The morning of the second day of the week once more broke calm and
clear, and Dudley was musing in his room on much that had lately
passed. From all that he had observed the day before, he feared that
the conduct of Lord Hadley towards Helen Clive was not that which he
could approve; and although he might have regretted much to leave the
society of Eda at that moment, he would not have suffered any personal
feeling to prevent him from urging an immediate removal from what he
conceived a dangerous position, if he had not recollected that the
young nobleman was so nearly of age as to be very likely to resist any
interference. He was considering, therefore, how he should act, when
he was again visited in his room by Mr. Filmer, for the purpose of
engaging him to take a stroll in the fresh morning air.
With many men, the effect of intense thought and mental anxiety is
very great upon the mere body; and Dudley felt heated and almost
feverish. He believed, too, that in the course of their ramble he
might, perhaps, obtain some farther information regarding his pupil's
conduct from the priest; for he well knew that the clergy of the
Romish church look upon it almost as a matter of duty to ascertain the
facts of every transaction in which any of their flock are concerned.
He therefore agreed to the proposal at once; and after they had issued
forth into the park, pondered, even while they were conversing, upon
the best means of introducing the topic of which he was desirous of
speaking.
As they walked on, detached masses of cloud, left by the storm of the
preceding day, floated heavily overhead; and the shadows and the
gleams crossed the landscape rapidly, bringing out many points of
beauty, which were not observable either under the broad sunshine of
summer, or the cold, gray expanse of the wintry sky.
"The scenery here is certainly very lovely," said Dudley; "and I think
that of the park peculiarly so. It is more varied, as well as more
extensive, than any park that I have seen in England."
"Yes, it is very beautiful," replied the priest, in a somewhat
common-place tone; "and, indeed, the whole property is a very fine
one. There are few heiresses in England who can boast of such an
estate as Miss Brandon."
"Miss Brandon!" said Dudley, in a tone of some surprise. "Do you mean
to say that she is the owner of this beautiful place? I thought it was
the property of her uncle."
The priest turned a short, quick glance to his face, and then replied,
in a very marked manner, but yet with a well-satisfied smile, "I am
glad to hear you thought so, my young friend; but in answer to your
question, this property is Miss Brandon's. Sir Arthur is only here as
her guardian. It was much her mother's wish that she should live with
him till her marriage; but, at the same time, she expressed a strong
desire that her principal residence should be at Brandon. Sir Arthur
is a very conscientious man, and he consequently, having undertaken
the task, carries out his sister's views more fully than most men
would be inclined to do. The bulk of his own property is in Yorkshire,
as I believe you know; but he is not there more than a month in the
year. The rest of his time is spent at Brandon or in London."
"May I ask," said Dudley, "what there could be pleasing to you in my
believing this property to be Sir Arthur Adelon's?"
Mr. Filmer smiled. "Perhaps," he said, "it might be more courteous to
leave your question unanswered than to answer it; but nevertheless I
will not affect reserve. I look upon it, in ordinary cases, to be
rather a misfortune than otherwise for a young lady to inherit a large
fortune. There are three results, each very common. Sometimes her
relations and friends arrange and bring about a marriage for her with
a man perhaps the least suited to her on the face of the earth; some
coarse and wealthy brute; some dissolute peer. At other times, she
becomes the prey of a designing sharper; a man probably without
honour, honesty, or principle: low in birth and mind as in fortunes.
Or if she escapes these perils, and reaches the age of discretion
unmarried, from a knowledge of the risks she has escaped, she is
filled with suspicions of every gentleman who approaches her; doubts
the motives of all who profess to love her, and fancies that her
wealth, and not her heart, is the object sought. I know not which of
these results is most to be deprecated." He made a pause, and then
continued, with a smile: "That you did not know the property to belong
to her, shows that you can be influenced by no motives but such as
must be gratifying to herself."
Dudley cast down his eyes and mused for several moments. He was not at
all aware that his conduct towards Eda had been such as to display the
secret of their hearts to even the keenest eye; and he was surprised,
and not well pleased, to find that it had been penetrated at once by
the shrewd priest. As he did not answer, Mr. Filmer went on, with a
frank and even friendly tone: "I need not tell you, Mr. Dudley, after
what has fallen from me," he said, "that I wish you success, not with
any of the rash enthusiasm of a young man in favour of a friend, but
upon calm and due deliberation. You are a gentleman by birth and
education; a man of high honour and feeling I sincerely believe you to
be, and this Lord Hadley is in no degree fitted for her. Light and
volatile as a withered leaf; with no fixed principles, and no strong
religious feelings; full of unbridled passions, and appetites that
have been pampered from his boyhood; the effect of wealth and high
station, those two great touchstones of the human character, will be
disastrous to him. He is in the high road now to become a confirmed
libertine, and even at the present moment is labouring to destroy the
peace of a happy family far more ancient and respectable than his own,
and to introduce discord into a peaceful neighbourhood, where,
happily, we have few such as himself to stir up the angry feelings of
our nature."
"You have touched upon a subject, my dear sir," replied Dudley, who
could not help feeling gratified by many of the expressions he had
used, "in regard to which I much wished to speak with you; and I was
meditating upon the very point when you came into my room. I have
remarked, for some days past, that Lord Hadley has been much absent
from the house at which he is visiting, so much so as almost to be
discourteous; and yesterday, in the chapel, I could not help observing
indications of feelings which I regretted much to see, and in regard
to which you have confirmed my suspicions."
"His conduct there was very reprehensible," said Mr. Filmer, in a
grave tone. "He spends the time during his long absences from Brandon
either in visiting at Mr. Clive's house, or in lying in wait for poor
Helen in her walks. His object is not to be mistaken by any one of
ordinary sagacity and knowledge of the world; but yet, Clive, though a
very sensible man, does not perceive it. You must have remarked how
blind parents usually are under such circumstances. He looks upon Lord
Hadley as a mere boy, and a frank and agreeable one. He thinks that
his visits are to himself; and the young gentleman, with more art than
one would have supposed him capable of, takes care to go down to the
Grange when he knows that the master is out, and has some excuse ready
for waiting till he returns."
"From what you tell me," replied Dudley, "it seems absolutely
necessary that one of two courses should be pursued: either I must
immediately endeavour to induce Lord Hadley to remove from Brandon--in
which case I am afraid he would resist, as in a few weeks he will be
of age--or else Mr. Clive must be warned, and take such measures as
may put a stop to this young man's visits."
"I do not know that either is necessary," answered Mr. Firmer; "nor
would either have the effect that you anticipate. Lord Hadley would
not go, or would return to pursue the same course when he is his own
master; and in regard to warning Clive, I should have done it before,
had I not known and felt that it might be dangerous to do so. He is a
man of a very strong and hasty spirit: resolute, bold, determined, and
easily moved by anything that looks like indignity, to bursts of
passion of which you can form no idea, never having seen him roused.
Neither have I any fear whatsoever for Helen. She is guarded not only
by high principle, and a pure and noble heart, but by other feelings,
which are often a woman's greatest safeguard. Lord Hadley will then
find his designs in vain; and I do not think he would venture to
insult her in any way."
Dudley mused for a moment, having learned more of his pupil during
their journey on the Continent than he had known when he undertook the
task of guiding him. "I do not know," he said, in a doubtful tone: "I
do not know."
"He had better not," said Mr. Filmer, sternly; "but be sure, my dear
young friend, that there shall be an eye, not easily blinded, on all
his actions. The interest you take in this matter raises you more
highly in my esteem than ever; and I will own, that I could not help
drawing a comparison, very unfavourable to this young lord, between
your conduct and his in the chapel yesterday. Reverence to the
ceremonies of religion is due even to decency, if not to principle;
but there was something more in your demeanour, which gave me good
hope that if you would sometimes attend to the various services of our
church, receive even but slight instruction in its doctrines, cast
from your mind the prejudices of education, and meditate unbiassed
over the principal differences between our church and yours--of
course, not without full explanation of all our views upon those
dogmas which are so erroneously stated by most Protestant
writers--your conduct gave me good hope, I say, that under these
circumstances you might be regained to that true faith of which many
of your ancestors were the greatest ornaments."
Dudley smiled. The secret was now before him. The priest had really
conceived the design of converting him; and his full and strong
attachment to the Protestant religion, his unhesitating condemnation
in his own heart of the errors of the Romish church, made the very
idea ridiculous in his eyes. "I fear, my dear sir," he replied, as the
slight smile passed away, "that your expectation is altogether vain.
There is no chance whatever, let me assure you, of my ever abandoning
the religion in which I have been brought up."
"Do not be too sure, my friend," replied Mr. Filmer, smiling also; "I
have seen more obstinate heretics than yourself brought to a knowledge
of the truth. I do not despair of you at all. You have a mind free
from many prejudices which affect others of your religion. You are not
at all bigoted or intolerant; and you view these matters so calmly,
and yet devoutly, that with my firm convictions, after much study and
thought, I cannot help thinking, if you will but look into the matter
fully, you will arrive at a just conclusion."
"I trust, undoubtedly, that such will be the case," was Dudley's
answer; "but I believe, my dear sir, that I have arrived at a just
conclusion already. It has not been without study either, nor from the
showing of Protestant divines, but rather from the works of your own
church, many of which I have examined with great care and attention,
and which have only strengthened me in my convictions. The more
impartial a man is in forming his opinions, and the less vehement and
passionate he is in their assertion, the more firm he is likely to be
when they are formed, and the more steady in their maintenance."
They had by this time reached the other side of the park, and passing
through a little wicket gate, were entering the road beyond the walls.
Mr. Filmer's lips were compressed as he listened, and he seemed to
struggle against some strong emotion; but just at that moment the
tramp of numerous feet was heard, and looking up the road, they saw a
multitude of people, in the dress of country labourers and working
men, advancing at a quick pace, two and two, in an orderly and
decorous manner. Mr. Filmer and his companion paused to let them pass;
and as they went by, talking together, Filmer could not help
remarking, that in the countenances of many there was a stern and
thoughtful, and in others an enthusiastic and excited expression,
which seemed to indicate that they were engaged in no ordinary
occupation. They passed on without taking any notice of the two
gentlemen, although two or three times Dudley heard the name of Sir
Arthur Adelon mentioned amongst them; and when the last had gone by,
he inquired, not unwilling to change the matter of their conversation,
"Who can these men be, and what can be their object in this curious
sort of array?"
"I really do not know," answered Mr. Filmer; "but it would not
surprise me if they were Chartists."
"Have you many of them here?" asked Dudley.
"Oh, yes! they are very numerous," replied the priest, "both amongst
the peasantry and the townspeople, and these may very likely be going
to some of their meetings on the downs. They are all very orderly and
quiet in our county, however; and, indeed, form the best behaved and
most respectable part of our population. A great enthusiasm is very
often extremely useful. The men who feel it are often restrained
thereby from anything low or base, or degrading to the great principle
which moves them. Such, my young friend, ought to be the power of
religion upon the heart; and such it is, as you must have yourself
seen, with a great many of the ecclesiastics of the church to which I
belong. Base and bad men may be found in every country, and will
disgrace every creed; but I cannot help thinking you will find, if you
will really read and study some works which I will lend you, that the
natural tendency of every doctrine of the Catholic religion is to
elevate and purify the hearts of men, and to mortify and subdue every
corrupt affection. I know," he continued, "that the exact reverse has
been stated by Protestant writers, but they have been mistaken--I will
not use a harsher term--and will only add, study, and you will see."
"I will certainly read the books with great pleasure," replied Dudley;
"but at the same time I must not lead you to expect for one moment
that they will make any change in my opinions."
He spoke in the most decided tone; and Mr. Filmer replied, with a
slight contraction of the brows, and a very grave and serious manner,
"Then I fear your dearest hopes will be disappointed."
Dudley felt somewhat indignant at the implied threat; but he was
prevented from answering by the appearance of Lord Hadley, who came
towards them, not from the side of Brandon, and who, instantly joining
them, returned in their company towards the house, affecting an
exuberant degree of gaiety, and laughing and jesting in a manner which
harmonized ill with the more serious thoughts of his two companions.
The subject of the mass, at which they had been present the day
before, was accidentally introduced in the course of their
conversation, which thence deviated to the ceremonies of the Roman
Catholic religion in other countries; and the young peer said,
laughing, "If it were not for its mummeries, Mr. Filmer, I should
think it a very good religion too, a capital religion. It is so
pleasant to think that one can shuffle off all one's peccadilloes on
the shoulders of another man, that I wonder who would not be a Roman
Catholic, if he could."
A scowl, momentary, but fiend-like, crossed the countenance of the
priest; and Dudley, who had observed it, was surprised to hear him
say, the next moment, with a bland smile, "You are a little mistaken
in your views, my lord; and I think if you would examine the subject
well, under a competent instructor, you would not find it so difficult
a thing to be a Roman Catholic as you imagine."
"I should prefer an instructress," answered Lord Hadley, with a laugh;
but Mr. Filmer did not reply, finding it, perhaps, somewhat difficult
to guide his arguments between two men of such totally different
characters and views as the young lord and his tutor. The rest of
their walk back through the park passed almost in silence; but from
various indications Dudley judged that the previous gaiety of Lord
Hadley had been more affected than real.