'And old people must be old, I suppose; the more's the pity. Lady Arabella, Mary is the same to me as my own daughter, and owes me the obedience of a child; but as I do not disapprove of your daughter Beatrice as an acquaintance for her, but rather, on the other hand, regard with pleasure their friendship, you cannot expect that I should take any steps to put an end to it.'
'But suppose it should lead to renewed intercourse between Frank and Mary?'
'I have no objection. Frank is a very nice young fellow, gentlemanlike in his manners, and neighbourly in his disposition.'
'Dr Thorne--'
'Lady Arabella--'
'I cannot believe that you really intend to express a wish--'
'You are quite right. I have not intended to express any wish; nor do I intend to do so. Mary is at liberty, within certain bounds--which I am sure she will not pass--to choose her own friends. I think she has not chosen badly as regards Miss Beatrice Gresham; and should she even add Frank Gresham to the number--'
'Friends! why they were more than friends; they were declared lovers.'
'I doubt that, Lady Arabella, because I have not heard of it from Mary. But even if it were so, I do not see why I should object.'
'Not object!'
'As I said before, Frank is, to my thinking, an excellent young man.
Why should I object?'
'Dr Thorne!' said her ladyship, now also rising from her chair in a state of too evident perturbation.
'Why should I object? It is for you, Lady Arabella, to look after your lambs; for me to see that, if possible, no harm shall come to mine. If you think that Mary is an improper acquaintance for your children, it is for you to guide them; for you and their father. Say what you think fit to your own daughter; but pray understand, once for all, that I will allow no one to interfere with my niece.'
'Interfere!' said Lady Arabella, now absolutely confused by the severity of the doctor's manner.
'I will allow no one to interfere with her; no one, Lady Arabella. She has suffered very greatly from imputations which you have most unjustly thrown on her. It was, however, your undoubted right to turn her out of your house if you thought fit;--though, as a woman who had known her for so many years, you might, I think, have treated her with more forbearance. That, however, was your right, and you exercised it.
There your privilege stops; yes, and must stop, Lady Arabella. You shall not persecute her here, on the only spot of ground she can call her own.'
'Persecute her, Dr Thorne! You do not mean to say that I have persecuted her?'
'Ah! but I do mean to say so. You do persecute her, and would continue to do so did I not defend her. It is not sufficient that she is forbidden to enter your domain--and so forbidden with the knowledge of all the country round--but you must come here also with the hope of interrupting all the innocent pleasures of her life. Fearing lest she should be allowed even to speak to your son, to hear of word of him through his own sister, you would put her in prison, tie her up, keep her from the light of day--'
'Dr Thorne! how can you--'
But the doctor was not to be interrupted.
'It never occurs to you to tie him up, to put him in prison. No; he is the heir of Greshamsbury; he is your son, an earl's grandson. It is only natural, after all, that he should throw a few foolish words at the doctor's niece. But she! it is an offence not to be forgiven on her part that she should, however, unwillingly, have been forced to listen to them! Now understand me, Lady Arabella; if any of your family come to my house I shall be delighted to welcome them; if Mary should meet any of them elsewhere I shall be delighted to hear of it.
Should she tell me to-morrow that she was engaged to marry Frank, I should talk the matter over with her, quite coolly, solely with a view to her interest, as would be my duty; feeling, at the same time, that Frank would be lucky in having such a wife. Now you know my mind, Lady Arabella. It is so I should do my duty;--you can do yours as you may think fit.'
Lady Arabella had by this time perceived that she was not destined, on this occasion to gain any great victory. She, however, was angry as well as the doctor. It was not the man's vehemence that provoked her so much as his evident determination to break down the prestige of her rank, and place her on a footing in no respect superior to his own. He had never before been so audaciously arrogant; and, as she moved towards the door, she determined in her wrath that she would never again have confidential intercourse with him in any relation of life whatsoever.
'Dr Thorne,' said she. 'I think you have forgotten yourself. You must excuse me if I say that after what has passed I--I--I--'
'Certainly,' said he, fully understanding what she meant; and bowing low as he opened first the study-door, then the front-door, then the garden-gate.
And then the Lady Arabella stalked off, not without full observation from Mrs Yates Umbleby and her friend Miss Gustring, who lived close by.
