menu_book Chapter 48

the man who was a man chapter forty eight the marquis makes a proposition the next morning was very weary with him as he had nothing to do till three o'clock he was most anxious to know whether his sister-in-law had in truth left london but he had no means of finding out he could not ask questions on such a subject from mrs walker and her satellites and he felt it would be difficult to ask even his brother he was aware that his brother had behaved to him badly and he had determined not to be over-courteous unless indeed he should find his brother to be dangerously ill but above all things he would avoid all semblance of inquisitiveness which might seem to have a reference to the condition of his own unborn child he walked up and down st james's park thinking of all this looking up once at the windows of the house which had brought so much trouble on him that house of his which had hardly been his own but not caring to knock at the door and enter it he lunched in solitude at his club and exactly at three o'clock presented himself at skumberg's door

the marquis's servant was soon with him and then again he found himself alone in that dreary sitting-room how wretched must his brother be living there from day to day without a friend or as far as he was aware without a companion he was there full twenty minutes walking about the room in exasperated ill-humour when at last the door was open and his brother was brought in between two men-servants he was not actually carried but was so supported as to appear to be unable to walk lord george asked some questions but received no immediate answers the marquis was at the moment thinking too much of himself and of the men who were ministering to him to pay any attention to his brother then by degrees he was fixed in his place and after what seemed to be interminable delay the two men went away ugh ejaculated the marquis i am glad to see that you can at any rate leave your room said lord george then let me tell you that it takes deuced little to make you glad the beginning was not auspicious and further progress in conversation seemed to be difficult

they told me yesterday that dr pullbody was attending you he has this moment left me i don't in the least believe in him your london doctors are such conceited asses that you can't speak to them because they can make more money than their brethren in other countries they think that they know everything and that nobody else knows anything it is just the same with the english in every branch of life the archbishop of canterbury is the greatest priest going because he has the greatest income and the lord chancellor the greatest lawyer all you fellows here are flunkies from top to bottom lord george certainly had not come up to town merely to hear the great dignitaries of his country abused but he was comforted somewhat as he reflected that a dying man would hardly turn his mind to such an occupation when a sick man criticizes his doctor severely he is seldom in a very bad way have you had anybody else with you brotherton one is quite enough but i had another a fellow named bolton was here a baronet i believe who told me i ought to walk a mile in hyde park every day when i told him i couldn't he said i didn't know till i tried

i handed him a five-pound note upon which he hauled out three pounds nineteen shillings change and walked off in a huff i didn't send for him any more sir james bolton has a great reputation no doubt i dare say he could cut off my leg if i asked him and would then have handed out two pounds eighteen with the same indifference i suppose your back is better no it isn't not a bit it gets worse and worse what does dr pulbody say nothing that anybody can understand by george he takes my money freely enough he tells me to eat beefsteaks and drink pork wine i'd sooner die at once i told him so or something a little stronger i believe and he almost jumped out of his shoes he doesn't think there is any danger he doesn't know anything about it i wish i could have your father-in-law in a room by ourselves with a couple of loaded revolvers i'd make better work of it than he did god forbid

i dare say he won't give me the chance he thinks he has done a plucky thing because he's as strong as a brewer's horse i call that downright cowardice it depends on how it began brotherton of course there had been words between us things always begin in that way you must have driven him very hard are you going to take his part because if so there may as well be an end of it i thought you had found him out and had separated yourself from him you can't think that he is a gentleman he is a very liberal man you mean to sell yourself then for the money that was made in his father's stables i have not sold myself at all i haven't spoken to him for the last month so i understood therefore i sent for you you are all back at manor cross now yes we are there you wrote me a letter which i didn't think quite the right thing

but however i don't mind telling you that you can have the house if we can come to terms about it what terms you can have the house and the park and cross hall farm too if you'll pledge yourself that the dean shall never enter your house again and that you will never enter his house or speak to him you shall do pretty nearly as you please at manor cross in that event i shall live abroad or here in london if i come to england i think that's a fair offer and i don't suppose that you yourself can be very fond of the man lord george sat perfectly silent while the marquis waited for a reply after what has passed continued he you can't suppose that i should choose that he should be entertained in my dining-room you said the same about my wife before yes i did but a man may separate himself from his father-in-law when he can't very readily get rid of his wife i never saw your wife no and therefore cannot know what she is

i don't in the least want to know what she is you and i george haven't been very lucky in our marriages i have do you think so you see i speak more frankly of myself but i am not speaking of your wife your wife's father has been a blister to me ever since i came back to this country and you must make up your mind whether you will take his part or mine you know what he did and what he induced you to do about popenjoy you know the reports that he has spread abroad and you know what happened in this room i expect you to throw him off altogether lord george had thrown the dean off altogether for reasons of his own he had come to the conclusion that the less he had to do with the dean the better for himself but he certainly could give no such pledge as this now demanded from him you won't make me this promise said the marquis no i can't do that then you'll have to turn out of manor cross said the marquis smiling you do not mean that my mother must be turned out

you and my mother i suppose will live together it does not follow i will pay you rent for cross hall you shall do no such thing i will not let cross hall to any friend of the dean's you cannot turn your mother out immediately after telling her to go there it will be you who turn her out not i i have made you a very liberal offer said the marquis i will have nothing to do with it said lord george in any house in which i act as master i will be the judge who shall be entertained and who not the first guest you will ask no doubt will be the dean of brotherton and captain de baron this was so unbearable that he at once made a rush at the door you'll find my friend said the marquis that you'll have to get rid of the dean and of the dean's daughter as well then lord george swore to himself as he left the room that he would never willingly be in his brother's company again he was rushing down the stairs thinking about his wife swearing to himself that all this calumny yet confessing to himself there must have been terrible indiscretion to make the calumny so general when he was met on the landing by mrs walker in her best silk gown

please my lord may i take the liberty of asking for one word in my own room lord george followed her and heard the one word please my lord what are we to do with the marquis do with him about his going why should he go he pays his bills i suppose oh yes my lord the marquis pays his bills there ain't no difficulty there my lord he's not quite himself you mean in health yes my lord in health he don't give himself not a chance he's out every night in his room i thought he was almost confined to his room out every night my lord and that courier with him on the box when we gave him to understand that all manner of people couldn't be allowed to come here we thought he'd go the marchioness has gone oh yes and the poor little boy it was bad enough when they was here because things were so uncomfortable but now-i wish something could be done my lord

lord george could only assure her that it was out of his power to do anything he had no control over his brother and did not even mean to come and see him again deary me said mrs wolver he's a very audacious nobleman i fear is the marquis all this was very bad lord george had learned indeed that the marchioness and popenjoy were gone and was able to surmise that the parting had not been pleasant his brother would probably soon follow them but what was he to do himself he could not in consequence of such a warning drag his mother and his sisters back to claus hall into which house mr price the farmer had already moved himself nor could he very well leave his mother without explaining to her why he did so would it be right that he should take such a threat uttered as that had been as a notice to quit the house he certainly would not live in his brother's house in opposition to his brother but how was he to obey the orders of such a madman when he reached brotherton he went at once to the deanery and was very glad to find his wife without her father

he did not as yet wish to renew his friendly relations with the dean although he had refused to pledge himself to a quarrel he still thought it to be his duty to take his wife away from her father and to cause her to expiate those calumnies as to de baron by some ascetic mode of life she had been since his last visit in a state of nervous anxiety about the marquis how is he george she asked at once i don't know how he is i think he's mad mad he's leading a wretched life but his back is he is is he i'm afraid that papa is so unhappy about it he won't say anything but i know he is unhappy you may tell your father from me that as far as i can judge his illness if he is ill has nothing to do with that oh george you have made me so happy i wish i could be happy myself i sometimes think that we had better go and live abroad abroad abroad you and i yes i suppose you would go with me of course i would but your mother i know there is all manner of trouble about it

he could not tell her of his brother's threat about the house nor could he after that threat again bid her come to manor claus as there was nothing more to be said he soon left her and went to the house which he had again been forbidden to call his home but he told his sister everything i was afraid she said that we should be wrong in coming here it is no use going back to that now not the least what ought we to do it will break mamma's heart to be turned out again i suppose we must ask mr knox it is unreasonable monstrous mr price has got all his furniture back again into the hall it is terrible that any man should have so much power to do evil i could not pledge myself about the dean sarah certainly not nothing could be more wicked than his asking you of course you will not tell mamma not yet i should take no notice of it whatever if he means to turn us out of the house let him write to you or send word by mr knox out every night in london what does he do

lord george shook his head i don't think he goes into society lord george could only shake his head again there are so many kinds of society they said he was coming down to mr de baron's in august i heard that too i don't know whether he'll come now to see him brought in between two servants you'd think he couldn't move but they told you he goes out every night i've no doubt that is true i don't understand it at all said lady sarah what is he to gain by pretending and so they used to quarrel i tell you what the woman told me i no doubt it's true and she has gone and taken popenjoy did he say anything about popenjoy not a word said lord george it's quite possible that the dean may have been right all through what terrible mischief a man may do when he throws all idea of duty to the winds if i were you george i should just go on as though i had not seen him at all

that was the decision to which lord george came but in that he was soon shaken by a letter which he received from mr knox i think if you were to go up to london and see your brother it would have a good effect said mr knox in fact mr knox's letter contained little more than a petition that lord george would pay another visit to the marquis to this request after consultation with his sister he gave a positive refusal my dear mr knox he said i saw my brother less than a week ago and the meeting was so unsatisfactory in every respect that i do not wish to repeat it if he has anything to say to me as to the occupation of the house he had better say it through you i think however that my brother should be told that though i may be subject to his freaks we cannot allow that my mother should be annoyed by them faithfully yours george germain at the end of another week mr knox came in person the marquis was willing that his mother should live at manor cross and his sisters but he had so he said been insulted by his father and must insist that lord george should leave the house

if this order were not obeyed he should at once put the letting of the place into the hands of a house-agent then mr knox went on to explain that he was to take back to the marquis a definite reply when people are dependent on me i choose that they shall be dependent the marquis had said now after a prolonged consultation to which lady susanna was admitted so serious was the thing to be considered it was found to be necessary to explain the matter to the marchioness some step clearly must be taken they must all go or lord george must go cross hall was occupied and mr price was going to be married on the strength of his occupation a lease had been executed to mr price which the dowager herself had been called upon to sign mamma will never be made to understand it said lady susanna no one can understand it said lord george lord george insisted that the lady should continue to live at the large house

insinuating that for himself he would take some wretched residence in the most miserable corner of the globe which he could find the marchioness was told and really fell into a very bad way she literally could not understand it and aggravated matters by appearing to think that her younger son had been wanting in respect to his elder brother and it was all that nasty dean and mary must have behaved very badly or brotherton would not have been so severe mamma said lady sarah moved beyond her want you ought not to think such things george has been true to you all his life and mary has done nothing it is all brotherton's fault when did he ever behave well if we are to be miserable let us at any rate tell the truth about it then the marchioness was put to bed and remained there for two days at last the dean heard of it first through lady alice and then directly from lady sarah who took the news to the deanery upon which he wrote the following letter to his son-in-law he

my dear george i think your brother is not quite sane i never thought he was since i have had the pleasure of knowing you especially since i have been connected with the family he has been the cause of all the troubles that have befallen it it is to be regretted that you should ever have moved back to manor cross because his temper is so uncertain and his motives so unchristian i think i understand your position now and will therefore not refer to it further than to say that when not in london i hope you will make the deanery your home you have your own house in town and when here will be close to your mother and sisters anything i can do to make this a comfortable residence for you shall be done and it will surely go for something with you that a compliance with this request on your part will make another person the happiest woman in the world

in such an emergency as this am i not justified in saying that any little causes of displeasure that may have existed between you and me should now be forgotten if you will think of them they really amount to nothing for you i have the esteem of a friend and the affection of a father-in-law a more devoted wife than my daughter does not live be a man and come to us and let us make much of you she knows i am writing and sends her love but i have not told her of the subject lest she should be wild with hope affectionately yours henry lovelace the letter as he read it moved him to tears but when he had finished the reading he told himself that it was impossible there was one phrase in the letter which went sorely against the grain with him the dean told him to be a man did the dean mean to imply that his conduct hitherto had been unmanly chapter forty eight