by Robert Reed
fate . Under such circumstances, she positively declined any com-
munication with them .”
Such were the strange and incredible events, that finally brought
about my union with the sister of my best friend, with my adored
Idris . With simplicity and courage she set aside the prejudices and
opposition which were obstacles to my happiness, nor scrupled to
give her hand, where she had given her heart . To be worthy of her, to
raise myself to her height through the exertion of talents and virtue,
to repay her love with devoted, unwearied tenderness, were the only
thanks I could offer for the matchless gift .
CHAPTER VI.
AND now let the reader, passing over some short period of time,
be introduced to our happy circle . Adrian, Idris and I, were estab-
lished in Windsor Castle; Lord Raymond and my sister, inhabited a
house which the former had built on the borders of the Great Park,
near Perdita’s cottage, as was still named the low-roofed abode,
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 901
where we two, poor even in hope, had each received the assurance
of our felicity . We had our separate occupations and our common
amusements . Sometimes we passed whole days under the leafy co-
vert of the forest with our books and music . This occurred during
those rare days in this country, when the sun mounts his etherial
throne in unclouded majesty, and the windless atmosphere is as a
bath of pellucid and grateful water, wrapping the senses in tranquil-
lity . When the clouds veiled the sky, and the wind scattered them
there and here, rending their woof, and strewing its fragments
through the aerial plains—then we rode out, and sought new spots
of beauty and repose . When the frequent rains shut us within doors,
evening recreation followed morning study, ushered in by music and
song . Idris had a natural musical talent; and her voice, which had
been carefully cultivated, was full and sweet . Raymond and I made
a part of the concert, and Adrian and Perdita were devout listeners .
Then we were as gay as summer insects, playful as children; we
ever met one another with smiles, and read content and joy in each
other’s countenances . Our prime festivals were held in Perdita’s cot-
tage; nor were we ever weary of talking of the past or dreaming of
the future . Jealousy and disquiet were unknown among us; nor did a
fear or hope of change ever disturb our tranquillity . Others said, We
might be happy—we said—We are .
When any separation took place between us, it generally so hap-
pened, that Idris and Perdita would ramble away together, and we
remained to discuss the affairs of nations, and the philosophy of life .
The very difference of our dispositions gave zest to these conver-
sations . Adrian had the superiority in learning and eloquence; but
Raymond possessed a quick penetration, and a practical knowledge
of life, which usually displayed itself in opposition to Adrian, and
thus kept up the ball of discussion . At other times we made excur-
sions of many days’ duration, and crossed the country to visit any
spot noted for beauty or historical association . Sometimes we went
up to London, and entered into the amusements of the busy throng;
sometimes our retreat was invaded by visitors from among them .
This change made us only the more sensible to the delights of the
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 902
intimate intercourse of our own circle, the tranquillity of our divine
forest, and our happy evenings in the halls of our beloved Castle .
The disposition of Idris was peculiarly frank, soft, and affection-
ate. Her temper was unalterably sweet; and although firm and reso-
lute on any point that touched her heart, she was yielding to those
she loved . The nature of Perdita was less perfect; but tenderness and
happiness improved her temper, and softened her natural reserve .
Her understanding was clear and comprehensive, her imagination
vivid; she was sincere, generous, and reasonable . Adrian, the match-
less brother of my soul, the sensitive and excellent Adrian, loving
all, and beloved by all, yet seemed destined not to find the half of
himself, which was to complete his happiness . He often left us, and
wandered by himself in the woods, or sailed in his little skiff, his
books his only companions . He was often the gayest of our party,
at the same time that he was the only one visited by fits of despon-
dency; his slender frame seemed overcharged with the weight of
life, and his soul appeared rather to inhabit his body than unite with
it . I was hardly more devoted to my Idris than to her brother, and she
loved him as her teacher, her friend, the benefactor who had secured
to her the fulfilment of her dearest wishes. Raymond, the ambitious,
restless Raymond, reposed midway on the great high-road of life,
and was content to give up all his schemes of sovereignty and fame,
to make one of us, the flowers of the field. His kingdom was the heart
of Perdita, his subjects her thoughts; by her he was loved, respected
as a superior being, obeyed, waited on. No office, no devotion, no
watching was irksome to her, as it regarded him . She would sit apart
from us and watch him; she would weep for joy to think that he was
hers . She erected a temple for him in the depth of her being, and
each faculty was a priestess vowed to his service . Sometimes she
might be wayward and capricious; but her repentance was bitter, her
return entire, and even this inequality of temper suited him who was
not formed by nature to float idly down the stream of life.
During the first year of their marriage, Perdita presented Raymond
with a lovely girl . It was curious to trace in this miniature model the
very traits of its father . The same half-disdainful lips and smile of
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 903
triumph, the same intelligent eyes, the same brow and chestnut hair;
her very hands and taper fingers resembled his. How very dear she
was to Perdita! In progress of time, I also became a father, and our
little darlings, our playthings and delights, called forth a thousand
new and delicious feelings .
Years passed thus,—even years . Each month brought forth its
successor, each year one like to that gone by; truly, our lives were
a living comment on that beautiful sentiment of Plutarch, that “our
souls have a natural inclination to love, being born as much to love,
as to feel, to reason, to understand and remember .” We talked of
change and active pursuits, but still remained at Windsor, incapable
of violating the charm that attached us to our secluded life .
Pareamo aver qui tutto il ben raccolto
Che fra mortali in piu parte si rimembra.
Now also that our children gave us occupation, we found excuses
for our idleness, in the idea of bringing them up to a more splendid
career . At length our tranquillity was disturbed, and the course of
events, which for five years had flowed on in hushing tranquillity,
was broken by breakers and obstacles, that woke us
from our pleas-
ant dream .
A new Lord Protector of England was to be chosen; and, at Ray-
mond’s request, we removed to London, to witness, and even take
a part in the election . If Raymond had been united to Idris, this post
had been his stepping-stone to higher dignity; and his desire for
power and fame had been crowned with fullest measure . He had
exchanged a sceptre for a lute, a kingdom for Perdita .
Did he think of this as we journeyed up to town? I watched him,
but could make but little of him . He was particularly gay, playing
with his child, and turning to sport every word that was uttered .
Perhaps he did this because he saw a cloud upon Perdita’s brow . She
tried to rouse herself, but her eyes every now and then filled with
tears, and she looked wistfully on Raymond and her girl, as if fearful
that some evil would betide them . And so she felt . A presentiment of
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 904
ill hung over her . She leaned from the window looking on the forest,
and the turrets of the Castle, and as these became hid by intervening
objects, she passionately exclaimed—“Scenes of happiness! scenes
sacred to devoted love, when shall I see you again! and when I see
ye, shall I be still the beloved and joyous Perdita, or shall I, heart-
broken and lost, wander among your groves, the ghost of what I
am!”
“Why, silly one,” cried Raymond, “what is your little head pon-
dering upon, that of a sudden you have become so sublimely dis-
mal? Cheer up, or I shall make you over to Idris, and call Adrian
into the carriage, who, I see by his gesture, sympathizes with my
good spirits .”
Adrian was on horseback; he rode up to the carriage, and his
gaiety, in addition to that of Raymond, dispelled my sister’s melan-
choly . We entered London in the evening, and went to our several
abodes near Hyde Park .
* * * *
The following morning Lord Raymond visited me early . “I come
to you,” he said, “only half assured that you will assist me in my
project, but resolved to go through with it, whether you concur with
me or not . Promise me secrecy however; for if you will not contrib-
ute to my success, at least you must not baffle me.”
“Well, I promise . And now—-”
“And now, my dear fellow, for what are we come to London? To
be present at the election of a Protector, and to give our yea or nay
for his shuffling Grace of——? or for that noisy Ryland? Do you
believe, Verney, that I brought you to town for that? No, we will
have a Protector of our own . We will set up a candidate, and ensure
his success . We will nominate Adrian, and do our best to bestow
on him the power to which he is entitled by his birth, and which he
merits through his virtues .
“Do not answer; I know all your objections, and will reply to
them in order . First, Whether he will or will not consent to become
a great man? Leave the task of persuasion on that point to me; I
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 905
do not ask you to assist me there . Secondly, Whether he ought to
exchange his employment of plucking blackberries, and nursing
wounded partridges in the forest, for the command of a nation? My
dear Lionel, we are married men, and find employment sufficient in
amusing our wives, and dancing our children . But Adrian is alone,
wifeless, childless, unoccupied . I have long observed him . He pines
for want of some interest in life . His heart, exhausted by his early
sufferings, reposes like a new-healed limb, and shrinks from all ex-
citement. But his understanding, his charity, his virtues, want a field
for exercise and display; and we will procure it for him . Besides, is
it not a shame, that the genius of Adrian should fade from the earth
like a flower in an untrod mountain-path, fruitless? Do you think
Nature composed his surpassing machine for no purpose? Believe
me, he was destined to be the author of infinite good to his native
England . Has she not bestowed on him every gift in prodigality?—
birth, wealth, talent, goodness? Does not every one love and admire
him? and does he not delight singly in such efforts as manifest his
love to all? Come, I see that you are already persuaded, and will
second me when I propose him tonight in parliament .”
“You have got up all your arguments in excellent order,” I replied;
“and, if Adrian consent, they are unanswerable . One only condition
I would make, —that you do nothing without his concurrence .”
“I believe you are in the right,” said Raymond; “although I had
thought at first to arrange the affair differently. Be it so. I will go in-
stantly to Adrian; and, if he inclines to consent, you will not destroy
my labour by persuading him to return, and turn squirrel again in
Windsor Forest . Idris, you will not act the traitor towards me?”
“Trust me,” replied she, “I will preserve a strict neutrality .”
“For my part,” said I, “I am too well convinced of the worth of
our friend, and the rich harvest of benefits that all England would
reap from his Protectorship, to deprive my countrymen of such a
blessing, if he consent to bestow it on them .”
In the evening Adrian visited us .—“Do you cabal also against
me,” said he, laughing; “and will you make common cause with
Raymond, in dragging a poor visionary from the clouds to surround
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 906
him with the fire-works and blasts of earthly grandeur, instead of
heavenly rays and airs? I thought you knew me better .”
“I do know you better,” I replied “than to think that you would
be happy in such a situation; but the good you would do to others
may be an inducement, since the time is probably arrived when you
can put your theories into practice, and you may bring about such
reformation and change, as will conduce to that perfect system of
government which you delight to portray .”
“You speak of an almost-forgotten dream,” said Adrian, his coun-
tenance slightly clouding as he spoke; “the visions of my boyhood
have long since faded in the light of reality; I know now that I am
not a man fitted to govern nations; sufficient for me, if I keep in
wholesome rule the little kingdom of my own mortality .
“But do not you see, Lionel, the drift of our noble friend; a drift,
perhaps, unknown to himself, but apparent to me . Lord Raymond
was never born to be a drone in the hive, and to find content in our
pastoral life. He thinks, that he ought to be satisfied; he imagines,
that his present situation precludes the possibility of aggrandise-
ment; he does not therefore, even in his own heart, plan change for
himself . But do you not see, that, under the idea of exalting me, he
is chalking out a new path for himself; a path of action from which
he has long wandered?
“Let us assist him . He, the noble, the warlike, the great in every
quality that can adorn the mind and person of man; he is fitted to
be the
Protector of England . If I—that is, if we propose him, he
will assuredly be elected, and will find, in the functions of that high
office, scope for the towering powers of his mind. Even Perdita
will rejoice. Perdita, in whom ambition was a covered fire until
she married Raymond, which event was for a time the fulfilment of
her hopes; Perdita will rejoice in the glory and advancement of her
lord—and, coyly and prettily, not be discontented with her share . In
the mean time, we, the wise of the land, will return to our Castle,
and, Cincinnatus-like, take to our usual labours, until our friend
shall require our presence and assistance here .”
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 907
The more Adrian reasoned upon this scheme, the more feasible it
appeared . His own determination never to enter into public life was
insurmountable, and the delicacy of his health was a sufficient argu-
ment against it . The next step was to induce Raymond to confess
his secret wishes for dignity and fame . He entered while we were
speaking . The way in which Adrian had received his project for set-
ting him up as a candidate for the Protectorship, and his replies, had
already awakened in his mind, the view of the subject which we
were now discussing . His countenance and manner betrayed irreso-
lution and anxiety; but the anxiety arose from a fear that we should
not prosecute, or not succeed in our idea; and his irresolution, from a
doubt whether we should risk a defeat . A few words from us decided
him, and hope and joy sparkled in his eyes; the idea of embarking
in a career, so congenial to his early habits and cherished wishes,
made him as before energetic and bold . We discussed his chances,
the merits of the other candidates, and the dispositions of the voters .
After all we miscalculated . Raymond had lost much of his popu-
larity, and was deserted by his peculiar partizans . Absence from the
busy stage had caused him to be forgotten by the people; his former
parliamentary supporters were principally composed of royalists,
who had been willing to make an idol of him when he appeared as
the heir of the Earldom of Windsor; but who were indifferent to him,
when he came forward with no other attributes and distinctions than
they conceived to be common to many among themselves . Still he
had many friends, admirers of his transcendent talents; his presence