CONCLUSION.
At last the maniac was dead, and in his last moments he had made such
reparation as was in his power for the evil that he had done. With
that slight touch of his dry fevered lips he had made the assertion
on which was to depend the future peace and comfort of the woman whom
he had so cruelly misused. To her mind the acquittal was perfect;
but she never explained to human ears,--not even to those of her
sister,--the manner in which it had been given. Her life, as far as
we are concerned with it, has been told. For the rest, it cannot be
but that it should be better than that which was passed. If there be
any retribution for such sufferings in money, liberty, and outward
comfort, such retribution she possessed;--for all that had been his,
was now hers. He had once suggested what she should do, were she
ever to be married again; and she felt that of such a career there
could be no possibility. Anything but that! We all know that widows'
practices in this matter do not always tally with wives' vows; but,
as regards Mrs. Trevelyan, we are disposed to think that the promise
will be kept. She has her child, and he will give her sufficient
interest to make life worth having.
Early in the following spring Hugh Stanbury was married to Nora
Rowley in the parish church of Monkhams,--at which place by that time
Nora found herself to be almost as much at home as she might have
been under other circumstances. They had prayed that the marriage
might be very private;--but when the day arrived there was no
very close privacy. The parish church was quite full, there were
half-a-dozen bridesmaids, there was a great breakfast, Mrs. Crutch
had a new brown silk gown given to her, there was a long article
in the county gazette, and there were short paragraphs in various
metropolitan newspapers. It was generally thought among his compeers
that Hugh Stanbury had married into the aristocracy, and that the
fact was a triumph for the profession to which he belonged. It shewed
what a Bohemian could do, and that men of the press in England might
gradually hope to force their way almost anywhere. So great was the
name of Monkhams! He and his wife took for themselves a very small
house near the Regent's Park, at which they intend to remain until
Hugh shall have enabled himself to earn an additional two hundred
a-year. Mrs. Trevelyan did not come to live with them, but kept the
cottage near the river at Twickenham. Hugh Stanbury was very averse
to any protracted connection with comforts to be obtained from poor
Trevelyan's income, and told Nora that he must hold her to her
promise about the beef-steak in the cupboard. It is our opinion that
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Stanbury will never want for a beef-steak and all
comfortable additions until the inhabitants of London shall cease to
require newspapers on their breakfast tables.
Brooke and Mrs. Brooke established themselves in the house in the
Close on their return from their wedding tour, and Brooke at once put
himself into intimate relations with the Messrs. Croppers, taking
his fair share of the bank work. Dorothy was absolutely installed as
mistress in her aunt's house with many wonderful ceremonies, with
the unlocking of cupboards, the outpouring of stores, the giving
up of keys, and with many speeches made to Martha. This was all
very painful to Dorothy, who could not bring herself to suppose it
possible that she should be the mistress of that house, during her
aunt's life. Miss Stanbury, however, of course persevered, speaking
of herself as a worn-out old woman, with one foot in the grave, who
would soon be carried away and put out of sight. But in a very few
days things got back into their places, and Aunt Stanbury had the
keys again. "I knew how it would be, miss," said Martha to her young
mistress, "and I didn't say nothing, 'cause you understand her so
well."
Mrs. Stanbury and Priscilla still live at the cottage, which,
however, to Priscilla's great disgust, has been considerably improved
and prettily furnished. This was done under the auspices of Hugh, but
with funds chiefly supplied from the house of Brooke, Dorothy, and
Co. Priscilla comes into Exeter to see her sister, perhaps, every
other week; but will never sleep away from home, and very rarely will
eat or drink at her sister's table. "I don't know why, I don't," she
said to Dorothy, "but somehow it puts me out. It delays me in my
efforts to come to the straw a day." Nevertheless, the sisters are
dear friends.
I fear that in some previous number a half promise was made that a
husband should be found for Camilla French. That half-promise cannot
be treated in the manner in which any whole promise certainly would
have been handled. There is no husband ready for Cammy French. The
reader, however, will be delighted to know that she made up her
quarrel with her sister and Mr. Gibson, and is now rather fond
of being a guest at Mr. Gibson's house. On her first return to
Exeter after the Gibsons had come back from their little Cornish
rustication, Camilla declared that she could not and would not bring
herself to endure a certain dress of which Bella was very fond;--and
as this dress had been bought for Camilla with special reference
to the glories of her anticipated married life, this objection was
almost natural. But Bella treated it as absurd, and Camilla at last
gave way.
It need only further be said that though Giles Hickbody and Martha
are not actually married as yet,--men and women in their class of
life always moving towards marriage with great precaution,--it is
quite understood that the young people are engaged, and are to be
made happy together at some future time.