As I have got so near to the remarkable family of Gwynnes, I must say a
few more words about them.
Mr. Gwynne was one of six brothers and two sisters. One brother was a
very artful lawyer of imposing demeanour, and was highly respected by all
who did not know him.
Another brother, whose position in life—the head of the Legacy Office—was
so good that all men spoke well of him, married a not good-looking
Jewess. A third brother was also in the law, but the time came when
he forewent his licence, perhaps owing to some irregularities in his
practice; but he was the most true-hearted of the lot, and had one of the
sweetest of daughters. He had a practice still, but it was attended with
certain disabilities. Two brothers remained; both attained rank in the
East India Company’s service. They were, like the rest, very fine men,
and, being soldiers, they were of unimpeachable honour.
Then there were two sisters, who, as is always the case in slack
families, were a credit to society. These two ladies were both well
settled in life.
My uncle was the most unfortunate of the family; too much for the day
was the good thereof, so he allowed his affairs to drift in whatever
direction they liked, and that was towards bankruptcy, of course.
He was indulgent towards his family, though perhaps a little ironical
towards his wife, who would repeat all that passed concerning him with
the greatest glee. After a quarrel, in which he said ill-natured things,
she would say, “If that is your opinion of me, Gwynne, why did you marry
me?” “My dear Henrietta,” he would reply, “it was for your present beauty
and your future expectations.” And she would tell this story with fits of
laughter.
These, my uncle and aunt, were frequent guests at Glynde, the residence
of a Lord and Lady Hampden, who took much pleasure in Mrs. Gwynne’s
society on account of her great wit.
One evening, after dinner, Lady Hampden spoke warmly in favour of one of
the farmers, dwelling on his truthfulness and honesty.
“My dear Lady Hampden,” said Mrs. Gwynne, “you do not know that man; I
can assure you that, with the exception of my dear husband, he is the
greatest liar in the county.”
My uncle, Captain Wallinger, would sometimes drive me over to Denton,
and we generally reached the parsonage in time to see a general rush of
the boys from the house and premises. They were so dirty, so ill-clad
and unkempt, they did not dare to face their uncle. Mr. Gwynne was
seldom at home; his time was fully employed in keeping appointments with
dog-fanciers, horse-dealers, gunsmiths, and the like. He allowed the
parish to take care of itself, or to be cared for by the farmers or his
wife; and as he preached _extempore_, he had no sermons to prepare. He
was very fluent, which he accounted for by saying that he looked at the
congregation as he would do on a field of cabbage-stalks. I have no doubt
that, when preaching to others, he was sincere, and that he preached to
himself at the same time. But he was not one of those self-martyrs who
annoy themselves through life with religious dogmas. Still, he was not a
mere agnostic in canonicals, but true to his belief, though he did not
avail himself personally of this advantage.
There was not a tree in the village, except a willow that wept over a
mud pond on the roadside by the church, as some sanctified parties do
over the worthless dead; yet Denton could be compared to nothing but the
backwoods of a colony, so rugged an aspect did the Gwynne boys give to
the place. They were the talk of the neighbourhood for miles around.
They could, nevertheless, satirize and very cleverly mock those who
looked down on their doings. One or two of them, once on a visit at the
Wallingers’, followed their aunt, by invitation, up to the drawing-room.
She knew them of old, and while they ascended the stairs she turned round
suddenly, when she met the sight she expected—one was making hideous
faces at her, the other was squaring his fists at her back.
“Dear me! You seem amused,” was her only reproof; but she secretly
enjoyed it, for everything was grateful to her that stamped others as her
inferiors.