Of Family Matters, Cares, Hopes, Disappointments,and Sorrows.

　　Although Mrs Nickleby had been made acquainted by herson and daughter with every circumstance of MadelineBray’s history which was known to them; although theresponsible situation in which Nicholas stood had been carefullyexplained to her, and she had been prepared, even for the possiblecontingency of having to receive the young lady in her own house,improbable as such a result had appeared only a few minutesbefore it came about, still, Mrs Nickleby, from the moment whenthis confidence was first reposed in her, late on the previousevening, had remained in an unsatisfactory and profoundlymystified state, from which no explanations or arguments couldrelieve her, and which every fresh soliloquy and reflection onlyaggravated more and more.

　　‘Bless my heart, Kate!’ so the good lady argued; ‘if the MrCheerybles don’t want this young lady to be married, why don’tthey file a bill against the Lord Chancellor, make her a Chanceryward, and shut her up in the Fleet prison for safety?—I have readof such things in the newspapers a hundred times. Or, if they areso very fond of her as Nicholas says they are, why don’t they marryher themselves—one of them I mean? And even supposing theydon’t want her to be married, and don’t want to marry herthemselves, why in the name of wonder should Nicholas go aboutthe world, forbidding people’s banns?’

　　  1013‘I don’t think you quite understand,’ said Kate, gently.

　　‘Well I am sure, Kate, my dear, you’re very polite!’ replied MrsNickleby. ‘I have been married myself I hope, and I have seenother people married. Not understand, indeed!’

　　‘I know you have had great experience, dear mama,’ said Kate;‘I mean that perhaps you don’t quite understand all thecircumstances in this instance. We have stated them awkwardly, Idare say.’

　　‘That I dare say you have,’ retorted her mother, briskly. ‘That’svery likely. I am not to be held accountable for that; though, at thesame time, as the circumstances speak for themselves, I shall takethe liberty, my love, of saying that I do understand them, andperfectly well too; whatever you and Nicholas may choose to thinkto the contrary. Why is such a great fuss made because this MissMagdalen is going to marry somebody who is older than herself?

　　Your poor papa was older than I was, four years and a half older.

　　Jane Dibabs—the Dibabses lived in the beautiful little thatchedwhite house one story high, covered all over with ivy and creepingplants, with an exquisite little porch with twining honysuckles andall sorts of things: where the earwigs used to fall into one’s tea on asummer evening, and always fell upon their backs and kickeddreadfully, and where the frogs used to get into the rushlightshades when one stopped all night, and sit up and look throughthe little holes like Christians—Jane Dibabs, she married a manwho was a great deal older than herself, and would marry him,notwithstanding all that could be said to the contrary, and she wasso fond of him that nothing was ever equal to it. There was no fussmade about Jane Dibabs, and her husband was a most honourableand excellent man, and everybody spoke well of him. Then why  1014should there by any fuss about this Magdalen?’

　　‘Her husband is much older; he is not her own choice; hischaracter is the very reverse of that which you have just described.

　　Don’t you see a broad distinction between the two cases?’ saidKate.

　　To this, Mrs Nickleby only replied that she durst say she wasvery stupid, indeed she had no doubt she was, for her ownchildren almost as much as told her so, every day of her life; to besure she was a little older than they, and perhaps some foolishpeople might think she ought reasonably to know best. However,no doubt she was wrong; of course she was; she always was, shecouldn’t be right, she couldn’t be expected to be; so she had betternot expose herself any more; and to all Kate’s conciliations andconcessions for an hour ensuing, the good lady gave no otherreplies than Oh, certainly, why did they ask her?, her opinion wasof no consequence, it didn’t matter what she said, with many otherrejoinders of the same class.

　　In this frame of mind (expressed, when she had become tooresigned for speech, by nods of the head, upliftings of the eyes,and little beginnings of groans, converted, as they attractedattention, into short coughs), Mrs Nickleby remained untilNicholas and Kate returned with the object of their solicitude;when, having by this time asserted her own importance, andbecoming besides interested in the trials of one so young andbeautiful, she not only displayed the utmost zeal and solicitude,but took great credit to herself for recommending the course ofprocedure which her son had adopted: frequently declaring, withan expressive look, that it was very fortunate things were AS theywere: and hinting, that but for great encouragement and wisdom  1015on her own part, they never could have been brought to that pass.

　　Not to strain the question whether Mrs Nickleby had or had notany great hand in bringing matters about, it is unquestionable thatshe had strong ground for exultation. The brothers, on theirreturn, bestowed such commendations on Nicholas for the part hehad taken, and evinced so much joy at the altered state of eventsand the recovery of their young friend from trials so great anddangers so threatening, that, as she more than once informed herdaughter, she now considered the fortunes of the family ‘as goodas’ made. Mr Charles Cheeryble, indeed, Mrs Nickleby positivelyasserted, had, in the first transports of his surprise and delight, ‘asgood as’ said so. Without precisely explaining what thisqualification meant, she subsided, whenever she mentioned thesubject, into such a mysterious and important state, and had suchvisions of wealth and dignity in perspective, that (vague andclouded though they were) she was, at such times, almost as happyas if she had really been permanently provided for, on a scale ofgreat splendour.

　　The sudden and terrible shock she had received, combinedwith the great affliction and anxiety of mind which she had, for along time, endured, proved too much for Madeline’s strength.

　　Recovering from the state of stupefaction into which the suddendeath of her father happily plunged her, she only exchanged thatcondition for one of dangerous and active illness. When thedelicate physical powers which have been sustained by anunnatural strain upon the mental energies and a resolutedetermination not to yield, at last give way, their degree ofprostration is usually proportionate to the strength of the effortwhich has previously upheld them. Thus it was that the illness  1016which fell on Madeline was of no slight or temporary nature, butone which, for a time, threatened her reason, and—scarcelyworse—her life itself.

　　Who, slowly recovering from a disorder so severe anddangerous, could be insensible to the unremitting attentions ofsuch a nurse as gentle, tender, earnest Kate? On whom could thesweet soft voice, the light step, the delicate hand, the quiet,cheerful, noiseless discharge of those thousand little offices ofkindness and relief which we feel so deeply when we are ill, andforget so lightly when we are well—on whom could they make sodeep an impression as on a young heart stored with every pureand true affection that women cherish; almost a stranger to theendearments and devotion of its own sex, save as it learnt themfrom itself; and rendered, by calamity and suffering, keenlysusceptible of the sympathy so long unknown and so long soughtin vain? What wonder that days became as years in knitting themtogether! What wonder, if with every hour of returning health,there came some stronger and sweeter recognition of the praiseswhich Kate, when they recalled old scenes—they seemed old now,and to have been acted years ago—would lavish on her brother!

　　Where would have been the wonder, even, if those praises hadfound a quick response in the breast of Madeline, and if, with theimage of Nicholas so constantly recurring in the features of hissister that she could scarcely separate the two, she had sometimesfound it equally difficult to assign to each the feelings they hadfirst inspired, and had imperceptibly mingled with her gratitude toNicholas, some of that warmer feeling which she had assigned toKate?

　　‘My dear,’ Mrs Nickleby would say, coming into the room with  1017an elaborate caution, calculated to discompose the nerves of aninvalid rather more than the entry of a horse-soldier at full gallop;‘how do you find yourself tonight? I hope you are better.’

　　‘Almost well, mama,’ Kate would reply, laying down her work,and taking Madeline’s hand in hers.

　　‘Kate!’ Mrs Nickleby would say, reprovingly, ‘don’t talk so loud’

　　(the worthy lady herself talking in a whisper that would havemade the blood of the stoutest man run cold in his veins).

　　Kate would take this reproof very quietly, and Mrs Nickleby,making every board creak and every thread rustle as she movedstealthily about, would add:

　　‘My son Nicholas has just come home, and I have come,according to custom, my dear, to know, from your own lips,exactly how you are; for he won’t take my account, and never will.’

　　‘He is later than usual to-night,’ perhaps Madeline would reply.

　　‘Nearly half an hour.’

　　‘Well, I never saw such people in all my life as you are, for time,up here!’ Mrs Nickleby would exclaim in great astonishment; ‘Ideclare I never did! I had not the least idea that Nicholas was afterhis time, not the smallest. Mr Nickleby used to say—your poorpapa, I am speaking of, Kate my dear—used to say, that appetitewas the best clock in the world, but you have no appetite, my dearMiss Bray, I wish you had, and upon my word I really think youought to take something that would give you one. I am sure I don’tknow, but I have heard that two or three dozen native lobstersgive an appetite, though that comes to the same thing after all, forI suppose you must have an appetite before you can take ’em. If Isaid lobsters, I meant oysters, but of course it’s all the same,though really how you came to know about Nicholas—’

　　  1018‘We happened to be just talking about him, mama; that was it.’

　　‘You never seem to me to be talking about anything else, Kate,and upon my word I am quite surprised at your being so verythoughtless. You can find subjects enough to talk aboutsometimes, and when you know how important it is to keep upMiss Bray’s spirits, and interest her, and all that, it really is quiteextraordinary to me what can induce you to keep on prose, prose,prose, din, din, din, everlastingly, upon the same theme. You are avery kind nurse, Kate, and a very good one, and I know you meanvery well; but I will say this—that if it wasn’t for me, I really don’tknow what would become of Miss Bray’s spirits, and so I tell thedoctor every day. He says he wonders how I sustain my own, and Iam sure I very often wonder myself how I can contrive to keep upas I do. Of course it’s an exertion, but still, when I know how muchdepends upon me in this house, I am obliged to make it. There’snothing praiseworthy in that, but it’s necessary, and I do it.’

　　With that, Mrs Nickleby would draw up a chair, and for somethree-quarters of an hour run through a great variety ofdistracting topics in the most distracting manner possible; tearingherself away, at length, on the plea that she must now go andamuse Nicholas while he took his supper. After a preliminaryraising of his spirits with the information that she considered thepatient decidedly worse, she would further cheer him up byrelating how dull, listless, and low-spirited Miss Bray was, becauseKate foolishly talked about nothing else but him and familymatters. When she had made Nicholas thoroughly comfortablewith these and other inspiriting remarks, she would discourse atlength on the arduous duties she had performed that day; and,sometimes, be moved to tears in wondering how, if anything were  1019to happen to herself, the family would ever get on without her.

　　At other times, when Nicholas came home at night, he would beaccompanied by Mr Frank Cheeryble, who was commissioned bythe brothers to inquire how Madeline was that evening. On suchoccasions (and they were of very frequent occurrence), MrsNickleby deemed it of particular importance that she should haveher wits about her; for, from certain signs and tokens which hadattracted her attention, she shrewdly suspected that Mr Frank,interested as his uncles were in Madeline, came quite as much tosee Kate as to inquire after her; the more especially as thebrothers were in constant communication with the medical man,came backwards and forwards very frequently themselves, andreceived a full report from Nicholas every morning. These wereproud times for Mrs Nickleby; never was anybody half so discreetand sage as she, or half so mysterious withal; and never were theresuch cunning generalship, and such unfathomable designs, as shebrought to bear upon Mr Frank, with the view of ascertainingwhether her suspicions were well founded: and if so, of tantalisinghim into taking her into his confidence and throwing himself uponher merciful consideration. Extensive was the artillery, heavy andlight, which Mrs Nickleby brought into play for the furtherance ofthese great schemes; various and opposite the means which sheemployed to bring about the end she had in view. At one time, shewas all cordiality and ease; at another, all stiffness and frigidity.

　　Now, she would seem to open her whole heart to her unhappyvictim; the next time they met, she would receive him with themost distant and studious reserve, as if a new light had broken inupon her, and, guessing his intentions, she had resolved to checkthem in the bud; as if she felt it her bounden duty to act with  1020Spartan firmness, and at once and for ever to discourage hopeswhich never could be realised. At other times, when Nicholas wasnot there to overhear, and Kate was upstairs busily tending hersick friend, the worthy lady would throw out dark hints of anintention to send her daughter to France for three or four years, orto Scotland for the improvement of her health impaired by her latefatigues, or to America on a visit, or anywhere that threatened along and tedious separation. Nay, she even went so far as to hint,obscurely, at an attachment entertained for her daughter by theson of an old neighbour of theirs, one Horatio Peltirogus (a younggentleman who might have been, at that time, four years old, orthereabouts), and to represe............