Sustainable Energy: Towards a

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Chemistry, Electrochemistry and
Catalysis Julian R.H. Ross
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SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY
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SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY
Towards a Zero-Carbon
Economy using
Chemistry,
Electrochemistry
and Catalysis

JULIAN R.H. ROSS

Emeritus Professor, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland;
Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA); Fellow of the
Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
Elsevier
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Contents

Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix

1. Introduction 1
Energy production and the greenhouse effect 1
Greenhouse gases 4
Consequences of the greenhouse effect 9
The sources of greenhouse gas emissions 11

2. Traditional methods of producing, transmitting and using

energy 21
Introduction 21
Coal 21
Crude oil 38
Natural gas 42
Concluding remarks 47

3. Less conventional energy sources 49

Introduction 49
Nuclear energy 50
Geothermal energy 55
Tidal energy 59
Wave power 62
Hydroelectric power 63
Wind power 67
Solar power 69
Concluding remarks 75

4. The production and uses of hydrogen 77

Introduction 77
The production of hydrogen from natural gas by steam reforming 77
The production of hydrogen from natural gas by other methods 89
Methanol production 96
Production of fuels using the Fischer Tropsch process 97
Production of ammonia 99
Conclusions 102

v
vi Contents

5. Biomass as a source of energy and chemicals 103

Introduction 103
Wood as a source of energy and paper 104
Non-traditional uses of biomass: First and second generation bio-refinery
processes 112
Concluding remarks 129

6. Transport 131
Introduction 131
Historical development of mechanically driven transport 131
Exhaust emission control 143
Hybrid vehicles 150
Plug-in hybrid vehicles 152
Battery electrical vehicles 154
Fuel cell vehicles 159
Concluding remarks 160

7. Batteries, fuel cells and electrolysis 163

Introduction 163
The Volta pile, Faraday and the electrochemical series 163
Half-cell EMF’s and the electrochemical series 167
The kinetics of electrochemical processes 170
Electrochemical batteries 175
Flow batteries 185
Fuel cells 186
Electrolysis 192

8. The way forward: Net Zero 197

Introduction 197
Hydrogen production using renewable energy 199
Fuel cells to be used for transportation purposes 203
Solid oxide hydrolysis cells (SOEC’s) for hydrogen production and their use
for the synthesis of green ammonia and methanol 205

Tailpiece 221
Index 225
Preface

It is not possible to open a newspaper or magazine without reading of some

aspect of the global problem of climate change and of the measures that are
necessary to combat it so that we can achieve ‘zero carbon’ before the year
2050. There has been a steady increase in the emission of greenhouse gases
since the Industrial Revolution and the aim of all those countries that have
signed up to the Paris Accord is to bring back the resultant temperature rise
to no more than 2°C (and even to 1.5°C) within fewer than 30 years.
This book considers many aspects of the potential uses of ‘sustainable
energy’. In this context, this is the energy that can be obtained by using
renewable resources such as wind power, hydroelectric power or solar radi-
ation, and the book discusses how this energy can be used in place of con-
ventionally derived energy from fossil reserves: coal, oil and natural gas. In
order to set the scene, the book also discusses in some detail the many ways in
which conventional energy is currently used.
The first chapter sets the scene by considering some aspects of the green-
house effect and outlines the objectives of the Paris Accord that is aimed at
reducing the emissions responsible for the effect. It then traces the origins of
the greenhouse effect, discussing some human activities (many of which are
discussed later in the book) that have taken place since the Industrial Rev-
olution and have contributed to the increased emissions.
The book then considers some important existing industrial activities, all
related to the use of energy created from the use of fossil fuels, coal oil and
natural gas, each of which results in the emission of greenhouse gases. Some
of these emissions can be reduced by methods such as carbon collection and
storage, but an alternative is to produce some of the chemicals and fuels on
which we rely by using biomass-derived materials. Hence, the use of bio-
mass as a source of energy and chemicals is then considered.
Transport, in one form or the other, is responsible for a significant share
of our greenhouse gas emissions. The developments that have occurred since
the Industrial Revolution of various forms of transport are outlined and
modern developments such as the use of hybrid engines, battery power
and fuel cells are then considered. This leads to a detailed discussion of var-
ious types of batteries and fuel cells followed by a section considering the
potential importance of electrolysis brought about using renewable energy
as a means of producing hydrogen and syngas.

vii
viii Preface

The final chapter considers how green hydrogen or syngas produced

using electrolytic methods fuelled by renewable electricity can be used in
industrial applications such as ammonia and methanol synthesis, the produc-
tion of steel and cement manufacture. It also considers the importance of
achieving reductions in emissions from commercial, domestic and agricul-
tural sources.
The reductions required to allow us reach the targets set in the Paris
Accord are enormous and the progress towards achieving these aims has
been disappointingly slow until now. Governments and responsible agencies
must therefore pay significantly greater attention to ways in which objectives
can be achieved and can only manage that by applying the ‘carrot and stick
approach’: offering incentives to all energy users that encourage energy-
saving initiatives and the introduction of new methods while at the same
time penalising inactivity.
Acknowledgements

As I did in my previous two books, I first thank the very many people with
whom I have worked over the years for their efforts and enthusiasm, espe-
cially the students and postdocs from my various research groups, too many
to name individually, who have helped me build up my knowledge of catal-
ysis and related fields. Thanks are also due to the many scientists and engi-
neers with whom my different research groups have collaborated and from
whom I have learnt much about the applications and exploitation of funda-
mental research in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. This collaborative
work was carried out with funding provided by many sources, particularly
by various EU research programmes.
I thank Elsevier and the many people from that company with whom I
have collaborated during my editorial work for Applied Catalysis and Catal-
ysis Today and in the production of the three books that I have now written
and published with them. In particular, I thank Kostas Marinakis who not
only guided me through the process involved in the planning of this book
but with whom I have had many previous interactions during my work as an
editor. I wish him well in his retirement. Thanks are also due to Kostas’s
successor, Anita Koch, for her more recent involvement with the produc-
tion of this book; to Narmatha Mohan for her assistance in ensuring that the
necessary permission had been obtained to reproduce copyright material;
and to Bharatwaj Varatharajan for his careful and helpful work on the final
production and during the proofreading stage. I particularly thank Alice
Grant who, as the most recent Elsevier desk editor involved, has cheerfully
and helpfully worked with me for most of the writing process.
My thanks are due to two good friends who, each in particular way,
helped me during the writing phase: firstly, my colleague and long-standing
collaborator, Michael Hayes, who very kindly read through the first draft of
Chapter 5 (Biomass as a Source of Energy and Chemicals) and not only pro-
vided me with useful comments but also gave me invaluable information on
soil organic matter; and secondly, Tony Hilley, a retired offshore oil and gas
engineer, who encouraged me throughout the writing phase by providing
me with a large number of important web links to recent developments in
the field of energy. I also thank Miguel Bañares for his comments on the
contents of the completed manuscript and for suggesting the term ‘Mount
Sustainable’.

ix
x Acknowledgements

Finally, I must once more express my sincere thanks to my wife, Anne,

who has encouraged and supported me during the writing of yet another
book. This support was even more important for the current volume as
she has patiently tolerated my involvement in the task during a period when
COVID-19 intruded on our existence and forced long periods of self-
isolation.
Julian R.H. Ross
CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Energy production and the greenhouse effect

Solar activity and global warming
For centuries, we have relied on our natural resources for the provision of
energy. Early man relied on the combustion of biomass (predominantly
wood) to provide heat and fuel for cooking. Very much later, roughly at
the time of the Industrial Revolution, he discovered coal, oil and natural
gas and these discoveries led to our current almost total dependence on fossil
fuels for the provision of energy.a Until the Industrial Revolution, the
earth’s population was predominantly agrarian and any fluctuations in cli-
mate that occurred were related only to variations in solar activity. Since
then, however, there has been a steady increase in the average global tem-
perature and it is now generally recognised that this change of temperature is
related to increased emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases.
Fig. 1.1 shows the values of the solar irradiance and also the global tem-
perature that have been measured over the period since 1880; although there
have been some significant changes in the solar activity (and there was a
marked maximum value around 1960), the measured values have remained
relatively steady over the last 50 years. However, there has been a very sig-
nificant increase in global temperature during the same period. It is now
generally accepted (see Fig. 1.2) that human activities have been responsible
for this increase in temperature.b

a
We also rely on petroleum derivatives for the manufacture of many of the other resources that we now
take for granted: polymers, dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, detergents, etc. However, our fossil fuel reserves
are gradually diminishing and they must therefore be used much more strategically.
b
A useful summary of some aspects of climate change are to be found in the publication “Vital Climate
Change Graphics” published by UNEP/GRID-Arendal; this is available as a free pdf from https://
www.grida.no/publications/254/.

Sustainable Energy Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823375-7.00006-8 All rights reserved. 1
2 Sustainable energy

Fig. 1.1 Global temperature and solar activity since 1880. The yearly variations of both
these parameters are shown by lighter curves and these have been averaged to give the
more distinct curves. (Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/.)

Fig. 1.2 IPPC key findings. Predicted major changes due to global warming.
(Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/.)
 Introduction 3

Fig. 1.3 Schematic representation of the greenhouse effect. (Source: From Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect/).)

The greenhouse effect

Much life on earth as we know it depends on the light radiation from the sun
that penetrates through the atmosphere to warm the earth’s surface. Without
the atmosphere, much of the incident radiation would be re-emitted from
the surface and would be totally lost in space. Fortunately however, the
atmosphere acts in the same way as does the glass in a greenhouse,c absorbing
and reflecting back much of the re-emitted radiation and ensuring that the
temperature of the atmosphere is increased. This process is shown schemat-
ically in Fig. 1.3. The resultant temperature on earth is a delicate balance of
the levels of incoming and reflected radiation and is thus very susceptible to
changes in the composition of the atmosphere; if too much of the reflected
radiation is retained by the atmosphere, the temperature of the earth
will rise.

c
With a greenhouse, almost all the incident light passes through the glass and is absorbed by the soil
within the structure; some of the energy is then re-emitted at a different wavelength but this is now
absorbed by the glass, ensuring that the increased temperature in the greenhouse is maintained.
4 Sustainable energy

Greenhouse gases
Table 1.1 lists the main greenhouse gases associated with global warming, giv-
ing for each the chemical formula, the global warming potential relative to
that for CO2 over a 100-year lifespan and the atmospheric lifetime in years.
Table 1.2 shows the main sources of these greenhouse gases and also gives
the pre-industrial atmospheric concentrations and the current atmospheric
concentrations. The first three gases all existed in the pre-industrial era,
although the concentrations have all increased since, while the last entries
all refer to man-made gases introduced over the last century. We obtain an
approximation to the relative contributions of the relevant gases to global
warming if we multiply the current concentrations of each gas by the global
warming potential from Table 1.1. The resultant figures show that the main
culprits are CO2, methane and nitrous oxide: not taking into account the small
contributions of the fluorine-containing molecules, CO2 contributes 73.3%
of the total global warming potential of these gases while methane contributes
8.5% and N2O contributes 18.2%. Although the contributions of the various
fluorinated molecules are relatively low, it needs to be recognised that the life-
times of these species are significantly above those of the other greenhouse
gases and it is for this reason that they are no longer manufactured. As we will
see below, there are a number of other greenhouse gases, some of which con-
tribute to global warming while others do not. Water vapour is one example
of a gas which does not contribute directly to global warming and ozone is

Table 1.1 Global warming potential and atmospheric lifetime for the most important
greenhouse gases.
Global warming
Chemical potential, 100-year Atmospheric
Greenhouse gas formula time-span lifetime/years
Carbon dioxide CO2 1 100
Methane CH4 25 12
Nitrous oxide N2 O 298 114
Chlorofluorocarbon- CCl2F2 10,900 100
12 (CFC-12)
Hydofluorocarbon- CHF3 1,48,800 270
23 (HFC-23)
Sulfur hexafluoride SF6 22,800 3200
Nitrogen trifluoride NF3 17,200 740
Reproduced from the Fourth Assessment Report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC,
2007).
 Introduction 5

Table 1.2 The most important sources of the major greenhouse gases and their
preindustrial and recent (2011) concentrations.
Pre-industrial 2011
concentration/ concentration/
Greenhouse gas Major sources ppb ppb
Carbon dioxide Fossil fuel 278,000 390,000
combustion
Deforestation
Cement
production
Methane Fossil fuel 722 1803
production
Agriculture
Landfills
Nitrous oxide Fertilizer 271 324
application
Fossil fuel and
biomass
combustion
Industrial
processes
Chlorofluorocarbon- Refrigerants 0 0.0527
12 (CFC-12)
Hydofluorocarbon- Refrigerants 0 0.024
23 (HFC-23)
Sulfur hexafluoride Electricity 0 0.0073
transmission
Nitrogen trifluoride Semiconductor 0 0.00086
manufacturing

another. We will now consider each greenhouse gas in turn, starting with
water vapour.

Water vapour
The most important greenhouse gases are water vapour and carbon dioxide.
Both of these result from the combustion of fossil fuels but may also arise
from other sources. Water-vapour, which results predominantly from the
evaporation of surface water, has a feedback effect: it forms clouds in the
atmosphere and these lead to precipitation, this having the consequence that
the level of water-vapour in the atmosphere is well controlled. The clouds
also reflect some of the radiation (UV, visible and infra-red) reaching the
6 Sustainable energy

atmosphere from the sun, this also restricting the temperature rise. One con-
sequence of the presence of increased partial pressures of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere (see below) is that the resulting temperature rise also causes
an increase in the partial pressure of the water in the atmosphere, thus giving
rise to a further increase in the temperature. Hence, water vapour has an
indirect effect on global warming.

Carbon dioxide
Even though the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is much
lower than that of water, its effect is much greater since there is no equivalent
feedback mechanism to that with water: once the carbon dioxide reaches the
atmosphere, its residence time there is very much greater than that of water.
The double bonds of the C]O linkages of the CO2 absorb much of the
infrared radiation emitted from the earth and prevent this radiation from
leaving the atmosphere. The result is an increase in atmospheric tempera-
ture. It should be recognised that the CO2 reaching the atmosphere can
come from many sources apart from combustion, for example, respiration
and volcanic eruptions. It can also arise from deforestation and changes in
land use. As discussed above, the increase in atmospheric temperature caused
by the CO2 also has an effect on the level of water vapour in the atmosphere
since the saturation vapour pressure of the water increases with increasing
temperature and hence this magnifies the effect of the increase in
CO2 concentration. Atmospheric CO2 is essential for the growth of plants
and all types of vegetation. Hence, we rely on a steady partial pressure of
CO2 to enable agricultural activities. We will return to the subject of
CO2 utilisation in subsequent chapters. As shown in Fig. 1.4 of Box 1.1,
there has been a dramatic increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmo-
sphere over the last 70 years.

Methane
Methane (CH4), the simplest hydrocarbon molecule, may arise from a num-
ber of sources, both natural and man-made. It is produced by the decom-
position of wastes in landfills, from agricultural sources such as rice
paddies, from digestive processes of ruminants (e.g. cattle and sheep) and
manure management from domestic livestock. It was also commonly emit-
ted as waste from oil well operations and as leakages from chemical proces-
sing; however, both of these sources are now much more carefully
 Introduction 7

controlled. (See Box 1.2 for an example of methane emission.) Methane is

a much more active greenhouse gas than is CO2, its ‘global warming poten-
tial’ being much higher (see Table 1.1). The atmosphere also contains
yet lower concentrations of other hydrocarbons such as the vapours of
petroleum and diesel components and these too are greenhouse gases.
Methane and the other hydrocarbons have much longer lifetimes than does
CO2 in the atmosphere; while CO2 is removed by natural processes, the

BOX 1.1 Variation of global CO2 concentrations as a function

of time
Fig. 1.4 shows the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere as a function of time over
many centuries. These data have been compiled from the analysis of air bubbles
trapped in ice over the last 400,000 years. During ice ages, the levels were about
200 ppm (ppm) and they rose to around 280 ppm in the warmer interglacial
periods. The rise after about 1950 is attributable to a rapid increase in the use of
fossil fuels as will be discussed further in later sections.

Fig. 1.4 The variation in carbon dioxide concentration as a function of time. It is

clear that there has been a dramatic increase in the level of carbon dioxide since
1950 that is well outside the normal temporal variations. (Source: https://climate.
nasa.gov/resources/)
8 Sustainable energy

BOX 1.2 Methane emissions from the production of bitumen

from oil sands
There is a significant industry based on the extraction of bitumen from
underground reservoirs containing oil sands. The bitumen is heated using the
injection of steam to decrease its viscosity and to make it flow more easily. The
steam is generated by the combustion of natural gas (methane) and this process
gives rise to significant CO2 emissions, these contributing to global warming.
Canada’s Oil Sands Initiative Alliance (COSIA) is attempting to find ways of
reducing these emissions and has announced that it will assist innovators in
developing new routes to reduce the emissions formed during the steam
generation step, preferably producing a sequestration-ready product (e.g.
concentrated CO2) or a saleable product (e.g. carbon black).
https://cosia.ca/blog/helping-clear-air-oil-sands-emissions-natural-gas-
decarbonization/

hydrocarbons are relatively stable. As a result, they all have higher global
warming potentials (Table 1.1).d

Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a very powerful greenhouse gas (see Table 1.1) that
is formed by soil cultivation practices, especially by the use of nitrogenous
fertilisers; it is also formed by fossil fuel combustion, nitric acid production
and biomass burning. It should be recognised that N2O is only a minor
constituent of so-called NOx, a mixture of the oxides of nitrogen
(N2O, NO and NO2), formed in high-temperature combustion processese
such as those involved in electricity generation and internal combustion
engines. NOx is considered to be an atmospheric pollutant and its emission
is associated with the formation of ‘acid rain’; the NOx emissions from
these sources are generally controlled by catalytic reduction processes.f

d
It should be noted that the global warming potential of methane is time dependent as it is gradually
destroyed by oxidation processes in the atmosphere; over periods less than 100 years, the value of the
global warming potential is much larger.
e
At high temperatures and in excess oxygen, thermodynamics favours the formation of NO2.
f
For a description of the control of NOx emissions from power stations and automobiles, see
Contemporary Catalysis – Fundamentals and Current Applications, Julian R.H. Ross, www.elsevier.
com/books/contemporary-catalysis/ross/978-0-444-634740-0. See also Chapter 2.
 Introduction 9

Ozone and chlorofluorocarbons

Ozone is also a greenhouse gas. It is formed in the troposphere by the inter-
action of sunlight with other emissions such as carbon monoxide or methane
and also by interaction with hydrocarbons and NOx from automobile emis-
sions. The lifetime of ozone is relatively very short (days to weeks) and its dis-
tribution is very variable. It absorbs harmful UV radiation and we are therefore
dependent on the presence of the ozone layer. The creation of an ozone hole
over the Antarctic is ascribed to the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
another class of powerful greenhouse gas, and this has led to the banning of the
production of these molecules; the production of other hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) is also being phased out.g

Consequences of the greenhouse effect

It is generally recognised that it is difficult to predict the consequences of
changing the composition of the naturally occurring atmospheric green-
house that surrounds the Earth. However, it is extremely likely that the aver-
age temperature of the Earth will continue to rise; even though some areas
will become cooler, others will become warmer. Warmer conditions will
probably give rise to more evaporation and precipitation although some
regions will become wetter and others will become drier. A stronger green-
house effect will warm the world’s oceans and these will expand and increase
sea levels; additionally, glaciers and other ice will melt, thus further increas-
ing the sea level. The increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere will
encourage some crops and other plants to grow more rapidly and to use
water more efficiently; however, at the same time, higher temperatures
and change in the climate patterns may cause changes in the distribution
of the areas where crops grow best. Although climate change has been
the subject of great concern for quite some time, it was only about 30 years
ago that scientists became particularly concerned about the changes which
were occurring;h see Box 1.3. Arrhenius discussed in 1886 the importance of
the increases in emissions of carbon dioxide resulting from coal-burning; he
argued that this would lead to improved agricultural practices and better
g
This phasing out is part of the Kyoto Protocol (2005); the US has not ratified this international
agreement.
h
An excellent article by Andrew Revkin outlining some of the history of awareness of the problems of
climate change is to be found in the National Geographic Magazine of July 2018 (https://www.
national geographic.com/magazine/2018/07/embark-essay-climate-change-pollution-revkin/).
However, there are many other such articles available on the web.
10 Sustainable energy

growth of crops. An article by Waldemar Kaempffert in the New York

Times as early as 1956 (October 28)i predicted that the increased emissions
from energy production would lead to long-lasting environmental changes.
This article pointed out very clearly that an impediment to counteracting
these changes was the abundance of coal and oil in many parts of the world
and that these fossil fuels would continue to feature in industrial use as long as
it was financially beneficial to use them. However, it was not until 1988 that
the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) established the Intergov-
ernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC summarises the sci-
entific developments in countering climate change in the IPCC Assessment
Reports that are published every five to six years, these being compiled in
association with a number of other related reports from the panel. (The Sixth
Synthesis Report is due in 2022.)j In parallel to these activities, there have
been a large number of reports by other agencies, both international and
national, some of which will be quoted below. There have also been two
important international agreements on how climate change should be
counteracted, the Kyoto Agreement of 1992 and the Paris Agreement of
2015, both established under the auspices of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Just fewer than 200 countries
were signatories to these agreements, the aims of which being to re-
duce the emission of greenhouse gases.k These agreements will be discussed
further below.

BOX 1.3 The importance of the existence of a greenhouse

effect on earth
If the earth did not have an effective shielding greenhouse layer containing high
levels of water vapour as well as CO2 and the other greenhouse gases, much of
the light of all wavelengths reaching the surface of the earth from the sun
would be reflected back into space without warming the planet. The planet
Mars has a relatively thin atmosphere consisting largely of carbon dioxide but
little or no water vapour and this results in a weak greenhouse effect. As a
Continued

i
See New York Times December 8, 2015: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/
climate/2015-paris-climate-talks/from-the-archives-1956-the-rising-threat-of-carbon-dioxide.
j
The Montreal Protocol to reduce the emission of compounds that affect the ozone layer such as the
chlorofluorocarbons mentioned above was agreed in 1987.
k
The US under President Trump had announced that it was going to leave the Paris Agreement but that
decision has now been reversed by President Biden; of the countries with over 1% share of the global
emissions, only Iran and Turkey are not parties to the agreement.
 Introduction 11

BOX 1.3 The importance of the existence of a greenhouse

effect on earth—cont’d
result, the surface of Mars is largely frozen and there is no evidence of any life form.
In contrast, Venus has a much higher concentration of CO2 in its atmosphere
(150,000 times as much as on Earth and 19,000 as much as on Mars) and the
surface temperature is +460°C. Again, this atmosphere would not be amenable to
life as we know it. (See https://agreenerfutureblog.wordpress.com/1-the-natural-
greenhouse-effect/1-4-greenhouse-effect-on-other-planets/; https://earthsky.org/
space/venus-mars-atmosphere-teach-us-about-earth/)

The global emission of all greenhouse gases in 2010 was 48 gigatonnes of

CO2 equivalent and it was estimated that this figure would increase to 53.5
gigatonnes in 2020. What is much more alarming is that the amount will
increase to 70 gigatonnes by 2050 unless action is taken to reduce green-
house emissions. These unfettered increases will give rise to totally unac-
ceptable global temperature increases, these in turn giving rise to myriad
problems for the world’s inhabitants. The Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
Agreement have led to two targets relating to temperature rise: the first, a
limit of 2.0°C compared to the emissions in the pre-industrial era; and
the second, pursuing at the same time means to limit the temperature
increase to 1.5°C.
Fig. 1.5 illustrates the predicted changes occurring for different scenarios
envisaged in the run-up to the Paris Accord, ranging from the absence of any
policy (resulting in a very high chance that the global temperature rise will be
well above 4°C) to a very strict policy (when the chance of the temperature
approaching pre-industrial levels will be much greater). The solid curves of
the diagram show the predicted emissions of CO2 for different scenarios,
from no action (top curve) to the most ambitious series of actions with
higher rates of decarbonisation (1.5°C warming, bottom curve). It will be
seen that only the latter approach gives any significant reduction in the emis-
sion of greenhouse gases. The slightly lower set of ambitions, with constant
rates of decarbonisation (2°C warming) gives a levelling off of the levels of
CO2 after about 2030.

The sources of greenhouse gas emissions

There have been a number of very detailed national and international reports
that give information on emissions of greenhouse gases and list the main
12 Sustainable energy

70
No Policy
60 Low Policy
50

CO2 40
Paris - Con nued Ambi on
/gtonne per yr 30

20
10
Paris - Increased Ambi on
0

199020002010 2020 2030 204020502060 207020802090 2100

Year

Es mated CO2 Emissions from Energy and Industrial Sources

Fig. 1.5 Changes in carbon dioxide emissions envisioned in Paris Accord. The effects on
CO2 emissions of either no change or adopting various strategies (see text). (Adapted
from Climate Science Special Report (US Global Change Program), Fourth National
Climate Assessment (NCA4) Vol. 1, Chapter 14.2: https://science2017.globalchange.gov/.)

sources. Some of these reports will be discussed in more detail in later sec-
tions. One of the most relevant of these reports for the present purposes is
one by the European Environment Agencyl and the following sections will
summarise some of its most relevant material.
Table 1.3 shows data for the total emissions of greenhouse gases from
European countries in 2017 and also shows the changes in emissions that
have occurred in the period between 1990 and 2017, the greenhouse gas
emissions per capita and the change in the total energy intensity of each
country in the period 1990–2017. The majority of these countries are mem-
bers of the EU but the data for Norway and Turkey have also been added for
completeness. It should be recognised that the United Kingdom is also
included as an EU country as the data relate to a period prior to BREXIT.
(It should be noted that the data for a number of smaller EU countries have
been omitted for clarity; full details are available in the source report which
also gives some more detail for each country.) The figures for the whole EU
are given in the last row; the EU figures for the % changes in GHG

l
The European Environment – State and Outlook 2020, European Environment Agency, (2019), doi:
https://doi.org/10.2800/96749, downloadable from https://eea.europa.eu/.
 Introduction 13

Table 1.3 Greenhouse gas emissions from EU countries.

GHG
Change in emissions per Change in the
Total GHG GHG capita in total energy
emissions emissions 2017/ intensity of the
2017/ 1990– tCO2 equiv. economy
Country MtCO2 equiv. 2017/% per person 1990–2017/%
Austria 84.5 +6.2 9.6 18.3
Belgium 119.4 20.3 10.5 27.1
Bulgaria 62.1 39.5 8.8 54.0
Czech 130.5 34.7 12.3 48.4
Republic
Denmark 50.8 29.5 8.8 35.5
Finland 57.5 20.5 10.4 24.5
France 482.0 13.4 7.2 25.5
Germany 936.0 25.9 11.3 40.1
Greece 98.9 6.4 9.2 13.0
Hungary 64.5 31.5 6.6 38.5
Ireland 63.8 +12.9 13.3 66.1
Italy 439.0 15.9 7.3 10.8
Netherlands 205.8 9.1 12.0 34.2
Poland 416.3 12.4 11.0 61.7
Portugal 74.6 +22.8 7.2 4.0
Romania 114.8 53.9 5.9 69.6
Slovakia 43.5 40.8 8.0 63.6
Spain 357.3 +21.8 7.7 14.3
Sweden 55.5 23.7 5.5 39.8
UK 505.4 37.6 7.7 49.3
(Norway 54.4 +4.9 10.3 22.4)
(Turkey 537.4 +144.5 6.7 12.8)
EU-28 4483.1 221.7 8.8 236.3
The data for two non-EU countries, Norway and Turkey, are also included in italics and the total
emissions from the EU (EU-28) are shown in bold figures.
Some data concerning greenhouse gas emissions from some European countries.

emissions, the GHG emissions per capita and the change in the energy inten-
sity of the economy allow one to see how each country has performed com-
pared with the average result for the whole EU. It can be seen that Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the
UK have performed better than the average.
Fig. 1.6 shows the emissions of the principal greenhouse gases per source
type (given as CO2 equivalents in millions of tons per year) for all the EU
states for the period 1990 to 2017 and Table 1.3 gives some additional infor-
mation. Most of the categories included in the figure and table have shown
14 Sustainable energy

MtCO2e

1800

1600

1400

1200 Energy supply

1000 Industry
Transport
800
Residenal and commercial
600
Agriculture
400
Waste
200 Internaonal aviaon
0 Internaonal shipping

–200 Carbon dioxide from biomass

LULUCF
–400
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Fig. 1.6 EU greenhouse emissions per sector. Equivalent CO2 emissions from different
European sectors over the period 1990 to 2017. (Source: Europe environment state and
Outlook 2020 (https://www.eea.europa.eu).)

significant decreases in emissions. A particularly large decrease occurred in

energy supply, this being the result of increased use of renewable sources of
energy, particularly wind and solar power.m The introduction of these tech-
nologies has been accompanied by a decrease in the use of coal combustion
for electricity production. There has also been a significant drop in industrial
energy consumption, due largely to improved efficiencies in industrial pro-
cesses and to a switch away from the use of coal and oil to natural gas for the
supply of energy, this change also being associated with improvements of
technologies (Chapter 3). Some EU countries have been at the forefront
in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, as can be seen from
Table 1.3, Germany, originally one of the greatest emitters of greenhouse
gases in Europe, had reduced its emissions by 25.9% over the period to a
level of 936 million tons of CO2 equivalent. (This has been achieved partly
by a significant decrease in the use of lignite as a fuel.) Unfortunately, how-
ever, some countries had increased their contributions; for example,
Ireland’s contribution increased by 12.9% to 63.8 million tons of
CO2 equivalent and that of Cyprus increased by 55.7% to 10.0 million tons
of CO2 equivalent. These rather different results appear to be related to dif-
ferences in the structures of the different economies. For example, Ireland
has very little heavy industry but has a strong agricultural economy as well as

m
Nuclear energy is also considered to be a renewable source of energy. France is particularly reliant on
nuclear power. Germany, on the other hand, has decided to close down all of its nuclear reactors and is
well on its way to doing so. Other countries such as Ireland have never had nuclear facilities.
 Introduction 15

large numbers of new high-technology companies consuming relatively

large quantities of energy.
Table 1.4 gives a breakdown of the changes that have occurred in the
emissions of greenhouse gases (both CO2 and others) for the period 1990
to 2017 from all European countries, the data being given in million tons
of CO2 equivalents. It can be seen that road transportation continues to give
increased emissions as do refrigeration and air conditioning. In all other sec-
tors, there have been significant reductions; particularly important reductions
have been found in residential heating, iron and steel production, the
manufacturing industries and public electricity and heat production. Many
of these improvements will be discussed in subsequent sections and chapters.
Fig. 1.6 shows that there has been a slightly decreasing contribution to
greenhouse emissions from agriculture since 1990. These emissions, mainly
from ruminants (cattle and sheep) are still significant and are therefore a con-
tinuing cause for concern, particularly in Ireland. A similar set of figures will
apply globally although there will be national differences arising from different

Table 1.4 EU emissions per source.

Emission source MtCO2 e
Road transportation 170
Refrigeration and air conditioning 93
Aluminium production 21
Agricultural soils: direct emissions of N2O from managed soils 22
Cement production 26
Fluorochemical production 29
Fugitive production from natural gas 37
Commercial/institutional 38
Enteric fermentation—cattle 43
Nitric acid production 46
Adipic acid production 56
Manufacture of solid fuels and other energy industries 60
Coal mining and handling 66
Managed waste disposal sites 73
Residential—fuels 115
Iron and steel production 116
Manufacturing industries 253
Public electricity and heat production 433
International aviation +89
International navigation +35
The emissions arising from international aviation and navigation outside the EU are also shown (in bold
italics) for completeness.
Trends in EU emissions from the predominant sources in the period 1990 to 2017.
16 Sustainable energy

Million people
6000 Es mates Projec ons

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100

Africa Europe La n America and the Caribbean

Asia Northern America Oceania

Fig. 1.7 World population trends. Estimated and predicted world population changes
from 1950 to 2100. (Source: Europe environment state and Outlook 2020 (https://www.eea.
europa.eu).)

methods of agriculture in each country. The global contribution to green-

house gas emissions from agriculture is related to the very significant growth
of population that has occurred over a couple of centuries since the start of the
industrial revolution (Fig. 1.7).
Prior to the industrial revolution, the world population was only about
700 million. However, with improvements in food production and also in
medical standards, the population grew rapidly to 1.6 billion people in 1900
and thereafter even more rapidly to reach 6 billion before the end of the
twentieth century. The world population is already above 7 billion and it
is projected to reach 8 billion by 2030. A significant proportion of the
increased emission of greenhouse gases in the period since the industrial rev-
olution has emanated from changes in land use that have been needed to
provide food for the increasing population, particularly in relation to the
use of fertilisers and the production of meat for human consumption. Hence,
one aspect of the control of greenhouse gas emission in the future will have
to be related to improvements in agricultural practice to reduce emissions
such as those of methane from ruminants and N2O from fertilizer applica-
tions. Of particular relevance to the present text is the conversion of biomass
to valuable products: biofuels, industrially relevant chemicals and hydrogen.
These topics will be considered in more detail in Chapter 5. The only cat-
egory with negative emissions shown in Fig. 1.6 is LULUCF (land use, land-
use change and forestry) in which CO2 is consumed by the growth of
 Introduction 17

Index = 1990
160

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

0
90 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 000 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015
19 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Stock of cars GDP (2010 USD) Total distance travelled by cars Total energy consumpon of cars
CO2 emissions of cars Average consumpon of cars (l/100 km)

Fig. 1.8 European car usage. Changes (relative to data from 1990) in European car
usage and performance over the period 1990 to 2017. (Source: Europe environment
state and Outlook 2020 (https://www.eea.europa.eu).)

vegetation. It is clearly important that deforestation is very strictly controlled

internationally and those significant efforts are made to increase the area of
land devoted to forestry and other crops with much more efficient and care-
ful use of fertilisers. The subject of the bio-economy is one which will
receive little further attention in this text but the interested reader is referred
to an open-access book edited by Lewandowski and published by Springer
which gives excellent coverage of the topic.n
It is interesting to note that the emissions from transport shown in
Fig. 1.6 increased steadily up until about 2006 but that they have decreased
significantly since then. This is further illustrated by the data of Fig. 1.8
which shows the emissions arising from the use of private vehicles over
the period 1990 to 2017. Although there has been a marked increase in
the numbers of private cars and in the total distances travelled over this
period (these figures being closely related to the parallel improvement in
GDP), the total energy consumption and the emission of CO2 have not
increased in the same way; both of these parameters increased somewhat
until about 2006 but then decreased significantly. This can be explained
by the very significant improvement in engine efficiency and the consequent

n
“Bioeconomy – Shaping the Transition to a Sustainable, Biobased Economy”, Edited by
I. Lewandowski, ISBN 978-3-319-68152-8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68152-8.
18 Sustainable energy

decrease in the average consumption per vehicle that occurred over the
period considered.
International aviation and international shipping (see Fig. 1.6) have both
shown steady increases and it is related to these figures (which are duplicated
in statistics for non-EU nations) that the carbon footprint of international
travel has recently attracted so much concern. This is highlighted further
in Fig. 1.9 which compares the energy usage for different transport modes;
only the usage by international travel continues to increase while the other
modes of transport have shown significant decreases since about 2005.
The funding of research and development work related to energy supply
in Europe has shown some significant changes over the last 40 years. Fig. 1.10
shows the trends in European spending over that period for various different
technologies. Up until the mid-1980s, the predominant area of research that
was funded related to nuclear energy while research in fossil fuels also attracted
significant research effort. Hydrogen and fuel cells attracted some added inter-
est around 1990 but all research activities decreased somewhat from 1990 until
the early years of the new century. Since about 2005, there have been marked
increases in research activities, particularly significant research expenditures
having occurred in the areas of renewables and energy efficiency. The funding

Index = 1990, based on tonnes of oil equivalent

250

200

150

100

50

0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Internaonal aviaon Road Domesc aviaon Rail Inland waterways

Fig. 1.9 Energy use per transport mode. The variation in energy use in the EU over the
period 1990 to 2017 per transport mode relative to the usage in 1990. (Source: Europe
environment state and Outlook 2020 (https://www.eea.europa.eu).)
Another random document with
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over that scene a hundred times and a hundred to that, roused to its
importance only after it was over. What had been the meaning of it? never
to this day had she been quite able to make up her mind, nobody had talked
to her of her mother’s death. Instead of those lingerings upon the sad
details, upon the last words, upon all the circumstances which preceded that
catastrophe, which are usual in such circumstances, there had been a hush
of everything, which had driven the subject back upon her mind, and made
her dwell upon it doubly. Time had a little effaced the impression, but the
return to the Square had brought it back again in greater force, and in those
lonely hours which the girl had spent there at first, left to her own
resources, many a perplexed and perplexing fancy had crowded her mind.
The new life, however, which had set in later, the companionship, the gentle
gaieties, the new sentiment, altogether strange and wonderful, which had
arisen in her young bosom, had quietly pushed forth all painful thoughts.
But now, with the pang of parting already in her heart, and the sense, so
easily taken up at her years and so tragically felt, that life never could again
be what it had been—a certain pang of opposition to her father had come
into Cara’s mind. Going away!—to break her heart and alter her life
because he would not bear the associations of his home! was a man thus,
after having all that was good in existence himself, to deprive others of their
happiness for the sake of his recollections? but when this further revelation
fell upon his conduct, Cara’s whole heart turned and shrank from her father.
She could not bear the suggestion, and yet it returned to her in spite of
herself. The shame of it, the wrong of it, the confused and dark ideas of
suspicion and doubt which had been moving vaguely in her mind, all came
together in a painful jumble. She put away her flowers, flinging away half
of them in the tumult of her thoughts. It was too peaceful an occupation,
and left her mind too free for discussion with herself. The girl’s whole
being was roused, she scarcely knew why. Love! she had never thought of
it, she did not know what it meant, and Oswald, whom her aunt supposed to
entertain that wonderful occult sentiment for her, certainly did not do so,
but found in her only a pleasant confidante, a friendly sympathiser.
Something prevented Cara from inquiring further, from asking herself any
questions. She did not venture even to think in the recesses of her delicate
bosom, that Edward Meredith was anything more to her, or she to him, than
was Miss Cherry. What was the use of asking why or wherefore? She had
begun to be happy, happier certainly than she had been before; and here it
was to end. The new world, so full of strange, undefined lights and
reflections, was to break up like a dissolving view, and the old world to
settle down again with all its old shadows. The thought brought a few hot,
hasty tears to her eyes whenever it surprised her as it did now. Poor
inconsistent child! She forgot how dull the Square had been when she came,
how bitterly she had regretted her other home in those long dreary evenings
when there was no sound in the house except the sound of the hall-door
closing upon her father when he went out. Ah! upon her father as he went
out! He who was old, whose life was over (for fifty is old age to seventeen),
he could not tolerate the interruption of his habits, of his talk with his
friend; but she in the first flush of her beginning was to be shut out from
everything, banished from her friends without a word! And then there crept
on Cara’s mind a recollection of those evening scenes over the fire: Aunt
Cherry bending her brows over her needlework, and Edward reading in the
light of the lamp. How innocent it was; how sweet; and it was all over, and
for what? Poor little Cara’s mind seemed to turn round. That sense of
falsehood and insincerity even in the solid earth under one’s feet, which is
the most bewildering and sickening of all moral sensations, overcame her. It
was for her mother’s sake, because of the love he bore her, that he could not
be at ease in this room, which had been so specially her mother’s; all those
years while he had been wandering, it was because the loss of his wife was
fresh upon his mind, and the blow so bitter that he could not resume his old
life; but now what was this new breaking up of his life? Not for her
mother’s sake, but for Mrs. Meredith’s! Cara paused with her head
swimming, and looked round her to see if anything was steady in the
sudden whirl. What was steady? Oswald, whom everybody (she could see)
supposed to be ‘in love,’ whatever that was, with herself, was, as she knew,
‘in love,’ as he called it, with somebody else. Cara did not associate her
own sentiments for anyone with that feeling which Oswald expressed for
Agnes, but she felt that her own position was false, as his position was
false, and Mrs. Meredith’s and her father’s. Was there nothing in the world
that was true?
The next day or two was filled with somewhat dolorous arrangements
for breaking up again the scarcely-established household. Miss Cherry
occupied herself with many sighs in packing away the silver, shutting up
the linen, all the household treasures, and covering the furniture with
pinafores. Cara’s clothes were in process of packing, Cara’s room was being
dismantled. Mr. Beresford’s well-worn portmanteaux had been brought out,
and John and Cook, half pleased at the renewed leisure which began to
smile upon them, half-vexed at the cessation of their importance as
purveyors for and managers of their master’s ‘establishment,’ were looking
forward to the great final ‘cleaning up,’ which was to them the chief event
of the whole. All was commotion in the house. The intercourse with the
house next door had partially ceased; Oswald still came in the morning, and
Edward in the evening; but there had been no communication between the
ladies of the two houses since the evening when Mr. Beresford took final
leave of Mrs. Meredith. To say that there were not hard thoughts of her in
the minds of the Beresfords would be untrue, and yet it was impossible that
anyone could have been more innocent than she was. All that she had done
was to be kind, which was her habit and nature. ‘But too kind,’ Miss Cherry
said privately to herself, ‘too kind! Men must not be too much encouraged.
They should be kept in their place,’ and then the good soul cried at the
thought of being hard upon her neighbour. As for Cara, she never put her
thoughts on the subject into words, being too much wounded by the mere
suggestion. But in her mind, too, there was a sense that Mrs. Meredith must
be wrong. It could not be but that she must be wrong; and they avoided
each other by instinct. After poor James was gone, Miss Cherry promised
herself she would call formally and bid good-by to that elderly enchantress
who had made poor James once more an exile. Nothing could exceed now
her pity for ‘poor James.’ She forgot the darts with which she herself had
slain him, and all that had been said to his discredit. He was the sufferer
now, which was always enough to turn the balance of Miss Cherry’s
thoughts.
When things had arrived at this pitch, a sudden and extraordinary change
occurred all at once in Mr. Beresford’s plans. For a day no communications
whatever took place between No. 7 and No. 8 in the Square. Oswald did not
come in the morning—which was a thing that might be accounted for; but
Edward did not appear in the evening—which was more extraordinary.
Miss Cherry had brought out her art-needlework, notwithstanding the
forlorn air of semi-dismantling which the drawing-room had already
assumed, and Cara had her hemming ready. ‘It will only be for a night or
two more,’ said Miss Cherry, ‘and we may just as well be comfortable; but
she sighed; and as for Cara, the expression of her young countenance had
changed altogether to one of nervous and impatient trouble. She was pale,
her eyes had a fitful glimmer. Her aunt’s little ways fretted her as they had
never done before. Now and then a sense of the intolerable seized upon the
girl. She would not put up with the little daily contradictions to which
everybody is liable. She would burst out into words of impatience
altogether foreign to her usual character. She was fretted beyond her powers
of endurance. But at this moment she calmed down again. She acquiesced
in Miss Cherry’s little speech and herself drew the chairs into their usual
places, and got the book which Edward had been reading to them. The
ladies were very quiet, expecting their visitor; the fire sent forth little puffs
of flame and crackles of sound, the clock ticked softly, everything else was
silent. Cara fell into a muse of many fancies, more tranquil than usual, for
the idea that he would not come had not entered her mind. At least they
would be happy to-night. This thought lulled her into a kind of feverish
tranquillity, and even kept her from rousing, as Miss Cherry did, to the
sense that he had not come at his usual hour and might not be coming.
‘Edward is very late,’ Miss Cherry said at last. ‘Was there any arrangement
made, Cara, that he was not to come?’
‘Arrangement? that he was not to come!’
‘My dear,’ said good Miss Cherry, who had been very dull for the last
hour, ‘you have grown so strange in your ways. I don’t want to blame you,
Cara; but how am I to know? Oswald comes in the morning and Edward in
the evening; but how am I to know? If one has said more to you than the
other, if you think more of one than the other, you never tell me. Cara, is it
quite right, dear? I thought you would have told me that day that Oswald
came and wanted to see you alone; of course, we know what that meant; but
you evaded all my questions; you never would tell me.’
‘Aunt Cherry, it was because there was nothing to tell. I told you there
would be nothing.’
‘Then there ought to have been something, Cara. One sees what Edward
feels, poor boy, and I am very sorry for him. And it is hard upon him—hard
upon us all to be so treated. Young people ought to be honest in these
matters. Yes, dear, it is quite true. I am not pleased. I have not been pleased
ever since——’
‘Aunt Cherry,’ said the girl, her face crimson, her eyes full of tears, ‘why
do you upbraid me now—is this the moment? As if I were not unhappy
enough. What does Edward feel? Does he too expect me to tell him of
something that does not exist?’
‘Poor Edward! All I can say is, that if we are unhappy, he is unhappy
too, and unhappier than either you or me, for he is——. Poor boy; but he is
young and he will get over it,’ said Miss Cherry with a deep sigh.
‘Oh, hush! hush! but tell me of him—hush!’ said Cara, eagerly; ‘I hear
him coming up the stairs.’
There was someone certainly coming up stairs, but it was not Edward’s
youthful footstep, light and springy. It was a heavier and slower tread. They
listened, somewhat breathless, being thus stopped in an interesting
discussion, and wondered at the slow approach of these steps. At last the
door opened slowly, and Mr. Beresford, with some letters in his hand, came
into the room. He came quite up to them before he said anything. The
envelope which he held in his hand seemed to have contained both the open
letters which he carried along with it, and one of them had a black edge. He
was still running his eyes over this as he entered the room.
‘I think,’ he said, standing with his hand upon Cara’s table, at the place
where Edward usually sat, ‘that you had better stop your packing for the
moment. An unfortunate event has happened, and I do not think now that I
can go away—not so soon at least; it would be heartless, it would be
unkind!’
‘What is it?’ cried Miss Cherry, springing to her feet. ‘Oh, James, not
any bad news from the Hill?’
‘No, no; nothing that concerns us. The fact is,’ said Mr. Beresford,
gazing into the dim depths of the mirror and avoiding their eyes, ‘Mr.
Meredith, the father of the boys, has just died in India. The news has come
only to-day.’
 CHAPTER XXXI.

THE HOUSE OF MOURNING.

The news which had produced so sudden and startling an effect upon the
inmates of No. 7 had been known early in the morning of the same day to
the inmates of No. 8. This it was which had prevented either of the young
men from paying their ordinary visits; but the wonder was that no rumour
should have reached at least the kitchen of Mr. Beresford’s house of the sad
news which had arrived next door. Probably the reason was that the servants
were all fully occupied, and had no time for conversation. The news had
come early, conveyed by Mr. Sommerville personally, and by post from the
official head-quarters, for Mr. Meredith was a civil servant of standing and
distinction. There was nothing extraordinary or terrible in it. He had been
seized with one of the rapid diseases of the climate, and had succumbed like
so many other men, leaving everything behind him settled and in order. It
was impossible that a well-regulated and respectable household could have
been carried on with less reference to the father of the children, and
nominal master of the house, than Mrs. Meredith’s was; but perhaps this
was one reason why his loss fell upon them all like a thunderbolt. Dead! no
one had ever thought of him as a man who could die. The event brought
him near them as with the rapidity of lightning. Vaguely in their minds, or
at least in the wife’s mind, there had been the idea of some time or other
making up to him for that long separation and estrangement—how, she did
not inquire, and when, she rather trembled to think of, but some time. The
idea of writing a kinder letter than usual to him had crossed her mind that
very morning. They did not correspond much; they had mutually found
each other incompatible, unsuitable, and lately Mrs. Meredith had been
angry with the distant husband, who had been represented as disapproving
of her. But this morning, no later, some thrill of more kindly feeling had
moved her. She had realised all at once that it might be hard for him to be
alone in the world, and without that solace of the boys, which from
indifference, or from compunction, he had permitted her to have without
interference all these years. She had thought that after all it was cruel, after
such a long time, to deny him a share in his own children, and she had
resolved, being in a serious mood and agitated state of mind, to make the
sacrifice, or to attempt to make the sacrifice more freely, and to write to him
to express her gratitude to him for leaving her both the boys so long; had
not he a right to them no less than hers?—in the eye of nature no less, and
in the eye of the law more. Yet he had been generous to her, and had never
disputed her possession of her children. These were the softening thoughts
that had filled her mind before she came downstairs. And no sooner had she
come down than the news arrived. He was dead. When those die who are
the most beloved and cherished, the best and dearest, that calamity which
rends life asunder and overclouds the world for us, has seldom in it the
same sickening vertigo of inappropriateness which makes the soul sick
when someone essentially earthly is suddenly carried away into the unseen,
with which he seems to have had nothing to do all his previous life. He!
dead! a man so material, of the lower earth. What could dying be to him?
What connection had he with the mystery and solemnity of the unseen? The
vulgar and commonplace awe us more at these dread portals than the noble
or great. What have they to do there? What had a man like Mr. Meredith to
do there? Yet he had gone, no one knowing, and accomplished that journey
which classes those who have made it, great and small, with the gods. A
hundred discordant thoughts entered into his wife’s mind—compunction,
and wonder, and solemn trembling. Could he have known what she had
been thinking that morning? Was it some dumb approach of his soul to hers
which had aroused these more tender thoughts? Had he been aware of all
that had gone on in her mind since the time when, she knowing of it, he had
died? Nature has always an instinctive certainty, whatever philosophy may
say against it, and however little religion may say in favour of it, that this
sacred and mysterious event of death somehow enlarges and expands the
being of those who have passed under its power. Since we lost them out of
our sight, it seems so necessary to believe that they see through us more
than ever they did, and know what is passing within the hearts to which
they were kindred. Why should the man, who living had concerned himself
so little about what his wife did, know now instantaneously all about it,
having died? She could not have given a reason, but she felt it to be so. The
dark ocean, thousands of miles of it, what was that to an emancipated soul?
He had died in India; but he was there, passing mysteriously through the
doors, standing by her, ‘putting things into her head,’ in this corner of
England. Which of us has not felt the same strange certainty? All at once
the house seemed full of him, even to the children, who had scarcely known
him. He was dead; passed into a world which mocks at distance, which
knows nothing of fatigue. He was as God in some mysterious way, able to
be everywhere, able to influence the living unconsciously, seeing, hearing
them—simply because he was dead, and had become to mortal vision
incapable of either seeing or hearing more.
There is nothing more usual than to rail at the dreadful and often unduly
prolonged moment between death and the final ceremonial which clears us
away from cumbering the living soil any longer; but this moment is often a
blessing to the survivors. In such a case as this ‘the bereaved family’ did not
know what to do. How were they to gain that momentary respite from the
common round? If the blinds were drawn down, and the house shut up,
according to the usual formula, that would be purely fictitious; for of course
he had been buried long ago. Edward paused with the shutter in his hand
when about to close it, struck by this reflection, and Oswald gave vent to it
plainly—‘What’s the good? he’s in his grave long ago.’ Mrs. Meredith had
retired to her room on the receipt of the news, where her maid took her her
cup of tea; and the young men sat down again, and ate their breakfast, as it
were under protest, ashamed of themselves for the good appetites they had,
and cutting off here and there a corner of their usual substantial meal, to
prove to themselves that they were not quite without feeling. What were
they to do to make the fact evident that they had just heard of their father’s
death, and to separate this day, which was to them as the day of his death,
from other days? They were very much embarrassed to know how they
were to manage this. To abstain altogether from their usual occupations was
the only thing which instinctively occurred to them. They sat down after
breakfast was over, as though it had been a doubly solemn dolorous Sunday,
on which they could not even go to church. Edward was doubtful even
about The Times, and Oswald hesitated about going to his smoking-room as
usual. A cigar seemed a levity when there was a death in the house. On the
whole, however, it was Oswald who settled the matter most easily, for he
began a copy of verses, ‘To the memory of my Father,’ which was a very
suitable way indeed of getting through the first hours, and amusing too.
The house was very still all the morning, and then there was another
subdued meal. Meals are a great thing to fall back upon when young
persons of healthful appetite, not broken down by grief, feel themselves
compelled to decorous appearance of mourning. By this time Oswald and
Edward both felt that not to eat was an absurd way of doing honour to their
dead father, and accordingly they had an excellent luncheon; though their
mother still ‘did not feel able,’ her maid reported, to come down. After this
the two young men went out together to take a walk. This, too, was a kind
of solemn Sabbatical exercise, which they had not taken in the same way
since they were boys at school together. When they met any acquaintance,
one of them would bow formally, or stretch out a hand to be shaken,
passing on, too grave for talk, while the other paused to explain the ‘bad
news’ they had received. When it was a friend of Oswald’s, Edward did
this, and when it was Edward’s friend, Oswald did it. This little innocent
solemn pantomime was so natural and instinctive that it impressed everyone
more or less, and themselves most of all. They began to feel a certain
importance in their position, enjoying the sympathy, the kind and pitying
looks of all they met as they strolled along slowly arm-in-arm. They had not
been so much united, or felt so strong a connection with each other, for
years. Then they began to discuss in subdued tones the probable issues.
‘Will it change our position?’ Edward asked.
‘I think not, unless to better it,’ said Oswald. ‘I don’t think you need go
to India now unless you like.’
He had just said this, when they were both addressed by someone
coming up behind them, as hasty and business-like as they were languid and
solemn.
‘I say, can you tell me whereabouts the India Office is?’ said the new
comer. ‘Good-morning. I shouldn’t have disturbed you but that I
remembered you were going to India too. I’m in for my last Exam., that is, I
shall be directly, and I’ve got something to do at the India Office; but the
fact is, I don’t know where to go.’
It was Edward who directed him, Oswald standing by holding his
brother’s arm. Roger Burchell was very brisk, looking better than usual in
the fresh spring sunshine, and Oswald’s eye was caught by his face, which
was like someone he had seen recently—he could not remember where—
the ruddy, mellow, warmly-toned complexion, brown eyes, and dusky gold
of the hair. Who was it? Roger, being out of his depth in London, was glad
to see faces he knew, even though he loved them little; and then he had
heard that Cara was to return to the Hill, and felt that he had triumphed, and
feared them no more.
‘I hope your neighbours are well?’ he said. ‘They are coming back, I
hear, to the country. I suppose they don’t care for London after being
brought up in a country place? I should not myself.’
‘Mr. Beresford is going abroad,’ said Edward, coldly.
‘Everybody is going abroad, I think; but few people so far as we are. I
don’t think I should care for the Continent—just the same old thing over
and over; but India should be all fresh. You are going to India too, ain’t
you? at least, that is what I heard.’
‘I am not sure,’ said Edward. ‘The truth is, we have had very bad news
this morning. My father died at Calcutta——’
‘Oh, I beg your pardon,’ said Roger, who had kind feelings. ‘I should not
have stopped you had I known; I thought you both looked grave. I am very
sorry. I hope you don’t mind——?’
‘Don’t mind my father’s death?’
‘Oh, I mean don’t mind my having stopped you. Perhaps it was rude; but
I said to myself, “Here is someone I know.” Don’t let me detain you now. I
am very sorry, but I wish you were coming to India,’ said Roger, putting out
his big fist to shake hands. Oswald eluded the grip, but Edward took it
cordially. He was not jealous of Roger, but divined in him an unfortunate
love like his own.
‘Poor fellow!’ Edward said as they went on.
‘Poor fellow!—why poor fellow? he is very well off. He is the very sort
of man to get on; he has no feelings, no sensitiveness, to keep him back.’
‘It is scarcely fair to decide on such slight acquaintance that he has no
feelings; but he is going to India.’
‘Ned, you are a little bit of a fool, though you’re a clever fellow. Going
to India is the very best thing a man can do. My mother has always made a
fuss about it.’
‘And yourself——’
‘Myself! I am not the sort of fellow. I am no good. I get dead beat; but
you that are all muscle and sinew, and that have no tie except my mother
——’
 ‘That to be sure,’ said Edward with a sigh, and he wondered did his
brother now at last mean to be confidential and inform him of the
engagement with Cara? His heart began to beat more quickly. How different
that real sentiment was from the fictitious one which they had both been
playing with! Edward’s breath came quickly. Yes, it would be better to
know it—to get it over; and then there would be no further uncertainty; but
at the same time he was afraid—afraid both of the fact and of Oswald’s way
of telling it. If Cara’s name was spoken with levity, how should he be able
to bear it? Needless to say, however, that Oswald had no intention of talking
about Cara, and nothing to disclose on that subject at least.
‘You that have no tie—except my mother,’ repeated Oswald, ‘(and of
course she would always have me), I would think twice before I gave up
India. It’s an excellent career, nothing better. The governor (poor old
fellow) did very well, I have always heard, and you would do just as well,
or more so, with the benefit of his connection. I wonder rather that my
mother kept us out of the Indian set, except the old Spy. Poor old man, I
daresay he will be cut up about this. He’ll know better than anyone,’
continued Oswald, with a change of tone, ‘what arrangements have been
made.’
‘I wonder if it will be long before we can hear?’ Thus they went on
talking in subdued tones, the impression gradually wearing off, and even
the feeling of solemn importance—the sense that, though not unhappy, they
ought to conduct themselves with a certain gravity of demeanour becoming
sons whose father was just dead. They had no very distinct impression
about the difference to be made in their own future, and even Oswald was
not mercenary in the ordinary sense of the word. He thought it would be but
proper and right that he should be made ‘an eldest son;’ but he did not think
it likely—and in that case, though he would be absolutely independent, he
probably would not be very rich—not rich enough to make work on his own
part unnecessary. So the excitement on this point was mild. They could not
be worse off than they were—that one thing he was sure of, and for the rest,
one is never sure of anything. By this time they had reached the region of
Clubs. Oswald thought there was nothing out of character in just going in
for half an hour to see the papers. A man must see the papers whoever lived
or died. When the elder brother unbent thus far, the younger brother went
home. He found his mother still in her own room taking a cup of tea. She
had been crying, for her eyes were red, and she had a shawl wrapped round
her, the chill of sudden agitation and distress having seized upon her. Mr.
Meredith’s picture, which had not hitherto occupied that place of honour,
had been placed above her mantelpiece, and an old Indian box, sweet with
the pungent odour of the sandal-wood, stood on the little table at her elbow.
‘I was looking over some little things your dear papa gave me, long before
you were born,’ she said, with tears in her voice. ‘Oh, my poor John!’
‘Mother, you must not think me unfeeling; but I knew so little of him.’
‘Yes, that was true—yes, that was true. Oh, Edward, I have been asking
myself was it my fault? But I could not live in India, and he was so fond of
it. He was always well. He did not understand how anyone could be half
killed by the climate. I never should have come home but for the doctors,
Edward.’
She looked at him so appealingly that Edward felt it necessary to take all
the responsibility unhesitatingly upon himself. ‘I am sure you did not leave
him as long as you could help it, mother.’
‘No, I did not—that is just the truth—as long as I could help it; but it
does seem strange that we should have been parted for so much of our lives.
Oh, what a comfort it is, Edward, to feel that whatever misunderstanding
there might be, he knows all and understands everything now!’
‘With larger, other eyes than ours,’ said Edward piously, and the boy
believed it in the confidence of his youth. But how the narrow-minded
commonplace man who had been that distinguished civil servant, John
Meredith, should all at once have come to this godlike greatness by the
mere fact of dying, neither of them could have told. Was it nature in them
that asserted it to be so? or some prejudice of education and tradition so
deeply woven into their minds that they did not know it to be anything but
nature? But be it instinct or be it prejudice, what more touching sentiment
ever moved a human bosom? He had not been a man beloved in his life; but
he was as the gods now.
By-and-by, however—for reverential and tender as this sentiment was, it
was neither love nor grief, and could not pretend to the dominion of these
monarchs of the soul—the mother and son fell into talk about secondary
matters. She had sent for her dressmaker about her mourning, and given
orders for as much crape as could be piled upon one not gigantic female
figure, and asked anxiously if the boys had done their part—had got the
proper depth of hatbands, the black studs, &c., that were wanted. ‘I suppose
you may have very dark grey for the mourning; but it must be very dark,’
she said.
‘And you, mother, must you wear that cap—that mountain of white
stuff?’
‘Certainly, my dear,’ said Mrs. Meredith with fervour. ‘You don’t think I
would omit any sign of respect? And what do I care whether it is becoming
or not? Oh, Edward, your dear papa has a right to all that we can do to show
respect.’
There was a faltering in her lip as of something more she had to say, but
decorum restrained her. That first day nothing ought to be thought of,
nothing should be mentioned, she felt, in which consolation had a part. But
when the night came after that long, long day, which they all felt to be like a
year, the secret comfort in her heart came forth as she bade her boy good-
night. ‘Edward, oh, I wish you had gone years ago, when you might have
been a comfort to him! but now that there is no need——’ Here she stopped
and kissed him, and looked at him with a smile in her wet eyes, which, out
of ‘respect,’ she would no more have suffered to come to her lips than she
would have worn pink ribbons in her cap, and said quickly, ‘You need not
go to India now.’
This was the blessing with which she sent him away from her. She cried
over it afterwards, in penitence looking at her husband’s portrait, which had
been brought out of a corner in the library downstairs. Poor soul, it was
with a pang of remorse that she felt she was going to be happy in her
widow’s mourning. If she could have restrained herself, she would have
kept in these words expressive of a latent joy which came by means of
sorrow. She stood and looked at the picture with a kind of prayer for pardon
in her heart—Oh, forgive me! with once more that strange confidence that
death had given the attributes of God to the man who was dead. If he was
near, as she felt him to be, and could hear the breathing of that prayer in her
heart, then surely, as Edward said, it was with ‘larger, other eyes’ that he
must look upon her, understanding many things which up to his last day he
had not been able to understand.
But they were all very glad when the day was over—that first day which
was not connected with the melancholy business or presence of death which
‘the family’ are supposed to suffer from so deeply, yet which proves a kind
of chapel and seclusion for any grief which is not of the deepest and most
overwhelming kind. The Merediths would have been glad even of a mock
funeral, a public assuming of the trappings of woe, a distinct period after
which life might be taken up again. But there was nothing at all to interrupt
their life, and the whole affair remained unauthentic and strange to them.
Meanwhile, in the house next door these strange tidings had made a sudden
tumult. The packings had been stopped. The servants were angry at their
wasted trouble; the ladies both silenced and startled, with thoughts in their
minds less natural and peaceful than the sympathy for Mrs. Meredith, which
was the only feeling they professed. As for Mr. Beresford himself, it would
be difficult to describe his feelings, which were of a very strange and
jumbled character. He was glad to have the bondage taken off his own
movements, and to feel that he was free to go where he pleased, to visit as
he liked; and the cause of his freedom was not really one which moved him
to sorrow though it involved many curious and uncomfortable questions.
How much better the unconscious ease of his feelings had been before
anyone had meddled! but now so many questions were raised! Yet his mind
was relieved of that necessity of immediate action which is always so
disagreeable to a weak man. Yes, his mind was entirely relieved. He took a
walk about his room, feeling that by-and-by it would be his duty to go back
again to Mrs. Meredith’s drawing-room to ask what he could do for her, and
give her his sympathy. Not to-night, but soon; perhaps even to-morrow. The
cruel pressure of force which had been put upon him, and which he had
been about to obey by the sacrifice of all his comforts, relaxed and melted
away. It was a relief, an undeniable relief; but yet it was not all plain-sailing
—the very relief was an embarrassment too.
 CHAPTER XXXII.

TAKING UP DROPT STITCHES.

Next day Mr. Beresford paid Mrs. Meredith a visit of condolence. It was
natural and necessary, considering their friendship; but the manner in which
that friendship had been interrupted, and the occasion upon which it was
resumed, were both embarrassing. It had been a short note from Maxwell
which had communicated the news to him, and in this it had been taken for
granted that he would now remain at home. Old Mr. Sommerville had
himself communicated the information to Maxwell, and his letter was
enclosed. ‘I hear your friend Beresford had made up his mind to go away,
out of consideration for Mrs. Meredith,’ he had written, ‘which was very
gentlemanly on his part, and showed fine feeling. I think it right
accordingly to let you know at once of the great change which has taken
place in her position. I have received the news this morning of her husband
and my poor friend John Meredith’s death at Calcutta on the 3rd inst. It was
sudden, but not quite unexpected, as he had been suffering from fever. This
of course changes Mrs. Meredith’s situation altogether. She is now a widow,
and of course responsible to no one. I would not for the world be
answerable for depriving her of the sympathy of a kind friend, which may in
the long run be so important for her, at a period of trouble. So I trust you
will communicate the news to your friend with the least possible delay. I
have not seen Mrs. Meredith; but as they have been long separated, I do not
doubt that she bears the loss with Christian composure,’ said the sharp-
witted old man. ‘I send you old Sommerville’s letter,’ Mr. Maxwell added
on his own account; ‘it does not require any comment of mine; and of
course you will act as you think proper; but my own opinion is, that he is an
old busybody, making suggestions of patent absurdity.’ Mr. Beresford was
much nettled by this note. Whatever Sommerville’s suggestion might mean
it was for him to judge of it, not Maxwell, who thrust himself so calmly into
other people’s business. Sommerville’s letter might not have pleased him by
itself, but Maxwell’s gloss was unpardonable. He tore it up and threw it into
his waste-basket with unnecessary energy. But for that perhaps he might
have felt more abashed by the embarrassing character of the reunion; but
being thus schooled, he rebelled. He went to the house next door in the
afternoon, towards the darkening. The spring sunshine had died away, and
the evening was cold as winter almost. There had been no reception that
day—visitor after visitor had been sent away with the news of the
‘bereavement.’ The same word has to be used whether the loss is one which
crushes all delight out of life, or one which solemnly disturbs the current for
a moment, to leave it only brighter than before. All the servants at Mrs.
Meredith’s were preternaturally solemn. The aspect of the house could not
have been more funereal had half the population succumbed. Already, by
some wonderful effort of millinery, the maids as well as their mistress had
got their black gowns.
Mrs. Meredith herself sat in the drawing-room, crape from head to foot,
in all the crispness of a fresh widow’s cap. Never was black so black, or
white so white. She had an innocent satisfaction in heaping up this kind of
agony. Already a design drawn by Oswald was in the hands of the
goldsmith for a locket to hold her husband’s hair. She would not bate a jot
of anything that the most bereaved mourner could do to show her ‘respect.’
Even the tears were ready, and they were sincere tears. A pang of
compunction, a pang of regret, of remorseful pity and tenderness, melted
her heart, and there was a certain pleasure of melancholy in all this which
made it spontaneous. It was the very luxury of sentiment, to be able to feel
your heart untouched underneath, and yet to be so deeply, unfeignedly
sorry, to be so true a mourner at so little real cost. Mrs. Meredith held out
her hand to her visitor as he came in—he was the only one whom she had
received.
‘This is kind,’ she said—‘very kind. As you were always such a good
friend to us, I could not say no to you.’
‘I was very sorry,’ he said; as indeed what else was there to say?
‘Oh, yes, I knew you would feel for us. It was so sudden—quite well
when the last mail came in, and this one to bring such news! You scarcely
knew him; and, oh, I feel it so much now, that none of my friends, that not
even the boys knew him as they ought to have known him. It seems as if it
must have been my fault.’
‘That it could never have been. You must not reproach yourself; though
one always does, however the loss happens,’ he said, in a low and sorrowful
tone. He was thinking of his wife, for whom he had mourned with the
intensity of despair, but the same words answered both cases. He stood as
he had done the last time he was there, not looking at her in her panoply of
mourning, but looking dreamily into the fire. And she cried a little, with a
childish sob in her throat. The grief was perfectly real, childlike, and
innocent. He was much more affected by the recollection of that last
meeting at which he had taken leave of her than she was—he remembered it
better. The new incident even kept her from seeing anything more than the
most ordinary every-day fact, one friend coming to see another, in his
return.
‘I suppose you have no details?’
‘Not one. We cannot hear till the next mail. It will be some comfort to
have particulars. Poor John! he was always so strong, one never had any
fear. I was the one that could not stand the climate; and yet I am left and he
is taken!’
‘But you have not been exposed to the climate,’ said Mr. Beresford. She
was not wise in these expressions of her personal grief, though her friends
always thought her so wise in her sympathy. She resumed softly:
‘I have no fears about the boys to embitter my grief. I know they will be
well cared for. He was so good a father, though he had them so little with
him. Oh, why did you not tell me to send him one of the boys?’
Mr. Beresford would have felt himself the cruellest of malignants, had he
ventured to make such a suggestion in former days, but he did not say this
now. ‘You did what you thought was best for them,’ he said.
‘Ah, yes,’ she said eagerly, ‘for them; there was their education to be
thought of. That was what I considered; but I do not think—do you think,’
she added, with an unconscious clasping of her hands and entreating look,
‘that, since the great occasion for it is over—Edward need go to India
now?’
The form of the speech was that of an assertion—the tone that of a
question. She might follow her own inclinations like other people; but she
liked to have them sanctioned and approved by her friends.
‘Surely not, if you don’t wish it. There is only your wish to be
considered.’
‘It is not myself I am thinking of. It is for him,’ she said, faltering. Of all
things that could happen to her, she was least willing to allow that her own
will or wish had any share in her decisions. It was a weakness which
perhaps the more enlightened of her friends were already aware of. As for
Mr. Beresford, he was more critical of her than ever he had been before,
although more entirely sympathetic, more ready to throw himself into her
service. She looked at him so anxiously. She wanted his opinion and the
support of his concurrence. There was nothing for him to do, to be of use as
he proposed, but to agree with her, to support what she had thought of—that
was friendship indeed.
On the next day Miss Cherry paid a similar visit of condolence, but she
was not so tenderly sympathetic as, under other circumstances, she would
naturally have been. She looked at the new-made widow with a critical eye.
A short time before no one had been more anxious than Miss Cherry that
Mrs. Meredith should suffer no harm, should lose no title of respect due to
her. She had with her own soft hand struck a blow, the severity of which
astonished herself, at her favourite and only brother on Mrs. Meredith’s
account; but the sudden revolution in their neighbour’s affairs, instead of
touching her heart, closed it. The position was changed, and a hundred
tremors and terrors took at once possession of her gentle bosom. Who could
doubt what James would wish now—what James would do? and who could
doubt that the woman who had permitted him so intimate a friendship
would respond to these wishes? This idea leaped at once into the minds of
all the lookers-on. Old Sommerville sent the news with a chuckle of grim
cynicism yet kindness; Maxwell communicated it with a grudge; and Miss
Cherry received it with an instant conviction yet defiance. They had no
doubt of what would, nay, must ensue, and jumped at the conclusion with
unanimous agreement; and it would be quite true to say that Mr. Meredith’s
death brought quite as great a pang to Miss Cherry, who had never seen
him, as it did to his wife, though in a different way. If the first marriage, the
natural youthful beginning of serious life, brings often with it a train of
attendant embarrassments, almost miseries, what is a second marriage to
do? Good Miss Cherry’s maidenly mind was shocked by the idea that her
brother, so long held up somewhat proudly by the family as an example of
conjugal fidelity and true sorrow, had allowed feelings less exalted to get
possession of him. And what would Cara do? How would her imaginative
delicate being, too finely touched for common issues, conform to the vulgar
idea of a stepmother? Miss Cherry grew hot and angry as she thought of it.
And a man who had such a child, a grown-up daughter, sweetest and only
fit substitute for the mother dead, what did he want with a new companion,
a new love? Faugh! to use such a word disgusted her; and that James—
James! the most heart-broken and inconsolable of mourners, should come
to that! With all this in her mind, it may be supposed that Miss Cherry’s
feelings when she went to see Mrs. Meredith and found her in all her crape,
crying softly by the fire, were not so sweet as they ought to have been. She
said the usual things in the way of consolation—how, as it was to be,
perhaps it was best that they had heard of it all at once, and had not been
kept in anxiety; and how she supposed such afflictions were necessary for
us, though it was very sad that the dear boys had known so little of their
father; but, on the other hand, how that fact must soften it to them all, for of
course it was not as if he had died at home, where they would have felt the
loss every day. This last speech had a sting in it, which was little
intentional, and yet gave Miss Cherry a sense of remorse after it was said;
for though she had a certain desire to give pain, momentary, and the result
of much provocation, yet the moment the pain was given, it was herself
who suffered most. This is what it is to have a soft nature; most people have
at least a temporary satisfaction in the result when they have been able to
inflict a wound.
‘Oh, yes, my dear, she feels it, I suppose,’ Miss Cherry said, when she
returned. ‘She was sitting over the fire, and the room much too warm for
the season; for it is really like spring to-day. Of course a woman must feel it
more or less when she has lost her husband. I have never been in these
circumstances, but I don’t see how one could help that—however little one
cared for the man.’
‘Did she care little for the man?’ Cara was at the age when most things
are taken for granted. She had not entered into any peculiarities in the
position of Mrs. Meredith with her husband. She was like Hamlet,
recognising more and more, as she realised her own position, the quagmires
and unsafe footing round her—was this another? There was a sinking
sensation in Cara’s youthful mind, and a doubt and faltering wherever she
thought to place her foot.
‘My dear child,’ said Miss Cherry, ‘when a woman spends years after
years away from her husband, never making any effort to join him, quite
satisfied with a letter now and then, receiving her own friends, making a
circle, going into society—while the poor man is toiling to keep it up,
thousands and thousands of miles away’—here Miss Cherry paused, a little
frightened by the blackness of the picture which she had herself drawn. ‘I
hope I am not doing anyone injustice,’ she faltered. ‘Oh, my dear, you may
be sure I don’t mean that. And I believe poor Mrs. Meredith could not stand
the climate, and of course there was the boys’ education to think of—
children always must come home. Indeed, how anyone can settle in India
knowing that their children must be sent away——’
‘Aunt Cherry, no one is to be trusted,’ said the girl, tears coming to her
eyes; ‘there is no truth anywhere. We are all making a pretence one way or
another; pretending to care for people who are living, pretending to mourn
for people who are dead; pretending that one thing is our object, while we
are trying for another; pretending to be merry, pretending to be sad. Ah! it
makes my heart sick!’
‘Cara, Cara! What do you know about such things? They say it is so in
the world, but you and I have very little to do with the world, dear. You
must not think—indeed, indeed, you must not think that it is so with us.’
‘I don’t know anything of the world,’ said Cara. ‘I only know what is
round me. If Mrs. Meredith is false, and papa false, and other people——’
‘My dear,’ said Miss Cherry, trembling a little, ‘it is always dangerous to
apply abstract principles so. When I say that Mrs. Meredith was a long time
away from her husband, I do not say that she is false. Oh, Cara, no! that
would be terrible. If I say anything, all I mean is that she could not be so
grieved, not so dreadfully grieved, as a woman would be whose husband
had been always with her. Think of the boys, for instance; they did not
know him really; they may be very sorry; but, how different would it be if it
was a father like your father! And other people—what do you mean by
other people?’
‘Nothing,’ said Cara, turning away, for she could not reply to Miss
Cherry’s argument. Would she indeed, in her own person, grieve for her
father more than the Merediths did for theirs? Here was another mystery
unpenetrated by Miss Cherry, incomprehensible to herself. Nobody knew
the gulf that lay between her and him, and she could not tell herself what it
meant. How kind he had been to her, though she repaid him in this way; but
did he love—really love—his child any more than she loved him? Did
anybody love any other, or only pretend and go through the semblance of
loving? She did not doubt her aunts, it is true; but then her certainty in
respect to them took, to some degree, the form of indifference. Taken for