Cousin Henry

Cousin Henry found his position to be difficult and precarious.  That suggestion of his uncle’s, ­or rather assertion, ­that he could still change his mind was disagreeable.  No doubt he could do so, and, as Cousin Henry thought, would be the very man to do it, if angered, thwarted, or even annoyed.  He knew that more than one will had already been made and set aside.  Cousin Henry had turned the whole matter very much in his mind since he had become cognizant of his uncle’s character.  However imprudent he might have been in his earlier days, he was now quite alive to the importance of being Squire of Llanfeare.  There was nothing that he was not ready to do to please and conciliate his uncle.  Llanfeare without Isabel as a burden would no doubt be preferable, but he was quite ready to marry Isabel to-morrow, if Isabel would only accept him.  The game he had to play was for Llanfeare.  It was to be Llanfeare or nothing.  The position offered to him was to come, not from love, but from a sense of duty on the part of the old man.  If he could keep the old man firm to that idea, Llanfeare would be his own; but should he be excluded from that inheritance, there would be no lesser prize by which he might reconcile himself to the loss.  His uncle would not leave him anything from love.  All this he understood thoroughly, and was therefore not unnaturally nervous as to his own conduct at the present crisis.

It was only too manifest to him that his uncle did in fact dislike him.  At their very first interview he was made to listen to praises of Isabel and threats against himself.  He was quite prepared to put up with both, or with any other disagreeable hardship which might be inflicted upon him, if only he could do so successfully.  But he believed that his best course would be to press his suit with Isabel.  Should he do so successfully, he would at any rate be safe.  Should she be persistent in refusing him, which he believed to be probable, then he would have shown himself desirous of carrying out his uncle’s wishes.  As to all this he was clear-sighted enough.  But he did not quite perceive the state of his uncle’s mind in regard to himself.  He did not understand how painfully the old man was still vacillating between affection and duty; nor did he fathom the depth of the love which his uncle felt for Isabel.  Had he been altogether wise in the matter, he would have kept out of his uncle’s presence, and have devoted himself to the tenants and the land; but in lieu of this, he intruded himself as much as possible into his uncle’s morning room, often to the exclusion of Isabel.  Now it had come to pass that Uncle Indefer was never at his ease unless his niece were with him.

“Nobody can be more attached to another than I am to Isabel,” said the nephew to his uncle on the third morning of his arrival.  Whereupon Uncle Indefer grunted.  The more he saw of the man, the less he himself liked the idea of sacrificing Isabel to such a husband.  “I shall certainly do my best to carry out your wishes.”

“My wishes have reference solely to her.”

“Exactly, sir; I understand that completely.  As she is not to be the heiress, the best thing possible is to be done for her.”

“You think that marrying you would be the best thing possible!” This the uncle said in a tone of scorn which must have been very hard to bear.  And it was unjust too, as the unfortunate nephew had certainly not intended to speak of himself personally as being the best thing possible for Isabel.

But this too had to be borne.  “I meant, sir, that if she would accept my hand, she would have pretty nearly as great an interest in the property as I myself.”

“She would have much more,” said Uncle Indefer angrily.  “She knows every man, woman, and child about the place.  There is not one of them who does not love her.  And so they ought, for she has been their best friend.  As far as they are concerned it is almost cruel that they should not be left in her hands.”

“So it will be, sir, if she will consent to do as you and I wish.”

“Wish!  Pshaw!” Then he repeated his grunts, turning his shoulder round against his nephew, and affecting to read the newspaper which he had held in his hand during the conversation.  It must be acknowledged that the part to be played by the intended heir was very difficult.  He could perceive that his uncle hated him, but he could not understand that he might best lessen that hatred by relieving his uncle of his presence.  There he sat looking at the empty grate, and pretending now and again to read an old newspaper which was lying on the table, while his uncle fumed and grunted.  During every moment that was so passed Uncle Indefer was asking himself whether that British custom as to male heirs was absolutely essential to the welfare of the country.  Here were two persons suggested to his mind, one of whom was to be his future successor.  One of them was undoubtedly the sweetest human being that had ever crossed his path; the other, ­as he was inclined to think at the present moment, ­was the least sweet.  And as they were to him, would they not be to the tenants whose welfare was to depend so much on the future owner of the property?  The longer that he endured the presence of the man the more desirous did he feel of turning to the drawer which was close at hand, and destroying the topmost of those documents which lay there tied in a bundle together.

But he did not allow himself to be at once driven to a step so unreasonable.  The young man had done nothing which ought to offend him, ­had, indeed, only obeyed him in coming down to South Wales.  That custom of the country was good and valid, and wise.  If he believed in anything of the world worldly, he believed in primogeniture in respect of land.  Though Isabel was ever so sweet, duty was duty.  Who was he that he should dare to say to himself that he could break through what he believed to be a law on his conscience without a sin?  If he might permit himself to make a special exemption for himself in the indulgence of his own affection, then why might not another, and another, and so on?  Did he not know that it would have been better that the whole thing should have been settled for him by an entail?  And, if so, how could it be right that he should act in opposition to the spirit of such an entail, merely because he had the power to do so?  Thus he argued with himself again and again; but these arguments would never become strong till his nephew had relieved him of his presence.

While he was so arguing, Cousin Henry was trying his hand with Isabel.  There had been but a week for him to do it, and three days had already passed away.  At the end of the week Isabel was to go to Hereford, and Henry, as far as he knew, was still expected by his uncle to make an offer to his cousin.  And, as regarded himself, he was well enough disposed to do so.  He was a man with no strong affections, but also with no strong aversions, ­except that at present he had a strong affection for Llanfeare, and a strong aversion to the monotonous office in which he was wont to earn his daily bread up in London.  And he, too, was desirous of doing his duty, ­as long as the doing of his duty might tend to the desired possession of Llanfeare.  He was full of the idea that a great deal was due to Isabel.  A great deal was certainly due to Isabel, if only, by admitting so much, his possession of Llanfeare was to be assured.

“So you are going away in two or three days?” he said to her.

“In four days.  I am to start on Monday.”

“That is very soon.  I am so sorry that you are to leave us!  But I suppose it is best that dear Uncle Indefer should not be left alone.”

“I should have gone at this time in any case,” said Isabel, who would not allow it to be supposed that he could fill her place near their uncle.

“Nevertheless I am sorry that you should not have remained while I am here.  Of course it cannot be helped.”  Then he paused, but she had not a word further to say.  She could see by the anxiety displayed in his face, and by a more than usually unnatural tone in his voice, that he was about to make his proposition.  She was quite prepared for it, and remained silent, fixed, and attentive.  “Isabel,” he said, “I suppose Uncle Indefer has told you what he intends?”

“I should say so.  I think he always tells me what he intends.”

“About the property I mean.”

“Yes; about the property.  I believe he has made a will leaving it to you.  I believe he has done this, not because he loves you the best, but because he thinks it ought to go to the male heir.  I quite agree with him that these things should not be governed by affection.  He is so good that he will certainly do what he believes to be his duty.”

“Nevertheless the effect is the same.”

“Oh yes; as regards you, the effect will be the same.  You will have the property, whether it comes from love or duty.”

“And you will lose it.”

“I cannot lose what never was mine,” she said, smiling.

“But why should we not both have it, ­one as well as the other?”

“No; we can’t do that.”

“Yes, we can; if you will do what I wish, and what he wishes also.  I love you with all my heart.”

She opened her eyes as though driven to do so by surprise.  She knew that she should not have expressed herself in that way, but she could not avoid the temptation.

“I do, indeed, with all my heart.  Why should we not ­marry, you know?  Then the property would belong to both of us.”

“Yes; then it would.”

“Why should we not; eh, Isabel?” Then he approached her as though about to make some ordinary symptom of a lover’s passion.

“Sit down there, Henry, and I will tell you why we cannot do that.  I do not love you in the least.”

“You might learn to love me.”

“Never; never!  That lesson would be impossible to me.  Now let there be an end of it.  Uncle Indefer has, I dare say, asked you to make this proposition.”

“He wrote a letter, just saying that he would like it.”

“Exactly so.  You have found yourself compelled to do his bidding, and you have done it.  Then let there be an end of it.  I would not marry an angel even to oblige him or to get Llanfeare; and you are not an angel, ­to my way of thinking.”

“I don’t know about angels,” he said, trying still to be good-humoured.

“No, no.  That was my nonsense.  There is no question of angels.  But not for all Llanfeare, not even to oblige him, would I undertake to marry a man even if I were near to loving him.  I should have to love him entirely, without reference to Llanfeare.  I am not at all near loving you.”

“Why not, Isabel?” he asked foolishly.

“Because ­because ­because you are odious to me!”

“Isabel!”

“I beg your pardon.  I should not have said so.  It was very wrong; but, then, why did you ask so foolish a question?  Did I not tell you to let there be an end of it?  And now will you let me give you one little bit of advice?”

“What is it?” he asked angrily.  He was beginning to hate her, though he was anxious to repress his hatred, lest by indulging it he should injure his prospects.

“Do not say a word about me to my uncle.  It will be better for you not to tell him that there has been between us any such interview as this.  If he did once wish that you and I should become man and wife, I do not think that he wishes it now.  Let the thing slide, as they say.  He has quite made up his mind in your favour, because it is his duty.  Unless you do something to displease him very greatly, he will make no further change.  Do not trouble him more than you can help by talking to him on things that are distasteful.  Anything in regard to me, coming from you, will be distasteful to him.  You had better go about among the farms, and see the tenants, and learn the condition of everything.  And then talk to him about that.  Whatever you do, never suggest that the money coming from it all is less than it ought to be.  That is my advice.  And now, if you please, you and I need not talk about it any more.”  Then she got up and left the room without waiting for a reply.

When he was alone he resolved upon complying with her advice, at any rate in one respect.  He would not renew his offer of marriage; nor would he hold any further special conversation with her.  Of course, she was hateful to him, having declared so plainly to him her own opinion regarding himself.  He had made the offer, and had thereby done his duty.  He had made the offer, and had escaped.

But he did not at all believe in the sincerity of her advice as to their uncle.  His heart was throbbing with the desire to secure the inheritance to himself, ­and so he thought, no doubt, was hers as to herself.  It might be that the old man’s intention would depend upon his obedience, and if so, it was certainly necessary that the old man should know that he had been obedient.  Of course, he would tell the old man what he had done.

But he said not a word till Isabel had gone.  He did take her advice about the land and the tenants, but hardly to much effect.  If there were a falling roof here or a half-hung door there, he displayed his zeal by telling the Squire of these defaults.  But the Squire hated to hear of such defaults.  It must be acknowledged that it would have required a man of very great parts to have given satisfaction in the position in which this young man was placed.

But as soon as Isabel was gone he declared his obedience.

“I have asked her, sir, and she has refused me,” he said in a melancholy, low, and sententious voice.

“What did you expect?”

“At any rate, I did as you would have me.”

“Was she to jump down your throat when you asked her?”

“She was very decided, ­very.  Of course, I spoke of your wishes.”

“I have not any wishes.”

“I thought that you desired it.”

“So I did, but I have changed my mind.  It would not do at all.  I almost wonder how you could have had the courage to ask her.  I don’t suppose that you have the insight to see that she is different from other girls.”

“Oh, yes; I perceived that.”

“And yet you would go and ask her to be your wife off-hand, just as though you were going to buy a horse!  I suppose you told her that it would be a good thing because of the estate?”

“I did mention it,” said the young man, altogether astounded and put beyond himself by his uncle’s manner and words.

“Yes; just as if it were a bargain!  If you will consent to put up with me as a husband, why, then you can go shares with me in the property.  That was the kind of thing, wasn’t it?  And then you come and tell me that you have done your duty by making the offer!”

The heir expectant was then convinced that it would have been better for him to have followed the advice which Isabel had given him, but yet he could not bring himself to believe that the advice had been disinterested.  Why should Isabel have given him disinterested advice in opposition to her own prospects?  Must not Isabel’s feeling about the property be the same as his own?