Domestic fiction; England -- Fiction; Mothers and sons -- Fiction; Religious fiction; Unmarried mothers -- Fiction
other reasons, which strengthened Mr Bradshaw in the bright idea
of going down to Abermouth for the Sunday; some connected with the
out-of-door politics, and some with the domestic. For instance,
it had been the plan of the house to have a cold dinner on the
Sundays--Mr Bradshaw had piqued himself on this strictness--and yet
he had an instinctive feeling that Mr Donne was not quite the man to
partake of cold meat for conscience' sake with cheerful indifference
to his fare.
Mr Donne had, in fact, taken the Bradshaw household a little by
surprise. Before he came, Mr Bradshaw had pleased himself with
thinking, that more unlikely things had happened than the espousal
of his daughter with the member of a small borough. But this pretty
airy bubble burst as soon as he saw Mr Donne; and its very existence
was forgotten in less than half an hour, when he felt the quiet but
incontestible difference of rank and standard that there was, in
every respect, between his guest and his own family. It was not
through any circumstance so palpable, and possibly accidental, as the
bringing down a servant, whom Mr Donne seemed to consider as much
a matter of course as a carpet-bag (though the smart gentleman's
arrival "fluttered the Volscians in Corioli" considerably more
than his gentle-spoken master's). It was nothing like this; it was
something indescribable--a quiet being at ease, and expecting every
one else to be so--an attention to women, which was so habitual as
to be unconsciously exercised to those subordinate persons in Mr
Bradshaw's family--a happy choice of simple and expressive words,
some of which it must be confessed were slang, but fashionable
slang, and that makes all the difference--a measured, graceful way
of utterance, with a style of pronunciation quite different to
that of Eccleston. All these put together make but a part of the
indescribable whole which unconsciously affected Mr Bradshaw, and
established Mr Donne in his estimation as a creature quite different
to any he had seen before, and as most unfit to mate with Jemima. Mr
Hickson, who had appeared as a model of gentlemanly ease before Mr
Donne's arrival, now became vulgar and coarse in Mr Bradshaw's eyes.
And yet, such was the charm of that languid, high-bred manner, that
Mr Bradshaw "cottoned" (as he expressed it to Mr Farquhar) to his
new candidate at once. He was only afraid lest Mr Donne was too
indifferent to all things under the sun to care whether he gained or
lost the election; but he was reassured after the first conversation
they had together on the subject. Mr Donne's eye lightened with an
eagerness that was almost fierce, though his tones were as musical,
and nearly as slow, as ever; and when Mr Bradshaw alluded distantly
to "probable expenses" and "packets," Mr Donne replied,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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