Miss Wentworth's Idea. A novel

Chapter 1 Chapter I

One dark afternoon, in the depth of the dark and dreary London winter, Miss Wentworth Avas toasting her toes before the draAving-room fire of her brother's house in Upper Brook Street, which was also her house, inasmuch as it was her home, and as she paid the half of the rent, rates and taxes due in respect thereof. There were plenty of people Avho admired Miss Wentworth immensely- ; and although her nose was certainly too short and her mouth rather too large, it cannot be said that their admiration VOL. I. i MISS AA'ENTAVORTH'S IDEA. 2 was misplaced. For she had that look of breeding which is more than a sufficient substitute for beaut)- ; added to which, her large grey eyes placed her above any need for sub stitutes. The possession of iron-grey eyes and long dark eyelashes should be enough to meet all ordinary requirements, and if Miss Wentworth's requirements were not ordinary that Avas only because, like the generality of us, she did not know when she Avas w-ell off.

At this moment the expression of her face denoted weariness and dissatisfaction. It may be conceded that she Avas too rich and too good looking to be dissatisfied ; but perhaps she had some right to be weary, since she Avas doing nothing, and of all methods of killing time that is, no doubt, the most Avearisome. On the other hand, she might have pleaded that she Avas doing nothing for the excellent reason that she had nothing to do. The dinner had been ordered long ago ; she had paid some visits, she had Avritten a few letters, she had just had her tea, and if there Avas any better way of spending the next three hours than gazing at the fire and wishing she was somebody else, it was her misfortune to be unacquainted with it. The afternoon post had brought her half-a-dozen notes of a more or less uninteresting description, and these lay upon the tea-table beside her, with the exception of the last that she had chanced to open, Avhich she was still holding betAA-een her finger and thumb.

It Avas merely a printed intimation, endorsed Avith the compli ments of the Vicar of the parish, to the effect that the Rev. the Hon. Ernest Compton would preach on the following evening, on behalf of the Society of S. Francis, the good work of which was necessarily restricted owing to lack of funds. i* MISS WENT WORTH'S IDEA. Miss Wentworth Avas idly Avondering what was meant by the Society of S. Francis, Avho its reverend and honourable supporter might be, and Avhether he Avas likely, in the course of his sermon, to supply any fresh notions to a young Avoman Avho was quite as urgently in need of a mission in life as he could be of money, Avhen the butler announced " Lady Morecambe." "You, of all people ! " she exclaimed, starting up and embracing the very smartly dressed little lady who bore that title.

"What in the world has brought you up to London, Harriet?" Lady Morecambe Avas no longer very young and had never been A-ery* pretty ; yet the general effect of her Avas a near approach to prettiness. Perhaps she or her dressmaker knew how to make the most of her charms ; perhaps now that her hair was streaked with grey, she had reached an age at Avhich regularity of feature ceases to be a matter of importance ; or, perhaps, her bright, alert little face would have been pleasant to look upon at any time of life. " Oh, shopping," she said, in ansAver to Miss WentAVorth's question. " I don't knoAv how it is that AA-henever I find it absolutely essential to buy a score of things it is sure to be on a Saturday. However, I have contrived to get through all my jobs this time by rising long before the lark and coming up by the early express ; and now, if you please, I should like a cup of tea."

" Of course, you shall have your tea," ansAvered Miss Wentworth, ringing the bell ; " but how about dinner ? And at what hour do you expect to reach home again ? " " Good gracious me ! you don't suppose I am going back to-night, do you ? I have arranged a little party to dine somewhere or other -this evening and go to the theatre afterwards, and to-morrow I propose to spend a quiet Sunday all by myself in Eaton Square. The one great advantage of having a London house is that it gives one an excuse for running up like this every now and then." " Well," remarked Miss Wentworth, laughing:, " you are a tolerably unceremonious kind of hostess, I must say ! What about the large party that you have left at Morecambe? And Avhat about Sylvia, who is supposed to be under your especial care ? " " Sylvia will be all right," answered Lady Morecambe ; " you needn't distress yourself about her.

There are lots of old Avomen in the house Avho will feel it their duty to keep a stern eye upon her in my absence, and see that she doesn't get into mischief. As for my other guests, Morecambe is quite capable of looking after them. They were kind enough to say with one consent that they Avould gladly excuse me Avhen I told them I wanted to pay a flying visit to London in order to hear Ernest Compton preach." " You said you had come up to do shopping. But Avho is this Mr. Compton, and what does he mean by his Society of S. Francis ? I have just had a notice about him from my Vicar." "The idea of a Churchy person like you never having heard of Ernest Compton ! Well, my dear, he is simply the finest preacher living, and so you will think when you have listened to him. We'll go to church together to-morrow evening, and if he doesn't make you resolve to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world forthwith I shall be very much surprised.

He invariably produces that effect upon me, I know." S MISS WENTWORTH'S IDEA. Still you don't seem to have done it yet." " Well, no ; because, you see, la nnit porte conseil, and there are rather serious difficulties in the way of my retiring from the world just at present. Nevertheless, I am sure he does me an immense deal of good, besides emptying my purse. Don't take more than you can afford to lose with you, for it is quite certain that the Society of S. Francis will get all you have about you. I can't tell you exactly Avhat the Society of S. Francis is ; but I believe it consists of enthusiastic persons who have adopted a sort of system of Christian socialism or social Chris tianity. They all live together in a great red-brick building near Soho Square, and devote themseh-es to good works and the gradual regeneration of mankind.

One can't help admiring them ; but perhaps one may be allowed to think tAvice or three times before imitating them. To resign all one's earthly goods is rather a strong measure. It leaves no room for repentance, you see — and I am so given to repenting." " Has Mr. Compton resigned all his earthly goods ? " inquired Miss Wentworth. Lady Morecambe shrugged her shoulders. " Yes, I believe so," she ansAvered. " It sounds an idiotic thing to do ; but perhaps in his case it doesn't so very much matter, for he has never married and neA-er will. He is a connection of ours, a son of old Lord ChepstOAv, Avho strongly disapproves of his Avays of going on — if that signifies. But really it is impossible to judge Ernest by ordinary standards ; he isn't a man, he is a priest — or rather a saint — like that Francis of Assisi after whom he has named his society."

" I don't think I remember exactly Avhat S. Francis of Assisi did," observed Miss Went worth, musingly. " Nor do I, except that he preached to the birds and suggested that lovely music to Lizst ; but no doubt he did some rather more practical things than that. I fancy that he was a species of communist, and that his communism con sisted chiefly in sacrificing himself for his neighbours, otherwise Ernest Compton Avouldn't revere his memory so much." People Avho are better acquainted with the history of S. Francis of Assisi than Lady More cambe or Miss Wentworth could pretend to be will be aware that the communism Avhich he advocated applied only to the monastic order established by him, and will surmise that no sane follower of his in the nineteenth century Avould seek to make his precepts of universal application.

Now, the Rev. Ernest Compton Avas eminently sane, although his claim to be so considered Avas not admitted by all his friends. He was, no doubt, something of an enthusiast, and from the first he had cast in his lot with the advanced section of the High Church party ; but it Avas rather OAving to the force of circumstances than to intention that he had become a popular and fashionable preacher. His oavii inclination would have led him to undertake mission work amongst the heathen or in the East End of London in preference to rousing the somewhat sluggish and ephemeral emotions of smart ladies ; but he was Avilling to do whatever his special capabilities might seem to fit him best for, and the remarkable success Avhich had attended his sermons during the preceding season had convinced him that for the present, at all events, it Avas his duty to remain Avhere he Avas.

He had the knack of touching these people and moving them to intermittent acts of benevolence. Personally, he had little liking or respect for them, nor was any one more thoroughly aware • than he that from nine out of ten of them the most he would ever get Avould be money ; yet, since money is of supreme importance, he felt bound to obtain it when and Avhere he could, and every noAV and then his zeal Avas refreshed by the admission of some unexpected adherent into the select band of Avhich he Avas the leader. Many men spoke of him as a humbug ; many women described him as a saint ; in reality, he Avas an honest, clear-headed man, struggling hard to bring the principles of Christianity into line with the practice of the nations Avhich profess that faith, and doing his little utmost to subvert the latter Avhen he found it hope lessly at variance with the former.

After that, it will surprise nobody to hear that at the age of five-and-forty his hair was almost white. Nevertheless, this circumstance came as some thing of a surprise to Miss Wentworth, who had MISS AVENTWORTH'S IDEA. 13 been given to understand that he Avas still in the prime of life, and Avho, Avhen she saAv him, Avas disposed to think that she had been brought to church under false pretences. Throughout the service she and her companion had been troubled Avith apprehensions upon that point, for Mr. Compton had not taken his place among the officiating clergy ; but while the concluding hymn Avas being sung, this grey-headed little man had emerged from the vestry and ascended into the pulpit with quick steps, and a nod from Lady Morecambe, in response to Miss Went Avorth's inquiring glance, signified to the latter that it Avas all right.

The little grey-headed man took a swift preliminary look round the building, which enabled such of his hearers as had not seen him before to note that his eyes Avere black and piercing. In other respects his face could scarcely be called remarkable. It was cleanshaven and someAvhat stern in expression ; he had the slightly prominent cheekbones and the thin-lipped mouth of an ascetic ; his nose Avas insignificant, and his forehead neither broad nor high — his countenance, in short, Avas of that priestly type Avhich is repeated again and again, Avith trifling variations, throughout Christen dom. He crossed himself rapidly, murmured a feAV scarcely audible Avords, and then, as the congregation resumed their seats, gave out his text in a voice which, though Ioav in pitch, Avas penetrating : " For Avhat doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to do justice and to love mercy and to Avalk humbly Avith thy God ?

" His exordium Avas not striking. He began, as probably most people, preaching from such text, Avould have begun, by pointing out the apparent modesty of the standard set up, and that, at least as regarded the first tAvo of its precepts, most of us Avould claim to haA-e fulfilled them ; since, ready though Ave are to accuse ourselves of all manner of sins, very few of us are disposed to plead guilty to a charge of injustice or cruelty. Then, by a few telling examples, some of Avhich he read from a newspaper of the previous day, he contrasted human justice Avith Divine. Human justice, existing above and before all things for the protection of the sacred rights of property, punishing paltry thefts with tremendous penalties and allowing some of the Avorst of criminals to go free, does not even pretend to take its stand upon Christian doctrine.

Its justification is its alleged necessity, and if Christianity cannot be made to fit in with it, so much the worse for Christianity. " It may," said the preacher, " be necessary for the preservation of society that our laws should remain unaltered. I do not deny this ; MISS AA'ENTWORTH'S IDEA. I only submit that we cannot be certain of it, because no trial has ever been given to a more merciful system ; and it is as Avell to remember that, Avhereas, not so many years ago, it was deemed necessary to put men to death for sheep-stealing, sheep have not been stolen in greater numbers since the abolition of capital punishment for that offence. But the question for us, as individuals, is Avhether we haA-e any right at all to describe ourselves as followers of Christ, so long as Ave either refuse to obey his distinct commands or en deavour to place a strained interpretation upon them."

It was from this point that he became more animated, and that his eloquence began to carry his hearers along Avith him. Anybody can shoAV the miserable inadequacy of our notions and practice with regard to justice and mercy ; not a few can do it convincingly ; but only a true orator can overcome that stolid barrier of common sense behind which the Anglo-Saxon race is wont to entrench itself and SAvay a British audience at his will. It is true that no audience in the world is quite so unreasoning as a British audience Avhen once that feat has been accomplished. Miss Wentworth, to Avhom common sense and logic and hard facts had never presented them selves in any attractive guise, was conquered without the least difficulty. At last — so it seemed to her — she had found one whose guidance she could folloAv implicitly and confi dently.

This fiery little man, Avhose gestures Avere so spontaneous, Avhose voice was so thrilling and sympathetic, and Avhose insight into the workings of the human heart Avas so keen, at least meant every Avord that he said — there could be no doubt about that. And he Avas not tender Avith those who listened to him ; VOL. I. he did not spare their little weaknesses and vanities and hypocrisies, with which he seemed to be as well acquainted as any cynical man of the Avorld could be ; and when he called upon them to act for the suture more in accordance with their nominal professions, he contm-ed to frame that well-worn appeal in such a way as to give it a certain air of novels)-. What Avas, perhaps, the cleverest part of his discourse — that in which he indicated the obvious duty of humility, and dwelt ironically upon the arrogant assumptions of science and the fantastic ex periments of those Avho would fain set up a religion of Christianity Avithout Christ — scarcely touched Miss Wentworth, for her faith had always remained unshaken ; but she Avas fairly carried away by what she believed to be the truth of his conceptions with regard to the Christian life, and he had been speaking for upwards of half an hour before she remembered that, so far, he had said nothing at all about the society of S. Francis.

But, indeed, he had only a few words to say upon that subject, and he said them in a quiet and lowered voice, after the pause AA-hich succeeded his peroration. Of the rules and aims of that confraternity he did not, he said, propose to speak. Many members of the congregation Avere already acquainted with these ; those Avho Avere not could easily obtain information, and they AA-ere not, he was aAvare, such as to com mand universal approval. " But Avhether you approve or disapprove of the vows Avhich Ave have chosen to take upon ourselves, Avhether you set us down as visionaries or fools, whether you imagine that Ave are trying to revive monasticism, or Avhether you suspect that the exaggerated self-consciousness of the age is our real motive for separating ourselves from our neighbours, you cannot possiblydis- 2* approve of our work.

And it is only on be half of our work that I am here to ask for your alms." He then gave a brief and rapid account of Avhat had been accomplished during the year which was drawing to its close. They had a children's hospital which Avas full to overflowing, and required enlargement ; they had trained sick nurses ; they had sent out missionaries to all quarters of the globe ; they had worked among the poor in many London and provincial parishes, and their help had been gratefully accepted by the clergy belonging to all the various schools which are included in the Church of England. He Avas not, therefore, asking them to support any sect or denomina tion, but simply to giA'e of their superfluity to those Avhose claims had neA-er been, because they* never could be, disputed. The request was not an impassioned one ; but, doubtless, the speaker, MISS AVENTAVORTH'S IDEA. 21 who kncAv Avhom he Avas addressing, knew also that it Avould be responded to.

For, indeed, Avhen you have been made to feel thoroughly ashamed of yourself, it is some comfort to think that you can in a measure recover your self esteem by so easy a process as emptying your pocket. Miss WentAVorth earned such satisfaction as Avas to be obtained from the emptying of her pocket, but did not find it sufficient for her. " Does the society* of S. Francis consist only of men ? " she asked Lady Morecambe, as they drove aAvay, interrupting her companion's un stinting praises of the sermon which they had just heard. " Oh, dear, no ! " answered Lady* Morecambe, laughing ; " didn't he tell you that it was a part of their work to train nurses? Are you think ing of joining them, Muriel ? That would be just like you." MISS AA'ENTWORTH'S IDEA. " I don't knoAv whether it would be like me." answered Miss Wentworth, slowly ; " but it would be Avhat I should like.

Don't you ever Avish to be of some use in the Avorld ? " " I flatter myself that I am of considerable use, and I should have thought that you, too, Avere not without utility. However, you may safely offer yourself and your fortune to Ernest Compton ; for, unless I am greatly mistaken, he won't accept either. You see, my dear, he happens to be a gentleman." " I don't understand," said Miss Wentworth. " That only shows Iioav stupid some clever people may be. I, of course, am only* a goose ; yet I have intelligence enough to perceiA*e that there are certain offers Avhich a gentleman can't accept. I am glad he has made you lose your head, though. He always affects me in that way — only I get over it the next day, you know."

Chapter II

When Miss Wentworth reached home, she went straight into her brother's study ; for she felt that she owed him an apology. Mr. Wentworth did not object to dining occasionally at his club — but he objected very strongly to dining alone ; and as she had unfortunately forgotten to tell him that she Avas going to church that evening, she had been obliged to leave a note for him, announcing her intention. " I hope you have had your dinner all right,, James ? " she said. " As it is noAV nearly a quarter-past nine," answered the sandy-haired, middle-aged man, who was smoking his cigar in an easy chair,. before the fire, " I need hardly tell you that I have had my dinner. I believe it Avas more or less all right, although I do Avish that your cook had the same love for new ideas as you have. But, perhaps, that AA-ould be rather too much to expect.

Well, how do you like the Anglican monk ? " " He isn't a monk," answered Miss Went worth, advancing to the fireside and draAving off her gloves, " he looked just like any other parson. But he didn't talk like the others. Oh, James, he was magnificent ! I Avish you could haA-e heard him ! " " If he is magnificent, I wish I could ; and if he will come here some day and preach to me I shall be delighted to listen to anything that he may haA*e to say ; but never yet haA-e I met a parson who could draw me to such an abominably uncomfortable thing as an e\-ening service." " You wouldn't haA*e thought about that ; you Avouldn't have know-n whether y-ou were com fortable or not. At least, he would have given you such mental discomfort that you would have forgotten c\*erything else." " Ah, I don't like mental discomfort," observed Mr. WentAvorth, tranquilly; "you, of course, do.

Des goilts et des conleurs ! I've heard all about the man, you knoAv. He has started some kind of self-denying Order, Avith voavs of poA*erty and celibacy and all the rest of it, and he has chucked every penny that he possesses into his scheme. Admirable ; but, shall Ave say a trifle asinine? Because, you see, that sort of thing is quite out of date, and can't last." " I don't see it at all," Miss Wentworth declared. " No, you wouldn't. Well, so long as it amuses you and the other ladies, and so long as you don't go to the length of parting Avith all your Avorldly goods for an idea, your monk serves his purpose, no doubt. I can well imagine how edified Lady Morecambe must be by him." Mr. Wentworth laughed softly to himself as he Avatched the smoke from his cigar rising towards the ceiling.

It Avas his habit to laugh at most people and things, and he had always found that this mental attitude of his kept him in tolerably good health and spirits. He Avas only Muriel WentAvorth's half-brother, and AA-as more than twenty years older than she. He Avas also, although a well-to-do man, consider ably poorer ; for his stepmother, AA-ho had had a large fortune, had bequeathed the Avhole of it to her only child. As this lady had died about the same time that he himself had been left a widower, it had seemed natural that Muriel should make her home with him, and he had MISS AVENTWORTH'S IDEA. 27 very cordially agreed to that arrangement. For one thing, it was lucrative, because she could very well afford to defray half the ex penses of the household and the cost of a carriage •. and for another, it ensured him the services of a tolerably experienced housekeeper, Avhich his daughter Sylvia, Avho Avas only just out of the schoolroom, could have no pretension to be.

The only trouble was the probability, Avhich might almost be regarded as a certainty, that Muriel Avould ere long marry somebody or other. Muriel, however, notwithstanding certain advantageous offers, had not as yet seen fit to marry anybody ; and if she appeared to be as satisfied with the existing state of things as Mr. WentAvorth was, that Avas only because she Avas of a somewhat reticent temperament. In reality she Avas thoroughly dissatisfied. She had not that intense craving for the pleasures of this life which is common among young people, and she was perhaps rather abnormally alive to its duties and responsibilities. It was a duty, of course, to look after her brother's servants for him, and to stud)- cookery-books on his behalf ; it was also a duty to act in some sort of Avay as a mother to Sylvia, Avho was disposed to be Avilful and imprudent in her dealings with young men ; but these things did not quite suffice to fulfil the requirements of a modest ambition.

There AA-as no lack of good-natured matrons, such as Lady Morecambe, at Avhose country house the girl Avas now staying, to chaperon Sylvia ; Avhile as for James, nothing Avas more likely than that he would some day take to himself a second Avife. Muriel Wentworth Avanted to be of some service to humanity at large ; she could not belie\-e that she had been created for the sole purpose of ordering the dinner and the carriage, and she Avas unable, upon mature reflection, to see why* the fact of Mr. Compton's being a gentleman should preclude him from accepting at least a part of the money which she did not know hoAv to spend, and providing her, in return, Avith the occupation of which she stood so sorely in need. On the folloAving morning, therefore, she summoned up courage to write a long letter to the preacher whose eloquence had so profoundly impressed her.

She laid her case before him, she explained what her wishes Avere, and she begged him to take her word for it that she Avas not acting upon the mere impulse of the moment. She was not, she admitted, free from all doubt as to the manner in which she ought to dispose of her money, but she thought that the obstacles which seemed to stand in the Avay of her devoting it to charitable pur poses were not insuperable. In any case, she had no one Avhose advice she could ask upon such a subject, and she A*entured to hope that he Avould not refuse her his. Could he find time to come and see her any afternoon after five o'clock ? It Avas not Avithout trepidation that she posted this appeal to a total stranger ; yet when she remembered the kindly and sympathetic inflec tions Avhich his voice had taken during certain passages of his discourse, she felt sure that he Avould understand what she had not expressed so well as she could have wished, and that he would give her an opportunity of stating her views Avith more precision by Avord of mouth.

Had she been better acquainted with Mr. Compton she would have known that it was a ver)- common thing with him to receive letters from ladies who had-been moved to repentance by his sermons, and that such experiences Avere not greatly to his taste. Not being aAvare of this, she felt a good deal snubbed Avhen the following rather curt and formal reply reached her by return of post : — "Madam, — I am much occupied just now, but I will endeavour to call upon you on Thurs day next, as you request, at the hour which you mention. — Faithfully yours, Ernest Comp- TON." Well, of course, these few cold Avords made her Avish that she had been less precipitate and less confidential ; perhaps also — for human nature is AA-eak — they* may haA*e made her wish for a chance of retaliating upon her reverend and honourable correspondent.

But in any case it Avas evident that she could not now draAV back ; nor, in truth, after calm consideration, did she desire to do so. After all, he was entitled to doubt her sincerity ; it Avas for her to convince him that she AA-as both MISS WENT\\*ORTH'S IDEA. 32 serious and resolute. This she quite hoped that she Avould be able to do; so she care fully rehearsed in advance the conversation Avhich she intended to hold with him, and received him in a cold and self-possessed manner when he duly made his appearance at the appointed hour. He, on his side, was perfectly at his ease. He shook hands, accepted her offer of a cup of tea, and began to talk commonplaces just like any ordinary A-isitor. Once or twice, to be sure, she found those searching black eyes of his fixed upon her ; but apparently they did not discover anything interesting, for he continued to speak about Lady Morecambe and the county ball which she Avas about to patronise, as though such topics Avere the ones most likely to suit his companion.

It Avas not without difficult)-, and not until he had been sitting beside her for a quarter of an hour, that Muriel contrived to drag S. Francis of Assisi in by the head and shoulders. " Oh, well," said Mr. Compton, laughing halfapologetically, " a society must have some name, you knoAv, and it so happens that of all the saints, S. Francis of Assisi is the one for whom I have the greatest personal veneration. I think, too, that we may describe ourselves as to some extent following in his footsteps. We see, at any rate, Avhat nobody can help seeing, that after nineteen centuries Christianity has failed to establish itself as the religion of the world, and Ave hold, rightly or wrongly, that this is because the world has never really practised Christianity. We neither pretend nor expect to revolutionise society ; only we think it incumbent upon us to make our OAvn microscopic efforts in what we believe to be the right direction.