"How delightful! Why, my dear child, for whom do we dress? Not for each other: no more than the artists of a theatre act or sing for the rest of the company. Our audience is before us; not always a very enlightened or cultivated one, but always critical. There, do look at that stupid groom; see how he suffers my horse to lag behind: the certain way to have him kicked by the other; and I should die, I mean really die, if anything happened to Ben Azir. By the way, how well our parson rides!
I declare I like him better in the saddle than in the pulpit. They rave here about the way he jumps the ox-fences. You must say _tant des choses_ for me, to him and his sister, whom I fear I have treated shamefully. I was to have had her to dinner one day, and I forgot all about it; but she did n"t mind, and wrote me the prettiest note in the world. But I always say, it is so easy for people of small means to be good-tempered. They have no jealousies about going here or there; no heartburnings that such a one"s lace is Brussels point, and much finer than their own. Don"t you agree with me? There, I knew it would come to that. He"s got the snaffle out of Ben Azir"s mouth, and he"s sure to break away."
"That gentleman apparently has come to the rescue. See, he has dismounted to set all to rights."
"How polite of him! Do you know him, dear?"
"No. I may have seen him before. I "m so terribly short-sighted, and this gla.s.s does not suit me; but I must be going. I suppose I had better thank that strange man, had n"t I? Oh, of course, dearest, you would be too bashful; but I "m not. My old governess, Madame de Forgeon, used to say that English people never knew how to be bashful; they only looked culpable. And I protest she was right."
"The gentleman is evidently waiting for your grat.i.tude; he is standing there still."
"What an observant puss it is!" said Lady Augusta, kissing her. "Tell Gusty to come and see me. Settle some day to come in and dine, and bring the parson: he"s a great favorite of mine. Where have I dropped my gauntlet? Oh, here it is. Pretty whip, isn"t it? A present, a sort of a love-gift from an old Russian prince, who wanted me to marry him: and I said I was afraid; that I heard Russians knouted their wives. And so he a.s.sured me I should have the only whip he ever used, and sent me this.
It was neat, or rather, as Dumas says, "La plaisanterie n"etait pas mal pour un Cossaque." Good-bye, dearest, good-bye."
So actually exhausted was poor Nelly by the rattling impetuosity of Lady Augusta"s manner, her sudden transitions, and abrupt questionings, that, when Julia entered the room, and saw her lying back in a chair, wearied looking and pale, she asked,--
"Are you ill, dear?"
"No; but I am actually tired. Lady Augusta has been an hour here, and she has talked till my head turned."
"I feel for you sincerely. She gave me one of the worst headaches I ever had, and then made my illness a reason for staying all the evening here to bathe my temples."
"That was good-natured, however."
"So I"d have thought, too, but that she made George attend her with the ice and the eau-de-cologne, and thus maintained a little ambulant flirtation with him, that, sick as I was, almost drove me mad."
"She means nothing, I am certain, by all these levities, or, rather, she does not care what they mean; but here come our brothers, and I am eager for news, if they have any."
"Where"s George?" asked Julia, as Augustus entered alone.
"Sir Marcus something caught him at the gate, and asked to have five minutes with him."
"That means putting off dinner for an hour at least," said she, half pettishly. "I must go and warn the cook."
CHAPTER XLVII. A PROPOSAL IN FORM.
When Sir Marcus Cluff was introduced into L"Estrange"s study, his first care was to divest himself of his various "wraps," a process not very unlike that of the _Hamlet_ gravedigger. At length, he arrived at a suit of entire chamois-leather, in which he stood forth like an enormous frog, and sorely pushed the parson"s gravity in consequence.
"This is what Hazeldean calls the "chest-sufferer"s true cuticle,"
Nothing like leather, my dear sir, in pulmonic affections. If I "d have known it earlier in life, I "d have saved half of my left lung, which is now hopelessly hepatized."
L"Estrange looked compa.s.sionate, though not very well knowing what it was he had pity for.
"Not," added the invalid, hastily, "that even this const.i.tutes a grave const.i.tutional defect. Davies says, in his second volume, that among the robust men of England you would not find one in twenty without some lungular derangement. He percussed me all over, and was some time before he found out the blot." The air of triumph in which this was said showed L"Estrange that he too might afford to look joyful.
"So that, with this reservation, sir, I do consider I have a right to regard myself, as Boreas p.r.o.nounced me, sound as a roach."
"I sincerely hope so."
"You see, sir, I mean to be frank with you. I descend to no concealments."
It was not very easy for L"Estrange to understand this speech, or divine what especial necessity there was for his own satisfaction as to the condition of Sir Marcus Cluff"s viscera; he, however, a.s.sented in general terms to the high esteem he felt for candor and openness.
"No, my dear Mr. L"Estrange," resumed he, "without this firm conviction--a sentiment based on faith and the stethoscope together--you had not seen me here this day."
"The weather is certainly trying," said L"Estrange.
"I do not allude to the weather, sir; the weather is, for the season, remarkably fine weather; there was a mean temperature of 68 Fahrenheit during the last twenty-four hours. I spoke of my pulmonary condition, because I am aware people are in the habit of calling me consumptive.
It is the indiscriminating way ignorance treats a very complex question; and when I a.s.sured you that without an honest conviction that organic mischief had not proceeded far, I really meant what I said when I told you you would not have seen me here this day."
Again was the parson mystified, but he only bowed.
"Ah, sir," sighed the other, "why will not people be always candid and sincere? And when shall we arrive at the practice of what will compel--actually compel sincerity? I tell you, for instance, I have an estate worth so much--house property here, and shares in this or that company--but there are mortgages, I don"t say how much against me; I have no need to say it. You drive down to the Registration Office and you learn to a shilling to what extent I am liable. Why not have the same system for physical condition, sir? Why can"t you call on the College of Physicians, or whatever the body be, and say, "How is Sir Marcus Cluff? I"d like to know about that right auricle of his heart.
What about his pancreas?" Don"t you perceive the inestimable advantage of what I advise?"
"I protest, sir, I scarcely follow you. I do not exactly see how I have the right, or to what extent I am interested, to make this inquiry."
"You amaze--you actually amaze me!" and Sir Marcus sat for some seconds contemplating the object of his astonishment. "I come here, sir, to make an offer for your sister"s hand--"
"Pardon my interrupting, but I learn this intention only now."
"Then you didn"t read my note. You didn"t read the "turn-over.""
"I "m afraid not. I only saw what referred to the Church."
"Then, sir, you missed the most important; had you taken the trouble to turn the page, you would have seen that I ask your permission to pay my formal attentions to Miss L"Estrange. It was with intention I first discussed and dismissed a matter of business; I then proceeded to a question of sentiment, premising that I held myself bound to satisfy you regarding my property, and my pulmonary condition. Mind, body, and estate, sir, are not coupled together ignorantly, nor inharmoniously; as _you_ know far better than me--mind, body, and estate," repeated he slowly. "I am here to satisfy you on each of them."
"Don"t you think, Sir Marcus, that there are questions which should possibly precede these?"
"Do you mean Miss L"Estrange"s sentiments, sir?" George bowed, and Sir Marcus continued: "I am vain enough to suppose I can make out a good case for myself. I look more, but I"m only forty-eight, forty-eight on the twelfth September. I have twenty-seven thousand pounds in bank stock--stock, mind you--and three thousand four hundred a year in land, Norfolk property. I have a share--we "ll not speak of it now--in a city house; and what "s better than all, sir, not sixpence of debt in the world. I am aware your sister can have no fortune, but I can afford myself, what the French call a caprice, though this ain"t a caprice, for I have thought well over the matter, and I see she would suit me perfectly. She has nice gentle ways, she can be soothing without depression, and calm without discouragement. Ah, that is the secret of secrets! She gave me my drops last evening with a tenderness, a graceful sympathy, that went to my heart. I want that, sir--I need it, I yearn for it. Simpson said to me years ago, "Marry, Sir Marcus, marry! yours is a temperament that requires study and intelligent care. A really clever woman gets to know a pulse to perfection; they have a finer sensibility, a higher organization, too, in the touch." Simpson laid great stress on that; but I have looked out in vain, sir. I employed agents: I sent people abroad; I advertised in the "Times"--M. C. was in the second column--for above two years; and with a correspondence that took two clerks to read through and minute. All to no end! All in vain!
They tell me that the really competent people never do reply to an advertis.e.m.e.nt; that one must look out for them oneself, make private personal inquiry. Well, sir, I did that, and I got into some unpleasant sc.r.a.pes with it, and two actions for breach of promise; two thousand, pounds the last cost me, though I got my verdict, sir; the Chief Baron very needlessly recommending me, for the future, to be cautious in forming the acquaintance of ladies, and to avoid widows as a general rule. These are the pleasantries of the Bench, and doubtless they amuse the junior bar. I declare to you, sir, in all seriousness, I "d rather that a man should give me a fillip on the nose than take the liberty of a joke with me. It is the one insufferable thing in life." This sally had so far excited him that it was some minutes ere he recovered his self-possession. "Now, Mr. L"Estrange," said he, at last, "I bind you in no degree--I pledge you to nothing; I simply ask leave to address myself to your sister. It is what lawyers call a "motion to show cause why.""
"I perceive that," broke in L"Estrange; "but even that much I ought not to concede without consulting my sister and obtaining her consent. You will allow me therefore time."
"Time, sir! My nerves must not be agitated. There can be no delays.
It was not without a great demand on my courage, and a strong dose of chlorodine--j.a.pps"s preparation--that I made this effort now. Don"t imagine I can sustain it much longer. No, sir, I cannot give time."
"After all, Sir Marcus, you can scarcely suppose that my sister is prepared for such a proposition."
"Sir, they are always prepared for it. It never takes them unawares. I have made them my study for years, and I do think I have some knowledge of their way of thinking and acting. I "ll lay my life on it, if you will go and say, "Maria"--"
"My sister"s name is Julia," said the other, dryly.
"It may be, sir--I said "Maria" generically, and I repeat it--"Maria, there is in my study at this moment a gentleman, of irreproachable morals and unblemished const.i.tution, whose fortune is sufficiently ample to secure many comforts and all absolute necessaries, who desires to make you his wife;" her first exclamation will be, "It is Sir Marcus Cluff.""
"It is not impossible," said L"Estrange, gravely.