Anthony Trollope

“ Oh, Fanny, is it his legs, think you, or is it his title?"
Through all her sorrow—and she was very sorrowful—Mrs. Robarts could not help smiling. And, indeed, there was every now and then something even in Lucy's look that was almost comic. She acted the irony so well with which she strove to throw ridicule on herself! "Do laugh at me," she said. "Nothing on earth will do me so much good as that—nothing, unless it be starvation and a whip. If you would only tell me that I must be a sneak and an idiot to care for a man because he is good-looking and a lord!" ”

“ Then I tell you fairly, Fanny, that I have done with him."
"Oh, Lady Lufton, don't say that," said Mrs. Robarts, with tears in her eyes.
"Mamma, mamma, don't speak in that way," said Lady Meredith.
"But, my dear, what am I to say? I must speak in that way. You would not wish me to speak falsehoods, would you? A man must choose for himself, but he can't live with two different sets of people; at least, not if I belong to one and the Duke of Omnium to the other. The bishop going indeed! If there be any thing that I hate, it is hypocrisy." ”

“ Sowerby was felt to be a black sheep, as Lady Lufton had called him, and at the close of the election he found himself banished from the representation of West Barsetshire;—banished for ever, after having held the county for five-and-twenty years.
Unfortunate Mr. Sowerby! I cannot take leave of him here without some feeling of regret, knowing that there was that within him which might, under better guidance, have produced better things. There are men, even of high birth, who seem as though they were born to be rogues; but Mr. Sowerby was, to my thinking, born to be a gentleman. ”

“ Robarts' thought to herself, but she did not dare to express it, so she remained silent.
"My only hope is," continued Lady Lufton, "that when my back is turned you fight as gallantly for me."
"Ah, you are never under a cloud, like poor Lucy."
"Am I not? But, Fanny, you do not see all the clouds. The sun does not always shine for any of us, and the down-pouring rain and the heavy wind scatter also my fairest flowers,—as they have done hers, poor girl. Dear Fanny, I hope it may be long before any cloud comes across the brightness of your heaven. ”

“ I must not say that Lucy was not proud in these moments—that her heart was not elated at these thoughts. Success does beget pride, as failure begets shame. But her pride was of that sort which is in no way disgraceful to either man or woman, and was accompanied by pure true love, and a full resolution to do her duty in that state of life to which it had pleased her God to call her. She did rejoice greatly to think that she had been chosen, and not Griselda. Was it possible that having loved she should not so rejoice, or that, rejoicing, she should not be proud of her love? ”

“ And the woman who thus so spoke was very different from that Miss Dunstable whom Mrs. Proudie courted, and the Duke of Omnium fêted, and Mrs. Harold Smith claimed as her bosom friend. If only she could find among such one special companion on whom her heart might rest, who would help her to bear the heavy burdens of her world! But where was she to find such a friend?—she with her keen wit, her untold money, and loud laughing voice. Everything about her was calculated to attract those whom she could not value, and to scare from her the sort of friend to whom she would fain have linked her lot. ”

“ And then, in London, when the season came, all men sang all manner of praises in her favor, and Lord Dumbello was made aware that he was reckoned among the wisest of his age. He had married a wife who managed every thing for him, who never troubled him, whom no woman disliked, and whom every man admired. As for feast of reason and for flow of soul, is it not a question whether any such flows and feasts are necessary between a man and his wife? How many men can truly assert that they ever enjoy connubial flows of soul, or that connubial feasts of reason are in their nature enjoyable? ”

“ He had robbed his friend, and, with all his wit, knew no words at the present moment sufficiently witty to make it seem that he had not done so.
"Robarts," said he, "you may say what you like to me now; I shall not resent it."
"Who would care for your resentment?" said the clergyman, turning on him with ferocity. "The resentment of a gentleman is terrible to a gentleman; and the resentment of one just man is terrible to another. Your resentment!"—and then he walked twice the length of the room, leaving Sowerby dumb in his seat. ”

“ He mounted his horse that day at Boxall Hill—for he made all his journeys about the county on horseback—and rode slowly home to Greshamsbury, thinking not so much of the suggested marriage as of his own folly in thinking of it. How could he be such an ass at his time of life as to allow the even course of his way to be disturbed by any such idea? Of course he could not propose to himself such a wife as Miss Dunstable without having some thoughts as to her wealth, and it had been the pride of his life so to live that the world might know that he was indifferent about money. ”

“ Lady Lufton was a woman who did not bear disappointment lightly; but, nevertheless, she did almost feel herself to have been relieved from a burden when she thought of the termination of the Lufton-Grantly marriage treaty. What if she had been successful, and, after all, the prize had been other than she had expected? She was sometimes prone to think that that prize was not exactly all that she had once hoped. Griselda looked the very thing that Lady Lufton wanted for a queen; but how would a queen reign who trusted only to her looks? ”

“ What wretchedness can exceed that of remembering from day to day that the race has been all run, and has been altogether lost; that the last chance has gone, and has gone in vain; that the end has come, and with it disgrace, contempt, and self-scorn—disgrace that never can be redeemed, contempt that never can be removed, and self-scorn that will eat into one's vitals forever?
Mr. Sowerby was now fifty; he had enjoyed his chances in life; and as he walked back, up South Audley Street, he could not but think of the uses he had made of them. ”

“ But he'll find that it's better for him—better for him in every way, to stick to his old friends. It will be better for his peace of mind, better for his character as a clergyman, better for his pocket, better for his children and for you, and better for his eternal welfare. The duke is not such a companion as he should seek; nor, if he is sought, should he allow himself to be led away."
And then Lady Lufton ceased, and Fanny Robarts, kneeling at her feet, sobbed, with her face hidden on her friend's knees. She had not a word now to say as to her husband's capability of judging for himself. ”

“ It is very mysterious in you to come and sit here, with your back to us all—"
"Oh, Lord Lufton, if I have done wrong—" and poor Lucy almost started from her chair, and a deep flush came across her dark cheek.
"No, no, you have done no wrong. I was only joking. It is we who have done wrong in leaving you to yourself—you, who are the greatest stranger among us."
"I have been very well, thank you. I don't care about being left alone. I have always been used to it."
"Ah! but we must break you of the habit. We won't allow you to make a hermit of yourself. ”

“ But she did begin to bethink herself of Lucy's high qualities, and to declare to herself that the girl, if not fit to be a queen, was, at any rate, fit to be a woman. That there was a spirit within that body, insignificant though the body might be, Lady Lufton was prepared to admit. That she had acquired the power—the chief of all powers in this world—of sacrificing herself for the sake of others; that, too, was evident enough. That she was a good girl, in the usual acceptation of the word good, Lady Lufton had never doubted. ”

“ Lucy smiled, and tried to look pleased, but she felt that she and Griselda Grantly could never be bosom friends—could never have any thing in common between them. She felt sure that Griselda despised her, little, brown, plain, and unimportant as she was. She herself could not despise Griselda in turn; indeed, she could not but admire Miss Grantly's great beauty and dignity of demeanor, but she knew that she could never love her. It is hardly possible that the proud-hearted should love those who despise them, and Lucy Robarts was very proud-hearted. ”

“ Debt, indeed, had been creeping on them with slow but sure feet during the last five years. Who can see his children hungry, and not take bread if it be offered? Who can see his wife lying in sharpest want, and not seek a remedy if there be a remedy within reach? So debt had come upon them, and rude men pressed for small sums of money—for sums small to the world, but impossibly large to them. And he would hide himself within there, in that cranny of an inner chamber—hide himself with deep shame from the world—with shame, and a sinking heart, and a broken spirit. ”

“ At the Parsonage?"
"No, not at the Parsonage, but over at Framley Court," said Mark.
"And he promises to call here after breakfast to-morrow," said Fanny. And then again there was a pause. Mrs. Robarts hardly dared to look Lucy in the face. She had not betrayed her trust, seeing that the secret had been told to Mark, not by her, but by Lord Lufton; but she could not but feel that Lucy would think that she had betrayed it.
"Very well," said Lucy, trying to smile; "I have no objection in life." ”

“ Hitherto she had said no word against Sowerby, but now it was necessary to defend her husband.
"No doubt about it. I believe he has always betrayed every one who has ever trusted him. I told you what he was, some time since; did I not? But, Mark, why on earth have you let it go so far as this? Would not Forrest help you?"
"Mr. Forrest wanted him to sign more bills, and he would not do that," said Mrs. Robarts, sobbing.
"Bills are like dram-drinking," said the discreet young lord: "when one once begins, it is very hard to leave off. Is it true that the men are here now, Mark?" ”

“ A man can not be honest if he have not some pride. You yourself—would you not rather starve than become a beggar?"
"I would rather beg than see my wife starve," said Arabin.
Crawley, when he heard these words, turned sharply round, and stood with his back to the dean, with his hands still behind him, and with his eyes fixed upon the ground.
"But in this case there is no question of begging," continued the dean. "I, out of those superfluities which it has pleased God to put at my disposal, am anxious to assist the needs of those whom I love." ”

“ I thought you admired her very much?"
"What, Lucy Robarts?" said Lord Lufton, feeling that Lucy's name was more than he at present knew how to manage. Indeed that name destroyed all the life there was in that little flirtation. "I do like Lucy Robarts, certainly. She is very clever; but it so happened that I saw little or nothing of her after you were gone."
To this Griselda made no answer, but drew herself up, and looked as cold as Diana when she froze Orion in the cave. ”

“ To me she is more absolutely like a statue than any other human being I ever saw. To sit still and be admired is all that she desires; and if she cannot get that, to sit still and not be admired would almost suffice for her. I do not worship Lady Lufton as you do; but I think quite well enough of her to wonder that she should choose such a girl as that for her son's wife. That she does wish it, I do not doubt. But I shall indeed be surprised if he wishes it also." And then as she finished her speech, Lucy again flogged the pony. ”

“ Harold Smith as he passed.
"What a hang-dog countenance he has," said that lady.
"Ah! you're prejudiced, my dear, and no wonder; as for myself I always liked Supplehouse. He means mischief; but then mischief is his trade, and he does not conceal it. If I were a politician I should as soon think of being angry with Mr. Supplehouse for turning against me as I am now with a pin for pricking me. It's my own awkwardness, and I ought to have known how to use the pin more craftily."
"But you must detest a man who professes to stand by his party, and then does his best to ruin it." ”

“ Had he remained as a curate till that age, subject in all his movements to the eye of a superior, he would, we may say, have put his name to no bills, have ridden after no hounds, have seen nothing of the iniquities of Gatherum Castle. There are men of twenty-six as fit to stand alone as ever they will be—fit to be prime ministers, heads of schools, judges on the bench—almost fit to be bishops; but Mark Robarts had not been one of them. He had within him many aptitudes for good, but not the strengthened courage of a man to act up to them. ”