"The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set,
May'st hear the merry din."
COLERIDGE.
{Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English poet, 1772-1834), "Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" (I) lines 5-8}
THE events of the next two months surprised Jane's friends in
Philadelphia, almost as much as her rejection of Harry had done.
Mrs. Hazlehurst, of course, knew what was going on in her
father's house, and from time to time informed Miss Wyllys and
Elinor of what passed. Elinor had written to Jane, but it was a
long time before she received an answer; her cousin appeared
engrossed by her own affairs; as this was common with Jane at all
times, it was but natural that she should be so, at a moment
which was of so much importance to herself. Mr. Graham arrived at
the time appointed; and, of course, he was very much displeased
by the news which awaited him. He would not hear of Jane's
marrying young Taylor, whose advances he received as coldly as
possible, and even forbade his daughter's seeing any of the
Taylor family. Jane was very much distressed, and very much
frightened. As for Miss Taylor, her indignation was so great,
that she determined to pay no respect to Mr. Graham's hostility;
she wrote to Jane a long letter, much in her usual style, giving
very pathetic accounts of Tallman's despair. This letter Jane had
not the moral courage to show to either of her parents; she soon
received another, with a note from young Taylor himself. As she
was reading them one morning, her father unexpectedly entered the
room, and was thrown into a great passion by the discovery. His
temper was violent, and he was subject to fits of passion which
terrified his children; although, in other respects, by no means
an unkind parent. Upon this occasion, Jane was frightened into
hysterics, and afterwards, owing to the agitation which had been
preying on her mind for some months, she was thrown into a low
nervous fever. During the four or five weeks that she was ill,
every morning Miss Taylor called to inquire after her friend,
although she was not admitted. By this conduct, Mrs. Graham's
heart, which was of no stern material, was much softened. At
length she went to the drawing-room to see Miss Taylor, for a
moment. Adeline improved the time so well, that she placed
herself and her brother better with Mrs. Graham than they had
ever yet been. Jane's illness increased; her parents became
seriously alarmed, and Mr. Graham expressed something like regret
that he had been so hasty. His wife often remembered his words
during her daughter's tedious convalescence, which was
interrupted by a relapse. In short, matters began to look less
discouraging for young Taylor's suit. There could be no doubt, at
least, that he was very much in love with Jane: Hazlehurst was
quite mistaken in supposing that the perfection of her profile,
the beautiful shape of her head, the delicacy of her complexion,
or other numberless beauties, could only be appreciated by one
whose taste was as refined as his own: they had produced quite as
deep an effect on young Taylor. During Jane's illness, he had
shown the proper degree of distress and anxiety, all of which was
reported in the most pathetic manner to Mrs. Graham, and
whispered to Jane by Adeline, who, having once been received
again into the house, kept her footing there and managed an
occasional interview with her friend. In short, as we all know,
tyrannical parents are very rare in America; the fault in family
discipline lies in the opposite direction.
His daughter's pale face, his wife's weakness, and Adeline's good
management, and improvement of every concession, at length worked
a change in Mr. Graham. At the proper moment, Tallman Taylor
renewed his offer in the warmest and most flattering terms;
supported by his father, and his father's hundreds of thousands,
he this time received a more favourable answer. Mr. Graham was
one of those men, who have no very high opinion of women; he did
not wish to make his daughter miserable for life; and he thought
she had too little character to conquer the fancy that had filled
her mind, and made her ill. Then, young Taylor was rich, and she
could throw away money on those knick-knacks and frippery, to
which, according to Mr. Graham, women attach such exorbitant
value. If she did not marry him, she would fancy herself a
victim, and miserable; if she did marry him, she would fancy
herself happy: that seemed to him the amount of the matter, and
with these views he at length gave a reluctant consent. Mrs.
Graham had already given hers; Tallman Taylor was certainly not
the son-in-law she would have chosen; but she was farther from
being dissatisfied, than many of her friends thought she would be
under the circumstances. Neither the story of his college
engagement, nor the unpleasant rumours respecting his Paris
career, had reached Mr. or Mrs. Graham; the first was known only
to Adeline and Jane, the last to a few male intimates. The news,
very naturally, caused a good deal of sensation among Jane's
friends in Philadelphia; it was really distressing to Mrs. Robert
Hazlehurst, who looked upon her sister as thrown away, and
reproached herself more than ever for having allowed Jane to go
out so often in Paris with their thoughtless friends, the
Howards. She could not endure to think of young Taylor, as
actually her brother-in-law, the husband of her beautiful sister.
She had not supposed that the matter would be settled in this
way; she had believed her father's opposition too strong to be
overcome.
As for Harry, he, of course, soon heard the news from his
brother. How much of love and of mortification were still
lingering in his mind, we cannot precisely affirm. His feelings
for Jane had certainly altered very much since the discovery of
the double-dealing that had been going on; but weak as she had
proved herself, she was still much too lovely, much too
well-bred, at least, to be bestowed upon one whom he disliked as
much as Tallman Taylor. There seemed to be something of the dog
in the manger, connected with his regret for Jane's fate, since
he had already decided that if she were ever free again, he would
not repeat his offer; she had shown herself to have so little
character, that he would not allow himself to be again influenced
by her beauty, surpassing as it was. In fact, Harry had
determined to give up all idea of love and matrimony, for the
present, at least. He went into society less than of old, and
gave himself up very much to his profession, or other literary
pursuits in which he had become engaged. He had been admitted to
the bar, and had entered into a partnership with his travelling
companion, Mr. Ellsworth; much of his time was now passed at his
brother's house, or at that of his friend. He liked his
sister-in-law, and he found Ellsworth's sister, Mrs. Creighton,
who was at the head of her brother's establishment, a very
agreeable woman; she was very pretty, too, and very clever. The
Wyllyses were already in the country, when the news of Jane's
engagement reached them; the winter had broken up early, and, as
usual, at the first signs of spring they had returned to
Wyllys-Roof. Of course, they regretted Jane's partiality for
Tallman Taylor; to Elinor it appeared almost as unaccountable as
her insensibility to Harry's merits. Mrs. George Wyllys was loud
in her declamations against it; next to the Hubbards, she looked
upon the Taylors as the most disagreeable family of her
acquaintance. She had a great deal to say about the dull, prosy
mother, the insufferable father, the dandy son, and the rattling,
bellish daughter. Miss Patsey, also, had her moments of wonder;
but she wondered in silence; she did not appear to have any
higher opinion of the son, than she had formerly entertained of
the father. With these exceptions, the community of Longbridge in
general, who had known Jane from her childhood, approved highly
of the connexion; both parties were young, handsome, and they
would be rich, all which looked very well at a distance.
Three months of courtship passed over; Jane recovered entirely,
and was as blooming and lovely as ever; young Taylor was all
devotion. The satisfaction of his family at this connexion with
the Grahams was very great; it gratified Mr. Taylor's wishes in
every way. It is true, Miss Graham would not have much fortune
herself, but Tallman had enough to begin life handsomely. He
hoped the marriage would take place soon, as he wished his son,
whom he had made his partner, to take more interest in the
business than he had yet done. In every respect but money, Jane
was just what he would have wished for a daughter-in-law; she was
fashionable, she was beautiful, and the position of her family
gratified his vanity. As for the plain, good-hearted Mrs. Taylor,
she already loved Jane as a daughter; and to her it appeared the
most natural thing in the world, that Tallman should marry his
sister's friend. Adeline, herself, was of course enchanted.
The wedding took place in June. Thanks to Miss Taylor's influence
with the bride, it proved quite a brilliant affair. The ceremony
was performed in the evening, and immediately afterwards the
newly-married couple received the compliments and congratulations
of their friends. Jane was attended, on the occasion, by six of
her young companions; and as many young men, with white favours
in their button-holes, were very busy all the evening, playing
masters of ceremonies, escorting all the ladies as they arrived,
from the door to the spot where the bride was stationed. Jane
looked surpassingly beautiful; it was the general remark, that
she had never appeared more lovely: the ladies pronounced her
dress perfect, and the gentlemen admired her face quite as much.
All agreed that a handsomer couple had not been seen for some
time. It was, indeed, a pretty sight--the beautiful bride, the
centre of a circle of her young friends, all, like herself, in
white, and in full dress; pretty creatures themselves, wearing
pretty ornaments of flowers and lace, pearls and embroidery. We
say they were pretty; there was one exception, however, for
Elinor was there, and many remarks were made on her appearance.
"What a pity that Miss Wyllys should be so plain," observed Mrs.
Creighton, whose husband had been a connexion of the Grahams. "It
is the first time I have seen her for several years, and really I
had forgotten how very plain she is."
"Plain, why she is downright ugly!" exclaimed the youth to whom
she was talking. "It is a sin to be as ugly as that. No wonder
Hazlehurst was frightened out of the engagement; I am only
surprised he ever got into the scrape!"
"But Miss Wyllys is very clever and agreeable, I understand."
"Is she?"--was the careless reply. "I see Hazlehurst is here this
evening."
"Yes, he came on with his sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst,
and myself."
"Well, he has a fine opportunity of comparing his two lady-loves
together. Upon my word, I never saw a greater contrast. I wish
Miss Wyllys had not accepted the invitation, though; she is
enough to frighten one away from the whole set--and the rest are
very pretty girls, the whole of them."
"Can you point out Mr. Taylor?--Not the groom; I have seen him,
of course; but his father."
"Don't you know the boss? It is that tall, stiff-looking man,
talking to Mrs. Stanley. You see he is trying to look very
amiable."
"Yes--that is he, is it? Much the sort of man I should have
supposed him. And now, which is Mrs. Taylor?"
"Mrs. Taylor--let me see; there she is, in grey satin and
diamonds. I never saw her but once before in my life. She is a
very quiet sort of a body, and keeps out of sight most of the
time."
"Very different from her daughter then, for Miss Taylor always
put herself en evidence, I believe. If one don't see her, they
are sure to hear her."
"To be sure, Miss Taylor is all life and spirits. She is the most
lively, animated girl I ever knew. By-the-bye, I think it an odd
fancy in Hazlehurst to show himself here to-night; for there was
a great fuss last winter, at the blowup--all the town was talking
about it."
"He is a very near connexion, you know; I suppose his absence
would have been more remarked than his being here. Besides, if he
was in love once, he has had time to get over it, in the last six
months. He does not look much as if he wore the willow still."
{"wore the willow" = grieved for the loss of a loved one}
"Hazlehurst is very clever, I am told; I don't know him much,
myself."
"Oh, yes--very clever. But I am not a fair judge, perhaps; he is
my brother's friend, and I may be prejudiced in his favour. How
very warm it is! can't we find a seat near a window?"
The gentleman offered his arm with alacrity, and the speakers
moved away.
The seats they had left were taken by Mrs. de Vaux and Colonel
Stryker: the lady, a middle-aged woman, fashionably dressed; the
gentleman, rather more than middle-aged in his appearance, and
decidedly less so in his dress and manners.
"Young Taylor is a handsome fellow, and looks the bride-groom
very well!" exclaimed Mr. Stryker. "How these Taylors have pushed
upwards; I never heard of them before I went to Europe this last
time, five or six years ago."
"That is just about the moment they first burst upon the horizon.
Mr. Taylor seems determined to make up for lost time. He is very
disagreeable to us ladies; but the gentlemen like him on account
of his cleverness; they say he is a genius in all business
matters."
"To judge by his expression, the man seems ambitious of 'les
succes de salon,' also. Where did he import his manners from, I
wonder?--they have a sort of bright, new look, as if he had not
yet worn the gloss off."
{"les succes de salon" = drawing-room victories (French)}
"Don't laugh at him;--he gives excellent dinners."
"Does he? Can't you introduce me, immediately? 'Ici l'ont fait
noces et festins.' I seem to smell the turtle-soup, already."
{"Ici l'ont...." = wedding feasts and banquets given here
(French)}
"I doubt whether you taste it, nevertheless, until next autumn.
Everybody is going out of town; they say that is the only
drawback to the satisfaction of the Taylors at this wedding."
"What is the drawback, pray?"
"They cannot have as many grand parties as they are entitled to,
on account of the season."
"That must be distressing, indeed, to the brides-maids.
By-the-bye, I see Miss Wyllys is one of them. She is going to
turn out a fortune, I hear;--do you know her?"
"From a child. Last year no one dreamed of her being a fortune;
but within the last few months, Mr. de Vaux tells me, she has
inherited a very handsome property from one of her mother's
family; and, in addition to it, some new rail-road, or something
of that kind, has raised the value of what she owned before."
"What is the amount, do you know?"
"Upwards of two hundred thousand, Mr. de Vaux thinks."
"Miss Wyllys is certainly no beauty; but, do you know, I think
there is something decidedly distinguished in her appearance and
manner! I was only introduced the other day; I did not happen to
know the Wyllyses."
"I have known them all my life, and like them all very much. I
rather wonder, though, at Miss Elinor's being here as
bride's-maid. But it is a reconciliation, I suppose. Perhaps she
and young Hazlehurst will make up again, and we may be invited to
another wedding, before long."
"Perhaps so. How long does it take a young lady to resent an
infidelity? A calendar month, I suppose; or, in extreme cases, a
year and a day. By-the-bye, the pretty widow, Mrs. Creighton, has
thrown off her weeds, I see."
"Yes, she has come out again, armed for conquest, I suppose. What
a flirt she is! And as artful as she is pretty, Mr. Stryker. But
perhaps you are one of her admirers," continued the lady,
laughing.
"Of course, it is impossible not to admire her; but I am afraid
of her," said Mr. Stryker, shrugging his shoulders. "I am
horribly afraid of all pretty widows."
"Mr. Hazlehurst does not seem afraid of her."
"Not a bit--he is there half his time; but then he is young and
venturesome. We old campaigners are more wary."
"He is an old friend of her brother's, I believe; is Mr.
Ellsworth here?"
"Yes, there he is, talking to Miss Wyllys. Perhaps he may
interfere with your prediction about her and my friend
Hazlehurst."
"Possibly; but a-propos of weddings; why don't you marry,
yourself, Mr. Stryker? You have been a delightful beau now, for
how many years?" asked the lady, mischievously.
"Oh, these five lustres, I suppose; for I began early," replied
Mr. Stryker, who had too much worldly wisdom, not to make a merit
of frankness, where he could not help it.
{"lustre" = a period of five years}
"Six, you mean," said Mrs. de Vaux, laughing.
"No, five, honestly counted. I don't know exactly how old I may
be; but the other day I heard a fellow say, 'Stryker can't be
more than five-and-forty;' and I dare say be was right."
"Well, allowing you are only five-and-forty, don't you mean to
marry, one of these days?"
"Certainly."
"Don't you think it time to look about you?"
"High time; but who will have me?" continued Mr. Stryker, with
great complacency of manner.
"Oh, half the young ladies in the room, I dare say; excepting, of
course, those who have refused you already," said Mrs. de Vaux,
mischievously; for it was suspected that Mr. Stryker had met with
several rebuffs. This lady and gentleman in spite of their
smiling countenances and friendly manners, owed each other a
grudge, of old standing. Who does not know that where the spirit
of littleness and vanity is all-powerful, these petty trials and
triumphs are too often the chief spring of action; as was the
case with Mr. Stryker and Mrs. de Vaux. Happy they, who have good
principle and good feeling enough, to cast off folly on so small
a scale!
"Tell me what is your taste, and I will look out for you,"
continued Mrs. de Vaux.
"How kind you are!--you don't include Miss de Vaux, of course;
for she can't endure me. Like all modest men, I require only nine
hundred and ninety-nine perfections in my wife. But then I insist
chiefly on two essentials: she must have money, and she must not
have brothers and sisters; I have an invincible antipathy to
collaterals, whether of blood or connexion."
"Miss Wyllys is the very person for you. Quite a fortune now,
they say; and an orphan, without brother or sister; all you
require. Then, you like her appearance, you say; though she is
plain, she is clever, too, and amiable."
"Of course; all young ladies are amiable, are they not?"
"I only know of one objection--she is too good for you."
"Goodness is not to be despised in a wife. I shall require it
from the future Mrs. Stryker; though not very particular about
the rest of the world. I am much obliged to you, Mrs. de Vaux,
for the suggestion; I'll think of it," said Mr. Stryker,
deliberately crossing one leg over the other, to make himself
comfortable.
"You, who know everybody, Mr. Stryker," said the lady, "pray,
tell me, who is that bright-faced young man, or rather, boy,
standing near Mr. Wyllys and Mrs. Stanley?"
"You wish to mortify me--I never saw the lad before."
"I can answer your question, Mrs. de Vaux," observed Harry, who
had just approached, and made his bow; "that is my friend,
Charlie Hubbard, the artist. Don't you remember the fine view of
Lake Ontario, that was so much admired at the Exhibition, this
spring?"
"Certainly. Is that the young man?--He looks like a genius."
"Rather as a genius should look; your great lions are often very
tame-looking animals," observed Mr. Stryker.
"Hubbard's face only does him justice, however; he is full of
talent," said Harry.
"I Some of his pictures are certainly very fine," observed Mrs.
de Vaux.
"I never saw water like his," continued Hazlehurst; "such
variety, and always true to nature. He almost persuades one to
believe all he says about water: he maintains that it has more
variety of expression than any other inanimate object, and has,
withal, an independent character of its own; he says it is second
only to the human countenance."
"He seems quite an enthusiast," said Mrs. de Vaux.
"Won't he take it all out in talk?" asked Mr. Stryker, drily.
"Look at his view of Hell-Gate on a cloudy evening, and say so if
you can!" exclaimed Harry, warmly.
{"Hell-Gate" = a narrow channel in New York City's East River}
"Well, after all, he says no more for water, than has been said
by the poets of all nature, from the time of the first pastoral;
they tell us that the sun will make a bare old mountain smile,
and the wind will throw the finest forest into a fuss."
"I defy you to prove any fuss upon Charlie's works!"
"Perhaps not--Where is his study? I should like to see what he
has done. Is his pencil always amphibious?"
"Yes; I believe he has never yet painted a landscape, without its
portion of water. If you wish to see his study, you must go soon;
he sails for Italy next month."
"If his partiality for water is really honest, it may help him on
in his profession. Has he a good execution?--that is
all-important."
"Decidedly good; and he improves every day. Execution is really
all-important to Hubbard; for there can be no doubt that he
possesses all an artist's conception."
"I suspect though, his notion about expressive water is not
original. It appears to me, some German or other calls water,
'the eyes of a landscape.'"
"Very possibly; but Charlie Hubbard is not the man to steal other
people's ideas, and pass them off for his own."
"You make a point of always believing the worst of everybody, Mr.
Stryker," said Mrs. de Vaux.
"I wish I could help it." said the gentleman, raising his
eyebrows.
"Suppose, Mr. Hazlehurst, you take him to Mr. Hubbard's studio,
and force him to admire that fine picture of Lake Ontario. I
should like to see it again, myself; and Mr. de Vaux has been
talking of carrying us all to Mr. Hubbard's, some time."
Harry professed himself quite at Mrs. de Vaux's service. Mrs.
Stanley, he said, was going to see his friend's pictures the very
next day. A party was soon arranged, the hour fixed, and
everything settled, before supper was announced. As Mrs. de Vaux
and Mr. Stryker moved towards the door, they were followed by
Mrs. Creighton and Harry.
"Who was the young man you were talking with at supper,
Josephine?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, as he stepped into the carriage
after Mrs. Creighton and Harry, in driving away from the wedding.
"Which do you mean?"
"A mere boy--one of the groomsmen, by the white favours in his
button-hole."
"Oh, that was the groom's brother, Mr. Pompey Taylor, the
younger, a very simple, and rather an awkward young gentleman. I
had the honour of making the acquaintance of all the family, in
the course of the evening. I was quite amused with Mr. Taylor,
the father; he really seems to have as great a relish for the
vanities of life, as any young girl of fifteen."
"Because they are quite as new to him," said Hazlehurst.
"That is difficult to believe of a clever, calculating man of
fifty," observed Mr. Ellsworth.
"All clever men of fifty are not quite free from nonsense, take
my word for it," said the lady.
"I appeal to Mr. Hazlehurst, who knows Mr. Taylor; as for myself,
I am convinced by the man's manner this evening."
"You are certainly correct in your opinion, Mrs. Creighton. Mr.
Taylor is, no doubt, a clever man; and yet he takes delight in
every piece of finery about his house. He is more possessed with
the spirit of sheer ostentation, than any man I ever met with."
"Ah, you want to save the credit of your sex, by setting him down
as an exception!--that is not fair, Mr. Hazlehurst."
It was a pity that the pretty smile which the lady bestowed on
her brother's friend was entirely thrown away; but the lamp-light
happened to be little more than darkness visible.