IT WAS THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE second generation of one of the
shirt-sleeves families of the midlands who took a lease of Nethershire
Castle, the finest mansion in our neighbourhood. The Court of Chancery
had decreed that it might be let for a term of years, the length of
which was fixed by certain Commissioners in Lunacy, for Sir Ralph
Richards had been in the care of a specialist in mental diseases for
a long time, and it was understood that there were little hopes of his
ever being able to enjoy his own again. Higgins was the name of the
lessee from the north, and with his wife and family he had occupied the
Castle for close upon ten years. He was a simple enough man as regards
his tastes: he could not appreciate the beauty of the cedar wood ceiling
of the banqueting hall or the Renaissance carved panels of the library.
The splendid Gainsboroughs and Romneys of the Long Gallery made no more
appeal to him than did the Van Dycks in the great hall or the three
Fragonards of the drawing-room. He was quite satisfied with the
reputation of having sufficient money to pay for the privilege of living
in the midst of these masterpieces and of keeping about an acre and
a half of roof in good repair: he knew more about the advantages of
close-fitting slates than of the methods of eighteenth-century English
artists or of fifteenth-century Italian carvers.
His wife, however, valued to the full the artistic privileges of
living in so splendid a house, and she was not one to shrink before the
searching glances of Frances Anne, the wife of the first baronet of the
house of Richards, as painted by Sir Joshua, sacrificing to Venus, or
to assume that Lady Elizabeth had turned aside from making a libation
to Hymen--Hymen demanded quite as many sacrifices as Venus on
eighteenth-century canvases--to ask her what right she had to sit in the
seats of the Richards of Nethershire Castle. She knew what her husband
paid in the way of rent, and she felt that the same was large enough to
avert from her any indignant look that a sentimentalist might imagine on
the face of the most malevolent family portrait. In fact, Mrs. Higgins
considered the sum large enough to allow of her assuming the attitude of
the patroness in regard to the pictures: she had actually been heard by
a friend of the Richards to express a critical opinion respecting the
pose of the daughter of the second baronet--the one who became well
known as the Countess of Avonwater--in Romney's picture of her as
Circe, and to suggest that the charger of Lieut.-Colonel Jack Churchill
Richards--he was called after his father's great commander--in the
picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller was scarcely large enough to make a polo
pony. It was, however, clearly understood that these criticisms were
offered by the lady only by way of establishing her rights over the
contents of the mansion so long as her husband paid so handsomely as he
did for the privilege of such an entourage. She had probably heard of
certain rights-of-way being maintained by a formal walking over the
ground to which they referred, by the claimant, once a year, and so she
thought it well to walk over the pictures, so to speak, now and again to
show that she understood the rights of her position. She really felt
the greatest pride in everything, and in the course of a few years her
feeling in regard to them was that of a conscientious descendant from
illustrious ancestors. She was much prouder of them than the modern
Major-General in _Patience_ was of his ancestors acquired by purchase.
A visit that I paid to the Castle in the temporary possession of the
family of Higgins was illuminating. I went not because I had ever met
either Mr. or Mrs. Higgins, but because I was acquainted with Miss
Richards, a charming old lady who was the sister of the unhappy baronet,
and had been born in the Castle and lived there for twenty-five or
thirty years, only leaving for the dower-house on the death of her
mother.
Miss Richards was on the friendliest terms with the tenants of her old
home, and I could see that they were pleased to welcome all the friends
whom she might bring with her to see the wonders of the Castle. But it
was Mrs. Higgins who “did the honours” of the picture gallery, when we
went thitherward after tea one lovely afternoon in sum mer shortly after
I had come to Thurswell. It was Mrs. Higgins who assumed the rôle of
Cicerone and told me all about the pictures, and gave me duodecimo
biographies of the originals with all the familiarity that one would
expect only from a member of the family. Miss Richards stood by smiling
quite pleasantly, even when Mrs. Higgins looked at her, saying something
about a pink-coated Captain Richards by Raeburn, and I was disposed to
laugh at the comedy of Mrs. Higgins of Lancashire telling Miss Richards
of Nethershire something confidential about Captain Richards, her
great-granduncle!
I admired the picture, but not nearly so much as I did the coolness of
Mrs. Higgins and the kindly toleration of Miss Richards.
“And this is the portrait by Thornhill of Miss Esther Richards, who
afterwards married General Forster, who took part in the American War,
and to avenge the murder of poor André--he called it murder, though,
of course, some people think that André was really a spy,” said Mrs.
Higgins. “Doesn't it seem strange to think of that sweet little girl-”
“Oh, pardon me,” cried Miss Richards, “you are not quite right. That is
Lotitia Richards by North-cote. She married Sir Charles Brewster, who
was killed at Waterloo.”
“Oh no,” said the tenant, “you are quite wrong. I assure you that this
is Esther. Your Lotitia is the girl in Oriental costume in the library.”
“My dear Mrs. Higgins, how could I possibly be mistaken over such a
matter?” said Miss Richards. “My dear mother told me how Letty Brewster
came here one day when she was eighty-two years of age, and how pathetic
it was to see her stand before her own picture done when a girl; but my
mother said that really some of the charm of the picture--she had lovely
eyes, as you can see--was apparent on the face of the dear old lady of
eighty-two.”
“I am afraid that you are mixing this picture with another,” said Mrs.
Higgins quite good-naturedly.
And then Miss Richards gave a laugh.
“We had better pass this picture and look at one which could not
possibly be mixed up with another,” she said. “I hope you will agree
with me in believing that this is Hoppner's Lady Charlotte Richards,
Mrs. Higgins.”
“Oh yes, you are quite right about _that one_,” said Mrs. Higgins as
graciously as a governess commending the right answer given by an errant
pupil. “Oh yes, that is Lady Charlotte. I believe she became pious and
wrote a hymn. You have heard that, I suppose, Miss Richards?”
“I do believe I did,” replied Miss Richards. “In fact, I have the tiny
volume of hymns which she wrote. She was under the influence of Lady
Huntingdon.”
But Mrs. Higgins clearly took very little interest in Lady Huntingdon,
and she went down the gallery making mistake after mistake; but Miss
Richards never attempted to correct her--only once she caught my eye.
Mrs. Higgins had attributed the Master Richards of Lawrence to Sir Peter
Lely!
We were far away from the Castle before we had our laugh.
“Wasn't it really funny?” said Miss Richards.
“I think that you must be the most even-tempered person in the county,
if not in all England,” said I.
The friendly relations existing between the two ladies were not at all
changed by the persistent patronage of the picture gallery by the one
who was the tenant, and Mrs. Higgins was always ready to offer a hearty
welcome to any of Miss Richards' friends and to do the honours of the
Castle. I did not, however, trespass upon her hospitality a second time.
A year or two later I met a curious sort of gentleman who bore the same
name as that of a family of considerable importance--county importance,
I should say, for outside a ten-mile radius they are, as is usually
the case, absolute nonentities. I had heard some say, however, that the
family grounds included a rather wonderful fountain which I thought
I should like to see. I asked the man if he was any relation to the
family, and he replied, brightening up wonderfully, that they were his
cousins.
“I believe they have a nice place,” said I. “Isn't there a fountain that
came from the Villa Borghese? I am greatly interested in that sort of
thing.”
“You must mean the one with the mermaids,” said he.
“I dare say that is the one,” said I.
“If you go in for things like that you should certainly see it,” he
cried. “Let me see how I can manage it.”
“You are very kind,” said I. “But I could not think of bothering you in
the matter. I dare say that some day I shall have a chance----”
“I have it,” he cried. “The family are going away for a fortnight at
Easter, and when they are gone I could easily show you over the grounds.
I'll just make sure of the day they leave, so that there may be no
mistake.”
In spite of a promise of such lavish hospitality, I resisted the
temptation of being shown over the grounds in the way that was proposed:
the fact being that I had no confidence in my own ability to act the
part of the housekeeper's nephew or the second footman's uncle who are
admitted to the great house when the family are away.
I trust, however, that I convinced the enterprising cousin of the great
house that I fully appreciated his spirited offer to allow me a peep at
the Borghese fountain through a chink in the back door, as it were.
I learned subsequently that the great family started in a tannery in
Mallingham a hundred and twenty years ago. It was no wonder that any one
in my station of life could only be expected to approach their demesne
by a back way.