Part 16 (1/2)
The elder of the two was dressed in a manner that would better become a miss of twenty than a matron who was on the shady side of fifty; and the young lady, though not displaying the ingrained vulgarity of the mother, was not costumed with that simple elegance that would indicate a refined taste.
They were the wife and daughter of John Sealy, Esq., whom we have already introduced to our fit readers.
”I don't think, Luella,” said the mother, ”you should hesitate for a moment in deciding between Bill Barton and Mr. Ginsling.”
”Neither do I, mother; but while I would prefer the former, I should judge, from your accent on the 'Bill,' your preference would be given to the latter.”
”It certainly would, Luella; for what has Barton to offer a young lady of your wealth? He has neither looks, nor money, nor position. I think he had a great deal of a.s.surance to come to see you, in the first place. He knows my opinion in regard to the matter; and, if I am not mistaken, thinks about as much of me as I do of him, and that is not saying a great deal.”
”What has Ginsling to offer, mother, besides his bloated face and aristocratic airs? And then he looks nearly as old as pa.”
”He is a gentleman, Luella, and is from one of the most aristocratic houses in England.” Mrs. Sealy particularly emphasized the fact of his being of an old family; for, like all artificial and vulgar natures, she would have made any sacrifices to be related in any way to those whom she endeavored, though ineffectually, to copy. ”As to age, Luella,” she continued, ”though he may be a few years older, that does not signify. I prefer to see a husband a few years older than his wife. Your father is ten years older than I am, and yet, I am sure, the difference is not particularly noticeable, though I do not think time has been particularly severe upon me.” And the lady viewed her rather good-looking face in the gla.s.s, and, from the complacent look that swept over it, one would be led to believe the answer to her interrogation was to her eminently satisfactory.
”Mother, all I have to say is, I love William Barton, while I cannot help loathing Ginsling. You say the former has neither money, nor position, nor beauty; though in regard to the latter a.s.sertion, it will be sufficient for me to say we differ. But if he has neither of these he has brains, and manhood, and purity.”
”I don't see anything particularly smart about him, Luella; and in regard to purity he is, I suppose, on a level with, the average young man about town.”
”Now, ma, it is not fair to speak of him in that manner; for I am sure you know of nothing but what's to his credit, and if Ginsling is what you term a gentleman by birth, he certainly is not one by instinct; though no one can truthfully make such an a.s.sertion in regard to William Barton.”
”As you just remarked, Luella, there may be difference of opinion as to which is by nature the greater gentleman, but, as I said before, I can't conceive how he had the audacity to come to see you, in the first place.”
”I guess he wouldn't have come if he had not received some encouragement; and I am sure, ma, he is not only my equal but my superior in every respect.”
”You don't mean to say, Luella Sealy,” said the mother, with what seemed at least indignation, ”that you were so unmaidenly as to make the first advances to this young man. If I thought you were capable of doing such a thing I should be ashamed of you. It would be bad enough if he were your equal, and a gentleman, but when he is a mere bank clerk and a person of no position, how you could descend to do so is beyond my comprehension.”
”Mother,” said the daughter, while a quizzical smile lit up her face, ”when pa came to see you did you not encourage him, or in some manner give him to understand that his visits were not altogether distasteful to you? From what I have heard pa say, I should rather think you did. Now, ma, I rather liked William Barton; and while I did not tell him so, he seemed in some manner or other to find out my secret, and I have not tried to deceive him.”
”But, Luella,” said her mother,--not replying to her daughter's mischievous reference to her days of romance and love, for, like many other ambitious, scheming mothers, if she ever had such a foolish emotion as love, she had forgotten it, or else she had been led to believe it was all Moons.h.i.+ne; and if a girl only married wealth and position, she thought love would come,--”what is the use of acting so foolishly? If you marry William Barton you will have to leave the set with which you are now a.s.sociating, and if you degrade yourself by a _mesalliance_ you will drag us down with you.”
”You had better wait, mother, until he asks me to marry him.”
”No! I want to talk it over now, and then you will be prepared to act like a sensible girl. If Barton wishes to marry you it is because you have money, and he will bring you nothing in exchange but degradation. How the McWrigglers will sneer if such a thing happens! They schemed and plotted until they got Captain Merton to marry that baby-faced Elaine; and because he is an officer in the English army and the youngest son of a gentleman, they have been putting on airs ever since; and they are now so stuck-up there is scarcely any living for them.”
”I am sure, ma, they are welcome to him, for I hear he does not use her very kindly when he is in liquor, which is most of the time.”
”Oh! I guess that is like a great deal of what people say-- scandal. I am certain since that alliance they have moved in society into which they could not gain entrance before. Now, if you marry Stanley Ginsling, as he is first cousin to Lord Fitzjinkins, we will have the _entree_ to society to which they dare not aspire; and then the airs of superiority can be on our side, not theirs.”
”So, ma, you would have me marry a sot, who is twice my age, and whom I detest, in order that you may have a paltry advantage over one who, when she calls, you kiss and use the most endearing epithets in your vocabulary, in order to express your friends.h.i.+p for her. To tell you the truth, I don't see much in what you call 'our set,' to encourage me to sacrifice myself in order to remain in it. When you meet you are all honey, smiles, and kisses, and you profess to be the dearest of friends; and yet you are constantly endeavoring to gain some petty triumph at each other's expense, and then to relate it in such a manner as to cut and cause envy and jealousy. 'Our set,' ma, is too superficial and spiteful for me to wish to remain in it.”
”Your remarks, Luella, are the reverse of complimentary; but I am not going to be angry. If you don't like the set you are in get above it. If you only become the wife of one who, some day, will become the Hon. Stanley Ginsling, you will be lifted out of anything of that kind.”
”You mean dragged beneath it, ma. It would be a nice thing to be a drunkard's wife.”
”O there is no fear of that. The majority of men drink before they are married. All they want is a good wife, and then they settle down; and as to that, I have been told that Barton drinks. So there is as, much danger with one as the other. You had better be sensible, dear, for your father will feel like disowning you if you marry Barton, and he has set his heart upon a match between you and Mr. Ginsling.”
”Mother, I don't believe William Barton drinks; and it is wrong to repeat as fact what is nothing but malicious scandal. I also think it is very unkind of you to threaten me, and thus try and force me to marry one I despise. Surely, since I will have to live with the man I marry, I should have some choice in the matter.”
After she thus spoke she abruptly left the room in a pa.s.sion of tears.
The mother did not introduce the subject again, but it was constantly in her mind, and she knew Luella would not forget it.