Miss Marjoribanks

  _Chapter XXXVII_

  It would be vain to follow Lucilla in detail through her consistent andadmirable career; nor is it necessary to say that she went on steadilyin face of all her discouragements, with that mixture of success andfailure which comes natural to all human affairs. The singular thingabout it was, that the years passed on, and that she was permitted bythe world in general to fulfil her own promise and prophecy aboutremaining ten years at home to be a comfort to her dear papa. She hadbeen nineteen when she began her career, and she was nine-and twentywhen that little episode occurred with young Dr Rider, before he wasmarried to his present wife. There would have been nothing in the leastunsuitable in a marriage between Dr Rider and Miss Marjoribanks, thoughpeople who were the best informed never thought either of them had anyserious meaning; but, of course, the general public, having had Lucillafor a long time before their eyes, naturally added on seven or eightyears to her age, and concluded her to be a great deal older than theyoung doctor, though everybody allowed that it would have been a mostadvantageous match for him in every possible point of view. But,however, it did not come to anything, no more than a great many othernibbles of the same kind did. The period arrived at which Lucilla hadthought she might perhaps have begun to go off in her looks, but stillthere was no immediate appearance of any change of name or condition onher part. Many people quite congratulated themselves on the fact, as itwas impossible to imagine what might be the social condition of GrangeLane without Miss Marjoribanks; but it is doubtful whether Lucillacongratulated herself. She was very comfortable, no doubt, in every way,and met with little opposition to speak of, and had things a great dealmore in her own hands than she might have had, had there been a husbandin the case to satisfy; but notwithstanding, she had come to an age whenmost people have husbands, and when an independent position in the worldbecomes necessary to self-respect. To be sure, Lucilla _was_independent; but then--there is a difference, as everybody knows.

  And Miss Marjoribanks could not but feel that the world had not shownthat appreciation of her, to which, in her earlier days, she lookedforward with so little fear. The ten years, as they had really gone by,were very different from the ten years she had looked forward to, when,in the triumph of her youth, she named that period as the time when shemight probably begin to go off, and would be disposed to marry. By thistime the drawing-room carpets and curtains had faded a little, andLucilla had found out that the delicate pale green which suited hercomplexion was not to call a profitable colour; and nobody could havethought or said that to marry at this period would be in the leastdegree to swindle the Doctor. Thus the moment had arrived to which shelooked forward, but the man had not arrived with it. Ten years hadpassed, during which she had been at the head of society in Grange Lane,and a great comfort to her dear papa; and now, if there remained anotherdevelopment for Lucilla's character, it was about time that it shouldbegin to show itself. But at the same time, the main element necessaryfor that new development did not seem at present likely to be found inGrange Lane.

  Unless, indeed, it might happen to be found in the person of MrAshburton, who was so often in Carlingford that he might be said to forma part of society there. It was he who was related to the Richmonds, whowere a family much respected in the county. He had been at the bar, andeven begun to distinguish himself, before old Miss Penrhyn died and lefthim the Firs. He had begun to distinguish himself, but he had not, itappeared, gone so far as to prevent him from coming down to his newproperty and settling upon it, and taking his place as a localnotability. He was not a man who could be expected to care for eveningparties in a provincial town; but he never refused to dine with DrMarjoribanks, and was generally popular upstairs, where he always paid alittle attention to Lucilla, though nothing very marked and noticeable.Mr Ashburton was not like Mr Cavendish, for instance (if anybodyremembered Mr Cavendish), a man whose money might be in the Funds, butwho more probably speculated. Everybody knew everything about him, whichwas an ease to the public mind. The Firs was as well known asCarlingford steeple, and how much it was worth a year, and everythingabout it; and so was the proprietor's pedigree, which could be traced toa semi-mythical personage known as old Penrhyn, whose daughter was SirJohn Richmond's grandmother. The Firs, it is true, had descended in thefemale line, but still it is something to know where a man comes from,even on one side.

  Mr Ashburton made himself very agreeable in the neighbourhood, and wasnever above enlightening anybody on a point of law. He used to say thatit was kind to give him something to do, which was an opinion endorsedpractically by a great many people. It is true that some of hisneighbours wondered much to see his patience, and could not make out whyhe chose to rusticate at the Firs at his age, and with his abilities.But either he never heard these wonderings, or at least he never tookany notice of them. He lived as if he liked it, and settled down, andpresented to all men an aspect of serene contentment with his sphere.And it would be difficult to say what suggestion or association it waswhich brought him all of a sudden into Miss Marjoribanks's head, oneday, when, seeing a little commotion in Masters's shop, she went in tohear what it was about. The cause of the commotion was an event whichhad been long expected, and which, indeed, ten years before, had beenlooked on as a possible thing to happen any day. The wonder was, notthat old Mr Chiltern should die, but that he should have lived so long.The ladies in Masters's cried, "Poor dear old man!" and said to eachother that however long it might have been expected, a death alwaysseemed sudden at the last. But, to tell the truth, the stir made by thisdeath was rather pleasant than sad. People thought, not of the careerwhich was ended, but of the one which must now begin, and of theexcitement of an election, which was agreeable to look forward to. Asfor Lucilla, when she too had heard the news, and had gone upon her way,it would be vain to assert that a regretful recollection of the timewhen Mr Cavendish was thought a likely man to succeed Mr Chiltern didnot occur to her. But when Miss Marjoribanks had dismissed thattransitory thought, Mr Ashburton suddenly came into her head by one ofthose intuitions which have such an effect upon the mind that receivesthem. Lucilla was not of very marked political opinions, and perhaps wasnot quite aware what Mr Ashburton's views were on the Irish Churchquestion, or upon parliamentary reform; but she said after, that it cameinto her mind in a moment, like a flash of lightning, that he was theman. The idea was so new and so striking, that she turned back and went,in the excitement of the moment, to suggest it to Mrs Chiley, and seewhat her old friend and the Colonel would say. Of course, if such athing was practicable, there was no time to lose. She turned roundquickly, according to her prompt nature; and such was her absorbedinterest in the idea of Mr Ashburton, that she did not know until shehad almost done it, that she was walking straight into her hero's arms.

  "Oh, Mr Ashburton!" said Lucilla, with a little scream, "is it you? Mymind was quite full of you. I could not see you for thinking. Do comeback with me, for I have something very particular to say----"

  "To me?" said Mr Ashburton, looking at her with a smile and a suddenlook of interest; for it is always slightly exciting to the mostphilosophical mortal to know that somebody else's mind is full of him."What you have said already is so flattering----"

  "I did not mean anything absurd," said Miss Marjoribanks. "Don't talkany nonsense, please. Mr Ashburton, do you know that old Mr Chiltern isdead?"

  Lucilla put the question solemnly, and her companion grew a little redas he looked at her. "It is not my fault," he said, though he stillsmiled; and then he grew redder and redder, though he ought to have beenabove showing such signs of emotion; and looked at her curiously, as ifhe would seize what she was going to say out of her eyes or her lipsbefore it was said.

  "It is not anything to laugh about," said Lucilla. "He was a very niceold man; but he is dead, and somebody else must be Member forCarlingford: that was why I told you that my mind was full of you. I amnot in the least superstitious," said Miss Marjoribanks, solemnly; "butwhen I stood there--there, just in front of Mr Holden's--you came int
omy mind like a flash of lightning. I was not thinking of you in theleast, and you came into my mind like--like Minerva, you know. If it wasnot an intimation, I don't know what it was. And that was why I ranagainst you, and did not see you were there. Mr Ashburton, it is you whomust be the man," said Lucilla. It was not a thing to speak lightlyabout, and for her part she spoke very solemnly; and as for MrAshburton, his face flushed deeper and deeper. He stood quite still inthe excitement of the moment, as if she had given him a blow.

  "Miss Marjoribanks, I don't know how to answer you," he cried; and thenhe put out his hand in an agitated way and grasped her hand. "You arethe only creature in Carlingford, man or woman, that has divined me," hesaid, in a trembling voice. It was a little public at the top of GrangeLane, where people were liable to pass at every moment; but still MissMarjoribanks accepted the pressure of the hand, which, to be sure, hadnothing whatever to do with love-making. She was more shy of suchdemonstrations than she had been in her confident youth, knowing that inmost cases they never came to anything, and at the same time that thespectators kept a vivid recollection of them; but still, in theexcitement of the moment, Miss Marjoribanks accepted and returned in awomanly way the pressure of Mr Ashburton's hand.

  "Come in and let us talk it over," Lucilla said, feeling that no timewas to be lost. It was a conference very different from that which, hadMr Chiltern been so well advised as to die ten years before, might havebeen held in Dr Marjoribanks's drawing-room over his successor'sprospects; but at the same time there was something satisfactory to thepersonal sentiments of both in the way in which this conversation hadcome about. When Lucilla took off her hat and sat down to give him allher attention, Mr Ashburton could not but feel the flattering characterof the interest she was taking in him. She was a woman, and young(comparatively speaking), and was by no means without admirers, andunquestionably took the lead in society; and to be divined by such aperson was perhaps, on the whole, sweeter to the heart of the aspirantthan if Colonel Chiley had found out his secret, or Dr Marjoribanks, oreven the Rector: and Lucilla for her part had all that natural pleasurein being the first to embrace a new interest which was natural under thecircumstances. "Let us talk it all over," she said, giving Mr Ashburtona chair near her own. "If I believed in spirit-rapping, you know, Ishould be sure that was what it meant. I was not thinking of you in theleast, and all at once, like a flash of lightning--Mr Ashburton sit downand tell me--what is the first thing that must be done?"

  "If I could ask you to be on my committee, that would be the first thingto be done," said Mr Ashburton, "but unfortunately I can't do that. Letme tell you in the first place how very much I am obliged----"

  "Don't say that, please," said Miss Marjoribanks, with her usual goodsense, "for I have done nothing. But papa can be on the committee, andold Colonel Chiley, who is such a one for politics; and of course SirJohn--that will be a very good beginning; and after that----"

  "My dear Miss Marjoribanks," Mr Ashburton said, with a smile, and alittle hesitation, "Sir John takes exactly the other side in politics;and I am afraid the Doctor and the Colonel are not of the same way ofthinking; and then my opinions----"

  "If they are not of the same way of thinking we must make them," saidLucilla: "after having such an intimation, I am not going to be put offfor a trifle; and besides, what does it matter about opinions? I am sureI have heard you all saying over and over that the thing was to have agood _man_. Don't go and make speeches about opinions. If you begin withthat, there is no end to it," said Miss Marjoribanks. "I know what yougentlemen are. But if you just say distinctly that you are the bestman----"

  "It would be an odd thing to say for oneself," said Mr Ashburton,and he laughed; but, to tell the truth, he was not a man of veryquick understanding, and at the first outset of the thing hedid not understand Lucilla; and he was a little--just a verylittle--disappointed. She had divined him, which was a wonderful proofof her genius; but yet at the bottom she was only an ignorant womanafter all.

  "I see it all quite clear what to do," said Miss Marjoribanks. "You musthave the Colonel and Sir John, and everybody. I would not pay the leastattention to Tories or Whigs, or anything of the sort. For my part Idon't see any difference. All that has to be said about it is simplythat you are the right man. Papa might object to one thing and theColonel might object to another, and then if Sir John, as you say, is ofquite another way of thinking----But you are the man for Carlingfordall the same; and none of them can say a word against that," saidLucilla, with energy. She stopped short, with her colour rising and hereyes brightening. She felt herself inspired, which was a new sensation,and very pleasant; and then the idea of such a coming struggle was sweetto Miss Marjoribanks, and the conviction burst upon her that she wasstriking out a perfectly new and original line.

  As for her candidate, he smiled, and hesitated, and paid her prettylittle compliments for a few minutes longer, and said it was very goodof her to interest herself in his fortunes. All which Lucilla listenedto with great impatience, feeling that it had nothing to do with thematter in hand. But then after these few minutes had elapsed the meaningof his fair adviser, as he called her, began to dawn upon Mr Ashburton'smind. He began to prick up his mental ears, so to speak, and see that itwas not womanish ignorance, but an actual suggestion. For, after all, solong as he was the Man for Carlingford, all the rest was of littleimportance. He took something out of his pocket, which was his addressto the constituency of Carlingford (for being anxious on the subject, hehad heard of Mr Chiltern's death an hour or two before anybody else),and choke-full of political sentiments. In it he described to theelectors what he would do if they sent him to Parliament, as carefullyas if their election could make him Prime Minister at least; andnaturally a man does not like to sacrifice such a confession of faith."I should like to read it to you," he said, spreading it out withaffectionate care: but Lucilla had already arranged her plans, and knewbetter than that.

  "If you were to read it to me," said Miss Marjoribanks, "I should besure to be convinced that you were quite right, and to go in with youfor everything; and then I should be no good, you know. If it were todrive papa and Sir John and the Colonel all to their own ways ofthinking, we never should make any progress. I would never mind aboutanybody's ways of thinking, if I were you. After all," said Lucilla,with fine satire, of which she was unconscious, "what does it matterwhat people think? I suppose when it comes to doing anything, the Whigsand the Tories are just the same. Mr Ashburton, it is the Man that iswanted," said Miss Marjoribanks, with all the warmth of suddenconviction. She felt a little like Joan of Arc as she spoke. When anarmy has the aid of a sacred maiden to bring inspiration to itscounsels, the idea of going on in the old formal way is no longer to betolerated. And such was the force of Lucilla's conviction, that MrAshburton, though he felt a little affronted, and could not but lookwith fond and compunctious regret upon his address, yet began more andmore to feel that there was justice in what she said.

  "I will think over what you say," he said, rather stiffly, and put uphis address--for it was natural, when he had done her such an honour asto offer to read it to her, that he should be affronted by her refusal.It was a bold experiment on Lucilla's part, but then she was carried outof herself at the moment by this singular flash of inspiration. "I willthink over what you say," Mr Ashburton continued; "and if my judgmentapproves----At all events I shall not issue _this_ till I have thoughtit all over. I am sure I am extremely obliged to you for your interest."And here he stopped short, and looked as if he were going to get up andgo away, which would have spoiled all.

  "You are going to stop to lunch," said Lucilla; "somebody is sure tocome in. And you know you must not lose any opportunity of seeingpeople. I am so glad to-night is Thursday. Tell me just one thing, MrAshburton, before any one comes. There is one thing that is reallyimportant, and must be fixed upon. If we were to make any mistake, youknow----"

  "What?" said the candidate eagerly--"about Reform? I have expressedmyself very clearly----"

&n
bsp; Lucilla smiled compassionately, and with the gentlest tolerance, at thiswild suggestion. "I was not thinking of Reform," she said, with thatmeekness which people assume when it is of no use being impatient. "Iwas thinking what your colours were to be. I would not have anything todo with the old colours, for my part--they would be as bad as opinions,you know. You may laugh, but I am quite in earnest," said MissMarjoribanks. As for Mr Ashburton, he did not begin to laugh until hehad fixed upon her that gaze of utter amazement and doubt with which onmany similar occasions ordinary people had regarded Lucilla--thinkingshe was joking, or acting, or doing something quite different from thesevere sincerity which was her leading principle. She was so used to it,that she waited with perfect patience till her companion's explosion ofamusement was over. He was thinking to himself what a fool she was, orwhat a fool he was to think of taking a woman into his counsels, or whatcurious unintelligible creatures women were, made up of sense and folly;and all the time he laughed, which was a relief to his feelings. MissMarjoribanks laughed a little too, to keep him in countenance, for shewas always the soul of good nature; and then she repeated, "Now you musttell me what our colours are to be----"

  "I am sure I don't know anything about colours," said the candidate,"any more than you do about opinions. I think they are equallyunimportant, to say the least. I shall adopt the colours of my faircounsellor," Mr Ashburton added, laughing, and making a mock bow to her,and getting his hat as he did so--for he had naturally calmed down alittle from the first enthusiasm with which he had hailed the woman whodivined him, and he did not mean to stay.

  "Blue and yellow are the old colours," said Lucilla thoughtfully, "andyou are the new man, you know, and we must not meddle with theseantiquated things. Do you think this would do?" As she spoke she took upa handful of ribbons which were lying by, and put them up to her facewith an air of serious deliberation which once more disturbed MrAshburton's gravity. And yet, when a young woman who is not at allbad-looking puts up a rustling, gleaming knot of ribbons to her hair andasks a man's opinion of the same, the man must be a philosopher or awretch indeed who does not give a glance to see the effect. Thecandidate for Carlingford looked and approached, and even, in thetemptation of the moment, took some of the long streamers in his hand.And he began to think Miss Marjoribanks was very clever, and the mostamusing companion he had met with for a long time. And her interest inhim touched his heart; and, after all, it is no drawback to a woman tobe absurd by moments. His voice grew quite soft and caressing as he tookthe end of ribbon into his hand.

  "If they are your colours they shall be mine," he said, with a sense ofpatronage and protection which was very delightful; and the two werestill talking and laughing over the silken link thus formed betweenthem, when the people came in whom Lucilla was expecting to lunch, andwho were naturally full of Mr Chiltern's death, which, poor old man! wasso sudden at the last. Mr Ashburton stayed, though he had not intendedit, and made himself very pleasant. And Lucilla took no pains toconceal her opinion that the thing was neither to consider Whigs norTories, but a good _Man_. And Major Brown, who had come with hisdaughters, echoed this sentiment so warmly that Mr Ashburton wasentirely convinced of the justice of Miss Marjoribanks's ideas. "Wecan't have a tip-topper, you know," Major Brown said, who was not veryrefined in his expressions; "and what I should like to see is a man thatknows the place and would look after Carlingford. That's what we're alllooking for." Mr Ashburton did not declare himself to Major Brown, buthe dashed off his new address ten minutes after he had taken leave ofMiss Marjoribanks, and put the other one in the fire like a Christian,and telegraphed for his agent to town. Lucilla, for her part, made aneffort equally great and uncompromising. She took the ribbon MrAshburton had played with, and cut it up into cockades of alldescriptions. It was an early moment, but still there was no time to belost in a matter of such importance. And she wore one on her breast andone in her hair when Mr Ashburton's address was published, and all theworld was discussing the new candidate.

  "Of course they are his colours--that is why I wear them," said Lucilla."I shall always think there was something very strange in it. Just afterI had heard of poor old Mr Chiltern's death, as I was passingHolden's--when I was not in the least thinking of him--he came into mymind like a flash of lightning, you know. If I had been very intimatewith poor old Mr Chiltern, or if I believed in spirit-rapping, I shouldthink _that_ was it. He came into my head without my even thinking ofhim, all in a moment, with his very hat on and his umbrella, likeMinerva--wasn't it Minerva?" said Miss Marjoribanks. And she took up MrAshburton's cause openly, and unfurled his standard, and did not evenask her father's opinion. "Papa knows about politics, but he has not hadan intimation, as I have," said Lucilla. And, naturally, she threw allthe younger portion of Grange Lane, which was acquainted with MrAshburton, and looked forward eagerly to a little excitement, and likedthe idea of wearing a violet-and-green cockade, into a flutter ofexcitement. Among these rash young people there were even a fewindividuals who took Lucilla's word for it, and knew that Mr Ashburtonwas very _nice_, and did not see that anything more was necessary. To besure, these enthusiasts were chiefly women, and in no cases had votes;but Miss Marjoribanks, with instinctive correctness of judgment,decided that there were more things to be thought of than the electors.And she had the satisfaction of seeing with her own eyes and hearingwith her own ears the success of that suggestion of her genius.Carlingford had rarely been more excited by any public event than it wasby the address of the new candidate, who was in the field before anybodyelse, and who had the boldness to come before them without uttering anypolitical creed. "The enlightened electors of Carlingford do not demand,like other less educated constituencies, a system of political doctrinescut and dry, or a representative bound to give up his own judgment, andact according to arbitrary promises," said the daring candidate: "whatthey want is an honest man, resolved to do his duty by his country, hisborough, and his constituency; and it is this idea alone which hasinduced me to solicit your suffrages." This was what Mr Ashburton saidin his address, though at that moment he had still his other address inhis pocket, in which he had entered at some length into his distinctivepersonal views. It was thus that an independent candidate, unconnectedwith party, took the field in Carlingford, with Miss Marjoribanks, likeanother Joan of Arc, wearing a knot of ribbons, violet and green, in herhair, to inspire and lead him on.