LADY SUSAN
PART 2
V
LADY
SUSAN VERNON TO MRS. JOHNSON
Churchill.
I
received your note, my dear Alicia, just before I left town, and rejoice to be
assured that Mr. Johnson suspected nothing of your engagement the evening
before. It is undoubtedly better to deceive him entirely, and since he will be
stubborn he must be tricked. I arrived here in safety, and have no reason to
complain of my reception from Mr. Vernon; but I confess myself not equally
satisfied with the behaviour of his lady. She is perfectly well-bred, indeed,
and has the air of a woman of fashion, but her manners are not such as can
persuade me of her being prepossessed in my favour. I wanted her to be
delighted at seeing me. I was as amiable as possible on the occasion, but all
in vain. She does not like me. To be sure when we consider that I DID take some
pains to prevent my brother-in-law's marrying her, this want of cordiality is
not very surprizing, and yet it shows an illiberal and vindictive spirit to
resent a project which influenced me six years ago, and which never succeeded
at last.
I
am sometimes disposed to repent that I did not let Charles buy Vernon Castle,
when we were obliged to sell it; but it was a trying circumstance, especially
as the sale took place exactly at the time of his marriage; and everybody ought
to respect the delicacy of those feelings which could not endure that my
husband's dignity should be lessened by his younger brother's having possession
of the family estate. Could matters have been so arranged as to prevent the
necessity of our leaving the castle, could we have lived with Charles and kept
him single, I should have been very far from persuading my husband to dispose
of it elsewhere; but Charles was on the point of marrying Miss De Courcy, and
the event has justified me. Here are children in abundance, and what benefit could
have accrued to me from his purchasing Vernon? My having prevented it may
perhaps have given his wife an unfavourable impression, but where there is a
disposition to dislike, a motive will never be wanting; and as to money matters
it has not withheld him from being very useful to me. I really have a regard
for him, he is so easily imposed upon! The house is a good one, the furniture
fashionable, and everything announces plenty and elegance. Charles is very rich
I am sure; when a man has once got his name in a banking-house he rolls in
money; but they do not know what to do with it, keep very little company, and
never go to London but on business. We shall be as stupid as possible. I mean
to win my sister-in-law's heart through the children; I know all their names
already, and am going to attach myself with the greatest sensibility to one in
particular, a young Frederic, whom I take on my lap and sigh over for his dear
uncle's sake.
Poor
Mainwaring! I need not tell you how much I miss him, how perpetually he is in
my thoughts. I found a dismal letter from him on my arrival here, full of
complaints of his wife and sister, and lamentations on the cruelty of his fate.
I passed off the letter as his wife's, to the Vernons, and when I write to him
it must be under cover to you.
Ever
yours, S. VERNON.
VI
MRS.
VERNON TO MR. DE COURCY
Churchill.
Well,
my dear Reginald, I have seen this dangerous creature, and must give you some
description of her, though I hope you will soon be able to form your own
judgment. She is really excessively pretty; however you may choose to question
the allurements of a lady no longer young, I must, for my own part, declare
that I have seldom seen so lovely a woman as Lady Susan. She is delicately
fair, with fine grey eyes and dark eyelashes; and from her appearance one would
not suppose her more than five and twenty, though she must in fact be ten years
older, I was certainly not disposed to admire her, though always hearing she
was beautiful; but I cannot help feeling that she possesses an uncommon union
of symmetry, brilliancy, and grace. Her address to me was so gentle, frank, and
even affectionate, that, if I had not known how much she has always disliked me
for marrying Mr. Vernon, and that we had never met before, I should have
imagined her an attached friend. One is apt, I believe, to connect assurance of
manner with coquetry, and to expect that an impudent address will naturally
attend an impudent mind; at least I was myself prepared for an improper degree
of confidence in Lady Susan; but her countenance is absolutely sweet, and her
voice and manner winningly mild. I am sorry it is so, for what is this but
deceit? Unfortunately, one knows her too well. She is clever and agreeable, has
all that knowledge of the world which makes conversation easy, and talks very
well, with a happy command of language, which is too often used, I believe, to
make black appear white. She has already almost persuaded me of her being
warmly attached to her daughter, though I have been so long convinced to the
contrary. She speaks of her with so much tenderness and anxiety, lamenting so
bitterly the neglect of her education, which she represents however as wholly
unavoidable, that I am forced to recollect how many successive springs her
ladyship spent in town, while her daughter was left in Staffordshire to the
care of servants, or a governess very little better, to prevent my believing
what she says.
If
her manners have so great an influence on my resentful heart, you may judge how
much more strongly they operate on Mr. Vernon's generous temper. I wish I could
be as well satisfied as he is, that it was really her choice to leave Langford
for Churchill; and if she had not stayed there for months before she discovered
that her friend's manner of living did not suit her situation or feelings, I
might have believed that concern for the loss of such a husband as Mr. Vernon,
to whom her own behaviour was far from unexceptionable, might for a time make
her wish for retirement. But I cannot forget the length of her visit to the
Mainwarings, and when I reflect on the different mode of life which she led
with them from that to which she must now submit, I can only suppose that the
wish of establishing her reputation by following though late the path of
propriety, occasioned her removal from a family where she must in reality have
been particularly happy. Your friend Mr. Smith's story, however, cannot be
quite correct, as she corresponds regularly with Mrs. Mainwaring. At any rate
it must be exaggerated. It is scarcely possible that two men should be so
grossly deceived by her at once.
Yours,
&c.,
VII
LADY
SUSAN VERNON TO MRS. JOHNSON
Churchill.
My
dear Alicia,—You are very good in taking notice of Frederica, and I am grateful
for it as a mark of your friendship; but as I cannot have any doubt of the
warmth of your affection, I am far from exacting so heavy a sacrifice. She is a
stupid girl, and has nothing to recommend her. I would not, therefore, on my
account, have you encumber one moment of your precious time by sending for her
to Edward Street, especially as every visit is so much deducted from the grand
affair of education, which I really wish to have attended to while she remains
at Miss Summers's. I want her to play and sing with some portion of taste and a
good deal of assurance, as she has my hand and arm and a tolerable voice. I was
so much indulged in my infant years that I was never obliged to attend to
anything, and consequently am without the accomplishments which are now necessary
to finish a pretty woman. Not that I am an advocate for the prevailing fashion
of acquiring a perfect knowledge of all languages, arts, and sciences. It is
throwing time away to be mistress of French, Italian, and German: music,
singing, and drawing, &c., will gain a woman some applause, but will not
add one lover to her list—grace and manner, after all, are of the greatest
importance. I do not mean, therefore, that Frederica's acquirements should be
more than superficial, and I flatter myself that she will not remain long
enough at school to understand anything thoroughly. I hope to see her the wife
of Sir James within a twelvemonth. You know on what I ground my hope, and it is
certainly a good foundation, for school must be very humiliating to a girl of
Frederica's age. And, by-the-by, you had better not invite her any more on that
account, as I wish her to find her situation as unpleasant as possible. I am
sure of Sir James at any time, and could make him renew his application by a
line. I shall trouble you meanwhile to prevent his forming any other attachment
when he comes to town. Ask him to your house occasionally, and talk to him of
Frederica, that he may not forget her. Upon the whole, I commend my own conduct
in this affair extremely, and regard it as a very happy instance of
circumspection and tenderness. Some mothers would have insisted on their
daughter's accepting so good an offer on the first overture; but I could not
reconcile it to myself to force Frederica into a marriage from which her heart
revolted, and instead of adopting so harsh a measure merely propose to make it
her own choice, by rendering her thoroughly uncomfortable till she does accept
him—but enough of this tiresome girl. You may well wonder how I contrive to
pass my time here, and for the first week it was insufferably dull. Now,
however, we begin to mend, our party is enlarged by Mrs. Vernon's brother, a
handsome young man, who promises me some amusement. There is something about
him which rather interests me, a sort of sauciness and familiarity which I
shall teach him to correct. He is lively, and seems clever, and when I have
inspired him with greater respect for me than his sister's kind offices have
implanted, he may be an agreeable flirt. There is exquisite pleasure in subduing
an insolent spirit, in making a person predetermined to dislike acknowledge
one's superiority. I have disconcerted him already by my calm reserve, and it
shall be my endeavour to humble the pride of these self important De Courcys
still lower, to convince Mrs. Vernon that her sisterly cautions have been
bestowed in vain, and to persuade Reginald that she has scandalously belied me.
This project will serve at least to amuse me, and prevent my feeling so acutely
this dreadful separation from you and all whom I love.
Yours
ever,
VIII
MRS.
VERNON TO LADY DE COURCY
Churchill.
My
dear Mother,—You must not expect Reginald back again for some time. He desires
me to tell you that the present open weather induces him to accept Mr. Vernon's
invitation to prolong his stay in Sussex, that they may have some hunting
together. He means to send for his horses immediately, and it is impossible to
say when you may see him in Kent. I will not disguise my sentiments on this
change from you, my dear mother, though I think you had better not communicate
them to my father, whose excessive anxiety about Reginald would subject him to
an alarm which might seriously affect his health and spirits. Lady Susan has
certainly contrived, in the space of a fortnight, to make my brother like her.
In short, I am persuaded that his continuing here beyond the time originally
fixed for his return is occasioned as much by a degree of fascination towards
her, as by the wish of hunting with Mr. Vernon, and of course I cannot receive
that pleasure from the length of his visit which my brother's company would
otherwise give me. I am, indeed, provoked at the artifice of this unprincipled
woman; what stronger proof of her dangerous abilities can be given than this
perversion of Reginald's judgment, which when he entered the house was so
decidedly against her! In his last letter he actually gave me some particulars
of her behaviour at Langford, such as he received from a gentleman who knew her
perfectly well, which, if true, must raise abhorrence against her, and which
Reginald himself was entirely disposed to credit. His opinion of her, I am
sure, was as low as of any woman in England; and when he first came it was
evident that he considered her as one entitled neither to delicacy nor respect,
and that he felt she would be delighted with the attentions of any man inclined
to flirt with her. Her behaviour, I confess, has been calculated to do away
with such an idea; I have not detected the smallest impropriety in it—nothing
of vanity, of pretension, of levity; and she is altogether so attractive that I
should not wonder at his being delighted with her, had he known nothing of her
previous to this personal acquaintance; but, against reason, against
conviction, to be so well pleased with her, as I am sure he is, does really
astonish me. His admiration was at first very strong, but no more than was
natural, and I did not wonder at his being much struck by the gentleness and
delicacy of her manners; but when he has mentioned her of late it has been in
terms of more extraordinary praise; and yesterday he actually said that he
could not be surprised at any effect produced on the heart of man by such
loveliness and such abilities; and when I lamented, in reply, the badness of
her disposition, he observed that whatever might have been her errors they were
to be imputed to her neglected education and early marriage, and that she was
altogether a wonderful woman. This tendency to excuse her conduct or to forget
it, in the warmth of admiration, vexes me; and if I did not know that Reginald
is too much at home at Churchill to need an invitation for lengthening his
visit, I should regret Mr. Vernon's giving him any. Lady Susan's intentions are
of course those of absolute coquetry, or a desire of universal admiration; I
cannot for a moment imagine that she has anything more serious in view; but it
mortifies me to see a young man of Reginald's sense duped by her at all.
I
am, &c.,
IX
MRS.
JOHNSON TO LADY S. VERNON
Edward
Street.
My
dearest Friend,—I congratulate you on Mr. De Courcy's arrival, and I advise you
by all means to marry him; his father's estate is, we know, considerable, and I
believe certainly entailed. Sir Reginald is very infirm, and not likely to
stand in your way long. I hear the young man well spoken of; and though no one
can really deserve you, my dearest Susan, Mr. De Courcy may be worth having.
Mainwaring will storm of course, but you easily pacify him; besides, the most
scrupulous point of honour could not require you to wait for HIS emancipation.
I have seen Sir James; he came to town for a few days last week, and called
several times in Edward Street. I talked to him about you and your daughter,
and he is so far from having forgotten you, that I am sure he would marry
either of you with pleasure. I gave him hopes of Frederica's relenting, and
told him a great deal of her improvements. I scolded him for making love to
Maria Mainwaring; he protested that he had been only in joke, and we both
laughed heartily at her disappointment; and, in short, were very agreeable. He
is as silly as ever.
Yours
faithfully,
X
LADY
SUSAN VERNON TO MRS. JOHNSON
Churchill.
I
am much obliged to you, my dear Friend, for your advice respecting Mr. De
Courcy, which I know was given with the full conviction of its expediency,
though I am not quite determined on following it. I cannot easily resolve on
anything so serious as marriage; especially as I am not at present in want of
money, and might perhaps, till the old gentleman's death, be very little
benefited by the match. It is true that I am vain enough to believe it within
my reach. I have made him sensible of my power, and can now enjoy the pleasure
of triumphing over a mind prepared to dislike me, and prejudiced against all my
past actions. His sister, too, is, I hope, convinced how little the ungenerous
representations of anyone to the disadvantage of another will avail when
opposed by the immediate influence of intellect and manner. I see plainly that
she is uneasy at my progress in the good opinion of her brother, and conclude
that nothing will be wanting on her part to counteract me; but having once made
him doubt the justice of her opinion of me, I think I may defy her. It has been
delightful to me to watch his advances towards intimacy, especially to observe
his altered manner in consequence of my repressing by the cool dignity of my
deportment his insolent approach to direct familiarity. My conduct has been
equally guarded from the first, and I never behaved less like a coquette in the
whole course of my life, though perhaps my desire of dominion was never more
decided. I have subdued him entirely by sentiment and serious conversation, and
made him, I may venture to say, at least half in love with me, without the
semblance of the most commonplace flirtation. Mrs. Vernon's consciousness of
deserving every sort of revenge that it can be in my power to inflict for her
ill-offices could alone enable her to perceive that I am actuated by any design
in behaviour so gentle and unpretending. Let her think and act as she chooses,
however. I have never yet found that the advice of a sister could prevent a
young man's being in love if he chose. We are advancing now to some kind of
confidence, and in short are likely to be engaged in a sort of platonic
friendship. On my side you may be sure of its never being more, for if I were
not attached to another person as much as I can be to anyone, I should make a
point of not bestowing my affection on a man who had dared to think so meanly
of me. Reginald has a good figure and is not unworthy the praise you have heard
given him, but is still greatly inferior to our friend at Langford. He is less
polished, less insinuating than Mainwaring, and is comparatively deficient in
the power of saying those delightful things which put one in good humour with
oneself and all the world. He is quite agreeable enough, however, to afford me
amusement, and to make many of those hours pass very pleasantly which would
otherwise be spent in endeavouring to overcome my sister-in-law's reserve, and
listening to the insipid talk of her husband. Your account of Sir James is most
satisfactory, and I mean to give Miss Frederica a hint of my intentions very
soon.
Yours,
&c.,
To be continued
