The idea of a residence at Nuncombe Putney had occurred first to Trevelyan himself, and he had spoken of it to Hugh Stanbury. There had been some difficulty in this, because he had snubbed Stanbury grievously when his friend had attempted to do some work of gentle interference between him and his wife; and when he began the conversation, he took the trouble of stating, in the first instance, that the separation was a thing fixed—so that nothing might be urged on that subject. “It is to be. You will understand that,” he said; “and if you think that your mother would agree to the arrangement, it would be satisfactory to me, and might, I think, be made pleasant to her. Of course, your mother would be made to understand that the only fault with which my wife is charged is that of indomitable disobedience to my wishes.”
“Incompatibility of temper,” suggested Stanbury.
“You may call it that if you please;—though I must say for myself that I do not think that I have displayed any temper to which a woman has a right to object.” Then he had gone on to explain what he was prepared to do about money. He would pay, through Stanbury’s hands, so much for maintenance and so much for house rent, on the understanding that the money was not to go into his wife’s hands. “I shall prefer,” he said, “to make myself, on her behalf, what disbursements may be necessary. I will take care that she receives a proper sum quarterly through Mr. Bideawhile for her own clothes—and for those of our poor boy.” Then Stanbury had told him of the Clock House, and there had been an agreement made between them;—an agreement which was then, of course, subject to the approval of the ladies at Nuncombe Putney. When the suggestion was made to Mrs. Trevelyan—with a proposition that the Clock House should be taken for one year, and that for that year, at least, her boy should remain with her—she assented to it. She did so with all the calmness that she was able to assume; but, in truth, almost everything seemed to have been gained, when she found that she was not to be separated from her baby. “I have no objection to living in Devonshire if Mr. Trevelyan wishes it,” she said, in her most stately manner; “and certainly no objection to living with Mr. Stanbury’s mother.” Then Mr. Bideawhile explained to her that Nuncombe Putney was not a large town—was, in fact, a very small and a very remote village. “That will make no difference whatsoever as far as I am concerned,” she answered; “and as for my sister, she must put up with it till my father and my mother are here. I believe the scenery at Nuncombe Putney is very pretty.” “Lovely!” said Mr. Bideawhile, who had a general idea that Devonshire is supposed to be a picturesque county. “With such a life before me as I must lead,” continued Mrs. Trevelyan, “an ugly neighbourhood, one that would itself have had no interest for a stranger, would certainly have been an additional sorrow.” So it had been settled, and by the end of July, Mrs. Trevelyan, with her sister and baby, was established at the Clock House, under the protection of Mrs. Stanbury. Mrs. Trevelyan had brought down her own maid and her own nurse, and had found that the arrangements made by her husband had, in truth, been liberal. The house in Curzon Street had been given up, the furniture had been sent to a warehouse, and Mr. Trevelyan had gone into lodgings. “There never were two young people so insane since the world began,” said Lady Milborough to her old friend, Mrs. Fairfax, when the thing was done.
“They will be together again before next April,” Mrs. Fairfax had replied. But Mrs. Fairfax was a jolly dame who made the best of everything. Lady Milborough raised her hands in despair, and shook her head. “I don’t suppose, though, that Mr. Glascock will go to Devonshire after his lady love,” said Mrs. Fairfax. Lady Milborough again raised her hands, and again shook her head.
Mrs. Stanbury had given an easy assent when her son proposed to her this new mode of life, but Priscilla had had her doubts. Like all women, she thought that when a man was to be separated from his wife, the woman must be in the wrong. And though it must be doubtless comfortable to go from the cottage to the Clock House, it would, she said, with much prudence, be very uncomfortable to go back from the Clock House to the cottage. Hugh replied very cavalierly—generously, that is, rashly, and somewhat impetuously—that he would guarantee them against any such degradation.
“We don’t want to be a burden upon you, my dear,” said the mother.
“You would be a great burden on me,” he replied, “if you were living uncomfortably while I am able to make you comfortable.”
Mrs. Stanbury
