Jane Rubino - Lady Vernon and Her Daughter: A Novel of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan

“It must always be considered an unpleasant thing to be pushed into a marriage against one’s inclination” was all that Reginald would reply before he excused himself and went outside to find Lady Vernon.

She had walked almost to the boundary of Churchill Pond and was pacing to and fro.

“You must come back to the house. You are very distraught.”

“I am distraught only on my daughter’s behalf.”

“Yet would you have Miss Vernon be tranquil? If she has acted imprudently, it is right that she should feel something like distress.”

“Indeed, she has no cause to feel anything like it,” Lady Vernon replied with some warmth. “She can be blamed for no more than having so little understanding of the world as to be ignorant of how even the most generous impulse can go wrong.”

“What generosity?” Reginald inquired. “She has shown no generosity toward her mother by causing you such anxiety by running away from school.”

“I am very sorry, Mr. deCourcy. There are people who delight in being the bearers of bad news, but I am not one of them—yet my daughter’s conduct must be defended. I have it on very sound authority that Frederica’s motive in running away was to apprehend your cousin, Miss Lucy Hamilton, before Miss Hamilton could elope with Mr. Charles Smith. Frederica was not able to intercept them, and only succeeded in being comprehended in her friend’s folly.”

“What?” he demanded. “Lucy and Charles Smith? It cannot be true! Smith would not impose upon his friendship with our family in such a manner!”

Lady Vernon endeavored to speak more calmly. “Mr. Smith has imposed upon the connection, to be sure, but I cannot think that he would abuse it by inducing Miss Lucy Hamilton to elope with any intention other than marriage.”

“My poor Aunt Hamilton! She will be shocked beyond words!”

Lady Vernon refrained from observing that she did not believe Lady Hamilton had ever experienced any emotion that had put her beyond words. “Lady Hamilton will be very distressed, to be sure, but upon reflection I cannot think that she will be surprised. Even when we were all at Langford, your cousin and Mr. Smith seemed very much attached to one another.”

“Her family wished a much more advantageous union for her,” he said.

“We all wish our daughters to marry advantageously, but at least there is fortune on one side and affection on both. However impulsive her conduct, with so large a fortune, your cousin can afford to marry where she likes.”

“If my cousin and Charles Smith were so resolved upon their course, how can Miss Vernon have hoped to intervene?”

“It is likely that Frederica ran after them with no other thought than how wrong it would be of her to do nothing. My daughter has a very tender heart and would have been very hard upon herself if some harm had come to Miss Hamilton that her intervention might have prevented—from the day of her father’s injury, Frederica had been very conscious of the advantage of immediate action and the consequence of delay. When she came upon her father, to find him lying senseless upon the ground, with Charles rooted in shock and incapable of any exertion, the incident left her very mindful of the necessity for immediate action in any emergency. I can only hope that Charles will not take the opportunity of their journey to resurrect that subject, as it is a very painful one for Frederica and can only stir up unpleasant memories and speculation.”

“What speculation can there be?”

“Every tragedy gives rise to conjecture,” replied she. “There is too little diversion in a common accident—some feature of it will inevitably be attributed to villainy or vice. As Charles was my husband’s successor, it would not take many rounds of gossip to attribute his inaction to gaining immediately what would be his eventually.”

She wisely said no more and allowed his imagination to go to work.

They walked back to the house in silence. 

Catherine Vernon felt herself very much imposed upon by the necessity of receiving Lady Vernon’s daughter. Lady Vernon attempted to soften her sister’s humor and to engage her sympathy for Frederica by the most effective method of persuading Catherine to do anything, which was to urge her in the opposite direction.

“I am very sorry that you should be imposed upon,” she said to Catherine when they had all sat down to tea. “Though Mr. Vernon has taken it upon himself to bring Frederica to Churchill, I will not ask you to put yourself out any more than you like. Whatever the motive for her conduct, she has caused a disturbance in your household, which cannot be treated with leniency. I assure you that I mean to impress this upon my daughter, and if I am too indulgent, I know that I may count on your sensible reproof, and if you are severe upon her, you will hear no word of blame from me.”

Catherine was surprised at this address and immediately began to ponder whether the addition of one more to the household would be a very great burden—whether she ought to think a bit more kindly of Miss Vernon—and, too, she recollected that Charles had once said something of Miss Vernon’s usefulness in household duties and tending to the children.

They had just sat down to tea when the carriage was observed coming down the avenue, and after a few moments’ delay, the door was thrown open and Miss Vernon entered and threw herself into her mother’s embrace.

Reginald did not have any opportunity to form an opinion of Miss Vernon other than concluding that her mother’s apprehensions had been rightly felt, for he had never in his life beheld a more timid creature. She attempted to meet Mrs. Vernon and her brother with courtesy—she made a very pretty effort to give a kiss to one and a curtsy to them both—but after sitting only a few minutes in their presence, she abruptly burst into tears and was hastily escorted from the room by her mother. Reginald had only sufficient time to observe that, though not at all like her mother, Miss Vernon was a pretty enough girl, with large dark eyes and a complexion that promised very fair, had not her distress drained it of all color.

“How very timid she is!” Catherine Vernon remarked. “She did not say above three words—and her dress was very plain. What is your opinion of her, Reginald? She is very different from Lady Vernon.”

“I must attribute her plain dress to the fact that she is in mourning, Catherine. But, yes, they are not at all alike. Miss Vernon is not nearly so handsome as her mother. Her complexion is not as vivid and her eyes have no brilliancy at all.”

Catherine, determined to contradict any commendation of Lady Vernon, replied, “She had been crying, Reginald. Her complexion is not as radiant as her mother’s, yet there is a delicacy about it that I rather like, and though she said so little, her manner was perfectly genteel. How did you find her, Charles, for you had the advantage of her company for thirty miles and can give us a better understanding of her mind and her conversation.”

“I did not have much opportunity to address her openly—we were obliged to have Miss Manwaring with us for much of the journey. When I did attempt to speak to her, her responses were so simple as to be almost childish. I confess that I saw no indication that she is the equal of any young ladies of quality. Yet we cannot entirely condemn her—indeed, your family must be indebted to her, my dear.” Charles then gave his wife a full account of Lucy Hamilton’s elopement, which had ended with Miss Vernon’s dismissal from school.

Catherine was shocked into silence.

“Even her benevolence is done poorly,” Charles concluded. “If Sir James Martin is a man of any sense, he will not be in a hurry to marry her, unless he is as imprudent as Charles Smith. I daresay the Hamiltons must regret that he was ever introduced into the family.”

Reginald was properly stung, as it had been he who had presented Mr. Smith to his relations. Catherine, however, was not so sharp, and she replied, “I quite agree with you, Mr. Vernon. We cannot be too quick to be introduced to new people, for we never can know what they are about.” 

When they were alone, Frederica’s spirits, agitated by the recent events and her hasty removal from town, soon settled into equanimity.

Lady Vernon inquired of her journey. “What did your uncle say of Lucy Hamilton? Was he very angry?”

“I think he was, although I cannot say whether it was that his family must share in Lucy’s folly or that he cannot share in Mr. Smith’s good fortune. But I was not obliged to suffer his company all the way from town. Maria called upon me at the Johnsons’ just after my uncle arrived, and Mr. Johnson inquired, ‘Do you not go to visit the Parkers at Billingshurst, Miss Manwaring? I believe Mr. Lewis deCourcy told me that you do, for he is to go there himself in another week or so. Well, then, if Miss Vernon must leave us for Sussex, perhaps you would have the goodness to travel with her as far as your destination.’ My uncle did not like this plan, and I was ashamed of his coldness toward Maria on the way to Billingshurst. When we arrived, the Parkers came out to meet us—they were all very civil and invited us to drink tea—but my uncle refused, and not with very good grace.”

“And how do you like Mrs. Vernon?”

“Her greeting was more cordial than I expected.”

“She believes that I do not want her to show you any affection, and so she is determined to like you in order to spite me. I advise you to accept what kindness you can get from her and not be too nice about the motive. And Reginald? What did you think of him?”