第8章

Inthreemonthsfromthememorabledaywhenhissolicitorhadinformedhimthathewasafreeman，Mr。Vanboroughpossessedthewifehedesired，togracetheheadofhistableandtopushhisfortunesintheworld——theLegislatureofGreatBritainbeingthehumbleservantofhistreachery，andtherespectableaccompliceofhiscrime。

HeenteredParliament。Hegave(thankstohiswife)sixofthegrandestdinners，andtwoofthemostcrowdedballsoftheseason。HemadeasuccessfulfirstspeechintheHouseofCommons。Heendowedachurchinapoorneighborhood。Hewroteanarticlewhichattractedattentioninaquarterlyreview。Hediscovered，denounced，andremediedacryingabuseintheadministrationofapubliccharity。Hereceived(thanksoncemoretohiswife)amemberoftheRoyalfamilyamongthevisitorsathiscountryhouseintheautumnrecess。Thesewerehistriumphs，andthishisrateofprogressonthewaytothepeerage，duringthefirstyearofhislifeasthehusbandofLadyJane。

TherewasbutonemorefavorthatFortunecouldconferonherspoiledchild——andFortunebestowedit。TherewasaspotonMr。

Vanborough’spastlifeaslongasthewomanlivedwhomhehaddisownedanddeserted。AttheendofthefirstyearDeathtookher——andthespotwasrubbedout。

Shehadmetthemercilessinjuryinflictedonherwithararepatience，withanadmirablecourage。ItisduetoMr。Vanboroughtoadmitthathebrokeherheart，withthestrictestattentiontopropriety。Heoffered(throughhislawyer)ahandsomeprovisionforherandforherchild。Itwasrejected，withoutaninstant’shesitation。Sherepudiatedhismoney——sherepudiatedhisname。Bythenamewhichshehadborneinhermaidendays——thenamewhichshehadmadeillustriousinherArt——themotheranddaughterwereknowntoallwhocaredtoinquireafterthemwhentheyhadsunkintheworld。

Therewasnofalseprideintheresoluteattitudewhichshethusassumedafterherhusbandhadforsakenher。Mrs。Silvester(asshewasnowcalled)gratefullyacceptedforherself，andforMissSilvester，theassistanceofthedearoldfriendwhohadfoundheragaininheraffliction，andwhoremainedfaithfultohertotheend。TheylivedwithLadyLundieuntilthemotherwasstrongenoughtocarryouttheplanoflifewhichshehadarrangedforthefuture，andtoearnherbreadasateacherofsinging。Toallappearancesherallied，andbecameherselfagain，inafewmonths’time。Shewasmakingherway；shewaswinningsympathy，confidence，andrespecteverywhere——whenshesanksuddenlyattheopeningofhernewlife。Nobodycouldaccountforit。Thedoctorsthemselvesweredividedinopinion。Scientificallyspeaking，therewasnoreasonwhysheshoulddie。Itwasamerefigureofspeech——innodegreesatisfactorytoanyreasonablemind——tosay，asLadyLundiesaid，thatshehadgotherdeath-blowonthedaywhenherhusbanddesertedher。Theonethingcertainwasthefact——accountforitasyoumight。Inspiteofscience(whichmeantlittle)，inspiteofherowncourage(whichmeantmuch)，thewomandroppedatherpostanddied。

Inthelatterpartofherillnesshermindgaveway。Thefriendofheroldschool-days，sittingatthebedside，heardhertalkingasifshethoughtherselfbackagaininthecabinoftheship。

Thepoorsoulfoundthetone，almostthelook，thathadbeenlostforsomanyyears——thetoneofthepasttimewhenthetwogirlshadgonetheirdifferentwaysintheworld。Shesaid，“wewillmeet，darling，withalltheoldlovebetweenus，“justasshehadsaidalmostalifetimesince。Beforetheendhermindrallied。

Shesurprisedthedoctorandthenursebybeggingthemgentlytoleavetheroom。WhentheyhadgoneshelookedatLadyLundie，andwoke，asitseemed，toconsciousnessfromadream。

“Blanche，“shesaid，“youwilltakecareofmychild？“

“Sheshallbe_my_child，Anne，whenyouaregone。“

Thedyingwomanpaused，andthoughtforalittle。Asuddentremblingseizedher。

“Keepitasecret!“shesaid。“Iamafraidformychild。“

“Afraid？AfterwhatIhavepromisedyou？“

Shesolemnlyrepeatedthewords，“Iamafraidformychild。“

“Why？“

“MyAnneismysecondself——isn’tshe？“

“Yes。“

“SheisasfondofyourchildasIwasofyou？“

“Yes。“

“Sheisnotcalledbyherfather’sname——sheiscalledbymine。

SheisAnneSilvesterasIwas。Blanche!_WillsheendlikeMe？_“

Thequestionwasputwiththelaboringbreath，withtheheavyaccentswhichtellthatdeathisnear。Itchilledthelivingwomanwhoheardittothemarrowofherbones。

“Don’tthinkthat!“shecried，horror-struck。“ForGod’ssake，don’tthinkthat!“

ThewildnessbegantoappearagaininAnneSilvester’seyes。Shemadefeeblyimpatientsignswithherhands。LadyLundiebentoverher，andheardherwhisper，“Liftmeup。“

Shelayinherfriend’sarms；shelookedupinherfriend’sface；

shewentbackwildlytoherfearforherchild。

“Don’tbringheruplikeMe!Shemustbeagoverness——shemustgetherbread。Don’tletheract!don’tlethersing!don’tlethergoonthestage!“Shestopped——hervoicesuddenlyrecovereditssweetnessoftone——shesmiledfaintly——shesaidtheoldgirlishwordsoncemore，intheoldgirlishway，“Vowit，Blanche!“LadyLundiekissedher，andanswered，asshehadansweredwhentheypartedintheship，“Ivowit，Anne!“

Theheadsank，nevertobeliftedmore。Thelastlookoflifeflickeredinthefilmyeyesandwentout。Foramomentafterwardherlipsmoved。LadyLundieputherearclosetothem，andheardthedreadfulquestionreiterated，inthesamedreadfulwords：

“SheisAnneSilvester——asIwas。_WillsheendlikeMe？_“

VI。

Fiveyearspassed——andthelivesofthethreemenwhohadsatatthedinner-tableintheHampsteadvillabegan，intheiralteredaspects，torevealtheprogressoftimeandchange。

Mr。Kendrew；Mr。Delamayn；Mr。Vanborough。Lettheorderinwhichtheyareherenamedbetheorderinwhichtheirlivesarereviewed，asseenoncemoreafteralapseoffiveyears。

Howthehusband’sfriendmarkedhissenseofthehusband’streacheryhasbeentoldalready。Howhefeltthedeathofthedesertedwifeisstilllefttotell。Report，whichseestheinmostheartsofmen，anddelightsinturningthemoutwardtothepublicview，hadalwaysdeclaredthatMr。Kendrew’slifehaditssecret，andthatthesecretwasahopelesspassionforthebeautifulwomanwhohadmarriedhisfriend。Notahinteverdroppedtoanylivingsoul，notawordeverspokentothewomanherself，couldbeproducedinproofoftheassertionwhilethewomanlived。WhenshediedReportstartedupagainmoreconfidentlythanever，andappealedtotheman’sownconductasproofagainstthemanhimself。

Heattendedthefuneral——thoughhewasnorelation。Hetookafewbladesofgrassfromtheturfwithwhichtheycoveredhergrave——whenhethoughtthatnobodywaslookingathim。Hedisappearedfromhisclub。Hetraveled。Hecameback。HeadmittedthathewaswearyofEngland。Heappliedfor，andobtained，anappointmentinoneofthecolonies。Towhatconclusiondidallthispoint？Wasitnotplainthathisusualcourseoflifehadlostitsattractionforhim，whentheobjectofhisinfatuationhadceasedtoexist？Itmighthavebeenso——guesseslesslikelyhavebeenmadeatthetruth，andhavehitthemark。Itis，atanyrate，certainthatheleftEngland，nevertoreturnagain。

Anothermanlost，Reportsaid。Addtothat，amanintenthousand——and，foronce，Reportmightclaimtoberight。

Mr。Delamayncomesnext。

Therisingsolicitorwasstruckofftheroll，athisownrequest——andenteredhimselfasastudentatoneoftheInnsofCourt。Forthreeyearsnothingwasknownofhimbutthathewasreadinghardandkeepinghisterms。HewascalledtotheBar。Hislatepartnersinthefirmknewtheycouldtrusthim，andputbusinessintohishands。IntwoyearshemadehimselfapositioninCourt。AttheendofthetwoyearshemadehimselfapositionoutofCourt。Heappearedas“Junior“in“afamouscase，“inwhichthehonorofagreatfamily，andthetitletoagreatestatewereconcerned。His“Senior“fellillontheeveofthetrial。Heconductedthecaseforthedefendantandwonit。Thedefendantsaid，“WhatcanIdoforyou？“Mr。Delamaynanswered，“PutmeintoParliament。“Beingalandedgentleman，thedefendanthadonlytoissuethenecessaryorders——andbehold，Mr。DelamaynwasinParliament!

IntheHouseofCommonsthenewmemberandMr。Vanboroughmetagain。

Theysatonthesamebench，andsidedwiththesameparty。Mr。

DelamaynnoticedthatMr。Vanboroughwaslookingoldandwornandgray。Heputafewquestionstoawell-informedperson。Thewell-informedpersonshookhishead。Mr。Vanboroughwasrich；Mr。

Vanboroughwaswell-connected(throughhiswife)；Mr。Vanboroughwasasoundmanineverysenseoftheword；_but_——nobodylikedhim。Hehaddoneverywellthefirstyear，andthereithadended。Hewasundeniablyclever，butheproducedadisagreeableimpressionintheHouse。Hegavesplendidentertainments，buthewasn’tpopularinsociety。Hispartyrespectedhim，butwhentheyhadanythingtogivetheypassedhimover。Hehadatemperofhisown，ifthetruthmustbetold；andwithnothingagainsthim——onthecontrary，witheverythinginhisfavor——hedidn’tmakefriends。Asouredman。Athomeandabroad，asouredman。

VII。

Fiveyearsmorepassed，datingfromthedaywhenthedesertedwifewaslaidinhergrave。Itwasnowtheyeareighteenhundredandsixtysix。

Onacertaindayinthatyeartwospecialitemsofnewsappearedinthepapers——thenewsofanelevationtothepeerage，andthenewsofasuicide。

GettingonwellattheBar，Mr。DelamayngotonbetterstillinParliament。HebecameoneoftheprominentmenintheHouse。

Spokeclearly，sensibly，andmodestly，andwasnevertoolong。