What she said, what she read, what she wrote, what she did, whither she went, to whom she was kind and to whom unkind,--was it not all said and done and arranged with reference to his and her own popularity? When a man wants to be Prime Minister he has to submit to vulgarity, and must give up his ambition if the task be too disagreeable to him.The Duchess thought that that had been understood, at any rate ever since the days of Coriolanus.
'The old Duke kept out of it,' she said to herself, 'and chose to live in the other way.He had his choice.He wants it to be done.And when I do it for him because he can't do it for himself, he calls it by an ugly name!' Then it occurred to her that the world tells lies every day,--telling on the whole much more lies than truth,--but that the world has wisely agreed that the world shall not be accused of lying.One doesn't venture to express open disbelief even of one's wife; and with the world at large a word spoken, whether lie or not, is presumed to be true, of course,--because spoken.Jones has said it, and therefore Smith,--who has known the lie to be a lie,--has asserted his assured belief, lying again.But in this way the world is able to live pleasantly.How was she to live pleasantly if her husband accused her of vulgarity? Of course it was all vulgar, but why should he tell her so? She did not do it from any pleasure that she got from it.
The letters remained long unwritten, and then there came a moment in which she resolved that they should not be written.The work was very hard, and what good would come of it? Why should she make her hands dirty, so that even her husband accused her of vulgarity? Would it not be better to give it all up, and be a great woman, une grande dame, of another kind,--difficult of access, sparing of her favour, aristocratic to the back-bone,--a very Duchess of duchesses.The role would be one very easy to play.It required rank, money, and a little manner,--and these she possessed.The old Duke had done it with ease, without the slightest trouble to himself, and had been treated almost like a god because he had secluded himself.She could make the change even yet,--and as her husband told her that she was vulgar, she thought she would make it.
But at last, before she had abandoned her desk and paper, there had come another thought.Nothing to her was so distasteful as failure.She had known that there would be difficulties, and had assured herself that she would be firm and brave in overcoming them.Was not this accusation of vulgarity simply one of the difficulties which she had to overcome? Was her courage already gone from her? Was she so weak that a single word should knock her over,--and a word evidently repented of as soon as it was uttered? Vulgar! Well,--let her be vulgar as long as she gained her object.There had been no penalty of everlasting punishment against vulgarity.And then a higher idea touched her, not without effect,--an idea which she could not analyse, but which was hardly on that account the less effective.She did believe thoroughly in her husband, to the extent of thinking him the fittest man in all the country to be its Prime Minister.His fame was dear to her.Her nature was loyal; and though she might perhaps, in her younger days have been able to lean upon him with a more loving heart had he been other than he was, brighter, more gay, given to pleasures, and fond of trifles, still, she could recognize merits with which her sympathy was imperfect.It was good that he should be England's Prime Minister, and therefore she would do all she could to keep him in that place.The vulgarity was a necessity essential.He might not acknowledge this,--might even, if the choice were left to him, refuse to be Prime Minister on such terms.But she need not, therefore, give way.Having in this way thought it all out, she took up her pen and completed the batch of letters before she allowed herself to go to bed.