Madame Beattie

“ The necklace may be a dead issue, but I'm a living dog, Alston Choate. Don't they say a living dog is better than a dead lion? Well, I'm living and I'm here." [Pg 427]
He saw her here indefinitely, rolling about in hacks, in phaetons, in victorias, in motors, perpetually stirring two houses at least to nervous misery. There would be no running away from her. They would have her absurdly tied about their necks forever.
"Madame Beattie!" said he. This was Alston's great day, he reflected, with a grimace all to himself. ”

“ She is such a patient creature, and does all she is told; but at one time we hardly dared to hope that she would be spared to us. Poor papa was quite in despair; and as for Beatrix, she has been no use at all, she quite upset us the first evening by the way she clung to us. It is sad to see a girl of her age so entirely without control. The doctor still looks very grave over darling Flo, and I fear we shall be condemned to a winter in the south of France; in that case I shall send Beattie home to papa, for her crying and fretting only harass one. ”

“ As to Beattie’s reasons for marrying me, well, Dion, I haven’t asked what they were and I never shall. Women are mysterious, and I believe it’s wisdom on our part not to try to force the locks and look into the hidden chambers. I’ll do what I can to make up to Beattie for this terrible disappointment. ”

“ O ne'er may Care distract that placid mien!
Ne'er may the shades of Doubt o'erwhelm thy soul!
Vain wish! for lo, in gay attire conceal'd,
Yonder she comes! the heart-inflaming fiend!
(Will no kind power the helpless stripling shield?)
Swift to her destin'd prey see Passion bend!
O smile accurs'd, to hide the worst designs!
Now with blithe eye she wooes him to be blest,
While round her arm unseen a serpent twines—
And lo, she hurls it hissing at his breast!
And, instant, lo, his dizzy eyeball swims
Ghastly, and reddening darts a frantic glare ”

“ Become, Betty, a philosopher. Love thyself—faith, all others are unworthy—and thy neighbour in a merely Christian spirit. So——”
“I wonder sometimes if you are a man at all!” cried Betty fiercely.
“To myself I seem sometimes divine,” my lord admitted.
“And to others—la! to others—God save us.”
My lord shook back his ambrosial black curls and stretched himself. “I argue,” he observed, “that I seem to you wanting. In what, my Queen Rhadamantha?”
Betty sprang up, a tall maid and lovely in her wrath, “Was it one of your name, then, my lord, that rode with Sir Bevil Grenville?” she cried. ”

“ Oh, Beattie knew how to do his work expeditiously, and fat he waxed on the proceeds. In his later days marrying became the passion of his life, and he never saw a man and a maid together without creeping up behind them and beginning the marriage service. ”

“ He was born in 1698, became parish schoolmaster at Lochlee in Angusshire, and published, by the advice of Dr Beattie, in 1768, a volume entitled 'Helenore; or, The Fortunate Shepherdess: a Pastoral Tale in the Scottish Dialect; along with a few Songs.' Some of these latter, such as 'Woo'd, and Married, and a',' became very popular. Beattie loved the 'good-humoured, social, happy old man,' who was 'passing rich' on twenty pounds a-year, and wrote in the Aberdeen Journal a poetical letter in the Scotch language to promote the sale of his poem. ”

“ I will follow your advice, Beattie.’
‘That’s right. You won’t repent doing so, I am sure. It’s the only sensible thing to do. And now, I see you are very tired and worried, so I’ll say good-night.’
‘What a Quixotic fellow!’ said Beattie to himself, as he sat in his own room half an hour later, and opened a certain drawer in his writing-table. ‘To give up two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for a mere freak! I suppose if his uncle’s will had said that the money was to have been thrown into the sea [Pg 21] he would have thought it his duty to do it. ”

“ Towards the end of April, 1773, Beattie, accompanied by his wife, set out again for London. This journey was undertaken partly for the sake of his health and partly with a view to another object—the bettering of his circumstances. The emolument which he had derived from his writings bore unfortunately no proportion to the fame he had acquired; and the small income arising from [Pg xl] his professorship afforded him the only means for supporting his family. ”

“ BETTY.
Bless my soul! my lady is gone!—John! Will! Kitty! run hither this instant.—
Enter two Maids and a Man Servant.
ALL.
What, what's the matter?
BETTY.
Quick! quick! some hartshorn and water [pats her hand.] Madam! madam—
SERVANT.
Here! here! here! [bringing water.]
BETTY.
John, go for the potter-carrier this instant—I believes to my soul she is dead—Kitty, fetch some feathers to burn under her nose;—there, stand further off, and give her some air—
Enter Sir Luke.
Sir LUKE.
Hey day! what the deuce is the matter? what's the meaning of all this, Mrs. Betty?
BETTY.
Oh! ”

“ Before returning to Scotland, the travellers went to Bath, and from thence to Sandleford, the seat of Mrs. Montagu. [Pg lxii]
The second volume of the Elements of Moral Science appeared in 1793. During the same year the sudden death of his favourite sister, Mrs. Valentine, increased the domestic sorrows of Beattie. His health was at this period so greatly impaired, that being unable to attend to his duties of Professor in the Marischal College, he engaged his old pupil, Mr. ”

“ It would be well if she understood the look of love in her mother's eyes as clearly as she sees the untidiness of her mother's dress.
"Well, Betty, I'm glad to have you back again, that I am; there's so much to be done in this house, and time slips away so. Now, to-day, I really made up my mind to have everything ready by the time you came in, but what with one thing and another—Pollie, take your fingers out of the sugar-bowl, you naughty child—Jennie, fetch the knives, they're in the scullery, I forgot them; make haste now! Can't you see your sister wants her tea?" ”

“ Winter is coming on, and London will be warmer, and gayer, and busier, and more fertile of amusement than Aberdeen."
In 1781, Beattie made another journey to London, taking with him his eldest son, James Hay Beattie. [V] While there, we find him writing thus to Sir William Forbes:
"1st June.
"I have been visiting all my friends again and again, and found them as affectionate and attentive as ever. Death has indeed deprived me of some since I was last here, of Garrick, and Armstrong, and poor Harry Smith; but I have still many left."... "Johnson grows in grace as he [Pg liv] grows in years. ”

“ She did not dare to confide in Clarissa, for even had her sister's health permitted, Betty deemed it scarcely safe to put her to the test of loyalty as between husband and brother.
All these thoughts and many more were crowding Betty's brain as she ran down the steps of the Verplanck mansion and followed Peter toward Queen Street, where Kitty lived. The sun shone brightly and the air was crisp and clear; Betty looked charming in her dainty hood, tied with a rose-colored ribbon which nestled softly under her chin and played at confining the dancing curls. ”

“ He is represented in his Oxford gown of Doctor of Laws, with his famous Essay under his arm; while beside him is Truth, habited as an Angel, holding in one hand a pair of scales, and with the other thrusting down three frightful figures, emblematic of Prejudice, Scepticism, and Folly. [R] [Pg l] Of this picture Sir Joshua made a present to Beattie, who set a due value on so noble a composition, and preserved it with the utmost care.
After an absence of a little more than five months, he returned to Aberdeen. ”

“ On the floor sits a third child awaiting her turn; and on the bed in the corner lies the sick woman, her baby on her arm, and such a hopeful expression on her face that Betty scarcely recognises her.
"Come in, miss," she says, "I've got a bit of rent for you this week, thanks to Captain helping my husband to some work. Here it is," and she pulls a few shillings, wrapped in a scrap of paper, from under her pillow.
"Thank you, Mrs. Smith," says Betty. "That is the Captain, I suppose?" she adds, glancing towards the washing operations going on in the middle of the room. ”

“ I don't know what they're about to let you out alone like this."
"I'm alone in Paris just now," said Betty.
"Good God in Heaven, you little fool! Get back to your lodging. You've no business here."
"I've as much business as anyone else," said Betty. "I'm an artist, too, and I want to see life."
"You've not seen much yet," said the woman with a laugh that Betty hated to hear. "Have you been brought up in a convent? You an artist! Look at all of us! Do you need to be told what our trade is?" ”

“ There came a wicked sparkle of intelligence into Betty’s eyes as she made a mental note of this confession for future use. Then the long lashes fell demurely over her cheeks as she gathered together her belongings and rose.
“I must go over to grandmother’s,” she said. “Never spend the summer near your grandmother’s, Mr. Granton: she may be ill and absorb all your spare time.”
And away sped the deceitful damsel, on nefarious schemes intent, to play tennis with her cousin George, who had responded with celerity to her summons. She was really improving [113] with a good deal of rapidity. ”

“ Flushed by its success, Beattie, in 1771, revisited London, and obtained admission to the best literary circles—sate under the "peacock-hangings" of Mrs Montague—visited Hagley Park, and became intimate with Lord Lyttelton—chatted cheerily with Boswell and Garrick—listened with wonder to the deep bow-wows of Johnson's talk—and as he watched the rich alluvial, yet romantic mountain stream of thought, knowledge, and imagery that flowed perpetually from the inspired lips of Burke, perhaps forgot Gray and Glammis Castle, and felt "a greater is here." ”

“ Betty paused a minute. “The sky is very still,” she continued. “The sky has millions of stars blazing in its blue, and there isn’t a cloud anywhere; and she clasps her hands with ecstasy, and thanks God for having made such a beautiful world. Then she starts to go home; but——”
Up to this point Betty’s voice was glad and triumphant. Now its tone altered. “I see her. She is warm still, and her heart glows with happiness; and she does not want anything else in all the world except the gray house and the girls she left behind, and the dogs by the fireside, and the old couple in the kitchen. ”

“ Betty looked in at the door and the voices ceased.
"Pardon, Madame," said Betty. "I seek Madame Gautier."
Everyone in the crowded stuffy lamplit little room drew a deep breath.
"Mademoiselle is without doubt one of Madame's young ladies?"
Perhaps it was the sudden hushing of the raised voices, perhaps it was something in the flushed faces that all turned towards her. To her dying day Betty will never know why she did not say "Yes." What she did say was:
"I am a friend of Madame's. Is she at home?"
"No, Mademoiselle,—she is not at home; she will never be at home more, the poor lady. ”

“ This new Betty, with the smart gown and the distant manner, awoke at the same time that she contradicted his memories of the Betty of Long Barton. And he should not see her again. Of course he was not going to Vienna, but neither was he going to hang round the Hotel Bête, or to bribe Franz or Elise to smuggle notes to Miss Betty.
"It's never any use trying to join things on again," he told himself. "As well try to mend a spider's web when you have put your boot through it." ”

“ Old Betty closed the door, curtseyed to the Major and clutching at Sergeant Zebedee's hand, stooped and kissed it, whereupon he glanced apologetically at the Major and saluted.
"'Tis her gratitood, sir," he explained, "on account o' Mr. Jennings me having kicked same, as dooly reported."
"An ill place for the likes o' your honour," croaked the old woman, "an evil place for evil men as will be here anon—the rogues, the fools! They think old Betty's blind and deaf—the rogues! Come, dearies, the moon's up and wi' the moon comes evil so get ye above—yonder, yonder and mum, dearies, mum!" ”

“ When a student lay dying, he would always send for Betty—when one raved in restless delirium of fever it was Betty that sat writing by the bed and brought gentleness into the harsh atmosphere—it was to Betty’s discreet ears that was unfolded the long-hidden tangle of the secret man, the struggle of the troubled soul flinching from the cowardice of its own shabby reservations—Betty’s hands that quieted the restless brain, and her calm command that brought back honour. Her dear ears were shut to all strange peevishness or conceit that the unmasked egoist unconsciously uttered. ”

“ No sooner did Beattie hear of his arrival than he addressed to him the following letter:
Marischal College of Aberdeen, 30th August, 1765.
"If I thought it necessary to offer an apology for venturing to address you in this abrupt manner, I should be very much at a loss how to begin. I might plead my admiration of your genius, and my attachment to your character; but who is he that could not, with truth, urge the same excuse for intruding upon your retirement? I might plead my earnest desire to be personally acquainted with a man whom I have so long and so passionately admired in his writings ”

“ My name’s Madeleine Gorman; what’s yours?”
“Betty McGuire,” said Betty, smiling into the friendly eyes.
“Betty! My, you are new! You must call yourself Elizabeth up here. Nicknames don’t go.”
“Well, I’d just as lief be called Elizabeth; I don’t mind. But I’m Betty at home.”
“Yes; I’m Maddy at home, and Mad, and Mother calls me Lina. But I’m sure Madeleine’s the ticket in a fashionable boarding-school.”
“Then you’ve been here before?”
“No, not here. But to three other grand schools. Mother’s always changing about when she hears of a more ‘select’ one.” ”