Arthur Mervyn; Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793
Page 42
CHAPTER XLII.
My eyes sparkled with pleasure at this unexpected interview, and Iwillingly confessed my desire to communicate all the knowledge of hisbrother's destiny which I possessed. He told me, that, returning late toBaltimore, on the last evening, he found his sister in much agitationand distress, which, after a time, she explained to him. She likewiseput the packets I had left into his hands.
"I leave you to imagine," continued he, "my surprise and curiosity atthis discovery. I was, of course, impatient to see the bearer of suchextraordinary tidings. This morning, inquiring for one of yourappearance at the taverns, I was, at length, informed of your arrivalyesterday in the stage; of your going out alone in the evening; of yoursubsequent return; and of your early departure this morning.Accidentally I lighted on your footsteps; and, by suitable inquiries onthe road, have finally traced you hither.
"You told my sister her husband was dead. You left with her papers thatwere probably in his possession at the time of his death. I understandfrom Miss Maurice that the bills belonging to her mother have just beendelivered to her. I presume you have no objection to clear up thismystery."
"To you I am anxious to unfold every thing. At this moment, or at anytime, but the sooner the more agreeable to me, I will do it."
"This," said he, looking around him, "is no place; there is an inn, nota hundred yards from this gate, where I have left my horse; will you gothither?" I readily consented, and, calling for a private apartment, Ilaid before this man every incident of my life connected with Welbeckand Watson; my full, circumstantial, and explicit story appeared toremove every doubt which he might have entertained of my integrity.
In Williams I found a plain, good man, of a temper confiding andaffectionate. My narration being finished, he expressed, by unaffectedtokens, his wonder and his grief on account of Watson's destiny. To myinquiries, which were made with frankness and fervour, respecting hisown and his sister's condition, he said that the situation of both wasdeplorable till the recovery of this property. They had been saved fromutter ruin, from beggary and a jail, only by the generosity and lenityof his creditors, who did not suffer the suspicious circumstancesattending Watson's disappearance to outweigh former proofs of hisprobity. They had never relinquished the hopes of receiving some tidingsof their kinsman.
I related what had just passed in the house of Mrs. Maurice, andrequested to know from him the history and character of this family.
"They have treated you," he answered, "exactly as any one who knew themwould have predicted. The mother is narrow, ignorant, bigoted, andavaricious. The eldest daughter, whom you saw, resembles the old lady inmany things. Age, indeed, may render the similitude complete. Atpresent, pride and ill-humour are her chief characteristics.
"The youngest daughter has nothing in mind or person in common with herfamily. Where they are irascible, she is patient; where they areimperious, she is humble; where they are covetous, she is liberal; wherethey are ignorant and indolent, she is studious and skilful. It is rare,indeed, to find a young lady more amiable than Miss Fanny Maurice, orwho has had more crosses and afflictions to sustain.
"The eldest daughter always extorted the supply of her wants, from herparents, by threats and importunities; but the younger could never beprevailed upon to employ the same means, and, hence, she sufferedinconveniences which, to any other girl, born to an equal rank, wouldhave been, to the last degree, humiliating and vexatious. To her theyonly afforded new opportunities for the display of her most shiningvirtues,--fortitude and charity. No instance of their sordidness ortyranny ever stole a murmur from her. For what they had given, existenceand a virtuous education, she said they were entitled to gratitude. Whatthey withheld was their own, in the use of which they were notaccountable to her. She was not ashamed to owe her subsistence to herown industry, and was only held by the pride of her family--in thisinstance their pride was equal to their avarice--from seeking out somelucrative kind of employment. Since the shock which their fortunesustained by Watson's disappearance, she has been permitted to pursuethis plan, and she now teaches music in Baltimore for a living. No one,however, in the highest rank, can be more generally respected andcaressed than she is."
"But will not the recovery of this money make a favourable change in hercondition?"
"I can hardly tell; but I am inclined to think it will not. It will notchange her mother's character. Her pride may be awakened anew, and shemay oblige Miss Fanny to relinquish her new profession, and that will bea change to be deplored."
"What good has been done, then, by restoring this money?"
"If pleasure be good, you must have conferred a great deal on theMaurices; upon the mother and two of the daughters, at least,--the onlypleasure, indeed, which their natures can receive. It is less than ifyou had raised them from absolute indigence, which has not been thecase, since they had wherewithal to live upon besides their Jamaicaproperty. But how?" continued Williams, suddenly recollecting himself;"have you claimed the reward promised to him who should restore thesebills?"
"What reward?"
"No less than a thousand dollars. It was publicly promised under thehands of Mrs. Maurice and of Hemmings, her husband's executor."
"Really," said I, "that circumstance escaped my attention, and I wonderthat it did; but is it too late to repair the evil?"
"Then you have no scruple to accept the reward?"
"Certainly not. Could you suspect me of so strange a punctilio as that?"
"Yes; but I know not why. The story you have just finished taught me toexpect some unreasonable refinement upon that head. To be hired, to bebribed, to do our duty is supposed by some to be degrading."
"This is no such bribe to me. I should have acted just as I have done,had no recompense been promised. In truth, this has been my conduct, forI never once thought of the reward; but, now that you remind me of it, Iwould gladly see it bestowed. To fulfil their engagements, in thisrespect, is no more than justice in the Maurices. To one in my conditionthe money will be highly useful. If these people were poor, or generousand worthy, or if I myself were already rich, I might less repine attheir withholding it; but, things being as they are with them and withme, it would, I think, be gross injustice in them to withhold, and in meto refuse."
"That injustice," said Williams, "will, on their part, I fear, becommitted. 'Tis pity you first applied to Mrs. Maurice. Nothing can beexpected from her avarice, unless it be wrested from her by a lawsuit."
"That is a force which I shall never apply."
"Had you gone first to Hemmings, you might, I think, have looked forpayment. He is not a mean man. A thousand dollars, he must know, is notmuch to give for forty thousand. Perhaps, indeed, it may not yet be toolate. I am well known to him, and, if you please, will attend you to himin the evening, and state your claim."
I thankfully accepted this offer, and went with him accordingly. I foundthat Hemmings had been with Mrs. Maurice in the course of the day; hadreceived from her intelligence of this transaction, and had entertainedthe expectation of a visit from me for this very purpose.
While Williams explained to him the nature of my claim, he scanned mewith great intentness. His austere and inflexible brow afforded melittle room to hope for success, and this hopelessness was confirmed byhis silence and perplexity when Williams had made an end.
"To-be-sure," said he, after some pause, "the contract was explicit.To-be-sure, the conditions on Mr. Mervyn's side have been performed.Certain it is, the bills are entire and complete, but Mrs. Maurice willnot consent to do her part, and Mrs. Maurice, to whom the papers werepresented, is the person by whom, according to the terms of thecontract, the reward must be paid."
"But Mrs. Maurice, you know, sir, may be legally compelled to pay," saidWilliams.
"Perhaps she may; but I tell you plainly, that she never will do thething without compulsion. Legal process, however, in this case, willhave other inconveniences besides delay. Some curiosity will naturallybe excited, as to the history of these papers. W
atson disappeared atwelvemonth ago. Who can avoid asking, Where have these papers beendeposited all this while, and how came this person in possession ofthem?"
"That kind of curiosity," said I, "is natural and laudable, and gladlywould I gratify it. Disclosure or concealment in that case, however,would nowise affect my present claim. Whether a bond, legally executed,shall be paid, does not depend upon determining whether the payer isfondest of boiled mutton or roast beef. Truth, in the first case, has noconnection with truth in the second. So far from eluding this curiosity,so far from studying concealment, I am anxious to publish the truth."
"You are right, to-be-sure," said Hemmings. "Curiosity is a natural, butonly an incidental, consequence in this case. I have no reason fordesiring that it should be an unpleasant consequence to you."
"Well, sir," said Williams, "you think that Arthur Mervyn has no remedyin this case but the law?"
"Mrs. Maurice, to-be-sure, will never pay but on compulsion. Mervynshould have known his own interest better. While his left hand wasstretched out to give, his right should have been held forth to receive.As it is, he must be contented with the aid of law. Any attorney willprosecute on condition of receiving _half the sum_ when recovered."
We now rose to take our leave, when Hemmings, desiring us to pause amoment, said, "To-be-sure, in the utmost strictness of the terms of ourpromise, the reward was to be paid by the person who received thepapers; but it must be owned that your claim, at any rate, isequitable. I have money of the deceased Mr. Maurice in my hands. Thesevery bills are now in my possession. I will therefore pay you your due,and take the consequences of an act of justice on myself. I was preparedfor you. Sign that receipt, and there is a _check_ for the amount."