"i will not consent to live with you while such deeds as these are being done." such were the last words which mrs. furnival spoke as she walked out of her own drawing-room, leaving her husband still seated in his arm-chair.
what was he to do? those who would hang by the letter of the law in such matters may say that he should have rung the bell, sent for his wife, explained to her that obedience was a necessary duty on her part, and have finished by making her understand that she must and would continue to live wherever he chose that she should live. there be those who say that if a man be anything of a man, he can always insure obedience in his own household. he has the power of the purse and the power of the law; and if, having these, he goes to the wall, it must be because he is a poor creature. those who so say have probably never tried the position.
mr. furnival did not wish to send for his wife, because by doing so he would have laid bare his sore before his servants. he could not follow her, because he knew that he should not find her alone in her room. nor did he wish for any further parley, because he knew that she would speak loud, and probably sob—nay, very possibly proceed to a fainting fit. and, moreover, he much doubted whether he would have the power to keep her in the house if it should be her pleasure to leave it. and then what should he do? the doing of something in such a catastrophe was, he thought, indispensable.
was ever a man so ill treated? was ever jealousy so groundless? here was a woman, with whom he was on the point of quarrelling, who was engaged to be married to another man, whom for months past he had only seen as a client; and on her account he was to be told by his wife that she would not consent to live with him! yes; it was quite indispensable that he should do something.
at last he went to bed, and slept upon it; not sharing the marital couch, but occupying his own dressing-room. in the morning, however, as he sat down to his solitary breakfast, he was as far as ever from having made up his mind what that something should be. a message was brought to him by an elderly female servant with a grave face,—the elderly servant who had lived with them since their poorer days,—saying that "missus would not come down to breakfast this morning." there was no love sent, no excuse as to illness, no semblance of a peaceable reason, assumed even to deceive the servant. it was clear to mr. furnival that the servant was intended to know all about it. "and miss biggs says, sir, that if you please you're not to wait for her."
"very well, that'll do," said mr. furnival, who had not the slightest intention of waiting for miss biggs; and then he sat himself down to eat his bacon, and bethink himself what step he would take with this recreant and troublesome spouse.
while he was thus employed the post came. the bulk of his letters as a matter of course went to his chambers; but there were those among his correspondents who wrote to him at harley street. to-day he received three or four letters, but our concern will be with one only. this one bore the hamworth post-mark, and he opened it the first, knowing that it came from lady mason. it was as follows:—
private
the cleeve, 23rd january, 18—.
my dear mr. furnival,
i am so very sorry that i did not see you to-day! indeed, your leaving without seeing me has made me unhappy, for i cannot but think that it shows that you are displeased. under these circumstances i must write to you and explain to you how that came to pass which sir peregrine told you. i have not let him know that i am writing to you, and i think for his sake that i had better not. but he is so good, and has shown to me such nobleness and affection, that i can hardly bring myself to have any secret from him.
you may conceive what was my surprise when i first understood that he wished to make me his wife. it is hardly six months since i thought that i was almost exceeding my station in visiting at his house. then by degrees i began to be received as a friend, and at last i found myself treated with the warmest love. but still i had no thought of this, and i knew that it was because of my great trouble that sir peregrine and mrs. orme were so good to me.
when he sent for me into his library and told me what he wished, i could not refuse him anything. i promised obedience to him as though i were a child; and in this way i found myself engaged to be his wife. when he told me that he would have it so, how could i refuse him, knowing as i do all that he has done for me, and thinking of it as i do every minute? as for loving him, of course i love him. who that knows him does not love him? he is made to be loved. no one is so good and so noble as he. but of love of that sort i had never dreamed. ah me, no!—a woman burdened as i am does not think of love.
he told me that he would have it so, and i said that i would obey him; and he tried to prove to me that in this dreadful trial it would be better for me. but i would not wish it on that account. he has done enough for me without my causing him such injury. when i argued it with him, trying to say that others would not like it, he declared that mrs. orme would be well pleased, and, indeed, so she told me afterwards herself. and thus i yielded to him, and agreed that i would be his wife. but i was not happy, thinking that i should injure him; and i promised only because i could not deny him.
but the day before yesterday young mr. orme, his grandson, came to me and told me that such a marriage would be very wrong. and i do believe him. he said that old family friends would look down upon his grandfather and ridicule him if he were to make this marriage. and i can see that it would be so. i would not have such injury come upon him for the gain of all the world to myself. so i have made up my mind to tell him that it cannot be, even though i should anger him. and i fear that it will anger him, for he loves to have his own way,—especially in doing good; and he thinks that our marriage would rescue me altogether from the danger of this trial.
so i have made up my mind to tell him, but i have not found courage to do it yet; and i do wish, dear mr. furnival, that i might see you first. i fear that i may have lost your friendship by what has already been done. if so, what will become of me? when i heard that you had gone without asking for me, my heart sank within me. i have two friends whom i so dearly love, and i would fain do as both direct me, if that may be possible. and now i propose to go up to london to-morrow, and to be at your chambers about one o'clock. i have told sir peregrine and mrs. orme that i am going; but he is too noble-minded to ask questions now that he thinks i may feel myself constrained to tell him. so i will call in lincoln's inn at one o'clock, and i trust that if possible you will see me. i am greatly in want of your advice, for in truth i hardly know what to do.
pray believe me to be always your attached friend,
mary mason.
there was hardly a word,—i believe not a word in that letter that was not true. her acceptance of sir peregrine had been given exactly in the manner and for the reasons there explained; and since she had accepted him she had been sorry for having done so, exactly in the way now described. she was quite willing to give up her husband if it was thought best,—but she was not willing to give up her friend. she was not willing to give up either friend, and her great anxiety was so to turn her conduct that she might keep them both.
mr. furnival was gratified as he read the letter—gratified in spite of his present frame of mind. of course he would see her;—and of course, as he himself well knew, would take her again into favour. but he must insist on her carrying out her purpose of abandoning the marriage project. if, arising from this abandonment, there should be any coolness on the part of sir peregrine, mr. furnival would not regret it. mr. furnival did not feel quite sure whether in the conduct of this case he was not somewhat hampered by the—energetic zeal of sir peregrine's line of defence.
when he had finished the perusal of his letter and the consideration which it required, he put it carefully into his breast coat pocket, envelope and all. what might not happen if he left that envelope about in that house? and then he took it out again, and observed upon the cover the hamworth post-mark, very clear. post-marks now-a-days are very clear, and everybody may know whence a letter comes. his letters had been brought to him by the butler; but was it not probable that that ancient female servant might have seen them first, and have conveyed to her mistress intelligence as to this post-mark? if so—; and mr. furnival almost felt himself to be guilty as he thought of it.
while he was putting on his greatcoat in the hall, the butler assisting him, the ancient female servant came to him again. there was a look about her face which told of war, and declared her to be, if not the chief lieutenant of his wife, at any rate her colour-serjeant. martha biggs no doubt was chief lieutenant. "missus desires me to ask," said she, with her grim face and austere voice, "whether you will be pleased to dine at home to-day?" and yet the grim, austere woman could be affectionate and almost motherly in her ministrations to him when things were going well, and had eaten his salt and broken his bread for more than twenty years. all this was very hard! "because," continued the woman, "missus says she thinks she shall be out this evening herself."
"where is she going?"
"missus didn't tell me, sir."
he almost determined to go up stairs and call upon her to tell him what she was going to do, but he remembered that if he did it would surely make a row in the house. miss biggs would put her head out of some adjacent door and scream, "oh laws!" and he would have to descend his own stairs with the consciousness that all his household were regarding him as a brute. so he gave up that project. "no," he said, "i shall not dine at home;" and then he went his way.
"missus is very aggravating," said the butler, as soon as the door was closed.
"you don't know what cause she has, spooner," said the housekeeper very solemnly.
"is it at his age? i believe it's all nonsense, i do;—feminine fancies, and vagaries of the weaker sex."
"yes, i dare say; that's what you men always say. but if he don't look out he'll find missus'll be too much for him. what'd he do if she were to go away from him?"
"do?—why live twice as jolly. it would only be the first rumpus of the thing."
i am afraid that there was some truth in what spooner said. it is the first rumpus of the thing, or rather the fear of that, which keeps together many a couple.
at one o'clock there came a timid female rap at mr. furnival's chamber door, and the juvenile clerk gave admittance to lady mason. crabwitz, since the affair of that mission down at hamworth, had so far carried a point of his, that a junior satellite was now permanently installed; and for the future the indignity of opening doors, and "just stepping out" into chancery lane, would not await him. lady mason was dressed all in black,—but this was usual with her when she left home. to-day, however, there was about her something blacker and more sombre than usual. the veil which she wore was thick, and completely hid her face; and her voice, as she asked for mr. furnival, was low and plaintive. but, nevertheless, she had by no means laid aside the charm of womanhood; or it might be more just to say that the charm of womanhood had not laid aside her. there was that in her figure, step, and gait of going which compelled men to turn round and look at her. we all know that she had a son some two or three and twenty years of age, and that she had not been quite a girl when she married. but, notwithstanding this, she was yet young; and though she made no effort—no apparent effort—to maintain the power and influence which beauty gives, yet she did maintain it.
he came forward and took her by the hand with all his old affectionate regard, and, muttering some words of ordinary salutation, led her to a chair. it may be that she muttered something also, but if so the sound was too low to reach his ears. she sat down where he placed her, and as she put her hand on the table near her arm, he saw that she was trembling.
"i got your letter this morning," he said, by way of beginning the conversation.
"yes," she said; and then, finding that it was not possible that he should hear her through her veil, she raised it. she was very pale, and there was a look of painful care, almost of agony, round her mouth. he had never seen her look so pale,—but he said to himself at the same time that he had never seen her look so beautiful.
"and to tell you the truth, lady mason, i was very glad to get it. you and i had better speak openly to each other about this;—had we not?"
"oh, yes," she said. and then there was a struggle within her not to tremble—a struggle that was only too evident. she was aware of this, and took her hand off the table.
"i vexed you because i did not see you at the cleeve the other day."
"because i thought that you were angry with me."
"and i was so."
"oh, mr. furnival!"
"wait a moment, lady mason. i was angry;—or rather sorry and vexed to hear of that which i did not approve. but your letter has removed that feeling. i can now understand the manner in which this engagement was forced upon you; and i understand also—do i not?—that the engagement will not be carried out?"
she did not answer him immediately, and he began to fear that she repented of her purpose. "because," said he, "under no other circumstances could i—"
"stop, mr. furnival. pray do not be severe with me." and she looked at him with eyes which would almost have melted his wife,—and which he was quite unable to withstand. had it been her wish, she might have made him promise to stand by her, even though she had persisted in her engagement.
"no, no; i will not be severe."
"i do not wish to marry him," she went on to say. "i have resolved to tell him so. that was what i said in my letter."
"yes, yes."
"i do not wish to marry him. i would not bring his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave—no, not to save myself from—" and then, as she thought of that from which she desired to save herself, she trembled again, and was silent.
"it would create in men's minds such a strong impression against you, were you to marry him at this moment!"
"it is of him i am thinking;—of him and lucius. mr. furnival, they might do their worst with me, if it were not for that thought. my boy!" and then she rose from her chair, and stood upright before him, as though she were going to do or say some terrible thing. he still kept his chair, for he was startled, and hardly knew what he would be about. that last exclamation had come from her almost with a shriek, and now her bosom was heaving as though her heart would burst with the violence of her sobbing. "i will go," she said. "i had better go." and she hurried away towards the door.
"no, no; do not go yet." and he rose to stop her, but she was quite passive. "i do not know why you should be so much moved now." but he did know. he did understand the very essence and core of her feelings;—as probably may the reader also. but it was impossible that he should allow her to leave him in her present state.
she sat down again, and leaning both her arms upon the table, hid her face within her hands. he was now standing, and for the moment did not speak to her. indeed he could not bring himself to break the silence, for he saw her tears, and could still hear the violence of her sobs. and then she was the first to speak. "if it were not for him," she said, raising her head, "i could bear it all. what will he do? what will he do?"
"you mean," said mr. furnival, speaking very slowly, "if the—verdict—should go against us."
"it will go against us," she said. "will it not?—tell me the truth. you are so clever, you must know. tell me how it will go. is there anything i can do to save him?" and she took hold of his arm with both her hands, and looked up eagerly—oh, with such terrible eagerness!—into his face.
would it not have been natural now that he should have asked her to tell him the truth? and yet he did not dare to ask her. he thought that he knew it. he felt sure,—almost sure, that he could look into her very heart, and read there the whole of her secret. but still there was a doubt,—enough of doubt to make him wish to ask the question. nevertheless he did not ask it.
"mr. furnival," she said; and as she spoke there was a hardness came over the soft lines of her feminine face; a look of courage which amounted almost to ferocity, a look which at the moment recalled to his mind, as though it were but yesterday, the attitude and countenance she had borne as she stood in the witness-box at that other trial, now so many years since,—that attitude and countenance which had impressed the whole court with so high an idea of her courage. "mr. furnival, weak as i am, i could bear to die here on the spot,—now—if i could only save him from this agony. it is not for myself i suffer." and then the terrible idea occurred to him that she might attempt to compass her escape by death. but he did not know her. that would have been no escape for her son.
"and you too think that i must not marry him?" she said, putting up her hands to her brows as though to collect her thoughts.
"no; certainly not, lady mason."
"no, no. it would be wrong. but, mr. furnival, i am so driven that i know not how i should act. what if i should lose my mind?" and as she looked at him there was that about her eyes which did tell him that such an ending might be possible.
"do not speak in such a way," he said.
"no, i will not. i know that it is wrong. i will go down there, and tell him that it must not—must not be so. but i may stay at the cleeve;—may i not?"
"oh, certainly—if he wishes it,—after your understanding with him."
"ah; he may turn me out, may he not? and they are so kind to me, so gentle and so good. and lucius is so stern. but i will go back. sternness will perhaps be better for me now than love and kindness."
in spite of everything, in the teeth of his almost certain conviction of her guilt, he would now, even now, have asked her to come to his own house, and have begged her to remain there till the trial was over,—if only he had had the power to do so. what would it be to him what the world might say, if she should be proved guilty? why should not he have been mistaken as well as others? and he had an idea that if he could get her into his own hands he might still bring her through triumphantly,—with assistance from solomon aram and chaffanbrass. he was strongly convinced of her guilt, but by no means strongly convinced that her guilt could be proved. but then he had no house at the present moment that he could call his own. his kitty, the kitty of whom he still sometimes thought with affection,—that kitty whose soft motherly heart would have melted at such a story of a woman's sorrows, if only it had been rightly approached,—that kitty was now vehemently hostile, hostile both to him and to this very woman for whom he would have asked her care.
"may god help me!" said the poor woman. "i do not know where else to turn for aid. well; i may go now then. and, indeed, why should i take up your time further?"
but before she did go, mr. furnival gave her much counsel. he did not ask as to her guilt, but he did give her that advice which he would have thought most expedient had her guilt been declared and owned. he told her that very much would depend on her maintaining her present position and standing; that she was so to carry herself as not to let people think that she was doubtful about the trial; and that above all things she was to maintain a composed and steadfast manner before her son. as to the ormes, he bade her not to think of leaving the cleeve, unless she found that her remaining there would be disagreeable to sir peregrine after her explanation with him. that she was to decline the marriage engagement, he was very positive; on that subject there was to be no doubt.
and then she went; and as she passed down the dark passage into the new square by the old gate of the chancellor's court, she met a stout lady. the stout lady eyed her savagely, but was not quite sure as to her identity. lady mason in her trouble passed the stout lady without taking any notice of her.
