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RD LIU-TON" AND IXC V ROBA&Ii



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.



21 NodcI.



By ANTHONY TEOLLOPE,

AUTIIOK OP

'DOCTOR THORNE," "THE BERTRAMS," "THE THREE CLERKS,'
&c, &c, &c.



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.



NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1871.



CONTENTS.



CHAPTER PAGE

I. "OMNES OMNIA BONA DICERE" 9

II. THE FRAMLEY SET AND THE CHALDICOTES SET 18

III. CHALDICOTES 29

IV. A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE 41

V. AMANTIUM IR^J AMORIS INTEGRATIO 50

VI. MR. HAROLD SMITH'S LECTURE 64

VII. SUNDAY MORNING 74

VIII. GATHERUM CASTLE 82

IX. THE VICAR'S RETURN 100

X. LUCY ROBARTS 108

XI. GRISELDA GRANTLY 119

XII. THE LITTLE BILL 134

XIII. DELICATE HINTS 141

XIV. MR. CRAWLEY OF HOGGLESTOCK 152

XV. LADY LUFTON'S EMBASSADOR 163

XVI. MRS. PODGENS' BABY 172

XVII. MRS. FROUDIE'S CONVERSAZIONE 184

XVIII. .THE NEW MINISTER'S PATRONAGE ', 197

XIX. MONEY DEALINGS 206

XX. HAROLD SMITH IN TnE CABINET 219

XXI. WHY PUCK, THE PONY, WAS BEATEN 229

XXII. HOGGLESTOCK PARSONAGE 238

XXIII. THE TRIUMPH OF THE GIANTS 248

XXIV. MAGNA EST VERITAS 260

XXV. NON-IMPULSIVE 273

XXVI. IMPULSIVE 283

XXVII. SOUTH AUDLEY STREET 295

XXVIII. DR. THORNE 304

XXIX. MISS DUNSTABLE AT HOME 312

XXX. THE GRANTLY TRIUMPH * 333

XXXI. SALMON FISHING IN NORWAY 338

XXXII. THE GOAT AND COMPASSES 354



Vlll CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

XXXIII. CONSOLATION 362

XXXIV. LADY LUFTON IS TAKEN BY SURPRISE 370

XXXV. THE STORY OP KING COPHETUA 380

XXXVI. KIDNAPPING AT HOGGLESTOCK 391

XXXVII. MR. SOWERBY WITHOUT COMPANY 401

XXXVIII. IS THERE CAUSE OR JUST IMPEDIMENT? 411

XXXIX. HOW TO WRITE A LOVE-LETTER , 424

XL. INTERNECINE 435

XLI. DON QUIXOTE 446

XLII. TOUCHING PITCH 456

XLIII. IS SHE NOT INSIGNIFICANT? 466

XLIV. TnE PHILISTINES AT THE PARSONAGE 477

XLV. PALACE BLESSINGS 490

XLVI. LADY LUFTON'S REQUEST 500

XLVII. NEMESIS 512

XLVIII. HOW THEY WERE ALL MARRIED, HAD TWO CHILDREN,

AND LIVED HAPPY EVER AFTER 520



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.



CHAPTER I.



When young Mark Robarts was leaving college, his fa-
ther might well declare that all men began to say all good
things to him, and to extol his fortune in that he had a son
blessed with so excellent a disposition.

This father was a physician living at Exeter. He was a
gentleman possessed of no private means, but enjoying a
lucrative practice, which had enabled him to maintain and
educate a family with all the advantages which money can
give in this country. Mark was his eldest son and second
child ; and the first page or two of this narrative must be
consumed in giving a catalogue of the good things which
chance and conduct together had heaped upon this young
man's head.

His first step forward in life had arisen from his having
been sent, while still very young, as a private pupil to the
house of a clergyman, who was an old friend and intimate
friend of his father's. This clergyman had one other, and
only one other, pupil — the young Lord Lufton, and be-
tween the two boys there had sprung up a close alliance.

While they were both so placed, Lady Lufton had visit-
ed her son, and then invited young Robarts to pass his next
holidays at Framley Court. This visit was made ; and it
ended in Mark going back to Exeter with a letter full of
praise from the widowed peeress. She had been delight-
ed, she said, in having such a companion for her son, and
expressed a hope that the boys might remain together
during the course of their education. Dr. Robarts was a
man who thought much of the breath of peers and peer-
esses, and was by no means inclined to throw away any
advantage which might arise to his child from such a
friendship. When, therefore, the young lord was sent to
Harrow, Mark Robarts went there also.

A2



10 FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.

That the lord and his friend often quarreled, and occa-
sionally fought — the fact even that for one period of three
months they never spoke to each other — by no means in-
terfered with the doctor's hopes. Mark again and again
staid a fortnight at Framley Court, and Lady Lufton al-
ways wrote about him in the highest terms.

And then the lads went together to Oxford, and here
Mark's good fortune followed him, consisting rather in the
highly respectable manner in which he lived, than in any
wonderful career of collegiate success. His family was
proud of him, and the doctor was always ready to talk of
him to his patients ; not because he was a prizeman, and
had gotten medals and scholarships, but on account of the
excellence of his general conduct. He lived with the best
set, he incurred no debts, he was fond of society — but able
to avoid low society — liked his glass of wine, but was nev-
er known to be drunk ; and, above all things, was one of
the most popular men in the university.

Then came the question of a profession for this young
Hyperion ; and on this subject Dr. Robarts was invited
himself to go over to Framley Court to discuss the matter
with Lady Lufton. Dr. Robarts returned with a very
strong conception that the Church was the profession best
suited to his son.

Lady Lufton had not sent for Dr. Robarts all the way
from Exeter for nothing. The living of Framley was in
the gift of the Lufton family, and the next presentation
would be in Lady Lufton's hands, if it should fall vacant
before the young lord was twenty-five years of age, and in
the young lord's hands if it should fall afterward. But the
mother and the heir consented to give a joint promise to
Dr. Robarts. Now as the present incumbent was over
seventy, and as the living was worth £900 a year, there
could be no doubt as to the eligibility of the clerical pro-
fession.

And I must farther say that the dowager and the doc-
tor were justified in their choice by the life and principles
of the young man — as far as any father can be justified in
choosing such a profession for his son, and as far as any
lay impropriator can be justified in making such a promise.
Had Lady Lufton had a second son, that second son would
probably have had the living, and no one would have
thought it wrong ; certainly not if that second son had
been such a one as Mark Robarts.



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE. 11

Lady Lufton herself was a woman who ' thought much
on religious matters, and would by no means have been
disposed to place any one in a living merely because such
a one had been her son's friend. Her tendencies were
High Church, and she was enabled to perceive that those
of young Mark Robarts ran in the same direction. She
was very desirous that her son should make an associate
of his clergyman, and by this step she would insure, at any
rate, that. She was anxious that the parish vicar should
be one with whom she could herself fully co-operate, and
was perhaps unconsciously wishful that he might in some
measure be subject to her influence. Should she appoint
an elder man, this might probably not be the case to the
same extent ; and should her son have the gift, it might
probably not be the case at all.

And therefore it was resolved that the living should be
given to young Robarts.

He took his degree — not with any brilliancy, but quite
in the manner that his father desired ; he then traveled for
eight or ten months with Lord Lufton and a college don,
and almost immediately after his return home was or-
dained.

The living of Framley is in the diocese of Barchester ;
and, seeing what were Mark's hopes with reference to that
diocese, it was by no means difficult to get him a curacy
within it. But this curacy he w T as not allowed long to fill.
He had not been in it above a twelve-month when poor old
Dr. Stopford, the then vicar of Framley, was gathered to
his fathers, and the full fruition of his rich hopes fell upon
his shoulders.

But even yet more must be told of his good fortune be-
fore Ave can come to the actual incidents of our story.
Lady Lufton, Avho, as I have said, thought much of clerical
matters, did not carry her High-Church principles so far as
to advocate celibacy for the clergy. On the contrary, she
had an idea that a man could not be a good parish parson
without a wife. So, having given to her favorite a posi-
tion in the world, and an income sufficient for a gentle-
man's wants, she set herself to work to find him a partner
in those blessings.

And here also, as in other matters, he fell in with the
views of his patroness — not, however, that they were de-
clared to him in that marked manner in which the affair



12 FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.

of the living had been broached. Lady Lufton was much
too highly gifted with woman's craft for that. She never
told the young vicar that Miss Monsell accompanied her
ladyship's married daughter to Framley Court expressly
that he, Mark, might fall in love with her; but such was
in truth the case.

Lady Lufton had but two children. The eldest, a daugh-
ter, had been married some four or live years to Sir George
Meredith, and this Miss Monsell was a dear friend of hers.
And now looms before me the novelist's great difficulty.
Miss Monsell — or, rather, Mrs. Mark Robarts — must be de-
scribed. As Miss Monsell our tale will have to take no
prolonged note of her. And yet we will call her Fanny
Monsell, when we declare that she was one of the pleasant-
est companions that could be brought near to a man, as
the future partner of his home and owner of his heart.
And if high principles without asperity, female gentleness
without weakness, a love of laughter without malice, and
a true loving heart, can qualify a woman to be a parson's
wife, then was Fanny Monsell qualified to fill that station.

In person she was somewhat larger than common. Her
face would have been beautiful but that her mouth was
large. Her hair, which was copious, was of a light brown ;
her eyes were also brown, and, being so, were the distinct-
ive feature of her face, for brown eyes are not common.
They were liquid, large, and full either of tenderness or
of mirth. Mark Robarts still had his accustomed luck,
when such a girl as this was brought to Framley for his
wooing.

And he did woo her — and won her. For Mark himself
was a handsome fellow. At this time the vicar was about
twenty-five years of age, and the future Mrs. Robarts was
two or three years younger. Nor did she come quite
empty-handed to the vicarage. It can not be said that
Fanny Monsell was an heiress, but she had been left with
a provision of some few thousand pounds. This was so
settled that the interest of his wife's money paid the heavy
insurance on his life which young Robarts effected, and
there was left to him, over and above, sufficient to furnish
his parsonage in the very best style of clerical comfort,
and to start him on the road of life rejoicing.

So much did Lady Lufton do for her protegee, and it may
well be imagined that the Devonshire physician, sitting med-



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE. 13

itative over his parlor fire, looking back, as men will look
back on the upshot of their life, was well contented with
that upshot as regarded his eldest offshoot, the Rev. Mark
Robarts, the Vicar of Frarnley.

But little has as yet been said, personally, as to our hero
himself, and perhaps it may not be necessary to say much.
Let us hope that by degrees he may come forth upon the
canvas, showing to the beholder the nature of the man in-
wardly and outwardly. Here it may suffice to say that he
was no born heaven's cherub, neither was he a born fallen
devil's spirit. Such as his training made him, such he was.
He had large capabilities for good — and aptitudes also for
evil, quite enough : quite enough to make it needful that
he should repel temptation as temptation only can be re-
pelled. Much had been done to spoil him, but in the ordi-
nary acceptation of the word he was not spoiled. He had
too much tact, too much common sense, to believe himself
to be the paragon which his mother thought him. Self-
conceit was not, perhaps, his greatest danger. Had he
possessed more of it, he might have been a less agreeable
man, but his course before him might on that account have
been the safer.

In person he was manly, tall, and fair-haired, with a
square forehead, denoting intelligence rather than thought,
with clear white hands, filbert nails, and a power of dress-
ing himself in such a manner that no one should ever ob-
serve of him that his clothes were either good or bad, shab-
by or smart.

Such was Mark Robarts when at the age of twenty-five,
or a little more, he married Fanny Monsell. The marriage
was celebrated in his own church, for Miss Monsell had no
home of her own, and had been staying for the last three
months at Framley Court. She was given away by Sir
George Meredith, and Lady Lufton herself saw that the
wedding was what it should be with almost as much care
as she had bestowed on that of her own daughter. The
deed of marrying, the absolute tying of the knot, was per-
formed by the Very Reverend the Dean of Barchester, an
esteemed friend of Lady Lufton's. And Mrs. Arabin, the
dean's wife, was of the party, though the distance from
Barchester to Framley is long, and the roads deep, and no
railway lends its assistance. And Lord Lufton was there,
of course ; and people protested that he would surely fall



14 FEAMLEY PAESONAGE.

in love with one of the four beautiful bridesmaids, of whom
Blanche Robarts, the vicar's second sister, was by common
acknowledgment by far the most beautiful.

And there was there another and a younger sister of
Mark's — who did not officiate at the ceremony though she
was present — and of whom no prediction was made, seeing
that she was then only sixteen, but of whom mention is
made here, as it will come to pass that my readers will
know her hereafter. Her name was Lucy Robarts.

And then the vicar and his wife went off on their wed-
ding tour, the old curate taking care of the Framley souls
the while.

And in due time they returned ; and after a farther in-
terval, in due course, a child was born to them ; and then
another ; and after that came the period at which we will
begin our story. But before doing so, may I not assert
that all men were right in saying all manner of good things
to the Devonshire physician, and in praising his luck in
having such a son ?

"You were up at the house to-day, I suppose?" said
Mark to his wife, as he sat stretching himself in an easy
chair in the drawing-room before the fire previously to his
dressing for dinner. It was a November evening, and he
had been out all day, and on such occasions the aptitude
for delay in dressing is very powerful. A strong-minded
man goes direct from the hall door to his chamber without
encountering the temptation of the drawing-room fire.

" No ; but Lady Lufton was down here."

" Full of arguments in favor of Sarah Thompson ?"

"Exactly so, Mark."

" And what did you say about Sarah Thompson ?"

" Very little as coming from myself; but I did hint that
you thought, or that I thought that you thought, that one
of the regular trained school-mistresses would be better."

" But her ladyship did not agree ?"

" Well, I won't exactly say that ; though I think that
perhaps she did not."

" I am sure she did not. When she has a point to carry
she is very fond of carrying it."

" But then, Mark, her points are generally so good."

" But, you see, in this affair of the school she is thinking
more of her protegee than she does of the children."

" Tell her that, and I am sure she will give way."



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE. 15

And then again they were both silent. And the vicar
having thoroughly warmed himself, as far as this might be
done by facing the fire, turned round and began the opera-
tion a tergo.

" Come, Mark, it is twenty minutes past six. Will you
go and dress ?"

" I'll tell you what, Fanny ; she must have her way about
Sarah Thompson. You can see her to-morrow and tell
her so."

" I am sure, Mark, I would not give way if I thought it
wrong. Nor would she expect it."

" If I persist this time I shall certainly have to yield
the next ; and then the next may probably be more impor-
tant."

" But if it's wrong, Mark ?"

" I didn't say it was wrong. Besides, if it is wrong,
wrong in some infinitesimal degree, one must put up with
it. Sarah Thompson is very respectable ; the only question
is whether she can teach."

The young wife, though she did not say so, had some
idea that her husband was in error. It is true that one
must put up with wrong — with a great deal of wrong.
But no one need put up with wrong that he can remedy.
Why should he, the vicar, consent to receive an incompe-
tent teacher for the parish children, when he was able to
procure one that was competent? In such a case — so
thought Mrs. Robarts to herself — she would have fought
the matter out with Lady Lufton.

On the next morning, however, she did as she was bid,
and signified to the dowager that all objection to Sarah
Thompson would be withdrawn.

"Ah! I was sure he would agree with me," said her
ladyship, " when he learned what sort of person she is. I
knew I had only to explain ;" and then she plumed her
feathers, and was very gracious ; for, to tell the truth, Lady
Lufton did not like to be opposed in things which concern-
ed the parish nearly.

" And, Fanny," said Lady Lufton, in her kindest man .
ner, " you are not going any where on Saturday, are you ?"

" No, I think not."

"Then you must come to us. Justinia is to be here,
you know" — Lady Meredith was named Justinia — "and
you and Mr. Robarts had better stay with us till Monday.



16 FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.

He can have the little book-room all to himself on Sunday.
The Merediths go on Monday ; and Justinia won't be hap-
py if you are not with her."

It would be unjust to say that Lady Lufton had determ-
ined not to invite theRobarts's if she were not allowed to
have her own way about Sarah Thompson. But such
would have been the result. As it was, however, she was
all kindness ; and when Mrs. Robarts made some little ex-
cuse, saying that she was afraid she must return home in
the evening because of the children, Lady Lufton declared
that there was room enough at Framley Court for baby
and nurse, and so settled the matter in her own way, with
a couple of nods and three taps of her umbrella.

This was on Tuesday morning, and on the same evening,
before dinner, the vicar again seated himself in the same
chair before the drawing-room fire, as soon as he had seen
his horse led into the stable.

"Mark," said his wife, "the Merediths are to be at
Framley on Saturday and Sunday; and I have promised
that we will go up and stay over till Monday."

" You don't mean it ! Goodness gracious, how provok-
ing!"

" Why ? I thought you wouldn't mind it. And Jus-
tinia would think it unkind if I were not there."

" You can go, my dear, and of course will go. But as
for me, it is impossible."

"But why, love?"

"Why? Just now, at the school-house, I answered a
letter that was brought to me from Chaldicotes. Sowerby
insists on my going over there for a week or so; and I
have said that I would."

" Go to Chaldicotes for a week, Mark ?"

" I believe I have even consented to ten days."

" And be away two Sundays ?"

" No, Fanny, only one. Don't be so censorious."

" Don't call me censorious, Mark ; you know I am not
so. But I am so sorry. It is just what Lady Lufton
won't like. Besides, you were away in Scotland two Sun-
days last month."

" In September, Fanny. And that is being censorious."

"Oh, but, Mark, dear Mark! don't say so. You know
I don't mean it. But Lady Lufton does not like those
Chaldicotes people. You know Lord Lufton was with



FRAMLEY PARSONAGE. 17

you the last time you were there ; and how annoyed she
was !"

"Lord Lufton won't be with me now, for he is still in
Scotland. And the reason why I am going is this : Har-
old Smith and his wife will be there, and I am very anx-
ious to know more 'of them. I have no doubt that Harold
Smith will be in the government some day, and I can not
afford to neglect such a man's acquaintance."

" But, Mark, what do you want of any government ?"

" Well, Fanny, of course I am bound to say that I want
nothing; neither in one sense do I; but nevertheless I
shall go and meet the Harold Smiths."

" Could you not be back before Sunday ?"

"I have promised to preach at Chaldicotes. Harold
Smith is going to lecture at Barchester about the Austral-
asian archipelago, and I am to preach a charity sermon on
the same subject. They want to send out more missiona-
ries."

" A charity sermon at Chaldicotes !"

" And why not ? The house will be quite full, you know ;
and I dare say the Arabins will be there."

" I think not ; Mrs. Arabin may get on with Mrs. Harold
Smith, though I doubt that; but I'm sure she's not fond
of Mrs. Smith's brother. I don't think she would stay at
Chaldicotes."

"And the bishop will probably be there for a day or
two."

" That is much more likely, Mark. If the pleasure of
meeting Mrs. Proudie is taking you to Chaldicotes, I have
not a word more to say."

" I am not a bit more fond of Mrs. Proudie than you
are, Fanny," said the vicar, with something like vexation
in the tone of his voice, for he thought that his wife was
hard upon him. " But it is generally thought that a parish
clergyman does well to meet his bishop now and then.
And as I was invited there especially to preach while all
these people are staying at the place, I could not well re-
fuse." And then he got up, and, taking his candlestick, es-
caped to his dressing-room.

" But what am I to say to Lady Lufton ?" his wife said
to him in the course of the evening.

" Just write her a note, and tell her that you find I had
promised to preach at Chaldicotes next Sunday. You'll
go, of course."



18 FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.

a Yes : but I know she'll be annoyed. You were away
the last time she had people there."

" It can't be helped. She must put it down against Sa-
rah Thompson. She ought not to expect to win always."

" I should not have minded it if she had lost, as you call
it, about Sarah Thompson. That was a case in which you
ought to have had your own way."

" And this other is a case in which I shall have it. It's
a pity that there should be such a difference — isn't it ?"

Then the wife perceived that, vexed as she was, it would
be better that she should say nothing farther ; and before
she went to bed she wrote the note to Lady Lufton, as her
husband recommended.



CHAPTER II.

THE FRAMLEY SET AND THE CHALDICOTES SET.

It will be necessary that I should say a word or two of
some of the people named in the few preceding pages, and
also of the localities in which they lived.

Of Lady Lufton herself enough, perhaps, has been writ-
ten to introduce her to our readers. The Framley proper-
ty belonged to her son; but as Lufton Park — an ancient