Quincunx

  When he had finished telling us this Uncle Martin asked him if he would withdraw for a few minutes. Papa objected to this, protesting that he had no secrets from the old gentleman, but Mr Escreet became very offended and insisted on leaving the chamber. When he had gone Uncle Martin asked Papa if he entirely believed his Story. My Father answered indignantly that he did. They discussed raising the money and Papa suggested mortgaging the annuaty on the estate. Uncle Martin opposed this because he said it endangered my future and he added that, besides, it might not be easy to raise money against it on the money-market for there were rumours that the Mompessons’ affairs were in a parlous State. He had learned nothing of this from Sir Perceval and Lady Mompesson when he had recently paid them his annual courtesy-visit (for he still observed this on account of the connexion that once existed between his Family and theirs), but he said it was generally known that the rent-roll was falling year by year since they put nothing back into the land. And he said: It grieves me to think of the improvements to which my Father devoted his life, being permitted to sink into ruin. But the point is that far from risking your income on a wild venture of this kind, you should be trying to reduce your expenses and put money aside in case it ceases altogether.

  Papa said: That kind of Prudence is not in my nature and in urging it upon me I believe, Martin, that you forget the motto of my Family: ‘Tutor rosa corum spines’, that is, the flower of safety lies within the perilous thorns. And that is why I suggest this: My cousin, Silas Clothier, will also benefit from the discovery of this Codacil and he has plenty of ready money. I will offer to let him buy it jointly with me. And he seated himself at his desk and began to write.

  Now Johnnie, this is where I have to explain something. Mr Silas Clothier, although considerably older than Papa, was his first cousin by vertue of his, Mr Clothier’s, mother being the daughter of Jeoffrey Huffam. (She was Sophia Huffam and that Alliance had been the cause of a great deal of trouble on account of the Clothiers not being considered gentile enough for the Huffams.) In this way he had inherited an interest in the Chancery Suit to which he was a Party, though he and Papa had quarrelled over it many years before and had not been on any sort of terms since then. He had two sons, Peter and Daniel. Uncle Martin had always feared and distrusted Mr Clothier, and so for this reason he was surprized and horrorfied by Papa’s suggestion. But he had another reason, so now he said: It is true that both Clothier and you have good reasons for wanting to lay the Codacil before the Court. But apart from the fact that he is a rogue, your interests and his are in direct conflict: for if Escreet is correct, Clothier or his heirs can inherit the Hougham Estate only if he is still alive at the death of yourself and Mary. At this Papa laughed and kissed me and said: Precisely. And there can be no likelyhood of that. Mary is forty years his junior. But Uncle Martin was not reassured by this and begged him to change his mind and when Papa proved unyielding, he even offerred to lend him the money himself on certain conditions. And this is where I have to.… No, I need not go into that here though I will try to explain it all soon.

  Mr Escreet was now summoned back into the room. He was close to tears and I was very affected. He said: I have served your Family for fifty years since I was hardly more than a boy, Mr John. And now, to be banished from the chamber in order to have my voracity and my motives discussed! It’s too much for mortal flesh to bear. Papa rose and embraced him: Dear old frend, pardon me. There was no question of your motives being impewned. My daughter and I trust you absolutely. But when Papa told him that he was going to ask Mr Silas Clothier to lend him the money to purchase the Codacil, Mr Escreet was horrorfied and said that he and Mr Clothier were bitter Enemies and now he allied himself with Uncle Martin in exorting him to have nothing to do with the old gentleman. Papa, however, was not to be moved. The Die was cast and the invitation was sent asking Mr Clothier and his sons to pay us a morning visit.

  They came a few days later. Mr Escreet disappeared to his own appartments as soon as he heard their knock. Old Mr Clothier was a small wisened man with bow legs. He was much older than I had expected and had a sharp, cunning face that I didn’t care for at all. He was carefully and neatly dressed in an old-fashioned style. His elder son, Daniel was a large man of at least forty with a rounded figure and a round fleshy face. He was very soberly dressed and looked every inch the respectable attorney — which is what he was, an attorney, I mean. He looked much older than his Brother and could almost have been mistaken for his Father. Yet Peter looked as if he had no relation to the other two at all. He was of middle height and slender with a pale, mellancoly face and large brown eyes. When he smiled, which he did very rarely, his countenance was transformed and all trace of sadness vanished. He was elegantly dressed in the style of a fashionable young gentleman.

  The servant handed round wine and cake and Papa and his cousin made peace. Old Mr Clothier was obviously intrigued to know why he had been invited. After a few minutes Papa rose saying: Come, old frend. We will go to Busyness aand leave the young folks to make each others’ aquaintance. It was strange to hear him speak thus for in years he was not very much older than young Mr Clothier and in appearance and manner he seemed younger. He took old Mr Clothier by the arm and guided him out of the room. Now, Johnnie, I must explain everything. I must explain everything about your Father before I go on. But I will wait until I have the strength.

  THIRD RELATION:

  Christmas-day, 1822.

  That poor woman! How much she has endured. And I fear for what she might find when she returns home. So much about the past and about London came back to me while I listened to her. There were things in her Story that touched very closely on my own life. Your questions about her have made me decide that I must tell you everything here, though I have put off writing about it for two years.

  Now I have to make my Confession. I know that by the time you read this you will be old enough to understand. I have promised to tell you about your Father and now I will. I must first go back to what passed when Uncle Martin was trying to dissuade Papa from having anything to do with Mr Clothier. You must know that what …

  [At this point several pages were missing where my mother had torn them out and forced me to burn them.]

  … that happened that night before we arrived at the Inn at Hertford, as you shall learn.

  Now I’ve said it at last!

  Now I must go back to the first time I met the Clothiers. While Papa was talking to the old gentleman in the Library I was attempting to converse with his sons. I found it extreamely difficult because young Mr Clothier was determined to dominate the conversation while his Brother became more and more reserved and tacitern, and yet what he had to say interested me much more than his Brother. For young Mr Clothier talked only of himself, his legal practice, and his household as if I could be interested only in him. When he mentioned his little daughter, I fell with relief upon this topic and asked him about her. I hadn’t realized that he was even married and I caused myself, if not him, a great deal of embarassment by making it necessary for him to explain that his wife had died in giving birth to the child. Papa had neglected to tell me anything about our visiters.

  At last my Father and old Mr Clothier rejoined us. The old gentleman looked extremely exsited and shortly after that they took their leave, though not before pressing Papa and myself to honour them by returning their call. When they had gone my Father embraced me and said: He has agreed! He is as enthusiastic for the Codacil as I am. He had no time to tell me more for we had to dress for dinner. But when Martin arrived Papa recounted to us how Mr Clothier had agreed to lend him the money. Martin asked about the terms and whether the old gentleman had made any conditions and at last Papa said: He insisted on some security. So I consented to an annuaty on my life at twenty per cent, and to assign the policy to him. Martin was annoyed at this for he said that it was contrairy to my interests for if Papa should die before the Loan was paid back then the principal would be a charge upon his Estate. Papa said: Stuf
f and nonsense! By the time I die I will have regained the Estate and paid back the Loan. Martin said: You’re too rash, John. What if you should die sooner than you expect? (Oh how those words have haunted me!) I begged them not to continue the topic, but Martin persisted and said: I made no such conditions in my proposal. Tell me frankly, John, are there any other conditions you have not told me of? I saw how bitter he was. Papa said nothing. Then Martin said: I am sure you will both be pleased to learn that I am after all getting married. My Father cried: Then you’re a fool! As I said to you the other day, a man of your age who has done without a wife for so many years has no Busyness aquiring one now. Martin was hurt at this, but when he said that his bride was to be Jemima, a cousin of ours, Papa, who had never liked her, made it worse by saying: The hussy is only after your money. You know she has none of her own and will be condemned to a life of governessing unless she marries. I feared that he would tell him that she had once tried to trap him into marriage (which I had never believed) but that he had seen through her tricks, but of course I could say nothing. Martin said: You have already made it clear that you do not believe that a young woman could come to love an old man like me. I can forgive the asspersion upon my own commonsense, but you do an injustice to my intended wife that I cannot ignore. Withdraw those words or I can no longer remain under this roof. Papa refused and so Martin left the house. I was quite relieved, though of course I was sorry that (as it seemed) Papa had lost his oldest frend.

  FOURTH RELATION:

  The 6th. of April, 1823.

  Perhaps it was wrong of me not to tell you, but I meant it for the best. You were unkind to say those things. After all, Mr Sancious assured us the Investment would do well, and you thought so too. I was unlucky, that is all.

  The Clothiers came again a number of times during the weeks that followed. On the first three or four occasions Peter accompanied his Father and Brother and while the two Fathers were closeted together in the Library, the three of us talked in the Drawing-room. I liked Peter better and better the more I came to know him, while my feelings for Daniel remained the same. It gradually became apparent to me that something was troubling Peter and that he seemed to be a little timid of his Brother. Then one day Daniel joined his Father in the Library to discuss some legal matters connected with the Loan and Peter and I were left to converse alone. Now Peter was more forthcoming and talked of his childhood and his mother who had died when he was quite a boy. He had loved her very much and had been very lonely after her death and unhappy at the school his Father had sent him to. Then he began to talk about the Busyness that his Father and Brother were involved in and he said: One may obey the laws of men and yet offend against those of God. At that moment his Brother entered the room and looked at him angrily and said: What are you saying? You must not bore the young lady. I said that he had been interesting me very much which appeared to annoy his Brother. They took their leave shortly afterwards.

  The next day Mr Clothier and his elder son came but this time without Peter. They offerred no explaination for his absence, and while old Mr Clothier withdrew to talk Busyness with Papa, young Mr Clothier staid with me. I asked him how his Brother was and he said: I am afraid. Miss Huffam, that he is indisposed today, as he occasionally is. I said that I was sorry to learn that his health was not good. He looked at me mysteriously and said: Let us speak of happier subjects. (I remember how, as he said this, he laid his hands together on his knees and slid the fingers of his two hands in and out of each other. His hands were podgy and red and the fingers reminded me of raw sausages.) He began to talk about his young daughter. His affection for his child was the only side to young Mr Clothier that I found any sympathy for. Very soon he began to speak of his desire to marry again and, though I attempted to steer him away from so personal a topic, he was determined to persist. To my horror he started to tell me that he believed he had found the right woman at last. I pretended to fail to percieve his meaning and by delaying in this way was at last rescued by the entry of our two Fathers.

  The old gentleman came in rubbing his hands together and looking at me in the most knowing way and said: I hope we are not interrupting. Mr Daniel Clothier smirked at this and to my distress Papa smiled at me as if he too were in the joke. Young Mr Clothier said: Well, Father, if it comes to that, you know, Miss Huffam and I were getting along very well without you. The old gentleman said to my Father: Young folks, eh, Huffam? To my relief they left soon afterwards, but when they had gone my Papa said: My dear child, I am glad to see how well you and Mr Daniel Clothier appear to understand each other. I could not restrain myself from bursting out that I detested him. My Papa said: I am very surprized to learn it. And disapointed, too, I may say. For, my dear child, have you considered the advantages of an Alliance with that Family? I could not speak and he said: Your and my interests in the Suit would then be identical to those of the Clothier Family: the Codacil would restore my Grandfather’s Title to the Hougham Propperty to me, as my heir you would inherit it, and your marriage to old Clothier’s son would mean that the children of that union would be his heirs as well as mine.

  Hardly knowing what I was saying, I asked him which son he refered to. He said: For my part it makes no odds at all, but I understood Clothier to mean Daniel. I would be perfectly content to leave the choice to you, and if you have an objection to the elder son, then by all means take the younger. My head was in a whirl at this. After a moment Papa asked: Then shall I tell old Clothier you’re agreeable? I cried out in alarm and he said angrily: Do you refuse then? I protested that I did not mean that either and he asked what in heaven’s name I did mean. I could not speak and he said: Come, my dear, I must say something to Clothier for he’s very anxious about this. Then he suddenly cried: I have it! Let me tell him you that do not object to having one of them? I nodded and he kissed me and called me his own girl. He sent this message to Mr Clothier and a few days later informed me that the Deed governing the terms of the Loan had been signed.

  A few days later all was ready for the purchase of the Codacil. Mr Clothier and his elder son came to the house in the morning and met Mr Escreet who was very nervous. It was strange to see him so frightened of so little a gentleman! Mr Clothier counted out the money — 4,000£ in bank-notes! — and paid it over to Papa who signed a Deed (which was then witnessed by Mr Escreet) and gave it to him. Papa then gave the money to Mr Escreet who left the room.

  Nearly an hour ticked away very slowly by the Grandfather clock. My Father walked up and down the room rubbing his nose while the old gentleman sat chewing the end of his cane and his son stared out of window with his arms crossed. At last Mr Escreet returned and handed Papa a small package. He took it with trembling hands and carried it across to the lamp on the desk. He opened it and examined the piece of parchment he drew from it while Mr Clothier and his son watched eagerly. I saw that my Father’s face was flushed and his eyes feverish and then noticed that old Mr Clothier was the same: his black eyes were glittering as he ground his teeth with impatience. His son was gripping his big hands together so hard that the pink flesh was white. At last Papa said: This document is genuine. I am as certain of that as I can be of anything. You’re a lawyer, see what you think. Clothier. Young Mr Clothier crossed the room and almost seized it from him. After examining it for a long time, he confirmed my Father’s judgement. Old Mr Clothier cried: Read it, for heaven’s sake! So young Mr Clothier read it and when they had heard it out they discussed its impliccations. Mr Clothier said: I have waited more than forty years to see this document laid before the Court. I am an old man and I cannot wait much longer. I hope you will set this in train tomorrow. Papa carefully rolled up the document and placed it in the silver case which you have seen so often and which he had made ready to recieve it. He then secured this to his watch-chain and fob. Then he smiled and said: Tomorrow is Saturday. I will do it on Monday. And until I hand it to the Court, I assure you that it will never leave my custardy. And now gentlemen, I beg you will do my daughter and
myself the honour of accepting my invitation to dinner? To my dismay, they did so. Because he had cause for cellarbration Papa partook freely of the wine though the two Clothiers remained sober and watchful. When the cloth was removed I retired to the drawing-room upstairs, but a few minutes later young Mr Clothier came in. As I made tea, he began to speak of the Codacil and the way it united the interests of our two families. Before I could say or do anything he had made me a flat proposal of marriage. I told him that I could not think of it. He said angrily that in that case our Fathers must have misunderstood each other, for his had very clearly recieved the impression from mine that I would look upon such a proposal favourably. At that moment the two gentlemen entered. I saw that Papa had taken more wine than was his usual custom. When Mr Clothier’s son told him what had passed, the old gentleman said to my Father: What is the meaning of this, Huffam? I asked permission of Papa to withdraw, but he said to me: This is d----d awkward for me, too. I told Clothier what you said to me. Now what’s changed your mind? I could not say anything. Old Mr Clothier said: That’s so, young woman. Your Father told me you had given your consent to marrying either of my sons.