CHAPTER XXXIDISINTEGRATION
FROM the moment that train steamed away from Dwygyfy there was no more decent weather. Day after day it thundered and lightened, it hailed and it blew; day after day it poured in torrents. For a whole week Cheriton endured this distemper of the Welsh climate, which according to Borrow is, in the most favorable circumstances, of a very fickle character. His man Johnson then packed up his traps, and the pair of them were spirited away upon an extremely inclement morning by the eleven-o’clock train. Scotland was their destination. In that land of cakes and heather were some old friends who set apart September for playing bridge for moderate stakes and for the shooting of grouse.
Of course before Cheriton went up to Scotland he freely discussed his proposed matrimonial adventure with the sagacious Caroline. She had not hesitated to affirm that the man Lascelles had behaved like a gentleman. It was only in extreme instances that she felt called upon to make a statement of that kind. It was a testimonial she did not give willingly, because in her opinion it was the highest there was to bestow upon the members of the sex to which the man Lascelles belonged.
As became a man of leisure, Cheriton was very leisurely in his methods. He did not propose to marry Miss Perry until the spring. Caroline was inclined to demur. She did not care to let the grass grow under her feet. Cheriton might change his mind, or a hundred things might happen. Stability at any rate was not hisforte.
“No, my dear Caroline,” said a sagacity that was in nowise less than her own, “the creature is a little undeveloped at present to my mind. A few months more of the great world in order that she may acquire a deeper sense of the responsibilities of the position will do her no harm. Besides spring, my dear Caroline, is the time for marriage. It is the vernal season. It is nature’s own appointed wedding-day.”
Caroline did not concur, of course. It only remained for her, however, to acquiesce ungraciously. Yet there was one thing she could do, and this she did. She sent for her lawyer to have the terms of the nuptial contract set out in form. Her old and trusted legal adviser, Mr. Giles Grabham, of Messrs. Pettigrew, Grabham, Grabham, and Horrobin, of Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, spent two nights and a day at Pen-y-Gros Castle, and placed the matter on a comprehensive basis. Cheriton appeared to derive a great deal of amusement from the whole proceeding. However, he was prevailed upon to attach what Mr. Grabham called “a provisional signature to the memorandum.”
Divers copies were engrossed of what Mr. Grabham called “the instrument,” by the clerical staff ofMessrs. Pettigrew, Grabham, Grabham, and Horrobin, one of which was duly forwarded to Lord Cheriton at Pen-y-Gros Castle, North Wales, two days after his lordship’s departure from the Principality. It was accompanied by two others addressed to the Countess of Crewkerne.
Upon the receipt of these documents Miss Perry was commanded by Aunt Caroline to write to her papa to explain the signal honor that had been conferred upon her; and to inclose a copy of the deed of settlement for his inspection, sanction, and signature. In obedience to this command, with infinite labor and difficulty and many tears, Miss Perry composed the following:—
Papa Dearest,—Aunt Caroline desires me to write to inform you that her old friend the Earl of Cheriton has done me the honor of wishing to marry me—that is, Papa Dearest, if you have no objection. Aunt Caroline desires me to say that in her judgment there can be no possible objection to Lord Cheriton, as he is very rich, his life has been worthy, and she has known him herself personally for more than sixty years. Aunt Caroline desires me to enclose this copy of the deed of settlement, which she hopes you will approve and return to her with your signature. With fondest love, Papa Dearest, and twelve kisses, which I enclosexxxxxxxxxxxx,Believe me to remain your most Dutiful and Affectionate DaughterAraminta.
Papa Dearest,—Aunt Caroline desires me to write to inform you that her old friend the Earl of Cheriton has done me the honor of wishing to marry me—that is, Papa Dearest, if you have no objection. Aunt Caroline desires me to say that in her judgment there can be no possible objection to Lord Cheriton, as he is very rich, his life has been worthy, and she has known him herself personally for more than sixty years. Aunt Caroline desires me to enclose this copy of the deed of settlement, which she hopes you will approve and return to her with your signature. With fondest love, Papa Dearest, and twelve kisses, which I enclosexxxxxxxxxxxx,Believe me to remain your most Dutiful and Affectionate Daughter
Araminta.
P.S. Have you any objection to Muffin marrying Jim Lascelles, who used to live at the Red House at Widdiford? It would be too sweet.
P.S. Have you any objection to Muffin marrying Jim Lascelles, who used to live at the Red House at Widdiford? It would be too sweet.
The more formal part of this production had been written to Aunt Caroline’s dictation. She inspected the finished performance grimly. The writing was large and round and as transparently simple as Miss Perry’s own countenance, and it was blotted freely with tears. In the fullest sense of the term it was a human document, and as such Aunt Caroline decided that it should be sent. Miss Perry was not the first Wargrave who had been consigned to the scaffold, and doubtless she would not be the last.
A week elapsed before a reply was received at Pen-y-Gros Castle, and even then the copy of the deed was not returned indorsed with the signature of the Reverend Aloysius Perry. His communication upon the subject was as follows:—
My dear Daughter,—Your letter came to me as a great surprise. Firstly, I should like to express to your Aunt Caroline the deep sense of obligation we all feel under in regard to her, not only in the matter of her very great kindness to you personally, but also for the great kindness and consideration she extended to Elizabeth during her month’s sojourn at Pen-y-Gros Castle. Elizabeth cannot find enough to say in her praise.Now in regard to yourself, my dear Araminta,while I recognize to the full the dazzling nature of your prospects, and I do not know in what manner to thank your Aunt for her princely suggestion, I want you to believe, and I want her to believe also, that I have no other thought and no other desire than that whatever line of action you embark upon shall lead to your ultimate and permanent happiness. That above everything is what I desire. I have refrained from attaching my signature to the deed of settlement which your Aunt has been so kind as to send to me, for while recognizing to the full her large-hearted generosity and her really princely munificence, I shall like to have your own assurance, my dear Daughter, that you are consulting your own highest welfare and happiness irrespective of that of anyone else. I trust your Aunt will not consider me lacking in gratitude or in practical common sense. Please write to me again upon the subject, and believe me to remain your affectionate father,Aloysius Perry.
My dear Daughter,—Your letter came to me as a great surprise. Firstly, I should like to express to your Aunt Caroline the deep sense of obligation we all feel under in regard to her, not only in the matter of her very great kindness to you personally, but also for the great kindness and consideration she extended to Elizabeth during her month’s sojourn at Pen-y-Gros Castle. Elizabeth cannot find enough to say in her praise.
Now in regard to yourself, my dear Araminta,while I recognize to the full the dazzling nature of your prospects, and I do not know in what manner to thank your Aunt for her princely suggestion, I want you to believe, and I want her to believe also, that I have no other thought and no other desire than that whatever line of action you embark upon shall lead to your ultimate and permanent happiness. That above everything is what I desire. I have refrained from attaching my signature to the deed of settlement which your Aunt has been so kind as to send to me, for while recognizing to the full her large-hearted generosity and her really princely munificence, I shall like to have your own assurance, my dear Daughter, that you are consulting your own highest welfare and happiness irrespective of that of anyone else. I trust your Aunt will not consider me lacking in gratitude or in practical common sense. Please write to me again upon the subject, and believe me to remain your affectionate father,
Aloysius Perry.
Aunt Caroline snorted a good deal when she read this letter. She declared it was so like a parson to say a great deal more than he need in order to express a great deal less than he ought. However, she was perfectly ruthless upon the subject. Araminta was ordered to allay the scruples of her father; and this the unhappy Goose Girl did, with many private tears, to her aunt’s dictation.
In due course the document was returned with her father’s signature. Then she felt that indeed her doom was sealed. She was a most docile and duteous creature, and even Aunt Caroline admitted it; but her appetite declined, her laughter lost its gayety, her youth its cheerful irresponsibility, and life became for her a heavy and listless routine.
Poor Jim Lascelles had his bad time too. He returned to the Acacias with his mother, fully determined to maintain his tripartiterôleof a Lascelles, a hero, and a gentleman. He determined to take the superhuman course of acting as though the Goose Girl had no place in his life whatever.
Alas for the vanity of human resolves! The first thing he did upon his return home was to take the key of his studio off the sitting-room chimney-piece in order to bestow a few final touches upon a work which by now was hardly in need of them. He deluded himself with the idea that the task was imposed in cold blood in order that he might prove to himself how strong he was, and that by the mere exercise of the will the image of the peerless original could be cut away from the living tissue of his thoughts.
Alas! it could not be done. Jim Lascelles failed dismally to assert the mind’s dominion. A strange excitement overtook him, and for several days he worked in quite a frenzy of enthusiasm, modifying this, painting out that, enhancing the other. It was a dangerous kind of solace. He performed surprising feats, it is true; his color grew more and more audacious, only to be harmonized marvelously, buthe could not sleep at night. He came down to breakfast haggard and wild-eyed, and looking a degree more unstable than when he had retired in the small hours of the morning.
He had determined to withhold from his mother the true state of the case. But he had hopelessly underrated theflairof the genus. Very soon she had the truth out of him; and, without letting Jim see her concern, she grew alarmed for him. Yet she could confess to no surprise. From the first she had foreseen that this was a turn the thing must take almost inevitably. Had it not been Lord Cheriton, it must have been another. For the Goose, notwithstanding her limited capacity, was an absurdly regal creature; one of those oddly compounded, solemn, unaspiring masterpieces designed by nature for a gorgeous frame, who by a kind of inalienable right command a splendid destiny.
Jim’s mother blamed herself, as mothers are so apt to do, although she really had no part in Jim’s misfortune. She had merely lent a kind of whimsical countenance to the young fellow’s ambitions, in order primarily to give him a zest in his work. The consequences entailed by the acquisition of that zest bade fair to become melancholy; but in any case the responsibility for laying the mine was not hers, any more than it was Cheriton’s for applying the match.
“If it had not been one, laddie,” said Mrs. Lascelles, philosophically, “it would have been the other. Had I prophesied, I should have said that destinywould have made her a duchess. But either way, I don’t think it matters. I feel sure that Lord Cheriton will be very good to her, although there is little consolation in that.”
Precious little consolation, in Jim’s opinion. By the time October came he was worn to a shade, and the masterpiece was finally completed. His mother was alarmed for him then. She suggested a voyage to Spain and a visit to the Prado, in order that he might pay homage at the shrine of the great Velasquez. The suggestion was a good one, but unfortunately it did not come within the range of practical politics. They had both spent all their money. Mrs. Lascelles had overdrawn her meager allowance, and Jim was in debt.
“Tell Lord Cheriton his picture is complete, and dun him for the price of it.”
“No, old lady,” said Jim, with a sad shake of the head; “we have to look to what we can raise on that little work to keep a roof over our heads during the winter.”
His mother showed a most resolute optimism.
“Lay out every penny of the money on a visit to Spain,” said she. “Velasquez will inspire you. You will return with a cubit added to your stature; you will finish The Naiad triumphantly, and, once you have done that, you will have convinced the world you can paint.”
“And in the meantime, old lady, what about therint?” said Jim.
“Oh, that,” said his mother, airily—“that cantake care of itself. Besides, I dreamt last night that the publishers had accepted ‘The Fair Immortal.’”
“That is not quite the same thing, señora, as receiving a check for it,” said Jim, gloomily.
It would seem, however, that Providence was keeping its eye on the Acacias. For the very next morning brought a solution of the difficulty. The marquis wrote from Yorkshire to suggest that during the following week, if convenient to himself, Mr. Lascelles should come to Barne Moor, as previously arranged, to paint the fair Priscilla.
It appeared that in the stress of circumstance both Jim and his mother had forgotten the Yorkshire marquis and the fair Priscilla.
“And it means a cool five hundred, too,” said Jim, with a little pardonable exultation. “The terms are already arranged, thanks to that old sportsman who is the oddest mixture of a human being I have ever met.”
And then Jim gave a groan, for he remembered that it was upon the strength of this important commission he had made up his mind to take the plunge with the Goose Girl. The next moment he was cursing himself because his upper lip was so flabby.
“You will never be the least use in this world, James Lascelles, my son,” was the burden of his reflections, “if you can’t learn to take a facer or two. Every time they knock you down you have got to come up smiling, or you will certainly never be a Velasquez.”
Mrs. Lascelles was overjoyed by the providentialletter from Yorkshire. She blessed the marquis and all his acres. She insisted that Jim should write by the next post to announce his intention of coming to Barne Moor on the following Monday. And, in order that there should be no possible doubt about the matter, she put on her hat, although it was raining hard, and sallied forth to the stationer’s shop at the corner of Chestnut Road and invested one of her few remaining sixpences in Bradshaw’s Guide.