The Old Man's Bride CHAPTER 19.
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It was mentioned in a previous chapter that sharp words had passed between Mr. Bullfinch and his wife, while at Mr. Lane's party, occasioned by the renewal of fellowship between the latter and Mr. Wellford. Such, at least, was the young man's inference — and he did not err. Excited by the rude conduct of her husband, the moment Mr. Wellford retired, Helen said to him, warmly though in a low tone,
"I don't understand you, Mr. Bullfinch! What is the meaning of this?"
"The meaning is," was quite as warmly answered, "that I do not wish you to hold any fellowship with Mr. Wellford."
"Why not, please?"
"I have good and sufficient reasons, Madam," said the old man.
"They must be good and sufficient tome, before I act from them," replied Helen, firmly. "What have you against him?"
"It should be enough for a wife, that her husband objects to her being on terms of intimacy with a particular man."
"It is not enough for me, at least," said Helen. "If you know anything wrong of Mr. Wellford, say so."
Beyond this, nothing further had passed between them on the subject, at the time; others were too near, to render a continuance of such a conversation at all prudent.
The uneasiness of Mr. Bullfinch during the evening, and his broad exposure of the jealousy which had taken possession of him, did not escape the observation of Helen. It produced in her mind, a strange blending of emotions; among which were mortification at his obtrusive weakness, mingled with a flutter of triumph. She, in no degree, pitied his suffering, but felt like adding thereto by acts that would increase, rather than allay, the suspicions which were fretting him. Not that there was any guilty purpose in her mind — she was too pure for that; but a certain perverseness, born of unnatural and constrained relations, was beginning to influence her.
Mrs. Bullfinch at Mr. Lane's — and Mrs. Bullfinch immediately on her arrival at home — was another person altogether. A stranger could scarcely be made to believe that the wearied-looking, silent, almost sullen woman, who sat, one glove on the floor, and the other partly drawn — her hood tossed upon the bed, and her elegant shawl just falling from the back of a chair where she had thrown it, with an indifference amounting almost to contempt — was the same with the brilliant, beautiful, fascinating creature, who had been for hours, the center of an admiring circle.
"You have met Mr. Wellford before, I believe," said Mr. Bullfinch, breaking in upon a state of mind in his wife, which it would have been far wiser for him had he left undisturbed — at least by such a remark. It was thus, that he renewed the subject now nearest to his heart, a subject which the presence of others had interrupted a little while before, and which had not since been a moment absent from his thoughts.
Helen raised her eyes quickly, and with a slight startle, fixed them, in a steady, half-frowning glance upon her husband. In no other way, did she answer his remark. A few moments she continued to look at him, and then her eyes drooped to the floor again, and her mind fell back into reverie.
"Helen!"
The wife looked up again.
"You might at least reply to my question. Common politeness, if no higher feeling, should prompt to this," said Mr. Bullfinch, with ill-concealed excitement of feeling.
"What was your question?" asked Helen, again looking up, and now speaking with a coldness of tone which was almost chilling.
"It was in reference to Mr. Wellford. I said that you had met him before."
"In that, you said truly," was the frigid answer.
The whole mind of Mr. Bullfinch was now inflamed. It was with difficulty that he could restrain an outbreak of feeling, or school his voice into anything like calmness of utterance.
"He is an old acquaintance, I believe," he next remarked.
"He is," was the composed response.
"Well, I now repeat what I said at Mr. Lane's."
"And I repeat the answer then given," replied Helen. Her voice had in it not the least perceptible weakness.
"Helen!"
"Sir!"
The whole manner of both husband and wife underwent a sudden change.
"You must be to that man — as a stranger from this day henceforth!" said Mr. Bullfinch, speaking with an angry vehemence that it was impossible to restrain.
"This is your command, I suppose," retorted Helen, with a proud, defiant air, which showed a will fully equal to the emergency.
"It is my command, if you will," said the old man, speaking with undiminished warmth.
"I am your wife and equal," replied Helen, her former coolness of manner returning; "not your slave. If you expect to influence my conduct, you have got to use reason — notcommand."
"Then, Madam," said the old man, calming down a little, and speaking with mock deference, "I desire you not to hold fellowship with this gentleman in future."
"A desire will have no more influence with me than a command, unless accompanied by a reason. Do you know anything wrong of Mr. Wellford?"
"He is not the man for you to associate with."
"Why not?"
There was more of interest in her voice, than Helen wished to betray.
"Is it not enough for you, that such is my impression of the man?"
"No, Mr. Bullfinch, it is not enough for me," was answered. "He is an old and valued acquaintance; and, until now, not a whisper against him has ever reached my ears. To say to me that we must hereafter be strangers, and this without any assignment of a single reason, does not satisfy me."
"He is a bad man!" exclaimed Mr. Bullfinch; his strong excitement returning.
But the assertion did not, to all external appearances, in the least move his wife.
"A designing, bad man," repeated Mr. Bullfinch.
"It will be wisest to drop this subject," said Helen, with a coldness which contrasted strongly with the passionate manner of her husband. "It seems to involve a poor suspicion of your wife, as weak as it is unworthy of you. You have committed an error, sir, which may be difficult to repair. I did not wish to go to this party. I would have been happier at home; but you dragged me there against my will. It would have ill befit me, as your wife, to carry into such a company, a clouded brow, or to have failed in doing my part towards the general enjoyment of the evening. I, therefore, as best I could, entered into the spirit of the hour; when, strange to say, you insulted our entertainer by a rudeness towards a guest who was polite to me, which nothing can justify; and now add to your fault, by demanding the surrender of an acquaintance partially renewed after the lapse of nearly two years. You have, I repeat, committed an error, Mr. Bullfinch, which it may be difficult to repair."
In more than one contest with his wife, Mr. Bullfinch had come off far from victorious; and the result was in no way different on the present occasion. There was, to his ear, athreat involved in the closing sentence of his wife, which slightly troubled, and caused him to regret having so unguardedly betrayed his awakening suspicions. He made no reply; and both soon relapsed into moody and abstracted silence.
Scarcely a week passed, before invitations were received for another large and fashionable party.
"What is this?" asked Mr. Bullfinch, when the complimentary note was handed to him by his wife.
"Read it," said she.
The old man's countenance did not brighten as his eye took in the contents.
"Do you think of going?" said he.
"Certainly I do," was the prompt reply.
Mr. Bullfinch did not look very happy.
"Consult your own feelings about the matter," said he. "If you would prefer remaining at home, I shall be content. Don't go, therefore, simply on my account."
"I thought," remarked Mrs. Bullfinch, a little maliciously, we are sorry to say, "that you always enjoyed society. I am sure such has been your unvarying declaration. Heretofore I have, I confess, been unjust to you in this respect. All my preferences were for retirement — even seclusion. But, I have learned to overcome this weakness. It is not good for me. We are social beings, and only in mingling with each other socially, can we hope to maintain a cheerful mind."
"True, very true," said Mr. Bullfinch. His assent was not made with any heartiness; and he added, "But there is always danger of carrying things too far. All pleasure tends to excess."
"Two parties, in a season, can hardly be called taking pleasure to excess!" replied Helen, in a way that left little room for dissent on the part of her husband.
"No — no — of course not. Though two fashionable parties in the space of a single week might be thought rather verging on to excess," was her husband's answer.
Little more was said on the subject, until Helen asked for fifty dollars. Now, it so happened, that on the very day this request was made, Mr. Bullfinch had a large amount of money to pay, while the sources from which it was to come, were by no means as apparent as he could wish them. In fact, the difficulty of making his payments to the bank, had been on the increase for some time, and he was, naturally enough, rather troubled on this account. His thoughts were busy with the ways and means of raising some ten thousand dollars, when his wife said to him, as he was about leaving the house, on the morning after the invitations just referred to were received —
"I need fifty dollars, Mr. Bullfinch. Will you send it to me in the course of an hour?"
"I can't do it today," was replied.
"Oh, but I must have it this morning," said Helen.
"Is your need so very pressing, Helen?" was coldly inquired.
"Indeed, it is. I must get a new dress for the party at Mrs. Levering's; and there is no time to be lost. Unless I get it into the hands of the dress-maker, today, there will be danger of disappointment."
"A new dress, Helen!" said the old man, a little surprised. "Where is the one that was worn at Mr. Lane's? You could not find anything more befitting."
"Why, Mr. Bullfinch! Would you have me go to two successive parties in the same dress?"
"And why not?"
"People would think I hadn't but a single dress fit to appear in. You would hardly like that thought, much less said."
The old man was thrown altogether aback by this unexpected, and, in his case, rather unanswerable argument.
"Won't the money do as well tomorrow?" said he, after musing for a little while.
"Oh, no!" promptly answered Helen. "I must buy the dress this morning, so as to be certain of having it made up in time."
"Very well; I will see about it," replied Mr. Bullfinch, and then hurried away to his store, there to devise the ways and means for meeting the heavy liabilities which had fallen due.
See about it! In no case, before, had Mr. Bullfinch thus replied to his wife's applications for money, which, we will say, had never been very extravagant. She did not attribute his reluctance to supply her demand to the true cause, for of that she had no suspicion. She gave it a different explanation altogether. It arose, in her view, from a desire on his part to diminish, if possible, the personal attractions of which, a short time before, he had been so proud; and this view determined her, to increase these attractions.
The day proved, to Mr. Bullfinch, one of anxiety and great trial — a day in mercantile life that makes an impression on the mind rarely, if ever, forgotten. Up to one o'clock, he was on the street, in the effort to raise money, or in his counting-room, devising ways and means for the same purpose; and it was not until after this hour, that he began to breathe at all freely. Merchants, who had heretofore given him the usual temporary loans with the utmost readiness, were now all, strangely enough, short of money. His bank, from which he had enjoyed a fair line of discounts, had, this morning, thrown out notes of hand for over five thousand dollars; an event entirely unlooked for, and which added very seriously to the difficulty under which he was laboring.
As a last resort, he was obliged to raise a considerable sum of money, at an exorbitant rate of discount.
It was nearly three o'clock when his last note was taken out of bank, and then, in no comfortable state, he turned his steps homeward. Not since he entered his store, had a thought of the fifty dollars, required by his wife, crossed his mind; and, it may be doubted whether, if it had done so, the sum would have been despatched to meet her need. The pressure of business needs for money would, in all probability, have forced that matter aside.
Not until Mr. Bullfinch was in the act of entering his house, did he remember the omission; and then it flashed upon him with a presentiment of trouble. He doubted not that a clouded brow would meet him on his entrance, and he was not mistaken.
"I declare, Helen," said he, and he spoke in a perplexed, half-troubled manner, "I entirely forgot about the money you asked for. In fact, I have had a very busy day of it, and hardly wonder at myself."
Helen made no answer, but the look she gave him said, so plainly, that she regarded this as a mere excuse, if not a subterfuge — so plainly, that he could not be mistaken in her thought.
"I assure you, Helen," said he, seriously, "that I meant to bring you this money. If you knew how much worried I have been, you would not blame my omission. But you shall have it tomorrow morning."
No response, whatever, was made to this by Mrs. Bullfinch, nor did the cloud on her brow lift itself up, or permit a gleam of light to break through its dark masses.
A cheerless meal was that of which the family partook. Mrs. Lee, who was cognizant of her daughter's disappointment, looked quite as somber and more indignant than Helen. Mr. Lee, who usually made an effort, not always unsuccessful, to introduce pleasant topics of conversation, was, unfortunately, too much indisposed to leave his room. So poor Mr. Bullfinch was left alone to encounter the suffocating sphere of two injured and indignant women, who, if they could punish him in no other way, were quite ready to visit on his head the terrors of a moody silence. This was quite as much as he could bear. A shorter time than usual he remained at the table, and then, instead of the half hour's siesta, went immediately from the house. A hurried walk soon brought him to his store.
"How much money is in the drawer?" said he of the clerk who had the cash in charge.
The young man opened his money-drawer, and after counting over a few small bills and loose change, replied —
"About eight dollars, sir."
"Is that all?" Mr. Bullfinch manifested considerable disappointment.
"Yes, sir; we had to scrape pretty close today. How much do you need?"
"Fifty dollars," was replied.
"I can borrow it for you, I presume," said the clerk.
"Do so, if you please, Mr. Williams. I need that sum particularly."
The young man went out, and was gone for over half an hour.
"Really," said he, on coming in, "I never had so much trouble to raise a small amount of money in my life. Everybody's deposits were made, and nobody had anything to loan."
As he spoke he drew three small rolls of bills from his pocket, and laying them on the desk, unfolded and counted them over.
"Just fifty dollars. I had to get it from three different places. I don't know that it will be of any use to you, now."
Mr. Bullfinch took the bills, and with a dubious look, turned them over slowly.
"It will have to do," said he, in mimic desperation. So writing a hurried note — addressed to his wife — he enclosed and sent her, by the hands of his porter, the money.
What remained of the afternoon, was devoted to an examination into the financial resources of the next day, which did not show a very hopeful state of things, although the payments were far from being as heavy as those just made.
When Mr. Bullfinch again took his way homeward, it was not with any pleasing anticipations. He half dreaded to meet his wife, notwithstanding he had sent her the money she wanted; but was a good deal disappointed, on his return, to find that she was out.
"Where has she gone?" he inquired of her mother.
"To Levy's," replied Mrs. Lee.
He asked no further question. The answer was altogether sufficient.
From Levy's, Mrs. Bullfinch went to the dress-maker's, and did not get home until nearly an hour after the usual tea-time, her absence delaying supper, and fretting her husband almost beyond endurance. Their meeting, when she at last came home, was not with any excess of kind words.
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