LORD CLEMENT.
Lady Mervyn's prediction regarding Lord Clement's movements proved to
be correct. His yacht, _La Catalina_, arrived at Cannes two or three
days after we did, and that event was speedily followed by the
appearance of her noble owner at the hotel where we were staying.
The interest with which Kitty's affairs inspired me had led to my
speculating a good deal on the subject of this young lord; and I had
made up my mind that he was almost sure to have something or other
disagreeable about him which would counterbalance his many charms,
and afford some explanation of her unwillingness to accept him. No
doubt, thought I, he is loutish, silly, ugly, untidy, bad mannered,
eccentric, or in some other way objectionable. This anticipation,
however, turned out to be wrong, and I soon perceived that he had
none of the defects with which my lively imagination had credited
him.
He was rather below middle height, dressed well and quietly,
and could never by any accident be mistaken for anything but a
gentleman--which, indeed, he certainly was in every respect. Neither
handsome nor ugly, his face was amiable and mild, but possessed no
other very marked expression of any kind. One would not suppose him
to be powerful or weak, distinguished or insignificant, a genius or a
fool. If there was nothing specially attractive about his appearance,
neither was there the reverse.
His intellect was not in any way brilliant, but he had good sense and
fair average abilities, was eminently painstaking, and would work as
laboriously at whatever he thought it his duty to do as though his
livelihood had depended on his exertions. In short, I think that the
most appropriate description of him is mediocrity, in respect of
everything except moral qualities; but where these were concerned he
was by no means mediocre, being far more conscientious and anxious to
do right than are the majority of rich young men who have the world
at their feet.
The most trying thing about him was a tendency to make a fuss about
trifles, and to attach a needless importance to all the minor
proprieties of life, which was sometimes rather irritating. But,
after all, fidgettiness and extra deference to Mrs. Grundy are only
very small defects in the eyes of most people. I could understand
that Kitty might occasionally be aggravated by these failings, yet
they alone were not, in my opinion, sufficient to account for his
being refused by a girl who was ambitious, and who had enough
perspicacity and worldly wisdom to appreciate what an excellent match
he was, and what an opening for ambition would be afforded by the
position of his wife.
I was curious to know how Kitty treated him, and profited by every
opportunity I had of watching them together. From these observations
I came to the conclusion that he had inspired her neither with
affection nor aversion, and that she was struggling to bring herself
to accept him. I thought that her reason and judgment were pleading
for him, and expatiating on his attractions, as her mother had done,
and that she was lending a willing ear to these advocates, and doing
all she could to let herself be convinced by their arguments. Yet I
had a great idea, too, that the effort went against the grain with
her, and that she often could not help keeping him at arm's length,
even in spite of her own wish. It was as if she had been conscious
of the grasp of an invisible hand, from which she could not wrench
herself free, and which constantly drew her back when she strove to
approach nearer to her suitor.
Is it Captain Norroy's hand that restrains her? I asked myself, as I
pondered over this result of my observations. Yet, if so, it seems
very odd that no one except me should have discovered their attachment
for one another. From all that I have seen and heard I should have
thought that a young couple in society would never have managed to
become spoons to any serious degree without giving rise to some
amount of suspicion as to the true state of affairs between them.
How ever can these two have contrived to deceive the lynx eyes of
gossip-loving servants, and to hoodwink the worldly and wide-awake
Lady Mervyn, whose heart is set on securing a brilliant match for her
favourite daughter?
Lord Clement's behaviour towards Kitty after his arrival at Cannes
seemed to me that of a man who felt himself to be on trial--was
nervous lest she should think him over eager in his addresses, and
objected to getting himself talked about with a girl who perhaps
would not marry him after all. His first proceeding was to get
introduced to Mrs. Rollin, who had till then been a stranger to him.
The introduction was easily effected, and after that he had no lack
of opportunities of meeting the object of his affections; for Mrs.
Rollin responded cordially to his advances, inviting him to join in
all the excursions to neighbouring lions which she and Kitty made,
and letting it be apparent that he was most welcome whenever he chose
to pay them a visit, and to accompany them anywhere.
I have no doubt that this civility of hers resulted, in the first
instance, from something said by Lady Mervyn as to his admiration
for Kitty, and the desirability of encouraging him as much as
possible. But though this may have been the original motive of the
_empressement_ with which Mrs. Rollin received him, there was no fear
of her not welcoming him for his own sake when once she had made
acquaintance with him and discovered what he was like. For she was a
person who held that the most important matter in life was to stand
well in the world's opinion, and consequently she was quite charmed
with his scrupulous regard for _convenances_ and extreme horror of
doing anything that could shock Mrs. Grundy.
"There's nothing of more consequence," Mrs. Rollin would declare,
"than to keep up appearances, because, provided one does that, one is
quite safe to be thought perfect. And that's what every one wishes to
be thought, or, if they don't, they ought to. I call it quite wicked
of any one to pretend that it doesn't matter what the world's opinion
about them is. Depend upon it, that whatever the whole world thinks
_can't_ be wrong; and that if a person is generally condemned or
praised, there's always some good reason for the blame or the
approval."
Keeping up appearances in the eyes of the world was, therefore,
her standard of perfection; and she strove zealously never to fall
short of that standard, and always to fulfil its requirements
punctiliously. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to deduce from
this that she was such an abject slave of the world's opinion as to
let herself be governed by it in things which it did not see. On the
contrary, she drew a line between her public and private actions, and
did not allow it to interfere at all with the latter. If she had
tastes and inclinations to which it objected, she did not, on that
account, sacrifice them, if it was possible that they could be
indulged in secret. How she would act, under such circumstances, was
illustrated by her behaviour regarding French novels. These she
preferred to any other kind of reading, and greedily devoured as
many as she could lay hold of. But as she knew that the world
sometimes thinks fit to frown at an indiscriminate study of these
books (who shall say whether that disapprobation is real or
feigned?), therefore she was careful not to reveal her partiality for
them. Yet she did not rush to the opposite extreme and disclaim any
acquaintance whatsoever with that class of literature. She had no
idea of hiding her light under a bushel, and not being duly credited
with as many accomplishments as she possessed, and therefore liked
to have it known that she understood a foreign language well enough
to read and enjoy works written in it. So what she did was, to
profess to read French novels solely with the laudable object of
keeping up her French; while, at the same time, she was most cautious
in talking about them in public, and never betrayed the slightest
knowledge of the contents of any that were not fairly decorous and
proper.
But _I_ knew better than that. It was a matter in which her maid
could not be deceived as easily as the rest of the world.
Bohemianism being an open setting-at-defiance of the world's opinion,
was quite detestable to her, with all that savoured thereof; and the
very correct Lord Clement was, of course, a man after her own heart.
There was, however, a wide difference between the respective ways in
which he and she regarded Mrs. Grundy. For while the gentleman had a
genuine esteem for that great social authority, and paid her homage
in all sincerity, Mrs. Rollin did it only in appearance, and was
moved thereto chiefly by fear.
The room in which I slept was immediately over Mrs. Rollin's
sitting-room; and by sitting at the open window in my room I could
hear--when the weather was calm--most things that were said by people
on the balcony beneath. Thus I overheard an interesting conversation
as to plans which took place after we had been at Cannes for about as
long a time as my two ladies intended to stay there. Where to go
next, was the question they were debating. And as Lord Clement
happened to call just then, Mrs. Rollin appealed to him to assist
them with his advice in the matter.
His manner of complying with this request was eminently characteristic
of him. Kitty's society was the object of his keenest desires at
that moment, and he was averse to the idea of any movement that would
involve his being separated from her. Under these circumstances, and
considering the amount of encouragement he had received--especially
from the young lady's _chaperone_--some men would have taken it for
granted that their companionship was acceptable, and that it was a
matter of course for them to accompany the two ladies to their next
destination. Not so, however, would Lord Clement behave. Thus openly
to attach himself to them as a travelling companion would inevitably
give rise to gossip; and to do anything likely to be talked about as
unusual was quite contrary to his ideas of propriety. Though the real
object of his visit to the Mediterranean might have been Kitty, yet
the ostensible reason had been yachting; and this pretext he had no
intention of renouncing by leaving his vessel. In taking part in the
discussion as to what our future movements were to be, he gave no
indication of being personally interested in the matter in any way,
and assumed the air of a strictly impartial adviser. At the same
time, however, his opinion as to the desirability of places was
in such remarkably exact proportion to their availability from
the sea, that I listened with much amusement, and thought that the
disinterestedness of his counsels might very fairly be doubted.
Various localities had been suggested and talked over without any
determination being arrived at, when Kitty observed, "Now I've quite
a new place to propose; and that's Corsica. I saw it looking just
like a purple cloud resting on the sea the other day, and I have a
great fancy to go and see it close. For one thing, there's no railway
there yet; and I should like, for once in my life, to feel that I was
in a land through which locomotives have never puffed. It would be an
absolutely new sensation to me, and one which the present rate of
civilisation will soon render unattainable, I expect; so I vote we
experience it while we can. Besides, I'm sure it would be a good
place for sketching. What do you say, Aunt Georgina? Don't you think
it'll be pleasant to get away from this cockney old Riviera, and go a
little bit out of the regular beaten track where _every one_ goes?"
"Kitty, Kitty!" remonstrated her aunt, "it quite distresses me to
hear you talk like that! You really shouldn't speak contemptuously of
the beaten track, and be so anxious to get away from it. Remember
that the fact of its being worn by many feet is also a sure proof of
its being smoother, pleasanter, and in every way preferable to other
tracks."
"All right, aunty," laughed Kitty; "I won't abuse your favourite
walk since it vexes you! But doesn't it strike you that I should
appreciate its merits all the more if I were to see with my own
eyes--just for once you know--how horrid some other route can be? And
isn't that a good reason for going to Corsica? _Do_ let's go there;
I've quite set my heart on it."
Kitty rarely failed to get her own way with Mrs. Rollin, who was
as susceptible as the rest of the world to the girl's powers of
fascination. But the hesitating, reluctant tone in which the elder
lady answered, showed me that she had no great fancy for this
Corsican visit. "Well, I hardly know what to say," she returned
slowly; "to begin with, How does one get there? and in the next
place, What's it like when one _is_ there? I think I've heard you say
you were there once, Lord Clement; do help me to make up my mind
about this, and advise me whether or not to do what this rash niece
of mine wishes."
Corsica naturally found favour in the young man's eyes as being
convenient for yachting purposes. "Oh, if you ask me, I decidedly
advise you to go," he replied; "it's really a pretty sort of country,
besides being interesting as the birthplace of Napoleon. By the by
you should read Boswell's tour if you go. As for getting there, you
_could_ go by steamer either from Marseilles to Ajaccio, or else from
Leghorn or Genoa to Bastia. But I hope that you will allow me the
pleasure of taking you over in _La Catalina_, which you'll find far
more comfortable than either of the regular steamers--they're all
nasty, dirty, uneasy little boats, I believe."
"I'm sure we are greatly obliged to you for so good an offer,"
answered Mrs. Rollin, "and I think we should gladly avail ourselves
of it _if_ we were to decide upon going. But I fancy I've heard it
said that one can't get anything to eat there--which wouldn't suit me
at all. And then, too, there are the dangers from vendettas and
banditti to be taken into consideration."
"Oh now, don't go being a perverse aunty, and making difficulties out
of nothing!" exclaimed Kitty. "How could the natives exist if there
wasn't something to eat? And a vendetta is a strictly private family
affair, which doesn't affect strangers one atom. And as for banditti,
it's not Corsica but Sicily that is full of them; my belief is that
you've gone and mixed the two islands together in your head. The
Corsicans are always supposed to be a particularly amiable and
friendly set of people as far as ever _I_ heard. Except, of course,
when there's a vendetta to excite them, and that wouldn't matter to
outsiders like you and me."
"I assure you that that is true, Mrs. Rollin," added Lord Clement,
"and that you have really no cause of apprehension from robbers. The
only danger of that kind which I ever heard mentioned during my stay
there was from escaped convicts. Now and then a few manage to get
out of the prison, I believe, and support themselves _à la_ brigand
on the mountains, till they are either retaken or else contrive to
get across to Sardinia to join some of the banditti there. But that
only happens so very seldom that it really is not worth taking into
consideration."
"How about the hotels?" inquired Mrs. Rollin; "are there any good
ones to be met with?"
"Oh, they are not at all bad at the two chief seaports--Ajaccio and
Bastia," he replied, "and there would not be any necessity for you
to sleep anywhere else. I could take you from the one town to the
other in my yacht, and from those places you could make inland
expeditions within the limits of a day, which would enable you to see
a great deal of the country without having to rough it at all. I
can't say much for the hotel accommodation anywhere except at the two
chief towns, and shouldn't recommend you to go travelling about in
the interior. But of course you would not care to visit the more wild
and out-of-the-way parts."
"You mustn't be too sure of that," said Kitty, laughing. "Whatever a
place may be, it's attractive to me if it's different from any other
that I've ever seen before. And Aunt Georgina isn't _quite_ so
miserable when beyond reach of luxuries as you might think to hear
her talk. I've even known her go without five o'clock tea and yet be
happy! For my part I begin to feel an intense desire arising in my
breast to hunt up an escaped convict and fraternise with him, or at
least to go and inspect his lair. What a novel subject for a sketch
it would be! And I'm _sure_ that you'll like to do whatever pleases
me, aunty, for you always do. Now isn't that true?"
"Well, well, perhaps I do my dear, but only within reasonable limits,
please to remember," returned her aunt, who was considerably
influenced by Lord Clement's support of the Corsican scheme. "People
of my age don't regard 'roughing it' with the same enthusiasm as some
of the young ones, who don't really know what that process implies,
and for whom it has all the charm of novelty. I should certainly
draw the line a long way before the escaped convict you wish to
meet. However, joking apart, from what Lord Clement says, there
does not seem to be any reason against running over to the island
and gratifying your whim to have a peep at it, though I quite agree
with him as to its being undesirable to penetrate into any remote
and inaccessible parts, where neither pleasure nor advantage are to
be gained. I never can see the good of going to places where no one
else goes. There's no one one knows there; and besides that, as no
one knows anything about them, there's no chance of finding them
necessary, or even useful, as topics of conversation in society. So
that visiting such places is mere waste of time and money in _my_
opinion!"
"Well, then we may consider Corsica to be our next destination
anyhow," said Kitty triumphantly. "That's the first thing to settle,
and there is no need to make up our minds as to anything further just
yet. Time enough for that by and by, when we get there."
After a little more discussion it was decided that we should be
conveyed to Ajaccio in _La Catalina_; which vessel, though not
containing berths enough for us to have slept a night on board, was
yet quite capable of accommodating us very comfortably for the time
requisite to perform the passage between Cannes and Ajaccio. What our
plans should be after reaching the island was left quite uncertain;
for though Mrs. Rollin was well inclined to stay only at the two
chief towns and move from one to the other in the yacht, as Lord
Clement had proposed, yet Kitty was not to be induced to commit
herself to any definite approval of this scheme, and without her
approval it was impossible to feel sure of its being carried out, for
she generally got her own way about things she cared for. All she
would say was, that perhaps it might be a good plan and perhaps not,
and that there was not the least need to settle the matter positively
yet.
Lord Clement was evidently happy to have had his offer of the yacht
accepted--for the voyage across at all events. But I think that his
satisfaction was somewhat marred by a dread of Kitty's taking the bit
between her teeth when once she should be at Corsica, running away
with her aunt, all over the island, and getting out of his reach from
the sea; if the whim to do it came to her, there was but small
probability that she would not accomplish her purpose.