"Unthought of frailties cheat us in the wise;
The fool lies hid in inconsistencies."
POPE.
SUCH were the female members of the family to whom Mary was about to be
introduced. In her mother's heart she had no place, for of her absent
husband and neglected daughter she seldom thought; and their letters
were scarcely read, and rarely answered. Even good Miss Grizzy's
elaborate epistle, in which were curiously entwined the death of her
brother and the birth and christening of her grand-nephew, in a truly
Gordian manner, remained disentangled. Had her Ladyship only read to the
middle of the seventh page she would have learned the indisposition of
her daughter, with the various opinions thereupon; but poor Miss
Grizzy's labours were vain, for her letter remains a dead letter to this
day. Mrs. Douglas was therefore the first to convey the unwelcome
intelligence, and to suggest to the mind of the mother that her
alienated daughter still retained some claims upon her care and
affection; and although this was done with all the tenderness and
delicacy of a gentle and enlightened mind, it called forth the most
bitter indignation from Lady Juliana.
She almost raved at what she termed the base ingratitude and hypocrisy
of her sister-in-law. After the sacrifice she had made in giving up her
child to her when she had none of her own, it was a pretty return to
send her back only to die. But she saw through it. She did not believe a
word of the girl's silliness; that was a trick to get rid of her. Now
they had a child of their own, they had no use for hers; but she was not
to be made a fool of in such a way, and by such people, etc. etc.
"If Mrs. Douglas is so vile a woman," said the provoking Lady Emily,
"the sooner my cousin is taken from her the better."
"You don't understand these things, Emily," returned her aunt
impatiently.
"What things?"
"The trouble and annoyance it will occasion me to take charge of the
girl at this time."
"Why at this time more than at any other?"
"Absurd, my dear! how can you ask so foolish a question? Don't you
know that you and Adelaide are both to bring out this winter, and how
can I possibly do you justice with a dying girl upon my hands?"
"I thought you suspected it was all a trick," continued the persecuting
Lady Emily.
"So I do; I haven't the least doubt of it. The whole story is the most
improbable stuff I ever heard."
"Then you will have less trouble than you expect."
"But I hate to be made a dupe of, and imposed upon by low cunning. If
Mrs. Douglas had told me candidly she wished me to take the girl, I would
have thought nothing of it; but I can't bear to be treated like a fool."
"I don't see anything at all unbecoming in Mrs. Douglas's treatment."
"Then what can I do with a girl who has been educated in Scotland? She
must be vulgar--all Scotchwomen are so. They have red hands and rough
voices; they yawn, and blow their noses, and talk, and laugh loud, and
do a thousand shocking things. Then, to hear the Scotch
brogue--oh, heavens! I should expire every time she opened her mouth!"
"Perhaps my sister may not speak so _very_ broad," kindly suggested
Adelaide in her sweetest accents.
"You are very good, my love, to think so; but nobody can live in that
odious country without being infected with its _patois._ I really
thought I should have caught it myself; and Mr. Douglas" (no longer
Henry) "became quite gross in his language after living amongst his
relations."
"This is really too bad," cried Lady Emily indignantly. "If a person
speaks sense and truth, what does it signify how it is spoken? And
whether your Ladyship chooses to receive your daughter here or not, I
shall at any rate invite my cousin to my father's house." And, snatching
up a pen, she instantly began a letter to Mary.
Lady Juliana was highly incensed at this freedom of her niece; but she
was a little afraid of her, and therefore, after some sharp altercation,
and with infinite violence done to her feelings, she was prevailed upon
to write a decently civil sort of a letter to Mrs. Douglas, consenting
to receive her daughter for a _few months;_ firmly resolving in her own
mind to conceal her from all eyes and ears while she remained, and to
return her to her Scotch relations early in the summer.
This worthy resolution formed, she became more serene and awaited the
arrival of her daughter with as much firmness as could reasonably have
been expected.