Lady Anne Granard

“ Don't you know that such fear is an act of positive indecency? What right, what possible pretension can any woman have to care for a man till she is actually married to him?—there is something in it so utterly repugnant to female delicacy, it absolutely shocks me."
"However," continued Lady Anne, "this nonsense must be put aside, at all events, for the present; as I shall muster a little party in honour of Lady Allerton's wedding, and I shall expect you to exert yourself very diligently in employments more calculated for Lady Anne Granard's daughter than crying for her fellow-creatures." ”

“ Allow me to recommend this."
"If, fair lady, you are determined to rob me of my own," said the Count, gallantly, "surely you do not think such a thing as that will replace it!"
"We have them of all sizes and shapes; purses, card-cases, thread-papers, watch-pockets; every thing gentlemen have occasion for. May I ask what you desire?"
"I want my friend of long time, Lady Anne Granard; she is my object."
"Come round to us, my good sir. Go to the bottom of the room, and give the man this card; there is no possibility of speaking to Lady Anne, at this moment, but by coming round." ”

“ The very circumstance of the Riccardini name being proscribed by Lady Anne Granard, would have taken him to her house as a safe resort; but he had loved her husband most sincerely—and, in proportion as he condemned her past conduct and pitied the privations of her situation, so did he sympathize with those dear young creatures who were wont to play on his knee, call him uncle, and kiss him for little presents of which he had not failed to keep up the memory by those which were of more cost, and came from a great distance, which the young generally consider a circumstance which enhances value. ”

“ For a moment Lord Meersbrook thought he might be from the east, but in the next concluded more justly he was either a Spaniard or Italian.
When the first man entered, he inquired of the doorkeeper "whereabouts Lady Anne Granard's stand was!" and was answered in the centre. "Ah! she is in the centre—the middle of the room," ejaculated the tall stranger. It was evident that both these very different persons were some way interested in the lady he had just quitted. "Who could they be, and for what purpose did they seek Lady Anne? ”

“ I do not, for, although he is a generous man, he is a regular man; and I have heard him say, more than once, that Lady Sarah Butterlip had taught him a lesson, as to lending money, that would last him his life in the way by which she cheated his friend, Mrs. Clare, of Canterbury. And it always struck me, and often very painfully, that in his own mind he was comparing Lady Anne Granard and Lady Sarah Butterlip as being alike; both were high-born, both married private gentlemen, both were extravagant, and were left poorly provided, as widows with daughters, and both assisted by their brothers. ”

“ Well! if Lady Anne Granard will step over the way to 'those low people, the Palmers,' she will find 'the old man' in the library, and, if she chooses to give him a note, he will give her a check for a hundred pounds, or a trifle more should she need it; but he will not encourage her daughters to trot out on any such errands—there is something quite shocking in it, to my conception. ”

“ As pay was Lady Anne's object, and poor Georgiana was intended to be the amanuensis, should she be found capable of forming sentences out of disjointed hints, and of wrapping foul facts in clean composition. "There will be some anecdotes I had better tell myself, and I must find the smartness and the pathos, but there may be sheet after sheet of prosiness that Georgiana may do fast enough; the essence of the work will be in the title-page—'Records of People of Rank,' by Lady Anne Granard ”

“ We left Lady Anne Granard in that state of mixed good and evil—the misery arising from numerous duns, and the felicity arising from actual possession of a pretty sum wherewith to go to Brighton—which is a very common lot in life, and by no means confined to persons distinguished by rank or fashion. Many people of very humble pretensions put money in their purses, and set out to watering-places, when they ought to have stayed at home and paid that which they magnanimously determined to spend ”

“ Lady Anne, with whom long knowledge of the world often supplied the place of sense, was too guarded to admit her disappointment, and calmly replied, "Mr. Glentworth is only a very old friend of the family."
"Not so very old," said Lady Penrhyn, with a malicious smile; "I should rather say much too young to be trusted with so many girls—you will have them all in love with him."
"I trust," answered Lady Anne, with a quiet air of security, "that my girls have been too well brought up to think of such nonsense as falling in love." ”

“ CHAPTER VI.
"How pretty Louisa is looking this morning!" said Lady Anne; "what a dreadful waste, with nobody in town."
"What a pity," replied Isabella, "that people cannot have a savings-bank of good looks—hair, eyes, and skin to be put out at interest till wanted!"
"You would not trouble it much, child," returned Lady Anne, pettishly; "you know you are the plain one of the family. I do not know what I shall do with you when you come out; you will have no beauty but that of youth." ”

“ The two younger girls were in the rumble, the French maid and page on the coachbox, and Lady Anne and her three eldest daughters inside, to say nothing of imperials, boxes, parcels, and last, but not least, the dog, the only over-petted and over-fed thing in his mistress's possession.
"Never were any girls so stupid as you are," exclaimed Lady Anne, when, after many vain attempts at conversation, her daughters had sunk into silence. "Mary never has any thing to say; and I think you are all growing like her. Do take care, Louisa; if you lean back, you will spoil your bonnet." ”

“ Her very youngest had been forced to marry a man full twenty years older than herself, poor thing! and the other made a run-away marriage with the man of her heart, pretty creature."
Although the railroad did not take people from London to Brighton in two hours, as it proposes to do in a few years, yet coaches do their work pretty well; and two days before the important one arrived, for which Lady Anne Granard had laboured in spirit, and her daughters in person, the news of her occupation and contribution had reached her own neighbourhood ”

“ Lady Anne fixed her eyes, which were become very large looking ones, upon Georgiana, elevated her brows, and, in a measured tone of voice, indicative of extreme contempt, said, "You are my daughter! granted, Miss Georgiana Granard; and Mrs. Glentworth is my daughter, true! but how can you be equally my daughters, when the husband of one can lay down a thousand pounds, yes, at least a thousand pounds for every hundred the intended husband of the other can produce. Will any body venture to say, that any comparison can exist between two men so differently situated? ”

“ Lady Anne instantly took it up, and observed, "You have not been so prudent as Georgiana—at least you have got less of your present left."
"Georgiana being so young bought only muslin, when I got a mouselin de laine, like Louisa's, mamma, as you recommended."
"I remember that; but I also remember, miss, that you are the very worst of my girls (and all are bad enough) as regards charity. I tell you, Miss Helen Granard, once for all, that no money ought, or shall be given in my house for charity—no, not a shilling!"
"Madame is wanted below. Le vilain n’attendez pas," said Fanchette. ”

“ Glentworth looked what he was, amazed, and Lady Anne went on.
"You are not a marrying man," this was said with some still lurking hope that it might bring from him a declaration completely the reverse of her own, but it was heard in acquiescing silence. "Now every body," continued Lady Anne, "is not aware of this fact, and your being so constantly seen with my girls leads to the supposition that you must be attracted by one or other of them. I am constantly being asked which of the Misses Granard is to be Mrs. Glentworth?" ”

“ Of late, whenever Lady Anne had either talked or thought beyond her strength, exhausted nature found refuge in short but refreshing snatches of sleep, and she was thus situated when Georgiana sought to bid her farewell, which she could only do by touching her thin, withered fingers with her lips, affording a strong contrast to the blighted yet still fine outline of her mother's wasted features. ”

“ I can't bear the idea of these two young men throwing Lady Anne's faults in the teeth of Helen and Georgiana, dear, affectionate children, who love both you and me, Palmer, so dearly."
"God bless the woman! what nonsense she does talk! neither of 'em would think of such a thing."
"No, they would not think of such a thing, I grant (noble-hearted creatures as we know them to be) ; but they might do it in their pets, you know. Does not every man (and woman, too) say things, in their anger, they never intended to say?" ”

“ No, indeed, sir; these are no times for giving over, especially to a man with a large family; but, really, my Lady Anne Granard being such a bargainer to an ounce o' meat as I never met with, and who kep her family on less than one-half what other people consumes, ought to be made to pay, since she von't do it vithout. ”

“ He was amused by the pains taken to dispose of their wares by the ladies, especially Lady Penrhyn, who had been about to return to her own stand, when she perceived the fine-looking foreigner approach Lady Anne's, and she determined that no one else should be sales woman to him. She had seen the full, dark eye of the duchess dart across the company as if she would have arrested the new and noble-looking customer, and she was determined to seize and keep him to herself. ”

“ But Anne never had a heart herself, so how should she feel for her daughters? If Granard never won her love, doubtless she was invulnerable; and it is certain he did not; for, if she had really loved a man so admirable both in mind and person, she could not have preferred the gauds of life to him and his love, especially when Heaven had granted her so large and so sweet a family. ”

“ Lord Allerton is that almost impossibility to manage—a young man who has been a good match from his cradle. He looks upon himself as the point of attack to every mamma and daughter who come within ear or eyeshot. His love for Mary Granard has taken him quite by surprise, and he is still reluctant and suspicious of so novel a feeling. Once let his attention be drawn to Lady Anne's manœuvres, and once let him suppose that Mary is a party to them, and the game is in our own hands. ”

“ Every face was dressed in smiles—every eye shot bright glances around, either in search of a customer or an admirer, an old friend or a new lover. Happily the sunshine, which of late had been very scarce, shone out most invitingly, and the room soon became full; but it was rather with starers and loungers than purchasers; and the duchess shook her head very knowingly to Lady Anne, who was her opposite neighbour. Lady Penrhyn had desired to be placed near the door, as she said she was one of those people who could not live without air ”

“ Lady Anne would have been in despair if the Misses Granard had not been allowed at any party to be among the most elegant girls in the room, but she cared as little for their affection as for their comfort.
But her house, with its poverty and its pretence—her daughters, with their accomplishments and privations—presented a picture, a common one, of to-day. There is a mania in every class to be mistaken for what it is not. Many things innocent, nay, even graceful in themselves, become injurious and awkward by unseasonable imitation. We follow, we copy ”

“ Though the earl did not suspect his lady of being the adept she was, yet he had long known she disliked his sister, which he accounted for from the circumstance of Lady Anne's superior personal attraction; the countess, though with a pretty face and at least ten years younger, cutting comparatively no figure when placed beside the tall and graceful form of Lady Anne, whose beautiful bust and slender waist never failed to attract admiration. ”

“ Had he been older, she might have calculated on his death and its attendant legacies; that was, however, out of the question: she could not look forward to the death of one some years younger than herself. From thinking him useless, Lady Anne soon began to consider him detrimental; his constant attendance kept off others.
On this point her penetration was assisted by a sneer or two of Lady Penrhyn's, who, struck with Mr. Glentworth's appearance, had accepted the invitation to join a family party to Richmond, only to find attention devoted to those Granard girls, as she called them. ”

“ Lady Allerton rose to seek her, and inquire if she should not like to go home before the supper rooms were opened, for which she had become exceedingly impatient, understanding that Lady Anne would then be carried to her room, her physician having looked in, and earnestly advised that measure, though he acknowledged that she was by no means as much worse from her present proceeding, as he expected.
"Worse!" exclaimed Lady Anne, "how can a woman be worse for receiving her own children, and the congratulations of her friends? ”

“ Palmer had known what it was to lose life's dearest connexion; and the soft cadence with which Lady Anne alluded to her feelings as a widow awakened all the sympathy of his generous nature, and he eagerly cried out,
"You will do very well, my lady, very well indeed. I will send you in a couple of dozen of capital sherry, fit for the dons, and some hermitage, by no means to be sneezed at; any thing will do for dancing misses and masters; but, in every party, there are some people who know what's what." ”