Lady Montfort heard with great satisfaction from Mr. Neuchatel that Lord
Roehampton was going to pay a visit to Hainault at Easter, and that he
had asked himself. She playfully congratulated Mrs. Neuchatel on the
subject, and spoke as if the affair was almost concluded. That lady,
however, received the intimation with a serious, not to say distressed
countenance. She said that she should be grieved to lose Adriana under
any circumstances; but if her marriage in time was a necessity, she
trusted she might be united to some one who would not object to becoming
a permanent inmate of their house. What she herself desired for her
daughter was a union with some clergyman, and if possible, the rector
of their own parish. But it was too charming a dream to realise. The
rectory at Hainault was almost in the Park, and was the prettiest house
in the world, with the most lovely garden. She herself much preferred it
to the great mansion--and so on.
Lady Montfort stared at her with impatient astonishment, and then said,
“Your daughter, Mrs. Neuchatel, ought to make an alliance which would
place her at the head of society.”
“What a fearful destiny,” said Mrs. Neuchatel, “for any one, but
overwhelming for one who must feel the whole time that she occupies a
position not acquired by her personal qualities!”
“Adriana is pretty,” said Lady Montfort. “I think her more than pretty;
she is highly accomplished and in every way pleasing. What can you
mean, then, my dear madam, by supposing she would occupy a position not
acquired by her personal qualities?”
Mrs. Neuchatel sighed and shook her head, and then said, “We need not
have any controversy on this subject. I have no reason to believe there
is any foundation for my fears. We all like and admire Lord Roehampton.
It is impossible not to admire and like him. So great a man, and yet so
gentle and so kind, so unaffected--I would say, so unsophisticated; but
he has never given the slightest intimation, either to me or her father,
that he seriously admired Adriana, and I am sure if he had said anything
to her she would have told us.”
“He is always here,” said Lady Montfort, “and he is a man who used to go
nowhere except for form. Besides, I know that he admires her, that he is
in love with her, and I have not a doubt that he has invited himself to
Hainault in order to declare his feelings to her.”
“How very dreadful!” exclaimed Mrs. Neuchatel. “What are we to do?”
“To do!” said Lady Montfort; “why, sympathise with his happiness, and
complete it. You will have a son-in-law of whom you may well be proud,
and Adriana a husband who, thoroughly knowing the world, and women, and
himself, will be devoted to her; will be a guide and friend, a guide
that will never lecture, and a friend who will always charm, for there
is no companion in the world like him, and I think I ought to know,”
added Lady Montfort, “for I always tell him that I was the last of his
conquests, and I shall ever be grateful to him for his having spared to
me so much of his society.”
“Adriana on this matter will decide for herself,” said Mrs. Neuchatel,
in a serious tone, and with a certain degree of dignity. “Neither Mr.
Neuchatel, nor myself, have ever attempted to control her feelings in
this respect.”
“Well, I am now about to see Adriana,” said Lady Montfort; “I know she
is at home. If I had not been obliged to go to Princedown, I would have
asked you to let me pass Easter at Hainault myself.”
On this very afternoon, when Myra, who had been walking in Regent’s Park
with her brother, returned home, she found Adriana agitated, and really
in tears.
“What is all this, dearest?” inquired her friend.
“I am too unhappy,” sobbed Adriana, and then she told Myra that she had
had a visit from Lady Montfort, and all that had occurred in it. Lady
Montfort had absolutely congratulated her on her approaching alliance
with Lord Roehampton, and when she altogether disclaimed it, and
expressed her complete astonishment at the supposition, Lady Montfort
had told her she was not justified in giving Lord Roehampton so
much encouragement and trifling with a man of his high character and
position.
“Fancy my giving encouragement to Lord Roehampton!” exclaimed Adriana,
and she threw her arms round the neck of the friend who was to console
her.
“I agree with Lady Montfort,” said Myra, releasing herself with
gentleness from her distressed friend. “It may have been unconsciously
on your part, but I think you have encouraged Lord Roehampton. He is
constantly conversing with you, and he is always here, where he never
was before, and, as Lady Montfort says, why should he have asked himself
to pass the Easter at Hainault if it were not for your society?”
“He invited himself to Hainault, because he is so fond of papa,” said
Adriana.
“So much the better, if he is to be your husband. That will be an
additional element of domestic happiness.”
“O Myra! that you should say such things!” exclaimed Adriana.
“What things?”
“That I should marry Lord Roehampton.”
“I never said anything of the kind. Whom you should marry is a question
you must decide for yourself. All that I said was, that if you marry
Lord Roehampton, it is fortunate he is so much liked by Mr. Neuchatel.”
“I shall not marry Lord Roehampton,” said Adriana with some
determination, “and if he has condescended to think of marrying me,” she
continued, “as Lady Montfort says, I think his motives are so
obvious that if I felt for him any preference it would be immediately
extinguished.”
“Ah! now you are going to ride your hobby, my dear Adriana. On that
subject we never can agree; were I an heiress, I should have as little
objection to be married for my fortune as my face. Husbands, as I have
heard, do not care for the latter too long. Have more confidence in
yourself, Adriana. If Lord Roehampton wishes to marry you, it is that he
is pleased with you personally, that he appreciates your intelligence,
your culture, your accomplishments, your sweet disposition, and your
gentle nature. If in addition to these gifts you have wealth, and even
great wealth, Lord Roehampton will not despise it, will not--for I
wish to put it frankly--be uninfluenced by the circumstances, for Lord
Roehampton is a wise man; but he would not marry you if he did not
believe that you would make for him a delightful companion in life, that
you would adorn his circle and illustrate his name.”
“Ah! I see you are all in the plot against me,” said Adriana. “I have no
friend.”
“My dear Adriana, I think you are unreasonable; I could say even
unkind.”
“Oh! pardon me, dear Myra,” said Adriana, “but I really am so very
unhappy.”
“About what? You are your own mistress in this matter. If you do not
like to marry Lord Roehampton, nobody will attempt to control you. What
does it signify what Lady Montfort says? or anybody else, except your
own parents, who desire nothing but your happiness? I should never have
mentioned Lord Roehampton to you had you not introduced the subject
yourself. And all that I meant to say was, what I repeat, that your
creed that no one can wish to marry you except for your wealth is a
morbid conviction, and must lead to unhappiness; that I do not believe
that Lord Roehampton is influenced in his overture, if he make one, by
any unworthy motive, and that any woman whose heart is disengaged should
not lightly repudiate such an advance from such a man, by which, at all
events, she should feel honoured.”
“But my heart is engaged,” said Adriana in an almost solemn tone.
“Oh! that is quite a different thing!” said Myra, turning pale.
“Yes!” said Adriana; “I am devoted to one whose name I cannot now
mention, perhaps will never mention, but I am devoted to him. Yes!”
she added with fire, “I am not altogether so weak a thing as the Lady
Montforts and some other persons seem to think me--I can feel and decide
for myself, and it shall never be said of me that I purchased love.”