Part 5 (1/2)
”Now, what would you think of the Duke of L---?” asked the Earl in a voice of half-smothered exultation and delight.
”The Duke of L-----!” repeated Lady Juliana, with a scream of horror and surprise; ”surely, papa, you cannot be serious? Why, he's red-haired and squints, and he's as old as you.”
”If he were as old as the devil, and as ugly too,” interrupted the enraged Earl, ”he should be your husband: and may I perish if you shall have any other!”
The youthful beauty burst into tears, while her father traversed the apartment with an inflamed and wrathful visage.
”If it had been anybody but that odious Duke,” sobbed the lovely Juliana.
”If it had been anybody but that odious Duke!” repeated the Earl, mimicking her, ”they should not have had you. It has been my sole study, ever since I saw your brother settled, to bring about this alliance; and, when this is accomplished, my utmost ambition will be satisfied. So no more whining--the affair is settled; and all that remains for you to do is to study to make yourself agreeable to his Grace, and to sign the settlements. No such mighty sacrifice, me thinks, when repaid with a ducal coronet, the most splendid jewels, the finest equipages, and the largest jointure of any woman in England.”
Lady Juliana raised her head, and wiped her eyes. Lord Courtland perceived the effect his eloquence had produced upon the childish fancy of his daughter, and continued to expatiate upon the splendid joys that awaited her in a union with a n.o.bleman of the Duke's rank and fortune; till at length, dazzled, if not convinced, she declared herself ”satisfied that it was her duty to marry whoever papa pleased; but--”
and a sigh escaped her as she contrasted her n.o.ble suitor with her handsome lover: ”but if I should marry him, papa, I am sure I shall never be able to love him.”
The Earl smiled at her childish simplicity as he a.s.sured her that was not at all necessary; that love was now entirely confined to the _canaille;_ that it was very well for ploughmen and dairymaids to marry for love; but for a young woman of rank to think of such a thing was plebeian in the extreme!
Lady Juliana did not entirely subscribe to the arguments of her father; but the gay and glorious vision that floated in her brain stifled for a while the pleadings of her heart; and with a sparkling eye and an elastic step she hastened to prepare for the reception of the Duke.
For a few weeks the delusion lasted. Lady Juliana was flattered with the homage she received as a future d.u.c.h.ess; she was delighted with the eclat that attended her, and charmed with the daily presents showered upon her by her n.o.ble suitor.
”Well, really, Favolle,” said she to her maid, one day, as she clasped on her beautiful arm a resplendent bracelet, ”it must be owned the Duke has a most exquisite taste in trinkets; don't you think so? And, do you know, I don't think him so very--very ugly. When we are married I mean to make him get a Brutus, cork his eyebrows, and have a set of teeth.”
But just then the smiling eyes, curling hair, and finely formed person of a certain captivating Scotsman rose to view in her mind's eye; and, with a peevish ”pshaw!” she threw the bauble aside.
Educated for the sole purpose of forming a brilliant establishment, of catching the eye, and captivating the senses, the cultivation of her mind or the correction of her temper had formed no part of the system by which that aim was to be accomplished. Under the auspices of a fas.h.i.+onable mother and an obsequious governess the froward petulance of childhood, fostered and strengthened by indulgence and submission, had gradually ripened into that selfishness and caprice which now, in youth, formed the prominent features of her character. The Earl was too much engrossed by affairs of importance to pay much attention to anything so perfectly insignificant as the mind of his daughter. Her _person_ he had predetermined should be entirely at his disposal, and therefore contemplated with delight the uncommon beauty which already distinguished it; not with the fond partiality of parental love, but with the heartless satisfaction of a crafty politician.
The mind of Lady Juliana was consequently the sport of every pa.s.sion that by turns a.s.sailed it. Now swayed by ambition, and now softened by love, the struggle was violent, but it was short. A few days before the one which was to seal her fate she granted an interview to her lover, who, young, thoughtless, and enamoured as herself, easily succeeded in persuading her to elope with him to Scotland. There, at the altar of Vulcan, the beautiful daughter of the Earl of Courtland gave her hand to her handsome but penniless lover; and there vowed to immolate every ambitious desire, every sentiment of vanity and high-born pride. Yet a sigh arose as she looked on the filthy hut, sooty priest, and ragged witnesses; and thought of the special license, splendid saloon, and bridal pomp that would have attended her union with the Duke. But the rapturous expressions which burst from the impa.s.sioned Douglas made her forget the gaudy pleasures of pomp and fas.h.i.+on. Amid the sylvan scenes of the neighbouring lakes the lovers sought a shelter; and, mutually charmed with each other, time flew for a while on downy pinions.
At the end of two months, however, the enamoured husband began to suspect that the lips of his ”angel Julia” could utter very silly things; while the fond bride, on her part, discovered that though her ”adored Henry's” figure was symmetry itself, yet it certainly was deficient in a certain air--a _je ne sais quoi_--that marks the man of fas.h.i.+on.
”How I wish I had my pretty Cupid here,” said her Ladys.h.i.+p, with a sigh, one day as she lolled on a sofa: ”he had so many pretty tricks, he would have helped to amuse us, and make the time pa.s.s; for really this place grows very stupid and tiresome; don't you think so, love?”
”Most confoundedly so, my darling,” replied her husband, yawning sympathetically as he spoke.
”Then suppose I make one more attempt to soften papa, and be received into favour again?”
”With all my heart.”
”Shall I say I'm very sorry for what I have done?” asked her Ladys.h.i.+p, with a sigh. ”You know I did not say that in my first letter.”
”Ay, do; and, if it will serve any purpose, you may say that I am no less so.”
In a few days the letter was returned, in a blank cover; and, by the same post, Douglas saw himself superseded in the Gazette, being absent without leave!
There now remained but one course to pursue; and that was to seek refuge at his father's, in the Highlands of Scotland. At the first mention of it Lady Juliana was transported with joy, and begged that a letter might be instantly despatched, containing the offer of a visit: she had heard the d.u.c.h.ess of M. declare nothing could be so delightful as the style of living in Scotland: the people were so frank and gay, and the manners so easy and engaging--oh! it was delightful! And then Lady Jane G. and Lady Mary L., and a thousand other lords and ladies she knew, were all so charmed with the country, and all so sorry to leave it. Then dear Henry's family must be so charming: an old castle, too, was her delight; she would feel quite at home while wandering through its long galleries; and she quite loved old pictures, and armour, and tapestry; and then her thoughts reverted to her father's magnificent mansion in D---s.h.i.+re.
At length an answer arrived, containing a cordial invitation from the old Laird to spend the winter with them at Glenfern Castle.