The Way of the World. A novel

Chapter I

" See'st not that all despise and turn from me ?" " Yes ! and therefore must not I !" The Devil's Ducat. — Douglas Jerrold. I have said nothing of Warren's share in our domestic tribulations, for the simple rea son that he was not present at the time. He was in Cornwall, where he often went now, as he had a share in some mines in that dis trict. Harry had said that Warren would not be sorry to hear of his mischance, and I per fectly agreed with him. The day that he came back, I informed him that Harry was in Whorlton ; I explained the reason of his re turn home very reservedly, watching narrowly, meanwhile, to see the effect of my communivol. in. B THE WAT cations. Warren listened with perfect gravity, and preserved a dead silence till I had finished. He expressed great sorrow and strong surprise, declaring that he had always understood that Harry was getting on so well at college.

Whence he derived his information, I do not know ; for I am certain no one but himself had ever heard a word of this prosperity. But I was not inclined to cavil at trifles ; Warren was so unexpectedly charitable and magnanimous, 1 felt almost remorseful at having judged him so harshly. He talked of the allowance that must be made for youthful follies, as if he was sixty himself, as indeed I think he was ; spoke very warmly of Harry, and regretted that they were not on such good terms as he could have wished. I assured my cousin that Harry was quite as ready as he was to forget old griev ances : — it was rather a rash promise to make, but I was determined that, in this particular, at least, Harry should yield his own will to mine. Warren offered to visit him, and on hearing of his place of abode, immediately suggested that Harry should remove to his lodgings.

He had a spare room, which was never occupied, and not intending to be much in Whorlton for some time himself, Harry OF THE WORLD. would be as independent as if he were in a house of his own. Of this obliging offer, I also determined that Harry should avail him self. I had lately found my visits to him ex ceedingly disagreeable ; I was beginning to be known in the street, and with the love of ro mantic mystery peculiar to the lower classes, my frequent appearances were attributed to causes of a sentimental nature, and were hailed with due interest accordingly. I thanked War ren sincerely, only making this proviso, that should Harry fall back into any evil courses, Warren was to tell me, and not uncle Rupert, who had already suffered more than sufficient annoyance on the subject. Warren agreed quite willingly, but did his best to reassure me with the hope that my brother's promised reform would be lasting.

On the whole, I was very much satisfied with our colloquy. War ren had dropped the tone of gallantry and in sinuated compliments, aswell as the affectation of injured virtue, which had marked his con versation with me lately ; he did not even hint that it was for my sake he intended to do all I wished. If Justice and Humanity had been the ruling motives of his whole life, he could not have manifested more disinterested excelb THE WAT lence than he did now. I confess I was rather surprised, when I learnt from my uncle a few minutes afterwards, that he had already fore stalled the information which I had given Warren ; why my cousin had not told me so at once, instead of listening to me with such pretended astonishment, I was quite unable to divine. Harry was evidently getting tired of the dis comforts of Dover Street, and it was not difficult to persuade him to remove to more commodious lodgings ; Warren's rooms were very comfort able, respectably though not fashionably situ ated, moderate iu size, neatly furnished, without being luxurious ; in fact, they were the very counterpart of himself, which is not unfre quently the case, I think, with men's houses and furniture.

For a few weeks, everything went on as smoothly as could be wished. Harry was studying diligently in his new rooms ; I went nearly every day to see him, and found him very hopeful, and in buoyant spirits. Dr. George went once or twice, then he discontinued his visits. The rooms were Warren's after all, and I learnt from Harry that fierce words had passed between the two men one day when they met. From what I OP THE WORLD. 5 could gather out of Harry's very reserved statement, I guessed that my cousin had be haved with the insolent violence he usually adopted when angry. George was a " brick," Harry said, and he wondered that he had not pitched Warren out of the window. Then came a break in my walks to Whorlton. I was caught in a heavy snow storm one day, and got thoroughly wet. I was too far from home to turn back, so I paid ray usual visit to Harry, and dried ray clothes as well as I could by his fire.

I took a severe cold in consequence, which kept me a prisoner in the house for some weeks. I deplored my confinement more on Harry's account than on my own ; my uncle had never seen him yet, and I could not ask him to visit me at Hirst Hall. He wrote to me constantly, but his letters were as short and unsatisfactory as ever; I even thought that I could discern traces of his old reckless, despondent mood. Dr. George was unusually grave and reticent when I spoke of Harry now ; and I did not like to ask him to visit my brother at Warren's house, after the quarrel which had taken place between them. I saw very little of Dr. George at all ; I hardly required medical care ; and about this time THE WAT a malignant fever broke out in the village, and in answer to my inquiries why he never came to spend the evening with us, my uncle told me that as I was not well, and therefore peculiarly liable to infection, the doctor had thought best to discontinue his visits.

I was very lonely, and oppressed with a thousand causes of anxiety. It would hardly have been natural, considering the countless proofs I had received of Dr. George's friendship, if I had not been uneasy about his personal safety. I knew that my uncle was anxious about his friend. He was, he told me, harassed and worn out with overwork, and he could get no assistant in whom he could place confidence at so short a notice. For nights together, my uncle told me, he never lay down ; the panic in the place was so great that the healthy gave as much trouble as the sick ; on the slightest symptom of illness, and often from no cause at all but the prostration of terror, the people fancied that they had been seized with the fever, and every day added to the real or fancied patients. From all sides I heard the lavish praises of Dr. George, of his untiring zeal, of his patient forbearance, of his active and sympathizing kindness.

Warren's was the only dissentient voice. Warren was not a generous enemy, and he could see nothing in Dr. George's con duct but the obligatory performance of duties. I believe, if Warren hated any mortal man with the whole unbridled hatred of his heart, that man was Dr. George, I was angry at his ill-natured depreciation, and I did not scruple to tell my cousin that he was jealous of the doctor's popularity, and my wrath being further excited by his reply to this taunt, I reminded him of the very unfavourable esti mation in which he himself was held by the colliery people, and kindly recommended him to take Dr. George as his example for the guidance of his future life. Warren was quite as grateful for this disinterested advice as I had expected him to be. He did not say much, but he left me with a few meaning words, and with a look which I knew augured evil ; he would " remind me of my words some day," he added, in conclusion.

I was sorry for what I had said. Dr. George did not lose much by the want of Warren's good opinion ; there was no occasion for me to espouse his cause unasked, and I was obliged to confess that my quarrel with my cousin had THE WAT been entirely unprovoked by him. Then I knew that he never forgave, and when I remembered his present position with respect to Harry, my heart sank within me. My eagerness to see my brother became quite ungovernable ; I wished, moreover, to bring about a reconciliation between him and his guardian ; at last I ventured to ask uncle Rupert if he would not allow Harry to come to Hirst Hall, and I begged him to assure him of his forgiveness in person. " Never mention your brother's name to me again !" was the stern, angry reply ; " I've washed my hands of him entirely."

" Why ?" I asked, with a dreadfuljbreboding at my heart. " Because he's a scoundrel and a liar," my uncle returned, fiercely ; " there, let the subject drop ; I want to hear nothing more about him." " But 1 must speak/' I replied ; " with all his faults, Harry is as true as truth itself; some one has been calumniating him to yon, and I think I know who it is • what has Warren been saying about him ?" " It makes little matter what Warren has said, or left unsaid ; what motive has he to injure your precious brother ?" " He has a motive, I know that very well. I don't believe a word that he said." "As you please; a flat denial of positive proof does not serve much. Did your brother not swear on his honour to Dr. George that he had given in every farthing of his debts ?" " Surely there were no more ?"

I exclaimed, with sickening despair, as I remembered Dr. George's misgivings and my own unjust re proaches. " He confessed to exactly half of what he owed," my uncle answered, in a tone of quiet, concentrated indignation ; " and if you wish to know the worthy means that he has taken to redeem his credit, he has spent night after night in gambling — a crime beyond all others unpardonable in my eyes." I felt as if I had got a heavy blow ; for a moment I was stunned ; then, by a violent effort, I regained a certain degree of compo sure. I think my uncle noticed my emotion ; he placed a chair beside me, and said, in a milder voice : — " I would have spared you this if I could ; sooner or later, however, you must have known it. " Oh ! if I had only known before !" I ex- THE WAT claimed, in bitter agony.

" Warren told you, I suppose ?" " Warren did tell me — and he only did his duty. How long would you have wished such conduct to go on? What do you suppose would have been the end of it ?" " God only knows what the end will be, as it is. What shall I do ?" " Leave him to himself — he's past all hope." " No one is past hope, while time is left for him to repent," I said. " I don't wish to exculpate Harry ; he has done very wrong ; but he is not so bad as Warren represents him ; he is not half so bad as Warren himself," I continued, with kindling anger, " false and cold-hearted as he is. Harry is kind and gene rous, all his impulses are for good. Does Dr. George," I asked, with a sudden thought, " think so very ill of him ?" " Dr. George is prejudiced." " Is Warren not ? Warren is blinded by passion and hatred.

Dr. George may be slow to condemn, but his judgment is strong ; you always relied on it till now." " Where you are concerned, Alice, George is not master of his own feelings," my uncle replied, gravely. " Indeed, you are mistaken !" I urged, vehemently ; " Dr. George has been very kind to me, as he is to every one ; but it is for your sake, not for my own." Again I pleaded for Harry, but my uncle was quite inexorable. " Then I see no prospect but utter ruin for him," I said at length. " That depends on himself. If he had not been my brother's son, and your mother's child too, Alice," he added, with a break in his voice, " he might have starved. For their sakes, and for yours, I'm willing to do all I can for him ; but meet him face to face I never will." There was nothing more to be said: I thought I had never known true misery till that moment.

What had been the pain of those heartstruggles against which I could strive in silence till I had conquered them, or till I had killed the soul's life, in comparison with this ? My burning indignation against Warren's treachery grew pale in the presence of this trial. Helpless sorrow allows no rival in the heart of which it has taken possession ; and besides, my cousin had sunk too immea surably in my esteem, even to make him worthy of my reproaches ; still, I could not meet him with fair words and a smiling face THE WAT I could not offer him my hand in friendly greeting when we met in the morning, or parted for the night. I told him that he had broken his word with me, in spirit as well as in the letter. Had he not promised to be Harry's friend, and at the very worst to accuse him to me alone ?

I told Warren that I had erred against conviction when I consented to our mock reconciliation ; that the friendship so ill-grounded had been hollow and worthless ; that from this day henceforth the flimsy veil of amity between us was rent asunder. If I did not hate him, it was only because I de spised him utterly. My cousin Warren had not a fine temper ; that does not necessarily suppose a placid and amiable disposition ; it may as often be high and haughty. But Warren's was not well trained ; he had no control over his passion. He could assume a habit of feeling ; but against the fits of un governable fury to which he gave way when he was thwarted, he was quite powerless. Warren's good breeding always vanished with his good humour, and both took leave of him at this crisis. About his feelings to me now, and the manner in which he chose to express his ill-will, I was alike indifferent ; but I was actually startled by the torrent of threats and violent reproaches which he poured out ; and in the midst of his incoherent ravings, I found that his inexplicable hatred to Dr. George was the fiercest incentive to his rage ; that it was my careless words, rankling in his mind, which had goaded him to the revenge he had taken.

I said not a word in answer, nor did I wait till his wrath had exhausted itself ; his idle threats had no terror in them. Dr. George was a mark far above Warren's shafts ; he might hate him, and work against him as he chose, he could find no vantage ground whence he might aim a blow with success. He had made me remember my words, as he told me I should ; but I repented them almost as soon as they were spoken, and I had not been altogether unprepared for something bke this. Now he had done his worst, I had nothing more to apprehend from that fatal frankness of Harry's nature which could guard no secret, either good or evil. I would not have blamed him less if he had concealed the guilty folly which had steeled my uncle's heart against him ; for that fault itself there was no excuse. But I knew the careless in difference with which he would betray his weaknesses ; and I had often dreaded the use THE WAT to which Warren, with his shrewd, quick in sight, and his ready power of adaptation, might turn the knowledge he had gained.

Of my own bitter remorse for the share I had had in hastening on the catastrophe, I say nothing, for I know no words that can express the pain and shame I felt. But it was time for action now, not for thought ; I must see Harry im mediately ; it was now three weeks since we had met, and I did not even know where he was. As was usual with me in an extremity, my thoughts flew immediately to Dr. George. Since I knew him, I seemed to have lost the power of thinking and acting for myself. For merly I had been self-dependent, rather dis posed to give than to seek aid ; but, then, I had never had a friend who was stronger than my self. Was I grateful to Dr. George in these days ? As much so, I suppose, as people usually are to those who serve them faithfully, and who seek for no return ; that is to say, I acknowledged alike in public and in my secret heart that he was very generous and kind.

Au reste, I accepted his good offices in a very matter-of-fact fashion ; I daresay I would have thought myself much wronged if he had hesitated in doing all I asked. My only chance of seeing him just now was at his own house, so I dressed myself and proceeded thither at once. Dr. George lived in a small house at the head of the village. When I first came to Hirst, it was inhabited by Dr. Leighton's assistant, the doctor himself occupying a more pretentious abode. I had been in it once before. One day, when I was walking with Juhana Moun tain, we were caught in a heavy shower, and my companion, being in one of her romping moods, had insisted on storming the young surgeon's castle, deeming the invasion, for some inexplicable reason, a jest of the first water. So 1 was not going on an altogether unknown quest when I pushed open the wicket-gate of the little garden, and marched boldly up the broad walk, ingeniously paved with round white pebbles, in squares and circles, which led up to the house.

I knocked twice without receiving any answer ; but I knew that the doctor's old housekeeper was deaf, so, finding that the door yielded to my hand, I went in. There was very little change in the outward belongings of the sitting-room since I had been there with Juliana. I could hardly help laugh ing as I remembered the rigorous investiga- THE WAT tion to which that curious young lady, in her ardent thirst for information, had subjected the apartment, how she had mounted on the chairs, to examine the book shelves, pried behind the sofa cushion, scrutinized the ad dresses of the notes in the card-racks ; while I watched her vagaries in mortal terror, dreading every moment lest the master of the house should make his appearance. Dr. Leighton had not lodged his assistant sumptuously. He had furnished this house out of the waifs and strays of his own, at the time when his daugh ter came from school and remodelled the pater nal halls according to their newer-fashioned taste.

The furniture did not match ; and the chairs and tables, with their rickety legs and dimmed mahogany, were worthy of a sea-side lodging-house. The only addition that Dr. George had made to his furniture was a useful, though not very ornamental, strong deal table, which ran parallel with the fire-place. It was covered with books and papers ; and I thought he could not very well have done without it, the rest of the tables being small, round, slip pery-looking affairs, that certainly never were intended to support anything more weighty than a lady's work-basket. Some articles of furniture in the room were worthy of a closer inspection. Several chairs, an ottoman stool, and a folding screen, which occupied a great deal more space than could conveniently be spared for it, were richly embroidered, " Stored by the needle's art With Scripture history and classic fable."

In theh day, I suppose, they had been looked upon as marvellous trophies of ingenuity, but it was many a day now sitice the sun of their glory had set. Amongst wonderful birds, wreaths, clustering bouquets, and other insig nificant trifles, I thought I could descry Hagar and Ishmael on one leaf of the screen. A curious object, with inverted head, and legs rising perpendicularly, over which some richly attired ladies were bending with significant gestures of surprise, hands lifted and eyes dilated, I divined at once to represent Moses in his ark of bulrushes ; and a very upright young man, holding a shepherd's crook in his hand as gracefully as a dandy wields his cane, must of course be Joseph ; but the particular event in his life which the fair artist had deli neated was quite illegible. What a dreary satire on woman's industry that elaborate fancy work is !

So much time vol. m. c THE WAT spent to so little purpose ! So much labour, and the beauty of the perfected work is faded before the weary needle has drawn the last thread through the canvas ! Is it our misfor tune or our fault that we are so hard put to it for the means of killing time? I protest, when I see girls sitting with bent shoulders and flushed cheeks over these murderous frames, I am almost disposed to turn Conser vative, and cry out for the " good old days" when the still-room was a lady's legitimate domain, and the manufacture of pastry and confections her daily occupation. And yet our diligence is commended according to the rate at which our needles move. Worsted work is a harmless and virtuous occupation ; strictly feminine, therefore perfectly safe ; and useful too, in so far as it chains down rebel lious intellects to the tread-mill circle in which a woman may walk without belying her nature.

I wonder that Iago did not mend his conclusion, in his brief summary of the excellent woman's mission. The wight whom such a judge pronounced worthy " to suckle fools aud chronicle small beer," must in her day have covered many a chair and sofa with the fruits of her industry. But to return to Dr. George and his be longings. He had a great many books ; more poetry than I had expected to see ; all the English classics, and German, Italian, and Spanish besides. Calderon's dramas were lying face downwards on the table. Dr. George had been reading " Mananas de Abril y Mayo." I took it up and amused myself with the charming pastoral till, amongst its enamelled lawns and flowering gardens, the serene tenderness of Ana and the pretty jea lousies and sprightly sallies of the gay Clara, the dignity born of sorrow, and the sparkling wit of their respective lovers, I almost forgot the inclement February morning, and even the errand on which I was bound.

I was laugh ing over the famous quarrel between Arcis and his fellow-servant, when the door opened. I looked up and saw Dr. George. " Miss Hope ! you here ?" he exclaimed, and I think that a sudden flash of pleasure lighted up his face. If it did come, it was momentary ; for in an instant after a spasm seemed to contract his brow, and he turned ashy pale to his lips. " For God's sake, come out of this place !" he said hurriedly. " Who was so mad as to let you in ?" c THE WAT " No one," I replied, very much surprised. " I could not make myself heard, and the door was open. Dr. George, what is the matter ?" Dr. George was pouring some dark liquid out of a phial. He filled a wine glass, and brought it to me. " Miss Hope, will you oblige me by drinking that ?" he said, quietly. He must have been very much more autho ritative than usual ; for I did not hesitate for a moment in obeying the strange request.

I was rather vexed with myself, though, for my prompt obedience, and I said : — " Now, Dr. George, will you oblige me by telling me your reason ? I don't like to have a medecin malgre moi." " Oh ! nothing," he answered. " What I gave you is a good antidote ;" and he opened the door, and signed me to pass out before him. " I wanted to speak to you," I answered. " Are you too busy to spare me a moment ?" "Come out into the garden, then. Why did you not send for me ? I would have come immediately." " Because I did not wish to give you the trouble. But I'm sure something is the matter," I continued, as I marked his pale, anxious face, "you frighten me so." " That's just what I wished to avoid doing. Are you nervous ?" " No ; why ? — is it something about the fever ? Do you think I look ill ? Don't mind telling me ; I feel quite well ; but I shan't be afraid of it, while I have you with me."

" Nay, now you are alarming yourself un necessarily," he replied kindly. " Give me your hand. How it trembles ! You belie your own words. I think I had better tell you at once." " Do," I urged breathlessly. "You ought not to have gone into my house, Miss Hope. I have a boy there, just now, ill of the fever." He looked steadily at me as he spoke, as if to mark the effect of his words. " Is that all ?" I answered, and indeed I did not feel that it was a subject of much alarm ; " and you spend day and night iu the infected cottages ; you must think me a great coward." " Indeed, I have not done you such injustice ; the fear was all on my side." " Is it your own man ?" I asked. " You THE WAT must be very badly off without him. Let me send our lad at the Hall down to you." " Thank you ; you're very good ; but it is a boy from the village who is ill in my house."

" And you have turned your house into an hospital. Do you never think at all of your own comfort ? I'm sure you must want rest when you do get home." " And I indulge in it, too, I assure you ; you give me credit for unselfishness that I don't deserve. This is quite an exceptional case " " Will you tell me about it ?" " Willingly. The boy was seized while he was waiting for medicines at my house." " Was he too ill to go home ?" " Not exactly ; but I might as well have turned him out into the fields as have sent him home. The whole family were down with the fever ; he would have been badly lodged, and not too well attended to ; the nurse who waits upon them is overworked as it is." " Dr. George, the pit people say you are an angel of mercy, and I don't think they are far wrong. Can I do nothing ?

I'm ashamed of myself sitting idle all day at home. I thought of it often while I was detained in the house. I have not the least fear of infection." Dr. George pressed my hand warmly. " My dear young lady, you can do nothing more than you do aheady ; the srck receive daily proofs of your interest in them." " Oh ! you mean the things that are sent down. You must thank my uncle and the cook for them. I want to visit the people. Why may I not go where you go ? Of course," I added, seeing that he remained silent, " I don't want to be in the way ; I would rather be indolent and indifferent than officious." " And I'm sure it is not in your nature to be either one or the other. You won't be offended if I tell you." " Frankly, then," I interrupted. " Frankly, of course, as you and I should speak to each other.

Then I really don't think that you can do much good. You would be peculiarly exposed to danger; that, in a man. ner, of course, we all must be ; but at your age, your constitution is not sufficiently ma tured to give you the chance of safety that we who are only doing our duty have." I laughed. " Do you remember King William's remark, THE WAT Dr. George, when the Bishop of Deny was killed at the battle of the Boyne ?" " He asked what took him there," my com panion returned with a smile, " did he not ?" " Yes, and would you not feel tempted to exclaim, Que diable allait-elle faire dans cette galere ? if I took the fever. " My dear Miss Hope, I assure you that that would be the very last thing I should say or think." " Well, I daresay your humanity would get the better of your judgment ; but putting the danger out of the question — " " You have neither knowledge nor ex perience."