Miss Somers

“ Somers, whom Faith found there, the only addition to the family party; while the doctor stood complacently on the rug, in silence surveying everybody, like a man who has gained his point.
"Well Julius," said Mrs. Somers, "how's Mr. Linden to-night? did you see him?"
"Yes ma'am—I saw him."
"Well how is he?" repeated Mrs. Somers.
"He is—very happily situated," said the doctor. "I should like to be in his place."
"What do you go there twice a day for? Do you think him worse? You began with going once," said Mrs. Somers.
"Always begin gently," said Dr. Harrison. "You get on faster." ”

“ Angela crouched apart, her eyes stony, her lips bloodless.
HE shattered the quiet. “Then,” he croaked, “you are my wife.”
She made no response.
Somers moved slightly. “When did you marry—marry me?”
“Oh!” she sobbed.
“You made a game of it,” he went on. “What a game! And you couldn't find me at the last, and so you went right on and played the game alone and said you were married to me, and took my name and came down here.” His eyes flared over her an instant. “You are young and beautiful and clean and fine. Any man might be proud. But it—it is too late!” ”

“ Mrs. Somers, all the time, preserved silence, as if she dared not trust herself to speak; but her compressed lips showed sufficiently the constraint under which she laboured. Whilst every body else went on talking, and helping themselves to refreshments which the servants were handing about, Mrs. Somers continued leaning on the mantel-piece in a deep reverie, pulling her bracelet round and round upon her wrist, till she was roused by Mad. ”

“ God help her! she knows no better! Ned Somers,' said he, turning to the young man, 'you must leave this house, and come here no more. My daughter is all I have to bind me to life, and I cannot spare her. You must go elsewhere to spread your web. For your vile designs upon her, may God forgive you—I never will!'
'Jacob Rhoneland,' said Somers, 'I have borne more from you than I would have taken from any other man. ”

“ Decatur turned, and, going a little distance off, watched while the frigate slowly swung round and headed for the open bay, stealing off like a ghostly ship in the darkness. He felt the strongest and strangest sense of loss he had ever known in his life. He had many friends. James, his brother, who had entered the navy, was near his own age, but Somers was his other self. Unlike as they were in temperament, no two souls ever were more alike in the objects aimed at. Each had a passion for glory, and each set before himself the hope of some great achievement, and ordered his life accordingly. ”

“ It is a knot that can never be untied; it can only, like a navel string, be broken or cut.
For the moment, however, he said nothing. But Somers knew from his dreams what she was feeling: his dreams of a woman, a woman he loved, something like Harriet, something like his mother, and yet unlike either, a woman sullen and obstinate against him, repudiating him. Bitter the woman was grieved beyond words, grieved till her face was swollen and puffy and almost mad or imbecile, because she had loved him so much, and now she must see him betray her love. ”

“ Emilie began to love Mrs. Somers for making her mother well and happy—to love her with all the fearless enthusiasm of a young, generous mind, which accepts of obligation without any idea that gratitude may become burdensome. Mrs. Somers excited not only affection—she inspired admiration. Capable of the utmost exertion and of the most noble sacrifices for her friends, the indulgence of her generosity seemed not only to be the greatest pleasure of her soul, but absolutely necessary to her nature. To attempt to restrain her liberality was to provoke her indignation, or to incur her contempt. ”

“ He just leaned back and stretched himself in that intense physical way which Somers thought just a trifle less than human. The man was all body: a strong body full of energy like a machine that has got steam up, but is inactive. He had no mind, no spirit, no soul: just a tense, inactive body, and an eye rather glazed and a trifle bloodshot. The old psyche slowly disintegrating.
Meanwhile Victoria in a trill of nervous excitement and exaltation was talking Europe with Harriet. Victoria was just the opposite of Jack: she was all a quiver of excited consciousness, to know, to see, to realise. ”

“ Somers, although I do not know what it all means—and that he does not care a curse when this happens. Still, he says that whereas he is growing old and has known many sorrows—he alludes here, I gather, to some nigger wives of his whom another savage knocked on the head; also to a child to whom he appears to have been attached—you are young with all your days and, he hopes, joys, before you. Therefore he would gladly do anything in his power to save your life, because although you are white and he is black he has conceived an affection for you and looks on you as his child. ”

“ He now sat up straight in the boat, and his eyes were shining so that Somers could see them even in the gloom. “I know that we have only a few chances for our lives; but—but—we have a great many chances for immortality; and, Captain Somers, although I am only a midshipman, and you are a captain, I am as willing, even as eager, to risk my life for our country and for our shipmates in prison as you are.” ”

“ Somers’ grossièreté. You must blame Mrs. Somers, not me, for all this—her temper drives me to it—I cannot live with her. We have no alternative. Emilie, my sweet child! make me happy!—I am miserable in this house. Hitherto you have ever been the best of daughters, and you shall find me the most indulgent of mothers. One whole month I will give you to change your mind, and recollect your duty. At the end of that time, I must see you Mad. de Brisac, and in a house of your own.—In the house of Mrs. Somers I will not, I cannot longer remain. ”

“ When Susan reached the Abbey, her simple dress and manners and the good sense with which she answered the questions put to her, pleased the ladies greatly. They saw that the housekeeper had not spoken too highly of the farmer's daughter.
These two ladies were the sisters of Sir Arthur Somers. They were kind and wise; kind in wishing to spread happiness among their poor neighbors, and wise in wishing these people to be happy in their own way. They did not wish to manage them, but only to help them. ”

“ Somers knew the attitude, and was not going to be drawn. He talked freely and pleasantly enough—but never as Jack wanted. He knew well enough what Jack wanted: which was that they should talk together as man to man—as pals, you know, with a little difference. But Somers would never be pals with any man. It wasn’t in his nature. He talked pleasantly and familiarly—fascinating to Victoria, who sat with her brown eyes watching him, while she clung to Jack’s arm on the sofa. When Somers was talking and telling, it was fascinating, and his quick, mobile face changed and seemed full of magic. ”

“ Somers seemed to feel put upon his reputation to sustain the character of gallant, savant, connoisseur, etc.., which every one who makes the tour of the continent is expected to bring home as a matter of course; for there is seldom a young gentleman who knows he has qualifications in this line, who can resist the temptation of showing what he can do. Accordingly he discussed tragedies, and reviews, and ancient and modern customs with Miss Emma ”

“ Angela took a step forward. “Don't despair,” she said sharply. “Couldn't you get a job, say, for ten days, and then come back? Often there's something turns up when they need a man in a hurry.”
Somers considered this a while. Then he nodded and went out.
It was two weeks before he came again. This time he was rather flushed with drink and she saw that he was naturally imperious. He was, however, perfectly polite.
“There is a position open at Gimbal & White's,” she told him. “They have a brand-new steamer ready for sea and they are looking for a master for her. ”

“ The oddity in this country of giving a boy a female baptismal name had been no doubt jestingly remarked upon by those who were aware of it, but with the sailors the lad passed as Ally Somers. The father was approaching fifty, the son could not have been more than seventeen years of age. The elder Somers, who had attained to the rating of a boatswain, was a stern, hard, silent man, with a look as cold and clear as polished steel, and a cast-iron mouth, indicative of inflexible, indomitable firmness of will and resolution. ”

“ Unlike the austere parent, whose brows are ever contracted with a frown, and whose step, when heard, is sufficient to strike terror into the minds of his children, if their faults required correction, Mr. Somers possessed the happy art of reproving with such gentle arguments as proved [Pg 28] superior judgment without wounding affection, and entered with spirit into all their trifling pastimes.
“As the birthday of Fanny drew near, the indulgent Somers promised them a rural jubilee, and the farm soon became a scene of pleasing bustle. ”

“ Somers, as worthy a man as ever lived, his wife, Francis and Fanny, their children, Miss Fitzallan and her brother, who were visitors, and who I found were shortly to be more closely connected by the union of Eliza with Francis Somers. Never was there presented a more perfect picture of domestic felicity than afforded by this amiable family. The [Pg 21] father was a man of good understanding and agreeable manners, industrious, sober, and assiduous in implanting principles of rectitude in the minds of his children, whose dispositions were truly amiable. ”

“ What would the world be without them?"
"The world would not be heart-broken," said Mrs. Somers. "Faith—which of you came to first? who picked you up?"
"I don't know, Mrs. Somers. Sam Stoutenburgh was passing just at the time and Dr. Harrison called him. I don't know who picked me up."
"Sam Stoutenburgh!" said Mrs. Somers,—"well, he's made, if nobody else is! He'll bless Julius for the rest of his life for giving him such a chance. Do you know how that boy watches you, Faith?—I mean to speak to Mr. Linden about it the very first time I see him." ”

“ Angela gulped. Her eyes were filled with pleading. “You despise me!”
“Not I!” he answer sharply. “I despise myself. And all this time I never dreamed that—I might have had you.”
A maddening terror seized her. She lifted herself stiffly and closed her eyes in torture. He saw the lines of agony trace themselves in her face.
“Then—there's some one else—another woman?”
Before her blind eyes Somers's lips formed a hasty “No!” but no sound came. He rose and walked quietly away, struggling with himself. His hands clenched, his muscles tightened under the terrific strain of his unworthy longing. ”

“ It was quite natural, therefore, that she should wish Captain Somers,—for whom she had knit a pair of socks, which had been no small portion of his inspiration in the hour of battle, and for whom she had contracted a friendship,—it was quite natural that she should wish to have the captain well acquainted with her grandmother. She loved the old lady herself, and of course so brave, handsome, and loyal a person as her friend had proved to be, must share her reverence and respect. ”

“ There is a story that when asked by Lord Somers what settlement he could make on his wife, he answered proudly, 'Nothing but the foot of ground I stand on in Westminster Hall.' Never was the self-confidence of genius more signally justified than in his case. ”

“ Somers found her own letter to Lady Littleton. Emilie expressed herself as follows.
“Many thanks for the enclosed, but we have determined not to go to Lady Littleton’s: at least we will take care not to be the cause of quarrel between friends to whom we are so much obliged.—No, dear Mrs. Somers! we do not part in anger. Excuse me, if the last words I said to you were hasty—they were forced from me by a moment of passion—but it is past: all your generosity, all your kindness, the recollection of all that you have done, all that you have wished for my happiness, rush upon my mind ”

“ Fine chap, for all that. But as lonely as a nail in a post.”
“Sounds something fatal and fixed,” laughed Somers.
“It does. And he is fatal and fixed. Those eyeglasses of his, you know—they alone make a man into a sort of eye of God, rather glassy. But my idea is, in a job like this, every man should have a mate—like most of us had in the war. Mine was Victoria’s brother—and still is, in a way. But he got some sort of a sickness that seems to have taken all the fight out of him. Fooling about with the wrong sort of women. ”

“ Some of those men she admired, some she respected, and some she esteemed, but not one did she love, and she successively refused them all. Shortly after their discharge, they generally consoled themselves by marrying other women, who, perhaps, wanted both the charms and the sense of Miss Somerset ”

“ Somers shook his head and smiled but his eyes shone with pleasure at the readiness of his brave crew.
“Ah,” he cried, “I might have known! My men, I can only take four of you. I shall take the four that are most able-bodied, and who have no wife or family.—You, Moriarity,” he said to the quartermaster, “I know, are alone in the world. I want you.”
“Thankee, sorr,” answered Moriarity, stepping out of the line with a grin.
“And you—and you—and you,” said Somers, walking along the line, as he picked out three more men; and every man smiled, and said, “Thankee, sir.” ”