CHAPTER VII.
This settlement of Mrs. Cadurcis and her son in the neighbourhoodwas an event of no slight importance in the life of the family atCherbury. Venetia at length found a companion of her own age, itselfan incident which, in its influence upon her character and pursuits,was not to be disregarded. There grew up between the little lord andthe daughter of Lady Annabel that fond intimacy which not rarelyoccurs in childhood. Plantagenet and Venetia quickly imbibed for eachother a singular affection, not displeasing to Lady Annabel, whoobserved, without dissatisfaction, the increased happiness of herchild, and encouraged by her kindness the frequent visits of the boy,who soon learnt the shortest road from the abbey, and almost dailyscaled the hill, and traced his way through the woods to the hall.There was much, indeed, in the character and the situation of LordCadurcis which interested Lady Annabel Herbert. His mild, engaging,and affectionate manners, when he was removed from the injudiciousinfluence of his mother, won upon her feelings; she felt for thislone child, whom nature had gifted with so soft a heart and with athoughtful mind whose outbreaks not unfrequently attracted her notice;with none to guide him, and with only one heart to look up to forfondness; and that, too, one that had already contrived to forfeit therespect even of so young a child.
Yet Lady Annabel was too sensible of the paramount claims of amother; herself, indeed, too jealous of any encroachment on the fullprivileges of maternal love, to sanction in the slightest degree, byher behaviour, any neglect of Mrs. Cadurcis by her son. For his sake,therefore, she courted the society of her new neighbour; and althoughMrs. Cadurcis offered little to engage Lady Annabel's attention asa companion, though she was violent in her temper, far from wellinformed, and, from the society in which, in spite of her originalgood birth, her later years had passed, very far from beingrefined, she was not without her good qualities. She was generous,kind-hearted, and grateful; not insensible of her own deficiencies,and respectable from her misfortunes. Lady Annabel was one of thosewho always judged individuals rather by their good qualities thantheir bad. With the exception of her violent temper, which, under thecontrol of Lady Annabel's presence, and by the aid of all that kindperson's skilful management, Mrs. Cadurcis generally contrived tobridle, her principal faults were those of manner, which, from theforce of habit, every day became less painful. Mrs. Cadurcis, who,indeed, was only a child of a larger growth, became scarcely lessattached to the Herbert family than her son; she felt that her life,under their influence, was happier and serener than of yore; thatthere were less domestic broils than in old days; that her son wasmore dutiful; and, as she could not help suspecting, though she foundit difficult to analyse the cause, herself more amiable. The truthwas, Lady Annabel always treated Mrs. Cadurcis with studied respect;and the children, and especially Venetia, followed her example.Mrs. Cadurcis' self-complacency was not only less shocked, but moregratified, than before; and this was the secret of her happiness. Forno one was more mortified by her rages, when they were past, than Mrs.Cadurcis herself; she felt they compromised her dignity, and had losther all moral command over a child whom she loved at the bottom of herheart with a kind of wild passion, though she would menace and strikehim, and who often precipitated these paroxysms by denying his motherthat duty and affection which were, after all, the great charm andpride of her existence.
As Mrs. Cadurcis was unable to walk to Cherbury, and as Plantagenetsoon fell into the habit of passing every morning at the hall, LadyAnnabel was frequent in her visits to the mother, and soon shepersuaded Mrs. Cadurcis to order the old postchaise regularly onSaturday, and remain at Cherbury until the following Monday; by thesemeans both families united together in the chapel at divine service,while the presence of Dr. Masham, at their now increased Sundaydinner, was an incident in the monotonous life of Mrs. Cadurcis farfrom displeasing to her. The Doctor gave her a little news of theneighbourhood, and of the country in general; amused her with anoccasional anecdote of the Queen and the young Princesses, and alwayslent her the last number of 'Sylvanus Urban.'
This weekly visit to Cherbury, the great personal attention which shealways received there, and the frequent morning walks of Lady Annabelto the abbey, effectually repressed on the whole the jealousy whichwas a characteristic of Mrs. Cadurcis' nature, and which the constantabsence of her son from her in the mornings might otherwise havefatally developed. But Mrs. Cadurcis could not resist the convictionthat the Herberts were as much her friends as her child's; herjealousy was balanced by her gratitude; she was daily, almost hourly,sensible of some kindness of Lady Annabel, for there were a thousandservices in the power of the opulent and ample establishment ofCherbury to afford the limited and desolate household at the abbey.Living in seclusion, it is difficult to refrain from imbibing even astrong regard for our almost solitary companion, however incompatiblemay be our pursuits, and however our tastes may vary, especially whenthat companion is grateful, and duly sensible of the condescension ofour intimacy. And so it happened that, before a year had elapsed, thatvery Mrs. Cadurcis, whose first introduction at Cherbury had been sounfavourable to her, and from whose temper and manners the elegantdemeanour and the disciplined mind of Lady Annabel Herbert might havebeen excused for a moment recoiling, had succeeded in establishing astrong hold upon the affections of her refined neighbour, who sought,on every occasion, her society, and omitted few opportunities ofcontributing to her comfort and welfare.
In the meantime her son was the companion of Venetia, both in herpastimes and studies. The education of Lord Cadurcis had received nofurther assistance than was afforded by the little grammar-school atMorpeth, where he had passed three or four years as a day-scholar, andwhere his mother had invariably taken his part on every occasion thathe had incurred the displeasure of his master. There he had obtainedsome imperfect knowledge of Latin; yet the boy was fond of reading,and had picked up, in an odd way, more knowledge than might have beensupposed. He had read 'Baker's Chronicle,' and 'The Old UniversalHistory,' and 'Plutarch;' and had turned over, in the book room of anold gentleman at Morpeth, who had been attracted by his intelligence,not a few curious old folios, from which he had gleaned nocontemptible store of curious instances of human nature. His guardian,whom he had never seen, and who was a great nobleman and lived inLondon, had signified to Mrs. Cadurcis his intention of sending hisward to Eton; but that time had not yet arrived, and Mrs. Cadurcis,who dreaded parting with her son, determined to postpone it by everymaternal artifice in her power. At present it would have seemed thather son's intellect was to be left utterly uncultivated, for therewas no school in the neighbourhood which he could attend, and nooccasional assistance which could be obtained; and to the constantpresence of a tutor in the house Mrs. Cadurcis was not less opposedthan his lordship could have been himself.
It was by degrees that Lord Cadurcis became the partner of Venetiain her studies. Lady Annabel had consulted Dr. Masham about the poorlittle boy, whose neglected state she deplored; and the good Doctorhad offered to ride over to Cherbury at least once a week, besidesSunday, provided Lady Annabel would undertake that his directions,in his absence, should be attended to. This her ladyship promisedcheerfully; nor had she any difficulty in persuading Cadurcis toconsent to the arrangement. He listened with docility and patience toher representation of the fatal effects, in his after-life, of hisneglected education; of the generous and advantageous offer of Dr.Masham; and how cheerfully she would exert herself to assist hisendeavours, if Plantagenet would willingly submit to her supervision.The little lord expressed to her his determination to do all that shedesired, and voluntarily promised her that she should never repenther goodness. And he kept his word. So every morning, with the fullconcurrence of Mrs. Cadurcis, whose advice and opinion on the affairwere most formally solicited by Lady Annabel, Plantagenet arrivedearly at the hall, and took his writing and French lessons withVenetia, and then they alternately read aloud to Lady Annabel from thehistories of Hooke and Echard. When Venetia repaired to her drawing,Cadurcis sat down to his Latin exercise, and, in en
couraging andassisting him, Lady Annabel, a proficient in Italian, began herselfto learn the ancient language of the Romans. With such a charmingmistress even these Latin exercises were achieved. In vain Cadurcis,after turning leaf over leaf, would look round with a piteous air tohis fair assistant, 'O Lady Annabel, I am sure the word is not in thedictionary;' Lady Annabel was in a moment at his side, and, by somemagic of her fair fingers, the word would somehow or other make itsappearance. After a little exposure of this kind, Plantagenet wouldlabour with double energy, until, heaving a deep sigh of exhaustionand vexation, he would burst forth, 'O Lady Annabel, indeed there isnot a nominative case in this sentence.' And then Lady Annabelwould quit her easel, with her pencil in her hand, and give all herintellect to the puzzling construction; at length, she would say,'I think, Plantagenet, this must be our nominative case;' and so italways was.
Thus, when Wednesday came, the longest and most laborious morning ofall Lord Cadurcis' studies, and when he neither wrote, nor read, norlearnt French with Venetia, but gave up all his soul to Dr. Masham, heusually acquitted himself to that good person's satisfaction, who lefthim, in general, with commendations that were not lost on the pupil,and plenty of fresh exercises to occupy him and Lady Annabel until thenext week. When a year had thus passed away, the happiest year yetin Lord Cadurcis' life, in spite of all his disadvantages, he hadcontrived to make no inconsiderable progress. Almost deprived of atutor, he had advanced in classical acquirement more than during thewhole of his preceding years of scholarship, while his handwritingbegan to become intelligible, he could read French with comparativefacility, and had turned over many a volume in the well-stored libraryat Cherbury.
Venetia Page 7