Majendie

“ She saw that she could not bring him back by playing poor, tender Maggie's part. She could not move him by appearing as the woman she once was, by falling at his feet as she had once fallen. This time, it was he who must fall at hers.
Anne Majendie had held her empire, and had made herself for ever desirable, by six years of systematic torturings and deceptions and denials, by all the infidelities of the saint in love with her own sanctity. The woman who was to bring him back now would have to borrow for a moment a little of Anne Majendie's spiritual splendour. ”

“ The professor glances keenly at the girl's downcast face, and then at Miss Majendie. The latter glance is a question.
"You hear her," says Miss Majendie coldly—she draws her shawl round her meagre shoulders, and a breath through her lean nostrils that may be heard. "Perhaps you may be able to discover her meaning."
"What is it?" asks the professor, turning to the girl, his tone anxious, uncertain. Young women with "wrongs" are unknown to him, as are all other sorts of young women for the matter of that. And this particular young woman looks a little unsafe at the present moment. ”

“ Steve pushed off from the bank. Maggie stood there watching them go. She stood till the boat reached the creek's mouth, and Majendie turned, and raised his cap to her; stood till the white sail moved slowly up the river and disappeared, rounding the spit of land.
Majendie, as he paced the deck and talked to his men of wind and weather, turned casually, on his heel, to look at her where she stood alone in the level immensity of the land. The world looked empty all around her.
And he was touched with a sudden poignant realisation of her life; its sadness, its incompleteness, its isolation. ”

“ But the tensity of the drama drove from her all other considerations. Completely mystified by Majendie's manner, she was studying the moment when she could throw him together with Elise Bloodgood, convinced that from the woman she would learn what the man concealed.
"Your rings are beautiful, dear, beautiful," said the deep voice of Maud Lille, who, with Garraboy and Mrs. Cheever, was in the room.
"I never saw the ruby before," said Mrs. Cheever in a nervous voice. "My dear, you are the most mysterious woman in the world. Think of having a ring like that, and never wearing it!" ”

“ And Majendie took in all the pitifulness of her sweet, predestined nature. Pretty Maggie could never have been led astray; she had gone out, fervent and swift, dream-drunk, to meet her destiny. She was a creature of ardours, of tenderness, and of some perverse instinct that it would be crude to call depravity. Where her heart led, her flesh, he judged, had followed; that was all. Her brain had been passive in her sad affairs. Maggie had never schemed, or calculated, or deliberated. She had only felt.
"See here," he said. "Charlie can't marry you. He can't marry anybody." ”

“ As he had charmed the spiritual woman he saw in Anne, so he laid himself out to flatter the natural man he saw in Majendie. And Majendie leaned back in his chair, and gazed at the Canon, the remarkable, the clever, the versatile little Canon, with half-closed eyelids veiling his contemptuous eyes. (He confided to Hannay, later on, that the Canon, in his after-dinner moments, made him sick.) ”

“ As he came into the lamplight Maggie gave one quick anxious look at him. She had always two thoughts in her little mind between their meetings: Is he ill? Is he well?
He was, to the outward seeing eye, superlatively well. Three years of life lived in the open air, life lived according to the will of nature, had given him back his outward and visible health. At thirty-nine, Majendie had once more the strength, the firm, upright slenderness, and the brilliance of his youth. ”

“ I need not remind you of the financial situation at that time. I knew Majendie and I knew Slade. Furthermore, I knew Mrs. Bloodgood. The problem was this—if Majendie was to be supported and the Atlantic Trust to be upheld, there would probably be no panic. If Majendie failed, I knew there would be a tremendous break in stocks—a killing for those who knew what was coming. That night everything depended on my solving Majendie's fate. I did and I won. It was a guess, but a guess such as you understand. I have known too many men not to know how a true man acts under such circumstances. ”

“ Stuart Majendie, Rector of Longdon (born 20th October 1799, died 28th September 1871) ; he married, on 13th October 1835, Mary Angelina, daughter of Michael Hughes, Esq. of Sherdley Hall (she died on 1st April 1857) , and had four sons and eight daughters, The eldest son, William Henry Francis Majendie (born 3rd August 1842) , married, on 30th April 1858, Christina Maria, daughter of Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh, Esq., of Grenane, near Tipperary, and has two sons, Richard-Stuart and Bertran. ”

“ Dr. Majendie was Queen Charlotte’s instructor in the English language, and tutor to her sons, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. He was deeply and actively interested in the Waldenses, [3] he died at Weston, near Bath, 7th August 1783, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, and fifty-fifth of his ministry. He married, in 1753, Elizabeth Prevost, and his sons were Henry-William and Lewis (afterwards of Hedingham Castle) . Henry-William Majendie, D.D., was born 7th October 1754, was tutor to Prince William Henry, afterwards Duke of Clarence and King William IV. ”

“ ENOS BLOODGOOD.
"I never can forget Majendie that night," he said, sobered by the recollection of the events in which he had been such an agitated spectator. "By Jove, he was true blue!"
"If he'd had the nerve to face the music he'd be a rich man to-day," said Gunther, meditatively.
"The Atlantic Trust is stronger than ever. Of course, technically, Majendie did things he had no right to do, but do you know, every investment he made has turned out enormously profitable! Queer how one man drops out and another pops up." ”

“ Another match sputtered, and one candle caught the flame and flung its expanding circles of light around them.
"It must have rolled to the floor," said Majendie's voice, among the first.
"Nonsense!" broke in Slade's powerful bass. "There are no carpets; we would have heard it. There is a second thief here. Every one must be searched. ”

“ She reflected that Majendie, like the dear fool he always was, had given it to her himself, five years ago.
Men's sins take care of themselves. It is their innocent good deeds that start the hounds of destiny. When Majendie sent Maggie Forrest's handiwork to Mrs. Ransome, with a kind note recommending the little embroideress, by that innocent good deed he woke the sleeping dogs of destiny. Mrs. Ransome's sister had tracked poor Maggie down by the long trail of her beautiful embroidery. ”

“ The professor had shrunk a little from that classing of her age with his, but has now found matter for hope in it.
"Still—my age—as you suggest—so far exceeds Perpetua's—I am indeed so much older than she is, that I might be allowed to escort her wherever it may please her to go."
"The real age of a man nowadays, sir, is a thing impossible to know," says Miss Majendie. "You wear glasses—a capital disguise! I mean nothing offensive—so far—sir, but it behoves me to be careful, and behind those glasses, who can tell what demon lurks? Nay! No offence! An innocent man would feel no offence!" ”

“ Upstairs in the bedroom overhead, Steve and his mother moved heavily. There was a sound of drawers opening and shutting, then a grating sound. Something was being dragged from under the bed. Maggie knew that they were packing Majendie's portmanteau with the things he had left behind him.
They stood together by the hearth, where the fire kindled feebly. He thrust out his foot, and struck the woodpile; it fell and put out the flame that was struggling to be born. ”

“ Majendie perceived instantly the imprudence of the maneuver, and by a word addressed to Mrs. Kildair, who followed at his side, contrived to bring himself to the farther side of the group, of which little Mrs. Cheever and Garraboy were the other two.
"I make my excuses to the ladies first," he said, with a nod to Garraboy, whom he thus was enabled to pass. He offered his hand to Mrs. Bloodgood, saying: "Grant me absolution, and I promise to do everything I can to make you as gay as I feel now." ”

“ He turned, with a courteous bow, as he concluded.
"I am perfectly willing," said Beecher at once.
"I am not," said Bloodgood, while Cheever made a gesture of dissent.
"Nor I," said Garraboy. "I have my own appointment, that means a great deal to me. I regret that I cannot accede to Mr. Majendie's request."
"These gentlemen are quite within their rights," said Majendie, accepting the refusal with the same courtesy. He thanked Beecher with a smile, and added: "If you are willing, Mrs. Kildair, shall we draw lots for it?" ”

“ Majendie, there is always a chance that the ring may have rolled off the table and been caught in somebody's dress. Such things have happened again and again. I suggest that every woman make a careful search."
"Miss Charters is quite right," said Majendie, who, advancing to the middle of the studio, repeated the suggestion. "The situation is frightful; we must take every precaution to avoid the chances of an accident." ”

“ Henry Lewis Majendie, vicar of Great Dunmow, who died on 6th January 1863, so that the next proprietor of Hedingham Castle was that vicar’s eldest son, Lewis Ashhurst Majendie, Esq.; the second son was Arnold Henry Ashhurst Majendie, who died in Queensland in 1873, aged thirty-five; the third son is the Rev. ”

“ We look at their faces, and say he must be so and so, and he a few years younger, but looks are vain, they tell us nothing. Some look old, because they are old, some look old—through vice!"
The professor makes an impatient gesture. But Miss Majendie is equal to most things.
"'Who excuses himself accuses himself,'" quotes she with terrible readiness. "Why that gesture, Mr. Curzon? I made no mention of your name. And indeed, I trust your age would place you outside of any such suspicion, still, I am bound to be careful where my niece's interests are concerned. ”

“ Lewis Ashurst Majendie, Esq., M.A. Oxon., some time M.P. for Canterbury, died on 22nd October 1885, aged fifty. He had married, in 1869, Lady Margaret Lindsay, daughter of the twenty-fifth Earl of Crawford and Balcarras, and had two sons, minors. ”

“ She indicated the large round table on which the punch-bowl was set. "No, wait. Mr. Bloodgood, first clear off the table, cover and all; I want nothing on it."
As Bloodgood started to remove the punch-bowl, Majendie rose quickly and took the heavy candelabrum from the hands of Maud Lille, saying:
"Permit me; that's rather heavy for you."
"But, Mrs. Kildair—" began Mrs. Cheever's voice, in shrill crescendo.
Mrs. Kildair, as though satisfied by her examination of the journalist, nodded to Majendie, and, perceiving the mahogany table clear, said without notice of Mrs. Cheever:
"Good! ”

“ Bloodgood passed into the bedroom; but there was in her carriage a triumph that she did not care to conceal.
"He's won out," thought Bloodgood.
"The shorts will be caught," thought Cheever. "The devil! I must cover."
"Has he lied to her?" said Mrs. Kildair to herself. "If everything is all right, why should he conceal it from any one?"
She went across the room, stopping at the punch-table.
"Have you everything you need?" she asked.
"Everything, thank you," Majendie answered gently ”

“ It was past eight, yet Maggie left the altar standing with the cloth on it, and waited. It would be terrible if the god should come and find no altar. Once, even at this late hour, he had come.
The house was very quiet. Mrs. Morse was out marketing, and Maggie was alone. Friday was market night in Scale. She wondered if he would remember that, and come. Her heart beat violently with the thought that he might be beginning to come late. The others had come late when they began to love her.
She had forgotten them, or only cared to remember such of their ways as threw light on Mr. Majendie's. ”

“ I want Majnún,’ and eating and drinking nothing? Let me take her to Prince Majnún.” “Well,” said God, “you may do so; but tell her that she must not speak to Majnún if he is afraid of her when he sees her; and that if he is afraid when he sees her, she will become a little white dog the next day. Then she must go to the palace, and she will only regain her human shape when Prince Majnún loves her, feeds her with his own food, and lets her sleep in his bed.” So the angel came to Lailí again as a fakír and carried her to King Dantál’s garden. ”

“ Prince Majnún and Lailí stayed with Múnsúk Rájá and his wife for three years, and then they returned to King Dantál, and lived happily for some time with him.
They used to go out hunting, and they often went from country to country to eat the air and amuse themselves.
One day Prince Majnún said to Lailí, “Let us go through this jungle.” “No, no,” said Lailí; “if we go through this jungle, some harm will happen to me.” But Prince Majnún laughed, and went into the jungle. And as they were going through it, God thought, “I should like to know how much Prince Majnún loves his wife. ”

“ As Prince Majnun and the Wazir's son walked in the garden, they gathered the fruit as they had done as little children, only they bit the fruit with their teeth; they did not cut it. While Majnun was busy eating a fruit in this way, and was talking to Husain Mahamat, he turned towards him and saw Laili walking behind the Wazir's son. [59] "Oh, look, look!" he cried, "see what is following you; it is a Rakshas or a demon, and I am sure it is going to eat us." Laili looked at him beseechingly with all her eyes, and trembled with age and eagerness; but this only frightened Majnun the more. ”