Persons like the Simpsons, who knew Mrs. Dobbs intimately, allowed her
to have a strong judgment, and asserted her to have a still stronger
will. She was far too bent on her own way ever to take advice, they
said. It certainly did not happen that she took theirs. But Mrs. Dobbs's
judgment was stronger than they knew. It was strong enough to show her
on what points other people were likely to know better than she did. She
would undoubtedly have followed Amelia Simpson's counsels as to the best
way of dressing the hair in filmy ringlets--if she had chanced to
require that information.
On the morning after Theodore Bransby's visit to her house, Mrs. Dobbs
put on her bonnet and set off betimes to College Quad. There she had an
interview with Mrs. Hadlow, who, it appeared, was going to the Bransbys'
dinner-party, and willingly promised to take charge of May.
"It seemed to me it wouldn't be the right thing for my grand-daughter to
go alone to a regular formal party," said Mrs. Dobbs. "But, as I don't
pretend to be much of an authority on such matters, I ventured to ask
you to tell me."
"Of course you were quite right, Mrs. Dobbs."
"And you think she had better accept the invitation? She doesn't much
want to do so herself, being shy of going amongst strangers. But, to be
sure, if she may be under your wing, and in company with Miss Hadlow,
that would make a vast difference."
"Oh yes, let her go, Mrs. Dobbs. Sooner or later she will have to go
into the world, and it may be well to begin amongst people she is used
to. Is it true that she is to go to her aunt's house in London very
soon?"
"Nothing is settled yet. If there had been, you and Canon Hadlow should
have been the first to know it--as it would be only my duty to tell you,
after all your kindness to the child. Nothing is settled. But I am in
favour of her going myself."
"You take the sensible view, Mrs. Dobbs, as I think you always
do--except at election time," added Mrs. Hadlow, smiling.
The elder woman smiled back, with a little resolute setting of the lips,
and begged her best respects to the canon as she took her leave. The
canon was a great favourite with Mrs. Dobbs; and, on his part, their
political struggle in that long past election had inspired him with a
British respect for his adversary's pluck and fair play.
The prospect of going with Mrs. Hadlow and Constance greatly reconciled
May to the idea of the dinner-party. But she did not look forward to it
with anticipations of enjoyment.
"I would much rather dine in the nursery with the children," she said,
unconsciously echoing Mrs. Bransby's suggestion.
Mr. Weatherhead, who was present, took her up on this, and said, "Why,
now, May, you will enjoy being in good society! Mr. Bransby is a very
agreeable man, and used to some of the best company in the county. Mrs.
Bransby, too, is very pleasant and very pretty; a Miss Lutyer she was, a
regular beauty, and belonging to a good old Shropshire family. And young
Theodore----" Jo Weatherhead pausing here, and hesitating for a moment,
May broke in, "Come now, Uncle Jo," she exclaimed, "you can't say that
_he's_ pretty or pleasant!"
"He's not bad-looking," returned Mr. Weatherhead, rather doubtfully.
"Though, to be sure, he isn't so fine a man as his father."
"No; this lad is like his mother's family," said Mrs. Dobbs. "I remember
his grandfather and grandmother very well."
"Do you? Do you, Sarah? Who were they? What sort of people, now, eh?"
"Common sort of people; Rabbitt, their name was. Old Rabbitt kept the
Castlecombe Arms, a roadside inn over towards Gloucester way. He ran a
coach between his own market-town and Gloucester before the branch
railway was made, and they say he did a good deal of money-lending; any
way, he scraped together a goodish bit, and his wife came in for a slice
of luck by a legacy. So altogether their daughter--the first Mrs. Martin
Bransby that was--had a nice fortune of her own. She was sent to a good
school and well educated, and she was a very good sort of girl; but she
had just the same smooth, light hair, and smooth, pale face as this
young Theodore. Martin Bransby had money with his first wife--he's got
beauty with his second."
"O-ho!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, eager and attentive. "Rabbitt, eh? I
never knew before who the first Mrs. Bransby was."
"Not a many folks in Oldchester now do know. I happened to know from
being often over at Gloucester, visiting Dobbs's family, when I was a
girl. Many a day we've driven past the Castlecombe Arms in the chaise.
Dear, dear, how far off it all seems, and yet so plain and distinct! I
couldn't help thinking of those old times when the lad was here the
other day; he _has_ such a look of old Rabbitt!"
Thus Mrs. Dobbs, rather dreamily, with her eyes fixed on the opposite
houses of Friar's Row--or as much of them as could be seen above a wire
window-blind--and her fingers mechanically busy with her knitting. But
she saw neither the quaint gables nor the gray stone-walls. Her mind was
transported into the past. She was bowling along a smooth highroad in an
old-fashioned chaise. A girl friend sat in the little seat behind her,
and leaned over her shoulder from time to time to whisper some saucy
joke. Beside her was the girl-friend's brother, young Isaac Dobbs:--A
personable young fellow, who drove the old pony humanely, and seemed in
no hurry to get home to Gloucester. She could feel the moist, sweet air
of a showery summer evening on her cheek, and smell the scent of a
branch of sweetbriar which Isaac had gallantly cut for her from the
hedge.
Theodore Bransby did not guess that Mrs. Dobbs had treated him with
forbearance and indulgence; still less did he imagine that the
forbearance and indulgence had been due to reminiscences of her
girlhood, wherein his maternal grandfather figured as "Old Rabbit."
The question of May's dress for the dinner-party gave rise to no debate.
Mrs. Dobbs had been brought up in the faith that the proper garb for a
young girl on all festive occasions was white muslin; and in white
muslin May was arrayed accordingly. The delicate fairness of her arms
and neck was not marred by the trying juxtaposition of that dead white
material. It served only to give value to the soft flesh tints, and to
the sunny brownness of her hair. When she had driven off in the roomy
old fly with Mrs. Hadlow and the canon and Constance, who called to
fetch her, Mrs. Dobbs and Mr. Weatherhead agreed that she looked lovely,
and must excite general admiration. But the truth was that May's
appearance did not seem to dazzle anybody. Mrs. Hadlow gave her a
comprehensive and approving glance when she took her cloak off in the
well-lighted hall of Mr. Bransby's house, and said, "Very neat. Very
nice. Couldn't be better, May." Canon Hadlow--a white-haired venerable
figure, with the mildest of blue eyes, and a sensitive mouth--smiled on
her, and nodded in confirmation of his wife's verdict. Constance,
brilliant in amber, with damask roses at her breast and in her hair,
thought her friend looked very school-girlish, and wanting in style. But
she had the good-nature to pay the one compliment which she sincerely
thought was merited, and to say, "Your complexion stands even that
blue-white book muslin, May. I should look absolutely mahogany-coloured
in it!"
May felt somewhat excited and nervous as she followed Mrs. Hadlow up the
softly carpeted stairs to the drawing-room. But she had a wholesome
conviction of her own unimportance on this occasion, and comforted
herself with the hope of being left to look on without more notice from
any one than mere courtesy demanded. Her first impression was one of
eager admiration; for just within the drawing-room door stood Mrs.
Bransby, looking radiantly handsome. May thought her the loveliest
person she had ever beheld; and her dress struck even May's
inexperienced eyes as being supremely elegant. Constance Hadlow's
attire, with its unrelieved breadth of bright colour and its stiff
outline, suddenly appeared as crude as a cheap chromo-lithograph beside
a Venetian masterpiece. Behind his wife, seated in an easy-chair, was
Martin Bransby, a fine, powerfully built man of sixty, with dark eyes
and eyebrows, and a shock of grizzled hair. His naturally ruddy
complexion was pallid from recent illness, and the lines under his eyes
and round his mouth had deepened perceptibly during the last two months.
Theodore stood near his father, stiffly upright, and with a cravat and
shirt-front so faultlessly smooth and white as to look as though they
had been cast in plaster of Paris. Standing with his back to the fire,
was Dr. Hatch:--a familiar figure to May, as to most eyes in Oldchester.
He was a short man, rather too broad for his height; with benevolent
brown eyes, a wide, low forehead, and a wide, firm mouth, singularly
expressive of humour when he smiled. No other guest had arrived when the
Hadlows entered the drawing-room.
After the first greetings, the party fell into little groups: the canon
and Mr. Bransby, who were very old friends, conversing together in a low
voice, whilst Theodore advanced to entertain Mrs. Hadlow with grave
politeness, and Constance made a minute and admiring inspection of Mrs.
Bransby's dress.
May thus found herself a little apart from the rest, and sat down in a
corner half hidden by the protruding mantelpiece of carved oak, which
rose nearly to the ceiling; an elaborate erection of richly carved
pillars, and shelves and niches holding blue-and-white china, in the
most approved style.
"Well, Miss May, and how are you?" asked Dr. Hatch, moving a little
nearer to her, as he stood on the hearthrug.
"Quite well, thank you, Dr. Hatch," said May, looking up with her bright
young smile.
"That's right! But don't mention to any member of the Faculty that I
said so. There's a professional etiquette in these matters; and I
shouldn't like to be quoted as having given any encouragement to rude
health."
"I'll take care," returned May, falling into his humour, and assuming a
grave look. "And I will always bear witness for you that you gave me
some _very_ nasty medicine when I had the measles, Dr. Hatch. I'm sure
the other doctors would approve of that, wouldn't they?"
"Nice child," murmured Dr. Hatch. "Understands a joke. It would be as
much as my practice is worth to talk in that way to some young ladies I
could mention. Well, and so this is your first entrance into the gay and
festive scene, eh?"
"Yes; I have never been to a regular dinner-party before. I am so glad
Mr. Bransby is quite well again," said May, looking across the room at
their host.
"Are you? Well, I believe you are glad. Yes; it is much to be desired
that he should be quite well again." Dr. Hatch's eyes had followed the
girl's, and rested on Martin Bransby with a thoughtful look. Then, after
a minute's pause, he went on: "Now, as you are not quite familiar here,
I'll give you a map of the country, as the French say. Do you know who
that is who has just come in? No? That is Mr. Bragg. He makes millions
and billions of tin-tacks every week. You've heard of him, of course?"
May nodded. "Of course you have. Couldn't live long in Oldchester
without hearing of Mr. Bragg. That handsome, elderly man, now bowing to
Mrs. Bransby, is Major Mitton, of the Engineers. Ever hear of _him_? Ah,
well; I suppose not. He's a very good-natured, kindly gentleman, and an
excellent soldier, who distinguished himself greatly in the Crimea. But
no one will ever hear him say a word about that. What he _is_ proud of
is his reputation as an amateur actor. I have known more reprehensible
vanities. Ah, and here come the Pipers, Miss Polly and Miss Patty; and I
think that makes up our number."
Dr. Hatch did not think of asking May whether she had ever heard of the
Miss Pipers. The fact was she had heard of them very often. They were
Oldchester celebrities quite as much as Mr. Bragg was. But their fame
had not extended beyond Oldchester; whereas Bragg's tin-tacks were daily
hammered into the consciousness of the civilized world.
Miss Mary and Miss Martha Piper (invariably called Polly and Patty) were
old maids between fifty and sixty years old. They were not rich; they
had never been handsome; they were not, even in the opinion of their
most partial friends, brilliantly clever. What, then, was the cause of
the distinction they undoubtedly enjoyed in Oldchester society? The
cause was Miss Polly Piper's musical talent--or at least her reputation
for musical talent, which, for social purposes, was the same thing. Miss
Piper had once upon a time, no matter how many years ago, composed an
oratorio, and offered it to the Committee of a great Musical Festival,
for performance. It was not accepted--for reasons which Miss Piper was
at no loss to perceive. The reader is implored not to conclude rashly
that the oratorio was rejected because it failed to reach the requisite
high standard. Miss Piper knew a great deal better than that. She had
been accustomed to mix with the musical world from an early age. Her
father, an amiable Oldchester clergyman, rector of the church in which
Mr. Sebastian Bach Simpson was organist, was considered the best amateur
violoncello player in the Midland Counties. When the great music meeting
brought vocal and instrumental artists to Oldchester, the Reverend
Reuben Piper's house was always open to several of them; and Miss Polly
had poured out tea for more than one great English tenor, great German
basso, and great Scandinavian soprano. So that, as she often said, she
was clearly quite behind the scenes of the artistic world, and
thoroughly understood its intrigues, its ambitions, and its jealousies.
Thus she was less mortified and discouraged by the rejection of her
oratorio than she would have been had she supposed it due to honest
disapproval. The work, which was entitled "Esther," was played and sung,
however;--not indeed by the great English tenor, German basso, and
Scandinavian soprano, but by very competent performers. It was performed
in the large room in Oldchester, used for concerts and lectures, and
called Mercers' Hall. Admission was by invitation, and the hall was
quite full, which, as Miss Patty triumphantly observed, was a very
gratifying tribute on the part of the town and county. Miss Polly did
not conduct her own music. Ladies had not yet wielded the conductor's
_baton_ in those days. But she sat in a front row, with her father on
one side of her and her sister Patty on the other, and bowed her
acknowledgments to the executants at the end of each piece.
It was a great day for the Piper family, and that one solitary fact (for
the oratorio was never repeated) flavoured the rest of their lives with
an odour of artistic glory, as one Tonquin bean will perfume a whole
chest full of miscellaneous articles. Truly, the triumph was not cheap.
The rehearsals and the performance had to be paid for, and it was said
at the time that the Reverend Reuben had been obliged to sell some
excellent Canal Shares in order to meet the expenses, and had thereby
diminished his income by so many pounds sterling for evermore. But at
least the expenditure purchased a great deal of happiness; and that is
more than can be said of most investments which the world would consider
wiser. From that day forth, Miss Polly held the position of a musical
authority in certain circles. Long after a younger generation had grown
up, to whom that famous performance of "Esther" was as vague an
historical fact as the Heptarchy, people continued to speak of Miss
Polly Piper as a successful composer. The lives of the two sisters were
shaped by this tradition. They went every year to London for a month
during the season; and, for a longer or shorter time, to some
Continental city,--Leipsic, Frankfort, or Brussels: once, even, as far
as Vienna,--whence they came back bringing with them the latest _dicta_
in musical fashions, just as Mrs. Clarkson, the chief Oldchester
milliner, announced every year her return from Paris with a large and
varied assortment of bonnets in the newest styles. It has been written
that "_they_" brought back with them the newest _dicta_ on musical
matters; but it must not be supposed that Miss Patty set up to interpret
the law on such points. She was, as to things musical, merely her
sister's echo and mouthpiece. But sincerity, that best salt for all
human communications, preserved Miss Patty's subservience from any taint
of humbug. However extravagant might be her estimate of Polly's artistic
gifts and attainments, you could not doubt that it was genuine.
These circumstances were, broadly speaking, known to every one present.
But May was acquainted with another aspect of the legend of Miss Piper's
oratorio: a seamy side which the poor good lady did not even suspect.
That famous oratorio had been a fertile source of mirth at the time to
all the performers engaged in it. There were all sorts of stories
current as to the amazing things Miss Piper did with her
instrumentation: the impossible efforts she expected from the "wind,"
and the anomalous sounds she elicited from the "wood." These were
retailed with much gusto by Jo Weatherhead, who, in virtue of a high
nasal voice, and a power (common enough in those parts) of reading music
at sight, had sung with the tenors through many a Festival chorus, and
known many professional musicians during his sojourn in Birmingham. One
favourite anecdote was of a trombone player who at rehearsal, in the
very climax and stress of the overture, when he was to have come in with
a powerful effect, stretched out his arm at full length, and produced
the most hideous and unearthly noise ever heard; and who, on being
rebuked by the conductor, handed up his part for inspection, observing,
amid the unrestrained laughter of the band, that that was the nearest
_he_ could come to the note Miss Piper had written for him, which was
some half octave below the usual compass of his instrument. Of this, and
many another similar story, Miss Piper and Miss Piper's friends knew
nothing. But May, remembering them, looked at the two old ladies as they
marched into the room with an interest not so wholly reverential as
might have been wished.
They were both short, fat, snub-nosed little women, with wide smiling
mouths, and double chins. Miss Patty was rather shorter, rather fatter,
and rather more snub-nosed than her gifted sister. But the chief
difference between the two, which struck one at first sight, was that
whereas Miss Piper's own grey locks were disposed in a thick kind of
curl, like a plethoric sausage, on each side of her face, Miss Patty
wore a pale, gingerbread-coloured wig. Why, having all the wigmaker's
stores to choose from, she should have chosen just that particular hue,
May secretly wondered as she looked at her. But so it was. And if she
had worn a blue wig, it could scarcely have been more innocent of any
attempt to deceive the beholder. Both ladies wore good substantial silk
gowns, and little lace caps with artificial flowers in them. But the
remarkable feature in their attire was the extraordinary number of
chains, beads, and bracelets with which they had festooned themselves.
And, moreover, these were of a severely mineralogical character. Round
Miss Patty's fat, deeply-creased throat, May counted three
necklaces:--One of coral, one of cornelian, and the third a long string
of grey pebble beads which dangled nearly to her waist. Miss Polly
wore--besides a variety of other nondescript adornments which rattled
and jingled as she moved--a set of ornaments made apparently of red
marble, cut into polygonal fragments of irregular length. Their rings
too, which were numerous, seemed to be composed for the most part of
building materials; and each sister wore a mosaic brooch which looked,
May thought, like a bit out of the tesselated pavement of the smart new
Corn Exchange in the High Street.
It did not take that young lady's quick perception long to make all the
foregoing observations. Indeed, she had completed them within the minute
and a half which elapsed between the Miss Pipers' arrival, and the
announcement of dinner.