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033 - Coming Events · Wives and Daughters

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty two of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, Chapter thirty two,
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Speaker 1: Coming Events. Roger had turned over many plans in his
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Speaker 1: mind by which he thought that he could obtain sufficient
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Speaker 1: money for the purpose he desired to accomplish. His careful grandfather,
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Speaker 1: who had been a merchant in the city, had so
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Speaker 1: tied up the few thousands he had left to his
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Speaker 1: daughter that although in case of her death before her husband's,
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Speaker 1: the latter might enjoy the life interest thereof. Yet, in
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Speaker 1: case of both their deaths, their second son did not
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Speaker 1: succeed to the property until he was five and twenty,
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Speaker 1: and if he died before that age, the money that
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Speaker 1: would then have been his went to one of his
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Speaker 1: cousins on the maternal side. In short, the old merchant
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Speaker 1: had taken as many precautions about his legacy as if
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Speaker 1: it had been for tens instead of units of thousands.
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Speaker 1: Of course, Roger might have slipped through all these meshes
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Speaker 1: by insuring his life until the specified age, and probably
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Speaker 1: if he had consulted any lawyer, this course would have
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Speaker 1: been suggested to him, But he disliked taking any one
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Speaker 1: into his confidence. On the subject of his father's want
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Speaker 1: of ready money. He had obtained a copy of his
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Speaker 1: grandfather's will at Doctors Commons, and he imagined that all
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Speaker 1: the contingencies involved in it would be patent to the
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Speaker 1: light of nature and common sense. He was a little
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Speaker 1: mistaken in this, but not the less resolved that money,
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Speaker 1: in some way he would have in order to fulfill
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Speaker 1: his promise to his father, and for the ulterior purpose
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Speaker 1: of giving the Squire some daily interest to distract his
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Speaker 1: thoughts from the regrets and cares that were almost weakening
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Speaker 1: his mind.
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Speaker 2: It was Roger Hamley, senior wrangler and fellow of Trinity,
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Speaker 2: to the highest bidder, no matter what honest employment.
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Speaker 1: And presently it came down to any better at all.
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Speaker 1: Another perplexity and distress at this time weighed upon Roger Osborne,
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Speaker 1: heir to the estate, was going to have a child.
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Speaker 1: The Hamley property was entailed on quote heirs male born
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Speaker 1: in lawful wedlock end quote was the wedlock lawful. Osborne
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Speaker 1: never seemed to doubt that. It was, never seemed, in
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Speaker 1: fact to think twice about it. And if he the
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Speaker 1: husband did not, how much less did Aimee, the trustful wife.
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Speaker 1: Yet who could tell how much misery any shadows of
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Speaker 1: illegality might cast into the future. One evening, Roger, sitting
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Speaker 1: by the languid, careless de Lanete Osborne, began to question
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Speaker 1: him as to the details of the marriage. Osborne knew
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Speaker 1: instinctively at what Roger was aiming. It was not that
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Speaker 1: he did not desire perfect legality in justice to his wife.
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Speaker 1: It was that he was so indisposed at the time
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Speaker 1: that he hated to be bothered. It was something like
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Speaker 1: the refrain of Gray's Scandinavian prophetess, leave me, leave me
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Speaker 1: to repose, but do.
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Speaker 2: Try and tell me how you managed it.
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Speaker 1: How tiresome you are, Roger put in Osborne.
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Speaker 2: Well, I dare say I.
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Speaker 3: Am go on, I told you Morrison married us. You
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Speaker 3: remember old Morrison at Trinity.
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Speaker 2: Yes, as good and blunderheaded, a fellow as ever lived.
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Speaker 3: Well, he's taken orders and the examination for priest orders
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Speaker 3: fatigued him so much that he got his father to
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Speaker 3: give him a hundred or two for a tour on
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Speaker 3: the continent. He meant to get to Rome because he
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Speaker 3: heard there were such pleasant winters there. So he turned
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Speaker 3: up at the Mets in August I don't see why
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Speaker 3: No more did he. He never was great in geography,
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Speaker 3: you know, And somehow he thought that Metz pronounced French
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Speaker 3: fashion must be on the road to Rome. Some one
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Speaker 3: had told him so. In fun however, it was very
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Speaker 3: well for me that I met him there, for I
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Speaker 3: was determined to be married, and that without loss of time.
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Speaker 2: But Amy is Catholic, that's.
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Speaker 3: True, But you see I am not. You don't suppose
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Speaker 3: I would do her any wrong.
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Speaker 1: Roger asked Osborne, sitting up in his lounging chair and
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Speaker 1: speaking rather indignantly to Roger, his face suddenly flushing red.
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Speaker 2: No, I'm sure you would not mean it. But you see,
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Speaker 2: there's a child coming, and this estate is entailed on
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Speaker 2: heir's mail. Now I want to know if the marriage
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Speaker 2: is legal or not, And it seems to me it's
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Speaker 2: a ticklish question.
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Speaker 1: Oh, said Osborne, falling back into repose.
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Speaker 3: If that's all I suppose your next heir, male, I
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Speaker 3: can trust you as I can myself. You know, my
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Speaker 3: marriage is bona fide and intention that I believe it
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Speaker 3: to be legal. In fact, we went over to Strasbourg
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Speaker 3: and they picked up a friend, a good middle aged
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Speaker 3: frenchwoman who served half as bridesmaid, half a chaperone. And
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Speaker 3: then we went before the mayor, profee what do you
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Speaker 3: call him? I think Morrison rather enjoyed the spree. I
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Speaker 3: signed all manner of papers and the Prefecture I did
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Speaker 3: not read them over, for fearless I could not sign
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Speaker 3: them conscientiously. It was the safest plan. And may kept trembling,
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Speaker 3: so I thought she would faint. And then we went
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Speaker 3: off to the nearest English chaplaincy Carl's Rue, and the
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Speaker 3: chaplain was away, so Morrison easily got the loan of
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Speaker 3: the chapelain and we were married the next day.
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Speaker 2: But surely some registration or certificate was necessary.
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Speaker 3: Morrison said he went undertake all those forms, and he
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Speaker 3: ought to know his own business. I know I tipped
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Speaker 3: him pretty well for the job.
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Speaker 1: You must be married again, said Roger, after a pause, and.
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Speaker 2: That before the child is born. Have you got a
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Speaker 2: certificate of the marriage?
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Speaker 3: I dare say Morrison has got it somewhere, But I
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Speaker 3: believe I'm legally married according to the laws of both
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Speaker 3: England and France. I rarely do, old fellow. I've got
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Speaker 3: the Prephe's papers somewhere.
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Speaker 2: Never mind, you shall be married again in England. Amy
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Speaker 2: goes to the Roman Catholic chapel at Preston.
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Speaker 3: Doesn't she Yes, she is so good. I wouldn't disturb
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Speaker 3: her in her religion for the world.
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Speaker 2: Then you shall be married both there and at the
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Speaker 2: church of the parish in which he lives as well.
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Speaker 1: Said Roger. Decidedly.
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Speaker 3: It's a great deal of trouble, unnecessary trouble and unnecessary expense,
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Speaker 3: I should say, said Osborne, why can't you leave will alone?
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Speaker 3: Neither a may nor I are the sort of stuff
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Speaker 3: to turn scoundrels and deny the legality of our marriage.
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Speaker 3: If the child is a boy, and my father dies
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Speaker 3: and I die, why I'm sure you'll do him justice,
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Speaker 3: as I am sure of it myself, old fellow.
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Speaker 2: But if I die, into the bargain, make a heca
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Speaker 2: tomb of the present Hamleys all at once while you
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Speaker 2: are about it, who succeeds as heir? Male?
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Speaker 3: Osborne thought for a moment one of the Irish Hamleys.
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Speaker 3: I suppose I fancy they are needy chaps. Perhaps you're right,
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Speaker 3: But what need to have such gloomy forebodings?
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Speaker 2: The law makes one have foresight in such affairs, said Roger.
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Speaker 2: So I'll go down to Amy next week when I'm
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Speaker 2: in town, and i'll make all necessary arrangements before you come.
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Speaker 2: I think you'll be happier if it is all done.
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Speaker 3: I shall be happier if I've a chance of seeing
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Speaker 3: a little woman that I grant you. But what is
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Speaker 3: taking you up to town? I wish i'd money to
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Speaker 3: run about like you, instead of being shut up forever
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Speaker 3: in this dull old house.
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Speaker 1: Osborne was apt occasionally to contrast his position with Roger's
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Speaker 1: in a tone of complaint, forgetting that both were the
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Speaker 1: results of character, and also that out of his income
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Speaker 1: Roger gave up so large a portion for the maintenance
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Speaker 1: of his brother's wife. But if this ungenerous thought of
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Speaker 1: Osborne's had been set clearly before his conscience, he would
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Speaker 1: have smote his breast and cried meaculper with the best
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Speaker 1: of them. It was only that he was too indolent
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Speaker 1: to keep an unassisted conscience.
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Speaker 2: I shouldn't have thought of going up, said.
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Speaker 1: Roger, reddening, as if he had been accused of spending
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Speaker 1: another's money instead of his own.
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Speaker 2: If I hadn't had to go up on business, Lord
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Speaker 2: Hollingford has written for me. He knows my great wish
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Speaker 2: for employment and has heard of something which he considers suitable.
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Speaker 2: There's his letter if you care to read it, but
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Speaker 2: it does not tell anything definitely.
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Speaker 1: Osborne read the letter and returned it to Roger. After
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Speaker 1: a moment or two of silence, he said, oh.
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Speaker 3: Do you want money? Are we taking too much from you?
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Speaker 3: It's great shame of me. But what can I do
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Speaker 3: on the suggest career for me? And I'll follow it
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Speaker 3: to morrow.
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Speaker 1: He spoke as if Roger had been reproaching him.
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Speaker 2: My dear fellow, don't get those notions into your head.
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Speaker 2: I must do something for myself sometimes, and I've been
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Speaker 2: on the lookout. Besides, I want my father to go
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Speaker 2: on with his drainage. It would do good both to
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Speaker 2: his health and his spirits. If I can advance any
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Speaker 2: part of the money requisite he and you shall pay
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Speaker 2: me interest until you can return the capital.
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Speaker 3: Roger all the providence of the family.
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Speaker 1: Exclaimed Osborne, suddenly, struck by admiration at his brother's conduct
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Speaker 1: and forgetting to contrast it with his own. Sir Roger
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Speaker 1: went up to London and Osborne followed him, and for
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Speaker 1: two or three weeks the Gibsons saw nothing of the brothers.
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Speaker 1: But as wave succeeds to wave, so interest succeeds to interest.
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Speaker 1: The family, as they were called, came down for their
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Speaker 1: autumn sojourn at the Towers, and again the house was
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Speaker 1: full of visitors, and the towers servants, and carriages and
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Speaker 1: liveries were seen in the two streets of Hollingford, just
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Speaker 1: as they might have been seen for scores of autumn's past.
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Speaker 1: So runs the round of life from day to day.
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Speaker 1: Missus Gibson found the chances of intercourse with the Towers
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Speaker 1: rather more personally exciting than Roger's visits or the rarer
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Speaker 1: cause of Osborne Hamley. Cynthia had an old antipathy to
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Speaker 1: the great family, who had made so much of her
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Speaker 1: mother and so little of her, and whom she considered
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Speaker 1: as in some measure the cause why she had seen
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Speaker 1: so little of her mother in the days when the
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Speaker 1: little girl had craved for love and found none. Moreover,
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Speaker 1: Cynthia missed her slave. Although she did not care for
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Speaker 1: Roger one thousandth part of what he did for her,
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Speaker 1: Yet she had found.
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Speaker 4: It not unpleasant to have a man whom she thoroughly
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Speaker 4: respected and whom men in general respected the subject of
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Speaker 4: her eye, the glad ministrant to each scarce spoken wish,
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Speaker 4: a man in whose sight all her words were pearls
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Speaker 4: or diamonds, all her actions heavenly graciousness, and whose thoughts
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Speaker 4: she reigned supreme.
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Speaker 1: She had no modest unconsciousness about her. And yet she
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Speaker 1: was not vain. She knew of all this worship, and
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Speaker 1: when from circumstances she no longer received it, she missed it.
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Speaker 1: The Earl and the Countess, Lord Hollingford and Lady Harriet,
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Speaker 1: Lords and ladies in general. Liveries, dresses, bags of game,
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Speaker 1: and rumors of writing parties were as nothing to her
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Speaker 1: compared to Roger's absence. And yet she did not love him. No,
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Speaker 1: she did not love him. Molly knew that Cynthia did
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Speaker 1: not love him. Molly grew angry with her many and
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Speaker 1: many a time as the conviction of this fact was
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Speaker 1: forced upon her. Molly did not know her own feelings.
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Speaker 1: Roger had no overwhelming interest in what they might be,
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Speaker 1: while his very life breath seemed to depend on what
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Speaker 1: Cynthia felt and thought. Therefore, Molly had a keen insight
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Speaker 1: into her sister's heart, and she knew that Cynthia did
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Speaker 1: not love Roger. Molly could have cried with passionate regret
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Speaker 1: at the thought of the unvalued treasure lying at Cynthia's feet,
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Speaker 1: and it would have been a merely unselfish regret. It
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Speaker 1: was the old fervid tenderness. Do not wish for the moon, o,
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Speaker 1: my darling, for I cannot give it thee Cynthia's love
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Speaker 1: was the moon Roger yearned for, and Molly saw that
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Speaker 1: it was far away and out of reach. Else she
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Speaker 1: would have strained her heart courts to give it to Roger.
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Speaker 1: I am his sister. She would say to herself that.
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Speaker 5: Old bond is not done away with, though he is
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Speaker 5: too much absorbed with Cynthia to speak about it. Just
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Speaker 5: now his mother called me Fanny. It was almost like
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Speaker 5: an adoption. I must wait and watch and see if
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Speaker 5: I can do anything for my brother.
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Speaker 1: One day, Lady Harriet came to call on the Gibsons,
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Speaker 1: or rather on Missus Gibson, for the latter retained her
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Speaker 1: old jealousy. If any one else in Hollingford was supposed
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Speaker 1: to be on intimate terms at the Great House or
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Speaker 1: in the least acquainted with their plans. Mister Gibson might
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Speaker 1: possibly know as much, but then he was professionally bound
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Speaker 1: to secrecy. Out of the house. She considered mister Preston
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Speaker 1: as her rival, and he was aware that she did so,
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Speaker 1: and delighted in teasing her by affecting a knowledge of
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Speaker 1: family plans and details of affairs of which she was
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Speaker 1: ignorant indoors. She was jealous of the fancy Lady Harriet
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Speaker 1: had evidently taken for her step daughter, and she contrived
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Speaker 1: to place quiet obstacles in the way of a too
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Speaker 1: frequent intercourse between the two. These obstacles were not unlike
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Speaker 1: the Shield of the Night in the old story, only
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Speaker 1: instead of the two sides presented to the two travelers
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Speaker 1: approaching it from opposite quarters, one of which was silver
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Speaker 1: and one of which was gold, Lady Harriet saw the
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Speaker 1: smooth and shining yellow radiance, while poor Molly only perceived
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Speaker 1: a dull and heavy lead. To Lady Harriet, it was.
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Speaker 6: Molly is gone out. She will be so sorry to
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Speaker 6: miss you. But she was obliged to go and see
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Speaker 6: some old friends of her mother's, whom she not to neglect.
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Speaker 6: As I said to her, Constancy is everything. It is sterne.
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Speaker 6: I think who says thine own and thy mother's friends
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Speaker 6: forsake not. But dear lady Harriet, you'll stop till she
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Speaker 6: comes home, won't you. I know how fond you are
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Speaker 6: of her. In fact, with a little surface playfulness, I
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Speaker 6: sometimes say you come more to see her than your
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Speaker 6: poor old clare.
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Speaker 1: To Molly, it had previously been, Lady.
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Speaker 6: Harriet is coming here this morning. I can't have any
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Speaker 6: one else coming in. Tell Maria to say I'm not
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Speaker 6: at home. Lady Harriet is always so much to tell me.
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Speaker 6: Dear Lady Harriet, I've known all her secrets since she
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Speaker 6: was twelve years old. You two girls must keep out
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Speaker 6: of the way. Of course, you'll ask for you out
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Speaker 6: of common civility. But you would only interrupt us if
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Speaker 6: you came in as you did.
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Speaker 1: The other day now addressing Molly.
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Speaker 6: I hardly like to say so, but I thought it
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Speaker 6: was very forward.
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Speaker 1: Maria told me she had asked for me put in
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Speaker 1: Molly simply very forward, indeed, continued Missus Gibson, taking no
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Speaker 1: further notice of the interruption except to strengthen the words
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Speaker 1: to which Molly's little speech had been intended as a correction.
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Speaker 6: I think this time I must secure her ladyship from
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Speaker 6: the chances of such an intrusion by taking care that
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Speaker 6: you are out of the house. Molly, you had better
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Speaker 6: go to the Holly Farm and speak about those damsons
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Speaker 6: I ordered and which have never been sent.
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Speaker 1: I'll go, said Cynthia.
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Speaker 4: It's far too long a walk for Molly. She's had
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Speaker 4: a bad called and isn't as strong as she was
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Speaker 4: a fortnight ago. A delight in long walks. If you
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Speaker 4: want Molly out of the way, Mamma, send her to
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Speaker 4: the miss Brownings. They are always glad to see her.
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Speaker 6: I never said I wanted Molly out of the way, Cynthia.
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Speaker 1: Replied, missus Gibson.
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Speaker 6: You always put things in such an exaggerated I should
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Speaker 6: almost say so coarse a manner. I am sure, Molly,
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Speaker 6: my love, you could never have so misunderstood me. It
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Speaker 6: is only your Lady Harriet's account.
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Speaker 5: I don't think I can walk as far as the
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Speaker 5: Holly Farm. Papa would take the message, Cynthia need not
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Speaker 5: go well.
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Speaker 6: I'm the last person world to tacks any one's strength.
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Speaker 6: I'd sooner never see Damson preserve again. Suppose you do
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Speaker 6: go and see miss Browning. You can pay her a
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Speaker 6: nice long call, you know she likes that, and ask
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Speaker 6: after Miss Phoebe's cold for me. You know they were
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Speaker 6: friends of your mother's, my dear, and I would not
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Speaker 6: have you break off old friendships.
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Speaker 1: For the world.
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Speaker 6: Constancy above everything is my motto, as you know, and
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Speaker 6: the memory of the dead ought always to be cherished.
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Speaker 4: Now, Mamma, where am I to go?
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Speaker 1: Asked Cynthia.
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Speaker 4: Now, Lady Harriet doesn't care for me as much as
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Speaker 4: she does for Molly. Indeed, quite the contrary, I should say.
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Speaker 4: Yet she might ask after me, and I had better
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Speaker 4: be safely out of the way.
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Speaker 1: True, said missus Gibson meditatively, yet unconscious of any satire
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Speaker 1: in Cynthia's speech.
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Speaker 6: She is much less likely to ask for you, my dear.
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Speaker 6: I almost think you might remain in the house, or
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Speaker 6: you might go to the Holly farm. I really do
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Speaker 6: want the Damsons. Or you might stay here in the
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Speaker 6: dining room, you know, so as to be ready to
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Speaker 6: arrange lunch prettily if she does take a fancy to
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Speaker 6: stay for it. She is very fan is dear Lady Harriet.
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Speaker 6: I would not like her to think we made any
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Speaker 6: difference in our meals because she stayed. Simple. Elegance, as
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Speaker 6: I tell her, always is what we aim at. But
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Speaker 6: still you could put out the best service and arrange
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Speaker 6: some flowers and ask cook what there is for dinner
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Speaker 6: that she could send us for lunch and make it
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Speaker 6: all look pretty and impromptu and natural. I think you
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Speaker 6: had better stay at home, Cynthia, and then you could
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Speaker 6: fetch Molly from Miss Brownings in the afternoon, you know,
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Speaker 6: and you took a take a walk together.
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Speaker 4: After Lady Harriet was fairly gone. I understand, Mamma off
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Speaker 4: with you. Molly, make haste, or Lady Harriet may come
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Speaker 4: and ask for you as well as Mamma. I'll take
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Speaker 4: care and forget where you are going to, so that
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Speaker 4: no one shall learn from me where you are, and
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Speaker 4: I'll answer for Mamma's loss of memory.
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Speaker 6: Child, what nonsense you talk? You quite confuse me with
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Speaker 6: being so silly.
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Speaker 1: Said missus Gibson, fluttered and annoyed, as she usually was
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Speaker 1: with the lily Putian darts, Cynthia flung at her. She
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Speaker 1: had recourse to her accustomed feckless piece of retaliation, bestowing
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Speaker 1: some favor on Molly, and this did not hurt, Cynthia
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Speaker 1: one whit.
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Speaker 6: Molly, darling, there's a very cold wind. Though it looked
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Speaker 6: so fine, you had better put on my Indian shawl,
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Speaker 6: and it will look so pretty too, on your gray gown,
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Speaker 6: scarlet and gray. It's not everybody I would lend it to.
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Speaker 6: But you're so careful.
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Speaker 1: Thank you, said Molly, and she left Missus Gibson in
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Speaker 1: careless uncertainty as to whether her offer would be accepted
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Speaker 1: or not. Lady Harriet was sorry to miss Molly, as
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Speaker 1: she was fond of the girl, but as she perfectly
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Speaker 1: agreed with Missus Gibson's truism about constancy and old friends,
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Speaker 1: she saw no occasion for saying any more about the affair,
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Speaker 1: but sat down in a little low chair with her
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Speaker 1: feet on the fender. This said fender was made of bright,
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Speaker 1: bright steel and was strictly tabooed to all the household
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Speaker 1: and plebeian feet. Indeed, the position, if they assumed it,
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Speaker 1: was considered low bred and vulgar.
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Speaker 6: That's right, dear Lady Harriet. You can't think what a
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Speaker 6: pleasure it is to me to welcome you at my
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Speaker 6: own fireside, into my humble home.
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Speaker 7: Humble now Clare that's a little bit of nonsense, begging
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Speaker 7: your pardon. I don't call this pretty little drawing room
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Speaker 7: a bit of a humble home. It's as full of
18:10
Speaker 7: comforts and of pretty things too, as any room of
18:13
Speaker 7: its size can be.
18:15
Speaker 6: Oh, how small you must feel it. Even I had
18:17
Speaker 6: to reconcile myself to it at first.
18:20
Speaker 7: Well, perhaps your schoolroom was larger, But remember how bare
18:24
Speaker 7: it was, how empty of anything but deal tables and
18:28
Speaker 7: forms and mats. Oh, indeed, Clare, I quite agree with Mamma,
18:32
Speaker 7: who always says you have done very well for yourself.
18:35
Speaker 7: And mister Gibson too, was an agreeable, well informed man.
18:40
Speaker 1: Yes he is, said his wife slowly, as if she
18:44
Speaker 1: did not like to relinquish her role of a victim
18:46
Speaker 1: to circumstances. Quite immediately.
18:49
Speaker 6: He is very agreeable, very Only we see so little
18:53
Speaker 6: of him, And of course he comes home tired and
18:56
Speaker 6: hungry and not inclined to talk to his own family
19:00
Speaker 6: to go to sleep.
19:01
Speaker 1: Come, come, said lady Harriet. I'm going to have my turn.
19:05
Speaker 7: Now we've had the complaint of a doctor's wife. Now
19:08
Speaker 7: hear the moans of a peer's daughter. Our house is
19:12
Speaker 7: so overrun with visitors and literally today, I have come
19:16
Speaker 7: to you for a little solitude.
19:18
Speaker 1: Solitude, exclaimed missus Gibson. Would you rather be alone slightly aggrieved?
19:25
Speaker 7: No, you, dear silly woman. My solitude requires a listener,
19:29
Speaker 7: to whom I may say, how sweet is solitude? But
19:33
Speaker 7: I'm tired of the responsibility of entertaining. Papa is so
19:37
Speaker 7: open hearted he asks every friend he meets with to
19:40
Speaker 7: come and pay us a visit. Mamma is really a
19:43
Speaker 7: great invalid, but she does not choose to give up
19:46
Speaker 7: her reputation for good health, having always considered illness a
19:50
Speaker 7: want of self control. So she gets wearied and worried
19:54
Speaker 7: by a crowd of people who are all of them
19:56
Speaker 7: open mouthed for amusement of some kind, just like a
20:00
Speaker 7: rude of fledglings in a nest. So I have to
20:03
Speaker 7: be the parent bird and pop morsels into their yellow
20:06
Speaker 7: leathery bills to find them swallow down before I can
20:10
Speaker 7: think of where to find the next. Oh, it's entertaining
20:13
Speaker 7: in the largest literalist, dreariest sense of the word. So
20:18
Speaker 7: I have told a few lies this morning and come
20:21
Speaker 7: off here for quietness and the comfort of complaining.
20:24
Speaker 1: Lady Harriet threw herself back in her chair and yawned.
20:27
Speaker 1: Missus Gibson took one of her ladyship's hands in a
20:30
Speaker 1: soft sympathizing manner and murmured poor Lady Harriet, and then
20:35
Speaker 1: she purred affectionately. After a pause, Lady Harriet started up
20:40
Speaker 1: and said, I used to take.
20:42
Speaker 7: You as my arbiter of morals when I was a
20:44
Speaker 7: little girl. Tell me, do you think it wrong to
20:47
Speaker 7: tell lies?
20:48
Speaker 6: Oh, my dear, how can you ask such questions? Of
20:52
Speaker 6: course it is very wrong, very wicked. Indeed, I think,
20:55
Speaker 6: I may say, but I know you are only joking
20:57
Speaker 6: when you said you had told lies.
21:00
Speaker 7: No, indeed, I wasn't. I told as plump, fat lies
21:04
Speaker 7: as you would wish to hear. I said I was
21:06
Speaker 7: obliged to go to Hollingford on business, when in truth
21:10
Speaker 7: there was no obligation in the matter, only an insupportable
21:14
Speaker 7: desire of being free from my visitors for an hour
21:17
Speaker 7: or two, and my only business was to come here
21:19
Speaker 7: and yawn and complain and lounge at my leisure. I
21:23
Speaker 7: really think I am unhappy at having told a story
21:26
Speaker 7: as children express it.
21:28
Speaker 6: But my dear Lady Harriet, said missus Gibson, a little
21:32
Speaker 6: puzzled as to the exact meaning of the words that
21:34
Speaker 6: were trembling on her tongue. I am sure you thought
21:37
Speaker 6: that you meant what you said when you said it.
21:39
Speaker 1: No, I didn't put in, Lady Harriet.
21:42
Speaker 6: And besides, if you didn't, it was the fault of
21:45
Speaker 6: the tiresome people who drove you into such straits. Yes,
21:48
Speaker 6: it was certainly their fault, not yours. And then you
21:51
Speaker 6: know the conventions of society. Ah, what trammels they are.
21:55
Speaker 1: Lady Harriet was silent for a minute or two. Then
21:58
Speaker 1: she said, tell me.
21:59
Speaker 7: Claire, you've told lies sometimes, haven't.
22:02
Speaker 6: You, Lady Harriet? I think you might have known me better.
22:07
Speaker 6: But I know you don't mean it.
22:08
Speaker 1: Dear, Yes I do.
22:11
Speaker 7: You must have told white lies at any rate, how
22:14
Speaker 7: do you feel after them?
22:15
Speaker 6: I should have been miserable if I ever had, I
22:18
Speaker 6: should have died of self. Reproach the truth, the whole truth,
22:22
Speaker 6: and nothing but the truth has always seemed to me
22:24
Speaker 6: such a fine passage. But then I have so much
22:28
Speaker 6: that is unbending in my nature and in our sphere
22:30
Speaker 6: of life. There are so few temptations. If we are humble,
22:34
Speaker 6: we are all so simple and unshackled by etiquette.
22:37
Speaker 7: Then you blame me very much. If some one else
22:41
Speaker 7: will blame me, I sha'n't be so unhappy at what
22:43
Speaker 7: I said this morning.
22:45
Speaker 6: I am sure I never blamed you, not in my
22:47
Speaker 6: innermost heart, dear lady Harriet, blame you? Indeed, that would
22:51
Speaker 6: be presumption in me.
22:53
Speaker 7: I think I shall set up a confessor. It shan't
22:56
Speaker 7: be you, Clare, for you have always been only too
22:59
Speaker 7: indulgent to me.
23:00
Speaker 1: After a pause, she said, can.
23:02
Speaker 7: You give me some lunch?
23:03
Speaker 5: Clare?
23:04
Speaker 7: I don't mean to go home till three. My business
23:07
Speaker 7: will take me till then. As the people at the
23:09
Speaker 7: towers are duly informed.
23:12
Speaker 6: Certainly I shall be delighted. But you know we are
23:15
Speaker 6: very simple in our habits.
23:17
Speaker 7: Oh, I only want a little bread and butter, perhaps
23:20
Speaker 7: a slice of cold meat. You must not give yourself
23:23
Speaker 7: any trouble, Clare. Perhaps you dine now, let me sit
23:27
Speaker 7: down just like one of your family.
23:29
Speaker 6: Yes, you shall. I won't make any alteration. It will
23:32
Speaker 6: be so pleasant to have you sharing our family meal,
23:34
Speaker 6: dear lady Harriet. But we dine late, we only lunch. Now,
23:39
Speaker 6: how low the fire is getting. I really am forgetting
23:42
Speaker 6: everything in the pleasure of this tete a tete.
23:44
Speaker 1: So she rang twice with great distinctness, and with a
23:48
Speaker 1: long pause between the rings. Maria brought in coals, but
23:52
Speaker 1: the signal was as well understood by Cynthia as the
23:55
Speaker 1: whole of Apollo was by the servants of Lucullus. The
23:59
Speaker 1: brace of partridges that were to have been for the
24:02
Speaker 1: late dinner were instantly put down to the fire, and
24:05
Speaker 1: the prettiest china brought out, and the table decked with
24:08
Speaker 1: flowers and fruit, arranged with all Cynthia's usual dexterity and taste,
24:14
Speaker 1: so that when the meal was announced and Lady Harriet
24:16
Speaker 1: entered the room, she could not but think her hostess's
24:19
Speaker 1: apologies had been quite unnecessary, and be more and more
24:23
Speaker 1: convinced that Claire had done very well for herself. Cynthia
24:27
Speaker 1: now joined the party, pretty and elegant as she always was,
24:31
Speaker 1: but somehow she did not take Lady Harriet's fancy. She
24:34
Speaker 1: only noticed her on account of being her mother's daughter.
24:38
Speaker 1: Her presence made the conversation more general, and Lady Harriet
24:41
Speaker 1: gave out several pieces of news, none of them of
24:44
Speaker 1: any great importance to her, but as what had been
24:46
Speaker 1: talked about by the circle of visitors assembled at the towers.
24:49
Speaker 7: Lord Hollingford ought to have been with us.
24:52
Speaker 1: She said, amongst other things.
24:54
Speaker 7: But he is obliged, or fancies himself obliged, which is
24:57
Speaker 7: all the same thing, to stay in Tell about this
25:00
Speaker 7: Criton legacy.
25:02
Speaker 6: A legacy to Lord Hollingford. I am so glad.
25:06
Speaker 7: Don't be in a hurry to be glad. It's nothing
25:09
Speaker 7: for him. But trouble. Didn't you hear of that rich,
25:12
Speaker 7: eccentric mister Crichton, who died some time ago and fired
25:16
Speaker 7: by the example of Lord Bridgewater, I suppose left a
25:19
Speaker 7: sum of money in the hands of trustees of whom
25:22
Speaker 7: my brother is one to send out to a man
25:25
Speaker 7: with a thousand fine qualifications to make a scientific voyage
25:29
Speaker 7: with a view of bringing back specimens of the fauna
25:32
Speaker 7: of distant lands, and so forming the nucleus of a museum,
25:36
Speaker 7: which is to be called the Criton Museum, and so
25:39
Speaker 7: perpetuate the founder's name. Such various forms does man's vanity take.
25:45
Speaker 7: Sometimes it stimulates philanthropy, sometimes a love of science.
25:50
Speaker 6: It seems to me a very laudable and useful object,
25:52
Speaker 6: I am sure.
25:54
Speaker 1: Said missus Gibson safely.
25:56
Speaker 7: I daresay it is taking it from the public good view,
26:00
Speaker 7: but it's rather tiresome to us privately, for it keeps
26:03
Speaker 7: Hollingford in town or between it and Cambridge, and each
26:07
Speaker 7: place is as dull and empty as can be, just
26:10
Speaker 7: when we want him down at the towers. The thing
26:13
Speaker 7: ought to have been decided long ago, and there's some
26:16
Speaker 7: danger of the legacy lapsing. The two other trustees have
26:20
Speaker 7: run away to the continent, feeling, as they say, the
26:23
Speaker 7: utmost confidence in him, but in reality shirking their responsibilities. However,
26:29
Speaker 7: I believe he likes it, so I ought not to grumble.
26:33
Speaker 7: He thinks he is going to be very successful in
26:35
Speaker 7: the choice of his man, and he belongs to this
26:38
Speaker 7: county too, young Hamley of Hamley, if he can only
26:42
Speaker 7: get his college to let him go, for he is
26:44
Speaker 7: a fellow of Trinity, senior wrangler or something, and they're
26:48
Speaker 7: not so foolish as to send their crack man to
26:50
Speaker 7: be eaten up by lions and tigers.
26:53
Speaker 1: It must be Roger Hamley, exclaimed Cynthia, her eyes brightening
26:57
Speaker 1: in her cheeks flushing.
26:59
Speaker 6: He's not the oldest son. He can scarcely be called
27:02
Speaker 6: Hamley of Hamley.
27:03
Speaker 1: Said Missus Gibson.
27:04
Speaker 7: Hollingford's man is a fellow of Trinity.
27:07
Speaker 4: As I said before, then it is mister Roger Hamley,
27:10
Speaker 4: said Cynthia, and he's up in London about some business.
27:13
Speaker 4: What news for Molly when she comes home?
27:15
Speaker 7: Why what has Molly to do with it?
27:17
Speaker 1: Asked Lady Harriet is and she looked into Missus Gibson's
27:21
Speaker 1: face for an answer. Missus Gibson, in reply, gave an
27:25
Speaker 1: intelligent and very expressive glance at Cynthia, who, however, did
27:29
Speaker 1: not perceive it.
27:30
Speaker 6: Oh, no, not at all.
27:32
Speaker 1: And Missus Gibson nodded a little at her daughter, as
27:35
Speaker 1: much as to say if any one that Lady Harriet
27:39
Speaker 1: began to look at the pretty miss Kirkpatrick with a
27:41
Speaker 1: fresh interest. Her brother had spoken in such a manner
27:45
Speaker 1: of this young mister Hamley, that everyone connected with the
27:47
Speaker 1: phoenix was worthy of observation. Then, as if the mention
27:52
Speaker 1: of Molly's name had brought her afresh into her mind,
27:54
Speaker 1: Lady Harriet said.
27:56
Speaker 7: And where is Molly all this time? I should like
27:59
Speaker 7: to see my little I hear she is very much
28:02
Speaker 7: grown since those days.
28:03
Speaker 6: Oh, when she once gets gossiping with the Miss Browning,
28:06
Speaker 6: she never knows when to come home.
28:08
Speaker 1: Said missus Gibson.
28:10
Speaker 7: The miss Brownings. Oh, I'm so glad you name them.
28:14
Speaker 7: I'm very fond of them. Pecksy and flapsy, I may
28:17
Speaker 7: call them, so in Molly's absence, I'll go and see
28:20
Speaker 7: them before I go home, and then perhaps I shall
28:23
Speaker 7: see my dear little Molly too. Do you know, Clare,
28:25
Speaker 7: I've taken quite a fancy to that girl.
28:28
Speaker 1: So missus Gibson, after all her precautions, had to submit
28:31
Speaker 1: to Lady Harriet's, leaving her half an hour earlier than
28:34
Speaker 1: she otherwise would have done.
28:35
Speaker 6: In order to make herself common.
28:38
Speaker 1: As Missus Gibson expressed it by calling on the miss Brownings.
28:43
Speaker 1: But Molly had left before Lady Harriet arrived. Molly went
28:47
Speaker 1: to the long walk to the Holly farm to order
28:49
Speaker 1: the Damsons out of a kind of penitence. She had
28:52
Speaker 1: felt conscious of anger at being sent out of the
28:55
Speaker 1: house by such a palpable maneuver as that which her
28:57
Speaker 1: stepmother had employed. Of course, she did not meet Cynthia,
29:01
Speaker 1: so she went alone along the pretty lanes with grassy
29:04
Speaker 1: sides and high hedge banks, not all in the style
29:07
Speaker 1: of modern agriculture. At first, she made herself uncomfortable with
29:11
Speaker 1: questioning herself as to how far it was right to
29:14
Speaker 1: leave unnoticed the small domestic failings, the webs, the distortions
29:18
Speaker 1: of truth which had prevailed in their household ever since
29:21
Speaker 1: her father's second marriage. She knew that very often she
29:25
Speaker 1: longed to protest, but did not do it from the
29:28
Speaker 1: desire of sparing her father any discord, and she saw
29:31
Speaker 1: by his face that he too was occasionally aware of
29:34
Speaker 1: certain things that gave him pain, as showing that his
29:37
Speaker 1: wife's standard of conduct was not as high as he
29:39
Speaker 1: would have liked. It was a wonder to Molly whether
29:43
Speaker 1: this silence was right or wrong. With a girl's want
29:46
Speaker 1: of toleration and want of experience to teach her the
29:49
Speaker 1: force of circumstances and of temptation, she had often been
29:53
Speaker 1: on the point of telling her stepmother some forcible home truths,
29:57
Speaker 1: but possibly her father's example of silence, and often some
30:01
Speaker 1: piece of kindness on missus Gibson's part, For after her
30:04
Speaker 1: way and when in a good temper, she was very
30:06
Speaker 1: kind to Molly made her hold her tongue That night
30:10
Speaker 1: At dinner, Missus Gibson recounted the conversation between herself and
30:14
Speaker 1: Lady Harriet, giving it a very strong individual coloring, as
30:17
Speaker 1: was her wont and telling nearly the whole of what
30:20
Speaker 1: had passed, although implying that there was a great deal
30:23
Speaker 1: said which was so purely confidential that she was bound
30:25
Speaker 1: in honor not to repeat it. Her three auditors listened
30:30
Speaker 1: to her without interrupting her much, indeed, without bestowing extreme
30:33
Speaker 1: attention on what she was saying, until she came to
30:36
Speaker 1: the fact of Lord Hollingford's absence in London and the
30:39
Speaker 1: reason for.
30:39
Speaker 5: It, Roger Hamley going off on a scientific.
30:43
Speaker 1: Expedition, exclaimed mister Gibson, suddenly awakened into vivacity.
30:47
Speaker 6: Yes, at least it is not settled finally, But as
30:50
Speaker 6: Lord Hollingford is the only trustee who takes any interest,
30:53
Speaker 6: and being Lord Cumnor's son, it is next to certain.
30:57
Speaker 3: I think I must have a voice in the matter.
30:59
Speaker 1: Said Missus Gibson, and he relapsed into silence, keeping his
31:03
Speaker 1: ears open. However, henceforward, how long will he be away?
31:06
Speaker 1: Asked Cynthia. We shall miss him, sadly, Molly's lips formed
31:10
Speaker 1: an acquiescing yes to this remark, but no sound was heard.
31:16
Speaker 1: There was a buzzing in her ears, as if the
31:17
Speaker 1: others were going on with the conversation, but the words
31:21
Speaker 1: they uttered seemed indistinct and blurred. They were merely conjectures,
31:25
Speaker 1: and did not interfere with the one great piece of news.
31:29
Speaker 1: To the rest of the party, she appeared to be
31:30
Speaker 1: eating her dinner as usual, and if she were silent,
31:34
Speaker 1: there was one listener. The more to Missus Gibson's stream
31:36
Speaker 1: of prattle and mister Gibson's and Cynthia's remarks. End of
31:41
Speaker 1: Chapter thirty two.