Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor.
Being the First Jane Austen Mystery.
by Stephanie Barron.
Jane"s Introduction
17 March 1803No. 4 Sydney Place, BathWHEN A YOUNG LADY OF MORE FASHION THAN MEANS HAS the good sense to win the affection of an older gentleman, a widower of high estate and easy circ.u.mstances, it is generally observed that the match is an intelligent one on both sides. The lady attains that position in life for which her friends may envy and congratulate her, while the gentleman wins for his advancing years all that youth, high spirits, and beauty can offer. He is declared the best, and most generous, of men; she is generally acknowledged to be an angel fully deserving of her good fortune. His maturity and worldly experience may steady her lighter impulses; her wit and gentle charms should ease the cares attendant upon his station. With patience, good humour, and delicacy on both sides, a tolerable level of happiness may be achieved.When, however, the older gentleman dies suddenly of a gastric complaint, leaving to his mistress of three months a considerable estate, divided between herself and his heir; and when the heir in question offends propriety with his attentions to the widow-!The tone of social commentary may swiftly turn spiteful.The deceased man"s fortunes, once proclaimed as rivaling the G.o.ds", are now all struck down. He is become to all men a figure of melancholy, a poor benighted dotard, seduced by youth and flattery where probity and good sense should better have prevailed. The lady is turned an object of suspicion rather than general pity; her mourning weeds are reviled as a mockery of propriety; her presence is not desired at the select a.s.semblies; the solicitors burdened with the management of her affairs are much to be pitied; and scurrilous rumour circulates among the habitues habitues of the opera box and card room. of the opera box and card room.Her star is fallen, indeed.Such has been the fate of my poor Isobel. That a lady gently bred, possessed of intelligence and a discerning nature, should be so embroiled in scandal, must sober us all. None can a.s.sume that the winds of fortune shall always blow fair; indeed, the better part of our lives is spent seeking some shelter from their caprice. Women, possessed of a frailty in their virtues not accorded the stronger s.e.x, are more surely victims of the random blast. In considering all that occurred during the fading of the year, I might be moved to rail against my Maker for suffering those least capable of bearing misfortune, to have found it so liberally bestowed. But that would be ungenerous in a clergyman"s daughter, and too bitter for my spirit. I have determined instead to turn to the comforts of journal and pen, in the hope of understanding these events that marked the turning of my twenty-seventh year.I NEVER FEEL THAT I HAVE COMPREHENDED AN EMOTION, or fully lived even the smallest of events, until I have reflected upon it in my journal; my pen is my truest confidant, holding in check the pa.s.sions and disappointments that I dare not share even with my beloved sister Ca.s.sandra. Here, then, in my little book, I may pa.r.s.e my way to understanding all that I have survived in recent weeks. Indeed, I have gone so far as to walk into town for the express purpose of obtaining this fresh binding of paper, in the hopes that by setting the events apart-by giving them the narrative force and order of a novel, in fact-I might bring some order to the unwonted discomposure of my mind. This story will never be offered for the public reader, even were I to transform the names and disguise the places; for to so expose to the common traffic of drawing-room and milliner"s stall what must be most painful in my dear friend Isobel"s life, would be rank betrayal. Better to retrieve from Ca.s.sandra the letters1 concerning these events that I sent to her from Scargrave, and insert them between the pages of this journal. It shall live in my clothespress, and be opened only for the edification of my dear nieces, that some knowledge of the forces which so disastrously shaped Isobels fortune, may prove a moral guide for the conduct of their own. concerning these events that I sent to her from Scargrave, and insert them between the pages of this journal. It shall live in my clothespress, and be opened only for the edification of my dear nieces, that some knowledge of the forces which so disastrously shaped Isobels fortune, may prove a moral guide for the conduct of their own.What follows then, as my journal and letters so record it, is the history of the unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor. May that unhappy abode witness more congenial hours in the coming year than those I spent during the last.1. Jane Austen"s older sister, Ca.s.sandra, was the person she loved best and trusted most in the world. Austen scholars have long been frustrated by gaps in their surviving correspondence, and have imputed the missing letters to Ca.s.sandra"s propensity to destroy those that were most personal. Many of what may be the missing letters have now been found in the Westmoreland ma.n.u.script holdings. -Editor"s note.
Chapter 1 - The Pa.s.sing Bell.
Journal entry, 11 December 1802, written in the small hours
"WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF IT, JANE?" THE COUNTESS OF Scargrave asked. Her fingers gripped my elbow painfully. Scargrave asked. Her fingers gripped my elbow painfully.
I gazed at the rec.u.mbent form of her husband with dismay. Frederick, Lord Scargrave,1 was decidedly unwell-so unwell that I had been called to his bedside an hour before dawn, an indiscretion the Earl would never have allowed while possessed of his senses. I pulled the collar of my dressing gown closer about my neck and placed my free hand over the Countess"s. was decidedly unwell-so unwell that I had been called to his bedside an hour before dawn, an indiscretion the Earl would never have allowed while possessed of his senses. I pulled the collar of my dressing gown closer about my neck and placed my free hand over the Countess"s.
"I believe that your husband is dying, Isobel," I told her.
Her fingers moved convulsively under my own, and then were still. "Dying. "Dying. Were I to hear it so declared a thousand times, I still should not believe it possible." Were I to hear it so declared a thousand times, I still should not believe it possible."
I surveyed my friend with silent pity, uncertain how to answer such distress. The transformation wrought upon her husband"s agonised countenance was indeed extraordinary-and had required but a few hours to effect. That very evening, the Earl had led his Countess down the dance in Scargrave"s ballroom, revelling in the midst of a company come to toast the fortunes of them both. Despite his eight-and-forty years, he shone as a man blessed with second youth, elegant and lively, the very charm of his race crying out from every limb. And tho" he had complained of dyspepsia before, this illness came upon him of a sudden-and with a violence one may hardly credit to an overfondness for claret and pudding.
"Had he taken aught to eat or drink in the past few hours?" I asked.
My friend shook her head. "Only a milk toddy and some sweetmeats the maid brought to him upon retiring. But I do not believe he had long consumed them before the sickness laid him prostrate."
The stench of the Earl"s illness rose from the fouled sheets the maids would not change for fear of paining him further. His breath was caught thick within his throat, and his strength worn down by dizzyness and a violence of puking such as one usually sees under the influence of a purgative. His eyes were rolled back in drowsy oblivion, his skin was pallid, and his features were bloated. It was a trial merely to observe such suffering; to endure it must have been fearsome.
As I watched with Isobel by his bedside, awaiting the doctor summoned in haste from London, the Earl gave forth a great moan, rose up shuddering from his sheets, and clutched his wife"s hand. "Blackguards!" his shattered voice cried. "They would take me from within!" Then he fell back insensible upon his bed, and spoke no more.
Isobel was all efficiency; a compress she had in a moment, and ministered to her troubled lord, and the violence of feeling that had animated his poor body but an instant before, troubled him not again.
I am no stranger to death-I have sat watch over too many unlovely ends by the side of my clergyman father, who believes the company of a woman necessary to sustain him in the most mortal hours of his ministry-but this was a sort of dying I had never witnessed.
A chill draught wafted through the chamber door from the great hall below. I turned my head swiftly, in hope of the doctor, and saw only Marguerite, Isobel"s maid.
"Milady," the Creole girl whispered, her eyes stealing from her mistress"s face to the more dreadful one of the Earl, "the doctor is come." Her countenance was pale and frightened, and as I watched, she made the Papist sign of the cross hurriedly at her brow, and ducked back through the doorway.
I cannot find it in me to scold the maid for such foolishness. She is a simple girl from Isobel"s native Barbadoes, who accompanied her mistress upon Isobel"s removal to England two years ago. Marguerite has sorely missed her sleep tonight-it was she who fetched me hastily before dawn to the Countess"s side. But even I, a child of coldblooded England less susceptible to horrified fancy, must confess to sleeplessness these several hours past. For the Earl has uttered such moans and cries that none may shut out his agony, and all within Scargrave"s walls are robbed of peace this night.
"Lady Scargrave," the physician said, breaking into my thoughts. He clicked his heels together and bowed in Isobel"s direction. A young man, with all his urgency upon his face.
"Dr. Pettigrew," the Countess replied faintly, her hand going to her throat, "thank G.o.d you are come."
How Isobel could bear it! Married but three months, and to lose a husband one has but lately acquired would seem the cruellest blow of Fate. Yet still she stood, composed and upright, and waited with the terrible fort.i.tude of women for the result of so much misery.
Dr. Pettigrew glanced at me and nodded, brushing the snow from his greatcoat and handing it to Marguerite, who bobbed a frightened curtsey and ducked out of the chamber. As the physician hastened to the Earl"s bedside, I strove to read his thoughts; but his eyes were hidden behind spectacles, and his mouth held firmly in a line, and I could divine nothing from his youthful countenance. He reached for the Earl"s wrist, and poor Lord Scargrave moaned and tossed upon his pillow.
"Leave us now, my dear Jane," Isobel said, her hand cool upon my cheek; "I will come to you when I may."
AND SO I MUST WAIT AS WELL, SHUT UP IN MY HIGH-ceilinged chamber with the ma.s.sive mahogany bed, the walls hung with tapestries in the fashion of the last century. I draw my knees to my chest and pull my dressing gown tight to my toes, staring for the thousandth time at the face of some Scargrave ancestress, forever young and coquettish and consumptively pale, who peers at me from her place above the mantel. It is a solemn room, a room to terrify a child and sober a maid; a room well-suited to my present mood. The fire is burned low and glowing red; my candle casts but a dim light, flickering in the still air as though swept by sightless wings-the Angel of Death, perhaps, hovering over the great house. At my arrival, Isobel told me of the Scargrave legend: When any of the family is doomed to die, the shade of the First Earl walks the gallery beyond my door in evening dress and sombre carriage. The family spectre might well be pacing the boards tonight, however little I would believe in him.
And through the snowy dawn, a faint echo of pealing bells; they toll nine times as I listen, straining for the count-the pa.s.sing bell from the church in Scargrave Close, calling out that the Earl is in his final hours. Nine peals for the dying of a man, and then a pause; the toll resumes, a total of forty-eight times, for every year of the Earl"s life. I shiver of a sudden and reach for my paper and pen, the pot of ink I carry always among my things. Much has happened in the two days since my arrival here at Scargrave; much is surely to come. It may help to pa.s.s the small hours of morning if I record some memory of them here.
I AM COME TO SCARGRAVE MANOR IN THE LAST MONTH AM COME TO SCARGRAVE MANOR IN THE LAST MONTH of the dying year at the invitation of its mistress, Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, with whom I have been intimate these eighteen months. When I recall our first meeting-an introduction between ladies still unwed, in the Bath Pump Room-I cannot help but wonder at the present reversal of events. Isobel, with her gay humour and careless aspect, so early blessed by fortune in the form of the Earl, now to be made a creature of misery and loss! She, who is all goodness, all generosity! It is not to be borne. Though I have known her but a little while, I would do all in my power tonight to succour her in despair-so lovely, and so wounded, is she. I owe the Countess my grat.i.tude as well as esteem. I know too well how little attention she need pay me in her present high estate. A watering place such as Bath encourages ready acquaintance-acquaintance as readily dropt, once the sojourn is done. But Isobel would have it that I am a of the dying year at the invitation of its mistress, Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, with whom I have been intimate these eighteen months. When I recall our first meeting-an introduction between ladies still unwed, in the Bath Pump Room-I cannot help but wonder at the present reversal of events. Isobel, with her gay humour and careless aspect, so early blessed by fortune in the form of the Earl, now to be made a creature of misery and loss! She, who is all goodness, all generosity! It is not to be borne. Though I have known her but a little while, I would do all in my power tonight to succour her in despair-so lovely, and so wounded, is she. I owe the Countess my grat.i.tude as well as esteem. I know too well how little attention she need pay me in her present high estate. A watering place such as Bath encourages ready acquaintance-acquaintance as readily dropt, once the sojourn is done. But Isobel would have it that I am a singular personality singular personality, and that once understood, I am not easily put aside. However that may be, she has spurned the ready affections of her husband"s fashionable friends, and proved faithful to her own, more modest ones; many a letter have I written and received, and confidences shared, in the short time we two have called each other by our Christian names.2 The Countess is returned from her wedding trip but a fortnight, having married Frederick, Lord Scargrave, three months past and departed immediately for the Continent. Her husband, the Earl, being determined to give a ball in her honour, Isobel begged me to make another of the party-and that I had powerful reasons for finding comfort in her goodness I will not deny. A visit to Scargrave promised some welcome diversions-an agreeable partner or two, and in the frivolity of the dance, some measure of forgetfulness for the appalling social errors I had knowingly committed among friends not a fortnight before. Never mind that the Earl"s Manor would be the third home I had visited in as many weeks; there are times when to be in the bosom of one"s family is a burden too great to bear, and relative strangers may prove as balm.
Thus I went into Hertfordshire fleeing, in short, a broken engagement and the awkward pity of those dearest to me in the world. I hoped only to find a woman"s light dissipation: to talk of millinery and the neighbours with equal parts savagery and indifference, to take my full measure of wintry walks, to see in the New Year in the company of a dear friend lately married. I had no hopes of brilliant conversation, or of being surrounded by those who might challenge my wits; I looked, in fact, for the reverse of what has always been strongest in my nature.
My journey from Bath in the Scargrave carriage was marked by no intimation of pending tragedy; no dark shadows menaced as the horses laboured through the snowy Park, pulling up with steaming breath before the Manor"s ma.s.sive oak doors. Only warmth and welcome shone from the many windows set in the house"s broad stone facade-a cheerful aspect on a winter"s twilight, offering rest and sustenance to all who came within its walls. I may fairly say that I descended from the carriage without the slightest flutter of misgiving.
Nor did I feel a presentiment of doom this evening as I readied myself for the Earl"s celebratory ball. I had from Isobel the loan of her maid, Marguerite, who having seen to her mistress"s toilette, would now attempt to do some good to mine. The disparity in form and finery between Isobel and myself is material, I a.s.sure you; and so, while Marguerite fussed and lamented over the creases in my gown, an inevitable result of travel, I took up my pen and wrote to my dear sister Ca.s.sandra. It is a letter I fear that I must discard without posting-for soon I shall be required to convey other news, against which last evening"s note may only be declared frivolous.
My dear Ca.s.sandra- I am safely arrived in Hertfordshire and more than ready to enjoy the ball the Earl of Scargrave gives in his lady"s honour. I must regard it as fortuitous that Isobel"s invitation arrived so soon upon the heels of my own trouble. Pray forgive me my sudden flight; I could not stay with brother James-you know how little I enjoy the tedium of a tete-a-tete tete-a-tete with Mary-in my present confused and downcast state. I will not say that our brother reproached me for refusing Mr. Bigg-Wither; but I did endure a grim half-hour on the fate of impoverished spinsters. I was made to understand that I owe my continued sustenance and respectability (on twenty pounds per annum!) to the good health of our father, and that without a husband, I shall be cast upon my brothers" slim resources once that worthy is dead. Having heard James out, I am more than ever determined to pursue the publication of my little book, for I must earn some independence; better to commerce in literature than in matrimony, for to marry from mercenary motives is to me of all things the most despicable. with Mary-in my present confused and downcast state. I will not say that our brother reproached me for refusing Mr. Bigg-Wither; but I did endure a grim half-hour on the fate of impoverished spinsters. I was made to understand that I owe my continued sustenance and respectability (on twenty pounds per annum!) to the good health of our father, and that without a husband, I shall be cast upon my brothers" slim resources once that worthy is dead. Having heard James out, I am more than ever determined to pursue the publication of my little book, for I must earn some independence; better to commerce in literature than in matrimony, for to marry from mercenary motives is to me of all things the most despicable.3 But let us leave brother James where he belongs, in the company of his unfortunate wife-I find I must break off, as the maid is come to dress my hair for the ball; though what can be done to improve it at nearly seven-and-twenty, that was not attempted at eighteen, I cannot think. You will be shocked to learn that I have traded my comfortable cap for the allurements of a feather, to be tucked into a beaded band drawn across the forehead; two bunches of curls hang like grapes before my ears, a la a la the huntress Diana. I appear quite ridiculous, I dare say, but the change is a welcome one for all that. And now, my dearest sister, I must bid you good-night and the huntress Diana. I appear quite ridiculous, I dare say, but the change is a welcome one for all that. And now, my dearest sister, I must bid you good-night and adieu. I remain adieu. I remain, Yours very affectionately, J.A.
I wore my yellow patterned silk, the finest thing I own, though admittedly of a vanished season, and kept my head high as I entered the ballroom in Isobel"s wake. The great room was ablaze with candles, grouped in their gilt holders against the pier gla.s.ses that line the walls, so that we seemed to move among tall trees and branches of leafy flame; and it was peopled with a glittering a.s.semblage of gentlemen and ladies, some hundred at least, come from surrounding Hertfordshire and as far distant as London. It must be impossible for one of my means to rival the grandeur of Scargrave, much less of the Earl"s circle of acquaintance; but I fortified myself with the knowledge of Isobel"s kindness and thus braved the stares of my companions.
The Countess of Scargrave was magnificent in deep green silk, a gown she had recently acquired in Paris. That she has always possessed a certain style is indisputable; but now she also may claim the means to obtain it-and the Earl"s great fortune could hardly be better spent. Isobel is a tall, well-formed woman, with a figure light and pleasing; it is generally agreed that her hair is her most extraordinary feature, it being thick and of a deep, l.u.s.trous red that cannot fail to command attention. For my own part, I must declare it is her eyes that appear to greatest advantage-being of the colour of sherry, and heavily fringed. The charms of her person would be as nothing, however, did she lack the sweet grace that customarily animates her countenance. Tonight, in the midst of her bridal ball, she was truly lovely, her head thrown back in laughter as she turned about the room.
That others were equally admiring of Isobel"s beauty and great charm, I readily discerned, and briefly felt myself a pale shadow in her train. To lose one"s cares in the gaiety of a ball, one must, perforce, be able to dance; dance; and this requires a partner. At the advanced age of nearly seven-and-twenty, I had begun to know the fear of younger women. I had been suffered to sit during several dances at the last Bath a.s.sembly, while chits of fifteen turned and twirled their hearts upon the floor; and an unaccustomed envy had poisoned my happiness. I quailed to think that my fate tonight at Scargrave might be the same; but Isobel was as good as I had come to expect, and made me immediately acquainted with several gentlemen in her circle. and this requires a partner. At the advanced age of nearly seven-and-twenty, I had begun to know the fear of younger women. I had been suffered to sit during several dances at the last Bath a.s.sembly, while chits of fifteen turned and twirled their hearts upon the floor; and an unaccustomed envy had poisoned my happiness. I quailed to think that my fate tonight at Scargrave might be the same; but Isobel was as good as I had come to expect, and made me immediately acquainted with several gentlemen in her circle.
First among them was Fitzroy, Viscount Payne, her husband"s nephew. Lord Payne is the only son of the Earl"s younger brother these many years deceased; and if the Earl and Isobel are unblessed by sons of their own, Lord Payne will succeed to the t.i.tle at the Earl"s death. As a single man in possession of a good fortune, he must be in want of a wife; and so the eyes of many within Scargrave that night were turned to him in hope and calculation.
From what little I have seen of Fitzroy Payne thus far, however, I should judge him as likely to honour me me with his attentions and his hand as any lady in the room. Indeed, his heart is not likely to be easily touched-and I suspect it already is given to another. Lord Payne is a grave gentleman of six-and-twenty, and though decidedly handsome, is possessed of such reserve that his notice was hardly calculated to improve my spirits. As Isobel p.r.o.nounced my name, he kept his eyes a clear six inches above my head, clicked his heels smartly, and made a deep bow-offering not a word of salutation the while. with his attentions and his hand as any lady in the room. Indeed, his heart is not likely to be easily touched-and I suspect it already is given to another. Lord Payne is a grave gentleman of six-and-twenty, and though decidedly handsome, is possessed of such reserve that his notice was hardly calculated to improve my spirits. As Isobel p.r.o.nounced my name, he kept his eyes a clear six inches above my head, clicked his heels smartly, and made a deep bow-offering not a word of salutation the while.
Next I was suffered to meet the eldest son of the Earl"s deceased sister. Mr. George Hearst is a quiet gentleman of seven-and-twenty, charged with all the management of the home farm, which I understand from Isobel is not at all to that gentleman"s liking. He wishes rather to take Holy Orders, with the view to obtaining one of the three livings4 at the Earl"s disposal when it should next come vacant. Pale and gaunt, his eyes shadowed with a care that must be ecclesiastical, he bears the stamp of a man long in converse with his G.o.d. His melancholy aspect and glowering looks, in the midst of so much rejoicing, cast a pall over the immediate party that even I, a relative stranger to them all, must feel acutely. Mr. George Hearst gave me an indifferent nod, and then returned to his contemplation of the grave-or so I a.s.sumed, from his stony aspect. at the Earl"s disposal when it should next come vacant. Pale and gaunt, his eyes shadowed with a care that must be ecclesiastical, he bears the stamp of a man long in converse with his G.o.d. His melancholy aspect and glowering looks, in the midst of so much rejoicing, cast a pall over the immediate party that even I, a relative stranger to them all, must feel acutely. Mr. George Hearst gave me an indifferent nod, and then returned to his contemplation of the grave-or so I a.s.sumed, from his stony aspect.
Isobel hastened then to make me known to Lieutenant Thomas Hearst, the ecclesiastic"s younger brother; and as different from him as two men formed of the same union maybe.
Tom Hearst possesses a life commission in an excellent cavalry regiment, a face creased from laughing, unruly curls that bob when he bows low over a hand, and a charm that has undoubtedly reduced many a fashionable miss to tears and sighing. That the Lieutenant cuts a dashing figure in his dark blue uniform, and dances with more enthusiasm than skill, I may readily attest. When Isobel presented him, he bobbed in the aforesaid manner and immediately asked for my next dance; and so I instantly recovered from my fit of nerves and set out to determine something of the Lieutenant"s character.
I did not have far to seek. At the glimpse of a blond head hovering over my shoulder and the scent of violets a.s.sailing my nose, I turned and surveyed Miss f.a.n.n.y Delahoussaye, resplendent in a peac.o.c.k-blue gown that displayed to excellent effect her ample bosom. Miss Delahoussaye laughed a little breathlessly-the result, no doubt, of too much activity and too little corset string-and reached a plump hand to her coiffure.
"And so you have met that rascal Tom Hearst," she said, and actually winked in my direction. Miss f.a.n.n.y is Isobel"s cousin from the Barbadoes, a well-grown girl of youthful and boisterous appearance, but sadly lacking in sense. "He has s.n.a.t.c.hed you up for a dance or two, I warrant, and now I shall have to go begging for a partner. I am sure Tom should have monopolised my card," she added, displaying that elegant slip attached to her fan, already overwritten with eager suitors, "but for his delicacy in appearing too forward."
"Is Lieutenant Hearst a man of delicacy, then?" I enquired, with more interest in Miss Delahoussaye than I had heretofore felt.
"Oh, Lord, no!" she cried. "As rash a scapegrace as ever lived! But Tom is that afraid of Mamma"-at this, she tossed her blond curls in Madame Delahoussaye"s general direction-"as to be overcareful. I am sure that J should not fear her half so much. It is not as though I have a brother, you know, to fight with him and send him off."
"Why should any fight with the Lieutenant?" I said, somewhat bewildered.
"Why, because he is in love with me, of course," f.a.n.n.y declared, rapping my shoulder with her fan; "and his fortune is hardly equal to my own. And if I did did have a brother to fight him, it should be the worse for us; for you know Tom is come to Scargrave having killed a man in an affair of honour." have a brother to fight him, it should be the worse for us; for you know Tom is come to Scargrave having killed a man in an affair of honour."5 My distress at this intelligence being written upon my countenance, Miss Delahoussaye laughed aloud. "I wonder you had not heard of it. Lord, it is the talk of the entire room! He has left his regiment at St. James for a little until the scandal dies down; though I am sure he should not have engaged in such an affair had he not been cruelly insulted." With this, Miss Delahoussaye attempted to look grave, but her blue eyes danced with approbation for the terrible Lieutenant.
"Undoubtedly," I replied, "though we cannot know what it is about."
"I mean to find out," Miss f.a.n.n.y said stoutly, "for the affairs of officers are to me the most romantic in the world! Do not you agree, Miss Austen? Is not an officer to be preferred above any man?"
"I had not thought them blessed with any particular particular merit-" I began, but was cutoff in mid-sentence. merit-" I began, but was cutoff in mid-sentence.
"Then you cannot appreciate Tom as I do, and I shall not fear your charms any longer. He is wild about me, Miss Austen; do you remember it when you are dancing with him." And with a flounce of her peac.o.c.k-hued gown, f.a.n.n.y Delahoussaye left me to await the return of her heart"s delight.
It was but nine o"clock, and light refreshment was laid in a parlour at some remove from the great room; a crush of gentlemen and ladies circulated about the long table, seeking ices and champagne, cold goose and sweetmeats, sent forth from Scargrave"s kitchens with a breathtaking disregard for expense. I considered the swarm of the unknown, some of whom were very fine, indeed, and for an instant wished myself returned to the hearth in my room, with a good book for company; but Isobel had taken my arm, and I was not to be so easily released.
"This is what it means to be a married woman, Jane," my friend said, with an arch smile; "one is forever expected to forego refreshment so that others may dance. You You may eat to your heart"s content, but / must allow my husband to lead me to the floor, or suffer the contempt of my guests." Isobel then swept off on the arm of the Earl, and proceeded to the head of the room; others equally eager to join in the revels formed up in pairs alongside them, as the musicians laid bow to string. may eat to your heart"s content, but / must allow my husband to lead me to the floor, or suffer the contempt of my guests." Isobel then swept off on the arm of the Earl, and proceeded to the head of the room; others equally eager to join in the revels formed up in pairs alongside them, as the musicians laid bow to string.
I felt the absence of Tom Hearst, and knew not whether to wish for the return of such a man or no. But my confusion was to be of short duration. A parting of the crowd, a sight of a curly head, and a jaunty bow in my direction; and I found myself facing the Lieutenant not four couples removed from the Earl and his lady, in all the flushed excitement of a first dance.
The knowledge of Lieutenant Hearst"s having killed a man put flight to every other thought in my head, but since it is impossible to move through the figures without some some attempt at conversation, I cast about in desperation for the slightest word. I fear I blushed, and turned my eyes to the ground, and appeared in every way as attempt at conversation, I cast about in desperation for the slightest word. I fear I blushed, and turned my eyes to the ground, and appeared in every way as missish missish as possible, giving the Lieutenant as inaccurate a picture of myself as perhaps Miss Delahoussaye had drawn of him. My wordless confusion made him hesitate to utter a syllable; and thus we laboured in profound stupidity, for fully half the dance"s span. But of all things detestable, I most detest a silent partner-and thrusting aside my horror of pistols at dawn, I took refuge in a lady"s light banter. as possible, giving the Lieutenant as inaccurate a picture of myself as perhaps Miss Delahoussaye had drawn of him. My wordless confusion made him hesitate to utter a syllable; and thus we laboured in profound stupidity, for fully half the dance"s span. But of all things detestable, I most detest a silent partner-and thrusting aside my horror of pistols at dawn, I took refuge in a lady"s light banter.
"I have profited from your absence, Lieutenant, to enquire of your character," I began.
A merry look, from under a lifted eyebrow. "And am I fit to touch your glove, Miss Austen?"
"I learned that you are everywhere regarded as a man of charm and intelligence; that you are an officer renowned for bravery and quick temper; that you are observed to spend a good deal of time on horseback in the Park; and that you prefer saddle of mutton to roast beef, in which you have been disappointed this evening."
"Nay!" he cried, his head thrown back in laughter, "and shall we have the size of my boot and my preference in tailors as well?"
"It was an intelligence I could not, with delicacy, gather," I replied, "but if you disappear with such alacrity again, I shall be certain to find it out."
With great good humour the Lieutenant then began to converse quite freely, enquiring of my life in Bath and the circ.u.mstances of my family with a becoming interest. For my part, I quickly learned that he is the son of Lord Scargrave"s sister, Julia, dead these niany years, and that his father was a dissolute rogue. Having reduced the Lady Julia to penury (for so I interpreted the Lieutenant"s more generous words), the elder Mr. Hearst had the good sense to abandon his sons to her brother and depart for the Continent, where he subsequently died in the arms of his mistress. Lord Scargrave has had the rearing of the Hearst boys these twenty years; and it would not be remarkable if they looked to him as a father.
The Lieutenant added that he had tired of schooling while still at Eton, and spurned Oxford for the more brilliant ranks of the military; that he is at present a member of the Royal Horse Guards, resident in St. James, and is at Scargrave on leave through the Christmas holidays; though he failed to intimate that it was an enforced enforced leave, due to his having recently killed a man. leave, due to his having recently killed a man.
Indeed, having spent some time in Lieutenant Hearst"s company, I must wonder whether Miss Delahoussaye"s romantic notions have not run away with what little sense she commands. For the Lieutenant seems as unlikely to kill a man as my dear brother Henry.
Fond of jokes, liberal in his smiles, incapable of giving offence to anybody, Tom Hearst is a ray of sun; but like the sun, can scorch when least expected. We had been half an hour along in the dance, and were nearing its close, when he turned the subject to Isobel, with some impertinence of manner.
"I may rejoice that my uncle has married,* he said, taking my hand as I exchanged places with my neighbour, "when my aunt"s acquaintance proves so delightful."
"Did you not rejoice, then, before I came to Scargrave?"
An anxious look, as having betrayed too much, was my reward, and an affectation of laughter. "For my own part," the Lieutenant replied, "I take my uncle"s happiness as the sole consideration. But others may feel a nearer interest."
"I do not pretend to understand you." I turned my back upon him in the dance and caught Isobel"s eye as she made her way along the line.
"You must be aware, Miss Austen," said Tom Hearst, "that an elderly man without children of his own may disappoint his family when he goes in pursuit of heirs."
"With a father past seventy, I should not call eight-and-forty elderly" elderly" I replied, turning again to face him. I replied, turning again to face him.
"Oh! To be sure! I spoke but as a matter of form. I do not doubt, however; that my cousin the Viscount"-this, with a glance at Lord Payne, who stood opposite f.a.n.n.y Delahoussaye in the next couple but one-"may feel such a mixture of emotions more acutely than I. Though Lord Fitzroy Payne appears to rank the Countess as chief among his acquaintance, even he even he must acknowledge the blow to his fortunes. If my uncle gets an heir, Lord Payne"s prospects are decidedly the worse." must acknowledge the blow to his fortunes. If my uncle gets an heir, Lord Payne"s prospects are decidedly the worse."
"Your solicitude for your cousin"s purse may disarm reproof," I told him, "but your uncle"s happiness must be said to outweigh more material concerns." That I wondered at his imparting so much of a personal nature to a complete stranger I need not emphasise; but it hardly dissuaded me from pursuing the conversation further.
"Oh! Uncle"s happiness," said the Lieutenant, turning his gaze upon Lord Scargrave, who even then was engaged in a bout of laughter as he moved his elegant wife through the figures. "His happiness cannot be doubted. We should all be as fortunate at eight-and-forty. But as we are blessed with only half his years, Miss Austen, let us throw off sober talk and take up other things. Have you been much in Hertfordshire?"
Recovering his senses, as it seemed, the Lieutenant conversed with great charm until the music ended, and then he bowed low over my gloved hand. After earnestly entreating me to favour him with another dance, and hearing me plead the necessities of fatigue, he took himself off in search of wine punch.
I gazed after him for an instant, turning over his words in my mind, then shook my head and resolved to think of him no more. Tom Hearst is altogether a scapegrace, a rake, and possibly a dangerous fellow, with his likeable face, his vigourous dancing, and his easy manners; a man who might do with a woman as he liked, having once won her heart.
1. A brief explanation of English t.i.tles and modes of address may be helpful to American readers, who lack Jane"s easy familiarity with both. Isobel Collins married Frederick Payne, the Earl of Scargrave, and as such became the Countess of Scargrave. She would be addressed as Lady Scargrave, but because she is a commoner by birth, she would never be addressed as Lady Isobel; that would be a courtesy t.i.tle conferred on the daughter of a peer. The Earl is usually addressed as Lord Scargrave, taking his name from his t.i.tle, rather than as Lord Payne, his family name, which in this account denotes his heir Fitzroy, Viscount Payne. -Editor"s note.2. In Austen"s day, it was a sign of great friendship and mutual esteem to address an acquaintance by his or her first name. This was a privilege usually reserved for the family circle; between unrelated men and women, for example, it generally occurred only after an engagement was formed.-Editor"s note.3. The novel to which Jane refers was initially called Susan. Susan. Finished and sold to a publisher for ten pounds in 1803, it had still not been published in 1816 when Jane bought it back from the purchaser. Later ret.i.tled Finished and sold to a publisher for ten pounds in 1803, it had still not been published in 1816 when Jane bought it back from the purchaser. Later ret.i.tled Northanger Abbey Northanger Abbey, it was published posthumously in 1818.-Editor"s note.4. The term living living applied to a clergyman"s post-his salary and usually his home-which pa.s.sed from one man to another, often as the gift of a patron who "owned" the living, or, if the clergyman himself had purchased the living, through the sale of the position before the inc.u.mbent"s death. Sale of a living applied to a clergyman"s post-his salary and usually his home-which pa.s.sed from one man to another, often as the gift of a patron who "owned" the living, or, if the clergyman himself had purchased the living, through the sale of the position before the inc.u.mbent"s death. Sale of a living after after the inc.u.mbent"s death was considered trafficking in Church property-a violation of the laws of simony.- the inc.u.mbent"s death was considered trafficking in Church property-a violation of the laws of simony.-Editor"s note.5. To kill one"s opponent in a duel was considered murder in England, and as the nineteenth century wore on, the successful combatant was often forced to flee the country if he did not wish to face the law. Around the turn of the eighteenth century, however, the authorities still occasionally winked at dueling-particularly among military men, for whom the concept of personal honor was as vital as wealth or high birth. As Lieutenant Hearst is a cavalry officer, it would be left to his commanding officers to decide his fate.-Editor"s note.
Chapter 2 - Enter Lord Harold.
11 December 1802, cont.
THE MOST CURIOUS OF THE INCIDENTS I I WITNESSED LAST WITNESSED LAST night sprang from the arrival of a man-a gentleman and a stranger, but of so malevolent an aspect, that I shiver to find him still beneath our roof as the Earl lies dying. night sprang from the arrival of a man-a gentleman and a stranger, but of so malevolent an aspect, that I shiver to find him still beneath our roof as the Earl lies dying. He He is the chief of what I would understand about life at Scargrave Manor; and I must look to my friend Isobel for explanation, since it was in pursuit of her that he came. is the chief of what I would understand about life at Scargrave Manor; and I must look to my friend Isobel for explanation, since it was in pursuit of her that he came.
I was engaged in observing Lieutenant Hearst"s progress towards the wine punch, when Isobel appeared at my side. Her face was becomingly flushed, and her brown eyes alight.
"My dear Jane! Is not this an excellent ball? Is not it an elegant a.s.sembly? And yet I have bade my husband be off, that I may steal a few moments in your company," she declared, taking my hand. "Come into this corner and tell me all that has happened, for since your arrival I have not had a moment to spare for your cares."
She led me to a settee placed conveniently within the alcove of a window, the better to view the progress of her ball while conversing unmolested. I confessed to some little fatigue after the rigours of Lieutenant Hearst"s conversation and enthusiasm, and sank into the seat with relief, "I had hoped to be able to wish you joy, my dear Jane," Isobel began, "but you are determined to deny me the pleasure. Now, do not run away," she added, as I looked conscious, "in the fear that I am going to scold you-on the contrary, I admire you. Yes," she insisted, when I would protest, "I admire your courage. It is rare to find a woman who places her personal happiness above her fears for the future. You refused Mr. Bigg-Wither, refused his offer of a home, a family, and the comfortable means they a.s.sured, to retain your independence, despite the counsel of all who wished you well and threw their weight behind the match. What strength!"
"Did you know Mr. Bigg-Wither, you would think me less n.o.ble," I said. "There cannot be two two men so likely to meet with refusal in the entire country. What is remarkable is that I accepted him at all, if only for an evening. The thought of an eternal fireside men so likely to meet with refusal in the entire country. What is remarkable is that I accepted him at all, if only for an evening. The thought of an eternal fireside tete-a-tete tete-a-tete with Mr. Bigg-Wither; the endless presiding over the Bigg-Wither teapot; the possibility of little Bigg-Withers, all equally as dull as their father-such nightmares were enough to chasten me by morning." with Mr. Bigg-Wither; the endless presiding over the Bigg-Wither teapot; the possibility of little Bigg-Withers, all equally as dull as their father-such nightmares were enough to chasten me by morning."
"But at least your nightmares were of short duration, Jane." Isobel smoothed the elegant folds of her green silk gown, her aspect turned sombre in an instant. "There are too many ladies, I fear, who must suffer them the length of an unhappy marriage. Better to reject a suitor, than to lie forever wakeful in contemplation of one"s mistake."
"Indeed. Had I joined my life to Mr. Bigg-Wither"s, the alliance must be brief; for I would certainly have died of insomnia before the week"s end."
My design was to provoke laughter, but in truth, my decision to reject Mr. Harris Bigg-Wither of Manydown Park a mere four-and-twenty hours after accepting him-to the joy of my dear friends, his sisters-has caused me great pain and mortification. He is heir to extensive estates in Hampshire, and his position and fortune would be thought a conquest for any lady, particularly one such as myself, whose means are so unequal to his, and whose first bloom of youth is gone. Despite these claims against my person, Mr. Bigg-Wither had fixed upon me as the companion of his future life almost from the moment I entered Manydown House a few weeks ago. In short, his proposal was quite gratifying, coming as it did without even the pretence of courtship. In a fit of grat.i.tude-nay, I must and shall be honest-in a fit of vanity vanity, I accepted him.
But he is six years my junior, an awkward, gloomy fellow burdened with a p.r.o.nounced stutter; and all his consequence could not make of him a different man. As I would a.s.suredly attempt to reform what nature had disposed Harris Bigg-Wither to be be, I could only do him harm by accepting him. My instinct for self-preservation, my belief that marriage without love is the worst form of hypocrisy, gave me strength after a sleepless night to inform him of my error in encouraging his attentions, and to a.s.sure him that I was the woman least likely to bring him felicity in the married state. I departed Manydown not an hour later, in great despondency, certain that I had lost not only a suitor, but some part of my dearest acquaintance.
"And now you are come to Scargrave to forget your cares in a whirlwind of frivolity," Isobel said, casting off her pensive air and reaching again for my hand." We shall make certain that you do. I shall find some young man to dance attendance upon you, to flatter you and turn your head, and send Harris Bigg-Wither and his stutter to the nether reaches of your conscience."
"Nay, Isobel," I protested, "do not cause yourself the trouble to search further. I believe Lieutenant Hearst will amply serve my purpose. He has good looks and charm without the slightest suggestion of better feeling, and he possesses not a penny he may call his own. He shall do very well for a portionless clergyman"s daughter: We may expect him to ruin me and then depart for a n.o.ble death before Buonaparte"s cannon, at which point I shall throw myself in the millpond and be renowned in wine and song. Has Scargrave a millpond, Isobel?"