MR. GIBSON IS PUNISHED.
Miss Stanbury was divine in her wrath, and became more and more so
daily as new testimony reached her of dishonesty on the part of
the Frenches and of treachery on the part of Mr. Gibson. And these
people, so empty, so vain, so weak, were getting the better of her,
were conquering her, were robbing her of her prestige and her ancient
glory, simply because she herself was too generous to speak out and
tell the truth! There was a martyrdom to her in this which was almost
unendurable.
Now there came to her one day at luncheon time,--on the day
succeeding that on which Miss French had promised to sacrifice her
chignon,--a certain Mrs. Clifford from Budleigh Salterton, to whom
she was much attached. Perhaps the distance of Budleigh Salterton
from Exeter added somewhat to this affection, so that Mrs. Clifford
was almost closer to our friend's heart even than Mrs. MacHugh, who
lived just at the other end of the cathedral. And in truth Mrs.
Clifford was a woman more serious in her mode of thought than Mrs.
MacHugh, and one who had more in common with Miss Stanbury than that
other lady. Mrs. Clifford had been a Miss Noel of Doddiscombe Leigh,
and she and Miss Stanbury had been engaged to be married at the same
time,--each to a man of fortune. One match had been completed in the
ordinary course of matches. What had been the course of the other we
already know. But the friendship had been maintained on very close
terms. Mrs. MacHugh was a Gallio at heart, anxious chiefly to remove
from herself,--and from her friends also,--all the troubles of life,
and make things smooth and easy. She was one who disregarded great
questions; who cared little or nothing what people said of her; who
considered nothing worth the trouble of a fight;--Epicuri de grege
porca. But there was nothing swinish about Mrs. Clifford of Budleigh
Salterton. She took life thoroughly in earnest. She was a Tory who
sorrowed heartily for her country, believing that it was being
brought to ruin by the counsels of evil men. She prayed daily to
be delivered from dissenters, radicals, and wolves in sheep's
clothing,--by which latter bad name she meant especially a certain
leading politician of the day who had, with the cunning of the
devil, tempted and perverted the virtue of her own political friends.
And she was one who thought that the slightest breath of scandal
on a young woman's name should be stopped at once. An antique,
pure-minded, anxious, self-sacrificing matron was Mrs. Clifford, and
very dear to the heart of Miss Stanbury.
After lunch was over on the day in question Mrs. Clifford got Miss
Stanbury into some closet retirement, and there spoke her mind as
to the things which were being said. It had been asserted in her
presence by Camilla French that she, Camilla, was authorised by Mr.
Gibson to declare that he had never thought of proposing to Dorothy
Stanbury, and that Miss Stanbury had been "labouring under some
strange misapprehension in the matter." "Now, my dear, I don't care
very much for the young lady in question," said Mrs. Clifford,
alluding to Camilla French.
"Very little, indeed, I should think," said Miss Stanbury, with a
shake of her head.
"Quite true, my dear,--but that does not make the words out of her
mouth the less efficacious for evil. She clearly insinuated that you
had endeavoured to make up a match between this gentleman and your
niece, and that you had failed." So much was at least true. Miss
Stanbury felt this, and felt also that she could not explain the
truth, even to her dear old friend. In the midst of her divine wrath
she had acknowledged to herself that she had brought Mr. Gibson into
his difficulty, and that it would not become her to tell any one
of his failure. And in this matter she did not herself accuse Mr.
Gibson. She believed that the lie originated with Camilla French, and
it was against Camilla that her wrath raged the fiercest.
"She is a poor, mean, disappointed thing," said Miss Stanbury.
"Very probably;--but I think I should ask her to hold her tongue
about Miss Dorothy," said Mrs. Clifford.
The consultation in the closet was carried on for about half-an-hour,
and then Miss Stanbury put on her bonnet and shawl and descended into
Mrs. Clifford's carriage. The carriage took the Heavitree road, and
deposited Miss Stanbury at the door of Mrs. French's house. The walk
home from Heavitree would be nothing, and Mrs. Clifford proceeded on
her way, having given this little help in counsel and conveyance to
her friend. Mrs. French was at home, and Miss Stanbury was shown up
into the room in which the three ladies were sitting.
[Illustration: Miss Stanbury visits the Frenches.]
The reader will doubtless remember the promise which Arabella had
made to Mr. Gibson. That promise she had already fulfilled,--to the
amazement of her mother and sister;--and when Miss Stanbury entered
the room the elder daughter of the family was seen without her
accustomed head-gear. If the truth is to be owned, Miss Stanbury gave
the poor young woman no credit for her new simplicity, but put down
the deficiency to the charge of domestic slatternliness. She was
unjust enough to declare afterwards that she had found Arabella
French only half dressed at between three and four o'clock in the
afternoon! From which this lesson may surely be learned,--that though
the way down Avernus may be, and customarily is, made with great
celerity, the return journey, if made at all, must be made slowly. A
young woman may commence in chignons by attaching any amount of an
edifice to her head; but the reduction should be made by degrees.
Arabella's edifice had, in Miss Stanbury's eyes, been the ugliest
thing in art that she had known; but, now, its absence offended her,
and she most untruly declared that she had come upon the young woman
in the middle of the day just out of her bed-room and almost in her
dressing-gown.
And the whole French family suffered a diminution of power from the
strange phantasy which had come upon Arabella. They all felt, in
sight of the enemy, that they had to a certain degree lowered their
flag. One of the ships, at least, had shown signs of striking,
and this element of weakness made itself felt through the whole
fleet. Arabella, herself, when she saw Miss Stanbury, was painfully
conscious of her head, and wished that she had postponed the
operation till the evening. She smiled with a faint watery smile, and
was aware that something ailed her.
The greetings at first were civil, but very formal, as are those
between nations which are nominally at peace, but which are waiting
for a sign at which each may spring at the other's throat. In this
instance the Juno from the Close had come quite prepared to declare
her casus belli as complete, and to fling down her gauntlet, unless
the enemy should at once yield to her everything demanded with an
abject submission. "Mrs. French," she said, "I have called to-day
for a particular purpose, and I must address myself chiefly to Miss
Camilla."
"Oh, certainly," said Mrs. French.
"I shall be delighted to hear anything from you, Miss Stanbury," said
Camilla,--not without an air of bravado. Arabella said nothing, but
she put her hand up almost convulsively to the back of her head.
"I have been told to-day by a friend of mine, Miss Camilla," began
Miss Stanbury, "that you declared yourself, in her presence,
authorised by Mr. Gibson to make a statement about my niece Dorothy."
"May I ask who was your friend?" demanded Mrs. French.
"It was Mrs. Clifford, of course," said Camilla. "There is nobody
else would try to make difficulties."
"There need be no difficulty at all, Miss Camilla," said Miss
Stanbury, "if you will promise me that you will not repeat the
statement. It can't be true."
"But it is true," said Camilla.
"What is true?" asked Miss Stanbury, surprised by the audacity of the
girl.
"It is true that Mr. Gibson authorised us to state what I did state
when Mrs. Clifford heard me."
"And what was that?"
"Only this,--that people had been saying all about Exeter that he
was going to be married to a young lady, and that as the report was
incorrect, and as he had never had the remotest idea in his mind of
making the young lady his wife,--" Camilla, as she said this, spoke
with a great deal of emphasis, putting forward her chin and shaking
her head,--"and as he thought it was uncomfortable both for the young
lady and for himself, and as there was nothing in it the least in the
world,--nothing at all, no glimmer of a foundation for the report, it
would be better to have it denied everywhere. That is what I said;
and we had authority from the gentleman himself. Arabella can say
the same, and so can mamma;--only mamma did not hear him." Nor had
Camilla heard him, but that incident she did not mention.
The circumstances were, in Miss Stanbury's judgment, becoming very
remarkable. She did not for a moment believe Camilla. She did not
believe that Mr. Gibson had given to either of the Frenches any
justification for the statement just made. But Camilla had been so
much more audacious than Miss Stanbury had expected, that that lady
was for a moment struck dumb. "I'm sure, Miss Stanbury," said Mrs.
French, "we don't want to give any offence to your niece,--very far
from it."
"My niece doesn't care about it two straws," said Miss Stanbury. "It
is I that care. And I care very much. The things that have been said
have been altogether false."
"How false, Miss Stanbury?" asked Camilla.
"Altogether false,--as false as they can be."
"Mr. Gibson must know his own mind," said Camilla.
"My dear, there's a little disappointment," said Miss French, "and it
don't signify."
"There's no disappointment at all," said Miss Stanbury, "and it does
signify very much. Now that I've begun, I'll go to the bottom of it.
If you say that Mr. Gibson told you to make these statements, I'll go
to Mr. Gibson. I'll have it out somehow."
"You may have what you like out for us, Miss Stanbury," said Camilla.
"I don't believe Mr. Gibson said anything of the kind."
"That's civil," said Camilla.
"But why shouldn't he?" asked Arabella.
"There were the reports, you know," said Mrs. French.
"And why shouldn't he deny them when there wasn't a word of truth
in them?" continued Camilla. "For my part I think the gentleman is
bound for the lady's sake to declare that there's nothing in it when
there is nothing in it." This was more than Miss Stanbury could bear.
Hitherto the enemy had seemed to have the best of it. Camilla was
firing broadside after broadside, as though she was assured of
victory. Even Mrs. French was becoming courageous; and Arabella was
forgetting the place where her chignon ought to have been. "I really
do not know what else there is for me to say," remarked Camilla, with
a toss of her head, and an air of impudence that almost drove poor
Miss Stanbury frantic.
It was on her tongue to declare the whole truth, but she refrained.
She had schooled herself on this subject vigorously. She would not
betray Mr. Gibson. Had she known all the truth,--or had she believed
Camilla French's version of the story,--there would have been no
betrayal. But looking at the matter with such knowledge as she had
at present, she did not even yet feel herself justified in declaring
that Mr. Gibson had offered his hand to her niece, and had been
refused. She was, however, sorely tempted. "Very well, ladies," she
said. "I shall now see Mr. Gibson, and ask him whether he did give
you authority to make such statements as you have been spreading
abroad everywhere." Then the door of the room was opened, and in a
moment Mr. Gibson was among them. He was true to his promise, and had
come to see Arabella with her altered head-dress;--but he had come
at this hour thinking that escape in the morning would be easier and
quicker than it might have been in the evening. His mind had been
full of Arabella and her head-dress even up to the moment of his
knocking at the door; but all that was driven out of his brain at
once when he saw Miss Stanbury.
"Here is Mr. Gibson himself," said Mrs. French.
"How do you do, Mr. Gibson?" said Miss Stanbury, with a very stately
courtesy. They had never met since the day on which he had been, as
he stated, turned out of Miss Stanbury's house. He now bowed to her;
but there was no friendly greeting, and the Frenches were able to
congratulate themselves on the apparent loyalty to themselves of
the gentleman who stood among them. "I have come here, Mr. Gibson,"
continued Miss Stanbury, "to put a small matter right in which you
are concerned."
"It seems to me to be the most insignificant thing in the world,"
said Camilla.
"Very likely," said Miss Stanbury. "But it is not insignificant
to me. Miss Camilla French has asserted publicly that you have
authorised her to make a statement about my niece Dorothy."
Mr. Gibson looked into Camilla's face doubtingly, inquisitively,
almost piteously. "You had better let her go on," said Camilla. "She
will make a great many mistakes, no doubt, but you had better let her
go on to the end."
"I have made no mistake as yet, Miss Camilla. She so asserted, Mr.
Gibson, in the hearing of a friend of mine, and she repeated the
assertion here in this room to me just before you came in. She says
that you have authorised her to declare that--that--that,--I had
better speak it out plainly at once."
"Much better," said Camilla.
"That you never entertained an idea of offering your hand to my
niece." Miss Stanbury paused, and Mr. Gibson's jaw fell visibly. But
he was not expected to speak as yet; and Miss Stanbury continued her
accusation. "Beyond that, I don't want to mention my niece's name, if
it can be avoided."
"But it can't be avoided," said Camilla.
"If you please, I will continue. Mr. Gibson will understand me.
I will not, if I can help it, mention my niece's name again, Mr.
Gibson. But I still have that confidence in you that I do not think
that you would have made such a statement in reference to yourself
and any young lady,--unless it were some young lady who had
absolutely thrown herself at your head." And in saying this she
paused, and looked very hard at Camilla.
"That's just what Dorothy Stanbury has been doing," said Camilla.
"She has been doing nothing of the kind, and you know she hasn't,"
said Miss Stanbury, raising her arm as though she were going to
strike her opponent. "But I am quite sure, Mr. Gibson, that you
never could have authorised these young ladies to make such an
assertion publicly on your behalf. Whatever there may have been of
misunderstanding between you and me, I can't believe that of you."
Then she paused for a reply. "If you will be good enough to set us
right on that point, I shall be obliged to you."
Mr. Gibson's position was one of great discomfort. He had given no
authority to any one to make such a statement. He had said nothing
about Dorothy Stanbury to Camilla; but he had told Arabella, when
hard pressed by that lady, that he did not mean to propose to
Dorothy. He could not satisfy Miss Stanbury because he feared
Arabella. He could not satisfy the Frenches because he feared Miss
Stanbury. "I really do not think," said he, "that we ought to talk
about a young lady in this way."
"That's my opinion, too," said Camilla; "but Miss Stanbury will."
"Exactly so. Miss Stanbury will," said that lady. "Mr. Gibson,
I insist upon it, that you tell me whether you did give any such
authority to Miss Camilla French, or to Miss French."
"I wouldn't answer her, if I were you," said Camilla.
"I really don't think this can do any good," said Mrs. French.
"And it is so very harassing to our nerves," said Arabella.
"Nerves! Pooh!" exclaimed Miss Stanbury. "Now, Mr. Gibson, I am
waiting for an answer."
"My dear Miss Stanbury, I really think it better,--the situation
is so peculiar, and, upon my word, I hardly know how not to give
offence, which I wouldn't do for the world."
"Do you mean to tell me that you won't answer my question?" demanded
Miss Stanbury.
"I really think that I had better hold my tongue," pleaded Mr.
Gibson.
"You are quite right, Mr. Gibson," said Camilla.
"Indeed, it is wisest," said Mrs. French.
"I don't see what else he can do," said Arabella.
Then was Miss Stanbury driven altogether beyond her powers of
endurance. "If that be so," said she, "I must speak out, though I
should have preferred to hold my tongue. Mr. Gibson did offer to my
niece the week before last,--twice, and was refused by her. My niece,
Dorothy, took it into her head that she did not like him; and, upon
my word, I think she was right. We should have said nothing about
this,--not a word; but when these false assertions are made on Mr.
Gibson's alleged authority, and Mr. Gibson won't deny it, I must
tell the truth." Then there was silence among them for a few seconds,
and Mr. Gibson struggled hard, but vainly, to clothe his face in
a pleasant smile. "Mr. Gibson, is that true?" said Miss Stanbury.
But Mr. Gibson made no reply. "It is as true as heaven," said Miss
Stanbury, striking her hand upon the table. "And now you had better,
all of you, hold your tongues about my niece, and she will hold her
tongue about you. And as for Mr. Gibson,--anybody who wants him
after this is welcome to him for us. Good-morning, Mrs. French;
good-morning, young ladies." And so she stalked out of the room, and
out of the house, and walked back to her house in the Close.
"Mamma," said Arabella, as soon as the enemy was gone, "I have got
such a headache that I think I will go up-stairs."
"And I will go with you, dear," said Camilla.
Mr. Gibson, before he left the house, confided his secret to the
maternal ears of Mrs. French. He certainly had been allured into
making an offer to Dorothy Stanbury, but was ready to atone for
this crime by marrying her daughter,--Camilla,--as soon as might
be convenient. He was certainly driven to make this declaration by
intense cowardice,--not to excuse himself, for in that there could
be no excuse;--but how else should he dare to suggest that he might
as well leave the house? "Shall I tell the dear girl?" asked Mrs.
French. But Mr. Gibson requested a fortnight, in which to consider
how the proposition had best be made.