up to her face with an air of serious delib-"I shall always think there was something eration which once more disturbed Mr. very strange in it. Just after I had heard Ashburton's gravity. And yet, when a of poor old Mr. Chiltern's death, as I was young woman who is not at all bad-looking passing Holden's-when I was not in the puts up a rustling, gleaming knot of rib- least thinking of him he came into my bons to her hair and asks a man's opinion mind like a flash of lightning, you know. of the same, the man must be a philosopher If I had been very intimate with poor old or a wretch indeed who does not give a Mr. Chiltern, or if I believed in spirit-rapglance to see the effect. The candidate ping, I should think that was it. He came for Carlingford looked and approached, and into my head without my even thinking of even, in the temptation of the moment, him, all in a moment, with his very hat on took some of the long streamers in his hand. and his umbrella, like Minerva - wasn't it And he began to think Miss Marjoribanks Minerva?" said Miss Marjoribanks. And was very clever, and the most amusing com- she took up Mr. Ashburton's cause openly, panion he had met with for a long time. and unfurled his standard, and did not even And her interest in him touched his heart; ask her father's opinion. Papa knows and, after all, it is no drawback to a woman about politics, but he has not had an into be absurd by moments. His voice grew timation, as I have," said Lucilla. And, quite soft and caressing as he took the end naturally, she threw all the younger portion of ribbon into his hand. of Grange Lane, which was acquainted "If they are your colours they shall be with Mr. Ashburton, and looked forward mine," he said, with a sense of patronage eagerly to a little excitement, and liked the and protection which was very delightful; idea of wearing a violet and green cockade, and the two were still talking and laughing into a flutter of excitement. Among these over the silken link thus formed between rash young people there were even various them, when the people came in whom Lu- individuals who took Lucilla's word for it, cilla was expecting to lunch, and who were and knew that Mr. Ashburton was very naturally full of Mr. Chiltern's death, which, nice, and did not see that anything more was poor old man! was so sudden at the last. necessary. To be sure, these enthusiasts Mr. Ashburton stayed, though he had not were chiefly women, and in no cases had . intended it, and made himself very pleas- votes; but Miss Marjoribanks, with instincant. And Lucilla took no pains to conceal tive correctness of judgment, decided that her opinion that the thing was neither to there were more things to be thought of consider Whigs nor Tories, but a good man. than the electors. And she had the satisAnd Major Brown, who had come with his faction of seeing with her own eyes and daughters, echoed this sentiment so warmly hearing with her own ears the success of that Mr. Ashburton was entirely convinced that suggestion of her genius. Carlingof the justice of Miss Marjoribanks's ideas. ford had rarely been more excited by any "We can't have a tip-topper, you know," public event than it was by the address of Major Brown said, who was not very re- the new candidate, who was in the field befined in his expressions; " and what I should fore anybody else, and who had the boldlike to see is a man that knows the place ness to come before them without uttering and would look after Carlingford. That's any political creed. "The enlightened what we're all looking for." Mr. Ashbur- electors of Carlingford do not demand, like ton did not declare himself to Major Brown, other less educated constituencies, a system but he dashed off his new address ten of political doctrines cut and dry, or a minutes after he had taken leave of Miss representative bound to give up his own Marjoribanks, and put the other one in the judgment, and act according to arbitrary fire like a Christian, and telegraphed for promises," said the daring candidate: his agent to town. Lucilla, for her part," what they want is an honest man, resolved made an effort equally great and uncompromising. She took the ribbon Mr. Ashburton had played with, and cut it up into cockades of all descriptions. It was an early moment, but still there was no time to be lost with a matter of such importance. And she wore one on her breast and one in her hair when Mr. Ashburton's address was published, and all the world was discussing it. Of course they are his colours that is why I wear them," said Lucilla. 66 to do his duty by his country, his borough, and his constituency; and it is this idea alone which has induced me to solicit your suffrages." This was what Mr. Ashburton said in his address, though at that moment he had still his other address in his pocket, in which he had entered at some length into his distinctive personal views. It was thus that an independent candidate, unconnected with party, took the field in Carlingford, with Miss Marjoribanks, like anoth er Joan of Arc, with a knot of ribbons, | too old now, you know, to be told what to violet and green, in her hair, to inspire and do" lead him on. CHAPTER XXXIX. LIFE with most people is little more than a succession of high and low tides. There are times when the stream runs low, and when there is nothing to be seen but the dull sandbanks, or even mudbanks, for months, or even years together; and then all at once the waters swell, and come rushing twice a-day like the sea, carrying life and movement with them. Miss Marjoribanks had been subject to the eaux mortes for a long time; but now the spring-tides had rushed back. A day or two after Mr. Ashburton had been revealed to her as the predestined member, something occurred, not in itself exciting, but which was not without its ultimate weight upon the course of affairs. It was the day when aunt Jemima was expected in Grange Lane. She was aunt Jemima to Lucilla; but the Doctor called her Mrs. John, and was never known to address her by any more familiar title. She was, as she herself described it, a widow lady, and wore the dress of her order, and was the mother of Tom Marjoribanks. She was not a frequent visitor at Carlingford, for she and her brother-in-law had various points on which they were not of accord. The Doctor, for his part, could not but feel perennially injured that the boy had fallen to the lot of Mrs. John, while he had only a girl even though that girl was Lucilla; and aunt Jemima could not forgive him for the rude way in which he treated her health, which was so delicate, and his want of sympathy for many other people who were delicate too. Even when she arrived, and was being entertained with the usual cup of tea, fears of her brother-in-law's robustness and unsympathetic ways had begun to overpower her. "I hope your papa does not ask too much from you, Lucilla," she said, as she sat in her easy-chair, and took her tea by the fire in the cozy room which had been prepared for her. 66 I hope he does not make you do too much, for I am sure you are not strong, my dear. Your poor mamma, you know and Mrs. John looked with a certain pathos at her niece, as though she saw signs of evil in Lucilla's fresh complexion and substantial frame. "I am pretty well, thank you, aunt Jemima," said Miss Marjoribanks; "and papa lets me do pretty much what I like: I am "Don't call yourself old, my dear," said aunt Jemima, with a passing gleam of worldly wisdom-"one gets old quite soon enough. Are you subject to headaches, Lucilla, or pains in the limbs? Your poor mamma "Dear aunt Jemima, I am as well as ever I can be," said Miss Marjoribanks. "Tell me when you heard from Tom, and what he is doing. Let me see, it is ten years since he went away. I used to write to him, but he did not answer my lettersnot as he ought, you know. I suppose he has found friends among the Calcutta ladies," said Lucilla, with a slight but not unapparent sigh. "He never says anything to me about Calcutta ladies," said Tom's mother; "to tell the truth, I always thought before he went away that he was fond of you — I must have been mistaken, as he never said anything; and that was very fortunate at all events." -- "I am sure I am very thankful he was not fond of me," said Lucilla, with a little natural irritation, "for I never could have returned it. But I should like to know why that was so fortunate. I can't see that it would have been such a very bad thing. for him, for my part." "Yes, my dear," said aunt Jemima, placidly, "it would have been a very bad thing; for you know, Lucilla, though you get on very nicely here, you never could have done for a poor man's wife." Miss Marjoribanks's bosom swelled when she heard these words-it swelled with that profound sense of being unappreciated and misunderstood, which is one of the hardest trials in the way of genius; but naturally she was not going to let her aunt see her mortification. "I don't me in to be any man's wife just now," she said, making a gulp of it- "I am too busy electioneering; we are going to have a new member in dear old Mr. Chiltern's place. Perhaps he will come in this evening to talk things over, and you shall see him," Lucilla added, graciously. She was a little excited about the candidate, as was not unnatural -more excited, perhaps, than she would have been ten years ago, when life was young; and then it was not to be expected that she could be pleased with aunt Jemima for thinking it was so fortunate; though even that touch of wounded pride did not lead Miss Marjoribanks to glorify herself by betraying Tom. "My brother-in-law used to be a dreadful Radical," said aunt Jemima; "I hope it is not one of those revolutionary men; I have seen your poor uncle sit up arguing with him till I thought they never would be done. If that is the kind of thing, I hope you will not associate yourself with it, Lucilla. Your papa should have more sense than to let you. It does not do a young woman any good. I should never have permitted it if you had been my daughter," added Mrs. John, with a little heat for, to tell the truth, she too felt a slight vexation on her part that the Doctor had a girl when she had none, even though not for twenty girls would she have given up Tom. Miss Marjoribanks looked upon the weak woman who thus ventured to address her with indescribable feelings; but after all she was not so much angry as amused and compassionate. She could not help thinking to herself, if she had been Mrs. John's daughter, how perfectly docile aunt Jemima would have been by this time, and how little she would have really ventured to interfere. "It would have been very nice," she said, with a meditative realization of the possibility" though it is very odd to think how one could have been one's own cousin - I should have taken very good care of you, I am sure." "You would have done no such thing," said Mrs. John; "you would have gone off and married; I know how girls do. You have not married here, because you have been too comfortable, Lucilla. You have had everything your own way, and all that you wanted, without any of the bother. It is very strange how differently people's lots are ordered. I was married at seventeen, and I am sure I have not known what it was to have a day's health". "Dear aunt Jemima!" said her affectionate niece, kissing her, "but papa shall see if he cannot give you something, and we will take such care of you while you are here." Mrs. John was softened in spite of herself; but still she shook her head. "It is very nice of you to say so, my dear," she said, "and it's pleasant to feel that one has somebody belonging to one; but I have not much confidence in your papa. He never understood my complaints. I used to be very sorry for your poor mamma. He never showed that sympathy-but I did not mean to blame him to you, Lucilla. I am sure he is a very good father to you." He has been a perfect old angel," said Miss Marjoribanks; and then the conversation came to a pause, as it was time to dress for dinner. Mrs. John Marjoribanks had a very nice room and everything that was adapted to make her comfortable; but she too had something to think of when the door closed upon Lucilla, and she was left with her maid and her hot water and her black velvet gown. Perhaps it was a little inconsistent to wear a black velvet gown with her widow's cap-it was a question which she had long debated in her mind before she resigned herself to the temptation but then it always looked so well, and was so very profitable! and Mrs. John felt that it was incumbent upon her to keep up a respectable appearance for Tom's sake. Tom was very much in her mind at that moment, as indeed he always was; for though it was a long time ago, she could not get the idea out of her head that he must have said something to Lucilla before he went off to India, and he had a way of asking about his cousin in his letters; and though she would have done anything to secure her boy's happiness, and was on the whole rather fond of her niece, yet the idea of the objections her brother-in-law would have to such a match excited to the uttermost the smouldering pride which existed in aunt Jemima's heart. He was better off, and had always been better off, than her poor John and he had robust health and an awful scorn of the coddling, to which, as he said, she had subjected his brother, and he had money enough to keep his child luxuriously and make her the leader of Carlingford society, while her poor boy had to go to India and put himself in the way of all kinds of unknown diseases and troubles. Mrs. John was profoundly anxious to promote her son's happiness, and would gladly have given every penny she had to get him married to Lucilla, "if that was what he wanted," as she justly said; but to have the brother-in-law object to him, and suggest that he was not good enough, was the one thing she could not bear. She was thinking about this, and whether Tom really had not said anything, and whether Lucilla cared for him, and what amid all these perplexities she should do, while she dressed for dinner; and, at the same time, she felt her palpitation worse than usual, and knew Dr. Marjoribanks would smile his grim smile if she complained, so that her visit to Grange Lane, though Lucilla meant to take such care of her, was not altogether unmingled delight to Mrs. John. But, nevertheless, Dr. Marjoribanks's dinner-table was always a cheerful sight, even when it was only a dinner-party of three; for then naturally they used the round table, and were as snug as possible. Lucilla the absent wanderer was in that of his mother; and he had not yet unburdened himself of what he had to say. wore her knot of green and violet ribbons | he did not accept the challenge thus thrown on her white dress, to her aunt's great to him. Tom Marjoribanks was not the amazement, and the Doctor had all the air foremost figure in the world in his eyes, as of a man who had been out in the world all day and returned in the evening with something to tell which is a thing which gives great animation to a family party. Mrs. John Marjoribanks had been out of all that sort of thing for a long time. She had been living quite alone in a widowed forlorn way, and had half forgotten how pleasant it was to have somebody coming in with a breath of fresh air about him and the day's budget of news- and it had an animating effect upon her, even though she was not fond of her brother-in-law. Dr. Marjoribanks inquired about Tom in the most fatherly way, and what he was about, and how things were looking for him, and whether he intended to come home. "Much better not," the Doctor said, "I should certainly advise him not, if he asked me. He has got over all the worst of it, and now is his time to do something worth while." "Tom is not one to think merely of worldly advantages," said his mother, with a fine instinct of opposition which she could not restrain. "I don't think he would care to waste all the best part of his life making money. I'd rather see him come home and be happy, for my part, even if he were not so rich "If all men were happy that came home," said the Doctor, and then he gave a rather grim chuckle. "Somebody has come home that you did not reckon on, Lucilla. I am sorry to spoil sport; but I don't see how you are to get out of it. There is another address on the walls today besides that one of yours "Oh, I hope there will be six addresses!" cried Miss Marjoribanks; "if we had it all our own way it would be no fun; -a Tory, and a Whig, and a - did you say Radical, aunt Jemima? And then, what is a Conservative?" asked Lucilla, though certainly she had a very much better notion of political matters than aunt Jemima had, to say the least. I wonder how you can encourage any poor man to go into Parliment," said Mrs. John; "so trying for the health as it must be, and an end to everything like domestic life. If it was my Tom I would almost rather he stayed in India. He looks strong, but there is never any confidence to be put in young men looking strong. Oh, I know you do not agree with me, Doctor; but I have had sad reason for my way of thinkind," said the poor lady. As for the Doctor, "I am not saying anything in favour of going into Parliment," said the Doctor. I'd sooner be a bargeman on the canal if it was me. I am only telling Lucilla what she has before her. I don't know when I have been more surprised. Of course you were not looking for that," said Dr. Marjoribanks. He had kept back until the things were taken off the table, for he had a benevolent disinclination to spoil anybody's dinner. Now, when all the serious part of the meal was over, he tossed the " Carlingford Gazette" across the table, folded so as she could not miss what he wanted her to see. Lucilla took it up lightly between her finger and thumb; for the Carlingford papers were inky and badly printed, and soiled a lady's hand. She took it up delicately without either alarm or surprise, knowing very well that the Blues and the Yellows were not likely without a struggle to give up to the new standard, which was violet and green. But what she saw on that inky broadsheet overwhelmed in an instant Miss Marjoribanks's self-possession. She turned pale, though her complexion was, if possible, fresher than ever, and even shivered in her chair, though her nerves were so steady. Could it be a trick to thwart and startle her? or could it be true? She lifted her eyes to her father with a look of horror-stricken inquiry, but all that she met in return was a certain air of amusement and triumph, which struck her at the tenderest point. He was not sorry nor sympathetic, nor did he care at all for the sudden shock she had sustained. On the contrary, he was laughing within himself at the utterly unexpected complication. It was cruel, but it was salutary, and restored her self-command in a moment. She might have given way under kindness, but this look of satisfaction over her discomfiture brought Lucilla to herself. "Yes, I thought you would be surprised," said Dr. Marjoribauks, dryly; and he took his first glass of claret with a slow relish and enjoyment, which roused every sentiment of self-respect and spark of temper existing in his daughter's mind. "If you had kept your own place it would not have mattered; but I don't see how you are to get out of it. You see young ladies should let these sort of things alone, Lucilla." This was all the feeling he showed for her in her unexpected | about Mr. Ashburton being the right man dilemma. Miss Marjoribanks's heart gave for Carlingford.” She said the words with one throb, which made the green and vio- a certain solemnity, and turned Mrs. John, let ribbons jump and thrill; and then she who was so much surprised as to be speechcame to herself, and recognized, as she had less, round again, and led her up-stairs. It so often done before, that she had to fight was as if they were walking in a procession her way by herself, and had nobody to of those martyrs and renouncers of self, who look to. Such a thought is dreary enough build up the foundations of society; and it sometimes, and there are minds that sink would not be too much to say that under under it; but at other times it is like the her present circumstances, and in the extouch of the mother earth which gave the citement of this singular and unexpected giant back his strength, and Lucilla was of event, such was the painful but sublime the latter class of inteligence. When she consciousness which animated Lucilla's saw the triumph with which her embarrass- breast. ment was received, and that she had no sympathy nor aid to look for, she recovered herself as if by magic. Let what would come in the way, nothing could alter her certainty that Mr. Ashburton was the man for Carlingford; and that determination not to be beaten, which is the soul of British valour, sprang up in an instant in Miss Marjoribanks's mind. There was not even the alternative of victory or Westminster Abbey for Lucilla. If she was ever to hold up her head again, or have any real respect for herself, she must win. All this passed through her head in the one bewildering moment, while her father's words were still making her ears tingle, and that name, printed in big inky letters, seemed to flutter in all the air round her. It was hard to believe the intelligence thus conveyed, and harder still to go on in the face of old friend-hips, and the traditions of her youth; but still duty was dearer than tradition, and it was now a necessity to fight the battle to the last, and at all risks to win. As for Dr. Marjoribanks, his triumph was taken out of him by that spectacle. He closed the door after the ladies had gone, and came back to his easy-chair by the side of the fire, and could not but feel that he had had the worst of it. It was actually Mr. Cavendish who had come home, and whose address to the electors of Carlingford, dated from Dover on his return to England, the Doctor had just put into his daughter's hand. But, wonderful and unlooked-for as was the event, Lucilla, though taken unawares, had not given in, nor shown any signs of weakness. And the effect upon her father of her last utterance and confession was such that he took up the paper again and read both addresses, which were printed side by side. In other days Mr. Cavendish had been the chosen candidate of Grange Lane; and the views which he expressed (and he expressed his views very freely) were precisely those of Dr. Marjori banks. Yet when the Doctor turned to Mr. Ashburton's expression of his convic"Thank you all the same, papa, for tion that he was the right man for Carlingbringing me the paper," said Lucilla. "It ford, it cannot be denied that the force of would have been a great deal worse if I that simple statement had a wonderful ef had not known of it before I saw him. Ifect upon his mind - an effect all the am sure I am very glad for one thing. He greater, perhaps, in comparison with the can't be married or dead, as people used to political exposition made by the other unsay. I am quite ashamed to keep you so expected candidate. The Doctor's meditalong down-stairs, aunt Jemima, when I tions possibly took a slumbrous tone from know you must be longing for a cup of tea the place and the moment at which he purbut it is somebody come back whom no- sued them; for the fact was that the words body expected. Tell him I shall be so glad he had just been hearing ran in his head to see him, papa though I have no reason all through the reading of the two addresses. to be glad, for he was one of my young Mr. Cavendish would think Lucilla had friends you know, and he is sure to think I gone off; but yet she had not gone off so have gone off." As she spoke, Lucilla much as might have been expected, and turned aunt Jemima, to whom she had Mr. Ashburton was the man for Carlinggiven her arm, quite round, that she might ford. Dr. Marjoribanks laughed quietly by look into the great glass over the mantel- himself in his easy-chair, and then went piece : "I don't think I am quite so much back to Mr. Cavendish's opinions, and endgone off as I expected to be," said Missed again, without knowing it, in a kind of Marjoribanks, with candid impartiality; odd incipient agreement with Lucilla. The though of course he will think me stouter new candidate was right in politics; but, - but it does not make any difference after all, Mr. Ashburton was a more satis |
