Chapter IV

The flight of Marionetta, and the pursuit of Scythrop, had been

witnessed by Mr Glowry, who, in consequence, narrowly observed his son

and his niece in the evening; and, concluding from their manner, that

there was a better understanding between them than he wished to see,

he determined on obtaining the next morning from Scythrop a full and

satisfactory explanation. He, therefore, shortly after breakfast,

entered Scythrop's tower, with a very grave face, and said, without

ceremony or preface, 'So, sir, you are in love with your cousin.'

Scythrop, with as little hesitation, answered, 'Yes, sir.'

'That is candid, at least; and she is in love with you.'

'I wish she were, sir.'

'You know she is, sir.'

'Indeed, sir, I do not.'

'But you hope she is.'

'I do, from my soul.'

'Now that is very provoking, Scythrop, and very disappointing: I could

not have supposed that you, Scythrop Glowry, of Nightmare Abbey,

would have been infatuated with such a dancing, laughing, singing,

thoughtless, careless, merry-hearted thing, as Marionetta--in all

respects the reverse of you and me. It is very disappointing,

Scythrop. And do you know, sir, that Marionetta has no fortune?'

'It is the more reason, sir, that her husband should have one.'

'The more reason for her; but not for you. My wife had no fortune, and

I had no consolation in my calamity. And do you reflect, sir, what an

enormous slice this lawsuit has cut out of our family estate? we who

used to be the greatest landed proprietors in Lincolnshire.'

'To be sure, sir, we had more acres of fen than any man on this

coast: but what are fens to love? What are dykes and windmills to

Marionetta?'

'And what, sir, is love to a windmill? Not grist, I am certain:

besides, sir, I have made a choice for you. I have made a choice for

you, Scythrop. Beauty, genius, accomplishments, and a great fortune

into the bargain. Such a lovely, serious creature, in a fine state of

high dissatisfaction with the world, and every thing in it. Such a

delightful surprise I had prepared for you. Sir, I have pledged my

honour to the contract--the honour of the Glowries of Nightmare Abbey:

and now, sir, what is to be done?'

'Indeed, sir, I cannot say. I claim, on this occasion, that liberty of

action which is the co-natal prerogative of every rational being.'

'Liberty of action, sir? there is no such thing as liberty of action.

We are all slaves and puppets of a blind and unpathetic necessity.'

'Very true, sir; but liberty of action, between individuals, consists

in their being differently influenced, or modified, by the same

universal necessity; so that the results are unconsentaneous, and

their respective necessitated volitions clash and fly off in a

tangent.'

'Your logic is good, sir: but you are aware, too, that one individual

may be a medium of adhibiting to another a mode or form of necessity,

which may have more or less influence in the production of

consentaneity; and, therefore, sir, if you do not comply with my

wishes in this instance (you have had your own way in every thing

else), I shall be under the necessity of disinheriting you, though

I shall do it with tears in my eyes.' Having said these words, he

vanished suddenly, in the dread of Scythrop's logic.

Mr Glowry immediately sought Mrs Hilary, and communicated to her his

views of the case in point. Mrs Hilary, as the phrase is, was as fond

of Marionetta as if she had been her own child: but--there is always a

but on these occasions--she could do nothing for her in the way

of fortune, as she had two hopeful sons, who were finishing their

education at Brazen-nose, and who would not like to encounter any

diminution of their prospects, when they should be brought out of the

house of mental bondage--i.e. the university--to the land flowing with

milk and honey--i.e. the west end of London.

Mrs Hilary hinted to Marionetta, that propriety, and delicacy, and

decorum, and dignity, &c. &c. &c.,[3] would require them to leave the

Abbey immediately. Marionetta listened in silent submission, for she

knew that her inheritance was passive obedience; but, when Scythrop,

who had watched the opportunity of Mrs Hilary's departure, entered,

and, without speaking a word, threw himself at her feet in a paroxysm

of grief, the young lady, in equal silence and sorrow, threw her arms

round his neck and burst into tears. A very tender scene ensued, which

the sympathetic susceptibilities of the soft-hearted reader can more

accurately imagine than we can delineate. But when Marionetta hinted

that she was to leave the Abbey immediately, Scythrop snatched from

its repository his ancestor's skull, filled it with Madeira, and

presenting himself before Mr Glowry, threatened to drink off the

contents if Mr Glowry did not immediately promise that Marionetta

should not be taken from the Abbey without her own consent. Mr Glowry,

who took the Madeira to be some deadly brewage, gave the required

promise in dismal panic. Scythrop returned to Marionetta with a joyful

heart, and drank the Madeira by the way.

Mr Glowry, during his residence in London, had come to an agreement

with his friend Mr Toobad, that a match between Scythrop and Mr

Toobad's daughter would be a very desirable occurrence. She was

finishing her education in a German convent, but Mr Toobad described

her as being fully impressed with the truth of his Ahrimanic

philosophy,[4] and being altogether as gloomy and antithalian a young

lady as Mr Glowry himself could desire for the future mistress of

Nightmare Abbey. She had a great fortune in her own right, which was

not, as we have seen, without its weight in inducing Mr Glowry to

set his heart upon her as his daughter-in-law that was to be; he was

therefore very much disturbed by Scythrop's untoward attachment to

Marionetta. He condoled on the occasion with Mr Toobad; who said, that

he had been too long accustomed to the intermeddling of the devil in

all his affairs, to be astonished at this new trace of his cloven

claw; but that he hoped to outwit him yet, for he was sure there could

be no comparison between his daughter and Marionetta in the mind of

any one who had a proper perception of the fact, that, the world

being a great theatre of evil, seriousness and solemnity are the

characteristics of wisdom, and laughter and merriment make a human

being no better than a baboon. Mr Glowry comforted himself with this

view of the subject, and urged Mr Toobad to expedite his daughter's

return from Germany. Mr Toobad said he was in daily expectation of her

arrival in London, and would set off immediately to meet her, that

he might lose no time in bringing her to Nightmare Abbey. 'Then,' he

added, 'we shall see whether Thalia or Melpomene--whether the Allegra

or the Penserosa--will carry off the symbol of victory.'--'There can

be no doubt,' said Mr Glowry, 'which way the scale will incline, or

Scythrop is no true scion of the venerable stem of the Glowries.'

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