“I shall be out of the way, sir; I mean to go
with Harcourt to Lady de Clare’s. I shall
ask for the carriage.”
“He will certainly lend it to you, as he wishes
to get rid of you; but here we are. God bless
you, my boy.”
The Bengal tiger taken
in the toils, which promise a speedy end
to mine—I
kindly permit my father to insist upon the marriage
that I have set my heart
upon.
I found my father, who had now completely recovered
from his accident, walking up and down the room in
a brown study. He did not speak to me until after
dinner, when he commenced with asking some questions
relative to Cecilia de Clare. I replied, “that
I intended, if he did not want the carriage, to call
there to-morrow with Mr Harcourt.”
“Is she very handsome?” inquired he.
“Very much so, sir. I do not think I ever
saw a handsomer young person. Yes, I do recollect
one.”
“Who was that?”
“A young lady with whom I was slightly acquainted,
when living in the country.”
“I have been thinking, my dear boy, that with
the competence which you will have, it is right that
you should marry early; in so doing you will oblige
your father, who is anxious to see his grandchildren
before he dies. My health is not very good.”
I could not help smiling at this pathetic touch of
the old governor’s, who, if one could judge
from appearances, was as strong as a lion, and likely
to last almost as long as his dutiful son. Moreover,
his appetite was enormous, and he invariably finished
his bottle every day. I did not therefore feel
any serious alarm as to his health, but I nevertheless
replied, “Matrimony is a subject upon which I
have never thought”—(ahem! a De Benyon
never tells an untruth!), “I am very young yet,
and am too happy to remain with you.”
“But, my dear boy, I propose that you shall
remain with me—we will all live together.
I do not intend that we shall part. I really wish,
Japhet, you would think seriously of it.”
“My dear father, allow me to observe, that at
present I am not in a situation to support a wife,
and I should be sorry to be a tax upon you, at your
age; you require many comforts and luxuries, and I
presume that you live up to your income.”
“Then, my dear fellow, you are under a great
mistake. I can lay down one hundred thousand
pounds on the day of your marriage, with any lady whom
I approve of, and still not spend half my remaining
income.”
“That, sir,” replied I, “certainly
removes one difficulty, at the same time that it proves
what a generous and indulgent father I am blessed
with; but, sir, with such a fortune, I have a right
to expect that the lady will also bring a handsome
addition. Miss De Clare is engaged, I believe,
to Mr Harcourt, or I might have made strong interest
in that quarter.”
“Something, my dear boy; but a moderate fortune
now-a-days is all that we expect with wives, and the
best wives are those who are not born to too much
wealth; still she should bring something; but tell
me, Japhet, who is that young lady whom you thought
handsomer than Miss De Clare?”
