"May this be so?"
SHAKSPEARE.
{William Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing", III.ii.117}
WHILE the family at Wyllys-Roof were in this distress, Miss Agnes
had received the parting visit of the Taylors. The porticos of
Colonnade Manor rose before closed windows; the house was
abandoned for the winter; while Mr. Taylor and Miss Adeline were
engaged in putting the finishing touch to the elegance of No.
five hundred and -----, Broadway, preparatory to the display of
the winter.
Mr. Taylor was getting at home in New York. The atmosphere of a
large town, thoroughly commercial, was just fitted to his nature.
He had certainly every reason to be satisfied with the rapidity
with which he had mounted towards the top of the Wall-Street
ladder. He was already cheek-by-jowl with certain heavy men of
the place; he walked down Broadway of a morning with "Mr. A. of
the Ocean," and up again of an afternoon with "Mr. B. of the
Hoboken;" he knew something of most of the great men of the
commercial world; and as for the rest of the community, he cared
little enough for them or their interests. His house was as
handsome and as finely furnished as he could wish, his children
were as expensively dressed, as expensively schooled, as any in
the land. He had become accustomed to the first burst of luxury,
and began already to look upon a hundred things as necessaries,
of the uses of which he had been ignorant five years before. He
thought New York a commercial paradise; not only the place to
make a fortune, but the very spot to spend it in. He wondered at
Mr. Hubbard; who could be satisfied to retire from business so
early, and was content to live at Longbridge, the village where
he was born. Mr. Taylor looked upon himself as already a great
man, but he intended to be a greater man still, by a million, or
more.
About a week after the Taylors arrived in town, they gave a
party--quite a small affair, very sociable, some eighty or ninety
people only. The following morning, Mrs. Taylor, fatigued with
the toils and cares of gaiety, went to her own room to refresh
herself by darning more stockings than usual; while Mr. Taylor,
who had laboured hard the evening before by endeavouring to be
very 'affable' to some twenty new acquaintances, sought the
relief of his counting-house. As he walked down Broadway, his
thoughts were divided between two subjects. He had purchased some
lots the previous week, which proved so indifferent a bargain,
that he was anxious to persuade a particular friend to take them
off his hands. He had also just received letter from his son,
lately Tom Taylor, now T. Tallman Taylor, Esquire. The young man
had made very heavy demands upon his father's banker lately. Mr.
Taylor was perfectly satisfied that his son should spend his
money freely, and had given him a very liberal allowance, that he
might be enabled to cut a figure among his countrymen in Paris.
But his progress in acquiring habits of extravagance had become
of late rather more rapid than was desirable. As he was to
return, however, in the course of a few weeks, his father hoped
that he would be able to play the dandy in New York at less cost
than in Paris.
Mr. Taylor's meditations were interrupted by Mrs. Hilson, who
stopped to speak to him as he passed; she wished to inquire if
Miss Adeline were at home, as she was anxious to see her, having
a piece of news to communicate. Having given a satisfactory
answer, the merchant pursued his course towards the regions of
commerce, at one extremity of Broadway, and the city-lady went
her way towards the regions of fashion in the opposite direction.
Mrs. Hilson had already returned to her suite of apartments, and
her intimate friend, Mrs. Bagman. At the boarding-house she
patronised; and every morning between the hours of twelve and
three, she might be seen at the window of the drawing-room, if it
rained, or flitting up and down Broadway if the sun shone,
generally attended by Captain Kockney, the long {sic} Englishman,
whom she took great pleasure in showing off to the public. On the
present occasion she was alone however, and fortunate enough to
find Miss Adeline and the French furniture visible, for it was
the first time she had been in the new house. The rose-coloured
damask, and the pea-green satin of the two drawing-rooms was much
admired, and many compliments were lavished upon the gilt clocks,
the Sevres vases, &c., when Mrs. Hilson remembered she had a
piece of news to share with Miss Taylor.
"And such news--so unexpected to us all; you will be so
surprised! The engagement between Miss Wyllys and Mr. Hazlehurst
is actually broken off!"
Adeline was not so much astonished as Mrs. Hilson supposed she
would be.
"I am very quick at seeing such things," she said. "I was sure it
would come to that; though Miss Wyllys did not seem to suspect
anything herself. But no wonder--an engagement of two years is
too long for anybody. I am sure that in two years I should get
tired of the handsomest beau in New York."
The ladies had each their surmises as to which of the parties had
taken the first step, and what was probably the cause; but
although Miss Taylor had a pretty correct idea of the state of
things, she did not express her opinion on the subject very
decidedly. Mrs. Hilson soon made her curtsey, expressing the hope
that they should see each other very often during the winter; a
hope which Miss Adeline was determined not to gratify, for Mrs.
Hilson's standing was not sufficiently fashionable to satisfy
her. The visitor had no sooner left the room, than she ran up
stairs to put on her last Paris hat, and her handsomest cashmere,
and then hurried off to Barclay-Street to enjoy a confidential
meeting with Jane.
The young ladies were closeted together for an hour. We have no
authority for revealing what passed, and can only observe that
Jane returned to the drawing-room with a heightened colour, and
there was a certain expression of mystery still lingering about
Miss Adeline's face.
"Have you any commands for Boston, Mrs. Graham?" the young lady
inquired in her usual flippant manner. "I think I shall go there
next week, to pay a short visit to a friend of mine; I wish I
could hear of an escort."
Mrs. Graham thanked her civilly, but declined the offer of her
services.
"Have you really made up your mind to go to Boston?" asked Jane.
"Why, not positively. It depends, as I said before, upon my
finding an escort. I have six pressing invitations from different
quarters, most of them acquaintances that I made last summer at
Saratoga; and I have been hesitating between Albany, Boston, or
Baltimore. I am determined to go somewhere to spend the next
three weeks, till the gaiety begins in earnest, and Tallman comes
back."
"Is your brother expected so soon?" asked Mrs. Graham.
"Yes, he must have sailed now. We heard from him last night; he
will be here next month, I hope, just in time for the first great
parties. What would you advise me to do, Jane, to get rid of the
time until then?"
"I had much rather you would stay at home; if you go, I shall
miss you very much."
"But then we shall have the pleasure of corresponding--I like the
excitement of receiving a good long letter, full of nonsense,
above all things."
"You must not forget to let me know which way you are really
going," said Jane. "I will write, though I can't promise you a
long letter; I never wrote a long letter in my life."
"Well, you must write, at any rate, I shall see you half-a-dozen
times between this and Monday. I rather think I shall decide upon
Boston. Miss Lawrence says there are some delightful young
gentlemen there, and has promised to give me a ball. If I go, I
shall try hard to bring Miss Lawrence back with me. Mind, Jane,
you don't make too many conquests while I am gone. You must
reserve yourself for the one I have recommended to you. Oh,
by-the-bye, Mrs. Graham, I forgot to tell you the news; I am
astonished you have not heard it already."
"Pray, what is it?" asked Mrs. Graham.
"It seems the engagement between Miss Wyllys and Mr. Hazlehurst
has been broken off."
"You are mistaken, surely! We have heard nothing of it, and it is
highly improbable. If there be such a story, let me beg you will
not mention it again, Miss Taylor!"
"Oh, there is no mistake, I'm quite sure. I have heard it three
times already this morning, from Longbridge people; first Mrs.
Hilson told me, and then I met John Bibbs, and Edward Tibbs, who
said the same thing. Mrs. George Wyllys, it seems, contradicted
the engagement openly; Miss Hubbard heard her, and wrote it to
her sister."
"How grieved I should be if this story were to prove true; you
surely never remarked anything, Jane?"
"Elinor seemed to me just as usual; but Adeline thinks there has
been some change," said Jane, a little embarrassed.
"Oh, yes, give me credit for being quick-sighted; I suspected
something the first time I saw them together after Mr. Hazlehurst
came back."
"It is what none of their other friends appear to have done, Miss
Taylor," said Mrs. Graham, a little severely.
"I dare say not; but I am very quick at seeing such things. If
Jane has any mysteries, she had better not pretend to keep them
from me. But it is no wonder that the engagement was broken
off--I don't believe in long engagements. We must not let Jane
drag matters on at that rate when her turn comes;" and then
kissing her friend tenderly, and making a curtsey to Mrs. Graham,
without remarking the disapproving expression of that lady's
face, the lively Adeline left the mother and daughter alone.
"I dislike that Miss Taylor, excessively, Jane," observed her
mother, "she is very disagreeable to me; I wish you would find
some better companion while we are in New York. There are the
Howards, and de Vaux's--very amiable, pleasant girls, and for a
great many reasons far better associates for you."
"But I don't know them so well. Adeline is a great belle, mamma,
as much so as any girl in town."
"She is not at all to my taste, I confess. Your father, too,
dislikes the Taylors very much. The way in which she spoke of
this story about Elinor's engagement was really unfeeling. Not
that I believe it; but breaking off an engagement without good
reason, is no such trifle in my opinion, as it seems to be in
that of Miss Taylor."
Jane looked quite agitated; she blushed so much that her mother
would probably have remarked it, had she not been, at the moment,
stooping over her little invalid boy, who was lying on the sofa
near her.
"Miss Taylor has no claim whatever upon you, that I can see,"
continued Mrs. Graham. "It is true she was kind to you when you
were ill with the whooping-cough at school; but so were your
other companions--and I am sure she has not been half so
considerate and good to you as Elinor, and yet you seem to prefer
Miss Adeline now."
Poor Jane looked down, and coloured still more.
"Adeline would do anything for me, mother," she said, in a low
voice; "You don't know how much she is attached to me; I can't
help liking her," and Jane began to shed a few tears.
"Foolish child!" said her mother, beginning to relent, as she
usually did on such occasions, "I don't wish you to be uncivil to
her; but I should like you to be more with Kate Howard, and Anne
de Vaux;" and the conversation ended, as several others of the
same description had done, by leaving things precisely as they
were before. Mrs. Graham, indeed, looked upon herself as having
showed much decision on the occasion, and acted as a watchful
mother, by having made these objections, fruitless as they proved
to be.
The report that the engagement between Elinor and Harry had been
broken off, was soon known to be correct. It caused some surprise
to all who knew them, and much regret to their friends. Mrs.
Stanley, who felt a warm interest in both Harry and Elinor, was
grieved and disappointed. The Grahams, and Mrs. Robert
Hazlehurst, felt very unpleasantly when the cause of the rupture
came to be suspected. Mrs. Graham was, however, relieved by
finding that there was no understanding between Harry and her
daughter--thus far at least all was right; no explanation had
taken place between them, and Jane even assured her mother that
when in Paris, she had had no idea that Hazlehurst was attached
to her. Still there were many blushes whenever the subject was
alluded to, there were confidential meetings with Adeline, and
other symptoms which left little doubt to her friends that Jane's
feelings were interested. Mrs. Graham was obliged to console
herself with the idea, that the mischief had, at least, been
unintentional on the part of her daughter.
Harry, himself, was much mortified by the reception of Elinor's
note, which, by showing the full consequence of his conduct, made
it appear more culpable in his own eyes than he had yet been
willing to believe it. He even wrote a second time, begging
Elinor to re-consider her decision. Full as his fancy was of
Jane, yet his regard, one might say his affection, for Elinor,
was too well-founded, and of too long standing, for him to endure
quietly the idea of having trifled with her. She remained firm,
however; her second answer was as decided as the first. Harry's
self-reproach was sincere, at least, and he had never before felt
so much dissatisfied with himself.
He was less eager than one might suppose, to profit by his
newly-acquired liberty. He was in no hurry to offer Jane the
attentions which had so lately been Elinor's due. It is true that
his position was rather awkward; it is not every faithless swain
who is obliged to play the lover to two different individuals,
within so short a period, before the same witnesses. At length,
after doing penance for a while, by encouraging humiliating
reflections, some fear of a rival carried Hazlehurst on to New
York, in his new character of Jane's admirer. The first meeting
was rather awkward, and Harry was obliged to call up all his
good-breeding and cleverness, to make it pass off without leaving
an unpleasant impression. "Ce n'est que le premier pas qui
coute," however, as everybody knows. The sight of Jane's lovely
face, with a brighter colour than usual, and a few half-timid and
embarrassed glances from her beautiful dark eyes, had a
surprising effect in soothing Harry's conscience, and convincing
his reason that after all he had not acted so unwisely. He soon
showed himself very much in earnest in seeking Jane's favour;
though he persuaded himself that he must always do justice to
Elinor's excellence. "She is just the woman for a friend," he
observed to himself, "and friends I trust we shall be, when the
past is forgotten. But Jane, with her transcendant {sic} beauty,
her gentle helplessness, is the very creature that fancy would
paint for a wife!"
{"Ce n'est que le premier...." = it's only the first step that
hurts (French)}