Damerels are a very old family, and this man‟s father, though always perfectly civil, was said to have a great deal of self-consequence. There was nothing of that— to be seen—indeed, I thought his lordship had too little particularity! I don‟t mean to say that his manners gave me a disgust of him, but he has an odd, abrupt way that is a trifle too careless to please me ! As for the girls, they rated him very cheap—though I daresay they would not if he had behaved more prettily to them. He hardly spoke above a dozen words to them—the merest commonplace, too!”
“How shabby!” said Venetia. “He is—I mean, he sounds to me quite odious !”
“Yes, but I was thankful for it!” said her ladyship earnestly. “Only think what my feelings must have been had he proved to be a man of insinuating address! And for Sir John to declare that dearest Clara has not enough beauty to engage the interest of such a man as Damerel is not at all to the point, besides being a most unnatural thing to say of his own daughter! He would have been well-served if Damerel had thrown out lures to Clara, bringing him in upon us as he did! But all he will say is that he doesn‟t choose to live on bad terms with his neighbours, and that it is a great piece of nonsense in me to suppose that Damerel is so ramshackle as to behave improperly to any female in Clara‟s situation. Very pretty talking, when everyone knows he didn‟t scruple to seduce a lady under her husband‟s very nose!”
“Who was she?” interrupted Venetia curiously. “What became of her?”
“I don‟t know that, but she was one of the Rendlesham girls—there were three of them, and all great beauties, which was fortunate, because Rendlesham was as poor as a church mouse, and yet they all made good marriages! Not that I mean to say that one prospered, and for my part I shouldn‟t have liked it for one of my daughters, even if Sir John were as monstrously in the wind as they say Rendlesham was. Well, for one thing he had the most peculiar name: Vobster ! I believe he came into the world hosed and shod, as the saying is, but his father was a shocking mushroom, and as for his grandfather I‟m sure no one ever knew who he was! The on-dit was that he owned a two-to-one shop—at least, so my brother George was used to say!—but I
daresay that was nothing but a Banbury story. At all events, Gregory Vobster was as rich as Midas, which was what made him acceptable to Lord Rendlesham. He was used to play off all the airs of an exquisite, I recall, but when the pinch came he was not at all up to the rig. Nothing would prevail upon him to consent to a divorce! He behaved very shabbily, just wishing to be revenged, you know, and if he hadn‟t broken his neck, overturning his curricle on the Newmarket road, that wretched female would be still married to him! But the thing is, my dear, that that happened not three years after the break-up of the marriage, and though I don‟t know why, I do know that she didn‟t marry Damerel, which everyone expected she would, of course. Which gives me a very poor notion of him, and makes me excessively reluctant to receive him in my house! What‟s more, if he hoped, by abandoning Lady Sophia, to become reconciled with his own family he was well-served, for they utterly cast him off, and it wasn‟t until Lady Damerel died that he came back to England. Indeed, if it hadn‟t been for his having inherited an independence from old Matthew Stone—he was his godfather, and what they call a chicken- nabob—I daresay he must have been reduced to absolute penury—let alone not being able to run off with Lady Sophia in the first place! Which all goes to show what folly it is to endow young men with fortunes.”
“Cast him off!” Venetia exclaimed. “They would have done better to have cast themselves off!”
“Cast
“How shabby!” said Venetia. “He is—I mean, he sounds to me quite odious !”
“Yes, but I was thankful for it!” said her ladyship earnestly. “Only think what my feelings must have been had he proved to be a man of insinuating address! And for Sir John to declare that dearest Clara has not enough beauty to engage the interest of such a man as Damerel is not at all to the point, besides being a most unnatural thing to say of his own daughter! He would have been well-served if Damerel had thrown out lures to Clara, bringing him in upon us as he did! But all he will say is that he doesn‟t choose to live on bad terms with his neighbours, and that it is a great piece of nonsense in me to suppose that Damerel is so ramshackle as to behave improperly to any female in Clara‟s situation. Very pretty talking, when everyone knows he didn‟t scruple to seduce a lady under her husband‟s very nose!”
“Who was she?” interrupted Venetia curiously. “What became of her?”
“I don‟t know that, but she was one of the Rendlesham girls—there were three of them, and all great beauties, which was fortunate, because Rendlesham was as poor as a church mouse, and yet they all made good marriages! Not that I mean to say that one prospered, and for my part I shouldn‟t have liked it for one of my daughters, even if Sir John were as monstrously in the wind as they say Rendlesham was. Well, for one thing he had the most peculiar name: Vobster ! I believe he came into the world hosed and shod, as the saying is, but his father was a shocking mushroom, and as for his grandfather I‟m sure no one ever knew who he was! The on-dit was that he owned a two-to-one shop—at least, so my brother George was used to say!—but I
daresay that was nothing but a Banbury story. At all events, Gregory Vobster was as rich as Midas, which was what made him acceptable to Lord Rendlesham. He was used to play off all the airs of an exquisite, I recall, but when the pinch came he was not at all up to the rig. Nothing would prevail upon him to consent to a divorce! He behaved very shabbily, just wishing to be revenged, you know, and if he hadn‟t broken his neck, overturning his curricle on the Newmarket road, that wretched female would be still married to him! But the thing is, my dear, that that happened not three years after the break-up of the marriage, and though I don‟t know why, I do know that she didn‟t marry Damerel, which everyone expected she would, of course. Which gives me a very poor notion of him, and makes me excessively reluctant to receive him in my house! What‟s more, if he hoped, by abandoning Lady Sophia, to become reconciled with his own family he was well-served, for they utterly cast him off, and it wasn‟t until Lady Damerel died that he came back to England. Indeed, if it hadn‟t been for his having inherited an independence from old Matthew Stone—he was his godfather, and what they call a chicken- nabob—I daresay he must have been reduced to absolute penury—let alone not being able to run off with Lady Sophia in the first place! Which all goes to show what folly it is to endow young men with fortunes.”
“Cast him off!” Venetia exclaimed. “They would have done better to have cast themselves off!”
“Cast
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