CHAPTER IV
AND HER FAITHFUL CHAPLAIN
"I am not a man of the world, but a man of the Word," said ParsonTwemlow, the Rector of Springhaven; "and I shall not feel that I havedone my duty unless I stir him up to-morrow. His valor and glory arenothing to me, nor even his value to the country. He does his duty, andI shall do mine. It is useless to talk to me, Maria; I never shall havesuch a chance again."
"Well, dear, you know best," replied Mrs. Twemlow; "and duty is alwaysthe highest and best and most sacred consideration. But you surelyshould remember, for Eliza's sake, that we never shall dine at the Hallagain."
"I don't care a snap for their dinners, or the chance of Eliza catchingsome young officer; and very few come while this peace goes on. I won'tshirk my duty for any of that."
"Nothing would ever make you shirk your duty, Joshua. And I hope thatyou know me too well to suppose that I ever would dream of suggestingit. But I do want to see you a Canon, and I know that he begins to haveinfluence in the Church, and therefore the Church is not at all theplace to allude to his private affairs in. And, after all, what do weknow about them? It does seem so low to be led away by gossip."
"Maria," said the Rector, severely sorry, "I must beg you to leave meto my conscience. I shall not refer to his private affairs. I shall putleading truths in a general way, and let him make the home application."
"Put the cap on if it fits. Very well: you will injure yourself, and dono one any good. Lord Nelson won't know it; he is too simple-minded.But Admiral Darling will never forgive us for insulting him while he isstaying at the Hall."
"Maria! Well, I have long given up all attempts at reasoning withyou. If I see a man walking into a furnace, do I insult him by sayingbeware?"
"As I am beyond all reason, Joshua, it is far above me to understandthat. But if you escape insulting him, what you do is far worse, andquite unlike a gentleman. You heap a whole pile of insults upon your ownbrother clergymen."
"I do not at all understand you, Maria: you fly off in such a way fromone thing to another!"
"Not at all. Anybody who is not above paying attention must understandme. When he is at Merton he goes to church, and his Rector is bound tolook after him. When he is at sea, he has his Chaplain, who preacheswhenever the weather permits, and dare not neglect his duties. But thestrongest point of all is this--his very own father and brother areclergymen, and bound to do their best for him. All these you insult,and in so many words condemn for neglecting their duty, because you areunable to resist the pleasure of a stray shot at a celebrated man whenhe comes down here for hospitality."
"My dear, you have put the matter in a new light," said the Rev. JoshuaTwemlow; "I would be the last man in the world to cast a slur upon anybrother clergyman. But it is a sad denial to me, because I had put it soneatly, and a line of Latin at the end of it."
"Never mind, dear. That will do for some one else who deserves it, andhas got no influence. And if you could only put instead of it one ofyour beautifully turned expressions about our debt of gratitude to thenoble defender of our country--"
"No, no, Maria!" said her husband, with a smile; "be content withoutpushing your victory further than Nelson himself would push it. It maybe my duty to spare him, but I will not fall down and worship him."
Joshua Twemlow, Bachelor of Divinity, was not very likely to worshipanybody, nor even to admire, without due cause shown. He did not pretendto be a learned man, any more than he made any other pretense which hecould not justify. But he loved a bit of Latin, whenever he could findanybody to share it with him, and even in lack of intelligent partnershe indulged sometimes in that utterance. This was a grievance to theSquire of the parish, because he was expected to enjoy at ear-shot thatwhich had passed out of the other ear in boyhood, with a painful echobehind it. But the Admiral had his revenge by passing the Rector's bitsof Latin on--when he could remember them--to some one entitled to anexplanation, which he, with a pleasant smile, vouchsafed. This is one ofthe many benefits of a classical education.
But what are such little tags, compared with the pith and marrow of theman himself? Parson Twemlow was no prig, no pedant, and no popinjay,but a sensible, upright, honorable man, whose chief defect was a quicktemper. In parish affairs he loved to show his independence of the Hall,and having a stronger will than Admiral Darling, he mostly conqueredhim. But he knew very well how far to go, and never pressed thesupremacy of the Church beyond endurance.
His wife, who was one of the Carnes of Carne Castle, some few milesto the westward, encouraged him strongly in holding his own when theAdmiral strove to override him. That was her manner of putting thecase; while Admiral Darling would rather have a score of nightmares thanoverride any one. But the Carnes were a falling as much as the Darlingswere a rising family, and offense comes down the hill like stonesdislodged by the upward traveller. Mrs. Twemlow knew nothing shedisliked so much as any form of haughtiness; it was so small, so petty,so opposed to all true Christianity. And this made her think that theDarlings were always endeavoring to patronize her--a thing she wouldmuch rather die than put up with.
This excellent couple had allowed, however, their only son Erle, avery fine young man, to give his heart entirely to Faith Darling, theAdmiral's eldest daughter, and to win hers to an equal extent; andinstead of displaying any haughtiness, her father had simply said: "Letthem wait two years; they are both very young, and may change theirminds. If they keep of the same mind for two years, they are welcome toone another."
For a kinder-hearted man than Admiral Darling never saw the sun.There was nothing about him wonderful in the way of genius, heroism,large-mindedness, or unselfishness. But people liked him much betterthan if he combined all those vast rarities; because he was lively,genial, simple, easily moved to wrath or grief, free-handed, a littlefond, perhaps, of quiet and confidential brag, and very fond of gossip.
"I tell you," he said to Lord Nelson now, as they walked down the hillto the church together that lovely Sunday morning, "you will not haveseen a finer sight than our fishermen in church--I dare say never.Of course they don't all go. Nobody could expect it. But as many as areasonable man could desire come there, because they know I like it.Twemlow thinks that they come to please him; but he finds a mightydifference in his congregation when I and my daughters are out of theparish. But if he goes away, there they are all the same, or perhapseven more, to get a change from him. That will show which of us theycare about pleasing."
"And they are quite right. I hate the levelling system," the hero of theNile replied. "A man should go to church to please his landlord, not toplease the parson. Is the Chaplain to settle how many come to prayers?"
"That is the right way to look at the thing," said the larger-bodiedAdmiral; "and I only wish Twemlow could have heard you. I asked him todine with us yesterday, as you know, because you would have done him somuch good; but he sent some trumpery excuse, although his wife was askedto come with him. She stopped him, no doubt; to look big, I dare say; asif they could dine with a Lord Nelson every day!"
"They can do that every day, when they dine with a man who has done hisduty. But where is my pretty godchild Dolly? Horatia seems too long foryou. What a long name they gave me! It may have done very well for mygranduncle. But, my dear Lingo, look sharp for your Dolly. She has nomother, nor even a duenna--she has turned her off, she said yesterday.Your daughter Faith is an angel, but Dolly--"
"My Dolly is a little devil, I suppose! You always found out everything.What have you found my Dolly at? Perhaps she got it at her baptism." Aword against his pet child was steel upon flint to Admiral Darling.
"I am not concerned with your opinion," Lord Nelson answered, loftily."But Horatia Dorothy Darling is my godchild by baptism, and you willfind her down in my will for a thousand pounds, if she behaves well,and if it should please the Lord to send me some of the prize-money Ideserve."
This was announced in such a manner, with the future testator's usefuleye bearing brightly on his comrade, and his cocke
d hat lifted as hespoke of the great Awarder of prizes, that no one able to smile couldhelp a friendly and simple smile at him. So Admiral Darling forgot hiswrath, which never had long memory, and scorning even to look round forDolly, in whom he felt such confidence, took the mighty warrior by thegood arm and led him toward the peaceful bells.
"Hurry; we shall be late," he said. "You remember when we called you'Hurry,' because of being always foremost? But they know better than tostop the bells till they see me in the church porch. Twemlow wanted toupset that, for the parsons want to upset everything. And I said: 'Verywell; then I shall square it by locking the gate from your shrubbery.That will give me five minutes to come down the hill.' For mygrandfather put up that gate, you must know, and of course the keybelongs to me. It saves Twemlow a cable's-length every time, and theparsons go to church so often now, he would have to make at leastanother knot a month. So the bells go on as they used to do. How manybells do you make it, Mr. Nelson?"
"Eight bells, sir," Lord Nelson replied, saluting like the middy incharge of the watch. And at this little turn they both laughed, and wenton, with memory of ancient days, to church.
Springhaven: A Tale of the Great War Page 4