Miss Marjoribanks

by Mrs. Oliphant

  _Chapter II_

  Dr Marjoribanks was so far from feeling the lack of his daughter'spowers of consolation, that he kept her at Mount Pleasant for threeyears longer, during which time it is to be supposed he managed to becomfortable after a benighted fashion--good enough for a man of fifty,who had come to an end of his illusions. To be sure, there were in theworld, and even in Carlingford, kind women, who would not have objectedto take charge of the Doctor and his "establishment," and be a comfortto him; but, on the whole, it was undeniable that he managed tolerablywell in external matters, and gave very good men's dinners, and kepteverything in perfect order, so far as it went. Naturally the fairerpart of existence was left out altogether in that grim, thoughwell-ordered house; but then he was only a man and a doctor, and knew nobetter; and while the feminine part of Grange Lane regarded him withnatural pity, not only for what he lacked, but for a still more saddefect, his total want of perception on the subject, their husbands andfathers rather liked to dine with the Doctor, and brought home accountsof sauces which were enough to drive any woman to despair. Some of theladies of Grange Lane--Mrs Chiley, for example, who was fond of goodliving herself, and liked, as she said, "a little variety"--laid siegeto the Doctor, and did their best to coax his receipts out of him; butDr Marjoribanks knew better than that. He gave all the credit to hiscook, like a man of sense; and as that functionary was known inCarlingford to be utterly regardless and unprincipled in respect togravy-beef, and the materials for "stock," or "consomme," as some peoplecalled it, society was disinclined to exert its ordinary arts to seduceso great an artiste from the kitchen of her indulgent master. And thenthere were other ladies who took a different tone. "Dr Marjoribanks,poor man, has nothing but his table to take up his mind," said MrsCentum, who had six children; "I never heard that the heart could benourished upon sauces, for my part; and for a man who has his children'sfuture to think of, I must say I am surprised at you, Mr Centum." Asfor young Mrs Woodburn, her reply was still more decisive, though milderin its tone. "Poor cook! I am so sorry for her," said the gentle youngmatron. "You know you always like something for breakfast, Charles; andthen there is the children's dinner, and our lunch, and the servants'dinner, so that the poor thing is worn out before she comes to what_you_ call the great event of the day; and you know how angry you werewhen I asked for a kitchen-maid for her, poor soul." The consequence ofall this was, that Dr Marjoribanks remained unrivalled in Grange Lane inthis respect at least. When rumours arose in Carlingford of a possiblesecond marriage for the Doctor--and such rumours naturally arose threeor four times in the course of the three years--the men of Grange Lanesaid, "Heaven forbid!" "No wife in the world could replace Nancy," saidColonel Chiley, after that fervent aspiration, "and none could put upwith her;" while, on the other side, there were curious speculationsafloat as to the effect upon the house, and especially the table, of thedaughter's return. When a young woman comes to be eighteen it isdifficult to keep her at school; and though the Doctor had staved offthe danger for the moment, by sending Lucilla off along with one of herschoolfellows, whose family was going abroad, to make orthodoxacquaintance with all the Swiss mountains, and all the Italian capitals,still that was plainly an expedient for the moment; and a new mistressto the house, which had got along so well without any mistress, wasinevitable. So that it cannot be denied Miss Marjoribanks's advent wasregarded in Carlingford with as much interest and curiosity as she couldhave wished. For it was already known that the Doctor's daughter was nota mild young lady, easy to be controlled; but, on the contrary, had allthe energy and determination to have her own way, which naturallybelonged to a girl who possessed a considerable chin, and a mouth whichcould shut, and tightly curling tawny tresses, which were still moredetermined than she was to be arranged only according to theirinclination. It was even vaguely reported that some passages-of-arms hadoccurred between Miss Marjoribanks and the redoubtable Nancy during theshort and uncertain opportunities which were afforded by holidays; andthe community, accordingly, regarded as an affair of almost municipalimportance Lucilla's final return home.

  As for the young lady herself, though she was at school, she wasconscious of having had a career not without importance, even duringthese three years of pupilage. Since the day when she began to readpolitical economy with Miss Martha Blount, who, though the secondsister, was the directing spirit of the establishment, Lucilla hadexercised a certain influence upon the school itself which was verysatisfactory. Perhaps her course might be a little deficient in grace,but grace, after all, is but a secondary quality; and, at all events,Miss Marjoribanks went straight forward, leaving an unquestionable wakebehind her, and running down with indifference the little skiffs in herway. She was possessed by nature of that kind of egotism, or ratheregoism, which is predestined to impress itself, by its perfect realityand good faith, upon the surrounding world. There are people who talk ofthemselves, and think of themselves, as it were, under protest, and withdepreciation, not actually able to convince themselves that anybodycares; but Lucilla, for her part, had the calmest and most profoundconviction that, when she discussed her own doings and plans andclevernesses, she was bringing forward the subject most interesting toher audience as well as to herself. Such a conviction is never withoutits fruits. To be sure, there were always one or two independent spiritswho revolted; but for the crowd, it soon became impressed with aprofound belief in the creed which Miss Marjoribanks supported sofirmly. This conviction of the importance and value of her ownproceedings made Lucilla, as she grew older, a copious and amusingconversationalist--a rank which few people who are indifferent to, or donot believe in, themselves can attain to. One thing she had made up hermind to as soon as she should return home, and that was to revolutionisesociety in Carlingford. On the whole, she was pleased with the successof the Doctor's dinners, though a little piqued to think that they owednothing to herself; but Lucilla, whose instinct of government was of thetrue despotic order, and who had no objection to stoop, if by that meansshe could conquer, had no such designs against Nancy as were attributedto her by the expectant audience in Carlingford. On the contrary, shewas quite as much disposed as her father was to take Nancy forprime-minister; for Miss Marjoribanks, though too much occupied withherself to divine the characteristic points of other people, had asensible and thorough belief in those superficial general truths whichmost minds acquiesce in, without taking the trouble to believe. Sheknew, for example, that there was a great difference between thebrilliant society of London, or of Paris, which appears in books, wherewomen have generally the best of it, and can rule in their own right;and even the very best society of a country town, where husbands arevery commonly unmanageable, and have a great deal more of their own wayin respect to the houses they will or will not go to, than is good forthat inferior branch of the human family. Miss Marjoribanks had the goodsense to see and appreciate these details; and she knew that a gooddinner was a great attraction to a man, and that, in Carlingford atleast, when these refractory mortals were secured, the wives anddaughters would necessarily follow. Besides, as is not uncommon withwomen who are clever women, and aware of the fact, Miss Marjoribankspreferred the society of men, and rather liked to say so. With all theseintentions in her mind, it may be imagined that she received coollyenough the invitation of her friend to join in the grand tour, and theready consent given by her father when he heard of it. But even thegrand tour was a tool which Lucilla saw how to make use of. Nowadays,when people go everywhere, an untravelled woman would find it so muchthe harder to keep up the _role_ of a leader of society to which she haddevoted herself; and she felt to the depth of her heart the endlessadvantage to her future conversation of the experiences to be acquiredin Switzerland and Italy. But she rejected with scorn the insinuation ofother accidents that might occur on the way.

  "You will never come back again, Lucilla," said one of her companions;"you will marry some enchanting Italian with a beautiful black beard,and a voice like an angel; and he'll sing serenades to you, and do allsorts of thi
ngs: oh, how I wish I was you!"

  "That may be," said Miss Marjoribanks, "but I shall never marry anItalian, my dear. I don't think I shall marry anybody for a long time. Iwant to amuse myself. I wonder, by the way, if it would improve my voiceto take lessons in Italy. Did I ever tell you of the Italian noblemanthat was so very attentive to me that Christmas I spent at SissyVernon's? He was very handsome. I suppose they really are all veryhandsome--except, of course, the Italian masters; but I did not pay anyattention to him. My object, dear, and you know it, is to return home aswell educated as possible, to be a comfort to dear papa."

  "Yes, dear Lucilla," said the sympathetic girl, "and it is so good ofyou; but do tell me about the Italian nobleman--what did he looklike--and what did he say?"

  "Oh, as for what he said, that is quite a different matter," saidLucilla; "but it is not what they say, but the way they say it, that isthe fun. I did not give him the least encouragement. As for that, Ithink a girl can always stop a man when she does not care for him. Itdepends on whether you intend him to commit himself or not," MissMarjoribanks continued, and fixed her eyes meditatively, but intently,upon her friend's face.

  "Whether I intend?--oh, goodness, Lucilla! how can you speak so? as if Iever intended anything," said her companion, confused, yet flattered, bythe possibility; to which the elder sage answered calmly, with all thecomposure in the world.

  "No, I never supposed you did; I was thinking of myself," said Lucilla,as if, indeed that was the only reasonable subject of thought. "You knowI have seen a good deal of the world, one way and another, with going tospend the holidays, and I could tell you quantities of things. It isquite astonishing how much experience one gets. When I was at Midhurst,at Easter, there was my cousin Tom, who was quite ridiculous; I declarehe nearly brought things to an explanation, Fanny--which, of course, ofall things in the world I most wanted to avoid."

  "Oh, but why, Lucilla?" cried Fanny, full of delight and wonder; "I doso want to know what they say when they make--explanations, as you callthem. Oh, do tell me, Lucilla, why?"

  "My dear," said Miss Marjoribanks, "a cousin of my own! and onlytwenty-one, and reading for the bar! In the first place, my aunt wouldnever have forgiven me, and I am very fond of my aunt. It's so nice tolike all one's relations. I know some girls who can't bear theirs. Andthen a boy not much older than myself, with nothing but what his motherpleases! Fortunately he did not just say the words, so I escaped thattime; but, of course, I could understand perfectly what he meant."

  "But, oh, Lucilla, tell me the words," cried the persistent questioner;"do, there's a darling! I am quite sure you have heard them--and Ishould so like to know exactly what they say;--do they go down on theirknees?--or do they try to take your hand as they always do innovels?--or what do they do?--Oh, Lucilla, tell me, there's a dear!"

  "Nonsense," said Lucilla; "I only want you to understand that I am notlikely to fall into any danger of that sort. My only ambition, Fanny, asI have told you often, is to go home to Carlingford and be a comfort todear papa."

  "Yes," said Fanny, kissing her devoted companion, "and it is so good ofyou, dear; but then you cannot go on all your life being a comfort todear papa," said the intelligent girl, bethinking herself, and lookingagain with some curiosity in Lucilla's face.

  "We must leave that to Providence," said Miss Marjoribanks, with a senseof paying a compliment to Providence in entrusting it with such aresponsibility. "I have always been guided for the best hitherto," shecontinued, with an innocent and unintentional profanity, which soundedsolemn to her equally innocent companion, "and I don't doubt I shall beso till the end."

  From which it will be perceived that Miss Marjoribanks was of thenumerous class of religionists who keep up civilities with heaven, andpay all the proper attentions, and show their respect for the divinegovernment in a manner befitting persons who know the value of their ownapprobation. The conversation dropped at this point; for Lucilla was tooimportant a person to be left to the undivided possession of aninquisitive innocent like Fanny Middleton, who was only sixteen, and hadnever had even a flirtation in her own person. There were no Carlingfordgirls at Mount Pleasant, except poor little Rose Lake, thedrawing-master's second daughter, who had been received on DrMarjoribanks's recommendation, and who heard the little children theirgeography and reading, and gave them little lessons in drawing, by wayof paying for her own education; but then Rose was entirely out of MissMarjoribanks's way, and could never count for anything in her designsfor the future. The girls at Mount Pleasant were good girls on thewhole, and were rather improved by the influence of Lucilla, who wasextremely good-natured, and, so long as her superiority was dulyacknowledged, was ready to do anything for anybody--so that Rose Lakewas not at all badly off in her inferior position. She could be madeuseful too, which was a great point in her favour; and MissMarjoribanks, who possessed by nature some of the finest qualities of aruler, instinctively understood and appreciated the instruments thatcame to her hand. As for Rose, she had been brought up at the School ofDesign in Carlingford, of which, under the supervision of theauthorities who, in those days, inhabited Marlborough House, Mr Lake wasthe master. Rose was the pride of the school in the peaceable daysbefore her mother died; she did not know much else, poor child, exceptnovels, but her copies "from the round" filled her father withadmiration, and her design for a Honiton-lace flounce, a spiritedcomposition of dragons' tails and the striking plant called teazle,which flourishes in the neighbourhood of Carlingford (for Mr Lake hadleanings towards Preraphaelitism), was thought by the best judges toshow a wonderful amount of feeling for art, and just missed beingselected for the prize. A girl with such a talent was naturally muchappreciated in Mount Pleasant. She made the most charming design forMiss Marjoribanks's handkerchief--"Lucilla," in Gothic characters,enclosed in a wreath of forget-me-nots, skilfully combined withthistle-leaves, which Rose took great pains to explain were so muchbetter adapted to ornamentation than foliage of a less distinctcharacter; and the young draftswoman was so charmed by Lucilla'senthusiastic admiration, that she volunteered to work the design in thecambric, which was a much more serious matter. This was on the eve ofMiss Marjoribanks's final departure from school. She was to spend a yearabroad, to the envy of all whom she left behind; but for herself Lucillawas not elated. She thought it very probable that she would ascend MontBlanc as far as the Grands Mulets at least, and, of course, in spring,go up Vesuvius, having got through the Carnival and Miserere and all theballs in Rome; but none of these things moved her out of her usualcomposure. She took it all in the way of business, as she had taken herFrench and her German and her singing and her political economy. As shestepped into the steamboat at Dover which was to convey her to scenes sonew, Lucilla felt more and more that she who held the reorganisation ofsociety in Carlingford in her hands was a woman with a mission. She wasgoing abroad as the heir-apparent went to America and the Holy Land, tocomplete her education, and fit herself, by an examination of thepeculiarities of other nations, for an illustrious and glorious reign athome.