Cecilia; Or Memoirs of an Heiress — Volume 1, Page 3

  CHAPTER ii

  AN ARGUMENT.

  Mr Monckton had, at this time, a party of company assembled at hishouse for the purpose of spending the Christmas holidays. He waited withanxiety the arrival of Cecilia, and flew to hand her from the chaisebefore Mr Harrel could alight. He observed the melancholy of hercountenance, and was much pleased to find that her London journey hadso little power to charm her. He conducted her to the breakfast parlour,where Lady Margaret and his friends expected her.

  Lady Margaret received her with a coldness that bordered uponincivility; irascible by nature and jealous by situation, the appearanceof beauty alarmed, and of chearfulness disgusted her. She regarded withwatchful suspicion whoever was addressed by her husband, and havingmarked his frequent attendance at the Deanery, she had singled outCecilia for the object of her peculiar antipathy; while Cecilia,perceiving her aversion though ignorant of its cause, took care to avoidall intercourse with her but what ceremony exacted, and pitied in secretthe unfortunate lot of her friend.

  The company now present consisted of one lady and several gentlemen.

  Miss Bennet, the lady, was in every sense of the phrase, the humblecompanion of Lady Margaret; she was low-born, meanly educated,and narrow-minded; a stranger alike to innate merit or acquiredaccomplishments, yet skilful in the art of flattery, and an adeptin every species of low cunning. With no other view in life than theattainment of affluence without labour, she was not more the slaveof the mistress of the house, than the tool of its master; receivingindignity without murmur, and submitting to contempt as a thing ofcourse.

  Among the gentlemen, the most conspicuous, by means of his dress, wasMr Aresby, a captain in the militia; a young man who having frequentlyheard the words red-coat and gallantry put together, imagined theconjunction not merely customary, but honourable, and therefore, withouteven pretending to think of the service of his country, he considered acockade as a badge of politeness, and wore it but to mark his devotionto the ladies, whom he held himself equipped to conquer, and bound toadore.

  The next who by forwardness the most officious took care to be noticed,was Mr Morrice, a young lawyer, who, though rising in his profession,owed his success neither to distinguished abilities, nor toskill-supplying industry, but to the art of uniting suppleness to otherswith confidence in himself. To a reverence of rank, talents, and fortunethe most profound, he joined an assurance in his own merit, which nosuperiority could depress; and with a presumption which encouraged himto aim at all things, he blended a good-humour that no mortificationcould lessen. And while by the pliability of his disposition he avoidedmaking enemies, by his readiness to oblige, he learned the surest way ofmaking friends by becoming useful to them.

  There were also some neighbouring squires; and there was one oldgentleman, who, without seeming to notice any of the company, satfrowning in a corner.

  But the principal figure in the circle was Mr Belfield, a tall, thinyoung man, whose face was all animation, and whose eyes sparkled withintelligence. He had been intended by his father for trade, but hisspirit, soaring above the occupation for which he was designed, fromrepining led him to resist, and from resisting, to rebel. He eloped fromhis friends, and contrived to enter the army. But, fond of the politearts, and eager for the acquirement of knowledge, he found not this wayof life much better adapted to his inclination than that from which hehad escaped; he soon grew weary of it, was reconciled to his father, andentered at the Temple. But here, too volatile for serious study, andtoo gay for laborious application, he made little progress: and the samequickness of parts and vigour of imagination which united with prudence,or accompanied by judgment, might have raised him to the head of hisprofession, being unhappily associated with fickleness and caprice,served only to impede his improvement, and obstruct his preferment. Andnow, with little business, and that little neglected, a small fortune,and that fortune daily becoming less, the admiration of the world, butthat admiration ending simply in civility, he lived an unsettled andunprofitable life, generally caressed, and universally sought, yetcareless of his interest and thoughtless of the future; devoting histime to company, his income to dissipation, and his heart to the Muses.

  "I bring you," said Mr Monckton, as he attended Cecilia into the room,"a subject of sorrow in a young lady who never gave disturbance to herfriends but in quitting them."

  "If sorrow," cried Mr Belfield, darting upon her his piercing eyes,"wears in your part of the world a form such as this, who would wish tochange it for a view of joy?"

  "She's divinely handsome, indeed!" cried the Captain, affecting aninvoluntary exclamation.

  Meantime, Cecilia, who was placed next to the lady of the house, quietlybegan her breakfast; Mr Morrice, the young lawyer, with the most easyfreedom, seating himself at her side, while Mr Monckton was elsewherearranging the rest of his guests, in order to secure that place forhimself.

  Mr Morrice, without ceremony, attacked his fair neighbour; he talked ofher journey, and the prospects of gaiety which it opened to her view;but by these finding her unmoved, he changed his theme, and expatiatedupon the delights of the spot she was quitting. Studious to recommendhimself to her notice, and indifferent by what means, one moment heflippantly extolled the entertainments of the town; and the next,rapturously described the charms of the country. A word, a look sufficedto mark her approbation or dissent, which he no sooner discovered, thanhe slided into her opinion, with as much facility and satisfaction as ifit had originally been his own.

  Mr Monckton, suppressing his chagrin, waited some time in expectationthat when this young man saw he was standing, he would yield to him hischair: but the remark was not made, and the resignation was not thoughtof. The Captain, too, regarding the lady as his natural property for themorning, perceived with indignation by whom he was supplanted; while thecompany in general, saw with much surprize, the place they had severallyforeborne to occupy from respect to their host, thus familiarly seizedupon by the man who, in the whole room, had the least claim, either fromage or rank, to consult nothing but his own inclination.

  Mr Monckton, however, when he found that delicacy and good manners hadno weight with his guest, thought it most expedient to allow themnone with himself; and therefore, disguising his displeasure under anappearance of facetiousness, he called out, "Come, Morrice, you thatlove Christmas sports, what say you to the game of move-all?"

  "I like it of all things!" answered Morrice, and starting from hischair, he skipped to another.

  "So should I too," cried Mr Monckton, instantly taking his place, "wereI to remove from any seat but this."

  Morrice, though he felt himself outwitted, was the first to laugh, andseemed as happy in the change as Mr Monckton himself.

  Mr Monckton now, addressing himself to Cecilia, said, "We are goingto lose you, and you seem concerned at leaving us; yet, in a very fewmonths you will forget Bury, forget its inhabitants, and forget itsenvirons."

  "If you think so," answered Cecilia, "must I not thence infer that Bury,its inhabitants, and its environs, will in a very few months forget me?"

  "Ay, ay, and so much the better!" said Lady Margaret, muttering betweenher teeth, "so much the better!"

  "I am sorry you think so, madam," cried Cecilia, colouring at herill-breeding.

  "You will find," said Mr Monckton, affecting the same ignorance of hermeaning that Cecilia really felt, "as you mix with the world, you willfind that Lady Margaret has but expressed what by almost every body isthought: to neglect old friends, and to court new acquaintance,though perhaps not yet avowedly delivered as a precept from parents tochildren, is nevertheless so universally recommended by example,that those who act differently, incur general censure for affectingsingularity."

  "It is happy then, for me," answered Cecilia, "that neither my actionsnor myself will be sufficiently known to attract public observation."

  "You intend, then, madam," said Mr Belfield, "in defiance ofthese maxims of the world, to be guided by the light of your ownunderstanding."

>   "And such," returned Mr Monckton, "at first setting out in life, is theintention of every one. The closet reasoner is always refined in hissentiments, and always confident in his virtue; but when he mixeswith the world, when he thinks less and acts more, he soon finds thenecessity of accommodating himself to such customs as are alreadyreceived, and of pursuing quietly the track that is already marked out."

  "But not," exclaimed Mr Belfield, "if he has the least grain of spirit!the beaten track will be the last that a man of parts will deign totread,

  For common rules were ne'er designed Directors of a noble mind."

  "A pernicious maxim! a most pernicious maxim!" cried the old gentleman,who sat frowning in a corner of the room.

  "Deviations from common rules," said Mr Monckton, without taking anynotice of this interruption, "when they proceed from genius, are notmerely pardonable, but admirable; and you, Belfield, have a peculiarright to plead their merits; but so little genius as there is in theworld, you must surely grant that pleas of this sort are very rarely tobe urged."

  "And why rarely," cried Belfield, "but because your general rules,your appropriated customs, your settled forms, are but so many absurdarrangements to impede not merely the progress of genius, but the use ofunderstanding? If man dared act for himself, if neither worldly views,contracted prejudices, eternal precepts, nor compulsive examples, swayedhis better reason and impelled his conduct, how noble indeed wouldhe be! _how infinite in faculties! in apprehension how like a God!_"[Footnote: Hamlet.]

  "All this," answered Mr Monckton, "is but the doctrine of a livelyimagination, that looks upon impossibilities simply as difficulties, andupon difficulties as mere invitations to victory. But experience teachesanother lesson; experience shows that the opposition of an individual toa community is always dangerous in the operation, and seldom successfulin the event;--never, indeed, without a concurrence strange asdesirable, of fortunate circumstances with great abilities."

  "And why is this," returned Belfield, "but because the attempt is soseldom made? The pitiful prevalence of general conformity extirpatesgenius, and murders originality; the man is brought up, not as if hewere 'the noblest work of God,' but as a mere ductile machine ofhuman formation: he is early taught that he must neither consult hisunderstanding, nor pursue his inclinations, lest, unhappily for hiscommerce with the world, his understanding should be averse to fools,and provoke him to despise them; and his inclinations to the tyranny ofperpetual restraint, and give him courage to abjure it."

  "I am ready enough to allow," answered Mr Monckton, "that an eccentricgenius, such, for example, as yours, may murmur at the tediousness ofcomplying with the customs of the world, and wish, unconfined, and atlarge, to range through life without any settled plan or prudentialrestriction; but would you, therefore, grant the same licence to everyone? would you wish to see the world peopled with defiers of order,and contemners of established forms? and not merely excuse theirregularities resulting from uncommon parts, but encourage those, also,to lead, who without blundering cannot even follow?"

  "I would have _all_ men," replied Belfield, "whether philosophers orideots, act for themselves. Every one would then appear what he is;enterprize would be encouraged, and imitation abolished; genius wouldfeel its superiority, and folly its insignificance; and then, and thenonly, should we cease to be surfeited with that eternal sameness ofmanner and appearance which at present runs through all ranks of men."

  "Petrifying dull work this, _mon ami!_" said the Captain, in a whisperto Morrice, "_de grace_, start some new game."

  "With all my heart," answered he; and then, suddenly jumping up,exclaimed, "A hare! a hare!"

  "Where?--where?--which way?" and all the gentlemen arose, and ran todifferent windows, except the master of the house, the object of whosepursuit was already near him.

  Morrice, with much pretended earnestness, flew from window to window,to trace footsteps upon the turf which he knew had not printed it: yet,never inattentive to his own interest, when he perceived in the midstof the combustion he had raised, that Lady Margaret was incensed at thenoise it produced, he artfully gave over his search, and seating himselfin a chair next to her, eagerly offered to assist her with cakes,chocolate, or whatever the table afforded.

  He had, however, effectually broken up the conversation; and breakfastbeing over, Mr Harrel ordered his chaise, and Cecilia arose to takeleave.

  And now not without some difficulty could Mr Monckton disguise theuneasy fears which her departure occasioned him. Taking her hand, "Isuppose," he said, "you will not permit an old friend to visit you intown, lest the sight of him should prove a disagreeable memorial of thetime you will soon regret having wasted in the country?"

  "Why will you say this, Mr Monckton?" cried Cecilia; "I am sure youcannot think it."

  "These profound studiers of mankind, madam," said Belfield, "are mightysorry champions for constancy or friendship. They wage war with allexpectations but of depravity, and grant no quarter even to the purestdesigns, where they think there will be any temptation to deviate fromthem."

  "Temptation," said Mr Monckton, "is very easy of resistance in theory;but if you reflect upon the great change of situation Miss Beverley willexperience, upon the new scenes she will see, the new acquaintance shemust make, and the new connections she may form, you will not wonder atthe anxiety of a friend for her welfare."

  "But I presume," cried Belfield, with a laugh, "Miss Beverley does notmean to convey her person to town, and leave her understanding lockedup, with other natural curiosities, in the country? Why, therefore, maynot the same discernment regulate her adoption of new acquaintance, andchoice of new connections, that guided her selection of old ones? Do yousuppose that because she is to take leave of you, she is to take leaveof herself?"

  "Where fortune smiles upon youth and beauty," answered Mr Monckton,"do you think it nothing that their fair possessor should make a suddentransition of situation from the quietness of a retired life in thecountry, to the gaiety of a splendid town residence?"

  "Where fortune _frowns_ upon youth and beauty," returned Belfield, "theymay not irrationally excite commiseration; but where nature and chanceunite their forces to bless the same object, what room there may be foralarm or lamentation I confess I cannot divine."

  "What!" cried Mr Monckton, with some emotion, "are there not sharpers,fortune-hunters, sycophants, wretches of all sorts and denominations,who watch the approach of the rich and unwary, feed upon theirinexperience, and prey upon their property?"

  "Come, come," cried Mr Harrel, "it is time I should hasten my fair wardaway, if this is your method of describing the place she is going tolive in."

  "Is it possible," cried the Captain, advancing to Cecilia, "that thislady has never yet tried the town?" and then, lowering his voice, andsmiling languishingly in her face, he added, "Can anything so divinelyhandsome have been immured in the country? Ah! _quelle honte!_ do youmake it a principle to be so cruel?"

  Cecilia, thinking such a compliment merited not any other notice than aslight bow, turned to Lady Margaret, and said, "Should your ladyship bein town this winter, may I expect the honour of hearing where I may waitupon you?"

  "I don't know whether I shall go or not," answered the old lady, withher usual ungraciousness.

  Cecilia would now have hastened away, but Mr Monckton, stopping her,again expressed his fears of the consequences of her journey; "Be uponyour guard," he cried, "with all new acquaintance; judge nobody fromappearances; form no friendship rashly; take time to look about you, andremember you can make no alteration in your way of life, withoutgreater probability of faring worse, than chance of faring better. Keeptherefore as you are, and the more you see of others, the more you willrejoice that you neither resemble nor are connected with them."

  "This from you, Mr Monckton!" cried Belfield, "what is become of yourconformity system? I thought all the world was to be alike, or only somuch the worse for any variation?"

  "I spoke," said Mr Monckton, "of the w
orld in general, not of this ladyin particular; and who that knows, who that sees her, would not wishit were possible she might continue in every respect exactly andunalterably what she is at present?"

  "I find," said Cecilia, "you are determined that flattery at least,should I meet with it, shall owe no pernicious effects to its novelty."

  "Well, Miss Beverley," cried Mr Harrel, "will you now venture toaccompany me to town? Or has Mr Monckton frightened you from proceedingany farther?"

  "If," replied Cecilia, "I felt no more sorrow in quitting my friends,than I feel terror in venturing to London, with how light a heart shouldI make the journey!"

  "Brava!" cried Belfield, "I am happy to find the discourse of MrMonckton has not intimidated you, nor prevailed upon you to deploreyour condition in having the accumulated misery of being young, fair andaffluent."

  "Alas! poor thing!" exclaimed the old gentleman who sat in the corner,fixing his eyes upon Cecilia with an expression of mingled grief andpity.

  Cecilia started, but no one else paid him any attention.

  The usual ceremonies of leave-taking now followed, and the Captain, withmost obsequious reverence, advanced to conduct Cecilia to the carriage;but in the midst of the dumb eloquence of his bows and smiles, MrMorrice, affecting not to perceive his design, skipped gaily betweenthem, and, without any previous formality, seized the hand of Ceciliahimself; failing not, however, to temper the freedom of his action by alook of respect the most profound.

  The Captain shrugged and retired. But Mr Monckton, enraged at hisassurance, and determined it should nothing avail him, exclaimed, "Whyhow now, Morrice, do you take away the privilege of my house?"

  "True, true;" answered Morrice, "you members of parliament have anundoubted right to be tenacious of your privileges." Then, bowing witha look of veneration to Cecilia, he resigned her hand with an air of asmuch happiness as he had taken it.

  Mr Monckton, in leading her to the chaise, again begged permission towait upon her in town: Mr Harrel took the hint, and entreated him toconsider his house as his own; and Cecilia, gratefully thanking him forhis solicitude in her welfare, added, "And I hope, sir, you will honourme with your counsel and admonitions with respect to my future conduct,whenever you have the goodness to let me see you."

  This was precisely his wish. He begged, in return, that she would treathim with confidence, and then suffered the chaise to drive off.