PROCEEDINGS ABROAD.
However small the interest which Lady Tilney really took in preserving
the purity of Lady Glenmore's character _intacte_, still her wishes for
the preservation of that outward decorum which she deemed necessary
towards the maintenance of her _coterie_'s respectability were
perfectly sincere. It will not, however, appear that in this instance
her wishes were likely to be realized.
On landing on the continent, the point to which Lady Glenmore and Lady
Tenderden directed their steps was Spa, having abandoned their previous
intention of going to Barèges; a change in their plans, which they
decided upon partly from the length of the journey, and partly from
Lady Glenmore's not liking to be so very far from her husband. When
they reached Spa, they found some few of their acquaintance already
there, foreigners as well as English; and ten days had not elapsed
from their arrival, before Mr. Leslie Winyard, accompanied by Lord
Gascoigne, joined their circle.
Lady Tenderden had already made a selection of such as were to
constitute her society, and of course these latter persons were
admitted in the number. Allowing for change of place and difference of
hours, the same desultory mode of life was pursued by them at Spa as in
London, and at best the same vacuity of mind and intention became the
result. This negative description of the passing hours, however, was
not applicable to all. Of course, in the present instance, there could
have been but one motive which induced Mr. Leslie Winyard to resign the
pleasures of an English autumn for the waters of Spa; and this fact he
seemed at no pains to conceal. Lady Glenmore was his avowed object.
There is something always unfavourable to virtuous happiness in the
_voluntary_ absence of a wife from her husband, and especially if she
has designedly or carelessly, from vanity or _désœuvrement_, given
encouragement to marked attentions from any other than her husband.
Whatever may be alleged by some, that absence makes meeting sweeter,
and renovates affection, it may be laid down as a rule well known to
experience, that genuine wedded love is best maintained by that sweet
habitude which renders each a part of the other, and which feels not
that it can live separate from that dearer self; and happy, and only
truly happy, are those married persons who, in an honest heart, feel
that they can add to love virtue, and to virtue habit; so that, when
long years have gone by as a tale that is told, they can look back upon
their course with joy, and feel it dearer as they know it to have been
hallowed by the _lungo costume_ and the _dolce memorie_.
_Unnecessary_ absences, on the contrary, between married persons,
are at best very dangerous experiments: they induce in women an
independence of feeling inimical to tenderness, and incompatible with
the duties of a wife; and encourage, on the part of others, an intimacy
and a freedom of manner, to the abandonment of those forms which, in
the presence of the husband, would perhaps be observed.
Thus it was in the case of Lady Glenmore. Mr. Leslie Winyard, already
too much encouraged by her easy good-nature and affability, impelled by
vanity to suppose himself irresistible when he chose to give himself
the trouble of being so, and not wholly indifferent to her whom he now
pursued, considered Lady Glenmore's absence from England as intended
to afford an opportunity for the furtherance of their intimacy. The
mode of life at Spa, and similar places on the continent, where the
English congregate, however resembling the empty folly of London in its
moral effect, differs in this respect, that it is more like living in
a family circle, divested of the ceremonious restraints of societies
in great cities. The daily routine of arrangements which threw all
those who circled together into an unavoidable familiarity, the long
excursions during the day, the repose under some shade after fatigue,
the return at night, the supper, the dance that not unfrequently
followed, proved all of them too favourable opportunities for a man of
intrigue.
If, therefore, Lady Glenmore was in peril, when guarded by the forms of
society, in the presence of a husband whom she loved, and feeling the
wholesome moral check which, to a young mind entering on the snares of
life, the consciousness of a supposed cognizance of parents and friends
so usefully imposes,--if, under all these circumstances of protection,
she had yielded to, or rather been entangled in, an indiscretion
respecting her intimacy with Mr. Leslie Winyard,--how much more fearful
was her present danger, when no restraints of the kind were at hand to
guard or to warn her!
Had Lady Tilney's object been of that true and high nature which
proposed no result but to save Lady Glenmore's virtue, she would
not have intrusted her to the guardianship of such a person as Lady
Tenderden, who united to the airy flightiness of a Frenchwoman the
spirit of an _intrigante_, which is to be found in all nations. But
Lady Tilney's object was merely worldly and prudential, namely, that
of removing a probable _fracas_ from her own circle in England; and
this point carried, the other was of small importance. Lady Tenderden
had drawn round her a society at Spa, quite in harmony with that which
she had been accustomed to live in. There were several persons of the
_coterie_ of London, who, from time to time, made their appearance
among them, and kept up the tone of the _rassemblement_ to its own
peculiar pitch. Mingled with these were foreigners of distinction and
diplomatists of various nations, who, from forming a false estimate
of English society, as most foreigners do, fall into a very natural
mistake respecting the higher classes in England, of whom they judge
_en masse_ by the limited specimen which they are taught to consider
as the sample of our nobility, and who therefore, with this false
view, circled round Lady Tenderden and her friends on the present
occasion, as the centre of attraction and a model of English manners; a
melancholy mistake, and one by which foreigners have been led into the
greatest errors respecting our higher classes.
Although this remark did not at first apply personally to Lady
Glenmore, yet, under the circumstances of the case, Lady Tenderden
was not a fitting guardian in any respect for her; and in the end,
during their residence at Spa, the permission of Leslie Winyard's
_dévouement_ made it attach to her with too much truth, and she became,
consequently, as much the subject of animadversion and example as
Lady Tenderden herself. In the life of dissipation thus followed, not
even the seventh day was left for reflection or repose. The too often
misapplied and dangerous adage, that "one must do at Rome as they do
at Rome," was an excuse for entirely forgetting the Sabbath to keep
it holy, an observance which is in some degree attended to amongst us
(except by the most notoriously profligate); but it has been a just
reproach of many thinking Roman Catholics on our nation, that, when
abroad, we lay aside the religion we profess, at least its forms, while
we laugh at those which _they_ follow.
Of what religion are we, then? might be the natural question asked, and
was one which applied certainly to Lady Glenmore, who had now learnt
the most fatal of all lessons, that it is unnecessary to hallow the
Sabbath day; and she went on to learn, that she could live and be happy
without her husband. Letters came from him, breathing kindness and
affection, and these were answered with something like a corresponding
feeling, for still in her heart his image was enshrined, although her
vanity betrayed her into the perilous error of being engrossed at the
moment by the attentions and presence of another. Lord Glenmore's
letters, however, contained no hope of his being able to join her at
Spa; for government contemplated an earlier assembling of parliament
than usual, and the presence of all the ministers was required at an
unusually early period. This circumstance, however, affected Lady
Glenmore but little, for her regret was waning into carelessness at his
absence. Thus bound to England, Lord Glenmore expressed his wish that
Lady Glenmore should leave Spa about the end of October or middle of
November, and proceed by the way of Paris, where he still indulged a
faint hope that he should be able to join her.
Notwithstanding much dissuasion on the part of Lady Tenderden and
Mr. Leslie Winyard against obeying these injunctions, Lady Glenmore
remained firm, and they shortly after were on their way to Paris.
Mr. Leslie Winyard, of course, took his route to Paris likewise; for
though he began to feel that the affair _trainé en longueur_, he was
determined at least to enjoy the _renommée_ of adding another name
to the list of his successes. At Paris the rumour of his attachment
to Lady Glenmore found a wider range, and amongst the mixed, and
larger aggregate of English, became the subject of more marked and
varied observation. Here, therefore, in the same selfish spirit of
worldly-mindedness which had induced Lady Tilney to send Lady Glenmore
to the continent, Lady Tenderden saw the propriety of giving some
admonitory hints to the latter: such as, "_It was not well to stake
all on one throw_: that it was not in _good taste_ to have but one
cavalier always in attendance; and that the _préféré_ himself would
cease to be flattered by that preference, if he had _champ libre_
always at command, without any competitors to dispute the honour with
him. Besides, there is a certain _retenue_ to be observed," she went
on to say, "by women of fashion, who should never give the vulgar an
advantage over them, by not having a ready reply to make, or be made,
to any disadvantageous or impertinent observations: for example, if
they should say, 'Mr. Leslie Winyard is always at Lady Glenmore's
elbow,' it might be answered, 'And so is Prince Luttermanne, and Lord
Gascoigne, and Lord Baskerville, and a thousand others.' A little
address, my dear Lady Glenmore, sets all this sort of things to rights;
only one must know how to conduct oneself."
"There is nothing wrong," replied the still innocent but somewhat
perplexed Lady Glenmore, "and therefore there is nothing to set right."
"_Non, assurément, nothing wrong_," answered Lady Tenderden; adding
in her _doucereux_ voice, with more of truth than was usual under her
_patte de velours_, "and that is _just the reason_ why you are not
sufficiently upon your guard."
These hints, however, appeared so indirect in their tendency, and of so
little consequence in the eyes of her to whom they were addressed, that
they were merely smiled at, and passed by unheeded.
In this state matters continued till far on in November. It was the
very season when Paris was beginning to fill. A few weeks of protracted
absence from home was again pleaded for by Lady Tenderden, even though
Lord Glenmore, from press of business in the ministry, had been obliged
to abandon all idea of joining them; and accordingly they lingered on
from day to day at Paris.
The same cause which prevented Lord Glenmore from leaving London
obliged Lord Albert D'Esterre to quit Brighton, whither he had
accompanied Lady Hamlet Vernon. In returning to the subject of this
_liaison_, few particulars can be adduced which would not appear trite
and stale. Like all intimacies of the same nature, it had during
this interval gradually approached a climax. Nothing in this world
is stationary: the world itself is passing swiftly away; but the use
or abuse we make of existence remains. Lord Albert's intimacy with
Lady Hamlet Vernon, must of necessity have either assumed a decided
character, or have been totally broken off; and, unfortunately for
him, she played too deep a stake to lose for one moment that vigilance
and foresight for which she was so distinguished, and which alone had
constituted the success of her designs. It may be readily imagined that
she now redoubled all her care, to secure the prize which was so nearly
within her grasp. During the last few weeks, in which Lord Albert and
herself had continued isolated from all other society, with nothing
to call his attention away from her, or to direct the current of his
thoughts into any other channel, the result may be easily guessed.
Lord Albert made proposals of marriage; and it is unnecessary to add
they were accepted with a transport of joy which Lady Hamlet Vernon
could ill conceal within the bounds of prudence, but which, to his
deluded view, appeared to be the effusion of a genuine and devoted
passion. It is impossible for any generous nature not to feel gratified
by the devotion of another; and Lord Albert was glad to mistake this
gratitude for a tenderer and more spontaneous movement of the heart.
Yet, as the moment approached for allying himself for ever to any other
than her whose image, in despite of all his endeavours to the contrary,
came back to him at intervals in the clouds of the air, in the shadows
of the waters, or the dreams of the night, he sought for delay. Strange
to say, too, some lingering doubt of Lady Adeline Seymour's becoming
the wife of Mr. Foley at times crossed his fancy, for it was more like
a vision of the fancy than a rational belief; but still he wished to
think that she should be the first to bind herself to another; and with
a feeling not amenable to the laws of reason, he looked anxiously in
the newspapers every day to see the announcement of her nuptials.
Under these circumstances, and with this feeling, he was called to town
to attend official business, with the hope, however, in a few days, of
returning to Lady Hamlet Vernon. Arrived in London, he found himself,
the first time for many months, absent from her, and robbed of the
illusory charm of her society; a charm which he had taught himself to
consider as necessary to him as the air he breathed. He now found, when
official duties were over, that the hours hung heavily on his hands.
It had perhaps been owing to the idea of his having so long indulged
in a selfish gratification, which must of necessity have drawn down
observations derogatory to the character of Lady Hamlet Vernon, that
had finally determined Lord Albert to make her the offer of his hand.
But now, when away from her influence, he looked back upon the gulf
over which he had passed, and contemplated it with somewhat different
sensations; conscious that the step he had taken was irretrievable, he
felt less than ever disposed to seek diversion from his own thoughts,
or relief from them in any other quarter. He even avoided much
intercourse with Lord Glenmore, as though he was afraid the latter
should read his secret; for it was intended that his marriage should
yet be kept profoundly secret; partly in compliance with his own
feelings, which suggested that the world (and who can, or who ought to
be totally reckless of the world's award?) might blame him for allying
himself to a woman of Lady Hamlet Vernon's character, and partly at the
instance of the latter, who, though she could not explain the cause of
her apprehensions, yet dreaded lest the cup should be dashed from her
lips by some unforeseen interference.
The time that Lord Albert did not pass literally in business, he
employed in reading over Lady Hamlet Vernon's letters, which he
received daily, or in answering them; and as those she wrote breathed
the most impassioned language, his own contained enough of that
reflected hue of tenderness in them to please, if not to satisfy,
her to whom they were addressed. The time was past when solitude and
reflection could avail Lord Albert; for he had decided his fate. It was
his duty, therefore, now, as well as his interest, to encourage himself
in the belief that he truly loved the present object to whom he devoted
himself; and he carefully endeavoured to shut out all remembrances
which might recall the thought of another. Lord Albert had been nearly
three weeks absent from Lady Hamlet Vernon, when he hastened one
morning at an earlier hour than usual to Downing-street, where his
letters were always directed. He found one from her, as was customary;
but, in taking it eagerly in his hand, he was aware it did not consist,
as usual, of many sheets, but was a single letter in an envelope.
Something, he knew not what, struck him with agitation on this
recognition, and he paused on breaking the seal; then cast his eyes
hurriedly over the open page, and looked in vain for the terms of
endearment which were wont to be the first that courted his glance;
and he grew sick and dizzy as he read the first few lines, which ran
thus: "Grieved I am at heart, and stunned by this fatal blow, so
unexpected, so subversive of all our hopes. Is it not possible that,
in the dismay of the moment, you may have interpreted more severely
the words of Lady Dunmelraise than they required?" Lord Albert started
at the name of Dunmelraise, and held the letter from him, and gazed at
it again. "Lady Dunmelraise!" he repeated aloud. "What can this allude
to? And in Amelia's hand!" Again he looked at the letter, and turned
over the page, and saw the signature. A death-like shudder seized him,
and an icy chill ran through his heart. As his eye continued to run
rapidly along the lines, it met the words, "dearest Mr. Foley." Again
he paused. But he was not now in a state to reason on the propriety of
reading through a letter evidently not addressed to himself, although
he continued to do so; but, breathless with surprise, in vain essayed
to read collectedly. At length, mastering the contending feelings which
for a few moments overpowered him, he perused the letter consecutively.
"Grieved I am at heart, and stunned by this fatal blow, so unexpected,
so subversive of all our hopes. Is it not possible that, in the dismay
of the moment, you may have interpreted more severely the words of
Lady Dunmelraise than they required? Yet when I return to the copy
of her letter, which you enclose to me, I cannot but think with you
that there is nothing to hope. Still, how strange that both she and
Lady Adeline should have allowed those demonstrations of your passion,
which they must have understood, for such a length of time, without
expressing any explicit disapprobation! And then you say, too, that
you are confident, from every circumstance, and every word, and every
look, that has occurred, or fallen, either from Lady Dunmelraise or
her daughter, that D'Esterre no longer holds any place either in
their affections or their esteem; and the conversation you report
to have heard between Lady Delamere and her sister was certainly
as conclusive as any thing could be of their utter rejection of the
thought of any renewal of engagement with D'Esterre." (Lord Albert
groaned aloud.)
"I know not what advice to give you. I dare not urge upon you a
perseverance in your suit, because that might eventually, if Lady
Dunmelraise and her daughter are firmly decided against it, draw
down an interference which would give publicity to the affair; a
circumstance, on all accounts, decidedly to be avoided. Hitherto, I
should suppose what has passed has been confined to their own breasts;
for Lady Dunmelraise is too much acquainted with the world to make
herself, or any one belonging to her, unnecessarily the subject of
public remark. At present, you know, the secret is safe in our own
keeping; and after many hours of painful reflection as to what you had
best do, I think nothing remains but your going immediately abroad for
a time, to avoid the singularity of your absence from Dunmelraise.
"In regard to the heavy pecuniary disappointment which you must have
experienced, dearest Mr. Foley, by this defeat of our plans, I hope
I shall soon be in a situation to make you ample recompense; for
D'Esterre has at length so openly declared himself, that my marriage
cannot long be delayed; and that once accomplished, you may depend on
my most constant exertions for all connected with your interest. In
the meanwhile, should you require any funds for your sudden departure,
I enclose a draft for £200. I would not have you come by Brighton to
embark, which perhaps you might be inclined to do, knowing me to be
there; and I think it better, for the present, that you do not write
to me on this subject; but let me have a few lines announcing your
arrival on the continent.
"Again I repeat to you to count upon my most friendly assistance at
all times. You may depend on my acquainting you, when the event on
which now all depends shall have taken place;
"And I am ever yours, affectionately,
"AMELIA HAMLET VERNON."
"P.S.--I would not have you state your intention of going abroad
to any person; and prevent, if possible, any announcement of your
departure in the newspapers."
No words can adequately convey an idea of Lord Albert's feelings as he
finished the perusal of this letter. It was plain, it was clear, that
a conspiracy had existed between Lady Hamlet Vernon and Mr. Foley, of
which he and Lady Adeline Seymour had become the victims. The detailed
process of language cannot concentrate in one point the thousand varied
feelings which combined in his bosom all the pangs of self-accusation
with all the joy of believing that the precious being whom he had
wronged was free from stain. Grief mingled with the conviction that
he had again found his own transcendent Adeline, bright in all her
purity, only to be convinced, at the same moment, that he had himself
placed a wide gulf between them that could never be overpassed; and the
knowledge that this was the case excited such overwhelming emotion in
his breast as defies the power of language.
It would be wrong, however, in this instance, as in all others where
reflection points a moral, not to observe the omnipotence of virtue,
which, it may be truly said, is a light to lighten our darkness; for
in the depth of Lord Albert's present sufferings there was a latent
spring of consolation in his heart, the cause of which he could little
understand or account for at the moment, and from which he was not
prepared to derive the benefit it was intended afterwards to convey;
and this consolation was a sense of humble contrition, derived from the
consciousness that the blow which had fallen upon him was righteously
dealt, and that it was only retributive justice that he should meet
his punishment from the very person for whom he had, in the indulgence
of his vanity, played with the feelings of another till at length he
sacrificed and lost her.
This sense of humility is ever the foundation of true repentance;
and true repentance brings resignation; and resignation is the balm
which soothes a wounded spirit. He soon felt that the merciful ways of
Providence had forced him unwillingly to a knowledge of his own fault,
and with a contrite heart he kissed the rod that smote him. He felt at
once as though a heavy burden were lifted from his breast. None of the
double-mindedness, none of the obscure uncertainty, by which of late he
had been oppressed and involved, now darkened his path. He was like one
who is brought from a prisoned cavern to rejoice in the wholesome air
and light of heaven. He no longer hesitated in his course, or wavered
how he should conduct himself, but determined to profit by the severe
lesson he had received, and act once more uprightly. He felt, as it
were, instantaneously, that he had never really loved Lady Hamlet
Vernon, and that vanity alone had betrayed him into her snare.
Had he loved her, would he not, even with the conscious proof before
him of her perfidious conduct, have at least mourned over a knowledge
of her baseness? As it was, he thought not of her, save in reference to
his own erring conduct.
"Oh Adeline, Adeline!" he exclaimed in bitterness of heart, "is it for
such a one as this that I have lost you, and deprived myself for ever,
not only of your affection, but your esteem? Yet, though to retrieve
the past is impossible, and to become what I once was in your eyes is
as impossible as it is to recover mine own consciousness of desert,
still I will live for you and you alone." The virtuous principle which
had thus been restored to its rightful place in Lord Albert's breast
gave him power to struggle with sorrow successfully in this his hour of
need: and though at intervals he sunk into that despondency which, lost
as he was to all his best affections and brightest hopes, could not
but flow back upon him with an overwhelming tide, still the sense of
returning virtue bore him up again, and fixed him on a rock from whence
no tide of circumstances could hurl him.
In this situation he thought, for a time, that he stood alone in the
world, without one sympathising friend; yet, perhaps, there was one
who still remained--Lord Glenmore. Should he open his heart to him?
Should he seek succour and counsel from him? No. Counsel he needed not,
for his mind was made up _how_ to act; and consolation could not, at
the present moment, flow from any earthly source. As involuntarily he
read over and over again Lady Hamlet Vernon's letter, a still renewing
sense of the baseness of the writer flashed upon him. In every turn and
phrase he thought he traced some clue to each individual circumstance
which had occurred to poison his mind, and give birth to the unworthy
suspicions he had entertained of his Adeline: every one of them, in
turn, seemed to rise up, as it were, in judgment against him; and again
he wondered how the artifices with which he had been deceived had not
before been detected by him.
The whole of his intimacy with Lady Hamlet Vernon, from its
commencement, was next reviewed. His mind went back to the first
evening in which he met her; her praises of his Adeline; the seductive
grace with which she expressed her hope, when he spoke of foreign
intimacies, that he would find some objects worthy also of his regard
and friendship in his native land. He saw, as if at the moment,
her downcast looks, and felt over again the surprise which her tone
and manner caused him. He recalled their interview at the church at
Restormel; her subsequent conversation, relative to Lady Adeline,
before he left that place for London; and in all these, and in every
other incident connected with his growing intimacy, he now beheld
the wily stratagem of a preconceived plan to win away his heart and
affection from one to whom this Circean destroyer of his peace was as
widely opposed as darkness to light.
This probing of his wounds, this investigation of the circumstances
which had involved him in error, was a wholesome though painful
exercise to his mind; for he traced his misery to its rightful
source--himself. He could not but dwell on the fearful and rapid change
which had been produced in him by a life passed in a circle whose whole
tendency was to undermine principle and destroy the understanding. He
asked himself, what was he now, compared to what he had been eighteen
months before? what action, during that period, could he recall without
blushing for the misuse or waste of time? How had his pursuits been
abandoned! his honourable views in life lost sight of! his studies
neglected! all the fruits of long and virtuous education scattered! and
himself become an object of his own and of all good men's contempt!
In reflections such as these, the hours passed away, on the day of his
receipt of the letter. He had hurried through his official business
as quickly as possible, in order to seek the retirement of his own
apartment; and there, with the picture of Adeline before him, he sat
absorbed in harrowing contemplation. So entirely had the current of
his affections been sent back to their proper channel by the revulsion
which had shaken him, that with the exception of perusing Lady Hamlet
Vernon's letter, for the purpose of bringing home more strongly the
clear conviction of her infamy, he had not felt one regret on her
account. Even the feeling of indignation, which conduct so base was
calculated naturally to excite, had not for more than a moment occupied
his heart; a heart which was as dead to any impression she could make
upon it, as though he had never known her.
Midnight had already passed, and the idea that Lady Hamlet Vernon would
be in ignorance the while of what had occurred had not struck him. He
then felt the painful part which he was called upon to perform, in
addressing the person whom he had been on the verge of making his
wife in language such as her conduct merited and his own reproaches
might dictate. He at length resolved to let the night pass, and in the
morning, if possible, to set himself to the task with a calmer mind.
He slept not, however, and arose feeling distracted and feverish.
Finding himself unable to go out, he sent, therefore, to Downing-street
for some official papers which were to be looked over. The messenger
brought back with these his letters also: amongst them there was one
from Lady Hamlet Vernon. His soul sickened at the sight, and he cast
it from him with disgust. He resolved not to open it, for he must
necessarily loathe the expressions of attachment with which he knew it
would be filled; and he determined to return it unopened, together with
his answer. This answer, in the course of the day, he despatched by
express; feeling, the moment he had given vent to his indignation, that
it was but justice to do so, both to himself, and to his injured and
lost Adeline.
The tenor of his reply may be easily conceived. He kept the original
of the letter which had so happily removed the veil of wickedness
from his eyes, but he transcribed a copy; and having animadverted on
the baseness of the arts that had been practised on himself, and the
fiend-like cruelty that had been exercised on the former cherished
object of his affections, he avowed his determination never again to
hold intercourse with her who had been the cause of so much misery and
delusion. At the same time, with a feeling of that nice honour and
noble generosity of soul which had never entirely left Lord Albert's
breast, he informed Lady Hamlet Vernon that her infamy would remain a
secret with him, unless her own future conduct towards himself should
make it necessary, in self-defence, to do otherwise.
Before this answer reached Lady Hamlet Vernon, she had been in some
degree prepared for the blow, for Mr. Foley, who was in town, on
receiving the letter which had been intended for Lord Albert, instantly
surmised the worst, and had proceeded with the utmost haste to
Brighton.--There Lord Albert's answer found him and Lady Hamlet Vernon
in all the dismay and terror which detection of so sinister an intrigue
would naturally cause.
The arrival of Lord Albert was hourly looked for by them, as the sure
consequence of what had taken place, in order to demand an explanation
of the letter which had fallen into his hands; for Lady Hamlet Vernon
was certain that she had written no other letter by that post except to
himself and Mr. Foley, and felt, therefore, a conviction on the subject
of his arrival, which was anticipated as a certainty: and although the
necessity of the moment obliged Mr. Foley and Lady Hamlet Vernon to be
in consultation together, a person was on the watch to apprise them of
his approach, so that Mr. Foley's presence might not strengthen the
suspicions already connected with his name.
Under these circumstances therefore, the arrival of a letter only was,
at the moment, rather a relief; though it had been felt by the parties
that there was more chance of Lord Albert's being still deceived, had
he been exposed to the influence of Lady Hamlet Vernon's charms in a
personal interview.--His letter was broken open in haste: the return
of her own last unopened, which fell from the envelope, sufficiently
foretold its purport. The messenger had departed after giving in the
packet, with a brief announcement that there was no reply. It would be
impossible to characterize all the feelings of disappointed passion,
self-interest, hatred, and revenge, together with the mutual reproaches
to which these gave birth between the detected actors of this infamous
intrigue.
After giving way, however, to the first ebullitions of anger against
each other, mutual recrimination, and all those scorpion-like feelings
which are the consequences of a copartnery in guilt, the sense of
necessity to secure self-preservation, and to shield themselves from
public ignominy, made them both catch eagerly at the terms of secrecy
implied in the latter sentence of Lord Albert's letter; and when
Lady Hamlet was convinced that there was no hope of regaining him
to her views, she felt the necessity of submission, and sheltering
herself under such terms as the exigency of the case required. All
love was banished from her breast by feelings of rage and shame at
her detection; and with the heartlessness of an _intrigante_, she
determined to put _bonne mine à mauvais jeu_, and boldly deny a guilt
which she knew could be but covertly imputed to her. She wrote an
answer, therefore, on the instant, to Lord Albert, couched in terms
such as the offended feelings of a haughty woman would dictate. In her
turn she cast off Lord Albert--"one for whose happiness she avowed that
she had been ready to sacrifice every thing. But now she found that
the very measures she had taken from pure devotion to himself had
been made matter of accusation against her; measures easily explained,
if an explanation had been solicited. It was he who had sought her
affections, not she his; and when he thus rudely rejected a heart which
he had taken pains to win, she could not but feel that she had escaped
from that irretrievable ruin which must have followed her union with
him." Having thus endeavoured to turn the tide of recrimination against
Lord Albert, the feeling which at the moment pressed most urgently upon
her was, as in the case of all criminal confederacies, to rid herself
of the insufferable presence of the partner of her crime; and therefore
pressing upon him the draft which had been intended originally to
remove him to the continent, she placed it in his hands for the same
purpose now, and in a few hours afterwards he had embarked for Dieppe.
Lord Albert read Lady Hamlet Vernon's communication with calm
indifference. His eyes were unsealed. He knew her character now too
thoroughly to be surprised: still less was he to be shaken from his
purpose; and was far more firmly resolved to pursue the right course
than he had ever been to follow the wrong: and wretched as he was at
heart, he found consolation in reflecting deeply on the merciful
interposition of a higher power than any earthly one, which had thus
snatched him from misery. Wretched as he was at heart, he found
consolation; and with this feeling commenced the arduous task of
bringing back his mind and heart to former principles of uprightness
and virtue.
Lady Hamlet Vernon, on her part, took a different course. Sensible that
to betray any feeling on the event would only draw down further remark
and observation, she again plunged into the society from which she had
of late withdrawn; and prolonging her stay at Brighton, avoided all
those unpleasant circumstances which, for a time at least, would have
attended her meeting Lord Albert in public.
Lord Albert D'Esterre had formed his resolution on a principle of
rectitude, and acted upon it with that degree of promptitude which is
the sure test of sincerity in well-doing. When the moment's exertion,
however, was over, his mind, enfeebled from the lengthened moral
disease under which it so long had laboured, shrunk back in conscious
weakness: and he became sensible, that however earnest the will may be,
the difficulty is great to retrace our steps from error; and that it
is still more difficult to regain firm footing in the path of virtue,
when we have wandered from it for any length of time.
The painful recollection of the hours he had lost, or more than lost,
the conviction of the misuse of his intellectual faculties, pressed
upon him with a leaden weight that seemed to defy all his efforts to
recover the power and energy of his mind. That solitude of the heart,
too, which was now in prospect before him, shed a gloom around; for,
for whom was he to live? was the natural question which now suggested
itself, and one not likely to meet a wise reply at the moment.
After-reflection, indeed, might tell him, that there is a higher
motive to live to virtue, than any which this world's affections can
afford; but to this nobler impulse he had unfortunately for the present
become insensible, and in having become so he had lost the surest
means of happiness. Lord Albert was, however, notwithstanding this
sense of destitution, unwilling, for many reasons, to throw himself on
the only stay left him--the supporting friendship of Lord Glenmore:
partly, perhaps, from that averseness to humble himself in the sight
of another, however dear, or however honourable, the individual may
be, which it is so common to human nature to feel; and also from many
mixed motives, alike of genuine good and _spurious_ quality, which
affect the purposes of all at some times and in some degree.
Lord Glenmore had in part heard and part guessed Lord Albert's rupture
with Lady Hamlet Vernon, and secretly rejoiced in the event: but
with the delicacy and kindliness of feeling which was his particular
characteristic, he tacitly entered into the unhappiness of his
friend; and thought, as he always did when he saw another fall into
temptation's snare, that had _he_ been tempted in as powerful a degree,
he also might have fallen under the like condemnation.
Without, therefore, appearing to seek Lord Albert's confidence on the
present occasion, Lord Glenmore showed him all the tender sympathy he
entertained for him by a thousand nameless kind attentions; attentions
which rekindled in Lord Albert's breast all his feelings of former
friendship, and a sense of the value of that friend from whom of late
he had been so entirely estranged. Gradually and imperceptibly they
became once more reunited in their habits of intercourse, and Lord
Albert's vacant hours were again devoted to Lord Glenmore's society.
Little did the latter suspect that the time was drawing nigh, when he
himself should require similar support and consolation to that which
he was now affording Lord Albert. But thus it is:--we are all dependent
beings one upon another; and they are wise who, by mutual good offices,
lay up for themselves a store of kindness for the hours of perplexity
and bereavement.
Several weeks had passed away, after Lord Glenmore's express wish for
Lady Glenmore's return, before the latter quitted Paris. This delay
arose not so much from a positive reluctance on her part to return
home, as from that idle habit of living in the momentary excitement
of frivolous pleasures which so much enervate the mind, and deaden
the sense of virtuous affection. Lady Tenderden's character afforded
no antidote to the bane of this growing evil; and Mr. Leslie Winyard,
of course, still bent on the pursuit of Lady Glenmore, used all his
endeavours to retard her stay in Paris as long as possible.
At length, however, the day of their departure came; and when she
arrived in London, she was received in the arms of an affectionate
and too confiding husband. Perhaps, on the first moment's reflection,
brief as these moments were, Lady Glenmore felt in this cordial
reception somewhat of self-reproof that her return had been so long
unnecessarily deferred: but it is one of the concomitant evils of such
a mode of life as hers was, that it is utterly impossible reflection
should have any permanent seat in the mind; so that the natural checks
of conscience, which at intervals will force themselves into view in
hearts not quite hardened, become gradually smothered and suppressed,
till at length they are wholly discarded.
Thus, on the morrow after Lady Glenmore's arrival, the better though
perhaps painful feelings with which she arose were not suffered long
to maintain their ascendancy. The throng of inquirers and friends,
and of _désœuvré_ persons, who flocked around her, soon banished
all reflection. The inquisitive, investigating spirit of a long
morning's _tête-à-tête_ with Lady Tilney, the empty nothingness of Lady
Ellersby's converse; the worldly-mindedness of Lady De Chere, and the
frivolity of all; with a subsequent _soirée_ that closed the scene of
her first recognizance in London; were circumstances well calculated to
turn away Lady Glenmore from any salutary train of thought, which, if
steadily entertained, might have led to a good result. She found even
in Lord Albert's constant presence (for he now almost lived with Lord
Glenmore) a secret satisfaction, a something of the continuation of
that scattering of attention which had become habitual to her during
her last four months' residence on the continent; and the circumstance
of never being alone with her husband in the once happy privacy of
domestic quiet, which some time previously she would have mourned over
and regretted, was now an agreeable relief to her. What a fatal symptom
it is of the state of the affections, when the presence of any third
person is felt to be a relief, in the habitual intercourse of daily
life between man and wife! It is a touchstone by which all married
persons may try the condition of their hearts; and one by whose proof
it is always well to abide, if any lurking evil is found to endanger
happiness.
Although Lady Glenmore might not feel that there was much to hide in
what had passed during her absence, and that many would have called
her conduct, only living as others do who live in the world, yet her
nature, originally, was so amiable and ingenuous, that she still
reserved a place in her breast for that silent monitor which had never
wholly left its station; and it told her that perhaps all that had
been said, and done, and written, and permitted, would not have been
agreeable to her husband. There are a thousand minor occurrences,
which, when considered apart, are _not_ of criminal nature; but which,
when taken together, form a tremendous aggregate of danger, and which
are most certainly detrimental to the purity of married love. If the
sources of the heart are polluted, of what value is the nature of the
virtue that is left?
Lady Glenmore certainly did feel that there were circumstances
attendant on her _séjour_ at Paris and at Spa which she would not
relate to her husband; and she was happy to think Lord Albert's
constant presence afforded a check to any but general allusions on the
subject of her tour. Had Lord Glenmore been unoccupied with public
affairs, or had he _not_ been one whose own uprightness of heart and
conduct shut out all suspicion of others, he might have observed that
something of _gêne_ in Lady Glenmore's manner rendered her different
from what she had been. But, delighted to be once more with his wife;
happy in her presence, and in the joyousness which her renovated health
and beauty diffused around him; and frequently absorbed, besides, in
those cares which abstract a man from many of those minute perceptions
that idle people are alive to, he observed not the alteration in her
manner.
Three days, however, after her return, a case addressed to Lord
Glenmore at his office in Downing-street was forwarded from the
custom-house at Dover. On the box being opened, it was found to
contain a _porte-feuille_ resembling those in which public papers
are transmitted between official personages, and was stamped with
a coronet, and with the initials G. G. The box itself was not
fastened, and was accompanied by a note from one of the heads of
the custom-house, stating, that it had been left at Dover some days
back; and, from all accounts, by one of his lordship's servants
in the hurry of departure, the initials on the box seeming to
authorize the supposition. On the note being handed to Lord Glenmore
by his secretary, he desired him to inspect the contents of the
_porte-feuille_; and when informed that it seemed to contain papers
of a private nature, Lord Glenmore desired to see it himself. He
found it filled with letters addressed to Lady Glenmore, and amongst
others, some which he recognised as being his own; and he was about
to give orders that it should be sent to his house, concluding it was
a mistake, when, on removing some of the letters, and lifting them up
for the purpose of shutting the box, a miniature portrait attracted his
eye. He thought he recognised the features. He paused for a moment,
still gazing at it. At last he exclaimed, "Why! this is surely Leslie
Winyard's portrait! How came it here? This must be a mistake!" Again he
looked at the letters, but there was no mistake. The letters were all
addressed to Lady Glenmore, and some of them were his own.
He involuntarily shuddered. For a moment he half doubted _what_ to do;
whether to close the box, and leave it to Lady Glenmore to explain a
circumstance which appeared so strange, or whether himself to endeavour
to elucidate the mystery by an investigation of the contents. He
hesitated between these two resolves, while his hand mechanically
turned the papers over. In another moment his attention was arrested
by a few brief words beginning, "You will not leave Paris, surely, so
cruelly, so unexpectedly? Remember there are duties of the heart, as
well as those of _convenance_. I rely upon your giving me some days to
prepare for your absence: indeed you owe me this favour;"--and the note
ran on in a similar strain of familiarity, and implied confidence of a
return of sentiment.
To a person of Lord Glenmore's open, unsuspicious nature, the shadow of
such a discovery as seemed now unfolding itself was paralyzing; yet he
was a man of too much strong sense alike to shrink from investigation
when such was necessary, as to act upon any sudden impulse, or form a
hasty conclusion. There was enough, however, in what he had seen, to
make him think deeply, fearfully, and to determine him on probing the
matter at once to its very source.
After a few moments' reflection, his resolution was taken. He knew
that to breathe such a suspicion as these circumstances created of
the woman he loved, even to herself, if she _were_ innocent, would be
the severest wound and deepest degradation that could be inflicted on
her heart; and if she were _not_ innocent, that it would demand more
of calm reflection, than, in the agony of excited feelings, he could
perhaps command, in order to come to any decision. He determined,
therefore, ere he took any further step in the business, to proceed
to an immediate examination of the _porte-feuille_. With every nerve
stretched to agony, and a brain on fire, he removed the papers one by
one, turning over all the letters and notes it contained. He dreaded
to find what he was searching for. Who can express the pain of such a
search? It was some time before he found any character assimilating to
those of the note he had already perused. At length, when he came near
the bottom of the portfolio, the same hand-writing presented itself on
a thousand scraps of paper, and on the direction of various letters.
Again he started, and was obliged for a moment to pause,--his senses
refused their office; but, in another, he rallied; though with that
inward tremor which checks the pulse of life, he turned them over,
and, seizing the first that presented itself, read it with a perfect
knowledge of its contents. The notes and letters were numerous, yet
he missed not one; but continued to read them carefully through with
breathless eagerness, alive to the apprehension of discovering, at
every line of their perusal, something that would inflict a more deadly
wound than he had yet received. When he came to the conclusion, he
literally gasped for breath. "Thank God," he exclaimed, as he dashed a
burning tear from his cheek, "there is nothing positively to criminate
the wife of my bosom!" But to so fond, so noble and faithful a heart
as Lord Glenmore's, was it not sufficient agony to find, that, while
absent from him, her intimacy with another had been of that kind
which could permit of such a correspondence?--a correspondence which
proved that her intercourse with Mr. Leslie Winyard had been of that
nature which sullies the purity of a married woman; and which proved,
likewise, that it had been one of daily habitude, and that not only
had the hours of the day been passed in his presence, but often, by the
dates of the notes, it was evident she must have received them in the
morning before she arose, and at night, after she had retired to rest.
Was this not sufficient to harrow up his soul? Calling, however, to
his aid as much calmness as the circumstances in which he was placed
could admit, he reperused the notes, to avoid all chance of a hasty
or superficial judgment; and again he had the consolation of feeling
certain that they in nowise criminated Lady Glenmore, however much they
proved her guilty of an indiscretion of a most perilous kind.
The letters were the artful compositions of a man of intrigue, such
as he knew Mr. Leslie Winyard to be; and in the intimacy which they
discovered there was a stain on the character of Lady Glenmore,
which, though many degrees removed from positive vice, was still a
degradation to her and to himself. And is there not a pang of long
remorse to follow such a dereliction of duty? And are there not tears
of penitence, wrung from the heart's inmost core, to be shed, which,
though they through mercy wash out sin, cannot wash out shame? And
is there not a something, too, of self-condemnation that pierces
the heart of the husband who can, in the veriest shadow of a shade,
impute to his own neglect, or carelessness, or over-weening security,
his wife's aberrations? Oh! what a world of solemn reflection was now
opened up before Lord Glenmore's view! Bitterly did he repent having
ever suffered a man of such a character as Mr. Leslie Winyard to be on
terms even of acquaintance in his house.
It was not the time, however, to dwell on this irretrievable point;
neither to give way to the suspicions which flashed across him, of
Lady Tenderden's having been, at least, deeply to blame in suffering
the progress of an affair of which she must have been aware, and which
she ought to have arrested in its course by returning home directly.
Neither did he suffer himself to dwell on the reflection, that perhaps
the society into which Lady Glenmore had been thrown in England might
have laid the foundation of her present deviation from propriety. It
was all too late. It was enough, for the present moment, to know, by
the evidence before him, that a fearful evil existed; and he prayed
inwardly that he might already have learned its full extent. He felt
that he could have no surer test how far Lady Glenmore's heart was
involved in the error of her conduct, than by a direct appeal to
herself; for he thought, "It is impossible she could as yet have lost
that ingenuousness, that openness of disposition, which was ever her
peculiar charm! The brief space of a few months cannot have uprooted
virtues which were the growth of years! Should it be,"--and again he
offered up aspirations to Heaven that strength and counsel might be
given him to act for the best under all circumstances, and as in a
Christian spirit he ought to do.
Immediate action, under a sense of mental agony, is less painful than
an inactive endurance; and Lord Glenmore hastened home to sound the
full depth of his misery. Arrived at his house, he found Lady Glenmore
was out. He felt it impossible to meet her any where but under his own
roof and alone, and was therefore determined to await her return. It
was late before she came in; and as she hurried from her carriage, she
gave orders that it should be at the door again in an hour, and was
proceeding hastily to her apartment to change her dress for dinner,
when a servant followed her half way up stairs, saying that Lord
Glenmore had desired to see her ladyship as soon as she entered. "Tell
Lord Glenmore," she replied, in a gay tone of voice, "that I am very
late, and have hardly time to dress. I am going to dine with Lady
Tenderden; but I will see him before I go out. At what time is Lord
Glenmore's carriage ordered? at eight, is it not?"
"I believe so, my lady," was the reply.
"Oh! very well. Then I shall be with him before I go out."
Lord Glenmore, however, had heard his wife's voice; and coming out of
his room he called to her, "Georgina, I must speak with you." There was
something in the tone in which he spoke unlike its usual sound, which
made Lady Glenmore, without waiting to answer, descend immediately to
his room. She entered, and was beginning to state the purport of the
message she had sent to him by the servant, when he said to her, in
the same grave and impressive tone, "Georgina, you cannot leave home
to-day."
"What is the matter?" she exclaimed. "My father! is he ill? or my
mother? What _has_ happened? Has any thing befallen _them_?--For
mercy's sake tell me;"--and she rushed into his arms trembling and in
tears. Lord Glenmore bade her compose herself. "They are well, quite
well," he said; and gently disengaging himself from her, he gazed at
her for a moment in silence, as though he would read her inmost soul;
and then said, "Georgina, have you no other cause for apprehension than
for the safety of your parents?"
"Oh, yes!" she replied wildly, "for yourself;" and again flung herself
into his arms. "Has anything grieved _you_? has any thing befallen you?"
Lord Glenmore was touched by this genuine mark of feeling for himself,
which he knew her too well to think was assumed. He sighed deeply; and
pressing his hand on his breast, unconsciously gave utterance to the
hope which, at the moment, this proof of her affection afforded him,
murmuring audibly, "All may yet be well." Lady Glenmore looked at him
with inquiring eye; when at length, taking from the table the packet
of Leslie Winyard's letters, he opened them before her, asking her if
she knew them, and if they had been addressed to herself. She looked at
them with an expression of surprise; and then mingled shame and dismay
were painted on her countenance, the colour went and came in her cheek,
her lip trembled, and covering her face with her hands, she burst into
an agony of tears.
"Georgina, I adjure you," said her husband in the most solemn tone,
rendered hollow and tremulous by emotion, "I call upon you by all that
is sacred; by your vows, plighted to me at the altar; by the love
which, if all things are not alike deceptive, you have till lately
evinced towards me----."
"Till lately!" she interrupted him, with a gesture and an expression
of the most harrowing agony, "oh! ever, ever!"--and would again have
thrown herself into his arms, but that Lord Glenmore retreated from her
advance, and she fell on her knees with clasped hands before him, and
raising her eyes stedfastly to his, remained in silent supplication,
till Lord Glenmore, evidently as much moved as herself, gently raised
her, and bidding her sit on the sofa by him, said, "You must be calm,
Georgina. I must hear your explanation. I need not ask you if you
felt there was no impropriety, as a married woman, in your receiving
notes of this description: your agitation proves that you feel it was
wrong. But I must first know how you came to admit of any addresses of
the sort; and then I must learn how far your error has proceeded, and
whether your heart is engaged in it."--Lady Glenmore shook her head
in agony of denial.--"And remember, Lady Glenmore," continued Lord
Glenmore, "that whilst the most perfect openness on your part can alone
restore you in time to my affection, so also any deception for the
moment, or any success in imposing on me, must eventually recoil on
yourself, and only hasten your ruin and the entire loss of my heart and
esteem."
Lady Glenmore remained bathed in tears, apparently unable to give
utterance to what was passing in her breast.
"If I understand you right, Georgina, by the gesture which this moment
escaped you, your heart is _not_ engaged in this affair. But how, then,
I ask, could you for a moment suffer any one to assume an intimacy with
you such as these notes testify? Surely it could not be vacancy of
affection, and in default of any object of attachment; for was I not
myself, a few short months before, the husband of your free choice? Or
is it that you are changed indeed?" he added, with a look of inquiring
anxiety.
Again Lady Glenmore shook her head in bitterness of sorrow.
"Tell me, then; how long has this kind of familiarity existed between
you and the writer of these notes? and tell me, is any one aware of
this degrading intimacy?"
"I will tell you all, Glenmore," she exclaimed; "all--all!" Lord
Glenmore shuddered to think how his happiness rested on the awful
revelation of what that all might be. "I will tell you every thing,"
she repeated; and endeavouring to still the sobs that burst from her
heaving bosom, she began.--"That you, Glenmore, should think my heart
engaged to any one but yourself is the deepest pang I feel; and if I
have been guilty, in appearance, of any imprudence or indiscretion, it
is _only in appearance_. In judging me I hope you will be merciful,
though perhaps I cannot ask this at your hands. But if you see fit to
cast me off, and if what I shall say avail me nothing in restoring
me to your affection, still my heart will be yours till it ceases to
beat; and as no one has ever shared it for an instant, so shall no one
_ever_, to my dying hour. _I_ give my heart or my affections to such a
one as Mr. Leslie Winyard?--impossible! I could not if I would. You,
you alone, can ever possess it. But to evince the tenderness which I
feel for you in public, I was told was wrong, was ridiculous; and I was
taught to think that you yourself would cease to love me if I troubled
you with demonstrations of this fondness. I was told, also, that
another than you ought to be my attendant in the world; and the example
of those around me confirmed in this idea." Lord Glenmore sighed
heavily as he felt the truth of what last fell from Lady Glenmore.
"Who _could_ have told you this?" he uttered involuntarily.
"Glenmore, did you not yourself tell me that I must look to the conduct
of those with whom I lived as the best guide for my own? did you not
tell me that Lady Tenderden would be my best model? And if I have
displeased you in my late conduct, think how much I have been led into
the error by your own directions?"
"Georgina, your heart must tell you, that I could never intend, by any
suggestions on my part, that you should form an _intimacy_ with such
a person as Mr. Leslie Winyard, at least such an intimacy as you seem
to have done by these notes. It is true I might have bid you lay aside
the foolish expectation that I should be ever at your side in public;
but I could never judge so ill of your understanding, as to suppose
that such expressions, on my part, could be interpreted to the extent
of endangering your honour and my happiness. But proceed. You have not
yet told me how this intimacy has grown, or what encouragement you have
given to justify such insolent presumption."
"Indeed, indeed, Glenmore, I can hardly tell you how. But first,
whenever I _was_ in public, you were always absent; or, if not absent,
at least occupied with others and not with myself. I sat alone,
_ennuyé_, and with a feeling of desertion. At the _écarté_ parties,
especially, I felt desolate. To them, you know, no young, unmarried
ladies were admitted; and the persons who composed the society were
either engaged in play, or else those who sat out were so engaged,
two and two, in conversation at distant parts of the room, that I
felt awkward in attempting to join them. Oh! how I have sat, night
after night, in those fine rooms, thinking how little they afforded
happiness, and wishing myself any where else! The first person who paid
me any attention was Mr. Leslie Winyard. I found him agreeable and
entertaining; and neither saw nor heard, in his manner or conversation,
any thing that the whole world might not have seen or heard with me.
If others spoke to me, it was a matter of form, or only a passing
word, without seeming to care whether I answered or not; while he,
on the contrary, always listened to what I had to say with apparent
interest,--always seemed impressed with a wish to please me whenever
we met; and thus our intimacy commenced. Deprived of you, Glenmore, I
thought there was no harm in amusing myself in public during the time
that I was there; instead of being quite _délaissée_. _You_ know how
unwilling I was to enter on a life of dissipation." Lord Glenmore again
sighed, as if in assent to the truth of these words; and blamed himself
inwardly that he had ever suffered Lady Glenmore to mingle, unprotected
by himself, in society which now, for the first time, appeared to him,
in its full force, to be of such dangerous tendency, that he felt he
ought to have known better.
"But your greater intimacy abroad," he went on to ask, "Georgina? for
it was abroad that these notes seem to have been written. Did you
receive none such before your departure?"
"None, on my sacred word," she replied.
"Then how came you to admit them?"
"Oh! I can scarcely tell. Sometimes we were left in doubt, the evening
before, whether our party was to take place on the following day or
not, and he wrote to me to know _how_ it was to be. Then I sometimes
returned fatigued with our day's excursion, and a note of inquiry would
arrive. Then another morning would come flowers, another music, and
with all these came notes."
"Did you ever answer them?"
"Very seldom, for you know I hate writing; and when I did it was only a
literal word of reply to some question about the hour at which we were
to ride or dine out. The notes themselves will tell you this, Glenmore,
for they complain of never being answered."
"But if you did not answer, you valued them, Georgina, or you would not
have preserved them."
"Yes," she replied, "I liked the attention they proved; but that was
all. _I_ meant no harm; and though Lady Tenderden frequently knew of
the circumstance, she never reproved me for receiving them."
"Did Lady Tenderden," exclaimed Lord Glenmore with surprise, "never
tell you you were in the wrong, or, at least, imprudent?"
"No--no," Lady Glenmore answered with some hesitation, and as if
endeavouring to recollect herself.
"You hesitate, Georgina. Did Lady Tenderden, I ask you pointedly, never
make any remark on Mr. Leslie Winyard's attentions to you?"
"Yes, yes; once she did say something."
"What was it?" asked Lord Glenmore, with breathless impatience.
"She told me that I should not encourage Mr. Leslie Winyard _alone_;
that it was bad taste to have but one cavalier; that he would grow
tired of me if I did not divide my preference."
"Gracious heaven!" exclaimed Lord Glenmore, striking his hands
together; "and is it to this guardianship that I have intrusted
you?--But the picture, Georgina, the picture! tell me, how came the
picture of that man in your possession?"
"His picture!" repeated Lady Glenmore with surprise.
"Yes," rejoined Lord Glenmore sternly; and taking it from beneath the
papers, pointed to it.
"Oh! I remember now; I had totally forgotten it. But one day, when I
was writing, he came up to me. We had been talking, the evening before,
of remembering people and their features in absence, and I had declared
my inability to recall any one, however intimate, to my memory, when I
did not see them; and then he said he could not bear me to forget him,
and he would put his portrait in my _porte-feuille_, which I conclude
he did; but indeed, indeed I have never looked at it or thought of it
since;"--and she raised her eloquent eyes, streaming with tears, full
in Lord Glenmore's face.
The latter, during the whole of what had passed, felt that his wife was
only the victim of the system of that society in which she had been
cast. He could not for a moment believe that the expression of that
genuine feeling which had been displayed could have been assumed,--that
the undisguised truth had not been elicited in every word that had
fallen from Lady Glenmore's lips,--that she had been led away by the
vanity of a designing man's attention, and during a season, _perhaps_,
of neglect on his part.
How could he then, if his honour and her heart were still unpolluted,
deal harshly by her? Lord Glenmore's views, on all subjects, were
clear and decided; and from what he had elicited from Lady Glenmore,
his purpose was fixed, provided she answered him satisfactorily on two
points, and with the same ingenuous spirit, and the same conviction.
Turning to her, therefore, with much solemnity, he said,
"Georgina, you have been foolish: I believe this to be the extent
of your error. I, perhaps, have been unwise in trusting too much to
your discretion. But before I can again repose confidence in you, you
must first assure me, in the most solemn manner, that you have told
me _all_,--that you have concealed no part of this transaction from
me:--you must swear it."
"I swear," exclaimed Lady Glenmore; and falling on her knees, once more
raised her hands and eyes to heaven, in affirmation of her words, and
in agony of feeling.
Lord Glenmore was deeply agitated. "And then," he continued, his voice
faltering with emotion, "you must promise me that you will break off
all intercourse and acquaintance with that man."
"All, all!" she cried, embracing his knees; "joyfully I will break it
off," and raising an imploring look of love up to his face.
"Voluntarily, freely," he continued, as he gazed at her.
"Yes, Glenmore," she repeated, with deep earnestness. "What is he or
his hated name to me, if you but love me? Only trust me, try me, and
you will find how devotedly I am your own."
Lord Glenmore was deeply affected; and as she clung to his knees,
raised her in his arms, and pressed her convulsively to his heart.
"_I will trust you, Georgina_," he said, as he impressed a kiss on her
forehead--the seal of peace; nor was it impressed in vain. "And now,"
he added, "you require repose. This has been a deep lesson to you and
to myself. Go to your chamber, Georgina, and thank God, as I do, that
you have been thus saved from degradation and misery." Again Lady
Glenmore flinging herself into those dear arms which no longer repelled
her embrace, wept for some moments on his neck delicious tears of
penitence and love.
Once more alone, Lord Glenmore reviewed all that had passed; and in
the calm reflection of a strong mind saw at once the miserable cause,
and the nearly fatal effects, of a mode of life, the awful dangers
of which he had never till then questioned. He had the honesty to
perceive in his own conduct much more to blame than in that of his
young and inexperienced wife. His belief amounted to conviction of her
innocence, even in regard to the imprudence into which she had been
betrayed. A thousand times did he condemn his own mistaken course, and
his too confiding nature, as the cause of all that had occurred. A
thousand instances did he recall of his having placed Lady Glenmore in
circumstances where a less virtuous nature than hers would have fallen
a more easy sacrifice.
The delusion of the false system of society in which she had been
cast was now unveiled, and a thousand proofs of the immorality and
viciousness which marked the course of those with whom he had
habitually lived now stared him in the face; and with a deep feeling
of gratitude he raised the voice of thanksgiving to Heaven, that the
mist of error had been dispelled in time to save her who was dearer to
him than his own life, and in whose happiness his own was involved. How
to break from the entanglements of a society which had produced these
baneful results was a reflection of difficulty.
Lord Glenmore was too much a man of the world, and too good and just
a person, to act hastily in such circumstances; for he well knew that
to do so would be only to draw down upon himself and his wife the
animadversions of the world at large, and the rancour of those from
whom he separated; and in this his wife's character must suffer. It
required, therefore, the calmness of repose, and the deliberation of a
less agitated mind, to decide on the after-measures to be taken; and
with the determination of adopting such as might appear best suited to
the circumstances of the case, he retired, at length, to rest.