On the Brink. A novel

Chapter I

To make sure of finding Colonel Compton at home, Sir "William wrote to him to say that he should call upon him on the following day at twelve o'clock, begging him, if that hour was inconvenient, to name some other. Compton replied that twelve would suit him perfectly, and accordingly at that hour Lord Tenby and Sir William Claremont were announced. For the visit of the former Compton was not prepared, and his greeting was a cold "Good morning, my lord ;" but with his other visitor the case was different. It was the meeting of VOL. II. B two old friends, whose affection, founded on mutual esteem, was cemented by trials and dangers confronted together. For some minutes it was a rapid interchange of questions and answers ; and Lord Tenby asked himself, with something like a sigh of envy, if in the wide world there was one human being on whose friendship and regard he could reckon with equal confidence.

It was not till Sir William had finished a long account of a visit he had just paid his children at Brighton that, catch ing a look of Lord Tenby's, he recollected the special purpose for which he had sought this interview. " My dear Arthur," he said, " we shall have plenty of time to talk over all our Indian reminiscences, and therefore let us turn to the more serious matters which have brought us here to-day. I conclude you are aware that Lady Tenby has signified her intention of separating from her husband, and I have accompanied Lord Tenby here by his own request to talk it over with you, and see if there are not some means of bringing about a reconciliation. I am quite certain that we may reckon upon your co-operation." " If I thought there was the slightest chance of its being successful, you might undoubtedly depend upon me," Compton replied.

" Unfor tunately that is not the case. Lady Tenby has not come to this decision without long and anxious deliberation, and it is approved by her father and others of her friends in whose judgment she places confidence." " May I ask, Colonel Compton," said Lord Tenby, " who these friends are ?" " I do not think, my lord, that I should be justified in naming them without their express permission. I can only make one exception, and that is myself." " Lady Tenby, it appears, was more successful than I had the good fortune to be," rejoined Lord Tenby. "For, if I remember right, when I asked you to listen to me on the same subject you positively refused." " Pardon me, my lord," said Compton, colouring. " The two cases are very different. On the occasion to which your lordship alludes, you wished to engage me in a desultory con versation on the subject of Lady Tenby's violence of temper and Mr. Halsted's inter ference.

I declined listening to you, giving you as my reason, that on both those subjects our opinions were likely to clash. Had Lady Tenby ever expressed a wish to take me as an arbiter between you and her, I think I may safely say that I should have equally refused to listen to her. But she never did. Till this last occasion your lordship's name was never so much as mentioned between us but once, and that was with reference to Hugh Graham, whom I met at her house. With regard to the step she is now taking, her mind was made up before it was mentioned to me. I had a long conversation with Mr. Halsted on the subject before Lady Tenby spoke to me about it, and then she did not so much consult me, as ask if I approved of her conduct. I was reluctant to enter upon a discussion of such a nature with her, and told her so.

But when she renewed her appeal to me as to a disinterested and impartial judge, I felt I had no longer a right to refuse my assistance to one who, since my return to England, had shown me every attention in her power, whom I had known as a child, and in whose welfare I took the deepest interest. From Mr. Halsted I had heard the various grounds on which she had formed her decision. They extended over all the years of her married life, and are certainly serious enough to warrant her wish for a separation. Of this there can be no doubt. My only inquiry was, whether she had well considered the consequences of the step she was about to take ; whether she was sure that she would not repent it when too late: and to both these questions she gave me answers which proved that she was acting from no hasty impulse, and that her mind was irrevocably made up.

She said, moreover, that upon this step her future peace and tranquillity of mind depended. Upon this assurance I told her that my opinion concurred with that of her father, and as an honest man I could have made no other answer." "In short, Compton," said Sir William, "you espoused the cause of beauty in distress. But, putting knight-errantry on one side, I am sure you will agree with me, upon reflection, that the grievances of which Lady Tenby may have to complain can hardly warrant so des perate a step as a separation. Tenby acknow ledges that he has been a careless and negligent husband, that he has not treated his wife with the attention to which she is entitled. But he asks her forgiveness, and fully intends to give her no further cause of complaint. We come to entreat your good offices as a peace-maker, and I am convinced that, if you can bring about a reconciliation, we shall hear them quoted as a model couple before the twelvemonth is out."

" My dear Sir William," Compton replied, "from what you say I am very certain that you cannot be aware of all the circumstances of the case." Lord Tenby had hitherto listened to the conversation without showing much apparent interest in it ; but the turn it was now taking disturbed his equanimity. It seemed to strike him for the first time that, when it came to a discussion of Lady Tenby's grievances, his brother-in-law might be desirous of a little more information than the vague statement with which he had been favoured ; and this very natural curiosity Lord Tenby had no wish to see gratified. It is probable that, when he proposed to Sir William to accompany him on his visit, he had not expected to find Compton so well informed, and it was with a very meaning glance at the latter, as if deprecating all further disclosures, that he said, " I did not think it necessary to bore Sir WTilliam with all the details of this misunderstanding between my wife and myself; but I told him enough to induce him to join his request to mine that you would take upon yourself the part of mediator.

That part I understand you decline, and there fore it is needless for us to trespass on your time any longer." "No, no, Tenby!" exclaimed Sir William, " the matter cannot rest here. Yrou have to a certain extent placed yourself in my hands, and for my satisfaction, and I should think for yours, Compton is bound to state what is alleged against you." "My dear general," said Compton, " you are seeking to impose upon me a most invidious task. Lord Tenby is quite as capable as I am of stating the charges brought against him, and therefore I shall certainly decline the office of accuser, unless by his desire. In that case I should have no further hesitation." " Of course he wishes to know of what he is accused," said the general. " How on earth is he to defend himself if left in ignorance? Am I not right, Tenby ?

" " Quite right," replied his lordship. " It is impossible for me to know what absurd charges an angry woman, aided by an unscrupulous father, may have trumped up against me. Of course I shall be glad to know of what I am accused. But I beg Colonel Compton to bear in mind that I shall hold him responsible for the truth of every statement he may make." "My responsibility extends to this," said Compton. "I will make no statement that I do not believe to be true, and I will give you the grounds of my belief. With this your lordship must be satisfied, for you cannot expect me to guarantee the absolute truth of that which I have only heard from others. I must beg you also to remember that this con versation is not of my seeking. It has in a manner been forced upon me. And even now I do not make myself your accuser; I will simply state that of which you are accused.

In justice to myself, I must add that not one of these charges proceeds from me, and, except with Lady Tenby and her father, I have never made them the subject of conversation." " My dear Arthur," said Sir William, " no one who knows you would suppose for a moment that you would be a tale-bearer, or do anything else unbecoming a gentleman. What you have said seems to me fair enough. Now proceed." " Have I your lordship's permission ? " asked Compton. " Y"es, and the sooner the better. I think we have had preparation enough, and to spare. Have you any objection to my smoking ? " Compton pushed him over a box of cigars that lay upon the table. " I shall not exhaust your patience, my lord, by dwelling upon all the offences laid to your charge. That would occupy too much time. I will content myself with two.

The first occurred soon after your marriage, when during your honeymoon you introduced to your wife a woman who had been your mistress, and made her and her still more infamous husband the inmates of your house and the companions of Lady Tenby. This I heard from Mr. Halsted, who compelled them to take their departure by a threat of immediate exposure." " God bless my soul ! " ejaculated Sir William. " Ah, I thought I should hear of that," said Lord Tenby, indolently. He saw that he was in for it, and, regardless of the presence of his brother-in-law, determined to brazen it out. "But you forget, Colonel Compton, that the first act of that comedy, or farce, or whatever you may please to call it, was played before my marriage, and the second was condoned, as the lawyers say, by Lady Tenby's living with me after she was cognisant of it.

So, if you please, we will pass on to the second. " The second to which I shall allude is far more serious. It was the drop which made the cup " " I beg your pardon for interrupting you," said Lord Tenby ; " but have you such a thing as a pin you could lend me? This infernal cigar won't draw." Compton's blood rushed to his forehead ; he restrained himself, however, but felt tbat on such an opponent delicacy would be wasted. "Better throw it away, my lord, and take another." "Well, thank you, that will be the best plan." " I was about to observe," continued Comp ton, " that it was the marriage which your lordship was pleased to contract in Egypt three months ago that put an end to all fur ther hesitation on the part of Lady Tenby." "A what?" exclaimed Sir William. " A marriage which Lord Tenby contracted with his dragoman's Circassian slave, with all the formalities prescribed by the Mahommedan law.

It is but fair to add that the union was not of long duration. His lordship divorced her a month afterwards with equal solemnity." " May I ask where you picked up this piece of romance, Colonel Compton ?" asked Lord Tenby. " Mr. Halsted heard of it first from a gentle man just returned from India, who chanced to be in Egypt at the time. Since that he has seen a letter from one of our consular agents out there to his superiors in England, asking for instructions. It appears that the lady is likely to have a child in due time, and the Pasha wishes this gentleman to take charge of her till that event has taken place. Her case seems to have excited great interest and com miseration amongst the Europeans resident at Cairo." " The consul is a fool !" exclaimed Lord Tenby, in great perturbation. " What business was it of his ?

He must have known that what you call a marriage was a mere formality. As for interest and commiseration, it is not likely that I was going to saddle myself for the rest of my days with a woman whom I could not understand, and who could not understand me. But when we parted, I did not leave her destitute." " In that respect, my lord, the consul does you full justice." "Then what is he bothering the Foreign Office about ?" "He wishes to know in what light your child is to be considered when born, and what is to be done with it. What your lordship terms a mere formality, was a good and valid marriage in the country in which it was celebrated, notwithstanding you had already a wife in England; and it is said that, to prevent the possibility of opposition or interference on the part of the Egyptian authorities, you even went the length of declaring yourself a Mahommedan.

Now the English law says, that every marriage contracted according to the laws of the country in which it is celebrated is a good marriage in England, and, as a natural consequence, the children of such a marriage are legitimate. Sir John B., the Queen's Counsel, whose opinion Mr. Halsted has taken, says it is one of the most curious cases he ever knew." " Do you mean to say Mr. Halsted has ac tually taken a lawyer's opinion ?" " I think, ray lord, if you reflect, you will see that he could do no less. It was stated, however, as an A. B. case ; no names were mentioned. I may add that Sir John's opinion was decidedly adverse to the validity of the ON TEE BRINK. 15 marriage, which, if contracted in England, would have afforded ample grounds for an indictment for bigamy. And now, Sir Wil liam," continued Compton, " I am sure you will admit, upon consideration of these facts, which Lord Tenby does not attempt to deny, that Mr. Halsted and myself were perfectly justified in giving Lady Tenby the advice we did."

" Had he been my own son," exclaimed the general, with an ejaculation which smacked somewhat of the old school, " I would have cast him off at once and for ever, and bid her do the same. A more disgraceful transaction, a greater insult to his wife, a grosser outrage on society, I never heard of." Probably Lord Tenby was too profoundly buried in meditation to hear the unfavourable comments of his brother-in-law. As Compton proceeded in his revelations, he began to awake to a perception of the very awkward dilemma in which he had placed himself. When the word "bigamy" fell upon his ear, he flung away his cigar, his brows contracted, some thing like an expression of pain passed across his countenance, and he fell into deep thought. A short silence followed Sir William's last words, which Lord Tenby broke by saying: " What an infernal fool I have made of my self!

How am I to get out of this scrape? What do you advise ?" " The only advice I can give," Sir William replied, " is to subscribe to any terms Lady Tenby and her father may yet feel inclined to offer you, and, by so doing, shelter yourself from the further disgrace of a suit in a court of law. It would kill your mother. And, having said this, I beg to decline all further interference with your affairs. For the sake of your dear sister, I will not entirely drop the acquaintance of a brother she loved, but all intimacy between us must cease." " In that, Sir William, j^ou must use your own pleasure. We have got on verv well without each other for the last ten years, and I see no reason why we may not do so in future. I presume, Colonel Compton, Mr. Halsted still adheres to the terms contained in Mr. Cox's last communication ?"

" I really cannot take upon me to say, my lord. I know that, when you allowed so many days to elapse without writing, he was disposed to look upon your silence as non-acceptance." " I was prevented from writing ; but per haps you will ascertain for me what his present intentions are." " Your lordship must excuse me. Indeed, any application frora me would be useless. Both Mr. Halsted and Lady Tenby would refuse to receive any message from you ex cept through Mr. Cox. Y^ou had far better put the negotiation into the hands of your own solicitor." " Well, Colonel Compton, I will wish you good morning. I cannot say this has been a pleasant interview to either of us, but I must do you the justice to say that I have no one to blame for that but myself, and, happen what may, I shall always retain a pleasing recollec- VOL. II.

C tion of our acquaintance, now, I conclude, brought to a close." "My lord," said Compton, "I regret that circumstances make this unavoidable. Per sonally I have never received from you any thing but courtesy." " Ah, colonel," said Lord Tenby, with an expression of real regret, " why would you not come with me last autumn ? you would have kept me out of this infernal business. How ever, it is useless looking back. I am sorry to lose you, for I like you, but you are right. No man can hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, though, in the present case, it would be difficult to say which is the hare and which the hounds. Sir William, I wish you good morning." And in another minute he was heard descending the stairs, humming " Parigi, 0 cara." When the sound of his steps was no longer heard, Sir William said with a sigh, " My dear Arthur, I cannot tell you how grieved I am, both for Lady Tenby's sake — my motherin-law, I mean — and for his own ; for, bad as he is, heartless and unprincipled as he has shown himself to be, I like him still."

" Well, and so do I," said Compton, " or rather, I should say, his society. I hate him for his conduct to his wife ; all I have heard of him inspires me with detestation and disgust. I believe him to be without a grain of good feeling or even of honour, and yet, when I find myself in his presence, there is something irresistibly attractive about him. I declare, if he had not asked in that cool, defiant manner if he might smoke, I almost doubt if I should have had the courage to set his delinquencies before him as plainly as I did. But, in truth, he deserves no mercy. His behaviour to his son is quite on a par with his treatment of his wife." Sir William had never heard of this episode in his brother-in-law's adventures, and Colonel Compton, in answer to his inquiries, related to him Hugh Graham's history.

When he had concluded, the general prepared to take his leave, but before he went he begged Compton to obtain Lady Tenby's permission for him to call upon her on her return to town. " It is the duty of all her husband's connections," he said, " to mark their sense of his conduct by giving her all the support in their power." Lord Tenby followed the colonel's advice, and lost no time in consulting his lawyer. He felt that the time for trifling was past, and that if he delayed much longer in making his sub mission he might find it extremely difficult to release himself from the very awkward predica ment in which he was placed. Mr. Halsted, who had not the least wish to make a public exposure of his son-in-law's misconduct, if it were possible to avoid it, and whose sole object was to secure his daughter's tranquillity, made no alterations in the terms he had originally proposed, except in one particular.

Five thousand a year were secured to Lord Tenby for life, but out of this he was compelled to make an annual allowance of five hundred to Hu^h Graham, at the same time consigning him entirely to Lady Tenby's guardianship. Mr. Halsted thought that it was but fair that his daughter should be relieved from the charge of supporting her husband's illegitimate son out of her diminished income. Lord Tenby resisted as far as he was able, but was obliged to succumb. Indeed, his own solicitor told him plainly that the terms offered him were much more liberal than any he had a right to expect. and threatened to throw up the business altogether if he raised any more objections. In consequence, the negotiations were brought to a satisfactory conclusion without any further delay. The deed of separation was signed with all the requisite formalities ; Lady Tenby became a free agent, and her husband was left to his own devices, without fear of remon strance, and in the enjoyment of a comfortable income, as long as he gave Lady Tenby no annoyance.

For Mr. Halsted, whose dislike and distrust of his son-in-law were now at least as great as his favourable prepossessions had once been, had fenced round his donation with innumer able and minute precautions and conditions, the violation of which would entail its for feiture. He had contemplated the introduction of a clause, by which Lord Tenby should bind himself to limit his residence in England to a few weeks every year ; but Mr. Cox represented that this would be such a serious inter ference with the rights and privileges of the peerage that it might invalidate the whole agreement. By some means or other Lord Tenby heard of this intention, and, probably from the spirit of contradiction, was immediately smitten with an anxious desire to discharge his duties as a member of the legislature.

Certain it is, that as soon as Parliament met he became a most assiduous attendant in the House of Lords, and, for the first time in his life, evinced the greatest interest in the political questions of the day. He spoke occasionally, and, having no lack of ability, spoke well and to the purpose. He abandoned all his former pursuits, withdrew entirely from all connection with the turf, eschewed the society of the Lucrezias and Aldegondes of former days, sold his yacht, took a small house in town for the season, and mounted his establishment upon an economical scale. The world was astonished, as no doubt he intended it should be ; but he did not find it easy to regain the position in society to which his birth entitled him. The change was too sudden to be accepted all at once as sincere, though the more charitable expressed a hope that it would last.

His mother, indeed, hailed his reformation as an accomplished fact, and to her he confided that he was thoroughly weary of the life he had hitherto been leading, and that his great object was to prove to his wife the sincerity of his repentance, with the hope of inducing her at some future period to revoke his sentence of banishment from her presence. Mr. Halsted had wished Colonel Compton to take upon himself the office of trustee to the deed of separation, in conjunction with Mr. Burnthwaite ; but Compton represented that it was very desirable, if possible, to induce some member of Lord Tenby's family to accept it. Mr. Halsted assented, though his daughter was half inclined to think herself aggrieved by the colonel's refusal. Sir William Claremont was applied to, and he gave a ready consent to act. ON TIIE BRINK. 25

Chapter II

As soon as Lady Tenby's new position was securely and legally established, she returned to town. Her father had preceded her by a few days, and they both took up their quarters at a hotel till they could settle their further proceedings. The first object was to find a house not too expensive and sufficiently large to accommodate them all, for Mrs. Thorpe had embraced with joy the offer made her to join them, and Lady Tenby intended to remove Hugh Graham from the school at which he was at present a pupil, and bring him to her own house. Her own wishes pointed to the country, and fain would she have returned to Longwater, but to this there were insuperable objections. The protection of her father under her altered circumstances was almost a matter of absolute necessity, and Mr. Halsted was obliged by his occupations to reside in London, or at least in its vicinity.

At a distance, more over, she must perforce have renounced all intercourse with her friends, and she had several whose intimacy was dear to her. Nor would Mr. Halsted hear of her entirely with drawing from society. " It wrould look," he argued, "as if your conduct had been the cause of your separation. Y^ou have done nothing to be ashamed of, and you must not let the world think that you are afraid to face it." In this reasoning, which was supported by all those whom she consulted, she acquiesced. Perhaps, too, there was another motive : she could hardly expect that Compton would follow her into her solitude, and his visits formed a part of the regular routine of her daily life which she would have found it painful to lay on one side. ON THE BRINK. 27 A middle course was adopted. The lease of the house in Eaton Square was sold, and Mr. Halsted took a villa at Ealiug with ample accommodation for them all.

In this they were established soon after Christmas, and all Lady Tenby's acquaintances who were in town made a point of calling on her. Amongst the first was the dowager, who felt that, Avhile she was gratifying her own kindly feelings towards her daughter-in-law, she was consulting her son's wishes by keeping up a friendly inter course with his wife. Unfortunately, tenderness of heart and soundness of judgment do not always go together, and she sometimes tried poor Nelly's patience severely by the frequent allusions she made to a late unhappy event. She never once uttered a word of reproach or blame, it is true ; on the contrary, she admitted that Lord Tenby's provocations had reached a pitch which no woman could be expected to pass over in silence, that his wife would have been fully justified in separating from him long ago, and then in the same breath she lamented ON THE BRINE. that Nelly had not been able to bear with him a little longer.

"So changed, my dear, in every respect ; you would hardly believe him to be the same man. He is quite weaned from his old pursuits, and devotes himself entirely to public business. And I hear from the best authority that his talents and application have already attracted attention. Y'ou will see he will distinguish himself yet, and live to be an honour to his family. And then, dearest Eleanor, we may all be happy again." Lady Tenby loved and respected her mother in-law, and would willingly have abstained from damping her joyful anticipations had it been possible. But it was not. She owed it to herself, and even to Lord Tenby, to dispel these illusions. "It will always give me pleasure," she said, " to hear that Lord Tenby's conduct is such as his friends approve, for their sake, and especially for yours, but personally I take no interest in his career.

I bear his name, but beyond that we have nothing in common. We are nothing to each other now, and never ON THE BRINE. 29 can be at any time. I was guilty of a great error in marrying him, for certainly I never felt for him what every woman ought to feel for her husband. My only excuse is that I was very young ; 1 had not a comfortable home ; he told me he had long loved me, though he had never ventured to address me till he had obtained my father's consent, and I honestly believed that a more intimate acquaintance with him would enable me to return his attach ment; for it never entered into my head to doubt his sincerity. YYra know how cruelly I was deceived ; but you cannot know how much I have suffered from the humiliations which were heaped upon me. I am freed from them now, and nothing will ever tempt me to expose myself to them again."

" Well, my dear," said the old lady, kissing her as she took her leave, " it is very natural you should feel so, and say so now, but make no rash resolutions. No one can tell what the morrow maj" bring with it." Old Lady Tenby returned more than once to ON THE BRINK. the charge, spurred thereto, it must be owned, by her son's solicitations. It really seemed as if he was beginning to appreciate the worth of the wife he had lost, and no doubt his dispo sition was such as always to urge him to strain after the unattainable. But on the present occasion more solid reasons were not wanting. Visions of official life were floating before him, and he thought that no better plan could be devised for giving them consistency than a reconciliation with one who stood so well in public opinion as Lady Tenby.