Tales of Three Cities (Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1884)/Lady Barberina/Chapter 3
III.
At her mother's the next day she was absent from luncheon, and Lady Canterville mentioned to him (he did n't ask) that she had gone to see a dear old great-aunt, who was also her godmother, and who lived at Roehampton. Lord Canterville was not present, but our young man was informed by his hostess that he had promised her he would come in exactly at three o'clock. Jackson Lemon lunched with Lady Canterville and the children, who appeared in force at this repast, all the younger girls being present, and two little boys, the juniors of the two sons who were in their teens. Jackson, who was very fond of children, and thought these absolutely the finest in the world,—magnificent specimens of a magnificent brood, such as it would be so satisfactory in future days to see about his own knee,—Jackson felt that he was being treated as one of the family, but was not frightened by what he supposed the privilege to imply. Lady Canterville betrayed no consciousness whatever of his having mooted the question of becoming her son-in-law, and he believed that her eldest daughter had not told her of their talk the night before. This idea gave him pleasure; he liked to think that Lady Barb was judging him for herself. Perhaps, indeed, she was taking counsel of the old lady at Roehampton: he believed that he was the sort of lover of whom a godmother would approve. Godmothers in his mind were mainly associated with fairy-tales (he had had no baptismal sponsors of his own); and that point of view would be favorable to a young man with a great deal of gold who had suddenly arrived from a foreign country,—an apparition, surely, sufficiently elfish. He made up his mind that he should like Lady Canterville as a mother-in-law; she would be too well-bred to meddle. Her husband came in at three o'clock, just after they had left the table, and said to Jackson Lemon that it was very good in him to have waited.
"I have n't waited," Jackson replied, with his watch in his hand; "you are punctual to the minute."
I know not how Lord Canterville may have judged his young friend, but Jackson Lemon had been told more than once in his life that he was a very good fellow, but rather too literal. After he had lighted a cigarette in his lordship's "den," a large brown apartment on the ground-floor, which partook at once of the nature of an office and of that of a harness-room (it could not have been called in any degree a library), he went straight to the point in these terms: "Well now, Lord Canterville, I feel as if I ought to let you know without more delay that I am in love with Lady Barb, and that I should like to marry her." So he spoke, puffing his cigarette, with his conscious but unextenuating eye fixed on his host.
No man, as I have intimated, bore better being looked at than this noble personage; he seemed to bloom in the envious warmth of human contemplation, and never appeared so faultless as when he was most exposed. "My dear fellow, my dear fellow," he murmured, almost in disparagement, stroking his ambrosial beard from before the empty fireplace. He lifted his eyebrows, but he looked perfectly good-natured.
"Are you surprised, sir?" Jackson Lemon asked.
"Why, I suppose any one is surprised at a man wanting one of his children. He sometimes feels the weight of that sort of thing so much, you know. He wonders what the devil another man wants of them." And Lord Canterville laughed pleasantly out of the copious fringe of his lips.
"I only want one of them," said Jackson Lemon, laughing too, but with a lighter organ.
"Polygamy would be rather good for the parents. However, Lucy told me the other night that she thought you were looking the way you speak of."
"Yes, I told Lady Beauchemin that I love Lady Barb, and she seemed to think it was natural."
"Oh, yes, I suppose there 's no want of nature in it! But, my dear fellow, I really don't know what to say."
"Of course you 'll have to think of it." Jackson Lemon, in saying this, felt that he was making the most liberal concession to the point of view of his interlocutor; being perfectly aware that in his own country it was not left much to the parents to think of.
"I shall have to talk it over with my wife."
"Lady Canterville has been very kind to me; I hope she will continue."
"My dear fellow, we are excellent friends. No one could appreciate you more than Lady Canterville. Of course we can only consider such a question on the—a—the highest grounds. You would never want to marry without knowing, as it were, exactly what you are doing. I, on my side, naturally, you know, am bound to do the best I can for my own child. At the same time, of course, we don't want to spend our time in—a—walking round the horse. We want to keep to the main lines." It was settled between them after a little that the main lines were that Jackson Lemon knew to a certainty the state of his affections, and was in a position to pretend to the hand of a young lady who Lord Canterville might say—of course, you know, without swaggering about it—had a right to expect to do well, as the women call it.
"I should think she had," Jackson Lemon said; "she 's a beautiful type."
Lord Canterville stared a moment. "She is a clever, well-grown girl, and she takes her fences like a grasshopper. Does she know all this, by the way?" he added.
"Oh yes, I told her last night."
Again Lord Canterville had the air, unusual with him, of returning his companion's regard. "I am not sure that you ought to have done that, you know."
"I could n't have spoken to you first—I could n't," said Jackson Lemon. "I meant to; but it stuck in my crop."
"They don't in your country, I guess," his lordship returned, smiling.
"Well, not as a general thing; however, I find it very pleasant to discuss with you now." And in truth it was very pleasant. Nothing could be easier, friendlier, more informal, than Lord Canterville's manner, which implied all sorts of equality, especially that of age and fortune, and made Jackson Lemon feel at the end of three minutes almost as if he too were a beautifully preserved and somewhat straitened nobleman of sixty, with the views of a man of the world about his own marriage. The young American perceived that Lord Canterville waived the point of his having spoken first to the girl herself, and saw in this indulgence a just concession to the ardor of young affection. For Lord Canterville seemed perfectly to appreciate the sentimental side,—at least so far as it was embodied in his visitor,—when he said without deprecation: "Did she give you any encouragement?"
"Well, she did n't box my ears. She told me that she would think of it, but that I must speak to you. But naturally I should n't have said what I did to her if I had n't made up my mind during the last fortnight that I am not disagreeable to her."
"Ah, my dear young man, women are odd cattle!" Lord Canterville exclaimed, rather unexpectedly. "But of course you know all that," he added in an instant; "you take the general risk."
"I am perfectly willing to take the general risk; the particular risk is small."
"Well, upon my honor I don't really know my girls. You see a man's time, in England, is tremendously taken up; but I dare say it's the same in your country. Their mother knows them—I think I had better send for their mother. If you don't mind I 'll just suggest that she join us here."
"I 'm rather afraid of you both together, but if it will settle it any quicker—" said Jackson Lemon. Lord Canterville rang the bell, and, when a servant appeared, despatched him with a message to her ladyship. While they were waiting, the young man remembered that it was in his power to give a more definite account of his pecuniary basis. He had simply said before that he was abundantly able to marry; he shrank from putting himself forward as a billionnaire. He had a fine taste, and he wished to appeal to Lord Canterville primarily as a gentleman. But now that he had to make a double impression, he bethought himself of his millions, for millions were always impressive. "I think it only fair to let you know that my fortune is really very considerable," he remarked.
"Yes, I dare say you are beastly rich," said Lord Canterville.
"I have about seven millions."
"Seven millions?"
"I count in dollars; upwards of a million and a half sterling."
Lord Canterville looked at him from head to foot, with an air of cheerful resignation to a form of grossness which threatened to become common. Then he said, with a touch of that inconsequence of which he had already given a glimpse: "What the deuce, then, possessed you to turn doctor?"
Jackson Lemon colored a little, hesitated, and then said quickly: "Because I had the talent for it."
"Of course, I don't for a moment doubt of your ability; but don't you find it rather a bore?"
"I don't practise much. I am rather ashamed to say that."
"Ah, well, of course, in your country it 's different. I dare say you 've got a door-plate, eh?"
"Oh yes, and a tin sign tied to the balcony!" said Jackson Lemon, smiling.
"What did your father say to it?"
"To my going into medicine? He said he would be hanged if he 'd take any of my doses. He did n't think I should succeed; he wanted me to go into the house."
"Into the House—a—" said Lord Canterville, hesitating a little. "Into your Congress—yes, exactly."
"Ah, no, not so bad as that. Into the store," Jackson Lemon replied, in the candid tone in which he expressed himself when, for reasons of his own, he wished to be perfectly national. Lord Canterville stared, not venturing, even for the moment, to hazard an interpretation; and before a solution had presented itself, Lady Canterville came into the room.
"My dear, I thought we had better see you. Do you know he wants to marry our second girl?" It was in these simple terms that her husband acquainted her with the question.
Lady Canterville expressed neither surprise nor elation; she simply stood there, smiling, with her head a little inclined to the side, with all her customary graciousness. Her charming eyes rested on those of Jackson Lemon; and though they seemed to show that she had to think a little of so serious a proposition, his own discovered in them none of the coldness of calculation. "Are you talking about Barberina?" she asked in a moment, as if her thoughts had been far away.
Of course they were talking about Barberina, and Jackson Lemon repeated to her ladyship what he had said to the girl's father. He had thought it all over, and his mind was quite made up. Moreover, he had spoken to Lady Barb.
"Did she tell you that, my dear?" asked Lord Canterville, while he lighted another cigar.
She gave no heed to this inquiry, which had been vague and accidental on his lordship's part, but simply said to Jackson Lemon that the thing was very serious, and that they had better sit down for a moment. In an instant he was near her on the sofa on which she had placed herself, still smiling and looking up at her husband with an air of general meditation, in which a sweet compassion for every one concerned was apparent.
"Barberina has told me nothing," she said after a little.
"That proves she cares for me!" Jackson Lemon exclaimed, eagerly.
Lady Canterville looked as if she thought this almost too ingenious, almost professional; but her husband said cheerfully, jovially: "Ah well, if she cares for you, I don't object."
This was a little ambiguous; but before Jackson Lemon had time to look into it, Lady Canterville asked, gently: "Should you expect her to live in America?"
"Oh, yes; that 's my home, you know."
"Shouldn't you be living sometimes in England?"
"Oh, yes, we 'll come over and see you." The young man was in love, he wanted to marry, he wanted to be genial, and to commend himself to the parents of Lady Barb; at the same time it was in his nature not to accept conditions, save in so far as they exactly suited him, to tie himself, or, as they said in New York, to give himself away. In any transaction he preferred his own terms to those of any one else. Therefore, the moment Lady Canterville gave signs of wishing to extract a promise, he was on his guard.
"She'll find it very different; perhaps she won't like it," her ladyship suggested.
"If she likes me, she'll like my country," said Jackson Lemon, with decision.
"He tells me he has got a plate on his door," Lord Canterville remarked, humorously.
"We must talk to her, of course; we must understand how she feels," said his wife, looking more serious than she had done as yet.
"Please don't discourage her, Lady Canterville," the young man begged; "and give me a chance to talk to her a little more myself. You have n't given me much chance, you know."
"We don't offer our daughters to people, Mr. Lemon." Lady Canterville was always gentle, but now she was a little majestic.
"She is n't like some women in London, you know," said Jackson Lemon's host, who seemed to remember that to a discussion of such importance he ought from time to time to contribute a word of wisdom. And Jackson Lemon, certainly, if the idea had been presented to him, would have said that, No, decidedly, Lady Barberina had not been thrown at him.
"Of course not," he declared, in answer to her mother's remark. "But, you know, you must n't refuse them too much, either; you must n't make a poor fellow wait too long. I admire her, I love her, more than I can say; I give you my word of honor for that."
"He seems to think that settles it," said Lord Canterville, smiling down at the young American, very pleasantly, from his place before the cold chimney-piece.
"Of course that's what we desire, Phillip," her ladyship returned, very nobly.
"Lady Barb believes it; I am sure she does!"
Jackson Lemon exclaimed. "Why should I pretend to be in love with her if I am not?"
Lady Canterville received this inquiry in silence, and her husband, with just the least air in the world of repressed impatience, began to walk up and down the room. He was a man of many engagements, and he had been closeted for more than a quarter of an hour with the young American doctor. "Do you imagine you should come often to England?" Lady Canterville demanded, with a certain abruptness, returning to that important point.
"I 'm afraid I can't tell you that; of course we shall do whatever seems best." He was prepared to suppose they should cross the Atlantic every summer: that prospect was by no means displeasing to him; but he was not prepared to give any such pledge to Lady Canterville, especially as he did not believe it would really be necessary. It was in his mind, not as an overt pretension, but as a tacit implication that he should treat with Barberina's parents on a footing of perfect equality; and there would somehow be nothing equal if he should begin to enter into engagements which did n't belong to the essence of the matter. They were to give their daughter, and he was to take her: in this arrangement there would be as much on one side as on the other. But beyond this he had nothing to ask of them; there was nothing he wished them to promise, and his own pledges, therefore, would have no equivalent. Whenever his wife should wish it, she should come over and see her people. Her home was to be in New York; but he was tacitly conscious that on the question of absences he should be very liberal. Nevertheless, there was something in the very grain of his character which forbade that he should commit himself at present in respect to times and dates.
Lady Canterville looked at her husband, but her husband was not attentive; he was taking a peep at his watch. In a moment, however, he threw out a remark to the effect that he thought it a capital thing that the two countries should become more united, and there was nothing that would bring it about better than a few of the best people on both sides pairing off together. The English, indeed, had begun it; a lot of fellows had brought over a lot of pretty girls, and it was quite fair play that the Americans should take their pick. They were all one race, after all; and why should n't they make one society,—the best on both sides, of course? Jackson Lemon smiled as he recognized Lady Marmaduke's philosophy, and he was pleased to think that Lady Beauchemin had some influence with her father; for he was sure the old gentleman (as he mentally designated his host) had got all this from her, though he expressed himself less happily than the cleverest of his daughters. Our hero had no objection to make to it, especially if there was anything in it that would really help his case. But it was not in the least on these high grounds that he had sought the hand of Lady Barb. He wanted her not in order that her people and his (the best on both sides!) should make one society; he wanted her simply because he wanted her. Lady Canterville smiled; but she seemed to have another thought.
"I quite appreciate what my husband says; but I don't see why poor Barb should be the one to begin."
"I dare say she 'll like it," said Lord Canterville, as if he were attempting a short cut. "They say you spoil your women awfully."
"She 's not one of their women yet," her ladyship remarked, in the sweetest tone in the world; and then she added, without Jackson Lemon's knowing exactly what she meant, "It seems so strange."
He was a little irritated; and perhaps these simple words added to the feeling. There had been no positive opposition to his suit, and Lord and Lady Canterville were most kind; but he felt that they held back a little; and though he had not expected them to throw themselves on his neck, he was rather disappointed; his pride was touched. Why should they hesitate? He considered himself such a good parti. It was not so much the old gentleman, it was Lady Canterville. As he saw the old gentleman look, covertly, a second time at his watch, he could have believed he would have been glad to settle the matter on the spot. Lady Canterville seemed to wish her daughter's lover to come forward more, to give certain assurances and guaranties. He felt that he was ready to say or do anything that was a matter of proper form; but he could n't take the tone of trying to purchase her ladyship's consent, penetrated as he was with the conviction that such a man as he could be trusted to care for his wife rather more than an impecunious British peer and his wife could be supposed (with the lights he had acquired in English society) to care even for the handsomest of a dozen children. It was a mistake on Lady Canterville's part not to recognize that. He humored her mistake to the extent of saying, just a little dryly, "My wife shall certainly have everything she wants."
"He tells me he is disgustingly rich," Lord Canterville added, pausing before their companion with his hands in his pockets.
"I am glad to hear it; but it is n't so much that," she answered, sinking back a little on her sofa. If it was not that, she did not say what it was, though she had looked for a moment as if she were going to. She only raised her eyes to her husband's face, as if to ask for inspiration. I know not whether she found it, but in a moment she said to Jackson Lemon, seeming to imply that it was quite another point: "Do you expect to continue your profession?"
He had no such intention, so far as his profession meant getting up at three o'clock in the morning to assuage the ills of humanity; but here, as before, the touch of such a question instantly stiffened him. "Oh, my profession! I am rather ashamed of that matter. I have neglected my work so much, I don't know what I shall be able to do, once I am really settled at home."
Lady Canterville received these remarks in silence; fixing her eyes again upon her husband's face. But this nobleman was really not helpful; still with his hands in his pockets, save when he needed to remove his cigar from his lips, he went and looked out of the window. "Of course we know you don't practise, and when you 're a married man you will have less time even than now. But I should really like to know if they call you Doctor over there."
"Oh, yes, universally. We are nearly as fond of titles as your people."
"I don't call that a title."
"It's not so good as duke or marquis, I admit; but we have to take what we have got."
"Oh, bother, what does it signify?" Lord Canterville demanded, from his place at the window. "I used to have a horse named Doctor, and a devilish good one too."
"You may call me bishop, if you like," said Jackson Lemon, laughing.
Lady Canterville looked grave, as if she did not enjoy this pleasantry. "I don't care for any titles," she observed; "I don't see why a gentleman shouldn't be called Mr."
It suddenly appeared to Jackson Lemon that there was something helpless, confused, and even slightly comical, in the position of this noble and amiable lady. The impression made him feel kindly; he too, like Lord Canterville, had begun to long for a short cut. He relaxed a moment, and leaning toward his hostess, with a smile and his hands on his little knees, he said, softly, "It seems to me a question of no importance; all I desire is that you should call me your son-in-law."
Lady Canterville gave him her hand, and he pressed it almost affectionately. Then she got up, remarking that before anything was decided she must see her daughter, she must learn from her own lips the state of her feelings. "I don't like at all her not having spoken to me already," she added.
"Where has she gone—to Roehampton? I dare say she has told it all to her godmother," said Lord Canterville.
"She won't have much to tell, poor girl!" Jackson Lemon exclaimed. "I must really insist upon seeing with more freedom the person I wish to marry."
"You shall have all the freedom you want, in two or three days," said Lady Canterville. She smiled with all her sweetness; she appeared to have accepted him, and yet still to be making tacit assumptions. "Are there not certain things to be talked of first?"
"Certain things, dear lady?"
Lady Canterville looked at her husband, and though he was still at his window, this time he felt it in her silence, and had to come away and speak. "Oh, she means settlements, and that kind of thing." This was an allusion which came with a much better grace from him.
Jackson Lemon looked from one of his companions to the other; he colored a little, and gave a smile that was perhaps a trifle fixed. "Settlements? We don't make them in the United States. You may be sure I shall make a proper provision for my wife."
"My dear fellow, over here—in our class, you know, it 's the custom," said Lord Canterville, with a richer brightness in his face at the thought that the discussion was over.
"I have my own ideas," Jackson answered, smiling.
"It seems to me it 's a question for the solicitors to discuss," Lady Canterville suggested.
"They may discuss it as much as they please," said Jackson Lemon, with a laugh. He thought he saw his solicitors discussing it! He had indeed his own ideas. He opened the door for Lady Canterville, and the three passed out of the room together, walking into the hall in a silence in which there was just a tinge of awkwardness. A note had been struck which grated and scratched a little. A pair of brilliant footmen, at their approach, rose from a bench to a great altitude, and stood there like sentinels presenting arms. Jackson Lemon stopped, looking for a moment into the interior of his hat, which he had in his hand. Then, raising his keen eyes, he fixed them a moment on those of Lady Canterville, addressing her, instinctively, rather than her husband. "I guess you and Lord Canterville had better leave it to me!"
"We have our traditions, Mr. Lemon," said her ladyship, with nobleness. "I imagine you don't know———" she murmured.
Lord Canterville laid his hand on the young man's shoulder. "My dear boy, those fellows will settle it in three minutes."
"Very likely they will!" said Jackson Lemon. Then he asked of Lady Canterville when he might see Lady Barb.
She hesitated a moment, in her gracious way. "I will write you a note."
One of the tall footmen, at the end of the impressive vista, had opened wide the portals, as if even he were aware of the dignity to which the little visitor had virtually been raised. But Jackson lingered a moment; he was visibly unsatisfied, though apparently so little unconscious that he was unsatisfying. "I don't think you understand me."
"Your ideas are certainly different," said Lady Canterville.
"If the girl understands you, that 's enough!" Lord Canterville exclaimed in a jovial, detached, irrelevant way.
"May not she write to me?" Jackson asked of her mother. "I certainly must write to her, you know, if you won't let me see her."
"Oh, yes, you may write to her, Mr. Lemon."
There was a point for a moment in the look that he gave Lady Canterville, while he said to himself that if it were necessary he would transmit his notes through the old lady at Roehampton. "All right, good by; you know what I want, at any rate." Then, as he was going, he turned and added: "You need n't be afraid that I won't bring her over in the hot weather!"
"In the hot weather?" Lady Canterville murmured, with vague visions of the torrid zone, while the young American quitted the house with the sense that he had made great concessions.
His host and hostess passed into a small morningroom, and (Lord Canterville having taken up his hat and stick to go out again) stood there a moment, face to face.
"It's clear enough he wants her," said his lordship, in a summary manner.
"There 's something so odd about him," Lady Canterville answered. "Fancy his speaking so about settlements!"
"You had better give him his head; he 'll go much quieter."
"He 's so obstinate—very obstinate; it 's easy to see that. And he seems to think a girl in your daughter's position can be married from one day to the other—with a ring and a new frock—like a housemaid."
"Well, of course, over there, that 's the kind of thing. But he seems really to have a most extraordinary fortune; and every one does say their women have carte blanche."
"Carte blanche is not what Barb wishes; she wishes a settlement. She wants a definite income; she wants to be safe."
Lord Canterville stared a moment. "Has she told you so? I thought you said———." And then he stopped. "I beg your pardon," he added.
Lady Canterville gave no explanation of her inconsistency. She went on to remark that American fortunes were notoriously insecure; one heard of nothing else; they melted away like smoke. It was their duty to their child to demand that something should be fixed.
"He has a million and a half sterling," said Lord Canterville. "I can't make out what he does with it."
"She ought to have something very handsome," his wife remarked.
"Well, my dear, you must settle it: you must consider it; you must send for Hilary. Only take care you don't put him off; it may be a very good opening, you know. There is a great deal to be done out there; I believe in all that," Lord Canterville went on, in the tone of a conscientious parent.
"There is no doubt that he is a doctor—in those places," said Lady Canterville, musingly.
"He may be a pedler for all I care."
"If they should go out, I think Agatha might go with them," her ladyship continued, in the same tone, a little disconnectedly.
"You may send them all out if you like. Good by!" And Lord Canterville kissed his wife.
But she detained him a moment, with her hand on his arm. "Don't you think he is very much in love?"
"Oh, yes, he 's very bad; but he 's a clever little beggar."
"She likes him very much," Lady Canterville announced, rather formally, as they separated.