THE PRIME MINISTER (10 page)

Emily Wharton was a tall, fair girl, with grey eyes, rather exceeding the average proportions as well as height of women. Her features were regular and handsome, and her form was perfect; but it was by her manner and her voice that she conquered, rather than by her beauty, – by those gifts and by a clearness of intellect joined with that feminine sweetness which has
its most frequent foundation in self-denial. Those who knew her well, and had become attached to her, were apt to endow her with all virtues, and to give her credit for a loveliness which strangers did not find on her face. But as we do not light up our houses with our brightest lamps for all comers, so neither did she emit from her eyes their brightest sparks till special occasion for such shining
had arisen. To those who were allowed to love her no woman was more lovable. There was innate in her an appreciation of her own position as a woman, and with it a principle of self-denial as a human being, which it was beyond the power of any Mrs Roby to destroy or even to defile by small stains.

Like other girls she had been taught to presume that it was her destiny to be married, and like other
girls she had thought much about her destiny. A young man generally regards it as his destiny either to succeed or to fail in the world, and he thinks about that. To him marriage, when it comes, is an accident to which he has hardly as yet given a thought. But to the girl the matrimony which is or is not to be her destiny contains within itself the only success or failure which she anticipates.
The young man may become Lord Chancellor, or at any rate earn his bread comfortably as a county court judge. But the girl can look forward to little else than the chance of having a good man for her husband; – a good man, or if her tastes lie in that direction, a rich man. Emily Wharton had doubtless thought about these things, and she sincerely believed that she had found the good man in Ferdinand
Lopez.

The man, certainly, was one strangely endowed with the power of creating a belief. When going to Mr Wharton at his chambers, he had not intended to cheat the lawyer into any erroneous idea about his family, but he had resolved that he would so discuss the
questions of his own condition, which would probably be raised, as to leave upon the old man’s mind an unfounded conviction that, in
regard to money and income, he had no reason to fear question. Not a word had been said about his money or his income. And Mr Wharton had felt himself bound to abstain from allusion to such matters from an assured feeling that he could not in that direction plant an enduring objection. In this way Lopez had carried his point with Mr Wharton. He had convinced Mrs Roby that among all the girl’s attractions
the greatest attraction for him was the fact that she was Mrs Roby’s niece. He had made Emily herself believe that the one strong passion of his life was his love for her, and this he had done without ever haying asked for her love. And he had even taken the trouble to allure Dick, and had listened to and had talked whole pages out of
Bell’s Life
. On his own behalf it must be acknowledged that
he did love the girl, as well perhaps as he was capable of loving anyone; – but he had found out many particulars as to Mr Wharton’s money before he had allowed himself to love her.

As soon as Mrs Roby had gathered up her knitting, and declared, as she always did on such occasions, that she could go round the corner without having anyone to look after her, Mr Wharton began. ‘Emily, my dear, come
here.’ Then she came and sat on a footstool at his feet, and looked up into his face. ‘Do you know what I am going to speak to you about, my darling?’

‘Yes, papa; I think I do. It is about – Mr Lopez.’

‘Your aunt has told you, I suppose. Yes; it is about Mr Lopez. I have been very much astonished to-day by Mr Lopez, – a man of whom I have seen very little and know less. He came to me to-day
and asked for my permission – to address you.’ She sat perfectly quiet, still looking at him, but she did not say a word. ‘Of course I did not give him permission.’

‘Why of course, papa?’

‘Because he is a stranger and a foreigner. Would you have wished me to tell him that he might come?’

‘Yes, papa.’ He was sitting on a sofa, and shrank back a little from her as she made this free avowal. ‘In
that case I could have judged for myself I suppose every girl would like to do that.’

‘But should you have accepted him?’

‘I think I should have consulted you before I did that. But I should
have wished to accept him. Papa, I do love him. I have never said so before to anyone. I would not say so to you now, if he had not – spoken to you as he has done.’

‘Emily, it must not be.’

‘Why not, papa?
If you say it shall not be so, it shall not. I will do as you bid me.’ Then he put out his hand and caressed her, stroking down her hair. ‘But I think you ought to tell me why it must not be, – as I do love him.’

‘He is a foreigner.’

‘But is he? And why should not a foreigner be as good as an Englishman? His name is foreign, but he talks English and lives as an Englishman.’

‘He has no relatives,
no family, no belongings. He is what we call an adventurer. Marriage, my dear, is a most serious thing.’

‘Yes, papa, I know that.’

‘One is bound to be very careful. How can I give you to a man I know nothing about, – an adventurer? What would they say in Herefordshire?’

‘I don’t know why they should say anything, but if they did I shouldn’t much care.’

‘I should, my dear. I should care very
much. One is bound to think of one’s family. Suppose it should turn out afterwards that he was – disreputable!’

‘You may say that of any man, papa.’

‘But when a man has connections, a father and mother, or uncles and aunts, people that everybody knows about, then there is some guarantee of security. Did you ever hear this man speak of his father?’

‘I don’t know that I ever did.’

‘Or his mother,
– or his family? Don’t you think that is suspicious?’

‘I will ask him, papa, if you wish.’

‘No, I would have you ask him nothing. I would not wish that there should be opportunity for such asking. If there has been intimacy between you, such information should have come naturally, – as a thing of course. You have made him no promise?’

‘Oh no, papa.’

‘Nor spoken to him – of your regard for
him?’

‘Never; – not a word. Nor he to me, – except in such words as one understands even though they say nothing.’

‘I wish he had never seen you.’

‘Is he a bad man, papa?’

‘Who knows? I cannot tell. He may be ever so bad. How is one to know whether a man be bad or good when one knows nothing about him?’ At this point the father got up and walked about the room. ‘The long and the short of it
is that you must not see him any more.’

‘Did you tell him so?’

‘Yes; – well; I don’t know whether I said exactly that, but I told him that the whole thing must come to an end. And it must. Luckily it seems that nothing has been said on either side.’

‘But papa –; is there to be no reason?’

‘Haven’t I given reasons? I will not have my daughter encourage an adventurer, – a man of whom nobody
knows anything. That is reason sufficient.’

‘He has a business, and he lives with gentlemen. He is Everett’s friend. He is well educated; – oh, so much better than most men that one meets. And he is clever. Papa, I wish you knew him better than you do.’

‘I do not want to know him better.’

‘Is not that prejudice, papa?’

‘My dear Emily,’ said Mr Wharton, striving to wax into anger that he might
be firm against her, ‘I don’t think that it becomes you to ask your father such a question as that. You ought to believe that it is the chief object of my life to do the best I can for my children.’

‘I am sure it is.’

‘And you ought to feel that, as I have had a long experience in the world, my judgment about a young man might be trusted.’

That was a statement which Miss Wharton was not prepared
to admit. She had already professed herself willing to submit to her father’s judgment, and did not now by any means contemplate rebellion against parental authority. But she did feel that on a matter so vital to her she had a right to plead her cause before judgment should be given, and she was not slow to assure herself, even as this interview went on, that her love for the man was strong
enough to entitle her to assure her father that her happiness depended on his reversal of the sentence already pronounced. ‘You know, papa, that I
trust you,’ she said. ‘And I have promised you that I will not disobey you. If you tell me that I am never to see Mr Lopez again, I will not see him.’

‘You are a good girl. You were always a good girl.’

‘But I think that you ought to hear me.’ Then
he stood still with his hands in his trousers pockets looking at her. He did not want to hear a word, but he felt that he would be a tyrant if he refused. ‘If you tell me that I am not to see him, I shall not see him. But I shall be very unhappy. I do love him, and I shall never love anyone else in the same way.’

‘That is nonsense, Emily. There is Arthur Fletcher.’

‘I am sure you will never
ask me to marry a man I do not love, and I shall never love Arthur Fletcher. If this is to be as you say, it will make me very, very wretched. It is right that you should know the truth. If it is only because Mr Lopez has a foreign name –’

‘It isn’t only that; no one knows anything about him, or where to inquire even.’

‘I think you should inquire, papa, and be quite certain before you pronounce
such a sentence against me. It will be a crushing blow.’ He looked at her, and saw that there was a fixed purpose in her countenance of which he had never before seen similar signs. ‘You claim a right to my obedience, and I acknowledge it. I am sure you believe me when I promise not to see him without your permission.’

‘I do believe you. Of course I believe you.’

‘But if I do that for you, papa,
I think that you ought to be very sure, on my account, that I haven’t to bear such unhappiness for nothing. You’ll think about it, papa, – will you not, before you quite decide?’ She leaned against him as she spoke, and he kissed her. ‘Good night, now, papa. You will think about it?’

‘I will. I will. Of course I will.’

And he began the process of thinking about it immediately, – before the door
was closed behind her. But what was there to think about? Nothing that she had said altered in the least his idea about the man. He was as convinced as ever that unless there was much to conceal there would not be so much concealment. But a feeling began to grow upon him already that his daughter had a mode of pleading with him which he would not ultimately be able to resist He had the power,
he knew, of putting an end to the thing
altogether. He had only to say resolutely and unchangeably that the thing shouldn’t be, and it wouldn’t be. If he could steel his heart against his daughter’s sorrow for, say, a twelvemonth, the victory would be won. But he already began to fear that he lacked the power to steel his heart against his daughter.

‘And what are they going to make you now?’

This question was asked of her husband by a lady with whom perhaps the readers of this volume may have already formed some acquaintance. Chronicles of her early life
¹⁰
have been written, at any rate copiously. The lady was the Duchess of Omnium, and her husband was of course the Duke. In order that the nature of
the question asked by the Duchess may be explained, it must be stated that just at this time the political affairs of the nation had got themselves tied up into one of those truly desperate knots from which even the wisdom and experience of septuagenarian statesmen can see no unravelment. The heads of parties were at a standstill. In the House of Commons there was, so to say, no majority on either
side. The minds of members were so astray that, according to the best calculation that could be made, there would be a majority of about ten against any possible Cabinet. There would certainly be a majority against either of those well-tried but, at this moment, little trusted Prime Ministers, Mr Gresham and Mr Daubeny. There were certain men, nominally belonging to this or to the other party,
who would certainly within a week of the nomination of a Cabinet in the House, oppose the Cabinet which they ought to support. Mr Daubeny had been in power, – nay, was in power though he had twice resigned. Mr Gresham had been twice sent for to Windsor, and had on one occasion undertaken and on another had refused to undertake to form a Ministry. Mr Daubeny had tried two or three combinations, and
had been at his wits’ end. He was no doubt still in power, –
could appoint bishops, and make peers, and give away ribbons. But he couldn’t pass a law, and certainly continued to hold his present uncomfortable position by no will of his own. But a Prime Minister cannot escape till he has succeeded in finding a successor, and though the successor be found and consents to make an attempt, the old
unfortunate cannot be allowed to go free when that attempt is shown to be a failure. He has not absolutely given up the keys of his boxes, and no one will take them from him. Even a sovereign can abdicate; but the Prime Minister of a constitutional government is in bonds. The reader may therefore understand that the Duchess was asking her husband what place among the political rulers of the country
had been offered to him by the last aspirant to the leadership of the Government.

But the reader should understand more than this, and may perhaps do so, if he has ever seen those former chronicles to which allusion has been made. The Duke, before he became a duke, had held very high office, having been Chancellor of the Exchequer. When he was transferred, perforce, to the House of Lords, he
had, – as is not uncommon in such cases, – accepted a lower political station. This had displeased the Duchess, who was ambitious both on her own behalf and that of her lord, – and who thought that a Duke of Omnium should be nothing in the Government if not at any rate near the top. But after that, with the simple and single object of doing some special piece of work for the nation, – something which
he fancied that nobody else would do if he didn’t do it, – his Grace, of his own motion, at his own solicitation, had encountered further official degradation, very much to the disgust of the Duchess. And it was not the way with her Grace to hide such sorrows in the depth of her bosom. When affronted she would speak out, whether to her husband, or to another, – using irony rather than argument
to support her cause and to vindicate her ways. The shafts of ridicule hurled by her against her husband in regard to his voluntary abasement had been many and sharp. They stung him, but never for a moment influenced him. And though they stung him, they did not even anger him. It was her nature to say such things, – and he knew that they came rather from her uncontrolled spirit than from any malice.
She was his wife too, and he had an idea that of little injuries of that sort there should be no end of bearing on the part of a
husband. Sometimes he would endeavour to explain to her the motives which actuated him; but he had come to fear that they were and must ever be unintelligible to her. But he credited her with less than her real intelligence. She did understand the nature of his work
and his reasons for doing it; and, after her own fashion, did what she conceived to be her own work in endeavouring to create within his bosom a desire for higher things. ‘Surely,’ she said to herself, ‘if a man of his rank is to be a minister, he should be a great minister; – at any rate as great as his circumstances will make him. A man never can save his country by degrading himself’ In this he
would probably have agreed; but his idea of degradation and hers hardly tallied.