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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

Management Leading and Collaborating in the


Competitive World
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chapter
2
The External and Internal
Environments
CHAPTER CONTENTS
Learning Objectives 2

Key Student Questions 2

Class Roadmap 3

Key Terms Presented in This Chapter 11

Lecturettes 13

Discussion Questions 14

Concluding Case 17

Experiential Exercises 18

Examples 21

Supplemental Features 23

Chapter Video 23

Manager’s Hot Seat 23

Self Assessment 23

2-1
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments
Test Your Knowledge 23

Expanded PowerPoint Slide Show 55

2-2
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

Expanded PowerPoint Slide Show 24


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1 Describe how environmental forces influence organizations and


how organizations can influence their environments.
2 Distinguish between the macroenvironment and the competitive
environment .

3 Explain why managers and organizations should pay attention to


economic and social developments.

4 Identify elements of the competitive environment.

5 Summarize how organizations respond to environmental uncer-


tainty.

6 Define elements of an organization’s culture.

7 Discuss how an organization’s culture and climate affect its re-


sponse to its external environment.

KEY STUDENT QUESTIONS

The two questions that come up most often for this chapter are:


1. “Can you explain the difference between the macroenvironment
and the task environment?” (Or a request to explain a particular
element of either environment.)
2. “As a manager, what should I do to respond to a changing environment?”

Fortunately, the text has tools to help you deal with both of these questions more effectively.

The first question is best addressed with examples, and students often find it useful to go
through an example or two for a specific company. Start by discussing the high tech indus-
try, using the information in the text and the “Management Connection” section called “Ap-
ple’s Rocky Relationships.” Next, ask students to name a company with which they are fa-
miliar, and have them identify examples of each of the different environmental factors for

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

that organization. If your students can’t think of an organization, try using something with
which they are likely to be familiar, such as Kaiser Permanente (a large national HMO.) A
completed example appears below in the instructions for Experiential Exercise 2.1, “External
Environment Analysis”.

The second question is best addressed by having students work together to complete the con-
cluding case study “Wild Water Gets Soaked.” The brainstorming activity that students
complete for the third discussion question on the case also serves as an excellent introduction
to Chapter 3 - Decision Making.

“Now, create a plan for Wild Water. In your plan, describe what changes the organization
needs to make to its culture to meet the upcoming challenges in the external environment.
Then describe steps that Wild Water can take to compete successfully against the new
amusement park. How can the Salernos keep their loyal customers happy while attracting
new ones?”

CLASS ROADMAP

Management Connection
What Makes Apple a Winner in a Fast-Changing Environment?

In the 1970s consumers fell in love with Apple’s spreadsheets and desktop publishing tools, but
in the 80s and 90s, Apple lost significant market share as consumers got on board in droves with
the Microsoft operating system. As technology advanced, Apple dropped the word “computer”
from the corporate name and focused on providing a wide array of tools to tap into the internet
for entertainment, communication, and expressing creativity. Apple also provides a software de-
velopment kit which will allow any programmer to create new applications which can be pur-
chased online at Apple’s App Store. Over 100 million apps were downloaded in the first two
months. What could Apple do to further enhance their brand and enhance their share of the
technology market?

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

Introduction
A. Organizations are open systems (Figure 2.1) LO 1: Describe how environ-
mental forces influence or-
1. Receive raw materials, services, and financial, hu- ganizations, and how organi-
man, and information resources from the environ- zations can influence their
ment, called inputs environments
2. Transform resources into finished goods and ser-
vices
3. Send outputs back into the environment

B. External Environment Influences

1. When resources change, environment influences the


organization
E.G.
2. When outputs differ, organization influences the en- Use Example 2.1 – Environment
vironment Influences here
3. The organization operates in a competitive envi-
ronment.

I. The Macroenvironment
4. Macroenvironment is defined by the most general ele-
ments in the external environment that can potentially in-
fluence strategic decisions
A. The Econonmy (Figure 2.3)
LO 2: Distinguish between
a. The economic environment dramatically affects
the macroenvironment and
companies’ ability to function effectively and in-
the competitive environment
fluences their strategic choices.
b. Interest and inflation rates affect the availability
and cost of capital, the ability to expand, prices,
costs, and consumer demand for products.
c. Unemployment rates affect labor availability
and the wages the firm must pass, as well as
product demand.

B. Technology
a. Technological advances create new products.
As technology evolves, new industries, markets,
and competitive niches develop.
b. New technologies provide new production tech-
niques. Sophisticated robots perform jobs with-
out suffering fatigue.
c. New technologies also provide new ways to
manage and communicate. Computerized man-

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

agement information systems (MIS) make in-


formation available when needed.
C. Laws and Regulations

1. U.S. government policies both impose strategic con-


straints and provide opportunities.
E.G.
Use Example 2.2 – Laws and
2. Government can affect business opportunities Regulations here
through tax laws, economic policies, and interna-
tional trade rulings.

3. Regulators are specific government organizations in


a firm’s more immediate task environment.

4. Regulatory agencies have the power to investigate


company practices and take legal actions to ensure
compliance with the laws are:

i. Occupational Safety and Health Administra-


tion (OSHA)
ii. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
iii. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
iv. Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-
sion (EEOC)
v. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
vi. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Pro-
grams (OFCCP)
vii. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

D. Demographics

a. Demographics measures of various characteris-


tics of the people comprising groups or other so-
cial units.
b. Work groups, organizations, countries, markets,
or societies can be described statistically by re-
ferring to their members’ age, gender, family
size, income, education, occupation, and so
forth.
LO 3: Explain why managers
E. Social Issues and organizations should at-
tend to economic and social
a. Societal trends regarding how people think and developments
behave have major implications for management
of the labor force, corporate social actions, and

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

strategic decisions about products and markets.


b. Companies have introduced more supportive
policies, including family leave, flexible work-
ing hours, and childcare assistance.

F. The Natural Environment

a. Prominent issues in today’s press pertain to nat-


ural resources.
b. The protection of the natural environment is im-
portant to managerial decisions.

II. The Competitive Environment LO 4: Identify elements of the


competitive environment
A. Competitors

a. As a first step in understanding their competitive


environment, organizations must identify their TEXT REFERENCE
competitors, which may include: Management Connection –
Progress Report
i. small domestic firms
ii. overseas firms As part of its innovation, Apple has
iii. new domestic companies exploring new needed to forge new relationships with
creators of online content which includes
markets recording companies. More recently,
iv. strong regional competitors magazines publishers are joining the App
v. unusual entries, such as Internet shopping Store to provide their products to con-
sumers in a digital format. Publishers
b. The next step is to analyze how they compete. must pay 30% of revenues to Apple, so
they are reducing their income per sub-
B. New Entrants scription, but the iPod and other Apply
devices are so popular that publishers are
afraid not to jump on board. With so
a. Barriers to entry are conditions that prevent many applications and devices coming
new companies from entering an industry. into the market, these complex relation-
ships can get stormy. In some cases
b. Some major barriers to entry are government Apply and its competitors are buying
policy, capital requirements, brand identifica- components from the same suppliers,
tion, cost disadvantages, and distribution chan- such as with Samsung.
• How do you think things will work out
nels. between the Google Android platform
and the Apple platform with regard to
C. Substitutes and Complements (Table 2.1) cell phones and tablet computers?
• Which company has the most power
and leverage in Apple’s supply chain?
a. Technological advances and economic efficien- Why?
cies are among the ways that firms can develop
substitutes for existing products.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

D. Suppliers

a. Suppliers provide the resources needed for pro-


duction and may come in the form of people,
raw materials, information, and financial capital. Teaching Tip:
b. Suppliers can raise their prices or provide poor Have students review and give
quality goods and services. feedback on each others’ respons-
c. Labor unions can go on strike or demand higher es to the pre-class assignment
(Experiential Exercise 2.1) at this
wages.
point in the lecture. The best way
d. Workers may produce defective work. to do this is in pairs. Each student
reads the other’s paper, and then
E. Customers both students talk about environ-
mental factors that have been mis-
a. Customers purchase the products or services the classified, and other environmen-
organization offers. tal factors that could be added.
b. Final consumers are those who purchase prod- Students should correct their own
ucts in their finished form. papers before turning them in, and
c. Intermediate consumers are customers who if possible, students should get
purchase raw materials or wholesale products feedback from the professor or
teaching assistant about both the
before selling them to final customers.
paper and the corrections.
i. Customer service means giving customers
what they want or need, the way they want
it, the first time.
ii. Actions and attitudes that mean excellent
customer service include:
a.) Speed of filling and delivering normal
orders. LO 5: Summarize how organ-
b.) Willingness to meet emergency needs. izations respond to environ-
c.) Merchandise delivered in good condi- mental uncertainty
tion.
d.) Readiness to take back defective goods
and re-supply quickly.
e.) Availability of installation and repair
services and parts.
f.) Service charges (that is, whether services
are “free” or priced separately).

III. Environmental Analysis


a. Developments outside the organization can have a
profound impact on the way managers operate.
E.G.
Use Example 2.3 – Environmen-
b. Example: if little is known about customer likes and tal Complexity here
dislikes, organizations will have a difficult time de-
signing new products, scheduling production, or de-
veloping market plans.
c. Environmental uncertainty means that managers do

2-8
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

not have enough information about the environment


to understand or predict the future.
d. Uncertainty arises from two related factors:
1. Environmental complexity, or the number of is-
sues to which a manager must attend, as well as E.G.
their interconnectedness. Use Example 2.4 – Competitive
2. Dynamism, or the degree of discontinuous Intelligence here
change that occurs within the industry.

A. Environmental scanning

a. A process that involves searching out information


that is unavailable to most people and sorting
through that information in order to interpret what is
important and what is not. Teaching Tip:
b. Competitive intelligence is the information neces- Ask students to image different
sary to decide how best to manage in the competi- scenarios that might impact your
tive environment they have identified. (Table 2.2) school, and to develop contingen-
cy plans that might address those
B. Scenario Development scenarios. This can either be
done as a discussion question
a. Scenario is a narrative that describes a particular set with the entire class, or students
of future conditions. can work in groups to answer the
b. Best-case scenario--events occur that are favorable question, and report back. For
to the firm. example, a possible scenario
might center around a population
c. Worst-case scenario--events are all unfavorable.
boom or bust. In a population
d. Scenario development helps managers develop con- boom, universities might respond
tingency plans for what they might do given differ- by setting up satellite campuses,
ent outcomes. whereas in a bust, universities
might look for additional students
C. Forecasting by setting up international pro-
grams and/or programs targeted
a. Used to predict exactly how some variable or varia- to meet the needs of working pro-
bles will change in the future. fessionals.
b. The best advice for using forecasts might include
the following:
1. Use multiple forecasts
2. Accuracy decreases the farther into the future
you are trying to predict.
3. Forecasts are no better than the data used to con-
struct them
4. Use simple forecasts
5. Important events often are surprises and repre-
sent a departure from predictions

2-9
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

D. Benchmarking

a. Benchmarking is the process of comparing the or-


ganization’s practices and technologies with those
of other companies.
b. Benchmarking means identifying the best-in-class
performance by a company in a given area.

IV. Responding to the Environment E.G.


Use Example 2.5 Independent
A. Changing the Environment You Are In Strategies here

1. Strategic maneuvering is the organization’s con-


scious efforts to change the boundaries of its task
environment. It can take four basic forms:
a. Domain selection is the entrance by a company
into another suitable market or industry.
b. Diversification occurs when a firm invests in
different types of businesses or products, or
when it expands geographically to reduce its de-
pendence on a single market or technology. LO 6: Define elements of an
c. A merger or acquisition takes place when two organization’s culture
or more firms combine, or one firm buys anoth-
er, to form a single company.
d. Divestiture occurs when a company sells one or
more businesses.
2. Prospectors are companies that continuously change
the boundaries of their task environments by seeking
new products and markets, diversifying and merg-
ing, or acquiring new enterprises.
3. Defenders are companies that stay within a more
limited, stable product domain

B. Influencing your environment

1. Independent strategies are strategies that an organi-


zation acting on its own uses to change some aspect
of its current environment. (Table 2.4)
2. Cooperative strategies are strategies used by two or
more organizations working together to manage the LO 7: Discuss how an organ-
external environment. (Table 2.5) ization’s culture affects its
response to its external envi-
C. Adapting to the Environment: Changing Yourself ronment

1. Four different approaches that organizations can

2-10
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

take in adapting to environmental uncertainty are:


(Table 2.3)
a. Decentralized bureaucratic (stable, complex en-
vironment)
b. Centralized bureaucratic (stable, simple envi-
ronment)
c. Decentralized organic (dynamic, complex envi-
ronment)
d. Centralized organic (dynamic, simple environ-
ment) E.G.
Use Example 2.6 Corporate
2. Adapting at the boundaries. Culture here
a. Buffering is creating supplies of excess re-
sources in case of unpredictable needs.
b. Smoothing is leveling normal fluctuations at the TEXT REFERENCE
boundaries of the environment. Management Connection –
Onward
Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, has described
3. Adapting at the core. Apple’s culture as “that of a start-up.” A
a. Flexible process allows for adaptation in the new company typically is run by the
technical core to meet the varied and changing founder, who has a passion for some new
idea or a desire to create something new
demands of customers. (the organization) to deliver a product or
service better than others do. As noted at
the beginning of this chapter, Apple
ended the previous century with a doubt-
D. Choosing a Response Approach ful future. The customers for its comput-
ers were a loyal but small sliver of the
1. Three general considerations help guide manage- personal computer market. Investors
were so doubtful about Apple’s prospects
ment’s response to the environment. that the company’s stock was trading for
a. Change appropriate elements of the environ- a few dollars per share. Jobs returned to
ment. Apple and made some changes that refo-
cused the company on its start-up cul-
b. Choose responses that focus on pertinent ele- ture. He discontinued projects that were
ments of the environment. unrelated to his vision, encouraged active
c. Choose responses that offer the most benefit at debate about new ideas, and
forced people in different functions to
the lowest cost. work together on strategy—for example,
seeing the retail activities as related to
product design activities. Together, these
efforts enabled the company to drive
V. The Internal Environment of Organiza- innovation as it had when it was a start-
up. Jobs was able to lead this effort be-
tions: Culture and Climate cause he was respected as the founder
and as someone with visionary ideas plus
A. Organization culture is the set of important assump- the ability to sell them. In 2011, Jobs lost
his personal battle with pancreatic cancer
tions about the organization and its goals and practices and Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim
that members of the company share. Cook, was selected to lead the company.
1. Strong cultures Cook is widely respected, but not
because he is a clone of Jobs. Quite the
a. Everyone understands and believes in firm’s contrary—he is known for being calm,
goals, priorities, and practices. quiet, and serious-minded, managing
processes more than pitching new prod-
b. An advantage if appropriate behaviors are sup- ucts. Cook is, however, respected for his
ported. track record.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

2. Weak cultures • Using the model of cultural types in


Figure 2.6, which type of culture do you
a. Different people hold different values think Apple has? Why?
b. Confusion about corporate goals • How can Apple’s managers reinforce
c. Not clear what principles should guide decisions Apple’s culture in the absence of Steve
Jobs?

B. Diagnosing Culture

1. Culture can be diagnosed through the following:


a. Corporate mission statements and
official goals. (Figure 2.5)
b. Business practices.
c. Symbols, rites, and ceremonies.
d. The stories people tell.
2. Four types of organizational culture (Figure 2.6)
a. Group culture - flexible, internal
focus
b. Hierarchical structure - control-
ling, internal focus
c. Rational culture - controlling, ex-
ternal focus
d. Adhocracy - flexible, external fo-
cus
C. Managing Culture

1. Espouse lofty ideals and visions for the company


2. Give constant attention to mundane, daily details
3. CEO’s need to embody the vision of the company

D. Organizational Climate

KEY TERMS PRESENTED IN THIS CHAPTER

Acquisition One firm buying another


Barriers to entry Conditions that prevent new companies from entering an industry
Benchmarking The process of comparing an organization’s practices and technologies with those of oth-
er companies
Buffering Creating supplies of excess resources in case of unpredictable needs
Competitive environment The immediate environment surrounding a firm; includes suppliers, customers,
rivals, and the like
Competitive intelligence Information that helps managers determine how to compete better
Cooperative strategies: Strategies used by two or more working organizations working together to man-
age the external environment

2-12
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

Defenders Companies that stay within a stable product domain as a strategic maneuver
Demographics Measures of various characteristics of the people who make up groups or other social
units
Diversification A firm’s investment in a different product, business, or geographic area
Divestiture A firm selling one or more businesses
Domain selection Entering a new market or industry with an existing expertise
Empowerment The process of sharing power with employees, thereby enhancing their confidence in
their ability to perform their jobs and their belief that they are influential contributors to
the organization
Environmental scanning Searching for and sorting through information about the environment
Environmental uncertainty Lack of information needed to understand or predict the future
External environment All relevant forces outside a firm’s boundaries, such as competitors, customers,
the government, and the economy
Final consumer Those who purchase products in their finished form
Flexible processes Methods for adapting the technical core to changes in the environment
Forecasting Method for predicting how variables will change the future
Independent strategies Strategies that an organization acting on its own uses to change some aspect of its
current environment
Inputs Goods and services organizations take in and use to create products or services
Intermediate consumer A customer who purchases raw materials or wholesale products before selling
them to final customers
Macroenvironment The general environment; includes governments, economic conditions, and other
fundamental factors that generally affect all organizations
Merger One or more companies combining with another
Open systems Organizations that are affected by, and that affect, their environment
Organizational climate: The patterns of attitudes and behavior that shape people’s experience of an or-
ganization
Organization culture The set of important assumptions about the organization and its goals and practices
that members of the company share
Outputs The products and services organizations create
Prospectors Companies that continually change the boundaries for their task environments by seeking
new products and markets, diversifying and merging, or acquiring new enterprises
Scenario A narrative that describes a particular set of future conditions
Smoothing Leveling normal fluctuations at the boundaries of the environment
Strategic maneuvering An organization’s conscious efforts to change the boundaries of its task envi-
ronment
Supply chain management The managing of the network of facilities and people that obtain materials
from outside the organization, transform them into products, and distribute
them to customers
Switching costs Fixed costs buyers face when they change suppliers

2-13
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

LECTURETTES

LECTURETTE 2.1

Being Mindful instead of Mindless: Johnsonville Sausage


As noted in this chapter, excelling at the profession of management takes careful thinking and
learning. Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer calls this “being mindful.” How can a company inspire em-
ployees to adopt this approach to their work? Johnsonville Sausage has managed to craft a company cul-
ture that asks employees to keep their minds engaged at all times. Their company creed makes it clear.
What they call “The Johnsonville Way” is posted on their website, and their success as an organization
suggests that they “walk the talk.”
The Johnsonville Way
Date Posted: 04/08/2007
We at Johnsonville have a moral responsibility to become the Best Company in the World.

We will accomplish this as each one of us becomes better than anyone else at defining, and then serving, the best inter-
ests of all those who have a stake in our success.
We will succeed by setting near-term objectives and long-term goals that will require personal growth and superlative
performance by each of us. We will change any objectives or goals that no longer require personal growth and superla-
tive performance to ones that do.
As an individual, I understand The Johnsonville Way is about my performance and my accountability to the team. My
commitment to stretch, grow and excel is an unending one.
This is The Johnsonville Way and I am committed to it.

The Johnsonville Way also indicates the company’s belief in management science. Their focus on
“setting near-term objectives and long terms goals” suggests that they carefully measure and monitor their
progress toward those objectives and goals.
Johnsonville is more than just an organization that is focused on management science and keeping
employees mindful. Their commitment to “change any objectives or goals that no longer require personal
growth and superlative performance to ones that do” suggests that this organization prides itself on being
a learning organization. As evidenced by the number of concepts this company creed conveys in just a
few lines, “The Johnsonville Way” has been carefully crafted to indicate in a powerful way just exactly
the kind of mindset the organization expects from its employees.

(Source: http://www.johnsonville.com/home/press-room/corp-info/the-johnsonville-way)

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

LECTURETTE 2.2

Operations and Human Resources: IBM’s Workforce Management Initiative


As the book explains, one way in which an organization can manage its competitive environment
is through becoming a globally integrated enterprise. IBM has adopted a human capital management ap-
proach to better utilize its talented workforce. Considering labor as an input and IBM products as an out-
put, the company launched its Workforce Management Initiative (WMI) to capture and effectively lever-
age every employee’s skill set and training. All of IBM’s approximately 330,000 employees are captured
in this database. Having this database allows managers to search for employee talent within the compa- ny-
--around the world---rather than having to look outside to recruit talent and fill current needs. The
company estimates that this initiative has saved over $500 million. In addition to saving the company
money, applying this supply chain approach allows the company to estimate its talent capacity for future
anticipated needs as well, and to train individuals in a proactive fashion. In 2007, the IBM Institute for
Business Value published seven keys to succeed in a globally integrated world of business, written by
Eric Lesser, Tim Ringo, and Andrea Blumberg. The seven principles are:
1. Understanding the demographics and capabilities of the workforce.
2. Predicting the future labor supply and demand.
3. Utilizing social networks to increase visibility and application of knowledge across the organiza-
tion.
4. Enabling individuals to perform work regardless of location.
5. Facilitating collaboration across traditional organizational boundaries.
6. Driving the rapid development of skills and capabilities to meet changing business conditions.
7. Evaluating employee performance and providing appropriate feedback.

Sources:
http://intelligententerprise.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=FRFIJGEA3BMIXQE1G
HPSKHWATMY32JVN?articleID=175002433 (accessed on December 22, 2009)

http://www.shrm.org/Education/hreducation/Documents/Boudreau_IBM%20Case%20Study%20with%20
Teaching%20Notes_FINAL.pdf (accessed on November 9, 2011)
accessed on December 22, 2009)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

.
1. This chapter’s opening quote by Peter Drucker said, “The essence of a business is outside it-
self.” What do you think this means? Do you agree?

Students may ask: What is meant by the word “essence?” It has a number of meanings. How-
ever, according the dictionary, it means “that which makes something what it is.” It is im-
portant to remember that the purpose of a successful business is to get customers and to retain
customers.

Using the definition above, Drucker’s statement can be interpreted to mean that it is the out-
side environments that determine the nature of business. This can be illustrated through the
use of an example. A new automobile manufacturer entering the U.S. market is faced with

2-15
Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

three large domestic companies and a number of well-established foreign firms. The newcom-
er’s strategy has to take this external environment into consideration. This can be contrasted
with a new company entering a business in which the competition is limited to three or four
small firms.

However, one can argue that even though the external environments can have a dramatic im-
pact on a business, it is still management’s responsibility to develop a strategy to enable the
organization to grow and prosper.

2. What are the most important forces in the macroenvironment facing companies today?

In order to answer this question, the student probably needs to recognize that different compa-
nies operate in different industries and a critical macroenvironment force facing one company
may be a minor factor for another. Three examples are given below:
Economy. The economy is always a factor. A booming economy may allow a new
business to grow and prosper while a depressed economy would cause it to fail. Some
businesses do very well in booming economies whereas others (notably the entertainment
industry) seem to flourish during times when the economy is weak.
Technology. Consider the impact of rapidly changing technology on the computer
industry. Most of the early innovators are no longer in business, and many of the current
leaders might not survive another dramatic change in technology. And yet, in other in-
dustries (such as candy making), the technology has been unchanged for many years.
Political/legal. This factor is having a major impact on the televi-
sion/telephone/computer interface. Political efforts to increase competition in the cable
television industry will probably be a major factor for many years to come.
Students should be able to identify industries in which each of the forces in the macroen-
vironment is playing a major role or, at least, have done so in the past.

3. What are the main differences between the macroenvironment and the competitive environ-
ment?

The macroenvironment consists of the major forces (international, economic, social and natural,
demographic, technological, and political/legal) which affect all businesses to some degree.

The competitive environment. While this is also part of the external environment, it is viewed
separately from the macroenvironment in that it focuses on the competitive forces that are specif-
ic to each business.

4. What kinds of changes do companies make in response to environmental uncertainty?

Organizations may adapt to the environment by altering their work structures and work processes
in order to reduce uncertainty. When uncertainty arises due to environmental complexity, many
organizations adopt more decentralized decision-making structures. This allows people with the
most direct knowledge of a particular product or operation to make important decisions rather
than a centralized unit that may be more removed from the daily business activities.

When uncertainty arises due to changes in the environment, many organizations adopt more flex-
ible structures. When technologies, customers, and competitors change rapidly, a highly rigid,
bureaucratized organization is less able to respond effectively, thus responsiveness and innova-
tion become priorities

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

Organizations can adapt to uncertainty by buffering at both the input and output sides of their
boundaries. They may do this by hiring temporary workers during rush periods on the input side,
and by maintaining adequate inventory in order to manage a rush of orders on the output side.
Organizations may also adapt at their core by establishing flexible processes such as mass cus-
tomization which allows an organization to produce large quantities at low cost, yet still offer in-
dividual customization.

5. We outlined several proactive responses organization can make to the environment. What
examples have you seen recently of an organization responding effectively to its environment?
Did the effectiveness of the response depend upon whether the organization was facing a
threat or an opportunity?

A number of proactive responses to the environment are identified in the text:

Independent strategies: The firm acts on its own to change some aspect of the current environ-
ment through competitive aggression, competitive pacification, public relations, voluntary action,
legal action, or political action.

Cooperative strategies: The firm collaborates with another organization to either reduce their
costs and risks or increase their power relative to the environment.

Strategic maneuvering: The firm attempts to change the boundaries of its competitive environ-
ment through domain selection (entering new markets with limited competition or regulation), di-
versification (investing in different types of business), mergers and acquisitions, or divestiture.

Challenge students to identify firms that are adopting each of these strategies and whether or not
they are doing so in response to a threat or an opportunity.

6. Select two organizations that you are interested in. Research information about the firms or
talk with an employee if possible. What types of cultures do they have? Write a paragraph
that describes each culture.

EXAMPLE: “Company X seems to really care about their new employees. The employee I
spoke to told me that the company actively encourages employees to move from job to job within
the organization - that sounded great to me. In addition, I found out that people have a lot of flex-
ibility to work on their terms - for example, being in the office at 9am doesn’t matter as much as
whether or not you get the job done. To me, this company looks like it has a group culture.”

7. When you were visiting colleges to decide where to attend, were there cultural differences in
the campuses that made a difference in your choice? How did these differences impact your
decision on which college to attend?

Student responses to this question will differ widely, but if they understand the concept of culture,
they should talk about the “feeling” a place has - organized, productive, friendly, etc. If students
have visited several college campuses, they should definitely be able to talk about difference in
culture for each campus. For example, in California, one might have perceive USC as being very
sports-oriented, Occidental as being very arts-oriented and exclusive, UCSD as a school that pro-
duced “renaissance people”, CalTech as being a place for brains and geeks, and San Diego State
as a party school. Note that all of these perceptions of culture have value judgments attached to
them, and they may or may not be accurate.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

CONCLUDING CASE

Wild Water Gets Soaked

Case Summary:

This case reveals how important it is to organizations of all sizes to be prepared and ready to im-
plement changes in business scope and even product mix in order to combat the effects of external
forces. As the case depicts, external environmental changes – changes in competition and con-
sumers’ preference, to name a few - often strongly impact companies. Changes such as these ne-
cessitate that an organization, desiring to remain profitable, must be willing to modify operations
to better accommodate its changing consumers’ needs.

Chapter Topics Related to the Case:

Discuss how environmental forces impact organizations


Describe the purpose of an environmental analysis
Discuss how organizations like the Salernos operation can conduct environmental analyses
Identify how an organization can better adapt to the demands of its external environment
Identify how an organization can influence its external environment
Differentiate between an organization’s external and competitive environments

Case Discussion Questions:

1. Imagine that you are a management consultant hired by the Salernos to help them navigate
the choppy waters ahead. First, describe the elements of the macroenvironment and compet-
itive environment that affect Wild Water now. Then describe elements that you anticipate
will affect the water park in the next few years.
The elements of the macroenvironment that are going to be affecting Wild Water are de-
mographics (the changing clientele attracted by the new condos), technology (the upscale chain
park), the economy (the price of tickets, along with the costs of running the park), laws and poli-
tics (the new state safety law). Wild Water will also be affected by the competitive environment in
the form of rivals (the chain park), substitutes (golf, deep-sea fishing trips), and a customer base
that is potentially changing.

2. Next, describe the organization’s culture. Discuss how the current culture affects the way it
responds to the organization’s external environment.

Wild Water has a strong group culture. Despite the “hierarchy”, employees at Wild Water are
considered “family”, and there is a sense of cohesiveness, participation, and teamwork. Having a
group culture means that the staff at Wild Water are probably going to care more about loyalty,
tradition, and developing employees than they will about gaining a competitive advantage or mar-
ket superiority. Having a strong culture means that Wild Water can identify and support appropri-
ate behaviors for moving the company forward.

3. Now, create a plan for Wild Water. In your plan, describe what changes the organization
needs to make in its culture to meet upcoming challenges in the external environment. Then

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

describe steps that Wild Water can take to compete successfully against the new amusement
park. How can the Salernos keep their loyal customers happy while attracting new ones?

The first thing Wild Water managers will need to do is to understand the changes to their envi-
ronmental and competitive environments. As noted in the text, there are three considerations that
guide the choice of a response approach to the environment: 1) changing the appropriate elements
of the environment; 2) choosing responses that focus on pertinent elements of the environment;
and 3) choosing responses that offer the most benefit at the lowest cost. In this case, independent
action may be the best way for Wild Water to change the environment. If they started working
right away, they would be able to bring their park up to the new safety standard laws. The next
thing they need to do is embark on a public relations campaign - making sure that their best fea-
tures are highlighted in advertising, and that the advertising reaches the right people. They may
not be able to compete head-to-head with the new chain park, but they may still be able to engage
in competitive aggression through the use of aggressive pricing.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE

EXERCISE 2.1: EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS

Objective

To give students the experience of performing an analysis of a company’s external environment.

Suggested Responses to Student Questions

1. Laws and Regulations. What are some key laws and regulations under which this company and
the music industry must operate?

Key laws and regulations in the music industry might include copyright regulations, contracts, royalty
practices in retail sales and radio broadcasting, anti-trust, advertising regulations, foreign-trade prac-
tices.

2. The Economy. How does the state of the economy influence the sales of this company’s
products?

The state of the economy has traditionally had less of an immediate impact on the music industry than
on some others. CDs and on-line music sales tend to be low-ticket items and are less likely to be af-
fected too adversely even by a recession. A key driver of sales is the presence or absence of popular
new talent.

3. Technology. What new technologies strongly affect the company you have selected?

New technologies permitting on-line music sales, like iTunes, and recording and playing devices like
iPod and upcoming cellphone technologies, increase the easy availability and sale of music products.
They also allow music companies to avoid the expense of manufacturing and distributing CDs, and
sharing sales revenues with retailers. A major downside is that new technologies permit easy copying
of music without payment. Technology that can provide copyright protection (e.g., preventing unau-
thorized copying) may be one solution to this problem.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

4. Demographics. What changes in the population might affect the company’s customer base?

Demographics affecting the company might include changes in the population of young people who
are the primary purchasers of pop music (conversely, the gradual decrease in classical music sales as
the demographic for that segment ages) and the growing importance of the Hispanic market.

5. Social Issues. What changes in society affect the market for your company’s music products?

Social issues affecting the company include not only the increased tolerance for illegal copying of
music, but also the increased fragmentation of public tastes and interests. Objections to obscenity in
lyrics and the rising influence of the religious market, are other social factors influencing the music
business.

6. Suppliers. How does your company’s relationship with suppliers affect its profitability?

The lower the cost of supplies, the more profit the company will make. In the music industry, sup-
plies are both tangible (the cost of CDs and jewel cases, for example) and intangible (the money paid
to artists.) Companies that introduce new artists may take bigger risks, but also have smaller costs
than companies that record and distribute the music of established acts.

7. Competitors. What companies compete with the firm you have selected? Do they compete on
price, on quality, or on other factors?

Key competitors in the industry include Bertelsmann, EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner Music. In
the past, many more companies existed, but the industry has experienced considerable consolidation.
(There might be even more consolidation but for anti-trust regulations in the U.S. and Europe.) The
companies do not compete on price at all, or even on the quality of their products per se; the main
sources of competitive advantage are the companies' backlist - the music copyrights they own - and,
even more important, the new talent they are able to find and sign. Most music buyers do not know
or care which company is selling the music they are buying.

8. New entrants. Are new competitors to the company likely? Possible?

Traditionally, new entrants were extremely unlikely; given the large capital investment the music
business requires (millions to launch a new album, for example). That may still be the case, but today
potential new entrants include music distributors themselves, like Apple, who can decide to bypass
music companies and sign new talent on their own. This is unlikely, as companies like Apple current-
ly do not have the expertise, experience, or perhaps even interest in the business. But it remains a
possibility that music companies need to take into account, particularly as on-line distributors become
an increasingly important part of the supply chain. In addition, the ability to sell music on-line may
reduce the need for some well-known artists to rely on the marketing and distribution capabilities of
music companies, and to sell directly to consumers on their own.

9. Substitutes. Is there a threat of substitutes for the music industry’s existing products?

There are many substitute delivery systems for music, and the music industry is constantly being
threatened by non-paying delivery systems. Music itself is more difficult to replace, however time
spent on other forms of entertainment may decrease the amount of time and money spent on music.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

10. Customers. What characteristics of the company’s customer base influence the company’s
competitiveness?

Customers in the industry are characterized mainly by the fickleness, volatility, and unpredictability
of their tastes. Only a small fraction of new releases succeed - and these are new releases issued by
extremely experienced, knowledgeable companies, in an extremely competitive industry. Even sales
of new albums by well-known groups are difficult to predict, and very few stars maintain their lon-
gevity. In addition, many customers think there is nothing wrong with making free copies of music
for their friends, nor do they have great affection or respect for music companies.

Suggested Responses to Discussion Questions

1. What has the company done to adapt to its environment?

To adapt to the environment, music companies are taking over more of the supply chain, manufactur-
ing their own CDs and managing their own music clubs. They are making deals with on-line music
distributors to sell individual songs. They are also increasing their on-line marketing efforts, as in let-
ting AOL offer its customers music video and song samples.

2. How does the company attempt to influence its environment?

To influence the environment, music companies pay slotting fees to retailers to gain shelf space, and
pay fees to ensure play time on radio stations. They heavily market new releases. They are aggres-
sively seeking to enforce copyright laws forbidding illegal copying - their success in shutting down
Napster is an example of that. They are also enlisting the artists themselves in an effort to educate
and influence the public on the illegal copying issue. In the U.S., they are also asking the government
to pressure China to reduce the widespread music piracy in that country.

EXERCISE 2.2 - CORPORATE CULTURE PREFERENCE SCALE


Objectives
To expose students to different types of corporate cultures.
To help students identify the kind of organization in which they would most
like to work.
To help students see how classroom cultures can differ along the same lines
as corporate cultures.

Case Discussion Questions:

1. Review the four types of corporate cultures outlined in the exercise. Working in small
groups, give examples of classes you have taken that correspond to each of the different
types of corporate culture dimensions.

Student responses will vary, but in general, you can expect to see the following differences
across different types of classrooms:

Control Culture - These classes have professors that are firmly in charge of the class and they
let students know it. Typically, professors in a control culture will take roll, have large
amounts of homework (which may or may not be meaningful to the students), and will give

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

difficult tests that may or may not be related to the work done previously in class. Control
culture classes often place a lot of emphasis on memorization as a learning tool.

Performance Culture - These classes have professors that are interested in learning and who
foster a learning environment with their students. Class assignments are typically relevant
and give students new skills, and although tests may be difficult, they are clearly related to
what has been presented in class. Students often describe these classes as challenging, but
fair and interesting. In a performance culture, the primary emphasis is on learning and
growth.

Relationship Culture - These classes have professors that become ‘friends’ with students.
Students feel that their opinions count, that their voices are heard, and that they contribute to
learning, along with the professor.

Responsive Culture - This class is constantly changing to keep up with the latest changes in
the field. It may be taught online or it may evolve as students bring in additional information.

2. How do you know what kind of culture a class has? What do you look for that tells you
how the class is going to be?

Again, student responses will vary, but students are likely to talk about professor behavior
(business practices), the class syllabus (corporate mission statement and official goals), ritual-
ized behaviors such as distributing paperwork and taking roll (symbol, rites, and ceremonies),
and student reviews of the class (the stories people tell.)

EXAMPLES

Example 2.1 – Environment Influences: In February, 2001, the last typewriter repair shop
closed in New York City.1 Did it close because its employees didn’t do good work? Because of a
poor organizational structure? No, the typewriter repair store simply fell victim to a changing en-
vironment - changes in technology decreased demand for services and finally shut the business
down.

Example 2.2 – Laws and Regulations: The macroenvironment is composed of international, le-
gal and political, economic, technological and social forces that influence strategic decisions.
Many of these factors affect a manager’s ability to function effectively and influence their strate-
gic choices – interest and inflation rates, unemployment rates, rising energy costs, rising health
care costs and changes in the value of the dollar to name a few. In Malaysia when the cost of do-
ing business is artificially inflated, the customer bears the charge without any real gain in value.
One such example was The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and Regulations
(2006). This act stipulate higher charges by private medical practitioners to which must be added
the cost of registration.2

Example 2.3 – Environmental Complexity: Recently, more and more Americans are becoming
aware of the environment - specifically the air that they breathe. With concerns about global

1 “TECH.Tuesday”, February 20, 2001, Vol. 13, #23. Retrieved August 15, 2005 from
http://web.dexter.k12.mi.us/tech_resource/tec_tue/tt110.html.
2
Singh, Beldev. “Keep cost of doing business low.” New Straits Times (Malaysia). August 21, 2006, pg. 25.

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Chapter 02 - The External and Internal Environments

warming and pollution at an all-time high, people want to be sure that they and their companies
are acting in environmentally responsible ways. Americans spend 90% of their time indoors and
much of that at work. According to the EPA, air pollution is up to five times worse inside than
outside. Harsh cleaning chemicals contribute to the problem. Approximately 37 million Ameri-
cans suffer from chemical sensitivity, leading to increased absenteeism and health costs. Manag-
ers who promote the use of eco-cleaners, which do not evaporate harmful materials into the air,
can reduce their costs, make the workplace safer for their workers, and improve their reputation
as part of the “green movement”.3

Example 2.4 – Competitive Intelligence: Faced with declining customer-service ratings and
prices higher than competitors, Michael Dell recently resumed the role of chief executive at the
company he founded. His initial steps to be more competitive focused on eliminating redundan-
cies throughout the business. He began by eliminating eight senior executives, suspending bo-
nuses and providing limited discretionary awards to exceptional performers. Dell urged employ-
ees to work quickly to turnaround the company. He said “There is no luxury of time. The com-
petitors are fierce.” 4

Example 2.5 – Independent Strategies: As global warming is threatening the viability of As-
pen’s famed ski resort, companies there are responding by becoming pioneers in corporate envi-
ronmentalism. Aspen uses biodiesel fuel in its bulldozer-sized snowcats, uses a speck of dust to
seed artificial snowflake which consumes less water and energy, vehicle shop is partly heated
with used motor oil, Coke machines run on motion sensors, toilets have two different flush set-
tings—half flush and full flush, and resorts add $2 a day to the bill of every hotel guest donating
it to the Aspen Valley Land Trust to preserve open space. Aspen managers must complete an en-
vironmental impact assessment for each request for capital spending. Auden Schendler, Aspen’s
director of environmental affairs, wants “Aspen to be a thought leader – not just to be doing it,
but talking about how we do it.”5
This is a good example of both the public relations and voluntary action approaches to changing
the environment. (Table 2.4)

Example 2.6 – Corporate Culture: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, is adamant about
his company’s culture. In a recent interview with the Harvard Business Review, he says, “First,
we are willing to plant seeds and wait a long time for them to turn into trees.” He also says that
he pays as much attention to what’s NOT going to change in the next five to ten years, as he does
to what’s going to change. In this way, he believes he can create a stable, long-lasting strategy,
rather than a strategy that has to be constantly reinvented. At the same time, he is totally custom-
er-focused. He says that when a decision is “too hard”, the way to answer it is to say “Well,
what’s better for the consumer?” One of the business practices that best defines Amazon.com’s
corporate culture is that every person in the organization, no matter what their job title, has to
spend two days doing customer service in a call center every two years.6

3
Boulden, Jennifer. “The air in there.” Fast Company, September 2007, Iss. 118, pg. 64.
4
Techweb Newswire. “Dell suspends bonuses, streamlines management.” February 5, 2007
5 Fishman, Charles. “Degree of difficulty.” Fast Company, February 2007, Issue 112, pg. 94
6
Kirby, Julia and Stewart, Thomas A. “The institutional YES.” Harvard Business Review, Oct. 2007, Vol. 85, Issue 10, pp 74-82.

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SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES
Please see the following materials in the Asset Gallery on the text website.

CHAPTER VIDEO

Pikes’ Place Fish Market: Something Fishy


Days start early at Pike’s Place Fish Market with workers handling smelly fish for long 12 hour days.
Somehow they never get crabby working in an outdoor market that is cold and busy. When someone
buys a fish, workers throw them through the open air market to other workers who catch the fish and
wrap them up for the customer to take with them. People arrive from all over the world to watch the
action. John Yokoyama is owner and man in charge who decided they would become world famous.
He encouraged an environment and work culture of fun and pleasure. He wants his workers to look
forward to coming to work, so he encouraged throwing fish. You may not be able to throw your pa-
perwork or work equipment like they throw fish, but there are ways that you can laugh and play at
work. Yokoyama’s staff quickly grew from six to a team of 21. He teaches that working together is
an opportunity to “be in relationship” with one another. Today, companies are paying thousands of
dollars for videos and live training from these fish market workers who believe in the philosophy of
making work fun.

MANAGER’S HOT SEAT (MHS)

There are no Manager’s Hot Seat clips for this chapter

SELF-ASSESSMENT

Corporate Culture Preference Scale

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Macro Environmental Forces

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EXPANDED POWERPOINT SLIDE SHOW

Expanded PowerPoint Slides include most Basic PowerPoint slides, along with additional material that
can be used to expand the lecture.

EXPANDED POWERPOINT EXPANDED POWERPOINT


EXPANDED POWERPOINT SLIDE 2 SLIDE 3
SLIDE 1 LO 1 – LO 4 LO 5 – LO 7
Chapter Title

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SLIDE 4 SLIDE 5 SLIDE 6
Figure 2.1: Organization Inputs Open Systems: Definition. Open Systems: Inputs & Outputs
and Outputs

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SLIDE 7 SLIDE 8 SLIDE 9
External/Competitive Macroenvironment Figure 2.2: The External
Environment Environment

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EXPANDED POWERPOINT EXPANDED POWERPOINT


EXPANDED POWERPOINT SLIDE 12
SLIDE 10 SLIDE 11
Figure 2.3: Twelve month The Economy: publicly held
The Economy: The economic companies…
environment… comparison of stock markets

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SLIDE 13 SLIDE 14 SLIDE 15
Technology Laws and Regulations Demographics: defn.

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Social Issues and the Natural Figure 2.4: The Competitive
Demographics: trends
Environment Environment

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SLIDE 21
Competitors New Entrants
Substitutes and Complements

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SLIDE 22 SLIDE 23 SLIDE 24
Question Suppliers Supply Chain Management

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SLIDE 25 SLIDE 26 SLIDE 27
Customers Environmental Analysis Environmental uncertainty

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Environmental Scanning and Development and Forecasting Question
Intelligence

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Benchmarking Changing the Environment Changing the Environment: contd.

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EXPANDED POWERPOINT EXPANDED POWERPOINT EXPANDED POWERPOINT


SLIDE 34 SLIDE 35 SLIDE 36
Table 2.4: Influencing your Envi- Table 2.3: Independent Action Table 2.5: Cooperative Action ma-
ronment
neuvering…

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EXPANDED POWERPOINT SLIDE 38 SLIDE 39
SLIDE 37 Organization Culture Figure 2.6: Competing Values Model
Adapting to the Environment of Culture

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SLIDE 40
Video: Pike’s Place Fish Market

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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
swelling indignation of Mrs. Ruddles, the vehemence of offended purity in
Mrs. Spedley, the uplifted hands and eyes of the mute but expressive post-
mistress, the sarcasms of Stone, the brutal jests of Spedley, the moral
declamation of the Rev. Richard Ruddles, the sneers, the epithets of abuse,
the prophecies of what "her end would be," the homilies on infidelity, poetry,
and "new-fangled notions," and the constantly-reiterated but never-too-old
reflections which each and all made upon their own sagacity in having "all
along foreseen it."

The howl of Walton reached not Hester's ears; and if it had, it would only
have sounded like the shouts of triumph in an ovation.

CHAPTER V.

THE ASTUTE MRS. VYNER.


L'epoux retint cette leçon par cœur.
Onc il ne fut une plus forte dupe
Que ce vieillard, bon homme au demeurant.
LAFONTAINE.—Contes.

On returning to the hall, Meredith Vyner found a letter from Cecil. He


retired into his study; for he was one of those who fancy that you cannot
possibly read anything with attention elsewhere than in a study. Having
deliberately adjusted his spectacles, and taken a liberal pinch, he began the
perusal.

Its contents may easily be guessed. It was very penitent, very clever,
contained two adroit quotations from 'Horace,' and a well-worked-up
petition for pardon. Blanche signed it with him, and added a pretty little
postscript of her own.
Mrs. Meredith Vyner having learned from Rose that a letter had arrived,
the handwriting of which looked like Cecil's, hastened to join her husband,
whom she found not only in his own study, but in what is usually termed a
"brown study." He was sitting in an easy-chair. His body slightly bent
forward; the spectacles shifted from his nose to his forehead, one arm resting
on the inner part of his thigh, the pendent hand grasping the opened letter,
the other arm resting on the table, the hand caressing his snuff-box.

"So you have had a letter from your son-in-law?" she said, as she
entered.

He handed it to her. She read it slowly. On looking into his face as she
returned it to him, she saw that he had forgiven them.

"A very clever epistle," she said; "very clever. And of course you grant
the pardon. They know that very well. They were quite sure of that when
they ran away, otherwise Cecil would not have been such a fool; but he
knew your weakness—knew how easily you were to be managed, and was
quite sure that I should never oppose him."

Meredith Vyner took a pinch, angrily.

"Shall we have them to live with us? I dare say that is what they expect
—and, perhaps, it would be the best. Or do you intend making them an
allowance?"

Meredith Vyner took three pinches, rapidly.

"Do you know, dear, I think, perhaps, it would be as well not to relent at
once, because it will be such a precedent. Keep them waiting a little. They
will be all the more grateful when it does come."

"And who said it was to come at all?" asked the indignant Vyner.

"I took that for granted."

"Yes, yes, of course, for granted. Everybody seems to take things in my


house for granted. I'm not to be considered. My wishes are not to be
consulted. And yet I believe I am master here—I may be wrong—but I fancy
this house is mine."

His wife smiled inwardly, as she added, "And your children's."

"How my children's?" he sharply asked. "It is none of theirs; it will not


even be theirs at my death. Theirs, indeed!"

Mrs. Meredith Vyner knew perfectly well the effect to be produced by


her apparently careless phrases, and played upon her husband's mind with a
certainty of touch highly creditable to her skill.

"I am surprised, my dear Mary, to hear you talk so. For granted, indeed!
No; it shall not be for granted; it shall not be at all. I will be master in my
own house. I have already submitted too much to my daughters; and they
shall find I will do so no more. A pretty thing, indeed, to brave her father, to
bring a slur upon her name by running away with a penniless adventurer: a
man I don't like; a mere superficial dabbler, who pretends to understand
'Horace,' and is quite at sea with respect to the Horatian metres. He'll never
do anything; never be anything. And yet he expects that he has only to write
me a whining letter, and all will be forgotten. He doesn't think it possible I
can refuse. No, no; takes my pardon for granted. But it is not granted. It shall
not be."

"This will soon blow over, I'm not at all afraid for my dear Blanche. You
will not be able to hold out long."

"There is your mistake."

"We shall see, we shall see," said she, with a tone of most expressive
certainty of the truth of what she said, and left the room.

Meredith Vyner was seldom angry; but the provoking confidence of his
wife, in what he chose to consider her opinion of his weakness, made him
furious against the cause thereof—the offending Cecil.

From what impulses spring human actions! Here is a man delighted by


the opportunity afforded him of forgiving his offending child, and ready to
clasp her to his bosom. That is the natural instinct of his heart. His wife
comes; and, by pretending to urge the very act he is about to perform, by
choosing to assume it as a settled thing, and insinuating thereby, that, from
his known weakness, everybody must also assume it, she stifles the parental
feeling, awakens his miserable vanity, and makes him exhibit his weakness
by the very action which he intends as a proof of his fortitude and decision.

Resolved to show how mistaken those were who fancied that he was to
be led by the nose, he sat down, and wrote this brief, and, as he thought,
crushing reply:—

"WYTTON HALL, 10th Nov. 1840.

"SIR,

"You have made an error in your calculations, I am not so easily


bamboozled as you imagine. You are very clever, I have no doubt; but,—

Vix illigatum te triformi


Pegasus expediet chimæræ.

And with this I close all correspondence between us.

"Yours truly,
"H. S. MEREDITH VYNER."

"That quotation is rather happy," he said to himself, as he folded the


letter. Indeed, so pleased was he at its felicity, that it would now have cost
him some pangs not to send the letter; he could not afford to lose such an
effect.

Mrs. Meredith Vyner was very shortly after found sobbing in her room,
by Rose. To the anxious inquiries of the affectionate girl, at first no other
reply could be elicited than—

"Oh, my poor Blanche! poor Blanche!" accompanied by fresh sobs.


After about five minutes of this irritating and inexplicit grief, Rose
managed to ascertain that Blanche was not to be forgiven.

"Impossible!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I will go this instant, and intercede for
her!"

"Do, my dear—do—lose no time! And, Rose, don't mention that you


have seen me. Pretend to know nothing, except that Cecil has written; and
ask your papa when we are to see them, just as if it were a matter of course
that he would forgive them."

"I will."

She went. Her success may be imagined; Vyner stormed at her; said, she
was just like her sister, and had been so long accustomed to regard him as a
cipher, that she could not even suppose him capable of punishing such an act
of wretched disobedience.

On going to bed that night, Meredith Vyner seemed to have become


greatly pacified by the day's reflections.

"It is rather a good letter that, of Cecil's," he said. "Well expressed."

"Very," answered his wife. "Perhaps rather too well expressed for
sincerity. But he's a clever fellow. I always liked him. He is so gay and
rattling."

"Better qualities in a guest than a son-in-law!"

"Humph! That depends——"

"His first quotation from Horace, too, is very well chosen—pat and
pointed. Not so good, though, as mine to him! Egad! that was a stinger. Still,
his deserves praise."

"I rather suspect, dear, that he made Horace a go-between. He pretended


to be very interested in the poet, in order that he might woo the editor's
daughter."
"No, indeed, there you wrong him. He came to me at first purely out of
love for Horace. He took great interest in my commentary—I must do
myself the justice to say that it is a little out of the common—and he seemed
to think so. He was never tired of it, till his head got stuffed full of foolish
love nonsense. When he began hankering after Blanche, he left off reading
my commentary. Still I cannot deny that the great attraction first was the
study of my notes and emendations."

She saw that he was getting on dangerous ground, and therefore threw
out this lasso:

"Well, well, he knows your weak point, and by that he will gain the day.
You won't long be able to disown a son-in-law who can quote Horace
àpropos. So that if your natural goodness doesn't make you relent, Horace
will!"

"You think so; but you are greatly mistaken."

In this way she from time to time restored his faltering resolution.
Whenever symptoms of relenting exhibited themselves, she contrived to
banish them by irritating his vanity. Shakspeare, that great master of the
human heart, has, in the third act of Othello, anticipated the scenes which are
perpetually recurring between a cool, calculating scoundrel and his writhing,
unsuspecting victim. With consummate art, Iago always manages to keep
before Othello's mind, the very idea he pretends to banish or to palliate; and
directly he sees his victim relenting, as thoughts of tenderness for
Desdemona arise, Iago contrives that the very tenderness shall add intensity
to his sense of wrong. For instance, Othello says:—

I do not think but Desdemona's honest.

Whereupon Iago, with brutal-seeming frankness, says:—

Long live she so! and long live you to think so!
Oth. And yet how nature erring from itself.
Iago. Ay, there's the point—As—to be bold with you—
Not to affect many proposed matches, &c.
With somewhat of the diabolical art Iago used, did the sylph-like
humpback play upon her husband. And when she began to fear that, after all,
she might lose the game, she adroitly changed her tactics and said:—

"It has occurred to me that there is a way of settling this difficulty. Do


not countenance Blanche's disobedience—do not see her husband—but we
can from time to time assist them secretly. I can give them money, as if from
my own funds. You will not appear in the matter at all, and yet you will have
the satisfaction of knowing they are not in want."

This seemed so admirably calculated to save his dignity, and yet to


preserve Blanche from the more serious consequences of his refusal, that he
gladly adopted the suggestion.

Having gained this point, Mrs. Meredith Vyner sallied forth to pay some
visits to her poor.

The devil is not so black as he is painted. Mrs. Vyner had her good
qualities: and she was worshipped in her village. No one was so liberal to the
poor; no one looked after the schools with greater or more judicious care; no
one was more active in benevolence. She not only did kind things, she said
them also; and that is an element in benevolence many charitable people
omit. She attended upon the sick; she comforted the sorrowing; she listened
to their long stories; she gave them advice; she interested herself in their joys
and sorrows.

From what we know of her, we shall not be altogether dupes of this


benevolence: we shall not suppose it pure, unmixed kindness. But it would
perhaps be grossly wronging her to believe that it was hypocrisy, that it had
not some real good feeling at the bottom. Although we may, and not
uncharitably, suppose there was some selfishness and ostentation in this care
for the poor; we may also believe that she felt some of the real glow of
generosity and delight in doing good. In the ordinary sense of the word, she
had no "interest" in her conduct. She might have done her duty to the poor
without going so far as she did. Their good opinion was of no "use" to her.
Examine it how you will, you can discover none of the "interested motives"
usually supposed to influence the benevolence of selfish people.
Such a character is a paradox; but only a paradox, because we are so
prone to regard human nature as very simple and all of a piece, when, in
truth, it is, as I have remarked before, marvellously complex. Mrs. Meredith
Vyner was wicked, cruel, unloving, and selfish; it would be a contradiction
in terms, to add that she was also kind, generous, and benevolent; but it is
perfectly true that she would occasionally perform kind, generous, and
benevolent actions perfectly disinterested. The secret I take to be this. Her
cruelty was not wanton: it always had reference to some selfish object. But
on occasions completely alien to her interest or her vanity, she could be kind;
and being an impulsive, imaginative woman where she was kind, she was
strikingly so, thereby turning it into a thing of éclat, and so gratifying her
vanity.

It was said of himself, by Benjamin Constant, "Je puis faire de bonnes et


fortes actions; je ne puis avoir de bons precédés." This is a revelation of the
profound depths of certain minds; and Mrs. Vyner belonged to that class. In
a moment of enthusiasm she might even have forgotten her selfishness—or
rather have staked all the gratification of her selfishness on the triumph of
one moment; but she could not have completed her sacrifice, she could not
have gone through with any line of conduct after it had lost its éclat; above
all, she could not, in the ordinary transactions of life, have been generous,
thoughtful, kind—she could not go through "the little nameless
unremembered acts of kindness and of love" which constitute real goodness.

Her conduct towards the poor seems to be thus explained: they did not
stand in her light; nothing she could do, or omit to do for them could
influence her interests. But they were picturesque objects which struck her
imagination, and appealed to her protection. A little trouble and a little
money made her their benefactress. The pleasure of doing good was a
pleasure she could appreciate, and it could be purchased for so little.

If any one supposes from the foregoing remarks, that I have what is
called explained away her benevolence, he is mistaken. There are hundreds
quite as selfish, who cannot appreciate the pleasure of doing good; and she is
so far their superior.
CHAPTER VI.

FAINT HEARTS AND FAIR LADIES.


On this old beach
For hours she sat; and evermore her eye
Was busy in the distance, shaping things
That made her heart beat quick.
WORDSWORTH.—Excursion.

Autumn was deepening fast. The green tints were rapidly disappearing,
and the advancing year "breathed a browner horror o'er the woods." Wytton
still looked lovely; the great variety of tints, from the dark brown of the
copper beech, to the delicate yellow of the cut-leaved hornbeam, made the
grounds as splendid as a setting sun. The paths strewed with fallen leaves,
spoke feelingly of the approaching change, when the huge trees would be
stretching their melancholy branches out into the air, in gaunt loneliness.

Preparations were being made to quit Wytton for town, and both
Marmaduke and Julius looked with regret upon the approaching separation.
Town would never replace the country for them. They would see their idols
there, it is true; but they would no longer see them in the charming ease and
abandon of Wytton Hall, or the Grange.

The country is the place for a nascent love! It affords endless


opportunities of tête-à-têtes, and the scenery gives a tone to the whole mind.
London is very well for a flirtation, or when you cannot have the country.
But its riot and bustle, its endless dissipation of your time and distraction of
your thoughts, would alone make it greatly inferior to the country. Shut up in
a country-house you have nothing to prevent an eternal brooding over your
own thoughts; and those thoughts, can they be more sweetly employed than
in hovering round the image of the beloved?
One bright, sunny, brisk, autumnal afternoon, six horses stood saddled at
the door of the hall. A ride to the sea-shore, about eight miles distant, had
been determined on, Rose having expressed a desire for a good childish
ramble on the sands to pick up shells, and crack the seaweed pops.

Meredith Vyner, Mrs. St. John, Marmaduke and Violet, Julius and Rose,
formed the party. Mrs. Vyner stayed at home. All the visitors had left the
Hall, so that the present party was as large as could be mustered. They
formed three pleasant couples.

"I think the young people behind understand each other," said Meredith
Vyner to Mrs. St. John, as they rode ahead.

"I wish they did," she replied.

"Do you then doubt it? I fancy Mr. Ashley's attentions are
unmistakeable, and Violet does not seem to look coldly on them. She is less
haughty to him than to most people. Don't you think she's improved? Ah! I
forgot, you did not know her then. She used to be a devil: such a temper! My
poor little Mary, who, you know, is the timidest, mildest creature alive, used
to be frightened out of her wits at her. She never dared to suggest anything
that was not perfectly agreeable, for Violet would burst out upon her—it was
quite fearful! I never saw any of it myself. Violet was always well behaved
enough before me. But I used constantly to find Mary in hysterics, or in
tears; and although she always wished to spare Violet, and refused to specify
what had been said and done, yet she could not conceal from me that my
daughter's conduct was the cause of her emotion. However, thank God!
sending her away from home seems to have tamed her. She is not very
violent now, is she?"

"Violent! I think she is entirely charming. I know no girl possessing so


much dignity and directness of mind. I quite love her."

"And what do you think of Mr. Ashley?"

"That he would make her an excellent husband. Julius, whose judgment


is so good, has the highest opinion of him."
"And I," said Vyner,—"not to flatter you—have the highest opinion of
your son Julius. Upon my word, madam, you have a son to be proud of, as
Horace says—

Micat inter omnes


Julium sidus, velut inter ignes
Luna minores.

A rare fellow; and one who, as a son-in-law—— Do you think there is


anything there?"

"With Rose? I am puzzled. Julius is somewhat secret on such matters,


and although he admires Rose, I do not feel certain how far his admiration
goes."

"Well, you may tell him that he has not only my consent, but that nothing
would please me more than to call him my son. Rose is a good girl;
somewhat saucy in her wit, which does not even respect her mother at all
times, but there is no malice in her. Mary, who doats upon all my children as
if they were her own, says she cannot wonder that such girls should exercise
such empire over me; for you must know, Mary fancies I am led by the nose
by my affection for the girls, and that they have the whip hand, which is by
no means the case. I may have indulged them, perhaps, too much when they
were younger; but I flatter myself no one ever was able to lead me."

It may be supposed, that during this ride, neither Marmaduke and Violet,
nor Julius and Rose, were very silent; but their talk was made up of those
delicious nothings to which time, place, and circumstance give significance,
and tones and looks give eloquence: what George Sand finely calls tous les
riens immenses d'un amour naissant. Haughty and impetuous as Violet was,
she had great playfulness, and could unbend with bewitching ease.
Marmaduke was also lively, and his animal spirits were stimulated by his
desire to please. He was charming.

Chamfort—who has written some of the wittiest and profoundest


aphorisms in the French language—has said—"Un homme amoureux est un
homme qui veut être plus aimable qu'il ne pent, et voilà pourquoi presque
tous les amoureux sont ridicules."

True enough: lovers do appear ridiculous to lookers-on; but that desire to


please which prompts their words and actions, makes them loveable in the
eyes of their mistresses. After all, the great secret of being pleasant is the
wish to be so. It needs no grace of manner, no splendour of beauty or talent,
to make all around you pleased at your approach. It only needs the honest
wish to please.

Marmaduke was therefore charming in the eyes of Violet, although he


said nothing during the whole of the ride, which could possibly be read with
interest. His conversation was frivolous or commonplace enough, but it had
the particular seal of amiability.

So also Rose, the witty, sparkling Rose, laughed and made them laugh,
without having uttered a single joke fit to be repeated; because if its wit
happened to be undeniable, it would, nevertheless, ill bear transplanting.

This is the dilemma into which a novelist is forced if he chance to select


a lively girl for a heroine: either he must consent to suppress her
conversation, or else to give the impression of a vulgar, personal, flippant,
disagreeable creature. In real life, vivacity gives point to a poor joke, and
carries off the coarseness from a personal witticism. A laughing girl, with
roguish eyes, and unmistakeable hilarity of manner, may utter almost
anything—commonplace or personality—not only with impunity, but with
positive applause. But I am certain that if the conversation of lively young
ladies were printed, it would be scouted as the coarse daubing of one who
knew not what ladies were. Simply because a narrator can only give the
words; he cannot give tone and manner.

Be good enough to understand, therefore, that Rose was provokingly


witty, though I cannot repeat what she said. Take my word for it. Repose
upon the "easier-to-be-imagined-than-described" belief. Represent to
yourself a young and lively girl during a delightful canter, with her lover by
her side, whom she likes to tease, and then "imagine" what conversation
must have passed: there can be no difficulty about the wit, as you have to
draw from your own stores.
A happy day they passed. The ride to the sea-shore was through pleasant
lanes, strewed with fallen leaves; and the sea-shore itself presented a
magnificent view. The tide was very low, and the distant sands and sea had
the appearance of the early dawn of a summer's day. The sails of a fishing-
smack or two dotted the horizon. A fresh, salt sea-weed fragrance saluted
their nostrils; the scrunch (beautiful word!) of small shells and pebbles
followed their footsteps; small stranded crabs, with incoherent efforts, were
hurrying here and there; huge entangled masses of weed offered their pops to
Rose's delicate fingers; and a basketful of beautiful shells was soon the result
of their search.

In this extremely primitive occupation, the time fled on. Meredith Vyner
had wandered a long way down the shore, talking to Mrs. St. John respecting
the virtues and accomplishments of his wife, and the manner in which his
girls repaid her affection; which was followed up by a circumstantial history
of his commentary on Horace: how the idea first came to him in reading a
variorum edition: how the more he learned to know the commentators, the
more he had learned to despise them, and to feel that a new edition was
imperatively called for: how he had worked for years at this edition, and
how, in short, he had finally got together the materials from which his
monument would be built.

The tide was fast returning, and a rolling sea poured its restless waters,
like the plunging of a powerful steed. Violet, seated on a rock, was
contemplating it in silence; in silence Marmaduke dropped little pebbles into
a tiny pool of water left in the rock. Both were sad, but with the sadness
which is sweeter than joy. Both were silent, but with the silence which is
more eloquent than speech. The breeze was playing with their hair, the
music of "old ocean's roar" was sounding in their ears; the declining rays of
an autumnal sun gave a poetic splendour to the scene, which was disturbed
by no sound save the ceaseless wash of the advancing tide as it rolled upon
the shingle.

It was one of those exquisite moments when the soul seems to tremble
with delight at every thought which crosses it, when the susceptibility to
external influences is so keen that the veriest trifles are robed in the
splendour of imagination, and a scene which at other times would attract,
perhaps, but little attention, has the enchantment of Armida's gardens. There
are moments when the soul, with a vague but irresistible yearning, seems
anxious to burst its earthly bonds, and to identify itself with the great spirit
of beauty which hovers over the world—moments when the desire to love is
so imperious, when the soul so eagerly seeks communion with some other
soul, that the being, whom at other times we have perhaps regarded as
indifferent, suddenly becomes the idol to whom a heart is offered as a
sacrifice. The halo of mysterious feelings is around that being's head, and we
mistake it for the luminous glory which encircles the Chosen. Just as the
feeling of the moment sheds its lustre over a common-place scene, will it
make an idol out of a common-place person.

How many fatal mistakes in love are attributable to such illusions?

Marmaduke and Violet were both under the spell of such a feeling. Yet
neither spoke; words were too imperfect to express what passed within them.
He rolled his pebbles one after the other into the pool, with mechanical
precision; she watched the broad advancing sea, and listened to its music.

Had he declared his passion at that moment, he would assuredly have


been accepted; and the whole course of their lives would have been altered.
But he paused; he "dallied with the faint surmise;" he played with his own
heart, and waited for her to break the silence.

But she kept her eyes upon the advancing sea, and a sigh, a gentle sigh
heaved her bosom, for by some accidental association the current of her
thoughts had become changed: she ceased to think of Marmaduke, and was
communing in spirit with her departed mother. Perhaps it was the dash of the
waters on the shore which brought back to her recollection those days of her
unhappy childhood, when having lost her mother, she was wont to sit upon a
rock, and hear the ocean speak to her wild words of comfort. There were
voices in the waves then; and those voices faintly sounding through the past,
spoke to her mysteriously now. The image of her dear, kind, much-loved
mother, stood before her. A tear rolled over her cheek; and Marmaduke,
whose attention had been attracted by her sigh, looked up and saw it. His
heart was proud, for he thought that sigh and that tear were for him.

"What are you thinking of?" he tenderly asked.


She turned her full large eyes, glistening with grief, upon him, and said
gently,—

"My poor mother!"

And again her eyes were fixed upon the sea.

Marmaduke was hurt; and with a movement of impatience resumed his


pebble rolling. His self-love shrank, offended at this unexpected avowal, and
he mentally reproached Violet with her coldness.

"She loves me not," he said. "Will she ever love me? Am I wasting my
affections here as I wasted them before? Well, she shall see that I can be as
cold and proud as herself."

In this frame of mind he remained seated by her side, making no attempt


to withdraw her from the reverie in which she was indulging, and with the
sullen bitterness of a lover, refusing to enter upon a conversation which
would have dissipated all his doubts, and made him the happiest of men.

Julius and Rose having finished their collection of shells, and having
immensely enjoyed each other's society, though not a word of love had
crossed their lips, came up to the rock and found the silent lovers not
unwilling to prepare for the ride home. As they all four walked to the spot
where the servants were with the horses, Marmaduke took Julius by the arm,
and falling a few paces in the rear, said hurriedly,—

"Julius, laugh and joke as much as you please, but if the warning does
not come too late, take care of your heart!"

"Explain, explain."

"Do not trust yourself—do not believe that you can read a woman's heart
from her behaviour—do not make the mistake I have made."

He refused to be more explicit, but Julius fancied he comprehended his


meaning. With a truly human naïveté, Marmaduke imagined that as he had
been deceived, his friend would likewise be so; and in perfect sincerity he
counselled Julius not to believe in Rose's manner, because Violet's manner,
as he supposed, had been deceptive to him.

To another the advice would have been idle; to Julius it was agitating,
and confirmed him in his natural backwardness to believe a woman could
fancy him: a backwardness which Rose's manner had of late so far
overcome, that he had been several times on the point of declaring himself,
and would I dare say have done so during their ride home, had not
Marmaduke's earnest warning held him back.

Violet, pensive and sad, rode home occupied with her own thoughts:
Marmaduke at her side scarcely making an observation. Rose, as gay and
fascinating as before, noticed a change in Julius, but said nothing to him
about it, as she suspected love was at the bottom.

"I have finished my third reading of Leopardi's poems," she said


presently, "and like them more and more. Their constant sadness is a great
charm to me—I suppose, because having no sorrows of my own, I love to
indulge in imaginary woes."

"Yes," he replied, "tears were given to man to purify him. So natural is


sorrow to us, that if we have it not, we invent it; the heart would dry up and
wither, if it were not watered by the blessed fountain of pity. But Leopardi's
sorrows were in excess, and became a mental disease. Smitten as he was in
body, heart, and mind, by disease, slighted love, and scepticism, no wonder
that his poems are melancholy."

"Was he then slighted in love?"

"He loved—loved twice—but each time the offering of his heart was
rejected. What else could the poor hunchbacked, crippled poet, expect?"

"If he was a cripple, was he not a great poet? If his back was ill-shaped,
was not his mind noble?"

"His mind!" replied Julius, with a tinge of bitterness.

"Yes," she said, "his mind: could not a woman appreciate that?"
"Women can appreciate a mind, but they cannot love it. Love springs
from sympathy, not from intelligence: its seat is in the heart, not in the
reason. A woman might therefore have admired Leopardi; but she could not
love the cripple."

"Yet, did not Mademoiselle d'Aubigny marry the cripple Scarron?"

"To become Madame de Maintenon," replied Julius.

"I would cite a dozen other instances. Do you know, Mr. St. John, you
are very ungallant in your opinion of our sex—which sex you can know very
little about, to judge from your exaggerated notion of our regard for beauty.
We like to keep the beauty to ourselves. As for me, I would as soon marry a
hunchback as a guardsman, as far as the mere beauty is concerned."

A strange joy filled his heart as she said this, and he was about to declare
himself, when Meredith Vyner called to him to ride forward and admire a
little valley which lay to their left. Rose fell back and joined her sister. The
rest of the ride was performed in threes, instead of in couples. As they
reached home, Vyner made his favourite quotation:—

Heu! heu! quantus equis, quantus adest viris


Sudor!

And conducted Mrs. St. John into the drawing-room. Marmaduke, Violet,
and Rose, followed them. Julius went into the study to write a note.

CHAPTER VII.

BOLD STROKE FOR A LOVER.


Ah, cruel! tu m'as trop entendue!
Je t'en ai dit assez pour te tirer d'erreur.
Eh bien! connois donc Phèdre en toute sa fureur
Je t'aime!
RACINE.—Phèdre.

"Do you never sing, Mrs. Vyner?" asked Mrs. St. John, as she saw her
beating time with her head (and curious time it was!) to Violet's singing.

"No; I have so little voice."

"That surprises me; I should have thought you must sing well, your
speaking voice is so soft."

Mrs. Meredith Vyner smiled her acknowledgments, and redoubled the


energy of her impossible time-beating. Marmaduke, charmed by the magic
of Violet's singing, was gradually overcoming his anger, and was slowly
admitting to himself what a divine creature she was.

She ceased, and Marmaduke prayed so earnestly for her to continue, that
she again sat down, and while her rich contralto notes were making every
chord in his heart vibrate, he suddenly encountered the savage gaze of his
former "tiger-eyed" mistress. She rapidly closed and then opened her eyes,
with that manner peculiar to her, and which I have mentioned before, and a
smile dethroned the look of hate which the previous instant had usurped her
face; but he marked the change, and smiled scornfully.

"What a beautiful voice she has!" said Mrs. St. John.

"Yes," replied Mrs. Vyner; "but we prefer Blanche's singing—she has so


much feeling. Violet, you know, has more of the professional mechanism;
but Blanche has a soul in her singing."

As Blanche was a rival out of the way, it was safe to cry up her
attraction, especially at the expense of one of the other girls. Violet was
perfectly aware of what her mother meant, but she was not the less nettled.
As she was about to commence another song, Mrs. Vyner said,
"There, my dear, that will do; you have displayed your accomplishments
quite enough, and it is unnecessary for Mr. Ashley to listen to any more
songs sung out of tune, however curious the ornaments may be."

Mrs. Vyner must have been very irritated, to have made a remark so
plainly and directly disparaging and unkind!

"Did you notice that I sang out of tune, Mr. Ashley?" Violet quietly
asked.

"Not at all. In fact, as far as I may be allowed an opinion, I should say


your intonation is remarkably perfect."

"Well, I am glad you are not so severe a critic as mama," replied Violet,
with a calmness which was horribly exasperating, "because, as she cannot
distinguish one tune from another, her ears are so delicate that it is difficult
to keep in tune to them."

This sarcasm, in answer to the petty spiteful remark which called it forth,
produced an uncomfortable silence, which Violet broke by beginning
Paisiello's magnificent Ho perduto il bel sembiante, which she sang with
triumphant energy and steadiness, showing how little the ignoble squabble
had disturbed her.

Mrs. Meredith Vyner was pale with hate, but the twilight covered her
paleness. In her rage at Violet's haughty sarcasm, and jealousy at seeing
Marmaduke so enraptured with her, she resolved upon a diabolical resolve:
she would regain Marmaduke's love, and break Violet's heart!

Meanwhile Julius was in the study writing this epistle:—

"Dearest Rose, I can no longer restrain myself, I can no longer hesitate


and live in doubt. I love you. You must know it; and what you said not an
hour ago makes me bold. Do you remember your words, 'As for me, I would
as soon marry a hunchback as a guardsman, so far as beauty is concerned.'
They were sincerely spoken, were they not? At any rate 'upon that hint I
speak,' and conscious of my own unattractiveness dare to hope my ugliness
will not be a barrier to your affection. Do not ridicule my presumption, I
entreat; look on it as an unhappy passion, which your own confession has
urged me to declare. Even now I dare not tell you to your face I love you;
partly because I still fear the avowal might distress you, and partly because
the courage I shall need to bear with a refusal, would desert me.

"Examine your own heart calmly, and if it tells you that you could be
happy with me—if it tells you that the devotion of my life would make up
for all the superior attractions, mental and physical, in which I am deficient
—then, as you come down to dinner to-day, bring in your hand the volume
of Leopardi, and place it on the table. By that token, which can have no
significance to others, I shall learn that I am not scorned. If your heart does
not speak in my favour, the mere omission of this will tell me too plainly, but
in the least cruel manner, that I have made a sad mistake."

This was folded up into a tiny note, and with it Julius marched into the
drawing-room to seek some means of delivering it. He found Rose playing
with Shot, and stooping down to join her in that play, he easily contrived to
slip it into her hand, just as the lamp was brought in. She blushed deeply, and
her little bosom panted with hurrying feelings; but making an effort she ran
out of the room, declaring it was time to dress for dinner.

She read the letter with intense eagerness, and finished it twice before
she could make out distinctly anything beyond the delightful fact that Julius
had at last declared himself. On calming her agitation a little, and
deliberately reading the letter once more, she felt a certain impatience at that
passage which attributed the declaration to what she had said during their
ride. For the first time, it then struck her that she had given him too broad a
hint. Aware of his backwardness, and of his exaggerated notion of woman's
desire for beauty, she was anxious to undeceive him on that point, and now
saw that she had, perhaps, overstepped the bounds of maidenly reserve.

Now Rose, though a darling little girl, was not without her
imperfections; and wilfulness was among them. She would do and say
strange things, because she chose to do and say them; but you were not to
draw any absolute conclusions from them, you were not to hold her to her
words unless she also chose to be held to them; she called that taking an
advantage of her. In the present case she was very anxious to tell Julius that
she loved him; she had gone so far as to tell him that his want of beauty
would be no disqualification; yet when he availed himself of her words, and

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