“My uncle would affirm it unhesitatingly. ‘He will be sick of you in a month,’ he would say.”
“Mrs. Pryor would seriously intimate the same.”
“Mrs. Yorke and Miss Mann would darkly suggest ditto.”
“If they are true oracles, it is good never to fall in love.”
“Very good, if you can avoid it.”
“I choose to doubt their truth.”
“I am afraid that proves you are already caught.”
“Not I. But if I were, do you know what soothsayers I would consult?”
“Let me hear.”
“Neither man nor woman, elderly nor young: the little Irish beggar that comes barefoot to my door; the mouse that steals out of the cranny in the wainscot; the bird that in frost and snow pecks at my window for a crumb; the dog that licks my hand and sits beside my knee.”
“Did you ever see any one who was kind to such things?”
“Did you ever see any one whom such things seemed instinctively to follow, like, rely on?”
“We have a black cat and an old dog at the rectory. I know somebody to whose knee that black cat loves to climb, against whose shoulder and cheek it likes to purr. The old dog always comes out of his kennel and wags his tail, and whines affectionately when somebody passes.”
“And what does that somebody do?”
“He quietly strokes the cat, and lets her sit while he conveniently can; and when he must disturb her by rising, he puts her softly down, and never flings her from him roughly. He always whistles to the dog and gives him a caress.”
“Does he? It is not Robert?”
“But it is Robert.”
“Handsome fellow!” said Shirley, with enthusiasm. Her eyes sparkled.
“Is he not handsome? Has he not fine eyes and well-cut features, and a clear, princely forehead?”
“He has all that, Caroline. Bless him! he is both graceful and good.”
“I was sure you would see that he was. When I first looked at your face I knew you would.”
“I was well inclined to him before I saw him. I liked him when I did see him. I admire him now. There is charm in beauty for itself, Caroline; when it is blent with goodness, there is a powerful charm.”
“When mind is added, Shirley?”
“Who can resist it?”
“Remember my uncle, Mesdames Pryor, Yorke, and Mann.”
“Remember the croaking of the frogs of Egypt. He is a noble being. I tell you when they are good they are the lords of the creation — they are the sons of God. Moulded in their Maker’s image, the minutest spark of His spirit lifts them almost above mortality. Indisputably, a great, good, handsome man is the first of created things.”
“Above us?”
“I would scorn to contend for empire with him — I would scorn it. Shall my left hand dispute for precedence with my right? Shall my heart quarrel with my pulse? Shall my veins be jealous of the blood which fills them?”
“Men and women, husbands and wives, quarrel horribly, Shirley.”
“Poor things! Poor, fallen, degenerate things! God made them for another lot, for other feelings.”
“But are we men’s equals, or are we not?”
“Nothing ever charms me more than when I meet my superior — one who makes me sincerely feel that he is my superior.”
“Did you ever meet him?”
“I should be glad to see him any day. The higher above me, so much the better. It degrades to stoop; it is glorious to look up. What frets me is, that when I try to esteem, I am baffled; when religiously inclined, there are but false gods to adore. I disdain to be a pagan.”
“Miss Keeldar, will you come in? We are here at the rectory gates.”
“Not to-day, but tomorrow I shall fetch you to spend the evening with me. Caroline Helstone, if you really are what at present to me you seem, you and I will suit. I have never in my whole life been able to talk to a young lady as I have talked to you this morning. Kiss me — and good-bye.”
Mrs. Pryor seemed as well disposed to cultivate Caroline’s acquaintance as Shirley. She, who went nowhere else, called on an early day at the rectory. She came in the afternoon, when the rector happened to be out. It was rather a close day; the heat of the weather had flushed her, and she seemed fluttered too by the circumstance of entering a strange house, for it appeared her habits were most retiring and secluded. When Miss Helstone went to her in the dining-room she found her seated on the sofa, trembling, fanning herself with her handkerchief, and seeming to contend with a nervous discomposure that threatened to become hysterical.
Caroline marvelled somewhat at this unusual want of self-command in a lady of her years, and also at the lack of real strength in one who appeared almost robust — for Mrs. Pryor hastened to allege the fatigue of her walk, the heat of the sun, etc., as reasons for her temporary indisposition; and still as, with more hurry than coherence, she again and again enumerated these causes of exhaustion, Caroline gently sought to relieve her by opening her shawl and removing her bonnet. Attentions of this sort Mrs. Pryor would not have accepted from every one. In general she recoiled from touch or close approach with a mixture of embarrassment and coldness far from flattering to those who offered her aid. To Miss Helstone’s little light hand, however, she yielded tractably, and seemed soothed by its contact. In a few minutes she ceased to tremble, and grew quiet and tranquil.
Her usual manner being resumed, she proceeded to talk of ordinary topics. In a miscellaneous company Mrs. Pryor rarely opened her lips, or, if obliged to speak, she spoke under restraint, and consequently not well; in dialogue she was a good converser. Her language, always a little formal, was well chosen; her sentiments were just; her information was varied and correct. Caroline felt it pleasant to listen to her, more pleasant than she could have anticipated.
On the wall opposite the sofa where they sat hung three pictures — the centre one, above the mantelpiece, that of a lady; the two others, male portraits.
“That is a beautiful face,” said Mrs. Pryor, interrupting a brief pause which had followed half an hour’s animated conversation. “The features may be termed perfect; no statuary’s chisel could improve them. It is a portrait from the life, I presume?”
“It is a portrait of Mrs. Helstone.”
“Of Mrs. Matthewson Helstone? Of your uncle’s wife?”
“It is, and is said to be a good likeness. Before her marriage she was accounted the beauty of the district.”
“I should say she merited the distinction. What accuracy in all the lineaments! It is, however, a passive face. The original could not have been what is generally termed ‘a woman of spirit.’”
“I believe she was a remarkably still, silent person.”
“One would scarcely have expected, my dear, that your uncle’s choice should have fallen on a partner of that description. Is he not fond of being amused by lively chat?”
“In company he is. But he always says he could never do with a talking wife.