When Augustus Cheffington had paid that sudden visit to his
mother-in-law which resulted in leaving May on her hands, Theodore
Bransby happened to be at home during a University vacation, and was
flattered by Captain Cheffington's notice. The fact was that Augustus
found himself greatly bored and out of his element in Oldchester, and
was glad to accept a dinner or two from Mr. Bransby, the solicitor to
the Dean and Chapter; for Mr. Bransby's port wine was unimpeachable. He
had also condescended to play several games of billiards with Theodore
upon a somewhat mangy old table in the Green Dragon Hotel; and to smoke
that young gentleman's cigars without stint; and to hold forth about
himself in the handsomest terms, pleased to be accepted, apparently,
pretty much at his own valuation. Theodore Bransby was no fool. But he
was young, and he had his illusions. These were not of a high-flown,
ideal cast. He would have shrugged his shoulders at any one who should
set up for philanthropy, or poetry, or socialism, or chivalry. But he
was subdued by a display of nonchalant disdain for all the things and
persons which he had been accustomed to look up to, from childhood. Mr.
Bragg, the great tin-tack manufacturer, his father's wealthiest client,
was dismissed by Augustus Cheffington in two words: "Damned snob!" and
even the bishop he pronounced to be a "prosin' old prig," and spoke of
the bishop's wife as "that vulgar fat woman." These indications of
superiority, together with many references to the noble and honourable
Castlecombes and Cheffingtons who composed Augustus's kith and kin, had
greatly fascinated Theodore. And Augustus had completed his conquest
over the young man by giving him a letter of introduction to his sister,
Mrs. Dormer-Smith, which letter was delivered when young Bransby went to
London to read for the Bar.
Although the brother and sister had parted not on the best terms with
each other, yet Augustus had not hesitated to give the introduction. He
believed that his sister would be willing to honour his recommendation
by showing civilities which cost her nothing; and, moreover, he was
quite indifferent (being then on the point of saying a long farewell to
Oldchester) as to whether the Dormer-Smiths snubbed young Bransby or
not. They did not snub him. Mrs. Dormer-Smith rather approved of his
manners; and it was quite clear that he wanted neither for means nor
friends. She was therefore inclined to receive him with something more
than politeness. And, in justice to Pauline, it must be said that she
was really glad of the opportunity to please her brother. She was not
without fraternal sentiments; and she strongly felt that an introduction
from a Cheffington to a Cheffington was not a document to be lightly
dishonoured. As for Mr. Dormer-Smith, although his feelings towards his
brother-in-law--never very cordial--had been exacerbated by having to
pay the bill for the dowager's funeral expenses, yet his resentment had
been to some degree soothed by Augustus's abrupt departure, and by his
withdrawal of May from her aunt's house. For many years past the
attachment of Augustus's relations for him had increased in direct
proportion to the distance which divided him from them. In Belgium he
was tolerated and pitied; had he gone to the Antipodes he would
doubtless have been warmly sympathized with; and it might safely be
prophesied that, when he should finally emigrate from this planet
altogether, the surviving members of the family would be penetrated by a
glow of affection.
"I think he's rather nice, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with a
little sigh of relief after young Bransby's first visit.
"We may be thankful," returned her husband, "that Augustus has sent us a
possible person. One never can reckon on what he may choose to do."
"Mr. Bransby is quite possible. Indeed, I think he is nice. He shall
have a card for my Thursdays."
In this way Theodore had been received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and had
established himself in her good opinion on further acquaintance. "He
was," she said, "so quiet and so safe." At this time May Cheffington was
still at school, being maintained there, as has been recorded, by her
grandmother Dobbs; and Pauline would occasionally speak of her niece to
young Bransby. She always spoke kindly, though plaintively, of the girl,
over whom there hung the shadow of the unfortunate marriage.
Theodore Bransby was an Oldchester person, and could not, therefore, be
supposed to be ignorant of that lamentable event. The fact was, however,
that he had never heard a word about it until he made Captain
Cheffington's acquaintance in his native city. It had taken place before
he was born; and, indeed, Oldchester had been less agitated by the
marriage, even at the time when it happened, than any Cheffington or
Castlecombe would have believed possible. But Pauline found young
Bransby's sentiments on the subject all that they should be. No one
could have expressed himself more shocked at the idea of a gentleman's
marrying a person in Susan Dobbs's rank of life than did this
solicitor's son. And Mrs. Dormer-Smith had not the least suspicion that
he would have considered such a marriage quite as shocking a
_mesalliance_ for himself as for Captain Cheffington. "Misunderstanding"
is used as a synonym for "discord;" but, perhaps, a great deal of social
harmony depends on misunderstandings.
Theodore could not, of course, have the slightest personal interest in a
schoolgirl whom he had never seen; but his sympathies were so entirely
with the Cheffingtons on the question of the unfortunate marriage as to
inspire him with an odd feeling of antagonism against Mrs. Dobbs, and a
sense that she ought to be firmly kept in her place. He secretly thought
Mrs. Dormer-Smith weakly indulgent in allowing Miss Cheffington to
associate so freely with her grandmother, and was indignant at the idea
of that plebeian exercising any authority over Lord Castlecombe's
grand-niece. However, all that would doubtless come to an end when the
girl left school, and was introduced into society under her aunt's
protection. Theodore flattered himself that he thoroughly understood the
position. As for Viscount Castlecombe, he certainly knew all about
_him_--or, at least, what was chiefly worth knowing; for he had read
about him in the Peerage.
Primed with this varied knowledge, young Bransby held forth to Owen
Rivers as they walked together through College Quad, across the open
green beyond it, and up to the house of Mr. Bransby, senior, in the
Cathedral Close. Here they parted. Rivers declined a polite invitation
from the other to enter, and pursued his way alone towards the High
Street; and Bransby, as he waited for the door to be opened, stood
looking after him for a few moments.
The two young men had known each other more or less all their lives, but
theirs was a familiarity without real intimacy. The years had not made
them more congenial to each other. People began to say that they were
rivals in Constance Hadlow's good graces. But, whether this were so or
not, the latent antagonism between them had existed long before they
grew to be men. They had never quarrelled. The air is always still
enough in a frost. They did not even know how much they disliked one
another. As Theodore watched Owen's retreating figure, the thought
uppermost in his mind was that his friend's shooting-coat was badly cut,
and that he did not remember ever to have seen him wear gloves.
The home of Mr. Martin Bransby, of the old-established firm of Cadell
and Bransby, was a luxurious one. The house was an ancient substantial
stone building, with a spacious walled garden behind it, contiguous to
the bishop's. The present occupant had made considerable additions to
it. It is perhaps needless to say that he had been severely criticized
for doing so, there being no point on which it is more difficult to
content public opinion than the expenditure of one's own money. Several
of Mr. Bransby's acquaintances were unable to reconcile themselves to
the fact that he was not satisfied with that which had satisfied his
father and grandfather (for Martin Bransby was the third of his family
who had successively held that house and the business of solicitor to
the Dean and Chapter of Oldchester). It would have been better, they
opined, if, instead of building new rooms, he had saved his money to
provide for the young family rising around him. If it were observed to
this irreconcilable party that the presence of a numerous family
necessitated more space to lodge them in than the original house
afforded, they would triumphantly retort, "Very well, then, what
business had Martin Bransby to marry a second time? Or, if he must
marry, why did he choose a young girl without a penny instead of some
person nearer his own age and with a little property?" Martin Bransby,
however, marrying rather to please himself than to earn the approval of
his friends, had chosen a remarkably pretty girl of twenty, a Miss
Louisa Lutyer, of a good Shropshire family, whom he had met in London.
They had now been married twelve years, during which time five children
had been born to them, and they had lived together in the utmost
harmony. Those persons who disapproved of the match (solely in Mr.
Bransby's interests, of course) could find nothing worse to say than
that Martin was absurdly in love with his wife, and treated her with
weak indulgence. In short, the irreconcilables were driven, year by
year, to put off the date at which their unfavourable judgments were to
be corroborated by facts, much as sundry popular preachers have been
compelled by circumstances over which they had no control, to postpone
the end of the world.
Latterly they had had the mournful satisfaction of observing that Martin
Bransby was looking far from well--harassed and aged. And when he was
attacked by the severe illness which threatened his life, they solemnly
hinted that the malady had been aggravated by anxiety about his young
family; for although Martin had made, and was making, a great deal of
money, yet, with three boys to put out in the world, two daughters to
provide for, and an extravagant wife to maintain, even the excellent
business of Cadell and Bransby _must_ be somewhat strained to supply his
needs.
At any rate, the evidences of wealth and comfort were as abundant as
ever in the home which Theodore entered when he parted from his friend.
There was plenty of solid furniture, dating from the dark ages before
modern aestheticism had arisen to reform upholstery and teach us the
original sinfulness of the prismatic colours. But these relics of the
earlier part of the century were not to be found in the two spacious
drawing-rooms, which had been arranged by the fashionablest of
fashionable house-decorators from London. These rooms, together with a
tiny cabinet behind them, which was styled "The Boudoir," were Mrs.
Bransby's special domain. And here Theodore found her seated by the
fireside. A book lay on her knees; but she was not reading it. She was
resting in a position of complete repose, with her head leaning against
the back of the chair, her hands carelessly crossed on her lap, and her
feet supported on a cushion. She was enjoying the sense of bodily and
mental rest which comes from the removal of a keen-edged anxiety; for
during several weeks Mrs. Bransby had been the most devoted of
sick-nurses, and had scarcely left her husband's room. But now the
doctors had pronounced all danger to be over; the children's active feet
and shrill voices were no longer hushed down by warning fingers; the
housemaid sang over her brooms and dusters; and the mistress of the
house had unpacked and put on a new "tea-gown," which had lain neglected
for more than a fortnight in its brown-paper wrappings. From the
golden-brown clusters of hair on her forehead to the tip of her dainty
shoe every detail of her appearance was cared for minutely. Yet there
was nothing of stiffness or affectation. She reminded one of an
exquisitely-tended hothouse flower, and carried her beauty and her
toilet with as perfect an air of unconscious refinement as the flower
itself. Certainly Oldchester held no more lovely and graceful figure
than Mrs. Bransby presented to the eyes of her stepson. Yet the eyes of
her stepson rested on her with a glance of cool disapprobation. His
manner of addressing her, however, was not more chilly than his manner
of addressing most other persons--perhaps rather less so; and he was
scrupulously polite.
"Did Hatch give a good account of my father this morning?" he asked,
seating himself by the fire opposite to Mrs. Bransby.
"Excellent, thank goodness! He is to drive out on Wednesday, if the
weather is favourable. I felt so soothed and comforted by Dr. Hatch's
report, that I thought I would indulge myself with half an hour of
perfect laziness," added Mrs. Bransby, with a deprecating glance at
Theodore. She constantly reproved herself for assuming an apologetic
attitude towards her stepson, but constantly recurred to it; she was so
keenly conscious of his--always unexpressed--criticism.
"Mrs. Hadlow desired to send word that the canon means to call on my
father this afternoon, if he is well enough to see him."
"Oh yes; a talk with Canon Hadlow will do him good." Then, after an
instant's pause, Mrs. Bransby asked, "Have you been in College Quad,
then?"
"I lunched with Mrs. Hadlow. Rivers was there; I parted from him just
now. And Miss Cheffington."
"Oh, really? Mrs. Hadlow is very kind to that little May Cheffington."
Theodore made no answer, but looked stiffly at the fire.
Mrs. Bransby went on: "I saw her in the cathedral at afternoon service
yesterday, with the Hadlows. It struck me she was growing quite pretty.
Don't you think so?"
"I should not call her _pretty_----" began Theodore slowly.
Mrs. Bransby broke in: "Well, of course, she is eclipsed by Constance.
Constance is so very handsome. But still----"
"I should not describe Miss Cheffington as _pretty_," pursued Theodore,
in an inflexible kind of way. "She is something more than pretty. She
looks thoroughbred."
"But that's exactly what she is _not_, isn't it?" exclaimed Mrs. Bransby
impulsively.
"I am not sure that I apprehend you."
"I mean her mother was quite a common person, was she not?"
"A woman takes her husband's rank."
"Yes; but she doesn't inherit his ancestors. Besides, one really doesn't
know much about the father, for that matter. To be sure, Simmy was
making a great flourish about May's grand relations in London this
morning. But then all poor dear Simmy's geese are swans." (The name of
"Simmy" had been bestowed on Mrs. Simpson by the youngest little Bransby
but one; and although the elder children were reproved for using it, the
appellation had come to be that by which she was most familiarly known
in the Bransby family.)
"Mrs. Simpson is a silly person, but her information happens, in this
case, to be correct," returned Theodore. "The relations with whom Miss
Cheffington is going to live in London are friends of mine."
"Oh! Then what Simmy said is true?" said Mrs. Bransby simply.
Theodore proceeded, with a scarcely perceptible hesitation, "I think you
might invite Miss Cheffington here before she goes to town. I--I should
be obliged to you for the opportunity of showing her some attention, in
return for the Dormer-Smiths' kindness to me in London."
"Yes, I can ask the girl if you like," answered Mrs. Bransby, not quite
as warmly as Theodore thought she ought to have answered such a
suggestion from him; "but it will be rather stupid for her, I'm afraid.
At the Hadlows' there is a young girl near her own age; but here, unless
she likes to play with the children, I don't see how we are to amuse
her."
"I did not contemplate Miss Cheffington's playing with the children. I
meant that you should invite her to a dinner-party, or something of that
sort."
"Invite May Cheffington to a dinner-party!" repeated Mrs. Bransby,
opening her soft, brown eyes in astonishment.
"My father spoke of giving a dinner before I go back to the Temple, and
he said he thought he should be well enough to see his friends by the
end of next week."
"Yes. He talked of inviting the Pipers, and the Hadlows, and perhaps Mr.
Bragg."
"Could you not include Miss Cheffington? Perhaps if you allowed me to
see your list I might help to arrange it."
"Oh, I suppose one _could_; but wouldn't it seem a very strange thing to
do?"
A little colour came into Theodore's pale fair face, and his chin grew
visibly more rigid above his cravat, as he answered, "I don't know. But
the social _convenances_ are not to be measured by Oldchester's
provincial ideas as to their strangeness. And--pardon me--I don't think
you quite understand Miss Cheffington's position."
And then he entered on an explanation of the "position," much as he had
explained it to Owen Rivers; with only such suppressions and variations
(chiefly regarding the private history of Augustus Cheffington) as he
thought the difference between his hearers demanded.
"Well, I'm sure if your father has no objection, I have none," said Mrs.
Bransby at length. And so Theodore got his own way. It was a matter of
course that he should get his own way so far as his step-mother was
concerned. Mrs. Bransby had, indeed, successfully resisted him on many
occasions; but always through the medium of her husband. If Theodore
attacked her face to face, she never had the courage to oppose him. Not
that in the present case she very much wished to oppose him. Nor, in
truth, had their wills ever clashed seriously. But the secret
consciousness of her weakness and timidity was mortifying: for Mrs.
Bransby, although too gentle to fight, was not too gentle to wish she
could fight. And after Theodore had left the room, she sat for some time
imagining to herself various neat and pointed speeches which would
doubtless have brought down her stepson's sententious, supercilious
tone, if she had only had the presence of mind to utter them.