A FINE October
morning succeeded to the foggy
evening that had
witnessed my first introduction
to Crimsworth Hall. I was early
up and walking in the large park-like
meadow surrounding the house.
The autumn sun, rising over the
----shire hills, disclosed a
pleasant country; woods brown
and mellow varied the fields
from which the harvest had been
lately carried; a river, gliding
between the woods, caught on
its surface the somewhat cold
gleam of the October sun and
sky; at frequent intervals along
the banks of the river, tall,
cylindrical chimneys, almost
like slender round towers, indicated
the factories which the trees
half concealed; here and there
mansions, similar to Crimsworth
Hall, occupied agreeable sites
on the hill-side; the country
wore, on the whole, a cheerful,
active, fertile look. Steam,
trade, machinery had long banished
from it all romance and seclusion.
At a distance of five miles,
a valley, opening between the
low hills, held in its cups the
great town of X----. A dense,
permanent vapour brooded over
this locality--there lay
Edward's "Concern."
I forced my
eye to scrutinize this prospect,
I forced my mind
to dwell on it for a time, and
when I found that it communicated
no pleasurable emotion to my
heart--that it stirred in me
none of the hopes a man ought
to feel, when he sees laid before
him the scene of his life's career--I
said to myself, "William, you
are a rebel against circumstances;
you are a fool, and know not
what you want; you have chosen
trade and you shall be a tradesman.
Look!" I continued mentally--"Look
at the sooty smoke in that hollow,
and know that there is your post!
There you cannot dream, you cannot
speculate and theorize--there
you shall out and work!"
Thus self-schooled,
I returned to the house. My
brother was
in the breakfast-room. I met
him collectedly--I could not
meet him cheerfully; he was standing
on the rug, his back to the fire--how
much did I read in the expression
of his eye as my glance encountered
his, when I advanced to bid him
good morning; how much that was
contradictory to my nature! He
said "Good morning" abruptly
and nodded, and then he snatched,
rather than took, a newspaper
from the table, and began to
read it with the air of a master
who seizes a pretext to escape
the bore of conversing with an
underling. It was well I had
taken a resolution to endure
for a time, or his manner would
have gone far to render insupportable
the disgust I had just been endeavouring
to subdue. I looked at him: I
measured his robust frame and
powerful proportions; I saw my
own reflection in the mirror
over the mantel-piece; I amused
myself with comparing the two
pictures. In face I resembled
him, though I was not so handsome;
my features were less regular;
I had a darker eye, and a broader
brow--in form I was greatly inferior--thinner,
slighter, not so tall. As an
animal, Edward excelled me far;
should he prove as paramount
in mind as in person I must be
a slave--for I must expect from
him no lion-like generosity to
one weaker than himself; his
cold, avaricious eye, his stern,
forbidding manner told me he
would not spare. Had I then force
of mind to cope with him? I did
not know; I had never been tried.
Mrs. Crimsworth's entrance
diverted my thoughts for a moment.
She looked well, dressed in white,
her face and her attire shining
in morning and bridal freshness.
I addressed her with the degree
of ease her last night's careless
gaiety seemed to warrant, but
she replied with coolness and
restraint: her husband had tutored
her; she was not to be too familiar
with his clerk.
As soon as breakfast was over
Mr. Crimsworth intimated to me
that they were bringing the gig
round to the door, and that in
five minutes he should expect
me to be ready to go down with
him to X----. I did not keep
him waiting; we were soon dashing
at a rapid rate along the road.
The horse he drove was the same
vicious animal about which Mrs.
Crimsworth had expressed her
fears the night before. Once
or twice Jack seemed disposed
to turn restive, but a vigorous
and determined application of
the whip from the ruthless hand
of his master soon compelled
him to submission, and Edward's
dilated nostril expressed his
triumph in the result of the
contest; he scarcely spoke to
me during the whole of the brief
drive, only opening his lips
at intervals to damn his horse.
X---- was all stir and bustle
when we entered it; we left the
clean streets where there were
dwelling-houses and shops, churches,
and public buildings; we left
all these, and turned down to
a region of mills and warehouses;
thence we passed through two
massive gates into a great paved
yard, and we were in Bigben Close,
and the mill was before us, vomiting
soot from its long chimney, and
quivering through its thick brick
walls with the commotion of its
iron bowels. Workpeople were
passing to and fro; a waggon
was being laden with pieces.
Mr. Crimsworth looked from side
to side, and seemed at one glance
to comprehend all that was going
on; he alighted, and leaving
his horse and gig to the care
of a man who hastened to take
the reins from his hand, he bid
me follow him to the counting-house.
We entered it; a very different
place from the parlours of Crimsworth
Hall--a place for business, with
a bare, planked floor, a safe,
two high desks and stools, and
some chairs. A person was seated
at one of the desks, who took
off his square cap when Mr. Crimsworth
entered, and in an instant was
again absorbed in his occupation
of writing or calculating--I
know not which.
Mr, Crimsworth, having removed
his mackintosh, sat down by the
fire. I remained standing near
the hearth; he said presently--
"Steighton,
you may leave the room; I have
some business to
transact with this gentleman.
Come back when you hear the bell."
The individual at the desk
rose and departed, closing the
door as he went out. Mr. Crimsworth
stirred the fire, then folded
his arms, and sat a moment thinking,
his lips compressed, his brow
knit. I had nothing to do but
to watch him--how well his features
were cut! what a handsome man
he was! Whence, then, came that
air of contraction--that narrow
and hard aspect on his forehead,
in all his lineaments?
Turning to me he began abruptly:-
"You are come
down to ----shire to learn
to be a tradesman?"
"Yes, I am."
"Have you made
up your mind on the point?
Let me know that
at once."
"Yes."
"Well, I am
not bound to help you, but
I have a place here
vacant, if you are qualified
for it. I will take you on trial.
What can you do? Do you know
anything besides that useless
trash of college learning--Greek,
Latin, and so forth?"
"I have studied
mathematics."
"Stuff! I dare
say you have."
"I can read
and write French and German."
"Hum!" He reflected
a moment, then opening a drawer
in a desk
near him took out a letter, and
gave it to me.
"Can you read that?" he
asked.
It was a German commercial
letter; I translated it; I could
not tell whether he was gratified
or not--his countenance remained
fixed.
"It is well;" he-said, after
a pause, "that you are acquainted
with something useful, something
that may enable you to earn your
board and lodging: since you
know French and German, I will
take you as second clerk to manage
the foreign correspondence of
the house. I shall give you a
good salary--90l. a year--and
now," he continued, raising his
voice, "hear once for all what
I have to say about our relationship,
and all that sort of humbug!
I must have no nonsense on that
point; it would never suit me.
I shall excuse you nothing on
the plea of being my brother;
if I find you stupid, negligent,
dissipated, idle, or possessed
of any faults detrimental to
the interests of the house, I
shall dismiss you as I would
any other clerk. Ninety pounds
a year are good wages, and I
expect to have the full value
of my money out of you; remember,
too, that things are on a practical
footing in my establishment--business-like
habits, feelings, and ideas,
suit me best. Do you understand?"
"Partly," I replied. "I
suppose you mean that I am
to do my work
for my wages; not to expect favour
from you, and not to depend on
you for any help but what I earn;
that suits me exactly, and on
these terms I will consent to
be your clerk."
I turned on my heel, and walked
to the window; this time I did
not consult his face to learn
his opinion: what it was I do
not know, nor did I then care.
After a silence of some minutes
he recommenced:--
"You perhaps
expect to be accommodated with
apartments at Crimsworth
Hall, and to go and come with
me in the gig. I wish you, however,
to be aware that such an arrangement
would be quite inconvenient to
me. I like to have the seat in
my gig at liberty for any gentleman
whom for business reasons I may
wish to take down to the hall
for a night or so. You will seek
out lodgings in X----."
Quitting the window, I walked
back to the hearth.
"Of course I shall seek out
lodgings in X----," I answered. "It
would not suit me either to lodge
at Crimsworth Hall."
My tone was quiet. I always
speak quietly. Yet Mr. Crimsworth's
blue eye became incensed; he
took his revenge rather oddly.
Turning to me he said bluntly--
"You are poor
enough, I suppose; how do you
expect to live till
your quarter's salary becomes
due?"
"I shall get on," said
I.
"How do you expect to live?" he
repeated in a louder voice.
"As I can,
Mr. Crimsworth."
"Get into debt at your peril!
that's all," he answered. "For
aught I know you may have extravagant
aristocratic habits: if you have,
drop them; I tolerate nothing
of the sort here, and I will
never give you a shilling extra,
whatever liabilities you may
incur--mind that."
"Yes, Mr. Crimsworth,
you will find I have a good
memory."
I said no more.
I did not think the time was
come for much parley.
I had an instinctive feeling
that it would be folly to let
one's temper effervesce often
with such a man as Edward. I
said to myself, "I will place
my cup under this continual dropping;
it shall stand there still and
steady; when full, it will run
over of itself--meantime patience.
Two things are certain. I am
capable of performing the work
Mr. Crimsworth has set me; I
can earn my wages conscientiously,
and those wages are sufficient
to enable me to live. As to the
fact of my brother assuming towards
me the bearing of a proud, harsh
master, the fault is his, not
mine; and shall his injustice,
his bad feeling, turn me at once
aside from the path I have chosen?
No; at least, ere I deviate,
I will advance far enough to
see whither my career tends.
As yet I am only pressing in
at the entrance--a strait gate
enough; it ought to have a good
terminus." While I thus reasoned,
Mr. Crimsworth rang a bell; his
first clerk, the individual dismissed
previously to our conference,
re-entered.
"Mr. Steighton," said he, "show
Mr. William the letters from
Voss, Brothers, and give him
English copies of the answers;
he will translate them."
Mr. Steighton, a man of about
thirty-five, with a face at once
sly and heavy, hastened to execute
this order; he laid the letters
on the desk, and I was soon seated
at it, and engaged in rendering
the English answers into German.
A sentiment of keen pleasure
accompanied this first effort
to earn my own living--a sentiment
neither poisoned nor weakened
by the presence of the taskmaster,
who stood and watched me for
some time as I wrote. I thought
he was trying to read my character,
but I felt as secure against
his scrutiny as if I had had
on a casque with the visor down-or
rather I showed him my countenance
with the confidence that one
would show an unlearned man a
letter written in Greek; he might
see lines, and trace characters,
but he could make nothing of
them; my nature was not his nature,
and its signs were to him like
the words of an unknown tongue.
Ere long he turned away abruptly,
as if baffled, and left the counting-house;
he returned to it but twice in
the course of that day; each
time he mixed and swallowed a
glass of brandy-and-water, the
materials for making which he
extracted from a cupboard on
one side of the fireplace; having
glanced at my translations--he
could read both French and German--he
went out again in silence.
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