CHAPTER II.
QUIBUS otio vel magnifice, vel molliter, vivere copia era
incerta pro certis malebant.*--SALLUST.
* "They who had the means to live at ease, either in splendour or
in luxury, preferred the uncertainty of change to their natural
security."
LORD RABY--one of the wealthiest and most splendid noblemen in
England--was prouder, perhaps, of his provincial distinctions than the
eminence of his rank or the fashion of his wife. The magnificent
chateaux, the immense estates, of our English peers tend to preserve to
us in spite of the freedom, bustle, and commercial grandeur of our people
more of the Norman attributes of aristocracy than can be found in other
countries. In his county, the great noble is a petty prince; his house
is a court; his possessions and munificence are a boast to every
proprietor in his district. They are as fond of talking of _the_ earl's
or _the_ duke's movements and entertainments, as Dangeau was of the
gossip of the Tuileries and Versailles.
Lord Raby, while affecting, as lieutenant of the county, to make no
political distinctions between squire and squire--hospitable and affable
to all--still, by that very absence of exclusiveness, gave a tone to the
politics of the whole county; and converted many who had once thought
differently on the respective virtues of Whigs and Tories. A great man
never loses so much as when he exhibits intolerance, or parades the right
of persecution.
"My tenants shall vote exactly as they please," said Lord Raby; and he
was never known to have a tenant vote against his wishes! Keeping a
vigilant eye on all the interests, and conciliating all the proprietors,
in the county, he not only never lost a friend, but he kept together a
body of partisans that constantly added to its numbers.
Sir John Merton's colleague, a young Lord Nelthorpe, who could not speak
three sentences if you took away his hat, and who, constant at Almack's,
was not only inaudible but invisible in parliament, had no chance of
being re-elected. Lord Nelthorpe's father, the Earl of Mainwaring, was a
new peer; and, next to Lord Raby, the richest nobleman in the county.
Now, though they were much of the same politics, Lord Raby hated Lord
Mainwaring. They were too near each other,--they clashed; they had the
jealousy of rival princes!
Lord Raby was delighted at the notion of getting rid of Lord
Nelthorpe,--it would be so sensible a blow to the Mainwaring interest.
The party had been looking out for a new candidate, and Maltravers had
been much talked of. It is true that, when in parliament some years
before, the politics of Maltravers had differed from those of Lord Raby
and his set. But Maltravers had of late taken no share in politics, had
uttered no political opinions, was intimate with the electioneering
Mertons, was supposed to be a discontented man,--and politicians believe
in no discontent that is not political. Whispers were afloat that
Maltravers had grown wise, and changed his views: some remarks of his,
more theoretical than practical, were quoted in favour of this notion.
Parties, too, had much changed since Maltravers had appeared on the busy
scene,--new questions had arisen, and the old ones had died off.
Lord Raby and his party thought that, if Maltravers could be secured to
them, no one would better suit their purpose. Political faction loves
converts better even than consistent adherents. A man's rise in life
generally dates from a well-timed _rat_. His high reputation, his
provincial rank as the representative of the oldest commoner's family in
the county, his age, which combined the energy of one period with the
experience of another,--all united to accord Maltravers a preference over
richer men. Lord Raby had been pointedly courteous and flattering to the
master of Burleigh; and he now contrived it so, that the brilliant
entertainment he was about to give might appear in compliment to a
distinguished neighbour, returned to fix his residence on his patrimonial
property, while in reality it might serve an electioneering
purpose,--serve to introduce Maltravers to the county, as if under his
lordship's own wing, and minister to political uses that went beyond the
mere representation of the county.
Lord Vargrave had, during his stay at Merton Rectory, paid several visits
to Knaresdean, and held many private conversations with the marquess: the
result of these conversations was a close union of schemes and interests
between the two noblemen. Dissatisfied with the political conduct of
government, Lord Raby was also dissatisfied that, from various party
reasons, a nobleman beneath himself in rank, and as he thought in
influence, had obtained a preference in a recent vacancy among the
Knights of the Garter. And if Vargrave had a talent in the world it was
in discovering the weak points of men whom he sought to gain, and making
the vanities of others conduce to his own ambition.
The festivities of Knaresdean gave occasion to Lord Raby to unite at his
house the more prominent of those who thought and acted in concert with
Lord Vargrave; and in this secret senate the operations for the following
session were to be seriously discussed and gravely determined.
On the day which was to be concluded with the ball at Knaresdean, Lord
Vargrave went before the rest of the Merton party, for he was engaged to
dine with the marquess.
On arriving at Knaresdean, Lumley found Lord Saxingham and some other
politicians, who had arrived the preceding day, closeted with Lord Raby;
and Vargrave, who shone to yet greater advantage in the diplomacy of
party management than in the arena of parliament, brought penetration,
energy, and decision to timid and fluctuating counsels. Lord Vargrave
lingered in the room after the first bell had summoned the other guests
to depart.
"My dear lord," said he then, "though no one would be more glad than
myself to secure Maltravers to our side, I very much doubt whether you
will succeed in doing so. On the one hand, he appears altogether
disgusted with politics and parliament; and on the other hand, I fancy
that reports of his change of opinions are, if not wholly unfounded, very
unduly coloured. Moreover, to do him justice, I think that he is not one
to be blinded and flattered into the pale of a party; and your bird will
fly away after you have wasted a bucketful of salt on his tail."
"Very possibly," said Lord Raby, laughing,--"you know him better than I
do. But there are many purposes to serve in this matter,--purposes too
provincial to interest you. In the first place, we shall humble the
Nelthorpe interest, merely by showing that we _do_ think of a new member;
secondly, we shall get up a manifestation of feeling that would be
impossible, unless we were provided with a centre of attraction; thirdly,
we shall rouse a certain emulation among other county gentlemen, and if
Maltravers decline, we shall have many applicants; and fourthly, suppose
Maltravers has not changed his opinions, we shall make him suspected by
the party he really does belong to, and which would be somewhat
formidable if he were to head them. In fact, these are mere county
tactics that you can't be expected to understand."
"I see you are quite right: meanwhile you will at least have an
opportunity (though I say it, who should not say it) to present to the
county one of the prettiest young ladies that ever graced the halls of
Knaresdean."
"Ah, Miss Cameron! I have heard much of her beauty: you are a lucky
fellow, Vargrave! By the by, are we to say anything of the engagement?"
"Why, indeed, my dear lord, it is now so publicly known, that it would be
false delicacy to affect concealment."
"Very well; I understand."
"How long I have detained you--a thousand pardons!--I have but just time
to dress. In four or five months I must remember to leave you a longer
time for your toilet."
"Me--how?"
"Oh, the Duke of ----- can't live long; and I always observe that when a
handsome man has the Garter, he takes a long time pulling up his
stockings."
"Ha, ha! you are so droll, Vargrave."
"Ha, ha! I must be off."
"The more publicity is given to this arrangement, the more difficult for
Evelyn to shy at the leap," muttered Vargrave to himself as he closed the
door. "Thus do I make all things useful to myself!"
The dinner party were assembled in the great drawing-room, when
Maltravers and Cleveland, also invited guests to the banquet, were
announced. Lord Raby received the former with marked _empressement_; and
the stately marchioness honoured him with her most gracious smile.
Formal presentations to the rest of the guests were interchanged; and it
was not till the circle was fully gone through that Maltravers perceived,
seated by himself in a corner, to which he had shrunk on the entrance of
Maltravers, a gray-haired solitary man,--it was Lord Saxingham! The last
time they had met was in the death-chamber of Florence; and the old man
forgot for the moment the anticipated dukedom, and the dreamed-of
premiership, and his heart flew back to the grave of his only child!
They saluted each other, and shook hands in silence. And Vargrave--whose
eye was on them--Vargrave, whose arts had made that old man childless,
felt not a pang of remorse! Living ever in the future, Vargrave almost
seemed to have lost his memory. He knew not what regret was. It is a
condition of life with men thoroughly worldly that they never look
behind!
The signal was given: in due order the party were marshalled into the
great hall,--a spacious and lofty chamber, which had received its last
alteration from the hand of Inigo Jones; though the massive ceiling, with
its antique and grotesque masques, betrayed a much earlier date, and
contrasted with the Corinthian pilasters that adorned the walls, and
supported the music-gallery, from which waved the flags of modern warfare
and its mimicries,--the eagle of Napoleon, a token of the services of
Lord Raby's brother (a distinguished cavalry officer in command at
Waterloo), in juxtaposition with a much gayer and more glittering banner,
emblematic of the martial fame of Lord Raby himself, as Colonel of the
B-----shire volunteers!
The music pealed from the gallery, the plate glittered on the board; the
ladies wore diamonds, and the gentlemen who had them wore stars. It was
a very fine sight, that banquet!--such as became the festive day of a
lord-lieutenant whose ancestors had now defied, and now intermarried,
with royalty. But there was very little talk, and no merriment. People
at the top of the table drank wine with those at the bottom; and
gentlemen and ladies seated next to each other whispered languidly in
monosyllabic commune. On one side, Maltravers was flanked by a Lady
Somebody Something, who was rather deaf, and very much frightened for
fear he should talk Greek; on the other side he was relieved by Sir John
Merton,--very civil, very pompous, and talking, at strictured intervals,
about county matters, in a measured intonation, savouring of the
House-of-Commons jerk at the end of the sentence.
As the dinner advanced to its close, Sir John became a little more
diffuse, though his voice sank into a whisper.
"I fear there will be a split in the Cabinet before parliament meets."
"Indeed!"
"Yes; Vargrave and the premier cannot pull together very long. Clever
man, Vargrave! but he has not enough stake in the country for a leader!"
"All men have public character to stake; and if that be good, I suppose
no stake can be better?"
"Humph!--yes--very true; but still, when a man has land and money, his
opinions, in a country like this, very properly carry more weight with
them. If Vargrave, for instance, had Lord Raby's property, no man could
be more fit for a leader,--a prime minister. We might then be sure that
he would have no selfish interest to further: he would not play tricks
with his party--you understand?"
"Perfectly."
"I am not a party man, as you may remember; indeed, you and I have voted
alike on the same questions. Measures, not men,--that is my maxim; but
still I don't like to see men placed above their proper stations."
"Maltravers, a glass of wine," said Lord Vargrave across the table.
"Will you join us, Sir John?"
Sir John bowed.
"Certainly," he resumed, "Vargrave is a pleasant man and a good speaker;
but still they say he is far from rich,--embarrassed, indeed. However,
when he marries Miss Cameron it may make a great difference,--give him
more respectability; do you know what her fortune is--something immense?"
"Yes, I believe so; I don't know."
"My brother says that Vargrave is most amiable. The young lady is very
handsome, almost too handsome for a wife--don't you think so? Beauties
are all very well in a ballroom; but they are not calculated for domestic
life. I am sure you agree with me. I have heard, indeed, that Miss
Cameron is rather learned; but there is so much scandal in a country
neighbourhood,--people are so ill-natured. I dare say she is not more
learned than other young ladies, poor girl! What do you think?"
"Miss Cameron is--is very accomplished, I believe. And so you think the
Government cannot stand?"
"I don't say that,--very far from it; but I fear there must be a change.
However, if the country gentlemen hold together, I do not doubt but what
we shall weather the storm. The landed interest, Mr. Maltravers, is the
great stay of this country,--the sheet-anchor, I may say. I suppose Lord
Vargrave, who seems, I must say, to have right notions on this head, will
invest Miss Cameron's fortune in land. But though one may buy an estate,
one can't buy an old family, Mr. Maltravers!--you and I may be thankful
for that. By the way, who was Miss Cameron's mother, Lady
Vargrave?--something low, I fear; nobody knows."
"I am not acquainted with Lady Vargrave; your sister-in-law speaks of her
most highly. And the daughter in herself is a sufficient guarantee for
the virtues of the mother."
"Yes; and Vargrave on one side, at least, has himself nothing in the way
of family to boast of."
The ladies left the hall, the gentlemen re-seated themselves. Lord Raby
made some remark on politics to Sir John Merton, and the whole round of
talkers immediately followed their leader.
"It is a thousand pities, Sir John," said Lord Raby, "that you have not a
colleague more worthy of you; Nelthorpe never attends a committee, does
he?"
"I cannot say that he is a very active member; but he is young, and we
must make allowances for him," said Sir John, discreetly; for he had no
desire to oust his colleague,--it was agreeable enough to be _the_
efficient member.
"In these times," said Lord Raby, loftily, "allowances are not to be made
for systematic neglect of duty; we shall have a stormy session; the
Opposition is no longer to be despised; perhaps a dissolution may be
nearer at hand than we think for. As for Nelthorpe, he cannot come in
again."
"That I am quite sure of," said a fat country gentleman of great weight
in the county; "he not only was absent on the great Malt question, but he
never answered my letter respecting the Canal Company."
"Not answered your letter!" said Lord Raby, lifting up his hands and eyes
in amaze and horror. "What conduct! Ah, Mr. Maltravers, you are the man
for us!"
"Hear! hear!" cried the fat squire.
"Hear!" echoed Vargrave; and the approving sound went round the table.
Lord Raby rose. "Gentlemen, fill your glasses; a health to our
distinguished neighbour!"
The company applauded; each in his turn smiled, nodded, and drank to
Maltravers, who, though taken by surprise, saw at once the course to
pursue. He returned thanks simply and shortly; and without pointedly
noticing the allusion in which Lord Raby had indulged, remarked,
incidentally, that he had retired, certainly for some years--perhaps
forever--from political life.
Vargrave smiled significantly at Lord Raby, and hastened to lead the
conversation into party discussion. Wrapped in his proud disdain of what
he considered the contests of factions for toys and shadows, Maltravers
remained silent; and the party soon broke up, and adjourned to the
ballroom.
