LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 208, 8 February 1875, Page 3

LITERATURE.

AN OLD MAN’S DARLING. In Two Chapters. Continued. Her education had fostered her natural abilities. She had never been crammed ; nor kept, against her will, to irksome tasks ; nor snubbed when she asked questions ; nor told that she must take this or that for granted because her elders affirmed it. Her father had made a little companion of her : never involving what ho was about in any air of- mystery, yet never bothering her Avith it unless she showed interest and ‘ Avanted to knoAV.’ And Dr Anlrobus had fallen naturally into similar habits Avith the child, only his power of explaining things simply Avas far superior to Mr Soaraby’s. Indeed, he would have made a capital Polytechnic lecturer, if he had gone in for that style of business. Added to this, he Avas a big child himself, and enjoyed a game of the simplest character, or a fairy tale for its own sake, and not merely because it pleased his small companion. No Avondcr Ethel felt as if twothirds of her interest in life had been SAvept away vvhen her guardian left; and a considerable part of the remaining .portion attached to the arrival of the mails. The doctor behaved well, and wrote on every opportunity, while Ethel was never without an epistle on the stocks. The much indulged-girl found her masters Avith their regular tasks very irksome at first but Granny, as she continued to call Miss Antrobus, discovered a sure method of keeping her up to the collar. ‘ How pleased Uncle Gregory will be if you can play Thalberg to him (or read Italian, or German, or French to him) when he comes back.’ So Ethel became an accomplished young lady, and her industry brought its own

reward, for learning is only irksome when we attack it listlessly; for those who put their hearts into it, it is always a pleasure. Not that she was a recluse, entirely shut out from all the pleasures and amusements common to the girls of her age. Hawkshaw was not a dissipated place, but people did meet at one another’s houses, where the elders played whist, and their juniors less absorbing games. There was an archery club, too, of which Ethel was a member, and gained prizes (not a difficult matter, by-the-bye, for they had them for all shades of proficiency, and there were few blanks); picnic and nutting parties were not uncommon; an occasional entertainment, more or less dramatic in character, enlivened the town hall of a neighbouring borough, and formed an excuse for an evening’s outing; and though the word ball would have frightened the leading houses into fits, for Hawkshaw was puritan, a juvenile party, where dancing formed the principal amusement, was not considered worldly. And the interpretation of the word juvenile was free. There was the Honorable Mrs Trefoil, a lady with an aquiline nose, and other traces of former beauty; a fine woman still, though old enough to have once been a toast. While her husband, who was a Whig place Hunter, lived, she had held a conspicuous position in a somewhat distinguished coterie; and if Trefoil had only been able to take her brains about with him, his parliamentary career might have been a success instead of a failure. She coached him, indeed, admirably, but every now and then he rashly insisted upon having an opinion of his own, and that spoiled his prospects, So he got no return for the capital sunk in electioneering and dinner-giving; and died with his property so much impaired, that his childless widow was glad to retire from a world where she could no longer make much of a figure, to the neighbourhood of quiet Hawkshaw. This dame having taken a great fancy to Ethel, shewed civility to Granny, who was rather afraid of her, and insisted on calling her ‘My Lady.’ To Ethel, however, she was merely a goodnatured, friendly neighbour, who gave very pleasant little parties, and whose carriage was useful in the flower-show season. Be yond and above all, on two several occasions Mrs Trefoil turned the midwinter into joy and gladness by carrying Granny and Ethel bodily off to London, and giving them a glimpse of (theatrical) fairy-land. Two years passed; the doctor still remained in Africa, and the last petals of childhood fell from Ethel; a fact which was first brought home to poor Granny by the intrusion into their peaceful life of a lover. At one of the friendly lawn-parlies given by Mrs Trefoil in the summer months, there appeared a stranger, who fluttered the Hawkshaw dovecot, which knew only the cooings of two curates, an assistant-surgeon, and the second son of a neighbouring squire, now an undergraduate, and intended for the bar, and who might be fit for the matrimonial market in twenty years or so, if all well. Dudley was the stranger’s name ; he had no profession; dressed well; rode a valuable-looking horse ; was tall, handsome, with very white teeth, and a very black moustache, and a certain keen expression in his eyes which always makes a man pass for romantic ; above all, was single. There were eight young ladies between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five at that little fete, and seven of them were immediately prepossessed in this Mr Dudley’s favor. The eighth, who shuddered at him, was Ethel, who had a prejudice against dark men, and thought there was something especially Mephistophelean about this one’s expression. With the perversity which is so common in such matters, she was the only one who attracted his attention, and his admiration was so decided, that almost all went the people present noticed it. The fact was more remarkable that Ethel was by no means the best-looking or the finest girl present: after knowing her for a little while, one thought her very pretty and winsome, but she did not strike people generally at first. True, that she was rather a good match, having no near relatives, and her property, when she came of age, being entirely at her own disposal. But how was an utter stranger to know that? It is very rash to lay down general rules in such matters, but I think that a man of twenty-six or thirty, of good manners, and a certain experience, could, being in earnest, almost always make a girl ten years younger than himself take him for a lover, provided she was fancy free. It is the old story of nature of abhorring a vacuum, in the heart, or anywhere. At any rate, Mr Dudley managed to talk Ethel’s first aversion away that very afternoon, and the next time they met her only feeling was, that she was going to have an agreeable chat. Soon, whenever she went into company, she looked for him, and she seldom looked fruitlessly, for the young man rarely missed a chance of meeting her.

He had been asked to stay at Mrs Trefoil’s for a couple of days-only, but when he left he did not go far. He possessed a few hundred acres in another county, and wished to farm them himself, if the preseut tenant, who was in a very precarious state of health, should die. It was therefore requisite that he should study practical farming, and forthat purpose he took up his abode with Mr John Higgins, a substantial yeoman, whose homestead was not a mile out of the village. But as the time of year was not favorable for the study of top-dressing and subsoil draining, the agricultural neophyte had plenty of time oji his hands,' which he devoted to the cultivation of his neighbors. His attentions to Ethel became so marked, that Mrs Trefoil thought it right to call upon Miss Antrobus, and say what she knew of the young man. It was not much ; he was a cousin of her late husband’s ? was pretty well off, though not exactly rich; and had been educated abroad, where his parents, who were both dead, had resided. Indeed, she believed that his mother was a Frenchwoman. Poor Granny was dreadfully dismayed. ‘ But, my Lady,’ she said, when she could utter, ‘ Ethel is only a child ! ’ ‘ Quite right, dear Miss Antrobus,’ replied Mrs Trefoil; ‘you have the law on your side. But the law is very often opposed to nature and commonsense, and we cannot do any good by shutting our eyes to the fact, that our dear Ethel, though theoretically an infant, is practically a woman? ‘ But, my Lady, her guardian, Dr Antrobus, is away, and nothing of that kind can be talked about till he comes back. O dear, O dear!’ But Mr Dudley had no idea of pushing delicacy to the extent Granny desired.- On the contrary, he was very earnest and persevering, and there did not seem to be any rational excuse for getting rid of him; he was of suitable age and means, conducted

himself with propriety, and had been introduced by the one lady who represented aristocracy at Hawkshaw. Several aggravating neighbours called upon Miss Antrobus, and congratulated her on the conquest Ethel had made, thereby adding greatly to her perp’exity. ‘ Would it then really be a good thing if the girl married this man?’ ah# asked herself perpetually through several sleepless nights; and the only conclusion she could come to was, that there was something improper and shocking in the idea of an orphan young lady forming any attachment while her guardian was in Africa, and she was sure the right-minded Ethel would never do such a thing. So the subject was never mentioned between them until Ethel herself broached it, I don’t suppose that any girl had ever thought less about love and marriage than she had before Dudley paid his court to her, and so she was taken unawares. It was certainly pleasant to be appreciated; to meet with a fellow-creature who thought all she did perfect, all she said wise and witty; who, when in her presence, was in a state of rapt enchantment, when absent fromher, wretched. He said all this, and she believed him; for what object could he have in deceiving her? Her power over this man affected her strangely; it certainly would not be a hard fate, she thought, to spend her life with a companion who was so very fond of her. If she had to marry, and most women had, it seemed, it would certainly be better to marry a man thus infatuated, than one who took a more commonplace view of her attractions and duties. And then, poor fellow, he would be so very miserable if she rejected, and so supremely happy if she accepted him, that it seemed posith ely inhuman to say No. Not being a she Nero then, and Dudley driving her into a corner, she said Yes. ‘ 0 Ethel, Ethel! ’ cried Granny, shedding tears of distress at the news; * and Uncle Gregory in Africa ! ’ ‘ Of course, Granny dear, if Uncle Gregory disapproves, there is an end of the matter, for I am certain that he would not do so without good reasons ; and he will come home very soon now. Richard is going to call on you, dear.’ ‘ She calls him Richard! cried Granny, and went into hysterics. Dr Antrobus was hardly less perturbed than his sister when he received the letter informing him of his ward’s engagement. Absorbed as he had been by the congenial inquiries which had occupied him the last two years, his heart had constantly turned homewards with a yearning which grew stronger and stronger as the time for his return drew near. Of course, if the question had been put to him, he would have said that Ethel must now be a woman, and that he supposed she would soon be carried off by a husband ; but yet ho had never fairly recognised the idea; he associated her with everything belonging to himself and his home; indeed, she mas his home; for his aunt engaged his affections in a very inferior degree, and now he felt at first as if he had. been personally robbed and injured. As, however, he was an emintenly just and reasonable man, this feeling was soon, quelled; and he resigned himself with a sigh to the inevitable. ‘Of course she would not remain a child for ever,’ he said to himself; ‘ she wassure to form new ties, and forget her old friend some day. Why, lam not even a distant relative It is a mistake to love anything but science. ’ One November evening they were snug at Hawkshaw; the fire crackled, the curtains were drawn, thejlamp burned clearly. Granny was engaged, as was her wont, in adding row upon row to prodigious piece of network, the completed part of which was rolled up into an enormous globe. Ethel sat before a framed piece of canvas, upon which she was embroidering silk flowers. An open piano with music on it looked like a familiar instrument, not a fetich; and the books scattered about were likewise evidently in the habit of being read. ‘ls Mr Dudley coming to tea?’ Granny asked. * He said he would, ’ replied Ethel. A pause of half a minute; then said the elder lady; ‘ How soon did you say we might expect him to arrive?’ Now, him was not the lover, as you might naturally expect from the former sentence, but Dr Antrobus, who had announced his immediate return to England. ■ Some girls, especially if much infatuated, would have answered crookedly; but Ethel knew where Granny’s thoughts were, and was not much infatuated. So she answered, looking up with animation this time: ‘ The ship is due at Southampton on Wednesday, the day after to-morrow, and he might possibly come home the same evening. Oh, if ships were like railway trains, and arrived punctually, how nice it would be to go and meet him, would it not ? ’ * Yes; and yet, perhaps we should be in the way; there would be a great deal of luggage, specimens and things, will there not ?’ ‘ Oh, I could help him with that, or, at least, I am sure I should not hinder him. But we cannot do it, for we might just miss him, instead of meeting him sooner.’ ‘Exactly, my dear,’ said Granny, much relieved; for she had once been on a quay when a vessel was unlading, and had been so bustled and frightened, that she had not recovered her composure a week afterwards. ‘Or else,’ resumed Ethel, ‘ when you have been away for a long time, it must be very pleasant to sec friendly faces the first tiling when you Who can that be ?’ A carriage had stopped at the door, which was, a phenomenon sufficient to break off any sentence. Then there was a knock and a ring, and a footstep on the stairs. Then the door was flung wide, and a man, bearded, bronzed, and wrapped in an outlandish cloak, stood in the room. ‘ Uncle Gregory !’ cried Ethel, running at him.

‘lt isn’t William !’ said Granny. *lt can’t be William !’ as she looked at his beard. ‘ It is William !’ as the outlandish cloak was thrown off, and the shirt collar drooping on one side, came in evidence. To he continued.