THE day passed much as the day before had
done. Mr. Wesley Lockley and Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg had spent some hours
of the morning with the invalid, who continued, though slowly, to mend;
and in the evening Spike joined their party in the drawing room. The pool
table, however, did not appear. Miss Buffy Summers was writing, and Mr.
Riley Finn Rosenburg, seated near her, was watching the progress of her
letter, and repeatedly calling off her attention by messages to her brother.
Mrs. Kate Lockley and Willow were at poker or uno, and Mr. Wesley Lockley
was observing their game.
Spike was sufficiently amused in attending
to what passed between Summers and her companion. The perpetual commendations
of the lord either on her hand-writing, or on the evenness of her lines,
or on the length of her letter, with the perfect unconcern with which his
praises were received, formed a curious dialogue, and was exactly in unison
with his opinion of each.
"How delighted Mr. Summers will be to receive
such a letter!''
She made no answer.
"You write uncommonly fast.''
"You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.''
"How many letters you must have occasion
to write in the course of the year! Letters of business too! How odious
I should think them!''
"It
is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of to yours.''
"Pray tell your brother that I long to
see him.''
"I have already told him so once, by your
desire.''
"I am afraid you do not like your pen.
Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.''
"Thank you -- but I always mend my own.''
"How can you contrive to write so even?''
She was silent.
"Tell your brother I am delighted to hear
of his improvement on the harp, and pray let him know that I am quite in
raptures with his beautiful little design for a table, and I think it infinitely
superior to Mr. Grantley's.''
"Will you give me leave to defer your raptures
till I write again? -- At present I have not room to do them justice.''
"Oh! it is of no consequence. I shall see
him in January. But do you always write such charming long letters to him,
Miss Buffy Summers?''
"They are generally long; but whether always
charming, it is not for me to determine.''
"It is a rule with me, that a person who
can write a long letter, with ease, cannot write ill.''
"That will not do for a compliment to Summers,
Riley,'' cried his sister -- "because she does not write with ease. She
studies too much for words of four syllables. -- Do not you, Summers?''
"My stile of writing is very different
from yours.''
"Oh!'' cried Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg,
"Willow writes in the most careless way imaginable. She leaves out half
her words, and blots the rest.''
"My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not
time to express them -- by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas
at all to my correspondents.''
"Your humility, Willow,'' said Spike, "must
disarm reproof.''
"Nothing is more deceitful,'' said Summers,
"than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion,
and sometimes an indirect boast.''
"And which of the two do you call my little
recent piece of modesty?''
"The indirect boast; -- for you are really
proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding
from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which if not
estimable, you think at least highly interesting. The power of doing any
thing with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often
without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. When you
told Mayor Wilkins-le Bloddy the morning that if you ever resolved on quitting
the burnt husk of Sunnydale High you should be gone in five minutes, you
meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself -- and yet
what is there so very laudable in a precipitance which must leave very
necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself
or any one else?''
"Nay,'' cried Rosenburg, "there is too
much, to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the
morning. And yet, upon my honour, I believed what I said of myself to be
true, and I believe it at the moment. At least, therefore, I did not assume
the character of needless precipitance merely to shew off before the gentlemen.''
"I dare say you believed it; but I am by
no means convinced that you would be gone with such celerity. Your conduct
would be quite as dependant on chance as that of any woman I know; and
if, as you were mounting your horse, a friend were to say, "Rosenburg,
you had better stay till next week," you would probably do it, you would
probably not go -- and, at another word, might stay a month.''
"You have only proved by this,'' cried
Spike, "that Willow did not do justice to her own disposition. You have
shewn her off now much more than she did herself.''
"I am exceedingly gratified,'' said Rosenburg,
"by your converting what my friend says into a compliment on the sweetness
of my temper. But I am afraid you are giving it a turn which that lady
did by no means intend; for she would certainly think the better of me,
if under such a circumstance I were to give a flat denial, and ride off
as fast as I could.''
"Would Miss Buffy Summers then consider
the rashness of your original intention as atoned for by your obstinacy
in adhering to it?''
"Upon my word I cannot exactly explain
the matter; Summers must speak for herself.''
"You expect me to account for opinions
which you chuse to call mine, but which I have never acknowledged. Allowing
the case, however, to stand according to your representation, you must
remember, Mr. le Bloddy, that the friend who is supposed to desire her
return to the house, and the delay of her plan, has merely desired it,
asked it without offering one argument in favour of its propriety.''
"To yield readily -- easily -- to the persuasion
of a friend is no merit with you.''
"To yield without conviction is no compliment
to the understanding of either.''
"You appear to me, Miss Buffy Summers,
to allow nothing for the influence of friendship and affection. A regard
for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request without
waiting for arguments to reason one into it. I am not particularly speaking
of such a case as you have supposed about Willow. We may as well wait,
perhaps, till the circumstance occurs, before we discuss the discretion
of her behaviour thereupon. But in general and ordinary cases between friend
and friend, where one of them is desired by the other to change a resolution
of no very great moment, should you think ill of that person for complying
with the desire, without waiting to be argued into it?''
"Will it not be advisable, before we proceed
on the subject, to arrange with rather more precision the degree of importance
which is to appertain to the request, as well as the degree of intimacy
subsisting between the parties?''
"By all means,'' cried Rosenburg; "Let
us hear all the particulars, not forgetting their comparative height and
size; for that will have more weight in the argument, Mr. le Bloddy, than
you may be aware of. I assure you that if Summers were not such a great
strong woman, in comparison with myself, I should not pay her half so much
deference. I declare I do not know a more awful object than Summers, on
particular occasions, and in particular places; at her own house especially,
and of a Sunday evening when she has nothing to do.''
Miss Buffy Summers smiled; but Spike thought
he could perceive that she was rather offended; and therefore he laughed.
Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg warmly resented the indignity she had received,
in an expostulation with his sister for talking such nonsense.
"I see your design, Rosenburg,'' said her
friend. -- "You dislike an argument, and want to silence This.''
"Perhaps I do. Arguments are too much like
disputes. If you and Mr. le Bloddy will defer yours till I am out of the
room, I shall be very thankful; and then you may say whatever you like
of me.''
"What you ask,'' said Spike, "is no sacrifice
on my side; and Miss Buffy Summers had much better finish her letter.''
Miss Buffy Summers took his advice, and
did finish her letter.
When that business was over, she applied
to Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg and Spike for the indulgence of some sparring.
Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg moved with alacrity to the dojo, and after a polite
request that Spike would lead the way, which the other as politely and
more earnestly negatived, he changed his clothes.
Mr. Wesley Lockley spared with his brother,
and while they were thus employed, Spike could not help observing, as he
turned over some kendo books that lay on the bench, how frequently Miss
Buffy Summers' eyes were fixed on him. He hardly knew how to suppose that
he could be an object of admiration to so great woman; and the slayer besides,
and yet that she should look at him because she disliked him was still
more strange. He could only imagine however, at last, that he drew her
notice because there was a something about him more wrong and reprehensible,
according to her ideas of right, than in any other person present. The
supposition did not pain him. He liked her too little to care for her approbation.
After practising some drunken boxing, Mr.
Riley Finn Rosenburg varied the schedule with a lively round of Scottish
boxing; and soon afterwards Miss Buffy Summers, drawing near Spike, said
to him --
"Do not you feel a great inclination, Mr.
le Bloddy, to seize such an opportunity of sparring?''
He smiled, but made no answer. She repeated
the question, with some surprise at his silence.
"Oh!'' said he, "I heard you before; but
I could not immediately determine what to say in reply. You wanted me,
I know, to say "Yes," that you might have the pleasure of despising my
taste; but I always delight in overthrowing those kind of schemes, and
cheating a person of their premeditated contempt. I have therefore made
up my mind to tell you that I do not want to fight at all -- and now despise
me if you dare.''
"Indeed I do not dare.''
Spike, having rather expected to affront
her, was amazed at her gallantry; but there was a mixture of style and
bravado in his manner which made it difficult for him to affront anybody;
and Summers had never been so bewitched by any man as she was by him. She
really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of his connections,
she should be in some danger.
Mr. Riley Rosenburg saw, or suspected,
enough to be jealous; and his great anxiety for the recovery of his dear
friend Oz received some assistance from his desire of getting rid of Spike.
He often tried to provoke Summers into
disliking his guest, by talking of their supposed marriage, and planning
her happiness in such an alliance.
"I hope,'' said he, as they were walking
together in the shrubbery the next day, "you will give your father-in-law
a few hints, when the desirable event takes place, as to the advantage
of holding his tongue; and if you can compass it, do cure the younger boys
of running after the officers. -- And, if I may mention so delicate a subject,
endeavour to check that little something, bordering on conceit and impertinence,
which your lord possesses.''
>
"Have
you any thing else to propose for my domestic felicity?''
"Oh! yes. -- Do let the portraits of your
aunt and uncle Philips be placed in the gallery at The Bronze. Put them
next to your great uncle, the judge. They are in the same profession, you
know; only in different lines. As for your Spike's picture, you must not
attempt to have it taken, for what painter could do justice to those beautiful
eyes?''
"It would not be easy, indeed, to catch
their expression, but their colour and shape, and the eye-lashes, so remarkably
fine, might be copied.''
At that moment they were met from another
walk, by Mr. Wesley Lockley and Spike himself.
"I did not know that you intended to walk,''
said Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg, in some confusion, lest they had been overheard.
"You used us abominably ill,'' answered
Mr. Wesley Lockley, "in running away without telling us that you were coming
out.'' Then taking the disengaged arm of Miss Buffy Summers, he left Spike
to walk by himself. The path just admitted three.
Miss Buffy Summers felt their rudeness
and immediately said, --
"This walk is not wide enough for our party.
We had better go into the avenue.''
But Spike, who had not the least inclination
to remain with them, laughingly answered,
"No, no; stay where you are. -- You are
charmingly group'd, and appear to uncommon advantage. The picturesque would
be spoilt by admitting a fourth. Good bye.''
He then ran gaily off, rejoicing, as he
rambled about, in the hope of being at home again in a day or two. Oz was
already so much recovered as to intend leaving his room for a couple of
hours that evening.
WHEN the gentlemen removed after dinner, Spike
ran up to his brother, and, seeing him well guarded from cold, attended
him into the drawing-room; where he was welcomed by his two friends with
many professions of pleasure; and Spike had never seen them so agreeable
as they were during the hour which passed before the ladies appeared. Their
powers of conversation were considerable. They could describe an entertainment
with accuracy, relate an anecdote with humour, and laugh at their acquaintance
with spirit.
But when the ladies entered, Oz was no
longer the first object. Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg's eyes were instantly
turned towards Summers, and he had something to say to her before she had
advanced many steps. She addressed herself directly to Mr. le Bloddy, with
a polite congratulation; Mrs. Kate Lockley also made his a slight bow,
and said she was "very glad;'' but diffuseness and warmth remained for
Rosenburg's salutation. She was full of joy and attention. The first half
hour was spent in piling up the fire, lest he should suffer from the change
of room; and he removed at her desire to the other side of the fireplace,
that he might be farther from the door. She then sat down by him, and talked
scarcely to any one else. Spike, at work in the opposite corner, saw it
all with great delight.
When tea was over, Mrs. Kate Lockley reminded
her brother-in-law of the card-table -- but in vain. He had obtained private
intelligence that Miss Buffy Summers did not wish for cards; and Mrs. Kate
Lockley soon found even her open petition rejected. He assured her that
no one intended to play, and the silence of the whole party on the subject
seemed to justify him. Mrs. Kate Lockley had therefore nothing to do but
to stretch herself on one of the sophas and go to sleep. Summers took up
a book; Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg did the same; and Mr. Wesley Lockley,
principally occupied in playing with his shoes, joined now and then in
his sister's conversation with Mr. le Bloddy.
Mr. Riley Rosenburg's attention was quite
as much engaged in watching Miss Buffy Summers' progress through her book,
as in reading his own; and he was perpetually either making some inquiry,
or looking at her page. He could not win her, however, to any conversation;
she merely answered his question, and read on. At length, quite exhausted
by the attempt to be amused with his own book, which he had only chosen
because it was the second volume of hers, he gave a great yawn and said,
"How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all
there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing
than of a book! -- When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable
if I have not an excellent library.''
No one made any reply. He then yawned again,
threw aside his book, and cast his eyes round the room in quest of some
amusement; when, hearing his sister mentioning a sparring match to Mr. le
Bloddy, he turned suddenly towards her and said,
"By the bye, Willow, are you really serious
in meditating a sparring match at the burnt husk of Sunnydale High? -- I
would advise you, before you determine on it, to consult the wishes of
the present party; I am much mistaken if there are not some among us to
whom a sparring match would be rather a punishment than a pleasure.''
"If you mean Summers,'' cried his sister,
"she may go to bed, if she chuses, before it begins -- but as for the sparring
match, it is quite a settled thing; and as soon as Nicholls has made white
soup enough I shall send round my cards.''
"I should like sparring matches infinitely
better,'' he replied, "if they were carried on in a different manner; but
there is something insufferably tedious in the usual process of such a
meeting. It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead
of sparring made the order of the day.''
"Much more rational, my dear Riley, I dare
say, but it would not be near so much like a sparring match.''
Mr. Riley Rosenburg made no answer; and
soon afterwards got up and walked about the room. His figure was muscular,
and he walked well; -- but Summers, at whom it was all aimed, was still
inflexibly studious. In the desperation of his feelings he resolved on
one effort more; and turning to Spike, said,
"Mr. Spike le Bloddy, let me persuade you
to follow my example, and take a turn about the room. -- I assure you it
is very refreshing after sitting so long in one attitude.''
Spike was surprised, but agreed to it immediately.
Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg succeeded no less in the real object of his civility;
Miss Buffy Summers looked up. She was as much awake to the novelty of attention
in that quarter as Spike himself could be, and unconsciously closed her
book. She was directly invited to join their party, but she declined it,
observing that she could imagine but two motives for their chusing to walk
up and down the room together, with either of which motives her joining
them would interfere. "What could she mean? he was dying to know what could
be her meaning'' -- and asked Spike whether he could at all understand
him?
"Not at all,'' was his answer; "but depend
upon it, she means to be severe on us, and our surest way of disappointing
her will be to ask nothing about it.''
Mr. Riley Rosenburg, however, was incapable
of disappointing Miss Buffy Summers in any thing, and persevered therefore
in requiring an explanation of her two motives.
"I have not the smallest objection to explaining
them,'' said she, as soon as he allowed her to speak. "You either chuse
the method of passing the evening because you are in each other's confidence,
and have secret affairs to discuss, or because you are conscious that your
figures appear to the greatest advantage in walking; -- if the first, I
should be completely in your way; -- and if the second, I can admire you
much better as I sit by the fire.''
"Oh! shocking!'' cried Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg.
"I never heard any thing so abominable. How shall we punish her for such
a speech?''
"Nothing so easy, if you have but the inclination,''
said Spike. "We can all plague and punish one another. Teaze her -- laugh
at her. -- Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.''
"But upon my honour I do not. I do assure
you that my intimacy has not yet taught me that. Teaze calmness of temper
and presence of mind! No, no -- I feel she may defy us there. And as to
laughter, we will not expose ourselves, if you please, by attempting to
laugh without a subject. Miss Buffy Summers may hug herself.''
"Miss Buffy Summers is not to be laughed
at!'' cried Spike. "That is an uncommon advantage, and uncommon I hope
it will continue, for it would be a great loss to me to have many such
acquaintance. I dearly love a laugh.''
"Mr. Riley Rosenburg,'' said she, "has
given me credit for more than can be. The wisest and the best of women,
nay, the wisest and best of their actions, may be rendered ridiculous by
a person whose first object in life is a joke.''
"Certainly,'' replied Spike -- "there are
such people, but I hope I am not one of them. I hope I never ridicule what
is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert
me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can. -- But these, I suppose,
are precisely what you are without.''
"Perhaps that is not possible for any one.
But it has been the study of my life to avoid those weaknesses which often
expose a strong understanding to ridicule.''
"Such as vanity, cluelessness, and pride.''
"Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. Cluelessness,
as if! But pride -- where there is a real superiority of mind, and where
the holder is the one girl in all of the world chosen to fight the forces
of darkness, pride will be always under good regulation.''
Spike turned away to hide a smile.
"Your examination of Miss Buffy Summers
is over, I presume,'' said Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg; -- "and pray what
is the result?''
"I am perfectly convinced by it that Miss
Buffy Summers has no defect. She owns it herself without disguise.''
"No'' -- said Summers, "I have made no
such pretension. I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding.
My temper I dare not vouch for. -- It is I believe too little yielding
-- certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget
the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offences
against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to
move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. -- My good opinion
once lost is lost for ever.''
" That is a failing indeed!'' -- said Spike.
"Implacable resentment is a shade in a character. But you have chosen your
fault well. -- I really cannot laugh at it; you are safe from me.''
"There is, I believe, in every disposition
a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the
best education can overcome.''
"And your defect is a propensity to hate
every body.''
"And yours,'' she replied with a smile,
"is wilfully to misunderstand them.''
"Do let us have a little music,'' -- cried
Mr. Riley Finn Rosenburg, tired of a conversation in which he had no share.
-- "Wesley, you will not mind my waking Mrs. Kate Lockley.''
His brother made not the smallest objection,
and the piano-forte was opened, and Summers, after a few moments recollection,
was not sorry for it. She began to feel the danger of paying Spike too
much attention.
