THE VICAR
The Vicar of Abington was the Reverend A. Salisbury Mercer, M.A., with a
tendency towards hyphenation of the two names, though the more
resounding of them had been given to him at baptism in token of his
father's admiration for a great statesman. He was middle-sized, but held
himself in such a way as to give the impression of height, or at least
of dignity. His dignity was, indeed, dear to him, and his chief quarrel
with the world, in which he had otherwise made himself very comfortable,
was that there were so many people who failed to recognise it. His wife,
however, was not one of them. She thought him the noblest of men, and
more often in the right than not. He was somewhere in the early fifties,
and she about ten years younger. She was a nice good-tempered little
lady, inclined to easy laughter, but not getting much occasion for it in
her home, for the Reverend A. Salisbury Mercer took life seriously, as
became a man of his profession. She had brought him money--not a great
deal of money, but enough to give him a well-appointed comfortable home,
which the emoluments of Abington Vicarage would not have given him of
themselves. In clerical and clerically-minded society he was accustomed
to complain of the inequalities of such emoluments in the Church of
England. "Look at Abington," he would say, some time in the course of
the discussion. "There's a fine church, which wants a good deal of
keeping up, and there's a good house; but the value of the living has
come down to about a hundred and thirty a year. No man without private
means--considerable private means--could possibly afford to take it. And
those men are getting scarcer and scarcer. After me, I don't know what
will happen at Abington."
The village of Abington consisted mainly of one broad street lined on
either side with red brick houses, cottages and little shops. The
Vicarage was a good-sized Georgian house which abutted right on to the
pavement, and had cottages built against it on one side and its own
stable-yard on the other. The Vicar was often inclined to complain of
its consequent lack of privacy, but the fact that its front windows
provided an uninterrupted view of the village street, and what went on
there, went a good way towards softening the deprivation. For he liked
to know what his flock were doing. He took a good deal of responsibility
for their actions.
One of the front rooms downstairs was the study. The Vicar's
writing-table was arranged sideways to the window, so that he could get
the light coming from the left while he was writing. If he looked up he
had a good view right down the village street, which took a very slight
turn when the Vicarage was passed. Another reason he had for placing his
table in this position was that it was a good thing for his
parishioners to see him at work. "The idea that a clergyman's life is an
easy one," he would say to any one who might show a tendency to advance
or even to hold that opinion, "is quite wrong. His work is never ended,
either within or without. I myself spend many hours a day at my desk,
but all that the public sees of what I do there is represented by an
hour or two in church during the week."
An irrepressible nephew of his wife engaged in London journalism, to
whom this had once been said during a week-end visit, had replied: "Do
you mean to say, Uncle, that the sermon you preached this morning took
you hours to write up? I could have knocked it off in half an hour, and
then I should have had most of it blue-pencilled."
That irreverent young man had not been asked to the house again, but it
had been explained to him that sermon-writing was not the chief labour
of a parish priest. He had a great deal of correspondence to get
through, and he had to keep himself up in contemporary thought. The
Vicar, indeed, did most of his reading sitting at his table, with his
head propped on his hand. Few people could beat him in his knowledge of
contemporary thought as infused through the brains of such writers as
Mr. Philips Oppenheim, Mr. Charles Garvice, and Mr. William le Queux.
Women writers he did not care for, but he made an exception in favour of
Mrs. Florence Barclay, whose works he judged to contain the right
proportions of strength and feeling. It must not be supposed that he
was at all ashamed of his novel-reading, as some foolish people are. He
was not ashamed of anything that he did, and, as for novels, he would
point out that the proper study of mankind was man, and that next to
studying the human race for yourself, it was the best thing to read the
works of those authors who had trained themselves to observe it.
Literature, as such, had nothing to do with it. If you wanted literature
you could not have anything finer than certain parts of the Old
Testament. It was hardly worth while going to modern authors for that.
The more literature there was in a modern novel, the less human nature
you would be likely to find. No; it would generally be found that the
public taste was the right taste in these matters, whatever people who
thought themselves superior might say. He himself claimed no superiority
in such matters. He supposed he had a brain about as good as the
average, but what was good enough for some millions of his
fellow-countrymen was good enough for him. He preferred to leave Mr.
Henry James to others who thought differently.
The "Daily Telegraph" came by the second post, at about twelve o'clock,
and Mrs. Mercer was accustomed to bring it in to her husband, with
whatever letters there were for him or for her. She liked to stay and
chat with him for a time, and sometimes, if there was anything that
invited discussion in her letters, he would encourage her to do so. But
he generally happened to be rather particularly busy at this time, not,
of course, with novel-reading, which was usually left till a later
hour. He would just 'glance through the paper' and then she must really
leave him. They could talk about anything that wanted talking about at
lunch. He would glance through the paper hurriedly and then lay it aside
and return to his writing; but when she had obediently left the room he
would take up the paper again. It was necessary for him to know what was
going on in the world. His wife never took the paper away with her. She
had her own "Daily Mirror," which he despised and sometimes made her
ashamed of reading, but never to the extent of persuading her to give it
up. He was a kind husband, and seldom let a day go by without looking
through it himself, out of sympathy with her.
On this March morning Mrs. Mercer brought in the "Daily Telegraph." It
was all that had come by the post, except circulars, with which she
never troubled him, and her own "Daily Mirror." She rather particularly
wanted to talk to him, as he had come home late the night before from a
day in London, and had not since felt inclined to tell her anything
about it. Whether she would have succeeded or not if she had not come
upon him reading a novel which he had bought the day before is doubtful.
As it was, he did not send her away on the plea of being particularly
busy.
"Ah!" he said, laying the book decidedly aside. "I was just looking
through this. It is so good that I am quite looking forward to reading
it this evening. Well, what's the news with you, my dear?"
Little Mrs. Mercer brightened. She knew his tones; and he was so nice
when he was like this. "It's me that ought to ask what's the news with
you," she said. "You haven't told me anything of what you did or heard
yesterday."
He had been glancing through the paper, but looked up. "There is one
thing I heard that may interest you," he said. "I sat next to a man at
lunch at the Club and got into conversation with him, or rather he with
me, and when it came out that I was Vicar of Abington he said: 'Is that
the Abington in Meadshire?' and when I said yes he said: 'I've had
Abington Abbey on my books for a long time, and I believe I've let it at
last.' He was a House-Agent, a very respectable fellow; the membership
of a club like that is rather mixed, but I should have taken him for a
barrister at least, except that he had seemed anxious to get into
conversation with me."
"It's like that in trams and buses," said Mrs. Mercer. "Anybody who
starts a conversation isn't generally as good as the person they start
it with."
The Vicar let this pass. "He told me," he said, "that a client of
his--he called him a client--who had been looking out for a country
house for some time had taken a fancy to the Abbey, and said that if the
photographs represented it properly, which they generally didn't when
you saw the place itself, and everything else turned out to be as it had
been represented, he thought it would suit him. He should come down and
look at it very soon."
"Who is he?" asked Mrs. Mercer. "Did he tell you?"
"He did not tell me his name. He said he was a gentleman in the City. I
asked the name, but apparently it isn't etiquette for that sort of
people to give it. Every calling, of course, has its own conventions in
such matters. I said we didn't think much of gentlemen in the City in
this part of the world, and I rather hoped his friend would find that
the place did not suit him. Some of us were not particularly rich, but
we were quite content as we were. By that time he had become, as I
thought, a little over-familiar, which is why I said that."
"I think you were quite right, dear. What did he say?"
"Oh, he laughed. He had finished his lunch by that time, and went away
without saying a word. These half-gentlemen always break down in their
manners somewhere."
"Anybody who could buy the Abbey must be pretty rich. It won't be a bad
thing for the parish to have somebody with money in it again."
"No, there is that. Anybody meaner than Mr. Compton-Brett it would be
difficult to imagine. We could hardly be worse off in that respect than
we are at present."
Mr. Compton-Brett was the owner of Abington Abbey, with the acreage
attached thereto, and the advowson that went with it. He was a rich
bachelor, who lived the life of a bookish recluse in chambers in the
Albany. He had inherited Abington from a distant relation, and only
visited it under extreme pressure, about once a year. He refused to let
it, and had also refused many advantageous offers to sell. A buyer must
accept his terms or leave it alone. They included the right of
presentation to the living of Abington at its full actuarial value, and
he would not sell the right separately. Rich men who don't want money
allow themselves these luxuries of decision. It must amuse them in some
way, and they probably need amusement. For a man who can't get it out of
dealing with more money than will provide for his personal needs must be
lacking in imagination.
"I hope they will be nice people to know," said Mrs. Mercer, "and won't
give themselves airs."
"They won't give themselves airs over me twice," replied her husband
loftily. "As a matter of fact, these new rich people who buy country
places are often glad to have somebody to advise them. For all their
money they are apt to make mistakes."
"Are they new people? Did the House-Agent say that?"
"Well, no. But it's more likely than not. 'A gentleman in the City,' he
said. That probably means somebody who has made a lot of money and wants
to blossom out as a gentleman in the country."
Mrs. Mercer laughed at this, as it seemed to be expected of her. "I hope
he _will_ be a gentleman," she said. "I suppose there will be a lady
too, and perhaps a family. It will be rather nice to have somebody
living at the Abbey. We are not too well off for nice neighbours."
"I should think we are about as badly off as anybody can be," said the
Vicar. "There is not a soul in the village itself who is any good to
anybody except, of course, Mrs. Walter and Mollie; and as for the people
round--well, you know yourself that a set of people more difficult to
get on with it would be impossible to find anywhere. I am not a
quarrelsome man. Except where my sacred calling is in question, my motto
is 'Live and let live.' But the people about us here will not do that.
Each one of them seems to want to quarrel. I sincerely hope that these
new people at the Abbey will not want that. If they do, well----"
"Oh, I hope not," said little Mrs. Mercer hastily. "I do hope we shall
all be good friends, especially if there is a nice family. Whoever buys
the Abbey will be your patron, won't he, dear? Mr. Worthing has often
told us that Mr. Compton-Brett won't sell the property without selling
the patronage of the living."
"Whoever buys the property will have the _future_ right to present to
this living," replied the Vicar. "He will have no more right of
patronage over me than anybody else. If there is likely to be any doubt
about that I shall take an early opportunity of making it plain."
"Oh, I'm sure there won't be," said Mrs. Mercer. "I only meant that he
_would_ be patron of the living; not that he would have any authority
over the present incumbent. Of course, I know he wouldn't have that."
"_You_ know it, my dear, because you are in the way of knowing such
elementary facts. But it is extraordinary what a large number of people
are ignorant of them. A rich self-made City man, with not much education
behind him, perhaps not even a churchman, is just the sort of person to
be ignorant of such things. He is quite likely to think that because he
has bought the right to present to a living he has also bought the right
to domineer over the incumbent. It is what the rich Dissenters do over
their ministers. If this new man is a Dissenter, as he is quite likely
to be if he is anything at all, he will be almost certain to take that
view. Well, as I say, I am a man of peace, but I know where I stand, and
for the sake of my office I shall not budge an inch."
The Vicar breathed heavily. Mrs. Mercer felt vaguely distressed. Her
husband was quite right, of course. There did seem to be a sort of
conspiracy all round them to refuse him the recognition of his claims,
which were only those he felt himself bound to make as a beneficed
priest of the Church of England, and for the honour of the Church
itself. Still, the recognition of such claims had not as yet been
actually denied him from this new-comer, whose very name they did not
yet know. It seemed to be settled that he was self-made, ignorant and in
all probability a Dissenter; but he might be quite nice all the same,
and his family still nicer. It seemed a pity to look for trouble before
it came. They hadn't, as it was admitted between them, too many friends,
and she did like to have friends. Even among the people round them whom
it was awkward to meet in the road there were some whom she would have
been quite glad to be on friendly terms with again, in spite of the way
they had behaved to her husband.
She was preparing to say in an encouraging manner something to the
effect that people were generally nicer than they appeared to be at
first sight. Her husband would almost certainly have replied that the
exact contrary was the case, and brought forward instances known to them
both to prove it. So it was just as well that there was a diversion at
this moment. It took the form of a large opulent-looking motor-car,
which was passing slowly down the village street, driven by a
smart-looking uniformed chauffeur, while a middle-aged man and a young
girl sat behind and looked about them; enquiringly on either side. They
were George Grafton and Caroline, who supposed that they had reached the
village of Abington by this time, but were as yet uncertain of the
whereabouts of the Abbey. At that moment a question was being put by the
chauffeur to one of the Vicar's parishioners on the pavement. He replied
to it with a pointing finger, and the car slid off at a faster pace down
the street.
"That must be them!" said Mrs. Mercer in some excitement. "They do look
nice, Albert--quite gentle-people, I must say."
The Vicar had also gathered that it must be 'them,' and was as
favourably impressed by their appearance as his wife. But it was not his
way to take any opinion from her, or even to appear to do so. "If it is
our gentleman from the City," he said, "he would certainly be rich
enough to make that sort of appearance. But I should think it is very
unlikely. However, I shall probably find out if it is he, as I must go
up to the church. I'll tell you when I come back."
She did not ask if she might go with him, although she must have known
well enough that his visit to the church had been decided on, on the
spur of the moment, so that he might get just that opportunity for
investigation of which she herself would frankly have acknowledged she
was desirous. He would have rebuked her for her prying disposition, and
declined her company.
He went out at once, and she watched him walk quickly down the village
street, his head and body held very stiff--a pompous man, a
self-indulgent man, an ignorant self-satisfied man, but her lord and
master, and with some qualities, mostly hidden from others, which caused
her to admire him.