The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne BrontĂ« (librera reader .txt) đ
- Author: Anne Brontë
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âYouâve been to call on the Wilsons, Lawrence,â said I, as I walked beside his pony.
âYes,â replied he, slightly averting his face: âI thought it but civil to take the first opportunity of returning their kind attentions, since they have been so very particular and constant in their inquiries throughout the whole course of my illness.â
âItâs all Miss Wilsonâs doing.â
âAnd if it is,â returned he, with a very perceptible blush, âis that any reason why I should not make a suitable acknowledgment?â
âIt is a reason why you should not make the acknowledgment she looks for.â
âLet us drop that subject if you please,â said he, in evident displeasure.
âNo, Lawrence, with your leave weâll continue it a while longer; and Iâll tell you something, now weâre about it, which you may believe or not as you chooseâ âonly please to remember that it is not my custom to speak falsely, and that in this case I can have no motive for misrepresenting the truthâ ââ
âWell, Markham, what now?â
âMiss Wilson hates your sister. It may be natural enough that, in her ignorance of the relationship, she should feel some degree of enmity against her, but no good or amiable woman would be capable of evincing that bitter, cold-blooded, designing malice towards a fancied rival that I have observed in her.â
âMarkham!â
âYesâ âand it is my belief that Eliza Millward and she, if not the very originators of the slanderous reports that have been propagated, were designedly the encouragers and chief disseminators of them. She was not desirous to mix up your name in the matter, of course, but her delight was, and still is, to blacken your sisterâs character to the utmost of her power, without risking too greatly the exposure of her own malevolence!â
âI cannot believe it,â interrupted my companion, his face burning with indignation.
âWell, as I cannot prove it, I must content myself with asserting that it is so to the best of my belief; but as you would not willingly marry Miss Wilson if it were so, you will do well to be cautious, till you have proved it to be otherwise.â
âI never told you, Markham, that I intended to marry Miss Wilson,â said he, proudly.
âNo, but whether you do or not, she intends to marry you.â
âDid she tell you so?â
âNo, butâ ââ
âThen you have no right to make such an assertion respecting her.â He slightly quickened his ponyâs pace, but I laid my hand on its mane, determined he should not leave me yet.
âWait a moment, Lawrence, and let me explain myself; and donât be so veryâ âI donât know what to call itâ âinaccessible as you are.â âI know what you think of Jane Wilson; and I believe I know how far you are mistaken in your opinion: you think she is singularly charming, elegant, sensible, and refined: you are not aware that she is selfish, cold-hearted, ambitious, artful, shallow-mindedâ ââ
âEnough, Markhamâ âenough!â
âNo; let me finish:â âyou donât know that, if you married her, your home would be rayless and comfortless; and it would break your heart at last to find yourself united to one so wholly incapable of sharing your tastes, feelings, and ideasâ âso utterly destitute of sensibility, good feeling, and true nobility of soul.â
âHave you done?â asked my companion quietly.
âYes;â âI know you hate me for my impertinence, but I donât care if it only conduces to preserve you from that fatal mistake.â
âWell!â returned he, with a rather wintry smileâ ââIâm glad you have overcome or forgotten your own afflictions so far as to be able to study so deeply the affairs of others, and trouble your head so unnecessarily about the fancied or possible calamities of their future life.â
We partedâ âsomewhat coldly again: but still we did not cease to be friends; and my well-meant warning, though it might have been more judiciously delivered, as well as more thankfully received, was not wholly unproductive of the desired effect: his visit to the Wilsons was not repeated, and though, in our subsequent interviews, he never mentioned her name to me, nor I to himâ âI have reason to believe he pondered my words in his mind, eagerly though covertly sought information respecting the fair lady from other quarters, secretly compared my character of her with what he had himself observed and what he heard from others, and finally came to the conclusion that, all things considered, she had much better remain Miss Wilson of Ryecote Farm than be transmuted into Mrs. Lawrence of Woodford Hall. I believe, too, that he soon learned to contemplate with secret amazement his former predilection, and to congratulate himself on the lucky escape he had made; but he never confessed it to me, or hinted one word of acknowledgment for the part I had had in his deliverance, but this was not surprising to anyone that knew him as I did.
As for Jane Wilson, she, of course, was disappointed and embittered by the sudden cold neglect and ultimate desertion of her former admirer. Had I done wrong to blight her cherished hopes? I think not; and certainly my conscience has never accused me, from that day to this,
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