Tales and Novels, Vol. VII by Maria Edgeworth

M >> Maria Edgeworth >> Tales and Novels, Vol. VII

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The Count said that he had already had the honour of being presented to
Miss Caroline Percy--that he had seen her frequently at Falconer-court, and
at her own home--and that he was not surprised at the interest which she
excited at Hungerford Castle. Count Altenberg showed the interest she had
excited in his own mind, whilst he pronounced, in the most sober manner in
his power, those few words.

Mrs. Hungerford perceived it, nor had it escaped her observation, that he
had forborne to mention the name of Percy when enumerating the persons he
had met at Falconer-court. She was both too well bred in general, and too
discreet on Caroline's account, to take any notice of this circumstance.
She passed immediately and easily to a different subject of conversation.

The next day Mrs. Mortimer returned with Caroline. The Count saw the
affection with which she was embraced by Mrs. Hungerford. The family had
crowded to the door of the antechamber to receive her, so that Caroline,
encompassed with friends, could not immediately see the Count, and he
enjoyed these moments so exquisitely, that the idea which had previously
engrossed all his soul, anxiety to see how she would look on meeting him
thus unexpectedly, was absolutely forgotten. When the crowd opened, and
Mrs. Hungerford led her forward, a smile of frank surprise and pleasure
appeared on her countenance upon seeing Count Altenberg; but her colour had
been previously so much raised, and so much pleasure had sparkled in her
eyes, that there was no judging what share of emotion was to be attributed
to this surprise. He was, and he had reason to be, satisfied with
perceiving, that in the midst of the first pleasure of meeting intimate
friends, and when she did not expect to meet any but friends, she was not
chilled by the sight of one who was, to her, as yet but a new acquaintance.

After introducing Count Altenberg to Mrs. Mortimer, Mrs. Hungerford said,
"Till I had my daughter and all my friends in full force about me, I
prudently did not make any attempt, Count Altenberg, upon your liberty; but
now that you see my resources, I trust you will surrender yourself, without
difficulty, my prisoner, as long as we can possibly detain you in this
castle."

Never was man less disposed to refuse an invitation than Count Altenberg at
this moment. He wrote to Mrs. Falconer immediately that farewell note which
had shocked Miss Georgiana so much.

As Lord Oldborough was preparing to return to town, and likely to be
engrossed by ministerial business, his lordship, with less reluctance,
relinquished his company; and the Count, with infinite satisfaction, found
himself established at once upon a footing of intimacy at Hungerford
Castle. The letter he had intended to write to his father was now written
and sent; but it was expressed in yet stronger terms than he had originally
designed--he concluded by conjuring his father, as he valued the happiness
of his son, not to take a step in any of the treaties of marriage that had
been planned for him, and besought him to write as soon as it was possible,
to relieve his mind from suspense, and to set him at liberty to declare his
attachment, if, upon further acquaintance with the English lady who had
touched his heart, he should feel any hope of making such an impression on
her affections as could induce her to make for him the great sacrifice of
country, family, and friends. In the mean time, the hours and days passed
on most happily at Hungerford Castle. Every succeeding day discovered to
him some new excellence in the object of his affection. Mrs. Hungerford,
with judicious, delicate kindness, forbore all attempts to display even
those qualities and talents in Caroline which she most valued, certain that
she might safely leave them to the discernment of her lover. That Count
Altenberg loved, Mrs. Hungerford had too much penetration to doubt; and it
rejoiced her heart, and satisfied all her hopes, to see a prospect of her
young friend being united to such a man. Mrs. Mortimer felt as much joy and
as much delicacy upon the subject as her mother showed.

In that near examination in domestic life, so dangerous to many women of
the highest pretensions, Caroline shone superior. His love, approved by the
whole strength of his reason, and exalted by the natural enthusiasm of his
temper, was now at the highest. His impatience was extreme for the arrival
of that answer to his letter, which he hoped would set him at liberty to
declare his passion.

The letter at last arrived; very different were its contents from what he
had hoped. A previous letter from his father to him, sent in a packet with
government despatches by Mr. Cunningham Falconer, had not reached him. That
letter, of which his father now sent him a copy, contained an account of
the steps which had been taken, relative to a treaty of marriage between
his son and the Countess Christina, a lady of high birth, beauty, and
talents, who had lately appeared for the first time at that court. Count
Altenberg's father described the countess as one who, he was sure, must
charm his son; and as the alliance was eagerly desired by the lady's
friends, and in every respect honourable for his whole family, the old
Count was impatient to have the affair concluded. Receiving no answer to
this letter, and pressed by circumstances, he had gone forward in his son's
name with the treaty, and had pledged him so far, that there was now, he
declared, no possibility of retracting with honour. He lamented that his
son should, in the mean time, have taken a fancy to an English lady; but,
as Count Albert's letter gave the assurance to his family that he would not
take any decisive step till he should receive an answer, nothing could
have been done in England that would commit his honour--absence would soon
efface a transient impression--the advantages of the alliance proposed in
his own country would appear stronger the more they should be examined--the
charms of the Countess Christina, with her superior understanding, would
have an irresistible effect; "and," concluded the old count, "I beseech
you, my dear Albert, as your friend--I will say more--_I command you
as your father_, return to your own country as soon as you can obtain
passports after receiving this letter."

Count Altenberg would have left Hungerford Castle immediately, but he had
still a lingering hope that his last letter to his father would produce a
change in his mind, and for an answer to this he determined to wait; but
a sudden change appeared in his manner: he was grave and absent; instead
of seeking Caroline's company and conversation as usual, he studiously
avoided her; and when he did speak to her, his behaviour was so cold and
reserved--so unlike his natural or his former manner, that the difference
struck not only Caroline herself, but Rosamond and Mrs. Percy, who were,
at this time, at Hungerford Castle. It happened that, on the very day, and
nearly at the very hour, when Count Altenberg received this letter from
his father, of which no one knew any thing but himself, there arrived at
Hungerford Castle another of Mrs. Hungerford's nieces, a young lady of
uncommon beauty, and of the most attractive and elegant manners, Lady
Florence Pembroke. She was just returned from Italy with an uncle, who
had resided there for some time. Count Altenberg, from the moment he was
introduced to Lady Florence, devoted to her his whole attention--he sat
beside her--whenever he conversed, his conversation was addressed to
her; and the evident absence of mind he occasionally betrayed, and all
the change in his manner, seemed to have been caused by her ladyship's
appearance. Some sage philosophers know little more of cause and effect
than that the one precedes the other; no wonder then that Rosamond, not
famous for the accuracy of her reasoning, should, in this instance,
be misled by appearances. To support her character for prudence, she
determined not to seem to observe what passed, and not to mention her
suspicions to her sister; who, as she remarked, was sensible of the count's
altered manner; and who, as she rightly conjectured, did not perceive it
with indifference. The accomplishments, good sense, and exalted sentiments
of Count Altenberg, and the marked attentions he had paid her, had made an
unusual impression on the mind of Caroline. He had never declared his love,
but involuntarily it had betrayed itself on several occasions. Insensibly
Caroline was thus led to feel for him more than she dared to avow even
to herself, when the sudden change in his manner awakened her from this
delightful forgetfulness of every object that was unconnected with her
new feelings, and suddenly arrested her steps as she seemed entering the
paradise of love and hope.

At night, when they were retiring to rest, and Caroline and Rosamond
were in their mother's room, Rosamond, unable longer to keep her prudent
silence, gave vent to her indignation against Count Altenberg in general
reflections upon the fickleness of man. Even men of the best understanding
were, she said, but children of a larger growth--pleased with
change--preferring always the newest to the fairest, or the best. Caroline
did not accede to these accusations.

Rosamond, astonished and provoked, exclaimed, "Is it possible that you are
so blind as not to see that Count Altenberg--" Rosamond stopped short, for
she saw Caroline's colour change. She stood beside her mother motionless,
and with her eyes fixed on the ground. Rosamond moved a chair towards her.

"Sit down, my dear love," said her mother, tenderly taking Caroline's
hand--"sit down and compose yourself."

"My dear mother, you required one, and but one promise from me--I gave it
you, firmly intending to keep it; and yet I fear that you will think I have
broken it. I promised to tell you whenever I felt the first symptom of
preference for any person. I did not know my own mind till this day. Indeed
I thought I felt nothing but what every body else expressed, esteem and
admiration."

"In common minds," replied Mrs. Percy, "esteem and admiration may be very
safely distant from love; but in such a mind as yours, Caroline, the step
from perfect esteem to love is dangerously near--scarcely perceptible."

"Why dangerously?" cried Rosamond: "why should not perfect love follow
perfect esteem? that is the very thing I desire for Caroline. I am sure he
_is_ attached to her, and he is all we could wish for her, and--"

"Stop!" cried Caroline. "Oh! my dear sister! as you wish me to be good and
happy, name him to me no more--for it cannot be."

"Why?" exclaimed Rosamond, with a look of dismay: "Why cannot it be? It
can, it must--it shall be."

Caroline sighed, and turning from her sister, as if she dreaded to listen
to her, she repeated, "No;--I will not flatter myself--I see that it cannot
be--I have observed the change in his manner. The pain it gave me first
awakened me to the state of my own affections. I have given you some proof
of sincerity by speaking thus immediately of the impression made on my
mind. You will acknowledge the effort was difficult.--Mother, will you
answer me one question--which I am afraid to ask--did you, or do you think
that any body else perceived my sentiments by my manner?" Caroline paused,
and her mother and sister set her heart at ease on that point.

"After all," said Rosamond, addressing herself to her mother, "I may be
mistaken in what I hinted about Count Altenberg. I own I thought the change
in his manner arose from Lady Florence Pembroke--I am sorry I said any
thing of it--I dare say when he sees more of her--she is very pretty, very
pleasing, very elegant, and amiable, no doubt; but surely, in comparison
with Caroline--but I am not certain that there is any rivalship in the
case."

"I am certain that there shall be none," said Caroline. "How extraordinary
it is that the best, the noblest, the most delightful feelings of the
heart, may lead to the meanest, the most odious! I have, within a few
hours, felt enough to be aware of this. I will leave nothing to chance. A
woman should never expose herself to any hazard. I will preserve my peace
of mind, my own esteem. I will preserve my dear and excellent friends; and
that I may preserve some of them, I am sensible that I must now quit them."

Mrs. Percy was going to speak, but Rosamond interposed.

"Oh! what have I done!" exclaimed she: "imprudent creature that I was, why
did I speak? why did I open your eyes, Caroline? I had resolved not to say
a single word of the change I perceived in the Count."

"And did you think I should not perceive it?" said Caroline. "Oh, you
little know how quickly--the first look--the first tone of his voice--But
of that I will think no more. Only let me assure you, that you, my dear
Rosamond, did no harm--it was not what any body said that alarmed me:
before you pointed it out, I had felt that change in his manner, for which
I cannot account."

"You cannot account?--Can you doubt that Lady Florence is the cause?" said
Rosamond.

"Yes, I have great doubts," said Caroline.

"So have I," said Mrs. Percy.

"I cannot believe," said Caroline, "that a man of his sense and character
would be so suddenly captivated: I do not mean to detract from Lady
Florence's merits, but before they could make the impression you suspect
on Count Altenberg, there must have been time for them to be known and
appreciated. Shall I go on, and tell you all that has passed in my mind?
Yes, my mother and sister should see me as I am--perhaps under the delusion
of vanity--or self-love--or--But if I am wrong, you will set me right--you
will help me to set myself right: it has never been declared in words,
therefore perhaps I am vain and presumptuous to believe or to imagine--yet
I do feel persuaded that I am preferred--that I am--"

"Loved! Oh, yes!" said Rosamond, "a thousand times I have thought so, I
have felt certain, that Count Altenberg loved you; but now I am convinced,
alas! of my mistake--convinced at least that his love is of that light,
changeable sort, which is not worth having--not worth your having."

"That last," cried Caroline, "I can never believe." She stopped, and
blushed deeply. "What does my mother say?" added she, in a timid voice.

"My mother, I am sure, thought once that he loved Caroline--did not you,
mother?" said Rosamond.

"Yes, my dear," answered Mrs. Percy, "I have thought so, and I am not yet
convinced that we were mistaken; but I entirely agree with Caroline that
this is a subject upon which we ought not to let our thoughts dwell."

"Oh! so I have thought, so I have said on former occasions, how often,
how sincerely!" said Caroline. "But this is the first time I ever felt it
difficult to practise what I know to be wise and right. Mother, I beg it as
a favour that you will take me away from this place--this place, where but
yesterday I thought myself so happy!"

"But why, Caroline--why, mother, should she do this?" expostulated
Rosamond. "If she thinks, if you think that he loves her, if you do not
believe that he has changed, if you do not believe that he is struck with
a new face, why should Caroline go? For Heaven's sake do not take her away
till you are sure that it is necessary."

"I will be guided by her opinion," said Mrs. Percy; "I can depend entirely
on her own prudence."

"Indeed, I think it will be most prudent that I should not indulge myself
in staying longer," said Caroline. "From what I have seen of Count
Altenberg, we have reason to think that he acts in general from wise and
good motives. We should therefore believe that in the present instance his
motives are good and adequate--I cannot suspect that he acts from caprice:
what the nature of the obstacle may be, I can only guess; but I am inclined
to think that some opposing duty--"

"His duty," said Rosamond, "I suppose he must have known before to-day.
What new duty can he have discovered? No, no; men are not so very apt in
love matters to think of opposing duties as women do: much more likely that
he has heard something to your disadvantage, Caroline, from the Falconers.
I can tell you that Lady Frances Arlington gave me a hint that strange
things had been said, and great pains taken to misrepresent you to the
count."

"If injurious representations have been made of me to him," replied
Caroline, "he will in time discover the falsehood of such report; or, if he
believe them without examination, he is not what I imagine him to be. No;
I am convinced he has too noble a mind, too just an understanding, to be
misled by calumny."

Mrs. Percy declared she was decidedly of this opinion. "The obstacle,
whatever it may be, my dear mother," continued Caroline, with the earnest
tone and expression of countenance of a person of strong mind, at once
feeling and thinking deeply, "the difficulty, whatever it is, must be
either such as time will obviate or increase; the obstacle must be either
conquerable or unconquerable: if he love me, as I thought he did, if he
have the energy of character I think he possesses, he will conquer it, if
it can be conquered; if it be unconquerable, what misery, what madness,
to suffer my affections to be irrevocably engaged! or what base vanity
to wish, if it were in my power, to inspire him with an unhappy passion!
Then, in every point of view, mother, surely it is best that I should leave
this--dangerous place," said Caroline, smiling. "Yet you are both so happy
here, I am sorry to be the cause."

"My love," said her mother, "to us all things are trifles, compared with
what it is right and becoming that you should do. I entirely approve and
applaud your prudence and resolution: what you desire shall be done as soon
as possible. We will go home to-morrow morning."

"But, my dear ma'am! so suddenly! consider," cried Rosamond, "how very
strange this will appear to Mrs. Hungerford, and to every body!"

"My dear Rosamond, these are some of the small difficulties, the false
delicacies, which so often prevent people from doing what is right, or what
is essentially necessary for the security of the peace and happiness of
their whole lives," said Mrs. Percy.

"That is true," replied Rosamond; "and I do not object to doing the thing,
but I only wish we had some good, decent excuse for running away: you
don't expect that Mrs. Hungerford will part with you without remonstrance,
without struggle, without even inquiring, why you must run away? I am sure
I hope she will not ask me, for I am not prepared with an answer, and
my face would never do, and would give way at the first glance of her
penetrating eye--what will you say to Mrs. Hungerford?"

"The truth," replied Caroline. "Mrs. Hungerford has ever treated me with so
much kindness, has shown me so much affection and esteem, feels such a warm
interest in all that concerns me, and is herself of so noble a character,
that she commands my entire confidence--and she shall have it without
reserve. Since my mother agrees with me in thinking that Lady Florence has
not been in any degree the cause of the change of manner we have observed,
there can be no impropriety on that account in our speaking of the subject
to Mrs. Hungerford. It may be painful, humiliating--but what is meant by
confidence, by openness towards our friends?--We are all of us ready enough
to confess our virtues," said she, smiling; "but our weaknesses, what
humbles our pride to acknowledge, we are apt to find some delicate reason
for keeping secret. Mother, if you do not disapprove of it, I wish you to
tell Mrs. Hungerford the whole truth."

Mrs. Percy entirely approved of Caroline's placing confidence in this
excellent friend. She observed, that this was very different from the
girlish gossiping sort of _confidences_, which are made often from one
young lady to another, merely from the want of something to say, or the
pleasure of prattling about love, or the hope of being encouraged by some
weak young friend, to indulge some foolish passion.

The next morning, before Mrs. Hungerford had left her apartment, Mrs. Percy
went to her, and explained the reasons which induced Caroline to refuse
herself the pleasure of prolonging her visit at Hungerford Castle.

Mrs. Hungerford was touched by the confidence which Caroline placed in her.
"Believe me," said she, "it is not misplaced--I feel all its value. And
must I lose her? I never parted with her without regret, and that regret
increases the more I see of her. I almost forget that she is not my own,
till I am called upon to relinquish her: but much as I value her, much as
I enjoy her society, I cannot he so selfish as to wish to detain her when
her peace of mind is at stake. How few, how very few are there, of all the
various young women I know, who would have the good sense and resolution,
I will say it, the integrity of mind, to act as she does! There is usually
some sentimental casuistry, some cowardly fear, or lingering hope, that
prevents young people in these circumstances from doing the plain right
thing--any thing but the plain right thing they are ready to do--and there
is always some delicate reason for not telling the truth, especially to
their friends; but _our_ daughters, Mrs. Percy, are above these things."
With respect to Count Altenberg, Mrs. Hungerford said, that, from many
observations she had made, she felt no doubt of his being strongly attached
to Caroline. "Their characters, their understandings, are suited to each
other; they have the same high views, the same magnanimity. With one
exception--you must allow a mother's partiality to make an exception in
favour of her own son--with one exception Count Altenberg is the man of all
others to whom I could wish to see Caroline united. I never till yesterday
doubted that it would be; but I was as much struck with the change in
his manner as you have been. I agree with Caroline, that some obstacle,
probably of duty, has arisen, and I hope--but no, I will imitate her
example, and as you tell me she forbids herself to hope, so will I--if
possible. At all events she raises herself, high as she was in my esteem,
still higher by her present conduct. Tell her so, my dear Mrs. Percy--you,
her mother, may give this praise, without hurting her delicacy; and tell
her that, old as I am, I have not forgotten so completely the feelings of
my youth, as not to be aware that suspense in some situations is the worst
of evils. She may be assured that my attention shall be as much awake as
even her mother's could be--and when any thing that I think important or
decisive occurs, she shall hear from me immediately, or see me, unless I
should lose the use of my limbs, or my faculties."

A messenger came to summon Mrs. Hungerford to breakfast--soon afterwards a
ride was proposed by Mrs. Mortimer. Count Altenberg was to be one of this
party, and he looked for a moment surprised and disappointed, when he found
that Caroline was not going with them; but he forebore to ask why she did
not ride, and endeavoured to occupy himself solely in helping Mrs. Mortimer
to mount her horse--Rosamond was glad to perceive that he did not well know
what he was doing.

Before they returned from their ride, the Percys were on their way to the
Hills. Till this moment the sight of home, even after a short absence, had,
on returning to it, always been delightful to Caroline; but now, for the
first time in her life, every object seemed to have lost its brightness. In
the stillness of retirement, which she used to love, she felt something sad
and lifeless. The favourite glade, which formerly she thought the very spot
so beautifully described by Dryden, as the scene of his "Flower and the
Leaf," even this she found had lost its charm. New to love, Caroline was
not till now aware, that it throws a radiance upon every object, which,
when passed away, seems to leave all nature changed.

To banish recollections which she knew that she ought not to indulge, she
employed herself unremittingly. But her mind did not turn with its wonted
energy to her occupations, nor was it acted upon by those small motives
of ordinary life, by which it had formerly been excited. When reading,
her thoughts would wander even from her favourite authors: every subject
they discussed would remind her of some conversation that had passed at
Hungerford Castle; some coincidence or difference of opinion would lead
her to digress; some observation more just or more striking; some better
expression, or some expression which pleased her better than the author's,
would occur, and the book was laid down. These digressions of fancy
were yet more frequent when she was endeavouring to fix her attention
to drawing, needle-work, or to any other sedentary employment. Exercise
she found useful. She spent more time than usual in planting and in
gardening--a simple remedy; but practical philosophy frequently finds those
simple remedies the best which Providence has put within the reach of all.

One morning, soon after her return home, when she was alone and busy in
her garden, she heard voices at a distance; as they approached nearer,
she thought she distinguished Mrs. Hungerford's. She listened, and looked
towards the path whence the voices had come. All was silent--but a minute
afterwards, she saw Mrs. Hungerford coming through the narrow path in the
thicket: Caroline at first sprang forward to meet her, then stopped short,
her heart beating violently--she thought that, perhaps, Mrs. Hungerford
was accompanied by Count Altenberg; but she was alone. Ashamed of the
hope which had glanced across her mind, and of the sudden stop which had
betrayed her thoughts, Caroline now went forward, blushing.