They whose notions of a banker are formed on such home models as Overend
and Gurney and Drummond, and the other princes o' that ilk, will be
probably not a little shocked to learn by what inferior dignitaries the
great craft is represented abroad; your English banker in a foreign city
being the most extraordinary agglomeration of all trades it is well
possible to conceive, combining within himself very commonly the duties
of house-agent, wine-merchant, picture-dealer, curiosity-vendor, with
agencies for the sale of india-rubber shoes, Cuban cigars, and cod-liver
oil. He will, at a moment's notice, start you with a whole establishment
from kitchen to stable, and, equally ready to do the honors of this
world or the next, he will present you in society, or embalm you with
every careful direction for your conveyance “homeward.” Well judging
that in dealing thus broadly with mankind a variety of tastes and
opinions must be consulted, they usually hunt in couples, one doing the
serious, the other taking the light comedy parts. The one is the grave,
calm, sensible man, with his prudent reserves and his cautious scruples;
the other, a careless dog, who only “discounts” out of fun, and charges
you “commission” in mere pastime and lightness of heart.
Imagine the heavy father and the light rake of comedy conspiring for
some common object, and you have them. Probably the division-of-labor
science never had a happier illustration than is presented by their
agreement. Who, I ask you,--who can escape the double net thus stretched
for his capture? Whatever your taste or temperament, you must surely be
approachable by one or the other of these.
What Trover cannot, Twist will be certain to accomplish; where Twist
fails, there Trover is sovereign. “Ah, you 'll have to ask _my_ partner
about that,” is the stereotyped saying of each. It was thus these kings
of Brentford sniffed at the same nosegay, the world, and, sooth to say,
to their manifest self-satisfaction and profit. If the compact worked
well for all the purposes of catching clients, it was more admirable
still in the difficult task of avoiding them. Strange and exceptional
must his station in life be to whom the secret intelligences of Twist or
Trover could not apply. Were we about to dwell on these gentlemen and
their characteristics, we might advert to the curious fact that though
their common system worked so smoothly and successfully, they each
maintained for the other the most disparaging opinion, Twist deeming
Trover a light, thoughtless, inconsiderate creature, Trover returning
the compliment by regarding his partner as a bigoted, low-minded, vulgar
sort of fellow, useful behind the desk, but with no range of speculation
or enterprise about him.
Our present scene is laid at Mr. Trover's villa near Florence. It stands
on the sunny slope of Fiezole, and with a lovely landscape of the Val d'
Arno at its feet. O ye gentles, who love to live at ease, to inhale an
air odorous with the jasmine and the orange-flower,--to gaze on scenes
more beautiful than Claude ever painted,--to enjoy days of cloudless
brightness, and nights gorgeous in starry brilliancy, why do ye not all
come and live at Fiezole? Mr. Trover's villa is now to let, though this
announcement is not inserted as an advertisement. There was a rumor that
it was once Boccaccio's villa. Be that as it may, it was a pretty,
coquettish little place, with a long terrace in front, under which ran
an orangery, a sweet, cool, shady retreat in the hot noon-time, with a
gushing little fountain always rippling and hissing among rock-work. The
garden sloped away steeply. It was a sort of wilderness of flowers and
fruit-trees, little cared for or tended, but beautiful in the wild
luxuriance of its varied foliage, and almost oppressive in its wealth of
perfume. Looking over this garden, and beyond it again, catching the
distant domes of Florence, the tall tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, and
the massive block of the Pitti, was a small but well-proportioned room
whose frescos were carried from wall to ceiling by a gentle arch of the
building, in which were now seated three gentlemen over their dessert.
Mr. Trover's guests were our acquaintances Stocmar and Ludlow Paten. The
banker and the “Impresario” were very old friends; they had done “no end
of shrewd things” together. Paten was a new acquaintance. Introduced
however by Stocmar, he was at once admitted to all the intimacy of his
host, and they sat there, in the free indulgence of confidence,
discussing people, characters, events, and probabilities, as three such
men, long case-hardened with the world's trials, well versed in its
wiles, may be supposed to do. Beneath the great broad surface of this
life of ours, with its apparent impulses and motives, there is another
stratum of hard stern realities, in which selfish motives and interested
actions have their sphere. These gentlemen lived entirely in this layer,
and never condescended to allude to what went on elsewhere. If they took
a very disparaging view of life, it was not so much the admiration they
bestowed on knavery as the hearty contempt they entertained for whatever
was generous or trustful. Oh, how they did laugh at the poor “muffs” who
believed in anything or any one! To listen to them was to declare that
there was not a good trait in the heart, nor an honest sentiment which
had not its origin in folly. And the stupid dog who paid his father's
debts, and the idiot that beggared himself to portion his sisters, and
the wretched creature who was ruined by giving security for his friend,
all figured in a category despised and ridiculed!
“Were they happy in this theory?” you ask, perhaps. It is very hard to
answer the question. They were undoubtedly what is called “jolly;” they
laughed much, and seemed marvellously free from care and anxiety.
“And so, Trover,” said Stocmar, as he sipped his claret luxuriously,--
“and so you tell me this is a bad season with you out here,--few
travellers, no residents, and little stirring in the way of discounts
and circular notes.”
“Wretched! miserable!” cried the banker. “The people who come out from
England nowadays are mostly small twenty-pounders, looking sharp to the
exchanges, and watching the quotations like money-brokers.”
“Where are the fast men all gone to? That is a problem puzzles me much,”
said Paten.
“They have gone over to Puseyism, and stained glass, and Saint
Winifred's shin-bones, and early Christian art,” broke in Stocmar. “I
know them well, and their velvet paletots cut in the mediaeval fashion,
and their hair cut straight over the forehead.”
“How slow a place must become with such fellows!” sighed Paten.
“The women are mostly pretty; they dress with a sort of quaint coquetry
very attractive, and they have a kind of demure slyness about them, with
a fascination all its own.”
“We have the exact type you describe here at this moment now,” said the
banker. “She never goes into society, but steals furtively about the
galleries, making copies of old Giottos, and such-like, and even
penetrating into the monasteries with a special permission from the
Cardinal-Secretary to examine the frescos.”
“Is she young? Is she pretty?” asked Stocmar.
“She is both, and a widow, I believe,--at least, her letters come to the
bank addressed Mrs. Penthony Morris.”
Paten started, but a slight kick under the table from Stocmar recalled
him to caution and self-possession.
“Tell us more about her, Trover; all that you know, in fact.”
“Five words will suffice for that. She lives here with the family of a
certain Sir William Heathcote, and apparently exercises no small
influence amongst them; at least, the tradespeople tell me they are
referred to her for everything, and all the letters we get about
transfers of stock, and suchlike, are in _her_ hand.”
“You have met her, and spoken with her, I suppose?” asked Stocmar.
“Only once. I waited upon her, at her request, to confer with her about
her daughter, whom she had some intention of placing at the
Conservatoire at Milan, as a preparation for the stage, and some one had
told her that I knew all the details necessary.”
“Have you seen the girl?”
“Yes, and heard her sing. Frightened enough she was, poor thing; but she
has a voice like Sontag's, just a sort of mellow, rich tone they run
upon just now, and with a compass equal to Malibran's.”
“And her look?”
“Strikingly handsome. She is very young; her mother says nigh sixteen,
but I should guess her at under fifteen certainly. I thought at once of
writing to _you_, Stocmar, when I saw her. I know how eagerly _you_
snatch up such a chance as this; but as you were on your way out, I
deferred to mention her till you came.”
“And what counsel did you give her, Trover?”
“I said, 'By all means devote her to the Opera. It is to women, in our
age, what the career of politics is to men, the only royal road to high
ambition.'”
“That is what I tell all my young prime donne,” said Stocmar. “I never
fail to remind them that any débutante may live to be a duchess.”
“And they believe you?” asked Paten.
“To be sure they do. Why, man, there is an atmosphere of credulity about
a theatre that makes one credit anything, except what is palpably true.
Every manager fancies he is making a fortune; every tenor imagines he is
to marry a princess; and every fiddler in the orchestra firmly believes
in the time when a breathless audience will be listening to _his_
'solo.'”
“I wish, with all my heart, I was on the stage, then,” exclaimed Paten.
“I should certainly like to imbibe some of this sanguine spirit.”
“You are too old a dram-drinker, Ludlow, to be intoxicated with such
light tipple,” said Stocmar. “You have tasted of the real 'tap.'”
“That have I,” said he, with a sigh that told how intensely he felt the
words; and then, as if to overcome the sad impression, he asked, “And
the girl, is she to take to the stage?”
“I believe Stocmar will have to decide the point; at least, I told her
mother that he was on his way to Italy, and that his opinion on such a
matter might be deemed final. Our friend here,” continued Trover, as he
pointed laughingly to Stocmar,--“our friend here buys up these budding
celebrities just as Anderson would a yearling colt, and, like him too,
would reckon himself well paid if one succeed in twenty.”
“Ay, one in fifty, Trover,” broke in Stocmar. “It is quite true. Many a
stone does not pay for the cutting; but as we always get the lot cheap,
we can afford to stand the risk.”
“She's a strange sort of woman, this Mrs. Morris,” said Trover, after a
pause, “for she seems hesitating between the Conservatoire and a
convent.”
“Is the girl a Catholic?”
“No; but her mother appears to consider that as a minor circumstance; in
fact, she strikes me as one of those people who, when they determine to
go to a place, are certain to cut out a road for themselves.”
“That she is!” exclaimed Paten.
“Oh, then, you are acquainted with her?” cried Trover.
“No, no,” said he, hurriedly. “I was merely judging from your
description of her. Such a woman as you have pictured I can imagine,
just as if I had known her all my life.”
“I should like to see both mother and daughter,” broke in Stocmar.
“I fancy she will have no objection; at least, she said to me, 'You will
not fail to inform me of your friend Mr. Stocmar's arrival here;' and I
promised as much.”
“Well, you must arrange our meeting speedily, Trover, for I mean to be
at Naples next week, at Barcelona and Madrid the week after. The worthy
Public, for whose pleasure I provide, will, above all things, have
novelty,--excellence, if you can, but novelty must be procured them.”
“Leave it to me, and you shall have an interview tomorrow or the day
after.”
A strange telegraphic intelligence seemed to pass from Paten to the
manager, for Stocmar quickly said, “By the way, don't drop any hint that
Paten is with me; he has n't got the best of reputations behind the
scenes, and it would, perhaps, mar all our arrangements to mention him.”
Trover put a finger to his lips in sign of secrecy, and said, “You are
right there. She repeatedly questioned me on the score of your own
morality, Stocmar, expressing great misgivings about theatrical folk
generally.”
“Take my word for it, then, the lady is a fast one herself,” said
Stocmar; “for, like the virtuous Pangloss, she knows what wickedness
is.”
“It is deuced hard to say what she is,” broke in Trover. “My partner,
Twist, declares she must have been a stockbroker or a notary public. She
knows the whole share-list of Europe, and can quote you the 'price
current' of every security in the Old World or the New; not to say that
she is deeply versed in all the wily relations between the course of
politics and the exchanges, and can surmise, to a nicety, how every
spoken word of a minister can react upon the money-market.”
“She cannot have much to do with such interests, I take it,” said Paten,
in assumed indifference.
“Not upon her own account, certainly,” replied Trover; “but such is her
influence over this old Baronet, that she persuades him to sell out
here, and buy in there, just as the mood inclines her.”
“And is he so very rich?” asked Stocmar.
“Twist thinks not; he suspects that the money all belongs to a certain
Miss Leslie, the ward of Sir William, but who came of age a short time
back.”
“Now, what may her fortune be?” said Stocmar, in a careless tone; “in
round numbers, I mean, and not caring for a few thousands more or less.”
“I have no means of knowing. I can only guess it must be very large. It
was only on Tuesday last she bought in about seven-and-twenty thousand
'Arkansas New Bonds,' and we have an order this morning to transfer
thirty-two thousand more into Illinois 'Sevens.'”
“All going to America!” cried Paten. “Why does she select investment
there?”
“That's the widow's doing. She says that the Old World is going in for a
grand smash. That Louis Napoleon will soon have to throw off the mask,
and either avow himself the head of the democracy, or brave its
vengeance, and that either declaration will be the signal for a great
war. Then she assumes that Austria, pushed hard for means to carry on
the struggle, will lay hands on the Church property of the empire, and
in this way outrage all the nobles whose families were pensioned off on
these resources, thus of necessity throwing herself on the side of the
people. In a word, she looks for revolution, convulsion, and a wide-
spread ruin, and says the Yankees are the only people who will escape. I
know little or nothing of such matters myself, but she sent Twist home
t' other day in such a state of alarm that he telegraphed to Turin to
transfer all his 'Sardinians' into 'New Yorkers,' and has been seriously
thinking of establishing himself in Broadway.”
“I wish she 'd favor me with her views about theatrical property,” said
Stocmar, with a half sneer, “and what is to become of the Grand Opera in
the grand smash.”
“Ask her, and she'll tell you,” cried Trover. “You'll never pose her
with a difficulty; she 'll give you a plan for paying off the national
debt, tell you how to recruit the finances of India, conduct the Chinese
war, or oppose French intrigues in Turkey, while she stitches away at
her Berlin work. I give you my word, while she was finishing off the end
of an elephant's snout in brown worsted, t' other day, she restored the
Murats to Naples, gave Sicily to Russia, and sent the Pope, as head of a
convict establishment, to Cayenne.”
“Is she a little touched in the upper story?” asked Stocmar, laying his
finger on his forehead.
“Twist says not. Twist calls her the wiliest serpent he ever saw, but
not mad.”
“And now a word about the daughter,” cried Stocmar. “What's the girl
like?”
“Pretty,--very pretty; long eyelashes, very regular features, a
beautiful figure; and the richest auburn hair I ever saw, but, with all
that, none of the mother's _esprit_,--no smartness, no brilliancy. In
fact, I should call her a regular mope.”
“She is very young, remember,” broke in Stocmar.
“That's true; but with such a clever mother, if she really had any
smartness, it would certainly show itself. Now, it is not only that she
displays no evidence of superior mind, but she wears an air of
depression and melancholy that seems like a sort of confession of her
own insufficiency, so Twist says, and Twist is very shrewd as to
character.”
“I can answer for it, he's devilish close-fisted as to money,” said
Stocmar, laughing.
“I remember,” chimed in Trover; “he told me that you came into the bank
with such a swaggering air, and had such a profusion of gold chains,
rings, and watch-trinkets, that he set you down for one of the swell-mob
out on a tour.”
“Civil, certainly,” said Stocmar, “but as little flattering to his own
perspicuity as to myself. But I'll never forget the paternal tone in
which he whispered me afterwards, 'Whenever you want a discount, Mr.
Stocmar, from a stranger,--an utter stranger,--don't wear an opal pin
set in brilliants; it don't do, I assure you it don't'.” Stocmar gave
such a close imitation of the worthy banker's voice and utterance, that
his partner laughed heartily.
“Does he ever give a dinner, Trover?” asked Stocmar.
“Oh yes, he gives one every quarter. Our graver clients, who would not
venture to come up here, dine with him, and he treats them to sirloins
and saddles, with Gordon's sherry and a very fruity port, made
especially, I believe, for men with good balances to their names.”
“I should like to be present at one of these festivals.” “You have no
chance, Stocmar; he'd as soon think of inviting the _corps de ballet_ to
tea. I myself am never admitted to such celebrations.”
“What rogues these fellows are, Ludlow!” said Stocmar. “If you and I
were to treat the world in this fashion, what would be said of us! The
real humbugs of this life are the fellows that play the heavy parts.”
And with this reflection, whose image was derived from his theatrical
experiences, he arose, to take his coffee on the terrace.