"No One Knows Anything About Him"
Neither at dinner, on that evening at Manchester Square, nor after
dinner, as long as Mrs. Roby remained in the house, was a word said
about Lopez by Mr. Wharton. He remained longer than usual with his
bottle of port wine in the dining-room; and when he went upstairs,
he sat himself down and fell asleep, almost without a sign. He did
not ask for a song, nor did Emily offer to sing. But as soon as Mrs.
Roby was gone,--and Mrs. Roby went home, round the corner, somewhat
earlier than usual,--then Mr. Wharton woke up instantly and made
inquiry of his daughter.
There had, however, been a few words spoken on the subject between
Mrs. Roby and her niece which had served to prepare Emily for what
was coming. "Lopez has been to your father," said Mrs. Roby, in a
voice not specially encouraging for such an occasion. Then she paused
a moment; but her niece said nothing, and she continued, "Yes,--and
your father has been blaming me,--as if I had done anything! If he
did not mean you to choose for yourself, why didn't he keep a closer
look-out?"
"I haven't chosen any one, Aunt Harriet."
"Well;--to speak fairly, I thought you had; and I have nothing to say
against your choice. As young men go, I think Mr. Lopez is as good
as the best of them. I don't know why you shouldn't have him. Of
course you'll have money, but then I suppose he makes a large income
himself. As to Mr. Fletcher, you don't care a bit about him."
"Not in that way, certainly."
"No doubt your papa will have it out with you just now; so you had
better make up your mind what you will say to him. If you really like
the man, I don't see why you shouldn't say so, and stick to it. He
has made a regular offer, and girls in these days are not expected
to be their father's slaves." Emily said nothing further to her aunt
on that occasion, but finding that she must in truth "have it out"
with her father presently, gave herself up to reflection. It might
probably be the case that the whole condition of her future life
would depend on the way in which she might now "have it out" with her
father.
I would not wish the reader to be prejudiced against Miss Wharton by
the not unnatural feeling which may perhaps be felt in regard to the
aunt. Mrs. Roby was pleased with little intrigues, was addicted to
the amusement of fostering love affairs, was fond of being thought
to be useful in such matters, and was not averse to having presents
given to her. She had married a vulgar man; and, though she had not
become like the man, she had become vulgar. She was not an eligible
companion for Mr. Wharton's daughter,--a matter as to which the
father had not given himself proper opportunities of learning the
facts. An aunt in his close neighbourhood was so great a comfort
to him,--so ready and so natural an assistance to him in his
difficulties! But Emily Wharton was not in the least like her aunt,
nor had Mrs. Wharton been at all like Mrs. Roby. No doubt the contact
was dangerous. Injury had perhaps already been done. It may be that
some slightest soil had already marred the pure white of the girl's
natural character. But if so, the stain was as yet too impalpable to
be visible to ordinary eyes.
Emily Wharton was a tall, fair girl, with grey eyes, rather exceeding
the average proportions as well as height of women. Her features
were regular and handsome, and her form was perfect; but it was by
her manner and her voice that she conquered, rather than by her
beauty,--by those gifts and by a clearness of intellect joined with
that feminine sweetness which has its most frequent foundation in
self-denial. Those who knew her well, and had become attached to her,
were apt to endow her with all virtues, and to give her credit for
a loveliness which strangers did not find on her face. But as we do
not light up our houses with our brightest lamps for all comers,
so neither did she emit from her eyes their brightest sparks till
special occasion for such shining had arisen. To those who were
allowed to love her no woman was more lovable. There was innate in
her an appreciation of her own position as a woman, and with it a
principle of self-denial as a human being, which it was beyond the
power of any Mrs. Roby to destroy or even to defile by small stains.
Like other girls she had been taught to presume that it was her
destiny to be married, and like other girls she had thought much
about her destiny. A young man generally regards it as his destiny
either to succeed or to fail in the world, and he thinks about that.
To him marriage, when it comes, is an accident to which he has hardly
as yet given a thought. But to the girl the matrimony which is or
is not to be her destiny contains within itself the only success
or failure which she anticipates. The young man may become Lord
Chancellor, or at any rate earn his bread comfortably as a county
court judge. But the girl can look forward to little else than the
chance of having a good man for her husband;--a good man, or if her
tastes lie in that direction, a rich man. Emily Wharton had doubtless
thought about these things, and she sincerely believed that she had
found the good man in Ferdinand Lopez.
The man, certainly, was one strangely endowed with the power of
creating a belief. When going to Mr. Wharton at his chambers he had
not intended to cheat the lawyer into any erroneous idea about his
family, but he had resolved that he would so discuss the questions of
his own condition, which would probably be raised, as to leave upon
the old man's mind an unfounded conviction that in regard to money
and income he had no reason to fear question. Not a word had been
said about his money or his income. And Mr. Wharton had felt himself
bound to abstain from allusion to such matters from an assured
feeling that he could not in that direction plant an enduring
objection. In this way Lopez had carried his point with Mr. Wharton.
He had convinced Mrs. Roby that among all the girl's attractions the
greatest attraction for him was the fact that she was Mrs. Roby's
niece. He had made Emily herself believe that the one strong passion
of his life was his love for her, and this he had done without ever
having asked for her love. And he had even taken the trouble to
allure Dick, and had listened to and had talked whole pages out of
_Bell's Life_. On his own behalf it must be acknowledged that he
did love the girl, as well perhaps as he was capable of loving any
one;--but he had found out many particulars as to Mr. Wharton's money
before he had allowed himself to love her.
As soon as Mrs. Roby had gathered up her knitting, and declared, as
she always did on such occasions, that she could go round the corner
without having any one to look after her, Mr. Wharton began. "Emily,
my dear, come here." Then she came and sat on a footstool at his
feet, and looked up into his face. "Do you know what I am going to
speak to you about, my darling?"
"Yes, papa; I think I do. It is about--Mr. Lopez."
"Your aunt has told you, I suppose. Yes; it is about Mr. Lopez. I
have been very much astonished to-day by Mr. Lopez,--a man of whom I
have seen very little and know less. He came to me to-day and asked
for my permission--to address you." She sat perfectly quiet, still
looking at him, but she did not say a word. "Of course I did not give
him permission."
"Why of course, papa?"
"Because he is a stranger and a foreigner. Would you have wished me
to tell him that he might come?"
"Yes, papa." He was sitting on a sofa and shrank back a little from
her as she made this free avowal. "In that case I could have judged
for myself. I suppose every girl would like to do that."
"But should you have accepted him?"
"I think I should have consulted you before I did that. But I should
have wished to accept him. Papa, I do love him. I have never said so
before to any one. I would not say so to you now, if he had
not--spoken to you as he has done."
"Emily, it must not be."
"Why not, papa? If you say it shall not be so, it shall not. I
will do as you bid me." Then he put out his hand and caressed her,
stroking down her hair. "But I think you ought to tell me why it must
not be,--as I do love him."
"He is a foreigner."
"But is he? And why should not a foreigner be as good as an
Englishman? His name is foreign, but he talks English and lives as an
Englishman."
"He has no relatives, no family, no belongings. He is what we call an
adventurer. Marriage, my dear, is a most serious thing."
"Yes, papa, I know that."
"One is bound to be very careful. How can I give you to a man I know
nothing about,--an adventurer? What would they say in Herefordshire?"
"I don't know why they should say anything, but if they did I
shouldn't much care."
"I should, my dear. I should care very much. One is bound to think
of one's family. Suppose it should turn out afterwards that he
was--disreputable!"
"You may say that of any man, papa."
"But when a man has connexions, a father and mother, or uncles
and aunts, people that everybody knows about, then there is some
guarantee of security. Did you ever hear this man speak of his
father?"
"I don't know that I ever did."
"Or his mother,--or his family? Don't you think that is suspicious?"
"I will ask him, papa, if you wish."
"No, I would have you ask him nothing. I would not wish that there
should be opportunity for such asking. If there has been intimacy
between you, such information should have come naturally,--as a thing
of course. You have made him no promise?"
"Oh no, papa."
"Nor spoken to him--of your regard for him?"
"Never;--not a word. Nor he to me,--except in such words as one
understands even though they say nothing."
"I wish he had never seen you."
"Is he a bad man, papa?"
"Who knows? I cannot tell. He may be ever so bad. How is one to know
whether a man be bad or good when one knows nothing about him?" At
this point the father got up and walked about the room. "The long and
the short of it is that you must not see him any more."
"Did you tell him so?"
"Yes;--well; I don't know whether I said exactly that, but I told him
that the whole thing must come to an end. And it must. Luckily it
seems that nothing has been said on either side."
"But, papa--; is there to be no reason?"
"Haven't I given reasons? I will not have my daughter encourage an
adventurer,--a man of whom nobody knows anything. That is reason
sufficient."
"He has a business, and he lives with gentlemen. He is Everett's
friend. He is well educated;--oh, so much better than most men that
one meets. And he is clever. Papa, I wish you knew him better than
you do."
"I do not want to know him better."
"Is not that prejudice, papa?"
"My dear Emily," said Mr. Wharton, striving to wax into anger that he
might be firm against her, "I don't think that it becomes you to ask
your father such a question as that. You ought to believe that it is
the chief object of my life to do the best I can for my children."
"I am sure it is."
"And you ought to feel that, as I have had a long experience in the
world, my judgment about a young man might be trusted."
That was a statement which Miss Wharton was not prepared to admit.
She had already professed herself willing to submit to her father's
judgment, and did not now by any means contemplate rebellion against
parental authority. But she did feel that on a matter so vital to her
she had a right to plead her cause before judgment should be given,
and she was not slow to assure herself, even as this interview went
on, that her love for the man was strong enough to entitle her to
assure her father that her happiness depended on his reversal of the
sentence already pronounced. "You know, papa, that I trust you," she
said. "And I have promised you that I will not disobey you. If you
tell me that I am never to see Mr. Lopez again, I will not see him."
"You are a good girl. You were always a good girl."
"But I think that you ought to hear me." Then he stood still with his
hands in his trowsers pockets looking at her. He did not want to hear
a word, but he felt that he would be a tyrant if he refused. "If you
tell me that I am not to see him, I shall not see him. But I shall be
very unhappy. I do love him, and I shall never love any one else in
the same way."
"That is nonsense, Emily. There is Arthur Fletcher."
"I am sure you will never ask me to marry a man I do not love, and
I shall never love Arthur Fletcher. If this is to be as you say, it
will make me very, very wretched. It is right that you should know
the truth. If it is only because Mr. Lopez has a foreign name--"
"It isn't only that; no one knows anything about him, or where to
inquire even."
"I think you should inquire, papa, and be quite certain before you
pronounce such a sentence against me. It will be a crushing blow."
He looked at her, and saw that there was a fixed purpose in her
countenance of which he had never before seen similar signs. "You
claim a right to my obedience, and I acknowledge it. I am sure you
believe me when I promise not to see him without your permission."
"I do believe you. Of course I believe you."
"But if I do that for you, papa, I think that you ought to be very
sure, on my account, that I haven't to bear such unhappiness for
nothing. You'll think about it, papa,--will you not, before you quite
decide?" She leaned against him as she spoke, and he kissed her.
"Good night, now, papa. You will think about it?"
"I will. I will. Of course I will."
And he began the process of thinking about it immediately,--before
the door was closed behind her. But what was there to think about?
Nothing that she had said altered in the least his idea about the
man. He was as convinced as ever that unless there was much to
conceal there would not be so much concealment. But a feeling began
to grow upon him already that his daughter had a mode of pleading
with him which he would not ultimately be able to resist. He had the
power, he knew, of putting an end to the thing altogether. He had
only to say resolutely and unchangeably that the thing shouldn't
be, and it wouldn't be. If he could steel his heart against his
daughter's sorrow for, say, a twelvemonth, the victory would be won.
But he already began to fear that he lacked the power to steel his
heart against his daughter.