In the course of the conversation between them the Hamleys came up.
Mrs. Gibson was never unwilling to dwell upon Molly's intimacy with
this county family; and when the latter caught the sound of her own
name, her stepmother was saying,--
"Poor Mrs. Hamley could hardly do without Molly; she quite looked
upon her as a daughter, especially towards the last, when, I am
afraid, she had a good deal of anxiety. Mr. Osborne Hamley--I daresay
you have heard--he did not do so well at college, and they had
expected so much--parents will, you know; but what did it signify?
for he had not to earn his living! I call it a very foolish kind of
ambition when a young man has not to go into a profession."
"Well, at any rate, the Squire must be satisfied now. I saw this
morning's _Times_, with the Cambridge examination lists in it. Isn't
the second son called after his father, Roger?"
"Yes," said Molly, starting up, and coming nearer.
"He's senior wrangler, that's all," said Mr. Preston, almost as
though he were vexed with himself for having anything to say that
could give her pleasure. Molly went back to her seat by Cynthia.
"Poor Mrs. Hamley," said she, very softly, as if to herself. Cynthia
took her hand, in sympathy with Molly's sad and tender look, rather
than because she understood all that was passing in her mind, nor did
she quite understand it herself. A death that had come out of time;
a wonder whether the dead knew what passed upon the earth they had
left--the brilliant Osborne's failure, Roger's success; the vanity
of human wishes,--all these thoughts, and what they suggested, were
inextricably mingled up in her mind. She came to herself in a few
minutes. Mr. Preston was saying all the unpleasant things he could
think of about the Hamleys in a tone of false sympathy.
"The poor old Squire--not the wisest of men--has woefully mismanaged
his estate. And Osborne Hamley is too fine a gentleman to understand
the means by which to improve the value of the land--even if he had
the capital. A man who had practical knowledge of agriculture, and
some thousands of ready money, might bring the rental up to eight
thousand or so. Of course, Osborne will try and marry some one with
money; the family is old and well-established, and he mustn't object
to commercial descent, though I daresay the Squire will for him; but
then the young fellow himself is not the man for the work. No! the
family's going down fast; and it's a pity when these old Saxon houses
vanish off the land; but it is 'kismet' with the Hamleys. Even the
senior wrangler--if it is that Roger Hamley--he will have spent all
his brains in one effort. You never hear of a senior wrangler being
worth anything afterwards. He'll be a Fellow of his college, of
course--that will be a livelihood for him at any rate."