'NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT HIM.'
Neither at dinner on that evening at Manchester Square, nor after dinner, as long as Mrs Roby remained in the house, was a word said about Lopez by Mr Wharton.He remained longer than usual with his bottle of port wine in the dining-room, and when he went upstairs, he sat himself down and fell asleep, almost without a sign.He did not ask for a song, nor did Emily offer to sing.
But as soon as Mrs Roby was gone,--and Mrs Roby went home, round the corner, somewhat earlier than usual,--then Mr Wharton woke up instantly and made inquiry of his daughter.
There had, however, been a few words spoken on the subject between Mrs Roby and her niece, which had served to prepare Emily for what was coming.'Lopez has been to your father,' said Mrs Roby, in a voice not specially encouraging for such an occasion.
Then she paused a moment, but her niece said nothing, and she continued, 'Yes,--and your father has been blaming me,--as if Ihad done anything! If he did not mean you to choose for yourself, why didn't he keep a closer look-out?'
'I haven't chosen anyone, Aunt Harriet.'
'Well;--to speak fairly.I thought you had; and I have nothing to say against your choice.As young men go, I think Mr Lopez is as good as the best of them.I don't know why you shouldn't have him.Of course you'll have money, but then I suppose he makes a large income himself.As to Mr Fletcher, you don't care a bit about him.'
'Not in that way certainly.'
'No doubt your papa will have it out with you just now; so you had better make up your mind what you will say to him.If you really like the man, I don't see why you shouldn't say so, and stick to it.He has made a regular offer, and girls these days are not expected to be their father's slaves.' Emily said nothing further to her aunt on that occasion, but finding that she must in truth 'have it out' with her father presently, gave herself up to reflection.It might probably be the case that the whole condition of her future life would depend on the way in which she might now 'have it out' with her father.
I would not wish the reader to be prejudiced against Miss Wharton by the most unnatural feeling which perhaps may be felt in regard to the aunt.Mrs Roby was pleased with little intrigues, was addicted to the amusement of fostering love affairs, was fond of being thought to be useful in such matters, and was not averse to having presents given to her.She had married a vulgar man; and though she had not become like the man, she had become vulgar.
She was not an eligible companion for Mr Wharton's daughter,--a matter as to which the father had not given himself proper opportunities of learning the facts.An aunt in his close neighbourhood was so great a comfort to him,--so ready and so natural an assistance to him in his difficulties! But Emily Wharton was not in the least like her aunt, nor had Mrs Wharton been at all like Mrs Roby.No doubt the contact was dangerous.
Injury had perhaps already been done.It may be that some slightest soil had already marred the pure white of the girl's natural character.But if so, the stain was yet too impalpable to be visible to ordinary eyes.
Emily Wharton was a tall fair girl, with grey eyes, rather exceeding the average proportions as well as height of women.
Her features were regular and handsome, and her form was perfect, but it was by her manner and her voice that she conquered, rather than by her beauty,--by those gifts and by a clearness of intellect joined with that feminine sweetness which has its most frequent foundation in self-denial.Those who knew her well, and had become attached to her, were apt to endow her with all virtues, and to give her credit for a loveliness which strangers did not find on her face.But as we do not light up our houses with our brightest lamps for all comers, so neither did she emit from her eyes their brightest sparks till special occasion for such shining had arisen.To those who were allowed to love her no woman was more lovable.There was innate in her an appreciation of her own position as a woman, and with it a principle of self-denial as a human being, which it was beyond the power of any Mrs Roby to destroy or even defile by small stains.
Like other girls she had been taught to presume that it was her destiny to be married, and like other girls she had thought much about her destiny.A young man generally regards it as his destiny either to succeed or to fail in this world, and he thinks about that.To him marriage, when it comes, is an accident to which he has hardly as yet given a thought.But to the girl the matrimony which is or is not to be her destiny contains within itself the only success or failure which she anticipates.The young man may become Lord Chancellor, or at any rate earn his bread comfortably as a country court judge.But the girl can look forward to little else than the chance of having a good man for her husband;--a good man, or if her tastes lie in that direction, a rich man.Emily Wharton had doubtless thought about those things, and she sincerely believed that she had found the good man in Ferdinand Lopez.