THOMAS MEMTFAK1ER, ABINGER HALL. Ni RAHY OF THE UN IVLRSITY OF ILLINOIS 82.3 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. " Why did I marry ?" —Othello. Ditto — Lord Townlt. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: SMITH, ELDER AND CO., 65, CORN HILL. 1851. London : Printed by Stewart and Mubeai, Old Bailey. THE FAIR CAREW; OR, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. CHAPTER I. The name of Luttrel is held in high esteem in its native county. Its origin is ancient enough to insure it a prominent position amongst the sur- rounding gentry ; and although, up to the time when our story commences, the head of the house remained still untitled, the family had, in its colla- teral branches, formed many a noble alliance. More than commonly prosperous had been its career ; by whatever name we may choose to designate that prevailing turn to good or evil which is often ob- served to influence collective portions of men as well as simple individuals — whether we call it luck J or fortune, blind fate or an overruling Providence, < the mysterious tendency has seldom been more con- VOL. I. B 6 . Z THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, vincingly manifested than amongst these Luttrels of Horton. For many generations they had been advancing in wealth and dignity, and had wit- nessed, in their steady ascent, the decay or downfall of more than one rival race, which had been less auspiciously favoured in the first instance, or less gifted with the foresight and discretion requisite to make use of the opportunities actually afforded it. It seemed as if the very same accidents which tended to injure or mortify other people, became, in the case of the Luttrels, a positive blessing. Did one of them chance to break his neck in the hunting field, or convey the contents of his fowlingpiece into his own person instead of the game he was pur- suing, it would turn out to be that very individual of the family who could best be spared — some one too dull or ungainly to be valuable in his generation. Did another happen to be prematurely cut off by typhus, or overturned in a tilbury, who cared ? it was but some spendthrift who would have gambled away his portion of the hereditary acres, or some idle youth raw from college, whose death occurred justin time to prevent his disgracing himself and his kindred by marrying an opera dancer or his mother's maid. On the other hand, when the proud spirit of the Luttrels was galled by some member of their lineage seeking, in mercantile pursuits, the independence not to be acquired by hanging idly on the paternal estate, time never failed to soothe their displeasure ; HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 3 for wealth was sure to reward the adventurer and command the outward respect, at least, of his haughty kinsfolk, who refused not to acknowledge the rich London merchant as a loving cousin, and never scrupled applying for his co-operation when a godfather was in request, or a poor re- lation was being fitted out for India at the family expense. Marriage, too, that stumblingblock to many a family in its march to preferment, proved in most instances a useful auxiliary to the Luttrels ; a cir- cumspect prudence governing their conduct in this, as in other matters of business. For two succeeding generations had the heads of the family become enamoured of the respective heiresses of the estates adjoining Horton; and the proceeding, which turned out remarkably well in both cases, was imitated by other members of the family, each in his degree and profession. The aspirants for clerical honours, for stalls and prebends, attached themselves to the offspring of deans, archdeacons, and so forth ; those learned in the law pined for the fair ones whose relations were nearest the woolsack ; while the bold ensigns and gallant lieutenants, whose future glories were to illustrate the family name, were apt, by the same singular fatality, to fall much in love with the daughters of their commanding officers. In short, they who have heard the character of Cupid described as rash, frivolous, thoughtless, or head- strong, would find themselves quite at a loss, did b 2 4 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, they attempt to reconcile any of these epithets with what might be observed of his doings in this family ; of so very different a disposition seemed the little Cupidons who managed the love department in the house of Luttrel. Still, there were occasional exceptions to this golden rule ; and when they did happen, they were felt perhaps the more acutely for the rarity of their occurrence. One instance in particular proved a subject of annoyance to the Luttrels ; for though the offender was no near relation, being only third cousin on the maternal side, yet he happened to be a greater favourite at Horton than many who were nearer allied ; his fine person and engaging manners rendering him always so welcome a guest there, that his qualification to make art and part of the Luttrel connection was never disputed. He was ever " cousin John" with them, and quite " one of them- selves ;" partaking of all their habits and opinions, entering into all their views so heartily and so well. And yet it was this favoured individual, filling the honourable, but certainly not lucrative, post of mid- shipman in his Majesty's navy, and in possession of very little beyond its proverbial " nothing a day and find himself;" except the trifle which a fond and widowed mother could spare him out of a very limited income, or a still fonder grandmother pro- cure, by pinching on this side and paring on that, to gratify her darling — this John Carew it was who chose to run adverse to the family practice, and HUSBANDS AND WIVES. O form what his friends termed an inferior and ill- assorted connection. Some, perhaps, there are, who might have found an apology for the young man's rashness, in the attractions of her he had chosen ; an$ others, while condemning the imprudence of his conduct, would have praised its freedom from mercenary considera- tions : the lady being at the time he married her, nearly as poor as himself; but in the sight of those who acted on such very different principles, an alli- ance like this could appear in no other light than as a culpable and ruinous mistake, and poor cousin John himself as nothing else but a doomed cast- away. Their strong partiality for one who, in his blessed days of bachelorship, had been so agreeable to them, continued to influence the Luttrels in their treatment of this young man ; their interest in the navy was exerted to keep him employed, pecuniary assistance was occasionally afforded, and now and then he was invited, as of yore, to visit his relations ; but nothing could induce them to countenance his wife, or shew her the least civility. Carew's wish to introduce her at Horton, received a flat refusal ; and finding that any attempt to soften their ani- mosity only subjected him to a sort of family scold- ing particularly disagreeable to him, he evinced either the prudence or easiness of his temper by quietly dropping the subject ; endured their occa- sional lectures with equanimity, pocketed every sub- 6 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, stantial favour that was offered him, and even turned a conveniently deaf ear to any sarcasm that might seem levelled at Mrs. John : and yet he conducted himself all the while with so easy and pleasant an air, that they took all in good part, never pausing to ask themselves how far such behaviour was reconcilable with their ordinary notions of gentle- manly feeling or common propriety. It is probable Mrs. Carew might better have brooked the neglect of her husband's great rela- tions, if his nearest of kin had shewn her greater kindness ; but the very parents who had displayed their injudicious affection, by fostering from his cradle upwards the young man's selfish disposition, thus mainly contributing to bring about the con- duct which offended them, were incapable of that higher and wiser affection which should have taught them to bridle their own impotent wrath, and make the best of what was irremediable. They, too, after the first whirlwind of rage had blown over, con- tinued to welcome the spoilt child of their foolish old age, to be alternately caressed and railed at ; but they were just as obstinate as his more distant relations, in refusing to notice the partner of his folly : and we need scarcely add that their example extended widely amongst such members of the Luttrels and Carews as found it convenient, under the seemingly respectable sanction of parental ex- ample, to discountenance a couple of poor rela- tions. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. An unprejudiced inquiry into the circumstances of the young lady thus harshly condemned, might have informed them that her origin, if obscure, was at least reputable, and that in herself she was with- out reproach : a gentlewoman in mind, manners, and acquirements ; but the Carews had rushed into hostilities with a degree of intemperance which would have required some time to mitigate grace- fully. In the earliest access of their fury they had stigmatized her, unseen and unheard, as low-born, vulgar, and presumptuous ; and during the re- mainder of their stupid career on earth, they held pertinaciously the same language, and adhered to the same blind prejudices. As, however, the old people lived but a short time after the marriage of young Carew, this mention of them would have been hardly requisite, had it not been that it was chiefly through their angry and distorted report of her, that the Luttrels of Horton formed their opinion of their new cousin. Why they should have acted on the suggestion of persons for whose understanding they professed unbounded contempt, is a riddle difficult of solution ; for as- suredly there was not a Luttrel of them all who would have respected the sentiments of these Carews on any matter of ordinary business : had it been the character of a cook, or a housemaid, that the old ladies were volunteering to give, their testimony would have had small weight at Horton Hall ; and yet, with a contrary spirit most worthy of human 8 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, nature, their views were easily adopted on a subject of far higher importance. The very person who had been ever foremost in expressing her contempt for those " old Carews," was now the first to follow their unworthy example, and take the most decided part against poor Mrs. John ; and, unluckily, her determined character and strong intellect gave her, although not by blood a Luttrel, considerable sway in the family councils. This was the Honourable Mrs. Darner, Mrs. Lut- trell's mother, who resided chiefly at Horton, and with whom the lively and yet obsequious young sailor had always been a special favourite. While she excused or extenuated his conduct, she refused to hear a word in defence of his wife, and grew particularly wroth when it was asserted that the blame of an imprudent marriage, being equally shared by both actors in the transaction, the con- sequences arising from it ought to be shared by both, and the penalties or indulgences levied im- partially — a maxim tending to demonstrate that Mrs. John Carew, in virtue of her wedding-ring, had a right to expect the same toleration which her husband enjoyed amongst his relations. She would deny point blank that there was any real equality between the offenders, or in the consequences of the act they had committed. She, Mrs. Darner, " knew it was held as an axiom in law, that the woman was raised to the rank of him who conferred his name upon her : in HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 9 certain advantages of property, or title, she did no doubt participate ; and, in ordinary society, where she was a wholly indifferent object, she received the tribute of outward politeness, which was bestowed on account of her well-born husband. But it was that husband's family who were really aggrieved by having a vulgar person thrust upon them without any con- currence of their own ; nor could she perceive the justice of a maxim which, if strictly acted upon, would oblige you to distinguish with all the pri- vileges of relationship, an individual who, but for the circumstance of her having ensnared the affections of (perhaps) the greatest fool in your family, you would be justified in considering too inferior in birth and breeding to sit at the same table with you. " Then, as for the consequences of an unequal mar- riage being supposed alike to the husband and the wife, it was a palpable error; for just take the case of this Mrs. Carew : as the daughter of a country schoolmaster, she must suffer in a very inferior degree those privations to which her headlong con- duct condemned her, perhaps for life ; springing from such an inferior grade, domestic drudgery must be familiar to her : in fact, a second nature. But for poor dear misguided John, it would, indeed, be a hard struggle ! he who appreciated all the ele- gances and comforts of the station to which he was born. Heavily, poor fellow ! would he rue the day when he bartered his gentility and independence for the sake of a pretty face ; though as to her beauty/ 10 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, the old lady would add, sarcastically, " I will venture to say that is by no means equal to her art. Our poor cousin, with all his acuteness, has a frankness of disposition which renders him as likely as any man I know, to become the dupe of a designing woman." With principles like these pervading the Luttrel family, and so doughty a champion ever at hand to support them, it was not to be supposed that any indulgence would be shown to the offending Mrs. John ; and, accordingly, during her husband's life- time, things remained much as we have described them : but Death — who, however grim and grisly he may be in himself, has sometimes the merit of acting as a peace-maker — came amongst them, and the scene was changed. It was about five years after his imprudent mar- riage, that John Carew paid a farewell visit to his friends at Horton Hall, — a ceremony he never failed to perform on the eve of any professional expedition ; perhaps, because their purses, as well as their hearts, were sure to be open on such occasions. This time his visit was a hurried one, for he announced that the Spiteful, the vessel to which he belonged, was on the very point of sailing for a foreign station, and that twenty-four hours were all that were allotted him to take leave of his family, get down to Portsmouth, and put himself on board. His friends, in after days, were wont to recur with melancholy interest to this their last interview, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 11 as it proved, with cousin John — the winding-up of many an hour of pleasant intercourse. They would particularize the spirited demeanour of the young sailor, and the air of grateful affection with which he frankly accepted their parting presents. Yet it struck them, on retrospect, that he had some diffi- culty in maintaining his customary nonchalance. " Poor fellow ! the evils of his condition as a married man were, doubtless, pressing hard upon him," — for by this time Carew was a father as well as a husband : or it might be that a cloud, so unusual to his careless aspect, was occasioned by one of those undefinable presentiments of approaching calamity which are not unfrequently observed to overshadow the bravest spirits, when their journey is destined to a fatal termination. There was, it must be here observed, a rumour afloat amongst some of Carew's acquaintances, that no less than two writs had been issued against him, on account of certain debts of long standing ; which might more naturally still explain his disturbed manner and his hurry to be off: but though a whisper to this effect found its way to the dignified shades of Horton, and might have gained some credit, had their kinsman made his voyage and returned to them in safety ; yet when bad tidings of the Spiteful arrived in England, and it became a certainty that she had foundered on her passage, without leaving: one of her crew alive to relate the melancholy particulars of her fate, then indeed they 12 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, failed not to adopt the more sentimental expla- nation. And in addition to this shadowing forth of coming events, which they supposed the ill-fated sufferer himself to have experienced, a singular intimation of his impending destiny was afforded to one of his relations ; which, as the anecdote may be useful to the lucubrations of some future Crowe, I think myself bound to relate. Immediately after the departure of Carew, Mrs. Luttrel of Horton had retired to her own room to compose her spirits by reading the lessons for the day ; but, on casually opening her Bible, the very first words that met her eye and fixed her attention were these, from the twenty-second chapter of Jere- miah : — " Weep ye not for the dead, neither be- moan him ; but weep sore for him that goeth away ; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country." A less excitable person than Mrs. Luttrel must have been struck with a coincidence so remarkable as this : on her it took a shuddering effect, like a slight fit of the ague. She communicated the cir- cumstance to her mother shortly after it had oc- curred, but felt it too painfully to make it a subject of common talk ; so there the matter rested, till the loss of the Spiteful was ascertained as a positive fact. Then this omen, so surely fulfilled in the fate of young Carew, rushed at once to the remembrance of both the ladies, was revealed to the family at large, and made for the future an important addition HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 13 to the ghosts, dreams, and so forth, appertaining to the possessors of Horton — those minor miracles in which it is highly derogatory to a respectable family to be deficient. Slight as this incident may seem, it certainly tended to keep cousin John's " memory green" in the souls of his relations in shire. All would have shed a tear and spoken a kind word for their good-natured kinsman ; but now, and especially among the ladies of the party, a sentiment of more than common solemnity mingled with their regret, as they talked over the merits and miserable fate of the departed : a feeling allied to the supernatural never fails to dignify its object. For the rest, an elegant slab, commemorating his worth and mis- fortunes, was placed in the parish church, and every member of the family went into appropriate mourning. ISTor did the sympathy of the Luttrels terminate here. After all the displeasure they had expressed against Carew's marriage, so softened were the feel- ings of some of them, at least, that they resolved to show kindness to his widow and child ; but, as it was the sacrifice of pride to a better feeling, the resolution was taken with reluctance, and still more tardily executed. Many were the consultations held in the family, as to the mode and degree of favour proper to be accorded to Mrs. John. Should money alone be given — a pension, for instance, sufficient to support 14 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, the little family genteelly ? — or should the widow and orphan be brought amongst them, and admitted to all the privileges which the countenance of their relations at Horton must inevitably confer upon them ? Had the question been left wholly to the decision of Mrs. Luttrel (the reader of that mys- terious omen) and her brother-in-law, Mr. Francis Luttrel (uncle Francis, as he was called at the great house), the most friendly measures would soon have been adopted ; but there was an opposition party, headed by Mrs. Damer, and enjoying to a certain point the sanction of Mr. Luttrel himself, jvho leaned strongly to the opinion that whatever favour was to be shown should be purely of a pecuniary nature. In their eyes, the death of the husband lessened not the impropriety of his having been a husband at all ; consequently, the widow had no reason to expect more personal intercourse with Carew's family than had hitherto been vouchsafed her ; and whatever advantage she might derive from receiv- ing the notice of the Luttrels, would but feebly atone to them for the extreme annoyance likely to be produced by finding, after they had associated her amongst themselves, that she turned out to be as under-bred and altogether inferior a person as they had always suspected : an opinion of theirs which, it was argued, had nothing but the testimony of Carew — a partial one, of course, poor fellow ! — to disprove it. If, after inviting her to come amongst HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 15 them, and settling her in that little cottage near a — no, not near a wood exactly, but almost within sight of the lodge-gates (that was the scheme first started by the moderate party), they found her insuppor- tably vulgar, what was to be done with her? In such a case, she would have cause to complain, unless they countenanced her very decidedly ; yet, on the other hand, how, injustice to the neighbour- hood, could they bring her forward and expect her to be noticed, merely because, in spite of her ill- breeding, a distant, very distant relation of theirs had been silly enough to marry her ? Then a middle course was proposed : it was sug- gested by a judicious moderator, that, without any formal proposal of a fixed residence in their vicinity, Mrs. John might be invited to one of their houses, simply in the light of a visitor; some portion of time, as a month or fortnight, might even be speci- fied, so that she should clearly understand the stay to be considered as temporary. During this time there would be opportunity afforded for observing her character and conduct: if capable of acting with propriety, all would be well, and she and her child might be treated as relations ; but if totally destitute of the breeding of a gentlewoman, the family need not esteem itself bound, either in law or equity, to domesticate her as one of themselves ; or, in fact, to do more than give her the means of educating the little girl." " Little girl ? Was it a girl ? " 16 THE FAIR CAREWJ OR, " A boy, I think." " Oh, certainly, a boy." " No, no, it is a girl ; for I remember thinking it another instance of John's want of judgment his allowing his child, though a girl, to be called by the surname of some of his wife's people." " Yes," said the gentler Mrs. Luttrel, with a sigh ; " I remember, ma'am, your making the objec- tion, and my being a little affected by his answer ; for he said — poor fellow ! — that if he could have reckoned on the happiness of having his child admitted at Horton, he should never have thought of choosing a name for her from any of her mother's family. Poor John ! in spite of his gay spirits, he used at times to speak with so much feeling." "Ah!" was the rejoinder; "he knew very well how little chance there was of his child being brought up to be a credit to him, or so as to give it a claim to our notice. But do as you please, Isabella : ask this young woman, if you think it a duty, and if your husband has no objection to her being dragged from her native obscurity into his society ; but, I charge you, take care how you word your letter, or she may think fit to quarter herself upon us for life." And she was asked : the invitation was written, submitted for public inspection — for in a matter of this sort Mrs. Luttrel feared to act upon her own responsibility — curtailed of a few of its expressions HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 17 of cordiality by Mrs. Darner, and sent to the widow. Considering the importance of this despatch, it was expected, not unnaturally, that it would receive an immediate answer ; and when a week had passed without bringing a letter from Mrs. John Carew, the Luttrels began to express some surprise, and feel a little annoyance : for, not to mention the dis- appointment we experience when we find our civili- ties responded to with less alacrity than we had looked for, they had been careful to fix a period for her visit to Horton when the house would be quite free from other and more distinguished guests ; and they feared lest any delay in her arrival should derange the plans they had formed so discreetly. Some accounted for her silence by supposing Mrs, John to have changed her place of residence, in which case Mrs. Luttrel's letter might have alto- gether miscarried ; while Mrs. Darner satirically apologized for the widow's behaviour, by suggesting that probably " the young woman did not know how to write ; or, at all events, required a week or two to arrange her ideas." The first part of the sugges- tion, however, was disproved by the receipt of an answer from Mrs. Carew ; and, in order fully to appreciate the feelings of those who read it, the epistle must be given at length : — "To Mrs. Luttrel, Horton Hall, shire. " Madam, — I scarcely know whether surprise or vol. i. c 18 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, displeasure predominated within me when I received the letter with which you honoured me a week ago — surprise, that after the lapse of so many years you should now consider me an object worthy of notice ; or indignation, that such an interval having elapsed, and been marked on your part only by neglect or positive insult, you should hold me mean- spirited enough to accept the attentions you are pleased to offer. I thank Heaven your proffer of assistance is wholly superfluous : my own relations are able and willing to support me. " With respect to the education of my child, on whose account you express your solicitude, allow me to assure you she will, under my guidance, be brought up in a manner becoming a gentlewoman — the position she will hold in society : such, at least, will be my endeavour in the cultivation of her mind and manners; but should nature prove adverse to my wishes — for the tenderest care and anxiety can- not always insure success in this respect — I must beg you to believe that her deficiencies will not be likely to entail upon you any personal inconve- nience, as it will certainly never be with my consent that she associates with any of her father's family. " I remain, madam, " Your obedient servant, " Charlotte Carew." The astonishment which the Luttrels experienced on the perusal of this letter was, in the case of Mrs. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 19 Darner, mingled with no small triumph in the superiority of her own judgment. " I am, indeed, delighted," said she. " Now, I am entirely satisfied. And you, Isabella, must acknow- ledge how right I was in advising you not to subject yourself to an insult like this. Ha, ha ! you must forgive me for smiling at your discomfiture, and the time and consideration you have wasted on so un- grateful a subject. But, thank Heaven ! I say, that the connection is for ever closed : the greatest stickler for family claims must, for the future, leave the widow Carew to her own inventions." Mrs. Luttrel's reply was framed in a better spirit. " I am sorry Mrs. Carew should have received my attentions in this way," said she ; " but I cannot repent having written to her : the rudeness of her behaviour cannot affect the propriety of mine. You know, we all thought it expedient that some notice should be taken of her." " All but me, Isabella : do not include me in your majority, for I always expressed a firm conviction that she was unworthy of any civility from us ; and no earthly inducement should have persuaded me to come forward as you have done. I saw the im- prudence of the step from the first moment it was projected : and lucky may we think it that Mrs. John turned out more discreet than ourselves. She knew very well how little we should suit each other." "The letter is not that of a vulgar person, ex- c 2 20 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, actly," observed Esther Luttrel, Mr. Francis's eldest daughter — a person of calm judgment, who was equal to contradicting Mrs. Darner, even in her most decided moments. " With all its im- pertinence, I have seen things worse expressed ; and the hand is really excellent." " Oh, no doubt she did her best on such an occa- sion ; or probably got her father, the old hedge- schoolmaster, to write to her precious inditing." " I should rather think not," said Miss Luttrel, quietly ; " it is the flowing hand of a well-taught woman, not the stiff scroll of a village teacher." " My dear Esther," returned the elder lady, with an ineffable sneer, " you forget how often the offices of parish clerk and sexton are added to that of schoolmaster in a country place. I dare say his writing has been improved by some such advantage as that : keeping the parish register, and copying notices to A be given out, in an audible, or as he, perhaps, would say, a 'laudable voice,' half the Sundays in the year." The subject had been pursued long enough, in Miss Luttrel's opinion, so she calmly diverted it by saying, — " Then I hope, ma'am, he makes fewer mistakes in his profession than our Stephen Borlace. Did you happen to observe him last Sunday?" " Oh, my dearest Esther, that man is my horror ! He is literally the most intolerable — the most stupid person j and how Mr. Evans can endure HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 21 him — " and off went the old lady at score : for Mrs. Darner was gifted with such an extraordinary fund of energy, that she could afford to waste a little vehemence even on a parish clerk. 22 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, CHAPTER II. There was one member of the family at Horton Hall who did not concur in the censure so freely and generally bestowed on the conduct of Mrs. Carew. It was young Hartley, Mr. Luttrel's only son, a well-grown boy of lively talents, and possess- ing that precocity of thought and reflection which home-bred lads, who associate chiefly with their elders, are apt to display. Young as he was, therefore, he took an interest in the subject of Mrs, John, which was frequently discussed in his presence ; and whether it happened that he was inspired purely by a love of justice, or the desire of contradicting his grandmother, or was merely asserting the right of a free-born English- man to speak his mind whenever he chose it, certain it is, the heir of the Luttrels ventured to take the part of the young widow in a very decided manner. Had the boy been suffered to talk unheeded, it is more than likely that, engrossed as he was about that period with things of much greater importance, viz., a strong desire, opposed by his mother, of pos- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 23 sessing a gun, and an insatiable thirst for story- books and novel reading : the latter inclination as strongly combated by his tutor — Mrs. John and everything connected with her would, ere long, have faded away into insignificance ; but his family did not pursue so judicious a course : Mrs. Darner told him to mind his own business, and his father flatly desired him to hold his tongue ; and from that moment, young Hartley grew interested in an affair which opposition alone could have rendered at- tractive to him. He now took part in the argument whenever it came under discussion ; maintaining his opinion with a zeal and pertinacity strongly cha- racteristic of his disposition. " Mrs. Carew," he asserted, " had behaved with becoming spirit, and just as he should have done in her situation. Why should she, or anybody else, conceal their sentiments ? Was it not much nobler to speak the truth ? And what was to prevent her complaining, when she thought herself ill-used ?" " But," he was answered, " those who have no grounds to think themselves ill-treated, have no right to complain. She knew all along she should not be noticed by her husband's family; and if, regardless of consequences, she chose to marry above her station, she could have no reasonable plea of complaint at finding herself neglected." Master Hartley could not be induced to see things in this light; and it was to no purpose that his father remonstrated, his mother soothed, his tutor 24 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, reasoned, and his grandmother raved. The young gentleman had for some time past felt a spirit of independence growing upon him, and this seemed a favourable opportunity for asserting it ; so that, in standing forth as the champion of the widow Carew, he in fact merely made common cause with one whom he looked upon as a sort of fellow- sufferer — the victim of domestic insult and oppression. On the occurrence of one of these disputes, his father, intending to silence him, said, — " Hartley, you are giving your opinion, and using some very paltry arguments, on a point of which you must be an inadequate judge. How a mere boy, and inexperienced as you are, can you pre- sume " His lady here interrupted him, and that with a vivacity almost equal to Mrs. Darner's. " Experience, Mr. Luttrel ! Heaven in its mercy forbid that our Hartley should ever have experience of the wretched consequences of marrying beneath his condition ! I should be miserable indeed, " looking fondly on her son, "if I thought such a thing would ever happen." "With such an example before him as poor cousin John," said some one of the family group, " a young man whose best prospects were sacrificed to a foolish attachment, Hartley would be inexcus- able." " I should call him," said Mrs. Darner, " an in- fatuated fool ! " HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 25 " And yet, ma'am/' said young Luttrel (he made a point of calling his grandmother madam, whenever she specially provoked him), " and yet, ma'am, I rather imagine our cousin John is not the only man on record who has preferred following his own inclinations in choosing a wife, and pleasing himself instead of his relations." " No," cried his father, sternly ; " nor is he the only blockhead who has incurred beggary and con- tempt by gratifying an unworthy passion." " Is there no such thing in the world, then, as love ?" exclaimed the boy, his eyes flashing with an enthusiasm beyond his years. Mr. Luttrel's frown changed to a smile, still far more galling to the temper of his son. " Oh," said he, " if we are to have a discourse on the tender pas- sion, it must be deferred for the present, for here comes Baxter to tell us that dinner is ready : and truly we shall want something substantial as the foundation of so frothy a subject." " On the contrary, it appears to me," said Mr. Francis, " that the solidity of our English fare is rather incompatible with a theme like that ; Parisian cookery alone could introduce it properly." " Oh, but we are talking of a healthy English love," said Esther, her calm face flushing slightly as she spoke ; " such a love as would be half starved on French ragouts." " Well, then," said her uncle, " to reconcile all parties — though that is almost a hopeless attempt 26 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, in times like these — we'll lay a solid foundation with the first course, and take up Hartley's favourite subject with the whips and the puff- pastry." " Stay till the dessert, my dear Mr. Luttrel," said Mrs. Darner, as she drew her shawl round her majestic person, and took the arm of her son-in- law. " Wait till you get rid of us : old women have nothing to do with such discussions." " But you forget Esther," whispered Mr. Luttrel ; "she may not object to the subject, though you do." " I don't know, I am sure. Your niece seems to me to have so much of the material of the old maid in her composition, that I can't say how far she might be interested in it. Never did I see any one of her age so indifferent to mankind in general as Esther." " Then depend on it, my dear madam, there is some particular somebody who forms the exception to the rule." " Well, to say truth, I have had my suspicions before now." And Mrs. Darner, relinquishing the arm of her companion, took her accustomed seat beside him at the dinner-table. The low tone and half satirical smile with which this little conference ended, though quite unheeded by the young lady, its real object, were observed by Hartley Luttrel, and appropriated entirely to him- self. Ignorant of the change of subject, which had taken place as his father and Mrs. Damer crossed the hall, he doubted not they were still laughing at HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 27 him ; and the effect occasioned by this misappre- hension was such as, at his years, is no trifle — it took away his appetite. For the world, he would not have suffered himself to betray his mortification on this and many other occasions of the like nature ; though, could his friends have guessed the extreme pain their lively remarks inflicted, they would certainly have altered their behaviour, and have done their best to soothe rather than irritate him. For amidst many better and some worse qualities, young Hartley possessed a morbid sensitiveness to the opinions of the little world about him ; the more dangerous that, from the fear of further ridicule, he confined it almost en- tirely to his own bosom. He had for some time past been secretly chafing at the manner in which he was treated at home ; and it must be allowed that Mr. Luttrel, affectionate as he showed himself to his son in all that he thought essential to his welfare or happiness, was less judicious in his conduct in minor points. He was disgusted by the forward- ness and presumption which he observed in some of the rising generation, and was continually on the watch to detect and repress the slightest indication of such enormities in the deportment of Hartley. Such was the excuse he would give his gentle wife when she would blame him for silencing her darling too peremptorily, or ridiculing his crude opinions instead of reasoning with him calmly. But Mr. Luttrel had, throughout his life, been used to see 28 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, every member of his household, and even many beyond that confined sphere, bend implicitly to his will ; and now, forgetting, after the manner of fathers, that an increase of years might excuse young Hartley for occasionally asserting an opinion opposed to his own, he still expected the high- spirited and somewhat obstinate boy to listen and defer, with as much blind reverence as ever, to the paternal dictum, and act as implicitly by his law. " Hartley," he would say, and that in the hearing of the boy himself, — " Hartley is at present in a wretched condition : too tall for a jacket, yet too young for a coat ; too old for all the nonsense he has furnished his brain withal, but still not wise enough to acquire a new and respectable stock of ideas. Lord help the poor child ! what is to be- come of him in the mean while?" After speeches such as these, forgotten as soon as uttered by all but the subject of them, yet brooded over by him as proofs of contempt and unkindness, young Luttrel would wander forth to ruminate on his wrongs ; magnifying many an idle word into a premeditated sneer, and fancying censure implied, where none was really intended. A hearty fit of the toothache might have done much towards the cure of this morbid condition of mind, or a want of pocket-money would have been perhaps as effi- cacious ; but with sound health, and every material wish fulfilled as soon as formed, there was very HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 29 little to direct his thoughts from these unprofitable musings. The rough discipline of a public school, the most sure means perhaps of blunting the over-acute feel- ings and lessening the self-importance of a boy of Hartley's disposition — the good or evil to be derived from such a complete change in his young exist- ence, he was forbidden by the prejudices of his father from proving ; for Mr. Luttrel decidedly ob- jected to all such institutions, and intended Hartley to remain at home till old enough to be sent to college : a period as yet too far distant to afford him much comfort in his desire for indepen- dence. " How long," he would murmur in his rebellious musings — " how long am I to be kept in this state of slavish oppression — thwarted, dictated to as if I were still a child, or had been born an idiot ? they evidently think me one ! Oh ! if I had only gone to Eton, instead of being cooped up here" — and as he looked round upon the glories of Horton, its park so noble in its dimensions, so gracefully undulating ; its woods so rich in foliage ; its groves and trim gardens, an expression of positive disgust was visible in his young features, — " cooped up under the dominion of that man — that tutor of mine. Ah ! there he goes," he continued, diving into the shade to escape the notice of Mr. Pickering, as he espied that small and respectable person emerging from another part of the grounds, — " there he goes with the true tutorial 30 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, gait, half creeping, half consequential. And that insignificant prig is the person J, forsooth, am expected to be subservient to, and never so much as to contradict him ! But, thank Heaven, a time must come at last, when I shall go to Oxford and escape all this : once there, I shall breathe freely and feel like a man and a reasonable creature. Yet after all, if age is allowed to give us a will of our own, poor cousin John ought not to have been so hardly judged ; but because he chose to follow the dictates of his heart, and marry a beautiful, unso- phisticated girl, — all sentiment and soul, I dare say, — instead of allying himself to birth and ugliness, after the fashion of my uncle Francis and one or two more of my prosaic kindred, he is to be censured and ridiculed. Well, whatever they may say, he was a spirited fellow, and I liked him better than all my prudent cousins put together ; and his wife, I have no doubt, is just like the charming creatures one reads about, and then no wonder he doated upon her! Yes, I always did like poor cousin John, for he never treated me like a baby, or refused to take me out shooting with him : and to be sure, what a shot he was ! I don't think he ever missed his bird." It was no wonder that Carew's imperturbable good humour and complaisance to his young cousin should have made him an especial favourite with Hartley ; and now the mere spirit of rebellion against domestic rule, the boyish pride he felt in thinking HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 31 himself free from prejudice, caused him to cherish the memory of poor cousin John, and exaggerate his good qualities, till he made out of a lively, good- natured, young officer, a something bordering on the heroic. He pictured him as possessing every attri- bute of worth and bravery, enduring with noble forti- tude the poverty and privation which a praiseworthy determination of having his own way had entailed upon him ; suffering all with an heroic firmness, for the sake of that adored object on whose account the cold, unfeeling world was frowning on him. Of Mr. Carew's domestic life, subsequently to his marriage, little was known amongst the Luttrels ; but the reader, if he lay claim to anything, however insignificant, which may be termed an imagination, may fancy how Hartley filled up the meagre outline of real events in his. How he fancied his gallant kinsman struggling with the perils incident to his profession, with a heart divided between love and duty. Then, after an absence of months, or even years, he would picture him returning, with a spirit unbroken, to the arms of his lovely young wife — his Charlotte ! Master Hartley had not long before obtained (surreptitiously) a translation of Werter, consequently he prized the name of Charlotte. Then there was the rapture of meeting, the de- light of renewing those vows of eternal con- stancy, even in thought unbroken ; and then, alas ! would come again the heartrending farewell, each time more sad, more tender ! And then, when 32 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, Hartley was in a peculiarly desponding mood, had been lectured over much by Mr. Pickering, or snubbed by his grandmother, then would he drama- tize, as it were, the fearful close of all poor Carew's earthly cares ; the raging waters engulphing him, yet, even as he sank, remembering her he should leave behind him. Or clinging, perhaps, for hours to a fragment of the vessel, his firm mind still unsubdued, still combating the horrors that sur- rounded him, still trusting that love so pure, so true, and disinterested as his, must triumph over even the elements themselves ! But vain are the hopes of the heroic Carew. His fair and fond young widow ! — Hartley forgot, by the way, the length of time his cousin had been married, and the probability that Mrs. John must now be getting a little passee — then would he paint her sitting in her solitude, the prey to a thousand evil forebodings, with no letter or whisper of comfort to cheer her lonely watchings ; and so it will be day by day, and month after month, till hope dies away, and she awakes to the fulness of her misery ! These, then, were the reflections in which young Luttrel indulged, whenever cousin John or his widow were made the subject of discussion : though, by de- grees, it began soon to be a theme all but forgotten at Horton ; for, after the very cavalier way in which Mrs. Carew had repelled their amicable overtures, it was not to be expected that the Luttrels should make any more attempts at conciliation. By indirect means HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 33 it was ascertained that the widow and her child were being respectably supported by some member of her family ; and it did not become the Luttrels to make very minute inquiries, or enter into further particulars : it was enough for them to know that poor cousin John's little girl was in no danger of starvation ; and, though their pride was wounded by the rebuff they had experienced, most of the party at Horton were very well satisfied to have all connection with this branch of their family broken off, once and for ever. It was, therefore, chiefly through the use which it pleased young Luttrel to make of this thread- bare topic that it was ever alluded to at all ; but it formed such a convenient opening to the avowal of his favourite sentiments, that he could not find in his heart to give it up altogether. In the presence of his father, indeed, he wisely refrained from utter- ing much that he ventured on unreservedly when in company with the ladies only : to them he freely unburthened his mind, and loved to stand forth as the uncompromising assertor of thorough indepen- dence of opinion and liberty of conduct. On these occasions, Master Hartley failed not to remark that, although their wrath might be great, their alarm on his account was still greater ; and the observation encouraged him to continue the argument. In the case of his mother, whom he loved much, and feared not in the smallest degree, he did sometimes feel a touch of remorse, when, as VOL. I. D 34 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, he advocated the cause of marriages of affection and free-will, he encountered her anxious and sorrowful glance. With her he would sometimes lower his tone, and condescend to modify some very strong expression; but towards his grandmother he had not the very shadow of a scruple. Charmed was he to think it was in his power to retaliate on her for many a biting jest or lady-like sarcasm : he showed her now no mercy, but gloried in declaring that in this the most important and interesting event of this life, the choice of a wife, he should hold himself per- fectly free to follow the example of his cousin John and the dictates of his own taste, without, in the slightest degree, deferring to the opinions or pre- judices — yes, he looked his grandmother firmly in the face as he spoke the word — the prejudices of any living creature. " Laugh at me, if you will," said Mrs. Luttrel, as her mother rallied her on the thoughtfulness she displayed after one of these discussions, — " laugh at me as much as you please, but I never shall be quite happy till I see Hartley properly married and settled in life. You will find, some of these days, that that boy has stronger and deeper feelings than either you or his father give him credit for — feelings that should be soothed, not irritated." " Strong feelings ! he would be worth little, if, at his years, his feelings were not acute. I would rather follow him to his grave," said the energetic Mrs. Darner, " than see him moping about the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 35 house without one inclination stronger than another. I should abominate so cold-blooded a being:" — for the old lady, though she frequently found fault with her grandson to his face, invariably defended him behind his back. " And as for your maternal ap- prehensions, Isabella, they are — excuse me — quite nonsensical. Like other boys, he talks big about having a will of his own ; but, rely on it, he has been too carefully brought up, and has too much proper pride to act as foolishly as poor John Carew: for that, I see, is what you are thinking of." "Yes, many a man of higher principle and stronger sense than we ever imputed to poor John, has done as unwisely " "Now, my dear Isabella, don't, I beseech you, pretend to knowledge of the world ; for you have it not, nor ever will : you cannot even penetrate the character of your own son. It shows how little real uneasiness Hartley can give you, when you are shaping out for him a course of folly merely on account of a little idle boasting, poor boy !" Mrs. Luttrel, who seldom opposed herself very determinately to the opinions of those about her, especially to those of her mother, said little more in reply, but took care for the future to evade, or dis- courage as much as possible, every subject that was likely to lead to these disputes ; for she was con- vinced they served but to harden the mind of her darling in his boyish errors. But the mischief accruing from unseasonable contradiction and undue d 2 36 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, control, was not now to be remedied ; and, strange as it may seem to those who know not how trifling appear to be the springs of action and the causes which affect the destiny of man, there is little doubt that the story of the Carews, and the squabbling (if Mrs. Darner will excuse the downright phrase) which took place in consequence of it, was in some measure instrumental in determining her grandson's future career. An inclination to be a soldier, which had seized him since the day his nurse brought him a drum and a tin sword from the fair, became, as he grew older, a fixed desire ; which the reluctance manifested by both his parents could not succeed in shaking. As an only child, and the heir to so fine a pro- perty, it had been Mr. Luttrel's wish that his son should remain at home, and, having finished his university career, obtain a seat in Parliament, and in due time succeed himself in representing his native county ; thus continuing to maintain the in- terest of the family, and keep up the patronage and consequence so long allied to the name of Luttrel. But the prospect of honour and distinction at home seemed valueless in the eyes of Hartley ; accom- panied, as he believed they would be, with the continued superintendence of his father, and the occasional advice and interference, unsolicited, of the family counsellors, amongst whom his grand- mother shone pre-eminent. No doubt, amongst his other youthful day-dreams, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 37 he had indulged in some founded on such a career as his friends had marked out for him. Like many a young gentleman of his condition, he had fancied himself capable of doing great things in public life ; was to be at once endowed with all the distinguishing qualities of the leading men, not only of his own day, but of many preceding ages ; wit, judgment, genius — everything was to be at his com- mand ; and amongst his pleasantest visions were those in which he saw himself the centre of attrac- tion to a listening senate, pouring forth floods of eloquence amidst the enthusiastic cheering of his friends, while even a reluctant "hear, hear!" was muttered from the opposition benches. Many a time had his heart thrilled and his cheeks glowed, as in imagination he had been followed by the •shouts of the multitude, and the silent blessings of his more enlightened countrymen, looked up to by all ranks as the very guide and polar star of the nation. The picture, to a boy of his ardent tem- perament, was very alluring ; but the time that must assuredly intervene before he could possibly enter on such a course, deterred him from choosing it. To be in leading-strings so many years longer ! — for he had ascertained that even at college he should be still under the watchful eye of Mr. Pickering. No : such a prospect was not to be borne, not even with the premiership in perspective. The army would emancipate him much sooner : and was it not, after all, as fine a thing to be a com- 38 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, mander-in-chief as a prime minister? Thereupon, he decided for the more heroic profession. How little did his family suspect the motives that really actuated the young man in his choice ! By them it was imputed entirely to military zeal ; and notwithstanding the natural desire they felt that he would have chosen a more peaceful road to distinc- tion, their regret was chequered, (especially amongst the ladies,) with much admiration of his incipient valour. " He would have been unworthy his name and our affection for him," — this was the way in which the matter was regarded by Mrs. Damer, — " if he had not determined as he has. I should be ashamed of a young man who could bear to sit at home in luxurious ease, while his country's battles were being fought for him. Dear boy ! we shall see him one of these days a distinguished officer : of that I have not the remotest doubt." " If he is not filling a soldier's grave before then," murmured his mother, with a sigh. Ah ! could they have guessed what was really passing through his still boyish mind ; could they have known how much more he was influenced by his weariness of their society and disgust of their control, than by any thirst for martial glory, how differently would they all have felt ! But happy, most happy is it for us, when the hearts of those we love are not to be read off like text-hand. The manuscript may, on the whole, look creditably, and HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 39 even in some parts be very prettily illuminated ; but even in the fairest page of such a scroll there will be many a foul blot and crooked line ; and those human creatures are ever most to be envied whose mental vision is so blinded by deep affection that they cannot peruse the volume. Relying, therefore, implicitly on the excellent motives which prompted young Luttrel in his choice of a profession, his friends offered no lengthened opposition to his wishes. A relation high in the service was applied to, to exert his interest at the War Office, and in due time the young man ob- tained a cornetcy in a dragoon regiment ; which to his delight and the distress of his mother, was shortly expected to be ordered on foreign duty. Now were Hartley's aspirations to be fulfilled ; from this time forth he must enter a new existence : new scenes, new cares, and pleasures, and trials, worthy of a man : in one word — and there lay the crowning charm of all — he should be his own master ! Under the impression afforded by such an en- chanting prospect, how changed was the aspect of everything about him ! His countenance beamed with animation, no longer evanescent as the boyish dreams that had formerly excited it ; the lounging careless step, that drooping head and " horrid slouch" for which he had been almost hourly cen- sured, had given place to such a buoyancy of mo- tion, such an erect and firm carriage, as any drill- 40 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, sergeant would have witnessed with satisfaction. Not Cymon himself, under the influence of Iphi- genia's fair face, was more swiftly acted upon or thoroughly changed. No longer sauntering amongst the loneliest walks in the paternal demesne, or sunk in listless luxury in a corner of his mother's sofa, as far removed as he could contrive to be from the eye of his father or the voice of his grandmother, he could now face them and all the world with the ease and confidence of a full-grown man ; and many a trifling circumstance, which would formerly have annoyed him acutely, served now but as matter of amusement. : in short, the very hairs of his head seemed to curl with more crispness than they had ever done before. It must not, however, be concluded from this, that the young man was utterly engrossed by selfish considerations. His mother's deep though quiet sorrow, and the evident disappointment which his martial inclinations had inflicted on his father, touched him more deeply than in his assumed man- liness he liked to own. Notwithstanding his un- conquerable desire to be independent of their con- trol, he loved and honoured them both, and did full justice to their parental anxiety; and while incapa- ble of regretting his choice of a profession so noble, he grieved that it should have given them pain : he almost wished, for their sakes, that they had pos- sessed another son better adapted for home pur- poses, while he, fulfilling his brighter destiny, went HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 41 forth into the wide world to seek adventure and renown. A little less schooling and good advice from the well-meaning circle at Horton, and it is difficult to guess how far his remorseful scruples might not have extended ; but his very change of life afforded scope for so much additional lecturing, either openly delivered or, what he detested still more, covertly implied, that Hartley, proud in a self-reliance that had never yet been proved, received their various warnings as a species of insult. While one spoke in horror of the gaming-table, and another insinuated the mischief to be avoided from any excesses in the matter of wine, his mother's alarms were chiefly directed against the practice of duelling, so prevalent and so fatal in the profession he was about to enter : she treasured up each old reminiscence or newspaper anecdote bearing on the question, and retailed them all at intervals, for her son's especial benefit; but from her he could suifer much, that coming from the lips of another would have been accounted absurd or impertinent. Be- sides, at the age of nineteen, it sounds far less derogatory to be warned against shooting your man, than held capable of " speaking parrot," or losing your money at play. Mrs. Luttrel's maternal precepts, therefore, he re- ceived with the meekness of a lamb and the cour- tesy of a Grandison ; but when he was one day pounced upon, to receive instructions as to his future 42 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, career, by an old gentleman of the neighbourhood, who thought his having served three years in the militia entitled him to speak dogmatically on all military matters, then Hartley's patience gave way ; and very fervently did he bless his kind stars, and his uncle the general, who had assisted each other to make a way for him, by means of which he might escape all such impertinences for the future. Somewhat to his surprise, Mrs. Darner proved to be almost the only one of his friends who did not in this way contribute to his annoyance. She had so high a respect for the profession he had determined on, and himself for having chosen it, that she would augur nothing,- but what was favourable to his future career ; and it was not until bidding him farewell, when he was on the eve of departure, that she assumed a little of her ancient domineering tone, and gave him a word of advice. " Heaven bless you, wherever you may be, my dear boy ! " said she ; " and be sure to write home for money whenever you want it. And one word, my dear Hartley ; above all things, take care and don't be fancying yourself in love with the first pretty face you may happen to see : that sort of nonsense has been the ruin of one member of our family, and, for Heaven's sake, let his fate be a warning to you ! " and with this benediction from the old lady, and many a tear- ful adieu from the rest of his assembled relations, the young man departed. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 43 CHAPTER III. It was over! and he was free! He had left the scenes of his infancy, the companions of his child- hood, the friends who had cherished him only too carefully, all things animate or inanimate that could speak to him of home : there was not a trace of the nursery or the schoolroom left to shame his newly- acquired independence. Yet it was not in the first moments of separation from these things that the young cornet could fully appreciate the possession of the advantages he had so long and so eagerly coveted. Home feelings, and associations con- nected with less dignified periods, would continue to press upon him : as he passed each familiar object in the vicinity of Horton Hall, he experienced emo- tions more worthy of his age than his aspirations. For some time after passing into the high road, the park palings excluded the view of Horton ; and Hartley watched eagerly for one well-known spot where, the plantation breaking off for a few paces, the house became visible from the road. From hence it was a distant object, yet he could 44 THE FA.IR CAREW ; OR, distinguish every figure in the much-loved group, that was still lingering at the Hall door to catch a last glimpse of him and wave a final adieu. All but his mother : for her he looked in vain ; and he truly and sadly guessed that she was weeping within doors. Till this moment, Hartley had never suspected how dearly he loved them all ; and much did he congratulate himself that his post-chaise contained no companion, however agreeable as a travelling friend, who might have sat in the opposite corner and criticised his behaviour on that particular occa- sion. Now, whether he wept like a schoolboy or whistled like a man, it was equally indifferent to the postboy or his horses. By degrees, the spirit of desolation, which seemed to hover about his state of solitary independence, departed from him, and the revival of his spirits might be traced in the bright colours with which he began painting his return home. No doleful image was sutfered to obscure the vivid powers of his imagination : a few years were to bring him back to them — a very few, just sufficient to give him the rank, honours, experience, and reputation, without which life could not be endured — to them he was to return an object of pride as well as love ; and just exactly as he left those dear friends, there on the marble steps of the stately old building, was he to find them again. No thought of the afflictions or infirmities, or death itself, that even those few HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 45 years might bring with them, were suffered to cloud the picture : there they were to assemble — the same in number, health, and aspect; except that smiles would then be substituted for tears, as they pressed to welcome home the distinguished individual whose glorious achievements were destined to illustrate the family name. Such are the visions of nineteen! His letters home — and they were long and many — breathed the same spirit of ardent enjoyment. His regiment, previous to its embarkation for the Penin- sula, was quartered in the neighbourhood of Ply- mouth ; and though the older and more experienced of the corps had been there long enough to grow heartily tired of it, to Hartley the station possessed a thousand attractions. Except an occasional so- journ in London, he had as yet seen little beyond the hills of his native county ; and now, fresh in feeling, buoyant in spirits, and with an enthusiastic love of nature, the simple change to new associa- tions, and the privilege of riding or wandering amongst scenery so exquisite as that into which he was immediately thrown, produced in him a sort of mental intoxication. Everything, therefore, was described con amore: the service itself all that he could desire, his own particular regiment being the finest that that service could boast ; agreeable com- panions amongst his fellow-officers ; and, going further a-field, there was society of the most hos- pitable and pleasant description : for Hartley Lut- trel, though strictly bred at home, had none of the 46 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, bashful awkwardness which usually characterizes such an education. Without greatly overrating his natural or acquired advantages, he was sufficiently conscious of much that must entitle him to consideration ; and, as he might flatter himself, to esteem. Well-born, and well-connected, and destined to a goodly heritage, with a fine person — for the good points of both his parents had descended to him — and with a mind, for his years, uncommonly cultivated, he entered society fancying himself careless of success, because, in truth, he was confident of it ; and seldom was he disap- pointed in the degree of favour bestowed upon him. To his mother, who was his chief correspondent, he wrote with simplicity and unreserve of all that interested him ; but, for the particular edification of that mother's mother, he enlarged considerably on the female fascinations to which he was exposed : never failing, in his account of a grand dinner or a social picnic, to particularize such lovely women and pretty girls as happened to be of the party. Released, as he happily was, from all fear of his grandmother's lectures and sarcastic looks, he no longer felt savage towards her; but still there lin- gered within him enough of the naughty-boy sort of feeling to make him enjoy the notion of exciting her alarm. In this respect, however, Cornet Luttrel showed how little he knew of Mrs. Darner's sa- gacity ; for, if it was his purpose to raise apprehen- sions on any such delicate point, he should have HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 47 singled out some one of the fair bevy, and have carefullv celebrated her charms above the rest : as long as he continued to make honourable mention of so many at once, there was not a Miss Julia or Anna Maria of the whole lot that gave the old lady the smallest uneasiness. " Besides," as she wisely argued, " if the boy chose to flirt a little with one or two nice presentable girls, why e'en let him. Poor, dear child ! he would soon be removed to a much higher, and, she must needs say, a more respectable sphere of action." His mother treated the question conscientiously. " Yes ; all very well for him, perhaps — though of that she had her doubts ; but who could say, with such attractions as Hartley's, how dangerous this sort of intercourse might not be to the poor things he trifled with — innocently, of course, on his side." " Oh, don't distress yourself about them, Isabella. As cats are said to have nine lives, so young ladies in the vicinity of a sea-port town have nine-and-twenty hearts, at least, to give away to the first fop or fool that chooses to ask for them. I have," the old lady continued, with her own decided turn of ex- pression, " the very meanest possible opinion of girls in sea-port places." " And yet, ma'am, you called them nice just now," observed Miss Luttrel, with the quiet smile with which she was apt to listen to Mrs. Darner's tirades. " My dear Esther, I called a very common sort 48 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, of person by a very common sort of name ; and that's the only defence I'll condescend to make for my unfortunate epithet." As we have said above, Hartley's fellow-officers were far from being as well satisfied with their position as was their younger associate ; and, when he arrived amongst them, he found them all cursing their fate in being confined to a spot which they asserted to be barren of all diversion. Nothing but grumbling met his ears ; except it might be from their lieutenant-colonel, a tall, spare, hard-featured, and oldish person, who, as Luttrel soon discovered, made a point of contradicting everything that was said by everybody else. " I give you my word," said one of the young men, — and he said it in a manner that was equally solemn and sad, — " we have been at this confounded place for nearly a month, and the whole of that time there has been nothing done (to speak of) for twenty miles round, but a fair, and a thing that they called a pony- race!" But Hartley would not be persuaded to grumble with the rest ; with a mind yet unsated with novelty, and a strong perception of the ridi- culous as well as the sublime, there was many a person and many an object within his reach, which, disregarded as they might be by his less imagina- tive associates, proved subjects of amusement to him. One thing there was, however, in his lot, which he soon felt to be an evil ; and this was the want of some one of his own standing of whom he could HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 49 make a friend. The officers of his regiment were gentleman-like, and, to a certain point, companion- able; but Hartley now found out, what had never before struck him— at least in so strong a li^ht — that the Luttrels were certainly an intellectual family, and he himself no exception to the rule; otherwise he would not so soon have missed the rational yet lively conversation, which from his childhood he had been accustomed to hear passing around him. In the first effervescence of his ac- quired liberty, everything had seemed good of its kind, and he was never tired of laughing with the young officers, or at the old ones ; but after a while he grew weary of the frivolity and the vacancy of mind which drove them to cards or smoking, or lounging for mere idleness in the very face of the, sun. His higher nature revolted from such a course of existence, and when unoccupied by the routine of duty, he took refuge in study, or in making acquaintance with the picturesque beauties of the neighbourhood: it would have shamed him to think that his highly prized freedom of action should be turned to so ill an account as theirs. It also struck him as particularly unlucky, that of the very two men in the corps whose acquirements and turn of mind suited best with his own, the one practised six hours a day on the violin, and the other — was in love. Now, in the latter case, Hartley's sympathies might easily have been enlisted for the innamorato VOL. I. E 50 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, had the circumstances of his passion been some- what more plainly defined ; but to listen to the raptures of his brother-in-arms about the charms of a nymph he had never seen but twice, and of whose name, character, and dwelling-place he was still profoundly ignorant — why the scraping of the lieutenant was preferable to that. Then the style in which young Romilly chose to blazon forth his admiration for this unknown beauty, was wholly irreconcilable with the scru- pulous delicacy of Luttrel's ideas on all subjects of this nature. Instead of confining the amour, if such it could be called, to his own breast, or at most sharing the secret with one faithful friend, judicious, trustworthy, and refined, he scrupled not to proclaim his passion before gods and men, and suffered his fair incognita to be toasted, under all manner of absurd names, at the mess-table. The very soldiers grinned and winked to each other, as they saw their young officer running past them the length of the town, in pursuit of some shawl or bonnet which chanced to resemble the attire of his undiscoverable beauty ; and Mrs. Stokes, the pastry- cook in the High Street of the place, and all the three Miss Deans who kept the library, were deep in his confidence, and constantly on the same look- out. In a word, he made everybody acquainted with the affair except his uncle, the disagreeable colonel aforesaid ; as any allusion to the beautiful unknown was sure to elicit from the old gen- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 51 tleman some severe remark, such as reminded Hartley of Horton Hall, and caused him to bless his stars that he had no uncle for a commanding- officer. " Come, Romilly," said one of the officers, as the colonel was one day called from the mess-table on some indispensable business, which happily relieved them for a few minutes from his disagreeable pre- sence — "Come, Romilly, let's have that story of yours. I want to know how you first lighted on the charmer in the poke bonnet." " You have heard it before," said Romilly, " scores of times." " But your manner of telling it gives fresh interest to every new recital : besides, I want to know if the cow that played such a prominent part in the affair was of the real Essex breed or only an Alderney." " If," said Romilly, " I indulge myself in ex- patiating on this divine topic, understand, all of you, that it is out of no civility to yourselves, as I hold you utterly incapable of appreciating the merits of the subject of my narrative, or my admirable manner of relating it. It will simply be to gratify the incessant inclination I feel to talk about her ; and I shall consider myself, to all intents and pur- poses, soliloquizing, just as much as if I were reciting Petrarch to a company of Hottentots." " We pass over the impertinence of the remark, in order to come to the story. It was amongst the e 2 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 52 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, puppet-shows at Winthrop fair that you met the damsel, wasn't it ?" " Yes," said another. " She was occupied pro- fessionally — dancing, as O'Hallaran would say, 'for the bare life/ in a dirty pink petticoat trimmed with tin-foil." " I saw heB," said Romilly, taking no notice of the base insinuation, but throwing himself back in his chair, and fixing his eyes ecstatically on the ceiling, — " Let me recall the most blessed moment of my life ! I saw her, for the first time, looking as if she had just descended from the heaven that is only worthy to contain her — surrounded, as you say, by hundreds of country dolts and rustic wenches, all gaping open-mouthed at the wonders around them. There, in the midst of noise and folly, — the titter of affectation, and the coarse laugh of the vulgar — there she stood ! and how different from all that was in contact with her." " Why, yes ; her divinity would be somewhat questionable, if she looked at all like a fellow in a smock-frock, or his rosy-faced sweetheart either." " Her countenance, indescribably soft, was ra- diant with mind as well as beauty ; consummate grace was in every turn of her perfect form ; purity of heart, and delicacy of sentiment, shone out in every action ! " " Especially when she bought that pound of gin- gerbread-nuts, counted the change, and tied up the purchase in a checked pocket-handkerchief." HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 53 " And if she had," said Romilly, " there was such native dignity in all her movements, that the vul- garity of the thing would have been unthought of: still would she have seemed a youthful Juno." " I don't believe Juno ever was youthful," said Hartley. " I have never heard of her but as bor- dering on a certain age." "You put me out," said Romilly. "Bingham's voice I am so used to, that I care no more for it than I do for the scraping of his eternal fiddle ; but yours is new in the regiment, and disturbs the concatenation of my ideas. Where was I?" " The catchword was Juno and gingerbread," said Bingham: "for once I'll stand prompter; though I heartily wish you would change the play." " Oh, Romilly is like Mr. Coates, he can play nothing but Romeo." " This can't be love," thought Luttrel : " he never could stand all this, if he really cared for the woman he raves about." But in spite of this persuasion, Hartley's fancy was a little moved by the account the young man gave of his mistress's charms ; it might put him a little in mind of the last mawkish love-story he had read in the shades of Horton : but Romilly's person was good, and his manner unembarrassed. He accompanied the fluent description with sighs and attitudes, which would have gained him immortal honours on the boards of any private theatre. " With all this innate dignity, this modesty of the 54 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, soul, there was mingled," said he, " a sweet timidity : a half surprise at the rude scene she witnessed ; and as she leaned on the arm of her companion — would that / had been that protector ! — she would press closer to her side, and at every unexpected sound would start like a frightened fawn. With dazzled eyes, and brain bewildered, I followed her like her shadow: once, and once only, our eyes encountered." " Why, what an insignificant fellow you must be to stare at a girl for an hour, and get but one look for your pains ! " "Lord bless you!" said Bingham, "that was all art and affectation ; she saw him fast enough, I '11 be sworn, and so did the old lady too." " Oh, as for old women," said Romilly, descend- ing at once from his stilts, " I never answer for them ; they are, as all the world knows, an unneces- sary part of the creation, and it is only surprising the State has tolerated them so long. No, no, I give up the mama ; but as for the angel herself, the blue of her eyes " " They were black the last time you mentioned them." " Well, black or blue, they could not be purer than the mind which shone through them." " Well done, Romilly ! old Mrs. Radcliffe herself could not hit off a description much better than that. You certainly improve every time you tell the story ; and I think this is about the sixteenth recital that I have heard myself. Well, and now for the Alderney." HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 55 "Stay one moment," said Romilly, "let me pause on the remembrance of my happiness, before it was snatched from me for ever. That look haunts me day and night. It was at the very instant our eyes met, and we read each other's thoughts, hers all innocence, mine all fire ; at that moment of intoxi- cating delight, a cry went forth among the people, a bull had escaped from an adjoining field, and was rushing madly among the crowd. At that fearful shout the lovely being turned her head, and I heard her utter a cry of alarm. It rushed into my brain with the rapidity of lightning, that, in this fortuitous circumstance, some propitious power was at work to draw us irresistibly together. i~ was to be her deliverer, I — happiest of men — " " Or boys," muttered Bingham. " I was destined to shield her from impending danger, perhaps at the sacrifice of my life : but what mattered that?" " Certainly not, as far as you were concerned ; but think of your country." " And then, in the first emotion of her gratitude, what encouragement might I not have expected? what bliss hereafter." " Well, and what did happen after all ? " inquired Hartley. " Alas ! my good fellow, my hopes were all falla- cious : the adventure was not reserved for me. As I flew forward to join her, a multitude of affrighted fools rushed between us, and we were divided not to 56 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, meet again. Heaven knows ! I did all I could : I buffeted the mob, and roared in my anguish louder than the bull himself. I knocked down two men, and tumbled over one old woman ; and as I arose from saluting, not the old woman, but my mother earth, I caught a glimpse of the divine girl flying along the plain ; but I never again came up with her : my efforts were all in vain. Fancy the horror that filled my soul at thus losing sight of her, while I was hemmed in and suffocated by the canaille: the brute, maddened by its pursuers, might even at that very moment be defacing the beauty that had driven me almost as wild as himself." " Speak more respectfully of that bull," said Bingham ; " it is now my turn for a classical allu- sion, and who kgows whether Jupiter himself might not have had a hand (or a hoof) in the affair : the old Thunderer has been much belied if he had not quite as quick an eye for a pretty woman as Captain Romilly of the Dragoons himself; and being- still ignorant of the name of your incognita, whether she be a Miss Hopkins or Jenkins, Miss Smith or Miss Brown, allow me, in the mean while, to propose the health of the Fair Europa." " The colonel !" whispered some one, as the old gentleman re-entered the room. "Very well," said Bingham; "then we'll defer the toast to some future opportunity, when we may drink it with all the honours." HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 57 CHAPTER IV. We have said that Hartley Luttrel's letters to the family at Horton Hall were frequent, and to them highly satisfactory ; nor were his friends one whit behindhand in acknowledging their sense of his literary favours, by the length and breadth of the despatches which they sent him in return. His mother was his chief and most constant correspond- ent; but now and then, though at rare intervals, and in a style vastly more laconic, came a letter from his father ; and occasionally Mr. Pickering put pen to paper in behalf of his old pupil : for though that gentleman's professional labours were now over, he still continued a fixture at the hall. Then there were uncle Francis and Miss Luttrel ; to each and all did Hartley look for periodical notices, slight though they might be, of the world he had left behind him — a world becoming dearer to him than he had formerly believed possible. But there was one member of the household of Horton with whom he never dreamed of holding correspondence, she being notoriously averse to 58 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, writing ; great, therefore, was Luttrel's surprise, when a letter written on very large paper, di- rected in a stiff, old-fashioned hand, and sealed with uncommon precision, was delivered to him one morning among some others, and he found that it was from Mrs. Darner : positively his grandmother had taken the trouble to write to him ! And though he smiled, and affected to think it rather a joke that she should have thought fit to add her quota of Horton gossip for his amusement, yet in his heart he felt a little flattered by such a proof of her regard for him ; he mentally pronounced her a " good old soul," and shewed his sense of her merits, by opening her letter before any of the others. Independently of the home-feelings that were gratified by letters from Horton, Luttrel found amusement in that variety of style which is as noticeable in epistolary performances as in the countenance, voice, or gesture of the writers them- selves ; and here was another specimen to be ana- lyzed, entirely different from the rest : from his mother's flowing and truly feminine style, shewing her solicitude to please him by enlarging on the themes she knew would interest him the most, and yet omitting nothing which might give him a per- fect insight into their course of life ; or from the literary productions of Mr. Pickering, touching on subjects, public or private, in a gossiping yet clever manner, cursorily interspersing a word or two of advice : which Hartley, conscious of his real eman- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 59 cipation from control, could peruse with indulgent forbearance. Then there was his father, always going straight to matters of moment ; his allusion, if he made any to lighter events, being simply contained in a sup- position that " your mother has doubtless told you this," or " Pickering has probably mentioned that," — never deficient in real kindness, but displaying none of the flowery expressions of affection. Nor must be forgotten the elegant style, not unpre- meditated, yet ever pleasant and well-expressed, of his uncle, Mr. Francis Luttrel, of the Lodge, as his place at Horton was called. Lord Chesterfield, with his immorality carefully eschewed, had evi- dently stood for his epistolary model ; and he had profited by the study. But distinct from all was the language of Mrs, Damer ; which, in its terse and decided tone, resembled the mind and conversation of her who indited it. Still, although satisfied with the autograph, Hartley was yet at a loss to know why it had been addressed to him at all ; when, towards the last part of the letter, he came upon something which at once en- lightened him. " By-the-bye," said she, introducing the matter with an affectation of carelessness which her grandson thought done but clumsily, " it has, by the merest chance, come to our knowledge, that these Carews, poor John's widow and child, are living somewhere down in your neighbourhood. Now, it is not likely, in spite of the high and 60 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, mighty airs that have so disgusted us, that this person should be mixing in the sort of society which you frequent ; but, should it happen to you in any way to come in contact with her, we beg you, my dear Hartley, to avoid her as much as you decently can. While you were an inexperienced boy, it was all very well that you should take up the cudgels, as I remember you sometimes did, in defence of the widow Carew ; and I often encouraged this sort of family discussion with you, thinking it served very much the same purpose, without having the same mischievous tendency, as those debating societies in London, where young orators in embryo resort to sharpen their wits ; but, since that time, age and understanding have both increased with you, and you must perceive, without my pointing it out to you, the gross impropriety there would be in your appearing on familiar terms with a person who has so forgotten herself and her position, in her con- duct to your family, and especially as regards your mother: treat her, therefore (if ill-luck should bring you into the same society), with the common courtesy due to all women ; but, for Heaven's sake ! take care how you are trepanned into an acquaintance, per- haps dangerous to yourself, and certainly offensive to all of us." Here, then, was the explanation of Mr. Darner's kind condescension in writing a letter to her grand- child : she was afraid he would be too civil to poor cousin John's widow, if they happened to come HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 61 athwart each other. A silence, almost to oblivion, of twelve years, had not proved sufficient to extin- guish the old flame of animosity towards the Carews, which had once burned so brightly and produced so many little tiffs between him and his grandmother ; and still — for in that lay the sting of the matter — still she was fancying that he was to be dictated to, as in days of old. It was really too absurd ! He might not perhaps voluntarily seek out this Mrs. Carew, and solicit her acquaintance : though it would serve his grandmother very rightly if he did ; but there was no occasion for taking such a step : it would be giving himself unnecessary trouble. Still, most assuredly, if poor John's widow did chance to be thrown in his way, he should conduct himself towards her according to his own ideas of pro- priety and gentlemanly feeling, without asking Mrs. Darner's advice on the subject ; and he almost wished that, at the dinner-party to which he and some of his brother officers had been invited that very day, he might really meet this excommunicated Mrs. Carew. But the widow Carew was not at the party ; and the matter might have passed from his recollection altogether, had it not been for some- thing which occurred the following morning: and which tallied, as he thought, strangely enough with the purport of Mrs. Darner's letter. He had gone early to loiter away half an hour with his friend Mr. Bingham, in talking over the dinner of the previous day ; when, as he entered 62 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, the room, the lieutenant accosted him with some animation : — "What do you think?" said he; "there's poor Romilly has just discovered the name and address of his Dulcinea ; and the colonel — who, I suspect, fancies the affair a great deal more serious than it really is — has ordered him off to London at an hour's notice : and there, I dare say, he '11 manage to keep him till we get our orders. He would have been delighted at such an arrangement a week or two ago ; but now, you may imagine his grief and his grumblings. He swears he'll sell out, or ex- change into a regiment without an uncle in it ; but I have a notion he is rather too dependent on old Widdrington, to put that boast in execution." " I should commend him for it if he did, though," was Luttrel's rejoinder ; thinking, as he spoke, of his grandmother. " I would not be subject to the domineering temper of such a man as Colonel "Widdrington for all the world." " Ah ! it's all very pretty for you to talk, who I take to be one of fortune's prime favourites." " Well, but, Bingham, don't you think our friend has brought all this upon himself, by making the affair so horridly public. I really can have no sympathy with a secret that is known to half the town, and all the red-haired girls at the Library besides." " Yes ; it was Miss Betsy, the most carroty of the lot, who, I believe, discovered his charmer's HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 63 address for him. — Take care ! you are sitting down on my fiddle !" " Oh ! hang your fiddle !" " Ah ! I must have my practice, for all that ;" and Bingham, taking up the instrument, began tuning it. " Yes, that is just what I have told him scores of times : but Romilly, though a good fellow in his way, is about as wrong-headed a specimen of humanity as What's become of that solo, I wonder ? You don't happen to see it amongst the music on the chair V* " Phoo ! never mind it now," said Hartley, who dreaded the commencement of the morning's prac- tice quite as much as Romilly's love-rhapsodies. " Tell me, Bingham, what is the name, after all, of Romilly's enchantress — anything adequate to his wonderful description of her?" " Why, no ; I can't say much for its euphony," replied the other. " As I told him, it breathes more of ornithology than romance." " What," said Luttrel, carelessly, " is she one of the feathered tribe, then — one of the finches of the grove ? A dove, perhaps, or a nightingale ? Cupid forbid that she should turn out a gosling ! — though there is a shoemaker of that name in this very town, and he may have a daughter old enough to go to the fair, and pretty enough to attract our susceptible friend." " N-o," said Bingham, looking earnestly at his book with that almost fierce expression with which 64 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, a musician regards a really scientific passage. " No, he has the goose all to himself. No, the divinity is a crow, I understand — a Miss Crow, living some- where hereabouts under the wing of the mother bird." Hartley repeated the word with some contempt ; for at his age one is particular about names, and he pronounced this to be an extinguisher to all senti- mental association. " But it will be all the same to Romilly. I do believe he wouldn't care if it was Hogsflesh at once : there is nothing of delicacy in his feelings on these subjects. As soon as his enthusiasm, as he calls it, is awakened, he swallows everything with facility. I have known him admire such commonplace women, that I dare say I should see nothing very remarkable in this beauty of his in the poke-bonnet." And Luttrel finished his remark with a shrug of derision, intending to dismiss the affair as altogether beneath farttier consideration ; when suddenly an idea flashed across his mind, causing him to linger upon it yet a little longer. The surname of Crow was a very uncommon one : at least, it had never occurred to him to hear it before. What if Romilly 's informant — probably some vulgar person, unused to the delicacies of language— had made a mistake in a vowel or two, and the name should prove to be Carew, instead of Crow ? He thought over the case deeply, yet rapidly, all the while the lieutenant, who by this time had forgotten altogether the presence of the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 65 inferior officer, was concentrating the energies of his musical soul on a very difficult bit of Corelli. " Crow ! the name was ridiculous, and next to impossible ! Rooks and Ravens he had met with, and had been familiar from childhood with a Drake; but who ever heard of a Miss Crow?" And then, connecting one thing with another, he thought of his grandmother's letter, and perceived how natu- rally, under this supposition, he could account for all that had seemed so strange to him in its apparent scope and tenor. A sensible person like her — for, after all, Mrs. Darner did not want for understand- ing — would never have taken the trouble of writing a letter of advice, unless she had seen some special reason for it. What more likely than that, through some connection common to both parties, his friends, at Horton should have heard of Mrs. Carew's daugh- ter being a very attractive girl ? His grandmother, with more astuteness than truth, still applied to her the term of " child ;" but if dates were to be trusted, she must now be bordering on womanhood. Then would follow, as a matter of course, the fear of his seeing her and falling a victim to her fascinations. Luttrel, conversant with home proceedings, could easily imagine the serious commotion which an apprehension like this was capable of exciting at Horton Hall. A smile, a wicked smile of supe- riority, if not of contempt, stole over his handsome features, as he thought of the family councils that had probably been held on the occasion. He saw VOL. I. F 66 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, them assembling in full divan, his uncle and Esther, and even Mrs. Grey her old companion, all coming up from the Lodge on purpose to sit in consultation on the imminent danger to which his youth and inexperience were exposed ; the solemn convocation terminating in his grandmother volunteering an epistle from her own venerable hands, which should embrace the opinions, and convey the good pleasure, of all his near and dear relations. That they really were " dear," as well as " near," to him cannot be doubted ; yet Hartley's indignation against them was roused in no slight degree on discovering, as he supposed, the manoeuvres they had been practising. " They think me," said he, " a raw youth, ready to fall a prey to the first pretty face I see ; and fancy, because a light-headed cousin of ours lost his heart to the mother, that the daughter must needs prove as dangerous to me. I have a strong inclina- tion to show them that I am not quite such a weak, unfledged stripling as they suppose. I have a great mind to make it my business to find out these people, and ascertain if the girl is really as hand- some as Romilly describes her. The mother, I know, was reckoned a beauty, and good looks are commonly hereditary. What an excellent joke, too, it would be, if I were able to introduce Romilly to his lovely unknown as my cousin !" A scheme which was fraught at once with amuse- ment and mischief, and the bold execution of which must vindicate him from the suspicion of being in- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 67 fluenced by the prejudices of home, and put an end, if anything could, to the meddling interference of his grandmother, was not likely to lose its attrac- tions on further consideration. Being resolved against such indiscreet communi- cations as he had blamed in the conduct of his friend, he uttered not a word of his intentions to any living soul; but having already ascertained from Bingham the quarter from whence Romilly had gained his intelligence, he waited till the colonel's disconsolate nephew was fairly on his road to town (on what the officers unfeelingly termed not sick, but " love-sick" leave), and then applied to the same source, namely, Miss Betsy Deans, the junior orna- ment of the High-street Library. Through her report, then, he learned that the young lady in the- poke-bonnet- — for by that name she was universally celebrated by Bomilly's scouts, lived with her mama in a small house in the country about five miles off; the situation of which Miss Betsy described as accu- rately as she was able, and which Hartley thought he could remember, for he had often walked that way. Thither, impelled by the mixed feelings we have attempted to analyze, young Luttrel resolved to bend his steps the very next morning. He had been a little tempted at one time to give some hint of his intention, and the conjectures which had incited him to it, to Mr. Bingham, of whose sense and discretion he had a good opinion ; but there were one or two reasons which disposed him, f 2 68 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, for the present, to keep the matter secret even from him. Though proud of his ingenuity in starting the idea, he was not yet positively certain of the identity of the fair unknown with that of his own blood relation, Miss Carew ; and even if they proved to be one and the same, still, on acquaintance with the lady, he might not be anxious to publish the circumstance of their cousinship to his brother offi- cers. And, besides, there was the possibility that he might not be able to compass that introduction to her which he meditated ; for it was to be doubted whether, after all the awkward and irritating cir- cumstances which had occurred between Mrs. Carew and his family, she would be inclined to recognise and receive him as a relation : cousin John's widow not being aware of the fact that, whenever in his presence the Horton folks had joined in abusing her, he had stood up her strenuous defender. The difficulties attending the enterprise, however, only incited him the more to undertake it. He knew the worst: he could but be repulsed in his efforts to introduce himself; and, at all events, in making the fruitless attempt, he should obtain a sight of the lady, whose charms, real or imaginary, had afforded such constant subject of conversation and quizzing amongst his companions. He would go, therefore, but go alone; and, supposing the obstacles which presented themselves had been still more serious than they really were — supposing the object of his curiosity to have sojourned in an en- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 69 chanted castle instead of a cottage of gentility, and to have been guarded by a dragon instead of a widowed parent of doubtful temper, there lay his grandmother's letter still unburnt; and Luttrel re- quired nothing more to spur him on to the adven- ture. He read that memorable epistle over again, while he was breakfasting the morning after poor Ro- milly's departure, and paused upon each dictatorial sentence. What an egregious blunder the old lady had committed ! How physically grey, yet morally green, had been that grandmama of his ! But for this letter, which she — oh, most arrogant and deceived of old women ! had considered a master stratagem, his attention would never have been attracted to the subject of her warning advice : he really could not conceive how so very knowing a person could have fallen into such a lamentable error ! But he — he would enlighten her as to a few points of which she was at present profoundly ignorant ; he would prove to Mrs. Darner, that, young as he was in the service, he could out-general her with the greatest ease imaginable; and, laughing to himself as he thus soliloquized, the young man tore the offending letter into very small bits, dropped them into the slop basin, and then pouring upon them the dregs of a cup of coffee, called it a libation to his grandmother. 70 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, CHAPTER V. With many a reflection like these to solace him by the wayside, Hartley Luttrel set forth on his expe- dition to Fairley Mill ; somewhere in which vicinity, according to Miss Betsy Deans, dwelt the object of his solicitude. Following the high-road for about a mile, a sudden turn showed him the little village of Fairley, lying afar off in the valley beneath, and imbedded in a landscape whose fertile and rural loveliness can scarcely, even in Devonshire, be surpassed. From hence the windings of the river might be easily traced ; here glistening in the morning sun, there partially hidden by the luxuriant foliage which clothed its sloping banks. Never until this day had Hartley failed to pause at this particular point, and admire the prospect ; but now he stopped only to remark the position of one little tributary stream, which, ere it found its way to the more majestic waters, made itself useful as well as ornamental, by turning the wheel at Fairley Mill. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 71 Rapidly descending into the vale beneath, the more extensive view was soon lost to him ; but had he been an artist as well as a lover of nature, it might have been long before he reached his desti- nation. To the many little scratchy, shapeless performances in his sketch-book, he would have added many another, perhaps as scratchy and more shapeless still ; but all regarded with the fond eye of an amateur, and intended, whenever occasion served, to be exhibited and properly appreciated by a circle of indulgent friends. As he trod with a more determined step than usual the bye- paths leading to Fairley, many an object presented itself which might have figured as a " pretty bit " in his portfolio : at one turn a group of old oaks with bare roots and ivy-wreaths entwining them ; and at another, the stream itself becoming visible from be- tween the willows and sedges, and looking dark and cool ; and then, as its waters widened, a pair of swans came sailing gracefully along, equally indifferent — happy creatures! — whether the traveller who lingered to look at them discriminated their beauties with the powers of a Landseer, or was the poorest bun- gler that ever fancied himself a genius. Presently, the village itself and its rural church was seen in perspective, beyond a group of trees whose wide overshadowing branches seemed to form a natural frame to the picture; and this, perhaps, to an amateur artist would have been an " accident" of especial value, for to such persons there is 72 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, nothing more attractive than the " village spire in yonder grove." Be as indistinct as you please with the surrounding parts — the more confused, perhaps, the better for your reputation ; but draw your church spire upright, if possible, and with a bold decided touch, and the most purblind of your acquaintance will comprehend what it is intended for : your venerable oaks may be mistaken for travellers in full-bottomed periwigs, your horses for asses, your swans, alas ! for geese ; but only make your steeple high enough, and its weathercock of respectable dimensions, and all will be well. But as I have before said, on this particular day these picturesque concomitants were wasted upon Hartley, and all he thought of was how to reach the mill by the shortest possible cut. A w T ooden bridge of the rudest structure brought him to the opposite bank of the streamlet, and here he began to look about him for some one who might be able or willing to answer his questions respecting the ladies. To attack the miller himself, or any of his men, on a subject of this sort, appeared to him a desperate measure, only to be resorted to in case of utter defeat in other quarters. The old fellow as he trudged to and fro looked so intent on his business, and withal so desperately stupid, that he was evi- dently, as Hartley thought, impracticable. But while hesitating how to proceed, fortune stood his friend in the form of a turkey-cock, of large breed and most uncivil breeding, who, the moment he HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 73 espied the young cornet, advanced to meet him, ruffling his feathers and making such a horrible noise, that it soon brought the miller's wife to her door to see what was the matter. On perceiving Luttrel, she curtseyed and looked civil, and he fell to interrogating her without loss of time. " Were there not some ladies living in that neighbourhood ? He believed their name was Carew. Did she know of any ladies of that name living close upon the mill? " There was a rather roguish look in the old woman's countenance, as, shaking down her apron and assuming an air of consideration, she answered, — " To be sure there was two ladies, old maids like, living on the other side of the hill ; but their name was Sowerby. Was he sure it wasn't Sowerby as he meant ? They were very good old ladies, and took a great deal of care of the poor ; and then there was Mrs. Murphy, the old lady at Boxmoor?" Luttrel smiled and shook his head. " Well, then, perhaps he might mean the two ladies as lived down by the lane there. He was not, she believed," and she said it significantly, "the only sodger- ing gentleman as had been asking questions about them." This piece of voluntary information convinced Luttrel that he was in the right track, and pursuing his inquiries he obtained what he thought a suffi- cient direction. She mentioned the situation of the house he was in search of, and Hartley's ready me- 74 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, mory supplied all the accessories. " A cottage with green rails and honeysuckle round the porch — he knew it well." Perhaps there might be something of a honey- suckle — the miller's governante refused to swear to the fact ; and as to the rails, she could not say whether they were green or white, but supposed it did not make much odds. " It was called Quin's Folly, because the man as built it had never been able to pay for the bricks, and he had cheated her master out of a deal of money besides:" but she supposed, charitably, " that the ladies as were living there now had nothing to do with that." Hartley supposed so too, and waving further dis- cussion, thanked the good lady for her information, and retraced his way across the water. The cottage, which he remembered passing more than once, and never without admiring it, was soon in view. It argued, he thought, no want of taste in the widow to have chosen so retired and beautiful a situation for her summer residence. Poor Romilly ! what would he not give to be just in Luttrel's place, or even under the shadow of his wing? How he should triumph over his enthusiastic friend when they next met ! As to offering to intro- duce him, as he would doubtless desire, that must depend entirely on circumstances. If Mrs. Carew, after all his boyish romance, should verify his grandmother's ill opinion of her, and prove to be an inferior sort of person, Hartley could not, for HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 75 the honour of the family, present her as a relation, to one whom he knew was capable of laughing heartily at the vulgarity of the mother, at the very instant he was making desperate love to that mother's child. The Luttrel blood rose high at the bare suggestion, and he congratulated himself that he was alone, and able to reconnoitre safely, before bringing down a fresh division of the Dragoons to invade his cousin's peaceful retirement. Presenting himself at the little green door of the cottage — for it tvas green, in spite of the miller's lady, he inquired, of a respectable-looking servant who opened it, if Mrs. Carew was at home. The answer was only so far satisfactory, as it served to convince him that he had rightly interpreted the name. " No, the ladies were out walking." Luttrel was dis- appointed ; for a moment he stood wistfully eyeing the pretty little porch, and the well trimmed garden, and then, loth to relinquish the adventure, asked, " Which way were they gone?" " They went in that direction," the man replied, pointing down the lane ; " and my mistress seldom walks far, sir: you'd be sure of overtaking them ;" and Hartley, half laughing at his own eagerness, took the path indicated to him, and walked brfskly forward. " Now," thought he, " if my good-natured but tiresome little tutor could see what I am doing, how sagely would he lecture me on wasting so much energy upon trifles. Well, my profession, if it has as yet brought me little in the way of glory, has at 76 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, least freed me from the tedium of his orations. And so allons in chase of our cousins, in spite of old Pickering and my grandmama;" and half walking, half running down the gentle declivity, which led still deeper into the bosom of the valley, our hero presently came in sight of the game he was pursuing. There they were, sauntering slowly in the path before him. Two ladies certainly of genteel appear- ance, and one, the slighter and younger figure, terminating upwards in that individual close cottage bonnet, familiarly termed a " poke," which Hartley had heard so often alluded to. And here, as the difficulties of his position presented themselves before him, he slackened in his pursuit. How should he introduce himself? In what manner perform his salaam, and give these fair ones to understand that he was their loving kins- man and well-wisher? The conduct of his family towards this lady had not, he was conscious, been such as to entitle him to expect a very cordial reception from her. What a pity that she had not been at home? A card w 7 ith his obnoxious name upon it would then have decided the matter in a proper and gentlemanly way, and it would have rested with Mrs. Carew, whether to receive him, or civilly shut the door of Quin's Folly in his face. Now, there would be all the awkwardness of intro- ducing and naming himself viva voce; and Luttrel, notwithstanding his warm aspirations after inde- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 77 pendence of action, was yet boy enough in his heart to feel nervous at the idea of the encounter. Setting aside his youthful romance about her, he was aware that in his own family the widow Carew had always been accounted a virago ; and to that species of womankind Hartley had a particular antipathy. What if she were to visit on him the sins of his relations, and say as bitter things as he knew she could write? But even while he thus meditated, his step attract- ing the notice of the elder of the ladies, she turned to see who followed her, and as she did so, exhibited to Hartley a countenance at once so lady-like and pleasing, that all his apprehensions faded and dis- solved when they were at their very height, leaving behind them only a tinge of modest embarrassment, which in one so young and handsome appeared neither unnatural nor ungraceful. Mrs. Carew, who was still some years under forty, and young looking for that age, displayed considerable remains of the beauty which had made her the wife of the deceased cousin John; her eyes sparkled with a vivacity, in which, perhaps, might sometimes be traced the author of that very decided epistle which had given such offence at Horton Hall : but in this animated expression, there was not a trace of the shrewishness imputed to her by the Luttrels. Somewhat struck by the sight of a stranger in one of her most secluded walks, she regarded Hartley 78 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, for a moment attentively, and was then turning her head ; when, to her surprise, the young officer, as he came up with her, took off his cap, and addressed her by her name. " He believed he had the honour of speaking to Mrs. John Carew." " You are quite right," she replied, with a voice and manner that completed the favourable prepos- session her appearance had already inspired : " My name is Carew ; but how the fact can interest you I am not aware, as it does not occur to me that we have ever met before." The ease and frankness with which she answered him encouraged the blushing cornet. He acknow- ledged that he had never till that moment had the pleasure of seeing her, but added, " that it was only his ignorance of her address that had prevented his seeking the honour of an introduction immediately on his arrival in Devonshire. She would not be surprised/' he added, " that the name of Carew was familiar and interesting to him, he himself being a Luttrel." His explanation was most courteously and grace- fully delivered, in just what the nicest critic must have pronounced the true medium between shyness and assurance ; but still it did not seem to give satisfaction. Mrs. Carew stopped, and, turning to him with much less suavity than she had before dis- played, said stiffly, " You are, then, sir, a relation of my late husband's?" " A near one," was Hartley's answer ; " or he HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 79 should not have ventured to introduce himself to Mrs. Carew with so little ceremony." Without noticing the apology, Mrs. Carew pur- sued her interrogatories, her address all the while growing more cold and haughty ; till Luttrel trem- bled for the fate of his adventure, and a strong impression was borne in upon his mind, that " Quin V was not the only "folly" that future tra- dition would have to record with respect to that neighbourhood. "Are you a son of the elder Mr. Luttrel? — I mean the Mr. Luttrel of Horton Hall." " Yes ; his only son." And at this avowal of Hartley's style and title, the fair questioner drew herself up, and haughtily demanded, " And pray, sir, what may your business be with me?" At this point Luttrel, in his heart, gave up the game for lost : but he had watched the brewing of the storm, and stood in some degree prepared for it. He replied, therefore, though with greater distance of mariner, " that his sole purpose in visiting Fairley Vale was to inquire after Mrs. Carew, and pay his respects to her. He had walked over from , where his regiment now lay, for no other reason ; but if the liberty he had taken seemed to her too great, he would request her pardon for the intrusion, and no longer press upon her an acquaintance which appeared to be unwelcome to her." Luttrel was walking in a line with his two fair 80 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, cousins, who were arm-in-arm, and it is uncertain whether he observed the bye-play of the younger lady ; for as he thus replied to that ungracious ques- tion, his manner changing from smiling embar- rassment to a haughty composure, quite equal to that of the widow, the poke-bonnet turned decidedly round, the arm of the elder lady was closely pressed, and a soft, girlish voice whispered, in a tone of re- proach, " Oh, mama ! " Mrs. Carew, too, seemed moved by a spirit so much in accordance with her own, and her air of defiance gave place to a sort of reluctant civility. " Well," said she, " if you really have taken the trouble to walk so far to see us— for in these de- generate days I know it is no trifle for a young man to come three miles to call on an old woman — I suppose it would be churlish, perhaps worse than churlish, to draw back from a courtesy kindly in- tended. To confess the truth," she went on gravely, " I have no pleasure in hearing the name of Luttrel : I should welcome you much more cordially under any other. But no matter : hereditary feuds, they say, are unchristian things ; and, at all events, they should not find a place in this quiet valley — should they, Selby V speaking to her daughter. " Oh ! no, mama," replied one of the sweetest voices that Luttrel had ever listened to ; and, to say truth, it came most opportunely to heal a certain soreness and irritation excited in our hero by Mrs. Carew's very cavalier reception of him. He had HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 81 certainly expected the display of a little reserve on their first meeting, and a little drawing back at the unexpected name of Luttrel ; but a positive defiance like this, and such an assumption of conse- quence, was what he was quite unused to, and hardly knew how to take. He who had found himself so cordially welcomed in every society he had yet entered — had he really troubled himself to walk down that long hill merely to get himself affronted when he reached the bottom of it ? " It serves me right," thought he, as Mrs. Carew finished speaking ; " the fair widow speaks truth, and I have no business here, and it shall be long enough before I trouble her again ; for, whatever she may think, I'll not be a visitor anywhere on sufferance." But then came those soft accents from, under the celebrated poke, and the ruffled feathers of his dignity were all at once smoothed down ; anger and mortification were mingled, if not quite subdued, by sentiments of a much pleasanter nature. A few steps further, and a little more constrained conversation brought them to the cottage — to Quin's Folly. By this time, though probably not without an effort, Mrs. Carew had recovered the outward marks of good breeding ; and — Luttrel though he was — she invited her new acquaintance to enter and take some refreshment. If it was done with reluc- tance, the internal struggle was not very perceptible ; and Hartley, after the hesitation of a moment, ac- cepted her offer : for while he was pausing somewhat VOL. I. G 82 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, stiffly at the garden gate, the face of the young Selby, hitherto but partially visible, was turned full upon him, and all his scruples vanished at a single look. '* No voice whispered o'er him, as the threshold he cross'd ; There was ruin before him,— if he loved, he was lost." He followed the graceful widow, and her still more lovely child ; and the door was closed behind them. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 83 CHAPTER VI. The interior of the little building, picturesque as it was outside, accorded ill with the distinguished appearance of its inmates. They were staying there, as Mrs. Carew explained to Hartley, only for the summer months ; their usual residence being in the neighbourhood of Bath : but her state of health requiring a milder climate, they had made a little* tour in Devonshire, and while travelling in the vicinity had been struck with the beauty of this spot ; and giving way to their enthusiasm, had hired the cottage for the season, almost without inquiring into its capabilities of accommodating a family of any gentility. They soon discovered that these were lamentably few. " But here," Mrs. Carew said, " we see no company ; not knowing a single creature in the neighbourhood : and, indeed, as I come only in search of health, society would be a trouble to me. And then, my daughter and I are very simple in our tastes ; so that, secure of fresh air and fine prospects out of doors, we can put up with much that is inconvenient within. Take off your bonnet, g 2 84 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, my love, you look heated. Yes, we grumble a little now and then at our wretched furniture, and wish for unattainable riches that we might show our taste in embellishing ; but long before we have reached the top of Fairley Hill, we forget all our griefs about odd cups and saucers, and rickety chairs and tables, and return to our temporary home in perfect good humour with it and all the world besides." " The Luttrels excepted," thought Hartley. " But you are looking at Selby, Mr. Luttrel," said Mrs. Carew, interrupting herself, as she ob- served that while the young soldier was listening to her, his eyes were fixed on his more silent cousin. " Is she like any of your family ? for /, you are aware, know none of her father's relations." This was uttered with marked emphasis. " I do not see much resemblance," replied Hart- ley, not sorry to have such an opportunity of examining Romilly's enchantress more openly. " Perhaps, allowing for the great difference of age and manner, I should say that in Miss Carew's fea- tures I could trace a something of likeness to my grandmother, Mrs. Damer." He forgot that Mrs. Damer, being of a family entirely distinct from the Carews, there was no blood relationship between them. Mrs. Carew coloured as he spoke. " Oh, Heaven forbid ! anybody rather than hers !" she exclaimed, impetuously. " Oh, don't compare my poor girl to that dreadful Mrs. Damer! Excuse HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 85 me, Mr. Luitrel, pray, excuse me : but if you knew all I have suffered from Mrs. Darner ; if you knew, which I dare say you do not, her unjust aspersions, her insolent contempt — you might blame, perhaps, but you would not wonder at my warmth. But I know I have no right to speak rudely before you of your relations, or, indeed, to trouble you at all with my complaints ; only — " and here she smiled very sweetly, while her fine eyes glistened through tears, — "you must not tell me that my child bears any resemblance to Mrs. Darner, for the idea is intoler- able to me." Luttrel earnestly assured her that he would say nothing intentionally to wound her feelings. " But this I must add," said he, " in vindication of my unlucky comparison, that of all the ladies of ouf family, Mrs. Darner has ever been reckoned the handsomest." "There, mama!" exclaimed Selby, her counte- nance lighting up with arch yet bashful pleasure ; " won't you believe in the likeness now?" Mrs. Carew looked in her daughter's beautiful face with maternal pride and fondness, and laying her hand on her shoulder, observed, " You don't know what you say, my own Selby : you know nothing of that old lady, nor ever will, I trust!" and Hartley, as he sat contemplating his two fair kinswomen, thought he had never seen so interest- ing a group, and hardly knew which to admire most, the mother or the daughter. 86 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, It was with difficulty, and not before an hour had flown, that he could persuade himself to take leave. After the very broad hints he had received, it may be easily supposed that he did not again recur to the subject of relationship ; and, this topic excepted, Mrs. Carew conversed on every other so agreeably, with so much intelligence and vivacity, while her daughter, if she did not enter largely into the con- versation, looked and smiled so eloquently, that Hartley had never made a morning visit so entirely to his mind. At length he thought himself obliged to depart ; but arose with a reluctance so perceptible, that Mrs. Carew, flattered by his evident gratification in her society, and scarcely less pleased, on her part, with the manners of her visitor, said, as she offered him her hand — t( If the commencement of our acquaintance, Mr. Luttrel, has not quite frightened you from con- tinuing it, I hope this will not be your last walk to Fairley. We have no amusement to offer you, no society but ourselves ; but whenever you are in- clined to see more of the beauties of the neighbour- hood, you may always command a resting-place in our poor cottage — though," smiling expressively, le you are a Luttrel." Her guest, had he been perfectly sincere, might have told her that the one " beauty" he had already discovered in that vicinity was quite enough to entice him thither again ; but he replied only to the latter portion of her speech. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 87 " Since you express such a horror of our relation- ship," said he, pressing the hand she held out to him, " I shall be tempted, strange as the idea would otherwise be, to wish myself un-cousined." A few more agreeable things were said, which it is not necessary to repeat here ; suffice it, that Luttrel departed from Quin's Folly. Oh, name of ominous import! but, like many an omen, disre- garded until too late. Enraptured with his good fortune in having discovered two such relations — and discovered them, as he vauntingly reflected, not in that blind and stupid fashion in which a man will say that he has discovered a post, by running his head against it, but solely through the exertion of his own determined will, unassisted b}' aught but his native ingenuity and the prohibitory messages from Hor- ton — he moved with a more exalted carriage, and walked up Fairley Hill with firmer tread ; as, amongst other somewhat intoxicating ideas, he congratulated himself on the moral triumph he had that morning achieved. It followed, as a matter of course, that the young cornet should seek by all means to improve an acquaintance so agreeable in itself, and having its commencement in motives so praiseworthy. In the exuberance of his spirits and his strong desire to plague his grandmother, he at first proposed trans- mitting to her and the rest of the sages sitting in conclave at Horton Hall a full, true, and particular account of his excursion to Fairley ; for, he inter- 88 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, nally argued, how was he to gain honour in dis- obeying them, and showing his superiority to family prejudice, if they were still to rest ignorant of his noble audacity ? But, on the other hand, when he reflected on the sensation this intelligence was likely to excite among his friends, and the remonstrance and reproof he should be subject to in return for such communication, he judged it better to defer the confession till after his departure from Eng- land. That period could not be very distant : unex- pected delays had occurred in the disposition of the troops, but now it was confidently believed that, ere many weeks were over, their regiment would receive its final orders. Then would he write, but not till then. As long as he remained in the vicinity of the Carews, his motions would be jealously regarded by the good but meddling people at Horton ; he even believed them capable, under the incitement of Mrs. Darner, of despatching an accredited spy, in the person of Mr. Pickering, to look after his old pupil, and report the situation of affairs — a measure, in Hartley's eyes, most ardently to be deprecated. But when the English shores were fairly left be- hind him, they could be under no further apprehen- sions for his safety, considered in an amatory sense ; and he might then not only indulge his inclination to ridicule their interference, but also, by a sober and sincere description of the Carews, bring them to HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 8 a more rational judgment touching their fair kins- women. Upon his grandmother, indeed, he could not hope to make much impression. Without par- ticipating in the somewhat illiberal warmth of Ro- milly's animosity against old women, Hartley had a great notion that ancient ladies of sixty-five, or thereabouts, were not to be easily enlightened, even by the plainest sense or most irrefragable argument. All he could in her case engage for was to put her to silence, and thus afford fair play to his efforts for converting the rest of the family group ; which he believed to be much more open to conviction. In the same spirit of secresy, though here origi- nating in a different cause, Hartley breathed not a syllable, even to his most intimate associate, Mr. Bingham, of the subject which began soon to lie nearest of any other to his heart. He had always affected solitude in his rides or rambles, so that his frequent walks to Fairley remained unnoticed ; and the absence of Romilly afforded him further facility for keeping his movements concealed. The better he became acquainted with his interesting cousins, the less could he endure the thought of exposing them to the notice of his brother officers. There was a purity in their turn of mind and conversation, which won incalculably upon his esteem, and com- pleted the interest which their personal charms had first inspired ; and this, he thought, must suffer — at least as far as the daughter was concerned — from the pursuit and adulation, the hollow attentions, or 90 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, — what might be still worse for her — the serious admiration of the men he was in the habit of mixing with. He liked his brother officers very well, as the companions of an hour ; but, excepting the sen- sible Bingham and the sincere though hair-brained Romilly, there was not one he could endure to think of as upon visiting terms at Quin's Folly : and he felt no inclination to take off the interdict even in their favour. If there was one quality that Luttrel regarded more jealously than all the rest in his beau ideal of a woman, perfect as far as mortality can be, it was that which is, I grieve to say, so rare amongst the young and beautiful — unworldliness and freshness of heart. Among the less favoured of God's creatures — those whose unattractive youth brings them quietly along the safer path of mediocrity — such instances may be found ; but, being found, are little remarked or valued, except by the immediate circle with whom they pass their days. It is amongst the pretty and graceful that we look the most eagerly for qualities so seemingly in accordance with a clear skin and a perfect profile; and yet, in many cases, — I say not in all, for that would be to slander Hea- ven's loveliest endowments, — but in far too many instances, how often do we find that the faces most nearly approaching the angelic, are the most closely allied to all that is mean in sentiment and grovelling in taste. Luttrel, though young in the ways of society, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 91 possessed a delicacy of mind approaching the very- bounds of fastidiousness ; added to which, was a keen perception of character, that supplied the place of experience ; and it wanted not the satirical hints of his apparently better-informed companions, to enlighten him as to the aim and intent of many a piece of coquetry which he saw played off by the fair Julias and Anna Marias elsewhere alluded to — little trickeries which they (poor girls !) believed, all the while, to be so nicely veiled and so irresistibly charming. Many a small instance of artifice, of petty rivalry and peevishness of temper, vanity intense, and a craving for admiration, which is the root of so much self- degradation, had come under his acute remark : the instances, perhaps, not in themselves important, but many in number, and tending to wear away that transcendental notion of female excellence which he had imbibed in the society of his mother, and a passionate study of the beautiful creations of poetry and romance. The fear of ridicule, if he disclosed these feelings too openly, joined to a strong suspicion that his hearers might be unable to appreciate them, kept him, in general, from enlarging on this topic ; but well could Hartley remember what had passed between himself and young Rom illy, as they returned to- gether one evening from a pic-nic : how he had indulged himself in a virtuous tirade, which went something after this fashion—" Did you see that handsome, sensible creature, who seems so capable 92 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, of better things, flirting, to the very verge of im- propriety, with that odious fool and puppy, So-and- so ?" — and the answer of his absent friend rang still in his ears, expressing, in the most florid language, an undoubting conviction " that that angel in the poke would never have done so." On that occasion, Hartley, annoyed by this recurrence to a threadbare subject, had peevishly pooh-poohed the remark ; and — it might be, not without a something of per- sonal pique, to sour his opinion of the sex — had grossly, as he now thought, grossly and vulgarly asserted, that he believed them to be " all alike — all equally frivolous and artificial." Poor Romilly ! Now Luttrel could do him jus- tice : his generous instinct, his instant perception of the good as well as the beautiful, had not erred. He himself would now, with as little hesitation, have staked his existence on the simplicity of Selby Carew, and her entire freedom from those female imperfections which were so repugnant to his pure taste. But while he assured himself that a mind so well stored, a heart so amiable, and a tongue so sincere, might safely be trusted even in dan- gerous society, yet, in truth, he was well content that for the present she should live exempt from all temptation — very well content to keep her all to himself, with only the addition of that agreeable mother with her spirited conversation and polished manners to give additional zest and variety to his visits at Quin's Folly : visits that, to say truth, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 93 grew more delightful to him every time he made them. Indeed, to a young man in Hartley's condition, who had not yet, with all his boasted manliness, quite shaken off the feelings common to boyhood and a home education, an intercourse like this, which had all the familiarity of family affection joined to the novelty of a first acquaintance, was likely to be peculiarly pleasant. To find himself at once placed on the footing of an old friend, without having had to pass through the icy ordeal of a formal intro- duction and the commonplace interchange of un- interesting courtesies, would, in itself, have ensured his prosecuting the intimacy ; even though his new friends had been less engaging than they really were. And then the mystery he fancied himself in a measure bound to preserve — the romance of the whole affair, the sequestered nook in which his trea- sure lay concealed, and all the graceful associations of rural scenery which surrounded her ; these things endeared the adventure to his fancy more than he was aware of. Even the weather seemed to favour his visits to Fairley, for a whole month ; and much may be done in a month : it never rained but when it ought. Farmers, haymakers, and pleasure hunters were all in good humour, and not so much as a grumble heard among the gardeners. The sun was bright as June suns should be ; yet the earth remained unparched, for soft showers came down at intervals, not heavy enough to spoil the hay, merely 94 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, sufficient to refresh the verdure, and prevent Miss Carew's shoes from getting dusty when she rambled through the valley with Cornet Luttrel. The Carews themselves, after the first meeting was over, were in nowise backward at performing their most important part in this promising ac- quaintance. Selby, with all the romance of sixteen, regarded her handsome cousin as the very model of a hero ; while her mother — independently of the satisfaction she received from the company of a gentlemanlike, intelligent young man, who, like the summer showers aforesaid, came to break so plea- santly the monotony of their solitary life — had other and less acknowledged reasons for making his society peculiarly welcome to her. She had felt, from the very first moment of his addressing her, a sensation of triumph, in beholding herself the object of attention to the heir of that proud family which had invariably treated her with neglect ; and, as she imagined, with downright con- tumely. Had the whole generation of Luttrels come trooping down Fairley Hill to court her acquaintance, it would not have given her such perfect satisfaction, such keen enjoyment, as this solitary but most remarkable instance of civility in their future representative. Though disdaining to make any inquiries on the subject (for after her first indignant outburst, she avoided all mention of her husband's relations), she more than suspected the young officer to be acting towards her without HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 95 the knowledge, much less the concurrence, of his friends ; and the idea of the vexation it would cause at Horton, when they came to hear of the strange step he had taken, was delightful to her. In this particular she had greatly the advantage of her daughter. While Selby's pleasure in the society of her newly-found cousin referred solely to the present moment, or, at most, glanced forward but to the day that was to bring him to her side again, her mother's mental vision embraced all periods. She had a long look backward on the mortifications of past years ; and a hope, that brightened at each meeting more and more, of triumph and retaliation for the future. Often, while Hartley was reading aloud to them, or wandering with Selby amongst the sequestered environs of their dwelling, would Mrs. Carew sit surveying them, or listening to the soft accents or the gay laugh that met her ear when they were hidden from her sight. And then did she image to herself the fright and horror which would seize his anxious family could they but look in upon the Pairley trio and see what was going forward : until then, she had been the one to suffer mortification and contempt, now it would be their turn ; and her cheeks would glow, and her eyes light up, at the very thought. Mrs. Carew was originally endowed with a gene- rous heart and a strong understanding : she was capable of forming, on most points, the noblest sen- 96 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, timents, and of acting up to them with a high and steady impulse. One might have lived for years with the handsome widow without being aware that her passions on any point were particularly strong ; for she was not one to waste the nobler energies of her soul on trifles. She bore, therefore, the casual annoyances and trials of life, such as sour the temper of ordinary women, with cheerfulness or placidity. She had encountered the privations incident to her marriage, and her subsequent widowhood, with praiseworthy fortitude ; and in the education of her daughter had displayed all the tenderness of the fondest parent, united to a soundness of judgment, which is an ingredient in the matronly character far more difficult to be met with amongst the " Mothers of England." I name them particularly, not by any means intending an illiberal sneer at my own coun- trywomen, but simply because they are the only foolish mothers with whom I have any acquaintance. But while Charlotte Carew moved along her path of life, displaying so much that was creditable and good, she possessed passions which were capable not only of corrupting her own better nature, but of becoming dangerous to those over whom she ex- ercised influence : they were not often awakened, but when they were, they started up in all their strength, and governed her every thought and action. Amongst these deeply-seated feelings, and, per- haps, the chiefest of them all, was her unbounded HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 97 enmity to the Luttrels ; and for the sake of gra- tifying that hatred, she shewed herself capable of endangering the happiness of the creature most dear to her on earth. Feeling convinced that nothing would wound the family so deeply as that their son should become irrevocably attached to a daughter of hers, she encouraged Hartley's incipient passion, and watched its progress with, the utmost satis- faction; blind, as it would seem, to what was passing in the heart of her own child all the while. Yet how was it possible she could be really blind to the truth ? She who knew every feeling and look of Selby's, how could she, even to herself, pretend ignorance of the fact that her daughter's affections were becoming fixed on their fascinating visitor ? For my own part, having no portion of that charity which consists in excusing the wrong-headed on grounds which I suspect to be false, I firmly believe that the widow Carew was perfectly awake to all the circumstances of the case : that she perceived every symptom of the malady ; traced to its real source every emotion of that young and inge iuous heart : and yet (so inconsistent as well as wicked is human nature, when given over to the indulgence of its passions) she persisted in encouraging this dan- gerous connection. Day after day she saw him coming, nay, she bade him come : she helped him to find excuses for his visits, till laying aside the very semblance of cere- mony, he came without any excuse at all. To vol. i. h 98 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, Selby, none had ever been wanting: the only oc- casion which in her sight demanded apology was when, by some rare chance, he stayed away. Yet let it not be supposed that there was, on her part, anything partaking of forwardness, or less than maiden modesty : she talked and thought of Luttrel only as her cousin, long after he had in truth become her lover. O, fair yet false deceit ! HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 99 CHAPTER VII. Thus, for a certain period, this pleasant state of things endured : the future disregarded — at least by the young people — the present all in all to them ; when at head-quarters there arose a rumour of the being ordered, ere long, on foreign service. This long-desired news diffused, of course, much joy and animation throughout the regiment: every eye was brighter, every tongue in motion; but by Cornet Luttrel it was heard with feelings of a mixed .character. To a certain extent, he could not fail to share in the general satisfaction ; for many an old day-dream, indulged in long before his ac- quaintance with Quin's Folly, rose up to cheer him : the desire of filling honourably some part in the history of that eventful period, answering the ex- pectations he knew his friends had formed of him, and proving himself worthy of the affection of her whose sweet face had first taught him how to love. Yet he could not anticipate leaving England, and with it all that had lately rendered his life so bright and happy, without some sore misgivings ; h 2 100 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, and besides, though he had had every reason to anticipate a change in his position, yet now the prospect of its immediate occurrence came like a shock, rousing him at once from idle enjoyment, and forcing him to think and act. He had never, in express terms, declared his love for Miss Carew, much less required any declaration from her ; for, simple and undisguised as she was in manner and speech, he knew, as well as if she had uttered the words, that her heart was all his own. But now it behoved him to be more explicit : honour, as well as inclination, demanded that they should come to a mutual understanding. For Lut- trel, though rash and self-opinionated, was not one of those who could amuse the tedium of country quarters by flirting with a pretty girl, and then, salving over his conscience (if such a word may in such a case be used) with the plea that vows were yet unspoken, leave her to pine away in despon- dency and consumption : such an idea as that never entered his head. But there was another which did ; nor, it may be concluded, was it by any means the first time that it had found entrance there, even as he had wandered home, after some of the very sweetest evenings spent at Quin's Folly, — only then it had been quickly chased away by pleasanter reflections : — " How very pretty Selby had looked that day ! " or, " how agreeably her mother had conversed !" or, perhaps, his eye for the picturesque would be struck by the light of some distant cot- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 101 tage, or the nightingale would sing him a song. But now matters were come to such a pass, that nothing which either mother or daughter, bird or beauty, could do, sufficed to set his heart at ease. It came upon him in all its broadest certainty and most unmitigated disagreeableness, that his friends would not fail to set themselves determi- nately against his forming an alliance with Mrs. Carew's daughter. If it was reckoned a degra- dation for their cousin John, a distant relation of theirs and belonging only to an inferior branch of the family, to choose as he had done ; how would they all, and his parents especially, receive the information of their son and kinsman — the hope of the house, the heir to the broad lands of Horton — having pledged himself, one day to marry the actual offspring of that (in their minds) ill-starred union? Yet so it must be. Such was the end to which his independent spirit, and resolution to have his own way, most certainly tended ; and he could only quiet his perturbed mind by reflecting that that strong word "declaration" had, for the present, no business at all in his thoughts. To announce to his family the important step he was on the point of taking, was the very last thing to be thought of: the engagement must be kept profoundly secret, till the time — not, he trusted, very distant — when, having won honour and rank in his profession, he should feel himself entitled to speak out boldly and without reserve. Much regret, disappointment, 102 THE FAIR CAREWJ OR, and censure he must expect, under even the most favourable circumstances; but he must seize the first moment of his return, when their hearts would be open to every gentler influence, — moments in which even the prejudices of years might be sur- mounted — to make the startling disclosure, and Selby's exquisite loveliness must effect the rest: " even his grandmother would relent at the sight of Selby." And so, solacing himself with the glowing picture of domestic bliss which his sanguine fancy had conjured up, Hartley Luttrel once more set forth on his accustomed walk to Quin's Folly. It was a day of singular beauty, the atmosphere soft and hazy, the mists about the hills dispersing slowly, and all things giving promise of a glorious afternoon. The young people had planned for that day a longer expedition than usual. Mrs. Carew's rather weak state of health had kept them in general from doing more than stroll about the valley ; but as she gradually gained strength, Selby had cast many a wistful look towards the hills. " One may as well be in the Happy Valley at once," said she, " if we are never to move half a mile from our house." " Upon my word," replied her mother, " we seem to have had but poor encouragement to try our wings; for the only time we have been far from home, we went to Winthrop fair : and do you know, Mr. Luttrel, we were in some danger of being tossed by a bull?" HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 103 "Were you, ma'am ?" said the cornet, and turning rather abruptly from the widow, he began, in con- cert with the younger lady, to lay out a plan of this day's proceedings ; sketching all with the happy presumption of youth, which sees in one day of pleasure but the sweet forerunner of many more. As we have seen, however, things had occurred at head - quarters which effectually banished this grand expedition from Luttrel's recollection, while Selby, having dreamt of it through half the night, was ready to think of nothing else the next morn- ing ; and now she sat by the cottage window, pre- tending to work, but in fact watching anxiously for the approach of her cousin. "If he doesn't come soon," said she, breaking a silence of rather unusual duration, " we shall not have time for half we wanted to do : I never knew him so much after his time before." " What he?" said her mother. "Who do you mean by i he.' Always mention people's names, my love." " Dear mama ! " replied Selby, " who can I be meaning? Is there any he but one, who comes near us here ? — except the old man that brings the vege- tables, and Thomas, and the cow-boy ; and which of them, do you think, I should be waiting for to take a walk with us ? " and she looked archly over her shoulder at her mother as she spoke. An unwonted feeling, a something of alarm, per- 104 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, haps also of remorse, seemed to cross Mrs. Carew, for she answered, rather seriously : " Selby, my child, I am afraid you walk about rather too much with this cousin of ours." " What, mama, with Hartley ? Oh ! dear no : I should go twice as far, if it were not for leaving you alone. It is very odd, but I never do feel tired here. I am sure this air must be doing you a great deal of good, for it gives me such spirits, and makes me feel so strong : it is soft and buoyant at the same time." " So you used to say of the Downs near Bath, my dear." " "Yes," said Selby, quickly, "but I shall never say so again. Oh, I am sure, there can be no com- parison between the places. Do you remember, mama, the last time we walked on Landsdowne with that tiresome Mr. Ross, and once before with old Captain Sutherland ? Oh ! how tired I was : I thought I should never have got home again. And yet yesterday, I do believe I must have walked at least five miles after dinner, and you saw your- self how little I was fatigued when we came in ; for, you know, we talked and laughed all tea-time, and talking sometimes tires one more than anything; and after all, instead of wishing to go to bed, I could have walked half-way home with Hartley : I am sure I could. Oh, there 's no doubt of this air being better than any you have tried yet; and I shall never like that old Dr. Brown again, for HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 105 wishing to keep us at Bath. Only think if you had really taken his advice!" Mrs. Carew looked almost as if she wished she had : whether she felt any growing uneasiness at the turn affairs were taking at Quin's Folly, or that the unusual delay in Hartley's appearance as- sumed somewhat the semblance of defection, gave her a sudden qualm, certain it is she looked un- comfortable ; while her daughter, still relying on his ultimate arrival, kept expatiating on the excursion before them. " We mean to go up Hinchcliffe Hill to-day, mama." " Selby ! you don't suppose I can get up that steep place. Why, it 's a perfect precipice." " No, of course not ; we are to leave you by the way : we are to take the camp-seat, and there 's a beautiful shady spot about half-way up, where we mean to establish you : Hartley is sure it will just suit you. Then you must take a book, and when you are tired of that, you must have your netting : you know, mama, you promised Hartley to net him a purse ; and if you begin it to-day, he is always to think of Hinchcliffe when he looks at it. Hartley has a very odd idea about purses ; he says there should always be some sentimental feeling con- nected with them, to prevent the avaricious thoughts that might otherwise hang in the meshes of the netting. I am sure," speaking gently, " he need not be afraid of any bad thoughts. And then, 106 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, when we have done running about, we are to return to you, and tell you all the wonderful things we have seen on the other side of the hill ; for we have lived so long in this one little nook, that I begin to think the inhabitants beyond (Hartley calls them the Transalpine people) must be some- thing curious, and I shall not be easy till I know whether their heads grow as ours do, or under their shoulders. Oh, and we are to take some sandwiches with us, which you are to have charge of while we make our observations. And now I shall go a little way down the lane and look for Hartley, for I think it 's very likely he '11 come to-day by the short cut through the farm- yard." She ran lightly off, and Mrs. Carew sat musing, with a face still uneasy in its expression. " She is such a mere child," thought she to herself, " and is so light-hearted : it is that which constitutes at once her greatest charm and strongest safeguard. There can be no danger of any serious impression, even if he" — she was going to say — " even if this young man should, after all, be seeking only a temporary amusement in his visits here." But there was something in the very whisper of such an idea so painful to her maternal feelings, and so humiliating to her pride, that she tried to banish it from her, as she had often before succeeded in doing. Still, with a brow less smooth than usual, and a con- science not wholly at ease, she listened for the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 107 pleasant voices, the light and happy laughter, which was sure to announce the approach of the young people. But what can be the matter ? They come, it is true, in a little while ; but with slow steps, that linger on the threshold, and voices subdued and serious : or rather there is but one voice to be heard, and that is Hartley's, speaking in measured, though tender accents. For a little while they stopped at the cottage door, and then, as Mrs. Carew rose to join them, she saw Selby hastily pass that of the little sitting-room, and heard her run up stairs, and shut, and even — as her mother fancied — lock her chamber-door as she entered it. Luttrel came in, and, in his troubled countenance, Mrs. Carew guessed the substance of his communication to her daughter before he had time to repeat it ; and she trembled. The reflections that had just forced themselves upon her with more pertinacity than usual, now burst upon her more vividly than ever. She guessed too surely that Selby, taken as she was by surprise, had not even attempted to hide the nature of her feelings, but had flown into solitude to indulge, rather than conceal them. If Luttrel's ideas of honour in affairs of this nature, should tally with those of men of fortune and fashion in general : if he should leave them without a word of serious import being spoken ; what, then, became of her daughter's peace of mind, and where would be the 108 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, triumph she had herself anticipated — the supreme triumph of seeing one of the haughty Luttrels at the feet of her daughter ? But from this state of alarm she was soon re- lieved — sooner, very much sooner, than she deserved. For Luttrel's heart was full, and having no inten- tion of acting clandestinely, and believing himself as certain of the mother's goodwill as of the daughter's warm affections, he entered at once on the subject so interesting to them all, and enlarged with honest and ardent sincerity on his love for Selby, and the impossibility of leaving Devonshire without having her solemn promise to be his whenever he returned to England. " He was well aware," he said, " what a sacrifice of early prejudices and old animosities he was re- quiring from the relations on both sides ; but he felt assured he was loved too well by his own friends to find them unreasonable ; and if she — if Selby — could bring themselves to enter a family who had hitherto neglected them : if the one could make up her mind to receive a son, the other a lover, in the person of one of those hated Lut- trels " By this time, Mrs. Carew was herself again ; could breathe, and look and think with her accus- tomed quickness and decision, and she here inter- rupted him : — " Mr. Luttrel, I will be plain with you ; indeed, the open and honourable way in which you are acting, deserves equal truth and frankness HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 109 from me. I have the highest esteem and regard for you ; if I had not seen reason to think very well of you, I would never have permitted your visits here." And, to do the widow Carew justice, we believe that in this she spoke the truth. " I have no scruple in saying, that, beyond all the men I have ever seen, you appear to me best calculated, by disposition and personal endowments, to secure the happiness of my daughter." Luttrel's eyes brightened, and, laying his hand on Mrs. Carew's, he exclaimed, " Then, surely, my dear madam, you will not let this old, this obsolete antipathy, which is more worthy a feudal age than the good sense of modern times, interfere to make us all miserable." Mrs. Carew gently shook her head. " Hartley," said she, " were you, in present circumstances, to fulfil the contract you are proposing, I should not have a moment's hesitation in allowing it to take place. Your family have shewn themselves — to say the least of their conduct — so regardless of me, so reckless of my feelings, that I candidly own I should not have a scruple on their account. I consider myself exonerated from all thought of any one but yourself, bearing the name of Luttrel, and should consult only Selby's welfare in seeking to unite her to a man of worth and accomplishments. When I tell you, Hartley, that I am averse to sanctioning a solemn engagement between you, it is not the pre- judices of your relations I am consulting, but simply 110 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, the good of my child. You are about to leave this country for an uncertain period " " It is next to impossible that we should be gone more than three years : 1 assure you, it is the general opinion." " Well, my dear Hartley, and even if it were so ? Believe me, Mr. Luttrel, much may occur in three years to blight the prospects of a fond confiding girl like Selby ; who would think herself religiously bound to stand by her word, whatever change time and variety of scene might effect on her lover." " Oh ! if I am to be doubted," interrupted Hartley, warmly : " if my constancy is to be thus suspected " " My dear Hartley," said Mrs. Carew, with one of those captivating smiles which had first taken by storm so large a portion of Luttrel's heart, that it was hard to tell how much of it was left for her daughter, " don't fancy me cross or capricious : indeed, I am neither the one nor the other ; but — nay, you must not be angry — but the hearts of young men are strange things : wayward and fickle the best of them — yes, Hartley, the very best." " Oh ! Mrs. Carew, can it be you who are talking in this commonplace way ? Excuse me : it is un- worthy your taste, if not of your discernment." " Hartley, I am not doubting your sincerity at the present moment. I am confident you believe implicitly in your own good intentions : you really imagine yourself a model of stability, and think it HUSBANDS AND WIVES. Ill impossible you should ever be false to your first love. But you little estimate the power of absence, and a total change of scene and society. Your time will not be wholly spent on the tented field ; and, in the course of three years, you will probably have seen many a girl even more attractive than Selby Carew." " Never, never ! " repeated Hartley, emphatically. " Well, then, if I must not say that, you will, at least, come in contact with many a great deal more artful and alluring." " Mrs. Carew, you are now assuming me to be either a child or an idiot." " By no means ! I am supposing you to be only what you are, a young man of high spirit and enthusiasm for all that is lovely and worthy of being honoured ; but that deep sense of the beauti- ful which so soon attracted you in Selby, will but serve to render you as susceptible to the merits of other women." Luttrel was going very determinately to argue the point, and ask if it were only the cold-hearted and stupid of mankind who were to be accounted capable of fidelity; but Mrs. Carew continued speaking, — " And here I own the idea of your family does influence me," — she said it with the stern look and rigid demeanour, which was sure to overspread her face and form when there occurred any allusion to her late husband's relations. " Did you come of 112 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, any other race, I might be induced to risk the hap- piness of both you and Selby by acceding to what you propose ; but — excuse the seeming coarseness of the expression — I could not survive the thought of my daughter being jilted by a Luttrel." She threw herself back in her chair as she said this, her fine features flushing violently ; and Hart- ley, starting up, strode to the little casement, and stood there in silent and swelling indignation. But in a few moments Mrs. Carew recovered herself, and went on in her accustomed tone of kindness and courtesy. " Remember, my dear Hartley," said she, "that nothing is farther from my mind than to accuse you of being capable of acting dishonourably. You would never lose sight of your engagement, but would abide by it, I have not a doubt, to the very letter, whatever pain it might really occasion you ; but you know already enough of your cousin to be quite certain that the slightest coldness on your side would be the signal for her immediately re- signing all claim to you. She has far too much delicacy to press the fulfilment of a contract made in a moment of evanescent affection : but your al- tered sentiments, Hartley, might not enable her to forget you; and then ask yourself candidly what would be my feelings — my self-accusation — when I saw that darling of my existence pining away her youth and beauty, and losing her health, and per- haps her very life, for the sake of one who had HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 113 slighted her, and that one too— a Luttrel !" And here again, as if involuntarily, burst forth that all- engrossing enmity which had sunk so deeply into the heart of cousin John's widow. Luttrel, more offended than ever, turned coldly round, and replied, with forced composure, " It is quite enough, ma'am : if such is your opinion of me, and your hatred of my family, you are quite justified in refusing to trust your daughter's happiness in my keeping. But allow me to say, there is one thing that strikes me as rather strange in your idea of love : you seem to think it a passion to be restrained or fostered only by the frail existence of oaths and promises. If Selby feels at all as I do, it will not be the conviction that, in the eye of the world, and according to the strict definition of the term, she is free, which will serve to cool the ardour of her affec- tion, and teach her to forget the man who is thinking and dreaming of her in another land. Is that actually your notion of love, Mrs. Carew ?" and he half smiled, for the mention of Selby insensibly soothed him as he spoke. w Do you really think it is only human ties that can bind the inclinations or fetter the will?" " Not precisely that, Hartley ; but I do think that a scrupulously-minded girl, like Selby, would resist the addresses of other men all the more firmly, if she had bound herself by any sort of promise to the object of her first attachment. She would hold it as sacred a compact as that which is pledged at the VOL. I. I 114 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, altar; and — to be frank with you — that is not my wish. I have confessed to you the feeling, strange and wrong as it may seem to you, which makes me apprehensive, before all things in the world, of Selby being — I will not say deserted, but, at least, slighted, by one of your name and lineage. I could not bear it, Mr. Luttrel : hate me for it, if you will ; but I could not endure such a degradation. If, indeed, on your return to England, it should be found that both of you have remained faithful to your attachment, I should see your union with unmixed pleasure ; but, Hartley, except at the altar, Selby shall never, with my consent — and I am con- fident she would not do it unsanctioned by me — engage her faith to you." Luttrel listened in gloomy dissatisfaction. " This, then, is your final sentence," he said, after a few moments blank silence. Mrs. Carew gently replied, that it was ; but though it was natural for him to feel displeased at this avowal of her sentiments, she thought that, on reflection, he would be too right minded to blame her for doing what seemed to her best calculated for promoting he ultimate happiness of her daughter. " As I said before, Hartley, I would not oppose your wishes, if you were in a condition to fulfil the engage- ment you are so desirous of forming with my child ; but I cannot consent that, on the mere chance of your affection subsisting as warmly as ever for an indefinite period, she should be com- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 115 pelled, from motives of honour, to decline every desirable alliance that might offer." " Oh, Mrs. Carew ! And can you in that cool, heartless way, discuss the probability of what would make me so immeasurably wretched ? In acting for your daughter's supposed welfare, have you no regard to the misery you are bringing on me?" Mrs. Carew was touched by his evident feeling, but would not recede from her resolution. " Hartley, I cannot help it," she replied ; " if I were disposed to play you false, I might pretend to enter into your views, and act after all in total opposition to them : but you have deserved better from me, and, in spite of seeming harsh and un- feeling, I must be open, and explain myself fully. Understand, then, it is not my wish that Selby should remain long unmarried. My health is very un- certain ; and in case of my death, there is nothing that would comfort me so much as to see her united to some one as good and as affectionate as yourself: even if he should not be gifted with the outward attractions which have, perhaps, made some impression on her young fancy." " And pray," said Luttrel, sarcastically, " when you have secured one of this awkward squad entirely to your mind — one of these respectable and stupid suitors — are you sure he will be quite as acceptable to Selby as to you ? or is she to have no voice in a matter that vitally concerns her? I am much mis- taken if my sweet cousin is quite such a specimen of i 2 116 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, filial duty as to forget an old lover, or take a new one, at her mother's bidding." The disputants were getting angry, and growing sarcastic. Mrs. Carew calmly answered, that Selby was such a mere child, and had seen so little of the world, that her present sentiments could be no index to the future ; she deprecated the idea of her ex- ercising undue coercion in the management of her daughter; but while she attempted not to deny that the young creature's heart might possibly be touched with the merits of her cousin, seeing no one where- with to compare him, she utterly ridiculed the idea of such an impression being deep enough to withstand the effect of time, mild reasoning, gentle argument, and the absence of the first love — always supposing there had been no romantic interchange of vows. " Besides," continued the fair widow, somewhat maliciously, " I am not supposing myself unsupported in my endeavours to wean the dear girl from any little sentimental notions she may have formed. If, indeed, we were to settle down entirely in this secluded place, the case might be doubtful, but that is not at all my intention ; with the views I have confessed so candidly to you, I shall think it a sort of duty to introduce her early into society, and give her every facility in my power for forming a proper alliance : which, with her at- tractions, I cannot think will be difficult to effect." As she talked in this strain, her auditor grew pale with anger and mortification. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 117 " You'll let him be old and ugly?" said he, with a satirical laugh; "the sacrifice will lose its whole merit if it be not complete." " No," said his tormentor, quietly ; " I don't intend my daughter's husband " — Luttrel shuddered at the word — " to be either one or the other. Selby is as little likely to submit to such a choice as I am to inflict it on her. But, my dear Hartley," — and she looked at him with a provoking smile, as he walked restlessly up and down the little par- lour, — " Fairley Vale, and the vicinity of the Dragoons, although I allow it abounds in natural and acquired advantages, is not the only place in England where we are to look for fine young men and agreeable companions, is it?" And so the conversation, for the present, ter- minated ; for Selby came down, looking pale and de- jected, but, in the eyes of her lover, more charming than ever, for such an undisguised and artless dis- play of feeling. Mrs. Carew, on the contrary, was vexed at the very little self-command her daughter displayed : yet as long as Hartley remained with them, there was no opportunity for lecturing her on the dignity due to her sex, or the propriety of playing the hypocrite ; and the slight rebuke she did find means to insinuate, caused the poor girl's tears to overflow so quickly that she was fain to give up every experiment of the sort. She began now to see more clearly than she had yet done, the extent of the mischief likely to accrue from the very ques- 118 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, t ion able course she had been pursuing in encou- raging the visits of the young heir of Horton. Selby was much more seriously attached to her cousin than her mother had allowed herself to believe. The day passed miserably : it was the first day of unhappiness which the present inmates of Quin's Folly had experienced, under its rural roof of thatch and cobwebs. Luttrel bitterly reproached himself for having made his declaration to the mother rather than to the daughter : why had he not obtained from Selby that vow of eternal fidelity which Mrs. Carew thought of such importance, and which alone could soothe his tortured mind ? — why, in fact, deluded by an outward display of partiality, had he been senseless enough to confide in any mother in the world? No doubt, the remark that Otway made so long ago about the hearts of fathers, was equally applicable to those of the female parent. " Stony, stony," all of them, " and not to be moved ! " Nor seemed there any chance at present of rectifying his error. Mrs. Carew was plainly resolved not to trust her Bel- videra out of her sight or hearing ; while Selby her- self, saddened and subdued, had lost at once the playful glee which in happier moments would have induced her to follow her cousin wherever he had chosen to lead the way. Oh, why had he not long ago taken advantage of the hours they were suffered to wander together ? Though, on reflection, he could now perceive that, much as they had seemed at HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 119 liberty, Mrs. Carew had always been very near at hand. He could recall more than one occasion when their discourse having taken a turn more than commonly interesting, it had suddenly been dis- turbed by the elder lady making her appearance close at their elbow, when he had supposed her reading under some chequered shade, or pleasantly and profitably watching the bubbles as they floated down the mill-stream : but she, he found — excuse the pun, oh gentle reader ! — was not to be bubbled by him. Such interruptions he had been raw enough to suppose accidental ; now he fell into the contrary extreme of stern suspicion, concluding every move- ment of the widow's to have been premeditated. And yet, notwithstanding all this, he could not comfort himself by taking a dislike to Mrs. Carew; her manners were still so kind — her ways so pleasing ! She bore his fits of abstraction and occasional peevishness with such gentle and friendly indulgence, that it was out of his power to keep up the show of reserve with her. She seemed con- tented with having opened her mind to him in that cruel tete-a-tete, and was now only bent on miti- gating the pain she had inflicted : not that he could persuade her to swerve in the slightest degree from the resolution she had then expressed ; on that point she was inflexible — mild, but firm. Luttrel then attempted to open a secret corre- spondence with Selby ; for he chose to consider himself quite absolved from paying any regard to 120 THE FAIR (JA.REW ; OR, the opinions of her mother. He wrote, therefore, and contrived to get the missive conveyed to his beloved, before Mrs. Carew was up in the morning. But here he was most signally foiled ; for his letter was brought back to him unopened. " You stupid rascal !" said he, apostrophizing the man whom, for his general reputation for clever- ness, he had entrusted with this delicate mission — " you stupid fellow ! you must have given my letter to the wrong lady." " Wrong lady, sir ! What ! me, sir — me give it to the wrong lady, sir ! Lord ! Mr. Luttrel — beg- ging your pardon, sir — you can know very little of Tom Hodges, if you think he is likely to mistake an old lady for a young one." And, true enough, long before Hodges had come to the end of his justification, it was fully con- firmed by a few lines which his master discovered in the envelope enclosing his rejected epistle, and which were in Selby's handwriting. Thus they ran : — " My dear Hartley,— Do not be angry with me for returning your letter : indeed, it goes to my heart to vex you; and, besides, I should so like to know what you have written ; but, just as I was going to open it, it struck me that, by your convey- ing it to me in this secret way, you did not wish mama to know of it ; and she always trusts me so implicitly, that I should be miserable if I deceived HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 121 her. I am quite sure that, on second thoughts, you will not think me wrong. Come to us as soon as you can, dear Hartley, and believe me your affec- tionate cousin, — S. C." And, on second thoughts, Hartley did think her right. Though carried away, in the first instance, by the impetuosity of his passion, his moral nature was yet sufficiently unclouded to do justice to his cousin's candour and delicacy ; and he felt ashamed of the part he had played in tempting her to the meanness of a clandestine transaction — tempting into falsehood and deceit the young creature he professed to love beyond all selfish considerations. He repented, too, having sent this bootless letter by the hands of a third person : faithful as he believed this man to be, it was still, in some degree, placing Selby's reputation in the power of a servant. Alto- gether, Cornet Luttrel felt small — much smaller than he had ever felt before. Not all the lectures and reprovings of his honoured friends during the whole course of previous years — not even the chas- tenings of his grandmother — had ever inspired him with such feelings of true humility, as did these few lines, traced by the weak hand of a girl of sixteen. Such power has purity of heart over worldly-minded- ness, in whatever form it may appear ! But Luttrel, while he had virtue enough to ad- mire his young cousin's integrity, saw with alarm that it must heighten in no small degree the diffi- 122 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, culty of prosecuting the adventure in the way he had proposed to himself. If Selby's sense of honour and filial duty were strong enough to forbid her receiving a love-letter unknown to her mother, how could he expect to persuade her into a measure so much more important, — the entering into a solemn engagement, without Mrs. Carew's consent? While he yet mused on these things, growing each hour more anxious, impatient, and miserable, Hodges made his appearance with another letter, which he presented with an air of half-subdued triumph, evidently concluding the young lady to have already relented ; and Luttrel, spite of his previous remorse, snatched it from him with much the same expectation. But they were both in error. " Her mother!" was the exclamation that escaped him, in a tone most expressive of disappointment. " Good gracious!" said Hodges, echoing his mas- ter's tone so exactly, that he was thereupon requested civilly to leave the room. Mrs. Carew's letter was kind, even affectionate, in its language, but in its tenor little calculated to give him comfort. " She was so grieved to give him pain, or occasion any sort of disappointment to one she so greatly esteemed ; but, after what had passed between them the preceding day, she trusted he would see the propriety of discontinuing his visits to Fairley." Many conciliating things were added, expressions of undiminished regard, and regret for the loss of his society : still, that loss was to be held HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 123 unavoidable. With all its honeyed words, it was sentence of banishment without repeal : and in the tail of the handsomest compliment of all, there was a sting ; for when she spoke of shortly leaving Fairley — which, being deprived of the pleasant visitor they had been accustomed to, would now lose much of its attraction — what did this mean, but that she contemplated taking wing immediately, to look out for one of those eligible matches for her daughter which she had declared herself so anxious for, and resolved to obtain ? As Luttrel read the insulting scroll, for such he deemed it, his heart swelled with a sort of sullen jealousy against some person or persons unknown, and he could hardly bring himself to finish the letter; which disgusted him still more, by concluding with wishes for his health and future prosperity. His happiness, forsooth ! when the writer was doing all she could to make him miserable for life. Resolving to make yet one more effort, he started off again for Fairley : again he pursued that pic- turesque path we have elsewhere described ; but now more careless of its beauties than the first morning he had sought the abode of the Carews. Then he was blinded by presumption and a joyous sensation of defiance of ancient authority ; but now he could think only of the difficulties his own rashness had heaped around him. The valley, indeed, lay smil- ing before him ; but he heeded it not. He reached Quin's Folly, but no friendly form beckoned to him 124 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, from the threshold : no Selby sprang to meet him with bright anticipations of a day of unmixed plea- sure. The door was closed, and he had to wait some moments before he could obtain an answer to his inquiries. Then he was told the ladies were gone out on some excursion ; the maid could not say where, but supposed they meant to stay best part of the day, because they had gone away in a chaise, and taken Thomas with them. Luttrel turned away ; for what availed further questioning ? " She is keeping no terms with me," said he sadly; as, with the languor of disappoint- ment, he retraced his steps. The " she," however, implied the mother, not the daughter. On the actual state of Selby's affections he rested with confidence : for the present, at least, for just the time being, he should live in her re- membrance as she would ever do in his ; but how long might such fidelity be reckoned on ? How could she be expected, young and ductile as she was in her mother's hands, to withstand the maternal arts and machinations which would soon be em- ployed to blot his image from her thoughts, and introduce in its stead that respectable rival — that man of easy circumstances, strict morals, and few accomplishments — with which cousin John's widow had so heartlessly threatened him. It showed, by the way, a lingering impression of home prejudices, that whenever Luttrel saw, or fancied he saw, anything less amiable than usual in HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 125 Mrs. Carew, he was then sure to think of her as cousin John's widow — " the widow Carew," as Mrs. Damer loved to denominate her, with a sneer — and all this day he mentally called her by no other name. He seemed now, for the first time, fully awakened to the unbounded influence she exercised over her daughter ; consequently, how completely she held the game in her own hands. But it was the nature of Hartley Luttrel to be incited, rather than cooled, by opposition. He believed himself more in love than ever ; refused, under some assumed pretext, to mix with any sort of society ; passed the day in feverish musings and fancies impossible to be realized ; and in the evening ordered his horse, and rode over a^ain to Fairlev. This time, the ladies were at home : for Mrs. Carew, not expecting him to call again that day, had given no orders that he should be refused admit- tance. 126 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, CHAPTER VIII. It was a stormy interview. In the presence of both the ladies, Hartley poured forth the vivacity of his feelings; he expatiated upon his love, his unalterable love, openly, and with the most impassioned fervour ; addressing himself pointedly to the fair object her- self, as she sat pale and disordered, but most lovely still, by her mother's side : even the widow was borne down, or at least put to silence, by his im- petuous utterance ; as he renewed his entreaties for a fixed and solemn engagement, refusing to believe Mrs. Carew could be in earliest in denying her sanction to a measure so natural, so honourable, and in every view desirable. "It could not be that she was serious : she was but trying the strength of his affection. But Selby, his first and only love ! she would not torture him so barbarously, and affect to discredit the ardour of a passion which she must have read in his eyes from the first moment they had met." Thus he went on, growing more and more urgent ; yet Selby, though she affected neither coldness nor HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 127 distrust, and though she willingly suffered him to hold one soft little hand in his, still sat with the other closely locked in her mother's. Mrs. Carew, too, wept ; for she was not hard of heart, and we will charitably hope there was a little genuine remorse mixing with her pity, at the misery her unruly pas- sions had been so instrumental in promoting. Still, she showed no disposition to yield to his entreaties, and she gently blamed him for subjecting her daughter to such a trial ; for she had intentionally avoided broaching the subject with Selby, trusting to guard her from hearing or reading any formal decla- ration of love from her coUsin. She sighed at the sad story, but still shook her head ; she pitied him much, and condescended to blame herself a little, on the score of imprudence; but still she ended with the same unmodified resolution : " her daughter must be left free to act and choose for herself, as time should afford her judgment and opportunity. In any case she should be loth to see her fettered while still so young; but in that of a Luttrel, the thing was not to be thought of for a moment." Even setting aside the powerful influence of time and change of society over himself, the prejudice of his family would naturally enough be all in favour of his forming a high connection ; and when his engagement with Selby was made public — and she assured him nothing should induce her to keep it secret even for a clay — they would doubtless be doing all they could to undermine his stability : 128 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, she well knew the effect of family influence. In vain he alleged his father's high principle, his mother's affection for him, and universal tender- ness of heart ; all that Mrs. Carew could be induced to admit was, that supposing him to return to England with a heart still true to its first attach- ment, and to find Selby still unmarried and dis- engaged, she (the widow) would no longer oppose his addressing himself to her daughter : but it was only under such circumstances, and at the foot of the altar, that she would ever consent to Selby pledging her faith and troth to a Luttrel. Mrs. Carew believed the young man to be deeply and seriously affected, but she was not prepared for the hasty rejoinder which followed this speech ; for he scarcely waited for its conclusion, before he exclaimed, " If that is your final resolution, then give her to me at the altar, and let the oath which binds us to one another be that which death only can annul. Nothing, I solemnly affirm, shall induce me to leave this country, unless I feel that Selby is mine beyond the power of man : or, what is in this case more to the purpose, the power of woman, to separate us. Do not suppose that, after what you said to me at our last interview, I will lose sight of her, till I can call her mine. Selby, my sweetest ! my beloved ! you will not refuse ? You will not break my heart by rejecting me ? You will be my own, my gentle wife ?" " Oh, Hartley ! don't talk in that wild way," HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 129 cried Selby, shrinking from him towards her mother ; from whom she expected the most prompt and decided reprobation of such a proposal. She only feared, indeed, that the extreme indigna- tion of that mother, hitherto in the eyes of her child a pattern of perfect propriety, would induce her to break up the meeting at once, and banish the dear, though rash, offender from their presence for ever ; but on looking, affrighted, into the countenance of Mrs. Carew, to her surprise, she read there nothing of the expression she expected : there was, indeed, a sort of alarm in the widow's fine countenance, as Luttrel urged his extraordinary request ; but, could it be that there was pleasure in the eager gaze she fixed upon him ? And what was the meaning of her hasty answer, that wild exclamation, — " No, no ! Oh, no, Hartley ! Don't tempt me ! Don't tempt me, or I may give way and rue it for ever after ! " as, drawing Selby closer to her, she hid her face on the girl's shoulder? Dangerous thoughts were at work within the widow's mind, hard to be withstood : nay, she hardly knew, in the sudden confusion of her surprise, whether to resist them or not. A triumph over her old enemies the Luttrels, lay before her ; far greater and more decisive than anything she had contemplated : it seemed in her very grasp. In the mere rejection of their son and heir as a suitor for her daughter's affections, there had been much to feed her distempered fancy, and in a certain VOL. I. K 130 THE PAIR CAREW ; OR, sense she had enjoyed it. In spite of her un- doubted love for Selby, and her liking for Hartley — both of whom she knew to be suffering deeply through her own thirst for petty revenge — she had experienced an inward satisfaction, while the heir of the haughty Luttrels was suing for the heart of her child ; but now — now that he actually sought her hand as well as her heart, and proposed to sacrifice every thing-"~fortune, connection, friends, for her sake; she listened in a tumult of exultation, and her denial waxed fainter as his entreaties grew more earnest. To have her hitherto neglected child, her sweet Selby, called by the name of Luttrel ; to have that proud, impertinent family forced to receive and acknowledge her as the wife of their adored Hartley — the hope, and one day to be the repre- sentative, of their race; the vision of such a victory, to be gained over the people she had hated for years, was too much for the virtue or discretion of cousin John's widow. She did not, it is true, give immediately an affirmative reply; but she suffered the proposal to be urged and re-urged, with all a lover's ardour and hopeful views, and did not refuse to listen. Selby could scarcely believe her senses when she found her mother actually giving ear to such a scheme. However prone Mrs. Carew might be, on certain points, to give way to the impulse of her least estimable feelings, she had educated her daughter to see clearly the distinction between right HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 131 and wrong : though, as yet, no difficult question had ever occurred to call her principles into action ; and now, it was not the silence of her mother, or her lover's solicitations, that could blind her to the real nature of that false step which the one was advocating so warmly, and the other listening to, evidently without reluctance. What ! enter, and that by stealth, a family who would probably dis- own her ! Could her mother be really entertaining a serious idea of such a scheme ? " Selby, you cannot love me, or you would not look so coldly at me," said Hartley, reproachfully. " What is there in the idea of our union to alarm you?" Selby answered, with no less earnestness, " It is because I love you better than myself, Hart- ley, that I am frightened to hear you talk so. Your own family, your mother and father especially, are dear to you ; and we cannot disguise from our- selves what their feelings would be, if we were to act as you propose. Surely some tenderness, some consideration, is due to them." " Not from me," said Mrs. Carew, haughtily. " Perhaps not," said Selby, with gentleness ; " but if I were to favour this strange plan, Hartley's friends and relations would then be mine." " They would, indeed," murmured the widow, exultingly. " And how could I bear to be looked upon scorn- fully by them ; or, still worse, to have them re- k 2 132 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, proaching Hartley for what he had done : and he himself, perhaps, at last repenting what had brought upon him the anger of all those he used to honour, and be beloved by ? Mama, I should be utterly miserable ; and so, I am sure, would he." Selby's scruples were answered by Luttrel with the most tender and triumphant assurances, that, when introduced to such a kinswoman, the preju- dices of his family must instantly vanish : their love and admiration of her would be only inferior to his own. And as to himself, so far from incurring any lengthened displeasure, they would be only too grateful to him for having placed such a gem in the bosom of their family : thankful that he had sought out such an ornament, such a sample of all that was lovely and graceful and good in woman, to be domesticated among them. Mrs. Carew had had her misgivings, lest the straightforward rectitude of her daughter might have made a corresponding impression on Luttrel, and induced him to forego his solicitations ; but this speech of his set her quite at ease on that score: there was such an utter want of common sense in it, that it gave her the most favourable opinion of his pertinacity, and also of her own capacity for mould- ing him exactly according to her own wishes. And she, in her turn, strove, by throwing in a judicious word as occasion served — by softening down this thing, and placing the other in a less questionable position — to lighten the objections of her daughter. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 133 It proved, however, a harder task than she had calculated, to persuade Selby into anything like approbation of their scheme. It was not to be done through sophistry or lengthened argument, or by any attempt to make the worse appear the better cause. With an honest, unperverted mind, she saw the question in its true light ; and not even her love for those by whom it was advocated, could cheat her into approving the measure they proposed : they might appeal to her reason, and her sense of expe- diency — that dangerous word, under cover of which so much that is evil is effected — without moving her in the least. But when they sought to win her consent by working on her feelings, then, indeed, she was no longer invincible. She could not hear the persua- sive voice of Luttrel — that voice she had so often praised to her mother as the finest she had ever heard ; sweet in its common tones, yet deep and powerful, and modulated, as she was wont to say, by the ear of a musician, and the taste of a gentle- man — she could not, young and tender-hearted as she was, listen to such a voice unmoved, or behold the intensity of his feelings without a most hearty desire to soothe them. The result of their endeavours may be guessed but too easily. Her affections were worked upon, her sense of propriety overruled ; and, though she could not be induced to give, in words, a formal consent to a step she shuddered to think upon, she suffered her mother and her lover to take advantage 134 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, of her silence, and construe it as they wished. Before Luttrel left the cottage that night, Selby's fate in life was fixed — fixed, at least, as firmly as human purpose could avail to determine it. Respecting the sensitive delicacy of her feelings, they mutually forbore canvassing those preliminaries which were necessary to the furtherance of the plot; but Mrs. Carew, induced by a look from Hartley, followed him out of the room as he took leave, and Selby could distinguish the murmur of their voices, as they whispered together in the entrance, settling, as it seemed to her, in a few short, hurried sen- tences, her future destiny. She heard not, nor desired to know, the exact subject of their consulta- tion : all she wished for was strength of mind and nerve to interrupt them, and, before it was alto- gether too late, put a decided negative against the scheme. But even utterance was, for the time, denied her, and while she was trying to check her hys- terical sobbing, the opportunity was lost ; for the conference broke up, and the echo of Luttrel's departing footsteps told her she had delayed too long. She made more than one passionate appeal to her mother and, in their calmer moments, adduced all she thought most likely to turn her from her pur- pose : but this was a point on which the ordinary rules of judging were utterly neglected by the widow Carew ; and the appeal to her pride — which, in Selby's opinion, would be so wounded by forcing HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 135 themselves into a family which despised them — had a totally contrary effect from what her daughter intended. In much the same terms as those with which she had previously favoured Hartley, she de- clared her resolution of acting without the smallest reference to the feelings of his relations. " My duty," she said, " plainly lies in furthering the welfare of my daughter ; and I consider that in giving her to a man I approve of in every respect so highly as I do of Hartley Luttrel, I am taking the best means in my power to promote it. He has every requisite to make you happy : your heart acknowledges it, Selby?" — and Selby acquiesced, with a fond, sad smile. " And where," continued Mrs. Carew, warming with her subject, — " where would you find one so devoted, so generous in lira affection, as to sacrifice everything for your sake ?" " You allow, then," said Selby, pointedly, " that it would be a sacrifice ?" Mrs. Carew was taken rather aback ; but an- swered, correcting herself, " I used the word in a worldly sense : for there is no question, Selby, that the lover you would have me so ungratefully reject, might, from his great advantages, ally himself amongst the first families in the kingdom. But if he is willing to forego such temptations for your sake, why should we shew ourselves more worldly, more mercenary for him than he is for himself?" " You little know me," said Selby, " if you think I am willing to give him up : but, mama, all you 136 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, say applies equally to a simple promise as to that fearful step he proposes. For myself, I trust in his constancy as firmly as I do in my own ; and, there- fore, what is there to prevent our engaging ourselves, it may be, for years to come ? But what are years to an affection like ours ? And then, in time, Hartley would obtain the consent of his father and mother, and all would be well." But Selby's arguments were equally fruitless with those of her lover on this very point. Mrs. Carew had too much tact to own to her daughter, as she had acknowledged to Luttrel himself, that she mis- trusted the stability of his affection, and therefore chose that his lover's vows should be ratified by a legal ceremony ; for she knew how indignantly Selby would repel the idea of obliging him, as it were, to remain faithful; so, without giving any explicit reason for her refusal, she simply put a decided veto on the arrangement proposed by her daughter. Selby's only hope now rested on Hartley himself. Feeling assured of the propriety of her own senti- ments, she trusted that her persuasions would even- tually prevail with him ; and she awaited his coming with nervous impatience, desiring, if possible, to speak to him alone. She little guessed, as she vainly listened for the well-known step, that while she, exhausted by the unwonted emotion which had kept her waking half the night, was sleeping later than usual in the morning, Luttrel had already been HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 137 down to the cottage ; and that in a quiet interview, walking together by the side of the mill-stream, Mrs. Carew and he had settled their future pro- ceedings. The matter was not accomplished with- out some difference of opinion ; but Mrs. Carew, as usual, gained her own way. The manner in which this secret marriage was to be effected, was the point on which they were for a short time at issue. Had Luttrel been of age, there would have been little difficulty in procuring a license ; but he being a minor, it was necessary that the young people should either cross the border to get the ceremony performed, or have it done in England after the publication of banns. The for- mer, as by far the most expeditious termination to the affair, was advocated by Luttrel ; who argued the extreme likelihood — nay, the almost certainty — that before the expiration of the time which the latter plan required, the regiment would be under orders. But amongst the few firm prejudices which had taken root in the mind of the widow Carew, was a thorough disgust to the idea of her daughter being married at Gretna Green. " Legally," she allowed, " such unions might be sanctioned ; but never in the eye of Heaven ; " and she put an end to this material division of their conference, by vowing that no Scot- tish blacksmith in the creation should meddle with the fate of her darling Selby. It was settled, therefore, in pursuance with her wishes, that Luttrel 138 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, should ask for leave of absence, and proceed imme- diately in quest of some obscure parish, utterly unknown to fame and good society, in whose church the aristocratic names, which would be read aloud for three consecutive Sundays, would excite no more attention than if it were announced to the plebeian congregation that Giles Scroggins proposed enter- ing the pale of holy wedlock with Molly Brown. Mrs. Carew remembered a village situated about midway between Devonshire and Middlesex, and only to be attained by cross roads, through which she had once had occasion to pass ; and which, on account of its few and rude inhabitants, and isolated position, occurred to her now as in every respect adapted for their purpose ; where, after the fulfilment of the first ceremonial, the last might be easily accomplished. It was further resolved, that, as the place was too unimportant to boast anything like a decent inn fit for the accommodation of ladies, the mother and daughter, who would have to lodge for the time at the nearest town, were not to com- mence their march till their presence was absolutely required. Preliminaries being thus far despatched, the con- spirators parted ; and no more was heard of the gallant cornet in the neighbourhood of Fairley till late in the day, when a couple of letters from him were delivered at Quin's Folly : one informing Mrs. Carew that he had obtained the desired leave, — burthened, however, with the condition, that he was HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 139 to return to the depot, if summoned, at a moment's warning, — and was on the very point of setting off, intending to travel a stage or two before night ; the other conveying a tender farewell to Selby, to whom he gave no specific information of his proceedings, but spoke mysteriously of the errand of his pro- posed journey, as one which was to confer upon him the purest and most unbounded felicity that man could taste on earth. For Luttrel, in his respect for the girl he loved, still hesitated to parade before her the minutiae of their plot, or display the coarse machinery expedient for the enacting of that senti- mental drama in which she was soon to play so principal a part; and thereupon she, poor thing! amidst some surmises bordering very nearly on the truth, indulged now and then a cheerful hope that perhaps, after all, Hartley might be going to break their secret to his parents, and supplicate their for- giveness and favour: and this innocent misappre- hension soothed many an anxious moment. 140 THE FAIR CAREWJ OR, CHAPTER IX. Up to this period the widow Carew had gone on prosperously enough: if any one can be justly called prosperous who is compassing an evil conclusion by unprincipled means. So far, every obstacle in her crooked path had been surmounted : but ere long she began to be less easy in her mind ; for she received a letter from Luttrel bearing the London post-mark, in which, without much circumlocution or further deference to her opinion, he told her that, having thought the matter over since canvassing it with her, he had come to the conclusion, that per- sons in their position were much less liable to notice in the heart of a noisy metropolis, than when exposed to the tattling tongues of a country place, however retired the spot might seem to be. He had, therefore, made up his mind (cousin John's relict did not altogether like that expression) to have the preliminary arrangements got over at one of those obscure mercantile parts of the city, where the appearance of a stranger coming on such an errand would excite little attention, and in whose HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 141 mean vicinity it would be scarcely possible that the names of Luttrel or Carew should be familiar to any living ear. Mrs. Carew scarcely relished this utter subversion of her own particular plan : but the amendment was not destitute of plausibility, and she might have acquiesced in it without much difficulty, had it not been that, in the conclusion of his letter, Hartley betrayed a double motive for this prefer- ence of London ; for he told her that his family were coming up immediately to their town re- sidence (at which, of course, he had taken up his own abode for the present) and he congratulated himself on having this opportunity of bidding thern good- bye before leaving England, instead of going to Horton for that purpose. The marriage once con- cluded, Mrs. Carew cared not how much or how tenderly her son-in-law consorted with his relations ; but her brow grew strangely overcast at the notion of his associating with them previous to that event. His very mention of his family at this time showed plainly the power they possessed over his affections ; and who could tell how far that influence might not extend ? He had already shown himself careless of her advice on one important point, and if thus vacil- lating of purpose the moment she was out of sight, who could answer for the effect upon his all but boyish mind, of a recurrence to old haunts and associations, with no counteracting power imme- diately at hand to weaken their influence ? Mrs. 142 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, Carew brooded deeply on the subject : deeply and carefully, but not long ; for it seemed to her that for the furtherance of her designs — and the more problematical was her ultimate success, the more resolute she grew to carry them into execution — there was but one thing to be done : Selby and she must go to town and be constantly at hand, the one to captivate, the other to strengthen and uphold him in the way she would have him go ; and the journey must be commenced immediately, too : not a day was to be lost. " Going to London, mama ! " repeated Selby, in utter astonishment at this sudden resolution — which her mother announced to her, without, of course, confessing the motives that really actuated her in taking so unexpected a step : Mrs. Carew well know- ing that had Selby participated in the doubts which agitated herself, she would have been proof against all persuasion, adduced every reason but the right one ; spoke of having " business " in town, at which Selby's cheek flushed palpably, and she looked suspiciously at her mother. " Besides," the widow reminded her, " was not Hartley there already ? and how unkind he would think it if they unneces- sarily remained behind.'* " But," Selby still urged, casting her eyes over the letter she also had received from her lover, " he evidently does not expect us. He says not a word about our coming." " In that case," her mother rejoined, hiding her HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 143 secret annoyance as well as she was able, " the sur* prise of seeing us up so soon (for we must have gone in a short time) will be all the more delightful to him." But Selby's right judgment still rebelled. " Oh, mama ! " she exclaimed, blushing ; " would it not be better for him to seek us, than that we should be following him f Oh, don't let us go to London just yet !" Mrs. Carew chid her daughter for scruples which she declared to be no less unkind to Hartley than disrespectful to herself; who, having hitherto directed her conduct with due regard to propriety, deserved better of her child than to be supposed capable of an indelicate action. The rebuke sounded so plausible, and was delivered with such eloquent volubility, that the girl could scarcely do otherwise than yield : though had she guessed that that which caused her maidenly mind to shrink from the idea of the journey — namely, Luttrel omitting to press it — was what chiefly incited her mother to undertake it immediately, she would not have been so easily persuaded. Even while sub- mitting to her mother's authority, she felt that there was something in Mrs. Carew's proceedings towards Luttrel which militated against the whole tenor of her life and opinions up to this time ; so that Selby looked upon what was now passing with a sort of bewilderment, finding it impossible to reconcile the mother of yesterday with her of to-day : the Mrs. Carew who had been so guarded in her conduct 144 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, towards the other sex, so fearful of misapprehension, and scrupulous to a nicety in checking any advance to undue familiarity — in short, the Mrs. Carew who was once a very model of discretion, with her who was now encouraging her daughter to form a clan- destine engagement, and actually urging on a hot pursuit of the retreating lover. " Apollo flies, and Daphne leads the chase." It was not quite so bad as that, perhaps: with Hartley's dear letter to refer to — an epistle which breathed the very spirit of constancy and ardent affection — she could not believe that he would be sorry to have them near him : that letter did much to calm her perplexities, even when they were at the highest. And then her mother might have motives for what she was doing, which would justify every- thing in the sight of her wondering daughter ; and so, with the vague hopelessness of youth, and a heart still light and innocent, she would shut her eyes for a time to all that disturbed her : would turn from the cold warnings of prudence and propriety ; would for- get the very existence of such a place as Horton Hall, and think of nothing but the delight of so soon rejoin- ing her lover — in London, too ! that wonderful place she had so long desired to see. Hartley and London together ! what happiness must be awaiting her ! That fated journey afforded Selby full time for the indulgence of her thoughts, whatever turn they might choose to take ; for they were seldom inter- rupted by any observation from her mother. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 145 Mrs. Carew had formerly been a very agreeable road-side companion, alive to everything that was passing, and ever ready to make light of the vicissi- tudes, more or less trifling, which in those days of stage-coach travelling so often occurred to vary the monotony of the way. Now she sat silent and ab- stracted, indifferent to all that would once have amused her, yet uttering not a syllable that might explain what was engrossing her so thoroughly. Had the widow Carew been a person of systematic artifice, one who loved a plot for the sake of the paltry tracassaries it involves, she would have smoothed her brow and paid some attention to appearances ; but scheming was new to her, and the magnitude of the stake for which she was playing — her daughter's happiness, and her own respecta- bility — and all the thousand reflections necessarily excited by such an undertaking, absorbed her whole mind.; making her regardless or disdainful of any minor hypocrisies. At length, as towards the close of the journey the few passengers who had shared it with them dropped off, and the Carews were left alone in the coach, even the widow woke up a little from her gloomy musings : she seemed to feel that something was due to her daughter, and that Selby ought not to be ushered into London — that vision of her childish longing — in such a dreary taciturnity. She roused herself, therefore, and strove to speak cheerfully : but by this time Mrs. Carew might have spared VOL. I. L 146 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, herself the trouble of any such painful exertion ; for between the excitement of entering town and the expectation of so soon meeting Hartley, the maternal movements had become matter of small importance to Selby. There lay that huge city, looming duskily in the summer twilight ; yet, imposing as it was in its vastness to her unaccustomed eyes, it was not to be regarded as quite a land of strangers, or a mere con- glomeration of unfeeling brick and mortar. There dwelt one heart there beating in unison with her own : one of London's myriads, who would find her out even though the throng were ten times as great: one voice would make its way to her satisfied ear through all the din and bustle of the swarming streets. It was this single conviction, and not the forced attention of her mother, that brightened her eyes, and sent the blood more joyously through her veins. One remark, out of the many that presently burst from her lips, sufficed to shew the point to which her thoughts were tending. "What an infinite number of men, mama ; and not one that we have ever seen before!" Mrs. Carew quietly responded to her daughter's vivacious exclamation ; but added an internal reflection, addressed wholly and solely to her own breast, that, unless they presently came athwart somebody of whom they knew something, she should give up the end and aim of her journey as a lost case : for, as they had spent a night on the road, there was full time for Luttrel to have received the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 147 letter she had taken care to write, informing him of her intended journey to town, and specifying the hotel where she meant to put up till she had secured convenient lodgings ; and, upon the degree of alac- rity he should display in coming to them, she felt that much might be prognosticated as to his ulti- mate stability. Equally eager, therefore, though impelled by very dissimilar sensations, was the glance with which both mother and daughter eyed the group of loiter- ers round the Adelphi Hotel, as the coach drove up to it. It was a quiet house, situated midway between the extreme east and west of the town : in other words, an easy distance from Great George- street (the Luttrel locality) ; while it did not verge sufficiently on that region of peculiar interest, to make the visits of Hartley a matter of remark to his family. But if the ladies presumed upon seeing the tall, slim figure of the young cornet pacing the pave- ment, in anxious expectation of their speedy appear- ance ; or hoped, at least, to be told, in the waiter's softest voice, that " a gentleman was waiting for them up-stairs," they were wofully disappointed ! Who has not known the depression of spirit that follows us upon a failure of this kind ? — this coming to our journey's end, and missing the one parti- cular face we had reckoned on seeing there ? Even though it be but an indifferent acquaintance we look to greet us, — the woman who contradicts every word l 2 148 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, we utter, or the man from whom we never expect to get back that trifle we lent him on quarter-day ; yet there is a something disconsolate in missing their presence just then, and we sadly forebode there- upon that something must needs be going wrong at home ! How much keener, then, must be the disappointment, when we look round our coach-door for a lover in esse, or a son-in-law in posse, and per- ceive not so much as a shadow of the man ! The omission was, in fact, entirely inadvertent on the part of Luttrel : he had spent that day and the preceding night out of town, and Mrs. Carew's letter was awaiting his return, the seal unbroken, the con- tents unguessed. But hours must elapse before his absence could be satisfactorily excused ; and the time was spent by Mrs. Carew in a state of un- easiness so plainly apparent, that it soon commu- nicated itself to her daughter. Selby was very far from being of a suspicious character, and, if left to herself, she would have framed some explanation very like the real one for her lover's non-appear- ance ; but she could not look upon her mother's anxious face, or mark the watchfulness with which she listened to every approaching footstep, without imbibing a considerable portion of her disquietude. Would this mysterious mother but have spoken frankly on the subject, most gladly would Selby have met her communications with equal openness of heart ; but on this one topic — literally, the only one Mrs. Carew had ever declined sharing with her HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 149 daughter — she continued strangely and, as Selby thought, ominously reserved : and the poor girl dared not lead to it of her own accord. And so the evening wore away ; and both ladies, feeling a sort of constraint in each other's society hitherto unknown between them, were glad to make their journey an apology for early retiring, and thereupon went to bed. " And this," thought Selby, as she laid her head upon her pillow — " this is the London I have so longed to see ! " 150 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, CHAPTER X. It would be doing less than justice to the real warmth of Luttrel's passion, did we conclude him otherwise than pleased, on the whole, at this un- expected arrival of the Carews. The prompt alacrity which he displayed in hastening to them the moment he became informed of their proceedings, exonerated him from any charge of lukewarmness. And yet Mrs. Carew was not wholly mistaken in suspecting that there might be some alloy in the lover-like satisfaction. It was true, that home, and its old associations, had already had some influence, we will not say in changing, but certainly in modify- ing, the nature of his feelings. That which, viewed in the companionship of the worldly and idle, had seemed of comparatively light moment, assumed quite another form as he contemplated it from the strict proprieties and moral atmosphere of his father's house : seen from this point, it became to him a matter of solemn, almost of vital importance- He grew daily more alive to the objections to which his clandestine engagement might, and must be, obnoxious ; and was, consequently, doubly sensitive to anything in the conduct of his intended wife HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 151 which might seem, however slightly, to fail in that scrupulous delicacy which he, influenced by early culture and the sentiments of all the female part of his family, had learned to value as the first and most indispensable desideratum in the character of woman. He had already been startled by the freedom with which Mrs. Carew had avowed her distrust of him ; and in this evident pursuit, this resolution not to lose sight of her intended son-in-law, he read a further and unmistakeable illustration of her senti- ments. He fully acquitted Selby of having influ- enced her mother on this occasion ; he was much too deeply in love to credit anything that tended to lower her in his estimation : even if liable, in the warmth of her own affection, to doubt the stability of his ; he was sure she was incapable of seeking to enforce his constancy by following him about like his shadow. But yet he wished the step had not been taken till dignified by his solicitations ; and it required some further association with the agreeable widow before he could give himself up as frankly as ever to the charm of her manners, or refrain from wishing in his heart that she was not the mother of his future wife. He dreaded the uncontrolled dominion she would exercise over Selby, when he should be absent from her — it might be for years. Cousin John's widow, on her part, was far too acute of observation not to perceive something of what was passing in the mind of her future son-in- 152 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, law : she relished not the occasional marks of dissatis- faction he would betray at some of her arrangements; and would have been altogether better pleased to have seen him, in his character of lover, more careless of appearances, and not so much bent on shunning the notice of such as might be interested in his move- ments. Luttrel visited them, indeed, with laudable fre- quency, and with every semblance of being as much enamoured as ever ; but there ended his attentions : farther than their lodgings, or at most a street or two beyond, he never seemed to think it possible to accompany the ladies. Doubtless, it was the most prudent way of acting ; for were Selby and he observed together by any of his friends (and there were many of them in town) a discovery of the intimacy would be inevitable, and its further pro- secution, perhaps, be rendered problematical. All this Mrs. Carew acknowledged to herself, while meditating — as when was she not? — on the situation of affairs: yet still the acute alarm, the morbid apprehension of family interference and cen- sure which the young cornet displayed in the midst of all his tenderness, made her doubt, at times, his resolution to complete the adventure he had essayed so boldly ; and she experienced a degree of impati- ence, not to say contempt, for the full-grown man, who still hesitated to cast off the leading strings of boyhood. But wherever a Luttrel was concerned, Mrs. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 153 Carew was incapable of being commonly just or clear-sighted ; and, well as she really liked her daughter's suitor, she felt disposed — simply, I believe, because he bore that obnoxious surname — to criticise his proceedings in a peevish, dissatisfied spirit. Impelled by this unreasonable feeling, she could not rest contented with Hartley's assurance that he had made arrangements to have the banns of mar- riage published at a church in the city ; but having acquainted herself with the localities of St. Margaret Moses (so was the parish denominated), she resolved to be ear-witness of a fact so immeasurably impor- tant to herself and her daughter. On the following Sunday, therefore, she, at the hour of morning-service, conducted Selby safely within the doors of a church in the immediate vicinity of their lodgings ; and having committed her to the solemn civilities of a pew-opener, and bestowed on her a parting smile, the careful mother, much to the surprise of her child (whom, as usual, she had left utterly uninformed of her intentions) turned straight from the pew door, and Selby saw no more of her during the service. There had been a time, happy and innocent in its progress — a period when secrets and mysteries were unknown between the Carews — when Selby, thus suddenly deserted, would have concluded that her mother must have been taken ill : she would have fancied some strange seizure to have occurred, a faintness or a giddiness, or a bleeding at the nose, 154 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, and she would have followed her instantly, in the painful apprehension of finding her, perhaps, insen- sible on a tombstone outside. But now, she saw in this proceeding of Mrs. Carew's only a fresh in- stance of that strange secresy which, since the latter days of their acquaintance with Luttrel, had in- fluenced the manners of her mother. Acquiescing, as usual, though far from satisfied, she tried to fix her thoughts upon the prayer-book, and to repress the sensation of loneliness which crept over her as she sat amongst that strange congregation ; render- ing still more impressive certain dim forebodings of the fate that was in store for her. In the mean while, Mrs. Carew, bent on reaching St. Margaret Moses by the conclusion of the second lesson — for to that particular point in the service all her desires were turned — summoned the first hackney-coach she could find, and was soon leisurely jogging citywards. The drive was long enough to give the widow full opportunity for going over again and again all those racking doubts and apprehen- sions which had found access to her bosom, ever since she had taken to a crooked course of action ; and by the time she had reached the street specified by Hartley, she had worked herself up into a thorough conviction that he was deceiving her throughout : that he never seriously intended to marry her daughter, and that, though by chance he might have given her a direction to a real church, and a parish in actual existence, nevertheless, no HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 155 banns of wedlock had ever been put up there by him ; and that amongst all the smart spinsters and jolly young bachelors whose names that day were to be coupled together at St. Margaret Moses, those of Luttrel and Carew would be unknown and unpro- nounced. The widow Carew dismissed her coach, and with a feeling bordering on suffocation, entered the for- lorn and half-forsaken church ; whose one or two cracked bells had long ceased to call together the slender congregation which now assembled within its walls : for the fumes of fashion had penetrated even here, and sent the wholesale dealers — the aristocracy of those parts — to the fancied gentility of the suburbs. Mrs. Carew declined the offer of a sitting in any conspicuous part of the church, anil directed her hurried steps to an empty pew which she spied out at the back of the reading-desk. She ought to have felt that this very shyness to court observation was a tacit avowal of error, and a proof that her strategy was unsound ; but it would seem that her moral and religious perceptions were on that occasion equally obtuse, for her sole anxiety, as she kneeled for a few moments on the worm-eaten hassock, and covered her eyes with her hand, was to ascertain which part of the service was proceeding : " Was the congregation sitting or kneeling ? Was it the litany, and she too late?" No, in this parti- cular, fortune stood her friend, for just as she rose from her simulated devotion, she plainly distinguished 156 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, the sentence, " Here endeth the second lesson," and at once she became all ear and attention. We have said that fortune favoured the widow Carew : yet it was not altogether so ; for in taking up a position in the rear of the clergyman, she found she had unwittingly withdrawn herself from the range of his voice — which had once been sono- rous enough to fill the church, but which now, like everything else about St. Margaret Moses, was stricken with age, and had grown tremulous and indistinct : moreover, it was lowered to a sort of slovenly murmur, as he began giving forth that portion of the morning service for which alone he and his deserted church were honoured with the attendance of the graceful widow. Nothing, in fact, could be more evident than that the reverend gentleman's opinions, concerning the relative im- portance of certain parts of the service, differed diametrically from those of the lady who sat behind him in pew No. 13; he, esteeming the banns of matrimony of such minor moment, that he took occasion, on opening that manuscript volume to her so intensely interesting, to deliver himself of divers coughs and sniffings, and applications to his hand- kerchief, which an incipient cold rendered highly necessary to be performed, but which he (respecting the more serious portion of his duty, as he held it to be) had up to this time repressed with laudable exertion, and only an occasional sniff. With one long preparatory " a-a-hem," he got pretty well HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 157 over the first couple, consisting, if we rightly remember, of Jonas Micklethwaite, and Rebecca Bowles ; but on attempting to introduce the second pair of turtles to public notice, his cough became so troublesome, and the names, in consequence, so in- distinct, that Mrs. Carew was half wild with doubt and chagrin, for not a syllable reached her ears. Now, the fact was, that the turtles in question were simply Christopher White and Sarah Wilkins ; but such was the perversity of her position, joined to the snuffling and spluttering over her head, that but for the designation " widow," which followed the name of Wilkins, and chanced to be audible, she must have remained a little longer in a state of pain- ful uncertainty. This satisfied her, however, that she had no interest in the previous announcement, and once more taking a long breath, she fixed her looks intently upon the broad back of the old clergyman : for in her agony of doubt, and her incapability of ascertaining his movements, she feared he might be at that moment closing the fatal book, and, as it were, stamping out remorselessly the train she had lighted. But no, her fears were vain : another couple yet remained to be proclaimed, and with only a slight hesitation further, the name of " Hartley Luttrel" saluted the gratified ear of Mrs. Carew, and caused her heart to bound in its narrow cell. " Hartley Luttrel, of the parish of Brackensbury, in the county of Gloucester, Bachelor, to Sally Carew :" for so the purblind rector had nearly read 158 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, it ; but correcting himself in time, repeated in a dubious tone, as if he suspected there was a mis- take somewhere, " Sel-by Carew, of Bathwick parish, Somersetshire." And then, with a feeling apparently perverse, being satisfied herself that all was right, Mrs. Carew began wishing the congregation were not quite so well informed : the old rector was now almost too distinct, and though no voice broke forth to forbid the banns, yet she felt, as she arose with the rest of the people, that she must be an object of attention to all the church. The idea was of course as fleeting as it was foolish : one hurried and sweep- ing glance convinced her how quiet and hum-drum every one looked, and how utterly unconcerned about her and her affairs. Mrs. Carew was a woman of a discerning spirit, and even during the inward struggle, the satire of the whole thing touched her forcibly ; and she almost smiled at the dowdy congregation, and her own mis- placed terrors, when, as her bright eyes travelled round, they finished their survey in the very next pew to hers, by lighting on her future son-in-law : for from henceforth she might really so esteem him. Urged by the same anxiety as herself, Hartley had resolved to prove by aural demonstration whether his instructions to the clerk of St. Margaret Moses had been fulfilled to the very letter. He had seen Mrs. Carew enter the church, and was far from pleased to find her thus treading in his very foot- steps ; and when he caught her eye, there was an HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 159 expression in his which caused her cheek to flush considerably. But she had time to recover herself as the sermon went on ; and when, at its conclusion, they walked out together, and he pointedly ex- pressed a " hope" that she was now " quite satis- fied," she was able to reply with the calmest self- possession, that she was perfectly satisfied, and had no further uneasiness. There she would have let the matter drop, and have discoursed on things irrelevant ; but perceiving her companion still stiff and ceremonious, she thought it better to come at once to the point. " You are angry with me, Hartley," said she : " you think I am needlessly cautious ; but remember that my circumspection is exercised in watching over the interests, not only of my daughter, but of your future wife." The young man was silenced, if not soothed : but finding how little reliance Mrs. Carew placed in him and his good intentions, he lost much of his former confidence in her ; and many a passing doubt and distrustful feeling arose to torment him, with which he might never have been troubled, but for their encounter at St. Margaret Moses. As uncertainty in the progress of a story is almost necessary to its interest and animation, it will be well to pass as briefly as possible over this portion of my narrative ; for, considering the age and per- suadable nature of my heroine, and the almost unbounded influence possessed over her by those 160 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, two best beloved beings, who were so intent on moulding her according to their wishes, there can be little doubt as to the event of the scheme they were organizing. Though not summoned formally into their secret councils, Selby's unwilling ear gathered enough to in- form her of their general tenor : but her repugnance to the plot continued as strong as ever. Even in the presence of her lover — when his eyes rested most fondly on hers, and his tongue was busied with those foolish whisperings which the wisest of women love to hear at some period of their lives, and which the silliest listen to with delight from eighteen till eighty — even then an uneasy conviction would press upon her, that there was something very wrong in her position ; and that, while she enjoyed some most pleasurable emotions — the joy of being called, ere long, his " very own," and of knowing that nothing less than death could separate her from him — yet still she should lose that perfect truthful- ness of life and conversation, the inestimable value of which she had never known till it was about to be snatched from her. Neither had she the consolation of saying, " I am the victim of circumstances, and forced to act thus." She knew too well — at least in the absence of her lover, she knew it, and when her mother's scarcely ]ess seductive accents were hushed — that a steady course of opposition on her part must, in the end, prevail ; and, in the tenderness of her conscience, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 161 she went so far as to impute to herself the chief share in this transaction ; " for they," she argued, " doubtless think themselves right in what they are doing : they could not otherwise desire it. Yet while I see plainly what is wrong, I suffer myself to be guided by them, and have not the reso- lution to assert my own sense of right and pro- priety ; though in my heart I am sure it would be the best for all of us. I am weak beyond imagina- tion : false to myself, and still more unkind to his true interests." These were pleasant reflections to usher in a bridal morn ! The very apprehension which was disturbing the mind of Luttrel, and racking the very soul of his mother-in-law elect: viz., his being recalled to his regiment before the ceremony could be solemnized, was Selby's only hope : then they would remain simply affianced to each other; and the indelicacy of a clandestine marriage — so de- grading in the eyes of the world, and so likely to ruin them both in the esteem of the Luttrels — would thus be avoided. But time wore on, and no official letter arrived for Cornet Luttrel. On the Monday immediately following the third reading of the banns, the wedding was to take place ; and from the church-door the trio were after- wards to proceed to some country place adjacent to town, to pass as many days as circumstances would permit or appearances sanction. Mrs. Carew had proposed Richmond, as a place well adapted for VOL. 1. M 162 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, them, and was a little annoyed at Hartley's pre- ference for Hampstead : not for its superior attrac- tions, but as being a part of the country where he would be less likely to encounter any acquaintance. As usual, his objection was too valid to be over- ruled. And yet cousin John's widow liked not that her son-in-law (that was to be) should shew himself so very, very guarded ; so over anxious to bury everything connected with this marriage in impene- trable obscurity: she could almost fancy that some ulterior purpose was lurking in his mind, young as that mind was, and apparently ingenuous ; for was he not a man, a soldier, and a Luttrel ? But no — no, he had behaved honourably enough as yet : she would not doubt him ; or, if she did, would trust to her own watchful sagacity — and also to the wed- ding-certificate. At length arrived the day of doubtful bliss. The sun which rose on this occasion was singularly- adapted to light the sort of scene which was soon to be enacted at St. Margaret Moses. Wading through watery clouds, its beams were so flickering and uncer- tain, that ere one could say " it shines," the genial ray had vanished and given place to a gloom, as transient, perhaps ; but seeming, while it lasted, all the deeper for the partial illumination that had preceded it. On the bridegroom's brow, as he slowly paced the aisles of the church, awaiting the arrival of his ladies, there was even less appearance of sun- shine. Wandering up and down in utter abstraction, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 163 a chance observer might have been excused for supposing that a funeral rather than a wedding, was the subject that engaged his thoughts. " Rather a doubtful morning for the joyful occa- sion, sir," observed an old woman belonging to the establishment, who was narrowly watching Luttrel's movements, while pretending to put things in order. He looked at her with a vacant stare, and, when she repeated her words, answered her as shortly as possible, and moved away. " Well," said she, addressing another of the func- tionaries of the place, who was by this time in attendance, " I have seen many a gentleman look peeking and poorly on his wedding-day — till such time as the ceremony was over, you know, Mr. Simmons — but I think I never seed any one as looked so much as though he was going to be hanged : now, did you ?" The clerk nodded his head gravely, in token of assent ; but added, with much feeling, that, " after all, it was a trying occasion." How far the observation was intended as a pun, allowable under the circumstances, or a truth al- ready established too firmly in the minds of men and parish clerks to be disputed by a pew-opener ; or whether it was simply an expression of private feeling, founded on painful experience, — remains doubtful to this day : but, in any case, the remark cannot be held complimentary to the memory of the deceased Mrs. Simmons. m 2 164 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, Almost at the moment the church clock was chiming the appointed hour, the sound of a carriage stopping at the door announced the approach of the bride ; and at the end of this drive the ladies had not to look in vain for the presence of Hartley Luttrel. Whatever might have been his previous meditations, the sight of the fair, fragile looking being who was soon to be to him more than father or mother or any earthly relation — more even than life itself — awoke every generous feeling in his nature. All outward circumstances and every idea of sel- fish interests were forgotten, as he lifted the trem- bling girl from the coach-step, and met in equal love and truth the expression of her beautiful eyes — most fond and confiding, yet so intensely melancholy, that one who had not watched the gradual change wrought in her appearance by the last few weeks, could with difficulty have recognised in her the light-hearted girlish Selby Carew, the blooming beauty of Fairley Valley. She had complained of indisposition for some days past ; and at any other time her mother would have suspected disease even before it was acknowledged, but now the widow wil- fully shut her eyes to everything which might seem to threaten a postponement of the wedding. Every symptom which should have excited her maternal fears — the fevered hand, the hectic flush, and hurried breathing — all were imputed to mental agitation ; for which the marriage ceremony was to be the fittest HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 165 and most certain cure : then, feeling that her fate was fixed, she would, so reasoned the widow Carew, adapt herself to circumstances. That nothing on her own part might be wanting to divert her daughter's melancholy, Mrs. Carew had that morning, though not without difficulty, smoothed down the wrinkles of care on her own forehead : she had put on a cheerful, even a playful air, such as on ordinary occasions would have be- come her vastly, pretending to assume the office of bridesmaid. And although Selby had resolutely re- fused to make the slightest alteration in her ordinary costume, yet her mother persisted in adjusting the simple morning dress, and tying on the memorable " poke" bonnet with officious fondness ; till Selby, giving way to an expression of impatient disgust, wholly unlike anything she had ever before dis- played towards her mother, disengaged herself ab- ruptly from her hands. Mrs. Carew then, as the last best argument for good behaviour, reminded her how bad a compliment she was paying Hartley in thus indulging her feelings. " They are natural, no doubt," said she : " everybody in your situation feels as you do ; but then, for the sake of others, they try to conceal their emotions, and do all they can to be cheerful." " Situated like me, mama!" was the reply. " Oh, no ! few have been placed as I am ;" and the near- est approach to the conventional cheerfulness ad- vocated by the mother, w r as a promise on the part 166 THE PAIR CAREW; OR, of the bride elect that she would not faint " if she could possibly help it." Mr. Pepys and other writers of that period have informed us that there was a time when ladies fair delighted much to take what they called a " frolic" into the City. Very different were the feelings of our two ladies as they drove that morning into the bustle and din of the commercial quarter of the town. I doubt if there was any portion of her life upon which Mrs. Carew looked back in after life with more entire and unmitigated disgust. The only remark Selby volunteered to make, as they advanced amongst the narrow streets and overhanging houses by which they diverged from the more populous parts of the City, was a sudden exclamation that it reminded her of the Plague. " The Plague, my love ! " repeated her mother, soothingly, yet not without an inward shudder. " Yes ; don't you remember, mama, that account of Defoe's ? We read it long ago ; but I have it all before me now. It must have been in just such streets as these that those horrors occurred. Can't you fancy it all ? the crosses on the closed doors, and the rumbling of that dreadful death-cart, and the cry " Bring out your dead ! " — which those who once heard it could never forget to the last moment of their lives ; and the prophet who stalked along crying ' Woe, woe ! '" — and at this lively point of the bride's reminiscences the chaise stopped at the door of St. Margaret Moses. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 167 Mrs. Carew anticipated with some alarm the de- pressing effect her daughter's despondent turn of thought might make on the spirits of the bride- groom ; but Luttrel's feelings, though not so over- wrought, assimilated in the main too strongly with Selby's not to render him highly indulgent to any degree of weakness she might have happened to display. He had passed the previous night at an inn : not because it was convenient to do so, but because, in truth, he could not brook the idea of proceeding straight from his father's house for such a purpose as he had now in hand ; and Mrs. Carew would have been little pleased had she known the feelings that had weighed upon his heart as he took leave of his father and mother. A visit to an ac- quaintance formed in Devonshire, but who had lately removed to the neighbourhood of London, was alleged as an excuse for quitting home. As for Mrs. Carew, there was a struggle going forward within her inmost soul — a wrestling, as it were, of the good and evil principle — of which it is difficult to give even the faintest idea ; for now that the event for which she had laboured so recklessly was on the eve of accomplishment, and that nothing re- mained to her but to stand by and witness the ful- filment of her hazardous experiment, a hundred misgivings arose to shake her self-reliance and pre- sumption. Whether it was the silence and gloom pervading the little group of which she was a mem- ber, or that the religious associations dependent on 168 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, the place inspired her with more Christian-like thoughts, I cannot tell; but most assuredly there never yet had been a period in which she had thought less about her hatred to the Luttrels, than at the very moment she was permitted to revenge herself, in the fullest manner which the heart of woman could devise, for all the slights and injuries, real or imagined, which the family of her husband had ever inflicted on her. It must be confessed that there was little in the outward aspect of things to divert the conscientious scruples of any of the party. Silence, and solitude, and empty stalls, may be becoming enough to the ornamented walls and stately proportions of a Gothic cathedral ; but parish churches are domestic places, teeming with familiar associations, and they are very apt to look cold and forlorn unless the congregation be assembled. Then our adventurous trio, having nothing of the dignity of a marriage by license to distinguish them from the ordinary race of Jacks and Jills, were admitted, not at the front entrance, but by a small side door : — a type as it seemed of their whole pro- ceeding ; — and were ushered along the church by Mr. Simmons, a little withered person, whose cha- racter as sexton seemed, judging by the outward man, to predominate greatly over the more genial peculiarities of parish-clerk. The ready welcome which a well-appointed wedding train is sure to meet with, the civil bows and ready smile of every church retainer, were here sadly wanting. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 169 The smallness of the procession excited evident sur- prise. From priest to pew-opener, all looked doubtful and suspicious ; and the old clerk in particular could hardly be persuaded — for he was a little deaf into the bargain (everybody was a little deaf at St. Mar- garet Moses), — I say, Mr. Simmons could scarcely be brought to believe that the whole of the party was assembled. In spite of his superior's authoritative signs, he would be trotting off to the church-door, to look, as he said, "for the rest of them;" thereby plainly insinuating that things in their present condition were not (in his mind) to be held as altogether canonical. And under these dismal auspices it was that they assembled at the altar : that " bourne" from which no traveller can be said to return exactly the individual he was before he knek upon its step. All who have listened to the marriage-service — all those at least whose souls are not wholly wrap- ped up in Mechlin lace and artificial flowers — must acknowledge it to be a most touching cere- mony : even with the cheerful addition of fond relatives and sympathizing friends, to stand by and proffer prayers and good wishes ; and if, when all is support and encouragement, the bride is still par- doned for weeping, and the bridegroom for feeling a little uncomfortable, what must be the effect on all concerned in it of a wedding like this ? The thing was done, however; the words of might were spoken : those solemn yet familiar words which 170 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, bound these two young creatures to each other, through all the unknown vicissitudes of worldly in- cident and human feeling ; those holy yet fearful chains which are destined to be as garlands of sweet flowers withering only in the grave, or fetters of iron pressing upon the heart and soul till life becomes a burden too heavy for endurance. If in the course of the service there was an occa- sional pang of remorse in the breast of the bride- groom, and a passing desire, scarcely acknowledged even to himself, that he could wake and find it all a dream; we must do him the justice to say that his behaviour at the conclusion of the ceremony gave not the smallest indication of any emotion of the sort. For a moment or two, as he arose from the altar, he did indeed stand as if somewhat bewildered : stunned, as it might be, with the novelty of his position ; but the stupor passed away immediately, and he was able with his accustomed grace to play out the part he had so rashly assumed, and above all things do the best he might to soothe and en- courage his sinking bride. Repairing to the vestry, the remaining formalities were duly performed ; the suspicious-looking rector wished the handsome young couple joy, and the withered old clerk, whom a liberal donation had convinced that everything was as it should be, officiously stumped before them to the door, both leaves of which he now threw open : it was the only particular mark of attention that had graced this HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 171 ill-starred wedding, and I fear not one of the party- observed it. The attention of both Luttrel and Mrs. Carew was now indeed entirely engrossed by the growing indisposition of the bride. Even the voice of Hart- ley failed to animate her : during their drive back she could scarcely raise her head, but sat with her eyes closed and her cheek resting on her mother's shoulder ; and Luttrel, as he held her hand in his, was fearfully awakened to the nature and extent of the malady which had been gaining ground for some days past : but which in his presence she had hitherto succeeded in concealing. Now she could make no effort further : her strength seemed wholly to fail her ; and on reaching their lodgings she was obliged to be carried to her chamber in a state nearly bordering on insensibility. So the chaise which had been destined to transport them to the rural delights and safe obscurity of Hampstead, now served to convey the anxious bridegroom in search of a physician for his beloved. Bold and uncompromising as had been the con- duct of the widow Carew throughout this whole affair, it is not to be supposed but that there were other feelings besides the honest alarm of maternal affection at work within her, as she hung over her daughter's pillow, and alternately surveyed Selby's altered countenance, and tried to read in the placid, well-tutored features of the physician, his real opi- nion of her darling. She followed him into an 172 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, adjoining chamber ; and there, had she given ex- pression to the question her heart dictated, most strangely would it have sounded in the well- powdered ears of that good but formal doctor ; for, in the agony of her compunction, she would have exclaimed, " Oh, Dr. Smith ! tell me quickly and without reserve, am I to hate myself for ever as the murderer of my child?" But she checked the repentant impulse, and framed her question more according to professional etiquette. The reply, though not tending to exclude hope, was far from cheerful ; yet such was the proud determination of Charlotte Carew, that when, after the doctor's departure, she heard Luttrel mur- mur in the self-same spirit of remorse, — " It is vain to deny it : we have killed her between us. Her nature was too pure and good, her conscience too tender, for what we put upon her." His mother-in-law coloured to the very temples, and answered him haughtily, — " Her conscience too tender to follow the advice and command of me — her mother! Mr. Luttrel, I don't understand you." Bitterly as her own conscience was accusing her, she would not be openly censured by any Luttrel of them all. Dr. Smith called again in the evening, and thought even less favourably of his patient ; and for a little while her illness increased to a degree which, if not highly alarming, was sufficiently so to afford, in the anxious suspense of the couple who HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 173 had led her astray, and been the cause of all her sufferings, a fine example of retributive justice. In addition to Luttrel's misery, was the apprehen- sion that his leave of absence might be recalled, while the fate of his darling remained yet un- decided. Sometimes in his despair he vowed that nothing should tear him from her; but, luckily, his firmness of mind was not to be thus painfully tested. Before the week had quite expired, he was summoned back to his regiment ; but by that time all danger was supposed to be over, and Selby was recovering, though slowly. As it was of the last importance that every species of agitation should be avoided, it was agreed that the invalid should be kept in utter ignorance of her husband's approaching departure, until he was ac- tually gone : — no regular leave-taking could be sanctioned. Hartley, therefore, though conscious that he was embracing his young bride for the last time, repressed the feelings which were fast un- manning him, and thought he had succeeded in maintaining a cheerful aspect even to the last ; but he was as yet no adept in dissembling, and Selby's eyes — she , was too weak to say much — followed him to the door with such an eager, wistful ex- pression, that it was plain he had not quite deceived her. She listened for his receding step, and, half rising from her pillow, drew back the curtain, and leant forward to catch the sound of the house-door shutting after him ; but when this was some minutes 174 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, delayed, and she noticed that her mother had also left the room, the certainty of her bereavement came fall upon her. " It must be so ! that look of his, as he turned back once more, could not be mis- taken." She was on the very point of beseeching the nurse to hasten down and recall him ; but then, remembering how purely selfish would be such a proceeding, and how much pain it would inflict on the two beloved beings who were all in all to her, she stifled the eager exclamation which had risen to her lips, and pressing her hands upon her beating heart, closed her eyes, that she might the better pray for composure to bear a trial which, hard as it had seemed in perspective, was in reality far severer than anything she had 'imagined. A few moments passed thus, and then the closing of the outer door, though it was softly done, shook every nerve in her weakened frame. " He was gone — perhaps for ever ! Her mother did not immediately re-enter ; twice she came to the door, and then drew back, unable to face the inquiring eyes of her darling. When, at length, she summoned courage to come in, her averted looks and forced cheerfulness confirmed Selby's suspicions ; and as their eyes met, there was such an expression in those of the invalid, that Mrs. Carew lost all command of herself, and rushed from the room in a flood of tears. After this, no formal explanation was required ; the name of Hartley HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 175 Luttrel was scarcely pronounced by either of them, and the only way Mrs. Carew attempted to console her child, was by increasing — if that were possible — her watchful attention and the tenderness of her caresses. The second day of Luttrel's absence arrived, and Selby's parted lips and eager eyes, as the postman's knock in that quiet street sounded from house to house, shewed plainly what she was expecting. Her mother, fearing the disappointment that might await her, gently whispered, " You know, after all, he may be too busy to write." The answer came quick and unhesitating — " Too busy to write one word to me ! No ! I cannot believe that !" And the confidence of her love was not misplaced. There came a letter, which was greeted with ex- pressions of delight, such as even the news con- tained in it could scarcely check ; for she knew that the departure of the dear writer was impending and inevitable, and who could pronounce the sentence of their separation so tenderly as himself? Never had the strength and sweetness which were mingled in the disposition of Selby been so apparent as at this trying season. Up to the present time, her course of life had flowed with such a happy tranquil- lity, that even Mrs. Carew herself was ignorant of the solid worth which formed the basis of her daughter's character. She knew her to be most amiable, in the common acceptance of the phrase : soft of heart, and 176 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, ready to follow every kindly impulse. But for that strength of mind which could endure the evils of her peculiar lot with such uncomplaining resigna- tion, she was not prepared. Selby's general deport- ment vindicated her from any suspicion of insensi- bility, or from the charge of not duly estimating the difficulties of her situation. Being blest with a fine constitution, she was not long in recovering* from the effects of her feverish malady : her strength and bloom returned ; but she was never again the light-hearted, laughter-loving girl she had been — the Selby Carew of Quin's Folly. Under the sparkling animation of her girlhood, there lay both sense and reflection ; and the cir- cumstances which had called these powers into action were of a nature to allay, if not quite to extinguish, the thoughtless gaiety of early youth. Amongst the various evils into which the widow Carew's ungoverned passions had plunged her child, was this great and irreparable disadvantage — that she had become a woman before her time. While yet revelling in that most charming season of existence, when the expanding intellect creates each day fresh happiness for itself yet still cherishes no small portion of the pleasant puerilities of child- hood, she was summoned — nay, in a manner com- pelled — to quit it for ever, by assuming the grave responsibilities of married life. To many a creature of her age, the change would have seemed little more than nominal : scarcely that ; HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 177 as she was bound to hide her wedding-ring, and still sign herself " Carew :" many a one so circumstanced would have gone on as idly and gaily as ever ; but Selby was not one of these : it seemed to her, on re- turning home, as if, instead of only a few weeks, some long interval had passed away, full of strange and unheard-of adventure. She who had gone forth with a spirit cheerful indeed, but so perfectly serene ; anticipating merely a change of scene from one lovely county to another — a few new summer walks, a few new sketches, memorials of a pleasant past, in the course of which, bird's-eye views or sheltered valleys were to be the principal, perhaps only points of interest — she was come back a wedded wife! free, indeed, at present; but only because the man who had sworn to protect and" cherish her had deserted his trust. He might return at any period, and claim her for his own ; and her every action, almost her every thoughts, must be moulded to accord with his will and pleasure : her own were, for the future, to be a secondary question. The connection, viewed in this manner, was more startling than alarming to her: she loved Hartley Luttrel too well, and had too exalted an opinion of him; and was, besides, too inexperienced in the world and the ways of mankind, to suppose it possible they could ever differ on any material point ; and in things of lesser moment, matters of mere taste or fancy, would it not be her delight as well as duty VOL. i. n 178 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, to give way to his slightest wish ? From which short transcript of her reflections, it will be easily gathered that Selby's ideas on the subject of mar- riage — a subject which had lately become so awfully important to her — were of a very exalted nature. But few instances of ill-assorted unions had, as yet, come within her personal observation. She had lived during her childhood, amongst her mother's relations : quiet, well-behaved people, whose Darby and Joan-ical proprieties spoke favourably for the state in its commonplace aspect ; while poetry and romance did all that was wanting to gild and glorify the abstract idea of two creatures loving and beloved in youth, associated together by an impulse mysterious as beautiful, and moving on through life with one heart, one mind, one being! In all the stories that had blessed the natural, unpedantic course of her childish years ; when she had sat on her little stool at the chimney-corner, looking up into the wrinkled face of good old aunt Selby, swallowing every word of the legendary lore with picturesque attention and implicit belief; was not the moral to be deduced from every narrative, plain and unmistakeable ? — For, whether it were prince and princess that came together in the end, or king and beggar-maid, the finish was invariably effected thus : — " And so, you see, they went to church and were married, and lived ever after as happy as the day was long." Duly progressing in literature as she advanced HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 179 in years, Selby still arrived at much the same result : in old romance or novel of the day, the trials of the handsome young couple, on whom rested the chief interest of the book, were pretty sure to terminate in their union : that point concluded at once the history of their fate and the last chapter of the last volume ; plainly insinuating thereby, that after mar- riage their lives must necessarily be too perfectly and invariably happy to allow of further comment. Growing intelligence, and a residence near Bath, had, doubtless, effected some modification of her early opinions; yet her impressions of "the state" did, on the whole, lean decidedly to the favourable side. In touching on this subject, we may observe that it was not from what might appear to be the most natural source, viz., the conversation of her mother, that Selby derived any of these sublimated notions of married felicity. The circumstances of her own career as a wife were seldom brought forward by Mrs. Carew for the amusement or edification of her daughter : if introduced, they were never enlarged upon ; and when, with a better feeling than mere curiosity, the girl would ask questions relating to her lost parent, the answers were usually delivered in a tone of what might be called contemplative pity, rather than with any of those signs of rapturous affection and unqualified regret, such as the dis- tinguished endowments of the deceased husband might seem sure of commanding. For that he had n 2 180 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, been a most charming person — handsome, gay, and debonnaire, was a fact, established not only by the partial description of his widow, but by the testi- mony of all who had known him, and who spake of him in the hearing of his little girl. There was the same air of indulgent compassion, and a gentle shake of the head at the mention of "p-o-o-r John ! " and perhaps, her uncle as he walked up and down the old dining-room chinking the money in his pockets, would sometimes add the remark — "Always in want of cash, poor fellow ! — never quite his own man." But this was the strongest censure, if such it could be termed, that ever met her ear; and it was pretty certain to be followed by some kind remi- niscence of the young sailor, — his invariable good nature, agreeable manners, and obliging disposi- tion. " Never cast down, at the worst of times ; always a joke and a laugh ready, had poor John Carew." The shade of reserve, therefore, in her mother's manner, and the absence of that enthusiasm which might have been anticipated under the circum- stances, were regarded by Selby as but a further tribute to the virtues of her father. Doubtless, his widow could not bring herself to dwell upon a theme which death had rendered so painful to her : she could not recall, in detail, the memory of what he had been, without contrasting the happiness she had enjoyed in his society with her present desolate condition. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 181 As for doubting the conjugal happiness of her parents, or supposing that Mrs. Carew did not worship the memory of her husband, such an idea had never, by any chance, disturbed the young credulity of Selby's mind. 182 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, CHAPTER XL As soon as Selby had regained strength for the journey, the Carews returned to Somersetshire ; where they had been residing some years previous to their eventful visit to the " far west." It had been no empty boast on the part of the widow, when, on the occasion of her short and pithy correspondence with her husband's family, she de- clared that her own relations were fully prepared to maintain her and her daughter. Her friends, though neither wealthy nor distinguished, were by no means so inferior in circumstances or condition as the Lut- trels had been taught to believe. Mrs. Carew's ma- ternal uncle was an attorney of good practice in a re- spectable country town ; and, being himself childless and much attached to his niece, he had no sooner heard of her husband's unhappy fate than he invited her and her child to live with him entirely; promising to provide for them to the extent of his means. At his death, which secured to her a genteel in- dependence, she had taken a small house in the immediate neighbourhood of Bath ; the vicinity of which gay city was convenient to her as a place from whence she could easily procure masters for HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 183 her daughter, and which at the same time afforded her the sort of society which her income enabled her to enter into. And here ensued an interval of three years ; during which Hartley Luttrel pursued his career in the army with much of the success which his partial friends had anticipated ; being present in many of the actions of that eventful period, and his name appearing more than once in the despatches as an officer of high promise. The existence of the Carews, on the contrary, flowed on unmarked by any striking incident ; though the wheel of time in its ceaseless rolling brought about those insensible changes, which hu- manity, even in its calmest state, must of necessity experience. The loveliness which as a girl had rendered Selby Carew an object of admiration wherever she was seen, ripened into almost per- fect beauty as she advanced to womanhood. Like other handsome women, she knew and ap- preciated these advantages : but here, her singular fate and position in life exercised an influence upon her character at once salutary and decided. It subdued every inclination towards vulgar coquetry, and rendered her pleased with general admiration only as it demonstrated to her the fact, that that face and figure which had originally caught the favourable attention of Cornet Luttrel of the Dragoons, had not diminished in attraction since his departure. Most painful, indeed, to her diffident and anxious 184 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, nature, was the apprehension of any such change taking place in her as might strike him unpleasantly on his return ; " because," as she would say to herself, " there is for him no retreating : whatever I may be, or may seem to him to be, he must take me as I am." And under this strong assurance, and with this one overwhelming idea overshadowing her as if with some sacred defence, she moved among the frivolous, the double-minded, and the weak — who make up in this world so large a proportion of the two sexes — with eyes which wandered not for petty applause, and a soul at rest from all those cankering vanities which eat into the hearts of ordinary women, and spoil the outward gifts which Heaven has vouch- safed them. In the operations of her mind, the same disinte- rested principle still governed her : her absent lord was still her guiding star. She employed her time, not in idle dreaming and love-sick reminiscences, but in the resolute endeavour to improve her under- standing ; and in seeking to perfect herself in those feminine accomplishments which she knew would be most pleasing to him. Now, she studied ; not as she had been used to do, when her heart was whole and her fancy free, and a bright day was reckoned a valid excuse for throwing aside every serious occupa- tion. Since that fatal journey to London, she was possessed with one enduring motive, the wish of being some day worthy the affection of Hartley : the determination of so employing herself during his HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 185 absence, that when the hour of their reunion arrived, he might feel pride, instead of reluctance, in present- ing her to his family. She looked upon her time no longer as exclusively her own, and to be filled up according to her sole inclination : it was in some sort the property of another; and the deficiencies of education which might have been matter of in- difference to her in her single state, would (so at least she argued, in her high notion of the conjugal relation) be a foul reproach to a married woman, and infallibly cause her husband to blush for her. Tremendous thought ! Her own cheeks became crim- son at the bare supposition of such a misfortune. The feelings that resulted immediately from the peculiarity of her lot, were of a very chequered nature. To a young imagination like hers, there was something in the very romance and secresy of her love that lent it additional fascination. It might be that she herself was hardly conscious of this ; but so long as everything seemed going on prosperously at home and abroad, and Luttrel's letters reached her with tolerable regularity, and shrivelled old officers (oracles in their own little circle) spoke confidently of the approaching termi- nation to the campaign, and the newspapers did not contradict them, she could shake off her timid doubts, and cherish many a vision of inexpressible sweetness. But anon came rumours of battles, im- pending or actually fought, sickness amongst the troops, and a hundred casualties, such as in that 186 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, stormy period chilled the heart of many a soldier's wife ; and then she would have given much for the permission to speak openly of the fears that were torturing her. This was one of the least of her trials ; for Selby had little of that weakness of mind which delights to hear itself complain aloud : still she felt that, like other people, she should be cheered by the occasional sympathy of the kind and friendly ; and there was many a bitter moment when she envied those — not, in fact, more worthy of condolence than herself — who might wear their wedding-ring in the eyes of all the world, and receive honour and sympathy for their union with the brave and devoted. In the earlier period of her married life, Selby had an ever-ready confidante in her mother ; but this was a comfort she was destined not long to enjoy, at least not in its fullest extent : the sym- pathy for which she yearned being displayed after a capricious fashion, for which Selby (not aware of the secret springs of her mother's conduct) found it difficult to account. The truth was, that Mrs. Carew was growing highly discontented with the questionable position into which she had thrust her daughter. What availed it that she was conscious of Selby's prefer- ment, and saw in her the future mistress of Horton Hall, unless the fact was made known to the world at large, and the Luttrels in particular : for to that point centered her chiefest solicitude. Should HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 187 Luttrel (and the probability was but too apparent) fall a victim to his profession, and never return to acknowledge his wife, Mrs. Carew anticipated a world of trouble in establishing her daughter's claims. The Luttrels were a powerful race ; and, in their horror of the yet unsuspected blow which the de- spised widow of John Carew had it in her power to inflict upon them, they might have recourse to unfair means to disprove the marriage. At all events, the affair would doubtless be brought into Court, be retailed in all the newspapers, and the name of Carew bandied from mouth to mouth, coupled with many a gross epithet such as she would rather die than have it subjected to. For Mrs. Carew was astute enough to perceive, and* candid enough to acknowledge to her own heart, that, in the opinion of the public, her own con- duct, as well as that of her innocent child, might easily be brought to bear a very evil interpre- tation ; so that, while there were legal proofs of the marriage sufficient to vindicate Selby's right to be addressed as Mrs. Hartley Luttrel, the distinction would only be acquired at the expense of her own good name : a brand little less than infamous would rest upon it; and the pride and delicacy of the widow Carew revolted from the bare idea of such a consummation of the triumph she had meditated. Now, all this doubt and perturbation might be avoided, by Luttrel doing immediately what must 188 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, be done at last : that is to say, by transmitting the confession of his imprudence, instead of wait- ing till he could announce it personally. Waiting, forsooth ! Mrs. Carew shuddered as she contem- plated the innumerable chances involved in that word " waiting." He had already suffered, though slightly, from a fever incident to the climate ; and then occurred a long interval between his letters : they were necessarily often delayed, and sometimes never came to hand at all : an interval which the Carews, of course, interpreted in the most melan- choly manner. Selby, all the while, thinking only of Hartley, while her mother viewed the matter under various aspects, and suffered a species of mental martyrdom in consequence. Mrs. Carew strove, by every means in her power, to make her daughter participate in these doubts and fears : but her efforts were utterly vain. Selby, as firm in her obedience to her absent lord as she was tender in her affection for him, and jealous of every insinuation which reflected on his con- duct, rejected with actual indignation her mother's counsel and advice : for Mrs. Carew would have had her openly expostulate with Luttrel, and de- cidedly represent to him the danger and embar- rassment to which he was subjecting her by thus concealing the marriage. " Imagine the excessive awkwardness of your situation," she would say, " if anything serious were to happen to him : an odium might rest upon your reputation for ever." To HUSBAND9 AND WIVES. 189 which Selby had but one reply — " She was quite sure that Hartley had taken every precaution that was necessary to save her from the shadow of reproach." And, at length, as her mother reverted again to the subject, she added, with a degree of heat unusual to her : " As for my character, were I to lose Hartley, I should care little for that or any- thing else in this life. The few who respect me now, and whose love I am solicitous to keep, would not believe a falsehood to my disadvantage ; and, for the world at large, I care but little : I should thenceforth live too retired a life to make its opinions of any real importance to me." An effusion like this silenced Mrs. Carew for the time ; for her object was to convince, and not to irritate her daughter. The Carews had been so little* accustomed to differ upon questions of any moment, that they had no pleasure in contradicting each other : but, with all her horror of quarrelling with one who was dear to her, the widow was too impa- tient on this particular point to be long quiescent ; and the very next time she found Selby writing to her husband, she returned to the charge. To the arguments she had already tried, she added one which she thought might work upon her daughter. "If it only were injustice to Hartley himself," said she, " you ought to do all you can to persuade him to act with propriety. However little you may fancy that you care for the opinion of the world, depend on it, you will feel very much hurt when 190 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, you find your husband exposed to universal cen- sure." Selby looked vexed; but checking the answer that was rising to her lips, sat playing with her pen, and wishing her mama would take forthwith that little walk which she had been meditating an hour ago. " You have been so perfectly submissive up to this time," continued Mrs. Carew, "and have thwarted him so little, that now a mild but firm remonstrance from you would have double weight; and I must say, Selby, I little thought to see you so wanting in self-respect, as to hesitate about doing what in your heart you know to be right." " If I thought it right," said Selby, " I would not hesitate a moment, whatever pain it might cause me ; but so far from agreeing with you, mama, I should consider it positively indelicate to press the subject upon him at a time like this, when he must have so much to trouble him. No, I would not allude to it for the world; for it would seem as if I doubted his affection and desire to please me." " Well, Selby," said her mother quickly, " and if he displays this reluctance to own you as his wife, who but yourself would scruple to doubt it?" Selby looked up reproachfully at her mother, for she had never spoken so plainly before ; but still repressing her angry feelings, she answered, w We HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 191 are not competent judges of a question like this : it is only Hartley himself who can understand the character and ways of his own family,' and when it will be best to make the disclosure ; the very thought of which," she added sadly, " gives me unutterable uneasiness." " Your apprehensions of these Luttrels, Selby, are really childish in the extreme. Your youth and sex, indeed, may serve to excuse a little nervous- ness ; but your husband has not that apology : he is old enough, and man enough surely, to assert his freedom of choice ; and I cannot but say, that if he paid more respect to the feelings of his wife, and less to the pride of his relations, I should have a much higher opinion of him and of his love for you." "Oh, mama! if you love me yourself, don't talk in this way ; for you know I cannot bear it. If, as you seem to think — though Heaven knows why ! — I am mistaken in Hartley's character, and estimate him too highly, let me continue to be deceived as long as possible : fear not, but if it be so, I shall discover my error soon enough ; for it is only by believing him to be all that is kind and excel- lent that I can have a moment's happiness." And Selby asked herself, in astonishment, why it was that her mother should have displayed such anxiety to unite her to a man of whose character she now seemed to think so lightly. Being still ignorant of the mainspring of the widow's conduct, she was 192 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, forced to substitute many a worldly motive to account for it, scarcely to her pure mind less revolting than the actual truth would have been. But, in proportion as her confidence in her mother diminished, so much the more warmly and fondly did she turn to the image of her husband, to supply her with a subject for admiration and perfect esteem : to Hartley she looked for every virtue as well as every grace ; believing that their intercourse, short as it was, had been intimate enough to assure her of his worth. His letters confirmed her partial admi- ration, for he wrote like a man of sense, of taste, and information ; and, while a spirit of graceful tender- ness was diffused over his correspondence, his style never degenerated into the fulsome or puerile expres- sions — those affectionate babblings, which very great as well as good men have been known to fall into when addressing their wives, or their mistresses. On receiving such letters as these, Selby forgot all the difficulties that might await their future destiny, and was for a while the proudest and happiest of women : could she but have been certain that, at the moment she read them, the dear writer was yet unharmed and well ; but even while her eyes rested fondly on the writing, the hand that traced those characters might be cold and lifeless. Once he had been slightly wounded ; and as it happened to be the right arm that had suffered, he was unable for some time to hold a pen. To his mother, the shock of this intelligence was much HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 193 softened, for one of his brother-officers acted as secretary for him, and wrote from time to time in so cheerful a strain, and with such good reports from the regimental surgeon, that, apprehensive as it was her nature to be, she could not but be com- forted. But to Selby all such consolation was denied : the clandestine nature of their connection forbade the correspondence being confided to a third person ; and the consequence was, that for weeks no sort of communication reached her, and she remained uncertain of his fate. It was precisely during this unlucky period, that Mrs. Carew, after a fashion not uncommon to mothers-in-law in general, took upon her to inter- fere very decidedly in what did not personally con- cern her. Finding that, neither in the way of persuasion, argument, nor remonstrance, could she prevail with Selby, she herself assumed the office she would have had her perform, and at once wrote off to Luttrel, to enlighten him as to the view she took of her daughter's affairs, and the manner in which she held it expedient for him to proceed thereupon. An immediate acknowledgment of his marriage was the theme on which she enlarged — delicately, however ; for, unless very much excited, Mrs. Carew invariably behaved like a gentlewoman. So now she made even a sort of apology for thrust- ing herself into his confidence, resting her conduct upon the natural and pardonable plea of maternal anxiety, which would not suffer her to remain longer vol. i. o 194 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, silent on a subject so important to her daughter's future prospects. Before concluding her epistle, she gave him to understand that she was addressing him wholly without the cognizance of his wife — an assurance strictly true ; for, as she was aware that Selby would never have consented to any such application, Mrs. Carew wrote and despatched her letter without mentioning a word on the subject. Whatever annoyance Luttrel might be conscious of, when he found his wife's mother thus interfering in his concerns, he failed not to answer Mrs. Carew in the same strain of becoming courtesy which she had adopted towards him : for why should he quar- rel with a mother for taking care of the interests of her child ? No, he would not be unreasonable, or fancy that any suspicion of him and his good inten- tions had occasioned Mrs. Carew's interference : he was just on the point of calling her " cousin John's widow," but swallowed the ungrateful epithet as it rose to the tip of his tongue. If, indeed, she had not been quite ingenuous in what she said of her daughter, — if Selby, after all, had been privy, in ever so trifling a degree, to the transaction But again he checked himself, resolving not to harbour a thought so derogatory to the candour of both parties. He mentioned, therefore, the announcement of his marriage as a measure he not merely de- sired particularly, but as one he was fully resolved on, as soon as his military duties allowed him to return to England. Until he rejoined his family, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 195 however, he utterly, though temperately, negatived Mrs. Carew's proposal of making any such disclo- sure. He knew, he said, the intense feeling it must necessarily excite, and considered it only due to his parents to delay every hint which might enlighten them, till, by breaking the information to them in person he might soften a blow which, in any case, must fall upon them heavily ; and, in conclusion, he added, " Though your maternal solicitude, my dear madam, well explains this friendly interference, I am quite confident that Selby would immediately acquiesce in the propriety of my sentiments on a subject which equally concerns us : at the same time, you must allow me to say, I am highly satis- fied to find her uninformed as to the letter with which you have been pleased to honour me. It would seriously distress me to have even the shadow of an altercation introduced into our correspon- dence." Mrs. Carew understood the hint, and her spirit rose high as she read it. Notwithstanding the civility of the language, she plainly perceived that her intervention was considered, to say the least of it, unnecessary ; and that, through her, Luttrel in- tended to school his wife into silence and complete submission. " Oh, if she could but persuade Selby to think as she did ! — if she could only infuse into her too gentle, too trusting mind, that degree of proper pride which should serve her to cope with the haughtiness of the Luttrels ! " o 2 196 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, But Selby, in other respects so conciliating, and ever ready to give up any point of momentary dis- pute, was here firm and unbending, almost to stern- ness. " If," said she, as her mother once more urged the point, — " if my love for Hartley did not lead me to regard his lightest wish as the rule of my conduct, there is my marriage-vow, recorded in heaven ; though here on earth I dared but breathe it in a whisper." " Selby, my child," was her mother's sarcastic reply, " you should certainly have been an actress : you would have recited so well, and your style of countenance shows to such advantage in moments of enthusiasm. So, if all our hopes of fortune fail, there will be still a resource — an opening to distinc- tion ; though not exactly in the line of life I had intended." She smiled bitterly as she added, " I wonder what the Luttrels would say to a daughter- in-law of theirs appearing on the stage — Mrs. Hart- ley Luttrel's first appearance as Isabella, in * The Fatal Marriage/ It would sound well ; and appli- cable, perhaps." " Oh, mama ! how can you talk so?" " I beg your pardon, my love," — and Mrs. Carew was really shocked at her unfeeling speech, — " of course, I was only joking: but the truth is, my own Selby looked so very charming in her heroics, that I fancied, in the vanity of a mother's heart, she deserved a larger audience." " I desire no other," said Selby, faintly smiling : HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 197 " as long as I am separated from Hartley, I wish for no wider sphere of action, no other life than that I am leading." Nevertheless, she accepted her mother's compli- ment, unpleasantly as it was prefaced : for Selby dearly loved to hear that she was a pretty woman ; trusting, in her constant reference to one absent object, that it was a sort of beauty which would wear well. And so the ladies, avoiding further occasion of dispute, fell again to amicable gossip. But could Selby have conjectured how her mother was occupied that very same night, while all but herself lay quietly sleeping, she would not have so slightly regarded their difference of opinion ; for there, in the secresy of midnight and the solitude of her own chamber, sat the widow Carew, with" flushed cheek and angry brow, inditing a second epistle to her son-in-law : and the rapidity and decision with which her hand guided the quill, boded ill for the peaceable tenor of the despatch. As the strongest motive she could urge for an immediate avowal of the marriage, she reminded him of the peril in which he had so lately been placed, and from the consequences of which he was still suffering ; which, she told him, rendered more and more apparent the obligation he was under of placing her daughter above all fear of trouble or reproach, in case she were to be left alone and unprotected. This time Mrs. Carew made neither excuse nor 198 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, apology for her interference : his interests, she bade him remember, were inseparable from those of his wife ; and in casting a mystery over the connection existing between them, he subjected her, if a hint of the matter once got abroad, to suspicion and ca- lumny which might injure her reputation for ever. " I continue to write," she proceeded, " without the knowledge of Selby ; her devoted love for you, and the fear of giving you present uneasiness, would probably prevent her concurring with me in the propriety of this appeal. But while she would act on the generous principle of showing unlimited confidence in you, it is, believe me Hartley, im- possible but that at heart she must feel, as every other woman must in her situation, that this un- necessary secresy — this exceeding tenderness towards the feelings, or rather say the prejudices, of every- body but herself — is but a weak guarantee for the love and good faith you pledged to her at the altar." The impression which this violent and ill-judged remonstrance made upon the mind of Hartley Lut- trel, was such as would have alarmed even his mother-in-law, could she have read his thoughts. An increased acquaintance with the world had not yet succeeded in lessening those romantic ideas which had attended his first essay in love. Of the peculiar views which might have governed the con- duct of his wife's mother, he had indeed, since the close of his short career at Quin's Folly, expe- rienced a few unpleasant surmises ; but he had never HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 199 for a moment doubted Selby's purity of purpose throughout their whole acquaintance. Until the receipt of these officious letters, it was his solace and delight to believe himself loved with a holy and un- selfish affection, free from the smallest taint of world- liness and deceit ; but now this blessed illusion — for as such he began shortly to regard it — was over. He knew the perfect confidence that had formerly in all things subsisted between Selby and her mother, and he could scarcely credit the possibility of their disagreeing in the present case. It was not that he actually disbelieved Mrs. Carew's assertion, when she told him her daughter was igno- rant of the correspondence so rashly commenced : he would not believe that the counsellor and preceptress of his wife could be capable of a direct falsehood." But of what consequence was it to him that Selby should be literally unacquainted with the actual con- tents of those letters, if they w r ere but the echo of her own sentiments ? If she, instead of resting satisfied with the full assurance of being the one beloved — the only sharer of his heart and affections — was languish- ing to bear his name, and be honoured in the eyes of the world for the vain distinction it would confer upon her ; how worthless was her nominal ignorance of her mother's acrimonious, and, as he interpreted it,imper- tinent language ? A suspicion like this, when once obtruded on a mind almost punctilious in its regard for sin- cerity, could not but frequently recur to it. In- 200 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, stead of being satisfied as formerly with the total silence maintained by Selby on this disputed point, he grew positively discontented with this proof of her delicacy and regard for his feelings : for it now struck him as something unnatural that she should never so much as allude to a subject which evidently occupied the principal portion of her mother's thoughts and attention ; and he interpreted this seem- ing resignation to his will, as but a vain show of obedience, which it was the daughter's part to dis- play, while the mother shifted to herself the odium which might accrue from openly attacking him. The one was to persecute him from under the plau- sible shield of maternal solicitude, while the other was to fill the character of the injured, uncomplain- ing wife. These suspicions were grievous and revolting to his very soul ; yet banish them he could not. The image of his fair young bride, till now enshrined in the crystal of pure sincerity, was dimmed and tar- nished. He might continue to dwell in remem- brance upon her outward charms, and recall the looks that had fascinated his boyish fancy, the smile that had lured him to folly : but she was no longer to be the faultless being he had painted her ; and in los- ing this high estimation of her character, he lost much that had cheered and supported him, not only in his professional career, but also in his prospective views of life. So long as he could rely implicitly on the virtues of his wife, above all on her unswerv- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 201 ing devotion to himself, he was able to look firmly on the step he had taken, and could even be proud of his alliance with so noble a creature ; hencefor- ward, degraded from her high station, ^she must be regarded but as the generality of her sex — the com- mon herd of women — selfish, calculating, vain, and ambitious. And as he thus gloomily and miserably meditated, it is not to be wondered if the unbridled rashness of his early youth came strongly before him, and he experienced again that sinking of the spirit, which had so nearly unnerved him as he knelt at the altar of St. Margaret Moses. At first he purposed writing to Selby, and request- ing her to make her complaints known to him her- self, instead of deputing the expression of them to any third person ; even though that person were her mother. But so soon to enter on matrimonial bicker- ings ! No, he could not bear it : he would rather abstain from writing at all. There would be time enough whenever they met again to discover that they were unsuited to each other : or they might, perhaps, never meet again. In this first disap- pointment of his expectations, he felt a sort of gloomy satisfaction in recalling the various chances which war and climate afforded for a speedy and effectual divorce. Besides, if his unlucky sur- mises were correct as to Selby's concurrence in the importunities with which he was pestered, she would assuredly be made acquainted with his reply ; so that through her mother he might inform her of his 202 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, sentiments, and yet avoid the ungraceful appearance of conjugal objurgation. He supposed his first letter had been too guarded, too observant of the feelings of those who respected his so little ; this time he would be less ceremonious, and make use of lan- guage that could not be misunderstood. His second letter to Mrs. Carew did indeed fully express all the bitterness of his feelings : but as we shall have else- where to revert to it, it need not be particularized at present. It was from this time forth that Selby began to be sensible of a certain change in the tone of her hus- band's letters. Few besides herself would, perhaps, have remarked it ; but love such as hers was not to be easily blinded. A cheerfulness constant and unvarying had hitherto characterized his communi- cations to her, and no fatigue or privation had ever occasioned his spirits to flag. Now, it seemed evident to her that he had lost something of this sanguine turn of mind : a sort of weariness and dissatisfaction was diffused over his letters ; and Selby noticed that he wrote less of himself, and more about general affairs. He was incapable, at any time, of playing the egotist ; but of late he occupied almost too much space in describing the route and supposed destination of the regiment, its marchings and counter-marchings : in short, all the minutiae of military detail ; which, but for his per- sonal interest being involved in it, might have seemed almost tedious. The various little anec- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 203 dotes of his friends and brother-officers, which he used to relate, with such truth and spirit that they made her feel almost acquainted with those who surrounded him, were now but seldom touched upon. The letters themselves were not so frequent, and certainly not quite so long, as they used to be. Perhaps, she thought, she might herself be a little to blame for the last omission ; for, not being able to decipher a portion of one of his letters, she had, with some light jest on the badness of his stationery, requested him to repeat the passage which had puzzled her : and from that very time he ceased to cross his letters ; observing, as if piqued, that, as it appeared his hand had become unintelligible to her, he would for the future be shorter and more concise. Not the faintest shadow of displeasure or reproof had ever before passed between the married lovers ; and though this instance may, to old stagers in matrimony, seem but trifling, it gave Selby a heart- ache : she repented that any unseasonable liveliness of hers should have brought it upon her. Could she have borne such a surmise without utter misery, she should have said that his expressions towards her very self were colder than formerly, and his longing to be with her, and impatience at the pro- traction of the war, less feelingly described ; but, suspecting not that any cause for this originated at home, she imputed it to every source but the true one : to absence from her, to failing health and mental dejection — to anything and everything rather 204 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, than to waning affection on his own part, or a doubt of her entire sincerity. Oh ! if she could but be near him ! She knew that the officers' wives had, in a few cases, fol- lowed their husbands, and been in their neigh- bourhood during some part of the campaign : but then they — happy women ! — might display with- out scruple their affectionate solicitude, while she must love in secret. And for once, as these sad reflections crossed her mind, she felt something of her mother's indignation at this lengthened con- cealment, and the almost dishonourable mystery in which she seemed doomed to wear away her youth. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 205 CHAPTER XII. Things were pretty much in this state when an event occurred to the mother and daughter, which, as it closely affected themselves and their fortunes, it behoves us forthwith to relate. The Carews — for by her maiden name must Selby still be designated — having walked into Bath on a shopping expedition, were proceeding up Milsom- street one fine day in the early part of spring : the fourth season of buds and blossoms since their resi- dence at Quin's Folly. It was just such a day as disposed them to move briskly and feel exhilarated, and to wonder — though it was almost the first tolerable weather they had had for two months past — why the leaves were so backward, and the spring fashions not yet forthcoming. Parting with her mother at the door of the first shop to which she was bound, Selby proceeded a few steps to another, where she had some trifling errand of her own to do ; and having finished her business, she returned to Mrs. Carew. But, on entering the shop where she had left her, she was at 206 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, once struck by the alteration which, during this very short interval, had taken place in her appearance and manner. Mrs. Carew looked pale and agitated ; and, in answer to Selby's earnest inquiries, told her, with a forced laugh, that it was nothing, " really nothing at all : but the truth is, Selby, I have just seen such a striking likeness of your father pass close to the shop-door, that I declare I felt for the moment quite startled and overcome." Rallying her spirits the next minute, however, Mrs. Carew sipped a little of the water which Mrs. Bridges the pastrycook presented ; declining the slight infusion of brandy, which that matronly and rather red-nosed person declared, in a confi- dential whisper, to be much more " efficacious for the nerves;" and forthwith she proceeded to give that serious reprimand, for the delivery of which in person she was now in the shop of the said Mrs. Bridges, concerning the " remarkably bad pastry which you sent me last Tuesday, and which I was really ashamed to see at my table." Which little variety of domestic life being shortly adjusted — the good Bridges taking all her gods to witness that from henceforth, in her dealings with the charming widow, her creams, her puffs, and her patties, should be impeccable — the ladies left the shop ; and pre- sently Mrs. Carew, sighing away a sort of op- pression that still lingered on her spirits, said in a contemplative tone, — " Now, Selby, you see how plainly one may trace HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 207 back the origin of half the ghost stories one hears, and almost, in one's weakness, gives credence to. Suppose I had met this man fifteen years ago in- stead of to-day, and that his appearance had been immediately followed by the loss of the Spiteful ; what exercise of reason in such a case could possibly have convinced me but that I had seen the spirit of your father ? And so it is : we cheat ourselves in the first instance, and then do our best to cheat others." " Yes," replied Selby ; " but, on the other hand, if this strong likeness had appeared to you in what was ascertained to be the undoubted period of my father's death, I must own I should think such a coincidence scarcely less remarkable than his actual apparition :" and she breathed an inward prayer that no striking likeness of Hartley might ever cross her path, while he remained beyond the seas. An hour's sojourn in Bath, a little more loitering in shops and chatting with chance acquaintance, served to dissipate their thoughts from gloomier topics, and they reached home without again adverting to them : but it was evident how deep an impression had been made on the excitable nerves of Mrs. Carew ; for on their being told by the servant who admitted them, that a strange gentleman, who would not give his name, was waiting for them in the drawing-room, she uttered a solemn exclamation of, " Good God ! who can it be?" and rushed up-stairs. A piercing cry was the next moment heard from 208 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, the drawing-room, and when Selby and the maid followed, they beheld Mrs. Carew, who had sunk half fainting into a chair, and the stranger leaning over her, and calling her his " dearest Charlotte." To Betty the housemaid the thing must have seemed inexplicable; but Selby, though scarcely less moved than her mother by what was passing, in a moment guessed the truth : it was neither accidental likeness nor ghost from the wreck of the Spiteful, but her father in bodily presence before her eyes. She could only stare and gasp for breath ; while the stranger, engrossed by the situation into which his appearance had thrown Mrs. Carew, said, as he strove to support her, — " I was wrong to try you in this way — the joyful surprise has overcome you, my dear Charlotte. But cheer up, my love ! It is no empty dream, no vision of your poor Carew that speaks to you : his heart and hand, my Charlotte, are equally warm and animated ; and as truly, as passionately devoted to you as on that unlucky day he parted from you so many long years ago ! " How far these assurances of the strange gentleman, of his being the real and veritable John Carew, and no freak of his wife's imagination, were likely to benefit her nerves and renovate her spirits, I leave to be determined by such married ladies as may happen to have been deserted by their husband for upwards of fifteen years. But apparently there were other passions besides those of fear and wonder HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 209 working in the breast of Mrs*. Carew ; for at these words she raised her head, and looking reproachfully at him, repeated, — " Years, indeed ! Oh, Carew ! Where on earth have you been all this while ? And what have you been doing? But never mind," she added hurriedly, interrupting him as he was answering her, and making an effort to compose herself; " you are re- turned at last : and — and — oh, Heavens ! how shall I ever recover it?" " Her joy is too much for her," said the stranger with much complacency; "the extatic delight of such a moment as this" — when, looking for the first time at his audience, he broke off, in a much brisker, not to say more natural voice, exclaiming, " Why, surely that is not the little girl I left behind me ! My. own little Selby!" " Indeed it is, John," said Mrs. Carew, softened at this notice of their child. " Selby, my love, this is he — your father himself — I felt a secret conviction of it all along ;" and the next moment Selby found herself in the arms of the stranger — for strange he still was to her — being kissed and hugged to his heart's content. It was but another of the queernesses resulting from this extraordinary restoration ; and five minutes' consideration would have satisfied her that all was right and natural : for who could wonder at a father embracing the daughter from whom he had been parted so long ? But this rencontre was so wholly vol. i. p 210 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, unexpected, and the scene had passed so quickly before her astonished eyes, that when she felt herself seized upon, squeezed against the buttons of a strange waistcoat, her lips taken forcible pos- session of, and her smooth cheek scrubbed by a beard of some hours' growth, her sense of filial duty could hardly prevent her struggling lustily to get free. Her mother, having got over the first surprise, must immediately admit the reality of the scene. There stood her long-lost husband, older and greyer certainly than when they parted, yet still fulfilling all her old recollections : there was the same kind look and voice, the very turn of expression she had been accustomed to : the moment of meeting did but confirm an intimacy which no lapse of time could injure or destroy. But Selby had cherished a beau-ideal of her father from her earliest years ; and the image of her fancy was so utterly unlike the figure now presented to her — the honoured parent she had so often thought upon ; the l( po-o-r John" of all his relations — that it was with the greatest difficulty she could bring herself to acknowledge the relationship. The person thus suddenly obtruded on her, visibly and tangibly, did not to her seem half so real as the illusion she had delighted to conjure up, and clothe in every manly attribute of dignity and worth. Carew's evident admiration of his daughter did much towards the increase of his wife's cordiality. Here, she and her truant husband could meet as HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 211 on neutral ground. They exchanged looks of mutual pleasure ; and Carew, as he surveyed his child, and gave her another squeeze, expressed his feelings in the exclamation of " Charming, by Jove ! " adding immediately, " and the very image, Charlotte, of what you were at her age." But Mrs. Carew, faintly smiling, shook her head, and said, " I never was half as handsome, Carew." " Take care," said he, with graceful gallantry ; " remember that in depreciating yourself, you lessen the credit due to my taste and discernment." "Ah, well," she replied, rousing herself and press- ing her hand to her side, as if there was a tightness about the region of the heart, " this is no time for bygone stories. If you have travelled any dis- tance to-day, John, you must need refreshment;"* and Mrs. Carew then left the room on pretence of hurrying the cook : but desiring, in truth, to collect her disordered faculties. Nor did Carew, who pretty well interpreted the feelings of his beloved Charlotte, make any attempt to follow her. " Joy no less than grief," he observed, " must have its course :" and forthwith he turned all his attention toward his daughter. But " consternation " was a word which would have served better to express the state of Mrs. Carew's mind : disturbance at the present turn affairs had taken, mixed with an awful presage of evil to come. The wild character of her husband, and his unsettled habits, of all which she was thoroughly p 2 212 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, acquainted (although he had succeeded in deceiving the world in general) gave her little hope of future peace or comfort in their reunion. Respect for his character she had ceased to feel, long before their se- paration ; and the renewal of kindly feeling, naturally springing from his imagined death, had soon sunk into a calm and by no means disconsolate remem- brance of him. Still, as he had never conducted himself in such a way as to exclude him from her society, she must receive him without hesitation. Yet, accustomed so long to the uncontrolled disposal of her time and property, and estimating at its full worth her elegant leisure and unblemished reputation, she trembled at the new career so suddenly opened to her : an existence in which everything seemed uncertain, tempestuous, and alarming. She had avoided Carew's presence that she might grow calm : but thinking only increased her per- turbation. She sickened at the notoriety her un- common position would soon entail upon her in the eyes of society : the exaggeration, the gossiping, the prying into her affairs, the stories that would be circulated — ay, even before nightfall. She who, as the widow Carew, had been so cautious, so ex- emplary in her walk and conversation, that the whispers of slander had never presumed to make her their object — she must prepare to find herself the mark for observation : perhaps for calumny, certainly for ridicule. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 213 It may seem strange that Mrs. Carew should not be more curious to know why her husband had been absent so long : but the fact was, she had a perfect reliance on Carew's facility of invention, and knew that, at any time she chose to ask for information, it would be most readily and cheerfully accorded : even to the most minute particulars of his mysterious wanderings. Why then seek to hurry the communication ? Most fortunate was it for Carew's talent in the way of narrative, that Selby shared not her mother's indifference on this point. In her he found a will- ing auditor, and a ready recipient for any story he might choose to tell. His absence itself had been so extraordinary, that nothing could be too marvel- lous to account for it. Carew had an ease and winning frankness of address which seldom failed to operate in his favour with all whom he approached ; it is no wonder then that ten minutes discourse with him should have won the susceptible heart of his daughter, and taught her to regard him, not merely as the father he was said to be, but one whose acquaintance she was de- lighted to cultivate : and who, if he did not yet quite rival the shadow she had worshipped in his place, was in a fair way of doing so very soon. On returning to the drawing-room, Mrs. Carew found the father and daughter sitting close together, their eyes riveted upon each other; she asking ques- tions innumerable, and he answering them with equal 214 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, vivacity, yet with an occasional touch of sentiment, which became him remarkably well. Of course this short interval did not allow of his en- tering into minute particulars : her filial curiosity must satisfy itself with the broader features of the story — the chance, " he might venture to call it providen- tial," which had prevented him from joining the Spite- ful, and given him a berth on board another vessel scarcely less unlucky in its fate; for ere it could reach its destination it was pursued and captured by a French ship of superior size, and Carew, in common with all who survived the engagement, was carried into Marseilles, and languished for five years in a French prison. Escaping from thence, by a series of adventures which he promised to detail circumstantially at some future time, he had from that period been, as he feelingly described himself, "a melancholy wanderer upon the face of the globe." Miranda herself never listened to Prospero's long yarn with more intense sympathy than shone in the countenance of Selby, as she hung on the accents of her newly-regained father ; and, unlike the island princess, she felt no inclination to take a nap before he ceased speaking. At this point she could not help interrupting him, to ask, " But why, my dear sir, did you not come home immediately to us ? M The answer touched her greatly, — " Because, my sweet Selby, I believed I had no longer a home to come to. During my detention in France, I HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 215 found it impossible to obtain news from that one spot in the world where all my affections were centered." " But did you not write, sir ?" " Frequently, my love ; and succeeded, as I thought, in sending my letters: but it is plain that they must all in some way have miscarried, for not a line in reply was I ever blest with receiving : not a single word in reply, my Selby. And you may picture to yourself the doubts and fears that racked me, as I attempted to account for such a cruel silence ; to me so inexplicable : I confess even now I can hardly comprehend it." Prospero paused and sighed at this point, and Miranda hastened to bestow upon him all the pity he demanded, and which his sufferings so largely deserved. " Well, then, my love ; when I was at length released from this purgatory, and eager to fly home to have all my perplexities satisfied, a report reached me, from what I foolishly imagined to be a source undeniably certain, that your dear mother — concluding me, as she had every reason, to have gone down in the Spiteful — had married again, and was gone to India with her second husband. I had of course no right to suppose that my dear Charlotte would condemn herself to perpetual widowhood for my sake ; yet, Selby, I own the news cut me to the very heart : and in fact I was delirious in consequence of it for many months. But this I 216 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, shall not mention to your mother, for fear of dis- tressing her." "You must have suffered, indeed! But oh, sir, who could have been mistaken, or wicked enough, to spread such a report ? My mother, I am aware, had offers " "Had she?" said Carew quickly, and looking round the comfortable room in which he was sit- ting. " God bless me ! how lucky that she refused them!" then relapsing into his former tone, "it would have entailed irreparable misery upon us all, my sweet child." " And did you never discover, sir, how this wicked report arose?" "Wicked, indeed," said Carew, availing himself of the word she suggested. " The affair is still shrouded in a good deal of mystery ; but I have reason to fear that there was a very malicious pur- pose at the bottom of it. At some future time, my dear Selby, you shall have all the particulars of that story : it is a long and melancholy one ; and the baseness of a false friend, who could betray a trust- ing heart like mine But enough of that for the present," said Carew, squeezing his daughter's hand emphatically. " The villain is gone to his account, and I will forbear his unworthy memory." From that time forth, Mr. Carew cursorily described himself as having led a life of strange adventure, in the course of which he visited most quarters of the globe ; but having taken an uncon- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 217 querable disgust to the scene of his wedded felicity, he never revisited England, or opened any commu- nication with his family : considering himself dead to the world, he wished every remembrance of such a being as John Carew blotted out. " There had been a time," he told his daughter, " when he had been tempted to follow and reclaim his dear Charlotte ; but, much as he longed to have her restored to him, he was so moved by the idea of the dreadful predicament in which his unexpected appearance must place her, that he resolved — he knew not if it should be called weakness or gene- rosity : but he did resolve — to sacrifice all his own hopes of happiness, in order that he might assure hers ; and so, for his dear wife's sake, became a nameless fugitive." Selby's swimming eyes, joined to this revival of past misfortune, were again too much for Mr. Carew ; and his daughter, respecting feelings so hon- ourable to his sensibility, repressed her desire to question him further. She could not, however, for- bear asking him, how he had discovered this grand error of his life? — for some such enlightenment she concluded to have been the happy means of restor- ing the wanderer to his home again ; and he, shaking off his emotion, was beginning to say that it was by the merest chance in the world, — " Just one of those strange coincidences, my love, which, if you met with them in the pages of fiction, you would swear were utterly impossible " when Mrs. Carew 218 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, re-entering at the moment, Selby sprang up, and, doubting not that her mother participated in her feelings to their fullest extent, threw her arms round her neck, congratulating her in the sweetest and tenderest terms ; while Carew, encircling them as they stood thus clasped together, with a trem- bling voice invoked blessings on the head of both his treasures. With an odd shy look, a something partaking at once of a little pleasure and a good deal of distrust, his lady supported her part in this domestic tableau ; and then announcing that dinner was ready, placed her arm within his and conducted him down stairs. Carew, as he sat at the bottom of the table, and saw himself thus recognised as the head of this small but elegant establishment, felt his spirits mounting to an inconvenient degree. A thought- less levity, under the mask of good humour, had always been a strong characteristic of his, and many a time it had stood in the way of his preferment ; but even cousin John had prudence enough to be aware, that in the present position of affairs he must act with a double measure of circumspection. As long as his dear Charlotte pre- served that forced smile and doubtful expression, it would be far from safe to discard his sentimental aspect: there was one thing above all others he must avoid — and as he had now fasted some hours, the sacrifice to appearances was severe — he must resolutely abstain from eating too good a dinner. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 219 But if the struggle was great, his self-denial went not unrewarded. Among the faults of Charlotte Carew, a want of generosity was not to be num- bered ; and the very circumstance that so highly gratified her truant husband : viz., that she had it in her power to confer favours upon him, and restore him to the comforts of life — disposed her to meet his advances, and be lenient in her judgment of him. And although a previous acquaintance with the ingenious narrator, rendered it difficult for her to receive his explanation of past events with implicit faith; yet even she could not help being strongly impressed with the apparent simplicity and candour with which he told his story : Selby having left them alone, by the way, the narrative was materially altered in its second rehearsal. And then, with suck an aspect of sincerity did Carew acknowledge and deplore the faults and follies of his youth, that she soon grew softened ; and, losing sight of the idle extravagance which had plunged her into diffi- culties she still sickened to think of, began once more to see in him only the father of her beloved child : the John Carew she had loved so dearly in the days of her youth. It was with the truest pleasure that Selby saw this change in her mother's demeanour ; for Mrs. Carew's constrained manner, and measured civilities to her husband during dinner, had painfully struck her daughter. It was impossible for a sensible girl like Selby not to guess a little of the truth ; but yet 220 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, she said to herself, " Hartley must behave ill, very ill, indeed — worse than it is possible he ever should behave — before I could receive him half as coldly, after an absence like this ! " And then, as she mused and marvelled over the events of the day, again reverting to her absent lover, she fancied his aston- ishment when he should read the account of her father's return : what would he think of it ? — but be pleased, of course ; for why should he not ? He had always spoken so kindly of Mr. Carew ; indeed, some of the nicest anecdotes she had ever heard of her father had been told her by Luttrel. As she thus coupled their names together, a thought suddenly crossed her mind — she wondered it had not occurred to her before : an idea which made her blush and tremble. And after a few moments of perplexity, she ran off to call her mother aside, trusting her representation might not come too late after all. On the stairs she met Mrs. Carew, who was seeking her, with words upon her lips which would have sounded strangely indeed but two hours ago. " Where are you, my darling ? " said she ; " your father is asking for you." " I am coming directly, mama : but stay one moment," she added, nervously. " You will not — I trust you will not think of mentioning to him any- thing about Hartley — and — and what has happened. I know husbands and wives tell each other every- thing : but this is so peculiar a circumstance ; and it HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 221 was so impossible to refer our conduct to him in any way. Oh, my dearest mother ! promise me you won't tell him !" " Mention it to Carew ! — to your father! What an idea!" was the immediate exclamation of Mrs. Carew ; then recollecting herself, she added, more calmly, " Most assuredly not. No, Selby, you may make yourself quite easy on that score." And Selby, though she did not quite understand the ex- pression of her mother's countenance, saw she might be relied on. For, in truth, Mrs. Carew had as yet by no means sufficient confidence in the newly- restored, to trust in his keeping a secret so serious to them all. The errors which had disgraced his early career she was beginning to flatter herself might never be reacted : if there was faith to be placed in man, he was heartily ashamed of them himself, and had long been leading a reformed life ; but she must be better convinced of his dis- cretion and propriety of feeling before she put it to such a proof. With the exception of this one secret, she had nothing to withhold from her husband, and could tell him all that had passed in his absence, and converse with the real openness which he affected so well ; and as there were reasons which made it much more convenient for Carew to listen, than to be himself the sole narrator, he encouraged her communications to the best of his ability. That piercing, and sometimes dubious glance which he encountered from the bright eyes of his 222 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, dear Charlotte, was much more difficult to contend with than the soft trusting looks of his sweet daughter. Nothing therefore could exceed the in- terest with which, after the rough sketch of his own adventures, he pressed for a detailed account of hers ; and it was curious to observe the adroit way in which, when he found himself a little at a loss — wandering in his memory, and confusing names and dates — he would turn the talk ; either by uttering some sentiment which he knew his wife's better nature would readily respond to, or by bringing the discourse round to her own far safer experiences : the question he would ask for this purpose seeming to arise so naturally, that even the acute Mrs. Carew would be thrown completely off her guard, and go on chatting as readily as he could desire. And as it is in the course of human nature to take a livelier interest in our own immediate affairs than in those even of a husband once beloved, and still not quite displeasing to us ; her self-complacency kept yet increasing. Nor, woman as she was, and handsome for her years, could Charlotte Carew be wholly indifferent to the evident admiration of her vagrant lord ; the due appreciation of her charms being, nevertheless, expressed (for well did he know his game) rather by looks than words : less by coarse and downright compliment, than by some sudden exclamation occasionally breaking from him, as it might be unawares ; so that, at last (being, in fact, a good HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 223 deal cramped by sitting so long in the same position ; for Carew was by nature highly mercurial) he started up, with gestures of remorse, and an earnest denun- ciation of his stupidity: his wretched, blundering, calamitous error, in staying away so long. She internally agreed with the substance of his peni- tential ravings ; and thought that truly he had shewn a degree of blindness and infatuation, such as it was easier to pardon than account for. Thus the evening waned ; and this strange re- union subsided into tranquil discourse, and such small matters of friendly communication and agree- able trifling on the part of the ladies, as convinced John Carew he had obtained so decided an advan- tage already, that a very little more exercise of dis- cretion, and that penetration into character on which he prided himself, must insure him a glorious and complete victory. Then came the crowning reward of his self-denial during dinner ; for Selby, on whom his apparent want of appetite for that meal had made a most pitiful impression, took care that a nice little delicate supper should make its early appearance. And for this mark of filial affection, fain would her father, in the fulness of his heart and the emptiness of his stomach, have bestowed on her a solemn bene- diction. She was, indeed, the life of the little party ; and having no old and ungracious recollections to cross her at odd intervals, might unrestrainedly express her overflowing pleasure in finding herself 224 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, in actual presence of him whom she had believed lost to her for ever. Mrs. Carew had not, for years past, seen her Selby so gay and excited ; and, as usual, where the mirth flows naturally in one member of a party it becomes infectious to all, so, long ere the little banquet was concluded, all seemed peace, harmony, and good-fellowship. " Oh, by the way," said Carew, suddenly intro- ducing a new subject, " have you happened to hear or see anything of the Luttrels since I have been ?>» The smiles of the ladies were in a moment quenched : Selby looked at her mother ; who, turning the ques- tion as adroitly as her husband himself could have done, replied, " Surely, John, you must remember enough of the contemptuous neglect we have met with from your family, to spare that inquiry." " But there was some sort of communication, mama, was there not?" Selby timidly suggested — " a letter, after my father's " She stopped, and Carew finished the sentence for her. " After my death, you mean," said he. " Ah, I see that frown, my beloved Charlotte ! But if you would have me triste and sorrowful, you should not do all in your power to make me happy!" A little sigh, and a look of sensibility : which, we trust, was not wholly put on for the occasion, closed the re- mark. Again he reverted to the Luttrels ; arguing, " That bygones should be bygones : that family quarrels were, for the most part, foolish affairs ; HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 225 and that, in fact, there had been in this case no quarrel at all — merely a slight misunderstanding, a failure in etiquette." But on this point Charlotte Carew would never give way an inch : " It was pride," she averred, " and that of the most offensive sort, which had governed their con- duct towards her; and, unless receiving the fullest satisfaction for their former behaviour, never would she accept civilities from them in future." Selby felt pained at this language. " For, surely," she reasoned within herself, " it would be unwise, as well as wrong, to embitter my father's mind against any of that family." And she was pleased to see that Mr. Carew did not take the matter up warmly : he treated the neglect of which his wife complained as more a question of conventional form than a thing to be offended or annoyed about. " It was the way of the world," he said. " They were at the top of the tree : a rich set altogether ; and, whatever might be argued, pro or con, such sort of people must be expected to look down on their poor relations. He acknowledged the prin- ciple to be a false one, and deplored its prevalence, with a serious smile ; but, " as long as the world held together, worldly maxims must still hold good. In society there must needs be a reciprocity of interests : they (the Carews) could do nothing for the Luttrels, consequently, the Luttrels would do nothing for the Carews. I quite agree with you, my dear Charlotte, that all this says but little for VOL. I. Q 226 THE FAIR CAREWJ OR, human nature ; but so it is with the very best of us : even the most high minded must, in the long run, abate something of their independence, and swim with the stream. What ! another temptation, my sweet Selby ? Well, I think I must try a morsel of the sweetbread : your cook seems to have stewed it to a nicety — but the smallest possible portion. Ah, you rogue, you ! you are trying to stuff your old father : going to settle him in right earnest this time with a fit of indigestion." " Dear sir," said his daughter, her voice faltering as she spoke, "it is the first time I have had the happiness of administering to your comfort in any way : no wonder if I should be a little too zealous." Carew trusted that this source of gratification to his sweet child might often be renewed. " But as to my grand relations," said he " Oh ! let us drop that subject, John," said his wife. " My dear Charlotte, I was only going to observe, what I am sure you will agree to, that we can (thank Heaven !) do very well without the notice of any of them ; unless they choose to vouchsafe it properly. In our own happy way, we can make ourselves quite comfortable, though all their high mightinesses the Dons of Horton were to cut us dead at once. Can't we, Selby, my child?" But his daughter returned him no answer. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 227 CHAPTER XIII. There was one feature in this strange freak o fortune which tended greatly to reconcile Mrs. Carew to the return of her husband ; for, whereas she had anticipated that his introduction to her acquaintance would be the sure precursor of scan- dalous talk, and a general depreciation of her and her family, such as her proud spirit would find it hard to brook, it really proved in the end a means of increasing her popularity, and bestowing on her a sort of consideration from which her quiet way of life had hitherto excluded her. On the first report in Bath of the sudden re- appearance of one who was concluded, by all who had the slightest acquaintance with his name, to be five fathoms deep, at least, in the Bay of Biscay ; curiosity was largely mingled with dis- trust : and the more scrupulous were disposed to hold back from any decided intimacy with one who, like Hamlet's ghost, appeared in " such a ques- tionable shape." But, on the other hand, since his wife — or, as some still persisted in calling her, his widow — had welcomed him back, apparently with- Q 2 228 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, out hesitation ; the public in general thought it had no business to inquire further, and that it was only- due to the unblemished character of Mrs. Carew and her lovely daughter, to adopt whatever tone they thought proper to take. Carew was well known to have come of a good stock ; and, even supposing he had been a little wild in his youth, if his wife could overlook his irregularities, surely the world need not be more particular. But whatever might be the scruples of the Bath residents previous to Carew's public appearance, no sooner did he come amongst them than every un- pleasant feeling vanished at once. That frankness of address which seemed so peculiarly to charac- terize cousin John, was so tempered with gentle- manly ease and suavity, and was so totally distinct from vulgar assurance, that the most particular of the dowager tribe declared in his favour upon the very first introduction. Lively he was: very lively; but never forgot himself, or transgressed the strictest rules of decorum. He could joke and make merry with the young, could even be a little noisy at times ; but then he would turn so pleasantly to chat with their elders, and had so many amusing anec- dotes to tell, and played so good a rubber, — in short, made himself so universally acceptable, that from a church dignitary to the very babies in arms, he became immediately a general favourite. He seemed, indeed, to have a coral and bells suited to all ages; and the sugar- plums he so lavishly dis- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 229 pensed among the juvenile portion of his friends, were but a substantial realizing of the neat compli- ments — the air of marked yet not obtrusive admira- tion, the tone of respectful deference — by means of which he shortly established himself in the good graces of older, and — as they supposed themselves — wiser people. Ay, and it may be they did shew their wisdom in this easy reception of an agreeable man. Heaven knows ! the rarity of the species may well excuse its being frankly welcomed whenever it falls in our way. It followed, as a natural consequence of Carew's popularity, that invitations poured in upon the family from quarters hitherto undreamed of; and to such an extent, that, supposing but one-half of the civilities had been accepted, Mrs. Carew's modest little income would have been wholly inadequate to support her increased expenses. All this pleased her more than she would willingly have admitted, even to herself: perhaps she began to doubt whether it was not better, after all, to be a wife than a widow. Selby, on the contrary, though she must be grati- fied by attentions so flattering to her father, sighed for the moment when, his introduction to their friends being over, she might enjoy with him those calm domestic pleasures which he was so fond of eulogizing ; and might become thoroughly ac- quainted with the various accomplishments which raised him so highly in the estimation of all with whom he had time to converse : for now, over- 230 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, whelmed as he was with constant engagements, it failed not to strike her as a singular thing, that their commonest acquaintance seemed to have a better understanding of Mr. Carew's peculiar taste and acquirements than the daughter who was ac- tually living with him. " His general knowledge is very extensive," ob- served a gentleman who had been engaged five-and- twenty years in writing a universal history, the manuscript of which he had, at Carew's urgent request, promised him a sight of. " I call him remarkably well informed, and generally accurate in his facts ; though I have been able to set him right in one or two rather material points : a judi- cious thinker is always open to conviction." Another, devoted to virtu, extolled cousin John's taste in pictures, and the nice discernment with which he had decided, almost at the first glance, that the fine Rembrandt which hung up over the mantelpiece of the connoisseur was an undoubted original ; " though there had been persons blind enough to question the fact. It was pleasant, in these days of would-be criticism, to find such true appreciation of art." From one quarter, Selby heard that her father's fondness for antiquities amounted to a passion ; from another, that he was undeniably the best billiard- player in Bath ; and the venerable archdeacon, whose sermon of the preceding Sunday had made such an impression on Mr. Carew that he took HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 231 occasion to express respectfully his hope of shortly seeing it printed for general circulation, was heard to say of him that he was " thoroughly orthodox in his opinions." Nor was Carew one whit less successful with the other sex. One old lady praised in all companies a recipe for the rheumatism, which he had presented to her on their very first introduction. Another spoke equally well of a certain recipe for a lemon- pudding, superior to anything of the sort in Mrs. Glass ; while her sentimental daughters chimed in with, — " Oh, yes ; and his conversation is so interest- ing ! Do you remember, mama, that story Mr. Carew told us the other night, as we were in the cloak-room waiting for the carriage, about that wonderful escape of his " " You mean amongst the Hottentots, my love?" (N.B. — It was thus that, in the dark ages before the peace, old ladies were apt to denominate savage life in all its varieties. Now, they read Chambers' Journal, and go to the May meetings at Exeter Hall, and are a wiser, and, I hope, a better race.) " No, mama ; not Hottentots. It was amongst the aboriginals of North America: that anecdote, you know, that reminded us so strongly of Captain Smith and Pocahuntas." " J ust so, my dear ; as you say, it was very like Captain Smith and Huncamunca : and with regard to the pudding, nothing can be better." 232 THE FAIR CAREWJ OR, Whenever Selby could obtain half an hour's rational conversation with her father, it was her great delight to lead him to talk of his relations. In her mother's presence she scarcely dared venture to name the Luttrels, but no sooner did she find her- self quite alone with Carew, than she would take advantage of his intimate knowledge of a family in which she was so deeply interested, and would begin to question him about them all ; their disposition and peculiarities, their place, their style of living, looks, manners : in short, would try to discover everything which might make her feel somewhat acquainted with these formidable Luttrels ; and often was she secretly vexed, when he, little thinking the motives that incited her curiosity, would turn off in his light way to some irrelevant matter wholly indifferent to his daughter. On one occasion, when she had, by way of bringing back the discourse to the desired channel, inquired the colour of Mrs. Luttrel's hair, and Carew had irreverently answered, " I suppose it must by this time be a wig," he confused her not a little by suggesting that, if she wished to know more of these people of his, she had better cultivate their acquaintance. " I, my dear father ! " " Yes, you, Selby. A pretty girl like you, suppo- sing her to be well-born and bred, may always com- mand her own society: not so an old weather-beaten dog as I am. Mopsey, don't growl ; I meant nothing personal by the epithet. An old worn- out fellow HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 233 like me must think twice before he intrudes upon his grand kith and kin ; especially if his character for sobriety, and all the respectable virtues, does not stand over fair amongst them. But you," stopping in his quarter-deck walk up and down the room, and looking at her admiringly from head to foot, — " you, with that face and figure ! why, they would meet you with open arms." " Oh, no, no !" replied his daughter, gratified yet confused ; " you impute far too much influence to outward appearance, even if I possessed much claim to it. I shouid be sorry, indeed," she added with feeling, " to think that I was always to remain estranged from them; but at present the seeking their society in any possible manner is not to be thought of for a moment, /intrude myself among the Luttrels ! What an idea!" " My dear Selby," said he, " what would there be either extraordinary or improper in John Carew's daughter mixing with her father's blood-relations? But I see you are afraid of your mother." And he recommenced his walk. Selby denied the charge ; but he shook his head incredulously. He was himself, he said, horribly afraid of the old lady when she got upon certain subjects ; and he ended with assuring Selby that, in spite of that, in case of any of the Luttrels coming to Bath, nothing should prevent his paying them the compliment of introducing his daughter to them. Selby, unable to give her true reason for opposing 234 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, him, could only pray internally that no opportunity might be afforded him of fulfilling his threat. To a worldly man like Carew, nothing could appear more natural than that a beautiful girl, con- scious of her attractions, and not being able to obtain a husband at home, should wish to extend her prospects beyond its narrow limits. Had Selby been aware of the mistaken notions to which her questioning gave rise, she would undoubtedly have suppressed her curiosity. Carew was, on the whole, a creature of impulse ; but even he was capable of forming a purpose, when his own interest appeared in any way involved in its development. And now he pondered occasionally upon what had passed be- tween his daughter and himself; and when she was in particularly good looks, or he happened to see her the object of public admiration, he internally subscribed to what he believed to be the bent of her thoughts and ambition. " The girl is quite right ;" he would say to himself, " she has tried this place long enough, and finds it won't do : once get her into a new sphere, and good, really good society, and there is no saying how splendid a connection she might not form." He attempted to sound his wife upon this subject, but she silenced him immediately in a manner the most determined ; and though he wondered much that she should shew so little regard to her daughter's future prospects, yet, dependent as he was on his dear Charlotte for the present comforts of existence, he HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 235 dared not offend her by openly opposing any of her opinions or prejudices. It was just at the period when her home was gayer than she had ever known it, and when, to outward appearances, the prospects of the little family were at the brightest, that Selby was called on to suffer the most poignant grief that she had yet, in her capacity of a wife, experienced. We have said she had latterly been conscious of a change, trifling, perhaps, but still to her plainly perceptible — an alteration in the style of her hus- band's letters. Lately, a silence unusually long had alternately alarmed her on his account, or had flat- tered her with the hope that he might have obtained a short leave of absence, and be now actually on his way home — might be refraining from writing only to increase her pleasure by some delicious surprise, such as lovers love to dream about. Hartley's next letter, might it not be dated Portsmouth? But when this longed-for commu- nication did arrive, it not only bore the old foreign postmark, but the contents were such as to over- whelm her faithful heart with grief and astonish- ment; for it was now that she became informed of the correspondence between Luttrel and her mother, and saw at once the fatal consequence to which it had led. Mrs. Carew had written a third time to her son-in-law ; and he, exasperated by her persecution, and refusing any longer to give credit to Selby 's 236 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, alleged ignorance of the transaction, addressed his answer, not to Mrs. Carew, but to his wife her- self; adjuring her, as she valued their future happi- ness, to put an end to a discussion as painful to him as it was degrading to themselves. " In her earlier communications to me," he said, " your mother asserted you were uninformed of her interference ; and I did my utmost to believe her : in the confidence of my own heart, I thought I might trust implicitly in yours. I would, Selby, have believed a miracle, rather than have supposed you one whit less simple minded and disinterested than you had seemed to me when we wandered together in Fairley Valley. But in her last most ill-judged letter, Mrs. Carew gives me not even this poor comfort : she expresses herself, not indeed in words to this effect, but with all the decision and authority of an advocate who knows himself master of his client's secret inclinations : in short, I can no longer flatter myself that she is acting without your permission. " Under any circumstances, I must have felt your evident mistrust of me, and have mourned over my delusion in fancying myself united to one who loved me only for myself, and not for the showy advantages I had it in my power to bestow upon her; but still, had you written to me on this point yourself, and opened your mind to me honestly and without shadow of disguise, however disappointed I might have been at the overthrow of my high-flown expectations, I should to a certain HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 237 degree have honoured the candour of your con- duct. But this paltering system — this putting forth of your own worldly desires under cover of a mother's meddling interference — Selby, I charge you, let there be no more of it between us. Be contented with my repeated and solemn assurance that all shall be acknowledged ; and your place in society, that place you so greatly covet, shall be accorded to you the moment I can communicate personally with my father : at the present crisis of the cam- paign, my very honour would suffer, were I to show any wish of absenting myself from my regi- ment. Further than this I will not go ; for I only know the dispositions of those with whom I have to deal, and how they may best be worked upon ; and though it may be a light matter to you and your mother that I should be alienated from the hearts of my relations, yet I cannot so esteem it: nor, you must be satisfied, would it tend, in a worldly point of view, to your advancement. " Perhaps I have spoken hastily; but I cannot read over what I have written. 1 would rather drive from me for ever, if I could, those sickening thoughts, and the debasing idea that our married life has already been disgraced by peevish bickerings on an unworthy subject. I now repent my silence to you on this matter : you know not, Selby, how it has pressed upon me. We have had much to do here of late — some little skirmishing with the enemy's outposts ; but, on the whole, a harassing species 238 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, of duty, which calls less for energy of mind or body, than for the patience which springs only from internal repose, and that happy, blessed trust in the perfect love of those we have left behind us. Your own heart, Selby, will tell you how far this consolation has lately been mine. Goaded by these letters, and by remonstrances which I can neither comply with nor (looking to their motives) respect — addressed to me, too, at a season when the commonest reflection might have taught you some forbearance — I declare to you there have been times when I have found in my heart to envy the brave fellows who were knocked down at my side, and have wished for some chance shot to settle my earthly disappointments, and send me where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage. " Farewell! bear with me if I seem unkind ; and remember it was the exalted character I had formed of you which has rendered my disappointment too severe to be patiently endured. Forgive me there- fore if you can, and for God's sake silence your mother I" It was not without many a pause of fear and bewilderment that Selby read thus far : innocent as she was of the slightest participation in that which had displeased her husband, she could hardly take in the meaning of the cruel words he had addressed to her ; but when their sense was made clear to her, and she saw the evil that had been done — mischief which it was possible no time or HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 239 exertion of hers could ever fully remedy — a cry of horror burst from her lips ; and, though no mortal witness stood by to hear her, she murmured aloud, " Oh, my mother ! what have you done ! What misery have you brought upon us !" She was starting from her seat, hardly knowing what she did, or whom she wished to seek, when it so happened that at the same instant her mother entered the room. Thinking she had given Selby time enough to read her letter in solitary enjoyment, she was now come to hear tidings of Luttrel ; and for a moment the distress so visible in her daughter's countenance gave her the idea that she had received news of his death : but then the look of reproach that saluted her, so different from the sweet com- posure of Selby 's general manner, explained to her quick perception the true meaning of the scene. " You have done your work well, ma'am," said Selby, as she handed the open letter to Mrs. Carew. There was little need to read the contents of that cruel scroll : she guessed their tenor only too surely ; and even her resolute spirit was cast down by the intensity of the grief she had occasioned. She turned as pale as the poor bride herself, and taking the letter with a tremulous hand, merely said, " From Hartley, Selby 1 " " Yes, poor fellow, yes ! " cried Selby, her voice hoarse with emotion. "Oh, mama! see what you have done : you have broken both our hearts !" " Both !" repeated Mrs. Carew, regaining at the 240 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, voice of reproof some portion of her old nature. " No, Selby ; do not flatter yourself that his will break on your account, my poor child. If Mr. Luttrel had been capable of — if he had loved you truly enough for that, he would never have been troubled with my advice, or have had to write to you on such a subject." Selby's anger and indignation, surely as just as it was natural, preserved her from giving way to her grief. " Read the letter, mama," she said, pointing to it with an air of dignity which well became her, " and do not dare, in my presence, to falsify my husband." Mrs. Carew did read the letter, but with difficulty, her face flushing as she went on ; till suddenly breaking off she exclaimed — " And is this the way he writes to you 1 you, to whom he professes attach- ment : how can you endure it, Selby ? This from a Luttrel ! But he is worthy of the name he bears !" and she struck the letter violently. " And who," said Selby, — " who was it that forced me to bear it also ? Who was it who taught me to love the very man she is now defaming? If you have no sympathy for the feelings you have so wantonly wounded — no respect for my love for Hart- ley — remember that I owe him the obedience of a wife; and that it is you, and you alone, who have given him authority over me." Then relapsing from a sternness so foreign to her, she broke out passion- ately — " Oh, mama ! how could you act so ill, so HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 241 cruelly ! Your dreadful letters have undermined his love for me, and nothing can ever unite us again." Mrs. Carew also lowered her tone; and, with more inward contrition than she would have acknow- ledged to, she condescended to soothe her afflicted child. " But, Selby," she said, " you take this too much to heart. It is not like you to exaggerate in this way, and anticipate evil that may never come to pass. Here am /, ready and perfectly willing to appropriate all the odium of the affair from first to last : / am not ashamed of what I have done, and am even proud to acknowledge it. Write your own explanation of what has happened: only for Heaven's sake — and for my sake ! do not be too submissive in your language ; and I will explain the matter too.'* " Ah, no, no ! " cried Selby. " No more letters, I entreat you. Do you not see he forbids you to write again?" " He !" repeated Mrs. Carew, vehemently. " He forbid!" "Yes, he!" replied Selby, sternly: "He! My husband forbids you to interfere again between him and his wife." "Oh, Selby!" exclaimed Mrs. Carew, "what a tone is that to assume towards me!" She was advancing towards her, but Selby drew back, with the same shuddering expression which had so struck her mother on the wedding morning. " No, mama," she said, " leave me now, if you vol. i. R 242 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, please. I would rather — I must be alone." Then meeting the wretched expression of her mother's countenance — for the rebuff had wounded her to the heart — Selbv's forgiving nature overcame her reso- lution : she clasped her arms about her mother, and they mingled their tears together. Mrs. Carew had but the poor excuse to make, with which many a worldly mother has cheated her own conscience and sacrificed the happiness of her chil- dren : " I did everything for your sake, Selby," she said, as soon as she could articulate. " I may have been mistaken " " Yes, dreadfully, fearfully mistaken !" said Selby, interrupting her : " yet you meant it well, and I ought not to have spoken as I did. But, oh mama! it is the first great misery that has ever fallen upon me, and at present I am hardly myself. Forgive me, if I have been unfeeling ; and leave me now to myself;" and, with a nervous anxiety to be alone, she hurried her mother from the chamber, and then, locking the door, sat down to weep and be miserable. A night of calm reflection did much to soothe her ; for in Selby 's grief there was not, as with her mother, a troubled conscience to be appeased : no sophistry, no artful reasoning against inward con- viction, had she to resort to. In all the thoughts and feelings of her heart which bore the slightest reference to Hartley — and few there were from which his image was excluded — there reigned an HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 243 affection so pure, so true and untiring, that her way lay always plain before her. She must write, and tell him how unjust were all his suspicions, and how incapable she was of par- ticipating in her mother's ambitious views; and, being in her own nature sincerity itself, she hoped, she trusted, that the simple truth might avail to restore that confidence between them, without which love is an empty name. Oh, that she could have sent her letter as soon as it was written ! that wait- ing till the sailing of the next packet was a trial hard to be borne. r 2 244 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, CHAPTER XIV. The first and greatest evil arising from the inter- ference of Mrs. Carew, had manifestly been the sowing discord between the married pair : but in thus blindly working to compass her mistaken ends, she had most lamentably injured herself in the esti- mation of her daughter : and, though a minor mis- chief, this proved in its own way a serious cause of unhappiness to both parent and child. Selby, though she tried to conduct herself to- wards her mother as she had heretofore done, was conscious of a constraint in her manner, which all her efforts would not enable her to overcome. The confidence which had once made the inter- course of their daily lives so easy and delightful, was utterly gone ; and that which added to Selby's mortification and increased the depression of her spirits, was the perceiving that Mrs. Carew saw what was passing in her mind, and reciprocated all her feelings : each was the more miserable, because she detected the forced cordiality and inward uneasi- ness of the other. Nor was there anything in this state of things which time, the usual alleviator, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 245 could much amend : as long as they remained fixed in their opinions — the elder lady bigoted to her pre- judices, the younger blinded (it might be) by her affection — there must needs be reserve and miscon- ception, even to the end. Selby, as the unsatisfactory hours moved slug- gishly on, wished more than ever that she could but have followed the camp ; and her mother, obsti- nate as she was in the maintenance of opinions, felt, as she marked the diminution of her daughter's esteem, the inevitable and most just judgment of her unbridled passions. Each, therefore, was miser- able in her own way ; and the more so, that, in the midst of some lingering resentment, she truly and tenderly pitied her companion in tribulation. At length, as they sat together one morning, and the occasional talk — which, to save appearances (while neither was deceived), they had been languidly keeping up — had sunk by degrees into an un- broken silence ; Mrs. Carew startled her daughter from an uncomfortable reverie, by saying, without further circumlocution, " Selby, why don't you leave home for a little while? I am serious, my love. The life you are now leading is not good for you, — nor for either of us, perhaps." She sighed as she spoke. " You would be the better for change of scene; and I, knowing of your improvement, should be happier also." " You are very kind," said Selby, touched by her mother's manner, and by all it indicated rather than 246 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, expressed ; " most kind and considerate : and, to say the truth, the same idea has crossed me lately, more than once. But then," she added, despond- ingly, " where can I go ? All places are irksome to me now." " Don't say that, Selby ; for, remember, it con- tains a covert reproach." True it was, that, but for Mrs. Carew and her culpable mismanagement of her daughter's affairs, Selby's home would still have been dear to her : yet Selby hastened to assure her mother that no unkind insinuation was intended. " Oh, no ! believe me, I never thought of such a thing. But — but where can I go ? — for you know, until now, I never contemplated going anywhere without you, mama." And, this time, both ladies sighed in concert. '* What say you to Cheltenham ? Mrs. Heathcote would be delighted to have you there." " What, that gay little widow, with her innocent flirtations, as she calls them ? No, that would never do. Her whole soul would be bent on getting me a husband : I should hear of nothing but capital matches from morning till night." " You half promised the Rashleighs to go and see them." " Yes ; but I was in better spirits then. Now, I am sure I could not stand it — a family of eight, with only one idea amongst them all." " Happy people, that can be so united in heart HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 247 and thought !" said Mrs. Carew, pointedly. "Well may we envy them, Selby ; when, being but two, we cannot live happily together." "Oh, mama!" " Well, then," pursued her mother, checking the rising emotion — the smouldering resentment, which would at times find vent ; " there 's Mary Grant — or Mrs. Forster, as I always forget to call her — she must really think it odd that you have no wish to see her in her new home; so much as she has pressed you to come to Staffordshire." This was an old playmate of Selby 's: one of the few youthful acquaintances she had formed at a dancing-school ; and with whom, though they had seen but little of each other since that period, she still kept up some correspondence. Miss Grant, who had lately married and settled in Staffordshire, was urgent with her old friend to come and be introduced to the comforts and advantages of her new establishment: including, as its brightest orna- ment, that very same Mr. Forster, who, in her recent letters, had figured on the first of January as " that odious little carroty-headed fright, Tom Forster ;" and on the fourteenth of March next ensuing, as " my dearest Forster, whom you, my sweet Selby, whenever 1 have the delight of introducing him to you, will perceive at once to be exactly the man to make me perfectly happy." Selby, with a listless air, took out her friend's last letter and invitation ; and, glancing over the school- 248 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, girl-looking scrawl, said, with an arch smile, — " She must have gazed on her husband's red hair till she fancied it a halo ; for I see she calls him her ' angel Thomas.' " And folding up the letter again, she said, " No, Mary Forster, your delusion is a happy one ; and, for your sake, may it last long ! But not till you have discovered your little man to be but mortal will I be guest of yours. I tell you what, mama : if I go anywhere, it shall be to the Wollas- tons. Those good old people ought to have been visited by us long ago ; and I am sure Stukely will suit me better th^n any place away from home." Selby alluded to an old clergyman and his wife, distant relations of Mrs. Carew's, who were living in a little village on the borders of Northampton- shire. She had passed a few weeks with them during her childhood, and still preserved a lively remembrance of their peaceful habits and pleasant characters ; but, of late years, though often pressed to repeat her visit, something had always occurred to prevent her. " I should certainly like you to see something of them," was Mrs. Carew's reply ; " but you will find Stukely a dreadfully dull place — so monotonous." " It cannot be too quiet for me at present, I am sure ; and, little as may be going on in the neigh- bourhood, the Wollastons themselves are always cheerful." " Yes, in their way," said Mrs. Carew, with a doubtful smile. " But, Selby, if you do go there, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 249 you must take plenty of books with you ; for I don't suppose their old-fashioned little library has increased much of late years : and music — for I believe they have a piano of some sort " " Oh, yes ; a very decent one. To be sure," cor- recting herself, " it is thirteen years since I played upon it. But, putting amusement out of the ques- tion, I ought to go if it were only to please the old people." And so, after a little more discussion, the matter was settled ; and Selby, who, being once determined on her change of residence, was eager to accomplish it, wrote forthwith to offer herself as guest at the parsonage. She received, by return of post, the most cordial and even grateful acceptance of her proposal ; though couched in a style somewhat antiquated, — " Their dear young cousin and friend would be so entirely welcome, and Mr. Wollaston and herself so solicitous to make poor little Stukely as agreeable to her as circumstances would permit ; and that for as long a period as her good mama could possibly spare her to them, or she find pleasure in such inferior society." No doubt the old people, in spite of the lapse of years, had still the impression of Selby Carew as a nice little girl in red shoes and a pinafore. " It was to them," so ran the compliment, " a further proof, if any were wanting, of Miss Carew's true worth and sweet humility ; in that she thus 250 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, gracefully consented to visit so dull a place as their little parsonage must seem to any youthful person : especially one accustomed to the high company and ever-varying attractions of the gay city of Bath." And the missive, which was written in a little old-fashioned hand, very clear and very quaint, did not conclude — none of the old lady's letters ever did — without a particular reference to Mr. Wollas- ton : whose name she always wrote at length, and never double-ued him by any chance. " He would highly prize Miss Carew's refined discourse and elegant acquirements, calculated as he was to appreciate them fully, and enjoying them during the intervals of his weighty though ever- interesting avocations. And Mr. Wollaston him- self bids me say, that we are not without our little novelties even here ; and such innovations as our dear Miss Carew will perceive to have taken place since her first most kind and well-remembered visit. But these my poor pen shall not forestall by feeble description ; on the contrary, ceasing from prattle which must seem tedious, let me proceed to set my poor house in due order to receive our kind and honoured guest." Carew, when informed of his daughter's intention of changing her sphere of action, highly approved of it. " She had tried Bath," he said, " long enough. But why go to the old fogies at Stukely ? that dullest of dull places. Old Wollaston must be HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 251 almost past his labour ; and there must be some part of it his wife can't do for him : though Heaven knows what may be done in these queer little out- of-the-way places ! By-the-bye, does the old lady ever mount the pulpit? SeJby, you are her chief correspondent, I believe, and ought to know. Does she ever favour you with the heads of her last discourse, delivered on Sunday the twenty-second, when my dear Mr. Wollaston was so seriously in- capacitated by the mumps?" Selby, who was by this time sufficiently acquainted with her father to be aware that plain sense was an article he seldom desired or appreciated, answered him in the same strain, — " I don't know what the bishop might say to such an arrangement, but the parishioners would have little cause to complain ; for I have a notion she would make a much better sermon than the vicar himself." " What I mean to ask is," said Carew, " whether there is a curate in the case ? Selby, I warn you, on my paternal blessing (the most valuable gift you are likely to receive from the late John Carew), I charge you, I say, not to throw yourself away upon a country curate." Carew and his daughter were walking in Bath as they thus conversed ; and as they turned the sharp corner of a street, in a violent gust of wind, he ran against a shabby-looking man, who, just at the same instant, was weathering the same point. They each 252 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, began a civil apology, when the man, with a sudden air of recognition, said, — " I think I can't be mistaken — Mr. Carew, I believe, formerly of the Spiteful?" " No ; really, thir, I cannot boatht the pleathur of your acquaintance," was Carew's reply. " O-h !" said the other, hesitating, while he eyed him narrowly. " I — beg — your pardon. No offence, I hope?" " None in the leath, thir," returned the agreeable John, very courteously ; and, as he passed on, he explained to his wondering daughter that this per- son had been formerly known to him, but was of too disreputable a character to render it advisable to renew the intimacy. Selby, though agreeing in the apparent propriety of dropping an improper acquaintance, wished the thing had been differently done; and was glad that Mrs. Carew had not been present at this little instance of her husband's disingenuousness, for she knew it would have pained and worried her. Subsequently to this, Carew complained of having taken a rather severe cold, which confined him to the house for some days ; and though the indisposi- tion was by no means heavy enough to lower his native vivacity very materially, yet it would seem that the time thus afforded him for uninterrupted reflection had been employed to some purpose, as he shortly began to express a growing desire to be out HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 253 in the world, and exerting himself to benefit his family. " Agreeable," it was thus he observed ; " too agreeable, in ' fact,' as was his present way of life ; his conscience would be more at ease if he were pro- secuting some genteel and lucrative employment : such as would make him feel less like a lazy drone consuming the honey amassed by others. What did his dear Charlotte think? Would it not, with these scruples of his, be advisable to go at once to London, and try what could be done ? He had still a friend or two left — old navy people, who, he was sure, would assist him ; his cousin, Lord Elderton, amongst the number. He might try what interest they had in getting him some office under Government : how- ever trifling the salary might be, it would give him pleasure to reflect that he was adding something to the common stock, and not hanging a useless bur- then upon her he best loved." At first, Mrs. Carew was disposed to impute her husband's wish of leaving her to that incorrigible love of roaming, which had rendered him so many years a stranger to home and its monotonous habits. With her usual frankness, she confessed her sus- picions ; but found them repelled with such an aspect of mortified feeling and wounded pride, that even she — well as she believed she knew him — could not persist in ascribing to him anything but a laudable intention of fulfilling what he thought to be his duty. There was kindness, therefore, no less 254 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, than wisdom, in the tone in which she urged him to remain at home, and confine his desires, for her as well as himself, within the bounds of the modest but independent income which it had pleased Heaven to bestow upon them. Nevertheless, supposing him bent on this scheme of removing, Mrs. Carew fur- ther testified her readiness to play the part of a faithful wife, by offering to accompany her husband to town and abide with him the event of his praise- worthy exertions. But Carew refused, in his most generous tone, to give ear to any such proposal. What ! suffer her to go up place-hunting with him ! A mere wild- goose chase it might turn out to be, after all. " No, my dear Charlotte, I'll not listen to it : it would, in fact, only paralyze my endeavours, if I thought I had torn you from your comfortable home to follow the steps of a vagabond fellow like me. And as to what you say about my leaving this so hastily — that is to say, so soon — that, my love, is plainly a measure of prudence ; for the longer I stay with you, the less heart I shall have to go about my business at last. No ; I shall summon all my resolution, tear myself away from this dear spot, and go straight for London, as soon as I have seen our child safe to her journey's end : for, as we are both setting off on our travels, we may as well, you know, go thus far together. Between ourselves, she is much too pretty a creature to be trusted alone." HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 255 " Oh, but Betty should go with her, of course : I always meant that." " Betty, indeed ! ' disdainfully. " A fig for Betty and all her tribe. Who so proper as the girl's own father, to be her guide, companion, philosopher, and friend." " I would rather trust Betty in any one of those capacities ; but as far as appearances go, you are, certainly, the fittest companion for her." " Infidel !" said he, answering her with his light laugh. " You '11 see the wonderful things I shall accomplish yet. There 's my high and mighty kins- man, the Earl of Elderton, will at least be fair game. I hear he is more Methodistical than ever ; so I shall be able to come round him without any difficulty : and it will be hard, indeed, if, while I aril making my own fortune, I don't manage to do something for Selby's advancement in the mean while. But seriously, Charlotte," he added, for his wife was beginning to look vexed at his levity, " I mean to seek out all my influential friends, the old earl of course amongst the number, and if they can do anything for me, why well and good ; but if they refuse, or shew the cold shoulder, I must e'en give up the game, and return upon your hands, as the old saying goes, like a bad shilling : a very bad one, I fear, copper throughout ;" and Carew ended with such a natural tone of compunction, that his wife looked at him with tears in her eyes. " But never mind," continued he, shaking off his unwonted 256 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, solemnity, " there is one who will take back her poor old husband, let him be worth ever so little. Eh, Charlotte, isn't it so ?" " Be assured of it, Carew," she answered kindly ; and then anxiously added, " but oh, John, take care how you go on : for Heaven's sake, take care of yourself!" " My dear Charlotte, I'll be bound to say, that in a couple of days there won't be a trace of rheu- matism about me." " Oh, I don't mean that : you understand me well enough." " Silly woman ! " said Carew, laughing, yet evi- dently not quite at his ease. " Phoo, phoo ! why, I 've been a reformed man upwards of ten years at least : I don't suppose it would be possible to find a steadier fellow from here to the Land's End, or from thence to Jericho." To Selby, her father's proposal of accompanying her, and staying a day at Stukeb , was a very satis- factory feature in her transit from home. Previous to the final arrangement of his plans, Carew* seemed at times unusually thoughtful ; but after all the preliminaries were adjusted, and he and his daughter had settled the hour of their leaving, and the coach they were to go by ; and lastly, when he had received from the hands of his dear Charlotte a handsome douceur, sufficient to maintain him creditably during his laudable exer- tions in London, he recovered his spirits, to a degree HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 257 that pervaded the whole party ; so that even his daughter, tender-hearted as she was at the thoughts of leaving home, and a mother, with all her faults, very dear to her, participated in his joyous humour and his determination of seeing everything on its brightest side. Could she but have had one line from Hartley indicative of a kindlier feeling, or even have been certain that her last letter would reach him safely. But that could not be as yet and happy was it for Selby that she inherited no inconsiderable portion of that buoyancy of mind which rendered her father so agreeable to all his acquaintance. When the hour, therefore, of their departure arrived — the first long journey since that fatal one to London — she felt not half the dejection she had experienced when the scheme was only in* agitation. In her mother's long and passionate embrace, she saw that there was a mutual understanding, and a more complete 3 ^conciliation than had yet passed between them. The servants were in a state of excitement proper to the departure of the major portion of so small a household ; and Mopsey, the fat spaniel, stood upon the top door-step, and wagged her tail benevolently as the travellers set off. Thus smiled the prospect around their departing steps ; and the " all right" which passed from guard to coachman — language now obsolete on the road, but still pleasanter to the ears and hearts of old vol. i. s 258 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, stagers, than the shriek or the whistle of modern days — though it referred but to bandbox and trunk, sounded like a good omen for the coming journey, and found no discordant note in Selby's bosom. She was leaving a home that had grown distaste- ful to her — a companion who could not sympa- thize with the one absorbing care of her existence : she was going to seek serenity and fresh spirits, amongst those who, ignorant of her private his- tory, were as unable, as she was sure they would be unwilling, to wound her even by a look, or a passing allusion : it was " all right" with her, there- fore. And Carew : how fell the words upon his ear? Or was he too hackneyed in the ways of locomotion to heed them ? He gave one parting look at the house, waved one more adieu to his wife, and then, as the coach moved on, throwing himself back on the seat, he murmured in the tone of one who muses of the future together with the past, " And so good-bye to Bathwick ! Well, whatever hap- pens, I have spent some happy hours in that house ; and if ever there was an excellent woman on earth, it is Charlotte Carew. Poor Charlotte!" A sigh closed the short tribute to departed joys, which was followed by a silence of some minutes duration; and then, according to a custom much observed by Carew whenever he was what he called reflecting, he began to whistle in a low and uncertain tone, too softly as yet to be very HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 259 audible ; but presently, above the roll and rattle of the coach, any one conversant with the subject might have distinguished some likeness of a song, which, having been sung by the fascinating Jordan, was mighty popular in the boyish days of John Carew. At first the tune, though in itself a gay sea-song, might have passed for a dirge ; for it was hummed but slowly and mechanically as it were, and as if it bore no sort of reference, either in sense or sound, to what was passing within the inner man : but before long, the inspiring whirl of the coach, or his own characteristic levity, got the mastery over any deeper feeling that might possibly have troubled him ; for the andante affetuoso swelled to a spirited allegro, the whistle grew louder and* more distinct, hand, foot, and head, kept time to the joyous strain, till the simple air, being " mar- ried to immortal verse," came roundly forth in all its sterling worth and delicacy of sentiment, — " In every girl we find a wife, in every port a home, sir." So far had cousin John proceeded, when the coach, stopping to take in other passengers, cut short the chorus, and turned his ideas into a new channel. From this time forward, until the end of the journey, no further cloud darkened the still handsome countenance of John Carew. He was, as usual, the delight of all around him ; and whether he cheered the " insides" with his pleasant talk, or s 2 260 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, went a stage or two on the coach-box, and so spread his popularity over the roof of the vehicle, he was equally successful in establishing the cha- racter of a first-rate travelling companion. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 261 CHAPTER XV. The first day's journey, and some part of the second, was to be performed by coach ; but for the latter portion of their way the Carews would have to go post : for Stukely lay entirely remote from any large town, and could only be approached by cross-roads, along which there was no public vehicle. Having arrived at this point, they took courteous leave of their fellow-travellers — upon whom the daughter's beauty had made as favourable an impres- sion as the father's companionable qualities — and went into the little road-side inn where they had stopped to procure another conveyance ; and where, by way of passing the time till it was in readiness for them, Mr. Carew had ordered luncheon. The early spring of that year happened to be particularly genial for the season ; and here, sitting at a window which looked out upon a lovely though not extensive prospect — her father being away superintending the packing of the chaise, and talk- ing to every soul that came near him, and neither his voice nor the sound of the wheels any longer in 262 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, her ears — Selby seemed to have a foretaste of the tranquil life she was going to lead at Stukely. Soothing, indeed, was the anticipation. It was in scenes like this she had first met Hartley Luttrel : in the full enjoyment of a country life, their acquain- tance had increased and ripened into tenderness ; and ever since, her delight in the charms of Nature had acquired a deeper interest — so at least she be- lieved — by their association with the remembrance of him. Seldom did she feel so happy in the con- sciousness of loving and being loved, as when the birds were singing from every bush, and her cheek was being fanned by just such a south wind as used to sigh amongst the branches around Quin's Folly. There were other impressions, too, more peculiar to the present moment, which excited her sensitive nature. Though Stukely lay quite on the other side of its own county — that of Nottinghamshire — she knew, from the direction the coach was taking (in her father's presence she had avoided any allusion to the Luttrels), that she must now be actually in, or on the very borders of, her husband's native shire. So fearful was she of coming in contact with his family, that had the little village to which she was bound been less obscure, or not so remotely situated, she would hardly have ventured into a neighbour- ing county : but she had satisfied herself that Stukely and Horton were eighteen miles apart; and knowing that the Wollastons visited little, and only with the families in their own neighbourhood, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 263 she had laid aside all fear of a dangerous collision with the Luttrels. Of her father's discretion she had had some doubts, for she knew that he would willingly have presented her to his family ; but as he was to proceed direct to London after conducting her to her desti- nation, not intending to visit the Luttrels till his return home, she felt secure from any interference on his part: of late, indeed, such was his light, un- certain disposition, he had seemed to have forgotten the very existence of his " grand connections," as he called them, and never introduced their names. And thus, having satisfied herself that she need not be under the slightest apprehension of encoun- tering any of the family, face to face, Selby had been conscious of a certain romantic pleasure, in the idea that she would be within a few hours drive of Hart- ley's birthplace. Safe from remark herself, she might possibly hear the Luttrels of Horton occasionally mentioned, and might learn what sort of character they bore in the neighbourhood. The most trivial notice of them must be interesting to her : she even contemplated the possibility, as there were gentle- men in the family, of catching a glimpse of some of them riding in the neighbourhood of Stukely ; and in this manner might get acquainted with their persons, without the embarrassment of a formal in- troduction. Full of these thoughts, she took advantage of her father's absence to make an inquiry of the first 264 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, person that entered the room on a subject so inte- resting to her feelings. Pointing from the window, as she addressed the young woman, she said, " In that direction, I suppose, lies Warwickshire V She was answered in the affirmative : her infor- mant not only particularizing the white gate in farmer Biggs's meadow, which marked the boundary of the two counties and the neighbouring parishes at the same time, but adding the further information that " it was just on that very post as they bumped the boys when they walked the bounds ; " and was pro- ceeding to a more minute description of a ceremony which had evidently taken strong hold of her rustic imagination, when the voice of her master, calling her from below, caused her to make a sudden re- treat. Selby looked across that white gate with feelings in which mortification largely mingled ; for a voice seemed to whisper in her ear, " So far shalt thou come, and not a step farther." The day was now fast advancing, and Selby, de- sirous of being punctual to the unusually late hour to which Mrs. Wollaston had promised deferring dinner at the vicarage, tried to impress upon her father the propriety of hurrying their proceedings ; but her exhortations were to little purpose : in truth, she had for some time suspected that Mr. Carew, in spite of his imperturbable good humour, was not one whit less obstinate than many a more morose parent. Now, after assuring her in his off-hand way that HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 265 he had made all the necessary arrangements, and that they would be at their journey's end in the twinkling of an eye, he even thought fit to justify his dawdling propensities ; for, as they had so short a distance to go, he was fearful, he told her, of being too early, and so invading the clerical precincts before those good old souls were ready to receive them. " You must know, it is a maxim with me," said he, as he poured out another glass of wine, and pressed Selby to join him in drinking towards a fortunate issue of their adventures — " I have seen a little of the world and its ways, and it is a maxim with me to be always a little too late rather than a good deal too early." " But is it necessary to be either one or the other ? May one not sometimes be punctual to an appointed hour ?" " Now, Selby, that is a remark which shews me you are half an old maid already : and lucky may you think it for your future prospects that I have snatched you from the lium-drum society which was spoiling you — the half-pay officers and ancient dowagers whom your mother, dear soul ! delights to cultivate." " What, sir ! " said Selby, smiling, " the society of that dear, little, snug Bathwick, you were praising so lately ? " " So lately ! " replied Carew. " Why, that was at the very beginning of our journey. Don't you know how quickly a man's sentiments will alter, 266 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, as he dashes along the road at ten miles an hour?" " It says little for the stability of man ; if that be, indeed, the case." " And who, in their senses, ever did speak up for such a frail commodity? Who, but some mil- liner's apprentice in love with the recruiting-officer, ever dreamed of such a miracle as a man remain- ing in one mind for twenty-four hours at a stretch ? No, no, Selby ; content yourself, my love : your sex would not like us half so well if the case were dif- ferent. It is the agitation of uncertainty that keeps up our interest in your little hearts, much more than any merit of our own : and, as I said before, so much the better ! Mark my words, Cupid is like other little boys (except in the matter of wear- ing apparel, where we know he differs essentially) — and believe me if it were all work and no play with him, he would be a very dull urchin indeed ! as dull a Jack, my child, as any that ever wore corduroys." Miss Carew smiled dubiously, looked out across the white gate3, and made no reply. " And so," said her father, returning to the point from whence he had strayed, " if you wish to be warmly welcomed, always make people wait for you. Let them long for you and their own dinner at the same individual moment, and you need not doubt the cordiality of your reception." '* Your rule may serve for ordinary occasions, HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 267 sir ; but I assure you it is not applicable to our old friends : I am sure they want no inducement, be- yond their own friendly nature, to receive us kindly. And think how long now the chaise has been ready." " Well, my love, and we are ready too. One more slice of this excellent ham, and I am entirely at your service — or that of any other pretty girl who requires a prudent guide and steady counsellor; " and after a little more urging and loitering, the Carews were once again fairly upon the road. " They might as well have turned the chaise before we got in," said Selby, as the postboy put his horses into motion. " For what purpose, my love," asked her father, " when our road lies straight before us ? " " Does it? " said Selby. " Of course it does," said Carew. " How different, then, was my impression of the drive from here ! I fancied we were to turn to the right." " Why," said Carew, turning sharply round, " I thought you told me you had not been to Stukely since you were a mere child ? " " Nor have I, sir. I was but eight years old when I staid at the parsonage ; but I suppose, from leaving home so seldom, the journey and all that appertained to it made a great impression on me : more, perhaps, than if I had been older, and better accustomed to such changes." 268 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, " Ha, ha!" exclaimed Carew, "that's it, is it? Well, it can't be helped," he added, after a moment's pause. " What can't be helped, sir ? " " Eh, my dear ? Why, nothing. I was only going to observe, that you must not trust to your youthful reminiscences ; for they tell me this is quite a new road : a short cut to Stukely, made but a few- years ago." Satisfied by the decided tone in which this was said, Selby quietly acquiesced, and made no farther remark upon the subject; but when mile after mile was traversed, and yet no Stukely became visible, resting on the side of the pretty hill she so well remembered, she grew surprised, and almost un- easy : though, judging by the decision with which the postilion took each new turning, the road was evidently familiar to him ; and what, therefore, was to be apprehended ? Her memory alone could be at fault. The sun was on the very point of setting, when they entered a village, which — though its situation and environs were by no means familiar to her — Selby concluded to be the place of their destination. Great, therefore, was her disappointment, when, on drawing up to a public-house near its entrance, she heard the driver, instead of inquiring his way to the rectory, calling out for fresh horses. She could no longer keep silence ; but, interrupting a very remarkable story her father was telling her, com- HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 269 municated to him her apprehensions that some- thing must be wrong. " Are we quite sure that we may rely on this man's acquaintance with the road ? " asked she. " In- deed, sir, I cannot believe he is taking us the shortest way to Stukely. I'll call to the ostler, and inquire of him." " No, no, my love," said Carew, preventing her : " I '11 get out myself, and investigate matters." " Oh ! don't trouble yourself to do that, sir." " No trouble in the world, my dear child," said he, as he fumbled at the handle of the door. " A doubt of this sort should be settled at once ; and it would not surprise me very much to find there was some justice in your supposition. But we'll, see, we'll see: never fear but all will come right in the end !" Notwithstanding these encouraging assurances, however, his daughter awaited anxiously the event of her father's conference with " the natives," as he called them ; and of which consultation, as it was held out of her immediate vicinity, she could catch scarcely a syllable. Returning in a few minutes, he jumped into the chaise, saying — " Upon my life, Selby ! you were quite in the right; and I only wish you had spoken earlier — it would have saved us many a good mile. Why the fellow knows nothing, literally nothing, of his business : he is new to the road, took the wrong turning at — what is the place called, down 270 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, below there ? — ah ! well never mind the name ; but if you had not luckily stopped him, I suppose we should have been benighted before long : at all events, we were just as likely to reach Horton as Stukely, the way he was taking us." " Heaven forbid !" was Selby's devout exclama- tion. " Ah !" said her father, " that would have been a queer end indeed to our adventures : would'nt it, my child V " Oh ! sir, don't talk of such a thing. But if this is a wrong way, surely we are not to continue it V* " Only to the next turning, my love. Oh ! there's no fear now : I have all the necessary directions, so that if the stupid fellow makes any more mistakes, I shall be able to put him right. The way lies clear before us now : turn short off to your right, then go a mile or two till you come to the heath — n " Oh! that must be Coldham Common: it lies close to Stukely." " No doubt of it : Coldham Common is the very name they mentioned. Yes, you go across Coldham Common, then turn to your right, then to your left.' , " Ha ! ha !" exclaimed Selby, interrupting him with a laugh ; " it puts one in mind of that most delightful of comedies, She Stoops to Conquer, where the travellers are directed to go down Squash Lane till they come to Crackskull Common : do you re- member it, sir ?" HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 271 Carew, highly satisfied with his daughter's vivacity just at the present juncture, joined readily in the joke, and praised an aptness at illustration which he declared she inherited from himself. But not even the hereditary gaiety could long hold out against the waning light (there was no moon visible that even- ing) and the weariness of travel. Perceiving her spirits flag, her father set himself seriously to the task of entertaining her ; turning from merely discur- sive remarks to regular narrative. But his success was far from commensurate with his efforts : neither his personal adventures in the back-woods of America, nor those of a friend on the Peak of Tene- riffe ; his own miraculous escape somewhere in India from a tiger twice as big as that which ran off with poor Mr. Munro, nor Major Tomkin's desperate* encounter with a rattle-snake, sufficed now to arrest her attention. Any body but Carew would have acknowledged himself foiled at last in his efforts to be amusing : but the difficulties of his situation only incited him to experimentalize still further, and he resumed a story which he had already touched upon at intervals ; and which, as it treated principally of love and marriage, must, he thought, be acceptable to his daughter : it was all about the tender attach- ment of a certain young Henchinbroke. " One of the Henchinbrokes of Norfolk, you know, my love." His daughter did not know : it was a county in which she took no interest. 272 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, " And the beautiful Arabella Bellasis : as lovely a girl as the sun ever shone on." And here it must be conceded to the discernment of John Carew, that when, having sufficiently en- larged on the desperate love of the handsome young couple, he hinted obscurely, and after the fashion of experienced story-tellers, at some unfortunate termination of their attachment, Miss Carew in- quired with some animation if there had been any family objections to be overcome? " Not a bit of it," was the reply ; " the match was unexceptionable, and the relations on both sides only too well pleased to forward it. But unluckily there was another lover in the case — a young German with a pale face and yellow mustachios — he came into the neighbourhood in a mysterious sort of way, nobody could exactly tell why or wherefore ; but he called himself a professor, and that was a passport to the society of the Bellasis people ; who were all vastly addicted to mineralogy and that sort of thing, and were never so happy as when they were chipping and clipping little bits of rock, or discovering antidiluvian monsters : some people were wicked enough to say that old Sir Thomas him- self was the rarest specimen they could find anywhere — but that has nothing to do with my story. Well, my love, and so this Von Toffenberg, or whatever was his name, got footing in the house ; and, as was but too natural, became enamoured of young Hen- chinbroke's beautiful intended : and never in this HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 273 world I suppose was a man more distracted by a hopeless passion." " Poor fellow !" said Selby, gently. " Yes, my love ; he followed her about like her shadow, made verses which nobody but himself could understand, and sang them to his guitar, sitting in the middle of the drawing-room with one foot cocked up upon a footstool — he was very proud of his little feet — and a broad blue riband slung round his neck to support the instrument : it was affecting ; but neither blue ribands nor sandy whiskers availed to move the fair Arabella. " Why should they, when she loved another man ? — I beg your pardon, sir, but is that a sign-post ? I see something white." " Really, my love, at this distance I find it difficult to say." " Ah ! it is dark, indeed. These good old people, how uneasy they will be about us ! How often, before this time, have they walked down to the garden-gate, to look for our coming !" " Ah, well," said Carew, cheerfully, " their anxiety will soon be over now. And, in the mean time, it is a charming night for the good old souls to toddle about in : it will do them a world of good, besides saving candles within doors. Yes, as you say, one may fancy them trotting up and down their little gravel-walk ; she with her spectacles on her nose, and the vicar with his red pocket-handkerchief tied over his wig, to keep out the night air — wears a VOL. I. T 274 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, wig, doesn't he, Selby ? Yes, to be sure he does : has a new one every five years, and then takes the Sunday one for work -days ; and generously bestows the oldest of all upon the parish-clerk, Obadiah." Selby could not but acknowledge to herself, that, in this rough sketch of affairs at the parsonage, there was a certain sort of likeness ; but, not quite liking to hear her old friends laughed at, she inter- rupted him by saying, " I do think we shall get to Stukely now, sir, before you arrive at the catas- trophe of your story." "Do you, indeed?" said he. "I reckon myself a tolerable hand at a long yarn, as the sailors call it ; but I don't think the history of the Henchin- brokes will last quite so long as that, Selby." Seeing his daughter look round, as he said this, Carew calmly continued : " Recollect, we have not yet come to Coldham Common ; and after that, we have the whole length of the village to go. " But, to proceed with my story ; for I see my little Selby is longing to hear all about the nuptial solemni- ties. Now, don't deny the fact, or blush to be accused of it, it 's all nature, pure nature ; and there 's not one of your delightful sex who doesn't doat on a description of white gloves and wedding favours. You an exception to the rule, do you say ? Non- sense, Selby ! If it had not been for the chance of booking that curate, would you ever have set your pretty little foot into stupid Stukely ? Eh ! a crea- ture of my fancy ? Not a bit of it : the thing speaks HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 275 for itself. Old Wollaston is too old to do all the duty himself; consequently, he keeps a curate, and gives him seventy pounds a year; out of which snug- little income he has to support a widowed mother and six unmarried sisters. No, no, Selby : the thing will not do : T must have you fly at higher game than that. But you want to hear all about the wedding ;" and he forthwith launched out into a lively description of the preparations that were made for the union of the beautiful Arabella Bellasis with the Honourable Augustus Frederic Henchin- broke. Such mountains of bride-cake, such oceans of white soup for the breakfast ; and then the pro- cession to the private chapel of the bride's family, headed by twelve virgins, all in white, strewing flowers before the happy pair. Selby sighed as she listened ; for, instead of pic- turing the scene her father was so glibly setting forth, her thoughts were far away at St. Margaret Moses, and a marriage where all the concomitants were so at variance with the festivities he was describing. They were now entering upon what, in the uncer- tain light, seemed to be a heath of considerable extent. " This must be Coldham Common," said she, sud- denly interrupting her father : " but, bless me ! where are the windmills ? Don't you remember them, sir ? — the three windmills, that were a land- mark to the country for miles round V t 2 276 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, Carew expressed quite as much surprise as herself at the disappearance of the windmills : but " who knows ?" said he : " perhaps they are gone to visit their grand relations.*' " Gone where, sir ?" But her father, without repeating his remark, rebuked her for interrupting his story ; which, he assured her, was now very near its catastrophe : and though his daughter was growing too anxious and uncomfortable to afford him much attention, yet still he went on, as if determined to have all the talk to himself. " So, there they all were assembled in the chapel — Gothic, you understand, and of a date unknown — the lady in her bridal apparel, and the bridegroom in a blue coat lined with white lutestring, and white satin unmentionables ; when, just as the clergyman — he was a bishop, by-the-bye : bishop of the dio- cese — just as he had reached that awful part of the ceremony, with which, no doubt, you are well ac- quainted, 'Do you, Mr. So-and-so, take this amiable and accomplished young lady for better, for worse, and so forth ? and do you, Miss Arabella, think and believe, at the very bottom of your soft little heart, that of all the young fellows you have flirted with for the last year and a half, you look upon this agreeable gentleman in the bright blue broad- cloth and white satin et ceteras as the very finest fellow of your acquaintance?' — Well, my love, the bridegroom had just said, ■ Yes, if you please, my HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 277 lord bishop ;' and the bride had murmured an in- audible something : because, on such occasions, you are aware it is not the thing to speak distinctly — remember that, Selby, whenever you go to be mar- ried " " Oh ! for goodness sake, sir, go on with your story." " Yes, my love : but you must put up with a little paternal admonition between whiles. There, Selby, lies the great art and mystery of story-telling : never leave your moral till the end of it ; or, ten to one, it will never be listened to. But, while you gently proceed, and your audience are hearkening, in breathless suspense, for the winding-up of the adventure, then is the time to season, as it were, with a few sage reflections. However, as you are impatient, I will proceed : there they were, then, at this important part of the ceremony " The chaise stopping at this moment, Carew put his head out of the window, and directed the driver to turn to the right till he came to a dead wall. "What wall are you speaking of, sir?" said his daughter : " I don't remember anything of the sort at Stukely." But his only reply was, a counter inquiry of whether she had ever happened to read the wed- ding service. " Oh ! what does that signify now ?" she replied. " Ah ! you rogue," said he, " I '11 be bound to say, you have it by heart. Well, the young brides- 278 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, maids were, as usual, all on the qui vive ; some tit- tering, some crying, some making believe to cry, but all, with one accord, wishing it were their own case, and that they were kneeling cheek by jowl with some charming youth in a sky-blue coat and white satin et ceteras ; when just at that interesting moment a loud, in fact, a tremendous clap of thun- der resounded through the private chapel of the Bellasis' family ; the priest let fall his book — a bad omen that, you know, Selby : but perhaps you are no believer in omens ?" " Me a believer ! Yes — no, not exactly. We are come to the w r all you mentioned." " Precisely so — and also to the most interesting part of my story. The bishop, as I tell you, let fall his book, the bridegroom started, the bride gave a fearful shriek, and a figure, muffled in a long cloak — Von Toffenburg, of course — rushed forward from behind a pillar of the chapel, uttered the word * revenge !' in thrilling accents, and, drawing a dag- ger from his bosom " Here the chaise again stopped at a large iron gate, which seemed to be the entrance to some park or private grounds ; and Carew, dropping suddenly his didactic and measured tones, said, — " Selby, my love, we have arrived at the catas- trophe." "What place is this?" asked she; "and, in the name of wonder, why are we stopping here?" " It is the County Hospital, my dear : from which HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 279 the public in general are excluded ; but, happening to have a private order from the governor, I and my friends are privileged to pass through the grounds : a short cut to our journey's end — that's all." At the sight of the lodge and the iron gates, the strange suspicions which had been floating vaguely in Selby's mind were, in fact, but too surely veri- fied : and yet the truth was too frightful to be admitted without a struggle. With increasing ear- nestness, she implored her father to tell her plainly where they were. " This cannot," she exclaimed, wildly — " it is im- possible ! Oh, father, you cannot be bringing me to Horton?" " Phoo, phoo, child !" he replied, in his bantering way. " Don't pretend ignorance : you knew very well where we were going all the while." " Good God ! " she cried ; u I am ruined for ever ! Oh ! stop him, sir ! — Stop the chaise directly ! I cannot, and will not go farther ! " And as the chaise proceeded through the now open gates, she called to the postilion to turn back. The man, however, did not hear her; and, before she could repeat her order, Carew interposed. To him, of course, her agitation appeared much greater than the occasion warranted ; but it induced him, at least, to give up his bantering tone, and to speak seriously. Silly as her scruples might be, he saw it was necessary to soothe them. Drawing her 280 THE FAIR CAREW ; OR, therefore, from the window, he strove to demon- strate to her, as briefly and forcibly as he could, the propriety of claiming the rights of relationship, and consequently of hospitality, with such a family as the Luttrels. " You have been nursed up in all your mother's prejudices," said he ; " but now that you are arrived at years of discretion, you must really, Selby, think and act for yourself." But she denied the charge even with vehemence. She had imbibed no prejudices against the Lut- trels : she was ready to love and honour them all ; only she was resolved not to force herself into their society : she implored him, therefore, to turn back. "Selby, you are a goose," said he: "just look round you " For, even in the deepening gloom which had now closed in upon them, the magnificence of the sur- rounding property was plainly visible. " Look round you, and confess that to gain foot- ing in such a place as this is worth some struggle, at least ; and when I say that, my love, I give you my honour I would not have brought you here if I had not been able to calculate on being well re- ceived. As for me, I am known to be a harum- skarum, roving old blade, at the best ; and nobody knows what queer stories may have reached their ears by this time. But with my daughter in my hand — and such a daughter ! " HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 281 " Do you mean, then," said Selby, her heart beating so violently she could hardly articulate, " that you are taking them quite by surprise ? that they — that the family — have no notice of our com- ing? that Mr. Luttrel" — she could not pronounce the name without awe — " he, of all people in the world ! — that we are forcing ourselves upon him in this rude manner ! Father, what are you think- ing of V The indignation with which his daughter remon- strated, though it could neither convince John Carew nor overthrow his equanimity, caused him to answer in a tone more corresponding with hers. " Why, Selby !" said he, " your mother has schooled you, with a witness. Why on earth should we be afraid of any of our own relations ? Pluck up a little more spirit, my girl. Old Luttrel is a rich man, and a powerful, in his own way ; but he has not a drop of better blood in his veins than I have. And with regard to our being a little un- ceremonious in our advances, the upshot of that matter is easily seen ; and if he is unnatural enough to refuse us a night's lodging, all we have to do is to trot down to the Luttrel Arms yonder, and take up our quarters there ; and then hey for sober Stukely, after all. The blame and the shame of the affair will rest with them ; and we shall digest the affront, as many a poor relation has done before us : I, for one, shall take the matter very coolly. But this is talking arrant nonsense ; for I, who know them all 282 THE FAIR CARKW; OR, well, have not a doubt of their being delighted to see us. I don't believe they know, to this day, anything of my being in the land of the living : ' five fathoms deep thy father lies,' still in their estimation ; and the mere surprise of the thing will smooth away all difficulties, supposing there may be a few in our way : and, as I said before, these can in no way influence their treatment of you. I'll answer for it, my dear girl, we shall be received with open arms ; so quiet your fears, and do your best to look pretty. " See, Selby, there's the house itself: it is too dark to distinguish particulars, but isn't it a noble place ? And are we, in obedience to the maternal crotchets, to slight and forego all the advantages of such a connection as this ? No, no, my child. ' Honour thy father' stands foremost in the Commandment : the female parent is plainly a mere secondary consi- deration." In this way Carew talked himself into perfect good humour : but his reasoning, if such it could be called, was not only disregarded by his daughter ; I doubt if it was even heard. Having with difficulty admitted the astounding fact that she was actually within the gates of Horton Hall, her whole soul was bent on the means of getting out of them again as quickly as possible ; and, seeing: that each moment was bringing them further into the sanctuary of these dreaded precincts, she waited with intense impatience till a pause in the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 283 easy flow of her father's eloquence allowed her to try the influence of her own : — " Listen to me, sir," she said, speaking as calmly and decidedly as she could : " there are reasons — no matter what, but trust me there are particular rea- sons — for my refusing to go amongst the Luttrels." He tried to interrupt her, but the honourable member would not be coughed down : " Hear me, father, for I must be heard." " Nonsense ! Selby : your mother has infected you." " You are mistaken, sir : I am acting solely on my own judgment; and I declare to you solemnly, that, though I cannot prevent your bringing me within sight of those walls, nothing shall induce me to enter them voluntarily. My determination need not in any way interfere with you. Go in yourself, if you like it : it will now, perhaps, be better that you should; but I have no fear of travelling at night, and late as it is, I shall go on to Stukely " iS Stukely ! why you are thirty miles at least from the mouldy little place." " Very well, then I shall sleep by the way." By this time they had approached the mansion itself; which seen indistinctly — it was now past nine o'clock — looked grand and solemn, but to Selby's alarmed fancy anything but inviting. Even this near approach to it struck her as an act of inconceivable temerity ; and happy was it for her that she had no time to give full scope to the liveliness of her imagi- 284 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, nation : her utmost efforts were directed to the con- vincing her father that she had a will of her own ; and angered, as well as alarmed, at his jeering perti- nacity, she exclaimed with almost hysterical vehe- mence, " I would rather die than enter that door uninvited !" Carew caught at the word as she uttered it. " Un- invited!" said he; "oh, if that's all: if you are only standing on that sort of etiquette, I'll soon settle the matter to your satisfaction : you shall wait here while I go in and shake hands with them all, and I '11 answer for it you'll soon find yourself properly solicited to follow me. And perhaps, Selby, you are not altogether wrong," he added, as the chaise, rolling along the broad gravel path, stopped at the grand entrance of the Hall: "it's as well to stand upon one's dignity with these great folks — these dons of ours — though, to do them justice, I never in my life wanted a kind welcome in this house ;" and he looked up at the windows, whose partial illumination shewed that some part at least of the family were at home. " But, all things considered, I believe you are right; so wait here, Selby, for a few minutes. I'll soon be with you again, and never fear but they'll be ready enough to make you comfortable. We shall sleep soundly in Horton Hall to-night, depend on it, and then we may laugh at your mother : ha, ha! I think I see the old lady's face when she hears of our adventure ! Here, open the door," he cried to the driver; and jumping out, he accosted one of the HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 285 servants who now appeared from the house : wonder- ing, no doubt, at so late and unexpected an arrival. " Baxter, my old fellow ! how are you 1 Glad to see you still in the old place. And how are the good people within ? All the family down now, Baxter? What, don't you remember your old friend ? Well, then, I must announce myself, I suppose." "The Lord look down upon us all! It's the voice of Master John, as I am a living man ! " Such was the exclamation of the old butler. Carew, still as reckless and volatile a being as the " Master John" of Baxter's remembrance, followed up the recognition with a joyous laugh, and, turning to the carriage, bade his daughter observe the striking sensation .his appearance had already ex- cited ; then, with one word more of encouragement, he repeated his admonition to her to remain quietly till he came or sent for her, and running up the broad steps, vanished into the house, closely fol- lowed by the astonished Baxter. With feelings of indescribable impatience, Selby watched for her father's departure, and the very moment he had disappeared, she called the pos- tilion to her, and desired him to take her imme- diately to the inn in the village, specified by Carew as the Luttrel Arms. The name served her purpose ; which was only to get, with all imaginable speed, beyond the park gate : she felt as though she could not breathe till they were closed upon her. It seemed an age to her, while the man, not half 286 THE FAIR CAREW; OR, quick enough in his movements, was waiting to in- quire his way of the remaining servant. "Oh, never mind!" she nervously exclaimed; " ask the people at the Lodge, they will direct you : only now make haste — make all the haste you can, and I will reward you well." Thus urged, the driver remounted, cracked his whip, and with an encouraging chirrup to his tired horses, set off to retrace his steps. It was something to be actually turning her back on that cold, stately mansion ; and every step and every turn of the wheels was in some sort decreasing her terrors : yet nothing like ease of mind was to be gained till she was out of the pre- mises ; and visions of messengers sent to recall her, servants with civil messages, who might even then be on their traces. The thing was barely possible, considering how immediately she had absconded upon her father leaving her : yet, in the disturbance of her mind, and her great eagerness to escape from Horton, she fancied herself pursued ; but could not gain courage to look out and ascertain the truth. At last they reached the verge of the park ; at the lodge the driver obtained a direction to the village (his horses, he assured Selby, were too tired to allow of their proceeding further that night, though fain would she have left entirely the environs of Horton), and soon she had the strange satisfaction of knowing that the gates of her husband's home were shut against her. HUSBANDS AND WIVES. 287 It was a gloomy pleasure at the best ; for while to the thoughtless conduct of her father her present embarrassment must be mainly attributable, yet there were old expressions of her mother's which would still be rising to her memory ; and the further she got from Horton, the more distinctly did she seem to hear them. " If he loves you as he professes to do, he would never suffer you to be exposed to the inconveniences attending your doubtful position in society. If he thought as highly of you as you deserve, he would long before this have found means to present you to his proud family." Such were the words that came back to her at this moment of humiliation : the very spirit of despondency was upon her, and she had not energy to resist it. END OF VOL. I. LONDON : JEINTED BY STEWART AND MURRAY, OLD BAILEY.