St. Aubyn

“ Aubyn's innocence, and perhaps less impassioned than he had been when stating the same story, had placed circumstances more clearly before him, he evidently gave greater credence to the tale than he had ever before done. Her sweetness of voice and manner, and the graceful tenderness with which she spoke of St. Aubyn's virtues; or his honourable and disinterested conduct to her, both before and since their marriage, and of the perfect love which bound them to each other, and wrapt her life in his ”

“ Next summer, I hope, we shall go into Wales, and then perhaps you will permit Joanna to return with me." "Of that we will talk hereafter," said St. Aubyn, rising hastily. "Let but the spring pass over and all be well, and my Ellen's wishes shall be my law; but beyond the spring, at present, I dare not look." "And may I not yet inquire——"
"Ask not, inquire not," interrupted St. Aubyn: "let me, if possible, forget the dreadful, the hateful subject.—And lives that being!" he exclaimed, in an agitation which mocked restraint—"lives that being who has the power to shake the soul of St. Aubyn ”

“ He bowed assent, and Ellen as succinctly, but as clearly as possible, brought into one point of view, all the circumstances which were favourable to St. Aubyn, yet veiling with the most touching delicacy and consideration those which bore hardest on the fame of Rosolia; affecting to believe that the wretch De Sylva (whom she asserted St. Aubyn and Mrs. Bayfield had certainly seen at her window the night before) had come without her knowledge, and that the same man, meeting her in the lonely hermitage, had committed the shocking deed for the sake of the valuables she wore. ”

“ Aubyn, let me speak to him; let me tell him of your virtues, of your gentle nature, of your tender and affectionate disposition. Surely he will hear me: surely he must yield to the conviction these must give, that you were not, could not have been guilty of a deed so horrid!"
"Yes, my dearest, my beloved Ellen," replied St. Aubyn, "it shall be so. Your soft, your persuasive words and looks will, I am sure, impress him with conviction that the man you love cannot be a villain.
"Yet, Ellen, do not meanly compromise my honour or your own dignity ”

“ Nay, I will tell Lady St. Aubyn, she looks all softness and sensibility: but you are so wicked, you make a jest of every thing. Do you know, my dearest [Pg 12] Lady St. Aubyn, just as poor Mrs. Dawkins was coming to make you a visit, this morning, nay, she was actually dressed, and had one foot on the step of the carriage, I was in it, for she was so kind as to say she would bring me; so I thought, as I was to come with her, I need not put on a pelisse, or shawl, for you know they spoil one's dress. ”

“ Miss St. Aubyn married, on 26 June 1790, her cousin John Molesworth (d 1811) , rector of St. Breocke, Cornwall, second son of Sir John Molesworth, bart., of Pencarrow, and died on 21 Oct. 1836. Her eldest son John (d. 1844) , who took the name St. Aubyn, succeeded to the St. Aubyn estates.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Dodd's Memoirs of English Engravers (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 33394) ; Burke's Landed Gentry, 1894, ii. 1770; Parochial History of Cornwall, i. 272.] ”

“ Sir Edward Leicester, too, had called once or twice in the course of the day; and though she had tormented him and her nephew, by resolutely remaining in the room in defiance of the hints St. Aubyn gave of wishing to be alone with his friend, yet she overheard a few words, that more and more convinced her a duel was intended. She left orders, therefore, to be called by day-break; and unable to prevail on St. Aubyn to go to bed, wearied and exhausted by emotions, which, at her time of life, she could ill support, she at length left him to himself. ”

“ Aubyn invited his guests to walk or ride round the grounds. O'Brien gladly consented, and Laura said she should like to ride with them; but Edmund coldly refused, saying if he went out at all, he should merely stroll by himself a short distance, as he felt languid and unwell. "To you then, my Ellen," said St. Aubyn, "I recommend our noble guest. I need not I am sure request you to pay him every attention; if possible, prevail on him to stay and dine with us: he talks of going the instant his business is completed."
"I hope, my Lord," said Ellen to De Montfort, "you will not do so. ”

“ Aubyn and his charming wife long enjoyed that serene happiness their virtues merited; and diversifying the scene, by occasional excursions into Wales, they had there the comfort of finding their friends surrounded by blessings, for which they were to them indebted. At the Castle, or in London, surrounded by their lovely young family, they still acknowledged that in domestic life they found their dearest felicity; and with no more sorrow than is inseparable from humanity, their years glided on amidst the joys of friendship, and the delights of connubial and parental love. ”

“ She courtesied, and he bent his head with the air of a perfect gentleman, but spoke not, and then threw himself on his sofa again.
Ellen perceived that St. Aubyn's frame shook with subdued emotion, and her own trembled with an indefinable sensation.
"Come, Lady St. Aubyn," said Laura, "sit here by the fire; you look pale and cold; you should not indeed expose yourself to the night air in crossing the hall and staircase." ”

“ If Mary wasn't there he would go without her.
There are none so impatient as the old. The [Pg 184] young have plenty of time to spare—they have their life before them; but the old have not a minute to lose. The Master went out as usual, leaning on the arm that had supported him so many years, that had never failed him yet. Mrs. Rae and Lucy took him out between them. He walked in his slow accustomed way, leaning rather heavily on these two frail props until he reached his seat beneath the walnut-tree, and here he ought to have sat down. ”

“ After a little more conversation on this interesting subject, St. Aubyn and his Ellen took leave of their hospitable entertainer, after remunerating her in the most liberal way for the trouble they had given her; and as by the time they reached the village the day was far advanced, they ordered a chaise directly, and proceeded to the end of the next stage, where they dined, and where St. Aubyn told Ellen his own carriage was to meet them, and convey them to the Castle, where his household were instructed to expect their lady. ”

“ His election song on this occasion is printed in Worth's ‘West-country Garland’ (pp. 98–100) . St. Aubyn was provincial grand-master of the Freemasons in Cornwall from 1785 to 1839. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society, and was elected F.S.A. in 1783 and F.R.S. 18 May 1797. In 1799 he bought the fossils and minerals of Richard Greene [q. v.] of Lichfield. His collection of minerals, previously the property of Earl Bute, was described in 1799 in the ‘New System of Mineralogy in the form of catalogue,’ by William Babington, M.D., which is dedicated to him. St. ”

“ She could hardly trust herself to read to Mrs. Rae. She made a dreadful mess of her favourite sermon. Whatever other talents she had developed at Newnham, she had not developed a talent for reading sermons. It brought the tears into the dear woman's eyes to hear her; she thought of the [Pg 88] kind voice that was so sweet to her ears, that she had last heard breathing those well-remembered words, and she turned her worn white face to the pillow to hide her tears.
'You are sure the Master is no worse to-day?' she said to Lucy as she came away. ”

“ He insisted on going farther; he insisted on going down the path to the greenhouse. Mary had been saying something about it, repeating what the Tutor had said yesterday about having it done up and turned to some account, and the Master would not be satisfied until he had seen it. He must be consulted about it; nothing should be done in the gardens without his consent. He had been worrying about it all night.
He had got half-way down the path, when Lucy fancied he was beginning to lean heavily, more [Pg 185] heavily than she could bear, though she put out all her strength. ”

“ Buian, whose arms were, Argent, three dolphins in pale Sable. Elizabeth, one of the daughters and coheiresses of Pearce Kemell, married Geoffrey St. Aubyn, the second son of Guy St. Aubyn, Knight, and brought to him, with several other lands, this manor of Hellegar and Clowance.
THE EDITOR.
Mr. Hals commits an apparent mistake in assigning the advowson of this parish to Mr. St. Aubyn at the period of Wolsey’s Valuation, and then stating that it was acquired by purchase at the general dissolution of religious houses. ”

“ It quite took Lucy's breath away to hear that little bit of a nurse explaining the parables to the Master of St. Benedict's. He had preached hundreds of sermons in the college chapel from that very chapter; it had always been a favourite subject with him. It had always had a fitting application to those fresh young minds in the benches beneath him that were perennially engaged in wasting their substance in riotous living. He had read it in every ancient tongue in which it had ever been written. And now a little nurse-girl, who couldn't even keep her hair tidy, was explaining it to him. ”

“ Aubyn, and expressed his high satisfaction at the very just and honourable manner in which he had performed all his engagements respecting Ellen, and requested to hear from time to time whatever might arise concerning [Pg 37] those important circumstances which the Earl had done him the honour to confide to him.
"What can we do for these very good people, my dear Ellen?" said St. Aubyn: "they have no wants nor wishes beyond their present possessions. If I send them any articles of luxury, or the means of encreasing their present expenses, I know not that I should render them happier. ”

“ Aubyn?"
"No," replied Ellen: "Lord St. Aubyn had one offered to him, but as it is so late in the season, and our stay in town will not be long, I begged him to decline it."
Lady Meredith here exchanged a smile of contempt with the officer, which seemed to say "how rustic that is!" then half yawning she said:—
"Oh, but indeed that was very wrong: what can a woman of fashion do without [Pg 87] a box at the Opera? I am sure, from all I have heard of the former Lady St. Aubyn, for I had not the honour of knowing her, she would not have lived a month in London without one." ”

“ The old Master shook his head and sighed. He hated changes of any kind; he would have liked the world to go on in the same old grooves for ever. He was silent for some time, and his watchful women-folk thought he was going to sleep—that he would have his after-dinner nap, after all; but he was only thinking. Those old chambers of memory were unlocked, and the old faces of his youth were crowding around him.
'Yes,' he said presently, brightening up, 'your mother was there, too, my dear. Dick met her in a dancing-booth. She wouldn't look at Dick at first, she had so many sweethearts. ”

“ Aubyn, "and see once more if I can persuade Lord De Montfort to take some refreshment. You remember De Montfort, Miss Cecil?—He is my other guest, but he pleads fatigue, and disinclination to see any one, and will not be prevailed on to take even a glass of wine. I will once more endeavour to induce him to join you."
"Indeed, my Lord," said Ellen, "I hope he will: if he be fatigued, he must the more need refreshment."
"My love," said St. Aubyn, "will you [Pg 220] have the goodness to order beds to be prepared for Lord De Montfort and Mr. O'Brien. They remain here this night." ”

“ Some of the gentlemen, who by this time surrounded them, knowing Charles, said to him: "Come away, Ross; you are very wrong: at any rate, this quarrel shall go no farther."
At this moment St. Aubyn, having placed his aunt in the carriage, wondering at Ellen's delay, returned to seek [Pg 132] her; and astonished at what he beheld, exclaimed:
"For heaven's sake, what is the matter? My love, what makes you look so pale? Has any one dared to insult you?" ”

“ Aubyn," said she, "think how shocked I was to hear some rude wretch had annoyed you at the theatre, and that your excellent lord had like to have fought a duel about it. Oh! how thankful I am that these [Pg 207] frightful scenes did not more materially injure your valuable health, and that you are returned to us, if possible, more beautiful than ever."
"And who, my dear Miss Alton," said Laura, who alone retained composure enough to answer her (for this familiar recurrence to scenes so painful had greatly disturbed Lady St. Aubyn and Lady Juliana) , "who told you all this wonderful story?" ”

“ The very elegant manner in which she spoke, the clearness of her articulation, and sweetness of her voice, were strikingly agreeable; and St. Aubyn afterwards said that a few years before she had a gaiety of manner, enlivened by wit of a superior nature, with so much playfulness of expression, that by many people she was considered as merely a lively girl, and a little satirical ”

“ Aubyn.
"Oh yes, oh yes—De Montfort! Oh, his eyes, his face, his voice! I never, never, shall forget them!" she repeated with renewed agitation.
"Unhappy young man!" said St. Aubyn, with a sigh. "Would to God thou had'st never come hither! Affright not yourself, my Ellen, with his wild wanderings. By this time, I had hoped the wretch, who caused this dreadful mischief, might have been found, and all might have been cleared. Years have I sought in vain. Still, still, he evades my search—perhaps exists no longer.
"It is, however, time to reveal the past to you ”