The Poor Relation: a novel

Chapter I

MANŒUVRING. During the absence of Lady Harriette and her son, which was prolonged far beyond their original intention owing to the confusion in which the earl had left his affairs, and the complicated legal business consequent upon this disorder, the health of Sir Hercules Ashton became so precarious that Ella was in constant attendance in the sick-room ; while her cousins, suddenly deprived of their usual sources of amusement, moved listlessly about the house, thankful when some casual visitor broke in VOL. III. B even for an hour, upon the monotony of their existence. Lord Elwood, debarred from the constant companionship of Matilda, had seized the opportunity of arranging some business in a neighbouring county ; and a strange de pressing quiet had fallen upon Ashton Court, which affected the spirits of the whole house hold.

The reflections of the orphan, as she moved noiselessly about the bed of her uncle, were very sad. The letters of Lady Harriette con tained constant accounts of her father's reckless expenditure ; the heavy mortgages which burthened his estates : the property which he had alienated ; the difficulties which she encountered in the transfer of the title to her son; and the enormous expenses of the necessary legal documents. The mental irritation produced by these perpetual annoyances had a very unfavourable effect upon the physical condition of the baronet, whose attacks of gout became more frequent and more severe than ever; and, during his periods of comparative ease, he dwelt unceasingly upon the embarrassments which had accumulated upon him ; and from which he should be unable to liberate himself probably for years.

Now, more than she had ever yet done, the orphan felt herself oppressed by a sense of dependence at once irksome and painful, for she knew too well that after the return of Lady Harriette, when the excitement occasioned by the important events by which she was then engrossed had subsided, she would make no effort to conceal her displeasure and indignation at the attachment which she had presumed to feel, and even to acknowledge, for her cousin. That this attachment was now utterly hope less was evident from the tone of her aunt's letters, in which details of the pompous inter ment of the earl, for whom Horace had officiated as chief mourner; and undisguised exultation at the amount of the property which he must ultimately inherit, were blended with her lamentations over present difficulties.

Her son had, by the express desire of His Royal Highness, been presented to one of the Princes, who had kindly assured him of the pleasure which he shoidd feel in seeing him b .2 succeed to the honors of his grandfather; while many of her old acquaintance, who had long forgotten her existence, suddenly became anxious to resume a friendship interrupted from the period of her marriage, and to in troduce their children, among whom were several fair and fashionable girls, who were all smiles and courtesy. The countess, as she was styled until the transfer of the title should be effected, had received all their advances with equal civility, and had ostentatiously presented her son to the young beauties who fluttered about her ; and, although the recent death of her father precluded her own appearance in public, the first two months of mourning had no sooner expired than she insisted that Horace should avail himself of the most eligible of the invi tations which were showered upon him.

Even harassed as she was by the constant demands made upon her time by lawyers, stewards, and agents, she resolved not to lose so favourable an opportunity of weaning her son from his attachment to his cousin ; and of impress ing him with the social importance of rank and station. Surely, she argued to herself, he will never be mad enough, after he has become familiar with the highly-born and elegantly-mannered women by whom he is now surrounded, to cling to the insane fancy of his boyhood. She reasoned, however, with the head, and not with the heart. That the young man was dazzled by the splendour to which he was thus suddenly introduced, and somewhat intoxicated by the flattery which, as if inadvertently, met his ear is undeniable ; but not one among the bevy of beauties who crowded the gilded saloons of the duchesses and peeresses who welcomed him so warmly, appeared to him comparable to the absent Ella.

Had any idea been entertained in the courtly circle he now frequented, that the estate of the deceased earl had been so heavily encumbered as to render the inheritance merely nominal for years, and that its only present effect was to cripple the family of the inheritor, Horace would undeniably have been met by fewer smiles and less earnest greetings ; but even while aware of the reckless career of Lord Disborough, and his constant embarrassments, the world could not easily be led to believe that a man whose income was known to be a splendid one, might, extravagant though he was, actually ruin himself ; and thus when a few more far-sighted individuals ventured to hint at the probability of a bankrupt heir, they were met by resolute disclaimers from the crowd ; and fairly sneered down by mothers who were blessed with two or more marriageable daughters.

Consequently the town career of Mr. Horace Ashton, quasi-Ear\ of Disborough — for Lady Harriette had not lost an hour in making known her intention of transferring the title to her son, should it be practicable — was most brilliant ; his fine and intellectual countenance, his noble figure, and the polished ease of his manner, caused even the most fastidious of the high-born beauties about him to forget the son of the country baronet in the travelled gentle man and the future peer ; and thus, had he possessed a lighter head and a more fickle heart, he might on several occasions have had the honour of engrafting a new title on the family tree of the Ashtons. No such idea, however, crossed the mind of Horace ; his father had told him that he was too young to marry ; and since he had discovered the resolute opposition of Lady Harriette to his union with Ella, he perfectly coincided in that opinion.

He was therefore considerably startled when one morning, as he was lying on the sofa loitering over the daily paper, and reposing himself after a night of dissipation, in order to prepare for that by which it was to be succeeded, his mother suddenly looked up from her embroidery-frame, without which she never stirred from home even for a week, and said with a smile full of arch meaning : " So you danced three times with Lady Constance, my dear boy ?" '.' Yes ;" was the languid reply ; " she waltzes so uncommonly well." " And what said the duchess ?" " The duchess ? Nothing. She never in terferes, except to seek partners for her daughters when they have not secured them for themselves." " Lady Constance is a sweet creature." " They are all sweet creatures." His mother smiled again. " But you prefer Lady Constance to either of her sisters, do you not?"

" Most decidedly." " I find ;" said the countess ; " that you have made a very favourable impression on the duke, who assured me of his great gratification at the terms in which His Royal Highness expressed himself about you on the day of your presentation. Now this was very kind of His Grace, and I cannot help feeling highly flattered, as he is by no means a demonstrative person." " I am also sincerely obliged to him ;" yawned the young man, as he stretched his arms, and fluttered the paper above his head ; " he has always been very condescending and amiable to me ; and, by the bye, my dear mother, it was the duke who personally invited me to join their party to Richmond next week ; the card of the duchess was only a reminder." " I am delighted to hear it. It always pro duces a good effect when a man of his age and station takes a marked interest in a person so much younger than himself.

But I have not yet told you all. His Grace replied to the comments of the Prince by saying how much he should regret that any insurmountable obstacle should prevent your elevation to the peerage during my life-time ; and he was even good enough to repeat to me the very words which he had used ; ' Mr. Ashton, sir ;' he said to His Royal Highness ; ' is precisely the descrip tion of person calculated to do honor to the Upper House. He is full of intelligence, and good sense ; has studied other countries be sides his own ; and has acquired habits of observation and sound judgment very remarkable in so young a man.' Now this you must confess, Horace, coming from the Duke of Windermere, was calculated to serve you in every way ; and that it did so, was evident from the rejoinder of the Prince : ' I am glad to hear you say so, my lord duke ; very glad to hear you say so ;' replied His Royal Highness ; ' and you may depend upon my interest for your young friend should it be in my power to serve him.' " "Most kind and flattering on both sides, my dear mother ;" said her gratified listener, as his eye kindled, and a flush passed over his cheek ; " and I need not tell you that I am truly grateful."

" You have cause to be so, Horace ; for it is rare indeed that two such friends are ac quired within a few weeks, and I now begin to consider our success as certain ; an opinion in which I am confirmed by the amiable duchess, who is as much delighted as her bus band. They are certainly a charming family." " They are indeed." " It is a sad thing ;" pursued the countess ; " that His Grace should have no son, and that his title and estates should go to a nephew whom he particularly dislikes. It would have made a great difference to those sweet girls had it been otherwise." " It must be mortifying in all ways ;" ac quiesced her companion ; " one son and four daughters wculd have been far better in every respect than five daughters and no son." " However, there can be no doubt that they will all marry well ;" continued Lady Har riette ; " they are so singularly beautiful and accomplished.

Apropos to accomplishments, Horace, her Grace has held out a hope to me that she will present you to the Princesses, so that when you attend the Dra wing-Rooms next season you will not be quite a stranger." " That will be kind indeed." " Can you form any idea how many times you have danced with Lady Constance since you first met her, my dear boy ?" " Not the least in the world. Very frequently, I know ; for occasionally when some one has asked her hand of whom the duchess disapproved, she has sent to request me to engage her." " Very flattering, you must admit ; and I must thank her Grace for the compliment she has paid you ; but has it never occurred to you to suspect that others may have remarked this preference, and been jealous of it ?" " Jealous !" echoed Horace ; " jealous of what ?"

" You are new to the world, my son ;" said the countess sententiously ; " or you would have felt that these constant attentions could not fail to compromise Lady Constance if you had no serious intentions ; and this I am convinced I need not tell you, would be at once ungrateful and dishonourable on your part ; as the duchess would never have given you such opportunities had she not believed that you were more than commonly attracted by her daughter, and that she tacitly approved your suit." " In that case I will carefully avoid commit ting myself any further ;" said the young man in a tone of compunction ; " as I never for an instant imagined that the encouragement which I have received could be intended to imply anything of the sort." " It is too late ;" was the cold reply ; " I know from the duchess herself that your names have been coupled together in every drawing room and club in London.

It is unfortunate that I was not present to warn you against your imprudence, of which in my retirement I of course knew nothing ; but I trust and believe that my son will never be guilty of any act which may tend to affix a stigma to his name." " Is it possible ;" exclaimed Horace indignantly ; " that the Duchess of Windermere has condescended to volunteer such a piece of information ! I should have thought that she had more regard both for her own dignity and that of her daughter." " It is because she is so sensitively alive to that dignity that she mentioned the circumstance to me ;" retorted the countess ; " and I own that I felt greatly honoured by the kind aud delicate terms in which she did so ; for I confess I never anticipated that she would tolerate your addresses for an instant."

" My addresses, mother !" " Your addresses, Horace. Young men do not shew themselves night after night in the train of so distinguished a person as Lady Constance, without its being generally considered that they feel themselves authorised to do so. There can be no doubt, my son, that it is to this undisguised preference of his daughter, that you owe the good offices of the duke with His Royal Highness." " Should it be so ;" was the remark of Horace as he rose from the sofa ; "lam less obliged to him than I thought. In all proba bility I shall never marry." " Pray do not be absurd ;" said Lady Har riette angrily; "You owe yourself to your family — you must marry — and, moreover," she added emphatically ; " marry well. Here you have an opportunity which may never recur. The young lady is, as I could gather, by no means insensible to your merits ; she has rank, beauty, fashion — everything, in short, calculated to win the love of your sex ; — her fortune will not, indeed, be a large one for the daughter of a duke ; but when the incumbrances on the Disborough property are paid off, that circumstance will be altogether unimportant.

I frankly admitted to her Grace that for the next few years you would be somewhat crippled in your resources ; but I assured her at the same time that I felt con vinced, should you indeed be happy enough to win the affections of her lovely daughter, vou would make such a prospective settlement upon her as would amply compensate for the delay ; while, in the meantime, you must be well aware that the thirty thousand pounds which the duke is prepared to give her on her marriage would be of immense service to us all." " You surely cannot be serious, mother, in implying that such a conversation as this has taken place between the duchess and yourself without my knowledge and sanction ?" " You had, from all that I can learn, so openly committed yourself in the business, that I did not consider either to be necessary."

" Am I then to understand ;" said the young man, with an indignation which he made no effort to conceal ; " that because her Grace of Windermere has, pretexting her friendship for yourself, thrown her daughter in my way on every occasion, I am bound to make her my wife ? The very idea is monstrous ! I cannot gamble away the happiness of my whole life for a few smiles and a high-sounding title. I repeat what I before said, that I shall in all probability never marry ; for if my hand and my affections cannot go together, I may at least refuse to separate them." " Horace ;" said Lady Harriette with a threatening gesture ; " be careful not to try me too far ; for I declare to you that should vou still, as I begin to suspect, adhere to your insane attachment for your father's, niece, THE POOR RELATION. will at once cancel all my late proceedings, and retain the honors which are now mine by right."

" Do so, my dear mother ; do so, I entreat of you !" exclaimed her son ; " You know how earnestly I made the request when you first informed me of your intention to resign them. I care little for worldly distinctions which I should not owe to my own merits and exer tions ; and I would rather remain the obscure individual I now am, than purchase even the most glorious of them by the loss of my peace of mind and self-respect." " High-sounding phrases enough ;" said the countess ; " but we are not I believe re hearsing a tragedy. I do not ask you for sentiment but for common sense. You know the present position of your family. You know the sacrifices which your father has made " " My poor father !" murmured Horace. " And you also know ;" pursued Lady Har riette, disregarding the apostrophe ; " that although his income is large, the current de mands upon him are great also ; and that it THE POOR RELATION. will consequently be impossible for him to do much in liquidation of the Disborough in cumbrances until this railway speculation recruits his finances ; while, in the event of its failure, we shall be reduced to comparative poverty.

I was not prepared for such egotism on your part." " You mistake me, mother ;" was the proud reply ; " there is no effort from which I would shrink, no hardship which I would not be willing to undergo to secure the happiness and honor of my family ; but you must forgive me if I venture to echo your words, and to entreat of you in my turn not to try me too far. I will do anything — everything — save degrade myself in my own eyes." " Sophistry !" broke in the countess ; " aye, and worse than sophistry, when you are con scious that you are willing to rush upon degra dation by uniting yourself to a penniless or phan." " Your ladyship forgets ;" observed her son ; " that she would not have been penniless, had she not nobly resigned her all to assist my father in a moment of difficulty." VOL. III. c " Two thousand pounds !" said the countess, with a sneer playing on her thin lips.

"Yet not the less her all" was the calm retort ; " nor are we at present in a position to despise even so small a sum as that. But let us not pursue this subject, mother ; let no unkind feeling come between us. Hitherto we have been a happy and an united family ; latterly we have had trials which should bind us only the more closely together ; let us bear them with one heart and one mind. I pledge myself, painful as it is to do so, never to marry against your wishes ; but I can promise nothing more; for never will I consent to perjure myself by uttering vows which could only be lip-deep, and thus wrong the woman who confided in my honour and sincerity." " And will you be kind enough to inform me ;" asked Lady Harriette, struggling to suppress her anger ; " what I am to say to the Duchess of Windermere ?"

"•Willingly. Tell her the truth. Tell her how truly I deplore the error into which she has fallen ; how grateful I am for her con descension ; and with what delight, had my affections been disengaged, I should have accepted the honour which she was willing to confer upon me." " A sure and simple method of exciting her indignation and resentment." " And wherefore ? She esteems you so highly, that when you explain to her " " What am I to explain ?" demanded Lady Harriette vehemently ; " Do you wish me to tell one of the noblest ladies in the land that your father's brother was a bankrupt mer chant, who left a pauper child to the charity of her relations, and that my son is degene rate enough to prefer this girl to her own graceful and accomplished daughter ?" " Mother ! do not teach me to hate Lady Constance ; for she, at least, is guiltless in all this.

Tell her that from my boyhood I have anchored my every hope of happiness upon one object — that you believed the love I felt for my cousin to have been merely a passing fancy which time would suffice to dispel ; that you have discovered your mistake ; and that " " Never ;" said the countess, as she pushed away her embroidery frame, and in her turn rose from her seat ; " you have entangled yourself by your own vanity and imprudence, and I leave you to extricate yourself as you best can. You have followed the example of Florence : you have thwarted all my plans for your advancement in life ; while Matilda, the last of my children upon whom I relied for happiness, has been the only one who has repaid me for all my anxiety and care. Hence forward I shall look to her alone for consolation and support under my heavy trials."

" Mother, does Florence — do I — deserve this ?" " The question is ill-timed and misplaced, Mr. Horace Ashton. Be satisfied. You will, perhaps, have the gratification ere long, of feel ing at how high a price you have purchased — I believe that was your own expression some time back — the triumph of lowering your mother in the estimation of her former friends. But, sir, you will do well to remember that although I am the wife of Sir Hercules Ashton, I am not the less the daughter of the Earl of Disborough; that you are now under my roof; and that I will not be in sulted with impunity." " Insulted !" faltered her son ; " Insulted, mother ! Surely, because I cannot — because I dare not, — be false to myself, you cannot suspect me of the turpitude of insulting you. I should be unworthy to be called a man could I be guilty of such a crime at any mo ment ; but at this — at this — when you are not only willing, but resolute, to make so great a sacrifice in order to ennoble me, you must not, you cannot, believe it possible."

" I have learnt to know that all is possible." " Mother ;" continued Horace ; " in your anxiety for my aggrandisement you have allowed yourself to overlook the penalties of greatness. Cast your eyes over this desolate apartment ; remember the cheerless and un loved old age of him by whom it was so recently tenanted. Would you give one day of the peace and happiness of Ashton Court for this empty mockery of splendour ? Would you exchange the tenderness of children who love you, for the time-serving obsequiousness of the liveried lacqueys who received their dismissal without one tear, and without one regret ? Oh, surely, surely not." " Horace ;" said Lady Harriette ; " if my children really loved me they would be in fluenced by my advice, and obedient to my wishes : while they rebel against both, I have every right to doubt their affection.

Love begets obedience, while I am thwarted on every point." " These are harsh words from the lips of a mother to her son ;" said the deeply-wounded young man ; " I never feared to bear them ; for I am not conscious of any act of mine by which I can have merited such a reproach ; while I can equally pledge myself that of none such will I ever be guilty. In obedience to your wishes I have resolved to abandon all hope of becoming the husband of my cousin ; but this concession must suffice ; I cannot promise more ; for were I to become the husband of any other woman I should be a perjured man." " I have not patience to listen any longer to such rhapsodies ;" imperiously broke in Lady Harriette ; " I shall hold no further argument with you upon the subject ; but remember that you are warned. It now, therefore, remains for you to decide if you consider that you are fulfilling your duty to yourself and your family by making an enemy of the Duke of Windermere, forfeiting the good opinion and interest of the Prince, and wounding the feelings of an innocent and con fiding girl, whom you have led to believe that you loved her.

Should you consider that you are privileged to do this, all further expostulation is of course idle ; but if, on more mature reflection, your better reason prompts a different course of action, I shall be ready and willing to overlook your present folly." Horace was about to reply when a servant entered the room and approached the coun tess, to whom he handed a letter which she hastily tore open. She had scarcely cast her eyes hurriedly over the first page, when with pale cheeks and quivering lips, she sank down upon a chair, while the paper rattled in her trembling fingers. As she reached the con elusion she gasped for breath, and wiped away the clammy dew which had gathered upon her forehead; but after a time by a violent effort she mastered her emotion, and holding out the letter to her son, she said briefly and harshly : " Read that."

Horace did as he was bidden ; and as rapidly as his mother had done he glanced over the fatal missive ; like her, too, he was for a time overwhelmed with consternation ; the valley of Marshfield — the far-extending level over which surveyors and engineers had uttered pæans of self-gratulation — had proved its right to the name it bore. The treacherous morass over which alike the plough and the loaded wain had passed without betraying any indication of its real nature, was unable to support the iron weight recently pressed upon its surface. Down and down sunk rails and sleepers, gradually but surely ; and as the works progressed at one extremity of the line, they fell into ruin at the other. Gigantic efforts were made to arrest the progress of this unanticipated evil, efforts which necessi tated a lavish expenditure ; but although stones, earth, and faggots were cast into the slough by thousands of waggon-loads, no impression had as yet been made upon the marsh, which swallowed up all that was flung into it.

The surveyors were aghast — the directors furious — and their consternation reached its climax when it was discovered that a new line through the heights skirting the plain must be marked out, as every point across the level was utterly hopeless. Thus, gold had been squandered ; labour flung away ; time lost ; and the bright perspective which had cheered every heart, and nerved every arm, was lost in the distance ; while, as a necessary consequence of this unfortunate and fatal deception, an immediate and heavy call was once more made upon the shareholders. Now, but unhappily too late, Lady Harriette remembered that it was not only at her suggestion, but in compliance with her determined and persevering solicitations, that her husband had been induced to embark in this most ruinous speculation.

The large sum of money for which a portion of the Ashton property had so recently been mortgaged, barely sufficed to meet the exigences of her father's complicated affairs ; and now there was no alternative save to abandon the shares for which so heavy an amount had been paid, and with them all the bright hopes in which she had so long in dulged ; or in retaining them, to see her hus band complete his already painful sacrifice by raising another mortgage upon the very home of his ancestors. No wonder that her proud spirit was crushed even to the dust. Before her stood her son, the representative of two ancient families, whose sole inheritance would be difficulty, obscurity, and privation ; and once more all the mother awoke in her bursting heart, as extending her arms towards him, she pressed him to her bosom, and fainted.

Chapter II

A PAGE FROM THE WORLD'S VOLUME. Poor Sir Hercules Ashton, weakened alike in body and mind by his late severe sufferings, earnestly urged the return of his wife and son the instant that their presence could be dispensed with in London. The letter containing this request was written by Florence, who described her father as utterly prostrated by this last blow, and quite unable to act for himself; while even the sanguine Mr. Goldworthy was wringing his hands and cursing his unlucky stars that had led him to involve his property in an undertaking about which he understood literally nothing ; the whole county, as she declared, was in a state of consternation impossible to describe ; and meanwhile the com pany were in treaty for more land ; for which, aware of the exigences of the case, its owners demanded the most exorbitant sums.