on monday, the 20th of april, lady frances returned to her father's roof. the winter had certainly not been a happy time for her. early in the autumn she had been taken off to the german castle in great disgrace because of her plebeian lover, and had, ever since, been living under so dark a cloud, as to have been considered unfit for the companionship of those little darlings, the young lords, her half-brothers. she had had her way no doubt, never having for a moment wavered in her constancy to the post office clerk; but she had been assured incessantly by all her friends that her marriage with the man was impossible, and had no doubt suffered under the conviction that her friends were hostile to her. now she might be happy. now she was to be taken back to her father's house. now she was to keep her lover, and not be held to have been disgraced at all. no doubt in this there was great triumph.
but her triumph had been due altogether to an accident;—to what her father graciously called a romance, while her stepmother described it less civilly as a "marvellous coincidence, for which she ought to thank her stars on her bended knees." the accident,—or coincidence or romance as it might be called,—was, of course, her lover's title. of this she was by no means proud, and would not at all thank her stars for it on her bended knees. though she was happy in her lover's presence, her happiness was clouded by the feeling that she was imposing upon her father. she had been allowed to ask her lover to dine at kingsbury house because her lover was supposed to be the duca di crinola. but the invitation had been sent under an envelope addressed to george roden, esq., general post office. no one had yet ventured to inscribe the duke's name and title on the back of a letter. the marchioness was assured by her sister that it would all come right, and had, therefore, submitted to have the young man asked to come and eat his dinner under the same roof with her darlings. but she did not quite trust her sister, and felt that after all it might become her imperative duty to gather her children together in her bosom, and fly with them from contact with the post office clerk,—the post office clerk who would not become a duke. the marquis himself was only anxious that everything should be made to be easy. he had, while at trafford, been so tormented by mr. greenwood and his wife that he longed for nothing so much as a reconciliation with his daughter. he was told on very good authority,—on the authority of no less a person than the secretary of state,—that this young man was the duca di crinola. there had been a romance, a very interesting romance; but the fact remained. the post office clerk was no longer george roden, and would, he was assured, soon cease to be a post office clerk. the young man was in truth an italian nobleman of the highest order, and as such was entitled to marry the daughter of an english nobleman. if it should turn out that he had been misinformed, that would not be his fault.
so it was when george roden came to dine at kingsbury house. he himself at this moment was not altogether happy. the last words which lady persiflage had said to him at castle hautboy had disturbed him. "would it be honest on your part," lady persiflage had asked him, "to ask her to abandon the rank which she will be entitled to expect from you?" he had not put the matter to himself in that light before. lady frances was entitled to as much consideration in the matter as was himself. the rank would be as much hers as his. and yet he couldn't do it. not even for her sake could he walk into the post office and call himself the duca di crinola. not even for her sake could he consent to live an idle, useless life as an italian nobleman. love was very strong with him, but with it there was a sense of duty and manliness which would make it impossible for him to submit himself to such thraldom. in doing it he would have to throw over all the strong convictions of his life. and yet he was about to sit as a guest at lord kingsbury's table, because lord kingsbury would believe him to be an italian nobleman. he was not, therefore, altogether happy when he knocked at the marquis's door.
hampstead had refused to join the party. he was not at present in a condition to join any social gathering. but, omitting him, a family party had been collected. lord and lady persiflage were there, with lady amaldina and her betrothed. the persiflages had taken the matter up very strongly, so that they may have been said to have become george roden's special patrons or protectors. lord persiflage, who was seldom much in earnest about anything, had determined that the duca di crinola should be recognized, and was supposed already to have spoken a word on the subject in a very high quarter indeed. vivian, the private secretary, was there. the poor marquis himself was considered unable to come down into the dining-room, but did receive his proposed son-in-law up-stairs. they had not met since the unfortunate visit made by the post office clerk to hendon hall, when no one had as yet dreamed of his iniquity; nor had the marchioness seen him since the terrible sound of that feminine christian name had wounded her ears. the other persons assembled had in a measure become intimate with him. lord llwddythlw had walked round castle hautboy and discussed with him the statistics of telegraphy. lady amaldina had been confidential with him as to her own wedding. both lord and lady persiflage had given him in a very friendly manner their ideas as to his name and position. vivian and he had become intimate personal friends. they could, all of them, accept him with open arms when he was shown into the drawing-room, except lady kingsbury herself. "no; i am not very well just at present," said the marquis from his recumbent position as he languidly stretched out his hand. "you won't see me down at dinner. god knows whether anybody will ever see me down at dinner again."
"not see you down at dinner!" said lord persiflage. "in another month you will be talking treason in pall mall as you have done all your life."
"i wish you had made hampstead come with you, mr.—" but the marquis stopped himself, having been instructed that he was not on any account to call the young man mr. roden. "he was here this morning, but seemed to be in great trouble about something. he ought to come and take his place at the bottom of the table, seeing how ill i am;—but he won't."
lady kingsbury waited until her husband had done his grumbling before she attempted the disagreeable task which was before her. it was very disagreeable. she was a bad hypocrite. there are women who have a special gift of hiding their dislikings from the objects of them, when occasion requires. they can smile and be soft, with bitter enmity in their hearts, to suit the circumstances of the moment. and as they do so, their faces will overcome their hearts, and their enmity will give way to their smiles. they will become almost friendly because they look friendly. they will cease to hate because hatred is no longer convenient. but the marchioness was too rigid and too sincere for this. she could command neither her features nor her feelings. it was evident from the moment the young man entered the room, that she would be unable to greet him even with common courtesy. she hated him, and she had told every one there that she hated him. "how do you do?" she said, just touching his hand as soon as he was released from her husband's couch. she, too, had been specially warned by her sister that she must not call the young man by any name. if she could have addressed him by his title, her manner might perhaps have been less austere.
"i am much obliged to you by allowing me to come here," said roden, looking her full in the face, and making his little speech in such a manner as to be audible to all the room. it was as though he had declared aloud his intention of accepting this permission as conveying much more than a mere invitation to dinner. her face became harder and more austere than ever. then finding that she had nothing more to say to him she seated herself and held her peace.
only that lady persiflage was very unlike her sister, the moment would have been awkward for them all. poor fanny, who was sitting with her hand within her father's, could not find a word to say on the occasion. lord persiflage, turning round upon his heel, made a grimace to his private secretary. llwddythlw would willingly have said something pleasant on the occasion had he been sufficiently ready. as it was he stood still, with his hands in his trousers pockets and his eyes fixed on the wall opposite. according to his idea the marchioness was misbehaving herself. "dear aunt clara," said lady amaldina, trying to say something that might dissipate the horror of the moment, "have you heard that old sir gregory tollbar is to marry letitia tarbarrel at last?" but it was lady persiflage who really came to the rescue. "of course we're all very glad to see you," she said. "you'll find that if you'll be nice to us, we'll all be as nice as possible to you. won't we, lord llwddythlw?"
"as far as i am concerned," said the busy member of parliament, "i shall be delighted to make the acquaintance of mr. roden." a slight frown, a shade of regret, passed over the face of lady persiflage as she heard the name. a darker and bitterer cloud settled itself on lady kingsbury's brow. lord kingsbury rolled himself uneasily on his couch. lady amaldina slightly pinched her lover's arm. lord persiflage was almost heard to whistle. vivian tried to look as if it didn't signify. "i am very much obliged to you for your courtesy, lord llwddythlw," said george roden. to have called him by his name was the greatest favour that could have been done to him at that moment. then the door was opened and dinner announced.
"time and the hour run through the roughest day." in this way that dinner at kingsbury house did come to an end at last. there was a weight of ill-humour about lady kingsbury on this special occasion against which even lady persiflage found it impossible to prevail. roden, whose courage rose to the occasion, did make a gallant effort to talk to lady frances, who sat next to him. but the circumstances were hard upon him. everybody else in the room was closely connected with everybody else. had he been graciously accepted by the mistress of the house, he could have fallen readily enough into the intimacies which would then have been opened to him. but as it was he was forced to struggle against the stream, and so to struggle as to seem not to struggle. at last, however, time and the hour had done its work, and the ladies went up to the drawing-room.
"lord llwddythlw called him mr. roden!" this was said by the marchioness in a tone of bitter reproach as soon as the drawing-room door was closed.
"i was so sorry," said lady amaldina.
"it does not signify in the least," said lady persiflage. "it cannot be expected that a man should drop his old name and take a new one all in a moment."
"he will never drop his old name and take the new one," said lady frances.
"there now," said the marchioness. "what do you think of that, geraldine?"
"my dear fanny," said lady persiflage, without a touch of ill-nature in her tone, "how can you tell what a young man will do?"
"i don't think it right to deceive mamma," said fanny. "i know him well enough to be quite sure that he will not take the title, as he has no property to support it. he has talked it over with me again and again, and i agree with him altogether."
"upon my word, fanny, i didn't think that you would be so foolish," said her aunt. "this is a kind of thing in which a girl should not interfere at all. it must be arranged between the young man's uncle in italy, and—and the proper authorities here. it must depend very much upon—." here lady persiflage reduced her words to the very lowest whisper. "your uncle has told me all about it, and of course he must know better than any one else. it's a kind of thing that must be settled for a man by,—by—by those who know how to settle it. a man can't be this or that just as he pleases."
"of course not," said lady amaldina.
"a man has to take the name, my dear, which he inherits. i could not call myself mrs. jones any more than mrs. jones can call herself lady persiflage. if he is the duca di crinola he must be the duca di crinola."
"but he won't be duca di crinola," said lady frances.
"there now!" said the marchioness.
"if you will only let the matter be settled by those who understand it, and not talk about it just at present, it would be so much better."
"you heard what lord llwddythlw called him," said the marchioness.
"llwddythlw always was an oaf," said amaldina.
"he meant to be gracious," said fanny; "and i am much obliged to him."
"and as to what you were saying, fanny, as to having nothing to support the title, a foreign title in that way is not like one here at home. here it must be supported."
"he would never consent to be burdened with a great name without any means," said fanny.
"there are cases in which a great name will help a man to get means. whatever he calls himself, i suppose he will have to live, and maintain a wife."
"he has his salary as a clerk in the post office," said fanny very boldly. amaldina shook her head sadly. the marchioness clasped her hands together and raised her eyes to the ceiling with a look of supplication. were not her darlings to be preserved from such contamination?
"he can do better than that, my dear," exclaimed lady persiflage; "and, if you are to be his wife, i am sure that you will not stand in the way of his promotion. his own government and ours between them will be able to do something for him as duca di crinola, whereas nothing could be done for george roden."
"the english government is his government," said fanny indignantly.
"one would almost suppose that you want to destroy all his prospects," said lady persiflage, who was at last hardly able to restrain her anger.
"i believe she does," said the marchioness.
in the mean time the conversation was carried on below stairs, if with less vigour, yet perhaps with more judgment. lord persiflage spoke of roden's italian uncle as a man possessing intellectual gifts and political importance of the highest order. roden could not deny that the italian cabinet minister was his uncle, and was thus driven to acknowledge the family, and almost to acknowledge the country. "from what i hear," said lord persiflage, "i suppose you would not wish to reside permanently in italy, as an italian?"
"certainly not," said roden.
"there is no reason why you should. i can imagine that you should have become too confirmed an englishman to take kindly to italian public life as a career. you could hardly do so except as a follower of your uncle, which perhaps would not suit you."
"it would be impossible."
"just so. d'ossi was saying to me this morning that he thought as much. but there is no reason why a career should not be open to you here as well as there;—not political perhaps, but official."
"it is the only career that at present is open to me."
"there might be difficulty about parliament certainly. my advice to you is not to be in a hurry to decide upon anything for a month or two. you will find that things will shake down into their places." not a word was said about the name or title. when the gentlemen went up-stairs there had been no brilliancy of conversation, but neither were there any positive difficulties to be incurred. not a word further was said in reference to "george roden" or to the "duca di crinola."
