Volume I Part 27 (1/2)
”I doubt it very much, sir; I am sick of the very name of Hubbard. Those Longbridge Hubbards are enough to spoil a paradise.”
”Well, Harriet,” said Mr. Wyllys, ”you seem to have made up your mind; so have I; now what is to be done?”
”Of course, sir, your opinion has great weight with me; you know I am always guided by you.”
”Then the matter is settled, and Evert goes to Hubbard's.”
Mr. Wyllys thought he had succeeded, on this occasion, in gaining his point, by taking his daughter-in-law at her word; but the very next morning she drove over to Wyllys-Roof, with a new view of the subject; and it was not until after half-a-dozen more conversations, that the matter was finally settled, by Mr. Wyllys refusing to give any more advice; when his daughter-in-law, of her own accord, determined to send her boy to Mr. Hubbard's school. It must be confessed that some women, endowed too with certain good qualities, are very trying, and possess a most vexatious vein of caprice. In the mean time the child was taken sick; he was ill for several weeks, and Elinor a.s.sisted in nursing him.
Independently of these consultations, and cares about her little cousin, there were other claims upon Elinor's attention at this time, and those the least romantic in the world. Within the last few weeks, all the men of Longbridge seemed to have their heads full of a new rail-road, one of the first that were made in this country. All the property Elinor had inherited from her father was in this village, and so placed as to have its value very much increased by this intended piece of internal improvement. Mr.
Hubbard was one of those most interested in the project, which was of some importance to Mr. Wyllys, also. The gentlemen had many meetings on the subject, and Elinor was obliged to hear a great deal that was going on; which houses were to be pulled down, which streets widened, what engineer was to be employed, where the rails were to come from, at what time they hoped to get the act through the a.s.sembly. Mr. Taylor, of course, was not the man to allow anything approaching to speculation, to take place in his neighbourhood without having something to do with it himself. He came over to Longbridge expressly to help matters on; and as Colonnade Manor was shut up, Mr. Wyllys, always hospitably inclined, asked him to his own house for a day or two. With such a spirit under their roof, little else was heard of besides stocks and lots, wharves and stores. Elinor's property was known to be much interested in the affair, and Mr. Hubbard and Mr.
Taylor thought it necessary to congratulate her. Mr. Taylor, indeed, would have been much shocked had he known how very little she cared about the matter.
{”a new rail-road” = The Camden and (Perth) Amboy line crossed New Jersey in 1833, and the Philadelphia and Columbia (Penn.) line opened in 1834}
”We shall have to consult you, Miss Elinor, in our proceedings,”
said Mr. Hubbard, as they were sitting at the dinner-table; perhaps you don't know it, but you will be one of our stockholders, and much interested in our success, I a.s.sure you.”
”My grandfather tried last night to give me some notions on the subject, Mr. Hubbard; but I am afraid he was not very successful.”
”Oh, I don't know that,” said Mr. Wyllys; ”I shall make quite a business woman of you, yet, Nelly.” In fact, her grandfather had taken the moment to a.s.sure Elinor that it was high time she should have some just ideas on such subjects, and insisted on her listening to all his explanations, and doing her best to comprehend them. Elinor tried to be a docile pupil, and really acquired some useful information, which may appear singular to romantic young ladies, who set up for broken-hearted; as her only object, however, was to gratify her grandfather, we hope she will be forgiven for anything so much out of character in a heroine.
”It is a beautiful speculation, Miss Wyllys,” observed Mr.
Taylor. ”I suppose you know enough about these things, to be glad to hear that in a year or two, you will probably realize two hundred per cent. on your lots in Water-Street, where the depot is to be built.”
”It all sounds very grandly, certainly,” said Elinor, smiling.
”We shall make a fortune for you, Miss Elinor,” added Mr.
Hubbard. ”You will be the great lady of Longbridge.”
”I dare say, Nelly, you will find some way of spending the money; young ladies know very well how to get rid of it, let it come ever so fast.”
”Yes, sir, my daughters are very expert at that; Emmeline thinks nothing of giving fifty dollars for a flimsy pocket-handkerchief, and as much for a flighty-looking hat. But I've no objections; I'll tell you in confidence, that is what we make our money for, Miss Elinor--for our children to spend,” added Mr. Hubbard, smiling good-naturedly. ”I dare say you will find a right use for some of yours. It will be in good hands, and I hope you may long enjoy it,” said he, making a bow to Elinor, as he drank off a gla.s.s of Madeira.
{”fifty dollars for a flimsy pocket-handkerchief” = this remark by Mr. Hubbard reflects James Fenimore Cooper's little-known novelette, ”The Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief” (1843), as do many aspects of the greedy and ostentatious Taylor family whom Emmeline Hubbard seeks to emulate}
Mr. Taylor, though he joined in the toast with some ”affable”
remark, as usual, could not help regretting that so much money, and consequently the power of making so much more, should not be in the hands of one who could turn it to better account than Miss Elinor Wyllys. He had a very poor opinion of Mr. Wyllys's money-making abilities, and thought him very ”unenterprising.”
That gentleman, on the contrary, when brought in closer contact with Mr. Taylor, began to have a clearer insight into his character, and while he found him uncommonly clever, discovered that several of his propositions betrayed anything but high principles. He began to believe that Mr. Graham's dislike was not ill-founded.
Mr. Hubbard, in the mean time, who had known Elinor from a child, was thinking how he could say something agreeable about love and beaux, supposed always to be pleasant subjects to young ladies.
He felt some doubts about hinting at Hazlehurst, for he thought he had heard the engagement was broken off. Happily for Elinor, the party rose from table before anything had suggested itself.
At length Mrs. Wyllys's boy recovered, and was sent off to school; and this rail-road matter was also satisfactorily settled. As there was nothing more to detain the family in the country, the Wyllyses went to Philadelphia, and took possession of their lodgings for the winter.
CHAPTER XIX.
”Had you not lately an intent, speak truly, To go to Paris?”