Lady Catherine de Bourgh

“ Lady Catherine herself says that, in point of true beauty, Miss de Bourgh is far superior to the handsomest of her sex, because there is that in her features which marks the young woman of distinguished birth. ”

“ Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence.
"You cannot be more than twenty, I am sure,—therefore you need not conceal your age."
"I am not one and twenty."
When the gentlemen had joined them, and tea was over, the card tables were placed. Lady Catherine, Sir William, and Mr. and Mrs. Collins sat down to quadrille; and as Miss De Bourgh chose to play at cassino, the two girls had the honour of assisting Mrs. Jenkinson to make up her party. ”

“ Elizabeth was ready to speak whenever there was an opening, but she was seated between Charlotte and Miss De Bourgh—the former of whom was engaged in listening to Lady Catherine, and the latter said not a word to her all dinner time. Mrs. Jenkinson was chiefly employed in watching how little Miss De Bourgh ate, pressing her to try some other dish, and fearing she were indisposed. Maria thought speaking out of the question, and the gentlemen did nothing but eat and admire. ”

“ Jenkinson expressed her fears of Miss De Bourgh's being too hot or too cold, or having too much or too little light. A great deal more passed at the other table. Lady Catherine was generally speaking—stating the mistakes of the three others, or relating some anecdote of herself. Mr. Collins was employed in agreeing to every thing her ladyship said, thanking her for every fish he won, and apologising if he thought he won too many. Sir William did not say much. ”

“ She remembered afterwards that from the Maid's rough clothes had come a faint savour of wood-smoke, as from one who has been tending a bonfire in the autumn stubble.
“God be with you, lady, and with the good knight, your husband. Remember my word to you, that every wife is like Mary the Blessed and may bear a saviour of mankind. The road is long, but the ways of Heaven are sure.”
Catherine stretched out her arms, for a longing so fierce had awoke in her that it gave her power to move again. Never in her life had she felt such a hunger of wistfulness. But Jeanne evaded her embrace. ”

“ Already did this watchful friend of Queen Catherine know that grave danger threatened his mistress in the person of the merry, black-haired little lady, who had come recently from the Court of France, and who, though little more than a girl of sixteen, had sufficient strength of character to hold fast by the fashion in which the ladies dressed there, which was altogether more neat and becoming than the English fashion, which Queen Catherine had followed blindly, caring too little to approve or disapprove of the cut of a gown or wimple, so that it was splendid enough to please her husband. ”

“ Collins was carefully instructing them in what they were to expect, that the sight of such rooms, so many servants, and so splendid a dinner, might not wholly overpower them.
When the ladies were separating for the toilette, he said to Elizabeth,
"Do not make yourself uneasy, my dear cousin, about your apparel. Lady Catherine is far from requiring that elegance of dress in us, which becomes herself and daughter. I would advise you merely to put on whatever of your clothes is superior to the rest, there is no occasion for any thing more. ”

“ Catherine, however, came to Lambeth, and had for a companion in the same dormitory one Mary Lassells, who had been nurse to her aunt, Lady William Howard, and after her death in 1533 (Howard Memorials, 87) had passed into the service of the duchess. Here some conversations took place, of which Catherine was the subject, between Mary Lassells and Dorothy Barwick, who said that Mannock was betrothed to Catherine. 'What!' exclaimed Mary Lassells, addressing Mannock, 'meanest thou to play the fool of this fashion? Knowest thou not that an' my lady of Norfolk know of the love between thee and Mrs. ”

“ Heber’s a man of his word, an’ you broke your word to him, an’ Saunders broke his word to you; yes, an’ will again too. If he can’t keep faith wi’ his sweetheart what’ll he do with his wife?”
“But he’s a very good-living man,” began Catherine.
“That may be,” cried Mrs. Job, raising her voice; “but there’s no religion in him! He don’t care for nothin’ but his cattle an’ his money an’ his buyin’ an’ sellin’ an’ layin’ up riches. What’s the use o’ that when his heart’s proud before God an’ the truth’s not in him? Maybe ye’ll live to find it out, girl. An’ when ye do, don’t come to me. ”

“ "And is this all?" cried Elizabeth. "I expected at least that the pigs were got into the garden, and here is nothing but Lady Catherine and her daughter." ”

“ Lady Catherine's unjustifiable endeavours to separate us were the means of removing all my doubts. ”

“ At last, one morning, as soon as Laura got up, Lady Harriet gravely led her towards a large table on which all the ill-used frocks had been laid out in a row; and a most dismal sight they were! Such a collection of stains and fractures was probably never seen before! A beggar would scarcely have thanked her for her blue merino; and the green silk frock looked like the tattered cover of a worn-out umbrella.
“Laura,” said Lady Harriet, “in Switzerland a lady’s wardrobe descends to many generations; but nobody will envy your successor! ”

“ De Burgh obeyed, and slackened speed as he went by. At the sound of the horses' tramp Katherine turned her head and gave De Burgh a bright smile and gracious bow.
"She is wonderfully good-looking for an heiress," remarked Lord de Burgh, who was, of course, the wrapped-up old gentleman. "I should say something for you if you could show such a woman with sixty or seventy thousand behind her as your wife. Why don't you go in and win? Don't let the grass grow under your feet."
"It is easier said than done. Miss Liddell is not an ordinary sort of young lady; she is not to be hurried. ”

“ The whole truth cannot be conveyed in letters. I would, therefore, have you despatch one of your own people to inform him of everything, and to supplicate him on the part of the Queen my mother, and myself for the honour of God and for other respects to attend to and provide for us. In so acting he will accomplish a service most agreeable to Almighty God. Nor will he win less fame and glory to himself than he has achieved in the conquest of Tunis or in all his African expedition.” [347]
Catherine simultaneously addressed herself to the [Pg 356] Pope in a letter equally characteristic. ”

“ From the first letter I received—from whom you can guess—I saw that there was taking place in Rome something which threatened me in what I held dearest on earth, in that love for which I sacrificed all, toward which I walked by trampling on the noblest of hearts. Was Catherine ceasing to love me? When one has spent two years of one's life in a passion—and what years!—one clings to it with every fibre! ”

“ In February they had been wed, but after that Beaumanoir saw him little, for he was reading Burgundy a lesson in the Santerre.
Catherine sat at home, anxious, tremulous, but happy. A new-made wife lives in a new world, and though at times she grieved for the shame of her land, her mind was too full of housewifely cares, and her heart of her husband, for long repining. But often the thought of Jeanne drove a sword into her contentment.... So when she lifted her eyes from her embroidery and saw the Maid before her, relief and gladness sent her running to greet her. ”

“ Catherine sat on by the fire, so tired that the silence fallen on the house with the shutting of Susannah’s window was a relief. She was aching, and her limbs felt the strain of that gallop along the edge of the hill. Surely there never was a woman so hard driven by the caprices of contrary winds as she; never a bride who was to watch the dawning of her expected wedding-day in such an untoward plight. Above her head enmity—there was small doubt of that—and now Heber was miles away. ”

“ All Laura’s clothes had been packed the night before, in a large chaise seat, which was now put into the carriage along with herself, and every thing seemed ready for departure, when Lady Harriet’s maid was suddenly taken so very ill, as to be quite unfit for travelling; therefore she was left behind, and a doctor sent for to attend her; while Lady Harriet said she would trust to the maids at Holiday House, for waiting upon herself and Laura.
It is seldom that so happy a face is seen in this world, as Laura wore during the whole journey. ”

“ Charlotte says, she hardly ever does. It is the greatest of favours when Miss De Bourgh comes in."
"I like her appearance," said Elizabeth, struck with other ideas. "She looks sickly and cross.—Yes, she will do for him very well. She will make him a very proper wife."
Mr. Collins and Charlotte were both standing at the gate in conversation with the ladies; and Sir William, to Elizabeth's high diversion, was stationed in the door-way, in earnest contemplation of the greatness before him, and constantly bowing whenever Miss De Bourgh looked that way. ”

“ In this manner Lady Catherine talked on, till they were at the door of the carriage, when, turning hastily round, she added, "I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet. ”

“ Catherine, in ceasing to be queen, might be held to have recovered her rights as a foreigner. But she had remained in England by her own wish, and at the desire of the Emperor, to assist in fighting out the battle. Mary was undoubtedly a subject, and Catherine and she had both intimated that if the oath was demanded of them they would not take it. The Peers and Bishops were called together to consider the matter, and, as Catherine was a Spanish Princess, Chapuys was invited to attend. ”

“ To the lords who carried the message to Catherine she replied as she had always done—that Queen she was, and she would never call herself by any other name. As to her establishment, she wanted nothing but a confessor, a doctor, and a couple of maids. If that was too much, she would go about the world and beg alms for the love of God. ”

“ And for the next—a man who is shrewdly suspected of being a papist, while he is attached by gravest vows to the Church of England, must needs hold heaven’s rewards and hell’s torments lightly.”
“But Queen Catherine, sir—does not she favour you? My aunt says she is a good woman.”
“Yes, a good woman, and the nearest approach to a cypher to be found at Hampton Court or Whitehall. Young Lord Rochester has written a poem upon ‘Nothing.’ He might have taken Queen Catherine’s name as a synonym. She is nothing; she counts for nothing. Her love can benefit nobody ”

“ It was long past five before Harry and Laura reached Holiday House, where Lord Rockville met them at the drawing-room door, looking taller, and grander, and graver than ever, while Lady Rockville rose from her sofa, and came up to them, saying, in a tone of gentle reproach,
“My dear children! you ought to return home before the dinner hour, and not keep his Lordship waiting!” ”

“ Many of the beasts were slowly eating celery stalks, tender bamboo tips, or fruit; but all activity ceased as Buckingham dragged the American girl into their midst.
"What have you there, Buckingham?" growled an old she.
"A girl we captured at the falls," replied Buckingham. "The king commanded that she be brought here, your majesty." Then he turned to his captive. "This is Queen Catherine," he said, "Catherine of Aragon."
"What does he want of her?" demanded Catherine peevishly. ”

“ The death of her mother when Catherine was about sixteen years of age brought upon her domestic responsibilities that lasted until her father's second marriage, two years later. Her education was received in the seminary at Litchfield. She was betrothed to Prof. Fisher, of Yale, who was lost with the “Albion” off the coast of Ireland, while on a voyage to Europe, and she never married. Her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, says the shock was so great that it nearly destroyed her religious faith, and her only consolation was in a life of earnest activity. ”

“ Catherine laughed. She knew that Flora had made earlier experiments in marriage, once to the extent of going back to Porto Rico. But she had, through all her changes of name, kept her good humor, her cleverness, and her apparent devotion to Catherine.
She rose swiftly from her knees, her long string of green beads clinking against her pail of water.
"I believes in keeping men in his place," she said, with an expanding grin. "If you don't, they keeps you in yours."
Catherine, adding the pile of Marian's dirty clothes to the jammed laundry bag, laughed again. ”

“ Dame Catherine was thereby accusing the churchmen and burgesses of Tours of working against Charles of Valois, their lord. The woman must have been held to have influence with the King, his kinsmen and his Council; for the inhabitants of Tours took fright and sent an Augustinian monk, Brother Jean Bourget, to King Charles, to the Queen of Sicily, to the Bishop of Séez, and to the Lord of Trèves, to inquire whether the words of this holy woman had been believed by them. ”

“ It seems as if, after having employed the Maid Jeanne to deliver Orléans, the King's Councillors were now thinking of employing Dame Catherine to make peace with the Duke of Burgundy. Such a task was deemed fitting for a saint less chivalrous than Jeanne. Catherine was married and the mother of a family. In this circumstance there need be no cause for astonishment; for if the gift of prophecy be more especially reserved for virgins, the example of Judith proves that the Lord may raise up strong matrons for the serving of his people. ”