Francis Oliphant Tregear
Mr. Francis Oliphant Tregear was a young man who might not improbably
make a figure in the world, should circumstances be kind to him,
but as to whom it might be doubted whether circumstances would be
sufficiently kind to enable him to use serviceably his unquestionable
talents and great personal gifts. He had taught himself to regard
himself as a young English gentleman of the first water, qualified
by his birth and position to live with all that was most noble and
most elegant; and he could have lived in that sphere naturally
and gracefully were it not that the part of the "sphere" which he
specially affected requires wealth as well as birth and intellect.
Wealth he had not, and yet he did not abandon the sphere. As a
consequence of all this, it was possible that the predictions of his
friends as to that figure which he was to make in the world might be
disappointed.
He had been educated at Eton, from whence he had been sent to Christ
Church; and both at school and at college had been the most intimate
friend of the son and heir of a great and wealthy duke. He and Lord
Silverbridge had been always together, and they who were interested
in the career of the young nobleman had generally thought he had
chosen his friend well. Tregear had gone out in honours, having
been a second-class man. His friend Silverbridge, we know, had been
allowed to take no degree at all; but the terrible practical joke
by which the whole front of the Dean's house had been coloured
scarlet in the middle of the night, had been carried on without any
assistance from Tregear. The two young men had then been separated
for a year; but immediately after taking his degree, Tregear, at the
invitation of Lord Silverbridge, had gone to Italy, and had there
completely made good his footing with the Duchess,--with what effect
on another member of the Palliser family the reader already knows.
The young man was certainly clever. When the Duchess found that he
could talk without any shyness, that he could speak French fluently,
and that after a month in Italy he could chatter Italian, at any rate
without reticence or shame; when she perceived that all the women
liked the lad's society and impudence, and that all the young men
were anxious to know him, she was glad to find that Silverbridge
had chosen so valuable a friend. And then he was beautiful to look
at,--putting her almost in mind of another man on whom her eyes had
once loved to dwell. He was dark, with hair that was almost black,
but yet was not black; with clear brown eyes, a nose as regular as
Apollo's, and a mouth in which was ever to be found that expression
of manliness, which of all characteristics is the one which women
love the best. He was five feet ten in height. He was always well
dressed, and yet always so dressed as to seem to show that his
outside garniture had not been matter of trouble to him. Before the
Duchess had dreamed what might take place between this young man and
her daughter she had been urgent in her congratulations to her son as
to the possession of such a friend.
For though she now and then would catch a glimpse of the outer man,
which would remind her of that other beautiful one whom she had
known in her youth, and though, as these glimpses came, she would
remember how poor in spirit and how unmanly that other one had
been, though she would confess to herself how terrible had been the
heart-shipwreck which that other one had brought upon herself; still
she was able completely to assure herself that this man, though not
superior in external grace, was altogether different in mind and
character. She was old enough now to see all this and to appreciate
it. Young Tregear had his own ideas about the politics of the day,
and they were ideas with which she sympathised, though they were
antagonistic to the politics of her life. He had his ideas about
books too, as to manners of life, as to art, and even ethics. Whether
or no in all this there was not much that was superficial only, she
was not herself deep enough to discover. Nor would she have been
deterred from admiring him had she been told that it was tinsel. Such
were the acquirements, such the charms, that she loved. Here was a
young man who dared to speak, and had always something ready to be
spoken; who was not afraid of beauty, nor daunted by superiority of
rank; who, if he had not money, could carry himself on equal terms
among those who had. In this way he won the Duchess's heart, and
having done that, was it odd that he should win the heart of the
daughter also?
His father was a Cornwall squire of comfortable means, having joined
the property of his wife to his own for the period of his own life.
She had possessed land also in Cornwall, supposed to be worth fifteen
hundred a year, and his own paternal estate at Polwenning was said
to be double that value. Being a prudent man, he lived at home as a
country gentleman, and thus was able in his county to hold his head
as high as richer men. But Frank Tregear was only his second son; and
though Frank would hereafter inherit his mother's fortune, he was by
no means now in a position to assume the right of living as an idle
man. Yet he was idle. The elder brother, who was considerably older
than Frank, was an odd man, much addicted to quarrelling with his
family, and who spent his time chiefly in travelling about the world.
Frank's mother, who was not the mother of the heir also, would
sometimes surmise, in Frank's hearing, that the entire property must
ultimately come to him. That other Tregear, who was now supposed to
be investigating the mountains of Crim Tartary, would surely never
marry. And Frank was the favourite also with his father, who paid
his debts at Oxford with not much grumbling; who was proud of his
friendship with a future duke; who did not urge, as he ought to have
urged, that vital question of a profession; and who, when he allowed
his son four hundred pounds a year, was almost content with that
son's protestations that he knew how to live as a poor man among rich
men, without chagrin and without trouble.
Such was the young man who now, in lieu of a profession, had taken
upon himself the responsibility of an engagement with Lady Mary
Palliser. He was tolerably certain that, should he be able to
overcome the parental obstacles which he would no doubt find in his
path, money would be forthcoming sufficient for the purposes of
matrimonial life. The Duke's wealth was fabulous, and as a great
part of it, if not the greater, had come from his wife, there would
probably be ample provision for the younger children. And when the
Duchess had found out how things were going, and had yielded to her
daughter, after an opposition which never had the appearance even of
being in earnest, she had taken upon herself to say that she would
use her influence to prevent any great weight of trouble from
pecuniary matters. Frank Tregear, young and bright, and full of
hearty ambitions, was certainly not the man to pursue a girl simply
because of her fortune; nor was he weak enough to be attracted simply
by the glitter of rank; but he was wise enough with worldly wisdom
to understand thoroughly the comforts of a good income, and he was
sufficiently attached to high position to feel the advantage of
marrying a daughter of the Duke of Omnium.
When the Duchess was leaving Italy, it had been her declared purpose
to tell her husband the story as soon as they were at home in
England. And it was on this understanding that Frank Tregear had
explained to the girl that he would not as yet ask her father for
his permission to be received into the family as a suitor. Everyone
concerned had felt that the Duke would not easily be reconciled to
such a son-in-law, and that the Duchess should be the one to bell the
cat.
There was one member of the family who had hitherto been half-hearted
in the matter. Lord Silverbridge had vacillated between loyalty to
his friend and a certain feeling as to the impropriety of such a
match for his sister. He was aware that something very much better
should be expected for her, and still was unable to explain his
objections to Tregear. He had not at first been admitted into
confidence, either by his sister or by Tregear, but had questioned
his friend when he saw what was going on. "Certainly I love your
sister," Tregear had said; "do you object?" Lord Silverbridge was the
weaker of the two, and much subject to the influence of his friend;
but he could on occasion be firm, and he did at first object. But he
did not object strongly, and allowed himself at last to be content
with declaring that the Duke would never give his consent.
While Tregear was with his love, or near her, his hopes and fears
were sufficient to occupy his mind; and immediately on his return,
all the world was nothing to him, except as far as the world was
concerned with Lady Mary Palliser. He had come back to England
somewhat before the ducal party, and the pleasures and occupations
of London life had not abated his love, but enabled him to feel that
there was something in life over and beyond his love; whereas to
Lady Mary, down at Matching, there had been nothing over and beyond
her love--except the infinite grief and desolation produced by her
mother's death.
Tregear, when he received the note from Mrs. Finn, was staying at
the Duke's house in Carlton Terrace. Silverbridge was there, and, on
leaving Matching, had asked the Duke's permission to have his friend
with him. The Duke at that time was not well pleased with his son
as to a matter of politics, and gave his son's friend credit for
the evil counsel which had produced this displeasure. But still
he had not refused his assent to this proposition. Had he done so,
Silverbridge would probably have gone elsewhere; and though there
was a matter in respect to Tregear of which the Duke disapproved, it
was not a matter, as he thought, which would have justified him in
expelling the young man from his house. The young man was a strong
Conservative; and now Silverbridge had declared his purpose of
entering the House of Commons, if he did enter it, as one of the
Conservative party.
This had been a terrible blow to the Duke; and he believed that it
all came from this young Tregear. Still he must do his duty, and not
more than his duty. He knew nothing against Tregear. That a Tregear
should be a Conservative was perhaps natural enough--at any rate, was
not disgraceful; that he should have his political creed sufficiently
at heart to be able to persuade another man, was to his credit.
He was a gentleman, well educated, superior in many things to
Silverbridge himself. There were those who said that Silverbridge
had redeemed himself from contempt--from that sort of contempt which
might be supposed to await a young nobleman who had painted scarlet
the residence of the Head of his college--by the fact of his having
chosen such a friend. The Duke was essentially a just man; and
though, at the very moment in which the request was made, his heart
was half crushed by his son's apostasy, he gave the permission asked.
"You know Mrs. Finn?" Tregear said to his friend one morning at
breakfast.
"I remember her all my life. She used to be a great deal with my
grandfather. I believe he left her a lot of diamonds and money, and
that she wouldn't have them. I don't know whether the diamonds are
not locked up somewhere now, so that she can take them when she
pleases."
"What a singular woman!"
"It was odd; but she had some fad about it. What makes you ask about
Mrs. Finn?"
"She wants me to go and see her."
"What about?"
"I think I have heard your mother speak of her as though she loved
her dearly," said Tregear.
"I don't know about loving her dearly. They were intimate, and Mrs.
Finn used to be with her very much when she was in the country. She
was at Matching just now, when my poor mother died. Why does she want
to see you?"
"She has written to me from Matching. She wants to see me--"
"Well?"
"To tell you the truth, I do not know what she has to say to me;
though I can guess."
"What do you guess?"
"It is something about your sister."
"You will have to give that up, Tregear."
"I think not."
"Yes, you will; my father will never stand it."
"I don't know what there is to stand. I am not noble, nor am I rich;
but I am as good a gentleman as he is."
"My dear fellow," said the young lord, "you know very well what I
think about all that. A fellow is not any better to me because he
has got a title, nor yet because he owns half a county. But men have
their ideas and feelings about it. My father is a rich man, and of
course he'll want his daughter to marry a rich man. My father is
noble, and he'll want his daughter to marry a nobleman. You can't
very well marry Mary without his permission, and therefore you had
better let it alone."
"I haven't even asked his permission as yet."
"Even my mother was afraid to speak to him about it, and I never knew
her to be afraid to say anything else to him."
"I shall not be afraid," said Tregear, looking grimly.
"I should. That's the difference between us."
"He can't very well eat me."
"Nor even bite you;--nor will he abuse you. But he can look at you,
and he can say a word or two which you will find it very hard to
bear. My governor is the quietest man I know, but he has a way
of making himself disagreeable when he wishes, that I never saw
equalled."
"At any rate, I had better go and see your Mrs. Finn." Then Tregear
wrote a line to Mrs. Finn, and made his appointment.