the woman who was now returning to her native land after a long and painful exile looked back, in her retrospective fancy, upon a home which had external beauty, calm, and comfort to recommend it. she was the daughter of a gentleman named carteret, a man of small but independent fortune, and whose tastes, which had been too extensively and exclusively cultivated for the happiness of his son and daughter, led him to prefer a life of quietness and seclusion, in which he devoted himself to study, and to the pursuit of natural history in particular.
mr. carteret, who is an old man now, might have been the original of "sir thomas the good," whose wife, "the fair lady jane," displayed such becoming resignation on his death. mr. carteret, like the worthy knight, "whose breath was short, and whose eyes were dim," would "pore for an hour over a bee or a flower, or the things that come creeping out after a shower:" but he was sadly blind to the subtle processes of the human heart in the development of the human beings under his own roof, which were taking place around him.
he had lost his wife very soon after the birth of his daughter, and when his son was three years old; and within little more than a year, a resolute young woman, who had long made up her mind that a pretty little country place within easy distance of london,--for mr. carteret lived in reigate,--a fair position in the county society, and a comfortable income, were desirable acquisitions, married him.
people said miss hartley made all the preliminary arrangements, including even the proposal, herself; and though that statement was probably exaggerated, there can be little doubt that the suggestion, that it would be an advisable and agreeable circumstance that miss martley should become mrs. carteret, originated with the lady.
she was rather young, and rather pretty; and there really was not so much to be said against the match, except by mr. carteret's servants, who naturally did not like it. they liked it still less when the new mistress of the establishment, emulating the proverbial new broom, swept them all away, and replaced them by domestics of her own selection.
the novel state of things was not a happy condition for mr. carteret. he was a gentle-natured man, indifferent, rather cold, and indolent, except where his particular tastes were concerned; he pursued his own avocations with activity and energy enough, but his easy-going selfishness rendered him a facile victim to a woman who managed him by the simple and effectual expedient of letting him have his own way undisturbed, in one direction,--that one the most important to him,--and never consulting his opinion or his wishes in any other respect whatever.
mr. carteret might spend time and money on "specimens," on books, and on visits to naturalists and museums; he might fill his own rooms with stuffed monkeys and birds, and indulge in the newest form of cases for impaled insects, and even display very ghastly osteological trophies if he pleased; his wife in nowise molested him. but here his power was arrested--here his freedom stopped. mrs. carteret ruled in everything else; and he knew it, and he suffered it "for the sake of a quiet life." he had a conviction that if he tried opposition, his life would not be quiet; therefore he never did try opposition.
the new mrs. carteret did not actually ill-treat the children of the former mrs. carteret; she only neglected them--neglected them so steadily and systematically that never was she betrayed into accidentally taking them, their interests or their pleasure, into consideration in anything she chose to do or to leave undone.
the servants understood quickly and thoroughly that if they meant to retain their places they must keep the children from annoying mrs. carteret, from incommoding her by their presence, or intruding their wants upon her. they understood as distinctly, that if this fact were impressed by any misplaced zeal upon the attention of mr. carteret, the imprudence would be as readily repaid by dismissal; and as they liked and valued their places,--for mrs. carteret, provided her own comfort was secured in every particular, was a liberal and careless mistress,--the imprudent zeal never was manifested.
thus the two young children grew up, somehow, anyhow, well-fed and well-clothed, by the care of servants; but in every particular, apart from their mere animal wants, utterly neglected. people talked about it, of course; and just at first the neglect of her husband's children threatened to be a little detrimental to the popularity which mrs. carteret ardently desired to attain. but she gave pleasant garden-parties, at which neither husband nor children "showed:" she dressed very well; she was very kind to the young ladies of the neighbourhood who were still on their preferment; her well-trained household were discreetly silent; and she had no children of her own.
this last was readily accepted as a very valid excuse; no one thought of the total absence of wifely sympathy and womanly tenderness which the argument conveyed. mrs. carteret could not be expected to care about children--no one really did who had not children of their own "to arouse the instinct," as a foolish female, who fancied the phrase sounded philosophical, remarked. so the neighbourhood consented to forget mr. carteret's children, and that contemplative gentleman consented to remember them very imperfectly, and things were very comfortable at chayleigh for some years.
but haldane and margaret carteret grew older with those years; the little children, who had been easily stowed away in a nursery and a playroom,--judiciously distant from drawing-room, boudoir, and study,--were no longer of an age to be so disposed of. the boy must either be sent to school or have a tutor,--he and his sister had passed beyond the rule of the nursery governess,--the girl's education must be attended to.
the latter case was especially disagreeable to mrs. carteret. it forced upon her attention the fact that she was no longer in the first bloom of her youth. a rather young and rather pretty stepmother is capable of being made interesting, if the situation be judiciously treated; but mrs. carteret had never treated it judiciously, and now it could not avail.
she had nearly exhausted her r?le of young matronhood at thirty-seven, and margaret was then twelve years old. true, there would be a revival of its material pleasures, its gaieties and dissipations, when margaret should be "brought out:" but mrs. carteret found feeble consolation in the anticipation of the pleasures and importance of chaperonage. they can only be reflected at the best; and mrs. carteret cared little to shine with a borrowed light.
in the mean time, she had no notion of having a gawky girl, as she called margaret in her thoughts, always about her at home, growing old enough to interfere, and perhaps to attract her father's attention unduly and put absurd ideas into his head. margaret carteret was not at all gawky; but even then, at the least beautiful period of life, gave promise of the grace and distinction which, afterwards characterised her.
mrs. carteret made up her mind, and then informed her husband of the resolution she had taken, and the arrangements she had made. he acquiesced, as he always did; and when margaret, startled, confused, not knowing whether to be frightened at or pleased with the novelty which the prospect offered, asked him if it was really true that she was going to school at paris, and was not to return for a whole year, he said placidly,
"certainly, my dear. mrs. carteret has arranged it all; and i have told her to be sure and ask the school people to take you to the jardin des plantes."
then mr. carteret, who never perceived that his daughter was no longer a baby, sent her away with a pat on the head, and turned his attention to investigating the structure of a "trap-door spider's abode," which had reached him the day before, having been sent by a friend and fellow-naturalist from corfu.
the education of haldane carteret had been differently provided for. it chanced that the one human being besides herself for whom mrs. carteret entertained a sentiment of affection was her cousin, james dugdale, a young man who had no chance of success in any active career in life, being deformed and in delicate health--anything but a desirable tutor for a delicate retiring boy, like haldane carteret, people said--a boy who needed encouragement and companionship to rouse him up and make him more like other boys. but mrs. carteret evinced her usual indifference to the opinion of "people" on this occasion. she chose to provide for her cousin a mode of life suitable to his mental and physical constitution.
james dugdale came to live at chayleigh. the deformed young man had much of the talent, and all the unamiability, which so frequently accompany bodily malformation, and he inspired margaret carteret with intense dislike and repulsion--with admiration and some respect, too, child as she was; for she soon recognised his talent, and succumbed to his influence. james dugdale taught margaret as much as he taught her brother; he implanted in her the tastes which she afterwards cultivated so assiduously; but the boy learned to love him, while the girl never faltered in her dislike. when she found her lessons easily understood and soon learned at school, she knew that she had to thank her stepmother's cousin--her brother's tutor--for the aid which had rendered them light to her; but she never could bring herself to thank him in thought or word. the girl's heart was almost void of love and gratitude at this time of her life. she hardly could be said to love her father; her stepmother she neither loved, hated, nor feared; for her brother alone were all her kindly feelings hoarded up. she loved him, indeed; and, next to that love, the strongest sentiment in her heart was dislike of james dugdale.
time passed on, and margaret grew up handsome, with a strongly intellectual stamp upon her face, and, in her character, self-will and impulsiveness prevailing. she liked the parisian school--for she ruled her companions, some by love, others by fear and the power of party--and she cared little for her home, where she could not rule any one.
her father was not worth governing; her stepmother she treated with a studious and settled indifference, forming her manner on the model of that of mrs. carteret, but never attempting to gain any influence over that lady, who was, however, not without a misgiving at times that when margaret should come home "for good" she might find it rather difficult to "hold her own." holding her own, in mrs. carteret's case, rather implied holding every one else's, and that privilege she felt to be in danger. it was, therefore, with but a passing reflection on the fatal obstacle which such an occurrence must offer to her maintenance of the "young married woman's" position in society, that mrs. carteret, when margaret was fifteen, began to speculate upon the chances of getting margaret "off her hands," when she should have finally left school, by an opportune marriage.
a year later, and, much to the surprise of his father, and indeed of every one who knew him except james dugdale, haldane carteret proclaimed his wish and intention of entering the army. his father did not oppose; his stepmother and his tutor supported him in his inclination; the interest of a distant relative of his mother's was procured; and thus it chanced that, when margaret came home "for good," at a little more than sixteen years old, she found her brother in all the boyish pride and exultation of his commission and his uniform.
then margaret's fate was not long in coming. the first time her brother came home, and while she had as yet seen little of the society in which her stepmother moved, he brought a brother officer with him, a handsome young man, named godfrey hungerford, with whom he had contracted a friendship--the more enthusiastic because it was the first the lad had ever experienced.
and now active antagonism arose between margaret carteret and james dugdale. the girl fell in love with the handsome young officer, whose bold and adventurous spirit pleased her; whose manifest admiration had a pardonable fascination for her; who raised even her father to animation; and for whom mrs. carteret thought it worth while to put forth the freshest of her somewhat faded graces.
haldane paraded and boasted of his friend according to the foolish hearty fashion of his time of life, and was delighted that his sister felt with him in this too.
but the ex-tutor, who, it appeared, was to remain a fixture at chayleigh, conceived a profound distrust and dislike of the brilliant young man, whom he quietly observed from his obscure corner of the house--and of life indeed--and who had no notion of the scrutiny he was undergoing.
was james dugdale's penetration quickened by the hardly-veiled insolence of godfrey hungerford's manner to him--insolence which sometimes took the form of complete unconsciousness, and at others of an elaborate compassionate politeness? it may have been so; at any rate, he made his observations closely, and, when the time came, he expressed their result freely.
the time came when godfrey hungerford asked margaret to become his wife; and then james dugdale, for the only time during his long residence in mr. carteret's house, spoke to that gentleman in private and in confidence.
"insist on time, at least," he urged upon margaret's father; "think how young she is; think how little you know of this man. you have no guarantee for his character but the praise of an enthusiastic boy. for the girl's sake, insist on time; do not consent to less than a two years' engagement; and then rouse yourself and go to work as a man ought on whom such a responsibility rests, and find out all about this man before you suffer him to take your daughter away from her home--a girl, ignorant of the world and of life, in love with her own fancy. i know margaret's real nature better than you do, and i know she is incapable of caring for this man if she knew him as he really is. it is a delusion; if you can do no more, you can at least secure her time to find it out."
"find what out?" asked mr. carteret, fretfully; "what do you know about hungerford?--how have you found out anything?"
"i know nothing; i have not found out anything," said james dugdale. "i wish i had, then my interference might avail, even with margaret herself; but i have only my conviction to go upon, that this man is not fit to be trusted with a woman's happiness; that margaret is not really attached to him; and, in addition, the suggestion of common sense, that she is much too young to be permitted to settle her own fate irrevocably."
the latter argument seemed to have some weight with mr. carteret, and james dugdale saw his advantage.
"do you think," he said, "if her mother were living, she would permit margaret to marry at her present age? do you think, if you knew you would have to account to her mother for your care of her, you would listen to such a thing?"
this reference to his dead wife was not pleasant to mr. carteret. he was growing old, and he had begun of late to think life, even when surrounded by specimens, and enlivened by numerous publications concerning the animal creation, rather a mistake. so he assented, hurriedly, to james dugdale's arguments, and the interview concluded by his promising to prevent margaret's marriage taking place for two years, when she would be nineteen.
but mr. carteret and james dugdale both knew that the real decision of that matter rested not with them, but with mrs. carteret, and that, if she decreed that margaret should be married next week, married next week she inevitably would be. so the ex-tutor addressed himself to his cousin, with whom he adopted a different line of argument.
"i know you don't care about margaret," he said; "but i do; and i know you admire lieutenant godfrey hungerford, which i do not; but you care what people say of you, sibylla, as much as any one, i know; and you will get unpleasantly talked about if the girl is allowed to marry, so young, a man whom you know little or nothing about, and who is a scoundrel, if ever there was one, or i am more mistaken than i generally am. take care, sibylla, your husband is notoriously under your guidance, and you will have to bear the blame if this marriage takes place too soon; it is a serious thing, and you have never been a fond stepmother, you know."
mrs. carteret loved her cousin, and feared him; she also had a great respect for his judgment; and he had gone to work with her in the right way. the result was satisfactory to the ex-tutor, who took himself to task concerning his own motives, but found no room for self-condemnation.
"if i could suppose for a moment," he thought, "that i am insincere in this thing--that i am actuated by any selfish feeling or hope regarding margaret--i should hesitate; but i know i am not: my heart is pure of such self-deception; my brain has no such cobwebs of folly in it. separated from him finally,--if i can contrive to part them,--held back from her fate for a while, by my means, at all events she will only dislike me the more. and my conviction respecting this man,--is that prejudice?--is that an unjust dislike?--is it pique, because he has good looks, and grace, and good manners, and i have none of these? is it spite, because he has been insolent to me when he dared, and, in a covert way, more insolent still, when these simple people did not understand him? no; i can answer to myself for single-mindedness in this matter. i might not have seen so plainly had not margaret's happiness been at stake. but i do see; i do not only fancy. i do judge; i do not only imagine."
so james dugdale carried his point. margaret resented his interference bitterly; she learned that his arguments had induced her stepmother to take the view to which her father had acceded; and she raged against him and denounced him as insolent, presuming, intolerable.
but she liked the idea of the long engagement, too. she was romantic and imaginative, and her bright pure young heart--all given up to what was in reality a creation of her fancy, but in which she saw the dazzling realisation of her girlish dreams--was satisfied with the assurance of loving and being loved.
the presence of her lover was happiness, and his absence was hardly sorrow. had she not his letters? were there ever such letters? she thought; and while she exulted in all the delicious exclusiveness of the possession of such treasures, she almost longed that the world might know how transcendent a genius was this gallant soldier whom she loved.
she was glad that godfrey felt so much disappointment at the delay; and the impertinence of any one who interfered to prevent the fulfilment of any wish of his, no words could adequately describe. but, for all that, margaret was extremely happy, though she did hate james dugdale.
her lover encouraged her in this feeling, and when he and her brother had rejoined their regiment she restricted her intercourse with the officious ex-tutor to the barest acknowledgment of his presence. james dugdale took this mode of procedure calmly, and applied himself to the task of finding out all that was to be ascertained concerning the circumstances, character, and antecedents of lieutenant godfrey hungerford.
