the vicar of bullhampton was—a “good sort of fellow.” in praise of him to this extent it is hoped that the reader will cordially agree. but it cannot be denied that he was the most imprudent of men. he had done very much that was imprudent in respect to the marquis of trowbridge; and since he had been at bullhampton had been imprudent in nearly everything that he had done regarding the brattles. he was well aware that the bold words which he had spoken to the marquis had been dragon’s teeth sown by himself, and that they had sprung up from the ground in the shape of the odious brick building which now stood immediately in face of his own vicarage gate. though he would smile and be droll, and talk to the workmen, he hated that building quite as bitterly as did his wife. and now, in regard to the brattles, there came upon him a great trouble. about a week after he had lent the four pounds to fanny on sam’s behalf, there came to him a dirty note from salisbury, written by sam himself, in which he was told that carry brattle was now at the three honest men, a public-house in one of the suburbs of the city, waiting there till mr. fenwick should find a home for her,—in accordance with his promise given to her brother. sam, in his letter, had gone on to explain that it would be well that mr. fenwick should visit the three honest men speedily, as otherwise there would be a bill there which neither carry nor sam would be able to defray. poor sam’s letter was bald, and they who did not understand his position might have called it bold. he wrote to the vicar as though the vicar’s coming to salisbury for the required purpose was a matter of course; and demanded a home for his sister without any reference to her future mode of life, or power of earning her bread, as though it was the vicar’s manifest duty to provide such home. and then that caution in regard to the bill was rather a threat than anything else. if you don’t take her quickly from the three honest men there’ll be the very mischief of a bill for you to pay. that was the meaning of the caution, and so the vicar understood it.
but mr. fenwick, though he was imprudent, was neither unreasonable nor unintelligent. he had told sam brattle that he would provide a home for carry, if sam would find his sister and induce her to accept the offer. sam had gone to work, and had done his part. having done it, he was right to claim from the vicar his share of the performance. and then, was it not a matter of course that carry, when found, should be without means to pay her own expenses? was it to be supposed that a girl in her position would have money by her. and had not mr. fenwick known the truth about their poverty when he had given those four pounds to fanny brattle to be sent up to sam in london? mr. fenwick was both reasonable and intelligent as to all this; and, though he felt that he was in trouble, did not for a moment think of denying his responsibility, or evading the performance of his promise. he must find a home for poor carry, and pay any bill at the three honest men which he might find standing there in her name.
of course he told his trouble to his wife; and of course he was scolded for the promise he had given. “but, my dear frank, if for her, why not for others; and how is it possible?”
“for her and not for others, because she is an old friend, a neighbour’s child, and one of the parish.” that question was easily answered.
“but how is it possible, frank? of course one would do anything that it is possible to save her. what i mean is, that one would do it for all of them, if only it were possible.”
“if you can do it for one, will not even that be much?”
“but what is to be done? who will take her? will she go into a reformatory?”
“i fear not.”
“there are so many, and i do not know how they are to be treated except in a body. where can you find a home for her?”
“she has a married sister, janet.”
“who would not speak to her, or let her inside the door of her house! surely, frank, you know the unforgiving nature of women of that class for such sin as poor carry brattle’s?”
“i wonder whether they ever say their prayers,” said the vicar.
“of course they do. mrs. jay, no doubt, is a religious woman. but it is permitted to them not to forgive that sin.”
“by what law?”
“by the law of custom. it is all very well, frank, but you can’t fight against it. at any rate, you can’t ignore it till it has been fought against and conquered. and it is useful. it keeps women from going astray.”
“you think, then, that nothing should be done for this poor creature, who fell so piteously, with so small a sin?”
“i have not said so. but when you promised her a home, where did you think of finding one for her? her only fitting home is with her mother, and you know that her father will not take her there.”
mr. fenwick said nothing more at that moment, not having clearly made up his mind as to what he might best do; but he had before his eyes, dimly, a plan by which he thought it possible that he might force carry brattle on her father’s heart. if this plan might be carried out, he would take her to the mill-house and seat her in the room in which the family lived, and then bring the old man in from his work. it might be that jacob brattle, in his wrath, would turn with violence upon the man who had dared thus to interfere in the affairs of his family; but he would certainly offer no rough usage to the poor girl. fenwick knew the man well enough to be sure that he would not lay his hands in anger upon a woman.
but something must be done at once,—something before any such plan as that which was running through his brain could be matured and carried into execution. there was carry at the three honest men, and, for aught the vicar knew, her brother staying with her,—with his, the vicar’s credit, pledged for their maintenance. it was quite clear that something must be done. he had applied to his wife, and his wife did not know how to help him. he had suggested the wife of the ironmonger at warminster as the proper guardian for the poor child, and his own wife had at once made him understand that this was impractical. indeed, how was it possible that such a one as carry brattle should be kept out of sight and stowed away in an open hardware-shop in a provincial town? the properest place for her would be in the country, on some farm; and, so thinking, he determined to apply to the girl’s eldest brother.
george brattle was a prosperous man, living on a large farm near fordingbridge, ten or twelve miles the other side of salisbury. of him the vicar knew very little, and of his wife nothing. that the man had been married fourteen or fifteen years, and had a family growing up, the vicar did know; and, knowing it, feared that mrs. brattle of startup, as their farm was called, would not be willing to receive this proposed new inmate. but he would try. he would go on to startup after having seen carry at the three honest men, and use what eloquence he could command for the occasion.
he drove himself over on the next day to meet an early train, and was in salisbury by nine o’clock. he had to ask his way to the three honest men, and at last had some difficulty in finding the house. it was a small beershop, in a lane on the very outskirts of the city, and certainly seemed to him, as he looked at it, to be as disreputable a house, in regard to its outward appearance, as ever he had proposed to enter. it was a brick building of two stories, with a door in the middle of it which stood open, and a red curtain hanging across the window on the left-hand side. three men dressed like navvies were leaning against the door-posts. there is no sign, perhaps, which gives to a house of this class so disreputable an appearance as red curtains hung across the window; and yet there is no other colour for pot-house curtains that has any popularity. the one fact probably explains the other. a drinking-room with a blue or a brown curtain would offer no attraction to the thirsty navvy who likes to have his thirst indulged without criticism. but, in spite of the red curtain, fenwick entered the house, and asked the uncomely woman at the bar after sam brattle. was there a man named sam brattle staying there;—a man with a sister?
then were let loose against the unfortunate clergyman the floodgates of a drunken woman’s angry tongue. it was not only that the landlady of the three honest men was very drunk, but also that she was very angry. sam brattle and his sister had been there, but they had been turned out of the house. there had manifestly been some great row, and carry brattle was spoken of with all the worst terms of reproach which one woman can heap upon the name of another. the mistress of the three honest men was a married woman,—and, as far as that went, respectable; whereas poor carry was not married, and certainly not respectable. something of her past history had been known. she had been called names which she could not repudiate, and the truth of which even her brother on her behalf could not deny; and then she had been turned into the street. so much mr. fenwick learned from the drunken woman, and nothing more he could learn. when he asked after carry’s present address the woman jeered at him, and accused him of base purposes in coming after such a one. she stood with arms akimbo in the passage, and said she would raise the neighbourhood on him. she was drunk, and dirty, as foul a thing as the eye could look upon; every other word was an oath, and no phrase used by the lowest of men in their lowest moments was too hot or too bad for her woman’s tongue; and yet there was the indignation of outraged virtue in her demeanour and in her language, because this stranger had come to her door asking after a girl who had been led astray. our vicar cared nothing for the neighbourhood, and, indeed, cared very little for the woman at all,—except in so far as she disgusted him; but he did care much at finding that he could obtain no clue to her whom he was seeking. the woman would not even tell him when the girl had left her house, or give him any assistance towards finding her. he had at first endeavoured to mollify the virago by offering to pay the amount of any expenses which might have been left unsettled; but even on this score he could obtain no consideration. she continued to revile him, and he was obliged to leave her,—which he did, at last, with a hurried step to avoid a quart pot which the woman had taken up to hurl at his head, upon some comparison which he most indiscreetly made between herself and poor carry brattle.
what should he do now? the only chance of finding the girl was, as he thought, to go to the police-office. he was still in the lane, making his way back to the street which would take him into the city, when he was accosted by a little child. “you be the parson,” said the child. mr. fenwick owned that he was a parson. “parson from bull’umpton?” said the child, inquiringly. mr. fenwick acknowledged the fact. “then you be to come with me.” whereupon mr. fenwick followed the child, and was led into a miserable little court in which population was squalid, thick, and juvenile. “she be here, at mrs. stiggs’s,” said the child. then the vicar understood that he had been watched, and that he was being taken to the place where she whom he was seeking had found shelter.
