第17章 Reckless Words and Deeds.(1)
Light carriages now began to wheel rapidly up to the entrance,and were followed soon by the lumbering and heavily-laden stages.
Joyous greetings and merry repartee made the scene pleasant to witness even by one who,like Van Berg,had no part in it.Stanton,who at this moment joined him,drew his special attention to a thin and under-sized gentleman somewhat past middle age,who mounted the steps with a tread that was as inelastic as his face was devoid of animation.
"There is poor Uncle Mayhew,"remarked the young man indifferently.
"I suppose I must go and speak to him."
"Mr.Mayhew?"said Van Berg,in some surprise."You have not spoken of him before.I was not aware that there was any such person in existence.""You are not to blame for that,"replied Stanton with a shrug.
"You might have been one of the friends of the family and scarcely have learned the fact.Indeed,poor man,he only about half exists,for he has been so long overshadowed by his fashionable wife and daughter,that he is but a sickly plant of a man."Van Berg saw that the greeting received by Mr.Mayhew from his wife and daughter was very undemonstrative to say the least,and that then the gentleman quickly disappeared,as if fearing that he might be in the way.
"From my very limited means of judging,"Van Berg remarked,"Icannot see anything more objectionable in the head of the family than in the other members.""Your phrase,'head of the family,'as applied to Mr.Mayhew,makes me smile.His name figures at the head of the large family bills,but scarcely elsewhere with much prominence.You will soon learn,if you remain here,that Mr.Mayhew imbibes rather more than is good for him,so I may as well mention the disagreeable fact at once.But to do the poor man justice,I suppose he drinks to keep his spirits up to the ordinary level,rather than from any hope of becoming a little jolly occasionally.Why my aunt married him I scarcely know;and yet I have often thought that he might be a very different did she not so quench him by a manner all her own.
As it is,his life seems to consist of toiling and moiling all the week,and of stolidly and joylessly soaking himself into semi-stupidity on Sunday.It this wretched state of affairs could be kept secret I would not mention it even to you,my intimate friend;but,since it continues no secret wherever they happen to remain for any length of time,I would rather tell you the exact truth at once,than permit you to guess at it through distorted rumors.As you artists occasionally express yourselves concerning pictures,so I suppose you will think that this family,with all its wealth is quite lacking in tone.""Well,Stanton,I must admit that I find myself chiefly inclined towards the subdued and neutral-tinted Mr.Mayhew.If you have a chance I wish you would introduce me to him.""Are you in earnest?"
"Certainly."
"Then I'll ask him to smoke with us after supper.Well,Van,I congratulate you again that your correct and cultivated taste enabled you to see the fatal flaw in my cousin's beauty.If you had been bewitched by her,and had insisted on imagining (as so many others have done)that her faultless features were the reflex of what she is or could become in mind and character,I might have had a good deal of trouble with you;for you are a mulish fellow when you get a purpose in your head.I don't care how badly singed the average run of moths become.You may see two or three fluttering around to-night,if you care to look on,but I wish no friend of mine to make sport,at serious cost to himself,for yonder incorrigible coquette,if she is my cousin.But after what you have seen and now know,you would be safe enough,even if predisposed to folly.The little minx!but I punished her well for her spite this afternoon.""O most prudent Ulysses!you have indeed filled my ears with wax.
I thank you all the same as if my danger were greater.""Well,view them all with such charity as you can.I hope you were not very much annoyed by the loss of your ride.The young lady will not be in a hurry to play such a trick again.I'll join you after supper in this your favorite and out-of-the-way corner.""Was beauty ever environed within and without by such desperately prosaic and inartistic surroundings?"mused Van Berg."It glistens like a lost jewel in an ash-barrel;or,more correctly,it is like an exquisite flower that nature has perversely made the outcome of a rank and poisonous vine.Of course the flower is poisonous also,and as soon as its first delicate bloom is over,will grow as rank and repulsive as the vine that bears it.Like produces like;and with such parentage,what hope is there for her?I am glad no one suspects my absurd project;for every hour convinces me of its impracticability.The ancient Undine was a myth,and my modern Undine might be called a white lie,but one that will grow darker every day.At a distance she presents the semblance of a very fair woman,but I have been unable to detect a single element yet that will prevent her from developing into an old and ugly hag,in spite of all that art and costume can do for her."After supper Stanton brought Mr.Mayhew to Van Berg's retired nook,and the artist gave the hand of the weary,listless man such a cordial pressure as to cause him a slight surprise,but after satisfying his faint interest by a brief glance,he turned the back of his chair towards all the gay company,although it contained his wife and daughter,puffed mechanically at his cigar,and looked vacantly into space.Before the evening was over,however,Van berg had drawn from him several quite animated remarks,and secured the promise that he would join him and Stanton in a ramble immediately after breakfast the following morning.