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A CHARMING FELLOW.
by
FRANCES ELEANOR TROLLOPE,
Author of "Aunt Margaret's Trouble," "Mabel's Progress," etc. etc.
In Three Volumes.
VOL. I.
London:
Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly.
1876.
Charles Dickens and Evans,
Crystal Palace Press.
A CHARMING FELLOW.
CHAPTER I.
"To be frank with you, Mr. Diamond, I don't believe Dr. Bodkin
understands my son's genius."
"I beg your pardon, madam, you said your son's----?"
"Genius, sir; the bent of his genius. Algy's is not a mechanical mind."
Mrs. Errington slightly tossed her head as she uttered the word
"mechanical."
Mr. Diamond said "Oh!" and then sat silent.
The room was very quiet. The autumn day was fading, and the mingling of
twilight and firelight, and the stillness of the scene, were conducive
to mute meditation. It was a long, low room, with an uneven floor, a
whitewashed ceiling crossed by heavy beams, and one large bow window. It
was furnished with the spindle-legged chairs and tables in use in the
last century. A crimson drugget covered the floor, and in front of the
hearth lay a rug, made of scraps of black and coloured cloth, neatly
sewn together in a pattern. Over the high wooden mantelpiece hung, on
one side, a faded water-colour sketch of a gentleman, with powdered
hair; and on the other, an oval miniature of much later date, which
represented a fair, florid young lady, with large languid blue eyes, and
a red mouth, somewhat too full-lipped. Notwithstanding the years which
had elapsed since the miniature was painted, it was still sufficiently
like Mrs. Errington to be recognised for her portrait. There was an old
harpsichord in the room, and a few books on hanging shelves. But the
only handsome or costly object to be seen were some delicate blue and
white china cups and saucers, which glistened from an oaken
corner-cupboard; and a large work-box of tortoise-shell, inlaid with
mother-of-pearl, lined with amber satin, and fitted with all the
implements of needlework, in richly-chased silver. The box, like the
china cupboard, stood wide open to display its contents, and was
evidently a subject of pride to its possessor. It was entirely
incongruous with the rest of the furniture, which, although decent and
serviceable, was very plain, and rather scanty.
Nevertheless the room looked snug and homelike. The coal-fire burnt with
a deep glowing light; a small copper kettle was singing cheerily on the
hob; tea-things were laid on a table in front of the fire; and a fitful,
moaning wind, that rattled now and then against the antique casement,
enhanced the comfort of the scene by its suggestion of forlorn
chilliness without.
But however the influences of the time and place might incline Mr.
Diamond to silence, they had no such effect on Mrs. Errington.
After a short pause, during which she seemed to be awaiting some remark
from her companion, she observed once more, "No; I do not think the
doctor understands Algy's genius. And that is why I was anxious to ask
your advice, on this proposition of Mr. Filthorpe's."
"But, madam, why should you suppose me likely to understand Algernon
better than Dr. Bodkin does?"
"Oh, because----In the first place, you are younger, nearer Algy's own
age."
"Ah! There is a wide gap, though, between his eighteen and my
eight-and-twenty--a wider gap than the mere ten years would necessarily
make in all cases."
Mrs. Errington glanced at the speaker, and thought, in the maternal
pride of her heart, that there was indeed a wide difference between her
joyous, handsome Algernon, and Matthew Diamond, second master at the
Whitford Grammar School; and she thought, too, that the difference was
all to her son's advantage. Mr. Diamond was a grave-looking young man,
with a spare, strong figure, and a face which, in repose, was neither
handsome nor ugly. His clean-shaven chin and upper lip were firmly cut,
and he had a pair of keen grey eyes. But such as it was, it was a face
which most persons who saw it often, fell into a habit of watching. It
raised an indefinite expectation. You were instinctively aware of
something latent beneath its habitual expression of seriousness and
reserve. What the "something" might be, was variously guessed at
according to the temperament of the observer.
"Then there is another reason why I wished to consult you," pursued Mrs.
Errington. "I have a great opinion of your judgment, from what Algy
tells me. I assure you Algy thinks an immense deal of your talents, Mr.
Diamond. You must not think I flatter you."
"No," replied Mr. Diamond, very quietly, "I do not think you flatter
me."
"And therefore I have told you the state of the case quite openly. And I
would not have you hesitate to give your advice, from any fear of
disagreeing with my opinion."
Mr. Diamond leaned his elbow on the table, and his face on his hand,
which he held so as to hide his mouth--an habitual posture with him--and
looked gravely at Mrs. Errington.
"I trust," continued the lady, "that I am superior to the weakness of
requiring blind acquiescence from people."
Mrs. Errington spoke in a mellow, measured voice, and had a soft smiling
cast of countenance. Both these were frequently contradicted in a
startling manner by the words she uttered: for, in truth, the worthy
lady's soul and body were no more like each other than a peach-stone is
like a peach. Her velvety softness was not affected, but it was merely
external, and the real woman was nothing less than tender. Sensitive
persons did not fare very well with Mrs. Errington; who, withal, had the
reputation of being an exceedingly good-natured woman.
"If you think my advice worth having----" said Mr. Diamond.
"I do really. Now pray don't be shy of speaking out!" interrupted the
lady, reassuringly.
"I must tell you that I think your cousin's offer is much too good to be
refused, and opens a prospect which many young men would envy."
"You advise us to accept it?"
"Yes."
"Why, then, Mr. Diamond, I don't believe you understand Algy one bit
better than the doctor does!" exclaimed Mrs. Errington, leaning back in
her chair, and folding her large white hands together in a resigned
manner.
"I warned you, you know, that I might not," answered Mr. Diamond,
composedly.
"'A prospect which many young men would envy!' Well, perhaps 'many young
men,' yes; I daresay. But for Algy! Do but think of it, Mr. Diamond; to
sit all day on a high stool in a musty office! You must own that, for a
young fellow of my son's spirit, the idea is not alluring."
"Oh, if the question be merely for Algernon to choose some method of
passing his time which shall be alluring----"
Mrs. Errington drew herself up a little. "No;" said she, "that is
certainly not the question, Mr. Diamond. At the same time, before
embracing Mr. Filthorpe's offer, I thought it only reasonable to ask
myself, 'May we not do better? Can we not do better?'"
"I begin to perceive," thought Matthew Diamond within himself, "that
Mrs. Errington's meaning, when she asks 'advice,' is pretty much like
that of most of her neighbours. Having already made up her mind how to
act, she would like to be told that her decision is the best and wisest
conceivable." He said nothing, however, but bowed his head a little, to
show that he was giving attention to the lady's discourse.
"We have an alternative, you must know," said Mrs. Errington, turning
her eyes languidly on Mr. Diamond, but not moving her head from its
comfortable resting-place against the back of her well-cushioned
arm-chair. "We are not bound hand and foot to this Bristol merchant. By
the way, you spoke of him as my cousin----"
"I beg your pardon; is he not so?"
"No; not mine. My poor husband's," with a glance at the portrait over
the mantelpiece. "None of my family ever had the remotest connection
with commerce."
"Ha! The good fortune was all on the side of the Erringtons?"
This time Mrs. Errington turned her head, so as to look full at her
interlocutor. There met her view the same calm forehead, the same steady
eyes, the same sheltering hand gently stroking the upper lip, which she
had looked upon a minute before.
"My good sir!" she answered, in a tone of patient explanation, "my own
family, the Ancrams, were people of the very first quality in
Warwickshire. My grandfather never stirred out without his coach and
four!"
"Ah!"
"Oh, yes, Algy's prospects in life ought to be very, very different from
what they are. Of course he ought to go to the university; but I cannot
afford to send him there. I make no secret of my circumstances. College
is out of the question for him, poor boy, unless he entered himself as a
what-do-you-call-it? A sort of pauper, a sizar. And I suppose you would
hardly advise him to do that!"
"No; I should by no means advise it. I was a sizar myself."
"Really? Ah well, then you know what it is. And I am quite sure it would
never suit Algy's spirits."
"I am quite sure it would not."
Mrs. Errington's good opinion of the tutor's judgment, which had been
considerably shaken, began to revive.
"I see you know something of his character," said she, smiling. "Well,
then, the case stands thus; Algy is turned eighteen; he has had the best
education I could give him--indeed, my chief motive for settling in this
obscure little hole, when I was left a widow, was the fact that Dr.
Bodkin, who was an old acquaintance of my husband, was head of the
Grammar School here, and I knew I could give my boy the education of a
gentleman--up to a certain point--at small expense. He has had this
offer from the Bristol man, and he has had another offer of a very
different sort from my side of the house."
"Indeed!"
"Oh, yes; perhaps if I had began by stating that circumstance, you might
have modified your advice, eh, Mr. Diamond?" This was said in a tone of
mild raillery.
"Why," answered Mr. Diamond, slowly, "I must own that my advice usually
does depend somewhat on my knowledge of the circumstances of the case
under consideration."
"Now, that's candid--and I love candour, as I told you. The fact is,
Lord Seely married an Ancram."
There was a pause. Mrs. Errington looked inquiringly at her companion.
"You have heard of Lord Seely?" she said.
"I have seen his name in the newspapers, in the days when I used to read
newspapers."
"He is a most distinguished nobleman."
Another pause.
"Well," continued Mrs. Errington, condescendingly, "I cannot expect all
that to interest you, Mr. Diamond. Perhaps there may be a little family
partiality, in my estimate of Lord Seely. However, be that as it may, he
married an Ancram. She was of the younger branch, my father's second
cousin. When Algy first began to turn his thoughts towards a diplomatic
career----"
"Eh?"
"A diplomatic----Oh, didn't you know? Yes; he has had serious thoughts
of it for some time."
"Algernon?"
"Certainly! And, in confidence, Mr. Diamond, I think it would suit him
admirably. I fancy it is what his genius is best adapted for. Well,
when I perceived this bent in him, I made--indirectly--application to
Lady Seely, and she returned--also indirectly--a most gracious answer.
She should be happy to receive Mr. Algernon Ancram Errington, whenever
she was in town."
"Is that all?"
"All?"
"All that you have to tell me, to modify--and so on?"
"That would lead to more, don't you see? Lord Seely has enormous
influence, and I don't know anyone better able to push the fortunes of a
young man like Algy."
"But has he promised anything definite?"
"He could hardly do that, seeing that, as yet, he knows nothing of my
son whatever! My dear Mr. Diamond, when you know as much of the world as
I do, you will see that it does not do to rush at things in a hurry. You
must give people time. Especially a man like Lord Seely, who of course
cannot be expected to--to----"
"Do you mean that you seriously contemplate dropping the substance of
Filthorpe, for this shadow of Seely?"
"Mr. Diamond! What very extraordinary expressions!"
Mr. Diamond took his hand from his mouth, clasped both hands on his
knee, and sat looking into the fire as abstractedly as if there had
been no other person within sight or sound of him.
Mrs. Errington, apparently taking it for granted that his attitude was
one of profound attention to herself, proceeded flowingly to justify her
decision, for it evidently was a decision--to decline the Bristol
merchant's offer of employment and a home for her son. Besides Algy's
"genius," there were other objections. Mr. Filthorpe had a vulgar wife
and a vulgar daughter. Of course they must be vulgar. That was clear.
And who could say that they might not endeavour to entangle Algy in some
promise, or engagement, to marry the daughter? Nay, it was very certain
that they would make such an endeavour. Possibly--probably--that was old
Filthorpe's real object in inviting his young relative to accept a place
in his counting-house. Indeed, they might confidently consider that it
was so. Of course Algy would be a bait to these people! And as to Lord
Seely, Mr. Diamond did not know (how should he? seeing that he had been
little more than a twelvemonth in Whitford, and out of that time had
scarcely ever had an hour's converse with her) that she, Mrs. Errington,
was a person rather apt to hide and diminish, than unduly blazon forth
her family glories. And she was, moreover, scrupulous to a fault in the
accuracy of all her statements. Nevertheless, she must say that there
was, perhaps, no nobleman in England whose patronage would have more
weight than his lordship's; and whether or not the brilliancy of Algy's
parts, and the charm of his manners, would be likely to captivate a man
of Lord Seely's taste and cultivation; that she left to the sense and
candour of any one who knew, and could appreciate her son.
Mr. Diamond uttered an odd, smothered kind of sound.
"Eh?" said Mrs. Errington, mellifluously.
There was no answer.
"Hulloa!" cried a blithe voice, as the door was suddenly thrown open.
"Why, you're all in the dark here!"
"Dear me!" exclaimed Mr. Diamond, jumping to his feet, and then sitting
down again, "I believe--I'm afraid I was almost asleep!"