Vellenaux A Novel - Edmund William Edmund William (best affordable ebook reader .txt) 📗
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Antecedents.
Mr. Fraudhurst Had Been A Lawyer Of Some Standing In The Village Of
Vellenaux; He Was Reported Wealthy, And When On The Shady Side Of Fifty
Married The Niece Of His Housekeeper, Much To The Disgust Of The Said
Housekeeper, And Several Maiden Ladies Of Doubtful Ages Who Resided In
The Neighbourhood, Who Had Each In Her Own Mind Marked Him As Her
Especial Property, To Be Gobbled Up At The First Opportunity He Or
Chance Might Afford Them For So Doing, And They Waxed Wrath And Were
Very Bitter Against Her Who Had Secured The Prize And Carried It Off
When As They Thought It Just Within Their Grasp. The Lawyer And The
Baronet Had Been Upon Terms Of Intimacy For Several Years Prior To The
Marriage, And Sir Jasper Being A Bachelor Saw No Objection To His
Friend'S Wife Visiting Vellenaux, Although She Had, As He Would
Facetiously Observe, Risen From The Ranks.
The Lady In Question Was, At Eighteen, Tall, Pretty And Ambitious. She
Had At An Early Age Determined To Rise Above The Station In Which She
Was Born, And For That Object She Had Studied Most Assiduously At The
Village School, Where She Attained The Reputation Of Being The Most Apt
Scholar Of Her Class. A Few Years Residence With A Relative London
Served To Develop Her Natural Abilities, And She Lost No Opportunity Of
Pursuing Her Studies Or Of Affecting The Tone And Fashion Of Persons
Moving In a Far Higher Circle Than Her Own.
Education And Application She Knew Would Doubtless Do Much To Elevate
Her In The Social Scale, But The Position She So Earnestly Sought For
Was To Become The Wife Of Some Man Of Good Standing In Society, Whose
Means Would Be Sufficient To Support Her In That Style To Which Her
Ambition Led Her To Hope For, And For This She Strove Hard And Was
Rewarded For Her Perseverance By Becoming The Wife Of A Reputed Wealthy
Barrister Some Thirty Years Her Senior, And For A Few Years Enjoying The
Position She Had Attained, Visiting And Visited By The Uppercrusts Of
The Place And Not Unfrequently Dining At Vellenaux And Otherwise
Enjoying The Hospitality Of Its Owner.
When Little Edith Was About Seven Years Old, Mr. Fraudhurst Was Gathered
To His Fathers, And The Sorrowing Widow Was Left In a Very Different
Position Than Was Anticipated Either By Herself Or Others Who Took Any
Interest In Such Matters; The House And Grounds Which She Fully Believed
To Be Her Own Property, Passed Into The Hands Of A Distant Relative Of
The Deceased Barrister, And With The Exception Of The Furniture And Some
Three Hundred Pounds In cash, She Was No Better Off Than She Had Been
Prior To Her Marriage; But, Being A Woman Of Great Tact, She Contrived
To Keep This Circumstance From The Knowledge Of The Enquiring
Neighbours, And Having Applied To The New Owner Of The Premises She
Obtained Permission To Occupy Them For A Period Of Six Months.
On The Baronet Calling To Pay His Visit Of Condolence The Lady, Who Had
Previously Arranged What She Should Say And Do On The Occasion, Unfolded
To Sir Jasper Her Real Position And Out Of Friendship For Her Late
Husband Claimed His Advice And Assistance. The Worthy Old Bachelor
Declared His Willingness To Assist Her If She Could Only Point Out The
Way; As To Advice He Could Realty Give None On So Difficult A Matter.
"Oh! Sir Jasper," Exclaimed The Widow, In a Voice So Excellently
Modulated To Suit The Occasion, That The Old Bachelor Was Beginning To
Feel A Real Interest In Her Affairs, "So Like Yourself, So Good Of You
To Allow Me To Suggest The Way In Which You Can Best Serve Me In My
Peculiar And, I May Say, Awkward Position."
"There Is A Way, My Dear Sir Jasper, (And Here The Widow Bent Over And
Placed Her Soft White Hand On His Arm) In Which I Believe You Can
Materially Serve Me, And At The Same Time Advance The Interest Of One
Who Is, Without Doubt, More Dear To You Than Any Living Being; I Allude
To Dear Little Edith." At The Mention Of His Niece'S Name He Looked Up
Enquiringly As If Not Quite Catching The Meaning Of Her Words.
"You Must Understand, Sir Jasper," She Continued, "That The Little
Darling Is Now Of An Age That Will Require Some Person To Guide And
Direct The Development Of Her Young Mind And Superintend Her Studies. Of
Course, Old Nurse Simms Is An Excellent And Worthy Woman, But Not Such
An One As The Future Heiress Of Vellenaux Should Be Entrusted To, As She
Advances From Childhood To Maturity. It Is An Important And Responsible
Position, And Should Only Be Undertaken By Those Who Have Already Passed
Through The Struggles And Trials Of The World, And Drank Of The Cup Of
Affliction." Here A Pearly Tear Fell Upon The Hand Of The Good-Natured
Baronet, And Here She Applied Her White Laced Cambric To Her Eyes.
This Was The _Coup De Main_ That Carried The Day. The Soft-Hearted
Bachelor Was Not Proof Against This, Besides There Was Truth And Reason
In Her Suggestions For His Darling Little Niece, And He Did Not See How
He Could, For The Present, Do Better Than To Offer To Mrs. Fraudhurst
The Charge Of Edith, And Before He Took Leave It Was Arranged That The
Widow Should Call At Vellenaux Daily And Endeavor To Gain The Confidence
Of The Child, And At The End Of The Six Months She Should Give Up
Housekeeping And Be Installed As Governess And Companion For Edith; And
So Well Did She Play Her Cards That She Had Scarcely Been There Twelve
Months When She Ruled The Household As Though She Were Its Legitimate
Mistress; Always Heading The Table When Sir Jasper Entertained His
Bachelor Friends, And Thus, We May Say, For Several Years Lived In
Clover. Her Chief Duties Consisted In educating Edith And Arthur, Which,
For Several Years, Was A Task Which Did Not Require Much Mental
Endowment Or Physical Exertion. It Was, In Fact, More Of A Pastime Than
Otherwise, And As She Always Accompanied Edith When Visiting The
Neighboring Families, There Was But Little Monotony To Complain Of.
She Had A Double Object In becoming An Inmate Of Vellenaux. First, That
Of Securing A Comfortable Home For Several Years. But Her Grand Scheme
Was That Of Making Herself So Necessary To The Baronet, That She Could,
In Time, Undermine The Defences, Carry The Citadel By Stratagem, And
Finally Become The Envied Mistress Of Vellenaux. But A Few Months
Residence Under The Same Roof Served To Convince Her Of The Fallacy Of
The Project; For There Were Two Grand Difficulties That She Could Not
Overcome; His Strong Objection To Matrimony, And His Affection For His
Niece. Therefore, The Shrewd And Cautious Widow Had To Relinquish Her
Attack In That Direction; And As Edith Advanced Towards Womanhood, Her
Position Became More Precarious. There Were Two Events To Be Dreaded,
And In either Case She Believed Her Occupation Gone, And These Were The
Death Of Sir Jasper Or Edith'S Marriage. Her Income During The Years Of
Her Residence With Sir Jasper Had Been A Handsome One, And Being At
Little Or No Expense, She Managed To Accumulate A Goodly Sum At Her
Bankers; But The Idea Of Losing Her Present Abode Was To Her
Disagreeable In The Extreme, And Her Busy Mind Was Continually At Work
To Devise How This Could Be Averted, And This Was The Way Matters Stood
With Her On The Morning Alluded To.
"He Is Coming Home From College Next Month Not Again To Return, And She
Loves Him, Though She May Not At Present Realize The Fact, But That
Knowledge Will Come, And I Fear Much Too Soon. Sir Jasper Will Not
Object, And The Youth Will Hardly Refuse To Accept Vellenaux And Twenty
Thousand A Year, Although There Be An Incumbrance In The Shape Of A Wife
Attached To The Bargain. Yes, I See It All, They Will Marry And I Shall
Be Thrown Out In The Cold Unless I Have Wit Enough To Prevent It Without
Appearing To Interest Myself In any Way With What Ought Not To Concern
Me. But Arthur Carlton Must Not Remain Here. He Must Be Sent Abroad, To
America, India, Anywhere, It Matters Not Where, So That They Be
Separated, And That Ere Long." These Were The Thoughts That Chased Each
Other Through The Active Brain Of Mrs. Fraudhurst, As She Sat Alone In
The Library. Half An Hour Had Elapsed Ere She Had Quite Made Up Her Mind
As To What Course She Should Pursue To Avoid The Impending Evil. Then,
At Length, Seeming To Grasp The Difficulty, She Took Up Her Pen And
Wrote What She Thought Was Likely To Transpire At Vellenaux Should There
Be No One Sufficiently Interested In The Matter To Prevent The Estate
(Which Had Been In The Coleman Family For Several Generations) From
Passing Into Other Hands. This She Sent To One Whom She Had Every Reason
To Believe (For She Had Observed Him Well) Would Not Scruple To Use Any
Means To Gain Possession Of The Broad Lands Of Vellenaux. This Letter
The Cautious Widow Posted With Her Own Hands, To Prevent The Possibility
Of The Address Being Noticed By Either Sir Jasper Or Edith. The Matter
Being Thus Satisfactorily Arranged, She Patiently Awaited The
Developments Of The First Fruits Of The Plot Against Young Carlton.
Chapter 2
It May Be Remarked, And With A Great Deal Of Truth, That The Chapters Of
A Novel Bear A Certain Resemblance To Those Pleasing Illusions Known As
Dissolving Views, Where One Scene Glides Almost Imperceptibly Into
Another. The Reader Has Been Gazing Mentally On Woods, Landscapes And
Water In The South Of England, When Lo! In The Twinkling Of An Eye, The
Busy Haunts Of Men In The World'S Great Capitol, London, Stands Unveiled
Before Him. It Must, However, Be Admitted That, So Far As Scenic Effect
Is Concerned, The Change Is At Times Less Pleasing Than The One Just
Fading From View. Yet If We Wish To Realize The Plot Of The Story, The
Dark And Uncertain Shades Of The Picture Should Be Looked On, From Time
To Time, As They Present Themselves.
On A Door, Which Stood Partially Open, In The Last Of A Row Of Gloomy
Looking Houses Situated In One Of Those Dark And Narrow Paved Courts
Leading From Chancery Lane To Lincoln Inn Field'S, Was Painted In black
Letters On A White Ground--"Ralph Coleman, Attorney-At-Law."
In The Ill Lit Passage To The Right Was A Door That Opened Into The
Front Office, Where, Seated At An Old-Fashioned Desk, Was A Youth, Tall,
Thin And Pale, Busily Engaged Engrossing Some Legal Documents. A Short,
Quick Step Was Heard Coming Up The Court, The Handle Turned, The Door
Opened, And A Man About The Middle Height With A Slight Tendency To Be
Corpulent, And About Thirty-Five Years Of Age, Entered. "Are Those
Papers Ready," Enquired Mr. Coleman Of The Young Clerk, Who Had Ceased
Writing On The Entrance Of His Employer.
"I Am Finishing The Last One Now," Was The Ready Reply.
"Good; And My Letters?"
"They Are In The Usual Place, On Your Desk," Answered The Youth,
Re-Commencing His Work. The Attorney Moved Away And Entered His Private
Office, And Seating Himself In His Old Leathern Chair, Commenced In a
Methodical Way To Open And Peruse His Letters.
Ralph Coleman Commenced Life With Very Fair Prospects. He Came Of A Good
Old Family And Had Received A University Education, And Studied For The
Bar Very Assiduously For Three Or Four Years, But On The Death Of His
Father He Came In For Five Thousand Pounds. He Then Neglected His
Profession, And, For A Time, Led A Very Fast Life In London. When He Had
Run Through About Half Of His Money He Went Abroad, And While There
Married A Lady Who Had A Tolerable Fortune. They Travelled Together Over
The European Continent, And For Several Years Enjoyed What Is Termed
Life.
An
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