Part 20 (2/2)
”Aye! that we shall,” said Tom heartily; ”you're a man's parson; that's about what you are. But,” he added, seriously; ”you wouldn't do among the old women, you know.”
At dinner, Miss Thornton said, ”I hope, Mr. Maberly, you are none the worse after your run? Are you not afraid of such violent exercise bringing on palpitation of the heart?”
”Not I, my dear madam,” he said. ”Let me make my defence for what, otherwise, you might consider mere boyish folly. I am pa.s.sionately fond of athletic sports of all kinds, and indulge in them as a pleasure. No real man is without some sort of pleasure, more or less harmless. Nay, even your fanatic is a man who makes a pleasure and an excitement of religion. My pleasures are very harmless; what can be more harmless than keeping this sh.e.l.l of ours in the highest state of capacity for n.o.ble deeds? I know,” he said, turning to Tom, ”what the great temptation is that such men as you or I have to contend against. It is 'the pride of life;' but if we know that and fight against it, how can it prevail against us? It is easier conquered than the l.u.s.t of the flesh, or the l.u.s.t of the eye, though some will tell you that I can't construe my Greek Testament, and that the 'pride of life' means something very different. I hold my opinion however, in spite of them.
Then, again, although I have taken a good degree (not so good as I might, though), I consider that I have only just begun to study.
Consequently, I read hard still, and shall continue to do so the next twenty years, please G.o.d. I find my head the clearer, and my intellect more powerful in consequence of the good digestion produced by exercise; so I mean to use it till I get too fat, which will be a long while first.”
”Ain't you afraid,” said Tom, laughing, ”of offending some of your weaker brothers' consciences, by running four miles, because a publican said you couldn't?”
”Disputing with a publican might be an error of judgment,” said Frank.
”Bah! MIGHT be--it WAS; but with regard to running four miles--no. It is natural and right that a man at five-and-twenty should be both able and willing to run four miles, a parson above all others, as a protest against effeminacy. With regard to consciences, those very tender conscienced men oughtn't to want a parson at all.”
Miss Thornton had barely left the room, to go up to the Vicar, leaving Tom and Frank Maberly over their wine, when the hall-door was thrown open, and the well-known voice of the Doctor was heard exclaiming in angry tones:--
”If! sir, if! always at if's. If Blucher had destroyed the bridge, say you, as if he ever meant to be such a Vandal. And if he had meant to do it, do you think that fifty Wellesleys in one would have stayed him?
No, sir; and if he had destroyed every bridge on the Seine, sir, he would have done better than to be overruled by the counsels of Wellington (glory go with him, however! He was a good man). And why, forsooth?--because the English bore the brunt at Waterloo, in consequence of the Prussians being delayed by muddy roads.”
”And Ligny,” said the laughing voice of Major Buckley. ”Oh, Doctor, dear! I like to make you angry, because then your logic is so very outrageous. You are like the man who pleaded not guilty of murder: first, because he hadn't done it; secondly, that he was drunk when he did it; and thirdly, that it was a case of mistaken ident.i.ty.”
”Ha, ha!” laughed the Doctor, merrily, recovering his good humour in a moment. ”That's an Irish story for a thousand pounds. There's nothing English about that. Ha! ha!”
They were presented to Frank as the new curate. The Doctor, after a courteous salutation, put on his spectacles, and examined him carefully. Frank looked at him all the time with a quiet smile, and in the end the Doctor said--
”Allow me the privilege of shaking hands with you, sir.” ”Shall I be considered rude if I say that I seldom or never saw a finer head than yours on a man's shoulders? And, judging by the face, it is well lined.”
”Like a buck-basket,” said Frank, ”full of dirty linen. Plenty of it, and of some quality, but not in a state fit for use yet. I will have it washed up, and wear such of it as is worth soon.”
The Doctor saw he had found a man after his own heart, and it was not long before Frank and he were in the seventh heaven of discussion.
Meanwhile, the Major had drawn up alongside of Tom, and said--
”Any news of the poor little dove that has left the nest, old friend?”
”Yes,” said Tom, eagerly; ”we have got a letter. Good news, too.”
”Thank G.o.d for that,” said the Major. ”And where are they?”
”They are now at Brighton.”
”What's that?” said the Doctor, turning round. ”Any news?”
They told him, and then it became necessary to tell Frank Maberly what he had not known before, that the Vicar had a daughter who had ”gone off.”
”One of the prettiest, sweetest creatures, Mr. Maberly,” said the Major, ”that you ever saw in your life. None of us, I believe, knew how well we loved her till she was gone.”
”And a very remarkable character, besides,” said the Doctor. ”Such a force of will as you see in few women of her age. Obscured by pa.s.sion and girlish folly, it seemed more like obstinacy to us. But she has a n.o.ble heart, and, when she has outlived her youthful fancies, I should not be surprised if she turned out a very remarkable woman.”
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