Volume I Part 42 (1/2)
”At any rate you ventured on the experiment,” said he, with a grin.
Then, turning to Mary Anne, he went on: ”I see that James has informed you on this affair, and it only remains for me now to ask you what your sentiments are.
”Oh, my poor heart!” said she, pressing her hand to her side, ”how can I divide its allegiance?”
”Don't try that, at all events,” said he, ”for though I never thought him a suitable match for you, my dear, if you really do feel an attachment to Peter Belton--”
”Of course I do not, papa.”
”Of course she does not--never did--never could,” said I.
”So much the better,” said he; ”and now for this Baron von--I never can remember his name--do you think you could be happy with him? Or do you know enough of his temper, tastes, and disposition to answer that question?”
”I 'm sure he is a most amiable person; he is exceedingly clever and accomplished--”
”I don't care a bra.s.s bodkin for all that,” broke in K. I. ”A man may be as wise as the bench of bishops, and be a bad husband.”
”Let _me_ talk to Mary Anne,” said I. It's only a female heart, Molly, understands these cases; for men discuss them as if they were matters of reason! And with that I marched her off with me to my own room.
I need n't tell you all I said, nor what she replied to me; but this much I will say, a more sensible girl I never saw. She took in the whole of our situation at once. She perceived that there was no saying how long K. I. might be induced to remain abroad; it might be, perhaps, to-morrow, or next day, that he'd decide to go back to Ireland. What a position we 'd be in, then! ”I don't doubt,” says she, ”but if time were allowed me, I could do better than this. With the knowledge I have now of life, I feel very confident; but if we are to be marched off before the campaign begins, mamma, how are we to win our laurels?” Them's her words, Molly, and they express her meaning beautifully.
We agreed at last that the best thing was to accept the invitation to the castle, and when we saw the place, and the way of living, we could then decide on the offer of marriage.
If I could only repeat to you the remarks Mary Anne made about this, you 'd see what a girl she was, and what a wonderful degree of intelligence she possesses. Even on the point that K. I. himself raised a doubt,--the difference of nationality and language,--she summed up the whole question in a few words. Her observation was, that this very circ.u.mstance was rather an advantage than otherwise, ”as offering a barrier against the over-intimacy and over-familiarity that is the bane of married life.”
”The fact is, mamma,” said she, ”people do not conform to each other.
They make a show of doing so, and they become hypocrites,--great or little ones, as their talents decide for them,--but their real characters remain at bottom unchanged. Now, married to a foreigner, a woman need not even affect to a.s.sume his tastes and habits. She may always follow her own, and set them down, whatever they be, to the score of her peculiar nationality.”
She is really, Molly, an astonis.h.i.+ng girl, and in all that regards life and knowledge of mankind, I never met her equal. As to Caroline, she never could have made such a remark. The advantages of the Continent are clean thrown away on her; she knows no more of the world than the day we left Dodsborough. Indeed, I sometimes half regret that we did n't leave her behind with the Doolans; for I observe that whenever foreign travel fails in inculcating new refinement and genteel notions, it is sure to strengthen all old prejudices, and suggest a most absurd attachment to one's own country; and when that happens to be Ireland, Molly, I need scarcely say how injurious the tendency is! It's very dreadful, my dear, but it's equally true, whenever anything is out of fas.h.i.+on, in bad taste, vulgar, or common, you 're sure to hear it called Irish, though, maybe, it never crossed the Channel; and out of self-defence one is obliged to adopt the custom.
On one point Mary Anne and myself were both agreed. It is next to impossible for any one but a banker's daughter, or in the ballet, to get a husband in the peerage at home. The n.o.bility, with us, are either very cunning or very foolish. As to the gentry cla.s.s, they never think of them at all. The consequence is, that a girl who wishes for a t.i.tle must take a foreigner. Now, Molly, German n.o.bility is mightily like German silver,--it has only a look of the real article; but if you can't afford the right thing, it is better than the vulgar metal!
Mary Anne has declared, over and over again, that nothing would induce her to be Mrs. Anybody. As she says, ”Your whole life is pa.s.sed in a struggle, if not heralded by a designation, even though it only be 'Madame.'” And sure n.o.body knows this better than I do. Has n't the odious name weighed me down for years past?
”Take him, then, my dear child,” said I,--”take him, then, and may you have luck in your choice! It will be a consolation to me, in all my troubles and trials, to know that one of my girls at least sustains the honor of her mother's family. You 'll be a baroness, at all events.”
She pressed my hand affectionately, Molly, but said nothing. I saw that the poor dear child was n't doing it all without some sacrifice or other; but I was too prudent to ask questions. There 's nothing, in my opinion, does such mischief as the system of probing and poking into wounds of the affections; it's the sure way to keep them open, and prevent their healing; so that I kept on, never minding, and only talked of ”the Baron.”
”It will kill the Davises,” said she, at last; ”they'll die of spite when they hear it.”
”That they will,” said I; ”and they'll deny it to all the neighbors, till it's copied into the country papers out of the 'Morning Post' What will become of all their sneering remarks about going abroad now, I wonder! Faith, my dear, you might live long enough at Bruff without seeing a baron.”
”I think Mr. Peter, too, will at last perceive the outrageous absurdity of his pretensions,” said she. ”The Castle of Wolfenfels is not exactly like the village dispensary.”
In a word, my dear Molly, we considered the question in all its bearings, and agreed that though we had rather he was a viscount, with a fine estate at home, yet that the thing was still too good to refuse.
”It's a fine position,” said Mary Anne, ”and I'll see if I can't improve it.” We agreed, as Caroline was so happy where she was,--on a visit with this Mrs. Morris,--that we 'd leave her there a little longer; for, as Mary Anne remarked, ”She's so natural and so frank and so very confiding, she'll just tell everything about us, and spoil all!” And it is true, Molly. That girl has no more notion of the difficulties it costs us to be what we are, and where we are, than if she was n't one of the family. She's a regular Dodd, and no more need be said.
The next day, you may be sure, was n't an idle one. We had to pack all our things, to get a new livery made for Paddy Byrne, and to hire a travelling-carriage, so that we might make our appearance in a style becoming us. Betty, too, had to be drilled how she was to behave in a great house full of servants, and taught not to expose us by any of her outlandish ways. Mary Anne had her up to eat before her, and teach her various politenesses; but the saints alone can tell how the lesson will prosper.