Shirley Charlotte BrontĂ« (free ebook reader for pc .txt) đ
- Author: Charlotte Brontë
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âShe was faithful when I was falseâ âwas she not? I never came near your sickbed, and she watched it ceaselessly.â
âWhat must I do? Anything but leave her.â
âAt my wish you never shall leave her.â
âShe may live very near us?â
âWith usâ âonly she will have her own rooms and servant. For this she stipulates herself.â
âYou know she has an income, that, with her habits, makes her quite independent?â
âShe told me that, with a gentle pride that reminded me of somebody else.â
âShe is not at all interfering, and incapable of gossip.â
âI know her, Cary. But if, instead of being the personification of reserve and discretion, she were something quite opposite, I should not fear her.â
âYet she will be your mother-in-law?â The speaker gave an arch little nod. Moore smiled.
âLouis and I are not of the order of men who fear their mothers-in-law, Cary. Our foes never have been, nor will be, those of our own household. I doubt not my mother-in-law will make much of me.â
âThat she willâ âin her quiet way, you know. She is not demonstrative; and when you see her silent, or even cool, you must not fancy her displeased; it is only a manner she has. Be sure to let me interpret for her whenever she puzzles you; always believe my account of the matter, Robert.â
âOh, implicitly! Jesting apart, I feel that she and I will suitâ âon ne peut mieux. Hortense, you know, is exquisitely susceptibleâ âin our French sense of the wordâ âand not, perhaps, always reasonable in her requirements; yet, dear, honest girl, I never painfully wounded her feelings or had a serious quarrel with her in my life.â
âNo; you are most generously considerate, indeed, most tenderly indulgent to her; and you will be considerate with mamma. You are a gentleman all through, Robert, to the bone, and nowhere so perfect a gentleman as at your own fireside.â
âA eulogium I like; it is very sweet. I am well pleased my Caroline should view me in this light.â
âMamma just thinks of you as I do.â
âNot quite, I hope?â
âShe does not want to marry youâ âdonât be vain; but she said to me the other day, âMy dear, Mr. Moore has pleasing manners; he is one of the few gentlemen I have seen who combine politeness with an air of sincerity.âââ
âââMammaâ is rather a misanthropist, is she not? Not the best opinion of the sterner sex?â
âShe forbears to judge them as a whole, but she has her exceptions whom she admiresâ âLouis and Mr. Hall, and, of late, yourself. She did not like you once; I knew that, because she would never speak of you. But, Robertâ ââ
âWell, what now? What is the new thought?â
âYou have not seen my uncle yet?â
âI have. âMammaâ called him into the room. He consents conditionally. If I prove that I can keep a wife, I may have her; and I can keep her better than he thinksâ âbetter than I choose to boast.â
âIf you get rich you will do good with your money, Robert?â
âI will do good; you shall tell me how. Indeed, I have some schemes of my own, which you and I will talk about on our own hearth one day. I have seen the necessity of doing good; I have learned the downright folly of being selfish. Caroline, I foresee what I will now foretell. This war must ere long draw to a close. Trade is likely to prosper for some years to come. There may be a brief misunderstanding between England and America, but that will not last. What would you think if, one dayâ âperhaps ere another ten years elapseâ âLouis and I divide Briarfield parish betwixt us? Louis, at any rate, is certain of power and property. He will not bury his talents. He is a benevolent fellow, and has, besides, an intellect of his own of no trifling calibre. His mind is slow but strong. It must work. It may work deliberately, but it will work well. He will be made magistrate of the districtâ âShirley says he shall. She would proceed impetuously and prematurely to obtain for him this dignity, if he would let her, but he will not. As usual, he will be in no haste. Ere he has been master of Fieldhead a year all the district will feel his quiet influence, and acknowledge his unassuming superiority. A magistrate is wanted; they will, in time, invest him with the office voluntarily and unreluctantly. Everybody admires his future wife, and everybody will, in time, like him. He is of the pĂąte generally approved, bon comme le painâ âdaily bread for the most fastidious, good for the infant and the aged, nourishing for the poor, wholesome for the rich. Shirley, in spite of her whims and oddities, her dodges and delays, has an infatuated fondness for him. She will one day see him as universally beloved as even she could wish. He will also be universally esteemed, considered, consulted, depended onâ âtoo much so. His advice will be always judicious, his help always good-natured. Ere long both will be in inconvenient request. He will have to impose restrictions. As for me, if I succeed as I intend to do, my success will add to his and Shirleyâs income. I can double the value of their mill property. I can line yonder barren Hollow with lines of cottages and rows of cottage-gardensâ ââ
âRobert! And root up the copse?â
âThe copse shall be firewood ere five years elapse. The beautiful wild ravine shall be a smooth descent; the green natural terrace shall be a paved street. There shall be cottages in the dark ravine, and cottages on the lonely slopes. The rough pebbled track shall be an even, firm, broad, black, sooty road, bedded with the cinders from my mill; and my mill, Carolineâ âmy mill shall fill its present yard.â
âHorrible! You will change our blue hill-country air into the Stilbroâ smoke atmosphere.â
âI will pour the waters of Pactolus through the valley of Briarfield.â
âI like the beck a thousand times better.â
âI will get an Act for enclosing
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