
and then she took me round the
room to point out sundry articles
of VERTU she had brought from
Italy: an elegant little timepiece,
and several busts, small graceful
figures, and vases, all beautifully
carved in white marble. She spoke
of these with animation, and
heard my admiring comments with
a smile of pleasure: that soon,
however, vanished, and was followed
by a melancholy sigh; as if in
consideration of the insufficiency
of all such baubles to the happiness
of the human heart, and their
woeful inability to supply its
insatiate demands.
Then, stretching herself upon
a couch, she motioned me to a
capacious easy-chair that stood
opposite - not before the fire,
but before a wide open window;
for it was summer, be it remembered;
a sweet, warm evening in the
latter half of June. I sat for
a moment in silence, enjoying
the still, pure air, and the
delightful prospect of the park
that lay before me, rich in verdure
and foliage, and basking in yellow
sunshine, relieved by the long
shadows of declining day. But
I must take advantage of this
pause: I had inquiries to make,
and, like the substance of a
lady's postscript, the most important
must come last. So I began with
asking after Mr. and Mrs. Murray,
and Miss Matilda and the young
gentlemen.
I was told that papa had the
gout, which made him very ferocious;
and that he would not give up
his choice wines, and his substantial
dinners and suppers, and had
quarrelled with his physician,
because the latter had dared
to say that no medicine could
cure him while he lived so freely;
that mamma and the rest were
well. Matilda was still wild
and reckless, but she had got
a fashionable governess, and
was considerably improved in
her manners, and soon to be introduced
to the world; and John and Charles
(now at home for the holidays)
were, by all accounts, 'fine,
bold, unruly, mischievous boys.'
'And how are the other people
getting on?' said I - 'the Greens,
for instance?'
'Ah! Mr. Green is heart-broken,
you know,' replied she, with
a languid smile: 'he hasn't got
over his disappointment yet,
and never will, I suppose. He's
doomed to be an old bachelor;
and his sisters are doing their
best to get married.'
'And the Melthams?'
'Oh, they're jogging on as
usual, I suppose: but I know
very little about any of them
- except Harry,' said she, blushing
slightly, and smiling again.
'I saw a great deal of him while
we were in London; for, as soon
as he heard we were there, he
came up under pretence of visiting
his brother, and either followed
me, like a shadow, wherever I
went, or met me, like a reflection,
at every turn. You needn't look
so shocked, Miss Grey; I was
very discreet, I assure you,
but, you know, one can't help
being admired. Poor fellow! He
was not my only worshipper; though
he was certainly the most conspicuous,
and, I think, the most devoted
among them all. And that detestable
- ahem - and Sir Thomas chose
to take offence at him - or my
profuse expenditure, or something
- I don't exactly know what -
and hurried me down to the country
at a moment's notice; where I'm
to play the hermit, I suppose,
for life.'
And she bit her lip, and frowned
vindictively upon the fair domain
she had once so coveted to call
her own.
'And Mr. Hatfield,' said I,
'what is become of him?'
Again she brightened up, and
answered gaily - 'Oh! he made
up to an elderly spinster, and
married her, not long since;
weighing her heavy purse against
her faded charms, and expecting
to find that solace in gold which
was denied him in love - ha,
ha!'
'Well, and I think that's all
- except Mr. Weston: what is
he doing?'
'I don't know, I'm sure. He's
gone from Horton.'
'How long since? and where
is he gone to?'
'I know nothing about him,'
replied she, yawning - 'except
that he went about a month ago
- I never asked where' (I would
have asked whether it was to
a living or merely another curacy,
but thought it better not); 'and
the people made a great rout
about his leaving,' continued
she, 'much to Mr. Hatfield's
displeasure; for Hatfield didn't
like him, because he had too
much influence with the common
people, and because he was not
sufficiently tractable and submissive
to him - and for some other unpardonable
sins, I don't know what. But
now I positively must go and
dress: the second bell will ring
directly, and if I come to dinner
in this guise, I shall never
hear the end of it from Lady
Ashby. It's a strange thing one
can't be mistress in one's own
house! Just ring the bell, and
I'll send for my maid, and tell
them to get you some tea. Only
think of that intolerable woman
- '
'Who - your maid?'
'No; - my mother-in-law - and
my unfortunate mistake! Instead
of letting her take herself off
to some other house, as she offered
to do when I married, I was fool
enough to ask her to live here
still, and direct the affairs
of the house for me; because,
in the first place, I hoped we
should spend the greater part
of the year, in town, and in
the second place, being so young
and inexperienced, I was frightened
at the idea of having a houseful
of servants to manage, and dinners
to order, and parties to entertain,
and all the rest of it, and I
thought she might assist me with
her experience; never dreaming
she would prove a usurper, a
tyrant, an incubus, a spy, and
everything else that's detestable.
I wish she was dead!'
She then turned to give her
orders to the footman, who had
been standing bolt upright within
the door for the last half minute,
and had heard the latter part
of her animadversions; and, of
course, made his own reflections
upon them, notwithstanding the
inflexible, wooden countenance
he thought proper to preserve
in the drawing- room. On my remarking
afterwards that he must have
heard her, she replied - 'Oh,
no matter! I never care about
the footmen; they're mere automatons:
it's nothing to them what their
superiors say or do; they won't
dare to repeat it; and as to
what they think - if they presume
to think at all - of course,
nobody cares for that. It would
be a pretty thing indeed, it
we were to be tongue-tied by
our servants!'
So saying, she ran off to make
her hasty toilet, leaving me
to pilot my way back to my sitting-room,
where, in due time, I was served
with a cup of tea. After that,
I sat musing on Lady Ashby's
past and present condition; and
on what little information I
had obtained respecting Mr. Weston,
and the small chance there was
of ever seeing or hearing anything
more of him throughout my quiet,
drab-colour life: which, henceforth,
seemed to offer no alternative
between positive rainy days,
and days of dull grey clouds
without downfall. At length,
however, I began to weary of
my thoughts, and to wish I knew
where to find the library my
hostess had spoken of; and to
wonder whether I was to remain
there doing nothing till bedtime.
As I was not rich enough to
possess a watch, I could not
tell how time was passing, except
by observing the slowly lengthening
shadows from the window; which
presented a side view, including
a corner of the park, a clump
of trees whose topmost branches
had been colonized by an innumerable
company of noisy rooks, and a
high wall with a massive wooden
gate: no doubt communicating
with the stable-yard, as a broad
carriage-road swept up to it
from the park. The shadow of
this wall soon took posession
of the whole of the ground as
far as I could see, forcing the
golden sunlight to retreat inch
by inch, and at last take refuge
in the very tops of the trees.
Ere long, even they were left
in shadow - the shadow of the
distant hills, or of the earth
itself; and, in sympathy for
the busy citizens of the rookery,
I regretted to see their habitation,
so lately bathed in glorious
light, reduced to the sombre,
work-a- day hue of the lower
world, or of my own world within.
For a moment, such birds as soared
above the rest might still receive
the lustre on their wings, which
imparted to their sable plumage
the hue and brilliance of deep
red gold; at last, that too departed.
Twilight came stealing on; the
rooks became more quiet; I became
more weary, and wished I were
going home to-morrow. At length
it grew dark; and I was thinking
of ringing for a candle, and
betaking myself to bed, when
my hostess appeared, with many
apologies for having neglected
me so long, and laying all the
blame upon that 'nasty old woman,'
as she called her mother-in-law.
'If I didn't sit with her in
the drawing-room while Sir Thomas
is taking his wine,' said she,
'she would never forgive me;
and then, if I leave the room
the instant he comes - as I have
done once or twice - it is an
unpardonable offence against
her dear Thomas. SHE never showed
such disrespect to HER husband:
and as for affection, wives never
think of that now-a-days, she
supposes: but things were different
in HER time - as if there was
any good to be done by staying
in the room, when he does nothing
but grumble and scold when he's
in a bad humour, talk disgusting
nonsense when he's in a good
one, and go to sleep on the sofa
when he's too stupid for either;
which is most frequently the
case now, when he has nothing
to do but to sot over his wine.'
'But could you not try to occupy
his mind with something better;
and engage him to give up such
habits? I'm sure you have powers
of persuasion, and qualifications
for amusing a gentleman, which
many ladies would be glad to
possess.'
'And so you think I would lay
myself out for his amusement!
No: that's not MY idea of a wife.
It's the husband's part to please
the wife, not hers to please
him; and if he isn't satisfied
with her as she is - and thankful
to possess her too - he isn't
worthy of her, that's all. And
as for persuasion, I assure you
I shan't trouble myself with
that: I've enough to do to bear
with him as he is, without attempting
to work a reform. But I'm sorry
I left you so long alone, Miss
Grey. How have you passed the
time?'
'Chiefly in watching the rooks.'
'Mercy, how dull you must have
been! I really must show you
the library; and you must ring
for everything you want, just
as you would in an inn, and make
yourself comfortable. I have
selfish reasons for wishing to
make you happy, because I want
you to stay with me, and not
fulfil your horrid threat of
running away in a day or two.'
'Well, don't let me keep you
out of the drawing-room any longer
to- night, for at present I am
tired and wish to go to bed.'
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