Mrs Clyde was a thorough woman of the world. Judging her out of her
own circle of limited diameter, you would imagine her to be cool,
unimpassioned, cold-blooded, narrow-minded; but, she could be, at the
same time, bigoted enough in regard to all that concerned herself, her
social surroundings and her belongings--an advocate, as warm as
Demosthenes, as logical as Cicero:--a partisan amongst partisans. Warm
and impulsive, where fervour and a display of seemingly-generous
enthusiasm would effect the object she had in view, that of compassing
her ends, she could also be as frigid as an icicle, when it likewise so
suited her purpose. "Respectability" and "position" were her gods:--the
"world"--_her_ world!--her microcosm.
Where persons and things agreed with these, being sympathetic to their
rules and regulations, they naturally belonged to "the house beautiful"
of her creed, for they _must_ be good:--where they ran counter to such
standards of merit, which were upheld by laws as unvarying and
unchangeable as those of the Medes and Persians, and administered by a
judge as stern as Draco--they were, they _must_ be evil; and were,
therefore, cast out into the outer darkness that existed beyond her
sacred Lares and Penates.
Good Heavens! how can pigmy people, atoms in the vast eternity of time,
thus narrow the great universe in which they are permitted to exist;
dwarfing it down, to the limit of their jaundiced vision, by the
application of their miserable measuring tape of "fashionable" feet and
"class" inches! How can they abase grand humanity to the level of their
social organon, affecting to control it with their arbitrary
absolutisms, their mammon deification, their mimic infallibility! What
creeping, crawling, wretched insects we all are, taken collectively;
and, of all of us, the blindest, the most insignificant, and most grub-
like, are, so-called men and women "of the world!"
Cold, heartless, in a general sense, and worldly as Mrs Clyde was, I
could easily have excused it in her and tried to like her, for, was she
not the mother of my darling, whom with all her faults she loved very
dearly--her affection being judiciously tempered by those considerations
paramount in the clique to which she belonged? But, Mrs Clyde did not
like _me_. She spurned every effort I essayed to make her my friend.
I saw this the first evening I passed in her house; and the impression I
then received never wore off.
Just as you can tell at sight whether certain persons attract or repel
you, through some unknown, nameless influence that you are unable to
fathom; so, in like degree, can you decide--that is, if you possess a
naturally sensitive mind--whether they are drawn towards yourself or
remain antipathetical. I know that _I_ can tell without asking them, if
people whom I see for the first time are likely to fancy me or not; and,
at all events, I had some inward monition which warned me that Mrs
Clyde, contrary to my earnest wish that she should regard me in a
friendly light, was not one of those amiable beings who would "cotton to
me," as the inhabitants of New England express the sentiment in their
pointed vernacular.
Perhaps you think me a very egotistical person, thus to dwell upon my
own ideas and feelings?
You must recollect, however, that I'm telling you this story myself, a
story in which I am both actively and intimately interested; and how,
unless I speak of my own self, are you going to learn anything about me?
I have nobody to describe me, so I _must_ be what you call
"egotistical."
Yes, Mrs Clyde did not like me.
I do not mean to say, remember, that she was impolite, or grim, or
wanting in courtesy.
The reverse was the case, as she was one of the smoothest, suavest
persons you ever met.
But, there is an exquisitely refined way in which a woman of the world
can make you understand that your presence is "de trop" and your society
distasteful, without saying a single word that might be construed into
an offence against good breeding.
Mrs Clyde was a thorough mistress of this art.
Her searching eye could appraise at a glance a man's mental calibre or a
lady's toilette. It seemed to pierce you through and through, exploring
your inmost thoughts, and enlightening her as to what her course of
procedure should be in regard to you, before she had spoken a word, or
you either.
So _I_ believed at any rate; for, to tell the honest truth, I was
horribly afraid of Min's mother. I always felt on tenter hooks in her
presence, from the very first date of our acquaintanceship.
On coming into the room where Min and I were regarding Dicky Chip's
performances with loving eyes, and I completely "translated" by various
combinating influences, Mrs Clyde appeared to take in the situation in
an instant--"an eyewink," as a minute portion of time is happily
rendered in the Teutonic tongue. Certainly, she grasped everything at a
glance--even the contingency that might have possibly occurred, for, my
embarrassment was not lost upon her. I saw an anxious expression hover
across her face for a second, to be quickly replaced by her ordinary
society look of calm, studied suavity.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, in well-feigned astonishment at my presence--"Mr
Lorton, how d'ye do!"
"How do you do, Mrs Clyde?" said I, straightening myself up, and then
bending in feeble attempt at a bow.
She said nothing further for the moment, thinking it best to leave the
burden of the conversation on me, so as to better promote my ease of
manner and general welfare, in a "company" light. She was dexterous in
fence, was Mrs Clyde.
"Ah!" said I at length after an uncomfortable pause, "that was a
delightful evening we had last night!" It was a polite falsehood; but
then, one must say something when in "society" be it never so senseless
and silly!
"I am glad you enjoyed yourself," she answered, although she knew well
enough that I had done no such thing.
"Oh, mamma!" said Min, coming to the rescue, "see what a dear little
bird Mr Lorton has brought me! It is really so clever that it can
almost do anything. Dicky, dicky, cheep!" she chirped to my young
representative, who sat in the centre of the table, perched on a
photographic album and with his head cocked on one side. He was staring
very inquisitively at Mrs Clyde. He evidently regarded her as an
enemy; for, the feathers on his crest got ruffled.
"Indeed!" said her mother, in freezing accents--down to the temperature
of the best Wenham Lake ice!--"I'm sure Mr Lorton is very good! Still,
you know, Minnie," she continued, "that I do not like you receiving
presents in this way."
"But it is only a little bird, Mrs Clyde!" I said, at last nerved up
to the speaking-point. I thought she would have told me then and there
to take it back; and I awaited, in fear and trembling, what she would
say next.
"And he's such a little darling, mamma!" interposed Min impulsively.
Mrs Clyde could not help smiling.
"That may be quite true, my dear," she said; "but, as you know, and as
Mr Lorton is probably also aware--although he is very young to have as
yet mixed much in the world"--_cut number two_!--"it is not quite
correct for young ladies to receive presents, however trifling, from
gentlemen who are, comparatively, strangers to them, and to whom they
have been but barely introduced!"--_cut three_!
"Oh, mamma!" said Min, in an agony of maidenly shame. She coloured up
to the eyes--at the dread of having done something she ought not to have
done.
Her exclamation armed me to the teeth. I would have stood up in defence
of my darling against a hundred mammas, all cased in society's best
satire-proof steel. I determined to "carry the war into Egypt," and
opened fire accordingly.
"Pardon me, Mrs Clyde," said I, quite as frigidly as herself--"but the
fault, if error there be on either side, lies on my shoulders. I am
sure I meant no harm. I only brought the little bird as a remembrance
of your daughter's birthday, having forgotten to present it yesterday,
when her other friends made _their_ offerings."
My speech, however, produced no impression; she quickly parried my weak
thrust, returning me tierce en carte.
"But they were all _old_ friends, Mr Lorton:--_that_ made it quite a
different thing," she said, very coldly, although with the sweetest
expression. I daresay Jael smiled very pleasantly when she drove that
nail into Sisera's temple!
I thought I perceived a slight loophole for attack. "I believe," said
I, "that both Mr Horner and Mr Mawley were only introduced to Miss
Clyde a short time previously to myself."
Bless you, I was a child in her practised hands! Fancy my making such a
blunder as to show her where the shoe pinched me!
"I think, Mr Lorton," she replied, "that _I_ am the best judge as to
whom I consider my daughter's friends. Mr Mawley is a clergyman of the
parish, and Mr Horner the nephew of a gentleman whom I have known for
years!"--Ah! she _did_ know about Horner's expectations, then; I thought
she did!--"But," she continued, in a slightly less frigid tone, probably
on account of seeing Min's agitation, and from the belief that she had
put me down sufficiently--"But, Mr Lorton, I do not wish to appear
unkind; and, as you never thought of all this, most likely, my daughter
may keep the bird you kindly brought her, if she likes."
"Oh, thank you, mamma," said Min, caressing Dicky Chips, who thereupon
burst into a paean of melody, in which the opening bars of the "Silver
Trumpets" march and "Green grow the Rushes, O" were mixed up
harmoniously, in splendid confusion. Knowing little bullfinch that he
was! He succeeded, as peradventure he intended, in at once turning the
conversation into a fresh channel, where Min's constraint and my
embarrassment were soon dispelled.
Mrs Clyde had not been a bit put out during the entire interview.
She was now, as she had been all along, as cool and collected, as suave
and serene, as possible. In this respect she somewhat resembled Horner,
her promising young friend--nothing could put her out--although _her_
mental equilibrium resulted from habit and training; while Horner's, in
my opinion, was entirely owing to his natural apathy and inherent
dulness of disposition.
Shortly after hostilities had terminated between us, and a truce
declared, Mrs Clyde said that she hoped that I would kindly excuse
herself and Min, as they had to prepare to go out to make several calls.
Thus politely dismissed, I accordingly took my leave. But, not before
the astute lady of the world had contrived to impress me with the
consideration that Mrs Clyde moved in a very different circle to that
of Mr Lorton; and, that, if I had the assurance and audacity to aspire
to the hand of "her daughter," I need not nurse the sweet belief that
_she_ would lend a favourable ear to my suit. I must, in that case, be
prepared to wage a war a outrance, in which there would be no quarter
allowed, on _one_ side at least.
You must not think that I make these remarks with any bitter feelings
now in my heart towards Min's mother. I only desire to tell my story
truthfully; and, I may say at once that she failed in our after struggle
together. I really believe that she meant honestly to do the best she
could for her daughter, as "the best" was held by the articles of her
social creed; and that she manoeuvred so that her "lines" should "fall
in pleasant places." Yet, those good thoughts, and best wishes, and
wise plans of worldly people, effect incalculable mischief and misery
and unhappiness in life.
Many a sorely-tried heart has been broken by their influence--many a man
and woman ruined for life and for eternity, through their means! And,
although I mean no harm towards Mrs Clyde now, as I have already
stated, however much I may have been opposed to her once--for the battle
has been fought lang syne, and the game played out to its end--still, I
can never forget that she _was_ my enemy!