chapter 4.
a social triumph
lord fitz-pompey was a little consoled for the change which he had observed in the character of the duke by the remembrance of the embrace with which his grace had greeted lady caroline. never indeed did a process which has, through the lapse of so many ages, occasioned so much delight, produce more lively satisfaction than the kiss in question. lord fitz-pompey had given up his plan of managing the duke after the family dinner which his nephew had the pleasure to join the first day of his first visit. the duke and he were alone, and his lordship availed himself of the rare opportunity with that adroitness for which he was celebrated. nothing could be more polite, more affable, more kind, than his grace’s manner! but the uncle cared little for politeness, or affability, or kindness. the crafty courtier wanted candour, and that was absent. that ingenuous openness of disposition, that frank and affectionate demeanour, for which the duke of st. james had been so remarkable in his early youth, and with the aid of which lord fitz-pompey had built so many spanish castles, had quite disappeared.
nothing could be more artificial, more conventional, more studied, than his whole deportment. in vain lord fitz-pompey pumped; the empty bucket invariably reminded him of his lost labour. in vain his lordship laid his little diplomatic traps to catch a hint of the purposes or an intimation of the inclinations of his nephew; the bait was never seized. in vain the earl affected unusual conviviality and boundless affection; the duke sipped his claret and admired his pictures. nothing would do. an air of habitual calm, a look of kind condescension, and an inclination to a smile, which never burst into a beam, announced that the duke of st. james was perfectly satisfied with existence, and conscious that he was himself, of that existence, the most distinguished ornament. in fact, he was a sublime coxcomb; one of those rare characters whose finished manner and shrewd sense combined prevent their conceit from being contemptible. after many consultations it was determined between the aunt and uncle that it would be most prudent to affect a total non-interference with their nephew’s affairs, and in the meantime to trust to the goodness of providence and the charms of caroline.
lady fitz-pompey determined that the young duke should make his debut at once, and at her house. although it was yet january, she did not despair of collecting a select band of guests, brahmins of the highest caste. some choice spirits were in office, like her lord, and therefore in town; others were only passing through; but no one caught a flying-fish with more dexterity than the countess. the notice was short, the whole was unstudied. it was a felicitous impromptu, and twenty guests were assembled, who were the corinthian capitals of the temple of fashion.
there was the premier, who was invited, not because he was a minister, but because he was a hero. there was another duke not less celebrated, whose palace was a breathing shrine which sent forth the oracles of mode. true, he had ceased to be a young duke; but he might be consoled for the vanished lustre of youth by the recollection that he had enjoyed it, and by the present inspiration of an accomplished manhood. there were the prince and the princess protocoli: his highness a first-rate diplomatist, unrivalled for his management of an opera; and his consort, with a countenance like cleopatra and a tiara like a constellation, famed alike for her shawls and her snuff. there were lord and lady bloomerly, who were the best friends on earth: my lord a sportsman, but soft withal, his talk the jockey club, filtered through white’s; my lady a little blue, and very beautiful. their daughter, lady charlotte, rose by her mother’s side like a tall bud by a full-blown flower. there were the viscountess blaze, a peeress in her own right, and her daughter, miss blaze dash-away, who, besides the glory of the future coronet, moved in all the confidence of independent thousands. there was the marquess of macaroni, who was at the same time a general, an ambassador, and a dandy; and who, if he had liked, could have worn twelve orders; but this day, being modest, only wore six. there, too, was the marchioness, with a stomacher stiff with brilliants extracted from the snuff-boxes presented to her husband at a congress.
there were lord sunium, who was not only a peer but a poet; and his lady, a greek, who looked just finished by phidias. there, too, was pococurante, the epicurean and triple millionaire, who in a political country dared to despise politics, in the most aristocratic of kingdoms had refused nobility, and in a land which showers all its honours upon its cultivators invested his whole fortune in the funds. he lived in a retreat like the villa of hadrian, and maintained himself in an elevated position chiefly by his wit and a little by his wealth. there, too, were his noble wife, thoroughbred to her fingers’ tips, and beaming like the evening star; and his son, who was an m.p., and thought his father a fool. in short, our party was no common party, but a band who formed the very core of civilisation; a high court of last appeal, whose word was a fiat, whose sign was a hint, whose stare was death, and sneer —— damnation!
the graces befriend us! we have forgotten the most important personage. it is the first time in his life that charles annesley has been neglected. it will do him good.
dandy has been voted vulgar, and beau is now the word. it may be doubted whether the revival will stand; and as for the exploded title, though it had its faults at first, the muse of byron has made it not only english, but classical. charles annesley could hardly be called a dandy or a beau. there was nothing in his dress — though some mysterious arrangement in his costume, some rare simplicity, some curious happiness, always made it distinguished — there was nothing, however, in his dress, which could account for the influence which he exercised over the manners of his contemporaries. charles annesley was about thirty. he had inherited from his father, a younger brother, a small estate; and, though heir to a wealthy earldom, he had never abused what the world called ‘his prospects.’ yet his establishment, his little house in mayfair, his horses, his moderate stud at melton, were all unique, and everything connected with him was unparalleled for its elegance, its invention, and its refinement. but his manner was his magic. his natural and subdued nonchalance, so different from the assumed non-emotion of a mere dandy; his coldness of heart, which was hereditary, not acquired; his cautious courage, and his unadulterated self-love, had permitted him to mingle much with mankind without being too deeply involved in the play of their passions; while his exquisite sense of the ridiculous quickly revealed those weaknesses to him which his delicate satire did not spare, even while it refrained from wounding. all feared, marry admired, and none hated him. he was too powerful not to dread, too dexterous not to admire, too superior to hate. perhaps the great secret of his manner was his exquisite superciliousness, a quality which, of all, is the most difficult to manage. even with his intimates he was never confidential, and perpetually assumed his public character with the private coterie which he loved to rule. on the whole, he was unlike any of the leading men of modern days, and rather reminded one of the fine gentlemen of our old brilliant comedy, the dorimants, the bellairs, and the mirabels.
charles annesley was a member of the distinguished party who were this day to decide the fate of the young duke. let him come forward!
his grace moved towards them, tall and elegant in figure, and with that air of affable dignity which becomes a noble, and which adorns a court; none of that affected indifference which seems to imply that nothing can compensate for the exertion of moving, and ‘which makes the dandy, while it mars the man.’ his large and somewhat sleepy grey eye, his clear complexion, his small mouth, his aquiline nose, his transparent forehead, his rich brown hair, and the delicacy of his extremities, presented, when combined, a very excellent specimen of that style of beauty for which the nobility of england are remarkable. gentle, for he felt the importance of the tribunal, never loud, ready, yet a little reserved, he neither courted nor shunned examination. his finished manner, his experience of society, his pretensions to taste, the gaiety of his temper, and the liveliness of his imagination, gradually developed themselves with the developing hours.
the banquet was over: the duke of st. james passed his examination with unqualified approval; and having been stamped at the mint of fashion as a sovereign of the brightest die, he was flung forth, like the rest of his golden brethren, to corrupt the society of which he was the brightest ornament.
