Book: Elinor Wyllys

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{This e-text was prepared from the first edition of Susan
Fenimore Cooper's "Elinor Wyllys: or, The Young Folk of
Longbridge" (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1846). "Elinor Wyllys"
was also published in England (London: Richard Bentley, 1845),
but has otherwise not been reprinted.

{Text and note are by Hugh C. MacDougall (jfcooper@wpe.com).
Notes are enclosed in curly brackets { }; these include
identification of epigraphs and other quotations and allusions,
explanations of obsolete word usage, and translations of foreign
words and expressions. Quotations from Shakespeare are cited to
the Riverside Edition (adopted as standard for the MLA-approved
Cooper Edition of the works of James Fenimore Cooper). Spelling
and punctuation, including the author's idiosyncratic use of
colons and semi-colons, inconsistent use of single quotation
marks for "thoughts," and combinations of dashes with other
punctuation, have not been changed (except for occasional silent
insertion of missing quotation marks). First instances of some
unusual spellings (whether or not in accordance with the author's
usual practise), and obvious typographical errors, are followed
by {sic} to indicate that there has not been a mistake in
transcription. Because of the limitations of the .TXT format,
italicized foreign words (mostly French) are transcribed in
ordinary type, and accents are omitted; words italicized for
emphasis, or to emulate dialect or incorrect pronunciation, are
transcribed as capitals.}





ELINOR WYLLYS: OR, THE YOUNG FOLK OF LONGBRIDGE. A TALE.

BY AMABEL PENFEATHER.

{Pseudonym of Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894),
daughter of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)}




"Familiar matter of today;
Some natural sorrow, loss or pain,
That has been, and may be again."
WORDSWORTH

{William Wordsworth (English poet, 1770-1850), "The Solitary
Reaper" lines 22-24}




IN TWO VOLUMES,
VOL. I.

EDITED BY J. FENIMORE COOPER




EDITOR'S PREFACE.

THERE is so much of mystification resorted to, at the present
time, in the publication of books, that it has become proper that
the editor of Elinor Wyllys should explain what has been his own
connection with this particular work.

The writer of this book is a valued female friend, who had a
right to ask, and did ask, its editor's advice and assistance, in
presenting it to the public. This advice and assistance have been
cheerfully afforded, though neither has properly extended to the
literary character of the work. As the author has not wished to
appear, the name of the editor has been used in obtaining the
copy-right, and his assistance given in forwarding and returning
proof-sheets. Over a few of the last, the editor has cast an eye;
but, believing the author of the book to be fully competent
herself, to superintend her own work, as it has gone through the
press, this supervision on the part of the editor has been very
slight.

The editor has great confidence in the principles, taste, and
intelligence of the real author of Elinor Wyllys. She has seen
much of that portion of the world with which a lady becomes
acquainted, and has seen that much under the most favorable
circumstances. As usually happens in such cases, her book will be
found free from exaggerations of every sort; and will be more
likely to be well received by persons of her own class, than by
those who are less familiar with its advantages. Imagination,
feeling, sound principles, and good taste, are all to be found in
this book, though in what degree, the public will necessarily
decide for itself.

J. FENIMORE COOPER.

Philadelphia, Oct. 8, 1845.



PREFACE

IT will be well, perhaps, that the reader bear in mind, while
running over the following pages, that many passing observations,
many trifles, which naturally find their way into any sketch of
social life, refer chiefly to things and notions in favour some
ten years since; a period which is certainly not beyond the
memory of man, but very possibly beyond the clear recollection of
some young lady reader, just within her teens. New opinions, new
ideas, new fashions have appeared among us since then, and made
their way perceptibly. Twenty years' possession constitutes a
legal title, if we may believe the lawyers; but a single season
is often sufficient for a new fancy--fancies of a serious nature
too, sometimes--to take full possession of the public mind, and
assume arbitrary control of the premises for the time being, at
least.

It will be more honest to confess, at once, before the reader
undertakes the first chapter, that the tale now before him is a
first appearance in print--a first appearance, too, of one who,
even now that the formidable step is taken, feels little disposed
to envy the honours of authorship. Writing may be a very pleasant
pastime; but printing seems to have many disagreeable
consequences attending every stage of the process; and yet, after
all, reading is often the most irksome task of the three. In this
last case, however, the remedy is generally easy; one may throw
aside the volume, and abuse the author. If there are books which
MUST be read, stupid or not, owing to the claim of some great
name on the binding, the present story is not one of the number;
and perhaps the perfect liberty enjoyed by the reader under such
circumstances--to like or dislike independent of critics, to cut
every leaf, or skip a dozen chapters at a time without fear of
reproach--will incline him to an amiable mood. It is to be hoped
so; it will be unfortunate if, among many agreeable summer
excursions both on terra firma and in the regions of fancy, the
hour passed at Longbridge should prove a tedious one: in such a
case the fault will belong entirely to the writer of the
narrative, for there are certainly some very pleasant and very
worthy people among the good folk of Longbridge.

---------, August, 1845.



ELINOR WYLLYS.

CHAPTER I,

"Enter the house, pr'ythee."--
ROGERS.

{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), "Italy: Genevra" line
19. Samuel Rogers befriended James Fenimore Cooper and his family
during their visits to England in 1826-33}

HAD there been a predecessor of Mr. Downing in the country, some
five-and-twenty year since, to criticise Wyllys-Roof, the home of
our friend Elinor, his good taste would no doubt have suggested
many improvements, not only in the house itself, but also in the
grounds which surrounded it. The building had been erected long
before the first Tudor cottage was transported, Loretto-like,
across the Atlantic, and was even anterior to the days of Grecian
porticoes. It was a comfortable, sensible-looking place, however,
such as were planned some eighty or a hundred years since, by men
who had fortune enough to do as they pleased, and education
enough to be quite superior to all pretension. The house was a
low, irregular, wooden building, of ample size for the tastes and
habits of its inmates, with broad piazzas, which not only
increased its dimensions, but added greatly to the comfort and
pleasure of the family by whom it was occupied.

{"Downing" = Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852), noted American
rural architect and landscape gardener; "Loretto-like" = after
Loreto, in Italy, where, according to tradition, a brick Holy
House was miraculously conveyed through the air by angels in
1294}

The grounds were of the simplest kind. The lawn which surrounded
the house was merely a better sort of meadow, from which the
stones and briars had been removed with more care than usual, and
which, on account of its position, received the attention of one
additional mowing in the course of the summer. A fine wood, of a
natural growth, approached quite near to the house on the
northern side, partially sheltering it in that direction, while
an avenue of weeping elms led from the gate to the principal
entrance, and a row of locusts, planted at equal distances, lined
the low, rude stone wall which shut out the highway. One piazza
was shaded by noble willows, while another was faced by a row of
cherry trees, flanked by peach and pear. Fruit trees, although so
common and so lavish of their blessings in this climate, are
often gathered about American country-houses, instead of being
confined to gardens devoted to the purpose, as in Europe; a habit
which pleasantly reminds us that civilization has made a recent
conquest over the wilderness in this new world, and that our
forefathers, only a few generations back, preferred the trees of
the orchard to those of the forest, even for ornament. Fruit
trees are indeed beautiful objects when gay with the blossoms of
spring, or rich with the offerings of summer, and, mingled with
others, are always desirable about a dwelling as simple and
unpretending in its character as Wyllys-Roof. Beneath the windows
were roses and other flowering shrubs; and these, with a few
scattered natives of the soil--elm, hickory, sycamore, and tulip
trees--farther from the house, were the only attempts at
embellishment that had been made. The garden, surrounded by a
white paling, was thought an ornamental object, and lay within
full view of the drawing-room windows; and yet it was but a
mixture of the useful and the beautiful, in which the former
largely predominated. As a kitchen-garden it was certainly
excellent; but the narrow flower-borders, which surrounded the
ample beds of melons and strawberries, asparagus and
cauliflowers, would have appeared meanly furnished in the eyes of
a flower-fancier of the present day. There was not a hybrid among
them, nor a single blossom but what bore a plain, honest name;
and although there were lilies and roses, pinks and violets in
abundance, they would probably have been all rooted out by your
exclusive, fashionable gardener of the last summer, for they were
the commonest varieties only. There were but two walks on the
lawn; one of these was gravelled, and led to the garden-gate; the
other was a common foot-path leading to the river, where the
gentlemen of the family kept their boats, and where the cattle,
who often grazed on the lawn, went to drink. The grounds were
bounded on one side by a broad river, on the other by a
sufficiently well-travelled highway. What particular river and
highway these were, through what particular state and county they
ran, we do not think it incumbent on us to reveal. It may easily
be inferred, however, that Wyllys-Roof belonged to one of the
older parts of the country, at no great distance from the
seaboard, for the trees that shaded the house were of a growth
that could not have been reached by any new plantation in a
western settlement.

{"particular state..." = Longbridge, we learn, has steamboat
connections to New York City, while steamboat connections to
Philadelphia are from nearby Upper Lewiston; in the course of the
story, one of the first railroads in America comes through town;
this suggests, if anywhere, New Jersey. Judicial matters take
place in Philadelphia, which would seem to place Longbridge in
Pennsylvania. It is not clear, however, that the author had any
specific location in mind}

The interior arrangements of Wyllys-Roof corresponded very
naturally with the appearance of things outside. The ceilings
were low, and the apartments small and numerous; much room had
been thrown into broad, airy passages, while closets and
cupboards abounded. The whole of the lower floor had originally
been wainscoted, but Miss Agnes Wyllys was answerable for several
innovations in the principal rooms. When Mr. Wyllys decided to
make his country-place a permanent residence, his daughter, who
was at the head of his establishment, fancied that the furniture
they had brought from their house in town could not be
advantageously disposed of, without cutting folding-doors between
the drawing-rooms. It was fortunate that a couple of adjoining
rooms admitted of this arrangement, for at that day, two
drawing-rooms of equal size, united by wide folding-doors, were
considered a necessary of life to all American families "on
hospitable thought intent." It seems to have been only very
recently that any other arrangement has been found possible, an
important discovery, which, like many others that have preceded
it, was probably the happy effect of necessity, that mother of
invention. Mr. Wyllys having cut through the partition, was next
persuaded to take down the wainscoting, and put up in its place a
French paper, very pretty in its way, certainly, but we fear that
Miss Agnes had no better reason to give for these changes than
the fact that she was doing as her neighbours had done before
her. Miss Wyllys was, however, little influenced in general by
mere fashion, and on more important matters could think for
herself; this little weakness in favour of the folding-doors may
therefore be forgiven, and justly ascribed to the character of
the age in which she lived and gave tea-parties.

{"on hospitable thought intent" = John Milton (English poet,
1608-1674), "Paradise Lost", Book V, line 332}

For several years after they removed permanently to Wyllys-Roof,
the family, strictly speaking, consisted of Mr. Wyllys, his
unmarried daughter, and the usual domestics, only. They were
seldom alone, however; they had generally some friend or relative
with them, and in summer the house was often filled to
overflowing, during the whole season, with parties of friends, or
the different branches of a large family connection; for the
Wyllyses had their full share of that free spirit of hospitality
which seems characteristic of all classes of Americans. After a
time, however, another member was received into the family. This
was the orphan daughter of Mr. Wyllys's eldest son, an engaging
little girl, to whom her grandfather and aunt were called upon to
fill the place of the father and mother she had lost. The little
orphan was too young, at the time, to be aware, either of the
great affliction which had befallen her, or of her happy lot in
being committed to such kind guardians, in merely exchanging one
home for another.

The arrival of the little Elinor at Wyllys-Roof was the only
important event in the family for some ten or twelve years; the
Wyllyses were not much given to change, and during that period
things about them remained much as they have just been described.
We defer presenting the family more especially to the reader's
notice until our young friend Elinor had reached her seventeenth
birth-day, an event which was duly celebrated. There was to be a
little party on the occasion, Miss Agnes having invited some
half-dozen families of the neighbourhood to pass the evening at
Wyllys-Roof.

The weather was very warm, as usual at the last of August; and as
the expected guests were late in making their appearance, Mr.
Wyllys had undertaken in the mean time to beat his daughter at a
game of chess. Elinor, mounted on a footstool, was intent on
arranging a sprig of clematis to the best advantage, in the
beautiful dark hair of her cousin Jane Graham, who was standing
for that purpose before a mirror. A good-looking youth, whom we
introduce without farther ceremony as Harry Hazlehurst, was
watching the chess-players with some interest. There were also
two ladies sitting on a sofa, and as both happened at the time to
be inmates of Wyllys-Roof, we may as well mention that the
elderly gentlewoman in a cap was Mrs. Stanley, the widow of a
connection from whom young Hazlehurst had inherited a large
property. Her neighbour, a very pretty woman, neither young nor
old, was Mrs. George Wyllys, their host's daughter-in-law, and,
as her mourning-dress bespoke her, also a widow. This lady was
now on a visit to Wyllys-Roof with her young children, whom, as
she frequently observed, she wished to be as much as possible
under the influence of their father's family.

Mr. Wyllys's game was interrupted for a moment, just as he was
about to make a very good move; a servant came to let him know
that a drunken man had been found under a fence near the house.
The fellow, according to Thomas's story, could not be roused
enough to give a straight account of himself, nor could he be
made to move.

"Is it any one you know, Thomas?" asked Mr. Wyllys.

"No, sir, it's no one from hereabouts. I shouldn't wonder if he
was a sailor, by the looks of his trowsers and jacket. I guess it
is some loafer on his way to Longbridge."

What could be done with him? was the question. The ladies did not
seem to like the idea of having a drunken man, whom no one knew,
brought into the house at night.

"I dare say it is the same person I heard asking the way to
Wyllys-Roof this morning, when we stopped at the turnpike-gate,"
observed Mrs. Stanley. "He looked at the time as if he had been
drinking."

Elinor suggested that possibly it might be some old sailor, who
fancied he had a claim upon Mr. Wyllys's kindness--Mr. George
Wyllys having died a commander in the navy.

Harry volunteered to go out and take a look at him, and the party
in the drawing-room awaited the result of this reconnoitring
{sic}. At the end of five minutes Hazlehurst returned with his
report.

"As far as I can judge by the help of moonlight and a lantern, it
is no very prepossessing personage. He swore at me roundly for
disturbing him, and I take it the fellow is really a sailor. I
asked him what he wanted at Wyllys-Roof, but we could not make
anything out of him. To keep him from mischief, we locked him up
in one of the out-houses. It is to be hoped in the morning he
will be sober enough to tell his errand."

The matter thus settled, nothing farther was thought of it at the
time, and in another moment the game of chess was won, and the
flower secured in a becoming position. Mrs. Stanley had been
watching Elinor's movements with a smile.

"You are an expert hair-dresser; the flowers are much prettier as
you have arranged them," said the lady to her young friend.

"Is it not a great improvement? They looked heavy as Jane had
arranged them before--I have taken out more than half," replied
Elinor.

Mrs. George Wyllys looked up from the newspaper she was reading,
and suggested a change.

"I think the clematis would look better on the other side."

"Do you really think so, Aunt Harriet? I flattered myself I had
been very successful: it strikes me that it looks very well."

"What is it that looks so well, ladies?" said Mr. Wyllys, rising
from the chess-table and drawing near the young people. "The
flower? Yes, the flower and the face are both very pretty, my
dear. What is it? a honeysuckle?"

"No indeed, grandpapa," answered Elinor, "it is a clematis--this
is a honeysuckle, a monthly honeysuckle, which Jane had twisted
with it; but to my fancy the clematis is prettier alone,
especially as it is so precious--the very last one we could
find."

"Why don't you put the honeysuckle in your own hair, Nelly? it is
a very pretty flower. Being queen of the evening, you should
certainly wear one yourself."

"Oh, I never wear flowers, grandpapa; I cannot make them look
well in my hair. This bouquet must proclaim my dignity to-night."

"It is pretty enough, certainly, my child, for any dignity--"

"Is it not rather large?" said Harry. "Why, Elinor, you have
smothered my humble offering in a whole wilderness of sweets!"

"Not quite as bad as that," said Elinor, smiling--"I only put
with yours, a few Aunt Agnes and Miss Patsey gave me--look at
Jane's if you wish to see a bouquet of a reasonably fashionable
size."

"Bouquets are worn very large this summer," said Jane Graham, in
a languid tone, resting her beautiful eyes on the bunch in her
hand.

"Fashion even in flowers!" exclaimed Mr. Wyllys.

"So it would seem," replied Elinor, smiling.

"And, pray," said Harry, taking a rose from a vase near him, "if
a friend were to offer a flower for your belt, since you will not
place one in your hair, would fashion permit it to be worn?"

"I don't believe it would, Nelly," said her grandfather.

Elinor looked just a little embarrassed, and a little pleased.

"Thank you," she said, taking the rose Harry offered; and while
securing it in her sash, she felt that she coloured. But the
flush was scarcely observed on a cheek as dark as hers.

"Well, Agnes, it is high time your friends came, unless they
expect a rout," said Mr. Wyllys, stepping towards a window to
look out. "Who are we to have?"

{"rout" = a large evening party}

"Your new neighbours, sir, the Taylors; your old friends, the
Hubbards, Van Hornes, Bernards--"

"I hope you will like the Taylors, Agnes; but I don't know much
about them. I am glad you thought of asking them this evening,
for he brought me a letter, you remember, from New York."

{"letter" = a letter of introduction}

"As there is a young lady in the family, and a son just grown up,
I thought they might like to dance," replied Miss Agnes. She then
turned to Mrs. Stanley, and asked that lady, who lived in New
York, if she knew anything of these new neighbours of theirs.

"I never heard of them," replied Mrs. Stanley. "But they may be
very important people, and make a great deal of noise, for all
that; as I only see my old friends, and live so quietly myself, I
don't even know the names of half the people who pass for
fashionable."

"I never suspected our new neighbours of being fashionable,"
replied Mr. Wyllys; "but I hope they will turn out pleasant,
sensible people, for your sake, ladies; and, then, if Taylor is a
chess-player, that will leave nothing farther to be desired."

"Here comes somebody, at last!" exclaimed Mrs. George Wyllys,
hearing a carriage. "The Van Hornes, I suppose."

"I beg your pardon," said Hazlehurst, who was standing near the
window, "that is the Taylor equipage; why the 'tastiness' of the
Taylor barouche is visible even by moonlight."

{"barouche" = four-wheeled carriage with room for four passengers
inside}

The party in the carriage, consisting of father and mother, son
and daughter, soon alighted, and appeared in the drawing-room.
They were introduced by Mr. Wyllys, and received politely by his
daughter and her niece.

"I am gratified, sir," said the tall and thin Mr. Taylor, with a
pompous tone, "in having so early an opportunity of making our
ladies mutually acquainted."

"We shall hope to see your family often, Mr. Taylor," replied his
host. "You must not forget that we are near neighbours; and we
country folk think a great deal of neighbourhood, I assure you."

"Yes; of course the restraints of society must be much greater in
a city, than in a more sparsely settled section."

"I hope your new purchase suits you on farther examination. The
farm is certainly a very good one; but the house, I should think,
must want repairs."

"It does, sir; I calculate to build, however, next year. The
present dwelling is much too small."

"The house might suit us, I think," observed Mrs. Taylor, who,
with Miss Agnes, had taken a seat, while the young people were
standing, chatting, near them. "If husband would put up a
back-building, we should have room enough."

Miss Wyllys remarked, that even a small addition, often increased
very much the convenience of a house.

"Certainly, madam; but I apprehend, if I had added wings and a
back-building to the premises, as I first intended, Mrs. Taylor
would still have found the house not sufficiently spacious. Now
our young ladies and gentlemen are growing up, we must have, more
room for company."

"Well," added his wife, "I expect to see a good deal of tea and
dinner company, next summer, with the house as it is."

"The young people will be much obliged to you for your kind
intentions, Mrs. Taylor; ours is not a very gay neighbourhood,"
said Miss Wyllys.

"So I should conclude," remarked Mr. Taylor.

"I don't know, Agnes," said her father; "if you include
Longbridge in the neighbourhood, I think we may call ourselves a
gay set."

"True, sir," said Miss Agnes; "but as we seldom go there
ourselves in the evening, it had not struck me in that light. But
very possibly, Mrs. Taylor and her young ladies may be more
enterprising than Elinor and myself."

"Four miles, madam," interposed Mr. Taylor, "with a good vehicle
and good horses, is no great distance. Longbridge seems to be in
a very flourishing condition, sir;" turning to Mr. Wyllys.

"Yes, the place is looking up; they are very busy just now. They
are building a good deal, this summer."

"I observed several tasty mansions, in what may be called the
suburbs; in particular a brick edifice, being erected, I
understand, by Joseph P. Hubbard."

"The brick house near the bridge? Yes, it will be the largest
about here. Hubbard is building it more to please his daughters
than himself, I fancy."

"It promises a great display of taste--I observe he has reserved
half his lot, in front of the mansion, for a park."

"Hem--Yes, there will be just half an acre in it. Does Hubbard
call it a park?" asked Mr. Wyllys, with an amused expression
about his eyes.

"I applied the term myself," replied the knowing Mr. Taylor. "I
was altogether much pleased with the appearance of your village,
sir. It has a lively business for such a small place--things
really look quite citified there. If I had seen Mr. Hubbard's
mansion, before concluding my bargain for my present location, I
think I should have made him an offer."

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