HENRY HALFORD WRITES A LETTER.
When Mr. Henry Halford parted from Mr. Armstrong and his family at the
gates of Lime Grove, he felt as if walking on air. After such a kind
reception and cordial invitation from the father of Mary Armstrong,
there could be nothing to fear of disappointment.
He reached home in a very short space of time, and looked so bright and
joyous as he met his mother in the hall, that she said to him, "Why,
Henry, you appear as if you had heard good news; where have you been?"
"Only for a walk, mother; but on my way home I met Mrs. Armstrong and
the young people, and they have given me a cordial invitation to come in
and see them as often as I like."
"I thought you disliked going out to dinner and paying visits, Henry?"
"So I do as a rule, but there is no rule without an exception; and Mr.
Armstrong's family forms that exception."
Mrs. Halford stood for a moment contemplating her son's bright and
lively mood with real surprise. Truly he presented an exception to the
rule which generally governed him. For once the sedate, studious youth
had assumed a gay and lightsome manner, which completely changed his
appearance. Suddenly she remembered hearing Dr. Halford speak of the
young lady he and her son had met at Mr. Drummond's dinner-party--the
only and elder sister of little Freddy Armstrong. Determining to
question her husband respecting this young lady, she readily allowed
Henry to go on to his study without another word.
But once seated in this sanctum, so exclusively his own, Henry Halford's
thoughts took a more serious turn. What he was about to do appeared more
formidable on reflection than during the first few minutes of his walk
home, when every difficulty seemed swept from his path.
On his return from Oxford, although, if possible, more earnest in his
wish to obtain Mary Armstrong as a wife when he had made for her a home,
the wish seemed hopeless. He had met her father and mother but once; he
was not a visitor at their house, and till his terms at Oxford were
ended he had no profession, excepting that of usher in his father's
school.
Report said the woman he loved would be rich; how could he ask for her
in his present penniless condition? So reasoned common sense. But then
arose a thousand arguments in favour of asking for her now. If Mary
Armstrong really loved him she would wait years for him. Might not he
ask her father's permission to discover if such were the case? After
all, it might be only for three years; and as soon as he was ordained
had not his father's old pupil promised him a living for his son? And
even if that failed, his father would make him a partner in the school,
which he knew would be his at his death.
Thus reflecting he made up his mind to the venture, and seated himself
at his desk to commence a letter to Mr. Armstrong.
But he found the task too full of difficulties to be hurried over. Two
sheets of paper had been filled and thrown aside as unsuitable, and the
summons to tea came before he had finished his third attempt. Carelessly
pushing the spoiled sheets into his desk and locking it, he arose to
join his friends at the tea-table, saying to himself, "I will write my
letter to-morrow; it must not be done in a hurry." With this resolve he
entered the little breakfast parlour, where we once heard a letter read
which so faithfully portrayed his own characteristics. Kate Marston, who
was pouring out the tea, looked at him earnestly.
"Why, aunt Clara," she said, "Henry looks as grave as a judge. I
expected to see him come into the room like a sunbeam from your
description."
"Well, Katey," said her cousin, "clouds must cover the sunbeams
sometimes; and have you forgotten the poet's words?--'O man, thou
pendulum betwixt a smile and tear.'"
"You can defend yourself, at all events, Henry," she replied; "and you
know how completely you can silence me when you quote poetry. I never
could learn to repeat a line of poetry in my life."
There was a pause, during which Henry, who sat opposite the window,
appeared to be absorbed in the prospect of garden, fields, and meadows,
thick summer foliage, and the distant blue hills of Highgate and Harrow
which met his view. But the eyes were not "with the heart, for that was
far away,"--in the meadows of Christ Church, Oxford, with a fair young
girl leaning on his arm.
Persons who have the power of concentrating the mind on one particular
subject at a time are spoken of as absent, and many curious incidents
are related of talented men and their strange doings during these fits
of abstraction. But it is to this very power of concentration that we
owe our greatest statesmen, lawyers, poets, and warriors. The discovery
of the power of steam, the inventions in science, art, mechanics, and
medicine, which have given to the world its luxuries, its comforts, its
advantages, and its power of alleviating suffering and pain, can all be
attributed to that concentration of thought on one subject, which alone
can give the mind a power to grasp it in all its completeness. The
subject, however, so absorbing to Henry Halford might in one respect be
called trivial; and yet that subject which involves the future happiness
or misery of two individuals for life, can scarcely deserve such a name.
The probable success of his letter to Mr. Armstrong was the least
important of his thoughts at this moment. Would it insure the happiness
of the girl he loved? and was he justified in proposing mere
possibilities as a basis for that happiness? were some of the questions
he asked himself.
A smart blow with the palm of her hand on his shoulder, and his cousin
Kate's words, "Uncle has spoken to you twice, Henry. What are you
thinking about so deeply?" aroused him from his reverie.
"I beg your pardon, sir," he exclaimed, with a flushed face, "did you
ask me a question?"
"Yes, Henry; I asked where you met Mr. Armstrong yesterday."
"Outside his own gate. He had just arrived from town on horseback. He
treated me most affably, and said he should be glad to see you and
myself to join their six o'clock dinner at any time without a special
invitation, as he never gives dinner-parties."
There was a pause for some minutes, and then Mrs. Halford remarked--
"You met Miss Armstrong and her mother at Mr. Drummond's in March,
James?"
"Yes, I remember the young lady's bright, intelligent face. Drummond
told me her father has interfered greatly in the education of his
daughter, teaching her the advanced rules of arithmetic, and even
algebra and Euclid, and other subjects most unusual in the education of
girls."
"I should imagine such knowledge would deprive a girl of all softness
and refinement," remarked Mrs. Halford.
"It has not done so in Miss Armstrong's case," said Henry, quickly; "I
saw enough of her at Mr. Drummond's to discover that."
"And you have seen her since at Oxford?" said his mother.
"Yes, almost every day for nearly a week; and I can assure you I never
met a more lady-like, accomplished girl in my life, in spite of what is
said of her father's eccentric plans in her education."
Kate Marston noticed the rising colour as it deepened in her cousin's
cheek. She glanced at her aunt, and in that glance knew that the
mother's suspicions confirmed her own.
"I think you told me, James, that Miss Armstrong's marriage portion will
be very considerable," remarked Mrs. Halford.
"Something fabulous, according to Drummond's account; that is, if she
marries a man of whom her father approves;" and the father as he spoke
looked at his son. "Drummond told me that the ambition of Mr. Armstrong
is to marry his daughter to a man of wealth and position, but if both
are not attainable he will give her money enough to purchase the latter.
He heard him say once that such a girl as his daughter would be an
ornament to society in the highest circles in the kingdom."
"Would Mr. Armstrong sacrifice his daughter's wishes to gratify sinful
pride and mistaken ambition?" asked Henry, indignantly; "it seems to me
an impossibility that any father could act thus." He drank off the
contents of his teacup and left the room without waiting for a reply.
Again in his little study, he closed the door and locked it, opened his
desk with impulsive eagerness, took out a sheet of writing-paper, and
drew his chair to the table.
"I cannot believe any man could be so cruelly unkind to his only
daughter," he said to himself. "Would he force her to marry a man she
did not love, even if by so doing he could make her a countess? Does the
acquisition of money so harden a parent's heart? I cannot, I will not
believe it. I will try Mr. Armstrong before I can credit anything so
base in human nature. He will no doubt answer my letter; and if he
refuses to allow me to address his daughter, he will of course give me
his reasons for doing so."
And so the young heart, ignorant of the world, as is the case with most
men of studious habits, and with the trust in human nature which seldom
outlives a few years of worldly experience, commenced a letter to a man
who would, while reading it, sneer at the noble expressions of
true-hearted affection it contained, and perhaps treat the writer with
contemptuous silence. Nevertheless the letter was written and posted
before Henry Halford slept that night.
We will follow it to its destination in London, and intrude upon Mr.
Armstrong's private room at his office in Dover Street, to which it was
addressed.
Several letters were lying on the table when he entered the room on this
morning of which we write, followed by his clerk. Still talking to him
while opening them rapidly, he came upon the unknown hand and glanced at
the signature, pausing in the midst of an important commission to the
clerk to do so. "What could Mr. Henry Halford write to him about?
excepting----" and at the thought that followed he flushed with anger.
But a question from the gentlemanly young man who stood so patiently
waiting his commands, recalled him to the business in hand. Laying the
letter at a distance on the table, he opened the rest, and after a few
brief directions, yet still so clear as to leave no room for a mistake,
the clerk was dismissed. Then Mr. Armstrong, after writing in pencil
various notes on the business letters before him, pushed them on one
side and took up Henry Halford's long and closely written epistle.
We will read it with him:--
"Englefield Grange, July 4th, 18--.
"DEAR SIR,--Your very kind and cordial invitation this
afternoon makes it imperative on me to address you with
reference to a certain subject before I accept it. It is
probable that after I have candidly explained the cause of my
hesitation you may forbid me to enter your house, yet I should
prefer even that sentence to any clandestine or concealed
proceedings.
"Since Mrs. Armstrong placed her youngest son under my father's
care I have had the pleasure of seeing your daughter several
times; only twice, however, until the week of her visit to
Oxford.
"I will confess to my admiration of Miss Armstrong even on the
two former occasions, more especially while in her society at
Mrs. Drummond's; but many considerations made me resist the
inclination to call at your house and become better acquainted
with the young lady.
"At Oxford, however, I met your daughter with my friend Captain
Herbert, who was my fellow-student some years ago at Dr.
Mason's, though older than myself. I was surprised to find that
my friend Charles Herbert was your daughter's cousin and Mrs.
Armstrong's nephew; Colonel Herbert kindly invited me to his
hotel during their visit to Oxford, and I there met your
daughter, and saw and conversed with her frequently during the
week of her stay.
"I need not enlarge upon the personal attractions, the unusual
talents, and the sweet character which make Miss Armstrong so
charming, for these must be well known to yourself. But I ask
to be allowed to seek to win her affections with the sanction
of her parents and under their own roof.
"I ask this with great hesitation, because I am not yet in a
position to offer your daughter such a home as I could wish,
and shall eventually obtain for her. In two years I hope to be
ordained, and my father's friend, Lord Rivers, has already
promised him a living for his son.
"If I can succeed in gaining the affections of your daughter,
she will not mind waiting the time I have named. We are both
young, and I would wait as Jacob did for Rachel, so great is
the love I bear her.
"I will only add that if you kindly grant me your consent, it
will give me increased energy to prepare for my profession, and
to make every effort to shorten the period of my probation, in
the hope that the great happiness of making your charming
daughter my cherished wife may eventually be mine.
"I remain, dear Sir,
"Very faithfully yours,
"HENRY HALFORD."
When Mr. Armstrong had read this letter hastily through, words cannot
describe the angry passions that raged in his breast. What! the
schoolmaster's son, an usher, a curate _in futuro_, with perhaps 80_l._
or 100_l._ a year to live upon! "What!" he thought, "give up my precious
daughter to be a schoolmaster's wife, or rather drudge!--making rice
puddings, mending stockings and shirts, and slaving for other people's
children, and getting no thanks for it! Or perhaps in paltry comfortless
apartments waiting upon her husband the curate, for whom she is often
obliged to cook a dinner fit for him to eat, because the food obtained
with such difficulty is spoiled by the lodging-house cooking. I've heard
the misery of a curate's home described," continued the angry man, "less
wages than a mechanic, and yet husband, wife, and children have to
struggle to keep up appearances and to live in genteel poverty because
the husband is a clergyman!"
Mr. Armstrong drew his desk towards him, and dashed off a coarse
insulting letter to the daring aspirant for his daughter's hand, and
with the effort the fierceness of his anger evaporated, conscience made
itself heard. "Why should you insult this young man for acting as you
did yourself?" said the stern voice; "he is a well-born, well-bred,
intelligent gentleman, which you were not when you married Maria St.
Clair." "But I had money," replied self, "and he has by his own account
nothing to call his own." "He or his father must have had money to pay
for a university education," suggested conscience; "besides, half of the
boasted fortune you talk of giving your daughter would establish these
young people for life, and make them happy if they love each other."
"I don't believe they do," was the next suggestion, "or at least there
is no love on Mary's side. She is not one to give her affections so
easily; the young man's letter proves that he is not sure of her, for he
asks to be allowed to try and win her. Perhaps if the girl really loved
him, I might be inclined to give up some of the fortune in store for her
to make them happy. There's no harm done as yet on his own account, so
I'll say nothing at home about his letter, but I wont send this," and he
took up the sheet containing expressions of which in his cooler moments
Mr. Armstrong felt thoroughly ashamed, and tore it into minute shreds;
then lighting a taper, he reduced them to ashes in the fireplace. After
this he seated himself and wrote as follows:--
"Dover Street, July 4th, 18--.
"SIR,--I have received your letter, and beg to thank you for
your kind and complimentary opinion of my daughter, but I
cannot favour your proposals. You are young to think of
marriage, especially as you have not yet completed the
profession which you intend to follow.
"I do not approve of long courtships, and therefore the idea of
waiting an indefinite number of years for a living is out of
the question. Added to these objections, I have other plans in
view for my daughter, which I cannot set aside.
"Thanking you for the honour you have done our family by your
proposal,
"I remain, Sir,
"Yours faithfully,
"EDWARD ARMSTRONG."
Mr. Armstrong sealed and addressed this letter with great inward
satisfaction. He had effectually put a stop to any farther trouble on
the part of Mr. Halford, who, he felt assured, was too honourable to act
in opposition to the wishes of Mary's father.
Only one fear would at times during that day disturb Mr. Armstrong's
equanimity: "Was he sure about the state of Mary's affections. They had
been a week together at Oxford, had any unintentional word or look
revealed the secret to each other?" He could not answer his own question
satisfactorily, but he quieted his conscience by saying, "Ah, well, if
there is a little passing fancy for this young man in Mary's heart, it
will soon wear off; she has too much pride to encourage it when she
finds he keeps away, as I know he will after my letter." Mr. Armstrong
returned home in great good-humour, and made himself so agreeable that
Mrs. Armstrong and Mary were quite ready to forget the roughness of the
preceding evening.
No reference of any kind was made to Mr. Henry Halford in Mary's
presence, but when Mr. Armstrong and his wife were alone, he said
quietly and gently, but with a firmness she well knew she could not
gainsay--
"Maria, my dear, I should like to send Freddy to school with his
brothers next quarter; he is getting quite well and strong enough to be
with older boys. I may as well tell you the truth," he added; "I don't
wish him to continue at Dr. Halford's, for many reasons which I need not
explain."