The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. I (of II)

by Charles James Lever

  CHAPTER XXVIII. HOW MR. SCANLAN GIVES SCOPE TO A GENEROUS IMPULSE

  It is a remark of Wieland's, that although the life of man is measuredby the term of fourscore years and ten, yet that his ideal existenceor, as he calls it, his "unacted life," meaning thereby his period ofdreamy, projective, and forecasting existence, would occupy a farwider space. And he goes on to say that it is in this same imaginativelongevity men differ the most from each other, the poet standing to theungifted peasant in the ratio of centuries to years.

  Mr. Maurice Scanlan would not appear a favorable subject by which totest this theory. If not endowed with any of the higher and greaterqualities of intellect, he was equally removed from any deficiency onthat score. The world called him "a clever fellow," and the world israrely in fault in such judgments. Where there is a question of thecreative faculties, where it is the divine essence itself is the matterof decision, the world will occasionally be betrayed into mistakes, asfashion and a passing enthusiasm may mislead it; but where it isthe practical and the real, the exercise of gifts by which men makethemselves rich and powerful, then the world makes no blunders. Sheknows them as a mother knows her children. They are indeed the "World'sown."

  We have come to these speculations by contemplating Mr. Scanlan as hesat with Mary Martin's open letter before him. The note was couched inpolite terms, requesting Mr. Scanlan to favor the writer with a visitat his earliest convenience, if possible early on the following morning.Had it been a document of suspected authenticity, a forged acceptance,an interpolated article in a deed, a newly discovered codicil to a will,he could not have canvassed every syllable, scrutinized every letter,with more searching zeal. It was hurriedly written; there was,therefore, some emergency. It began, "Dear sir," a style she had neveremployed before; the letter "D" was blotted, and seemed to have beenoriginally destined for an "M," as though she had commenced "Miss Martinrequests," etc., and then suddenly adopted the more familiar address.The tone of command by which he was habitually summoned to Cro' Martinwas assuredly not there, and Maurice was not the man to undervalue thesmallest particle of evidence.

  "She has need of me," cried he to himself; "she sees everything in astate of subversion and chaos around her, and looks to me as the man torestore order. The people are entreating her to stay law proceedings, togive them time, to employ them; the poorest are all importuning her withstories of their sufferings. She is powerless, and, what's worse, shedoes not know what it is to be powerless to help them. She'll struggleand fret and scheme, and plan fifty things, and when she has failed inthem all, fall back upon Maurice Scanlan for advice and counsel."

  It was a grave question with Scanlan how far he would suffer herpersecutions to proceed before he would come to her aid. "If I bring mysuccor too early, she may never believe the emergency was critical; if Idelay it too long, she may abandon the field in despair, and set off tojoin her uncle." These were the two propositions which he placed beforehimself for consideration. It was a case for very delicate management,great skill, and great patience, but it was well worth all the cost."If I succeed," said he to himself, "I'm a made man. Mary Martin Mrs.Scanlan, I 'm the agent for the whole estate, with Cro' Martin to livein, and all the property at my discretion. If I fail,--that is, if Ifail without blundering,--I 'm just where I was. Well," thought he, ashe drove into the demesne, "I never thought I'd have such a chance asthis. All gone, and she alone here by herself: none to advise, not oneeven to keep her company! I'd have given a thousand pounds down just forthis opportunity, without counting all the advantages I have in mypower from my present position, for I can do what I like with theestate,--give leases or break them. It will be four months at leastbefore old Repton comes down here, and in that time I'll have finishedwhatever I want to do. And now to begin the game." And with this heturned into the stable-yard, and descended from his gig. Many menwould have been struck by the changed aspect of the place,--silence anddesolation where before there were movement and bustle; but Scanlanonly read in the altered appearances around the encouragement of his ownambitious hopes. The easy swagger in which the attorney indulged whilemoving about the stable-yard declined into a more becoming gait as hetraversed the long corridors, and finally became actually respectful ashe drew nigh the library, where he was informed Miss Martin awaitedhim, so powerful was the influence of old habit over the more vulgarinstincts of his nature. He had intended to be very familiar and at hisease, and ere he turned the handle of the door his courage failed him.

  "This is very kind of you, Mr. Scanlan," said she, advancing a few stepstowards him as he entered. "You must have started early from home."

  "At five, miss," said he, bowing deferentially.

  "And of course you have not breakfasted?"

  "Indeed, then, I only took a cup of coffee. I was anxious to be early. Ithought from your note that there might be something urgent."

  Mary half smiled at the mingled air of bashfulness and gallantry inwhich he uttered these broken sentences; for without knowing it himself,while he began in some confusion, he attained a kind of confidence as hewent on.

  "Nor have I breakfasted, either," said she; "and I beg, therefore, youwill join me."

  Scanlan's face actually glowed with pleasure.

  "I have many things to consult you upon with regard to the estate, and Iam fully aware that there is nobody more competent to advise me."

  "Nor more ready and willing, miss," said Maurice, bowing.

  "I 'm perfectly certain of that, Mr. Scanlan. The confidence my unclehas always reposed in you assures me on that head."

  "Was n't I right about the borough, Miss Mary?" broke he in. "I told youhow it would be, and that if you did n't make some sort of a compromisewith the Liberal party--"

  "Let me interrupt you, Mr. Scanlan, and once for all assure you thatthere is not one subject of all those which pertain to this county andits people which has so little interest for me as the local squabblesof party; and I 'm sure no success on either side is worth the brokenfriendships and estranged affections it leaves behind it."

  "A beautiful sentiment, to which I respond with all my heart," rejoinedScanlan, with an energy that made her blush deeply.

  "I only meant to say, sir," added she, hastily, "that the borough andits politics need never be discussed between us."

  "Just so, miss. We'll call on the next case," said Scanlan.

  "My uncle's sudden departure, and a slight indisposition under which Ihave labored for a week or so, have thrown me so far in arrear of allknowledge of what has been done here, that I must first of all ask you,not how the estate is to be managed in future, but does it any longerbelong to us?"

  "What, miss?" cried Scanlan, in amazement.

  "I mean, sir, is it my uncle's determination to lease outeverything,--even to the demesne around the Castle; to sell the timberand dispose of the royalties? If so, a mere residence here could haveno object for _me_. It seems strange, Mr. Scanlan, that I should haveto ask such a question. I own to you,--it is not without some sense ofhumiliation that I do so,--I believed, I fancied I had understood myuncle's intentions. Some of them he had even committed to writing, atmy request; you shall see them yourself. The excitement and confusion ofhis departure,--the anxieties of leave-taking,--one thing or another,in short, gave me little time to seek his counsel as to many points Iwished to know; and, in fact, I found myself suddenly alone before I wasquite prepared for it, and then I fell ill,--a mere passing attack, butenough to unfit me for occupation."

  "Breakfast is served, miss," said a maid-servant, at this conjuncture,opening a door into a small room, where the table was spread.

  "I'm quite ready, and so I hope is Mr. Scanlan," said Mary, leading theway.

  No sooner seated at table than she proceeded to do the honors with anease that plainly told that all the subject of her late discourse was tobe left for the present in abeyance. In fact, the very tone of her voicewas changed, as she chatted away carelessly about the borough people andtheir doings, what strangers had late
ly passed through the town, and theprospects of the coming season at Kilkieran.

  No theme could more readily have put Mr. Scanlan at his ease. He felt,or fancied he felt, himself at that degree of social elevation abovethe Oughterard people, which enabled him to talk with a species ofcompassionate jocularity of their little dinners and evening parties.He criticised toilet and manners and cookery, therefore, with muchself-complacency,--far more than had he suspected that Mary Martin'samusement was more derived from the pretension of the speaker than thematter which he discussed.

  "That's what I think you'll find hardest of all, Miss Martin," said he,at the close of a florid description of the borough customs. "You canhave no society here."

  "And yet I mean to try," said she, smiling; "at least, I have goneso far as to ask Mrs. Nelligan to come and dine with me on Monday orTuesday next."

  "Mrs. Nelligan dine at Cro' Martin!" exclaimed he.

  "If she will be good enough to come so far for so little!"

  "She 'd go fifty miles on the same errand; and if I know old Danhimself, he 'll be a prouder man that day than when his son gained thegold medal."

  "Then I'm sure _I_, at least, am perfectly requited," said Mary.

  "But are you certain, Miss, that such people will suit you?" saidScanlan, half timidly. "They live in a very different style, and haveother ways than yours. I say nothing against Mrs. Nelligan; indeed, shecomes of a very respectable family; but sure she hasn't a thought nor anidea in common with Miss Martin."

  "I suspect you are wrong there, Mr. Scanlan. My impression is, that Mrs.Nelligan and I will find many topics to agree upon, and that we shallunderstand each other perfectly; and if, as you suppose, there may becertain things new and strange to me in _her_ modes of thinking, I 'mequally sure she 'll have to conquer many prejudices with regard to_me_.

  "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, miss!" was the sententious reply ofScanlan.

  "Then there's our vicar!" broke in Mary. "Mr. Leslie will, I hope, takepity on my solitude."

  "Indeed, I forgot him entirely. I don't think I ever saw him at Cro'Martin."

  "Nor I, either," said Mary; "but he may concede from a sense of kindnesswhat he would decline to a mere point of etiquette. In a word, Mr.Scanlan," said she, after a pause, "all the troubles and misfortuneswhich we have lately gone through--even to the destitution of the oldhouse here--have in a great measure had their origin in the studiousignorance in which we have lived of our neighbors. I don't wish toenter upon political topics, but I am sure that had we known theborough people, and they us,--had we been in the habit of mingling andassociating together, however little,--had we interchanged the littlecivilities that are the charities of social life,--we 'd have paused,either of us, ere we gave pain to the other; we'd at least have madeconcessions on each side, and so softened down the asperities of party.More than half the enmities of the world are mere misconceptions."

  "That's true!" said Scanlan, gravely. But his thoughts had gone ona very different errand from the theme in question, and were busilyinquiring what effect all these changes might have upon his ownprospects.

  "And now for a matter of business," said Mary, rising and taking herplace at another table. "I shall want your assistance, Mr. Scanlan.There is a small sum settled upon me, but not payable during my uncle'slife. I wish to raise a certain amount of this, by way of loan,--say athousand pounds. Will this be easily accomplished?"

  "What's the amount of the settlement, miss?" said Scanlan, with moreeagerness than was quite disinterested.

  "Five thousand pounds. There is the deed." And she pushed a parchmenttowards him.

  Scanlan ran his practised eye rapidly over the document, and with thequick craft of his calling saw it was all correct. "One or even twothousand can be had upon this at once, miss. It 's charged upon Kelly'sfarm and the mills--"

  "All I want to know is, that I can have this sum at my disposal, andvery soon; at once, indeed."

  "Will next week suit you?"

  "Perfectly. And now to another point. These are the few memoranda myuncle left with me as to his wishes respecting the management of theestate. You will see that, although he desires a considerable diminutionof the sum to be spent in wages, and a strict economy in all outlay,that he still never contemplated throwing the people out of employment.The quarries were to be worked as before,--the planting was to becontinued,--the gardens and ornamental grounds, indeed, were to beconducted with less expense; but the harbor at Kilkieran and the newschool-house at Ternagh were to be completed; and if money could bespared for it, he gave me leave to build a little hospital at thecross-roads, allowing forty pounds additional salary to Dr. Clovesfor his attendance. These are the chief points; but you shall have thepapers to read over at your leisure. We talked over many other matters;indeed, we chatted away till long after two o'clock the last night hewas here, and I thought I understood perfectly all he wished. Almost hislast words to me at parting were, 'As little change as possible, Molly.Let the poor people believe that I am still, where my heart is, underthe roof of Cro' Martin!'"

  The recollection of the moment brought the tears to her eyes, and sheturned her head away in silence.

  "Now," said she, rallying, and speaking with renewed energy, "if whatHenderson says be correct, something later must have been issued thanall this; some directions which I have never seen,--not so much as heardof. He tells me of works to be stopped, people discharged, schoolhousesclosed, tenants ejected; in fact, a whole catalogue of such changes as Inever could have courage to see, much less carry through. I know my dearuncle well; he never would have imposed such a task upon me, nor have Ithe resources within me for such an undertaking."

  "And have you received no letter from Mr. Martin, from Dublin?" askedScanlan.

  "None,--not a line; a note from my aunt--indeed, not from my aunt, butby her orders, written by Kate Henderson--has reached me, in which,however, there is no allusion to the property or the place."

  "And yet her Ladyship said that Mr. Martin would write to you himself,in the course of the week, fully and explicitly."

  "To whom was this said, sir?"

  "To myself, miss; there is the letter." And Scanlan drew from hispocket-book a very voluminous epistle, in Kate Henderson's hand. "Thiscontains the whole of her Ladyship's instructions. How all the works areto be stopped,--roads, woods, and quarries; the townlands of Carrigaloneand Killybogue to be distrained; Kyle-a-Noe the same. If a tenant can begot for the demesne, it is to be let, with the shooting over the sevenmountains, and the coast-fishing too. There's to be no more charges forschools, hospital, or dispensary after next November; everything is tobe on the new plan, what they call 'Self-supporting.' I 'd like to knowwhat that means. In fact, miss, by the time one half the orders givenin that same letter is carried out, there won't be such another scene ofmisery and confusion in all Ireland as the estate of Cro' Martin."

  "And this is sanctioned by my uncle?"

  "I suppose we must conclude it is, for he says nothing to the contrary;and Mr. Repton writes me what he calls 'my instructions,' in a way thatshows his own feeling of indignation about the whole business."

  Mary was silent; there was not a sentiment which could give pain thathad not then its place in her heart. Commiseration, deep pity forthe sorrows she was to witness unavailingly, wounded pride, insultedself-esteem,--all were there! And she turned away to hide the emotionswhich overcame her. For a moment the sense of self had the mastery, andshe thought but of how she was to endure all this humiliation. "AmI," said she to her own heart,--"am I to be insulted by the rivalry ofScotch stewards and gardeners, to be thrust from my place of power bysome low-born creature, not even of the soil, but an alien?--to livehere bereft of influence, representing nothing save the decay of ourfortunes?" The torrent of her passion ran full and deep, and herbosom heaved in the agony of the moment. And then as suddenly came thereaction. "How small a share is mine in all this suffering, andhow miserably selfish are even my sorrows! It is of others I shouldthink!--of thos
e who must leave hearth and home to seek out a newresting-place,--of the poor, who are to be friendless,--of thesuffering, to whom no comfort is to come,--of the old, who are to diein distant lands,--and the young, whose hearts are never to warm to theaffections of a native country!"

  While affecting to arrange the papers in his pocket-book, Scanlanwatched every passing shade of emotion in her face. Nor was it a studyin which he was ignorant; the habits of his calling had made him a verysubtle observer. Many a time had he framed his question to a witnessby some passing expression of the features. More than once had hepenetrated the heart through the eye! The elevation of sentiment hadgiven its own character to her handsome face; and as she stood proudlyerect, with arms folded on her breast, there was in her look andattitude all the calm dignity of an antique statue.

  Scanlan interpreted truthfully what passed within her, and rightlyjudged that no small sentiment of condolence or sympathy would beappropriate to the occasion. Nor was he altogether unprovided forthe emergency. He had seen a king's counsel warm up a jury to theboiling-point, and heard him pour forth, with all the seeming vehemenceof an honest conviction, the wildest rhapsodies about desecrated hearthsand blackened roof-trees,--talk of the spoiler and the seducer,--andeven shed a tear "over the widow and the orphan!"

  "What say you to all this, sir?" cried she. "Have you any counsel togive me,--any advice?"

  "It is just what I have not, miss," said he, despondingly; "and, indeed,it was uppermost in my heart this morning when I was writing my letter.What 's all I 'm suffering compared to what Miss Martin must feel?"

  "What letter do you allude to?" asked she, suddenly.

  "A letter I wrote to Mr. Repton, miss," said he, with a deep sigh. "Itold him plainly my mind about everything; and I said, 'If it 's forexterminating you are,--if you 're going to turn out families thatwere on the land for centuries, and drive away over the seas, God knowswhere, the poor people that thought the name of Martin a shield againstall the hardships of life, all I have to say is, you must look elsewherefor help, since it is not Maurice Scanlan will aid you.'"

  "You said all this, sir?" broke she in, eagerly.

  "I did, miss. I told him I 'd hold the under-agency till he named someone to succeed me; but that I 'd not put my hand to one act or deed todistress the tenants. It 's giving up," said I, "the best part ofmy means of support; it's surrendering what I reckoned on to make meindependent. But a good conscience is better than money, miss; and if Imust seek out a new country, I 'll go at least without the weight of acruel wrong over me; and if I see one of our poor Western people beyondseas, I 'll not be ashamed to meet him!"

  "Oh, that was noble,--that was truly noble conduct!" cried she, graspinghis hand in both her own. "How I thank you from my very heart for thismagnanimity!"

  "If I ever suspected you 'd have said the half of this, Miss Mary, thesacrifice would have been a cheap one, indeed. But, in truth, I nevermeant to tell it. I intended to have kept my own secret; for I knew ifany one only imagined why it was I threw up the agency, matters wouldonly be worse on the estate."

  "Yes, you are right," said she, thoughtfully. "This was mostconsiderate. Such a censure would augment every difficulty."

  "I felt that, miss. What I said to myself was, 'My successor willneither know the place nor the people; he 'll be cruel where he oughtto have mercy, and spare those that he ought to keep to their duty.'It isn't in a day nor a week that a man learns the habits of a largetenantry, nor was it without labor and pains that I acquired my presentinfluence amongst them."

  "Quite true," said she; but more as though following out her ownreflections than hearing his.

  "They 'll have _you_, however," said Scanlan,--"you, that are better tothem than all the agents that ever breathed; and the very sight of youriding down amongst them will cheer their hearts in the darkest momentsof life. I turned back the whole townland of Terry Valley. Theywere packing up to be off to America; but I told them, 'she 's notgoing,--she 'll stay here, and never desert you.'"

  "Nor will _you_ either, sir," cried Mary. "You will not desert them, nordesert _me_. Recall your letter!"

  "It's not gone off to the post yet. I was waiting to see you--"

  "Better still. Oh, Mr. Scanlan, bethink you how much yet may be done forthese poor people, if we will but forget ourselves and what we think weowe to self-esteem. If _you_ will have sacrifices to make, believe me,_I_ shall not escape them also. It is nobler, too, and finer toremain here bereft of influence, stripped of all power, to share theirsufferings and take part in their afflictions. Neither you nor I shallbe to them what we have been; but still, let us not abandon them. Tellme this,--say that you will stay to counsel and advise me, to guide mewhere I need guidance, and give me all the benefit of your experienceand your knowledge. Let it be a compact between us then; neither shallgo while the other remains!"

  It was with difficulty Scanlan could restrain his delight at thesewords. How flattering to his present vanity,--how suggestive were theyof the future! With all the solemnity of a vow he bound himself to stay;and Mary thanked him with the fervor of true gratitude.

  If there be few emotions so pleasurable as to be the object ofacknowledged gratitude for real services, it may well be doubted whetherthe consciousness of not having merited this reward does not seriouslydetract from this enjoyment. There are men, however, so constituted thata successful scheme--no matter how unscrupulously achieved--is alwaysa triumph, and who cherish their self-love even in degradation! MauriceScanlan is before our reader, and whether he was one of this number itis not for us to say; enough if we record that when he cantered homewardon that day he sang many a snatch of a stray ballad, and none of themwere sad ones.