DR. LASCELLES.
The interview between Lady Hatfield and the Earl of Ellingham was as
long as it was painful: and ten o'clock struck by the thousand churches
of London, as the nobleman quitted the mansion.
There was such a fierce struggle in his breast between wounded pride and
fervent affection, that his sorrow for the blighted hope of the latter
was rendered less acute by being united with the indignation inspired by
the former.
In spite of his generous nature, he could not help thinking that he had
been trifled with to some extent; for it naturally seemed preposterous
that Georgiana should refuse him without a candid explanation of the
motives, and when every earthly circumstance appeared favourable to
their union.
Then, again, he pondered upon the wildness of her grief—the delirious
anguish which she had shown at several stages of their interview—her
solemn avowal of love for him alone—and her voluntary assurance that she
should be happy and proud to call him her husband. He moreover reflected
upon the steadiness of her character—her aversion to the frivolities of
the fashionable world—her apparent candour of disposition—and her total
want of any thing approaching to coquetry;—and he endeavoured to
persuade himself that he had acted harshly by leaving her in anger.
"Yet what alternative had I?" he asked himself; "and would not any other
man have in the same way cut short an interview of so mysterious and
unsatisfactory—so perplexing and humiliating a nature?"
Alas! the Earl of Ellingham found himself the very next minute dwelling
with an aching and compassionate heart upon the agonised state in which
he had left the being whom he so tenderly loved:—he thought of her
fascinating beauty—her bewitching manners—her well-cultivated mind—her
amiable disposition;—and then he said within himself, "Oh! if I have
indeed lost _her_, I have lost an angel!"
He had reached the immediate vicinity of Hatchett's Hotel, when he
turned back with the resolution of seeking another interview with
Georgiana.
But scarcely had he retraced ten steps of the way, ere he stopped short,
and asked himself what advantage could be gained by such a proceeding?
"The decision is given," he reasoned: "she can never—_never_ be mine!
Wherefore should I renew _her_ grief and _my_ humiliation—evoke fresh
tears from _her_ eyes, and add sharpness to the sting of _my_
disappointment? No: it may not be! Some terrible mystery shrouds her
conduct from my penetration;—but shall I, who am defeated in
love, give way to a base sentiment of curiosity? It would be
unmanly—ignoble—cowardly to attempt to extort her secret from _her_,—for
a profound secret she doubtless cherishes—a secret which has this
evening influenced her conduct! And perhaps," he thought, following the
natural channel of his meditations, "that secret is of a nature which a
modest woman could not reveal to one of the opposite sex?"
This idea, suddenly flashing across his brain, suggested a proceeding
which, after a few minutes of profound reflection, he determined to
adopt.
Passing rapidly up Dover Street, Lord Ellingham entered Grafton Street,
where he knocked at a door on which was a brass-plate engraved with the
name of DR. LASCELLES.
The physician was at home; and the nobleman was immediately ushered into
a parlour, where he was shortly joined by the individual whom he sought.
Dr. Lascelles was a short, thin, sallow-faced man of about fifty. He had
small, restless, sparkling eyes, a prim mouth, and an intelligent though
by no means prepossessing countenance. He was devoted to the art which
he practised, and was reputed the most scientific man of the whole
faculty. His anatomical researches had been prosecuted with an energy
and a perseverance which afforded occupation to half the
resurrection-men in London, and more than once to the doctor's own
personal danger in respect to the law. It was whispered in well-informed
circles that he never hesitated to encounter any peril in order to
possess himself of the corpse of a person who died of an unusual malady.
His devotion to anatomy had materially blunted his feelings and deadened
the kinder sympathies of his nature; but his immense talents, added to a
reputation acquired by several wonderful cures, rendered him the most
fashionable physician of the day.
Such was the medical gentleman whom Lord Ellingham called to consult.
"Excuse this late visit, doctor," said the Earl; "but I knew that I
might take the liberty of intruding upon you."
"The words _early_ and _late_ are not in my vocabulary, so far as they
regard myself," was the reply. "My hours are at the disposal of my
patrons, amongst whom I have the honour to include your lordship."
"Then, without farther apology, I shall proceed to state the object of
my visit," said the nobleman.
"Give me your hand—you look dejected—you are very pale—your pulse——"
"It is not concerning myself altogether that I have to speak,"
interrupted the Earl, withdrawing the hand which the doctor had seized:
"I wish to consult you upon a subject intimately affecting my
happiness."
The physician looked surprised, and drew his chair closer to that in
which the Earl was seated.
"To tell you the truth," continued Arthur, "I am deeply enamoured of a
lady whose social position, beauty, fortune, and intellect render her in
every way worthy to become my wife."
"Well—why don't you propose to her?" demanded the physician drily.
"I have—and am rejected," was the answer, accompanied by a profound
sigh.
"The devil!" said the physician. "But what can I do for you in the
matter? Surely your lordship does not believe in philtres and
love-draughts?"
"Ridiculous!" cried the Earl impatiently. "If you will grant me a few
moments, I will explain myself."
Dr. Lascelles folded his arms, threw himself back in the chair, and
prepared to listen to his young friend's narrative.
"The lady to whom I am attached," continued the Earl, "is, as I ere now
informed you, in every way worthy of an alliance with me; and she is
moreover deeply attached to me. She has never loved another, and
declares that she never can. No apparent circumstances interfere with
our union; and she has done me the honour to assure me that she should
be alike proud and happy to own me as her husband. She is entirely her
own mistress; and, even if she were not, her friends would present no
barrier to our marriage. Yet she refuses me—and for some mysterious
cause which she will not explain. I have just left her,—left her in a
state of anguish such as I never before witnessed—such as I hope never
to behold again!"
[Illustration]
"Perhaps she has been guilty of some weakness which she is afraid you
would discover?" suggested Dr. Lascelles.
"Oh! no—no," exclaimed Arthur, enthusiastically: "in an unguarded
moment—carried away by a hasty suspicion of the kind—I hinted at that
possibility,—and I soon repented of my rashness! The lady's countenance
flushed with a glow of honest indignation; and, instantly veiling her
blushes with her hand, she burst into tears. I could pledge my
existence, doctor, that she is purity itself."
"But wherefore do you consult me in the matter?" asked Lascelles.
"You must admit, doctor," answered Ellingham, "that my position is a
singular one in reference to the lady of whom I speak. What am I to
conjecture? Suspense is terrible; and yet, not for worlds would I again
attempt to extort her secret from her."
"The motive may be a physical one," said the doctor.
"That was the idea which ere now struck me, and which has brought me
hither to consult you!" exclaimed the Earl.
"She may be the prey to some insidious disease which impairs not her
exterior aspect at present," continued Doctor Lascelles; "say, for
instance, a cancer in the breast. Or again, her motive may be a moral
one; inasmuch as she may be aware, from some secret warnings, that she
is in danger of suffering an aberration of reason."
"And if the lady were a patient of your own, doctor," asked the Earl,
"should you be enabled to judge whether she were menaced by that
dreadful mental malady to which you have alluded?"
"Decidedly so," replied the physician.
The Earl rose from his seat, and walked two or three times up and down
the apartment.
Dr. Lascelles followed him with his eyes; and as he surveyed the strong,
well-knit, but slender and graceful form of the young nobleman, the
votary of science could not help thinking what a splendid skeleton he
would make.
At length the Earl stopped abruptly opposite the doctor, and said in an
impressive tone, "You will never reveal the particulars of this
interview?"
"It is scarcely probable," returned Lascelles, with a smile.
"But you promise me—you pledge your word never to breathe a syllable
which may betray the motive of my present visit or the topic of our
conversation?" persisted the Earl.
"Never," exclaimed the physician.
"Then listen," said the Earl, sinking his voice almost to a
whisper;—"the lady of whom I have spoken, is——"
"Lady Hatfield," observed Lascelles.
"What! you have guessed——"
"Simply because every one said last winter that you were dying for her,"
interrupted the doctor coolly; "and therefore I presume you have availed
yourself of her ladyship's return to town to place your coronet at her
feet."
"Yes—I do allude to Georgiana, whose professional attendant you are,"
cried the Earl. "And believe me when I solemnly declare that no
sentiment of impertinent curiosity——"
"Never mind the motives," said the doctor: "let us keep to the facts. I
have known Lady Hatfield for upwards of five years; and I can positively
assure your lordship that there is not the slightest cause, physical or
moral, with which I am acquainted, that can influence her conduct
towards you."
"Then, what can this mystery be?" exclaimed Arthur, more perplexed than
ever. "My God! must I again fall back upon the hypothesis of a woman's
idle caprice—the theory of her unaccountable whims? Is she the victim of
an idiosyncracy which she cannot control? and must I be made its sport?"
"Throughout the sphere of my extensive practice," observed Dr.
Lascelles, "I know not a woman less likely to be swayed by idle caprice
or unaccountable whims than Lady Hatfield. Her mind is strong—her
intellect bright and uncharacterised by the slightest eccentricity. I
have, however, frequently observed that her ladyship is the prey to a
secret melancholy—that she has her dark moments, as one may denominate
them; but at those times the vigour of her soul is not subdued to a
degree that would produce so strange a result as a decision affecting
her own happiness. You say she loves you——"
"I have not a doubt of the sincerity of her attachment!" cried the Earl
emphatically.
"And yet she will not marry you?" said the doctor. "I cannot comprehend
it."
"Nor I," observed Arthur, with exceeding bitterness of tone. "My
happiness is at stake. What can I do? Had she explained the motive of
her refusal, and were that motive a strong one,—did it reveal some cause
which would render our union infelicitous,—I might have borne up against
this cruel—cruel disappointment. My love for her would then have been
converted, by admiration of her generous candour, into a permanent
friendship; and we might henceforth have met as brother and sister. But
how can I ever visit her again? how can I meet her? Beautiful and
amiable as she is, I adore her;—and yet I dare not in future trust
myself in her presence! No:—I must crush this love in my heart—stifle
it—subdue it altogether! Oh! fool that I am to talk thus;—as if it were
practicable to forget her—as if it were possible to cease to worship
her! Ere now, as I walked through the streets, I endeavoured to blunt
the keenness of my affection by placing it in contact with the amount of
wrong which I deemed myself to have experienced at her hands. But,
unjustly perhaps as she has treated me—humiliated as I felt and still
feel myself to be—chagrined—disappointed—rejected without
explanation,—oh! all these injuries are absorbed in the immensity of the
love which I bear her!"
And in a state of extraordinary excitement, Arthur paced the room with
agitated steps.
The doctor sate musing upon his chair. He had ever been too much devoted
to scientific pursuits to afford leisure for the delights of love; and
though he was married, he had entered the connubial state only through
motives of self-interest. Well aware that ladies prefer a medical
attendant whose propriety of conduct is—or at least appears to
be—guaranteed by marriage, he had one day cast his mental eyes around
the circle of his acquaintance; and his glances were at length fixed
upon a wealthy widow who was one of his patients. Jumping into his cab,
he called upon her, and, in order not to waste time, proposed while he
felt her pulse: she simpered an assent—and, as she could not name the
day, he did it for her while he wrote out a prescription. Then he
pocketed her guinea all the same—not through meanness, but from the
regularity of professional habit; and had she offered him a fee as an
acknowledgment for his loss of time on the morning when they issued from
the church, he would also have taken it. This union was sterile; but the
doctor found that he had obtained an excellent wife, who kept his house
in good order—did the honours of his table to admiration—and never
interrupted him when he was engaged in his study.
We have only introduced this little episode in the life of Dr.
Lascelles, just to convince our readers that he was not at all the man
to comprehend the vehemence of Lord Ellingham's love. Thus, while the
nobleman was pacing the apartment in the manner described above, and
declaiming in reference to his passion, the physician was meditating
profoundly upon the conduct of Lady Hatfield in refusing so excellent a
match. His mind, habituated to connect every thing as much as possible
with the special sphere of science wherein he moved, soon lost itself in
a field of conjecture as to whether there might not be some physical
cause, carefully concealed even from himself, which would elucidate the
mystery. The result of his meditations was not at all satisfactory to
himself; but he resolved that he would not allow the matter to remain
just where it was.
This determination he did not, however, communicate to Lord Ellingham,
who took his leave more bewildered than ever as to the motive which
could have possibly induced Lady Hatfield to assure him of her love and
yet refuse him her hand.