Keeping up Appearances CHAPTER 1.
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"What does the girl say?"
This question was addressed by Mr. Lester Hartman to his wife. His voice was earnest, and his manner impatient.
"What does the girl say?" he repeated, before Mrs. Hartman had time to answer his question.
"She says, that as far as she knows Mr. Burnside, she respects him; but that she can never think of becoming his wife."
"Why?" Mr. Hartman's manner, as well as his voice, was changed. The "why?" was uttered less impatiently than "what did the girl say?" but in a tone that betrayed a deeper disturbance of mind than he had before felt, united with disappointment of no light character.
"She says that he is much too old, and that it is impossible for her to have that affection for him which she thinks every woman should have for her husband."
"All a silly girl's nonsense!" exclaimed Mr. Hartman. "But that's the way. Some foolish whim or other is sure to interfere and prevent the consummation of our very best intentions in regard to them. I think Mr. Burnside a perfectly suitable match for her. What if he is some twenty or twenty-five years older? So much the better. He has lived long enough to acquire a little good sense, and to know how to take care of himself in the world. And besides, he is worth, at the lowest estimate, forty thousand pounds, and will be worth half a million before he dies. He is doing, at this present time, the best business of any merchant in the city. The girl's a fool! If she were to live a hundred years, she would never receive another such an offer."
"It may all be as you say," returned Mrs. Hartman, "but this is a matter in which Lucy must decide for herself — she is the one most interested. I don't think we ought to do anything to bias her feelings or judgment."
"Well, I do, if she is so blind as not to see her true interest. I think we should make an effort to open her eyes. Besides, we've got a stake in the matter as well as she."
"In what way, Mr. Hartman?" asked the wife, evincing some surprise at the peculiar manner in which the last sentence was uttered.
"I would not think you would find that a very hard question to determine. Will not the union she forms affect our position in society? Will not the consequences, whether good or bad, be felt by us?"
"Doubtless they will."
"Then, doubtless, you can see where our stake lies. If she marries Mr. Burnside — then all is safe for her as well as for ourselves. The connection will give me, to a certain extent, business claims upon him which he will not think of dishonoring, and thus we shall be safe from dangers that, I am sorry to say, are now threatening us."
"What dangers, Lester ?" inquired the wife, with some anxiety of manner.
"Such as surround every merchant whose capital does not bear a just relation to the amount of business he does. And this is just my position. In a word, the prospect of gaining large profits has tempted me beyond my depth. Without very important aid, I shall not be able to reach the shore again."
Mrs. Hartman looked frightened.
"If Lucy will lay aside her girlish nonsense, and accept the offer of Mr. Burnside, with all the advantages to herself that must follow — I am safe. If she does not — I am a ruined man. There! Now you understand the importance of this marriage, and, I hope, see good reason for using your very best efforts to bring it about."
The making of this acknowledgment disturbed Mr. Hartman a good deal. He could no longer keep his seat, but moved about the room in an agitated manner. For a time, Mrs. Hartman was stupefied by the sudden and startling announcement which her husband had made. But the connection in which it was done, led her, as soon as she could begin to think, to the inference that things might not be quite so desperate as they were represented, and this she ventured to suggest.
"I solemnly declare to you, Agnes, that all is true as I have stated it," was replied in a manner so serious and emphatic, that Mrs. Hartman felt a painful assurance that her husband had not exaggerated his real condition.
"You see now," said Mr. Hartman, after giving his wife a short time for reflection, "that I have reasons of a grave character for desiring this union, which may take place in the course of a few months if Lucy will but consent, and does not make idle delays. Mr. Burnside appears eager for her hand, and ready to make her his wife at the shortest date. He has called in to see me almost every day, of late, and evinces a most friendly interest. The moment he is engaged to Lucy, I can feel free to let him know that I am in need of a little temporary assistance, which he will afford me readily enough. This will buoy me up until the marriage takes place, and then, from the connection, I shall have still further claims upon him."
"But you must remember," said Mrs. Hartman, "that Lucy is only our niece."
"Our interest in her is the same as if she were our daughter," the husband replied. "Since her tenth year, we have been to her as parents, and she to us as a child. I am sure that I could not feel differently, were she really my own."
"Nor I," returned Mrs. Hartman, musingly.
"Your influence with her, Agnes, will do much towards bringing this marriage about. You now understand its great importance to us as well as to herself, and I leave it to you to remove the silly objections urged about disparity of age."
Mrs. Hartman made no reply, nor did she lift her eyes, that were cast upon the floor, to her husband's face.
"You do not answer me," said Hartman. "Why do you not speak, Agnes?"
"Because I do not know what to say," returned his wife, in a low, troubled voice.
"Do you not see, that everything depends upon this marriage?"
There was no reply. Hartman walked the floor impatiently.
"Agnes!" he said, with much bitterness of tone, "do you understand my position? Do you comprehend the fact that ruin is staring me in the face, and can only be averted in one way? Have you heard me aright?"
"I understand all that, Lester, but — "
"But what, Agnes?"
"I am not able to make up my mind that Lucy ought to be sacrificed, even to prevent the consequences you dread."
"Sacrificed! What folly! what insanity for you to speak in this way!" replied Mr. Hartman impatiently. "Instead of sacrificing her, we shall secure her greatest good."
"Of that there may be some doubt. But don't, Lester, urge this matter upon me now. Give me time to reflect. What you have said, so startles, confuses, and distresses me, that I cannot think at all."
"Doubts! How can you doubt?"
"My mind is full of doubts. They crowd into it from every quarter."
"Strange! strange! strange, that a question of what was right to do under the circumstances should come into your mind! To me, all is as plain as daylight. Without this marriage, we are ruined, inevitably, and Lucy will sink with us into obscurity, and her lot be, perhaps, among toil as well as privation. All hope for her, as well as for ourselves, will be at an end. Where serious consequences like these are at stake, the petty objections of a young girl of nineteen ought to be blown away like chaff in a whirlwind. I must see her! I must talk to her on this subject!"
"No, Lester, not at this time. Give me some hours to think. All is in a state of disturbance now. I can see nothing clear."
"There is no time to be lost, Agnes."
"A few hours can make but little difference any way."
"Although they may be an age of suspense and suffering. Remember that everything is at stake. That upon the simple caprice, if I may so call it, of that girl, rests the entire foundation of our good or ill."
Mrs. Hartman did not reply to this, for she did not hear it distinctly, but sat, with her eyes fixed upon the floor, lost in painful reverie.
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