"And then my lord has much that he would state
All good to you."--CRABBE: /Tales of the Heart/.
LORD VARGRAVE was sitting alone in his library, with his account-books
before him. Carefully did he cast up the various sums which, invested
in various speculations, swelled his income. The result seemed
satisfactory--and the rich man threw down his pen with an air of
triumph.
"I will invest L120,000 in land--only L120,000. I will not be tempted
to sink more. I will have a fine house--a house fitting for a
nobleman--a fine old Elizabethan house--a house of historical interest.
I must have woods and lakes--and a deer-park, above all. Deer are very
gentlemanlike things, very. De Clifford's place is to be sold, I know;
they ask too much for it, but ready money is tempting. I can
bargain--bargain, I am a good hand at a bargain. Should I be now Lord
Baron Vargrave, if I had always given people what they asked? I will
double my subscriptions to the Bible Society and the Philanthropic, and
the building of new churches. The world shall not say Richard Templeton
does not deserve his greatness. I will--Come in. Who's there?--come
in."
The door gently opened--the meek face of the new peeress appeared. "I
disturb you--I beg your pardon--I--"
"Come in, my dear, come in--I want to talk to you--I want to talk to
your ladyship--sit down, pray."
Lady Vargrave obeyed.
"You see," said the peer, crossing his legs, and caressing his left foot
with both hands, while he see-sawed his stately person to and fro in his
chair--"you see that the honour conferred upon me will make a great
change in our mode of life, Mrs. Temple--I mean Lady Vargrave. This
villa is all very well--my country house is not amiss for a country
gentleman--but now we must support our rank. The landed estate I
already possess will go with the title--go to Lumley--I shall buy
another at my own disposal, one that I can feel /thoroughly mine/--it
shall be a splendid place, Lady Vargrave."
"This place is splendid to me," said Lady Vargrave, timidly.
"This place--nonsense--you must learn loftier ideas, Lady Vargrave; you
are young, you can easily contract new habits, more, easily, perhaps,
than myself. You are naturally ladylike, though I say it--you have good
taste, you don't talk much, you don't show your ignorance--quite right.
You must be presented at court, Lady Vargrave--we must give great
dinners, Lady Vargrave. Balls are sinful, so is the opera, at least I
fear so--yet an opera-box would be a proper appendage to your rank, Lady
Vargrave."
"My dear Mr. Templeton--"
"Lord Vargrave, if your ladyship pleases."
"I beg pardon. May you live long to enjoy your honours; but I, my dear
lord--I am not fit to share them: it is only in our quiet life that I
can forget what--what I was. You terrify me when you talk of
court--of--"
"Stuff, Lady Vargrave! stuff; we accustom ourselves to these things. Do
I look like a man who has stood behind a counter? rank is a glove that
stretches to the hand that wears it. And the child, dear child,--dear
Evelyn, she shall be the admiration of London, the beauty, the heiress,
the--oh, she will do me honour!"
"She will, she will!" said Lady Vargrave, and the tears gushed from her
eyes.
Lord Vargrave was softened.
"No mother ever deserved more from a child than you from Evelyn."
"I would hope I have done my duty," said Lady Vargrave, drying her
tears.
"Papa, papa!" cried an impatient voice, tapping at the window, "come and
play, papa--come and play at ball, papa!"
And there, by the window, stood that beautiful child, glowing with
health and mirth--her light hair tossed from her forehead, her sweet
mouth dimpled with smiles.
"My darling, go on the lawn,--don't over-exert yourself--you have not
quite recovered that horrid sprain--I will join you immediately--bless
you!"
"Don't be long, papa--nobody plays so nicely as you do;" and, nodding
and laughing from very glee, away scampered the young fairy. Lord
Vargrave turned to his wife.
"What think you of my nephew--of Lumley?" said he, abruptly.
"He seems all that is amiable, frank, and kind."
Lord Vargrave's brow became thoughtful. "I think so too," he said,
after a, short pause; "and I hope you will approve of what I mean to do.
You see Lumley was brought up to regard himself as my heir--I owe
something to him, beyond the poor estate which goes with, but never can
adequately support, /my/ title. Family honours, hereditary rank, must
be properly regarded. But that dear girl--I shall leave her the bulk of
my fortune. Could we not unite the fortune and the title? It would
secure the rank to her, it would incorporate all my desires--all my
duties."
"But," said Lady Vargrave, with evident surprise, "if I understand you
rightly, the disparity of years--"
"And what then, what then, Lady Vargrave? Is there no disparity of
years between /us/?--a greater disparity than between Lumley and that
tall girl. Lumley is a mere youth, a youth still, five-and-thirty; he
will be little more than forty when they marry; I was between fifty and
sixty when I married you, Lady Vargrave. I don't like boy and girl
marriages: a man should be older than his wife. But you are so
romantic, Lady Vargrave. Besides, Lumley is so gay and good-looking,
and wears so well. He has been very nearly forming another attachment;
but that, I trust, is out of his head now. They must like each other.
You will not gainsay me, Lady Vargrave, and if anything happens to
me--life is uncertain--"
"Oh, do not speak so--my friend, my benefactor!"
"Why, indeed," resumed his lordship, mildly, "thank Heaven, I am very
well--feel younger than ever I did--but still life is uncertain; and if
you survive me, you will not throw obstacles in the way of my grand
scheme?"
"I--no,--no--of course you have the right in all things over her
destiny; but so young--so soft-hearted, if she should love one of her
own years--"
"Love!--pooh! love does not come into girls' heads unless it is put
there. We will bring her up to love Lumley. I have another reason--a
cogent one--our secret!--to him it can be confided--it should not go out
of our family. Even in my grave I could not rest if a slur were cast on
my respectability--my name."
Lord Vargrave spoke solemnly and warmly; then muttering to himself,
"Yes, it is for the best," he took up his hat and quitted the room. He
joined his stepchild on the lawn. He romped with her--he played with
her--that stiff, stately man!--he laughed louder than she did, and ran
almost as fast. And when she was fatigued and breathless, he made her
sit down beside him, in a little summer-house, and, fondly stroking down
her disordered tresses, said, "You tire me out, child; I am growing too
old to play with you. Lumley must supply my place. You love Lumley?"
"Oh, dearly, he is so good-humoured, so kind: he has given me such a
beautiful doll, with such eyes!"
"You shall be his little wife--you would like to be his little wife?"
"Wife! why, poor mamma is a wife, and she is not so happy as I am."
"Your mamma has bad health, my dear," said Lord Vargrave, a little
discomposed. "But it is a fine thing to be a wife and have a carriage
of your own, and a fine house, and jewels, and plenty of money, and be
your own mistress; and Lumley will love you dearly."
"Oh, yes, I should like all that."
"And you will have a protector, child, when I am no more."
The tone, rather than the words, of her stepfather struck a damp into
that childish heart. Evelyn lifted her eyes, gazed at him earnestly,
and then, throwing her arms round him, burst into tears.
Lord Vargrave wiped his own eyes, and covered her with kisses.
"Yes, you shall be Lumley's wife, his honoured wife, heiress to my rank
as to my fortunes."
"I will do all that papa wishes."
"You will be Lady Vargrave, then, and Lumley will be your husband," said
the stepfather, impressively. "Think over what I have said. Now let us
join mamma. But, as I live, here is Lumley himself. However, it is not
yet the time to sound him:--I hope that he has no chance with that Lady
Florence."