"And, Betty, give this cheek a little red."
POPE.
The departure of Isabel in the _Windsor Castle_, so immediately after the
death of Colonel Revel, prevented her communicating to her mother the
alteration which had taken place in her circumstances, and her intended
return to England. The first intimation received by Mrs Revel was from a
hurried note sent on shore by a pilot-boat off Falmouth, stating Isabel's
arrival in the Channel, and her anticipation of soon embracing her mother.
Isabel did not enter into any particulars, as she neither had time, nor did
she feel assured that the letter would ever reach its destination.
The letter did however come to hand two days before Isabel and Mrs Enderby
arrived in the metropolis, much to the chagrin of Mrs Revel, who imagined
that her daughter had returned penniless, to be a sharer of her limited
income. She complained to Mr Heaviside, who as usual stepped in, not so
much from any regard for Mrs Revel, but to while away the time of a _far
niente_ old bachelor.
"Only think, Mr Heaviside," said the lady, who was stretched on a sofa,
supported on pillows, "Isabel has returned from India. Here is a letter I
have just received, signed by her maiden name! Her sisters so well married
too! Surely she might have stayed out with one of them! I wonder how she
got the money to pay her passage home! Dear me, what shall I do with her?"
"If I may be allowed to see the letter, Mrs Revel," said the old
gentleman--
"Oh, certainly, it's nothing but a note."
Mr Heaviside read the contents.
"There is very little in it indeed, Mrs Revel; not a word about the
colonel, or why she left India. Perhaps the colonel may be dead."
"Then she might have gone to live with one of her sisters, Mr Heaviside."
"But perhaps he may have left her some property."
"And do you, a sensible man, think that if such was the case, my daughter
would not have mentioned it in her note? Impossible, Mr Heaviside!"
"She may intend to surprise you, Mrs Revel."
"She has surprised me," replied the lady, falling back upon the pillows.
"Well, Mrs Revel, you will soon ascertain the facts. I wish you a
good-morning, and will pay my devoirs in a day or two to inquire after your
health, and hear what has taken place."
To defray the expenses attending the "consignment" of the three Miss Revels
to India, Mrs Revel had consented to borrow money, insuring her life as a
security to the parties who provided it. Her unprincipled husband took this
opportunity of obtaining a sum which amounted to more than half her
marriage settlement, as Mrs Revel signed the papers laid before her without
examining their purport. When her dividends were become due, this treachery
was discovered; and Mrs Revel found herself reduced to a very narrow
income, and wholly deserted by her husband, who knew that he had no chance
of obtaining further means of carrying on his profligate career. His death
in a duel, which we have before mentioned, took place a few months after
the transaction, and Mrs Revel was attacked with that painful disease, a
cancer, so deeply seated as to be incurable. Still she was the same
frivolous, heartless being; still she sighed for pleasure, and to move in
those circles in which she had been received at the time of her marriage.
But, as her income diminished, so did her acquaintances fall off; and at
the period of Isabel's return, with the exception of Mr Heaviside and one
or two others, she was suffered to pine away in seclusion.
Isabel was greeted with querulous indifference until the explanation of the
first ten minutes; then, as an heiress, with the means as well as the
desire of contributing to her mother's comforts, all was joy and
congratulation. Her incurable disease was for the time forgotten; and
although pain would occasionally draw down the muscles of her face, as soon
as the pang was over, so was the remembrance of her precarious situation.
Wan and wasted as a spectre, she indulged in anticipation of again mixing
with the fashionable world, and talked of _chaperoning_ Isabel to private
parties and public amusements, when she was standing on the brink of
eternity. Isabel sighed as she listened to her mother, and observed her
attenuated frame; occasionally she would refer to her mother's state of
health, and attempt to bring her to that serious state of mind which her
awful situation demanded; but in vain: Mrs Revel would evade the subject.
Before a week had passed, she had set up an equipage, and called upon many
of her quondam friends to announce the important intelligence of her
daughter's wealth. Most of them had long before given orders not to be "at
home to Mrs Revel." The few to whom, from the remissness of their porters,
she obtained admittance, were satisfied at their servants' negligence when
they heard the intelligence which Mrs Revel had to communicate. "They were
so delighted; Isabel was always such a sweet girl; hoped that Mrs Revel
would not be such a recluse as she had been, and that they should prevail
upon her to come to their parties!" An heiress is of no little consequence
when there are so many younger brothers to provide for; and, before a short
month had flown away, Mrs Revel, to her delight, found that the cards and
invitations of no inconsiderable portion of the _beau monde_ covered the
table of her confined drawing-room. To Isabel, who perceived that her
mother was sinking every day under the exertion she went through, all this
was a source of deep regret. It occurred to her that to state her
engagements with Newton Forster would have some effect in preventing this
indirect suicide. She took an opportunity of confiding it to her mother,
who listened to her with astonishment.
"Isabel! what do I hear? What! that young man who calls here so often! You,
that can command a title, rank, and fashion, engage yourself to a captain
of an Indiaman! Recollect, Isabel, that now your poor father is dead, I am
your legal protector; and without my permission I trust you have too much
sense of filial duty to think of marrying. How you could venture to form an
engagement without consulting me is quite astonishing! Depend upon it, I
shall not give my consent; therefore, think no more about it."
How often do we thus see people, who make no scruples of neglecting their
duties, as eagerly assert their responsibility, when it suits their
convenience.
Isabel might have retorted, but she did not. In few words, she gave her
mother to understand that she was decided, and then retired to dress for a
splendid ball, at which, more to please her mother than herself, she had
consented to be present.
It was the first party of any consequence to which Mrs Revel had been
invited. She considered it as her re-_entrée_ into the fashionable world,
and the presentation of her daughter; she would not have missed it for any
consideration. That morning she had felt more pain than usual, and had been
obliged to have recourse to restoratives; but once more to join the gay and
fashionable throng--the very idea braced her nerves, rendered her callous
to suffering, and indifferent to disease.
"I think," said Mrs Revel to her maid--"I think," said she, panting, "you
may lace me a little closer, Martyn."
"Indeed, madam, the holes nearly meet; it will hurt your side."
"No, no, I feel no pain this evening--there, that will do."
The lady's-maid finished her task, and left the room.
Mrs Revel rouged her wan cheeks, and, exhausted with fatigue and pain,
tottered to an easy-chair, that she might recover herself a little before
she went downstairs.
In a quarter of an hour Isabel, who had waited for the services of Martyn,
entered her mother's room, to announce that she was ready. Her mother, who
was sitting in the chair, leaning backwards, answered her not. Isabel went
up to her, and looked her in the face--she was _dead_!