CHAPTER I You must go back with me to the autumn of 1827 .
My father , as you know , was a sort of gentleman farmer in — shire ; and I , by his express desire , succeeded him in the same quiet occupation , not very willingly , for ambition urged me to higher aims , and self-conceit assured me that , in disregarding its voice , I was burying my talent in the earth , and hiding my light under a bushel .
My mother had done her utmost to persuade me that I was capable of great achievements ; but my father , who thought ambition was the surest road to ruin , and change but another word for destruction , would listen to no scheme for bettering either my own condition , or that of my fellow mortals .
He assured me it was all rubbish , and exhorted me , with his dying breath , to continue in the good old way , to follow his steps , and those of his father before him , and let my highest ambition be to walk honestly through the world , looking neither to the right hand nor to the left , and to transmit the paternal acres to my children in , at least , as flourishing a condition as he left them to me .
‘ Well !
— an honest and industrious farmer is one of the most useful members of society ; and if I devote my talents to the cultivation of my farm , and the improvement of agriculture in general , I shall thereby benefit , not only my own immediate connections and dependants , but , in some degree , mankind at large : — hence I shall not have lived in vain . ’
With such reflections as these I was endeavouring to console myself , as I plodded home from the fields , one cold , damp , cloudy evening towards the close of October .
But the gleam of a bright red fire through the parlour window had more effect in cheering my spirits , and rebuking my thankless repinings , than all the sage reflections and good resolutions I had forced my mind to frame ; — for I was young then , remember — only four-and-twenty — and had not acquired half the rule over my own spirit that I now possess — trifling as that may be .
However , that haven of bliss must not be entered till I had exchanged my miry boots for a clean pair of shoes , and my rough surtout for a respectable coat , and made myself generally presentable before decent society ; for my mother , with all her kindness , was vastly particular on certain points .
In ascending to my room I was met upon the stairs by a smart , pretty girl of nineteen , with a tidy , dumpy figure , a round face , bright , blooming cheeks , glossy , clustering curls , and little merry brown eyes .
I need not tell you this was my sister Rose .
She is , I know , a comely matron still , and , doubtless , no less lovely — in your eyes — than on the happy day you first beheld her .
Nothing told me then that she , a few years hence , would be the wife of one entirely unknown to me as yet , but destined hereafter to become a closer friend than even herself , more intimate than that unmannerly lad of seventeen , by whom I was collared in the passage , on coming down , and well-nigh jerked off my equilibrium , and who , in correction for his impudence , received a resounding whack over the sconce , which , however , sustained no serious injury from the infliction ; as , besides being more than commonly thick , it was protected by a redundant shock of short , reddish curls , that my mother called auburn .
On entering the parlour we found that honoured lady seated in her arm-chair at the fireside , working away at her knitting , according to her usual custom , when she had nothing else to do .
She had swept the hearth , and made a bright blazing fire for our reception ; the servant had just brought in the tea-tray ; and Rose was producing the sugar-basin and tea-caddy from the cupboard in the black oak side-board , that shone like polished ebony , in the cheerful parlour twilight .
‘ Well !
here they both are , ’ cried my mother , looking round upon us without retarding the motion of her nimble fingers and glittering needles .
‘ Now shut the door , and come to the fire , while Rose gets the tea ready ; I ’m sure you must be starved ; — and tell me what you ’ve been about all day ; — I like to know what my children have been about . ’
‘ I ’ve been breaking in the grey colt — no easy business that — directing the ploughing of the last wheat stubble — for the ploughboy has not the sense to direct himself — and carrying out a plan for the extensive and efficient draining of the low meadowlands . ’
‘ That ’s my brave boy !
— and Fergus , what have you been doing ? ’
‘ Badger-baiting . ’
And here he proceeded to give a particular account of his sport , and the respective traits of prowess evinced by the badger and the dogs ; my mother pretending to listen with deep attention , and watching his animated countenance with a degree of maternal admiration I thought highly disproportioned to its object .
‘ It ’s time you should be doing something else , Fergus , ’ said I , as soon as a momentary pause in his narration allowed me to get in a word .
‘ What can I do ? ’
replied he ; ‘ my mother wo n’t let me go to sea or enter the army ; and I ’m determined to do nothing else — except make myself such a nuisance to you all , that you will be thankful to get rid of me on any terms . ’
Our parent soothingly stroked his stiff , short curls .
He growled , and tried to look sulky , and then we all took our seats at the table , in obedience to the thrice-repeated summons of Rose .
‘ Now take your tea , ’ said she ; ‘ and I ’ll tell you what I ’ve been doing .
I ’ve been to call on the Wilsons ; and it ’s a thousand pities you did n’t go with me , Gilbert , for Eliza Millward was there ! ’
‘ Well !
what of her ? ’
‘ Oh , nothing !
— I ’m not going to tell you about her ; — only that she ’s a nice , amusing little thing , when she is in a merry humour , and I should n’t mind calling her — ’ ‘ Hush , hush , my dear !
your brother has no such idea ! ’
whispered my mother earnestly , holding up her finger .
‘ Well , ’ resumed Rose ; ‘ I was going to tell you an important piece of news I heard there — I have been bursting with it ever since .
You know it was reported a month ago , that somebody was going to take Wildfell Hall — and — what do you think ?
It has actually been inhabited above a week !
— and we never knew ! ’
‘ Impossible ! ’
cried my mother .
‘ Preposterous !!! ’
shrieked Fergus .
‘ It has indeed !
— and by a single lady ! ’
‘ Good gracious , my dear !
The place is in ruins ! ’
‘ She has had two or three rooms made habitable ; and there she lives , all alone — except an old woman for a servant ! ’
‘ Oh , dear !
that spoils it — I ’d hoped she was a witch , ’ observed Fergus , while carving his inch-thick slice of bread and butter .
‘ Nonsense , Fergus !
But is n’t it strange , mamma ? ’
‘ Strange !
I can hardly believe it . ’
‘ But you may believe it ; for Jane Wilson has seen her .
She went with her mother , who , of course , when she heard of a stranger being in the neighbourhood , would be on pins and needles till she had seen her and got all she could out of her .
She is called Mrs. Graham , and she is in mourning — not widow ’s weeds , but slightish mourning — and she is quite young , they say , — not above five or six and twenty , — but so reserved !
They tried all they could to find out who she was and where she came from , and , all about her , but neither Mrs. Wilson , with her pertinacious and impertinent home-thrusts , nor Miss Wilson , with her skilful manoeuvring , could manage to elicit a single satisfactory answer , or even a casual remark , or chance expression calculated to allay their curiosity , or throw the faintest ray of light upon her history , circumstances , or connections .
Moreover , she was barely civil to them , and evidently better pleased to say ‘ good-by , ’ than ‘ how do you do . ’
But Eliza Millward says her father intends to call upon her soon , to offer some pastoral advice , which he fears she needs , as , though she is known to have entered the neighbourhood early last week , she did not make her appearance at church on Sunday ; and she — Eliza , that is — will beg to accompany him , and is sure she can succeed in wheedling something out of her — you know , Gilbert , she can do anything .
And we should call some time , mamma ; it ’s only proper , you know . ’
‘ Of course , my dear .
Poor thing !
How lonely she must feel ! ’
‘ And pray , be quick about it ; and mind you bring me word how much sugar she puts in her tea , and what sort of caps and aprons she wears , and all about it ; for I do n’t know how I can live till I know , ’ said Fergus , very gravely .
But if he intended the speech to be hailed as a master-stroke of wit , he signally failed , for nobody laughed .
However , he was not much disconcerted at that ; for when he had taken a mouthful of bread and butter and was about to swallow a gulp of tea , the humour of the thing burst upon him with such irresistible force , that he was obliged to jump up from the table , and rush snorting and choking from the room ; and a minute after , was heard screaming in fearful agony in the garden .
As for me , I was hungry , and contented myself with silently demolishing the tea , ham , and toast , while my mother and sister went on talking , and continued to discuss the apparent or non-apparent circumstances , and probable or improbable history of the mysterious lady ; but I must confess that , after my brother ’s misadventure , I once or twice raised the cup to my lips , and put it down again without daring to taste the contents , lest I should injure my dignity by a similar explosion .