Mary Anne

“ Mary Anne, his wife, who was standing with her sister-in-law Anne, her daughter Margaret, and her son Anthony, a little boy two years old, at the door of the stable, looking at the people throwing the snow from off the houses, and waiting for the ringing of the bell that was to call them to prayers, was about taking a turn to the house, in order to light a fire, and air a shirt for her husband, who could not but want that refreshment after his hard labour. ”

“ I never loved her so well as I do now, and the adoration Anne and Mary have for her exceed what I have ever seen, astonishing too that they dwell constantly on the idea that they are nothing to her compared to Amabel. What is to become of her when all is over? It will make a complete change in her whole system of life. Anne and Mary seem to look forward to everything that can be arranged after all is over, to alleviate their mother’s misery; they are excellent girls. ”

“ But Mary Anne was incapable of harbouring resentment; and she burst into an agony of grief.
"Oh! how unkind you are, Mr. Markham," she exclaimed, "after all my endeavours to please you! I thought that you would have experienced as much joy to see me, as I felt when I saw you enter the room. Since the day that I lost my dear mother—upwards of nine years ago—I have never loved any one so much as I love you—no, not even my father ”

“ Mary Anne, as the principal performer, getting ten years’ transportation, and Walker and M‘Guire seven years each. So that, had Mary Anne’s mind not been closed against every good impression, she would have admitted that, if she had never previously obtained anything from that Power she so irreverently maligned, she had at length received a share of the stern and severe reward it invariably bestows upon the vicious and the guilty.
The Child-Strippers. HOW different are the estimates people form of mankind! ”

“ At that Anne burst out with what had evidently been her secret grievance.
"He is slighted on every possible occasion—'tis he who should have reviewed the militia this afternoon!"
Mary turned angrily.
"This is my Lady Marlborough her doing; she put this into your head, Anne, and it is too much."
"Yes, it is too much," answered Anne, "that Your Majesty should have such a dislike to my friend."
"Her insolence," exclaimed Mary, "is beyond all bearing. I have it on good report that she hath spoken of the King with great disrespect."
"She ain't the only one if she hath," retorted Anne. ”

“ Anne had tea ready when Marilla came home; the fire was crackling cheerily, a vase of frost-bleached ferns and ruby-red maple leaves adorned the table, and delectable odors of ham and toast pervaded the air. But Marilla sank into her chair with a deep sigh.
“Are your eyes troubling you? Does your head ache?” queried Anne anxiously.
“No. I’m only tired . . . and worried. It’s about Mary and those children . . . Mary is worse . . . she can’t last much longer. And as for the twins, I don’t know what is to become of them.” ”

“ The eyes of Anne, lifting from the page, sought a niche where, in a golden frame, hung a picture, royal in indigo, purple and scarlet. It was a copy, but it was an honest one. The Baby’s head seemed verily to rest, to press, into the curve of Mary’s arm. The little head! And the brooding, jealous ecstasy in Mary’s face, and the little hand Mary was playfully uplifting! Was she dreaming great, beautiful dreams for the little son’s life to come? Does every woman dream mighty deeds for her man-child’s doing? ”

“ Sometime in 1799 she married Robert Holmes, a rising barrister. The young couple took up their residence with old Dr. and Mrs. Emmet, first in Stephen’s Green, and later in Casino; and the correspondence of her mother with Thomas Addis in Fort George, makes frequent mention of Mary Anne. In a letter dated April 10th, Elizabeth Emmet informs her son of the comfort she and her husband found in “Mary Anne’s happiness in consequence of having married a very worthy man, of whom she is very fond, and he equally so of her. ”

“ These innovations gave great oflence to the Princess Anne, who took her cue from the high church party. Notwithstanding Mary's dislike of Lady Marlborough, she had for some time after her arrival maintained friendly relations with Anne. The queen showed great interest in the birth (24 July) and infant troubles of the Duke of Gloucester, and in the birth of Anne's next child, who was christened Mary (ib. p. 15; Countess Bentinck, p. 123) , but a coolness had set hi between the sisters before the latter event. ”

“ Their hopes of this their humble supplication being heard, were raised on the appearance of this new supply, and on their reflecting that the snow begins to thaw in April, in consequence of which that about the stable would soon dissolve enough to let some ray of light break in upon them. Mary Anne told me, that, though she was thoroughly sensible of the badness of her condition, in which it was impossible for her to hold out much longer, and saw it every day grow worse and worse; she never, however, despaired of her living to be delivered. ”

“ Then it walked to the door, waiting until it was dragged open grating on the sand of the floor. The cool morning air came in like a visitor. The old dog pushed against Anne as she stepped outside, sneezed, yawned again, and lay down in the sunshine to finish his nap.
"Haven't you had enough sleep yet, Lion?" said Anne. "Look, what a beautiful day it is! Why, there's Mary on the road already," she added, looking over the low gate.
Mary was coming straight down the middle of the road, her black-and-white terrier sniffing on all sides and pulling the cord by which she held him. ”

“ Mary Anne is very much better, but you know of old that she has one complaint of which I have no hope she will be cured: indolence has still, and always will have, domination over her, except when exertion becomes necessary ”

“ And now this Sir Richard Leigh comes like the prince into the story, and I dare say he will fall in love with her and if she finds no one that suits her better she will marry him and have that grand old historic name."
"Sally, dear," I said, "you're not envying Anne, are you?"
A quick blush rushed to her face. "Cousin Mary! What foolishness I've been talking! How could I! What must you think of me! I didn't mean it—please believe I didn't. I'm the luckiest girl on earth, and I'm having the most perfect time, and you are a fairy godmother to me, except that you're more like a younger sister. ”

“ What was so sad to me, was that a girl brought up as she was by her grandmother should have so little sense of her position."
"She's happy, I suppose," said Mary, "and there's no need to look further. She'll find it hard to earn a living if he gets tired of her."
"He's not an ill-natured man," said Anne. "You feel as though if he'd been brought up to have a respect for good behaviour he wouldn't have got loose so easily. He thinks he's doing a generous thing, and giving Jane a good time, without thinking what the result must be to her good character. ”

“ Anne, the eldest, a handsome girl of twenty, was lame, and had a slight impediment in her speech. She bade him good-morning with a stammering carelessness, enquired casually as to his night's rest, and stared out of window, palpably bored at the commencement of another monotonous, irksome day. Mary, the second,—dark, impetuous, and impatient,—was in a state of smouldering rebellion. ”

“ This reproof was felt severely by Anne, and gave dire offence to her who had courted the rebuke, and it afforded Mary the desired opportunity of putting a direct affront upon her. Nor could numbers of affectionate expressions, nor what the Duchess of Marlborough calls, in the conclusion of the epistle, “useless repetitions,” intended “to remind her sister of the distance between them,” heal the wounds thus made, nor reconcile Anne to a sister who had incurred the displeasure of one whom she loved better than all the world besides. ”

“ Anne set her teeth. Her passionate heart beat hard against the kind bosom of the earth. How we return to her, our Mother Earth, when life is too difficult or too beautiful for us! How we fling ourselves upon her breast, upon her solitude, finding courage to encounter joy, insight to bear sorrow. First faint foreshadowing of the time when we, "short-lived as fire, and fading as the dew," shall go back to her entirely.
Anne lay very still. She did not cry. [Pg 39] She knew better than that. Tears are for the young. ”

“ According to the favourite of the Princess Anne, the two sisters were not fitted for living together in comfort, inasmuch as ‘Queen Mary grew weary of everybody who would not talk a great deal, and the princess was so silent that she rarely spoke more than was necessary to answer a question’ (ib. 25) . Yet as girls they had been good friends, and Queen Mary afterwards protested that she had treated the princess and her infant with the tenderness of a mother (Burnet, iv. 162) . Money began the quarrel. At the beginning of the new reign Anne enjoyed an annuity of 30,000l. ”

“ Anne and Mary are still here, and I quite agree to all you say of Anne. I am so fond of her, and so is Sister. Mary is very dull, but seems amiable. I cannot tell you whether Sarah is kind to them. You must see her to understand the state she is in; but she is not unkind to anybody, and never now finds fault with anybody she speaks of. She very seldom speaks at all, unless she is excited to defend some religious point.
She sometimes smiles when Mr. Robinson and I have been talking nonsense, but does not say anything. Your most affectionate
E. E.
Miss Eden to Miss Villiers. ”

“ But Mary's spirit was not easily broken, and she soon recognised that she had a powerful protector in her mother's nephew and her former suitor, Charles V. The imperial ambassador, Chapuys, found many opportunities of offering her advice, and of protesting before the king and the council against the indignities to which she was subjected. He wisely recommended her to submit whenever actual violence was threatened, in the belief that repeated contumacy might cost her her life. In June 1534 he reported that Anne seriously meditated her murder. ”

“ But no humble endeavours on the part of Anne could avail to soothe the irritations of her sister and brother-in law, whilst they perceived that, bred up amongst the people, she was dear to their subjects, and that on important occasions her interests became their cause; and a jealousy, aggravated in its bitterness by the well-known disposition of Anne to befriend her brother, and by her equally certain repentance for her conduct to her father, became a permanent sentiment in the mind of Mary. ”

“ At the end of Mass, the Lady Mary made a low curtsy, and went to her lodging; so did the Lady Anne, then called queen. When she came to her quarter, one of her maids told her that the Lady Mary at parting made reverence to her, she answered that she did not observe it, and said: ‘If we had seen it, we would have done as much to her,’ and presently sent a lady of honour to her to excuse it; adding, that the love of none should be dearer nor more respected than hers, and she would embrace it with the kindness of a true friend. ”

“ Mary reported their generosity to Lady Anne, with whom, by this time, she was on the loving terms that cast out fear.
"Very creditable to them," the old lady said, twinkling. "Don't let it make you vain, Mary. You're well enough, but you aren't half as pretty as a rose, or half as tall as a tree, and there are thousands of trees and roses in the world."
"I don't think myself pretty," Mary said, in a hurt voice. "There are several of the girls far prettier. As for being tall, it is no pleasure. I would much rather be little." ”

“ The death of Mary brought Princess Anne more into public notice as heir presumptive to the throne, though it was many years before she became Queen of England. Heretofore, as we have seen, she lived like a private person at Berkeley House, and had not even been permitted to appear at court, because of the ill-feeling that existed between her and her sister Mary. Lord and Lady Marlborough, whose devotion to Princess Anne had seriously offended the queen, still continued her warm friends, and the princess wrote letters to her father filled with professions of loyalty and affection as before. ”

“ Anne [35] said, her mouth twisting bitterly. "They're just alike. Don't believe any of them."
And Mary said, "With him, it's different. You'll see."
After a moment, Anne said, "That Earthman? That what's-his-name?" Mary nodded, and Anne brushed an imaginary something off her knee. "An Earthman," Anne said. "They're the worst of all."
"You don't know him, or you wouldn't say that."
Adele looked away from Anne. "You love him, don't you, Mary?"
"Yes."
"You're a fool," Anne said. "Listen to me. Love a man? God! You'll see. ”

“ Lady Anne said, "and presently you must be able to play and sing to me, to read to me and take an interest in the things in which I am interested. You are to go to school, Mary."
So Mary went to school, first to the Queen's Preparatory School, then to the Queen's College. Her years there were very happy ones, especially those years at the College, after she had found her feet and made friends, and gained confidence in herself and the world.
"She sucks up knowledge as a sponge sucks up water," was the report of the Principal, Miss Merton, to the delighted Lady Anne. ”

“ If she will come to Court she shall be exempt from carrying her (Anne’s) train and shall always walk by her side.” But obedience meant that Mary should recognise Cranmer’s sentence against her mother, the repudiation of the Papal authority and her own illegitimacy, and she refused the olive branch held out to her. Then Anne changed her tone, and wrote to her aunt a letter to be put into Mary’s way, threatening the Princess. ”