Catharine Furze

“ Catharine’s was the very life of all that was Catharine, senses, heart, and intellect, a summing-up and projection of her whole selfhood. He was more to her than she to him—was any woman ever so much to a man as a man is to a woman? She was happy when she was near him. When she was in ordinary Eastthorpe society she felt as a pent-up lake might feel if the weight of its waters were used in threading needles, but when Mr. Cardew talked to her, and she to him, she rejoiced in the flow of all her force, and that horrible oppression in her chest vanished. ”

“ Furze unwell, and, in his extreme good-humour, had relented towards her. She had recovered, but did not mention again the subject of Tom’s discharge. He had ham with his tea, but it was over sooner than usual, and he rose to depart.
“You are going early, father,” said Catharine.
“Yes, my dear; it has been a busy day. I have been successful with my tender for Mr. Eaton’s improvements; iron has advanced; the navigation has stopped; Castle, the blacksmith, has gone to smash; I have to go to a trustees’ meeting under that old Fothergill trust; and Jack in the foundry has given notice to leave.” ”

“ Bellamy went to Eastthorpe and counselled Mr. and Mrs. Furze to come to the Farm, and bring Dr. Turnbull with them. They all three came at once, and found Catharine in bed. She was feverish, and during the night had been slightly delirious. The doctor examined her carefully, and after the examination was over she turned to him and said—
“I want to hear the truth; I can bear it. Am I to die?”
“I know you can bear it. No man could be certain; but I believe the end is near.” ”

“ Furze was restive under Tom’s superior capacity, there was no doubt whatever of his honesty and ability. Besides, if it was business, why did the mistress interfere? Why did she thrust herself upon him?—“coming down ’ere a purpose,” thought Mr. Orkid Jim. “No, no, it ain’t business,” and, delighted with his discovery so far, and with the conscious exercise of mental power, he smote the bricks with more vigour than ever.
“Good-bye, Phœbe,” said Catharine, looking in at the door.
“Good-bye, Miss,” said Phœbe, running out; “hope you’ll enjoy yourself: I wish I were going with you.” ”

“ Furze, rousing himself, “that I have had my suspicions of Master Tom, but I never thought it would come to this; nor that Catharine would have anything to say to him. It was she, though, who said I could not do without him.”
“It was she,” added Mrs. Furze, “who always stuck out against our coming up here, and was rude to Mrs. Colston and her son. I do not blame her so much, though, as I do that wretch of a Catchpole. What he wants is plain enough: he’ll marry her and have the business, the son of a blind beggar who used to go on errands! Oh me! ”

“ Catharine was impatient.
“Now, then, not a second; upstairs through Jane’s bedroom, out into the gutter, and through Hopkins’s attic. You cannot go downstairs.”
Still there was trembling and indecision.
“But the tin box,” gasped Mr. Furze; “it is in the wardrobe. I must take it.”
Catharine replied by literally driving them before her. They picked up the maid-servant, crept behind the high parapet, and were soon in safety. By this time the smoke was pouring up thick and fast, although no flame had appeared. Suddenly Catharine cried—
“But where is Tom?” ”

“ Furze felt rather unwell, and went to her bedroom, where she sat down, and, putting her face on the bedclothes, gave way to a long fit of hysterical sobbing. She would not come down to tea, and excused herself on the ground of sickness. Catharine went up to her mother and inquired what was the matter, but was repulsed.
“Nothing is the matter—at least, nothing you can understand. I am very unwell; I am better alone; go down to Mrs. Bellamy.”
“But, mother, it will do you good to be downstairs. Mrs. Bellamy will be so glad to see you, and she was so kind to me; it will be odd if you don’t come.” ”

“ It did cross her mind that Catharine herself might object; but she was convinced that if her daughter could have a distinct offer made to her, all opposition might somehow be quenched.
Fate came to her assistance, as it does always to those who watch persistently and with patience. One Sunday evening at church it suddenly began to rain. The Furze family had not provided themselves with umbrellas, but Mrs. Furze knew that Mr. Charlie Colston never went out without one. ”

“ Furze if she would step into the next room. “A girl,” he said, “will not say all she has to say even to her mother.” Mrs. Furze did not quite like it, but obeyed.
“Miss Furze,” said the doctor, “I imagine you are a person who would not like to be deceived: you have a slight tenderness in the chest; there is no reasonable cause for alarm, but you will have to be careful.”
Catharine’s face lighted up a little when the last sentence was half finished, and the careful observer noticed it instantly. ”

“ Furze to her husband the next night when they were alone, “I think Catharine would be much better if she were sent away from home for a time. Her education is very imperfect, and there are establishments where young ladies are taken at her age and finished. ”

“ Bellamy and Catharine consequently had tea alone, Mr. Furze remaining at his shop that afternoon, as he had been late in arrival.
“Sorry mother’s so poorly, Catharine. Well, how do you like the Terrace?”
“I hate it. I detest every atom of the filthy, stuck-up, stuccoed hovel. I hate—” Catharine was very excited, and it is not easy to tell what she might have said if Mrs. Bellamy had not interrupted her.
“Now, Miss Catharine, don’t say that; it’s a bad thing to hate what we must put up with. You never heard, did you, as Bellamy had a sister a good bit older than myself? ”

“ Catharine was in her bedroom. She came down wrapped up in a shawl, and Jim stood up.
“Mr. Furze, Mrs. Furze, Miss Catharine, and you, Mr. Catchpole, you see afore you the biggest liar as ever was, and one as deserves to go to hell, if ever any man did. Everything agin Mr. Catchpole was all trumped up, for he never had Humphries’ money, and it was me as put the marked sovereign in his pocket. I was tempted by the devil and by—but the Lord ’as ’ad mercy on me and ’as saved my body and soul this day. I can’t speak no more, but ’ere I am if I’m to be locked up and transported as I deserve.” ”

“ Charlie Colston, a byword with women in Eastthorpe, even amongst the nursery-maids. Mrs. Furze knew all about his youth; but she brought out her philosopher’s stone and used it with effect. She did not intend to mate Catharine with a fool, and make her miserable. If she could not have persuaded herself that the young man was everything that could be desired she would have thought no more about him. ”

“ Cardew has no liking for poetry.”
Catharine was silent.
“It is quite a new thing to me, Miss Furze, to find anybody in Abchurch who cares anything for that which is most interesting to me.”
“But, Mr. Cardew, I am sure I have not shown any particular capacity, and I am very ignorant, for I have read very little.”
“It does not need much to reveal what is in a person. It would be a great help to me if we could read a book together. This self-imprisonment day after day and self-imposed reticence is very unwholesome. I would give much to have a pupil or a friend whose world is my world.” ”

“ Her mother was delighted with her daughter. She was less awkward, straighter, and her air and deportment showed the success of the plan. The father acquiesced, although he did not notice the change till Mrs. Furze had pointed it out. As to Mrs. Bellamy, she declared, when she met Catharine in the street the first market afternoon, that “she had all at once become a woman grown.” Mrs. Furze’s separation from her former friends was now complete, but she had, unfortunately, not yet achieved admission into the superior circle. ”

“ Cardew, you are a minister, and I may tell you: I know you will not betray me. I love Miss Furze; I cannot help it. I have never loved any girl before. It is very foolish, for I am only her father’s journeyman; but that might be got over. She would not let that stand in her way, I am sure. But, Mr. Cardew, I am not up to her; she is strange to me. If I try to mention her subjects, what I say is not right, and when I drove her home from Chapel Farm, and admired the view I know she admired, she directly began to speak about business, as if she did not wish to talk about better things ”

“ Furze; “you know what you heard, or might have heard, last Sunday morning, that prevarication is very much like a lie; why don’t you speak out the truth?”
Catharine was silent for a moment.
“I have answered exactly the question mother asked.”
“Catharine, you know perfectly well what I mean,” said Mrs. Furze; “what is the use of pretending you do not! Tom would never dare to walk with you in a public street, and at night, too, if there were not something more than you like to say. Tom Catchpole! whose father sold laces on the bridge ”

“ Furze was silent.
“There you sit, Furze; you are provoking! Pick up that hairpin, will you? You always sit and sit whenever there’s any difficulty. You never go beyond what I have in my own head, and when I do stir you up to think it is sure to be something of no use.”
“I’ll do anything you want,” said the pensive husband as his wife rose and put on her cap. “I’ve told you before I’ll get rid of Tom, and then perhaps it will all come round!” ”

“ Furze received the following note from Mr. Cardew:—
“DEAR SIR,—I regret to hear that a false charge has been preferred against my friend Mr. Catchpole. By my advice he has left Eastthorpe without any attempt to defend himself, but I consider it my duty to tell you he is innocent; that you have lost a faithful servant, and, what is worse, you have done him harm, not only in body, but in soul, for there are not many men who can be wrongfully accused and remain calm and resigned. ”

“ Furze had prepared turned out to be useless. It is all very well to decide what is to be done with a human being if the human being will but comport himself in a fairly average manner, but if he will not the plan is likely to fail.
Mr. Furze was very restless during his meal. He went to the window two or three times, and returned with the remark that it was going to be wet; but the observation was made in a low, mumbling tone. Mrs. Furze was also fidgety, and, in reply to her daughter’s questions, complained of headache, and wondered that Catharine could not see that she had had no sleep. ”

“ Furze gave elaborate tea-parties, and was uncomfortably uncertain whether or not the shaft was intended for her.
“My dear Catharine, I shall be delighted if you go either to Mr. Gosford’s or to Mr. Bellamy’s, but you must consider your wardrobe a little. You will remember that the last time on each occasion a dress was torn in pieces.”
“But, mother, are not dresses intended to keep thorns from our legs; or, at any rate, isn’t that one reason why we wear them?” ”

“ Furze’s debt. He saw there was something wrong, and dismounted.
“Why, Miss Catharine, you are all wet! What is the matter?”
“I slipped down.”
She could not tell the truth, although usually so straightforward. Tom looked at her inquiringly as if he was not quite sure, but there was something in her face which forbade further investigation.
“You’ve lost your shoes; you cannot walk home; will you let me give you a lift to Chapel Farm?”
“They do not matter a straw: it is grass nearly the whole way.” ”

“ It is a tact—not incredible to those who know that nobody, not the most accomplished master in flattery, can humbug us so completely as we can and do humbug ourselves—that Mr. Furze, ten minutes after the letters were posted, was perfectly convinced that he had foreseen the necessity of each one—that he had personally and thoroughly controlled the whole day’s operations, and that Tom had performed the duties of a merely menial clerk. As he went home he thought over Catharine’s attitude with regard to Tom. ”

“ It is a great pity that people are so narrow in their notions of what wicked thoughts are. Every thought which maims you is wicked, horribly wicked, I call it. By the way, going to another subject, that poor girl, Phœbe Crowhurst, who lived at your house, is very ill again. She would like to see you.”
Catharine left, and Mrs. Furze came in.
“Has anything unsettled your daughter lately?”
“No, nothing particular.”
She thought of Tom, but to save Catharine’s life she would not have acknowledged that it was possible for a Catchpole to have power to disturb a Furze. Had it been Mr. ”

“ Never your lover, but your best friend for ever,” and she opened the gate and disappeared.
CHAPTER XIII
Mr. and Mrs. Furze were not disturbed because their daughter was late. A neighbour told them that she had gone to the Rectory with Mr. and Mrs. Cardew, and Mrs. Furze was pleased that Eastthorpe should behold her daughter apparently on intimate terms with a clergyman so well known and so respectable. But it was ten o’clock, and they wished to be in bed. Mrs. Furze had gone to the window, and had partly pushed aside the blind, watching till Catharine should appear. ”

“ Furze. “I wish you would not stop on the bridge as you do. It does not look nice for a girl like you to stay and gossip with Mike.”
Catharine took no notice.
“Did you ever do anything for him?”
“What an odd question!” again interposed Mrs. Furze. “What should we do? There was his club besides, we sent him the lotion.”
“Why cannot you take Tom as an apprentice?”
“Because,” said her father, “there is nobody to pay the premium; you know what that means. When a boy is bound apprentice the master has a sum of money for teaching him the business.” ”