Adventures of Susan Hopley/Volume 1/Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
As soon as Mrs. Leeson was dead, Mr. WentWorth, and Miss Fanny, his daughter, who had neglected nothing they could think of to comfort her during her lifetime, took poor little Harry with them to Oakfield, which they had promised his mother should henceforth be his home; and when she was laid in her grave, and the house at Mapleton was given up, Dobbs and Susan followed. Dobbs was only to stay till Harry was somewhat reconciled to his loss, which he felt bitterly, poor child; and till she had met with a situation to suit her; but Miss Wentworth took Susan into the family altogether, and appointed her to the situation of under-housemaid.
Mr. Wentworth was a gentleman who had made a very large fortune in the wine trade; and he had his house of business still in the City, where affairs were conducted under the superintendence of an old and much valued clerk, of the name of Simpson; whilst he himself resided chiefly with his daughter at Oakfield. She was his only child, and the pride and delight of his heart; and well did she merit all the affection he bore her.
Most fortunate, Susan thought herself, on all accounts, to obtain so excellent a situation; and one which placed her near those she most loved, her brother and little Harry. Andrew now wore a livery; he was grown a nice young man, and had won the good will of all the family by his diligence and good temper. As soon as Harry was considered sufficiently recovered, he was placed at a boarding school about ten miles from Mapleton; and then Dobbs quitted Oakfield, and accepted a situation as cook and housekeeper in a gentleman's family in London.
Harry had been at school between three and four months, and Susan was looking forward to the approaching midsummer vacation, when she was desired to prepare a room for Mr. Gaveston, who was expected on a visit: and she soon learned from the servants, that the visit was to terminate in a marriage. This gentleman was a distant relative of Mr. Wentworth's, who had brought him up, and provided handsomely for him by giving him a share in the wine business. He had hitherto resided a good deal at Bourdeaux, where Mr. Wentworth was connected with several houses of eminence; always, however, spending some months of every year in England; and during these visits, he had contrived to make himself so completely master of the affections of poor Fanny, that though, (heiress as she was to all her father's wealth, and endowed with many charms of mind and person into the bargain,) she had hosts of suitors, she would listen to none of them; but persisted in giving her young heart, and engaging her fair hand, to Walter Gaveston.
It was pretty evident to every body but herself, that Mr. Gaveston was not the husband her father would have selected for her; but he was too indulgent and too just to oppose her wishes on a subject so material to her happiness, unless he could have given her convincing reasons for his objection; and this he could not. He had originally been very fond of Walter, who was a clever, handsome, forward boy; but of late years he had felt a sort of growing dislike to him that he could hardly account for; and that he was himself half inclined to look upon as idle antipathy or weak prejudice. He had nothing exactly to allege against him; and sometimes after examining his own mind, and searching for the motive of his own alienation, he would end by saying, "D—n the fellow! I believe it's only that I don't like the expression of his face." Nobody did like the expression of his face, that looked at it with unprepossessed eyes-but poor Fanny's were witched—and if she ever remarked that the prospect of her marriage was disagreeable to her father, she attributed the dissatisfaction wholly to his dread of parting with her, and not at all to the nature of the alliance she was about to form.
In spite of the displeasing expression we have alluded to, there could be no doubt that Mr. Gaveston was a very fine looking man; and one likely to attract the eye and admiration of the fair sex in general. His features were regular and manly; he had a beautiful set of teeth, dark hair and eyes, a complexion bronzed into a very becoming hue by the sun of the South, and a figure that formed a perfect model of strength and agility. And, accordingly, there were few men who excelled so much in all manly exercises; whether he walked, rode, or danced, the performance was perfect; he was the best cricket player about the country, the most fearless huntsman, and the best shot. He was equally remarkable for his proficiency in all games of skill-cards, billiards, nothing came amiss to him. Then he was an excellent judge of a horse, very fond of attending races, and understood all the intricacies of betting, edging, and jockeyship in general. Of classical learning or deep reading he had very little; but he had a great deal of general information; knew something of most people that were making any sensation in the world; and was seldom at a loss upon any subject of fashionable or popular discussion.
Such was the man that had won Fanny Wentworth's affections, and to whom she was to be united in the ensuing month of August. Many preliminaries of course, were to be arranged. Dresses to be prepared, settlements drawn up, and entertainments given; and when Harry returned to Oakfield for the vacation, he found the house full of gaiety and commotion.
"I think it right to inform you," said Mr. Wentworth one day to Mr. Gaveston, when the subject of settlement was under discussion, "that since the death of Harry Leeson's parents, I have adopted him, and look upon him as my son. I was always fond of the boy; who is as fine a little fellow as ever lived; and I loved his father and mother, and would do it for their sakes if I did not do it for his own. The arrangement I propose to make; is this-and I have given Olliphant directions to prepare the settlements and my will at the same time. You are at present possessor of a sixth share of the business I will make that a fourth. Whatever fortune I give my daughter now, or whatever I leave her, I shall vest in trustees for her use, to descend from her to her children; or if she have done, to be disposed of as she pleases; with the exception of ten thousand pounds, of which you will have the life rent, should you survive her. This, with a fourth share of the business, will I hope be considered sufficient. Are you satisfied with that arrangement?"
"Quite, Sir, quite," replied Mr. Gaveston; and he endeavoured to look very satisfied indeed.
"With respect to Harry Leeson," continued Mr. Wentworth, "he will be entitled by my will to two shares of the wine business, and to ten thousand pounds, to be paid free of all deductions. The fourth share, I intend giving to old Simpson, on whom the management of the whole must rest. I shall also appoint him guardian and trustee for Harry. All this I do with Fanny's entire approbation."
How far these arrangements were agreeable to Mr. Gaveston may be doubted; but, at all events, he reiterated the assurances of his entire satisfaction; and Mr. Wentworth did not trouble himself to investigate further.
Mr. Gaveston's pursuits-riding, cricketing, sporting, and so forth-were naturally very attractive to Harry; and as he was a spirited boy, he was glad enough to be allowed to share in them whenever he was permitted. Mr. Gaveston seemed willing enough to encourage this disposition, and amongst other things he took upon himself to teach Harry to ride; but, on the plea that a boy should be afraid of nothing, he one day set him on a young horse of his own before the child had any seat, and allowed him to follow the hounds; the consequence of which was, that the horse ran away, and if Andrew, (who happening to see Harry start, had felt uneasy and gone after them to observe how he got on,) had not been at hand, and stopped the horse with one hand whilst he caught Harry with the other to break his fall, it would in all probability have proved the poor little fellow's first and last hunt. Mr. Gaveston charged Harry not to tell his uncle, "for," said he, "if you do, you'll have a log tied to you for the future, and there'll be an end of your sport." Harry did not tell; but Andrew, who thought the boy's life would be in jeopardy if this sort of thing went on, did; and Mr. Wentworth set his veto against any future lessons in equitation from Mr. Gaveston. "He hasn't caution enough," he said, "to be trusted with a boy of that age. Harry shall have proper instruction, and a safe pony to begin with."
It was not long after this that a second accident occurred to Harry, no less likely to have proved fatal than the first.
There was in the grounds at some distance from the house, a large pond or lake on which lay an old boat, which was rarely used, except Harry sometimes got leave to take a row in it with one of the men-servants, but he was strictly enjoined never to enter it alone.[1]
"One day as I was standing at Miss Wentworth's bedroom window," (for here we shall let Susan once more tell her own story,) "I saw somebody coming through the trees towards the house. He was a good way off when I first caught sight of him, but I observed that he was walking slowly, and that every now and then he stopped and seemed to be looking all round as if to see whether any body was at hand. When he emerged from amongst the trees, and got upon the open lawn, he began to run; and I then perceived that it was Mr. Gaveston, with his coat off, and looking very pale. He approached the house rapidly, and I was just wondering what could have happened to him, when I heard a loud scream from Miss Fanny, and a great bustle below; and on running down to see what was the matter, I overtook her rushing out of the house, followed by Mr. Gaveston, and all the maid-servants, crying out, that Harry Leeson was in the pond.
"Now, it happened that it was haymaking time, and as the weather was considered unsettled, every man about the estate was in the fields, at least a quarter of a mile from the pond and quite in an opposite direction from the house; but there was a shorter cut across than going by the water; and Mr. Gaveston said he would run there as fast as he could, and send assistance; and as he set off Miss Wentworth called after him, 'For God's sake despatch somebody to the village for a surgeon! So away we all ran-we to the pond who could be of no use in the world when we were there; and Mr. Gaveston, who perhaps might, to the hayfield hayfield, in search of aid which never could have arrived in time. What chance little Harry had of being saved by either party may be imagined-but Providence sent him help.
"My brother Andrew, who, like me, doted on Harry, for his dear mother's sake as well as his own, was always glad when he could invent any thing to amuse him; and having something of a mechanical turn, he often employed his leisure hours in contriving toys and playthings for him: and it chanced that the day before this accident happened, he had been down with the child to the pond, to try the sailing of a little vessel that he had been at work on some time. On first launching it, it turned over; but after hewing it away a little, he brought it to do; and much delighted Harry was with it.
"In order that no time might be lost with the hay, Mr. Wentworth, who had gone to town in the morning, had desired that the men should have a luncheon of bread and cheese and beer in the fields, and not return till the day's work was over. This the maids had carried out to them; but finding the beer run short, Mr. Jeremy, the butler, told Andrew to step to the house fetch another can.
"Now, when Andrew had sat down with the others to eat his bread and cheese he had missed his knife; and as it was a very nice one that Harry had saved up his own pocket money to buy, and which he had given him as a birth-day present, he would have been very sorry to lose it. 'I dare say,' thought he, 'I left it at the pond yesterday,' and as it would not make many minutes' difference, he resolved to run round that way and look for it.
"Just as he came in sight of the pond, he fancied he heard a cry that proceeded from that direction, and he hastened forward; but when he reached it he saw no one, nor indeed any thing unusual, except that the boat was reeling from side to side as if it were on the waves of the sea. Now, there was no motion in the water, for as I said before, though it was deep, it was but a pond; and the day was calm, cloudy and still threatening rain, but not a breath of wind was stirring.
"Andrew looked at the boat-thought of the cry—and jumped into the water. He could not swim; but he didn't stop to remember that. Fortunately the boat was at hand, and he was active and strong. He caught the child by the jacket, and when the water threw him up, he struggled to get hold of it. Once he failed, and they went down together; but the second time he succeeded; and when we reached the pond, we found him sitting in the boat with Harry in his lap, rubbing the child's chest and stomach, and doing the best he could to restore him.
"'Don't be frightened,' he cried to us, 'Master Harry's coming to, but look for the oars amongst the grass, and push them towards me.'
"We did so; and then he brought the boat ashore, and carried the child up to the house in his arms, where he was soon in a warm bed, and so far recovered that there was nothing to fear for his health.
"It was nearly an hour after this, I dare say, that Miss Wentworth and I, who were sitting by Master Harry's bedside, heard Mr. Gaveston's foot entering the hall below, and coming hastily up stairs. He was now as red as he had before been pale, and bursting open the door, he exclaimed, 'My dear Fanny, I am sure you'll never forgive me; and if you do, I never can forgive myself. If it hadn't been for Andrew's providential arrival, the dear boy must inevitably have been drowned.' With the noise he made, Harry, who had fallen asleep, opened his eyes; and holding out his hand and smiling on him, he said, 'It was an accident, nobody could help it; but wasn't it brave of Andrew to jump into the water to save me when he couldn't swim?'
"'I thought you could swim, Walter,' said Miss Wentworth.
"'No,' replied he, 'I never could learn.'
"'But how in the world did it happen? said Fanny. 'How came you in the water, Harry?'
"'I can't think,' said Harry. 'We had got into the boat to sail my little vessel, and I was leaning over the side, when all at once the boat dipped down, and I went over. What made it dip down so suddenly, I can't tell. Perhaps you came too quickly to my side?' said he to Gaveston.
"'I'm afraid I did,' answered Gaveston. 'I thought you were leaning over too far, and without reflection I stepped across to take hold of you. However, you know, those that are born to be hanged will never be drowned. It's all very well as it has turned out; and the less that's said about it the better.'
"'I think we'd better not tell my uncle,' said Harry. 'He'll forbid my going to the pond any more, and then I can't sail my vessel.'
"'That he certainly will,' said Mr. Gaveston. 'You'll be tied up, depend upon it, if you tell him.'
"'He must be told,' said Fanny. 'He detests concealments; and if he finds it out afterwards, he'll be much the more displeased.'
"'How should he find it out?' said Mr. Gaveston.
"'Every thing is found out sooner or later,' replied Fanny."
- ↑ This incident has some resemblance to one in the Third Number of "Master Humphrey," but it was written many months before Mr. D.'s work appeared.