Eveline

Chapter 6

Dr. Brooksted-Hoare was a dapper little man. He came of a medical family. His father had commenced life as assistant to an apothecary and subsequently practiced as such himself. The doctor's curly brown hair, already tinged with gray, was crisply arranged round his small and shapely head. His finely cut features presented nothing in their repose which betrayed his exalted opinion of his own powers or person. When he spoke, however, his animation increased imperceptibly. His mode of expression was adapted to the circumstances of the case. He was obsequiousness itself to the wealthy and the noble-short and terribly decisive to the meek and lowly. He emphasized his opinion with a sort of professional superiority which contrasted quaintly with the careless garrulity of his ordinary conversation. His self-conceit was enormous, and, although a valuable adjunct in his pose before his patients, it raised a sort of hilarious resentment among his professional confreres, who saw through it. Dr. Brooksted-Hoare possessed a large practice as a specialist for the treatment of women and children. He was altogether a professional pet of society in his especial department. His fees were immense, but only commensurate with his consummate self-complacency. He delighted to talk of the duchesses and notables whom he counted among his patients. The pains and sufferings of Royalty were all subservient to his skill. If his communications concerning them were not always exactly correct, they at least served to extend his importance as a specialist.

"I have made a most careful examination in the case of-ahem! — her ladyship-the Countess of Endover-yes-aided by my friend Dr. Proctor here, who is, I believe, your usual family adviser-a most careful and thorough examination. I find-ahem-I find that there is no possible chance of her ladyship ever becoming a mother. A mother-ahem-in her present condition. I have, however, ascertained-ahem-quite beyond the possibility of a doubt, that a trifling-let us say-ahem-a very trivial operation-would remove this-this disability. There is a small ligament which interferes with the proper position of the organs relatively, which interrupts the- ahem-the natural sequence of events. I cannot very well demonstrate this to the lay mind, but Dr. Proctor and myself are in accord that it would be easily and safely removed. Our dear young Countess is in every other way so beautifully and-ahem-so perfectly formed that I have no doubt, if she were willing to submit to this, she would have no cause thereafter to disappoint her lord. Do I make myself clear? It is for her ladyship to decide-ahem."

Here the little man stuck his hands under his coat tails as he balanced himself in front of the fire and reminded one strongly of a bantam cock which contemplated crowing.

Our own family doctor looked anxiously towards me. My husband and my papa looked at one another in mute astonishment.

"The necessities of the case would, of course, entail a little sacrifice of time and comfort on the part of her ladyship. There would be the usual antiseptics to administer, which Dr. Proctor would undertake of course-the slight operation to undergo-ahem-let us say, a week's rest, and all would be in order again."

The Earl looked immensely relieved. He regarded me wistfully. Papa wore an expression of anxiety mingled with doubt. I put an end to the suspense.

"I am ready to undergo the operation as soon as the arrangements can be made. Tomorrow if you will; the sooner the better. I have made up my mind. I will take my chance."

My husband actually shed tears of delight. He pressed my hand. The two doctors beamed graciously upon me. Papa hid his emotion behind a well-affected compliment on my courage. Dr. Brooksted- Hoare hastened to reply.

"Be it so-tomorrow at noon-ahem-I will be at your mansion. Oh, yes, I know the address. Leave all the arrangements to Dr. Proctor. He will, I know, have all in readiness."

The little medico made an entry in his notebook. Then he pompously bowed us all out.

A vision of disappointed sisters, of a cousin remitted to his pothouses and his scum of society, and his little bills, flashed across my placid vision as I took my seat in the carriage, none the easier for the disturbances caused by the exhaustive examination I had undergone.

I had now two great reasons to be satisfied with the resolution I had formed. The earlier intimation I had received from my medical friend was proved without doubt to be correct. The operation, I was informed by both physicians, had been perfectly successful.

"Dr. Proctor says I may sit up today, papa, and I may have what I like in the way of diet."

"I have sent for oysters, my dear Eveline, and Mrs. Lockett will send you up a roast grouse-also a custard pudding of her own especial make."

"How kind of you! Today I shall fare like a queen; but oysters, you know, dear papa, are supposed to stimulate other nerves than those of mere digestion."

"Yes, that is so. I believe I have felt the influence myself, especially when near my dear Eveline. No doubt they have a certain effect as an aphrodisiac. I believe it is on account of the large amount of phosphates they contain. Certain kinds of fish have the same result. The skate, that nutritious but much neglected flat fish, is one of them."

I could not help smiling at the serious professional air he assumed while thus lecturing. I let him see a twinkle in my eyes.

"You mustn't eat oysters, and you mustn't eat skate then, dear papa, when you come near your little Eveline. She has made certain very wise resolutions and she intends to keep them."

He drew a face of such abject dismay that I could not repress a little laugh at his expense.

"You are too cruel, Eveline, my dear child, but perhaps you act for the best. You have a will of your own which hitherto has always led you to avoid pitfalls."

"I did not mean that I would be so terribly severe as altogether to exclude those delicacies from my dear papa's dietary-only that- only-you see, papa-well! We must be careful how we handle things now."

"I have thought much on he same subject. I agree with you, my dear child."

"At the same time, my Charlemagne is a great conqueror. He cannot be expected to go altogether without the reward of his victories."

"I do not understand, my darling, quite what you mean."

"I will try to explain myself, dear papa. When the Emperor Charlemagne first indulged in the luxury of a debauch with his young daughters, you may be sure he was not long in arriving at a complete enjoyment of their charms. Then came a time when the pleasures of dalliance succeeded to the hot lust of passionate desire. No doubt those dutiful recipients of the great man's favors were early indoctrinated in all those auxiliary delights which go to make up the full pleasure of sensual gratification. Do you follow me, dear papa?"

He nodded, drew his chair closer to my bed, and I saw my opportunity. I was not slow to take advantage of it. I only dreaded his terrible disappointment.

"We must be careful. I have fully determined there shall be a direct heir to the Earldom of Endover. I believe in myself. In so doing I already win half the battle. But I will have no weak or ailing offspring of a race which has groveled in all the vices of the Georgian period, whose blood is as putrid as their morals are degenerate.

"My dear Eveline! Are you not a little hard on the Endovers?"

"Hard on them! If you only knew all I have learned concerning them! The men, I mean-the father-the grandfather-the progenitors of this noble, unadulterated family. Why, had the grandfather of my husband not had the good fortune to have hit upon an American millionaire and married the pork slaughters' vulgar daughter, there would not have been an acre left, nor a hearth to warm the vapid blood of his son, less his grandson. No, papa, if I bear a child to succeed to the title and the estates, at least he shall be of strong, sound English blood. You may leave the rest to your little Eveline."

"By God! You are right, my child! I have unbounded confidence in you. But how will you compass all this? How carry out your idea?"

"As I said before, dear papa, leave all to me. I believe I shall succeed in all. I have faith in myself-we shall see. I am going down to Chitterlings. Endover goes with me. We are to have a second honeymoon, he says. There will be at least the horns of a new moon for him, and very little honey for me-the less the better."

"You frighten me, Eveline. I trust all may turn out as you hope."

I indulged in a little quiet laugh. I put forward my lips for a kiss. He bent over me; our lips met. For a second my tongue touched his. His eyes lighted up with passion.

"You must not let me change my position, dear papa. Pull up your chair closer yet-so, that will do."

I gently thrust my right hand from out of the side of the bed. I had arranged a little divertissement for him, which I knew would exactly meet the exigencies of the case. A beautiful white kid glove covered my hand and half my arm, fitting like my own skin. On my wrist sparkled a lovely diamond bracelet, his own gift. He looked down. He beheld the snake-like advance of the little gloved hand, the glistening sheen of the perfumed glove itself.

"Oh, Eveline! All that for me? How deliciously inviting is that beautiful little hand."

He seized it-he covered it with hot kisses.

"We must be careful, dear papa, how we handle things now. Come-let me handle yours. Do you understand better now? Let me give my dear papa all the pleasure my active little fingers can bestow. I am to remain still, but Dr. Proctor says I may use my hands and arms. I want to avail myself of his kind of permission. How stiff it is already! How delicious to feel its long white shaft. Oh! How I long to kiss it! But no! I want-I want to see all your sweet sperm come out. I want to bathe my new glove in it. Let me have this pleasure, dear papa!"

I knew him so well. I was quite aware of his peculiar lechery. I grasped his erected member. He leaned over me. I whispered the old indecencies in his ear-the old invitations in so many crude expressions. I bade him not to spare my nice new glove. He flushed- his lips grew dry and hot. The door was locked-no one had a right to disturb us. I slipped my nimble fingers up and down his darling weapon. I squeezed it. I bore back the loose skin.

"Oh! My child-oh! Ah! You give me an ecstasy of pleasure!"

"Is that nice, dear? You wicked papa! You will spoil my beautiful new glove! You will be coming directly-I know you will. You cannot help it-there! Do I rub this big thing as you like! Oh! How red the top is now! What a contrast with the satin white of my glove! Oh! A little drop already! Quite a beautiful pearl! Oh, papa! There will be a quantity, will there not?"

He breathed hard and bore up towards me. He held back his clothes to avoid the consequences of his discharge. I had my kerchief ready. My hand rapidly manipulated his lovely member. How I doted on the big, impudently obtrusive thing as I shot it up and down! His delight was evident; enjoyment gave expression in his hard stentorian respiration, his open mouth, his upturned eyes. I knew by all the usual symptoms he was on the verge of his climax. It arrived. He straightened himself out. I grasped my victim firmly. He discharged. The hot thick semen came slopping over my hand. My glove slipped about in the steaming overflow. He pushed upwards to meet my rapid movements until he had emitted the last drops. Then he sank back exhausted in his seat.

"Go at once and get a glass of wine, dear papa. I must not have you reduced so much again for a long while to come."

There is no change so beneficial for a convalescent as the sweet country air of the Lake district. The bracing breezes of the Chitterlings would, I hoped, do much for me. Perhaps I expected their influence to be seconded by other and more potent agents. This may well have been. The Earl was with me. Endover was in his gayest humor. The day had been a long and fatiguing one. I begged him to excuse me. I retired early. I told him I felt worn out with fatigue. He wished to rejoin me in my chamber. I begged him to be reasonable. I was so tired. Tomorrow-yes, tomorrow night he should share my bed. My loving arms should reward him for all his forbearance. Yes! We would celebrate our new and second honeymoon. There should be no reason to complain of the coldness of his little wife.

I lay that night awake. I recalled in my mind the many instances of the Earl's indifference; his utter neglect when first, after so brief a period, he had treated me, his wife, as he had so many other women before me when the novelty of possession had worn off. I felt a disgust, a loathing I could not shake off. I thought of his low amours, of all I had heard, of what I knew only too well were his present associations. I remembered the pitiful history which poor Mrs. Hodge had revealed. As I did so, a thought came to my mind with the picture of her tearful earnest face. Did she contemplate a secret and a terrible retribution? Was she capable in her apparent simplicity of so double a scheme? I should know more tomorrow. I would satisfy myself ere I went further in the matter I had in hand.

Poor Mrs. Hodge! Simple Mrs. Hodge! What a cruel fate had left its stain and its memory with her! Only saved from the mire of moral degradation-from absolute destitution-by her strong unscrupulous common sense, she had made her escape in a marriage which, if it was not one of absolutely deep affection, afforded her at once a protection and a home. To her ignorant nature, born and bred among the peasantry of the estate-imbued only with the lowest perceptions of the moral sense, she looked upon her rustic spouse principally as a fine animal who had been the means of giving her two equally fine children and who was a sober and suitable companion in her quiet home. Like a certain class of dependents becoming fast extinct, her destinies were bound up in those of the great family in whose service, and under whose tenure, she and her progenitors had been born and brought up. They made themselves and their interests one with the noble house they served and in reality looked to the prosperity of their lord as a necessary adjunct to their own.

Mrs. Hodge was delighted to see me. We had frequently met since my first and memorable visit. The anxiety of the good woman on the subject we had discussed had by no means subsided, but she had abstained from any very pointed references thereto, merely contenting herself with a sigh and shrug of her broad shoulders, as if to deplore the fact and my want of appreciation of her views on the subject.

On this occasion she was particularly communicative.

"Ah, my lady, those big towns like Liverpool and London; the smoke and the fogs, and the bad air are not doin' your ladyship any good. If I may make so bold, your ladyship is thinner and paler than when you went away."

"You are right, Mrs. Hodge. I have not been very well."

"Nothing like the fresh air here, my lady. In a week you would be a different creature."

"I wish I was a different creature, indeed I do! I am not satisfied with myself, Mrs. Hodge."

"I don't wonder at it. Why, how can you be? And it's not all your own fault either. Ah! Dear me-dear me-what one has to put up with? Now my Jock-why Lor' bless you, my lady, there's no holdin' of him when he's on!"

She had sunk her voice to a mere whisper. She shut the door of the lodge. She came back and placed herself on her knees before me. It was her favorite attitude. There was something comically irresistible in the semi-pleading position she assumed. I laughed softly.

"Why, Mrs. Hodge, your Jock must be a terrible fellow indeed by your description. I should not care to be in your place."

"Wouldn't you, my lady? Sometimes I think you would though. He's not much to look at: only an honest plain-spoken lad, but he's true as steel, and-and he can hold his tongue. He's as silent as the night. That's what he is! Don't tell me your ladyship is content. I've told you already what I think. It ain't in nature-a beautiful sweet young creature like your ladyship and wedded to-to-"

"Oh, Mrs. Hodge! What's done can't be undone, you know."

"No, but it can be amended! Do you think I'd waste all my young days if I was in your place? Not I."

"What would you do, Mrs. Hodge?"

"What would I do? Well, if I found my husband was no husband to me, but had deceived me into thinking him a man, I'd get one in his place. That's what I'd do! So should you, my lady!"

She hobbled up close to me in her excitement. Her volubility seemed to carry her away. She laid her hands caressingly upon my knees. She brought her face closer. She felt more confident-she grew bolder as she saw me smile. I laid my hand softly on hers. She was about to speak again. I motioned her to remain silent.

"I will not disguise it from you. I do not attempt to deny my great disappointment. That which you related to me on the occasion of my first coming here, Mrs. Hodge, made a great impression on me. I am young. As you say, I am in perfect health. You are a woman and you know what a woman's nature is. There should be no reason on my part why I am childless."

"No, I am sure of it, my lady. I know the cause. It is no fault of yours-why should you continue so? I should not be content in your place."

My blood rose to my face; my eyes flashed, I half rose. The good woman recoiled, half frightened. I was in very earnest now.

"I will not be childless if it depends upon me to prevent it!"

I clenched my hands. I stamped my foot imperiously-my breath came short and angrily. Mrs. Hodge clasped her hands together as she knelt.

"Oh, bless your ladyship for that! Now you speak like the great lady you are. Keep to that! Oh! Keep to that, my lady, and-and try my Jock!"