第75章

“Amoreperfectlyjustandrighteouslydealingman。”saidthefamilysolicitor，“Ihaveneverhadanythingtodowith——noronemorepunctualinthedischargeofeverybusinessobligation。”

“Weshallmisshimsadly。”thebishopwrotetoJoeyintheverywarmestterms。Thepoorwereinconsternation。“Thewell’snevermissed。”saidoneoldwoman，“tillit’sdry。”andsheonlysaidwhateveryoneelsefelt。Ernestknewthatthegeneralregretwasunaffectedasforalosswhichcouldnotbeeasilyrepaired。Hefeltthattherewereonlythreepeopleintheworldwhojoinedinsincerelyinthetributeofapplause，andtheseweretheverythreewhocouldleastshowtheirwantofsympathy。ImeanJoey，Charlotte，andhimself。HefeltbitteragainsthimselfforbeingofamindwitheitherJoeyorCharlotteuponanysubject，andthankfulthathemustconcealhisbeingsoasfaraspossible，notbecauseofanythinghisfatherhaddonetohim——thesegrievancesweretoooldtoberememberednow——butbecausehewouldneverallowhimtofeeltowardshimashewasalwaystryingtofeel。Aslongascommunicationwasconfinedtothemerestcommonplaceallwentwell，butiftheseweredepartedfromeversuchalittleheinvariablyfeltthathisfather’sinstinctsshowedthemselvesinimmediateoppositiontohisown。Whenhewasattackedhisfatherlaidwhateverstresswaspossibleoneverythingwhichhisopponentssaid。

Ifhemetwithanycheckhisfatherwasclearlypleased。WhattheolddoctorhadsaidaboutTheobald’sspeakingillofnomanwasperfectlytrueasregardsothersthanhimself，butheknewverywellthatnoonehadinjuredhisreputationinaquietway，sofarashedaredtodo，morethanhisownfather。Thisisaverycommoncaseandaverynaturalone。Itoftenhappensthatifthesonisright，thefatheriswrong，andthefatherisnotgoingtohavethisifhecanhelpit。

Itwasveryhard，however，tosaywhatwasthetruerootofthemischiefinthepresentcase。ItwasnotErnest’shavingbeenimprisoned。Theobaldforgotallaboutthatmuchsoonerthanninefathersoutoftenwouldhavedone。Partly，nodoubt，itwasduetoincompatibilityoftemperament，butIbelievethemaingroundofcomplaintlayinthefactthathehadbeensoindependentandsorichwhilestillveryyoung，andthatthustheoldgentlemanhadbeenrobbedofhispowertoteaseandscratchinthewaywhichhefelthewasentitledtodo。Theloveofteasinginasmallwaywhenhefeltsafeindoingsohadremainedpartofhisnaturefromthedayswhenhetoldhisnursethathewouldkeepheronpurposetotormenther。Isupposeitissowithallofus。AtanyrateIamsurethatmostfathers，especiallyiftheyareclergymen，arelikeTheobald。

Hedidnotinreality，Iamconvinced，likeJoeyorCharlotteonewhitbetterthanhelikedErnest。Hedidnotlikeanyoneoranything，orifhelikedanyoneatallitwashisbutler，wholookedafterhimwhenhewasnotwell，andtookgreatcareofhimandbelievedhimtobethebestandablestmaninthewholeworld。

WhetherthisfaithfulandattachedservantcontinuedtothinkthisafterTheobald’swillwasopenedanditwasfoundwhatkindoflegacyhadbeenlefthimIknownot。Ofhischildren，thebabywhohaddiedatadayoldwastheonlyonewhomheheldtohavetreatedhimquitefilially。AsforChristinahehardlyeverpretendedtomissherandnevermentionedhername；butthiswastakenasaproofthathefeltherlosstookeenlytobeableevertospeakofher。

Itmayhavebeenso，butIdonotthinkit。

Theobald’seffectsweresoldbyauction，andamongthemtheHarmonyoftheOldandNewTestamentswhichhehadcompiledduringmanyyearswithsuchexquisiteneatnessandahugecollectionofMS。

sermons——beingallinfactthathehadeverwritten。TheseandtheHarmonyfetchedninepenceabarrowload。IwassurprisedtohearthatJoeyhadnotgiventhethreeorfourshillingswhichwouldhaveboughtthewholelot，butErnesttellsmethatJoeywasfarfiercerinhisdislikeofhisfatherthaneverhehadbeenhimself，andwishedtogetridofeverythingthatremindedhimofhim。

IthasalreadyappearedthatbothJoeyandCharlottearemarried。

Joeyhasafamily，butheandErnestveryrarelyhaveanyintercourse。Ofcourse，Ernesttooknothingunderhisfather’swill；thishadlongbeenunderstood，sothattheothertwoarebothwellprovidedfor。

Charlotteisascleverasever，andsometimesasksErnesttocomeandstaywithherandherhusbandnearDover，Isupposebecausesheknowsthattheinvitationwillnotbeagreeabletohim。Thereisadehautenbastoneinallherletters；itisratherhardtolayone’sfingeruponitbutErnestnevergetsaletterfromherwithoutfeelingthatheisbeingwrittentobyonewhohashaddirectcommunicationwithanangel。“Whatanawfulcreature。”heoncesaidtome，“thatangelmusthavebeenifithadanythingtodowithmakingCharlottewhatsheis。”

“Couldyoulike。”shewrotetohimnotlongago，“thethoughtsofalittleseachangehere？Thetopofthecliffswillsoonbebrightwithheather：thegorsemustbeoutalready，andtheheatherI

shouldthinkbegun，tojudgebythestateofthehillatEwell，andheatherornoheather——thecli