Hopes and Fears: or, scenes from the life of a spinsterYonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
General
Hopes and Fears: or, scenes from the life of a spinster
Yonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
England -- Social conditions -- 19th century -- Fiction; Single women -- Fiction
The outside car took them to St. Patrick's, and they had their first real
enjoyment in the lazy liveliness of the vehicle, and the droll
ciceroneship of the driver, who contrived to convey such compliments to
their pretty faces as only an Irishman could have given without offence.
Lucilla sprang down with exhilarated spirits, and even wished for Honor
to share her indignation at the slovenliness around the cathedral, and
the absence of close or cloister; nay, though she had taken an aversion
to Strafford as a hero of Honor's, she forgave him, and resolved to
belabour the House of Cork handsomely in her journal, when she beheld the
six-storied monument, and imagined it, as he had found it, in the Altar's
very place. 'Would that he had created an absolute Boylean vacuum!'
What a grand _bon mot_ for her journal!
However, either the spirit of indignation at the sight of the unkneeling
congregation, or else the familiar words of the beautiful musical
service, made her more than usually devout, and stirred up something
within her that could only be appeased by the resolution that the singing
in Robert Fulmort's parish should be super-excellent. After the service,
the carman persuaded them to drive in the Phoenix Park, where they
enjoyed the beautiful broken ground, the picturesque thickets, the grass
whose colour reminded them that they were in the Emerald Isle, the purple
outlines of the Wicklow hills, whence they thought they detected a fresh
mountain breeze. They only wondered to find this delightful place so
little frequented. In England, a Sunday would have filled it with
holiday strollers, whereas here they only encountered a very few, and
those chiefly gentlefolks. The populace preferred sitting on the
doorsteps, or lounging against the houses, as if they were making studies
of themselves for caricatures; and were evidently so much struck with the
young ladies' attire, that the shelter of the hotel was gladly welcomed.
Lucilla was alone in the sitting-room when the waiter came to lay the
cloth. He looked round, as if to secure secrecy, and then remarked in a
low confidential voice, 'There's been a gentleman inquiring for you,
ma'am.'
'Who was it?' said Lucy, with feigned coolness.
'It was when you were at church, ma'am; he wished to know whether two
ladies had arrived here, Miss Charteris and Miss Sandbrook.'
'Did he leave his card?'
'He did not, ma'am, his call was to be a secret; he said it was only to
be sure whether you had arrived.'
'Then he did not give his name?'
'He did, ma'am, for he desired to be let know what route the young ladies
took when they left,' quoth the man, with a comical look, as though he
were imparting a most delightful secret.
'Was he Mr. Calthorp?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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