There Must Be Murder
Page 10
“So ambition makes fools of us all,” said his lordship. “Eleanor, love, is that tea hot? I could use a cup.”
***
The fire in their bedroom was past its first and highest blaze, and Henry and Catherine burrowed into their thick quilts, embraced by the circle of light thrown off by Henry’s candle as he read aloud the last chapter of The Mysteries of Udolpho.
O! how joyful it is to tell of happiness, such as that of Valancourt and Emily; to relate, that, after suffering under the oppression of the vicious and the disdain of the weak, they were, at length, restored to each other — to the beloved landscapes of their native country, — to the securest felicity of this life, that of aspiring to moral and labouring for intellectual improvement — to the pleasures of enlightened society, and to the exercise of the benevolence, which had always animated their hearts; while the bowers of La Vallee became, once more, the retreat of goodness, wisdom and domestic blessedness!
O! useful may it be to have shewn, that, though the vicious can sometimes pour affliction upon the good, their power is transient and their punishment certain; and that innocence, though oppressed by injustice, shall, supported by patience, finally triumph over misfortune!
Catherine made an impatient noise and thrashed a bit under her quilt.
Henry looked down at her in surprise. “You disagree with Mrs. Radcliffe, my sweet?”
“I once believed that innocence could triumph over misfortune, but now I am not so sure.”
Henry closed the book and set it aside. “Somehow, I do not think you are speaking of Udolpho.”
“No.” He waited, and she said, “Well, look at Miss Beauclerk! She has injured your brother, and poor Mr. Shaw, and now she gets what she always wanted: to be Lady Beauclerk, when she should be forced to — ”
“ — take the veil, like Laurentini?”
“Well, yes! Or something like that! It does not seem fair!”
“Consider, my sweet: to achieve her ambition, Miss Beauclerk accepted a husband who is unlikely to make her very happy. Some would say that her success will be her own punishment.”
Catherine subsided and rested her head upon his shoulder, suddenly wearied by it all. “I suppose.”
He kissed her forehead. “I fear the friends you have made in Bath have given your faith in your fellow man a severe trial. Shall we give up the lodgings, and go back to Woodston early?”
She considered his suggestion for a moment. “No, I would like to stay another week or two, if we can; the Beauclerks will be gone, and perhaps we will make new acquaintances. Although I cannot think of any friends I should like better than you, and Eleanor and John.”
“Then I must make plans for your further entertainment. We shall go to the bookseller’s tomorrow and choose something else to read together. Another by Mrs. Radcliffe? Perhaps The Italian, or The Romance of the Forest?”
“Perhaps The Midnight Bell? I like the sound of that one.”
“The Midnight Bell it is, then. And we have not been out once yet in the curricle; Matthew tells me the horses are getting fat and need exercise. One fine morning this week I will drive you out to Bristol and you shall finally see Blaise Castle.”
Henry’s words, meant to cheer Catherine, instead distressed her. “I once thought it a real castle! I was such a foolish creature. How could you ever fall in love with me?”
He looked down at her with a warm smile, his eyes all affection. “How could I not love you, Catherine? How could any man of sense not see all your good qualities? You were not foolish, just innocent of the world; and as Mrs. Radcliffe has taught us, innocence — “ he reached out and extinguished the candle — “must always triumph.”
It was not very long before Catherine found herself agreeing with that sentiment; for when he was inspired, Henry could be very convincing indeed.
FINIS.
Acknowledgments
The authoress wishes to thank Cassandra Chouinard for her illustrations, which are not only beautiful but capture the fun of the story so well; Laura Boyle for pitching the idea and featuring the story so prominently on the Jane Austen Centre at Bath online magazine; Christina Hamilton for her expert copy editing; Laura McDonald for her patience and much-needed prodding, not to mention introducing me to so many wonderful books at Girlebooks; my Janeite Posse for posseing, in particular Team Tilney and the gang at Molland's who provided such great feedback and comments during the online serial publication of this Very Nice Story; my family, as always, for their encouragement of my writing and for embracing my Janeite freakiness, although they don't always understand it; and of course the incomparable Jane Austen for giving us these wonderful characters that continue to inspire me.
About the Author
Margaret C. Sullivan is the Editrix of AustenBlog.com, a compendium of news and commentary about Jane Austen's work in popular culture. She also created the website Molland's (www.mollands.net), a resource for Jane Austen fans. She is the author of The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World (Quirk Books, 2007) and contributed to the anthology Jane Austen Made Me Do It, edited by Laurel Ann Nattress (Random House, 2011). Margaret is a life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America.
About the Illustrator
At the age of 24, Cassandra finally changed her last name but is still entrapped in her famous sister's orbit, as you can see. (We shall get nothing more serious from her now...she is not in a sober mood.) A doodler since childhood, Cassandra Chouinard abandoned her painting studies to complete a master's degree in harpsichord performance at McGill University. Meanwhile, various stints as a street portraitist, student newspaper cartoonist, and vanity press illustrator attuned her eye to various details such as line, contour, and the all-too-quick approach of a deadline.
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