WEBVTT
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Chapter forty six of The Way We Live Now. This
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is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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LibriVox dot org. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope,
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Chapter forty six Roger Carbury and his two friends. Roger Carbury,
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having found Ruby ruggles, and having ascertained that she was
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at any rate living in a respectable house with her aunt,
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returned to Carbury. He had given the girl his advice,
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and had done so in a manner that was not
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altogether ineffectual. He had frightened her and had also frightened
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Missus Pipkin. He had taught Missus Pipkin to believe that
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the new dispensation was not yet so completely established as
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to clear her from all responsibility as to her niece's conduct.
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Having done so much, and feeling that there was no
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more to be done, he returned home. It was out
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of the question that he should take Ruby with him
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in the first place, she would not have gone, and
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then had she gone, he would not have known where
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to bestow her. For it was now understood throughout Bongay,
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and the news had spread to Beccles that old farmer
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Ruggles had sworn that his granddaughter should never again be
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received at sheepsake or farm. The Squire, on his return home,
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heard all the news from his own housekeeper. John Crumb
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had been at the farm, and there had been a
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fierce quarrel between him and the old man. The old
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man had called Ruby by every name that is most
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distasteful to a woman, and John had stormed and had
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sworn that he would have punched the old man's head,
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But for his age, he wouldn't believe any harm of Ruby,
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or if he did, he was ready to forgive that harm.
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But as for the Baronight, the Baronnight had better look
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to himself. Old Ruggles had declared that Ruby should never
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have a shilling of his money. Here Upon Crumb had
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anathematized Old Ruggles and his money too, telling him that
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he was in old hunks, and that he had driven
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the girl away by his cruelty. Roger at once sent
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over to Bungave for the dealer and meal, who was
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with him early on the following morning. Did you find her, Squire?
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Oh yes, mister Crumb, I found her. She's living with
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her aunt, Missus Pipkin at Islington. Ay, now look at that.
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You knew she had an aunt of that name up
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in London? Yes, I knewed it, Squire. I heard tell
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of missus Pipkin, but I never seed her. I wonder
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it did not occur to you that Ruby would go there.
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John Crumb scratched his head, as though acknowledging the shortcoming
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of his own intellect. Of course, if she was to
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go to London, it was the proper thing for her
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to do. I knew she'd do the thing as was right.
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I said that all along. Darned if I didn't, you
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asked Mixed Squire him as his baker down Bardsey Lane.
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I always guy at her that she'd do the thing
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as was right? But how about she and the baronyt
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Roger did not wish to speak of the baronet just
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at present? I suppose the old man down here did
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ill use her. Oh, dreadful, there ain't no manner of
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doubt O that dragged her about, awful as he ought
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to be took up only for the rumpus light. D'ye
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think she's seed the baronyte since she's been in London,
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Master Carbury, I think she's a good girl. If you
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mean that, I'm sure she'd be. I don't want none
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to tell me that, Squire, though, Squire's better to mean
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or a ten pound note to hear you say so.
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I always had a leaning to you, Squire, But i'll
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mourn a lean to you now I've said all through
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she was good, an if ere a man and Bungay
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said she warn't while I was there, and ready I
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hope nobody has said so. You can't stop them women, Squire.
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There ain't no dropping into them. But Lord lovey, she
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shall come and be missus of my house tomorrow. And
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what'll it matter her then what they say? But Squire,
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did you hear if the baronyit had been a hanging
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about that place about Islington? You mean he goes a
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hanging about? He do? He don't come out straight forward
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and tell a girl as he loves her afore all
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the parish. There ain't one in Bungay, nor yet in Mettingham,
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nor yet in all the Ilkitsuls and all the almums.
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As don't know as I'm set on ruby ruggles. Huggery.
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Muggery is pisin to me, Squire. We all know that
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when you've made up your mind. You have made up
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your mind. I hove it's made up. Ever, So as
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to Ruby, what sort of a one is her aunt? Now, Squire?
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She keeps lodgings, A very decent sort of a woman,
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I should say she won't let the Baronite come there.
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Certainly not, said Roger, who felt that he was hardly
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dealing sincerely with this most sincere of meal men. Hitherto
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he had shuffled off every question that had been asked
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him about Felix, though he knew that Ruby had spent
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many hours with her fashionable lover, missus Pipkin, won't let
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him come there. If I was to give her a
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giown now or a blue cloak the lodging house women
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is mostly hard put to it, or a chest of
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drawers like for her best bedroom, wouldn't that make her
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more of my side? Squire? I think she'll try to
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do her duty without that. They do like things to
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like of that. Anyways, I'll go up, Squire, ARTI saxon
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a market and see how things is lying. I wouldn't
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go just yet, mister Crum, if I were you, she
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hasn't forgotten the scene at the farm yet, I said
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nothing as wasn't as kind as kind, but her own
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perversity runs in her own head. If you had been unkind,
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she could have forgiven that. But as you were good
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natured and she was cross, she can't forgive that. John
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Crumb again scratched his head and felt that the depths
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of a woman's character required more gaging than he had
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yet given to it. And to tell you the truth,
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my friend, I think that a little hardship up at
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missus Pipkins will do her good. Don't you have a
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bellyful of victuals? Asked John Crumb with intense anxiety. I
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don't quite mean that. I dare say she has enough
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to eat. But of course she has to work for
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it with her aunt. She has three or four children
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to look after. That might come in handy by and
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by moyten At Squire, said John Crumb, grinning, as you say,
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she'll be learning something that may be useful to her
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in another sphere. Of course, there is a good deal
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to do, and I should not be surprised if she
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were to think, after a bit that your house in
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Bungay was more comfortable than Missus Pipkins's kitchen in London.
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My little back parlor, eh Squire, and have got a
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four poster most as big as any in Bungay. I
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am sure you have everything comfortable for her, and she
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knows it herself. Let her think about all that, and
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do you go and tell her again in a month's time.
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She'll be more willing to settle matters then than she
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is now. But the baronight, Missus Pipkin will allow nothing
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of that. Girls is so cute. Ruby is awful. Cute.
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Makes me feel as though I had two hundredweight a
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meal on my stomach, lying awake in nights and thinking
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as how he is maybe pulling of her about if
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I thought that she'd let him, Oh, I'd swing for it,
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mister Carberry. They'd have to make an end of me
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at Bury if it was that way they would then.
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Roger assured him again and again that he believed Ruby
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to be a good girl, and promised that further steps
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should be taken to induce Missus Pipkin to keep a
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close watch upon her niece. John Crumb made no promise
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that he would abstain from his journey to London after
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Sack's Mundham Fair, but left the Squire with a conviction
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that his purpose of doing so was shaken. He was still, however,
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resolved to send missus Pipkin the price of a new
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blue cloak, and declared his purpose of getting mixed, to
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write the letter and enclose the money order. John Crumb
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had no delicacy as to declaring his own deficiency in
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literary acquirements. He was able to make out a bill
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for meal or pollards, but did little beyond that in
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the way of writing letters. This happened on a Saturday morning,
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and on that afternoon Roger Carbury rode over to Loestaft
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to a meeting there on church matters, at which his friend,
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the Bishop presided. After the meeting was over, he dined
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at the Inn with half a dozen clergymen and two
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or three neighboring gentlemen, and then walked down by himself
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on to the long strand which has made Lowestoft what
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it is. It was now just the end of June,
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and the weather was delightful, but people were not as
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yet flocking to the seashore. Every shopkeeper in every little
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town through the country now follows the fashion set by
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Parliament and abstains from his annual home holiday till August
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or September. The place therefore was by no means full.
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Here and there a few of the townspeople, who at
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a bathing place are generally indifferent to the sea, were
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strolling about, and another few, indifferent to fashion, had come
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out from the lodging houses and from the hotel, which
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had been described as being small and insignificant, and making
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up only a hundred beds. Roger Carbury, whose house was
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not many miles distant from Loestoft, was fond of the
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sea shore, and always came to loiter there for a
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while when any cause brought him into the town. Now
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he was walking close down upon the marge of the tide,
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so that the last little roll of the rising water
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should touch his feet, with his hands joined behind his
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back and his face turned down towards the shore, when
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he came upon a couple who were standing with their
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backs to the land, looking forth together upon the waves.
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He was close to them before he saw them, and
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before they had seen him. Then he perceived that the
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man was his friend, Paul Montague. Leaning on Paul's arm,
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a lady stood dressed very simply in black, with a
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dark straw hat on her head, very simple in her attire,
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but yet a woman whom it would be impossible to
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pass without notice. The lady, of course, was Missus Hurdle.
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Paul Montague had been a fool to suggest Lostoft, but
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his folly had been natural. It was not the first
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place he had named, but when fault had been found
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with others, he had fallen back upon the sea sands,
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which were best known to himself. Lostoff was just the
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spot which Missus Hurdle required. When she had been shown
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her room and taken down out of the hotel on
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to the strand, she had declared herself to be charmed.
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She acknowledged with many smiles that, of course she had
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had no right to expect that Missus Pipkin should understand
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what sort of place she needed. But Paul would understand
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and had understood. I think the tell charming, she said.
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I don't know what you mean by your fun about
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the American hotels, but I think this quite gorgeous, and
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the people so civil. Hotel people always are civil before
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the crowds come. Of course, it was impossible that Paul
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should be turned to London by the mail train, which
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started about an hour after his arrival. He would have
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reached London at four or five in the morning, and
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have been very uncomfortable. The following day was Sunday, and
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of course he promised to stay till Monday. Of course
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he had said nothing in the train of those stern
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things which he had resolved to say. Of course, he
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was not saying them when Roger Carbury came upon him,
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but was indulging in some poetical nonsense, some probably very trite,
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raptures as to the expanse of the ocean and the
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endless ripples which connected shore with shore. Missus Hurdle, too,
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as she leaned with friendly weight upon his arm, indulged
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also in moonshine and romance. Though at the back of
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the heart of each of them there was a devouring care,
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Still they enjoyed the hour. We know that the man
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who is to be hung likes to have his breakfast
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well cooked. And so did Paul like the companionship of
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Missus Hurdle, because her attire, though simple, was becoming, because
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the color glowed in her dark face, because of the
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brightness of her eyes, and the happy sharpness of her words,
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and the dangerous smile which played upon her lips. He
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liked the warmth of her close vicinity, and the softness
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of her arm, and the perfume from her hair. Though
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he would have given all that he possessed that she
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had been removed from him by some impassable gulf, as
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he had to be hanged, and this woman's continued presence
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would be as bad as death to him. He liked
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to have his meal well dressed. He certainly had been
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foolish to bring her to Lowestoft and the close neighborhood
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of Carbury Manor, and now he felt his folly. As
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soon as he saw Roger Carbury, he blushed up to
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his forehead, and then, leaving Missus Hurdle's arm, he came
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forward and shook hands with his friend. It is Missus Hurdle,
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he said, I must introduce you, and the introduction was made.
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Roger took off his hat and bowed, but he did
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so with the coldest ceremony. Missus Hurdle, who was quick
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enough at gathering the minds of people from their looks,
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was just as cold in her acknowledgment of the courtesy.
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In former days, she had heard much of Roger Carbury
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and surmised that he was no friend to her. I
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did not know that you were thinking of coming to Lowestoft,
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said Roger, in a voice that was needlessly severe. But
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his mind at the present moment was severe, and he
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could not hide his mind. I was not thinking of it.
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Missus Hurdle wished to get to the sea, and as
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she knew no one else here in England, I brought her.
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Mister Montague and I have traveled so many miles together before.
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Now she said that a few additional will not make
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much difference. Do you stay long? Asked Roger in the
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same voice. I go back, probably on Monday, said Montague,
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as I shall be here a whole week and shall
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not speak a word to any one after he has
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left me. He has consented to bestow his company on
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me for two days. Will you join us at dinner,
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mister Carberry this evening, Thank you, madam. I have dined. Then,
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mister Montague, I will leave you with your friend. My toilet,
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though it will be very slight, will take longer than yours.
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We dine, you know in twenty minutes. I wish you
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could get your friend to join us. So, saying missus
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Hurdle tripped back across the sand towards the hotel. Is this, wise,
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demanded Roger, in a voice that was almost sepulchral. As
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soon as the lady was out of hearing, you may
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well ask that Carbery. Nobody knows the folly of it
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so thoroughly as I do. Then why do you do it?
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Do you mean to marry her? No, certainly not. Is
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it honest, then, or like a gentleman that you should
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be with her in this way? Does she think that
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you intend to marry her? I have told her that
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I would not. I have told her. Then he stopped.
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He was going on to declare that he had told
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her that he loved another woman, but he felt that
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he could hardly touch that matter in speaking to Roger Carbury.
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What does she mean? Then? Has she no regard for
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her own character? I would explain it to you all, Carbury,
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if I could, but you would never have the patience
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to hear me. I am not naturally impatient, but this
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would drive you mad. I wrote to her, assuring her
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that it must be all over. Then she came here
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and sent for me. Was I not bound to go
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to her? Yes, to go to her and repeat what
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you had said in your letter. I did do so.
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I went with that very purpose, and did repeat it.
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Then you should have left her. Ah, But you do
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not understand. She begged that I would not desert her
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in her loneliness. We have been so much together that
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I could not desert her. I certainly do not understand that, Paul,
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you have allowed yourself to be entrapped into a promise
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of marriage, and then, for reasons which we will not
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go into now, but which we both thought to be adequate,
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you resolved to break your promise, thinking that you would
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be justified in doing so. But nothing can justify you
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in living with the lady afterwards on such terms as
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to induce her to suppose that your old promise holds good.
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She does not think so. She cannot think so. Then
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what must she be to be here with you? And
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what must you be to be here in public with
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such a one as she is. I don't know why
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I should trouble you or myself about it. People live
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now in a way that I don't comprehend. If this
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be your way of living, I have no right to complain.
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For God's sake, Carbery, do not speak in that way.
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It sounds as though you meant to throw me over.
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I should have said that you had thrown me over.
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You come down here to this hotel where we are
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both known, with this lady whom you are not going
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to marry, and I meet you just by chance. Had
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I known it, of course I could have turned the
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other way. But coming on you by accident as I did,
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how am I not to speak to you? And if
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I speak, what am I to say? Of course I
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think that the lady will succeed in marrying you, never,
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and that such a marriage will be your destruction. Doubtless.
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She is good looking, yes, and clever. And you must
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remember that the manners of her country are not as
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the manners of this country. Then if I marry at all,
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said Roger, with all his prejudice, expressed strongly in his voice.
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I trust I may not marry a lady of her country.
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She does not think that she is to marry you,
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and yet she comes down here and stays with you. Paul,
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I don't believe it. I believe you, but I don't
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believe her. She is here with you in order that
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she may marry you. She is cunning and strong. You
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are foolish and weak, believing as I do that marriage
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with her would be destruction. I should tell her my
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mind and leave her. Paul at the moment thought of
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the gentleman in Oregon, and of certain difficulties in leaving.
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That's what I should do. You must go in now,
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I suppose, and eat your dinner. I may come to
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the hall as I go back home. Certainly you may
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come if you please, said Roger. Then he bethought himself
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that his welcome had not been cordial. I mean that
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I shall be delighted to see you, he added, marching
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away along the strand. Paul did go into the hotel
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and did eat his dinner. In the meantime, Roger Carbury
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marched far away along the strand. In all that he
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had said to Montague, he had spoken the truth, or
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that which appeared to him to be the truth. He
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had not been influenced for a moment by any reference
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to his own affairs. And yet he feared, he almost
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knew that this man who had promised to marry a
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strange American woman, and who was at this very moment
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living in close intercourse with the woman after he had
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told her that he would not keep his promise, was
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the chief barrier between himself and the girl. That he loved.
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As he had listened to John Crumb. While John spoke
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of ruby ruggles, he had told himself that he and
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John Crumb were alike with an honest, true, heartfelt desire.
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They both panted for the companionship of a fellow creature
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whom each had chosen, and each was to be thwarted
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by the make believe regard of unworthy youth and fatuous
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good looks. Crumb, by dogged perseverance and indifference to many things,
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would probably be successful at last. But what chance was
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there of success for him Ruby, as soon as want
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or hardship told upon her, would return to the strong
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arm that could be trusted to provide her with plenty
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and comparative ease. But had a carbery, if, once her
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heart had passed from her own dominion into the possession
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of another, would never change her love. It was possible,
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no doubt, nay how probable, that her heart was still vacillating.
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Roger thought that he knew that, at any rate, she
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had not as yet declared her love. If she were
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now to know, if she could now learn of what
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nature was the love of this other man, if she
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could be instructed that he was living alone with a
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lady whom not long since he had promised to Mary.
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If she could be made to understand this whole story
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of missus Hurdle, would not that open her eyes? Would
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she not then see where she could trust her happiness,
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and where by so trusting it she would certainly be shipwrecked?
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Never said Roger to himself, hitting at the stones on
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the beach with his stick. Never. Then he got his
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horse and rode back to Carbury Manor. End of chapter
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forty six.
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Chapter forty six of The Way We Live Now. This
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is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
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LibriVox dot org. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope,
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Chapter forty six Roger Carbury and his two friends. Roger Carbury,
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having found Ruby ruggles, and having ascertained that she was
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at any rate living in a respectable house with her aunt,
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returned to Carbury. He had given the girl his advice,
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and had done so in a manner that was not
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altogether ineffectual. He had frightened her and had also frightened
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Missus Pipkin. He had taught Missus Pipkin to believe that
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the new dispensation was not yet so completely established as
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to clear her from all responsibility as to her niece's conduct.
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Having done so much, and feeling that there was no
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more to be done, he returned home. It was out
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of the question that he should take Ruby with him
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in the first place, she would not have gone, and
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then had she gone, he would not have known where
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to bestow her. For it was now understood throughout Bongay,
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and the news had spread to Beccles that old farmer
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Ruggles had sworn that his granddaughter should never again be
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received at sheepsake or farm. The Squire, on his return home,
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heard all the news from his own housekeeper. John Crumb
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had been at the farm, and there had been a
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fierce quarrel between him and the old man. The old
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man had called Ruby by every name that is most
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distasteful to a woman, and John had stormed and had
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sworn that he would have punched the old man's head,
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But for his age, he wouldn't believe any harm of Ruby,
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or if he did, he was ready to forgive that harm.
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But as for the Baronight, the Baronnight had better look
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to himself. Old Ruggles had declared that Ruby should never
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have a shilling of his money. Here Upon Crumb had
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anathematized Old Ruggles and his money too, telling him that
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he was in old hunks, and that he had driven
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the girl away by his cruelty. Roger at once sent
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over to Bungave for the dealer and meal, who was
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with him early on the following morning. Did you find her, Squire?
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Oh yes, mister Crumb, I found her. She's living with
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her aunt, Missus Pipkin at Islington. Ay, now look at that.
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You knew she had an aunt of that name up
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in London? Yes, I knewed it, Squire. I heard tell
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of missus Pipkin, but I never seed her. I wonder
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it did not occur to you that Ruby would go there.
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John Crumb scratched his head, as though acknowledging the shortcoming
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of his own intellect. Of course, if she was to
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go to London, it was the proper thing for her
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to do. I knew she'd do the thing as was right.
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I said that all along. Darned if I didn't, you
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asked Mixed Squire him as his baker down Bardsey Lane.
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I always guy at her that she'd do the thing
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as was right? But how about she and the baronyt
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Roger did not wish to speak of the baronet just
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at present? I suppose the old man down here did
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ill use her. Oh, dreadful, there ain't no manner of
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doubt O that dragged her about, awful as he ought
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to be took up only for the rumpus light. D'ye
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think she's seed the baronyte since she's been in London,
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Master Carbury, I think she's a good girl. If you
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mean that, I'm sure she'd be. I don't want none
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to tell me that, Squire, though, Squire's better to mean
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or a ten pound note to hear you say so.
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I always had a leaning to you, Squire, But i'll
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mourn a lean to you now I've said all through
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she was good, an if ere a man and Bungay
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said she warn't while I was there, and ready I
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hope nobody has said so. You can't stop them women, Squire.
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There ain't no dropping into them. But Lord lovey, she
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shall come and be missus of my house tomorrow. And
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what'll it matter her then what they say? But Squire,
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did you hear if the baronyit had been a hanging
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about that place about Islington? You mean he goes a
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hanging about? He do? He don't come out straight forward
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and tell a girl as he loves her afore all
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the parish. There ain't one in Bungay, nor yet in Mettingham,
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nor yet in all the Ilkitsuls and all the almums.
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As don't know as I'm set on ruby ruggles. Huggery.
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Muggery is pisin to me, Squire. We all know that
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when you've made up your mind. You have made up
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your mind. I hove it's made up. Ever, So as
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to Ruby, what sort of a one is her aunt? Now, Squire?
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She keeps lodgings, A very decent sort of a woman,
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I should say she won't let the Baronite come there.
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Certainly not, said Roger, who felt that he was hardly
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dealing sincerely with this most sincere of meal men. Hitherto
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he had shuffled off every question that had been asked
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him about Felix, though he knew that Ruby had spent
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many hours with her fashionable lover, missus Pipkin, won't let
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him come there. If I was to give her a
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giown now or a blue cloak the lodging house women
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is mostly hard put to it, or a chest of
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drawers like for her best bedroom, wouldn't that make her
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more of my side? Squire? I think she'll try to
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do her duty without that. They do like things to
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like of that. Anyways, I'll go up, Squire, ARTI saxon
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a market and see how things is lying. I wouldn't
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go just yet, mister Crum, if I were you, she
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hasn't forgotten the scene at the farm yet, I said
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nothing as wasn't as kind as kind, but her own
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perversity runs in her own head. If you had been unkind,
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she could have forgiven that. But as you were good
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natured and she was cross, she can't forgive that. John
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Crumb again scratched his head and felt that the depths
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of a woman's character required more gaging than he had
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yet given to it. And to tell you the truth,
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my friend, I think that a little hardship up at
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missus Pipkins will do her good. Don't you have a
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bellyful of victuals? Asked John Crumb with intense anxiety. I
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don't quite mean that. I dare say she has enough
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to eat. But of course she has to work for
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it with her aunt. She has three or four children
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to look after. That might come in handy by and
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by moyten At Squire, said John Crumb, grinning, as you say,
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she'll be learning something that may be useful to her
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in another sphere. Of course, there is a good deal
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to do, and I should not be surprised if she
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were to think, after a bit that your house in
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Bungay was more comfortable than Missus Pipkins's kitchen in London.
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My little back parlor, eh Squire, and have got a
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four poster most as big as any in Bungay. I
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am sure you have everything comfortable for her, and she
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knows it herself. Let her think about all that, and
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do you go and tell her again in a month's time.
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She'll be more willing to settle matters then than she
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is now. But the baronight, Missus Pipkin will allow nothing
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of that. Girls is so cute. Ruby is awful. Cute.
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Makes me feel as though I had two hundredweight a
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meal on my stomach, lying awake in nights and thinking
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as how he is maybe pulling of her about if
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I thought that she'd let him, Oh, I'd swing for it,
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mister Carberry. They'd have to make an end of me
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at Bury if it was that way they would then.
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Roger assured him again and again that he believed Ruby
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to be a good girl, and promised that further steps
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should be taken to induce Missus Pipkin to keep a
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close watch upon her niece. John Crumb made no promise
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that he would abstain from his journey to London after
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Sack's Mundham Fair, but left the Squire with a conviction
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that his purpose of doing so was shaken. He was still, however,
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resolved to send missus Pipkin the price of a new
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blue cloak, and declared his purpose of getting mixed, to
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write the letter and enclose the money order. John Crumb
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had no delicacy as to declaring his own deficiency in
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literary acquirements. He was able to make out a bill
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for meal or pollards, but did little beyond that in
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the way of writing letters. This happened on a Saturday morning,
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and on that afternoon Roger Carbury rode over to Loestaft
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to a meeting there on church matters, at which his friend,
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the Bishop presided. After the meeting was over, he dined
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at the Inn with half a dozen clergymen and two
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or three neighboring gentlemen, and then walked down by himself
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on to the long strand which has made Lowestoft what
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it is. It was now just the end of June,
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and the weather was delightful, but people were not as
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yet flocking to the seashore. Every shopkeeper in every little
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town through the country now follows the fashion set by
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Parliament and abstains from his annual home holiday till August
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or September. The place therefore was by no means full.
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Here and there a few of the townspeople, who at
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a bathing place are generally indifferent to the sea, were
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strolling about, and another few, indifferent to fashion, had come
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out from the lodging houses and from the hotel, which
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had been described as being small and insignificant, and making
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up only a hundred beds. Roger Carbury, whose house was
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not many miles distant from Loestoft, was fond of the
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sea shore, and always came to loiter there for a
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while when any cause brought him into the town. Now
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he was walking close down upon the marge of the tide,
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so that the last little roll of the rising water
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should touch his feet, with his hands joined behind his
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back and his face turned down towards the shore, when
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he came upon a couple who were standing with their
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backs to the land, looking forth together upon the waves.
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He was close to them before he saw them, and
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before they had seen him. Then he perceived that the
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man was his friend, Paul Montague. Leaning on Paul's arm,
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a lady stood dressed very simply in black, with a
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dark straw hat on her head, very simple in her attire,
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but yet a woman whom it would be impossible to
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pass without notice. The lady, of course, was Missus Hurdle.
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Paul Montague had been a fool to suggest Lostoft, but
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his folly had been natural. It was not the first
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place he had named, but when fault had been found
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with others, he had fallen back upon the sea sands,
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which were best known to himself. Lostoff was just the
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spot which Missus Hurdle required. When she had been shown
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her room and taken down out of the hotel on
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to the strand, she had declared herself to be charmed.
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She acknowledged with many smiles that, of course she had
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had no right to expect that Missus Pipkin should understand
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what sort of place she needed. But Paul would understand
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and had understood. I think the tell charming, she said.
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I don't know what you mean by your fun about
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the American hotels, but I think this quite gorgeous, and
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the people so civil. Hotel people always are civil before
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the crowds come. Of course, it was impossible that Paul
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should be turned to London by the mail train, which
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started about an hour after his arrival. He would have
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reached London at four or five in the morning, and
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have been very uncomfortable. The following day was Sunday, and
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of course he promised to stay till Monday. Of course
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he had said nothing in the train of those stern
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things which he had resolved to say. Of course, he
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was not saying them when Roger Carbury came upon him,
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but was indulging in some poetical nonsense, some probably very trite,
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raptures as to the expanse of the ocean and the
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endless ripples which connected shore with shore. Missus Hurdle, too,
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as she leaned with friendly weight upon his arm, indulged
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also in moonshine and romance. Though at the back of
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the heart of each of them there was a devouring care,
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Still they enjoyed the hour. We know that the man
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who is to be hung likes to have his breakfast
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well cooked. And so did Paul like the companionship of
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Missus Hurdle, because her attire, though simple, was becoming, because
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the color glowed in her dark face, because of the
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brightness of her eyes, and the happy sharpness of her words,
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and the dangerous smile which played upon her lips. He
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liked the warmth of her close vicinity, and the softness
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of her arm, and the perfume from her hair. Though
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he would have given all that he possessed that she
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had been removed from him by some impassable gulf, as
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he had to be hanged, and this woman's continued presence
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would be as bad as death to him. He liked
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to have his meal well dressed. He certainly had been
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foolish to bring her to Lowestoft and the close neighborhood
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of Carbury Manor, and now he felt his folly. As
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soon as he saw Roger Carbury, he blushed up to
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his forehead, and then, leaving Missus Hurdle's arm, he came
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forward and shook hands with his friend. It is Missus Hurdle,
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he said, I must introduce you, and the introduction was made.
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Roger took off his hat and bowed, but he did
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so with the coldest ceremony. Missus Hurdle, who was quick
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enough at gathering the minds of people from their looks,
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was just as cold in her acknowledgment of the courtesy.
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In former days, she had heard much of Roger Carbury
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and surmised that he was no friend to her. I
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did not know that you were thinking of coming to Lowestoft,
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said Roger, in a voice that was needlessly severe. But
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his mind at the present moment was severe, and he
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could not hide his mind. I was not thinking of it.
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Missus Hurdle wished to get to the sea, and as
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she knew no one else here in England, I brought her.
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Mister Montague and I have traveled so many miles together before.
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Now she said that a few additional will not make
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much difference. Do you stay long? Asked Roger in the
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same voice. I go back, probably on Monday, said Montague,
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as I shall be here a whole week and shall
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not speak a word to any one after he has
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left me. He has consented to bestow his company on
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me for two days. Will you join us at dinner,
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mister Carberry this evening, Thank you, madam. I have dined. Then,
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mister Montague, I will leave you with your friend. My toilet,
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though it will be very slight, will take longer than yours.
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We dine, you know in twenty minutes. I wish you
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could get your friend to join us. So, saying missus
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Hurdle tripped back across the sand towards the hotel. Is this, wise,
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demanded Roger, in a voice that was almost sepulchral. As
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soon as the lady was out of hearing, you may
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well ask that Carbery. Nobody knows the folly of it
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so thoroughly as I do. Then why do you do it?
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Do you mean to marry her? No, certainly not. Is
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it honest, then, or like a gentleman that you should
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be with her in this way? Does she think that
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you intend to marry her? I have told her that
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I would not. I have told her. Then he stopped.
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He was going on to declare that he had told
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her that he loved another woman, but he felt that
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he could hardly touch that matter in speaking to Roger Carbury.
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What does she mean? Then? Has she no regard for
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her own character? I would explain it to you all, Carbury,
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if I could, but you would never have the patience
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to hear me. I am not naturally impatient, but this
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would drive you mad. I wrote to her, assuring her
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that it must be all over. Then she came here
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and sent for me. Was I not bound to go
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to her? Yes, to go to her and repeat what
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you had said in your letter. I did do so.
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I went with that very purpose, and did repeat it.
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Then you should have left her. Ah, But you do
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not understand. She begged that I would not desert her
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in her loneliness. We have been so much together that
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I could not desert her. I certainly do not understand that, Paul,
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you have allowed yourself to be entrapped into a promise
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of marriage, and then, for reasons which we will not
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go into now, but which we both thought to be adequate,
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you resolved to break your promise, thinking that you would
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be justified in doing so. But nothing can justify you
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in living with the lady afterwards on such terms as
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to induce her to suppose that your old promise holds good.
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She does not think so. She cannot think so. Then
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what must she be to be here with you? And
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what must you be to be here in public with
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such a one as she is. I don't know why
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I should trouble you or myself about it. People live
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now in a way that I don't comprehend. If this
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be your way of living, I have no right to complain.
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For God's sake, Carbery, do not speak in that way.
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It sounds as though you meant to throw me over.
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I should have said that you had thrown me over.
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You come down here to this hotel where we are
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both known, with this lady whom you are not going
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to marry, and I meet you just by chance. Had
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I known it, of course I could have turned the
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other way. But coming on you by accident as I did,
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how am I not to speak to you? And if
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I speak, what am I to say? Of course I
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think that the lady will succeed in marrying you, never,
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and that such a marriage will be your destruction. Doubtless.
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She is good looking, yes, and clever. And you must
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remember that the manners of her country are not as
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the manners of this country. Then if I marry at all,
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said Roger, with all his prejudice, expressed strongly in his voice.
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I trust I may not marry a lady of her country.
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She does not think that she is to marry you,
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and yet she comes down here and stays with you. Paul,
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I don't believe it. I believe you, but I don't
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believe her. She is here with you in order that
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she may marry you. She is cunning and strong. You
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are foolish and weak, believing as I do that marriage
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with her would be destruction. I should tell her my
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mind and leave her. Paul at the moment thought of
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the gentleman in Oregon, and of certain difficulties in leaving.
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That's what I should do. You must go in now,
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I suppose, and eat your dinner. I may come to
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the hall as I go back home. Certainly you may
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come if you please, said Roger. Then he bethought himself
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that his welcome had not been cordial. I mean that
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I shall be delighted to see you, he added, marching
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away along the strand. Paul did go into the hotel
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and did eat his dinner. In the meantime, Roger Carbury
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marched far away along the strand. In all that he
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had said to Montague, he had spoken the truth, or
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that which appeared to him to be the truth. He
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had not been influenced for a moment by any reference
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to his own affairs. And yet he feared, he almost
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knew that this man who had promised to marry a
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strange American woman, and who was at this very moment
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living in close intercourse with the woman after he had
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told her that he would not keep his promise, was
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the chief barrier between himself and the girl. That he loved.
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As he had listened to John Crumb. While John spoke
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of ruby ruggles, he had told himself that he and
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John Crumb were alike with an honest, true, heartfelt desire.
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They both panted for the companionship of a fellow creature
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whom each had chosen, and each was to be thwarted
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by the make believe regard of unworthy youth and fatuous
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good looks. Crumb, by dogged perseverance and indifference to many things,
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would probably be successful at last. But what chance was
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there of success for him Ruby, as soon as want
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or hardship told upon her, would return to the strong
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arm that could be trusted to provide her with plenty
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and comparative ease. But had a carbery, if, once her
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heart had passed from her own dominion into the possession
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of another, would never change her love. It was possible,
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no doubt, nay how probable, that her heart was still vacillating.
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Roger thought that he knew that, at any rate, she
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had not as yet declared her love. If she were
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now to know, if she could now learn of what
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nature was the love of this other man, if she
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could be instructed that he was living alone with a
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lady whom not long since he had promised to Mary.
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If she could be made to understand this whole story
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of missus Hurdle, would not that open her eyes? Would
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she not then see where she could trust her happiness,
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and where by so trusting it she would certainly be shipwrecked?
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Never said Roger to himself, hitting at the stones on
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the beach with his stick. Never. Then he got his
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horse and rode back to Carbury Manor. End of chapter
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forty six.
