Venetia

  CHAPTER III.

  From the last departure of Lord Cadurcis from Cherbury, the health ofVenetia again declined. The truth is, she brooded in solitude over herstrange lot, until her nerves became relaxed by intense reverie andsuppressed feeling. The attention of a mother so wrapt up in her childas Lady Annabel, was soon attracted to the increasing languor ofour heroine, whose eye each day seemed to grow less bright, and hergraceful form less lithe and active. No longer, fond of the sun andbreeze as a beautiful bird, was Venetia seen, as heretofore, glancingin the garden, or bounding over the lawns; too often might she befound reclining on the couch, in spite of all the temptations of thespring; while her temper, once so singularly sweet that it seemedthere was not in the world a word that could ruffle it, and whichrequired so keenly and responded so quickly to sympathy, becamereserved, if not absolutely sullen, or at times even captious andfretful.

  This change in the appearance and demeanour of her daughter filledLady Annabel with anxiety and alarm. In vain she expressed to Venetiaher conviction of her indisposition; but Venetia, though her alteredhabits confirmed the suspicion, and authorised the inquiry of herparent, persisted ever in asserting that she had no ailment. Her oldmedical attendant was, however, consulted, and, being perplexed withthe case, he recommended change of air. Lady Annabel then consultedDr. Masham, and he gave his opinion in favour of change of air for onereason: and that was, that it would bring with it what he had longconsidered Venetia to stand in need of, and that was change of life.

  Dr. Masham was right; but then, to guide him in forming his judgment,he had the advantage of some psychological knowledge of the case,which, in a greet degree, was a sealed book to the poor puzzledphysician. We laugh very often at the errors of medical men; but ifwe would only, when we consult them, have strength of mind enough toextend to them something better than a half-confidence, we might becured the sooner. How often, when the unhappy disciple of Esculapiusis perplexing himself about the state of our bodies, we might throwlight upon his obscure labours by simply detailing to him the state ofour minds!

  The result of these consultations in the Herbert family was a finalresolution, on the part of Lady Annabel, to quit Cherbury for a while.As the sea air was especially recommended to Venetia, and as LadyAnnabel shrank with a morbid apprehension from society, to whichnothing could persuade her she was not an object either of odium orimpertinent curiosity, she finally resolved to visit Weymouth, then asmall and secluded watering-place, and whither she arrived and settledherself, it not being even the season when its few customary visitorswere in the habit of gathering.

  This residence at Weymouth quite repaid Lady Annabel for all thetrouble of her new settlement, and for the change in her life verypainful to her confirmed habits, which she experienced in leaving forthe first time for such a long series of years, her old hall; for therose returned to the cheek of her daughter, and the western breezes,joined with the influence of the new objects that surrounded her, andespecially of that ocean, and its strange and inexhaustible variety,on which she gazed for the first time, gradually, but surely,completed the restoration of Venetia to health, and with it to much ofher old vivacity.

  When Lady Annabel had resided about a year at Weymouth, in the societyof which she had invariably made the indisposition of Venetia a reasonfor not entering, a great revolution suddenly occurred at this littlequiet watering-place, for it was fixed upon as the summer residence ofthe English court. The celebrated name, the distinguished appearance,and the secluded habits of Lady Annabel and her daughter, had renderedthem the objects of general interest. Occasionally they were met in aseaside walk by some fellow-wanderer over the sands, or toiler overthe shingles; and romantic reports of the dignity of the mother andthe daughter's beauty were repeated by the fortunate observers to thelounging circle of the public library or the baths.

  The moment that Lady Annabel was assured that the royal family hadpositively fixed upon Weymouth for their residence, and were evendaily expected, she resolved instantly to retire. Her stern sense ofduty assured her that it was neither delicate nor loyal to obtrudebefore the presence of an outraged monarch the wife and daughter of atraitor; her haughty, though wounded, spirit shrank from the revivalof her husband's history, which must be the consequence of such aconjunction, and from the startling and painful remarks which mightreach the shrouded ear of her daughter. With her characteristicdecision, and with her usual stern volition, Lady Annabel quittedWeymouth instantly, but she was in some degree consoled for the regretand apprehensiveness which she felt at thus leaving a place that hadotherwise so happily fulfilled all her hopes and wishes, and thatseemed to agree so entirely with Venetia, by finding unexpectedlya marine villa, some few miles further up the coast, which wasuntenanted, and which offered to Lady Annabel all the accommodationshe could desire.

  It so happened this summer that Dr. Masham paid the Herberts a visit,and it was his habit occasionally to ride into Weymouth to read thenewspaper, or pass an hour in that easy lounging chat, which is,perhaps, one of the principal diversions of a watering-place. A greatdignitary of the church, who was about the King, and to whom Dr.Masham was known not merely by reputation, mentioned his presence tohis Majesty; and the King, who was fond of the society of eminentdivines, desired that Dr. Masham should be presented to him. Now, sofavourable was the impression that the rector of Marringhurst madeupon his sovereign, that from that moment the King was scarcely evercontent unless he was in attendance. His Majesty, who was happy inasking questions, and much too acute to be baffled when he soughtinformation, finally elicited from the Doctor all that, in order toplease Lady Annabel, he long struggled to conceal; but when the Kingfound that the deserted wife and daughter of Herbert were reallyliving in the neighbourhood, and that they had quitted Weymouth on hisarrival, from a feeling of delicate loyalty, nothing would satisfy thekind-hearted monarch but personally assuring them of the interest hetook in their welfare; and accordingly, the next day, without givingLady Annabel even the preparation of a notice, his Majesty and hisroyal consort, attended only by a lord in waiting, called at themarine villa, and fairly introduced themselves.

  An acquaintance, occasioned by a sentiment of generous andcondescending sympathy, was established and strengthened intointimacy, by the personal qualities of those thus delicately honoured.The King and Queen were equally delighted with the wife and daughterof the terrible rebel; and although, of course, not an allusion wasmade to his existence, Lady Annabel felt not the less acutely thecause to which she was indebted for a notice so gratifying, butwhich she afterwards ensured by her own merits. How strange are theaccidents of life! Venetia Herbert, who had been bred up in unbrokensolitude, and whose converse had been confined to two or three beings,suddenly found herself the guest of a king, and the visitor to acourt! She stepped at once from solitude into the most august circleof society; yet, though she had enjoyed none of that initiatoryexperience which is usually held so indispensable to the votariesof fashion, her happy nature qualified her to play her part withouteffort and with success. Serene and graceful, she mingled in thestrange and novel scene, as if it had been for ever her lot to dazzleand to charm. Ere the royal family returned to London, they extractedfrom Lady Annabel a compliance with their earnest wishes, thatshe should fix her residence, during the ensuing season, in themetropolis, and that she should herself present Venetia at St.James's. The wishes of kings are commands; and Lady Annabel, who thusunexpectedly perceived some of the most painful anticipations of hersolitude at once dissipated, and that her child, instead of beingsubjected on her entrance into life to all the mortifications she hadimagined, would, on the contrary, find her first introduction underauspices the most flattering and advantageous, bowed a dutiful assentto the condescending injunctions.

  Such were the memorable consequences of this visit to Weymouth! Thereturn of Lady Annabel to the world, and her intended residence in themetropolis, while the good Masham preceded their arrival to receive amitre. Strange events, and yet not improbable!

>   In the meantime Lord Cadurcis had repaired to the university, wherehis rank and his eccentric qualities quickly gathered round him achoice circle of intimates, chiefly culled from his old schoolfellows.Of these the great majority were his seniors, for whose societythe maturity of his mind qualified him. It so happened that thesecompanions were in general influenced by those liberal opinions whichhad become in vogue during the American war, and from which LordCadurcis had hitherto been preserved by the society in which hehad previously mingled in the house of his guardian. With thecharacteristic caprice and impetuosity of youth, Cadurcis rapidlyand ardently imbibed all these doctrines, captivated alike by theirboldness and their novelty. Hitherto the child of prejudice, heflattered himself that he was now the creature of reason, and,determined to take nothing for granted, he soon learned to questioneverything that was received. A friend introduced him to the writingsof Herbert, that very Herbert whom he had been taught to look uponwith so much terror and odium. Their perusal operated a completerevolution of his mind; and, in little more than a year from hisflight from Cherbury, he had become an enthusiastic votary of thegreat master, for his violent abuse of whom he had been banished fromthose happy bowers. The courage, the boldness, the eloquence, theimagination, the strange and romantic career of Herbert, carried thespirit of Cadurcis captive. The sympathetic companions studied hisworks and smiled with scorn at the prejudice of which their greatmodel had been the victim, and of which they had been so long thedupes. As for Cadurcis, he resolved to emulate him, and he commencedhis noble rivalship by a systematic neglect of all the duties andthe studies of his college life. His irregular habits procured himconstant reprimands in which he gloried; he revenged himself on theauthorities by writing epigrams, and by keeping a bear, which hedeclared should stand for a fellowship. At length, having wilfullyoutraged the most important regulations, he was expelled; and hemade his expulsion the subject of a satire equally personal andphilosophic, and which obtained applause for the great talent which itdisplayed, even from those who lamented its want of judgment and themisconduct of its writer. Flushed with success, Cadurcis at lengthfound, to his astonishment, that Nature had intended him for a poet.He repaired to London, where he was received with open arms by theWhigs, whose party he immediately embraced, and where he published apoem, in which he painted his own character as the hero, and of which,in spite of all the exaggeration and extravagance of youth, the geniuswas undeniable. Society sympathised with a young and a noble poet;his poem was read by all parties with enthusiasm; Cadurcis became thefashion. To use his own expression, 'One morning he awoke, and foundhimself famous.' Young, singularly handsome, with every gift of natureand fortune, and with an inordinate vanity that raged in his soul,Cadurcis soon forgot the high philosophy that had for a momentattracted him, and delivered himself up to the absorbing egotism whichhad ever been latent in his passionate and ambitious mind. Gifted withenergies that few have ever equalled, and fooled to the bent by theexcited sympathies of society, he poured forth his creative and daringspirit with a license that conquered all obstacles, from the veryaudacity with which he assailed them. In a word, the young, thereserved, and unknown Cadurcis, who, but three years back, was to havelived in the domestic solitude for which he alone felt himself fitted,filled every heart and glittered in every eye. The men envied, thewomen loved, all admired him. His life was a perpetual triumph; abrilliant and applauding stage, on which he ever played a dazzling andheroic part. So sudden and so startling had been his apparition, sovigorous and unceasing the efforts by which he had maintained hisfirst overwhelming impression, and not merely by his writings, but byhis unusual manners and eccentric life, that no one had yet found timeto draw his breath, to observe, to inquire, and to criticise. He hadrisen, and still flamed, like a comet as wild as it was beautiful, andstrange is it was brilliant.