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diff --git a/2511-0.txt b/2511-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92b1e09 --- /dev/null +++ b/2511-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18010 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2511 *** +THE HISTORY OF HENRY ESMOND, ESQ. + +A COLONEL IN THE SERVICE OF HER MAJESTY QUEEN ANNE + +WRITTEN BY HIMSELF + + +By William Makepeace Thackeray + + + +Boston, Estes and Lauriat, Publishers + + + +TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE + +WILLIAM BINGHAM, LORD ASHBURTON. + + +MY DEAR LORD, + +The writer of a book which copies the manners and language of Queen +Anne's time, must not omit the Dedication to the Patron; and I ask leave +to inscribe this volume to your Lordship, for the sake of the great +kindness and friendship which I owe to you and yours. + +My volume will reach you when the Author is on his voyage to a country +where your name is as well known as here. Wherever I am, I shall +gratefully regard you; and shall not be the less welcomed in America +because I am, + +Your obliged friend and servant, + +W. M. THACKERAY. + +LONDON, October 18, 1852. + + + + +PREFACE. + +THE ESMONDS OF VIRGINIA. + + +The estate of Castlewood, in Virginia, which was given to our ancestors +by King Charles the First, as some return for the sacrifices made in +his Majesty's cause by the Esmond family, lies in Westmoreland county, +between the rivers Potomac and Rappahannock, and was once as great as +an English Principality, though in the early times its revenues were +but small. Indeed, for near eighty years after our forefathers possessed +them, our plantations were in the hands of factors, who enriched +themselves one after another, though a few scores of hogsheads of +tobacco were all the produce that, for long after the Restoration, our +family received from their Virginian estates. + +My dear and honored father, Colonel Henry Esmond, whose history, written +by himself, is contained in the accompanying volume, came to Virginia +in the year 1718, built his house of Castlewood, and here permanently +settled. After a long stormy life in England, he passed the remainder +of his many years in peace and honor in this country; how beloved and +respected by all his fellow-citizens, how inexpressibly dear to his +family, I need not say. His whole life was a benefit to all who were +connected with him. He gave the best example, the best advice, the +most bounteous hospitality to his friends; the tenderest care to +his dependants; and bestowed on those of his immediate family such a +blessing of fatherly love and protection as can never be thought of, +by us, at least, without veneration and thankfulness; and my sons' +children, whether established here in our Republic, or at home in +the always beloved mother country, from which our late quarrel hath +separated us, may surely be proud to be descended from one who in all +ways was so truly noble. + +My dear mother died in 1736, soon after our return from England, whither +my parents took me for my education; and where I made the acquaintance +of Mr. Warrington, whom my children never saw. When it pleased heaven, +in the bloom of his youth, and after but a few months of a most happy +union, to remove him from me, I owed my recovery from the grief which +that calamity caused me, mainly to my dearest father's tenderness, and +then to the blessing vouchsafed to me in the birth of my two beloved +boys. I know the fatal differences which separated them in politics +never disunited their hearts; and as I can love them both, whether +wearing the King's colors or the Republic's, I am sure that they love +me and one another, and him above all, my father and theirs, the dearest +friend of their childhood, the noble gentleman who bred them from their +infancy in the practice and knowledge of Truth, and Love and Honor. + +My children will never forget the appearance and figure of their revered +grandfather; and I wish I possessed the art of drawing (which my papa +had in perfection), so that I could leave to our descendants a portrait +of one who was so good and so respected. My father was of a dark +complexion, with a very great forehead and dark hazel eyes, overhung by +eyebrows which remained black long after his hair was white. His nose +was aquiline, his smile extraordinary sweet. How well I remember it, and +how little any description I can write can recall his image! He was of +rather low stature, not being above five feet seven inches in height; he +used to laugh at my sons, whom he called his crutches, and say they +were grown too tall for him to lean upon. But small as he was, he had +a perfect grace and majesty of deportment, such as I have never seen in +this country, except perhaps in our friend Mr. Washington, and commanded +respect wherever he appeared. + +In all bodily exercises he excelled, and showed an extraordinary +quickness and agility. Of fencing he was especially fond, and made my +two boys proficient in that art; so much so, that when the French came +to this country with Monsieur Rochambeau, not one of his officers was +superior to my Henry, and he was not the equal of my poor George, +who had taken the King's side in our lamentable but glorious war of +independence. + +Neither my father nor my mother ever wore powder in their hair; both +their heads were as white as silver, as I can remember them. My dear +mother possessed to the last an extraordinary brightness and freshness +of complexion; nor would people believe that she did not wear rouge. At +sixty years of age she still looked young, and was quite agile. It was +not until after that dreadful siege of our house by the Indians, which +left me a widow ere I was a mother, that my dear mother's health broke. +She never recovered her terror and anxiety of those days which ended so +fatally for me, then a bride scarce six months married, and died in my +father's arms ere my own year of widowhood was over. + +From that day, until the last of his dear and honored life, it was +my delight and consolation to remain with him as his comforter and +companion; and from those little notes which my mother hath made here +and there in the volume in which my father describes his adventures +in Europe, I can well understand the extreme devotion with which she +regarded him--a devotion so passionate and exclusive as to prevent her, +I think, from loving any other person except with an inferior regard; +her whole thoughts being centred on this one object of affection and +worship. I know that, before her, my dear father did not show the love +which he had for his daughter; and in her last and most sacred moments, +this dear and tender parent owned to me her repentance that she had +not loved me enough: her jealousy even that my father should give his +affection to any but herself: and in the most fond and beautiful words +of affection and admonition, she bade me never to leave him, and to +supply the place which she was quitting. With a clear conscience, and a +heart inexpressibly thankful, I think I can say that I fulfilled those +dying commands, and that until his last hour my dearest father never had +to complain that his daughter's love and fidelity failed him. + +And it is since I knew him entirely--for during my mother's life he +never quite opened himself to me--since I knew the value and splendor of +that affection which he bestowed upon me, that I have come to understand +and pardon what, I own, used to anger me in my mother's lifetime, her +jealousy respecting her husband's love. 'Twas a gift so precious, that +no wonder she who had it was for keeping it all, and could part with +none of it, even to her daughter. + +Though I never heard my father use a rough word, 'twas extraordinary +with how much awe his people regarded him; and the servants on our +plantation, both those assigned from England and the purchased negroes, +obeyed him with an eagerness such as the most severe taskmasters round +about us could never get from their people. He was never familiar, +though perfectly simple and natural; he was the same with the meanest +man as with the greatest, and as courteous to a black slave-girl as to +the Governor's wife. No one ever thought of taking a liberty with him +(except once a tipsy gentleman from York, and I am bound to own that +my papa never forgave him): he set the humblest people at once on their +ease with him, and brought down the most arrogant by a grave satiric +way, which made persons exceedingly afraid of him. His courtesy was not +put on like a Sunday suit, and laid by when the company went away; it +was always the same; as he was always dressed the same, whether for a +dinner by ourselves or for a great entertainment. They say he liked +to be the first in his company; but what company was there in which +he would not be first? When I went to Europe for my education, and we +passed a winter at London with my half-brother, my Lord Castlewood and +his second lady, I saw at her Majesty's Court some of the most famous +gentlemen of those days; and I thought to myself none of these are +better than my papa; and the famous Lord Bolingbroke, who came to us +from Dawley, said as much, and that the men of that time were not like +those of his youth:--“Were your father, Madam,” he said, “to go into the +woods, the Indians would elect him Sachem;” and his lordship was pleased +to call me Pocahontas. + +I did not see our other relative, Bishop Tusher's lady, of whom so much +is said in my papa's memoirs--although my mamma went to visit her in +the country. I have no pride (as I showed by complying with my mother's +request, and marrying a gentleman who was but the younger son of a +Suffolk Baronet), yet I own to A DECENT RESPECT for my name, and wonder +how one who ever bore it, should change it for that of Mrs. THOMAS +TUSHER. I pass over as odious and unworthy of credit those reports +(which I heard in Europe and was then too young to understand), how this +person, having LEFT HER FAMILY and fled to Paris, out of jealousy of +the Pretender betrayed his secrets to my Lord Stair, King George's +Ambassador, and nearly caused the Prince's death there; how she came to +England and married this Mr. Tusher, and became a great favorite of +King George the Second, by whom Mr. Tusher was made a Dean, and then a +Bishop. I did not see the lady, who chose to remain AT HER PALACE all +the time we were in London; but after visiting her, my poor mamma said +she had lost all her good looks, and warned me not to set too much +store by any such gifts which nature had bestowed upon me. She grew +exceedingly stout; and I remember my brother's wife, Lady Castlewood, +saying--“No wonder she became a favorite, for the King likes them old +and ugly, as his father did before him.” On which papa said--“All women +were alike; that there was never one so beautiful as that one; and that +we could forgive her everything but her beauty.” And hereupon my mamma +looked vexed, and my Lord Castlewood began to laugh; and I, of course, +being a young creature, could not understand what was the subject of +their conversation. + +After the circumstances narrated in the third book of these Memoirs, my +father and mother both went abroad, being advised by their friends to +leave the country in consequence of the transactions which are recounted +at the close of the volume of the Memoirs. But my brother, hearing how +the FUTURE BISHOP'S LADY had quitted Castlewood and joined the Pretender +at Paris, pursued him, and would have killed him, Prince as he was, had +not the Prince managed to make his escape. On his expedition to Scotland +directly after, Castlewood was so enraged against him that he asked +leave to serve as a volunteer, and join the Duke of Argyle's army +in Scotland, which the Pretender never had the courage to face; and +thenceforth my Lord was quite reconciled to the present reigning family, +from whom he hath even received promotion. + +Mrs. Tusher was by this time as angry against the Pretender as any of +her relations could be, and used to boast, as I have heard, that she +not only brought back my Lord to the Church of England, but procured +the English peerage for him, which the JUNIOR BRANCH of our family at +present enjoys. She was a great friend of Sir Robert Walpole, and would +not rest until her husband slept at Lambeth, my papa used laughing to +say. However, the Bishop died of apoplexy suddenly, and his wife erected +a great monument over him; and the pair sleep under that stone, with +a canopy of marble clouds and angels above them--the first Mrs. Tusher +lying sixty miles off at Castlewood. + +But my papa's genius and education are both greater than any a woman can +be expected to have, and his adventures in Europe far more exciting than +his life in this country, which was passed in the tranquil offices of +love and duty; and I shall say no more by way of introduction to his +Memoirs, nor keep my children from the perusal of a story which is much +more interesting than that of their affectionate old mother, + +RACHEL ESMOND WARRINGTON. + +CASTLEWOOD, VIRGINIA, + +November 3, 1778. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK I. + +THE EARLY YOUTH OF HENRY ESMOND, UP TO THE TIME OF HIS LEAVING TRINITY +COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE. + + +CHAPTER + +I. An Account of the Family of Esmond of Castlewood Hall + +II. Relates how Francis, Fourth Viscount, arrives at Castlewood + +III. Whither, in the time of Thomas, Third Viscount, I had preceded him + as Page to Isabella + +IV. I am placed under a Popish Priest and bred to that Religion.-- + Viscountess Castlewood + +V. My Superiors are engaged in Plots for the Restoration of King James + II + +VI. The Issue of the Plots.--The Death of Thomas, Third Viscount of + Castlewood; and the Imprisonment of his Viscountess + +VII. I am left at Castlewood an Orphan, and find most kind Protectors + there + +VIII. After Good Fortune comes Evil + +IX. I have the Small-pox, and prepare to leave Castlewood + +X. I go to Cambridge, and do but little Good there + +XI. I come home for a Holiday to Castlewood, and find a Skeleton in the + House + +XII. My Lord Mohun comes among us for no Good + +XIII. My Lord leaves us and his Evil behind him + +XIV. We ride after him to London + + +BOOK II. + +CONTAINS MR. ESMOND'S MILITARY LIFE, AND OTHER MATTERS APPERTAINING TO +THE ESMOND FAMILY. + + +I. I am in Prison, and Visited, but not Consoled there + +II. I come to the End of my Captivity, but not of my Trouble + +III. I take the Queen's Pay in Quin's Regiment + +IV. Recapitulations + +V. I go on the Vigo Bay Expedition, taste Salt Water and smell Powder + +VI. The 29th December + +VII. I am made Welcome at Walcote + +VIII. Family Talk + +IX. I make the Campaign of 1704 + +X. An Old Story about a Fool and a Woman + +XI. The famous Mr. Joseph Addison + +XII. I get a Company in the Campaign of 1706 + +XIII. I meet an Old Acquaintance in Flanders, and find my Mother's Grave + and my own Cradle there + +XIV. The Campaign of 1707, 1708 + +XV. General Webb wins the Battle of Wynendael + + +BOOK III. + +CONTAINING THE END OF MR. ESMOND'S ADVENTURES IN ENGLAND. + + +I. I come to an End of my Battles and Bruises + +II. I go Home, and harp on the Old String + +III. A Paper out of the “Spectator” + +IV. Beatrix's New Suitor + +V. Mohun appears for the Last Time in this History + +VI. Poor Beatrix + +VII. I visit Castlewood once more + +VIII. I travel to France and bring Home a Portrait of Rigaud + +IX. The Original of the Portrait comes to England + +X. We entertain a very Distinguished Guest at Kensington + +XI. Our Guest quits us as not being Hospitable enough + +XII. A great Scheme, and who Balked it + +XIII. August 1st, 1714 + + + + +THE HISTORY OF HENRY ESMOND. + + + + +BOOK I + +THE EARLY YOUTH OF HENRY ESMOND, UP TO THE TIME OF HIS LEAVING TRINITY +COLLEGE, IN CAMBRIDGE. + + +The actors in the old tragedies, as we read, piped their iambics to +a tune, speaking from under a mask, and wearing stilts and a great +head-dress. 'Twas thought the dignity of the Tragic Muse required these +appurtenances, and that she was not to move except to a measure and +cadence. So Queen Medea slew her children to a slow music: and King +Agamemnon perished in a dying fall (to use Mr. Dryden's words): the +Chorus standing by in a set attitude, and rhythmically and decorously +bewailing the fates of those great crowned persons. The Muse of History +hath encumbered herself with ceremony as well as her Sister of the +Theatre. She too wears the mask and the cothurnus, and speaks to +measure. She too, in our age, busies herself with the affairs only of +kings; waiting on them obsequiously and stately, as if she were but a +mistress of court ceremonies, and had nothing to do with the registering +of the affairs of the common people. I have seen in his very old age and +decrepitude the old French King Lewis the Fourteenth, the type and +model of kinghood--who never moved but to measure, who lived and died +according to the laws of his Court-marshal, persisting in enacting +through life the part of Hero; and, divested of poetry, this was but a +little wrinkled old man, pock-marked, and with a great periwig and red +heels to make him look tall--a hero for a book if you like, or for a +brass statue or a painted ceiling, a god in a Roman shape, but what +more than a man for Madame Maintenon, or the barber who shaved him, or +Monsieur Fagon, his surgeon? I wonder shall History ever pull off her +periwig and cease to be court-ridden? Shall we see something of France +and England besides Versailles and Windsor? I saw Queen Anne at the +latter place tearing down the Park slopes, after her stag-hounds, and +driving her one-horse chaise--a hot, red-faced woman, not in the least +resembling that statue of her which turns its stone back upon St. +Paul's, and faces the coaches struggling up Ludgate Hill. She was +neither better bred nor wiser than you and me, though we knelt to hand +her a letter or a wash-hand basin. Why shall History go on kneeling to +the end of time? I am for having her rise up off her knees, and take a +natural posture: not to be for ever performing cringes and congees +like a court-chamberlain, and shuffling backwards out of doors in the +presence of the sovereign. In a word, I would have History familiar +rather than heroic: and think that Mr. Hogarth and Mr. Fielding will +give our children a much better idea of the manners of the present +age in England, than the Court Gazette and the newspapers which we get +thence. + +There was a German officer of Webb's, with whom we used to joke, and of +whom a story (whereof I myself was the author) was got to be believed in +the army, that he was eldest son of the hereditary Grand Bootjack of the +Empire, and the heir to that honor of which his ancestors had been very +proud, having been kicked for twenty generations by one imperial foot, +as they drew the boot from the other. I have heard that the old +Lord Castlewood, of part of whose family these present volumes are a +chronicle, though he came of quite as good blood as the Stuarts whom +he served (and who as regards mere lineage are no better than a dozen +English and Scottish houses I could name), was prouder of his post about +the Court than of his ancestral honors, and valued his dignity (as Lord +of the Butteries and Groom of the King's Posset) so highly, that he +cheerfully ruined himself for the thankless and thriftless race who +bestowed it. He pawned his plate for King Charles the First, mortgaged +his property for the same cause, and lost the greater part of it by +fines and sequestration: stood a siege of his castle by Ireton, +where his brother Thomas capitulated (afterward making terms with the +Commonwealth, for which the elder brother never forgave him), and +where his second brother Edward, who had embraced the ecclesiastical +profession, was slain on Castlewood Tower, being engaged there both as +preacher and artilleryman. This resolute old loyalist, who was with the +King whilst his house was thus being battered down, escaped abroad with +his only son, then a boy, to return and take a part in Worcester fight. +On that fatal field Eustace Esmond was killed, and Castlewood fled from +it once more into exile, and henceforward, and after the Restoration, +never was away from the Court of the monarch (for whose return we offer +thanks in the Prayer-Book) who sold his country and who took bribes of +the French king. + +What spectacle is more august than that of a great king in exile? Who is +more worthy of respect than a brave man in misfortune? Mr. Addison has +painted such a figure in his noble piece of Cato. But suppose fugitive +Cato fuddling himself at a tavern with a wench on each knee, a dozen +faithful and tipsy companions of defeat, and a landlord calling out +for his bill; and the dignity of misfortune is straightway lost. The +Historical Muse turns away shamefaced from the vulgar scene, and closes +the door--on which the exile's unpaid drink is scored up--upon him and +his pots and his pipes, and the tavern-chorus which he and his friends +are singing. Such a man as Charles should have had an Ostade or Mieris +to paint him. Your Knellers and Le Bruns only deal in clumsy and +impossible allegories: and it hath always seemed to me blasphemy to +claim Olympus for such a wine-drabbled divinity as that. + +About the King's follower, the Viscount Castlewood--orphan of his son, +ruined by his fidelity, bearing many wounds and marks of bravery, +old and in exile--his kinsmen I suppose should be silent; nor if this +patriarch fell down in his cups, call fie upon him, and fetch passers-by +to laugh at his red face and white hairs. What! does a stream rush out +of a mountain free and pure, to roll through fair pastures, to feed and +throw out bright tributaries, and to end in a village gutter? Lives that +have noble commencements have often no better endings; it is not without +a kind of awe and reverence that an observer should speculate upon such +careers as he traces the course of them. I have seen too much of success +in life to take off my hat and huzzah to it as it passes in its gilt +coach: and would do my little part with my neighbors on foot, that they +should not gape with too much wonder, nor applaud too loudly. Is it the +Lord Mayor going in state to mince-pies and the Mansion House? Is it +poor Jack of Newgate's procession, with the sheriff and javelin-men, +conducting him on his last journey to Tyburn? I look into my heart +and think that I sin as good as my Lord Mayor, and know I am as bad as +Tyburn Jack. Give me a chain and red gown and a pudding before me, and +I could play the part of Alderman very well, and sentence Jack after +dinner. Starve me, keep me from books and honest people, educate me to +love dice, gin, and pleasure, and put me on Hounslow Heath, with a purse +before me, and I will take it. “And I shall be deservedly hanged,” say +you, wishing to put an end to this prosing. I don't say No. I can't but +accept the world as I find it, including a rope's end, as long as it is +in fashion. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +AN ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY OF ESMOND OF CASTLEWOOD HALL. + + +When Francis, fourth Viscount Castlewood, came to his title, and +presently after to take possession of his house of Castlewood, county +Hants, in the year 1691, almost the only tenant of the place besides +the domestics was a lad of twelve years of age, of whom no one seemed to +take any note until my Lady Viscountess lighted upon him, going over the +house with the housekeeper on the day of her arrival. The boy was in the +room known as the Book-room, or Yellow Gallery, where the portraits of +the family used to hang, that fine piece among others of Sir Antonio Van +Dyck of George, second Viscount, and that by Mr. Dobson of my lord the +third Viscount, just deceased, which it seems his lady and widow did not +think fit to carry away, when she sent for and carried off to her house +at Chelsey, near to London, the picture of herself by Sir Peter Lely, in +which her ladyship was represented as a huntress of Diana's court. + +The new and fair lady of Castlewood found the sad, lonely, little +occupant of this gallery busy over his great book, which he laid down +when he was aware that a stranger was at hand. And, knowing who that +person must be, the lad stood up and bowed before her, performing a shy +obeisance to the mistress of his house. + +She stretched out her hand--indeed when was it that that hand would +not stretch out to do an act of kindness, or to protect grief and +ill-fortune? “And this is our kinsman,” she said “and what is your name, +kinsman?” + +“My name is Henry Esmond,” said the lad, looking up at her in a sort +of delight and wonder, for she had come upon him as a Dea certe, and +appeared the most charming object he had ever looked on. Her golden hair +was shining in the gold of the sun; her complexion was of a dazzling +bloom; her lips smiling, and her eyes beaming with a kindness which made +Harry Esmond's heart to beat with surprise. + +“His name is Henry Esmond, sure enough, my lady,” says Mrs. Worksop, +the housekeeper (an old tyrant whom Henry Esmond plagued more than he +hated), and the old gentlewoman looked significantly towards the late +lord's picture, as it now is in the family, noble and severe-looking, +with his hand on his sword, and his order on his cloak, which he had +from the Emperor during the war on the Danube against the Turk. + +Seeing the great and undeniable likeness between this portrait and the +lad, the new Viscountess, who had still hold of the boy's hand as she +looked at the picture, blushed and dropped the hand quickly, and walked +down the gallery, followed by Mrs. Worksop. + +When the lady came back, Harry Esmond stood exactly in the same spot, +and with his hand as it had fallen when he dropped it on his black coat. + +Her heart melted, I suppose (indeed she hath since owned as much), at +the notion that she should do anything unkind to any mortal, great or +small; for, when she returned, she had sent away the housekeeper upon an +errand by the door at the farther end of the gallery; and, coming back +to the lad, with a look of infinite pity and tenderness in her eyes, she +took his hand again, placing her other fair hand on his head, and saying +some words to him, which were so kind, and said in a voice so sweet, +that the boy, who had never looked upon so much beauty before, felt as +if the touch of a superior being or angel smote him down to the ground, +and kissed the fair protecting hand as he knelt on one knee. To the very +last hour of his life, Esmond remembered the lady as she then spoke and +looked, the rings on her fair hands, the very scent of her robe, the +beam of her eyes lighting up with surprise and kindness, her lips +blooming in a smile, the sun making a golden halo round her hair. + +As the boy was yet in this attitude of humility, enters behind him a +portly gentleman, with a little girl of four years old in his hand. The +gentleman burst into a great laugh at the lady and her adorer, with +his little queer figure, his sallow face, and long black hair. The lady +blushed, and seemed to deprecate his ridicule by a look of appeal to her +husband, for it was my Lord Viscount who now arrived, and whom the lad +knew, having once before seen him in the late lord's lifetime. + +“So this is the little priest” says my lord, looking down at the lad; +“welcome, kinsman.” + +“He is saying his prayers to mamma,” says the little girl, who came up +to her papa's knees; and my lord burst out into another great laugh at +this, and kinsman Henry looked very silly. He invented a half-dozen of +speeches in reply, but 'twas months afterwards when he thought of this +adventure: as it was, he had never a word in answer. + +“Le pauvre enfant, il n'a que nous,” says the lady, looking to her lord; +and the boy, who understood her, though doubtless she thought otherwise, +thanked her with all his heart for her kind speech. + +“And he shan't want for friends here,” says my lord in a kind voice, +“shall he, little Trix?” + +The little girl, whose name was Beatrix, and whom her papa called by +this diminutive, looked at Henry Esmond solemnly, with a pair of large +eyes, and then a smile shone over her face, which was as beautiful as +that of a cherub, and she came up and put out a little hand to him. A +keen and delightful pang of gratitude, happiness, affection, filled the +orphan child's heart, as he received from the protectors, whom heaven +had sent to him, these touching words and tokens of friendliness and +kindness. But an hour since, he had felt quite alone in the world: when +he heard the great peal of bells from Castlewood church ringing that +morning to welcome the arrival of the new lord and lady, it had rung +only terror and anxiety to him, for he knew not how the new owner would +deal with him; and those to whom he formerly looked for protection were +forgotten or dead. Pride and doubt too had kept him within-doors, when +the Vicar and the people of the village, and the servants of the house, +had gone out to welcome my Lord Castlewood--for Henry Esmond was no +servant, though a dependant; no relative, though he bore the name and +inherited the blood of the house; and in the midst of the noise and +acclamations attending the arrival of the new lord (for whom, you may +be sure, a feast was got ready, and guns were fired, and tenants and +domestics huzzahed when his carriage approached and rolled into the +court-yard of the hall), no one ever took any notice of young Henry +Esmond, who sat unobserved and alone in the Book-room, until the +afternoon of that day, when his new friends found him. + +When my lord and lady were going away thence, the little girl, still +holding her kinsman by the hand, bade him to come too. “Thou wilt always +forsake an old friend for a new one, Trix,” says her father to her +good-naturedly; and went into the gallery, giving an arm to his lady. +They passed thence through the music-gallery, long since dismantled, and +Queen Elizabeth's Rooms, in the clock-tower, and out into the terrace, +where was a fine prospect of sunset and the great darkling woods with +a cloud of rooks returning; and the plain and river with Castlewood +village beyond, and purple hills beautiful to look at--and the little +heir of Castlewood, a child of two years old, was already here on the +terrace in his nurse's arms, from whom he ran across the grass instantly +he perceived his mother, and came to her. + +“If thou canst not be happy here,” says my lord, looking round at the +scene, “thou art hard to please, Rachel.” + +“I am happy where you are,” she said, “but we were happiest of all at +Walcote Forest.” Then my lord began to describe what was before them to +his wife, and what indeed little Harry knew better than he--viz., the +history of the house: how by yonder gate the page ran away with the +heiress of Castlewood, by which the estate came into the present family; +how the Roundheads attacked the clock-tower, which my lord's father was +slain in defending. “I was but two years old then,” says he, “but take +forty-six from ninety, and how old shall I be, kinsman Harry?” + +“Thirty,” says his wife, with a laugh. + +“A great deal too old for you, Rachel,” answers my lord, looking fondly +down at her. Indeed she seemed to be a girl, and was at that time scarce +twenty years old. + +“You know, Frank, I will do anything to please you,” says she, “and I +promise you I will grow older every day.” + +“You mustn't call papa, Frank; you must call papa my lord now,” says +Miss Beatrix, with a toss of her little head; at which the mother +smiled, and the good-natured father laughed, and the little trotting boy +laughed, not knowing why--but because he was happy, no doubt--as every +one seemed to be there. How those trivial incidents and words, the +landscape and sunshine, and the group of people smiling and talking, +remain fixed on the memory! + +As the sun was setting, the little heir was sent in the arms of his +nurse to bed, whither he went howling; but little Trix was promised to +sit to supper that night--“and you will come too, kinsman, won't you?” + she said. + +Harry Esmond blushed: “I--I have supper with Mrs. Worksop,” says he. + +“D--n it,” says my lord, “thou shalt sup with us, Harry, to-night! +Shan't refuse a lady, shall he, Trix?”--and they all wondered at Harry's +performance as a trencher-man, in which character the poor boy acquitted +himself very remarkably; for the truth is he had had no dinner, nobody +thinking of him in the bustle which the house was in, during the +preparations antecedent to the new lord's arrival. + +“No dinner! poor dear child!” says my lady, heaping up his plate with +meat, and my lord, filling a bumper for him, bade him call a health; on +which Master Harry, crying “The King,” tossed off the wine. My lord was +ready to drink that, and most other toasts: indeed only too ready. He +would not hear of Doctor Tusher (the Vicar of Castlewood, who came to +supper) going away when the sweetmeats were brought: he had not had a +chaplain long enough, he said, to be tired of him: so his reverence kept +my lord company for some hours over a pipe and a punch-bowl; and went +away home with rather a reeling gait, and declaring a dozen of times, +that his lordship's affability surpassed every kindness he had ever had +from his lordship's gracious family. + +As for young Esmond, when he got to his little chamber, it was with a +heart full of surprise and gratitude towards the new friends whom this +happy day had brought him. He was up and watching long before the house +was astir, longing to see that fair lady and her children--that kind +protector and patron: and only fearful lest their welcome of the past +night should in any way be withdrawn or altered. But presently little +Beatrix came out into the garden, and her mother followed, who greeted +Harry as kindly as before. He told her at greater length the histories +of the house (which he had been taught in the old lord's time), and +to which she listened with great interest; and then he told her, with +respect to the night before, that he understood French, and thanked her +for her protection. + +“Do you?” says she, with a blush; “then, sir, you shall teach me and +Beatrix.” And she asked him many more questions regarding himself, which +had best be told more fully and explicitly than in those brief replies +which the lad made to his mistress's questions. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +RELATES HOW FRANCIS, FOURTH VISCOUNT, ARRIVES AT CASTLEWOOD. + + +'Tis known that the name of Esmond and the estate of Castlewood, com. +Hants, came into possession of the present family through Dorothea, +daughter and heiress of Edward, Earl and Marquis Esmond, and Lord of +Castlewood, which lady married, 23 Eliz., Henry Poyns, gent.; the said +Henry being then a page in the household of her father. Francis, son and +heir of the above Henry and Dorothea, who took the maternal name which +the family hath borne subsequently, was made Knight and Baronet by King +James the First; and being of a military disposition, remained long in +Germany with the Elector-Palatine, in whose service Sir Francis incurred +both expense and danger, lending large sums of money to that +unfortunate Prince; and receiving many wounds in the battles against the +Imperialists, in which Sir Francis engaged. + +On his return home Sir Francis was rewarded for his services and +many sacrifices, by his late Majesty James the First, who graciously +conferred upon this tried servant the post of Warden of the Butteries +and Groom of the King's Posset, which high and confidential office he +filled in that king's and his unhappy successor's reign. + +His age, and many wounds and infirmities, obliged Sir Francis to perform +much of his duty by deputy: and his son, Sir George Esmond, knight and +banneret, first as his father's lieutenant, and afterwards as inheritor +of his father's title and dignity, performed this office during almost +the whole of the reign of King Charles the First, and his two sons who +succeeded him. + +Sir George Esmond married, rather beneath the rank that a person of his +name and honor might aspire to, the daughter of Thos. Topham, of the +city of London, alderman and goldsmith, who, taking the Parliamentary +side in the troubles then commencing, disappointed Sir George of the +property which he expected at the demise of his father-in-law, who +devised his money to his second daughter, Barbara, a spinster. + +Sir George Esmond, on his part, was conspicuous for his attachment and +loyalty to the Royal cause and person: and the King being at Oxford in +1642, Sir George, with the consent of his father, then very aged and +infirm, and residing at his house of Castlewood, melted the whole of the +family plate for his Majesty's service. + +For this, and other sacrifices and merits, his Majesty, by patent under +the Privy Seal, dated Oxford, Jan., 1643, was pleased to advance Sir +Francis Esmond to the dignity of Viscount Castlewood, of Shandon, in +Ireland: and the Viscount's estate being much impoverished by loans to +the King, which in those troublesome times his Majesty could not repay, +a grant of land in the plantations of Virginia was given to the Lord +Viscount.; part of which land is in possession of descendants of his +family to the present day. + +The first Viscount Castlewood died full of years, and within a few +months after he had been advanced to his honors. He was succeeded by his +eldest son, the before-named George; and left issue besides, Thomas, +a colonel in the King's army, who afterwards joined the Usurper's +Government; and Francis, in holy orders, who was slain whilst defending +the House of Castlewood against the Parliament, anno 1647. + +George Lord Castlewood (the second Viscount), of King Charles the +First's time, had no male issue save his one son, Eustace Esmond, who +was killed, with half of the Castlewood men beside him, at Worcester +fight. The lands about Castlewood were sold and apportioned to the +Commonwealth men; Castlewood being concerned in almost all of the plots +against the Protector, after the death of the King, and up to King +Charles the Second's restoration. My lord followed that king's Court +about in its exile, having ruined himself in its service. He had but one +daughter, who was of no great comfort to her father; for misfortune had +not taught those exiles sobriety of life; and it is said that the Duke +of York and his brother the King both quarrelled about Isabel Esmond. +She was maid of honor to the Queen Henrietta Maria; she early joined the +Roman Church; her father, a weak man, following her not long after at +Breda. + +On the death of Eustace Esmond at Worcester, Thomas Esmond, nephew to +my Lord Castlewood, and then a stripling, became heir to the title. His +father had taken the Parliament side in the quarrels, and so had been +estranged from the chief of his house; and my Lord Castlewood was at +first so much enraged to think that his title (albeit little more than +an empty one now) should pass to a rascally Roundhead, that he would +have married again, and indeed proposed to do so to a vintner's daughter +at Bruges, to whom his lordship owed a score for lodging when the King +was there, but for fear of the laughter of the Court, and the anger +of his daughter, of whom he stood in awe; for she was in temper as +imperious and violent as my lord, who was much enfeebled by wounds and +drinking, was weak. + +Lord Castlewood would have had a match between his daughter Isabel and +her cousin, the son of that Francis Esmond who was killed at Castlewood +siege. And the lady, it was said, took a fancy to the young man, who was +her junior by several years (which circumstance she did not consider to +be a fault in him); but having paid his court, and being admitted to the +intimacy of the house, he suddenly flung up his suit, when it seemed +to be pretty prosperous, without giving a pretext for his behavior. +His friends rallied him at what they laughingly chose to call his +infidelity; Jack Churchill, Frank Esmond's lieutenant in the Royal +Regiment of Foot-guards, getting the company which Esmond vacated, when +he left the Court and went to Tangier in a rage at discovering that his +promotion depended on the complaisance of his elderly affianced bride. +He and Churchill, who had been condiscipuli at St. Paul's School, had +words about this matter; and Frank Esmond said to him with an oath, +“Jack, your sister may be so-and-so, but by Jove my wife shan't!” and +swords were drawn, and blood drawn too, until friends separated them on +this quarrel. Few men were so jealous about the point of honor in those +days; and gentlemen of good birth and lineage thought a royal blot was +an ornament to their family coat. Frank Esmond retired in the sulks, +first to Tangier, whence he returned after two years' service, settling +on a small property he had of his mother, near to Winchester, and became +a country gentleman, and kept a pack of beagles, and never came to +Court again in King Charles's time. But his uncle Castlewood was never +reconciled to him; nor, for some time afterwards, his cousin whom he had +refused. + +By places, pensions, bounties from France, and gifts from the King, +whilst his daughter was in favor, Lord Castlewood, who had spent in the +Royal service his youth and fortune, did not retrieve the latter quite, +and never cared to visit Castlewood, or repair it, since the death of +his son, but managed to keep a good house, and figure at Court, and to +save a considerable sum of ready money. + +And now, his heir and nephew, Thomas Esmond, began to bid for his +uncle's favor. Thomas had served with the Emperor, and with the Dutch, +when King Charles was compelled to lend troops to the States; and +against them, when his Majesty made an alliance with the French King. In +these campaigns Thomas Esmond was more remarked for duelling, brawling, +vice, and play, than for any conspicuous gallantry in the field, and +came back to England, like many another English gentleman who has +travelled, with a character by no means improved by his foreign +experience. He had dissipated his small paternal inheritance of a +younger brother's portion, and, as truth must be told, was no better +than a hanger-on of ordinaries, and a brawler about Alsatia and the +Friars, when he bethought him of a means of mending his fortune. + +His cousin was now of more than middle age, and had nobody's word but +her own for the beauty which she said she once possessed. She was lean, +and yellow, and long in the tooth; all the red and white in all the +toy-shops in London could not make a beauty of her--Mr. Killigrew called +her the Sybil, the death's-head put up at the King's feast as a memento +mori, &c.--in fine, a woman who might be easy of conquest, but whom +only a very bold man would think of conquering. This bold man was Thomas +Esmond. He had a fancy to my Lord Castlewood's savings, the amount of +which rumor had very much exaggerated. Madame Isabel was said to have +Royal jewels of great value; whereas poor Tom Esmond's last coat but one +was in pawn. + +My lord had at this time a fine house in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, nigh to +the Duke's Theatre and the Portugal ambassador's chapel. Tom Esmond, +who had frequented the one as long as he had money to spend among the +actresses, now came to the church as assiduously. He looked so lean and +shabby, that he passed without difficulty for a repentant sinner; and +so, becoming converted, you may be sure took his uncle's priest for a +director. + +This charitable father reconciled him with the old lord, his uncle, +who a short time before would not speak to him, as Tom passed under my +lord's coach window, his lordship going in state to his place at Court, +while his nephew slunk by with his battered hat and feather, and the +point of his rapier sticking out of the scabbard--to his twopenny +ordinary in Bell Yard. + +Thomas Esmond, after this reconciliation with his uncle, very soon began +to grow sleek, and to show signs of the benefits of good living and +clean linen. He fasted rigorously twice a week, to be sure; but he made +amends on the other days: and, to show how great his appetite was, Mr. +Wycherley said, he ended by swallowing that fly-blown rank old morsel +his cousin. There were endless jokes and lampoons about this marriage at +Court: but Tom rode thither in his uncle's coach now, called him father, +and having won could afford to laugh. This marriage took place very +shortly before King Charles died: whom the Viscount of Castlewood +speedily followed. + +The issue of this marriage was one son, whom the parents watched with an +intense eagerness and care; but who, in spite of nurses and physicians, +had only a brief existence. His tainted blood did not run very long in +his poor feeble little body. Symptoms of evil broke out early on him; +and, part from flattery, part superstition, nothing would satisfy my +lord and lady, especially the latter, but having the poor little cripple +touched by his Majesty at his church. They were ready to cry out miracle +at first (the doctors and quack-salvers being constantly in attendance +on the child, and experimenting on his poor little body with every +conceivable nostrum) but though there seemed, from some reason, a +notable amelioration in the infant's health after his Majesty touched +him, in a few weeks afterward the poor thing died--causing the +lampooners of the Court to say, that the King, in expelling evil out of +the infant of Tom Esmond and Isabella his wife, expelled the life out of +it, which was nothing but corruption. + +The mother's natural pang at losing this poor little child must have +been increased when she thought of her rival Frank Esmond's wife, who +was a favorite of the whole Court, where my poor Lady Castlewood was +neglected, and who had one child, a daughter, flourishing and beautiful, +and was about to become a mother once more. + +The Court, as I have heard, only laughed the more because the poor lady, +who had pretty well passed the age when ladies are accustomed to have +children, nevertheless determined not to give hope up, and even when she +came to live at Castlewood, was constantly sending over to Hexton for +the doctor, and announcing to her friends the arrival of an heir. This +absurdity of hers was one amongst many others which the wags used to +play upon. Indeed, to the last days of her life, my Lady Viscountess had +the comfort of fancying herself beautiful, and persisted in blooming +up to the very midst of winter, painting roses on her cheeks long after +their natural season, and attiring herself like summer though her head +was covered with snow. + +Gentlemen who were about the Court of King Charles, and King James, have +told the present writer a number of stories about this queer old lady, +with which it's not necessary that posterity should be entertained. She +is said to have had great powers of invective and, if she fought with +all her rivals in King James's favor, 'tis certain she must have had +a vast number of quarrels on her hands. She was a woman of an intrepid +spirit, and, it appears, pursued and rather fatigued his Majesty with +her rights and her wrongs. Some say that the cause of her leaving Court +was jealousy of Frank Esmond's wife: others, that she was forced to +retreat after a great battle which took place at Whitehall, between her +ladyship and Lady Dorchester, Tom Killigrew's daughter, whom the King +delighted to honor, and in which that ill-favored Esther got the better +of our elderly Vashti. But her ladyship, for her part, always averred +that it was her husband's quarrel, and not her own, which occasioned the +banishment of the two into the country; and the cruel ingratitude of the +Sovereign in giving away, out of the family, that place of Warden of +the Butteries and Groom of the King's Posset, which the two last Lords +Castlewood had held so honorably, and which was now conferred upon a +fellow of yesterday, and a hanger-on of that odious Dorchester creature, +my Lord Bergamot;* “I never,” said my lady, “could have come to see his +Majesty's posset carried by any other hand than an Esmond. I should have +dashed the salver out of Lord Bergamot's hand, had I met him.” And those +who knew her ladyship are aware that she was a person quite capable of +performing this feat, had she not wisely kept out of the way. + + * Lionel Tipton, created Baron Bergamot, ann. 1686, + Gentleman Usher of the Back Stairs, and afterwards appointed + Warden of the Butteries and Groom of the King's Posset (on + the decease of George, second Viscount Castlewood), + accompanied his Majesty to St. Germain's, where he died + without issue. No Groom of the Posset was appointed by the + Prince of Orange, nor hath there been such an officer in any + succeeding reign. + +Holding the purse-strings in her own control, to which, indeed, she +liked to bring most persons who came near her, Lady Castlewood could +command her husband's obedience, and so broke up her establishment +at London; she had removed from Lincoln's-Inn-Fields to Chelsey, to a +pretty new house she bought there; and brought her establishment, her +maids, lap-dogs, and gentlewomen, her priest, and his lordship her +husband, to Castlewood Hall, that she had never seen since she quitted +it as a child with her father during the troubles of King Charles the +First's reign. The walls were still open in the old house as they had +been left by the shot of the Commonwealthmen. A part of the mansion +was restored and furbished up with the plate, hangings, and furniture +brought from the house in London. My lady meant to have a triumphal +entry into Castlewood village, and expected the people to cheer as +she drove over the Green in her great coach, my lord beside her, her +gentlewomen, lap-dogs, and cockatoos on the opposite seat, six horses to +her carriage, and servants armed and mounted following it and preceding +it. But 'twas in the height of the No-Popery cry; the folks in the +village and the neighboring town were scared by the sight of her +ladyship's painted face and eyelids, as she bobbed her head out of the +coach window, meaning, no doubt, to be very gracious; and one old woman +said, “Lady Isabel! lord-a-mercy, it's Lady Jezebel!” a name by which +the enemies of the right honorable Viscountess were afterwards in the +habit of designating her. The country was then in a great No-Popery +fervor; her ladyship's known conversion, and her husband's, the priest +in her train, and the service performed at the chapel of Castlewood +(though the chapel had been built for that worship before any other was +heard of in the country, and though the service was performed in the +most quiet manner), got her no favor at first in the county or +village. By far the greater part of the estate of Castlewood had been +confiscated, and been parcelled out to Commonwealthmen. One or two of +these old Cromwellian soldiers were still alive in the village, and +looked grimly at first upon my Lady Viscountess, when she came to dwell +there. + +She appeared at the Hexton Assembly, bringing her lord after her, +scaring the country folks with the splendor of her diamonds, which she +always wore in public. They said she wore them in private, too, and +slept with them round her neck; though the writer can pledge his word +that this was a calumny. “If she were to take them off,” my Lady Sark +said, “Tom Esmond, her husband, would run away with them and pawn them.” + 'Twas another calumny. My Lady Sark was also an exile from Court, and +there had been war between the two ladies before. + +The village people began to be reconciled presently to their lady, who +was generous and kind, though fantastic and haughty, in her ways; and +whose praises Dr. Tusher, the Vicar, sounded loudly amongst his flock. +As for my lord, he gave no great trouble, being considered scarce more +than an appendage to my lady, who, as daughter of the old lords of +Castlewood, and possessor of vast wealth, as the country folks said +(though indeed nine-tenths of it existed but in rumor), was looked upon +as the real queen of the Castle, and mistress of all it contained. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +WHITHER IN THE TIME OF THOMAS, THIRD VISCOUNT, I HAD PRECEDED HIM AS +PAGE TO ISABELLA. + + +Coming up to London again some short time after this retreat, the Lord +Castlewood despatched a retainer of his to a little Cottage in the +village of Ealing, near to London, where for some time had dwelt an +old French refugee, by name Mr. Pastoureau, one of those whom the +persecution of the Huguenots by the French king had brought over to this +country. With this old man lived a little lad, who went by the name of +Henry Thomas. He remembered to have lived in another place a short time +before, near to London too, amongst looms and spinning-wheels, and a +great deal of psalm-singing and church-going, and a whole colony of +Frenchmen. + +There he had a dear, dear friend, who died, and whom he called Aunt. She +used to visit him in his dreams sometimes; and her face, though it was +homely, was a thousand times dearer to him than that of Mrs. Pastoureau, +Bon Papa Pastoureau's new wife, who came to live with him after aunt +went away. And there, at Spittlefields, as it used to be called, lived +Uncle George, who was a weaver too, but used to tell Harry that he was +a little gentleman, and that his father was a captain, and his mother an +angel. + +When he said so, Bon Papa used to look up from the loom, where he was +embroidering beautiful silk flowers, and say, “Angel! she belongs to the +Babylonish scarlet woman.” Bon Papa was always talking of the scarlet +woman. He had a little room where he always used to preach and +sing hymns out of his great old nose. Little Harry did not like the +preaching; he liked better the fine stories which aunt used to tell him. +Bon Papa's wife never told him pretty stories; she quarrelled with Uncle +George, and he went away. + +After this, Harry's Bon Papa and his wife and two children of her own +that she brought with her, came to live at Ealing. The new wife gave her +children the best of everything, and Harry many a whipping, he knew not +why. Besides blows, he got ill names from her, which need not be set +down here, for the sake of old Mr. Pastoureau, who was still kind +sometimes. The unhappiness of those days is long forgiven, though they +cast a shade of melancholy over the child's youth, which will accompany +him, no doubt, to the end of his days: as those tender twigs are bent +the trees grow afterward; and he, at least, who has suffered as a child, +and is not quite perverted in that early school of unhappiness, learns +to be gentle and long-suffering with little children. + +Harry was very glad when a gentleman dressed in black, on horseback, +with a mounted servant behind him, came to fetch him away from Ealing. +The noverca, or unjust stepmother, who had neglected him for her own +two children, gave him supper enough the night before he went away, and +plenty in the morning. She did not beat him once, and told the children +to keep their hands off him. One was a girl, and Harry never could bear +to strike a girl; and the other was a boy, whom he could easily have +beat, but he always cried out, when Mrs. Pastoureau came sailing to the +rescue with arms like a flail. She only washed Harry's face the day he +went away; nor ever so much as once boxed his ears. She whimpered rather +when the gentleman in black came for the boy; and old Mr. Pastoureau, as +he gave the child his blessing, scowled over his shoulder at the strange +gentleman, and grumbled out something about Babylon and the scarlet +lady. He was grown quite old, like a child almost. Mrs. Pastoureau +used to wipe his nose as she did to the children. She was a great, big, +handsome young woman; but, though she pretended to cry, Harry thought +'twas only a sham, and sprung quite delighted upon the horse upon which +the lackey helped him. + +He was a Frenchman; his name was Blaise. The child could talk to him in +his own language perfectly well: he knew it better than English indeed, +having lived hitherto chiefly among French people: and being called the +Little Frenchman by other boys on Ealing Green. He soon learnt to speak +English perfectly, and to forget some of his French: children forget +easily. Some earlier and fainter recollections the child had of a +different country; and a town with tall white houses: and a ship. But +these were quite indistinct in the boy's mind, as indeed the memory of +Ealing soon became, at least of much that he suffered there. + +The lackey before whom he rode was very lively and voluble, and informed +the boy that the gentleman riding before him was my lord's chaplain, +Father Holt--that he was now to be called Master Harry Esmond--that my +Lord Viscount Castlewood was his parrain--that he was to live at the +great house of Castlewood, in the province of ----shire, where he would +see Madame the Viscountess, who was a grand lady. And so, seated on a +cloth before Blaise's saddle, Harry Esmond was brought to London, and to +a fine square called Covent Garden, near to which his patron lodged. + +Mr. Holt, the priest, took the child by the hand, and brought him to +this nobleman, a grand languid nobleman in a great cap and flowered +morning-gown, sucking oranges. He patted Harry on the head and gave him +an orange. + +“C'est bien ca,” he said to the priest after eying the child, and the +gentleman in black shrugged his shoulders. + +“Let Blaise take him out for a holiday,” and out for a holiday the boy +and the valet went. Harry went jumping along; he was glad enough to go. + +He will remember to his life's end the delights of those days. He was +taken to see a play by Monsieur Blaise, in a house a thousand times +greater and finer than the booth at Ealing Fair--and on the next happy +day they took water on the river, and Harry saw London Bridge, with the +houses and booksellers' shops thereon, looking like a street, and the +Tower of London, with the Armor, and the great lions and bears in the +moat--all under company of Monsieur Blaise. + +Presently, of an early morning, all the party set forth for the country, +namely, my Lord Viscount and the other gentleman; Monsieur Blaise +and Harry on a pillion behind them, and two or three men with pistols +leading the baggage-horses. And all along the road the Frenchman told +little Harry stories of brigands, which made the child's hair stand +on end, and terrified him; so that at the great gloomy inn on the road +where they lay, he besought to be allowed to sleep in a room with one +of the servants, and was compassionated by Mr. Holt, the gentleman +who travelled with my lord, and who gave the child a little bed in his +chamber. + +His artless talk and answers very likely inclined this gentleman in the +boy's favor, for next day Mr. Holt said Harry should ride behind him, +and not with the French lacky; and all along the journey put a thousand +questions to the child--as to his foster-brother and relations at +Ealing; what his old grandfather had taught him; what languages he knew; +whether he could read and write, and sing, and so forth. And Mr. Holt +found that Harry could read and write, and possessed the two languages +of French and English very well; and when he asked Harry about singing, +the lad broke out with a hymn to the tune of Dr. Martin Luther, which +set Mr. Holt a-laughing; and even caused his grand parrain in the laced +hat and periwig to laugh too when Holt told him what the child was +singing. For it appeared that Dr. Martin Luther's hymns were not sung in +the churches Mr. Holt preached at. + +“You must never sing that song any more: do you hear, little mannikin?” + says my Lord Viscount, holding up a finger. + +“But we will try and teach you a better, Harry,” Mr. Holt said; and +the child answered, for he was a docile child, and of an affectionate +nature, “That he loved pretty songs, and would try and learn anything +the gentleman would tell him.” That day he so pleased the gentlemen by +his talk, that they had him to dine with them at the inn, and encouraged +him in his prattle; and Monsieur Blaise, with whom he rode and dined the +day before, waited upon him now. + +“'Tis well, 'tis well!” said Blaise, that night (in his own language) +when they lay again at an inn. “We are a little lord here; we are a +little lord now: we shall see what we are when we come to Castlewood, +where my lady is.” + +“When shall we come to Castlewood, Monsieur Blaise?” says Harry. + +“Parbleu! my lord does not press himself,” Blaise says, with a grin; +and, indeed, it seemed as if his lordship was not in a great hurry, for +he spent three days on that journey which Harry Esmond hath often since +ridden in a dozen hours. For the last two of the days Harry rode with +the priest, who was so kind to him, that the child had grown to be +quite fond and familiar with him by the journey's end, and had scarce +a thought in his little heart which by that time he had not confided to +his new friend. + +At length, on the third day, at evening, they came to a village standing +on a green with elms round it, very pretty to look at; and the people +there all took off their hats, and made curtsies to my Lord Viscount, +who bowed to them all languidly; and there was one portly person that +wore a cassock and a broad-leafed hat, who bowed lower than any one--and +with this one both my lord and Mr. Holt had a few words. “This, Harry, +is Castlewood church,” says Mr. Holt, “and this is the pillar thereof, +learned Doctor Tusher. Take off your hat, sirrah, and salute Dr. +Tusher!” + +“Come up to supper, Doctor,” says my lord; at which the Doctor made +another low bow, and the party moved on towards a grand house that +was before them, with many gray towers and vanes on them, and windows +flaming in the sunshine; and a great army of rooks, wheeling over their +heads, made for the woods behind the house, as Harry saw; and Mr. Holt +told him that they lived at Castlewood too. + +They came to the house, and passed under an arch into a court-yard, with +a fountain in the centre, where many men came and held my lord's stirrup +as he descended, and paid great respect to Mr. Holt likewise. And the +child thought that the servants looked at him curiously, and smiled to +one another--and he recalled what Blaise had said to him when they were +in London, and Harry had spoken about his godpapa, when the Frenchman +said, “Parbleu, one sees well that my lord is your godfather;” + words whereof the poor lad did not know the meaning then, though he +apprehended the truth in a very short time afterwards, and learned it, +and thought of it with no small feeling of shame. + +Taking Harry by the hand as soon as they were both descended from their +horses, Mr. Holt led him across the court, and under a low door to rooms +on a level with the ground; one of which Father Holt said was to be +the boy's chamber, the other on the other side of the passage being the +Father's own; and as soon as the little man's face was washed, and the +Father's own dress arranged, Harry's guide took him once more to the +door by which my lord had entered the hall, and up a stair, and through +an ante-room to my lady's drawing-room--an apartment than which Harry +thought he had never seen anything more grand--no, not in the Tower +of London which he had just visited. Indeed, the chamber was richly +ornamented in the manner of Queen Elizabeth's time, with great stained +windows at either end, and hangings of tapestry, which the sun shining +through the colored glass painted of a thousand lines; and here in +state, by the fire, sat a lady to whom the priest took up Harry, who was +indeed amazed by her appearance. + +My Lady Viscountess's face was daubed with white and red up to the eyes, +to which the paint gave an unearthly glare: she had a tower of lace on +her head, under which was a bush of black curls--borrowed curls--so that +no wonder little Harry Esmond was scared when he was first presented to +her--the kind priest acting as master of the ceremonies at that solemn +introduction--and he stared at her with eyes almost as great as her own, +as he had stared at the player woman who acted the wicked tragedy-queen, +when the players came down to Ealing Fair. She sat in a great chair by +the fire-corner; in her lap was a spaniel-dog that barked furiously; on +a little table by her was her ladyship's snuff-box and her sugar-plum +box. She wore a dress of black velvet, and a petticoat of flame-colored +brocade. She had as many rings on her fingers as the old woman of +Banbury Cross; and pretty small feet which she was fond of showing, with +great gold clocks to her stockings, and white pantofles with red heels; +and an odor of musk was shook out of her garments whenever she moved +or quitted the room, leaning on her tortoise-shell stick, little Fury +barking at her heels. + +Mrs. Tusher, the parson's wife, was with my lady. She had been +waiting-woman to her ladyship in the late lord's time, and, having her +soul in that business, took naturally to it when the Viscountess of +Castlewood returned to inhabit her father's house. + +“I present to your ladyship your kinsman and little page of honor, +Master Henry Esmond,” Mr. Holt said, bowing lowly, with a sort of +comical humility. “Make a pretty bow to my lady, Monsieur; and then +another little bow, not so low, to Madame Tusher--the fair priestess of +Castlewood.” + +“Where I have lived and hope to die, sir,” says Madame Tusher, giving a +hard glance at the brat, and then at my lady. + +Upon her the boy's whole attention was for a time directed. He could not +keep his great eyes off from her. Since the Empress of Ealing, he had +seen nothing so awful. + +“Does my appearance please you, little page?” asked the lady. + +“He would be very hard to please if it didn't,” cried Madame Tusher. + +“Have done, you silly Maria,” said Lady Castlewood. + +“Where I'm attached, I'm attached, Madame--and I'd die rather than not +say so.” + +“Je meurs ou je m'attache,” Mr. Holt said with a polite grin. “The ivy +says so in the picture, and clings to the oak like a fond parasite as it +is.” + +“Parricide, sir!” cries Mrs. Tusher. + +“Hush, Tusher--you are always bickering with Father Holt,” cried my +lady. “Come and kiss my hand, child;” and the oak held out a BRANCH to +little Harry Esmond, who took and dutifully kissed the lean old hand, +upon the gnarled knuckles of which there glittered a hundred rings. + +“To kiss that hand would make many a pretty fellow happy!” cried Mrs. +Tusher: on which my lady crying out, “Go, you foolish Tusher!” and +tapping her with her great fan, Tusher ran forward to seize her hand +and kiss it. Fury arose and barked furiously at Tusher; and Father Holt +looked on at this queer scene, with arch, grave glances. + +The awe exhibited by the little boy perhaps pleased the lady to whom +this artless flattery was bestowed: for having gone down on his knee (as +Father Holt had directed him, and the mode then was) and performed his +obeisance, she said, “Page Esmond, my groom of the chamber will inform +you what your duties are, when you wait upon my lord and me; and good +Father Holt will instruct you as becomes a gentleman of our name. You +will pay him obedience in everything, and I pray you may grow to be as +learned and as good as your tutor.” + +The lady seemed to have the greatest reverence for Mr. Holt, and to be +more afraid of him than of anything else in the world. If she was ever +so angry, a word or look from Father Holt made her calm: indeed he had +a vast power of subjecting those who came near him; and, among the rest, +his new pupil gave himself up with an entire confidence and attachment +to the good Father, and became his willing slave almost from the first +moment he saw him. + +He put his small hand into the Father's as he walked away from his first +presentation to his mistress, and asked many questions in his artless +childish way. “Who is that other woman?” he asked. “She is fat and +round; she is more pretty than my Lady Castlewood.” + +“She is Madame Tusher, the parson's wife of Castlewood. She has a son of +your age, but bigger than you.” + +“Why does she like so to kiss my lady's hand. It is not good to kiss.” + +“Tastes are different, little man. Madame Tusher is attached to my lady, +having been her waiting-woman before she was married, in the old lord's +time. She married Doctor Tusher the chaplain. The English household +divines often marry the waiting-women.” + +“You will not marry the French woman, will you? I saw her laughing with +Blaise in the buttery.” + +“I belong to a church that is older and better than the English church,” + Mr. Holt said (making a sign whereof Esmond did not then understand the +meaning, across his breast and forehead); “in our church the clergy do +not marry. You will understand these things better soon.” + +“Was not Saint Peter the head of your church?--Dr. Rabbits of Ealing +told us so.” + +The Father said, “Yes, he was.” + +“But Saint Peter was married, for we heard only last Sunday that his +wife's mother lay sick of a fever.” On which the Father again laughed, +and said he would understand this too better soon, and talked of other +things, and took away Harry Esmond, and showed him the great old house +which he had come to inhabit. + +It stood on a rising green hill, with woods behind it, in which were +rooks' nests, where the birds at morning and returning home at evening +made a great cawing. At the foot of the hill was a river, with a steep +ancient bridge crossing it; and beyond that a large pleasant green flat, +where the village of Castlewood stood, and stands, with the church in +the midst, the parsonage hard by it, the inn with the blacksmith's forge +beside it, and the sign of the “Three Castles” on the elm. The London +road stretched away towards the rising sun, and to the west were +swelling hills and peaks, behind which many a time Harry Esmond saw the +same sun setting, that he now looks on thousands of miles away across +the great ocean--in a new Castlewood, by another stream, that bears, +like the new country of wandering AEneas, the fond names of the land of +his youth. + +The Hall of Castlewood was built with two courts, whereof one only, the +fountain-court, was now inhabited, the other having been battered down +in the Cromwellian wars. In the fountain-court, still in good repair, +was the great hall, near to the kitchen and butteries. A dozen of +living-rooms looking to the north, and communicating with the little +chapel that faced eastwards and the buildings stretching from that to +the main gate, and with the hall (which looked to the west) into the +court now dismantled. This court had been the most magnificent of the +two, until the Protector's cannon tore down one side of it before the +place was taken and stormed. The besiegers entered at the terrace under +the clock-tower, slaying every man of the garrison, and at their head my +lord's brother, Francis Esmond. + +The Restoration did not bring enough money to the Lord Castlewood to +restore this ruined part of his house; where were the morning parlors, +above them the long music-gallery, and before which stretched the +garden-terrace, where, however, the flowers grew again which the boots +of the Roundheads had trodden in their assault, and which was restored +without much cost, and only a little care, by both ladies who succeeded +the second viscount in the government of this mansion. Round the +terrace-garden was a low wall with a wicket leading to the wooded height +beyond, that is called Cromwell's Battery to this day. + +Young Harry Esmond learned the domestic part of his duty, which was easy +enough, from the groom of her ladyship's chamber: serving the Countess, +as the custom commonly was in his boyhood, as page, waiting at +her chair, bringing her scented water and the silver basin after +dinner--sitting on her carriage-step on state occasions, or on public +days introducing her company to her. This was chiefly of the Catholic +gentry, of whom there were a pretty many in the country and neighboring +city; and who rode not seldom to Castlewood to partake of the +hospitalities there. In the second year of their residence, the company +seemed especially to increase. My lord and my lady were seldom without +visitors, in whose society it was curious to contrast the difference +of behavior between Father Holt, the director of the family, and Doctor +Tusher, the rector of the parish--Mr. Holt moving amongst the very +highest as quite their equal, and as commanding them all; while poor +Doctor Tusher, whose position was indeed a difficult one, having been +chaplain once to the Hall, and still to the Protestant servants there, +seemed more like an usher than an equal, and always rose to go away +after the first course. + +Also there came in these times to Father Holt many private visitors, +whom, after a little, Henry Esmond had little difficulty in recognizing +as ecclesiastics of the Father's persuasion, whatever their dresses +(and they adopted all) might be. These were closeted with the Father +constantly, and often came and rode away without paying their devoirs to +my lord and lady--to the lady and lord rather--his lordship being little +more than a cipher in the house, and entirely under his domineering +partner. A little fowling, a little hunting, a great deal of sleep, and +a long dine at cards and table, carried through one day after another +with his lordship. When meetings took place in this second year, which +often would happen with closed doors, the page found my lord's sheet of +paper scribbled over with dogs and horses, and 'twas said he had much +ado to keep himself awake at these councils: the Countess ruling over +them, and he acting as little more than her secretary. + +Father Holt began speedily to be so much occupied with these meetings +as rather to neglect the education of the little lad who so gladly put +himself under the kind priest's orders. At first they read much and +regularly, both in Latin and French; the Father not neglecting in +anything to impress his faith upon his pupil, but not forcing him +violently, and treating him with a delicacy and kindness which surprised +and attached the child, always more easily won by these methods than by +any severe exercise of authority. And his delight in their walks was to +tell Harry of the glories of his order, of its martyrs and heroes, of +its Brethren converting the heathen by myriads, traversing the desert, +facing the stake, ruling the courts and councils, or braving the +tortures of kings; so that Harry Esmond thought that to belong to the +Jesuits was the greatest prize of life and bravest end of ambition; the +greatest career here, and in heaven the surest reward; and began to +long for the day, not only when he should enter into the one church +and receive his first communion, but when he might join that wonderful +brotherhood, which was present throughout all the world, and which +numbered the wisest, the bravest, the highest born, the most eloquent of +men among its members. Father Holt bade him keep his views secret, +and to hide them as a great treasure which would escape him if it was +revealed; and, proud of this confidence and secret vested in him, +the lad became fondly attached to the master who initiated him into +a mystery so wonderful and awful. And when little Tom Tusher, his +neighbor, came from school for his holiday, and said how he, too, was +to be bred up for an English priest, and would get what he called +an exhibition from his school, and then a college scholarship and +fellowship, and then a good living--it tasked young Harry Esmond's +powers of reticence not to say to his young companion, “Church! +priesthood! fat living! My dear Tommy, do you call yours a church and +a priesthood? What is a fat living compared to converting a hundred +thousand heathens by a single sermon? What is a scholarship at Trinity +by the side of a crown of martyrdom, with angels awaiting you as your +head is taken off? Could your master at school sail over the Thames on +his gown? Have you statues in your church that can bleed, speak, walk, +and cry? My good Tommy, in dear Father Holt's church these things take +place every day. You know Saint Philip of the Willows appeared to Lord +Castlewood, and caused him to turn to the one true church. No saints +ever come to you.” And Harry Esmond, because of his promise to Father +Holt, hiding away these treasures of faith from T. Tusher, delivered +himself of them nevertheless simply to Father Holt; who stroked his +head, smiled at him with his inscrutable look, and told him that he did +well to meditate on these great things, and not to talk of them except +under direction. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +I AM PLACED UNDER A POPISH PRIEST AND BRED TO THAT +RELIGION.--VISCOUNTESS CASTLEWOOD. + + +Had time enough been given, and his childish inclinations been properly +nurtured, Harry Esmond had been a Jesuit priest ere he was a dozen years +older, and might have finished his days a martyr in China or a victim +on Tower Hill: for, in the few months they spent together at Castlewood, +Mr. Holt obtained an entire mastery over the boy's intellect and +affections; and had brought him to think, as indeed Father Holt +thought with all his heart too, that no life was so noble, no death so +desirable, as that which many brethren of his famous order were ready +to undergo. By love, by a brightness of wit and good-humor that charmed +all, by an authority which he knew how to assume, by a mystery and +silence about him which increased the child's reverence for him, he won +Harry's absolute fealty, and would have kept it, doubtless, if schemes +greater and more important than a poor little boy's admission into +orders had not called him away. + +After being at home for a few months in tranquillity (if theirs might be +called tranquillity, which was, in truth, a constant bickering), my lord +and lady left the country for London, taking their director with them: +and his little pupil scarce ever shed more bitter tears in his life than +he did for nights after the first parting with his dear friend, as he +lay in the lonely chamber next to that which the Father used to occupy. +He and a few domestics were left as the only tenants of the great house: +and, though Harry sedulously did all the tasks which the Father set him, +he had many hours unoccupied, and read in the library, and bewildered +his little brains with the great books he found there. + +After a while, the little lad grew accustomed to the loneliness of the +place; and in after days remembered this part of his life as a +period not unhappy. When the family was at London the whole of the +establishment travelled thither with the exception of the porter--who +was, moreover, brewer, gardener, and woodman--and his wife and children. +These had their lodging in the gate-house hard by, with a door into the +court; and a window looking out on the green was the Chaplain's room; +and next to this a small chamber where Father Holt had his books, and +Harry Esmond his sleeping closet. The side of the house facing the +east had escaped the guns of the Cromwellians, whose battery was on the +height facing the western court; so that this eastern end bore few marks +of demolition, save in the chapel, where the painted windows surviving +Edward the Sixth had been broke by the Commonwealthmen. In Father Holt's +time little Harry Esmond acted as his familiar and faithful little +servitor; beating his clothes, folding his vestments, fetching his +water from the well long before daylight, ready to run anywhere for the +service of his beloved priest. When the Father was away, he locked his +private chamber; but the room where the books were was left to little +Harry, who, but for the society of this gentleman, was little less +solitary when Lord Castlewood was at home. + +The French wit saith that a hero is none to his valet-de-chambre, and +it required less quick eyes than my lady's little page was naturally +endowed with, to see that she had many qualities by no means heroic, +however much Mrs. Tusher might flatter and coax her. When Father Holt +was not by, who exercised an entire authority over the pair, my lord +and my lady quarrelled and abused each other so as to make the servants +laugh, and to frighten the little page on duty. The poor boy trembled +before his mistress, who called him by a hundred ugly names, who made +nothing of boxing his ears, and tilting the silver basin in his face +which it was his business to present to her after dinner. She hath +repaired, by subsequent kindness to him, these severities, which it must +be owned made his childhood very unhappy. She was but unhappy herself at +this time, poor soul! and I suppose made her dependants lead her own sad +life. I think my lord was as much afraid of her as her page was, and the +only person of the household who mastered her was Mr. Holt. Harry was +only too glad when the Father dined at table, and to slink away and +prattle with him afterwards, or read with him, or walk with him. +Luckily my Lady Viscountess did not rise till noon. Heaven help the poor +waiting-woman who had charge of her toilet! I have often seen the poor +wretch come out with red eyes from the closet where those long and +mysterious rites of her ladyship's dress were performed, and the +backgammon-box locked up with a rap on Mrs. Tusher's fingers when she +played ill, or the game was going the wrong way. + +Blessed be the king who introduced cards, and the kind inventors +of piquet and cribbage, for they employed six hours at least of her +ladyship's day, during which her family was pretty easy. Without this +occupation my lady frequently declared she should die. Her dependants +one after another relieved guard--'twas rather a dangerous post to play +with her ladyship--and took the cards turn about. Mr. Holt would sit +with her at piquet during hours together, at which time she behaved +herself properly; and as for Dr. Tusher, I believe he would have left a +parishioner's dying bed, if summoned to play a rubber with his patroness +at Castlewood. Sometimes, when they were pretty comfortable together, +my lord took a hand. Besides these my lady had her faithful poor Tusher, +and one, two, three gentlewomen whom Harry Esmond could recollect in +his time. They could not bear that genteel service very long; one after +another tried and failed at it. These and the housekeeper, and little +Harry Esmond, had a table of their own. Poor ladies their life was far +harder than the page's. He was sound asleep, tucked up in his little +bed, whilst they were sitting by her ladyship reading her to sleep, with +the “News Letter” or the “Grand Cyrus.” My lady used to have boxes of +new plays from London, and Harry was forbidden, under the pain of a +whipping, to look into them. I am afraid he deserved the penalty pretty +often, and got it sometimes. Father Holt applied it twice or thrice, +when he caught the young scapegrace with a delightful wicked comedy of +Mr. Shadwell's or Mr. Wycherley's under his pillow. + +These, when he took any, were my lord's favorite reading. But he +was averse to much study, and, as his little page fancied, to much +occupation of any sort. + +It always seemed to young Harry Esmond that my lord treated him with +more kindness when his lady was not present, and Lord Castlewood would +take the lad sometimes on his little journeys a-hunting or a-birding; +he loved to play at cards and tric-trac with him, which games the boy +learned to pleasure his lord: and was growing to like him better daily, +showing a special pleasure if Father Holt gave a good report of him, +patting him on the head, and promising that he would provide for the +boy. However, in my lady's presence, my lord showed no such marks of +kindness, and affected to treat the lad roughly, and rebuked him sharply +for little faults, for which he in a manner asked pardon of young Esmond +when they were private, saying if he did not speak roughly, she would, +and his tongue was not such a bad one as his lady's--a point whereof the +boy, young as he was, was very well assured. + +Great public events were happening all this while, of which the simple +young page took little count. But one day, riding into the neighboring +town on the step of my lady's coach, his lordship and she and Father +Holt being inside, a great mob of people came hooting and jeering round +the coach, bawling out “The Bishops for ever!” “Down with the Pope!” “No +Popery! no Popery! Jezebel, Jezebel!” so that my lord began to laugh, +my lady's eyes to roll with anger, for she was as bold as a lioness, +and feared nobody; whilst Mr. Holt, as Esmond saw from his place on the +step, sank back with rather an alarmed face, crying out to her ladyship, +“For God's sake, madam, do not speak or look out of window; sit still.” + But she did not obey this prudent injunction of the Father; she thrust +her head out of the coach window, and screamed out to the coachman, +“Flog your way through them, the brutes, James, and use your whip!” + +The mob answered with a roaring jeer of laughter, and fresh cries of +“Jezebel! Jezebel!” My lord only laughed the more: he was a languid +gentleman: nothing seemed to excite him commonly, though I have seen +him cheer and halloo the hounds very briskly, and his face (which was +generally very yellow and calm) grow quite red and cheerful during a +burst over the Downs after a hare, and laugh, and swear, and huzzah at a +cockfight, of which sport he was very fond. And now, when the mob began +to hoot his lady, he laughed with something of a mischievous look, as +though he expected sport, and thought that she and they were a match. + +James the coachman was more afraid of his mistress than the mob, +probably, for he whipped on his horses as he was bidden, and the +post-boy that rode with the first pair (my lady always rode with her +coach-and-six,) gave a cut of his thong over the shoulders of one fellow +who put his hand out towards the leading horse's rein. + +It was a market-day, and the country-people were all assembled with +their baskets of poultry, eggs, and such things; the postilion had no +sooner lashed the man who would have taken hold of his horse, but a +great cabbage came whirling like a bombshell into the carriage, at which +my lord laughed more, for it knocked my lady's fan out of her hand, and +plumped into Father Holt's stomach. Then came a shower of carrots and +potatoes. + +“For Heaven's sake be still!” says Mr. Holt; “we are not ten paces from +the 'Bell' archway, where they can shut the gates on us, and keep out +this canaille.” + +The little page was outside the coach on the step, and a fellow in the +crowd aimed a potato at him, and hit him in the eye, at which the poor +little wretch set up a shout; the man laughed, a great big saddler's +apprentice of the town. “Ah! you d--- little yelling Popish bastard,” + he said, and stooped to pick up another; the crowd had gathered quite +between the horses and the inn door by this time, and the coach was +brought to a dead stand-still. My lord jumped as briskly as a boy out of +the door on his side of the coach, squeezing little Harry behind it; had +hold of the potato-thrower's collar in an instant, and the next moment +the brute's heels were in the air, and he fell on the stones with a +thump. + +“You hulking coward!” says he; “you pack of screaming blackguards! how +dare you attack children, and insult women? Fling another shot at that +carriage, you sneaking pigskin cobbler, and by the Lord I'll send my +rapier through you!” + +Some of the mob cried, “Huzzah, my lord!” for they knew him, and +the saddler's man was a known bruiser, near twice as big as my lord +Viscount. + +“Make way there,” says he (he spoke in a high shrill voice, but with +a great air of authority). “Make way, and let her ladyship's carriage +pass.” The men that were between the coach and the gate of the “Bell” + actually did make way, and the horses went in, my lord walking after +them with his hat on his head. + +As he was going in at the gate, through which the coach had just rolled, +another cry begins, of “No Popery--no Papists!” My lord turns round and +faces them once more. + +“God save the King!” says he at the highest pitch of his voice. “Who +dares abuse the King's religion? You, you d--d psalm-singing cobbler, +as sure as I'm a magistrate of this county I'll commit you!” The fellow +shrank back, and my lord retreated with all the honors of the day. +But when the little flurry caused by the scene was over, and the flush +passed off his face, he relapsed into his usual languor, trifled with +his little dog, and yawned when my lady spoke to him. + +This mob was one of many thousands that were going about the country at +that time, huzzahing for the acquittal of the seven bishops who had been +tried just then, and about whom little Harry Esmond at that time knew +scarce anything. It was Assizes at Hexton, and there was a great meeting +of the gentry at the “Bell;” and my lord's people had their new liveries +on, and Harry a little suit of blue and silver, which he wore upon +occasions of state; and the gentlefolks came round and talked to my +lord: and a judge in a red gown, who seemed a very great personage, +especially complimented him and my lady, who was mighty grand. Harry +remembers her train borne up by her gentlewoman. There was an assembly +and ball at the great room at the “Bell,” and other young gentlemen of +the county families looked on as he did. One of them jeered him for his +black eye, which was swelled by the potato, and another called him a +bastard, on which he and Harry fell to fisticuffs. My lord's cousin, +Colonel Esmond of Walcote, was there, and separated the two lads--a +great tall gentleman, with a handsome good-natured face. The boy did not +know how nearly in after-life he should be allied to Colonel Esmond, and +how much kindness he should have to owe him. + +There was little love between the two families. My lady used not to +spare Colonel Esmond in talking of him, for reasons which have been +hinted already; but about which, at his tender age, Henry Esmond could +be expected to know nothing. + +Very soon afterwards, my lord and lady went to London with Mr. Holt, +leaving, however, the page behind them. The little man had the great +house of Castlewood to himself; or between him and the housekeeper, Mrs. +Worksop, an old lady who was a kinswoman of the family in some distant +way, and a Protestant, but a staunch Tory and king's-man, as all the +Esmonds were. He used to go to school to Dr. Tusher when he was at home, +though the Doctor was much occupied too. There was a great stir and +commotion everywhere, even in the little quiet village of Castlewood, +whither a party of people came from the town, who would have broken +Castlewood Chapel windows, but the village people turned out, and even +old Sieveright, the republican blacksmith, along with them: for my +lady, though she was a Papist, and had many odd ways, was kind to the +tenantry, and there was always a plenty of beef, and blankets, and +medicine for the poor at Castlewood Hall. + +A kingdom was changing hands whilst my lord and lady were away. King +James was flying, the Dutchmen were coming; awful stories about them and +the Prince of Orange used old Mrs. Worksop to tell to the idle little +page. + +He liked the solitude of the great house very well; he had all the +play-books to read, and no Father Holt to whip him, and a hundred +childish pursuits and pastimes, without doors and within, which made +this time very pleasant. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MY SUPERIORS ARE ENGAGED IN PLOTS FOR THE RESTORATION OF KING JAMES II. + + +Not having been able to sleep, for thinking of some lines for eels which +he had placed the night before, the lad was lying in his little bed, +waiting for the hour when the gate would be open, and he and his +comrade, John Lockwood, the porter's son, might go to the pond and see +what fortune had brought them. At daybreak John was to awaken him, but +his own eagerness for the sport had served as a reveillez long since--so +long, that it seemed to him as if the day never would come. + +It might have been four o'clock when he heard the door of the opposite +chamber, the Chaplain's room, open, and the voice of a man coughing in +the passage. Harry jumped up, thinking for certain it was a robber, or +hoping perhaps for a ghost, and, flinging open his own door, saw before +him the Chaplain's door open, and a light inside, and a figure standing +in the doorway, in the midst of a great smoke which issued from the +room. + +“Who's there?” cried out the boy, who was of a good spirit. + +“Silentium!” whispered the other; “'tis I, my boy!” and, holding his +hand out, Harry had no difficulty in recognizing his master and friend, +Father Holt. A curtain was over the window of the Chaplain's room that +looked to the court, and Harry saw that the smoke came from a great +flame of papers which were burning in a brazier when he entered the +Chaplain's room. After giving a hasty greeting and blessing to the lad, +who was charmed to see his tutor, the Father continued the burning of +his papers, drawing them from a cupboard over the mantel-piece wall, +which Harry had never seen before. + +Father Holt laughed, seeing the lad's attention fixed at once on this +hole. “That is right, Harry,” he said; “faithful little famuli, see all +and say nothing. You are faithful, I know.” + +“I know I would go to the stake for you,” said Harry. + +“I don't want your head,” said the Father, patting it kindly; “all you +have to do is to hold your tongue. Let us burn these papers, and say +nothing to anybody. Should you like to read them?” + +Harry Esmond blushed, and held down his head; he HAD looked as the fact +was, and without thinking, at the paper before him; and though he had +seen it, could not understand a word of it, the letters being quite +clear enough, but quite without meaning. They burned the papers, beating +down the ashes in a brazier, so that scarce any traces of them remained. + +Harry had been accustomed to see Father Holt in more dresses than one; +it not being safe, or worth the danger, for Popish ecclesiastics to wear +their proper dress; and he was, in consequence, in no wise astonished +that the priest should now appear before him in a riding-dress, with +large buff leather boots, and a feather to his hat, plain, but such as +gentlemen wore. + +“You know the secret of the cupboard,” said he, laughing, “and must be +prepared for other mysteries;” and he opened--but not a secret cupboard +this time--only a wardrobe, which he usually kept locked, and from which +he now took out two or three dresses and perruques of different colors, +and a couple of swords of a pretty make (Father Holt was an expert +practitioner with the small-sword, and every day, whilst he was at home, +he and his pupil practised this exercise, in which the lad became a very +great proficient), a military coat and cloak, and a farmer's smock, +and placed them in the large hole over the mantel-piece from which the +papers had been taken. + +“If they miss the cupboard,” he said, “they will not find these; if +they find them, they'll tell no tales, except that Father Holt wore more +suits of clothes than one. All Jesuits do. You know what deceivers we +are, Harry.” + +Harry was alarmed at the notion that his friend was about to leave him; +but “No,” the priest said, “I may very likely come back with my lord +in a few days. We are to be tolerated; we are not to be persecuted. But +they may take a fancy to pay a visit at Castlewood ere our return; and, +as gentlemen of my cloth are suspected, they might choose to examine +my papers, which concern nobody--at least not them.” And to this day, +whether the papers in cipher related to politics, or to the affairs of +that mysterious society whereof Father Holt was a member, his pupil, +Harry Esmond, remains in entire ignorance. + +The rest of his goods, his small wardrobe, &c. Holt left untouched on +his shelves and in his cupboard, taking down--with a laugh, however--and +flinging into the brazier, where he only half burned them, some +theological treatises which he had been writing against the English +divines. “And now,” said he, “Henry, my son, you may testify, with a +safe conscience, that you saw me burning Latin sermons the last time I +was here before I went away to London; and it will be daybreak directly, +and I must be away before Lockwood is stirring.” + +“Will not Lockwood let you out, sir?” Esmond asked. Holt laughed; he +was never more gay or good-humored than when in the midst of action or +danger. + +“Lockwood knows nothing of my being here, mind you,” he said; “nor would +you, you little wretch! had you slept better. You must forget that I +have been here; and now farewell. Close the door, and go to your own +room, and don't come out till--stay, why should you not know one secret +more? I know you will never betray me.” + +In the Chaplain's room were two windows; the one looking into the court +facing westwards to the fountain; the other, a small casement strongly +barred, and looking on to the green in front of the Hall. This window +was too high to reach from the ground; but, mounting on a buffet which +stood beneath it, Father Holt showed me how, by pressing on the base +of the window, the whole framework of lead, glass, and iron stanchions +descended into a cavity worked below, from which it could be drawn and +restored to its usual place from without; a broken pane being purposely +open to admit the hand which was to work upon the spring of the machine. + +“When I am gone,” Father Holt said, “you may push away the buffet, so +that no one may fancy that an exit has been made that way; lock the +door; place the key--where shall we put the key?--under 'Chrysostom' on +the book-shelf; and if any ask for it, say I keep it there, and told you +where to find it, if you had need to go to my room. The descent is easy +down the wall into the ditch; and so, once more farewell, until I see +thee again, my dear son.” And with this the intrepid Father mounted +the buffet with great agility and briskness, stepped across the window, +lifting up the bars and framework again from the other side, and only +leaving room for Harry Esmond to stand on tiptoe and kiss his hand +before the casement closed, the bars fixing as firmly as ever, +seemingly, in the stone arch overhead. When Father Holt next arrived at +Castlewood, it was by the public gate on horseback; and he never so much +as alluded to the existence of the private issue to Harry, except when +he had need of a private messenger from within, for which end, no doubt, +he had instructed his young pupil in the means of quitting the Hall. + +Esmond, young as he was, would have died sooner than betray his friend +and master, as Mr. Holt well knew; for he had tried the boy more than +once, putting temptations in his way, to see whether he would yield to +them and confess afterwards, or whether he would resist them, as he did +sometimes, or whether he would lie, which he never did. Holt instructing +the boy on this point, however, that if to keep silence is not to lie, +as it certainly is not, yet silence is, after all, equivalent to a +negation--and therefore a downright No, in the interest of justice +or your friend, and in reply to a question that may be prejudicial to +either, is not criminal, but, on the contrary, praiseworthy; and as +lawful a way as the other of eluding a wrongful demand. For instance +(says he), suppose a good citizen, who had seen his Majesty take refuge +there, had been asked, “Is King Charles up that oak-tree?” his duty +would have been not to say, Yes--so that the Cromwellians should seize +the king and murder him like his father--but No; his Majesty being +private in the tree, and therefore not to be seen there by loyal +eyes: all which instruction, in religion and morals, as well as in the +rudiments of the tongues and sciences, the boy took eagerly and with +gratitude from his tutor. When, then, Holt was gone, and told Harry not +to see him, it was as if he had never been. And he had this answer pat +when he came to be questioned a few days after. + +The Prince of Orange was then at Salisbury, as young Esmond learned from +seeing Doctor Tusher in his best cassock (though the roads were +muddy, and he never was known to wear his silk, only his stuff one, +a-horseback), with a great orange cockade in his broad-leafed hat, and +Nahum, his clerk, ornamented with a like decoration. The Doctor was +walking up and down in front of his parsonage, when little Esmond saw +him, and heard him say he was going to pay his duty to his Highness +the Prince, as he mounted his pad and rode away with Nahum behind. The +village people had orange cockades too, and his friend the blacksmith's +laughing daughter pinned one into Harry's old hat, which he tore out +indignantly when they bade him to cry “God save the Prince of Orange and +the Protestant religion!” but the people only laughed, for they liked +the boy in the village, where his solitary condition moved the general +pity, and where he found friendly welcomes and faces in many houses. +Father Holt had many friends there too, for he not only would fight the +blacksmith at theology, never losing his temper, but laughing the whole +time in his pleasant way; but he cured him of an ague with quinquina, +and was always ready with a kind word for any man that asked it, so that +they said in the village 'twas a pity the two were Papists. + +The Director and the Vicar of Castlewood agreed very well; indeed, the +former was a perfectly-bred gentleman, and it was the latter's business +to agree with everybody. Doctor Tusher and the lady's-maid, his spouse, +had a boy who was about the age of little Esmond; and there was such a +friendship between the lads, as propinquity and tolerable kindness and +good-humor on either side would be pretty sure to occasion. Tom Tusher +was sent off early, however, to a school in London, whither his father +took him and a volume of sermons, in the first year of the reign of King +James; and Tom returned but once, a year afterwards, to Castlewood for +many years of his scholastic and collegiate life. Thus there was less +danger to Tom of a perversion of his faith by the Director, who scarce +ever saw him, than there was to Harry, who constantly was in the Vicar's +company; but as long as Harry's religion was his Majesty's, and my +lord's, and my lady's, the Doctor said gravely, it should not be for +him to disturb or disquiet him: it was far from him to say that his +Majesty's Church was not a branch of the Catholic Church; upon which +Father Holt used, according to his custom, to laugh, and say that the +Holy Church throughout all the world, and the noble Army of Martyrs, +were very much obliged to the Doctor. + +It was while Dr. Tusher was away at Salisbury that there came a troop +of dragoons with orange scarfs, and quartered in Castlewood, and some +of them came up to the Hall, where they took possession, robbing nothing +however beyond the hen-house and the beer-cellar: and only insisting +upon going through the house and looking for papers. The first room they +asked to look at was Father Holt's room, of which Harry Esmond brought +the key, and they opened the drawers and the cupboards, and tossed over +the papers and clothes--but found nothing except his books and clothes, +and the vestments in a box by themselves, with which the dragoons +made merry, to Harry Esmond's horror. And to the questions which the +gentleman put to Harry, he replied that Father Holt was a very kind man +to him, and a very learned man, and Harry supposed would tell him none +of his secrets if he had any. He was about eleven years old at this +time, and looked as innocent as boys of his age. + +The family were away more than six months, and when they returned +they were in the deepest state of dejection, for King James had been +banished, the Prince of Orange was on the throne, and the direst +persecutions of those of the Catholic faith were apprehended by my +lady, who said she did not believe that there was a word of truth in the +promises of toleration that Dutch monster made, or in a single word the +perjured wretch said. My lord and lady were in a manner prisoners in +their own house; so her ladyship gave the little page to know, who was +by this time growing of an age to understand what was passing about him, +and something of the characters of the people he lived with. + +“We are prisoners,” says she; “in everything but chains, we are +prisoners. Let them come, let them consign me to dungeons, or strike off +my head from this poor little throat” (and she clasped it in her long +fingers). “The blood of the Esmonds will always flow freely for their +kings. We are not like the Churchills--the Judases, who kiss their +master and betray him. We know how to suffer, how even to forgive in the +royal cause” (no doubt it was to that fatal business of losing the place +of Groom of the Posset to which her ladyship alluded, as she did half +a dozen times in the day). “Let the tyrant of Orange bring his rack and +his odious Dutch tortures--the beast! the wretch! I spit upon him and +defy him. Cheerfully will I lay this head upon the block; cheerfully +will I accompany my lord to the scaffold: we will cry 'God save +King James!' with our dying breath, and smile in the face of the +executioner.” And she told her page, a hundred times at least, of the +particulars of the last interview which she had with his Majesty. + +“I flung myself before my liege's feet,” she said, “at Salisbury. +I devoted myself--my husband--my house, to his cause. Perhaps he +remembered old times, when Isabella Esmond was young and fair; perhaps +he recalled the day when 'twas not I that knelt--at least he spoke to me +with a voice that reminded ME of days gone by. 'Egad!' said his Majesty, +'you should go to the Prince of Orange; if you want anything.' 'No, +sire,' I replied, 'I would not kneel to a Usurper; the Esmond that would +have served your Majesty will never be groom to a traitor's posset.' The +royal exile smiled, even in the midst of his misfortune; he deigned to +raise me with words of consolation. The Viscount, my husband, himself, +could not be angry at the august salute with which he honored me!” + +The public misfortune had the effect of making my lord and his lady +better friends than they ever had been since their courtship. My +lord Viscount had shown both loyalty and spirit, when these were rare +qualities in the dispirited party about the King; and the praise he got +elevated him not a little in his wife's good opinion, and perhaps in his +own. He wakened up from the listless and supine life which he had been +leading; was always riding to and fro in consultation with this friend +or that of the King's; the page of course knowing little of his doings, +but remarking only his greater cheerfulness and altered demeanor. + +Father Holt came to the Hall constantly, but officiated no longer openly +as chaplain; he was always fetching and carrying: strangers, military +and ecclesiastic (Harry knew the latter, though they came in all sorts +of disguises), were continually arriving and departing. My lord made +long absences and sudden reappearances, using sometimes the means of +exit which Father Holt had employed, though how often the little window +in the Chaplain's room let in or let out my lord and his friends, Harry +could not tell. He stoutly kept his promise to the Father of not prying, +and if at midnight from his little room he heard noises of persons +stirring in the next chamber, he turned round to the wall, and hid his +curiosity under his pillow until it fell asleep. Of course he could +not help remarking that the priest's journeys were constant, and +understanding by a hundred signs that some active though secret business +employed him: what this was may pretty well be guessed by what soon +happened to my lord. + +No garrison or watch was put into Castlewood when my lord came back, but +a Guard was in the village; and one or other of them was always on the +Green keeping a look-out on our great gate, and those who went out and +in. Lockwood said that at night especially every person who came in or +went out was watched by the outlying sentries. 'Twas lucky that we had +a gate which their Worships knew nothing about. My lord and Father Holt +must have made constant journeys at night: once or twice little Harry +acted as their messenger and discreet little aide-de-camp. He remembers +he was bidden to go into the village with his fishing-rod, enter certain +houses, ask for a drink of water, and tell the good man, “There would be +a horse-market at Newbury next Thursday,” and so carry the same message +on to the next house on his list. + +He did not know what the message meant at the time, nor what was +happening: which may as well, however, for clearness' sake, be explained +here. The Prince of Orange being gone to Ireland, where the King was +ready to meet him with a great army, it was determined that a great +rising of his Majesty's party should take place in this country; and my +lord was to head the force in our county. Of late he had taken a greater +lead in affairs than before, having the indefatigable Mr. Holt at his +elbow, and my Lady Viscountess strongly urging him on; and my Lord +Sark being in the Tower a prisoner, and Sir Wilmot Crawley, of Queen's +Crawley, having gone over to the Prince of Orange's side--my lord became +the most considerable person in our part of the county for the affairs +of the King. + +It was arranged that the regiment of Scots Grays and Dragoons, then +quartered at Newbury, should declare for the King on a certain day, when +likewise the gentry affected to his Majesty's cause were to come in with +their tenants and adherents to Newbury, march upon the Dutch troops +at Reading under Ginckel; and, these overthrown, and their indomitable +little master away in Ireland, 'twas thought that our side might move on +London itself, and a confident victory was predicted for the King. + +As these great matters were in agitation, my lord lost his listless +manner and seemed to gain health; my lady did not scold him, Mr. Holt +came to and fro, busy always; and little Harry longed to have been a few +inches taller, that he might draw a sword in this good cause. + +One day, it must have been about the month of July, 1690, my lord, in +a great horseman's coat, under which Harry could see the shining of a +steel breastplate he had on, called little Harry to him, put the hair +off the child's forehead, and kissed him, and bade God bless him in such +an affectionate way as he never had used before. Father Holt blessed him +too, and then they took leave of my Lady Viscountess, who came from her +apartment with a pocket-handkerchief to her eyes, and her gentlewoman +and Mrs. Tusher supporting her. “You are going to--to ride,” says she. +“Oh, that I might come too--but in my situation I am forbidden horse +exercise.” + +“We kiss my Lady Marchioness's hand,” says Mr. Holt. + +“My lord, God speed you!” she said, stepping up and embracing my lord in +a grand manner. “Mr. Holt, I ask your blessing:” and she knelt down for +that, whilst Mrs. Tusher tossed her head up. + +Mr. Holt gave the same benediction to the little page, who went down +and held my lord's stirrups for him to mount; there were two servants +waiting there too--and they rode out of Castlewood gate. + +As they crossed the bridge, Harry could see an officer in scarlet ride +up touching his hat, and address my lord. + +The party stopped, and came to some parley or discussion, which +presently ended, my lord putting his horse into a canter after taking +off his hat and making a bow to the officer, who rode alongside him step +for step: the trooper accompanying him falling back, and riding with my +lord's two men. They cantered over the Green, and behind the elms (my +lord waving his hand, Harry thought), and so they disappeared. That +evening we had a great panic, the cow-boy coming at milking-time riding +one of our horses, which he had found grazing at the outer park-wall. + +All night my Lady Viscountess was in a very quiet and subdued mood. +She scarce found fault with anybody; she played at cards for six hours; +little page Esmond went to sleep. He prayed for my lord and the good +cause before closing his eyes. + +It was quite in the gray of the morning when the porter's bell rang, and +old Lockwood, waking up, let in one of my lord's servants, who had gone +with him in the morning, and who returned with a melancholy story. The +officer who rode up to my lord had, it appeared, said to him, that it +was his duty to inform his lordship that he was not under arrest, but +under surveillance, and to request him not to ride abroad that day. + +My lord replied that riding was good for his health, that if the Captain +chose to accompany him he was welcome; and it was then that he made a +bow, and they cantered away together. + +When he came on to Wansey Down, my lord all of a sudden pulled up, and +the party came to a halt at the cross-way. + +“Sir,” says he to the officer, “we are four to two; will you be so kind +as to take that road, and leave me go mine?” + +“Your road is mine, my lord,” says the officer. + +“Then--” says my lord; but he had no time to say more, for the officer, +drawing a pistol, snapped it at his lordship; as at the same moment +Father Holt, drawing a pistol, shot the officer through the head. It was +done, and the man dead in an instant of time. The orderly, gazing at the +officer, looked seared for a moment, and galloped away for his life. + +“Fire! fire!” cries out Father Holt, sending another shot after the +trooper, but the two servants were too much surprised to use their +pieces, and my lord calling to them to hold their hands, the fellow got +away. + +“Mr. Holt, qui pensait a tout,” says Blaise, “gets off his horse, +examines the pockets of the dead officer for papers, gives his money to +us two, and says, 'The wine is drawn, M. le Marquis,'--why did he say +Marquis to M. le Vicomte?--'we must drink it.' + +“The poor gentleman's horse was a better one than that I rode,” + Blaise continues; “Mr. Holt bids me get on him, and so I gave a cut to +Whitefoot, and she trotted home. We rode on towards Newbury; we heard +firing towards midday: at two o'clock a horseman comes up to us as we +were giving our cattle water at an inn--and says, 'All is done! The +Ecossais declared an hour too soon--General Ginckel was down upon them.' +The whole thing was at an end. + +“'And we've shot an officer on duty, and let his orderly escape,' says +my lord. + +“'Blaise,' says Mr. Holt, writing two lines on his table-book, one for +my lady and one for you, Master Harry; 'you must go back to Castlewood, +and deliver these,' and behold me.” + +And he gave Harry the two papers. He read that to himself, which only +said, “Burn the papers in the cupboard, burn this. You know nothing +about anything.” Harry read this, ran up stairs to his mistress's +apartment, where her gentlewoman slept near to the door, made her bring +a light and wake my lady, into whose hands he gave the paper. She was a +wonderful object to look at in her night attire, nor had Harry ever seen +the like. + +As soon as she had the paper in her hand, Harry stepped back to the +Chaplain's room, opened the secret cupboard over the fireplace, burned +all the papers in it, and, as he had seen the priest do before, took +down one of his reverence's manuscript sermons, and half burnt that +in the brazier. By the time the papers were quite destroyed it was +daylight. Harry ran back to his mistress again. Her gentlewoman ushered +him again into her ladyship's chamber; she told him (from behind her +nuptial curtains) to bid the coach be got ready, and that she would ride +away anon. + +But the mysteries of her ladyship's toilet were as awfully long on this +day as on any other, and, long after the coach was ready, my lady was +still attiring herself. And just as the Viscountess stepped forth from +her room, ready for departure, young John Lockwood comes running up +from the village with news that a lawyer, three officers, and twenty or +four-and-twenty soldiers, were marching thence upon the house. John had +but two minutes the start of them, and, ere he had well told his story, +the troop rode into our court-yard. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE ISSUE OF THE PLOTS.--THE DEATH OF THOMAS, THIRD VISCOUNT OF +CASTLEWOOD; AND THE IMPRISONMENT OF HIS VISCOUNTESS. + + +At first my lady was for dying like Mary, Queen of Scots (to whom she +fancied she bore a resemblance in beauty), and, stroking her scraggy +neck, said, “They will find Isabel of Castlewood is equal to her fate.” + Her gentlewoman, Victoire, persuaded her that her prudent course was, +as she could not fly, to receive the troops as though she suspected +nothing, and that her chamber was the best place wherein to await them. +So her black Japan casket, which Harry was to carry to the coach, was +taken back to her ladyship's chamber, whither the maid and mistress +retired. Victoire came out presently, bidding the page to say her +ladyship was ill, confined to her bed with the rheumatism. + +By this time the soldiers had reached Castlewood. Harry Esmond saw +them from the window of the tapestry parlor; a couple of sentinels were +posted at the gate--a half-dozen more walked towards the stable; and +some others, preceded by their commander, and a man in black, a lawyer +probably, were conducted by one of the servants to the stair leading up +to the part of the house which my lord and lady inhabited. + +So the Captain, a handsome kind man, and the lawyer, came through the +ante-room to the tapestry parlor, and where now was nobody but young +Harry Esmond, the page. + +“Tell your mistress, little man,” says the Captain, kindly, “that we +must speak to her.” + +“My mistress is ill a-bed,” said the page. + +“What complaint has she?” asked the Captain. + +The boy said, “The rheumatism!” + +“Rheumatism! that's a sad complaint,” continues the good-natured +Captain; “and the coach is in the yard to fetch the Doctor, I suppose?” + +“I don't know,” says the boy. + +“And how long has her ladyship been ill?” + +“I don't know,” says the boy. + +“When did my lord go away?” + +“Yesterday night.” + +“With Father Holt?” + +“With Mr. Holt.” + +“And which way did they travel?” asks the lawyer. + +“They travelled without me,” says the page. + +“We must see Lady Castlewood.” + +“I have orders that nobody goes in to her ladyship--she is sick,” says +the page; but at this moment Victoire came out. “Hush!” says she; and, +as if not knowing that any one was near, “What's this noise?” says she. +“Is this gentleman the Doctor?” + +“Stuff! we must see Lady Castlewood,” says the lawyer, pushing by. + +The curtains of her ladyship's room were down, and the chamber dark, +and she was in bed with a nightcap on her head, and propped up by her +pillows, looking none the less ghastly because of the red which was +still on her cheeks, and which she could not afford to forego. + +“Is that the Doctor?” she said. + +“There is no use with this deception, madam,” Captain Westbury said (for +so he was named). “My duty is to arrest the person of Thomas, Viscount +Castlewood, a nonjuring peer--of Robert Tusher, Vicar of Castlewood--and +Henry Holt, known under various other names and designations, a Jesuit +priest, who officiated as chaplain here in the late king's time, and is +now at the head of the conspiracy which was about to break out in this +country against the authority of their Majesties King William and Queen +Mary--and my orders are to search the house for such papers or traces of +the conspiracy as may be found here. Your ladyship will please give me +your keys, and it will be as well for yourself that you should help us, +in every way, in our search.” + +“You see, sir, that I have the rheumatism, and cannot move,” said +the lady, looking uncommonly ghastly as she sat up in her bed, where, +however, she had had her cheeks painted, and a new cap put on, so that +she might at least look her best when the officers came. + +“I shall take leave to place a sentinel in the chamber, so that your +ladyship, in case you should wish to rise, may have an arm to lean on,” + Captain Westbury said. “Your woman will show me where I am to look;” and +Madame Victoire, chattering in her half French and half English jargon, +opened while the Captain examined one drawer after another; but, as +Harry Esmond thought, rather carelessly, with a smile on his face, as if +he was only conducting the examination for form's sake. + +Before one of the cupboards Victoire flung herself down, stretching out +her arms, and, with a piercing shriek, cried, “Non, jamais, monsieur +l'officier! Jamais! I will rather die than let you see this wardrobe.” + +But Captain Westbury would open it, still with a smile on his face, +which, when the box was opened, turned into a fair burst of laughter. +It contained--not papers regarding the conspiracy--but my lady's wigs, +washes, and rouge-pots, and Victoire said men were monsters, as the +Captain went on with his perquisition. He tapped the back to see whether +or no it was hollow, and as he thrust his hands into the cupboard, my +lady from her bed called out, with a voice that did not sound like that +of a very sick woman, “Is it your commission to insult ladies as well as +to arrest gentlemen, Captain?” + +“These articles are only dangerous when worn by your ladyship,” the +Captain said, with a low bow, and a mock grin of politeness. “I have +found nothing which concerns the Government as yet--only the weapons +with which beauty is authorized to kill,” says he, pointing to a wig +with his sword-tip. “We must now proceed to search the rest of the +house.” + +“You are not going to leave that wretch in the room with me,” cried my +lady, pointing to the soldier. + +“What can I do, madam? Somebody you must have to smooth your pillow and +bring your medicine--permit me--” + +“Sir!” screamed out my lady. + +“Madam, if you are too ill to leave the bed,” the Captain then said, +rather sternly, “I must have in four of my men to lift you off in the +sheet. I must examine this bed, in a word; papers may be hidden in a bed +as elsewhere; we know that very well and * * *.” + +Here it was her ladyship's turn to shriek, for the Captain, with his +fist shaking the pillows and bolsters, at last came to “burn” as they +say in the play of forfeits, and wrenching away one of the pillows, +said, “Look! did not I tell you so? Here is a pillow stuffed with +paper.” + +“Some villain has betrayed us,” cried out my lady, sitting up in the +bed, showing herself full dressed under her night-rail. + +“And now your ladyship can move, I am sure; permit me to give you my +hand to rise. You will have to travel for some distance, as far as +Hexton Castle to-night. Will you have your coach? Your woman shall +attend you if you like--and the japan-box?” + +“Sir! you don't strike a MAN when he is down,” said my lady, with some +dignity: “can you not spare a woman?” + +“Your ladyship must please to rise, and let me search the bed,” said the +Captain; “there is no more time to lose in bandying talk.” + +And, without more ado, the gaunt old woman got up. Harry Esmond +recollected to the end of his life that figure, with the brocade dress +and the white night-rail, and the gold-clocked red stockings, and white +red-heeled shoes, sitting up in the bed, and stepping down from it. The +trunks were ready packed for departure in her ante-room, and the horses +ready harnessed in the stable: about all which the Captain seemed to +know, by information got from some quarter or other; and whence Esmond +could make a pretty shrewd guess in after-times, when Dr. Tusher +complained that King William's government had basely treated him for +services done in that cause. + +And here he may relate, though he was then too young to know all that +was happening, what the papers contained, of which Captain Westbury had +made a seizure, and which papers had been transferred from the japan-box +to the bed when the officers arrived. + +There was a list of gentlemen of the county in Father Holt's hand +writing--Mr. Freeman's (King James's) friends--a similar paper being +found among those of Sir John Fenwick and Mr. Coplestone, who suffered +death for this conspiracy. + +There was a patent conferring the title of Marquis of Esmond on my +Lord Castlewood and the heirs-male of his body; his appointment as +Lord-Lieutenant of the County, and Major-General.* + + * To have this rank of Marquis restored in the family had + always been my Lady Viscountess's ambition; and her old + maiden aunt, Barbara Topham, the goldsmith's daughter, dying + about this time, and leaving all her property to Lady + Castlewood, I have heard that her ladyship sent almost the + whole of the money to King James, a proceeding which so + irritated my Lord Castlewood that he actually went to the + parish church, and was only appeased by the Marquis's title + which his exiled Majesty sent to him in return for the + 15,000L. his faithful subject lent him. + +There were various letters from the nobility and gentry, some ardent +and some doubtful, in the King's service; and (very luckily for him) two +letters concerning Colonel Francis Esmond: one from Father Holt, which +said, “I have been to see this Colonel at his house at Walcote, near to +Wells, where he resides since the King's departure, and pressed him very +eagerly in Mr. Freeman's cause, showing him the great advantage he would +have by trading with that merchant, offering him large premiums there as +agreed between us. But he says no: he considers Mr. Freeman the head of +the firm, will never trade against him or embark with any other trading +company, but considers his duty was done when Mr. Freeman left England. +This Colonel seems to care more for his wife and his beagles than for +affairs. He asked me much about young H. E., 'that bastard,' as he +called him; doubting my lord's intentions respecting him. I reassured +him on this head, stating what I knew of the lad, and our intentions +respecting him, but with regard to Freeman he was inflexible.” + +And another letter was from Colonel Esmond to his kinsman, to say that +one Captain Holton had been with him offering him large bribes to join, +YOU KNOW WHO, and saying that the head of the house of Castlewood was +deeply engaged in that quarter. But for his part he had broke his +sword when the K. left the country, and would never again fight in that +quarrel. The P. of O. was a man, at least, of a noble courage, and his +duty, and, as he thought, every Englishman's, was to keep the country +quiet, and the French out of it: and, in fine, that he would have +nothing to do with the scheme. + +Of the existence of these two letters and the contents of the pillow, +Colonel Frank Esmond, who became Viscount Castlewood, told Henry +Esmond afterwards, when the letters were shown to his lordship, who +congratulated himself, as he had good reason, that he had not joined +in the scheme which proved so fatal to many concerned in it. But, +naturally, the lad knew little about these circumstances when they +happened under his eyes: only being aware that his patron and his +mistress were in some trouble, which had caused the flight of the one +and the apprehension of the other by the officers of King William. + +The seizure of the papers effected, the gentlemen did not pursue their +further search through Castlewood House very rigorously. They examined +Mr. Holt's room, being led thither by his pupil, who showed, as the +Father had bidden him, the place where the key of his chamber lay, +opened the door for the gentlemen, and conducted them into the room. + +When the gentlemen came to the half-burned papers in the brazier, they +examined them eagerly enough, and their young guide was a little amused +at their perplexity. + +“What are these?” says one. + +“They're written in a foreign language,” says the lawyer. “What are you +laughing at, little whelp?” adds he, turning round as he saw the boy +smile. + +“Mr. Holt said they were sermons,” Harry said, “and bade me to burn +them;” which indeed was true of those papers. + +“Sermons indeed--it's treason, I would lay a wager,” cries the lawyer. + +“Egad! it's Greek to me,” says Captain Westbury. “Can you read it, +little boy?” + +“Yes, sir, a little,” Harry said. + +“Then read, and read in English, sir, on your peril,” said the lawyer. +And Harry began to translate:-- + +“Hath not one of your own writers said, 'The children of Adam are now +laboring as much as he himself ever did, about the tree of the knowledge +of good and evil, shaking the boughs thereof, and seeking the fruit, +being for the most part unmindful of the tree of life.' Oh blind +generation! 'tis this tree of knowledge to which the serpent has led +you”--and here the boy was obliged to stop, the rest of the page being +charred by the fire: and asked of the lawyer--“Shall I go on, sir?” + +The lawyer said--“This boy is deeper than he seems: who knows that he is +not laughing at us?” + +“Let's have in Dick the Scholar,” cried Captain Westbury, laughing: and +he called to a trooper out of the window--“Ho, Dick, come in here and +construe.” + +A thick-set soldier, with a square good-humored face, came in at the +summons, saluting his officer. + +“Tell us what is this, Dick,” says the lawyer. + +“My name is Steele, sir,” says the soldier. “I may be Dick for my +friends, but I don't name gentlemen of your cloth amongst them.” + +“Well then, Steele.” + +“Mr. Steele, sir, if you please. When you address a gentleman of his +Majesty's Horse Guards, be pleased not to be so familiar.” + +“I didn't know, sir,” said the lawyer. + +“How should you? I take it you are not accustomed to meet with +gentlemen,” says the trooper. + +“Hold thy prate, and read that bit of paper,” says Westbury. + +“'Tis Latin,” says Dick, glancing at it, and again saluting his officer, +“and from a sermon of Mr. Cudworth's,” and he translated the words +pretty much as Henry Esmond had rendered them. + +“What a young scholar you are,” says the Captain to the boy. + +“Depend on't, he knows more than he tells,” says the lawyer. “I think we +will pack him off in the coach with old Jezebel.” + +“For construing a bit of Latin?” said the Captain, very good-naturedly. + +“I would as lief go there as anywhere,” Harry Esmond said, simply, “for +there is nobody to care for me.” + +There must have been something touching in the child's voice, or in +this description of his solitude--for the Captain looked at him very +good-naturedly, and the trooper, called Steele, put his hand kindly on +the lad's head, and said some words in the Latin tongue. + +“What does he say?” says the lawyer. + +“Faith, ask Dick himself,” cried Captain Westbury. + +“I said I was not ignorant of misfortune myself, and had learned to +succor the miserable, and that's not YOUR trade, Mr. Sheepskin,” said +the trooper. + +“You had better leave Dick the Scholar alone, Mr. Corbet,” the Captain +said. And Harry Esmond, always touched by a kind face and kind word, +felt very grateful to this good-natured champion. + +The horses were by this time harnessed to the coach; and the Countess +and Victoire came down and were put into the vehicle. This woman, who +quarrelled with Harry Esmond all day, was melted at parting with him, +and called him “dear angel,” and “poor infant,” and a hundred other +names. + +The Viscountess, giving him her lean hand to kiss, bade him always be +faithful to the house of Esmond. “If evil should happen to my lord,” + says she, “his SUCCESSOR, I trust, will be found, and give you +protection. Situated as I am, they will not dare wreak their vengeance +on me NOW.” And she kissed a medal she wore with great fervor, and +Henry Esmond knew not in the least what her meaning was; but hath since +learned that, old as she was, she was for ever expecting, by the good +offices of saints and relics, to have an heir to the title of Esmond. + +Harry Esmond was too young to have been introduced into the secrets +of politics in which his patrons were implicated; for they put but few +questions to the boy (who was little of stature, and looked much younger +than his age), and such questions as they put he answered cautiously +enough, and professing even more ignorance than he had, for which his +examiners willingly enough gave him credit. He did not say a word about +the window or the cupboard over the fireplace; and these secrets quite +escaped the eyes of the searchers. + +So then my lady was consigned to her coach, and sent off to Hexton, with +her woman and the man of law to bear her company, a couple of troopers +riding on either side of the coach. And Harry was left behind at the +Hall, belonging as it were to nobody, and quite alone in the world. +The captain and a guard of men remained in possession there; and the +soldiers, who were very good-natured and kind, ate my lord's mutton and +drank his wine, and made themselves comfortable, as they well might do +in such pleasant quarters. + +The captains had their dinner served in my lord's tapestry parlor, and +poor little Harry thought his duty was to wait upon Captain Westbury's +chair, as his custom had been to serve his lord when he sat there. + +After the departure of the Countess, Dick the Scholar took Harry Esmond +under his special protection, and would examine him in his humanities +and talk to him both of French and Latin, in which tongues the lad +found, and his new friend was willing enough to acknowledge, that he was +even more proficient than Scholar Dick. Hearing that he had learned them +from a Jesuit, in the praise of whom and whose goodness Harry was never +tired of speaking, Dick, rather to the boy's surprise, who began to have +an early shrewdness, like many children bred up alone, showed a great +deal of theological science, and knowledge of the points at issue +between the two churches; so that he and Harry would have hours of +controversy together, in which the boy was certainly worsted by the +arguments of this singular trooper. “I am no common soldier,” Dick would +say, and indeed it was easy to see by his learning, breeding, and +many accomplishments, that he was not. “I am of one of the most ancient +families in the empire; I have had my education at a famous school, +and a famous university; I learned my first rudiments of Latin near to +Smithfield, in London, where the martyrs were roasted.” + +“You hanged as many of ours,” interposed Harry; “and, for the matter of +persecution, Father Holt told me that a young gentleman of Edinburgh, +eighteen years of age, student at the college there, was hanged for +heresy only last year, though he recanted, and solemnly asked pardon for +his errors.” + +“Faith! there has been too much persecution on both sides: but 'twas you +taught us.” + +“Nay, 'twas the Pagans began it,” cried the lad, and began to instance +a number of saints of the Church, from the proto-martyr downwards--“this +one's fire went out under him: that one's oil cooled in the caldron: at +a third holy head the executioner chopped three times and it would not +come off. Show us martyrs in YOUR church for whom such miracles have +been done.” + +“Nay,” says the trooper gravely, “the miracles of the first three +centuries belong to my Church as well as yours, Master Papist,” and then +added, with something of a smile upon his countenance, and a queer look +at Harry--“And yet, my little catechiser, I have sometimes thought about +those miracles, that there was not much good in them, since the victim's +head always finished by coming off at the third or fourth chop, and the +caldron, if it did not boil one day, boiled the next. Howbeit, in our +times, the Church has lost that questionable advantage of respites. +There never was a shower to put out Ridley's fire, nor an angel to turn +the edge of Campion's axe. The rack tore the limbs of Southwell +the Jesuit and Sympson the Protestant alike. For faith, everywhere +multitudes die willingly enough. I have read in Monsieur Rycaut's +'History of the Turks,' of thousands of Mahomet's followers rushing +upon death in battle as upon certain Paradise; and in the great Mogul's +dominions people fling themselves by hundreds under the cars of the +idols annually, and the widows burn themselves on their husbands' +bodies, as 'tis well known. 'Tis not the dying for a faith that's so +hard, Master Harry--every man of every nation has done that--'tis the +living up to it that is difficult, as I know to my cost,” he added with +a sigh. “And ah!” he added, “my poor lad, I am not strong enough to +convince thee by my life--though to die for my religion would give me +the greatest of joys--but I had a dear friend in Magdalen College in +Oxford; I wish Joe Addison were here to convince thee, as he quickly +could--for I think he's a match for the whole College of Jesuits; and +what's more, in his life too. In that very sermon of Dr. Cudworth's +which your priest was quoting from, and which suffered martydom in the +brazier,”--Dick added with a smile, “I had a thought of wearing the +black coat (but was ashamed of my life, you see, and took to this sorry +red one); I have often thought of Joe Addison--Dr. Cudworth says, +'A good conscience is the best looking-glass of heaven'--and there's +serenity in my friend's face which always reflects it--I wish you could +see him, Harry.” + +“Did he do you a great deal of good?” asked the lad, simply. + +“He might have done,” said the other--“at least he taught me to see and +approve better things. 'Tis my own fault, deteriora sequi.” + +“You seem very good,” the boy said. + +“I'm not what I seem, alas!” answered the trooper--and indeed, as it +turned out, poor Dick told the truth--for that very night, at supper +in the hall, where the gentlemen of the troop took their repasts, +and passed most part of their days dicing and smoking of tobacco, and +singing and cursing, over the Castlewood ale--Harry Esmond found Dick +the Scholar in a woful state of drunkenness. He hiccupped out a sermon +and his laughing companions bade him sing a hymn, on which Dick, +swearing he would run the scoundrel through the body who insulted his +religion, made for his sword, which was hanging on the wall, and fell +down flat on the floor under it, saying to Harry, who ran forward to +help him, “Ah, little Papist, I wish Joseph Addison was here!” + +Though the troopers of the King's Life-Guards were all gentlemen, yet +the rest of the gentlemen seemed ignorant and vulgar boors to Harry +Esmond, with the exception of this good-natured Corporal Steele the +Scholar, and Captain Westbury and Lieutenant Trant, who were always +kind to the lad. They remained for some weeks or months encamped in +Castlewood, and Harry learned from them, from time to time, how the lady +at Hexton Castle was treated, and the particulars of her confinement +there. 'Tis known that King William was disposed to deal very leniently +with the gentry who remained faithful to the old King's cause; and no +prince usurping a crown, as his enemies said he did, (righteously +taking it, as I think now,) ever caused less blood to be shed. As for +women-conspirators, he kept spies on the least dangerous, and locked up +the others. Lady Castlewood had the best rooms in Hexton Castle, and the +gaoler's garden to walk in; and though she repeatedly desired to be led +out to execution, like Mary Queen of Scots, there never was any thought +of taking her painted old head off, or any desire to do aught but keep +her person in security. + +And it appeared she found that some were friends in her misfortune, whom +she had, in her prosperity, considered as her worst enemies. Colonel +Francis Esmond, my lord's cousin and her ladyship's, who had married the +Dean of Winchester's daughter, and, since King James's departure out of +England, had lived not very far away from Hexton town, hearing of his +kinswoman's strait, and being friends with Colonel Brice, commanding for +King William in Hexton, and with the Church dignitaries there, came +to visit her ladyship in prison, offering to his uncle's daughter any +friendly services which lay in his power. And he brought his lady and +little daughter to see the prisoner, to the latter of whom, a child +of great beauty and many winning ways, the old Viscountess took not +a little liking, although between her ladyship and the child's mother +there was little more love than formerly. There are some injuries which +women never forgive one another; and Madam Francis Esmond, in marrying +her cousin, had done one of those irretrievable wrongs to Lady +Castlewood. But as she was now humiliated, and in misfortune, Madam +Francis could allow a truce to her enmity, and could be kind for a +while, at least, to her husband's discarded mistress. So the little +Beatrix, her daughter, was permitted often to go and visit the +imprisoned Viscountess, who, in so far as the child and its father +were concerned, got to abate in her anger towards that branch of the +Castlewood family. And the letters of Colonel Esmond coming to light, +as has been said, and his conduct being known to the King's council, the +Colonel was put in a better position with the existing government than +he had ever before been; any suspicions regarding his loyalty were +entirely done away; and so he was enabled to be of more service to his +kinswoman than he could otherwise have been. + +And now there befell an event by which this lady recovered her liberty, +and the house of Castlewood got a new owner, and fatherless little Harry +Esmond a new and most kind protector and friend. Whatever that secret +was which Harry was to hear from my lord, the boy never heard it; for +that night when Father Holt arrived, and carried my lord away with him, +was the last on which Harry ever saw his patron. What happened to my +lord may be briefly told here. Having found the horses at the place +where they were lying, my lord and Father Holt rode together to +Chatteris, where they had temporary refuge with one of the Father's +penitents in that city; but the pursuit being hot for them, and the +reward for the apprehension of one or the other considerable, it was +deemed advisable that they should separate; and the priest betook +himself to other places of retreat known to him, whilst my lord passed +over from Bristol into Ireland, in which kingdom King James had a court +and an army. My lord was but a small addition to this; bringing, indeed, +only his sword and the few pieces in his pocket; but the King received +him with some kindness and distinction in spite of his poor plight, +confirmed him in his new title of Marquis, gave him a regiment, and +promised him further promotion. But titles or promotion were not to +benefit him now. My lord was wounded at the fatal battle of the Boyne, +flying from which field (long after his master had set him an example) +he lay for a while concealed in the marshy country near to the town of +Trim, and more from catarrh and fever caught in the bogs than from the +steel of the enemy in the battle, sank and died. May the earth lie light +upon Thomas of Castlewood! He who writes this must speak in charity, +though this lord did him and his two grievous wrongs: for one of these +he would have made amends, perhaps, had life been spared him; but the +other lay beyond his power to repair, though 'tis to be hoped that a +greater Power than a priest has absolved him of it. He got the comfort +of this absolution, too, such as it was: a priest of Trim writing a +letter to my lady to inform her of this calamity. + +But in those days letters were slow of travelling, and our priest's took +two months or more on its journey from Ireland to England: where, when +it did arrive, it did not find my lady at her own house; she was at the +King's house of Hexton Castle when the letter came to Castlewood, but it +was opened for all that by the officer in command there. + +Harry Esmond well remembered the receipt of this letter, which Lockwood +brought in as Captain Westbury and Lieutenant Trant were on the green +playing at bowls, young Esmond looking on at the sport, or reading his +book in the arbor. + +“Here's news for Frank Esmond,” says Captain Westbury; “Harry, did you +ever see Colonel Esmond?” And Captain Westbury looked very hard at the +boy as he spoke. + +Harry said he had seen him but once when he was at Hexton, at the ball +there. + +“And did he say anything?” + +“He said what I don't care to repeat,” Harry answered. For he was now +twelve years of age: he knew what his birth was, and the disgrace of +it; and he felt no love towards the man who had most likely stained his +mother's honor and his own. + +“Did you love my Lord Castlewood?” + +“I wait until I know my mother, sir, to say,” the boy answered, his eyes +filling with tears. + +“Something has happened to Lord Castlewood,” Captain Westbury said in a +very grave tone--“something which must happen to us all. He is dead of a +wound received at the Boyne, fighting for King James.” + +“I am glad my lord fought for the right cause,” the boy said. + +“It was better to meet death on the field like a man, than face it on +Tower-hill, as some of them may,” continued Mr. Westbury. “I hope he has +made some testament, or provided for thee somehow. This letter says he +recommends unicum filium suum dilectissimum to his lady. I hope he has +left you more than that.” + +Harry did not know, he said. He was in the hands of Heaven and Fate; but +more lonely now, as it seemed to him, than he had been all the rest of +his life; and that night, as he lay in his little room which he still +occupied, the boy thought with many a pang of shame and grief of his +strange and solitary condition: how he had a father and no father; a +nameless mother that had been brought to ruin, perhaps, by that very +father whom Harry could only acknowledge in secret and with a blush, +and whom he could neither love nor revere. And he sickened to think how +Father Holt, a stranger, and two or three soldiers, his acquaintances +of the last six weeks, were the only friends he had in the great wide +world, where he was now quite alone. The soul of the boy was full of +love, and he longed as he lay in the darkness there for some one upon +whom he could bestow it. He remembers, and must to his dying day, the +thoughts and tears of that long night, the hours tolling through it. +Who was he, and what? Why here rather than elsewhere? I have a mind, he +thought, to go to that priest at Trim, and find out what my father said +to him on his death-bed confession. Is there any child in the whole +world so unprotected as I am? Shall I get up and quit this place, and +run to Ireland? With these thoughts and tears the lad passed that night +away until he wept himself to sleep. + +The next day, the gentlemen of the guard, who had heard what had +befallen him, were more than usually kind to the child, especially his +friend Scholar Dick, who told him about his own father's death, which +had happened when Dick was a child at Dublin, not quite five years of +age. “That was the first sensation of grief,” Dick said, “I ever knew. +I remember I went into the room where his body lay, and my mother sat +weeping beside it. I had my battledore in my hand, and fell a-beating +the coffin, and calling Papa; on which my mother caught me in her arms, +and told me in a flood of tears Papa could not hear me, and would play +with me no more, for they were going to put him under ground, whence he +could never come to us again. And this,” said Dick kindly, “has made +me pity all children ever since; and caused me to love thee, my poor +fatherless, motherless lad. And, if ever thou wantest a friend, thou +shalt have one in Richard Steele.” + +Harry Esmond thanked him, and was grateful. But what could Corporal +Steele do for him? take him to ride a spare horse, and be servant to the +troop? Though there might be a bar in Harry Esmond's shield, it was a +noble one. The counsel of the two friends was, that little Harry +should stay where he was, and abide his fortune: so Esmond stayed on at +Castlewood, awaiting with no small anxiety the fate, whatever it was, +which was over him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +I AM LEFT AT CASTLEWOOD AN ORPHAN, AND FIND MOST KIND PROTECTORS THERE. + + +During the stay of the soldiers in Castlewood, honest Dick the Scholar +was the constant companion of the lonely little orphan lad Harry Esmond: +and they read together, and they played bowls together, and when the +other troopers or their officers, who were free-spoken over their cups, +(as was the way of that day, when neither men nor women were over-nice,) +talked unbecomingly of their amours and gallantries before the child, +Dick, who very likely was setting the whole company laughing, would stop +their jokes with a maxima debetur pueris reverentia, and once offered +to lug out against another trooper called Hulking Tom, who wanted to ask +Harry Esmond a ribald question. + +Also, Dick seeing that the child had, as he said, a sensibility above +his years, and a great and praiseworthy discretion, confided to Harry +his love for a vintner's daughter, near to the Tollyard, Westminster, +whom Dick addressed as Saccharissa in many verses of his composition, +and without whom he said it would be impossible that he could continue +to live. He vowed this a thousand times in a day, though Harry smiled to +see the love-lorn swain had his health and appetite as well as the most +heart-whole trooper in the regiment: and he swore Harry to secrecy too, +which vow the lad religiously kept, until he found that officers and +privates were all taken into Dick's confidence, and had the benefit of +his verses. And it must be owned likewise that, while Dick was sighing +after Saccharissa in London, he had consolations in the country; for +there came a wench out of Castlewood village who had washed his linen, +and who cried sadly when she heard he was gone: and without paying her +bill too, which Harry Esmond took upon himself to discharge by giving +the girl a silver pocket-piece, which Scholar Dick had presented to him, +when, with many embraces and prayers for his prosperity, Dick parted +from him, the garrison of Castlewood being ordered away. Dick the +Scholar said he would never forget his young friend, nor indeed did he: +and Harry was sorry when the kind soldiers vacated Castlewood, looking +forward with no small anxiety (for care and solitude had made him +thoughtful beyond his years) to his fate when the new lord and lady of +the house came to live there. He had lived to be past twelve years old +now; and had never had a friend, save this wild trooper, perhaps, and +Father Holt; and had a fond and affectionate heart, tender to weakness, +that would fain attach itself to somebody, and did not seem at rest +until it had found a friend who would take charge of it. + +The instinct which led Henry Esmond to admire and love the gracious +person, the fair apparition of whose beauty and kindness had so moved +him when he first beheld her, became soon a devoted affection and +passion of gratitude, which entirely filled his young heart, that +as yet, except in the case of dear Father Holt, had had very little +kindness for which to be thankful. O Dea certe, thought he, remembering +the lines out of the AEneas which Mr. Holt had taught him. There seemed, +as the boy thought, in every look or gesture of this fair creature, +an angelical softness and bright pity--in motion or repose she seemed +gracious alike; the tone of her voice, though she uttered words ever so +trivial, gave him a pleasure that amounted almost to anguish. It cannot +be called love, that a lad of twelve years of age, little more than a +menial, felt for an exalted lady, his mistress: but it was worship. +To catch her glance, to divine her errand and run on it before she had +spoken it; to watch, follow, adore her; became the business of his life. +Meanwhile, as is the way often, his idol had idols of her own, and never +thought of or suspected the admiration of her little pigmy adorer. + +My lady had on her side her three idols: first and foremost, Jove +and supreme ruler, was her lord, Harry's patron, the good Viscount of +Castlewood. All wishes of his were laws with her. If he had a headache, +she was ill. If he frowned, she trembled. If he joked, she smiled and +was charmed. If he went a-hunting, she was always at the window to see +him ride away, her little son crowing on her arm, or on the watch till +his return. She made dishes for his dinner: spiced wine for him: made +the toast for his tankard at breakfast: hushed the house when he slept +in his chair, and watched for a look when he woke. If my lord was not a +little proud of his beauty, my lady adored it. She clung to his arm as +he paced the terrace, her two fair little hands clasped round his great +one; her eyes were never tired of looking in his face and wondering at +its perfection. Her little son was his son, and had his father's look +and curly brown hair. Her daughter Beatrix was his daughter, and had his +eyes--were there ever such beautiful eyes in the world? All the house +was arranged so as to bring him ease and give him pleasure. She liked +the small gentry round about to come and pay him court, never caring for +admiration for herself; those who wanted to be well with the lady must +admire him. Not regarding her dress, she would wear a gown to rags, +because he had once liked it: and, if he brought her a brooch or a +ribbon, would prefer it to all the most costly articles of her wardrobe. + +My lord went to London every year for six weeks, and the family being +too poor to appear at Court with any figure, he went alone. It was not +until he was out of sight that her face showed any sorrow: and what +a joy when he came back! What preparation before his return! The fond +creature had his arm-chair at the chimney-side--delighting to put the +children in it, and look at them there. Nobody took his place at the +table; but his silver tankard stood there as when my lord was present. + +A pretty sight it was to see, during my lord's absence, or on those many +mornings when sleep or headache kept him a-bed, this fair young lady of +Castlewood, her little daughter at her knee, and her domestics gathered +round her, reading the Morning Prayer of the English Church. Esmond +long remembered how she looked and spoke, kneeling reverently before the +sacred book, the sun shining upon her golden hair until it made a halo +round about her. A dozen of the servants of the house kneeled in a line +opposite their mistress; for a while Harry Esmond kept apart from these +mysteries, but Doctor Tusher showing him that the prayers read were +those of the Church of all ages, and the boy's own inclination prompting +him to be always as near as he might to his mistress, and to think all +things she did right, from listening to the prayers in the ante-chamber, +he came presently to kneel down with the rest of the household in +the parlor; and before a couple of years my lady had made a thorough +convert. Indeed, the boy loved his catechiser so much that he would have +subscribed to anything she bade him, and was never tired of listening to +her fond discourse and simple comments upon the book, which she read to +him in a voice of which it was difficult to resist the sweet persuasion +and tender appealing kindness. This friendly controversy, and the +intimacy which it occasioned, bound the lad more fondly than ever to his +mistress. The happiest period of all his life was this; and the +young mother, with her daughter and son, and the orphan lad whom she +protected, read and worked and played, and were children together. +If the lady looked forward--as what fond woman does not?--towards the +future, she had no plans from which Harry Esmond was left out; and a +thousand and a thousand times, in his passionate and impetuous way, +he vowed that no power should separate him from his mistress; and only +asked for some chance to happen by which he might show his fidelity +to her. Now, at the close of his life, as he sits and recalls in +tranquillity the happy and busy scenes of it, he can think, not +ungratefully, that he has been faithful to that early vow. Such a life +is so simple that years may be chronicled in a few lines. But few men's +life-voyages are destined to be all prosperous; and this calm of which +we are speaking was soon to come to an end. + +As Esmond grew, and observed for himself, he found of necessity much to +read and think of outside that fond circle of kinsfolk who had admitted +him to join hand with them. He read more books than they cared to study +with him; was alone in the midst of them many a time, and passed nights +over labors, futile perhaps, but in which they could not join him. His +dear mistress divined his thoughts with her usual jealous watchfulness +of affection: began to forebode a time when he would escape from his +home-nest; and, at his eager protestations to the contrary, would +only sigh and shake her head. Before those fatal decrees in life are +executed, there are always secret previsions and warning omens. When +everything yet seems calm, we are aware that the storm is coming. Ere +the happy days were over, two at least of that home-party felt that they +were drawing to a close; and were uneasy, and on the look-out for the +cloud which was to obscure their calm. + +'Twas easy for Harry to see, however much his lady persisted in +obedience and admiration for her husband, that my lord tired of his +quiet life, and grew weary, and then testy, at those gentle bonds with +which his wife would have held him. As they say the Grand Lama of Thibet +is very much fatigued by his character of divinity, and yawns on +his altar as his bonzes kneel and worship him, many a home-god grows +heartily sick of the reverence with which his family-devotees pursue +him, and sighs for freedom and for his old life, and to be off the +pedestal on which his dependants would have him sit for ever, whilst +they adore him, and ply him with flowers, and hymns, and incense, +and flattery;--so, after a few years of his marriage my honest Lord +Castlewood began to tire; all the high-flown raptures and devotional +ceremonies with which his wife, his chief priestess, treated him, first +sent him to sleep, and then drove him out of doors; for the truth must +be told, that my lord was a jolly gentleman, with very little of the +august or divine in his nature, though his fond wife persisted in +revering it--and, besides, he had to pay a penalty for this love, which +persons of his disposition seldom like to defray: and, in a word, if he +had a loving wife, had a very jealous and exacting one. Then he wearied +of this jealousy; then he broke away from it; then came, no doubt, +complaints and recriminations; then, perhaps, promises of amendment +not fulfilled; then upbraidings not the more pleasant because they +were silent, and only sad looks and tearful eyes conveyed them. Then, +perhaps, the pair reached that other stage which is not uncommon in +married life, when the woman perceives that the god of the honeymoon is +a god no more; only a mortal like the rest of us--and so she looks into +her heart, and lo! vacuae sedes et inania arcana. And now, supposing our +lady to have a fine genius and a brilliant wit of her own, and the magic +spell and infatuation removed from her which had led her to worship as +a god a very ordinary mortal--and what follows? They live together, and +they dine together, and they say “my dear” and “my love” as heretofore; +but the man is himself, and the woman herself: that dream of love is +over as everything else is over in life; as flowers and fury, and griefs +and pleasures, are over. + +Very likely the Lady Castlewood had ceased to adore her husband herself +long before she got off her knees, or would allow her household to +discontinue worshipping him. To do him justice, my lord never exacted +this subservience: he laughed and joked and drank his bottle, and +swore when he was angry, much too familiarly for any one pretending to +sublimity; and did his best to destroy the ceremonial with which his +wife chose to surround him. And it required no great conceit on young +Esmond's part to see that his own brains were better than his patron's, +who, indeed, never assumed any airs of superiority over the lad, or +over any dependant of his, save when he was displeased, in which case he +would express his mind in oaths very freely; and who, on the contrary, +perhaps, spoiled “Parson Harry,” as he called young Esmond, by +constantly praising his parts and admiring his boyish stock of learning. + +It may seem ungracious in one who has received a hundred favors from his +patron to speak in any but a reverential manner of his elders; but the +present writer has had descendants of his own, whom he has brought +up with as little as possible of the servility at present exacted +by parents from children (under which mask of duty there often lurks +indifference, contempt, or rebellion): and as he would have his +grandsons believe or represent him to be not an inch taller than Nature +has made him: so, with regard to his past acquaintances, he would +speak without anger, but with truth, as far as he knows it, neither +extenuating nor setting down aught in malice. + +So long, then, as the world moved according to Lord Castlewood's wishes, +he was good-humored enough; of a temper naturally sprightly and easy, +liking to joke, especially with his inferiors, and charmed to receive +the tribute of their laughter. All exercises of the body he could +perform to perfection--shooting at a mark and flying, breaking horses, +riding at the ring, pitching the quoit, playing at all games with great +skill. And not only did he do these things well, but he thought he did +them to perfection; hence he was often tricked about horses, which he +pretended to know better than any jockey; was made to play at ball and +billiards by sharpers who took his money, and came back from London +wofully poorer each time than he went, as the state of his affairs +testified when the sudden accident came by which his career was brought +to an end. + +He was fond of the parade of dress, and passed as many hours daily at +his toilette as an elderly coquette. A tenth part of his day was spent +in the brushing of his teeth and the oiling of his hair, which was +curling and brown, and which he did not like to conceal under a periwig, +such as almost everybody of that time wore. (We have the liberty of our +hair back now, but powder and pomatum along with it. When, I wonder, +will these monstrous poll-taxes of our age be withdrawn, and men allowed +to carry their colors, black, red, or gray, as Nature made them?) And as +he liked her to be well dressed, his lady spared no pains in that matter +to please him; indeed, she would dress her head or cut it off if he had +bidden her. + +It was a wonder to young Esmond, serving as page to my lord and lady, +to hear, day after day, to such company as came, the same boisterous +stories told by my lord, at which his lady never failed to smile or hold +down her head, and Doctor Tusher to burst out laughing at the proper +point, or cry, “Fie, my lord, remember my cloth!” but with such a +faint show of resistance, that it only provoked my lord further. Lord +Castlewood's stories rose by degrees, and became stronger after the ale +at dinner and the bottle afterwards; my lady always taking flight after +the very first glass to Church and King, and leaving the gentlemen to +drink the rest of the toasts by themselves. + +And, as Harry Esmond was her page, he also was called from duty at this +time. “My lord has lived in the army and with soldiers,” she would +say to the lad, “amongst whom great license is allowed. You have had +a different nurture, and I trust these things will change as you grow +older; not that any fault attaches to my lord, who is one of the best +and most religious men in this kingdom.” And very likely she believed +so. 'Tis strange what a man may do, and a woman yet think him an angel. + +And as Esmond has taken truth for his motto, it must be owned, even +with regard to that other angel, his mistress, that she had a fault of +character which flawed her perfections. With the other sex perfectly +tolerant and kindly, of her own she was invariably jealous; and a proof +that she had this vice is, that though she would acknowledge a thousand +faults that she had not, to this which she had she could never be got +to own. But if there came a woman with even a semblance of beauty to +Castlewood, she was so sure to find out some wrong in her, that my lord, +laughing in his jolly way, would often joke with her concerning her +foible. Comely servant-maids might come for hire, but none were taken +at Castlewood. The housekeeper was old; my lady's own waiting-woman +squinted, and was marked with the small-pox; the housemaids and scullion +were ordinary country wenches, to whom Lady Castlewood was kind, as her +nature made her to everybody almost; but as soon as ever she had to do +with a pretty woman, she was cold, retiring, and haughty. The country +ladies found this fault in her; and though the men all admired her, +their wives and daughters complained of her coldness and aims, and said +that Castlewood was pleasanter in Lady Jezebel's time (as the dowager +was called) than at present. Some few were of my mistress's side. +Old Lady Blenkinsop Jointure, who had been at court in King James the +First's time, always took her side; and so did old Mistress Crookshank, +Bishop Crookshank's daughter, of Hexton, who, with some more of their +like, pronounced my lady an angel: but the pretty women were not of this +mind; and the opinion of the country was that my lord was tied to his +wife's apron-strings, and that she ruled over him. + +The second fight which Harry Esmond had, was at fourteen years of age, +with Bryan Hawkshaw, Sir John Hawkshaw's son, of Bramblebrook, who, +advancing this opinion, that my lady was jealous and henpecked my lord, +put Harry in such a fury, that Harry fell on him and with such rage, +that the other boy, who was two years older and by far bigger than he, +had by far the worst of the assault, until it was interrupted by Doctor +Tusher walking out of the dinner-room. + +Bryan Hawkshaw got up bleeding at the nose, having, indeed, been +surprised, as many a stronger man might have been, by the fury of the +assault upon him. + +“You little bastard beggar!” he said, “I'll murder you for this!” + +And indeed he was big enough. + +“Bastard or not,” said the other, grinding his teeth, “I have a +couple of swords, and if you like to meet me, as a man, on the terrace +to-night--” + +And here the Doctor coming up, the colloquy of the young champions +ended. Very likely, big as he was, Hawkshaw did not care to continue a +fight with such a ferocious opponent as this had been. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AFTER GOOD FORTUNE COMES EVIL. + + +Since my Lady Mary Wortley Montagu brought home the custom of +inoculation from Turkey (a perilous practice many deem it, and only a +useless rushing into the jaws of danger), I think the severity of the +small-pox, that dreadful scourge of the world, has somewhat been abated +in our part of it; and remember in my time hundreds of the young and +beautiful who have been carried to the grave, or have only risen from +their pillows frightfully scarred and disfigured by this malady. Many +a sweet face hath left its roses on the bed on which this dreadful and +withering blight has laid them. In my early days, this pestilence would +enter a village and destroy half its inhabitants: at its approach, it +may well be imagined, not only the beautiful but the strongest were +alarmed, and those fled who could. One day in the year 1694 (I have good +reason to remember it), Doctor Tusher ran into Castlewood House, with a +face of consternation, saying that the malady had made its appearance at +the blacksmith's house in the village, and that one of the maids there +was down in the small-pox. + +The blacksmith, besides his forge and irons for horses, had an ale-house +for men, which his wife kept, and his company sat on benches before the +inn-door, looking at the smithy while they drank their beer. Now, +there was a pretty girl at this inn, the landlord's men called Nancy +Sievewright, a bouncing, fresh-looking lass, whose face was as red as +the hollyhocks over the pales of the garden behind the inn. At this time +Harry Esmond was a lad of sixteen, and somehow in his walks and rambles +it often happened that he fell in with Nancy Sievewright's bonny face; +if he did not want something done at the blacksmith's he would go and +drink ale at the “Three Castles,” or find some pretext for seeing this +poor Nancy. Poor thing, Harry meant or imagined no harm; and she, no +doubt, as little, but the truth is they were always meeting--in the +lanes, or by the brook, or at the garden-palings, or about Castlewood: +it was, “Lord, Mr. Henry!” and “how do you do, Nancy?” many and many a +time in the week. 'Tis surprising the magnetic attraction which draws +people together from ever so far. I blush as I think of poor Nancy now, +in a red bodice and buxom purple cheeks and a canvas petticoat; and that +I devised schemes, and set traps, and made speeches in my heart, which +I seldom had courage to say when in presence of that humble enchantress, +who knew nothing beyond milking a cow, and opened her black eyes with +wonder when I made one of my fine speeches out of Waller or Ovid. Poor +Nancy! from the midst of far-off years thine honest country face beams +out; and I remember thy kind voice as if I had heard it yesterday. + +When Doctor Tusher brought the news that the small-pox was at the “Three +Castles,” whither a tramper, it was said, had brought the malady, Henry +Esmond's first thought was of alarm for poor Nancy, and then of shame +and disquiet for the Castlewood family, lest he might have brought this +infection; for the truth is that Mr. Harry had been sitting in a back +room for an hour that day, where Nancy Sievewright was with a little +brother who complained of headache, and was lying stupefied and crying, +either in a chair by the corner of the fire, or in Nancy's lap, or on +mine. + +Little Lady Beatrix screamed out at Dr. Tusher's news; and my lord cried +out, “God bless me!” He was a brave man, and not afraid of death in +any shape but this. He was very proud of his pink complexion and fair +hair--but the idea of death by small-pox scared him beyond all other +ends. “We will take the children and ride away to-morrow to Walcote:” + this was my lord's small house, inherited from his mother, near to +Winchester. + +“That is the best refuge in case the disease spreads,” said Dr. Tusher. +“'Tis awful to think of it beginning at the ale-house; half the people +of the village have visited that to-day, or the blacksmith's, which is +the same thing. My clerk Nahum lodges with them--I can never go into my +reading-desk and have that fellow so near me. I WON'T have that man near +me.” + +“If a parishioner dying in the small-pox sent to you, would you not go?” + asked my lady, looking up from her frame of work, with her calm blue +eyes. + +“By the Lord, I wouldn't,” said my lord. + +“We are not in a popish country; and a sick man doth not absolutely +need absolution and confession,” said the Doctor. “'Tis true they are a +comfort and a help to him when attainable, and to be administered with +hope of good. But in a case where the life of a parish priest in the +midst of his flock is highly valuable to them, he is not called upon to +risk it (and therewith the lives, future prospects, and temporal, even +spiritual welfare of his own family) for the sake of a single person, +who is not very likely in a condition even to understand the religious +message whereof the priest is the bringer--being uneducated, and +likewise stupefied or delirious by disease. If your ladyship or his +lordship, my excellent good friend and patron, were to take it . . .” + +“God forbid!” cried my lord. + +“Amen,” continued Dr. Tusher. “Amen to that prayer, my very good lord! +for your sake I would lay my life down”--and, to judge from the alarmed +look of the Doctor's purple face, you would have thought that that +sacrifice was about to be called for instantly. + +To love children, and be gentle with them, was an instinct, rather than +a merit, in Henry Esmond; so much so, that he thought almost with a +sort of shame of his liking for them, and of the softness into which it +betrayed him; and on this day the poor fellow had not only had his +young friend, the milkmaid's brother, on his knee, but had been drawing +pictures and telling stories to the little Frank Castlewood, who had +occupied the same place for an hour after dinner, and was never tired +of Henry's tales, and his pictures of soldiers and horses. As luck would +have it, Beatrix had not on that evening taken her usual place, which +generally she was glad enough to have, upon her tutor's lap. For +Beatrix, from the earliest time, was jealous of every caress which was +given to her little brother Frank. She would fling away even from the +maternal arms, if she saw Frank had been there before her; insomuch that +Lady Esmond was obliged not to show her love for her son in the presence +of the little girl, and embraced one or the other alone. She would turn +pale and red with rage if she caught signs of intelligence or affection +between Frank and his mother: would sit apart, and not speak for a whole +night, if she thought the boy had a better fruit or a larger cake than +hers; would fling away a ribbon if he had one; and from the earliest +age, sitting up in her little chair by the great fireplace opposite to +the corner where Lady Castlewood commonly sat at her embroidery, would +utter infantine sarcasms about the favor shown to her brother. These, if +spoken in the presence of Lord Castlewood, tickled and amused his humor; +he would pretend to love Frank best, and dandle and kiss him, and roar +with laughter at Beatrix's jealousy. But the truth is, my lord did not +often witness these scenes, nor very much trouble the quiet fireside at +which his lady passed many long evenings. My lord was hunting all day +when the season admitted; he frequented all the cock-fights and fairs +in the country, and would ride twenty miles to see a main fought, or two +clowns break their heads at a cudgelling-match; and he liked better to +sit in his parlor drinking ale and punch with Jack and Tom, than in +his wife's drawing-room: whither, if he came, he brought only too often +bloodshot eyes, a hiccupping voice, and a reeling gait. The management +of the house, and the property, the care of the few tenants and the +village poor, and the accounts of the estate, were in the hands of his +lady and her young secretary, Harry Esmond. My lord took charge of the +stables, the kennel, and the cellar--and he filled this and emptied it +too. + +So it chanced that upon this very day, when poor Harry Esmond had had +the blacksmith's son, and the peer's son, alike upon his knee, little +Beatrix, who would come to her tutor willingly enough with her book and +her writing, had refused him, seeing the place occupied by her brother, +and, luckily for her, had sat at the further end of the room, away from +him, playing with a spaniel dog which she had, (and for which, by fits +and starts, she would take a great affection,) and talking at Harry +Esmond over her shoulder, as she pretended to caress the dog, saying +that Fido would love her, and she would love Fido, and nothing but Fido +all her life. + +When, then, the news was brought that the little boy at the “Three +Castles” was ill with the small-pox, poor Harry Esmond felt a shock of +alarm, not so much for himself as for his mistress's son, whom he might +have brought into peril. Beatrix, who had pouted sufficiently, (and who, +whenever a stranger appeared, began, from infancy almost, to play off +little graces to catch his attention,) her brother being now gone to +bed, was for taking her place upon Esmond's knee: for, though the Doctor +was very obsequious to her, she did not like him, because he had thick +boots and dirty hands (the pert young miss said), and because she hated +learning the catechism. + +But as she advanced towards Esmond from the corner where she had been +sulking, he started back and placed the great chair on which he was +sitting between him and her--saying in the French language to Lady +Castlewood, with whom the young lad had read much, and whom he had +perfected in this tongue--“Madam, the child must not approach me; I must +tell you that I was at the blacksmith's to-day, and had his little boy +upon my lap.” + +“Where you took my son afterwards,” Lady Castlewood said, very angry, +and turning red. “I thank you, sir, for giving him such company. +Beatrix,” she said in English, “I forbid you to touch Mr. Esmond. Come +away, child--come to your room. Come to your room--I wish your Reverence +good-night--and you, sir, had you not better go back to your friends at +the ale-house?” her eyes, ordinarily so kind, darted flashes of anger +as she spoke; and she tossed up her head (which hung down commonly) with +the mien of a princess. + +“Hey-day!” says my lord, who was standing by the fireplace--indeed +he was in the position to which he generally came by that hour of the +evening--“Hey-day! Rachel, what are you in a passion about? Ladies ought +never to be in a passion. Ought they, Doctor Tusher? though it does good +to see Rachel in a passion--Damme, Lady Castlewood, you look dev'lish +handsome in a passion.” + +“It is, my lord, because Mr. Henry Esmond, having nothing to do with +his time here, and not having a taste for our company, has been to the +ale-house, where he has SOME FRIENDS.” + +My lord burst out, with a laugh and an oath--“You young slyboots, you've +been at Nancy Sievewright. D--- the young hypocrite, who'd have thought +it in him? I say, Tusher, he's been after--” + +“Enough, my lord,” said my lady, “don't insult me with this talk.” + +“Upon my word,” said poor Harry, ready to cry with shame and +mortification, “the honor of that young person is perfectly unstained +for me.” + +“Oh, of course, of course,” says my lord, more and more laughing and +tipsy. “Upon his HONOR, Doctor--Nancy Sieve-- . . .” + +“Take Mistress Beatrix to bed,” my lady cried at this moment to Mrs. +Tucker her woman, who came in with her ladyship's tea. “Put her into my +room--no, into yours,” she added quickly. “Go, my child: go, I say: not +a word!” And Beatrix, quite surprised at so sudden a tone of authority +from one who was seldom accustomed to raise her voice, went out of the +room with a scared countenance, and waited even to burst out a-crying +until she got to the door with Mrs. Tucker. + +For once her mother took little heed of her sobbing, and continued +to speak eagerly--“My lord,” she said, “this young man--your +dependant--told me just now in French--he was ashamed to speak in his +own language--that he had been at the ale-house all day, where he has +had that little wretch who is now ill of the small-pox on his knee. And +he comes home reeking from that place--yes, reeking from it--and takes +my boy into his lap without shame, and sits down by me, yes, by ME. +He may have killed Frank for what I know--killed our child. Why was he +brought in to disgrace our house? Why is he here? Let him go--let him +go, I say, to-night, and pollute the place no more.” + +She had never once uttered a syllable of unkindness to Harry Esmond; and +her cruel words smote the poor boy, so that he stood for some moments +bewildered with grief and rage at the injustice of such a stab from such +a hand. He turned quite white from red, which he had been. + +“I cannot help my birth, madam,” he said, “nor my other misfortune. And +as for your boy, if--if my coming nigh to him pollutes him now, it was +not so always. Good-night, my lord. Heaven bless you and yours for your +goodness to me. I have tired her ladyship's kindness out, and I will +go;” and, sinking down on his knee, Harry Esmond took the rough hand of +his benefactor and kissed it. + +“He wants to go to the ale-house--let him go,” cried my lady. + +“I'm d--d if he shall,” said my lord. “I didn't think you could be so +d--d ungrateful, Rachel.” + +Her reply was to burst into a flood of tears, and to quit the room with +a rapid glance at Harry Esmond,--as my lord, not heeding them, and +still in great good-humor, raised up his young client from his kneeling +posture (for a thousand kindnesses had caused the lad to revere my lord +as a father), and put his broad hand on Harry Esmond's shoulder. + +“She was always so,” my lord said; “the very notion of a woman drives +her mad. I took to liquor on that very account, by Jove, for no other +reason than that; for she can't be jealous of a beer-barrel or a bottle +of rum, can she, Doctor? D--- it, look at the maids--just look at +the maids in the house” (my lord pronounced all the words +together--just-look-at-the-maze-in-the-house: jever-see-such-maze?) “You +wouldn't take a wife out of Castlewood now, would you, Doctor?” and my +lord burst out laughing. + +The Doctor, who had been looking at my Lord Castlewood from under his +eyelids, said, “But joking apart, and, my lord, as a divine, I +cannot treat the subject in a jocular light, nor, as a pastor of this +congregation, look with anything but sorrow at the idea of so very young +a sheep going astray.” + +“Sir,” said young Esmond, bursting out indignantly, “she told me that +you yourself were a horrid old man, and had offered to kiss her in the +dairy.” + +“For shame, Henry,” cried Doctor Tusher, turning as red as a +turkey-cock, while my lord continued to roar with laughter. “If you +listen to the falsehoods of an abandoned girl--” + +“She is as honest as any woman in England, and as pure for me,” cried +out Henry, “and, as kind, and as good. For shame on you to malign her!” + +“Far be it from me to do so,” cried the Doctor. “Heaven grant I may +be mistaken in the girl, and in you, sir, who have a truly PRECOCIOUS +genius; but that is not the point at issue at present. It appears that +the small-pox broke out in the little boy at the 'Three Castles;' that +it was on him when you visited the ale-house, for your OWN reasons; and +that you sat with the child for some time, and immediately afterwards +with my young lord.” The Doctor raised his voice as he spoke, and +looked towards my lady, who had now come back, looking very pale, with a +handkerchief in her hand. + +“This is all very true, sir,” said Lady Esmond, looking at the young +man. + +“'Tis to be feared that he may have brought the infection with him.” + +“From the ale-house--yes,” said my lady. + +“D--- it, I forgot when I collared you, boy,” cried my lord, stepping +back. “Keep off, Harry my boy; there's no good in running into the +wolf's jaws, you know.” + +My lady looked at him with some surprise, and instantly advancing to +Henry Esmond, took his hand. “I beg your pardon, Henry,” she said; “I +spoke very unkindly. I have no right to interfere with you--with your--” + +My lord broke out into an oath. “Can't you leave the boy alone, my +lady?” She looked a little red, and faintly pressed the lad's hand as +she dropped it. + +“There is no use, my lord,” she said; “Frank was on his knee as he was +making pictures, and was running constantly from Henry to me. The evil +is done, if any.” + +“Not with me, damme,” cried my lord. “I've been smoking,”--and he +lighted his pipe again with a coal--“and it keeps off infection; and as +the disease is in the village--plague take it--I would have you leave +it. We'll go to-morrow to Walcote, my lady.” + +“I have no fear,” said my lady; “I may have had it as an infant: it +broke out in our house then; and when four of my sisters had it at home, +two years before our marriage, I escaped it, and two of my dear sisters +died.” + +“I won't run the risk,” said my lord; “I'm as bold as any man, but I'll +not bear that.” + +“Take Beatrix with you and go,” said my lady. “For us the mischief is +done; and Tucker can wait upon us, who has had the disease.” + +“You take care to choose 'em ugly enough,” said my lord, at which her +ladyship hung down her head and looked foolish: and my lord, calling +away Tusher, bade him come to the oak parlor and have a pipe. The Doctor +made a low bow to her ladyship (of which salaams he was profuse), and +walked off on his creaking square-toes after his patron. + +When the lady and the young man were alone, there was a silence of some +moments, during which he stood at the fire, looking rather vacantly +at the dying embers, whilst her ladyship busied herself with the +tambour-frame and needles. + +“I am sorry,” she said, after a pause, in a hard, dry voice,--“I REPEAT +I am sorry that I showed myself so ungrateful for the safety of my son. +It was not at all my wish that you should leave us, I am sure, unless +you found pleasure elsewhere. But you must perceive, Mr. Esmond, that at +your age, and with your tastes, it is impossible that you can continue +to stay upon the intimate footing in which you have been in this family. +You have wished to go to the University, and I think 'tis quite as well +that you should be sent thither. I did not press this matter, thinking +you a child, as you are, indeed, in years--quite a child; and I +should never have thought of treating you otherwise until--until these +CIRCUMSTANCES came to light. And I shall beg my lord to despatch you +as quick as possible: and will go on with Frank's learning as well as I +can, (I owe my father thanks for a little grounding, and you, I'm sure, +for much that you have taught me,)--and--and I wish you a good-night, +Mr. Esmond.” + +And with this she dropped a stately curtsy, and, taking her candle, +went away through the tapestry door, which led to her apartments. Esmond +stood by the fireplace, blankly staring after her. Indeed, he scarce +seemed to see until she was gone; and then her image was impressed upon +him, and remained for ever fixed upon his memory. He saw her retreating, +the taper lighting up her marble face, her scarlet lip quivering, and +her shining golden hair. He went to his own room, and to bed, where he +tried to read, as his custom was; but he never knew what he was reading +until afterwards he remembered the appearance of the letters of the book +(it was in Montaigne's Essays), and the events of the day passed before +him--that is, of the last hour of the day; for as for the morning, and +the poor milkmaid yonder, he never so much as once thought. And he could +not get to sleep until daylight, and woke with a violent headache, and +quite unrefreshed. + +He had brought the contagion with him from the “Three Castles” sure +enough, and was presently laid up with the smallpox, which spared the +hall no more than it did the cottage. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +I HAVE THE SMALL-POX, AND PREPARE TO LEAVE CASTLEWOOD. + + +When Harry Esmond passed through the crisis of that malady, and returned +to health again, he found that little Frank Esmond had also suffered +and rallied after the disease, and the lady his mother was down with it, +with a couple more of the household. “It was a Providence, for which we +all ought to be thankful,” Doctor Tusher said, “that my lady and her son +were spared, while Death carried off the poor domestics of the house;” + and rebuked Harry for asking, in his simple way, For which we ought +to be thankful--that the servants were killed, or the gentlefolks +were saved? Nor could young Esmond agree in the Doctor's vehement +protestations to my lady, when he visited her during her convalescence, +that the malady had not in the least impaired her charms, and had not +been churl enough to injure the fair features of the Viscountess of +Castlewood; whereas, in spite of these fine speeches, Harry thought that +her ladyship's beauty was very much injured by the small-pox. When +the marks of the disease cleared away, they did not, it is true, leave +furrows or scars on her face (except one, perhaps, on her forehead over +her left eyebrow); but the delicacy of her rosy color and complexion was +gone: her eyes had lost their brilliancy, her hair fell, and her face +looked older. It was as if a coarse hand had rubbed off the delicate +tints of that sweet picture, and brought it, as one has seen unskilful +painting-cleaners do, to the dead color. Also, it must be owned, that +for a year or two after the malady, her ladyship's nose was swollen and +redder. + +There would be no need to mention these trivialities, but that they +actually influenced many lives, as trifles will in the world, where a +gnat often plays a greater part than an elephant, and a mole-hill, as +we know in King William's case, can upset an empire. When Tusher in his +courtly way (at which Harry Esmond always chafed and spoke scornfully) +vowed and protested that my lady's face was none the worse--the lad +broke out and said, “It IS worse and my mistress is not near so handsome +as she was;” on which poor Lady Castlewood gave a rueful smile, and a +look into a little Venice glass she had, which showed her, I suppose, +that what the stupid boy said was only too true, for she turned away +from the glass, and her eyes filled with tears. + +The sight of these in Esmond's heart always created a sort of rage of +pity, and seeing them on the face of the lady whom he loved best, the +young blunderer sank down on his knees, and besought her to pardon him, +saying that he was a fool and an idiot, that he was a brute to make such +a speech, he who had caused her malady; and Doctor Tusher told him that +a bear he was indeed, and a bear he would remain, at which speech poor +young Esmond was so dumbstricken that he did not even growl. + +“He is MY bear, and I will not have him baited, Doctor,” my lady said, +patting her hand kindly on the boy's head, as he was still kneeling at +her feet. “How your hair has come off! And mine, too,” she added with +another sigh. + +“It is not for myself that I cared,” my lady said to Harry, when the +parson had taken his leave; “but AM I very much changed? Alas! I fear +'tis too true.” + +“Madam, you have the dearest, and kindest, and sweetest face in the +world, I think,” the lad said; and indeed he thought and thinks so. + +“Will my lord think so when he comes back?” the lady asked with a sigh, +and another look at her Venice glass. “Suppose he should think as you +do, sir, that I am hideous--yes, you said hideous--he will cease to care +for me. 'Tis all men care for in women, our little beauty. Why did he +select me from among my sisters? 'Twas only for that. We reign but for a +day or two: and be sure that Vashti knew Esther was coming.” + +“Madam,” said Mr. Esmond, “Ahasuerus was the Grand Turk, and to change +was the manner of his country, and according to his law.” + +“You are all Grand Turks for that matter,” said my lady, “or would be if +you could. Come, Frank, come, my child. You are well, praised be Heaven. +YOUR locks are not thinned by this dreadful small-pox: nor your poor +face scarred--is it, my angel?” + +Frank began to shout and whimper at the idea of such a misfortune. From +the very earliest time the young lord had been taught to admire his +beauty by his mother: and esteemed it as highly as any reigning toast +valued hers. + +One day, as he himself was recovering from his fever and illness, a +pang of something like shame shot across young Esmond's breast, as he +remembered that he had never once during his illness given a thought +to the poor girl at the smithy, whose red cheeks but a month ago he +had been so eager to see. Poor Nancy! her cheeks had shared the fate of +roses, and were withered now. She had taken the illness on the same day +with Esmond--she and her brother were both dead of the small-pox, and +buried under the Castlewood yew-trees. There was no bright face looking +now from the garden, or to cheer the old smith at his lonely fireside. +Esmond would have liked to have kissed her in her shroud (like the +lass in Mr. Prior's pretty poem); but she rested many a foot below the +ground, when Esmond after his malady first trod on it. + +Doctor Tusher brought the news of this calamity, about which Harry +Esmond longed to ask, but did not like. He said almost the whole village +had been stricken with the pestilence; seventeen persons were dead +of it, among them mentioning the names of poor Nancy and her little +brother. He did not fail to say how thankful we survivors ought to be. +It being this man's business to flatter and make sermons, it must be +owned he was most industrious in it, and was doing the one or the other +all day. + +And so Nancy was gone; and Harry Esmond blushed that he had not a single +tear for her, and fell to composing an elegy in Latin verses over the +rustic little beauty. He bade the dryads mourn and the river-nymphs +deplore her. As her father followed the calling of Vulcan, he said that +surely she was like a daughter of Venus, though Sievewright's wife was +an ugly shrew, as he remembered to have heard afterwards. He made a +long face, but, in truth, felt scarcely more sorrowful than a mute at a +funeral. These first passions of men and women are mostly abortive; and +are dead almost before they are born. Esmond could repeat, to his last +day, some of the doggerel lines in which his muse bewailed his pretty +lass; not without shame to remember how bad the verses were, and how +good he thought them; how false the grief, and yet how he was rather +proud of it. 'Tis an error, surely, to talk of the simplicity of youth. +I think no persons are more hypocritical, and have a more affected +behavior to one another, than the young. They deceive themselves and +each other with artifices that do not impose upon men of the world; and +so we get to understand truth better, and grow simpler as we grow older. + +When my lady heard of the fate which had befallen poor Nancy, she said +nothing so long as Tusher was by, but when he was gone, she took Harry +Esmond's hand and said-- + +“Harry, I beg your pardon for those cruel words I used on the night you +were taken ill. I am shocked at the fate of the poor creature, and +am sure that nothing had happened of that with which, in my anger, I +charged you. And the very first day we go out, you must take me to the +blacksmith, and we must see if there is anything I can do to console +the poor old man. Poor man! to lose both his children! What should I do +without mine?” + +And this was, indeed, the very first walk which my lady took, leaning on +Esmond's arm, after her illness. But her visit brought no consolation to +the old father; and he showed no softness, or desire to speak. “The Lord +gave and took away,” he said; and he knew what His servant's duty was. +He wanted for nothing--less now than ever before, as there were +fewer mouths to feed. He wished her ladyship and Master Esmond good +morning--he had grown tall in his illness, and was but very little +marked; and with this, and a surly bow, he went in from the smithy to +the house, leaving my lady, somewhat silenced and shamefaced, at the +door. He had a handsome stone put up for his two children, which may be +seen in Castlewood churchyard to this very day; and before a year was +out his own name was upon the stone. In the presence of Death, that +sovereign ruler, a woman's coquetry is seared; and her jealousy will +hardly pass the boundaries of that grim kingdom. 'Tis entirely of +the earth, that passion, and expires in the cold blue air, beyond our +sphere. + +At length, when the danger was quite over, it was announced that my lord +and his daughter would return. Esmond well remembered the day. The lady +his mistress was in a flurry of fear: before my lord came, she went into +her room, and returned from it with reddened cheeks. Her fate was about +to be decided. Her beauty was gone--was her reign, too, over? A minute +would say. My lord came riding over the bridge--he could be seen from +the great window, clad in scarlet, and mounted on his gray hackney--his +little daughter ambled by him in a bright riding-dress of blue, on a +shining chestnut horse. My lady leaned against the great mantel-piece, +looking on, with one hand on her heart--she seemed only the more pale +for those red marks on either cheek. She put her handkerchief to her +eyes, and withdrew it, laughing hysterically--the cloth was quite red +with the rouge when she took it away. She ran to her room again, and +came back with pale cheeks and red eyes--her son in her hand--just as my +lord entered, accompanied by young Esmond, who had gone out to meet his +protector, and to hold his stirrup as he descended from horseback. + +“What, Harry, boy!” my lord said, good-naturedly, “you look as gaunt as +a greyhound. The small-pox hasn't improved your beauty, and your side of +the house hadn't never too much of it--ho, ho!” + +And he laughed, and sprang to the ground with no small agility, looking +handsome and red, within a jolly face and brown hair, like a Beef-eater; +Esmond kneeling again, as soon as his patron had descended, performed +his homage, and then went to greet the little Beatrix, and help her from +her horse. + +“Fie! how yellow you look,” she said; “and there are one, two, red +holes in your face;” which, indeed, was very true; Harry Esmond's harsh +countenance bearing, as long as it continued to be a human face, the +marks of the disease. + +My lord laughed again, in high good-humor. + +“D--- it!” said he, with one of his usual oaths, “the little slut sees +everything. She saw the Dowager's paint t'other day, and asked her +why she wore that red stuff--didn't you, Trix? and the Tower; and +St. James's; and the play; and the Prince George, and the Princess +Anne--didn't you, Trix?” + +“They are both very fat, and smelt of brandy,” the child said. + +Papa roared with laughing. + +“Brandy!” he said. “And how do you know, Miss Pert?” + +“Because your lordship smells of it after supper, when I embrace you +before you go to bed,” said the young lady, who, indeed, was as pert +as her father said, and looked as beautiful a little gipsy as eyes ever +gazed on. + +“And now for my lady,” said my lord, going up the stairs, and passing +under the tapestry curtain that hung before the drawing-room door. +Esmond remembered that noble figure, handsomely arrayed in scarlet. +Within the last few months he himself had grown from a boy to be a man, +and with his figure his thoughts had shot up, and grown manly. + +My lady's countenance, of which Harry Esmond was accustomed to watch the +changes, and with a solicitous affection to note and interpret the signs +of gladness or care, wore a sad and depressed look for many weeks +after her lord's return: during which it seemed as if, by caresses and +entreaties, she strove to win him back from some ill humor he had, and +which he did not choose to throw off. In her eagerness to please him she +practised a hundred of those arts which had formerly charmed him, but +which seemed now to have lost their potency. Her songs did not amuse +him; and she hushed them and the children when in his presence. My lord +sat silent at his dinner, drinking greatly, his lady opposite to him, +looking furtively at his face, though also speechless. Her silence +annoyed him as much as her speech; and he would peevishly, and with an +oath, ask her why she held her tongue and looked so glum; or he would +roughly check her when speaking, and bid her not talk nonsense. It +seemed as if, since his return, nothing she could do or say could please +him. + +When a master and mistress are at strife in a house, the subordinates +in the family take the one side or the other. Harry Esmond stood in +so great fear of my lord, that he would run a league barefoot to do a +message for him; but his attachment for Lady Esmond was such a passion +of grateful regard, that to spare her a grief, or to do her a service, +he would have given his life daily: and it was by the very depth and +intensity of this regard that he began to divine how unhappy his adored +lady's life was, and that a secret care (for she never spoke of her +anxieties) was weighing upon her. + +Can any one, who has passed through the world and watched the nature +of men and women there, doubt what had befallen her? I have seen, to be +sure, some people carry down with them into old age the actual bloom +of their youthful love, and I know that Mr. Thomas Parr lived to be a +hundred and sixty years old. But, for all that, threescore and ten is +the age of men, and few get beyond it; and 'tis certain that a man who +marries for mere beaux yeux, as my lord did, considers this part of the +contract at an end when the woman ceases to fulfil hers, and his love +does not survive her beauty. I know 'tis often otherwise, I say; and can +think (as most men in their own experience may) of many a house, +where, lighted in early years, the sainted lamp of love hath never been +extinguished; but so there is Mr. Parr, and so there is the great giant +at the fair that is eight feet high--exceptions to men--and that poor +lamp whereof I speak, that lights at first the nuptial chamber, is +extinguished by a hundred winds and draughts down the chimney, or +sputters out for want of feeding. And then--and then it is Chloe, in the +dark, stark awake, and Strephon snoring unheeding; or vice versa, 'tis +poor Strephon that has married a heartless jilt, and awoke out of that +absurd vision of conjugal felicity, which was to last for ever, and is +over like any other dream. One and other has made his bed, and so must +lie in it, until that final day when life ends, and they sleep separate. + +About this time young Esmond, who had a knack of stringing verses, +turned some of Ovid's Epistles into rhymes, and brought them to his lady +for her delectation. Those which treated of forsaken women touched her +immensely, Harry remarked; and when Oenone called after Paris, and Medea +bade Jason come back again, the lady of Castlewood sighed, and said she +thought that part of the verses was the most pleasing. Indeed, she would +have chopped up the Dean, her old father, in order to bring her husband +back again. But her beautiful Jason was gone, as beautiful Jasons will +go, and the poor enchantress had never a spell to keep him. + +My lord was only sulky as long as his wife's anxious face or behavior +seemed to upbraid him. When she had got to master these, and to show an +outwardly cheerful countenance and behavior, her husband's good-humor +returned partially, and he swore and stormed no longer at dinner, but +laughed sometimes, and yawned unrestrainedly; absenting himself often +from home, inviting more company thither, passing the greater part of +his days in the hunting-field, or over the bottle as before; but with +this difference, that the poor wife could no longer see now, as she had +done formerly, the light of love kindled in his eyes. He was with her, +but that flame was out: and that once welcome beacon no more shone +there. + +What were this lady's feelings when forced to admit the truth whereof +her foreboding glass had given her only too true warning, that within +her beauty her reign had ended, and the days of her love were over? +What does a seaman do in a storm if mast and rudder are carried away? He +ships a jurymast, and steers as he best can with an oar. What happens if +your roof falls in a tempest? After the first stun of the calamity the +sufferer starts up, gropes around to see that the children are safe, and +puts them under a shed out of the rain. If the palace burns down, you +take shelter in the barn. What man's life is not overtaken by one or +more of these tornadoes that send us out of the course, and fling us on +rocks to shelter as best we may? + +When Lady Castlewood found that her great ship had gone down, she began +as best she might after she had rallied from the effects of the loss, +to put out small ventures of happiness; and hope for little gains and +returns, as a merchant on 'Change, indocilis pauperiem pati, having lost +his thousands, embarks a few guineas upon the next ship. She laid out +her all upon her children, indulging them beyond all measure, as was +inevitable with one of her kindness of disposition; giving all her +thoughts to their welfare--learning, that she might teach them; and +improving her own many natural gifts and feminine accomplishments, that +she might impart them to her young ones. To be doing good for some one +else, is the life of most good women. They are exuberant of kindness, as +it were, and must impart it to some one. She made herself a good scholar +of French, Italian, and Latin, having been grounded in these by her +father in her youth; hiding these gifts from her husband out of fear, +perhaps, that they should offend him, for my lord was no bookman--pish'd +and psha'd at the notion of learned ladies, and would have been angry +that his wife could construe out of a Latin book of which he could +scarce understand two words. Young Esmond was usher, or house tutor, +under her or over her, as it might happen. During my lord's many +absences, these school-days would go on uninterruptedly: the mother +and daughter learning with surprising quickness; the latter by fits and +starts only, and as suited her wayward humor. As for the little lord, +it must be owned that he took after his father in the matter of +learning--liked marbles and play, and the great horse and the little one +which his father brought him, and on which he took him out a-hunting, a +great deal better than Corderius and Lily; marshalled the village boys, +and had a little court of them, already flogging them, and domineering +over them with a fine imperious spirit, that made his father laugh when +he beheld it, and his mother fondly warn him. The cook had a son, the +woodman had two, the big lad at the porter's lodge took his cuffs +and his orders. Doctor Tusher said he was a young nobleman of gallant +spirit; and Harry Esmond, who was his tutor, and eight years his little +lordship's senior, had hard work sometimes to keep his own temper, and +hold his authority over his rebellious little chief and kinsman. + +In a couple of years after that calamity had befallen which had robbed +Lady Castlewood of a little--a very little--of her beauty, and her +careless husband's heart (if the truth must be told, my lady had found +not only that her reign was over, but that her successor was appointed, +a Princess of a noble house in Drury Lane somewhere, who was installed +and visited by my lord at the town eight miles off--pudet haec opprobria +dicere nobis)--a great change had taken place in her mind, which, by +struggles only known to herself, at least never mentioned to any one, +and unsuspected by the person who caused the pain she endured--had +been schooled into such a condition as she could not very likely have +imagined possible a score of months since, before her misfortunes had +begun. + +She had oldened in that time as people do who suffer silently great +mental pain; and learned much that she had never suspected before. She +was taught by that bitter teacher Misfortune. A child the mother of +other children, but two years back her lord was a god to her; his words +her law; his smile her sunshine; his lazy commonplaces listened to +eagerly, as if they were words of wisdom--all his wishes and freaks +obeyed with a servile devotion. She had been my lord's chief slave and +blind worshipper. Some women bear farther than this, and submit not only +to neglect but to unfaithfulness too--but here this lady's allegiance +had failed her. Her spirit rebelled, and disowned any more obedience. +First she had to bear in secret the passion of losing the adored object; +then to get further initiation, and to find this worshipped being was +but a clumsy idol: then to admit the silent truth, that it was she was +superior, and not the monarch her master: that she had thoughts which +his brains could never master, and was the better of the two; quite +separate from my lord although tied to him, and bound, as almost all +people (save a very happy few), to work all her life alone. My lord sat +in his chair, laughing his laugh, cracking his joke, his face flushing +with wine--my lady in her place over against him--he never suspecting +that his superior was there, in the calm resigned lady, cold of manner, +with downcast eyes. When he was merry in his cups, he would make jokes +about her coldness, and, “D--- it, now my lady is gone, we will have +t'other bottle,” he would say. He was frank enough in telling his +thoughts, such as they were. There was little mystery about my lord's +words or actions. His Fair Rosamond did not live in a Labyrinth, like +the lady of Mr. Addison's opera, but paraded with painted cheeks and a +tipsy retinue in the country town. Had she a mind to be revenged, Lady +Castlewood could have found the way to her rival's house easily enough; +and, if she had come with bowl and dagger, would have been routed off +the ground by the enemy with a volley of Billingsgate, which the fair +person always kept by her. + +Meanwhile, it has been said, that for Harry Esmond his benefactress's +sweet face had lost none of its charms. It had always the kindest of +looks and smiles for him--smiles, not so gay and artless perhaps as +those which Lady Castlewood had formerly worn, when, a child herself, +playing with her children, her husband's pleasure and authority were all +she thought of; but out of her griefs and cares, as will happen I think +when these trials fall upon a kindly heart, and are not too unbearable, +grew up a number of thoughts and excellences which had never come into +existence, had not her sorrow and misfortunes engendered them. Sure, +occasion is the father of most that is good in us. As you have seen the +awkward fingers and clumsy tools of a prisoner cut and fashion the most +delicate little pieces of carved work; or achieve the most prodigious +underground labors, and cut through walls of masonry, and saw iron bars +and fetters; 'tis misfortune that awakens ingenuity, or fortitude, or +endurance, in hearts where these qualities had never come to life but +for the circumstance which gave them a being. + +“'Twas after Jason left her, no doubt,” Lady Castlewood once said with +one of her smiles to young Esmond (who was reading to her a version of +certain lines out of Euripides), “that Medea became a learned woman and +a great enchantress.” + +“And she could conjure the stars out of heaven,” the young tutor added, +“but she could not bring Jason back again.” + +“What do you mean?” asked my lady, very angry. + +“Indeed I mean nothing,” said the other, “save what I've read in books. +What should I know about such matters? I have seen no woman save you +and little Beatrix, and the parson's wife and my late mistress, and your +ladyship's woman here.” + +“The men who wrote your books,” says my lady, “your Horaces, and Ovids, +and Virgils, as far as I know of them, all thought ill of us, as all +the heroes they wrote about used us basely. We were bred to be slaves +always; and even of our own times, as you are still the only lawgivers, +I think our sermons seem to say that the best woman is she who bears +her master's chains most gracefully. 'Tis a pity there are no nunneries +permitted by our church: Beatrix and I would fly to one, and end our +days in peace there away from you.” + +“And is there no slavery in a convent?” says Esmond. + +“At least if women are slaves there, no one sees them,” answered the +lady. “They don't work in street gangs with the public to jeer them: and +if they suffer, suffer in private. Here comes my lord home from hunting. +Take away the books. My lord does not love to see them. Lessons are over +for to-day, Mr. Tutor.” And with a curtsy and a smile she would end this +sort of colloquy. + +Indeed “Mr. Tutor,” as my lady called Esmond, had now business enough on +his hands in Castlewood house. He had three pupils, his lady and her two +children, at whose lessons she would always be present; besides writing +my lord's letters, and arranging his accompts for him--when these could +be got from Esmond's indolent patron. + +Of the pupils the two young people were but lazy scholars, and as my +lady would admit no discipline such as was then in use, my lord's son +only learned what he liked, which was but little, and never to his +life's end could be got to construe more than six lines of Virgil. +Mistress Beatrix chattered French prettily, from a very early age; +and sang sweetly, but this was from her mother's teaching--not Harry +Esmond's, who could scarce distinguish between “Green Sleeves” and +“Lillibullero;” although he had no greater delight in life than to hear +the ladies sing. He sees them now (will he ever forget them?) as they +used to sit together of the summer evenings--the two golden heads over +the page--the child's little hand, and the mother's beating the time, +with their voices rising and falling in unison. + +But if the children were careless, 'twas a wonder how eagerly the +mother learnt from her young tutor--and taught him too. The happiest +instinctive faculty was this lady's--a faculty for discerning latent +beauties and hidden graces of books, especially books of poetry, as in a +walk she would spy out field-flowers and make posies of them, such as +no other hand could. She was a critic, not by reason but by feeling; the +sweetest commentator of those books they read together; and the happiest +hours of young Esmond's life, perhaps, were those passed in the company +of this kind mistress and her children. + +These happy days were to end soon, however; and it was by the Lady +Castlewood's own decree that they were brought to a conclusion. It +happened about Christmas-time, Harry Esmond being now past sixteen +years of age, that his old comrade, adversary, and friend, Tom Tusher, +returned from his school in London, a fair, well-grown, and sturdy lad, +who was about to enter college, with an exhibition from his school, and +a prospect of after promotion in the church. Tom Tusher's talk was of +nothing but Cambridge now; and the boys, who were good friends, examined +each other eagerly about their progress in books. Tom had learned some +Greek and Hebrew, besides Latin, in which he was pretty well skilled, +and also had given himself to mathematical studies under his father's +guidance, who was a proficient in those sciences, of which Esmond knew +nothing; nor could he write Latin so well as Tom, though he could talk +it better, having been taught by his dear friend the Jesuit Father, for +whose memory the lad ever retained the warmest affection, reading his +books, keeping his swords clean in the little crypt where the Father +had shown them to Esmond on the night of his visit; and often of a night +sitting in the chaplain's room, which he inhabited, over his books, his +verses, and rubbish, with which the lad occupied himself, he would look +up at the window, thinking he wished it might open and let in the good +Father. He had come and passed away like a dream; but for the swords +and books Harry might almost think the Father was an imagination of his +mind--and for two letters which had come to him, one from abroad, full +of advice and affection, another soon after he had been confirmed by the +Bishop of Hexton, in which Father Holt deplored his falling away. But +Harry Esmond felt so confident now of his being in the right, and of his +own powers as a casuist, that he thought he was able to face the Father +himself in argument, and possibly convert him. + +To work upon the faith of her young pupil, Esmond's kind mistress sent +to the library of her father the Dean, who had been distinguished in the +disputes of the late king's reign; and, an old soldier now, had hung +up his weapons of controversy. These he took down from his shelves +willingly for young Esmond, whom he benefited by his own personal advice +and instruction. It did not require much persuasion to induce the boy +to worship with his beloved mistress. And the good old nonjuring Dean +flattered himself with a conversion which, in truth, was owing to a much +gentler and fairer persuader. + +Under her ladyship's kind eyes (my lord's being sealed in sleep pretty +generally), Esmond read many volumes of the works of the famous British +Divines of the last age, and was familiar with Wake and Sherlock, with +Stillingfleet and Patrick. His mistress never tired to listen or to +read, to pursue the texts with fond comments, to urge those points which +her fancy dwelt on most, or her reason deemed most important. Since the +death of her father the Dean, this lady hath admitted a certain latitude +of theological reading which her orthodox father would never have +allowed; his favorite writers appealing more to reason and antiquity +than to the passions or imaginations of their readers, so that the works +of Bishop Taylor, nay, those of Mr. Baxter and Mr. Law, have in reality +found more favor with my Lady Castlewood than the severer volumes of our +great English schoolmen. + +In later life, at the University, Esmond reopened the controversy, and +pursued it in a very different manner, when his patrons had determined +for him that he was to embrace the ecclesiastical life. But though his +mistress's heart was in this calling, his own never was much. After that +first fervor of simple devotion, which his beloved Jesuit priest had +inspired in him, speculative theology took but little hold upon the +young man's mind. When his early credulity was disturbed, and his saints +and virgins taken out of his worship, to rank little higher than the +divinities of Olympus, his belief became acquiescence rather than ardor; +and he made his mind up to assume the cassock and bands, as another +man does to wear a breastplate and jack-boots, or to mount a merchant's +desk, for a livelihood, and from obedience and necessity, rather than +from choice. There were scores of such men in Mr. Esmond's time at the +universities, who were going to the church with no better calling than +his. + +When Thomas Tusher was gone, a feeling of no small depression and +disquiet fell upon young Esmond, of which, though he did not complain, +his kind mistress must have divined the cause: for soon after she showed +not only that she understood the reason of Harry's melancholy, but could +provide a remedy for it. Her habit was thus to watch, unobservedly, +those to whom duty or affection bound her, and to prevent their +designs, or to fulfil them, when she had the power. It was this lady's +disposition to think kindnesses, and devise silent bounties and to +scheme benevolence, for those about her. We take such goodness, for the +most part, as if it was our due; the Marys who bring ointment for our +feet get but little thanks. Some of us never feel this devotion at all, +or are moved by it to gratitude or acknowledgment; others only recall it +years after, when the days are past in which those sweet kindnesses were +spent on us, and we offer back our return for the debt by a poor tardy +payment of tears. Then forgotten tones of love recur to us, and kind +glances shine out of the past--oh so bright and clear!--oh so longed +after!--because they are out of reach; as holiday music from withinside +a prison wall--or sunshine seen through the bars; more prized because +unattainable--more bright because of the contrast of present darkness +and solitude, whence there is no escape. + +All the notice, then, which Lady Castlewood seemed to take of Harry +Esmond's melancholy, upon Tom Tusher's departure, was, by a gayety +unusual to her, to attempt to dispel his gloom. She made his three +scholars (herself being the chief one) more cheerful than ever they had +been before, and more docile, too, all of them learning and reading +much more than they had been accustomed to do. “For who knows,” said +the lady, “what may happen, and whether we may be able to keep such a +learned tutor long?” + +Frank Esmond said he for his part did not want to learn any more, and +cousin Harry might shut up his book whenever he liked, if he would +come out a-fishing; and little Beatrix declared she would send for Tom +Tusher, and HE would be glad enough to come to Castlewood, if Harry +chose to go away. + +At last comes a messenger from Winchester one day, bearer of a letter, +with a great black seal, from the Dean there, to say that his sister +was dead, and had left her fortune of 2,000L. among her six nieces, the +Dean's daughters; and many a time since has Harry Esmond recalled the +flushed face and eager look wherewith, after this intelligence, his kind +lady regarded him. She did not pretend to any grief about the deceased +relative, from whom she and her family had been many years parted. + +When my lord heard of the news, he also did not make any very long +face. “The money will come very handy to furnish the music-room and the +cellar, which is getting low, and buy your ladyship a coach and a +couple of horses that will do indifferent to ride or for the coach. And, +Beatrix, you shall have a spinnet: and, Frank, you shall have a little +horse from Hexton Fair; and, Harry, you shall have five pounds to buy +some books,” said my lord, who was generous with his own, and indeed +with other folk's money. “I wish your aunt would die once a year, +Rachel; we could spend your money, and all your sisters', too.” + +“I have but one aunt--and--and I have another use for the money, my +lord,” says my lady, turning very red. + +“Another use, my dear; and what do you know about money?” cries my lord. +“And what the devil is there that I don't give you which you want!” + +“I intend to give this money--can't you fancy how, my lord?” + +My lord swore one of his large oaths that he did not know in the least +what she meant. + +“I intend it for Harry Esmond to go to college. Cousin Harry,” says my +lady, “you mustn't stay longer in this dull place, but make a name to +yourself, and for us too, Harry.” + +“D--n it, Harry's well enough here,” says my lord, for a moment looking +rather sulky. + +“Is Harry going away? You don't mean to say you will go away?” cry out +Frank and Beatrix at one breath. + +“But he will come back: and this will always be his home,” cries my +lady, with blue eyes looking a celestial kindness: “and his scholars +will always love him; won't they?” + +“By G-d, Rachel, you're a good woman!” says my lord, seizing my lady's +hand, at which she blushed very much, and shrank back, putting her +children before her. “I wish you joy, my kinsman,” he continued, giving +Harry Esmond a hearty slap on the shoulder. “I won't balk your luck. Go +to Cambridge, boy, and when Tusher dies you shall have the living +here, if you are not better provided by that time. We'll furnish the +dining-room and buy the horses another year. I'll give thee a nag out +of the stable: take any one except my hack and the bay gelding and the +coach-horses; and God speed thee, my boy!” + +“Have the sorrel, Harry; 'tis a good one. Father says 'tis the best +in the stable,” says little Frank, clapping his hands, and jumping up. +“Let's come and see him in the stable.” And the other, in his delight +and eagerness, was for leaving the room that instant to arrange about +his journey. + +The Lady Castlewood looked after him with sad penetrating glances. “He +wishes to be gone already, my lord,” said she to her husband. + +The young man hung back abashed. “Indeed, I would stay for ever, if your +ladyship bade me,” he said. + +“And thou wouldst be a fool for thy pains, kinsman,” said my lord. “Tut, +tut, man. Go and see the world. Sow thy wild oats; and take the best +luck that Fate sends thee. I wish I were a boy again, that I might go to +college, and taste the Trumpington ale.” + +“Ours, indeed, is but a dull home,” cries my lady, with a little of +sadness and, maybe, of satire, in her voice: “an old glum house, half +ruined, and the rest only half furnished; a woman and two children are +but poor company for men that are accustomed to better. We are only fit +to be your worship's handmaids, and your pleasures must of necessity lie +elsewhere than at home.” + +“Curse me, Rachel, if I know now whether thou art in earnest or not,” + said my lord. + +“In earnest, my lord!” says she, still clinging by one of her children. +“Is there much subject here for joke?” And she made him a grand curtsy, +and, giving a stately look to Harry Esmond, which seemed to say, +“Remember; you understand me, though he does not,” she left the room +with her children. + +“Since she found out that confounded Hexton business,” my lord +said--“and be hanged to them that told her!--she has not been the same +woman. She, who used to be as humble as a milkmaid, is as proud as a +princess,” says my lord. “Take my counsel, Harry Esmond, and keep clear +of women. Since I have had anything to do with the jades, they have +given me nothing but disgust. I had a wife at Tangier, with whom, as she +couldn't speak a word of my language, you'd have thought I might lead a +quiet life. But she tried to poison me, because she was jealous of a Jew +girl. There was your aunt, for aunt she is--aunt Jezebel, a pretty +life your father led with HER! and here's my lady. When I saw her on a +pillion, riding behind the Dean her father, she looked and was such a +baby, that a sixpenny doll might have pleased her. And now you see what +she is--hands off, highty-tighty, high and mighty, an empress couldn't +be grander. Pass us the tankard, Harry my boy. A mug of beer and a toast +at morn, says my host. A toast and a mug of beer at noon, says my dear. +D--n it, Polly loves a mug of ale, too, and laced with brandy, by Jove!” + Indeed, I suppose they drank it together; for my lord was often thick +in his speech at mid-day dinner; and at night at supper, speechless +altogether. + +Harry Esmond's departure resolved upon, it seemed as if the Lady +Castlewood, too, rejoiced to lose him; for more than once, when the +lad, ashamed perhaps at his own secret eagerness to go away (at any +rate stricken with sadness at the idea of leaving those from whom he +had received so many proofs of love and kindness inestimable), tried to +express to his mistress his sense of gratitude to her, and his sorrow at +quitting those who had so sheltered and tended a nameless and houseless +orphan, Lady Castlewood cut short his protests of love and his +lamentations, and would hear of no grief, but only look forward to +Harry's fame and prospects in life. “Our little legacy will keep you +for four years like a gentleman. Heaven's Providence, your own genius, +industry, honor, must do the rest for you. Castlewood will always be a +home for you; and these children, whom you have taught and loved, will +not forget to love you. And, Harry,” said she (and this was the only +time when she spoke with a tear in her eye, or a tremor in her voice), +“it may happen in the course of nature that I shall be called away +from them: and their father--and--and they will need true friends and +protectors. Promise me that you will be true to them--as--as I think I +have been to you--and a mother's fond prayer and blessing go with you.” + +“So help me God, madam, I will,” said Harry Esmond, falling on his +knees, and kissing the hand of his dearest mistress. “If you will have +me stay now, I will. What matters whether or no I make my way in life, +or whether a poor bastard dies as unknown as he is now? 'Tis enough +that I have your love and kindness surely; and to make you happy is duty +enough for me.” + +“Happy!” says she; “but indeed I ought to be, with my children, and--” + +“Not happy!” cried Esmond (for he knew what her life was, though he and +his mistress never spoke a word concerning it). “If not happiness, +it may be ease. Let me stay and work for you--let me stay and be your +servant.” + +“Indeed, you are best away,” said my lady, laughing, as she put her hand +on the boy's head for a moment. “You shall stay in no such dull place. +You shall go to college and distinguish yourself as becomes your name. +That is how you shall please me best; and--and if my children want you, +or I want you, you shall come to us; and I know we may count on you.” + +“May heaven forsake me if you may not!” Harry said, getting up from his +knee. + +“And my knight longs for a dragon this instant that he may fight,” said +my lady, laughing; which speech made Harry Esmond start, and turn red; +for indeed the very thought was in his mind, that he would like +that some chance should immediately happen whereby he might show his +devotion. And it pleased him to think that his lady had called him “her +knight,” and often and often he recalled this to his mind, and prayed +that he might be her true knight, too. + +My lady's bed-chamber window looked out over the country, and you could +see from it the purple hills beyond Castlewood village, the green common +betwixt that and the Hall, and the old bridge which crossed over the +river. When Harry Esmond went away for Cambridge, little Frank ran +alongside his horse as far as the bridge, and there Harry stopped for a +moment, and looked back at the house where the best part of his life had +been passed. It lay before him with its gray familiar towers, a pinnacle +or two shining in the sun, the buttresses and terrace walls casting +great blue shades on the grass. And Harry remembered, all his life +after, how he saw his mistress at the window looking out on him in a +white robe, the little Beatrix's chestnut curls resting at her mother's +side. Both waved a farewell to him, and little Frank sobbed to leave +him. Yes, he WOULD be his lady's true knight, he vowed in his heart; he +waved her an adieu with his hat. The village people had Good-by to say +to him too. All knew that Master Harry was going to college, and most of +them had a kind word and a look of farewell. I do not stop to say what +adventures he began to imagine, or what career to devise for himself +before he had ridden three miles from home. He had not read Monsieur +Galland's ingenious Arabian tales as yet; but be sure that there are +other folks who build castles in the air, and have fine hopes, and kick +them down too, besides honest Alnaschar. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +I GO TO CAMBRIDGE, AND DO BUT LITTLE GOOD THERE. + + +Mr lord, who said he should like to revisit the old haunts of his youth, +kindly accompanied Harry Esmond in his first journey to Cambridge. Their +road lay through London, where my Lord Viscount would also have Harry +stay a few days to show him the pleasures of the town before he entered +upon his university studies, and whilst here Harry's patron conducted +the young man to my Lady Dowager's house at Chelsey near London: +the kind lady at Castlewood having specially ordered that the young +gentleman and the old should pay a respectful visit in that quarter. + +Her ladyship the Viscountess Dowager occupied a handsome new house in +Chelsey, with a garden behind it, and facing the river, always a bright +and animated sight with its swarms of sailors, barges, and wherries. +Harry laughed at recognizing in the parlor the well-remembered old +piece of Sir Peter Lely, wherein his father's widow was represented as +a virgin huntress, armed with a gilt bow-and-arrow, and encumbered only +with that small quantity of drapery which it would seem the virgins in +King Charles's day were accustomed to wear. + +My Lady Dowager had left off this peculiar habit of huntress when she +married. But though she was now considerably past sixty years of age, I +believe she thought that airy nymph of the picture could still be easily +recognized in the venerable personage who gave an audience to Harry and +his patron. + +She received the young man with even more favor than she showed to the +elder, for she chose to carry on the conversation in French, in which my +Lord Castlewood was no great proficient, and expressed her satisfaction +at finding that Mr. Esmond could speak fluently in that language. “'Twas +the only one fit for polite conversation,” she condescended to say, “and +suitable to persons of high breeding.” + +My lord laughed afterwards, as the gentlemen went away, at his +kinswoman's behavior. He said he remembered the time when she could +speak English fast enough, and joked in his jolly way at the loss he had +had of such a lovely wife as that. + +My Lady Viscountess deigned to ask his lordship news of his wife and +children; she had heard that Lady Castlewood had had the small-pox; she +hoped she was not so VERY much disfigured as people said. + +At this remark about his wife's malady, my Lord Viscount winced and +turned red; but the Dowager, in speaking of the disfigurement of the +young lady, turned to her looking-glass and examined her old wrinkled +countenance in it with such a grin of satisfaction, that it was all her +guests could do to refrain from laughing in her ancient face. + +She asked Harry what his profession was to be; and my lord, saying that +the lad was to take orders, and have the living of Castlewood when old +Dr. Tusher vacated it, she did not seem to show any particular anger at +the notion of Harry's becoming a Church of England clergyman, nay, was +rather glad than otherwise, that the youth should be so provided for. +She bade Mr. Esmond not to forget to pay her a visit whenever he passed +through London, and carried her graciousness so far as to send a purse +with twenty guineas for him, to the tavern at which my lord put up (the +“Greyhound,” in Charing Cross); and, along with this welcome gift for +her kinsman, she sent a little doll for a present to my lord's little +daughter Beatrix, who was growing beyond the age of dolls by this time, +and was as tall almost as her venerable relative. + +After seeing the town, and going to the plays, my Lord Castlewood and +Esmond rode together to Cambridge, spending two pleasant days upon the +journey. Those rapid new coaches were not established, as yet, that +performed the whole journey between London and the University in a +single day; however, the road was pleasant and short enough to Harry +Esmond, and he always gratefully remembered that happy holiday which his +kind patron gave him. + +Mr. Esmond was entered a pensioner of Trinity College in Cambridge, +to which famous college my lord had also in his youth belonged. Dr. +Montague was master at this time, and received my Lord Viscount with +great politeness: so did Mr. Bridge, who was appointed to be Harry's +tutor. Tom Tusher, who was of Emanuel College, and was by this time +a junior soph, came to wait upon my lord, and to take Harry under his +protection; and comfortable rooms being provided for him in the great +court close by the gate, and near to the famous Mr. Newton's lodgings, +Harry's patron took leave of him with many kind words and blessings, +and an admonition to him to behave better at the University than my lord +himself had ever done. + +'Tis needless in these memoirs to go at any length into the particulars +of Harry Esmond's college career. It was like that of a hundred young +gentlemen of that day. But he had the ill fortune to be older by a +couple of years than most of his fellow-students; and by his previous +solitary mode of bringing up, the circumstances of his life, and the +peculiar thoughtfulness and melancholy that had naturally engendered, he +was, in a great measure, cut off from the society of comrades who were +much younger and higher-spirited than he. His tutor, who had bowed +down to the ground, as he walked my lord over the college grass-plats, +changed his behavior as soon as the nobleman's back was turned, and +was--at least Harry thought so--harsh and overbearing. When the lads +used to assemble in their greges in hall, Harry found himself alone in +the midst of that little flock of boys; they raised a great laugh at +him when he was set on to read Latin, which he did with the foreign +pronunciation taught to him by his old master, the Jesuit, than which +he knew no other. Mr. Bridge, the tutor, made him the object of clumsy +jokes, in which he was fond of indulging. The young man's spirit was +chafed, and his vanity mortified; and he found himself, for some time, +as lonely in this place as ever he had been at Castlewood, whither he +longed to return. His birth was a source of shame to him, and he fancied +a hundred slights and sneers from young and old, who, no doubt, had +treated him better had he met them himself more frankly. And as he looks +back, in calmer days, upon this period of his life, which he thought so +unhappy, he can see that his own pride and vanity caused no small part +of the mortifications which he attributed to other's ill will. The world +deals good-naturedly with good-natured people, and I never knew a sulky +misanthropist who quarrelled with it, but it was he, and not it, that +was in the wrong. Tom Tusher gave Harry plenty of good advice on this +subject, for Tom had both good sense and good humor; but Mr. Harry chose +to treat his senior with a great deal of superfluous disdain and absurd +scorn, and would by no means part from his darling injuries, in which, +very likely, no man believed but himself. As for honest Doctor Bridge, +the tutor found, after a few trials of wit with the pupil, that the +young man was an ugly subject for wit, and that the laugh was often +turned against him. This did not make tutor and pupil any better +friends; but had, so far, an advantage for Esmond, that Mr. Bridge was +induced to leave him alone; and so long as he kept his chapels, and did +the college exercises required of him, Bridge was content not to see +Harry's glum face in his class, and to leave him to read and sulk for +himself in his own chamber. + +A poem or two in Latin and English, which were pronounced to have some +merit, and a Latin oration, (for Mr. Esmond could write that language +better than pronounce it,) got him a little reputation both with the +authorities of the University and amongst the young men, with whom he +began to pass for more than he was worth. A few victories over their +common enemy, Mr. Bridge, made them incline towards him, and look upon +him as the champion of their order against the seniors. Such of the lads +as he took into his confidence found him not so gloomy and haughty as +his appearance led them to believe; and Don Dismallo, as he was called, +became presently a person of some little importance in his college, and +was, as he believes, set down by the seniors there as rather a dangerous +character. + +Don Dismallo was a staunch young Jacobite, like the rest of his family; +gave himself many absurd airs of loyalty; used to invite young friends +to Burgundy, and give the King's health on King James's birthday; wore +black on the day of his abdication; fasted on the anniversary of King +William's coronation; and performed a thousand absurd antics, of which +he smiles now to think. + +These follies caused many remonstrances on Tom Tusher's part, who +was always a friend to the powers that be, as Esmond was always in +opposition to them. Tom was a Whig, while Esmond was a Tory. Tom never +missed a lecture, and capped the proctor with the profoundest of bows. +No wonder he sighed over Harry's insubordinate courses, and was angry +when the others laughed at him. But that Harry was known to have my +Lord Viscount's protection, Tom no doubt would have broken with him +altogether. But honest Tom never gave up a comrade as long as he was the +friend of a great man. This was not out of scheming on Tom's part, but +a natural inclination towards the great. 'Twas no hypocrisy in him +to flatter, but the bent of his mind, which was always perfectly +good-humored, obliging, and servile. + +Harry had very liberal allowances, for his dear mistress of Castlewood +not only regularly supplied him, but the Dowager of Chelsey made her +donation annual, and received Esmond at her house near London every +Christmas; but, in spite of these benefactions, Esmond was constantly +poor; whilst 'twas a wonder with how small a stipend from his father Tom +Tusher contrived to make a good figure. 'Tis true that Harry both spent, +gave, and lent his money very freely, which Thomas never did. I think he +was like the famous Duke of Marlborough in this instance, who, getting +a present of fifty pieces, when a young man, from some foolish woman +who fell in love with his good looks, showed the money to Cadogan in a +drawer scores of years after, where it had lain ever since he had sold +his beardless honor to procure it. I do not mean to say that Tom ever +let out his good looks so profitably, for nature had not endowed him +with any particular charms of person, and he ever was a pattern of moral +behavior, losing no opportunity of giving the very best advice to his +younger comrade; with which article, to do him justice, he parted very +freely. Not but that he was a merry fellow, too, in his way; he loved a +joke, if by good fortune he understood it, and took his share generously +of a bottle if another paid for it, and especially if there was a young +lord in company to drink it. In these cases there was not a harder +drinker in the University than Mr. Tusher could be; and it was edifying +to behold him, fresh shaved and with smug face, singing out “Amen!” + at early chapel in the morning. In his reading, poor Harry permitted +himself to go a-gadding after all the Nine Muses, and so very likely had +but little favor from any one of them; whereas Tom Tusher, who had +no more turn for poetry than a ploughboy, nevertheless, by a dogged +perseverance and obsequiousness in courting the divine Calliope, got +himself a prize, and some credit in the University, and a fellowship +at his college, as a reward for his scholarship. In this time of Mr. +Esmond's life, he got the little reading which he ever could boast of, +and passed a good part of his days greedily devouring all the books on +which he could lay hand. In this desultory way the works of most of the +English, French, and Italian poets came under his eyes, and he had +a smattering of the Spanish tongue likewise, besides the ancient +languages, of which, at least of Latin, he was a tolerable master. + +Then, about midway in his University career, he fell to reading for the +profession to which worldly prudence rather than inclination called him, +and was perfectly bewildered in theological controversy. In the course +of his reading (which was neither pursued with that seriousness or that +devout mind which such a study requires) the youth found himself at the +end of one month a Papist, and was about to proclaim his faith; the next +month a Protestant, with Chillingworth; and the third a sceptic, with +Hobbes and Bayle. Whereas honest Tom Tusher never permitted his mind to +stray out of the prescribed University path, accepted the Thirty-nine +Articles with all his heart, and would have signed and sworn to other +nine-and-thirty with entire obedience. Harry's wilfulness in this +matter, and disorderly thoughts and conversation, so shocked and +afflicted his senior, that there grew up a coldness and estrangement +between them, so that they became scarce more than mere acquaintances, +from having been intimate friends when they came to college first. +Politics ran high, too, at the University; and here, also, the young +men were at variance. Tom professed himself, albeit a high-churchman, +a strong King William's-man; whereas Harry brought his family Tory +politics to college with him, to which he must add a dangerous +admiration for Oliver Cromwell, whose side, or King James's by turns, +he often chose to take in the disputes which the young gentlemen used +to hold in each other's rooms, where they debated on the state of the +nation, crowned and deposed kings, and toasted past and present heroes +and beauties in flagons of college ale. + +Thus, either from the circumstances of his birth, or the natural +melancholy of his disposition, Esmond came to live very much by himself +during his stay at the University, having neither ambition enough to +distinguish himself in the college career, nor caring to mingle with +the mere pleasures and boyish frolics of the students, who were, for +the most part, two or three years younger than he. He fancied that the +gentlemen of the common-room of his college slighted him on account of +his birth, and hence kept aloof from their society. It may be that +he made the ill will, which he imagined came from them, by his own +behavior, which, as he looks back on it in after life, he now sees +was morose and haughty. At any rate, he was as tenderly grateful for +kindness as he was susceptible of slight and wrong; and, lonely as +he was generally, yet had one or two very warm friendships for his +companions of those days. + +One of these was a queer gentleman that resided in the University, +though he was no member of it, and was the professor of a science scarce +recognized in the common course of college education. This was a French +refugee-officer, who had been driven out of his native country at the +time of the Protestant persecutions there, and who came to Cambridge, +where he taught the science of the small-sword, and set up a +saloon-of-arms. Though he declared himself a Protestant, 'twas said +Mr. Moreau was a Jesuit in disguise; indeed, he brought very strong +recommendations to the Tory party, which was pretty strong in that +University, and very likely was one of the many agents whom King James +had in this country. Esmond found this gentleman's conversation very +much more agreeable and to his taste than the talk of the college +divines in the common-room; he never wearied of Moreau's stories of +the wars of Turenne and Conde, in which he had borne a part; and being +familiar with the French tongue from his youth, and in a place where +but few spoke it, his company became very agreeable to the brave old +professor of arms, whose favorite pupil he was, and who made Mr. Esmond +a very tolerable proficient in the noble science of escrime. + +At the next term Esmond was to take his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and +afterwards, in proper season, to assume the cassock and bands which his +fond mistress would have him wear. Tom Tusher himself was a parson and +a fellow of his college by this time; and Harry felt that he would very +gladly cede his right to the living of Castlewood to Tom, and that his +own calling was in no way to the pulpit. But as he was bound, before +all things in the world, to his dear mistress at home, and knew that a +refusal on his part would grieve her, he determined to give her no +hint of his unwillingness to the clerical office: and it was in this +unsatisfactory mood of mind that he went to spend the last vacation he +should have at Castlewood before he took orders. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +I COME HOME FOR A HOLIDAY TO CASTLEWOOD, AND FIND A SKELETON IN THE +HOUSE. + + +At his third long vacation, Esmond came as usual to Castlewood, always +feeling an eager thrill of pleasure when he found himself once more +in the house where he had passed so many years, and beheld the kind +familiar eyes of his mistress looking upon him. She and her children +(out of whose company she scarce ever saw him) came to greet him. Miss +Beatrix was grown so tall that Harry did not quite know whether he +might kiss her or no; and she blushed and held back when he offered +that salutation, though she took it, and even courted it, when they were +alone. The young lord was shooting up to be like his gallant father in +look, though with his mother's kind eyes: the lady of Castlewood herself +seemed grown, too, since Harry saw her--in her look more stately, in +her person fuller, in her face still as ever most tender and friendly, a +greater air of command and decision than had appeared in that guileless +sweet countenance which Harry remembered so gratefully. The tone of her +voice was so much deeper and sadder when she spoke and welcomed him, +that it quite startled Esmond, who looked up at her surprised as she +spoke, when she withdrew her eyes from him; nor did she ever look at him +afterwards when his own eyes were gazing upon her. A something hinting +at grief and secret, and filling his mind with alarm undefinable, seemed +to speak with that low thrilling voice of hers, and look out of those +clear sad eyes. Her greeting to Esmond was so cold that it almost pained +the lad, (who would have liked to fall on his knees, and kiss the skirt +of her robe, so fond and ardent was his respect and regard for her,) +and he faltered in answering the questions which she, hesitating on her +side, began to put to him. Was he happy at Cambridge? Did he study too +hard? She hoped not. He had grown very tall, and looked very well. + +“He has got a moustache!” cries out Master Esmond. + +“Why does he not wear a peruke like my Lord Mohun?” asked Miss Beatrix. +“My lord says that nobody wears their own hair.” + +“I believe you will have to occupy your old chamber,” says my lady. “I +hope the housekeeper has got it ready.” + +“Why, mamma, you have been there ten times these three days yourself!” + exclaims Frank. + +“And she cut some flowers which you planted in my garden--do you +remember, ever so many years ago? when I was quite a little girl,” cries +out Miss Beatrix, on tiptoe. “And mamma put them in your window.” + +“I remember when you grew well after you were ill that you used to like +roses,” said the lady, blushing like one of them. They all conducted +Harry Esmond to his chamber; the children running before, Harry walking +by his mistress hand-in-hand. + +The old room had been ornamented and beautified not a little to receive +him. The flowers were in the window in a china vase; and there was a +fine new counterpane on the bed, which chatterbox Beatrix said mamma had +made too. A fire was crackling on the hearth, although it was June. My +lady thought the room wanted warming; everything was done to make him +happy and welcome: “And you are not to be a page any longer, but a +gentleman and kinsman, and to walk with papa and mamma,” said the +children. And as soon as his dear mistress and children had left him to +himself, it was with a heart overflowing with love and gratefulness that +he flung himself down on his knees by the side of the little bed, and +asked a blessing upon those who were so kind to him. + +The children, who are always house tell-tales, soon made him acquainted +with the little history of the house and family. Papa had been to London +twice. Papa often went away now. Papa had taken Beatrix to Westlands, +where she was taller than Sir George Harper's second daughter, though +she was two years older. Papa had taken Beatrix and Frank both to +Bellminster, where Frank had got the better of Lord Bellminster's son in +a boxing-match--my lord, laughing, told Harry afterwards. Many gentlemen +came to stop with papa, and papa had gotten a new game from London, +a French game, called a billiard--that the French king played it very +well: and the Dowager Lady Castlewood had sent Miss Beatrix a present; +and papa had gotten a new chaise, with two little horses, which he drove +himself, beside the coach, which mamma went in; and Dr. Tusher was a +cross old plague, and they did not like to learn from him at all; and +papa did not care about them learning, and laughed when they were at +their books, but mamma liked them to learn, and taught them; and “I +don't think papa is fond of mamma,” said Miss Beatrix, with her great +eyes. She had come quite close up to Harry Esmond by the time this +prattle took place, and was on his knee, and had examined all the points +of his dress, and all the good or bad features of his homely face. + +“You shouldn't say that papa is not fond of mamma,” said the boy, at +this confession. “Mamma never said so; and mamma forbade you to say it, +Miss Beatrix.” + +'Twas this, no doubt, that accounted for the sadness in Lady +Castlewood's eyes, and the plaintive vibrations of her voice. Who +does not know of eyes, lighted by love once, where the flame shines no +more?--of lamps extinguished, once properly trimmed and tended? Every +man has such in his house. Such mementoes make our splendidest chambers +look blank and sad; such faces seen in a day cast a gloom upon our +sunshine. So oaths mutually sworn, and invocations of heaven, and +priestly ceremonies, and fond belief, and love, so fond and faithful +that it never doubted but that it should live for ever, are all of no +avail towards making love eternal: it dies, in spite of the banns and +the priest; and I have often thought there should be a visitation of the +sick for it, and a funeral service, and an extreme unction, and an +abi in pace. It has its course, like all mortal things--its beginning, +progress, and decay. It buds and it blooms out into sunshine, and it +withers and ends. Strephon and Chloe languish apart; join in a rapture: +and presently you hear that Chloe is crying, and Strephon has broken +his crook across her back. Can you mend it so as to show no marks of +rupture? Not all the priests of Hymen, not all the incantations to the +gods, can make it whole! + +Waking up from dreams, books, and visions of college honors, in which +for two years, Harry Esmond had been immersed, he found himself, +instantly, on his return home, in the midst of this actual tragedy of +life, which absorbed and interested him more than all his tutor had +taught him. The persons whom he loved best in the world, and to whom he +owed most, were living unhappily together. The gentlest and kindest of +women was suffering ill usage and shedding tears in secret: the man who +made her wretched by neglect, if not by violence, was Harry's benefactor +and patron. In houses where, in place of that sacred, inmost flame +of love, there is discord at the centre, the whole household becomes +hypocritical, and each lies to his neighbor. The husband (or it may +be the wife) lies when the visitor comes in, and wears a grin of +reconciliation or politeness before him. The wife lies (indeed, her +business is to do that, and to smile, however much she is beaten), +swallows her tears, and lies to her lord and master; lies in bidding +little Jackey respect dear papa; lies in assuring grandpapa that she +is perfectly happy. The servants lie, wearing grave faces behind their +master's chair, and pretending to be unconscious of the fighting; +and so, from morning till bedtime, life is passed in falsehood. And +wiseacres call this a proper regard of morals, and point out Baucis and +Philemon as examples of a good life. + +If my lady did not speak of her griefs to Harry Esmond, my lord was +by no means reserved when in his cups, and spoke his mind very freely, +bidding Harry in his coarse way, and with his blunt language, beware +of all women as cheats, jades, jilts, and using other unmistakable +monosyllables in speaking of them. Indeed, 'twas the fashion of the day, +as I must own; and there's not a writer of my time of any note, with the +exception of poor Dick Steele, that does not speak of a woman as of +a slave, and scorn and use her as such. Mr. Pope, Mr. Congreve, Mr. +Addison, Mr. Gay, every one of 'em, sing in this key, each according to +his nature and politeness, and louder and fouler than all in abuse is +Dr. Swift, who spoke of them as he treated them, worst of all. + +Much of the quarrels and hatred which arise between married people come +in my mind from the husband's rage and revolt at discovering that +his slave and bedfellow, who is to minister to all his wishes, and is +church-sworn to honor and obey him--is his superior; and that HE, +and not she, ought to be the subordinate of the twain; and in these +controversies, I think, lay the cause of my lord's anger against his +lady. When he left her, she began to think for herself, and her thoughts +were not in his favor. After the illumination, when the love-lamp is +put out that anon we spoke of, and by the common daylight we look at the +picture, what a daub it looks! what a clumsy effigy! How many men and +wives come to this knowledge, think you? And if it be painful to a woman +to find herself mated for life to a boor, and ordered to love and honor +a dullard; it is worse still for the man himself perhaps, whenever in +his dim comprehension the idea dawns that his slave and drudge yonder +is, in truth, his superior; that the woman who does his bidding, and +submits to his humor, should be his lord; that she can think a thousand +things beyond the power of his muddled brains; and that in yonder head, +on the pillow opposite to him, lie a thousand feelings, mysteries of +thought, latent scorns and rebellions, whereof he only dimly perceives +the existence as they look out furtively from her eyes: treasures of +love doomed to perish without a hand to gather them; sweet fancies and +images of beauty that would grow and unfold themselves into flower; +bright wit that would shine like diamonds could it be brought into the +sun: and the tyrant in possession crushes the outbreak of all these, +drives them back like slaves into the dungeon and darkness, and chafes +without that his prisoner is rebellious, and his sworn subject undutiful +and refractory. So the lamp was out in Castlewood Hall, and the lord +and lady there saw each other as they were. With her illness and altered +beauty my lord's fire for his wife disappeared; with his selfishness and +faithlessness her foolish fiction of love and reverence was rent away. +Love!--who is to love what is base and unlovely? Respect!--who is to +respect what is gross and sensual? Not all the marriage oaths sworn +before all the parsons, cardinals, ministers, muftis, and rabbins in +the world, can bind to that monstrous allegiance. This couple was living +apart then; the woman happy to be allowed to love and tend her children +(who were never of her own good-will away from her), and thankful to +have saved such treasures as these out of the wreck in which the better +part of her heart went down. + +These young ones had had no instructors save their mother, and Doctor +Tusher for their theology occasionally, and had made more progress than +might have been expected under a tutor so indulgent and fond as Lady +Castlewood. Beatrix could sing and dance like a nymph. Her voice was +her father's delight after dinner. She ruled over the house with little +imperial ways, which her parents coaxed and laughed at. She had long +learned the value of her bright eyes, and tried experiments in coquetry, +in corpore vili, upon rustics and country squires, until she should +prepare to conquer the world and the fashion. She put on a new ribbon to +welcome Harry Esmond, made eyes at him, and directed her young smiles at +him, not a little to the amusement of the young man, and the joy of her +father, who laughed his great laugh, and encouraged her in her thousand +antics. Lady Castlewood watched the child gravely and sadly: the +little one was pert in her replies to her mother, yet eager in her +protestations of love and promises of amendment; and as ready to cry +(after a little quarrel brought on by her own giddiness) until she +had won back her mamma's favor, as she was to risk the kind lady's +displeasure by fresh outbreaks of restless vanity. From her mother's sad +looks she fled to her father's chair and boozy laughter. She already +set the one against the other: and the little rogue delighted in the +mischief which she knew how to make so early. + +The young heir of Castlewood was spoiled by father and mother both. He +took their caresses as men do, and as if they were his right. He had +his hawks and his spaniel dog, his little horse and his beagles. He had +learned to ride, and to drink, and to shoot flying: and he had a +small court, the sons of the huntsman and woodman, as became the +heir-apparent, taking after the example of my lord his father. If he had +a headache, his mother was as much frightened as if the plague were in +the house: my lord laughed and jeered in his abrupt way--(indeed, 'twas +on the day after New Year's Day, and an excess of mince-pie)--and said +with some of his usual oaths--“D--n it, Harry Esmond--you see how my +lady takes on about Frank's megrim. She used to be sorry about me, my +boy (pass the tankard, Harry), and to be frightened if I had a headache +once. She don't care about my head now. They're like that--women +are--all the same, Harry, all jilts in their hearts. Stick to +college--stick to punch and buttery ale: and never see a woman that's +handsomer than an old cinder-faced bed-maker. That's my counsel.” + +It was my lord's custom to fling out many jokes of this nature, in +presence of his wife and children, at meals--clumsy sarcasms which my +lady turned many a time, or which, sometimes, she affected not to hear, +or which now and again would hit their mark and make the poor victim +wince (as you could see by her flushing face and eyes filling with +tears), or which again worked her up to anger and retort, when, +in answer to one of these heavy bolts, she would flash back with a +quivering reply. The pair were not happy; nor indeed was it happy to be +with them. Alas that youthful love and truth should end in bitterness +and bankruptcy! To see a young couple loving each other is no wonder; +but to see an old couple loving each other is the best sight of all. +Harry Esmond became the confidant of one and the other--that is, my +lord told the lad all his griefs and wrongs (which were indeed of Lord +Castlewood's own making), and Harry divined my lady's; his affection +leading him easily to penetrate the hypocrisy under which Lady +Castlewood generally chose to go disguised, and see her heart aching +whilst her face wore a smile. 'Tis a hard task for women in life, that +mask which the world bids them wear. But there is no greater crime than +for a woman who is ill used and unhappy to show that she is so. The +world is quite relentless about bidding her to keep a cheerful face; and +our women, like the Malabar wives, are forced to go smiling and painted +to sacrifice themselves with their husbands; their relations being the +most eager to push them on to their duty, and, under their shouts and +applauses, to smother and hush their cries of pain. + +So, into the sad secret of his patron's household, Harry Esmond became +initiated, he scarce knew how. It had passed under his eyes two years +before, when he could not understand it; but reading, and thought, and +experience of men, had oldened him; and one of the deepest sorrows of a +life which had never, in truth, been very happy, came upon him now, when +he was compelled to understand and pity a grief which he stood quite +powerless to relieve. + + +It hath been said my lord would never take the oath of allegiance, nor +his seat as a peer of the kingdom of Ireland, where, indeed, he had but +a nominal estate; and refused an English peerage which King William's +government offered him as a bribe to secure his loyalty. + +He might have accepted this, and would doubtless, but for the earnest +remonstrances of his wife, who ruled her husband's opinions better than +she could govern his conduct, and who being a simple-hearted woman, +with but one rule of faith and right, never thought of swerving from her +fidelity to the exiled family, or of recognizing any other sovereign but +King James; and though she acquiesced in the doctrine of obedience to +the reigning power, no temptation, she thought, could induce her to +acknowledge the Prince of Orange as rightful monarch, nor to let her +lord so acknowledge him. So my Lord Castlewood remained a nonjuror all +his life nearly, though his self-denial caused him many a pang, and left +him sulky and out of humor. + +The year after the Revolution, and all through King William's life, 'tis +known there were constant intrigues for the restoration of the exiled +family; but if my Lord Castlewood took any share of these, as is +probable, 'twas only for a short time, and when Harry Esmond was too +young to be introduced into such important secrets. + +But in the year 1695, when that conspiracy of Sir John Fenwick, Colonel +Lowick, and others, was set on foot, for waylaying King William as he +came from Hampton Court to London, and a secret plot was formed, in +which a vast number of the nobility and people of honor were engaged, +Father Holt appeared at Castlewood, and brought a young friend with +him, a gentleman whom 'twas easy to see that both my lord and the Father +treated with uncommon deference. Harry Esmond saw this gentleman, and +knew and recognized him in after life, as shall be shown in its place; +and he has little doubt now that my Lord Viscount was implicated +somewhat in the transactions which always kept Father Holt employed +and travelling hither and thither under a dozen of different names and +disguises. The Father's companion went by the name of Captain James; +and it was under a very different name and appearance that Harry Esmond +afterwards saw him. + +It was the next year that the Fenwick conspiracy blew up, which is a +matter of public history now, and which ended in the execution of Sir +John and many more, who suffered manfully for their treason, and who +were attended to Tyburn by my lady's father Dean Armstrong, Mr. +Collier, and other stout nonjuring clergymen, who absolved them at the +gallows-foot. + +'Tis known that when Sir John was apprehended, discovery was made of a +great number of names of gentlemen engaged in the conspiracy; when, with +a noble wisdom and clemency, the Prince burned the list of conspirators +furnished to him, and said he would know no more. Now it was after this +that Lord Castlewood swore his great oath, that he would never, so +help him heaven, be engaged in any transaction against that brave and +merciful man; and so he told Holt when the indefatigable priest visited +him, and would have had him engage in a farther conspiracy. After this +my lord ever spoke of King William as he was--as one of the wisest, the +bravest, and the greatest of men. My Lady Esmond (for her part) said she +could never pardon the King, first, for ousting his father-in-law +from his throne, and secondly, for not being constant to his wife, the +Princess Mary. Indeed, I think if Nero were to rise again, and be king +of England, and a good family man, the ladies would pardon him. My lord +laughed at his wife's objections--the standard of virtue did not fit him +much. + +The last conference which Mr. Holt had with his lordship took place when +Harry was come home for his first vacation from college (Harry saw his +old tutor but for a half-hour, and exchanged no private words with him), +and their talk, whatever it might be, left my Lord Viscount very much +disturbed in mind--so much so, that his wife, and his young kinsman, +Henry Esmond, could not but observe his disquiet. After Holt was +gone, my lord rebuffed Esmond, and again treated him with the greatest +deference; he shunned his wife's questions and company, and looked at +his children with such a face of gloom and anxiety, muttering, “Poor +children--poor children!” in a way that could not but fill those whose +life it was to watch him and obey him with great alarm. For which gloom, +each person interested in the Lord Castlewood, framed in his or her own +mind an interpretation. + +My lady, with a laugh of cruel bitterness said, “I suppose the person +at Hexton has been ill, or has scolded him” (for my lord's infatuation +about Mrs. Marwood was known only too well). Young Esmond feared for his +money affairs, into the condition of which he had been initiated; and +that the expenses, always greater than his revenue, had caused Lord +Castlewood disquiet. + +One of the causes why my Lord Viscount had taken young Esmond into his +special favor was a trivial one, that hath not before been mentioned, +though it was a very lucky accident in Henry Esmond's life. A very few +months after my lord's coming to Castlewood, in the winter time--the +little boy, being a child in a petticoat, trotting about--it happened +that little Frank was with his father after dinner, who fell asleep over +his wine, heedless of the child, who crawled to the fire; and, as good +fortune would have it, Esmond was sent by his mistress for the boy just +as the poor little screaming urchin's coat was set on fire by a log; +when Esmond, rushing forward, tore the dress off the infant, so that his +own hands were burned more than the child's, who was frightened rather +than hurt by this accident. But certainly 'twas providential that a +resolute person should have come in at that instant, or the child had +been burned to death probably, my lord sleeping very heavily after +drinking, and not waking so cool as a man should who had a danger to +face. + +Ever after this the father, loud in his expressions of remorse and +humility for being a tipsy good-for-nothing, and of admiration for Harry +Esmond, whom his lordship would style a hero for doing a very trifling +service, had the tenderest regard for his son's preserver, and Harry +became quite as one of the family. His burns were tended with the +greatest care by his kind mistress, who said that heaven had sent him +to be the guardian of her children, and that she would love him all her +life. + +And it was after this, and from the very great love and tenderness which +had grown up in this little household, rather than from the exhortations +of Dean Armstrong (though these had no small weight with him), that +Harry came to be quite of the religion of his house and his dear +mistress, of which he has ever since been a professing member. As for +Dr. Tusher's boasts that he was the cause of this conversion--even in +these young days Mr. Esmond had such a contempt for the Doctor, that had +Tusher bade him believe anything (which he did not--never meddling at +all), Harry would that instant have questioned the truth on't. + +My lady seldom drank wine; but on certain days of the year, such as +birthdays (poor Harry had never a one) and anniversaries, she took a +little; and this day, the 29th December, was one. At the end, then, of +this year, '96, it might have been a fortnight after Mr. Holt's last +visit, Lord Castlewood being still very gloomy in mind, and sitting at +table--my lady bidding a servant bring her a glass of wine, and looking +at her husband with one of her sweet smiles, said-- + +“My lord, will you not fill a bumper too, and let me call a toast?” + +“What is it, Rachel?” says he, holding out his empty glass to be filled. + +“'Tis the 29th of December,” says my lady, with her fond look of +gratitude: “and my toast is, 'Harry--and God bless him, who saved my +boy's life!'” + +My lord looked at Harry hard, and drank the glass, but clapped it down +on the table in a moment, and, with a sort of groan, rose up, and went +out of the room. What was the matter? We all knew that some great grief +was over him. + +Whether my lord's prudence had made him richer, or legacies had fallen +to him, which enabled him to support a greater establishment than that +frugal one which had been too much for his small means, Harry Esmond +knew not; but the house of Castlewood was now on a scale much more +costly than it had been during the first years of his lordship's coming +to the title. There were more horses in the stable and more servants in +the hall, and many more guests coming and going now than formerly, when +it was found difficult enough by the strictest economy to keep the house +as befitted one of his lordship's rank, and the estate out of debt. And +it did not require very much penetration to find that many of the new +acquaintances at Castlewood were not agreeable to the lady there: not +that she ever treated them or any mortal with anything but courtesy; but +they were persons who could not be welcome to her; and whose society a +lady so refined and reserved could scarce desire for her children. There +came fuddling squires from the country round, who bawled their songs +under her windows and drank themselves tipsy with my lord's punch and +ale: there came officers from Hexton, in whose company our little lord +was made to hear talk and to drink, and swear too, in a way that made +the delicate lady tremble for her son. Esmond tried to console her by +saying what he knew of his College experience; that with this sort +of company and conversation a man must fall in sooner or later in his +course through the world: and it mattered very little whether he heard +it at twelve years old or twenty--the youths who quitted mother's +apron-strings the latest being not uncommonly the wildest rakes. But it +was about her daughter that Lady Castlewood was the most anxious, +and the danger which she thought menaced the little Beatrix from the +indulgences which her father gave her, (it must be owned that my lord, +since these unhappy domestic differences especially, was at once violent +in his language to the children when angry, as he was too familiar, not +to say coarse, when he was in a good humor,) and from the company into +which the careless lord brought the child. + +Not very far off from Castlewood is Sark Castle, where the Marchioness +of Sark lived, who was known to have been a mistress of the late King +Charles--and to this house, whither indeed a great part of the country +gentry went, my lord insisted upon going, not only himself, but on +taking his little daughter and son, to play with the children there. The +children were nothing loth, for the house was splendid, and the welcome +kind enough. But my lady, justly no doubt, thought that the children of +such a mother as that noted Lady Sark had been, could be no good company +for her two; and spoke her mind to her lord. His own language when he +was thwarted was not indeed of the gentlest: to be brief, there was a +family dispute on this, as there had been on many other points--and the +lady was not only forced to give in, for the other's will was law--nor +could she, on account of their tender age, tell her children what +was the nature of her objection to their visit of pleasure, or indeed +mention to them any objection at all--but she had the additional secret +mortification to find them returning delighted with their new friends, +loaded with presents from them, and eager to be allowed to go back to +a place of such delights as Sark Castle. Every year she thought the +company there would be more dangerous to her daughter, as from a child +Beatrix grew to a woman, and her daily increasing beauty, and many +faults of character too, expanded. + +It was Harry Esmond's lot to see one of the visits which the old Lady of +Sark paid to the Lady of Castlewood Hall: whither she came in state with +six chestnut horses and blue ribbons, a page on each carriage step, a +gentleman of the horse, and armed servants riding before and behind her. +And, but that it was unpleasant to see Lady Castlewood's face, it was +amusing to watch the behavior of the two enemies: the frigid patience +of the younger lady, and the unconquerable good-humor of the elder--who +would see no offence whatever her rival intended, and who never ceased +to smile and to laugh, and to coax the children, and to pay compliments +to every man, woman, child, nay dog, or chair and table, in Castlewood, +so bent was she upon admiring everything there. She lauded the children, +and wished as indeed she well might--that her own family had been +brought up as well as those cherubs. She had never seen such a +complexion as dear Beatrix's--though to be sure she had a right to +it from father and mother--Lady Castlewood's was indeed a wonder of +freshness, and Lady Sark sighed to think she had not been born a fair +woman; and remarking Harry Esmond, with a fascinating superannuated +smile, she complimented him on his wit, which she said she could see +from his eyes and forehead; and vowed that she would never have HIM at +Sark until her daughter were out of the way. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +MY LORD MOHUN COMES AMONG US FOR NO GOOD. + + +There had ridden along with this old Princess's cavalcade, two +gentlemen: her son, my Lord Firebrace, and his friend, my Lord Mohun, +who both were greeted with a great deal of cordiality by the hospitable +Lord of Castlewood. My Lord Firebrace was but a feeble-minded +and weak-limbed young nobleman, small in stature and limited in +understanding to judge from the talk young Esmond had with him; but +the other was a person of a handsome presence, with the bel air, and a +bright daring warlike aspect, which, according to the chronicle of those +days, had already achieved for him the conquest of several beauties and +toasts. He had fought and conquered in France, as well as in Flanders; +he had served a couple of campaigns with the Prince of Baden on the +Danube, and witnessed the rescue of Vienna from the Turk. And he spoke +of his military exploits pleasantly, and with the manly freedom of a +soldier, so as to delight all his hearers at Castlewood, who were little +accustomed to meet a companion so agreeable. + +On the first day this noble company came, my lord would not hear of +their departure before dinner, and carried away the gentlemen to amuse +them, whilst his wife was left to do the honors of her house to the old +Marchioness and her daughter within. They looked at the stables where my +Lord Mohun praised the horses, though there was but a poor show there: +they walked over the old house and gardens, and fought the siege of +Oliver's time over again: they played a game of rackets in the old +court, where my Lord Castlewood beat my Lord Mohun, who said he loved +ball of all things, and would quickly come back to Castlewood for his +revenge. After dinner they played bowls and drank punch in the green +alley; and when they parted they were sworn friends, my Lord Castlewood +kissing the other lord before he mounted on horseback, and pronouncing +him the best companion he had met for many a long day. All night long, +over his tobacco-pipe, Castlewood did not cease to talk to Harry Esmond +in praise of his new friend, and in fact did not leave off speaking of +him until his lordship was so tipsy that he could not speak plainly any +more. + +At breakfast next day it was the same talk renewed; and when my lady +said there was something free in the Lord Mohun's looks and manner of +speech which caused her to mistrust him, her lord burst out with one of +his laughs and oaths; said that he never liked man, woman, or beast, +but what she was sure to be jealous of it; that Mohun was the prettiest +fellow in England; that he hoped to see more of him whilst in the +country; and that he would let Mohun know what my Lady Prude said of +him. + +“Indeed,” Lady Castlewood said, “I liked his conversation well enough. +'Tis more amusing than that of most people I know. I thought it, I own, +too free; not from what he said, as rather from what he implied.” + +“Psha! your ladyship does not know the world,” said her husband; “and +you have always been as squeamish as when you were a miss of fifteen.” + +“You found no fault when I was a miss at fifteen.” + +“Begad, madam, you are grown too old for a pinafore now; and I hold +that 'tis for me to judge what company my wife shall see,” said my lord, +slapping the table. + +“Indeed, Francis, I never thought otherwise,” answered my lady, rising +and dropping him a curtsy, in which stately action, if there was +obedience, there was defiance too; and in which a bystander, deeply +interested in the happiness of that pair as Harry Esmond was, might see +how hopelessly separated they were; what a great gulf of difference and +discord had run between them. + +“By G-d! Mohun is the best fellow in England; and I'll invite him here, +just to plague that woman. Did you ever see such a frigid insolence as +it is, Harry? That's the way she treats me,” he broke out, storming, and +his face growing red as he clenched his fists and went on. “I'm nobody +in my own house. I'm to be the humble servant of that parson's daughter. +By Jove! I'd rather she should fling the dish at my head than sneer at +me as she does. She puts me to shame before the children with her d--d +airs; and, I'll swear, tells Frank and Beaty that papa's a reprobate, +and that they ought to despise me.” + +“Indeed and indeed, sir, I never heard her say a word but of respect +regarding you,” Harry Esmond interposed. + +“No, curse it! I wish she would speak. But she never does. She +scorns me, and holds her tongue. She keeps off from me, as if I was a +pestilence. By George! she was fond enough of her pestilence once. And +when I came a-courting, you would see miss blush--blush red, by George! +for joy. Why, what do you think she said to me, Harry? She said herself, +when I joked with her about her d--d smiling red cheeks: ''Tis as they +do at St. James's; I put up my red flag when my king comes.' I was the +king, you see, she meant. But now, sir, look at her! I believe she would +be glad if I was dead; and dead I've been to her these five years--ever +since you all of you had the small-pox: and she never forgave me for +going away.” + +“Indeed, my lord, though 'twas hard to forgive, I think my mistress +forgave it,” Harry Esmond said; “and remember how eagerly she watched +your lordship's return, and how sadly she turned away when she saw your +cold looks.” + +“Damme!” cries out my lord; “would you have had me wait and catch the +small-pox? Where the deuce had been the good of that? I'll bear danger +with any man--but not useless danger--no, no. Thank you for nothing. +And--you nod your head, and I know very well, Parson Harry, what you +mean. There was the--the other affair to make her angry. But is a woman +never to forgive a husband who goes a-tripping? Do you take me for a +saint?” + +“Indeed, sir, I do not,” says Harry, with a smile. + +“Since that time my wife's as cold as the statue at Charing Cross. I +tell thee she has no forgiveness in her, Henry. Her coldness blights +my whole life, and sends me to the punch-bowl, or driving about the +country. My children are not mine, but hers, when we are together. 'Tis +only when she is out of sight with her abominable cold glances, that +run through me, that they'll come to me, and that I dare to give them so +much as a kiss; and that's why I take 'em and love 'em in other people's +houses, Harry. I'm killed by the very virtue of that proud woman. +Virtue! give me the virtue that can forgive; give me the virtue that +thinks not of preserving itself, but of making other folks happy. +Damme, what matters a scar or two if 'tis got in helping a friend in ill +fortune?” + +And my lord again slapped the table, and took a great draught from the +tankard. Harry Esmond admired as he listened to him, and thought how the +poor preacher of this self-sacrifice had fled from the small-pox, which +the lady had borne so cheerfully, and which had been the cause of so +much disunion in the lives of all in this house. “How well men preach,” + thought the young man, “and each is the example in his own sermon. How +each has a story in a dispute, and a true one, too, and both are right +or wrong as you will!” Harry's heart was pained within him, to watch the +struggles and pangs that tore the breast of this kind, manly friend and +protector. + +“Indeed, sir,” said he, “I wish to God that my mistress could hear you +speak as I have heard you; she would know much that would make her life +the happier, could she hear it.” But my lord flung away with one of his +oaths, and a jeer; he said that Parson Harry was a good fellow; but that +as for women, all women were alike--all jades and heartless. So a man +dashes a fine vase down, and despises it for being broken. It may be +worthless--true: but who had the keeping of it, and who shattered it? + +Harry, who would have given his life to make his benefactress and her +husband happy, bethought him, now that he saw what my lord's state of +mind was, and that he really had a great deal of that love left in his +heart, and ready for his wife's acceptance if she would take it, whether +he could not be a means of reconciliation between these two persons, +whom he revered the most in the world. And he cast about how he should +break a part of his mind to his mistress, and warn her that in his, +Harry's opinion, at least, her husband was still her admirer, and even +her lover. + +But he found the subject a very difficult one to handle, when he +ventured to remonstrate, which he did in the very gravest tone, (for +long confidence and reiterated proofs of devotion and loyalty had given +him a sort of authority in the house, which he resumed as soon as ever +he returned to it,) and with a speech that should have some effect, as, +indeed, it was uttered with the speaker's own heart, he ventured most +gently to hint to his adored mistress that she was doing her husband +harm by her ill opinion of him, and that the happiness of all the family +depended upon setting her right. + +She, who was ordinarily calm and most gentle, and full of smiles and +soft attentions, flushed up when young Esmond so spoke to her, and rose +from her chair, looking at him with a haughtiness and indignation that +he had never before known her to display. She was quite an altered being +for that moment; and looked an angry princess insulted by a vassal. + +“Have you ever heard me utter a word in my lord's disparagement?” she +asked hastily, hissing out her words, and stamping her foot. + +“Indeed, no,” Esmond said, looking down. + +“Are you come to me as his ambassador--YOU?” she continued. + +“I would sooner see peace between you than anything else in the world,” + Harry answered, “and would go of any embassy that had that end.” + +“So YOU are my lord's go-between?” she went on, not regarding this +speech. “You are sent to bid me back into slavery again, and inform me +that my lord's favor is graciously restored to his handmaid? He is weary +of Covent Garden, is he, that he comes home and would have the fatted +calf killed?” + +“There's good authority for it, surely,” said Esmond. + +“For a son, yes; but my lord is not my son. It was he who cast me away +from him. It was he who broke our happiness down, and he bids me to +repair it. It was he who showed himself to me at last, as he was, not +as I had thought him. It is he who comes before my children stupid and +senseless with wine--who leaves our company for that of frequenters of +taverns and bagnios--who goes from his home to the City yonder and his +friends there, and when he is tired of them returns hither, and expects +that I shall kneel and welcome him. And he sends YOU as his chamberlain! +What a proud embassy! Monsieur, I make you my compliment of the new +place.” + +“It would be a proud embassy, and a happy embassy too, could I bring you +and my lord together,” Esmond replied. + +“I presume you have fulfilled your mission now, sir. 'Twas a pretty +one for you to undertake. I don't know whether 'tis your Cambridge +philosophy, or time, that has altered your ways of thinking,” Lady +Castlewood continued, still in a sarcastic tone. “Perhaps you too have +learned to love drink, and to hiccup over your wine or punch;--which is +your worship's favorite liquor? Perhaps you too put up at the 'Rose' +on your way to London, and have your acquaintances in Covent Garden. My +services to you, sir, to principal and ambassador, to master and--and +lackey.” + +“Great heavens! madam,” cried Harry. “What have I done that thus, for a +second time, you insult me? Do you wish me to blush for what I used to +be proud of, that I lived on your bounty? Next to doing you a service +(which my life would pay for), you know that to receive one from you is +my highest pleasure. What wrong have I done you that you should wound me +so, cruel woman?” + +“What wrong?” she said, looking at Esmond with wild eyes. “Well, +none--none that you know of, Harry, or could help. Why did you bring +back the small-pox,” she added, after a pause, “from Castlewood village? +You could not help it, could you? Which of us knows whither fate leads +us? But we were all happy, Henry, till then.” And Harry went away from +this colloquy, thinking still that the estrangement between his patron +and his beloved mistress was remediable, and that each had at heart a +strong attachment to the other. + +The intimacy between the Lords Mohun and Castlewood appeared to increase +as long as the former remained in the country; and my Lord of Castlewood +especially seemed never to be happy out of his new comrade's sight. +They sported together, they drank, they played bowls and tennis: my Lord +Castlewood would go for three days to Sark, and bring back my Lord Mohun +to Castlewood--where indeed his lordship made himself very welcome to +all persons, having a joke or a new game at romps for the children, all +the talk of the town for my lord, and music and gallantry and plenty of +the beau langage for my lady, and for Harry Esmond, who was never tired +of hearing his stories of his campaigns and his life at Vienna, Venice, +Paris, and the famous cities of Europe which he had visited both in +peace and war. And he sang at my lady's harpsichord, and played cards +or backgammon, or his new game of billiards with my lord (of whom he +invariably got the better) always having a consummate good-humor, and +bearing himself with a certain manly grace, that might exhibit somewhat +of the camp and Alsatia perhaps, but that had its charm, and stamped +him a gentleman: and his manner to Lady Castlewood was so devoted and +respectful, that she soon recovered from the first feelings of dislike +which she had conceived against him--nay, before long, began to be +interested in his spiritual welfare, and hopeful of his conversion, +lending him books of piety, which he promised dutifully to study. With +her my lord talked of reform, of settling into quiet life, quitting the +court and town, and buying some land in the neighborhood--though it +must be owned that, when the two lords were together over their Burgundy +after dinner, their talk was very different, and there was very little +question of conversion on my Lord Mohun's part. When they got to their +second bottle, Harry Esmond used commonly to leave these two noble +topers, who, though they talked freely enough, heaven knows, in his +presence (Good Lord, what a set of stories, of Alsatia and Spring +Garden, of the taverns and gaming-houses, of the ladies of the +court, and mesdames of the theatres, he can recall out of their godly +conversation!)--although, I say, they talked before Esmond freely, yet +they seemed pleased when he went away, and then they had another +bottle, and then they fell to cards, and then my Lord Mohun came to her +ladyship's drawing-room; leaving his boon companion to sleep off his +wine. + +'Twas a point of honor with the fine gentlemen of those days to lose +or win magnificently at their horse-matches, or games of cards and +dice--and you could never tell, from the demeanor of these two lords +afterwards, which had been successful and which the loser at their +games. And when my lady hinted to my lord that he played more than she +liked, he dismissed her with a “pish,” and swore that nothing was more +equal than play betwixt gentlemen, if they did but keep it up long +enough. And these kept it up long enough, you may be sure. A man of +fashion of that time often passed a quarter of his day at cards, and +another quarter at drink: I have known many a pretty fellow, who was +a wit too, ready of repartee, and possessed of a thousand graces, who +would be puzzled if he had to write more than his name. + +There is scarce any thoughtful man or woman, I suppose, but can look +back upon his course of past life, and remember some point, trifling +as it may have seemed at the time of occurrence, which has nevertheless +turned and altered his whole career. 'Tis with almost all of us, as +in M. Massillon's magnificent image regarding King William, a grain de +sable that perverts or perhaps overthrows us; and so it was but a light +word flung in the air, a mere freak of perverse child's temper, that +brought down a whole heap of crushing woes upon that family whereof +Harry Esmond formed a part. + +Coming home to his dear Castlewood in the third year of his academical +course, (wherein he had now obtained some distinction, his Latin Poem +on the death of the Duke of Gloucester, Princess Anne of Denmark's son, +having gained him a medal, and introduced him to the society of the +University wits,) Esmond found his little friend and pupil Beatrix grown +to be taller than her mother, a slim and lovely young girl, with cheeks +mantling with health and roses: with eyes like stars shining out +of azure, with waving bronze hair clustered about the fairest young +forehead ever seen: and a mien and shape haughty and beautiful, such +as that of the famous antique statue of the huntress Diana--at one time +haughty, rapid, imperious, with eyes and arrows that dart and kill. +Harry watched and wondered at this young creature, and likened her in +his mind to Artemis with the ringing bow and shafts flashing death upon +the children of Niobe; at another time she was coy and melting as +Luna shining tenderly upon Endymion. This fair creature, this lustrous +Phoebe, was only young as yet, nor had nearly reached her full splendor: +but crescent and brilliant, our young gentleman of the University, his +head full of poetical fancies, his heart perhaps throbbing with desires +undefined, admired this rising young divinity; and gazed at her (though +only as at some “bright particular star,” far above his earth) with +endless delight and wonder. She had been a coquette from the earliest +times almost, trying her freaks and jealousies, her wayward frolics and +winning caresses, upon all that came within her reach; she set her women +quarrelling in the nursery, and practised her eyes on the groom as she +rode behind him on the pillion. + +She was the darling and torment of father and mother. She intrigued with +each secretly; and bestowed her fondness and withdrew it, plied them +with tears, smiles, kisses, cajolements;--when the mother was angry, as +happened often, flew to the father, and sheltering behind him, pursued +her victim; when both were displeased, transferred her caresses to the +domestics, or watched until she could win back her parents' good graces, +either by surprising them into laughter and good-humor, or appeasing +them by submission and artful humility. She was saevo laeta negotio, +like that fickle goddess Horace describes, and of whose “malicious joy” + a great poet of our own has written so nobly--who, famous and heroic as +he was, was not strong enough to resist the torture of women. + +It was but three years before that the child, then but ten years old, +had nearly managed to make a quarrel between Harry Esmond and his +comrade, good-natured, phlegmatic Thomas Tusher, who never of his own +seeking quarrelled with anybody: by quoting to the latter some silly +joke which Harry had made regarding him--(it was the merest idlest jest, +though it near drove two old friends to blows, and I think such a battle +would have pleased her)--and from that day Tom kept at a distance from +her; and she respected him, and coaxed him sedulously whenever they met. +But Harry was much more easily appeased, because he was fonder of the +child: and when she made mischief, used cutting speeches, or caused her +friends pain, she excused herself for her fault, not by admitting and +deploring it, but by pleading not guilty, and asserting innocence so +constantly, and with such seeming artlessness, that it was impossible to +question her plea. In her childhood, they were but mischiefs then which +she did; but her power became more fatal as she grew older--as a kitten +first plays with a ball, and then pounces on a bird and kills it. 'Tis +not to be imagined that Harry Esmond had all this experience at this +early stage of his life, whereof he is now writing the history--many +things here noted were but known to him in later days. Almost everything +Beatrix did or undid seemed good, or at least pardonable, to him then, +and years afterwards. + +It happened, then, that Harry Esmond came home to Castlewood for his +last vacation, with good hopes of a fellowship at his college, and a +contented resolve to advance his fortune that way. 'Twas in the first +year of the present century, Mr. Esmond (as far as he knew the period of +his birth) being then twenty-two years old. He found his quondam pupil +shot up into this beauty of which we have spoken, and promising yet +more: her brother, my lord's son, a handsome high-spirited brave lad, +generous and frank, and kind to everybody, save perhaps his sister, +with whom Frank was at war (and not from his but her fault)--adoring his +mother, whose joy he was: and taking her side in the unhappy matrimonial +differences which were now permanent, while of course Mistress Beatrix +ranged with her father. When heads of families fall out, it must +naturally be that their dependants wear the one or the other party's +color; and even in the parliaments in the servants' hall or the stables, +Harry, who had an early observant turn, could see which were my lord's +adherents and which my lady's, and conjecture pretty shrewdly how their +unlucky quarrel was debated. Our lackeys sit in judgment on us. My +lord's intrigues may be ever so stealthily conducted, but his valet +knows them; and my lady's woman carries her mistress's private history +to the servants' scandal market, and exchanges it against the secrets of +other abigails. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +MY LORD LEAVES US AND HIS EVIL BEHIND HIM. + + +My Lord Mohun (of whose exploits and fame some of the gentlemen of the +University had brought down but ugly reports) was once more a guest at +Castlewood, and seemingly more intimately allied with my lord even than +before. Once in the spring those two noblemen had ridden to Cambridge +from Newmarket, whither they had gone for the horse-racing, and had +honored Harry Esmond with a visit at his rooms; after which Doctor +Montague, the master of the College, who had treated Harry somewhat +haughtily, seeing his familiarity with these great folks, and that my +Lord Castlewood laughed and walked with his hand on Harry's shoulder, +relented to Mr. Esmond, and condescended to be very civil to him; and +some days after his arrival, Harry, laughing, told this story to Lady +Esmond, remarking how strange it was that men famous for learning and +renowned over Europe, should, nevertheless, so bow down to a title, and +cringe to a nobleman ever so poor. At this Mistress Beatrix flung up her +head, and said it became those of low origin to respect their betters; +that the parsons made themselves a great deal too proud, she thought; +and that she liked the way at Lady Sark's best, where the chaplain, +though he loved pudding, as all parsons do, always went away before the +custard. + +“And when I am a parson,” says Mr. Esmond, “will you give me no custard, +Beatrix?” + +“You--you are different,” Beatrix answered. “You are of our blood.” + +“My father was a parson, as you call him,” said my lady. + +“But mine is a peer of Ireland,” says Mistress Beatrix, tossing her +head. “Let people know their places. I suppose you will have me go down +on my knees and ask a blessing of Mr. Thomas Tusher, that has just been +made a curate and whose mother was a waiting-maid.” + +And she tossed out of the room, being in one of her flighty humors then. + +When she was gone, my lady looked so sad and grave, that Harry asked +the cause of her disquietude. She said it was not merely what he said +of Newmarket, but what she had remarked, with great anxiety and +terror, that my lord, ever since his acquaintance with the Lord +Mohun especially, had recurred to his fondness for play, which he had +renounced since his marriage. + +“But men promise more than they are able to perform in marriage,” said +my lady, with a sigh. “I fear he has lost large sums; and our property, +always small, is dwindling away under this reckless dissipation. I heard +of him in London with very wild company. Since his return, letters +and lawyers are constantly coming and going: he seems to me to have a +constant anxiety, though he hides it under boisterousness and laughter. +I looked through--through the door last night, and--and before,” said +my lady, “and saw them at cards after midnight; no estate will bear that +extravagance, much less ours, which will be so diminished that my son +will have nothing at all, and my poor Beatrix no portion!” + +“I wish I could help you, madam,” said Harry Esmond, sighing, and +wishing that unavailingly, and for the thousandth time in his life. + +“Who can? Only God,” said Lady Esmond--“only God, in whose hands we +are.” And so it is, and for his rule over his family, and for +his conduct to wife and children--subjects over whom his power is +monarchical--any one who watches the world must think with trembling +sometimes of the account which many a man will have to render. For in +our society there's no law to control the King of the Fireside. He is +master of property, happiness--life almost. He is free to punish, +to make happy or unhappy--to ruin or to torture. He may kill a wife +gradually, and be no more questioned than the Grand seignior who drowns +a slave at midnight. He may make slaves and hypocrites of his children; +or friends and freemen; or drive them into revolt and enmity against the +natural law of love. I have heard politicians and coffee-house wiseacres +talking over the newspaper, and railing at the tyranny of the French +King, and the Emperor, and wondered how these (who are monarchs, too, +in their way) govern their own dominions at home, where each man rules +absolute. When the annals of each little reign are shown to the Supreme +Master, under whom we hold sovereignty, histories will be laid bare of +household tyrants as cruel as Amurath, and as savage as Nero, and as +reckless and dissolute as Charles. + +If Harry Esmond's patron erred, 'twas in the latter way, from a +disposition rather self-indulgent than cruel; and he might have been +brought back to much better feelings, had time been given to him to +bring his repentance to a lasting reform. + +As my lord and his friend Lord Mohun were such close companions, +Mistress Beatrix chose to be jealous of the latter; and the two +gentlemen often entertained each other by laughing, in their rude +boisterous way, at the child's freaks of anger and show of dislike. +“When thou art old enough, thou shalt marry Lord Mohun,” Beatrix's +father would say: on which the girl would pout and say, “I would rather +marry Tom Tusher.” And because the Lord Mohun always showed an extreme +gallantry to my Lady Castlewood, whom he professed to admire devotedly, +one day, in answer to this old joke of her father's, Beatrix said, “I +think my lord would rather marry mamma than marry me; and is waiting +till you die to ask her.” + +The words were said lightly and pertly by the girl one night before +supper, as the family party were assembled near the great fire. The two +lords, who were at cards, both gave a start; my lady turned as red as +scarlet, and bade Mistress Beatrix go to her own chamber; whereupon the +girl, putting on, as her wont was, the most innocent air, said, “I am +sure I meant no wrong; I am sure mamma talks a great deal more to Harry +Esmond than she does to papa--and she cried when Harry went away, and +she never does when papa goes away! and last night she talked to Lord +Mohun for ever so long, and sent us out of the room, and cried when we +came back, and--” + +“D--n!” cried out my Lord Castlewood, out of all patience. “Go out of +the room, you little viper!” and he started up and flung down his cards. + +“Ask Lord Mohun what I said to him, Francis,” her ladyship said, rising +up with a scared face, but yet with a great and touching dignity and +candor in her look and voice. “Come away with me, Beatrix.” Beatrix +sprung up too; she was in tears now. + +“Dearest mamma, what have I done?” she asked. “Sure I meant no harm.” + And she clung to her mother, and the pair went out sobbing together. + +“I will tell you what your wife said to me, Frank,” my Lord Mohun cried. +“Parson Harry may hear it; and, as I hope for heaven, every word I say +is true. Last night, with tears in her eyes, your wife implored me to +play no more with you at dice or at cards, and you know best whether +what she asked was not for your good.” + +“Of course, it was, Mohun,” says my lord in a dry hard voice. “Of course +you are a model of a man: and the world knows what a saint you are.” + +My Lord Mohun was separated from his wife, and had had many affairs of +honor: of which women as usual had been the cause. + +“I am no saint, though your wife is--and I can answer for my actions as +other people must for their words,” said my Lord Mohun. + +“By G--, my lord, you shall,” cried the other, starting up. + +“We have another little account to settle first, my lord,” says Lord +Mohun. Whereupon Harry Esmond, filled with alarm for the consequences +to which this disastrous dispute might lead, broke out into the most +vehement expostulations with his patron and his adversary. “Gracious +heavens!” he said, “my lord, are you going to draw a sword upon your +friend in your own house? Can you doubt the honor of a lady who is as +pure as heaven, and would die a thousand times rather than do you a +wrong? Are the idle words of a jealous child to set friends at variance? +Has not my mistress, as much as she dared do, besought your lordship, as +the truth must be told, to break your intimacy with my Lord Mohun; and +to give up the habit which may bring ruin on your family? But for my +Lord Mohun's illness, had he not left you?” + +“'Faith, Frank, a man with a gouty toe can't run after other men's +wives,” broke out my Lord Mohun, who indeed was in that way, and with +a laugh and a look at his swathed limb so frank and comical, that the +other dashing his fist across his forehead was caught by that infectious +good-humor, and said with his oath, “---- it, Harry, I believe thee,” + and so this quarrel was over, and the two gentlemen, at swords drawn but +just now, dropped their points, and shook hands. + +Beati pacifici. “Go, bring my lady back,” said Harry's patron. Esmond +went away only too glad to be the bearer of such good news. He found her +at the door; she had been listening there, but went back as he came. She +took both his hands, hers were marble cold. She seemed as if she would +fall on his shoulder. “Thank you, and God bless you, my dear brother +Harry,” she said. She kissed his hand, Esmond felt her tears upon it: +and leading her into the room, and up to my lord, the Lord Castlewood, +with an outbreak of feeling and affection such as he had not exhibited +for many a long day, took his wife to his heart, and bent over and +kissed her and asked her pardon. + +“'Tis time for me to go to roost. I will have my gruel a-bed,” said my +Lord Mohun: and limped off comically on Harry Esmond's arm. “By George, +that woman is a pearl!” he said; “and 'tis only a pig that wouldn't +value her. Have you seen the vulgar traipsing orange-girl whom +Esmond”--but here Mr. Esmond interrupted him, saying, that these were +not affairs for him to know. + +My lord's gentleman came in to wait upon his master, who was no sooner +in his nightcap and dressing-gown than he had another visitor whom his +host insisted on sending to him: and this was no other than the Lady +Castlewood herself with the toast and gruel, which her husband bade her +make and carry with her own hands in to her guest. + +Lord Castlewood stood looking after his wife as she went on this errand, +and as he looked, Harry Esmond could not but gaze on him, and remarked +in his patron's face an expression of love, and grief, and care, which +very much moved and touched the young man. Lord Castlewood's hands fell +down at his sides, and his head on his breast, and presently he said,-- + +“You heard what Mohun said, parson?” + +“That my lady was a saint?” + +“That there are two accounts to settle. I have been going wrong these +five years, Harry Esmond. Ever since you brought that damned small-pox +into the house, there has been a fate pursuing me, and I had best have +died of it, and not run away from it like a coward. I left Beatrix with +her relations, and went to London; and I fell among thieves, Harry, and +I got back to confounded cards and dice, which I hadn't touched since +my marriage--no, not since I was in the Duke's Guard, with those wild +Mohocks. And I have been playing worse and worse, and going deeper and +deeper into it; and I owe Mohun two thousand pounds now; and when it's +paid I am little better than a beggar. I don't like to look my boy in +the face; he hates me, I know he does. And I have spent Beaty's little +portion: and the Lord knows what will come if I live; the best thing I +can do is to die, and release what portion of the estate is redeemable +for the boy.” + +Mohun was as much master at Castlewood as the owner of the Hall itself; +and his equipages filled the stables, where, indeed, there was room +and plenty for many more horses than Harry Esmond's impoverished patron +could afford to keep. He had arrived on horseback with his people; but +when his gout broke out my Lord Mohun sent to London for a light chaise +he had, drawn by a pair of small horses, and running as swift, wherever +roads were good, as a Laplander's sledge. When this carriage came, his +lordship was eager to drive the Lady Castlewood abroad in it, and did so +many times, and at a rapid pace, greatly to his companion's enjoyment, +who loved the swift motion and the healthy breezes over the downs which +lie hard upon Castlewood, and stretch thence towards the sea. As this +amusement was very pleasant to her, and her lord, far from showing +any mistrust of her intimacy with Lord Mohun, encouraged her to be his +companion--as if willing by his present extreme confidence to make up +for any past mistrust which his jealousy had shown--the Lady Castlewood +enjoyed herself freely in this harmless diversion, which, it must be +owned, her guest was very eager to give her; and it seemed that she grew +the more free with Lord Mohun, and pleased with his company, because of +some sacrifice which his gallantry was pleased to make in her favor. + +Seeing the two gentlemen constantly at cards still of evenings, Harry +Esmond one day deplored to his mistress that this fatal infatuation +of her lord should continue; and now they seemed reconciled together, +begged his lady to hint to her husband that he should play no more. + +But Lady Castlewood, smiling archly and gayly, said she would speak to +him presently, and that, for a few nights more at least, he might be let +to have his amusement. + +“Indeed, madam,” said Harry, “you know not what it costs you; and 'tis +easy for any observer who knows the game, to see that Lord Mohun is by +far the stronger of the two.” + +“I know he is,” says my lady, still with exceeding good-humor; “he is +not only the best player, but the kindest player in the world.” + +“Madam, madam!” Esmond cried, transported and provoked. “Debts of honor +must be paid some time or other; and my master will be ruined if he goes +on.” + +“Harry, shall I tell you a secret?” my lady replied, with kindness and +pleasure still in her eyes. “Francis will not be ruined if he goes on; +he will be rescued if he goes on. I repent of having spoken and thought +unkindly of the Lord Mohun when he was here in the past year. He is full +of much kindness and good; and 'tis my belief that we shall bring him +to better things. I have lent him 'Tillotson' and your favorite +'Bishop Taylor,' and he is much touched, he says; and as a proof of his +repentance--(and herein lies my secret)--what do you think he is doing +with Francis? He is letting poor Frank win his money back again. He hath +won already at the last four nights; and my Lord Mohun says that he will +not be the means of injuring poor Frank and my dear children.” + +“And in God's name, what do you return him for the sacrifice?” asked +Esmond, aghast; who knew enough of men, and of this one in particular, +to be aware that such a finished rake gave nothing for nothing. “How, in +heaven's name, are you to pay him?” + +“Pay him! With a mother's blessing and a wife's prayers!” cries my lady, +clasping her hands together. Harry Esmond did not know whether to +laugh, to be angry, or to love his dear mistress more than ever for the +obstinate innocency with which she chose to regard the conduct of a man +of the world, whose designs he knew better how to interpret. He told the +lady, guardedly, but so as to make his meaning quite clear to her, what +he knew in respect of the former life and conduct of this nobleman; of +other women against whom he had plotted, and whom he had overcome; +of the conversation which he, Harry himself, had had with Lord Mohun, +wherein the lord made a boast of his libertinism, and frequently avowed +that he held all women to be fair game (as his lordship styled this +pretty sport), and that they were all, without exception, to be won. And +the return Harry had for his entreaties and remonstrances was a fit +of anger on Lady Castlewood's part, who would not listen to his +accusations; she said and retorted that he himself must be very wicked +and perverted to suppose evil designs where she was sure none were +meant. “And this is the good meddlers get of interfering,” Harry thought +to himself with much bitterness; and his perplexity and annoyance were +only the greater, because he could not speak to my Lord Castlewood +himself upon a subject of this nature, or venture to advise or warn him +regarding a matter so very sacred as his own honor, of which my lord was +naturally the best guardian. + +But though Lady Castlewood would listen to no advice from her young +dependant, and appeared indignantly to refuse it when offered, Harry +had the satisfaction to find that she adopted the counsel which she +professed to reject; for the next day she pleaded a headache, when my +Lord Mohun would have had her drive out, and the next day the headache +continued; and next day, in a laughing gay way, she proposed that the +children should take her place in his lordship's car, for they would +be charmed with a ride of all things; and she must not have all the +pleasure for herself. My lord gave them a drive with a very good grace, +though, I dare say, with rage and disappointment inwardly--not that his +heart was very seriously engaged in his designs upon this simple lady: +but the life of such men is often one of intrigue, and they can no more +go through the day without a woman to pursue, than a fox-hunter without +his sport after breakfast. + +Under an affected carelessness of demeanor, and though there was no +outward demonstration of doubt upon his patron's part since the quarrel +between the two lords, Harry yet saw that Lord Castlewood was watching +his guest very narrowly; and caught sight of distrust and smothered rage +(as Harry thought) which foreboded no good. On the point of honor Esmond +knew how touchy his patron was; and watched him almost as a physician +watches a patient, and it seemed to him that this one was slow to take +the disease, though he could not throw off the poison when once it had +mingled with his blood. We read in Shakspeare (whom the writer for his +part considers to be far beyond Mr. Congreve, Mr. Dryden, or any of the +wits of the present period,) that when jealousy is once declared, nor +poppy, nor mandragora, nor all the drowsy syrups of the East, will ever +soothe it or medicine it away. + +In fine, the symptoms seemed to be so alarming to this young physician +(who, indeed, young as he was, had felt the kind pulses of all those +dear kinsmen), that Harry thought it would be his duty to warn my Lord +Mohun, and let him know that his designs were suspected and watched. So +one day, when in rather a pettish humor his lordship had sent to Lady +Castlewood, who had promised to drive with him, and now refused to come, +Harry said--“My lord, if you will kindly give me a place by your side +I will thank you; I have much to say to you, and would like to speak to +you alone.” + +“You honor me by giving me your confidence, Mr. Henry Esmond,” says the +other, with a very grand bow. My lord was always a fine gentleman, and +young as he was there was that in Esmond's manner which showed that he +was a gentleman too, and that none might take a liberty with him--so the +pair went out, and mounted the little carriage, which was in waiting for +them in the court, with its two little cream-colored Hanoverian horses +covered with splendid furniture and champing at the bit. + +“My lord,” says Harry Esmond, after they were got into the country, and +pointing to my Lord Mohun's foot, which was swathed in flannel, and put +up rather ostentatiously on a cushion--“my lord, I studied medicine at +Cambridge.” + +“Indeed, Parson Harry,” says he; “and are you going to take out a +diploma: and cure your fellow-students of the--” + +“Of the gout,” says Harry, interrupting him, and looking him hard in the +face; “I know a good deal about the gout.” + +“I hope you may never have it. 'Tis an infernal disease,” says my lord, +“and its twinges are diabolical. Ah!” and he made a dreadful wry face, +as if he just felt a twinge. + +“Your lordship would be much better if you took off all that flannel--it +only serves to inflame the toe,” Harry continued, looking his man full +in the face. + +“Oh! it only serves to inflame the toe, does it?” says the other, with +an innocent air. + +“If you took off that flannel, and flung that absurd slipper away, and +wore a boot,” continues Harry. + +“You recommend me boots, Mr. Esmond?” asks my lord. + +“Yes, boots and spurs. I saw your lordship three days ago run down the +gallery fast enough,” Harry goes on. “I am sure that taking gruel at +night is not so pleasant as claret to your lordship; and besides it +keeps your lordship's head cool for play, whilst my patron's is hot and +flustered with drink.” + +“'Sdeath, sir, you dare not say that I don't play fair?” cries my lord, +whipping his horses, which went away at a gallop. + +“You are cool when my lord is drunk,” Harry continued; “your lordship +gets the better of my patron. I have watched you as I looked up from my +books.” + +“You young Argus!” says Lord Mohun, who liked Harry Esmond--and for +whose company and wit, and a certain daring manner, Harry had a great +liking too--“You young Argus! you may look with all your hundred eyes +and see we play fair. I've played away an estate of a night, and I've +played my shirt off my back; and I've played away my periwig and gone +home in a nightcap. But no man can say I ever took an advantage of him +beyond the advantage of the game. I played a dice-cogging scoundrel in +Alsatia for his ears and won 'em, and have one of 'em in my lodging in +Bow Street in a bottle of spirits. Harry Mohun will play any man for +anything--always would.” + +“You are playing awful stakes, my lord, in my patron's house,” Harry +said, “and more games than are on the cards.” + +“What do you mean, sir?” cries my lord, turning round, with a flush on +his face. + +“I mean,” answers Harry, in a sarcastic tone, “that your gout is +well--if ever you had it.” + +“Sir!” cried my lord, getting hot. + +“And to tell the truth I believe your lordship has no more gout than I +have. At any rate, change of air will do you good, my Lord Mohun. And I +mean fairly that you had better go from Castlewood.” + +“And were you appointed to give me this message?” cries the Lord Mohun. +“Did Frank Esmond commission you?” + +“No one did. 'Twas the honor of my family that commissioned me.” + +“And you are prepared to answer this?” cries the other, furiously +lashing his horses. + +“Quite, my lord: your lordship will upset the carriage if you whip so +hotly.” + +“By George, you have a brave spirit!” my lord cried out, bursting into a +laugh. “I suppose 'tis that infernal botte de Jesuite that makes you so +bold,” he added. + +“'Tis the peace of the family I love best in the world,” Harry Esmond +said warmly--“'tis the honor of a noble benefactor--the happiness of my +dear mistress and her children. I owe them everything in life, my lord; +and would lay it down for any one of them. What brings you here to +disturb this quiet household? What keeps you lingering month after month +in the country? What makes you feign illness, and invent pretexts for +delay? Is it to win my poor patron's money? Be generous, my lord, and +spare his weakness for the sake of his wife and children. Is it to +practise upon the simple heart of a virtuous lady? You might as well +storm the Tower single-handed. But you may blemish her name by light +comments on it, or by lawless pursuits--and I don't deny that 'tis in +your power to make her unhappy. Spare these innocent people, and leave +them.” + +“By the Lord, I believe thou hast an eye to the pretty Puritan thyself, +Master Harry,” says my lord, with his reckless, good-humored laugh, and +as if he had been listening with interest to the passionate appeal of +the young man. “Whisper, Harry. Art thou in love with her thyself? Hath +tipsy Frank Esmond come by the way of all flesh?” + +“My lord, my lord,” cried Harry, his face flushing and his eyes filling +as he spoke, “I never had a mother, but I love this lady as one. I +worship her as a devotee worships a saint. To hear her name spoken +lightly seems blasphemy to me. Would you dare think of your own mother +so, or suffer any one so to speak of her? It is a horror to me to fancy +that any man should think of her impurely. I implore you, I beseech you, +to leave her. Danger will come out of it.” + +“Danger, psha!” says my lord, giving a cut to the horses, which at this +minute--for we were got on to the Downs--fairly ran off into a gallop +that no pulling could stop. The rein broke in Lord Mohun's hands, and +the furious beasts scampered madly forwards, the carriage swaying to +and fro, and the persons within it holding on to the sides as best +they might, until seeing a great ravine before them, where an upset was +inevitable, the two gentlemen leapt for their lives, each out of his +side of the chaise. Harry Esmond was quit for a fall on the grass, which +was so severe that it stunned him for a minute; but he got up presently +very sick, and bleeding at the nose, but with no other hurt. The Lord +Mohun was not so fortunate; he fell on his head against a stone, and lay +on the ground, dead to all appearance. + +This misadventure happened as the gentlemen were on their return +homewards; and my Lord Castlewood, with his son and daughter, who were +going out for a ride, met the ponies as they were galloping with the car +behind, the broken traces entangling their heels, and my lord's people +turned and stopped them. It was young Frank who spied out Lord Mohun's +scarlet coat as he lay on the ground, and the party made up to that +unfortunate gentleman and Esmond, who was now standing over him. His +large periwig and feathered hat had fallen off, and he was bleeding +profusely from a wound on the forehead, and looking, and being, indeed, +a corpse. + +“Great God! he's dead!” says my lord. “Ride, some one: fetch a +doctor--stay. I'll go home and bring back Tusher; he knows surgery,” and +my lord, with his son after him, galloped away. + +They were scarce gone when Harry Esmond, who was indeed but just come to +himself, bethought him of a similar accident which he had seen on a ride +from Newmarket to Cambridge, and taking off a sleeve of my lord's +coat, Harry, with a penknife, opened a vein of his arm, and was greatly +relieved, after a moment, to see the blood flow. He was near half an +hour before he came to himself, by which time Doctor Tusher and little +Frank arrived, and found my lord not a corpse indeed, but as pale as +one. + +After a time, when he was able to bear motion, they put my lord upon +a groom's horse, and gave the other to Esmond, the men walking on each +side of my lord, to support him, if need were, and worthy Doctor Tusher +with them. Little Frank and Harry rode together at a foot pace. + +When we rode together home, the boy said: “We met mamma, who was walking +on the terrace with the doctor, and papa frightened her, and told her +you were dead . . .” + +“That I was dead!” asks Harry. + +“Yes. Papa says: 'Here's poor Harry killed, my dear;' on which mamma +gives a great scream; and oh, Harry! she drops down; and I thought she +was dead too. And you never saw such a way as papa was in: he swore one +of his great oaths: and he turned quite pale; and then he began to laugh +somehow, and he told the Doctor to take his horse, and me to follow him; +and we left him. And I looked back, and saw him dashing water out of the +fountain on to mamma. Oh, she was so frightened!” + +Musing upon this curious history--for my Lord Mohun's name was Henry +too, and they called each other Frank and Harry often--and not a little +disturbed and anxious, Esmond rode home. His dear lady was on the +terrace still, one of her women with her, and my lord no longer there. +There are steps and a little door thence down into the road. My lord +passed, looking very ghastly, with a handkerchief over his head, and +without his hat and periwig, which a groom carried, but his politeness +did not desert him, and he made a bow to the lady above. + +“Thank heaven, you are safe,” she said. + +“And so is Harry too, mamma,” says little Frank,--“huzzay!” + +Harry Esmond got off the horse to run to his mistress, as did little +Frank, and one of the grooms took charge of the two beasts, while the +other, hat and periwig in hand, walked by my lord's bridle to the front +gate, which lay half a mile away. + +“Oh, my boy! what a fright you have given me!” Lady Castlewood said, +when Harry Esmond came up, greeting him with one of her shining looks, +and a voice of tender welcome; and she was so kind as to kiss the young +man ['twas the second time she had so honored him), and she walked into +the house between him and her son, holding a hand of each. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +WE RIDE AFTER HIM TO LONDON. + + +After a repose of a couple of days, the Lord Mohun was so far recovered +of his hurt as to be able to announce his departure for the next +morning; when, accordingly, he took leave of Castlewood, proposing to +ride to London by easy stages, and lie two nights upon the road. His +host treated him with a studied and ceremonious courtesy, certainly +different from my lord's usual frank and careless demeanor; but there +was no reason to suppose that the two lords parted otherwise than good +friends, though Harry Esmond remarked that my Lord Viscount only saw +his guest in company with other persons, and seemed to avoid being alone +with him. Nor did he ride any distance with Lord Mohun, as his custom +was with most of his friends, whom he was always eager to welcome and +unwilling to lose; but contented himself, when his lordship's horses +were announced, and their owner appeared, booted for his journey, to +take a courteous leave of the ladies of Castlewood, by following the +Lord Mohun down stairs to his horses, and by bowing and wishing him +a good-day, in the court-yard. “I shall see you in London before very +long, Mohun,” my lord said, with a smile, “when we will settle our +accounts together.” + +“Do not let them trouble you, Frank,” said the other good-naturedly, and +holding out his hand, looked rather surprised at the grim and stately +manner in which his host received his parting salutation; and so, +followed by his people, he rode away. + +Harry Esmond was witness of the departure. It was very different to my +lord's coming, for which great preparation had been made (the old house +putting on its best appearance to welcome its guest), and there was +a sadness and constraint about all persons that day, which filled Mr. +Esmond with gloomy forebodings, and sad indefinite apprehensions. Lord +Castlewood stood at the door watching his guest and his people as they +went out under the arch of the outer gate. When he was there, Lord Mohun +turned once more, my Lord Viscount slowly raised his beaver and bowed. +His face wore a peculiar livid look, Harry thought. He cursed and kicked +away his dogs, which came jumping about him--then he walked up to the +fountain in the centre of the court, and leaned against a pillar and +looked into the basin. As Esmond crossed over to his own room, late the +chaplain's, on the other side of the court, and turned to enter in at +the low door, he saw Lady Castlewood looking through the curtains of +the great window of the drawing-room overhead, at my lord as he stood +regarding the fountain. There was in the court a peculiar silence +somehow; and the scene remained long in Esmond's memory:--the sky bright +overhead; the buttresses of the building and the sun-dial casting shadow +over the gilt memento mori inscribed underneath; the two dogs, a black +greyhound and a spaniel nearly white, the one with his face up to the +sun, and the other snuffing amongst the grass and stones, and my lord +leaning over the fountain, which was bubbling audibly. 'Tis strange how +that scene, and the sound of that fountain, remain fixed on the memory +of a man who has beheld a hundred sights of splendor, and danger too, of +which he has kept no account. + +It was Lady Castlewood--she had been laughing all the morning, and +especially gay and lively before her husband and his guest--who as soon +as the two gentlemen went together from her room, ran to Harry, the +expression of her countenance quite changed now, and with a face and +eyes full of care, and said, “Follow them, Harry, I am sure something +has gone wrong.” And so it was that Esmond was made an eavesdropper at +this lady's orders and retired to his own chamber, to give himself time +in truth to try and compose a story which would soothe his mistress, for +he could not but have his own apprehension that some serious quarrel was +pending between the two gentlemen. + +And now for several days the little company at Castlewood sat at +table as of evenings: this care, though unnamed and invisible, being +nevertheless present alway, in the minds of at least three persons +there. My lord was exceeding gentle and kind. Whenever he quitted the +room, his wife's eyes followed him. He behaved to her with a kind of +mournful courtesy and kindness remarkable in one of his blunt ways and +ordinary rough manner. He called her by her Christian name often and +fondly, was very soft and gentle with the children, especially with the +boy, whom he did not love, and being lax about church generally, he went +thither and performed all the offices (down even to listening to Dr. +Tusher's sermon) with great devotion. + +“He paces his room all night; what is it? Henry, find out what it is,” + Lady Castlewood said constantly to her young dependant. “He has sent +three letters to London,” she said, another day. + +“Indeed, madam, they were to a lawyer,” Harry answered, who knew of +these letters, and had seen a part of the correspondence, which related +to a new loan my lord was raising; and when the young man remonstrated +with his patron, my lord said, “He was only raising money to pay off an +old debt on the property, which must be discharged.” + +Regarding the money, Lady Castlewood was not in the least anxious. Few +fond women feel money-distressed; indeed you can hardly give a woman +a greater pleasure than to bid her pawn her diamonds for the man she +loves; and I remember hearing Mr. Congreve say of my Lord Marlborough, +that the reason why my lord was so successful with women as a young man, +was because he took money of them. “There are few men who will make such +a sacrifice for them,” says Mr. Congreve, who knew a part of the sex +pretty well. + +Harry Esmond's vacation was just over, and, as hath been said, he was +preparing to return to the University for his last term before taking +his degree and entering into the Church. He had made up his mind for +this office, not indeed with that reverence which becomes a man about to +enter upon a duty so holy, but with a worldly spirit of acquiescence +in the prudence of adopting that profession for his calling. But his +reasoning was that he owed all to the family of Castlewood, and loved +better to be near them than anywhere else in the world; that he might +be useful to his benefactors, who had the utmost confidence in him and +affection for him in return; that he might aid in bringing up the young +heir of the house and acting as his governor; that he might continue to +be his dear patron's and mistress's friend and adviser, who both were +pleased to say that they should ever look upon him as such; and so, by +making himself useful to those he loved best, he proposed to console +himself for giving up of any schemes of ambition which he might have had +in his own bosom. Indeed, his mistress had told him that she would not +have him leave her; and whatever she commanded was will to him. + +The Lady Castlewood's mind was greatly relieved in the last few days of +this well-remembered holiday time, by my lord's announcing one morning, +after the post had brought him letters from London, in a careless tone, +that the Lord Mohun was gone to Paris, and was about to make a great +journey in Europe; and though Lord Castlewood's own gloom did not wear +off, or his behavior alter, yet this cause of anxiety being removed from +his lady's mind, she began to be more hopeful and easy in her spirits, +striving too, with all her heart, and by all the means of soothing in +her power, to call back my lord's cheerfulness and dissipate his moody +humor. + +He accounted for it himself, by saying that he was out of health; that +he wanted to see his physician; that he would go to London, and consult +Doctor Cheyne. It was agreed that his lordship and Harry Esmond should +make the journey as far as London together; and of a Monday morning, the +11th of October, in the year 1700, they set forwards towards London on +horseback. The day before being Sunday, and the rain pouring down, the +family did not visit church; and at night my lord read the service +to his family very finely, and with a peculiar sweetness and +gravity--speaking the parting benediction, Harry thought, as solemn +as ever he heard it. And he kissed and embraced his wife and children +before they went to their own chambers with more fondness than he was +ordinarily wont to show, and with a solemnity and feeling of which they +thought in after days with no small comfort. + +They took horse the next morning (after adieux from the family as tender +as on the night previous), lay that night on the road, and entered +London at nightfall; my lord going to the “Trumpet,” in the Cockpit, +Whitehall, a house used by the military in his time as a young man, and +accustomed by his lordship ever since. + +An hour after my lord's arrival (which showed that his visit had been +arranged beforehand), my lord's man of business arrived from Gray's Inn; +and thinking that his patron might wish to be private with the lawyer, +Esmond was for leaving them: but my lord said his business was short; +introduced Mr. Esmond particularly to the lawyer, who had been engaged +for the family in the old lord's time; who said that he had paid the +money, as desired that day, to my Lord Mohun himself, at his lodgings in +Bow Street; that his lordship had expressed some surprise, as it was not +customary to employ lawyers, he said, in such transactions between men +of honor; but nevertheless, he had returned my Lord Viscount's note of +hand, which he held at his client's disposition. + +“I thought the Lord Mohun had been in Paris!” cried Mr. Esmond, in great +alarm and astonishment. + +“He is come back at my invitation,” said my Lord Viscount. “We have +accounts to settle together.” + +“I pray heaven they are over, sir,” says Esmond. + +“Oh, quite,” replied the other, looking hard at the young man. “He was +rather troublesome about that money which I told you I had lost to him +at play. And now 'tis paid, and we are quits on that score, and we shall +meet good friends again.” + +“My lord,” cried out Esmond, “I am sure you are deceiving me, and that +there is a quarrel between the Lord Mohun and you.” + +“Quarrel--pish! We shall sup together this very night, and drink a +bottle. Every man is ill-humored who loses such a sum as I have lost. +But now 'tis paid, and my anger is gone with it.” + +“Where shall we sup, sir?” says Harry. + +“WE! Let some gentlemen wait till they are asked,” says my Lord Viscount +with a laugh. “You go to Duke Street, and see Mr. Betterton. You love +the play, I know. Leave me to follow my own devices: and in the morning +we'll breakfast together, with what appetite we may, as the play says.” + +“By G--! my lord, I will not leave you this night,” says Harry Esmond. +“I think I know the cause of your dispute. I swear to you 'tis nothing. +On the very day the accident befell Lord Mohun, I was speaking to him +about it. I know that nothing has passed but idle gallantry on his +part.” + +“You know that nothing has passed but idle gallantry between Lord Mohun +and my wife,” says my lord, in a thundering voice--“you knew of this and +did not tell me?” + +“I knew more of it than my dear mistress did herself, sir--a thousand +times more. How was she, who was as innocent as a child, to know what +was the meaning of the covert addresses of a villain?” + +“A villain he is, you allow, and would have taken my wife away from me.” + +“Sir, she is as pure as an angel,” cried young Esmond. + +“Have I said a word against her?” shrieks out my lord. “Did I ever doubt +that she was pure? It would have been the last day of her life when +I did. Do you fancy I think that SHE would go astray? No, she hasn't +passion enough for that. She neither sins nor forgives. I know her +temper--and now I've lost her, by heaven I love her ten thousand times +more than ever I did--yes, when she was as young and as beautiful as an +angel--when she smiled at me in her old father's house, and used to lie +in wait for me there as I came from hunting--when I used to fling my +head down on her little knees and cry like a child on her lap--and swear +I would reform, and drink no more and play no more, and follow women no +more; when all the men of the Court used to be following her--when she +used to look with her child more beautiful, by George, than the Madonna +in the Queen's Chapel. I am not good like her, I know it. Who is--by +heaven, who is? I tired and wearied her, I know that very well. I +could not talk to her. You men of wit and books could do that, and I +couldn't--I felt I couldn't. Why, when you was but a boy of fifteen I +could hear you two together talking your poetry and your books till I +was in such a rage that I was fit to strangle you. But you were always a +good lad, Harry, and I loved you, you know I did. And I felt she didn't +belong to me: and the children don't. And I besotted myself, and gambled +and drank, and took to all sorts of deviltries out of despair and fury. +And now comes this Mohun, and she likes him, I know she likes him.” + +“Indeed, and on my soul, you are wrong, sir,” Esmond cried. + +“She takes letters from him,” cries my lord--“look here, Harry,” and he +pulled out a paper with a brown stain of blood upon it. “It fell from +him that day he wasn't killed. One of the grooms picked it up from the +ground and gave it me. Here it is in their d--d comedy jargon. 'Divine +Gloriana--Why look so coldly on your slave who adores you? Have you no +compassion on the tortures you have seen me suffering? Do you vouchsafe +no reply to billets that are written with the blood of my heart.' She +had more letters from him.” + +“But she answered none,” cries Esmond. + +“That's not Mohun's fault,” says my lord, “and I will be revenged on +him, as God's in heaven, I will.” + +“For a light word or two, will you risk your lady's honor and your +family's happiness, my lord?” Esmond interposed beseechingly. + +“Psha--there shall be no question of my wife's honor,” said my lord; “we +can quarrel on plenty of grounds beside. If I live, that villain will be +punished; if I fall, my family will be only the better: there will only +be a spendthrift the less to keep in the world: and Frank has better +teaching than his father. My mind is made up, Harry Esmond, and whatever +the event is, I am easy about it. I leave my wife and you as guardians +to the children.” + +Seeing that my lord was bent upon pursuing this quarrel, and that no +entreaties would draw him from it, Harry Esmond (then of a hotter and +more impetuous nature than now, when care, and reflection, and gray +hairs have calmed him) thought it was his duty to stand by his kind, +generous patron, and said, “My lord, if you are determined upon war, you +must not go into it alone. 'Tis the duty of our house to stand by its +chief; and I should neither forgive myself nor you if you did not call +me, or I should be absent from you at a moment of danger.” + +“Why, Harry, my poor boy, you are bred for a parson,” says my lord, +taking Esmond by the hand very kindly; “and it were a great pity that +you should meddle in the matter.” + +“Your lordship thought of being a churchman once,” Harry answered, “and +your father's orders did not prevent him fighting at Castlewood against +the Roundheads. Your enemies are mine, sir; I can use the foils, as you +have seen, indifferently well, and don't think I shall be afraid when +the buttons are taken off 'em.” And then Harry explained, with some +blushes and hesitation (for the matter was delicate, and he feared lest, +by having put himself forward in the quarrel, he might have offended +his patron), how he had himself expostulated with the Lord Mohun, and +proposed to measure swords with him if need were, and he could not be +got to withdraw peaceably in this dispute. “And I should have beat him, +sir,” says Harry, laughing. “He never could parry that botte I brought +from Cambridge. Let us have half an hour of it, and rehearse--I can +teach it your lordship: 'tis the most delicate point in the world, and +if you miss it, your adversary's sword is through you.” + +“By George, Harry, you ought to be the head of the house,” says my lord, +gloomily. “You had been a better Lord Castlewood than a lazy sot like +me,” he added, drawing his hand across his eyes, and surveying his +kinsman with very kind and affectionate glances. + +“Let us take our coats off and have half an hour's practice before +nightfall,” says Harry, after thankfully grasping his patron's manly +hand. + +“You are but a little bit of a lad,” says my lord, good-humoredly; +“but, in faith, I believe you could do for that fellow. No, my boy,” he +continued, “I'll have none of your feints and tricks of stabbing: I can +use my sword pretty well too, and will fight my own quarrel my own way.” + +“But I shall be by to see fair play?” cries Harry. + +“Yes, God bless you--you shall be by.” + +“When is it, sir?” says Harry, for he saw that the matter had been +arranged privately and beforehand by my lord. + +“'Tis arranged thus: I sent off a courier to Jack Westbury to say that I +wanted him specially. He knows for what, and will be here presently, and +drink part of that bottle of sack. Then we shall go to the theatre in +Duke Street, where we shall meet Mohun; and then we shall all go sup at +the 'Rose' or the 'Greyhound.' Then we shall call for cards, and +there will be probably a difference over the cards--and then, God help +us!--either a wicked villain and traitor shall go out of the world, or +a poor worthless devil, that doesn't care to remain in it. I am better +away, Hal--my wife will be all the happier when I am gone,” says my +lord, with a groan, that tore the heart of Harry Esmond, so that he +fairly broke into a sob over his patron's kind hand. + +“The business was talked over with Mohun before he left home--Castlewood +I mean”--my lord went on. “I took the letter in to him, which I had +read, and I charged him with his villainy, and he could make no denial +of it, only he said that my wife was innocent.” + +“And so she is; before heaven, my lord, she is!” cries Harry. + +“No doubt, no doubt. They always are,” says my lord. “No doubt, when she +heard he was killed, she fainted from accident.” + +“But, my lord, MY name is Harry,” cried out Esmond, burning red. “You +told my lady, 'Harry was killed!'” + +“Damnation! shall I fight you too?” shouts my lord in a fury. “Are you, +you little serpent, warmed by my fire, going to sting--YOU?--No, my boy, +you're an honest boy; you are a good boy.” (And here he broke from rage +into tears even more cruel to see.) “You are an honest boy, and I love +you; and, by heavens, I am so wretched that I don't care what sword it +is that ends me. Stop, here's Jack Westbury. Well, Jack! Welcome, old +boy! This is my kinsman, Harry Esmond.” + +“Who brought your bowls for you at Castlewood, sir?” says Harry, bowing; +and the three gentlemen sat down and drank of that bottle of sack which +was prepared for them. + +“Harry is number three,” says my lord. “You needn't be afraid of him, +Jack.” And the Colonel gave a look, as much as to say, “Indeed, he don't +look as if I need.” And then my lord explained what he had only told by +hints before. When he quarrelled with Lord Mohun he was indebted to his +lordship in a sum of sixteen hundred pounds, for which Lord Mohun said +he proposed to wait until my Lord Viscount should pay him. My lord +had raised the sixteen hundred pounds and sent them to Lord Mohun that +morning, and before quitting home had put his affairs into order, and +was now quite ready to abide the issue of the quarrel. + +When we had drunk a couple of bottles of sack, a coach was called, and +the three gentlemen went to the Duke's Playhouse, as agreed. The play +was one of Mr. Wycherley's--“Love in a Wood.” + +Harry Esmond has thought of that play ever since with a kind of terror, +and of Mrs. Bracegirdle, the actress who performed the girl's part in +the comedy. She was disguised as a page, and came and stood before the +gentlemen as they sat on the stage, and looked over her shoulder with +a pair of arch black eyes, and laughed at my lord, and asked what ailed +the gentleman from the country, and had he had bad news from Bullock +fair? + +Between the acts of the play the gentlemen crossed over and conversed +freely. There were two of Lord Mohun's party, Captain Macartney, in a +military habit, and a gentleman in a suit of blue velvet and silver in a +fair periwig, with a rich fall of point of Venice lace--my Lord the Earl +of Warwick and Holland. My lord had a paper of oranges, which he ate and +offered to the actresses, joking with them. And Mrs. Bracegirdle, when +my Lord Mohun said something rude, turned on him, and asked him what he +did there, and whether he and his friends had come to stab anybody else, +as they did poor Will Mountford? My lord's dark face grew darker at this +taunt, and wore a mischievous, fatal look. They that saw it remembered +it, and said so afterward. + +When the play was ended the two parties joined company; and my Lord +Castlewood then proposed that they should go to a tavern and sup. +Lockit's, the “Greyhound,” in Charing Cross, was the house selected. +All six marched together that way; the three lords going a-head, Lord +Mohun's captain, and Colonel Westbury, and Harry Esmond, walking behind +them. As they walked, Westbury told Harry Esmond about his old friend +Dick the Scholar, who had got promotion, and was Cornet of the Guards, +and had wrote a book called the “Christian Hero,” and had all the Guards +to laugh at him for his pains, for the Christian Hero was breaking the +commandments constantly, Westbury said, and had fought one or two duels +already. And, in a lower tone, Westbury besought young Mr. Esmond to +take no part in the quarrel. “There was no need for more seconds than +one,” said the Colonel, “and the Captain or Lord Warwick might easily +withdraw.” But Harry said no; he was bent on going through with the +business. Indeed, he had a plan in his head, which, he thought, might +prevent my Lord Viscount from engaging. + +They went in at the bar of the tavern, and desired a private room and +wine and cards, and when the drawer had brought these, they began to +drink and call healths, and as long as the servants were in the room +appeared very friendly. + +Harry Esmond's plan was no other than to engage in talk with Lord Mohun, +to insult him, and so get the first of the quarrel. So when cards were +proposed he offered to play. “Psha!” says my Lord Mohun (whether wishing +to save Harry, or not choosing, to try the botte de Jesuite, it is +not to be known)--“Young gentlemen from college should not play these +stakes. You are too young.” + +“Who dares say I am too young?” broke out Harry. “Is your lordship +afraid?” + +“Afraid!” cries out Mohun. + +But my good Lord Viscount saw the move--“I'll play you for ten moidores, +Mohun,” says he. “You silly boy, we don't play for groats here as you +do at Cambridge.” And Harry, who had no such sum in his pocket (for his +half-year's salary was always pretty well spent before it was due), fell +back with rage and vexation in his heart that he had not money enough to +stake. + +“I'll stake the young gentleman a crown,” says the Lord Mohun's captain. + +“I thought crowns were rather scarce with the gentlemen of the army,” + says Harry. + +“Do they birch at College?” says the Captain. + +“They birch fools,” says Harry, “and they cane bullies, and they fling +puppies into the water.” + +“Faith, then, there's some escapes drowning,” says the Captain, who was +an Irishman; and all the gentlemen began to laugh, and made poor Harry +only more angry. + +My Lord Mohun presently snuffed a candle. It was when the drawers +brought in fresh bottles and glasses and were in the room on which my +Lord Viscount said--“The Deuce take you, Mohun, how damned awkward you +are. Light the candle, you drawer.” + +“Damned awkward is a damned awkward expression, my lord,” says the +other. “Town gentlemen don't use such words--or ask pardon if they do.” + +“I'm a country gentleman,” says my Lord Viscount. + +“I see it by your manner,” says my Lord Mohun. “No man shall say damned +awkward to me.” + +“I fling the words in your face, my lord,” says the other; “shall I send +the cards too?” + +“Gentlemen, gentlemen! before the servants?” cry out Colonel Westbury +and my Lord Warwick in a breath. The drawers go out of the room hastily. +They tell the people below of the quarrel up stairs. + +“Enough has been said,” says Colonel Westbury. “Will your lordships meet +to-morrow morning?” + +“Will my Lord Castlewood withdraw his words?” asks the Earl of Warwick. + +“My Lord Castlewood will be ---- first,” says Colonel Westbury. + +“Then we have nothing for it. Take notice, gentlemen, there have been +outrageous words--reparation asked and refused.” + +“And refused,” says my Lord Castlewood, putting on his hat. “Where shall +the meeting be? and when?” + +“Since my Lord refuses me satisfaction, which I deeply regret, there is +no time so good as now,” says my Lord Mohun. “Let us have chairs and go +to Leicester Field.” + +“Are your lordship and I to have the honor of exchanging a pass or two?” + says Colonel Westbury, with a low bow to my Lord of Warwick and Holland. + +“It is an honor for me,” says my lord, with a profound congee, “to be +matched with a gentleman who has been at Mons and Namur.” + +“Will your Reverence permit me to give you a lesson?” says the Captain. + +“Nay, nay, gentlemen, two on a side are plenty,” says Harry's patron. +“Spare the boy, Captain Macartney,” and he shook Harry's hand--for the +last time, save one, in his life. + +At the bar of the tavern all the gentlemen stopped, and my Lord Viscount +said, laughing, to the barwoman, that those cards set people sadly +a-quarrelling; but that the dispute was over now, and the parties were +all going away to my Lord Mohun's house, in Bow Street, to drink a +bottle more before going to bed. + +A half-dozen of chairs were now called, and the six gentlemen stepping +into them, the word was privately given to the chairmen to go to +Leicester Field, where the gentlemen were set down opposite the +“Standard Tavern.” It was midnight, and the town was abed by this time, +and only a few lights in the windows of the houses; but the night was +bright enough for the unhappy purpose which the disputants came about; +and so all six entered into that fatal square, the chairmen standing +without the railing and keeping the gate, lest any persons should +disturb the meeting. + +All that happened there hath been matter of public notoriety, and is +recorded, for warning to lawless men, in the annals of our country. +After being engaged for not more than a couple of minutes, as Harry +Esmond thought (though being occupied at the time with his own +adversary's point, which was active, he may not have taken a good note +of time), a cry from the chairmen without, who were smoking their pipes, +and leaning over the railings of the field as they watched the dim +combat within, announced that some catastrophe had happened, which +caused Esmond to drop his sword and look round, at which moment his +enemy wounded him in the right hand. But the young man did not heed +this hurt much, and ran up to the place where he saw his dear master was +down. + +My Lord Mohun was standing over him. + +“Are you much hurt, Frank?” he asked in a hollow voice. + +“I believe I am a dead man,” my lord said from the ground. + +“No, no, not so,” says the other; “and I call God to witness, Frank +Esmond, that I would have asked your pardon, had you but given me a +chance. In--in the first cause of our falling out, I swear that no one +was to blame but me, and--and that my lady--” + +“Hush!” says my poor Lord Viscount, lifting himself on his elbow and +speaking faintly. “'Twas a dispute about the cards--the cursed cards. +Harry my boy, are you wounded, too? God help thee! I loved thee, Harry, +and thou must watch over my little Frank--and--and carry this little +heart to my wife.” + +And here my dear lord felt in his breast for a locket he wore there, +and, in the act, fell back fainting. + +We were all at this terrified, thinking him dead; but Esmond and Colonel +Westbury bade the chairmen come into the field; and so my lord was +carried to one Mr. Aimes, a surgeon, in Long Acre, who kept a bath, and +there the house was wakened up, and the victim of this quarrel carried +in. + +My Lord Viscount was put to bed, and his wound looked to by the surgeon, +who seemed both kind and skilful. When he had looked to my lord, he +bandaged up Harry Esmond's hand (who, from loss of blood, had fainted +too, in the house, and may have been some time unconscious); and when +the young man came to himself, you may be sure he eagerly asked what +news there were of his dear patron; on which the surgeon carried him +to the room where the Lord Castlewood lay; who had already sent for a +priest; and desired earnestly, they said, to speak with his kinsman. He +was lying on a bed, very pale and ghastly, with that fixed, fatal look +in his eyes, which betokens death; and faintly beckoning all the other +persons away from him with his hand, and crying out “Only Harry Esmond,” + the hand fell powerless down on the coverlet, as Harry came forward, and +knelt down and kissed it. + +“Thou art all but a priest, Harry,” my Lord Viscount gasped out, with a +faint smile, and pressure of his cold hand. “Are they all gone? Let me +make thee a death-bed confession.” + +And with sacred Death waiting, as it were, at the bed-foot, as an awful +witness of his words, the poor dying soul gasped out his last wishes +in respect of his family;--his humble profession of contrition for his +faults;--and his charity towards the world he was leaving. Some things +he said concerned Harry Esmond as much as they astonished him. And +my Lord Viscount, sinking visibly, was in the midst of these strange +confessions, when the ecclesiastic for whom my lord had sent, Mr. +Atterbury, arrived. + +This gentleman had reached to no great church dignity as yet, but +was only preacher at St. Bride's, drawing all the town thither by his +eloquent sermons. He was godson to my lord, who had been pupil to his +father; had paid a visit to Castlewood from Oxford more than once; and +it was by his advice, I think, that Harry Esmond was sent to Cambridge, +rather than to Oxford, of which place Mr. Atterbury, though a +distinguished member, spoke but ill. + +Our messenger found the good priest already at his books at five o'clock +in the morning, and he followed the man eagerly to the house where my +poor Lord Viscount lay--Esmond watching him, and taking his dying words +from his mouth. + +My lord, hearing of Mr. Atterbury's arrival, and squeezing Esmond's +hand, asked to be alone with the priest; and Esmond left them there for +this solemn interview. You may be sure that his own prayers and grief +accompanied that dying benefactor. My lord had said to him that which +confounded the young man--informed him of a secret which greatly +concerned him. Indeed, after hearing it, he had had good cause for doubt +and dismay; for mental anguish as well as resolution. While the colloquy +between Mr. Atterbury and his dying penitent took place within, an +immense contest of perplexity was agitating Lord Castlewood's young +companion. + +At the end of an hour--it may be more--Mr. Atterbury came out of the +room, looking very hard at Esmond, and holding a paper. + +“He is on the brink of God's awful judgment,” the priest whispered. “He +has made his breast clean to me. He forgives and believes, and makes +restitution. Shall it be in public? Shall we call a witness to sign it?” + +“God knows,” sobbed out the young man, “my dearest lord has only done me +kindness all his life.” + +The priest put the paper into Esmond's hand. He looked at it. It swam +before his eyes. + +“'Tis a confession,” he said. + +“'Tis as you please,” said Mr. Atterbury. + +There was a fire in the room where the cloths were drying for the baths, +and there lay a heap in a corner saturated with the blood of my dear +lord's body. Esmond went to the fire, and threw the paper into it. 'Twas +a great chimney with glazed Dutch tiles. How we remember such trifles at +such awful moments!--the scrap of the book that we have read in a great +grief--the taste of that last dish that we have eaten before a duel, or +some such supreme meeting or parting. On the Dutch tiles at the Bagnio +was a rude picture representing Jacob in hairy gloves, cheating Isaac of +Esau's birthright. The burning paper lighted it up. + +“'Tis only a confession, Mr. Atterbury,” said the young man. He leaned +his head against the mantel-piece: a burst of tears came to his eyes. +They were the first he had shed as he sat by his lord, scared by this +calamity, and more yet by what the poor dying gentleman had told him, +and shocked to think that he should be the agent of bringing this double +misfortune on those he loved best. + +“Let us go to him,” said Mr. Esmond. And accordingly they went into the +next chamber, where by this time, the dawn had broke, which showed my +lord's poor pale face and wild appealing eyes, that wore that awful +fatal look of coming dissolution. The surgeon was with him. He went into +the chamber as Atterbury came out thence. My Lord Viscount turned round +his sick eyes towards Esmond. It choked the other to hear that rattle in +his throat. + +“My Lord Viscount,” says Mr. Atterbury, “Mr. Esmond wants no witnesses, +and hath burned the paper.” + +“My dearest master!” Esmond said, kneeling down, and taking his hand and +kissing it. + +My Lord Viscount sprang up in his bed, and flung his arms round Esmond. +“God bl--bless--” was all he said. The blood rushed from his mouth, +deluging the young man. My dearest lord was no more. He was gone with a +blessing on his lips, and love and repentance and kindness in his manly +heart. + +“Benedicti benedicentes,” says Mr. Atterbury, and the young man, +kneeling at the bedside, groaned out an “Amen.” + +“Who shall take the news to her?” was Mr. Esmond's next thought. And +on this he besought Mr. Atterbury to bear the tidings to Castlewood. +He could not face his mistress himself with those dreadful news. Mr. +Atterbury complying kindly, Esmond writ a hasty note on his table-book +to my lord's man, bidding him get the horses for Mr. Atterbury, and ride +with him, and send Esmond's own valise to the Gatehouse prison, whither +he resolved to go and give himself up. + + + + +BOOK II. + +CONTAINS MR. ESMOND'S MILITARY LIFE, AND OTHER MATTERS APPERTAINING TO +THE ESMOND FAMILY. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +I AM IN PRISON, AND VISITED, BUT NOT CONSOLED THERE. + + +Those may imagine, who have seen death untimely strike down persons +revered and beloved, and know how unavailing consolation is, what was +Harry Esmond's anguish after being an actor in that ghastly midnight +scene of blood and homicide. He could not, he felt, have faced his dear +mistress, and told her that story. He was thankful that kind Atterbury +consented to break the sad news to her; but, besides his grief, which +he took into prison with him, he had that in his heart which secretly +cheered and consoled him. + +A great secret had been told to Esmond by his unhappy stricken kinsman, +lying on his death-bed. Were he to disclose it, as in equity and honor +he might do, the discovery would but bring greater grief upon those whom +he loved best in the world, and who were sad enough already. Should he +bring down shame and perplexity upon all those beings to whom he was +attached by so many tender ties of affection and gratitude? degrade his +father's widow? impeach and sully his father's and kinsman's honor? and +for what? for a barren title, to be worn at the expense of an innocent +boy, the son of his dearest benefactress. He had debated this matter in +his conscience, whilst his poor lord was making his dying confession. On +one side were ambition, temptation, justice even; but love, gratitude, +and fidelity, pleaded on the other. And when the struggle was over in +Harry's mind, a glow of righteous happiness filled it; and it was with +grateful tears in his eyes that he returned thanks to God for that +decision which he had been enabled to make. + +“When I was denied by my own blood,” thought he, “these dearest friends +received and cherished me. When I was a nameless orphan myself, and +needed a protector, I found one in yonder kind soul, who has gone to his +account repenting of the innocent wrong he has done.” + +And with this consoling thought he went away to give himself up at the +prison, after kissing the cold lips of his benefactor. + +It was on the third day after he had come to the Gatehouse prison, +(where he lay in no small pain from his wound, which inflamed and ached +severely,) and with those thoughts and resolutions that have been just +spoke of, to depress, and yet to console him, that H. Esmond's keeper +came and told him that a visitor was asking for him, and though he could +not see her face, which was enveloped in a black hood, her whole figure, +too, being veiled and covered with the deepest mourning, Esmond knew at +once that his visitor was his dear mistress. + +He got up from his bed, where he was lying, being very weak; and +advancing towards her as the retiring keeper shut the door upon him and +his guest in that sad place, he put forward his left hand (for the right +was wounded and bandaged), and he would have taken that kind one of his +mistress, which had done so many offices of friendship for him for so +many years. + +But the Lady Castlewood went back from him, putting back her hood, and +leaning against the great stanchioned door which the gaoler had just +closed upon them. Her face was ghastly white, as Esmond saw it, looking +from the hood; and her eyes, ordinarily so sweet and tender, were fixed +on him with such a tragic glance of woe and anger, as caused the young +man, unaccustomed to unkindness from that person, to avert his own +glances from her face. + +“And this, Mr. Esmond,” she said, “is where I see you; and 'tis to this +you have brought me!” + +“You have come to console me in my calamity, madam,” said he (though, in +truth, he scarce knew how to address her, his emotions at beholding her +so overpowered him). + +She advanced a little, but stood silent and trembling, looking out +at him from her black draperies, with her small white hands clasped +together, and quivering lips and hollow eyes. + +“Not to reproach me,” he continued after a pause. “My grief is +sufficient as it is.” + +“Take back your hand--do not touch me with it!” she cried. “Look! +there's blood on it!” + +“I wish they had taken it all,” said Esmond; “if you are unkind to me.” + +“Where is my husband?” she broke out. “Give me back my husband, Henry. +Why did you stand by at midnight and see him murdered? Why did the +traitor escape who did it? You, the champion of your house, who offered +to die for us! You that he loved and trusted, and to whom I confided +him--you that vowed devotion and gratitude, and I believed you--yes, I +believed you--why are you here, and my noble Francis gone? Why did +you come among us? You have only brought us grief and sorrow; and +repentance, bitter, bitter repentance, as a return for our love and +kindness. Did I ever do you a wrong, Henry? You were but an orphan child +when I first saw you--when HE first saw you, who was so good, and noble, +and trusting. He would have had you sent away, but, like a foolish +woman, I besought him to let you stay. And you pretended to love us, and +we believed you--and you made our house wretched, and my husband's heart +went from me: and I lost him through you--I lost him--the husband of my +youth, I say. I worshipped him: you know I worshipped him--and he was +changed to me. He was no more my Francis of old--my dear, dear soldier. +He loved me before he saw you; and I loved him. Oh, God is my witness +how I loved him! Why did he not send you from among us? 'Twas only +his kindness, that could refuse me nothing then. And, young as you +were--yes, and weak and alone--there was evil, I knew there was evil in +keeping you. I read it in your face and eyes. I saw that they boded harm +to us--and it came, I knew it would. Why did you not die when you had +the small-pox--and I came myself and watched you, and you didn't know me +in your delirium--and you called out for me, though I was there at your +side? All that has happened since, was a just judgment on my wicked +heart--my wicked jealous heart. Oh, I am punished--awfully punished! +My husband lies in his blood--murdered for defending me, my kind, kind, +generous lord--and you were by, and you let him die, Henry!” + +These words, uttered in the wildness of her grief, by one who was +ordinarily quiet, and spoke seldom except with a gentle smile and a +soothing tone, rung in Esmond's ear; and 'tis said that he repeated many +of them in the fever into which he now fell from his wound, and perhaps +from the emotion which such passionate, undeserved upbraidings caused +him. It seemed as if his very sacrifices and love for this lady and her +family were to turn to evil and reproach: as if his presence amongst +them was indeed a cause of grief, and the continuance of his life but +woe and bitterness to theirs. As the Lady Castlewood spoke bitterly, +rapidly, without a tear, he never offered a word of appeal or +remonstrance: but sat at the foot of his prison-bed, stricken only with +the more pain at thinking it was that soft and beloved hand which should +stab him so cruelly, and powerless against her fatal sorrow. Her words +as she spoke struck the chords of all his memory, and the whole of +his boyhood and youth passed within him; whilst this lady, so fond +and gentle but yesterday--this good angel whom he had loved and +worshipped--stood before him, pursuing him with keen words and aspect +malign. + +“I wish I were in my lord's place,” he groaned out. “It was not my fault +that I was not there, madam. But Fate is stronger than all of us, and +willed what has come to pass. It had been better for me to have died +when I had the illness.” + +“Yes, Henry,” said she--and as she spoke she looked at him with a glance +that was at once so fond and so sad, that the young man, tossing up his +arms, wildly fell back, hiding his head in the coverlet of the bed. As +he turned he struck against the wall with his wounded hand, displacing +the ligature; and he felt the blood rushing again from the wound. He +remembered feeling a secret pleasure at the accident--and thinking, +“Suppose I were to end now, who would grieve for me?” + +This hemorrhage, or the grief and despair in which the luckless young +man was at the time of the accident, must have brought on a deliquium +presently; for he had scarce any recollection afterwards, save of some +one, his mistress probably, seizing his hand--and then of the buzzing +noise in his ears as he awoke, with two or three persons of the prison +around his bed, whereon he lay in a pool of blood from his arm. + +It was now bandaged up again by the prison surgeon, who happened to be +in the place; and the governor's wife and servant, kind people both, +were with the patient. Esmond saw his mistress still in the room when +he awoke from his trance; but she went away without a word; though +the governor's wife told him that she sat in her room for some time +afterward, and did not leave the prison until she heard that Esmond was +likely to do well. + +Days afterwards, when Esmond was brought out of a fever which he had, +and which attacked him that night pretty sharply, the honest keeper's +wife brought her patient a handkerchief fresh washed and ironed, and at +the corner of which he recognized his mistress's well-known cipher +and viscountess's crown. “The lady had bound it round his arm when he +fainted, and before she called for help,” the keeper's wife said. “Poor +lady! she took on sadly about her husband. He has been buried to-day, +and a many of the coaches of the nobility went with him--my Lord +Marlborough's and my Lord Sunderland's, and many of the officers of the +Guards, in which he served in the old King's time; and my lady has been +with her two children to the King at Kensington, and asked for justice +against my Lord Mohun, who is in hiding, and my Lord the Earl of Warwick +and Holland, who is ready to give himself up and take his trial.” + +Such were the news, coupled with assertions about her own honesty and +that of Molly her maid, who would never have stolen a certain trumpery +gold sleeve-button of Mr. Esmond's that was missing after his fainting +fit, that the keeper's wife brought to her lodger. His thoughts followed +to that untimely grave, the brave heart, the kind friend, the gallant +gentleman, honest of word and generous of thought, (if feeble of +purpose, but are his betters much stronger than he?) who had given him +bread and shelter when he had none; home and love when he needed them; +and who, if he had kept one vital secret from him, had done that +of which he repented ere dying--a wrong indeed, but one followed by +remorse, and occasioned by almost irresistible temptation. + +Esmond took his handkerchief when his nurse left him, and very likely +kissed it, and looked at the bauble embroidered in the corner. “It +has cost thee grief enough,” he thought, “dear lady, so loving and so +tender. Shall I take it from thee and thy children? No, never! Keep it, +and wear it, my little Frank, my pretty boy. If I cannot make a name for +myself, I can die without one. Some day, when my dear mistress sees my +heart, I shall be righted; or if not here or now, why, elsewhere; where +Honor doth not follow us, but where Love reigns perpetual.” + +'Tis needless to relate here, as the reports of the lawyers already have +chronicled them, the particulars or issue of that trial which ensued +upon my Lord Castlewood's melancholy homicide. Of the two lords engaged +in that sad matter, the second, my Lord the Earl of Warwick and Holland, +who had been engaged with Colonel Westbury, and wounded by him, was +found not guilty by his peers, before whom he was tried (under the +presidence of the Lord Steward, Lord Somers); and the principal, the +Lord Mohun, being found guilty of the manslaughter, (which, indeed, was +forced upon him, and of which he repented most sincerely,) pleaded his +clergy, and so was discharged without any penalty. The widow of the +slain nobleman, as it was told us in prison, showed an extraordinary +spirit; and, though she had to wait for ten years before her son was old +enough to compass it, declared she would have revenge of her husband's +murderer. So much and suddenly had grief, anger, and misfortune appeared +to change her. But fortune, good or ill, as I take it, does not change +men and women. It but develops their characters. As there are a thousand +thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the +pen to write, so the heart is a secret even to him (or her) who has it +in his own breast. Who hath not found himself surprised into revenge, or +action, or passion, for good or evil, whereof the seeds lay within him, +latent and unsuspected, until the occasion called them forth? With the +death of her lord, a change seemed to come over the whole conduct and +mind of Lady Castlewood; but of this we shall speak in the right season +and anon. + +The lords being tried then before their peers at Westminster, according +to their privilege, being brought from the Tower with state processions +and barges, and accompanied by lieutenants and axe-men, the commoners +engaged in that melancholy fray took their trial at Newgate, as became +them; and, being all found guilty, pleaded likewise their benefit +of clergy. The sentence, as we all know in these cases, is, that the +culprit lies a year in prison, or during the King's pleasure, and is +burned in the hand, or only stamped with a cold iron; or this part of +the punishment is altogether remitted at the grace of the Sovereign. So +Harry Esmond found himself a criminal and a prisoner at two-and-twenty +years old; as for the two colonels, his comrades, they took the matter +very lightly. Duelling was a part of their business; and they could not +in honor refuse any invitations of that sort. + +But the case was different with Mr. Esmond. His life was changed by +that stroke of the sword which destroyed his kind patron's. As he lay in +prison, old Dr. Tusher fell ill and died; and Lady Castlewood appointed +Thomas Tusher to the vacant living; about the filling of which she had +a thousand times fondly talked to Harry Esmond: how they never should +part; how he should educate her boy; how to be a country clergyman, like +saintly George Herbert or pious Dr. Ken, was the happiest and greatest +lot in life; how (if he were obstinately bent on it, though, for her +part, she owned rather to holding Queen Bess's opinion, that a bishop +should have no wife, and if not a bishop why a clergyman?) she would +find a good wife for Harry Esmond: and so on, with a hundred pretty +prospects told by fireside evenings, in fond prattle, as the children +played about the hall. All these plans were overthrown now. Thomas +Tusher wrote to Esmond, as he lay in prison, announcing that his +patroness had conferred upon him the living his reverend father had +held for many years; that she never, after the tragical events which had +occurred (whereof Tom spoke with a very edifying horror), could see +in the revered Tusher's pulpit, or at her son's table, the man who was +answerable for the father's life; that her ladyship bade him to say that +she prayed for her kinsman's repentance and his worldly happiness; that +he was free to command her aid for any scheme of life which he might +propose to himself; but that on this side of the grave she would see him +no more. And Tusher, for his own part, added that Harry should have his +prayers as a friend of his youth, and commended him whilst he was in +prison to read certain works of theology, which his Reverence pronounced +to be very wholesome for sinners in his lamentable condition. + +And this was the return for a life of devotion--this the end of years of +affectionate intercourse and passionate fidelity! Harry would have died +for his patron, and was held as little better than his murderer: he had +sacrificed, she did not know how much, for his mistress, and she threw +him aside; he had endowed her family with all they had, and she talked +about giving him alms as to a menial! The grief for his patron's loss; +the pains of his own present position, and doubts as to the future: all +these were forgotten under the sense of the consummate outrage which he +had to endure, and overpowered by the superior pang of that torture. + +He writ back a letter to Mr. Tusher from his prison, congratulating +his Reverence upon his appointment to the living of Castlewood: +sarcastically bidding him to follow in the footsteps of his admirable +father, whose gown had descended upon him; thanking her ladyship for her +offer of alms, which he said he should trust not to need; and beseeching +her to remember that, if ever her determination should change towards +him, he would be ready to give her proofs of a fidelity which had never +wavered, and which ought never to have been questioned by that house. +“And if we meet no more, or only as strangers in this world,” Mr. Esmond +concluded, “a sentence against the cruelty and injustice of which I +disdain to appeal; hereafter she will know who was faithful to her, +and whether she had any cause to suspect the love and devotion of her +kinsman and servant.” + +After the sending of this letter, the poor young fellow's mind was more +at ease than it had been previously. The blow had been struck, and he +had borne it. His cruel goddess had shaken her wings and fled: and left +him alone and friendless, but virtute sua. And he had to bear him up, at +once the sense of his right and the feeling of his wrongs, his honor +and his misfortune. As I have seen men waking and running to arms at a +sudden trumpet, before emergency a manly heart leaps up resolute; +meets the threatening danger with undaunted countenance; and, whether +conquered or conquering, faces it always. Ah! no man knows his strength +or his weakness, till occasion proves them. If there be some thoughts +and actions of his life from the memory of which a man shrinks with +shame, sure there are some which he may be proud to own and remember; +forgiven injuries, conquered temptations (now and then) and difficulties +vanquished by endurance. + +It was these thoughts regarding the living, far more than any great +poignancy of grief respecting the dead, which affected Harry Esmond +whilst in prison after his trial: but it may be imagined that he could +take no comrade of misfortune into the confidence of his feelings, +and they thought it was remorse and sorrow for his patron's loss which +affected the young man, in error of which opinion he chose to leave +them. As a companion he was so moody and silent that the two officers, +his fellow-sufferers, left him to himself mostly, liked little very +likely what they knew of him, consoled themselves with dice, cards, and +the bottle, and whiled away their own captivity in their own way. It +seemed to Esmond as if he lived years in that prison: and was changed +and aged when he came out of it. At certain periods of life we live +years of emotion in a few weeks--and look back on those times, as on +great gaps between the old life and the new. You do not know how much +you suffer in those critical maladies of the heart, until the disease is +over and you look back on it afterwards. During the time, the suffering +is at least sufferable. The day passes in more or less of pain, and the +night wears away somehow. 'Tis only in after days that we see what the +danger has been--as a man out a-hunting or riding for his life looks at +a leap, and wonders how he should have survived the taking of it. O dark +months of grief and rage! of wrong and cruel endurance! He is old now +who recalls you. Long ago he has forgiven and blest the soft hand that +wounded him: but the mark is there, and the wound is cicatrized only--no +time, tears, caresses, or repentance, can obliterate the scar. We are +indocile to put up with grief, however. Reficimus rates quassas: we +tempt the ocean again and again, and try upon new ventures. Esmond +thought of his early time as a novitiate, and of this past trial as +an initiation before entering into life--as our young Indians undergo +tortures silently before they pass to the rank of warriors in the tribe. + +The officers, meanwhile, who were not let into the secret of the grief +which was gnawing at the side of their silent young friend, and being +accustomed to such transactions, in which one comrade or another was +daily paying the forfeit of the sword, did not, of course, bemoan +themselves very inconsolably about the fate of their late companion in +arms. This one told stories of former adventures of love, or war, +or pleasure, in which poor Frank Esmond had been engaged; t'other +recollected how a constable had been bilked, or a tavern-bully beaten: +whilst my lord's poor widow was sitting at his tomb worshipping him as +an actual saint and spotless hero--so the visitors said who had news of +Lady Castlewood; and Westbury and Macartney had pretty nearly had all +the town to come and see them. + +The duel, its fatal termination, the trial of the two peers and the +three commoners concerned, had caused the greatest excitement in the +town. The prints and News Letters were full of them. The three gentlemen +in Newgate were almost as much crowded as the bishops in the Tower, or +a highwayman before execution. We were allowed to live in the Governor's +house, as hath been said, both before trial and after condemnation, +waiting the King's pleasure; nor was the real cause of the fatal quarrel +known, so closely had my lord and the two other persons who knew it kept +the secret, but every one imagined that the origin of the meeting was +a gambling dispute. Except fresh air, the prisoners had, upon payment, +most things they could desire. Interest was made that they should not +mix with the vulgar convicts, whose ribald choruses and loud laughter +and curses could be heard from their own part of the prison, where they +and the miserable debtors were confined pell-mell. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I COME TO THE END OF MY CAPTIVITY, BUT NOT OF MY TROUBLE. + + +Among the company which came to visit the two officers was an old +acquaintance of Harry Esmond; that gentleman of the Guards, namely, +who had been so kind to Harry when Captain Westbury's troop had been +quartered at Castlewood more than seven years before. Dick the Scholar +was no longer Dick the Trooper now, but Captain Steele of Lucas's +Fusiliers, and secretary to my Lord Cutts, that famous officer of King +William's, the bravest and most beloved man of the English army. The +two jolly prisoners had been drinking with a party of friends (for +our cellar and that of the keepers of Newgate, too, were supplied +with endless hampers of Burgundy and Champagne that the friends of the +Colonels sent in); and Harry, having no wish for their drink or their +conversation, being too feeble in health for the one and too sad in +spirits for the other, was sitting apart in his little room, reading +such books as he had, one evening, when honest Colonel Westbury, flushed +with liquor, and always good-humored in and out of his cups, came +laughing into Harry's closet and said, “Ho, young Killjoy! here's a +friend come to see thee; he'll pray with thee, or he'll drink with thee; +or he'll drink and pray turn about. Dick, my Christian hero, here's the +little scholar of Castlewood.” + +Dick came up and kissed Esmond on both cheeks, imparting a strong +perfume of burnt sack along with his caress to the young man. + +“What! is this the little man that used to talk Latin and fetch our +bowls? How tall thou art grown! I protest I should have known thee +anywhere. And so you have turned ruffian and fighter; and wanted to +measure swords with Mohun, did you? I protest that Mohun said at the +Guard dinner yesterday, where there was a pretty company of us, that the +young fellow wanted to fight him, and was the better man of the two.” + +“I wish we could have tried and proved it, Mr. Steele,” says Esmond, +thinking of his dead benefactor, and his eyes filling with tears. + +With the exception of that one cruel letter which he had from his +mistress, Mr. Esmond heard nothing from her, and she seemed determined +to execute her resolve of parting from him and disowning him. But he had +news of her, such as it was, which Mr. Steele assiduously brought him +from the Prince's and Princess's Court, where our honest Captain had +been advanced to the post of gentleman waiter. When off duty there, +Captain Dick often came to console his friends in captivity; a good +nature and a friendly disposition towards all who were in ill-fortune +no doubt prompting him to make his visits, and good-fellowship and good +wine to prolong them. + +“Faith,” says Westbury, “the little scholar was the first to begin the +quarrel--I mind me of it now--at Lockit's. I always hated that fellow +Mohun. What was the real cause, of the quarrel betwixt him and poor +Frank? I would wager 'twas a woman.” + +“'Twas a quarrel about play--on my word, about play,” Harry said. “My +poor lord lost great sums to his guest at Castlewood. Angry words passed +between them; and, though Lord Castlewood was the kindest and most +pliable soul alive, his spirit was very high; and hence that meeting +which has brought us all here,” says Mr. Esmond, resolved never to +acknowledge that there had ever been any other cause but cards for the +duel. + +“I do not like to use bad words of a nobleman,” says Westbury; “but +if my Lord Mohun were a commoner, I would say, 'twas a pity he was not +hanged. He was familiar with dice and women at a time other boys are at +school being birched; he was as wicked as the oldest rake, years ere he +had done growing; and handled a sword and a foil, and a bloody one, too, +before he ever used a razor. He held poor Will Mountford in talk that +night, when bloody Dick Hill ran him through. He will come to a bad end, +will that young lord; and no end is bad enough for him,” says honest +Mr. Westbury: whose prophecy was fulfilled twelve years after, upon that +fatal day when Mohun fell, dragging down one of the bravest and greatest +gentlemen in England in his fall. + +From Mr. Steele, then, who brought the public rumor, as well as his own +private intelligence, Esmond learned the movements of his unfortunate +mistress. Steele's heart was of very inflammable composition; and the +gentleman usher spoke in terms of boundless admiration both of the widow +(that most beautiful woman, as he said) and of her daughter, who, in +the Captain's eyes, was a still greater paragon. If the pale widow, whom +Captain Richard, in his poetic rapture compared to a Niobe in tears--to +a Sigismunda--to a weeping Belvidera, was an object the most lovely +and pathetic which his eyes had ever beheld, or for which his heart had +melted, even her ripened perfections and beauty were as nothing compared +to the promise of that extreme loveliness which the good Captain saw +in her daughter. It was matre pulcra filia pulcrior. Steele composed +sonnets whilst he was on duty in his Prince's ante-chamber, to the +maternal and filial charms. He would speak for hours about them to Harry +Esmond; and, indeed, he could have chosen few subjects more likely to +interest the unhappy young man, whose heart was now as always devoted +to these ladies; and who was thankful to all who loved them, or praised +them, or wished them well. + +Not that his fidelity was recompensed by any answering kindness, or +show of relenting even, on the part of a mistress obdurate now after ten +years of love and benefactions. The poor young man getting no answer, +save Tusher's, to that letter which he had written, and being too proud +to write more, opened a part of his heart to Steele, than whom no man, +when unhappy, could find a kinder hearer, or more friendly emissary; +described (in words which were no doubt pathetic, for they came imo +pectore, and caused honest Dick to weep plentifully) his youth, his +constancy, his fond devotion to that household which had reared him; his +affection, how earned, and how tenderly requited until but yesterday, +and (as far as he might) the circumstances and causes for which that +sad quarrel had made of Esmond a prisoner under sentence, a widow and +orphans of those whom in life he held dearest. In terms that might well +move a harder-hearted man than young Esmond's confidant--for, indeed, +the speaker's own heart was half broke as he uttered them--he described +a part of what had taken place in that only sad interview which his +mistress had granted him; how she had left him with anger and almost +imprecation, whose words and thoughts until then had been only blessing +and kindness; how she had accused him of the guilt of that blood, in +exchange for which he would cheerfully have sacrificed his own (indeed, +in this the Lord Mohun, the Lord Warwick, and all the gentlemen engaged, +as well as the common rumor out of doors--Steele told him--bore out the +luckless young man); and with all his heart, and tears, he besought +Mr. Steele to inform his mistress of her kinsman's unhappiness, and to +deprecate that cruel anger she showed him. Half frantic with grief +at the injustice done him, and contrasting it with a thousand soft +recollections of love and confidence gone by, that made his present +misery inexpressibly more bitter, the poor wretch passed many a lonely +day and wakeful night in a kind of powerless despair and rage against +his iniquitous fortune. It was the softest hand that struck him, the +gentlest and most compassionate nature that persecuted him. “I would as +lief,” he said, “have pleaded guilty to the murder, and have suffered +for it like any other felon, as have to endure the torture to which my +mistress subjects me.” + +Although the recital of Esmond's story, and his passionate appeals and +remonstrances, drew so many tears from Dick who heard them, they had +no effect upon the person whom they were designed to move. Esmond's +ambassador came back from the mission with which the poor young +gentleman had charged him, with a sad blank face and a shake of the +head, which told that there was no hope for the prisoner; and scarce a +wretched culprit in that prison of Newgate ordered for execution, and +trembling for a reprieve, felt more cast down than Mr. Esmond, innocent +and condemned. + +As had been arranged between the prisoner and his counsel in their +consultations, Mr. Steele had gone to the dowager's house in Chelsey, +where it has been said the widow and her orphans were, had seen my Lady +Viscountess, and pleaded the cause of her unfortunate kinsman. “And I +think I spoke well, my poor boy,” says Mr. Steele; “for who would not +speak well in such a cause, and before so beautiful a judge? I did not +see the lovely Beatrix (sure her famous namesake of Florence was never +half so beautiful), only the young Viscount was in the room with the +Lord Churchill, my Lord of Marlborough's eldest son. But these young +gentlemen went off to the garden; I could see them from the window +tilting at each other with poles in a mimic tournament (grief touches +the young but lightly, and I remember that I beat a drum at the coffin +of my own father). My Lady Viscountess looked out at the two boys at +their game and said--'You see, sir, children are taught to use weapons +of death as toys, and to make a sport of murder;' and as she spoke she +looked so lovely, and stood there in herself so sad and beautiful, an +instance of that doctrine whereof I am a humble preacher, that had I not +dedicated my little volume of the 'Christian Hero'--(I perceive, Harry, +thou hast not cut the leaves of it. The sermon is good, believe me, +though the preacher's life may not answer it)--I say, hadn't I dedicated +the volume to Lord Cutts, I would have asked permission to place her +ladyship's name on the first page. I think I never saw such a beautiful +violet as that of her eyes, Harry. Her complexion is of the pink of the +blush-rose, she hath an exquisite turned wrist and dimpled hand, and I +make no doubt--” + +“Did you come to tell me about the dimples on my lady's hand?” broke out +Mr. Esmond, sadly. + +“A lovely creature in affliction seems always doubly beautiful to me,” + says the poor Captain, who indeed was but too often in a state to see +double, and so checked he resumed the interrupted thread of his story. +“As I spoke my business,” Mr. Steele said, “and narrated to your +mistress what all the world knows, and the other side hath been eager to +acknowledge--that you had tried to put yourself between the two lords, +and to take your patron's quarrel on your own point; I recounted the +general praises of your gallantry, besides my Lord Mohun's particular +testimony to it; I thought the widow listened with some interest, and +her eyes--I have never seen such a violet, Harry--looked up at mine once +or twice. But after I had spoken on this theme for a while she suddenly +broke away with a cry of grief. 'I would to God, sir,' she said, 'I had +never heard that word gallantry which you use, or known the meaning of +it. My lord might have been here but for that; my home might be happy; +my poor boy have a father. It was what you gentlemen call gallantry came +into my home, and drove my husband on to the cruel sword that killed +him. You should not speak the word to a Christian woman, sir, a poor +widowed mother of orphans, whose home was happy until the world came +into it--the wicked godless world, that takes the blood of the innocent, +and lets the guilty go free.' + +“As the afflicted lady spoke in this strain, sir,” Mr. Steele +continued, “it seemed as if indignation moved her, even more than grief. +'Compensation!' she went on passionately, her cheeks and eyes kindling; +'what compensation does your world give the widow for her husband, and +the children for the murderer of their father? The wretch who did the +deed has not even a punishment. Conscience! what conscience has he, who +can enter the house of a friend, whisper falsehood and insult to a woman +that never harmed him, and stab the kind heart that trusted him? My +Lord--my Lord Wretch's, my Lord Villain's, my Lord Murderer's peers meet +to try him, and they dismiss him with a word or two of reproof and send +him into the world again, to pursue women with lust and falsehood, and +to murder unsuspecting guests that harbor him. That day, my Lord--my +Lord Murderer--(I will never name him)--was let loose, a woman was +executed at Tyburn for stealing in a shop. But a man may rob another of +his life, or a lady of her honor, and shall pay no penalty! I take my +child, run to the throne, and on my knees ask for justice, and the King +refuses me. The King! he is no king of mine--he never shall be. He, too, +robbed the throne from the king his father--the true king--and he has +gone unpunished, as the great do.' + +“I then thought to speak for you,” Mr. Steele continued, “and I +interposed by saying, 'There was one, madam, who, at least, would have +put his own breast between your husband's and my Lord Mohun's sword. +Your poor young kinsman, Harry Esmond, hath told me that he tried to +draw the quarrel on himself.' + +“'Are you come from HIM?' asked the lady (so Mr. Steele went on) rising +up with a great severity and stateliness. 'I thought you had come from +the Princess. I saw Mr. Esmond in his prison, and bade him farewell. He +brought misery into my house. He never should have entered it.' + +“'Madam, madam, he is not to blame,' I interposed,” continued Mr. +Steele. + +“'Do I blame him to you, sir?' asked the widow. 'If 'tis he who sent +you, say that I have taken counsel, where'--she spoke with a very +pallid cheek now, and a break in her voice--'where all who ask may have +it;--and that it bids me to part from him, and to see him no more. We +met in the prison for the last time--at least for years to come. It +may be, in years hence, when--when our knees and our tears and our +contrition have changed our sinful hearts, sir, and wrought our pardon, +we may meet again--but not now. After what has passed, I could not bear +to see him. I wish him well, sir; but I wish him farewell, too; and if +he has that--that regard towards us which he speaks of, I beseech him to +prove it by obeying me in this.' + +“'I shall break the young man's heart, madam, by this hard sentence,'” + Mr. Steele said. + +“The lady shook her head,” continued my kind scholar. “'The hearts of +young men, Mr. Steele, are not so made,' she said. 'Mr. Esmond will find +other--other friends. The mistress of this house has relented very much +towards the late lord's son,' she added, with a blush, 'and has promised +me, that is, has promised that she will care for his fortune. Whilst I +live in it, after the horrid horrid deed which has passed, Castlewood +must never be a home to him--never. Nor would I have him write to +me--except--no--I would have him never write to me, nor see him more. +Give him, if you will, my parting--Hush! not a word of this before my +daughter.' + +“Here the fair Beatrix entered from the river, with her cheeks flushing +with health, and looking only the more lovely and fresh for the mourning +habiliments which she wore. And my Lady Viscountess said-- + +“'Beatrix, this is Mr. Steele, gentleman-usher to the Prince's Highness. +When does your new comedy appear, Mr. Steele?' I hope thou wilt be out +of prison for the first night, Harry.” + +The sentimental Captain concluded his sad tale, saying, “Faith, the +beauty of Filia pulcrior drove pulcram matrem out of my head; and yet +as I came down the river, and thought about the pair, the pallid dignity +and exquisite grace of the matron had the uppermost, and I thought her +even more noble than the virgin!” + + +The party of prisoners lived very well in Newgate, and with comforts +very different to those which were awarded to the poor wretches there +(his insensibility to their misery, their gayety still more frightful, +their curses and blasphemy, hath struck with a kind of shame since--as +proving how selfish, during his imprisonment, his own particular grief +was, and how entirely the thoughts of it absorbed him): if the three +gentlemen lived well under the care of the Warden of Newgate, it was +because they paid well: and indeed the cost at the dearest ordinary +or the grandest tavern in London could not have furnished a longer +reckoning, than our host of the “Handcuff Inn”--as Colonel Westbury +called it. Our rooms were the three in the gate over Newgate--on the +second story looking up Newgate Street towards Cheapside and Paul's +Church. And we had leave to walk on the roof, and could see thence +Smithfield and the Bluecoat Boys' School, Gardens, and the Chartreux, +where, as Harry Esmond remembered, Dick the Scholar, and his friend Tom +Tusher, had had their schooling. + +Harry could never have paid his share of that prodigious heavy reckoning +which my landlord brought to his guests once a week: for he had but +three pieces in his pockets that fatal night before the duel, when the +gentlemen were at cards, and offered to play five. But whilst he was yet +ill at the Gatehouse, after Lady Castlewood had visited him there, and +before his trial, there came one in an orange-tawny coat and blue lace, +the livery which the Esmonds always wore, and brought a sealed packet +for Mr. Esmond, which contained twenty guineas, and a note saying that +a counsel had been appointed for him, and that more money would be +forthcoming whenever he needed it. + +'Twas a queer letter from the scholar as she was, or as she called +herself: the Dowager Viscountess Castlewood, written in the strange +barbarous French which she and many other fine ladies of that +time--witness her Grace of Portsmouth--employed. Indeed, spelling was +not an article of general commodity in the world then, and my Lord +Marlborough's letters can show that he, for one, had but a little share +of this part of grammar:-- + + +“MONG COUSSIN,” my Lady Viscountess Dowager wrote, “je scay que vous +vous etes bravement batew et grievement blessay--du coste de feu M. le +Vicomte. M. le Compte de Varique ne se playt qua parlay de vous: M. de +Moon aucy. Il di que vous avay voulew vous bastre avecque luy--que vous +estes plus fort que luy fur l'ayscrimme--quil'y a surtout certaine Botte +que vous scavay quil n'a jammay sceu pariay: et que c'en eut ete fay de +luy si vouseluy vous vous fussiay battews ansamb. Aincy ce pauv Vicompte +est mort. Mort et pontayt--Mon coussin, mon coussin! jay dans la tayste +que vous n'estes quung pety Monst--angcy que les Esmonds ong tousjours +este. La veuve est chay moy. J'ay recuilly cet' pauve famme. Elle est +furieuse cont vous, allans tous les jours chercher ley Roy (d'icy) +demandant a gran cri revanche pour son Mary. Elle ne veux voyre ni +entende parlay de vous: pourtant elle ne fay qu'en parlay milfoy par +jour. Quand vous seray hor prison venay me voyre. J'auray soing de vous. +Si cette petite Prude veut se defaire de song pety Monste (Helas je +craing quil ne soy trotar!) je m'on chargeray. J'ay encor quelqu interay +et quelques escus de costay. + +“La Veuve se raccommode avec Miladi Marlboro qui est tout puicante +avecque la Reine Anne. Cet dam senteraysent pour la petite prude; qui +pourctant a un fi du mesme asge que vous savay. + +“En sortant de prisong venez icy. Je ne puy vous recevoir chaymoy a +cause des mechansetes du monde, may pre du moy vous aurez logement. + +“ISABELLE VICOMTESSE D'ESMOND” + + +Marchioness of Esmond this lady sometimes called herself, in virtue +of that patent which had been given by the late King James to Harry +Esmond's father; and in this state she had her train carried by a +knight's wife, a cup and cover of assay to drink from, and fringed +cloth. + +He who was of the same age as little Francis, whom we shall henceforth +call Viscount Castlewood here, was H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, born +in the same year and month with Frank, and just proclaimed at Saint +Germains, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I TAKE THE QUEEN'S PAY IN QUIN'S REGIMENT. + + +The fellow in the orange-tawny livery with blue lace and facings was +in waiting when Esmond came out of prison, and, taking the young +gentleman's slender baggage, led the way out of that odious Newgate, and +by Fleet Conduit, down to the Thames, where a pair of oars was called, +and they went up the river to Chelsey. Esmond thought the sun had never +shone so bright; nor the air felt so fresh and exhilarating. Temple +Garden, as they rowed by, looked like the garden of Eden to him, and +the aspect of the quays, wharves, and buildings by the river, Somerset +House, and Westminster (where the splendid new bridge was just +beginning), Lambeth tower and palace, and that busy shining scene of the +Thames swarming with boats and barges, filled his heart with pleasure +and cheerfulness--as well such a beautiful scene might to one who had +been a prisoner so long, and with so many dark thoughts deepening the +gloom of his captivity. They rowed up at length to the pretty village +of Chelsey, where the nobility have many handsome country-houses; and +so came to my Lady Viscountess's house, a cheerful new house in the +row facing the river, with a handsome garden behind it, and a pleasant +look-out both towards Surrey and Kensington, where stands the noble +ancient palace of the Lord Warwick, Harry's reconciled adversary. + +Here in her ladyship's saloon, the young man saw again some of those +pictures which had been at Castlewood, and which she had removed thence +on the death of her lord, Harry's father. Specially, and in the place of +honor, was Sir Peter Lely's picture of the honorable Mistress Isabella +Esmond as Diana, in yellow satin, with a bow in her hand and a crescent +in her forehead; and dogs frisking about her. 'Twas painted about the +time when royal Endymions were said to find favor with this virgin +huntress; and, as goddesses have youth perpetual, this one believed to +the day of her death that she never grew older: and always persisted in +supposing the picture was still like her. + +After he had been shown to her room by the groom of the chamber, who +filled many offices besides in her ladyship's modest household, and +after a proper interval, his elderly goddess Diana vouchsafed to appear +to the young man. A blackamoor in a Turkish habit, with red boots and a +silver collar, on which the Viscountess's arms were engraven, preceded +her and bore her cushion; then came her gentlewoman; a little pack of +spaniels barking and frisking about preceded the austere huntress--then, +behold, the Viscountess herself “dropping odors.” Esmond recollected +from his childhood that rich aroma of musk which his mother-in-law +(for she may be called so) exhaled. As the sky grows redder and redder +towards sunset, so, in the decline of her years, the cheeks of my Lady +Dowager blushed more deeply. Her face was illuminated with vermilion, +which appeared the brighter from the white paint employed to set it off. +She wore the ringlets which had been in fashion in King Charles's time; +whereas the ladies of King William's had head-dresses like the towers of +Cybele. Her eyes gleamed out from the midst of this queer structure of +paint, dyes, and pomatums. Such was my Lady Viscountess, Mr. Esmond's +father's widow. + +He made her such a profound bow as her dignity and relationship merited, +and advanced with the greatest gravity, and once more kissed that +hand, upon the trembling knuckles of which glittered a score of +rings--remembering old times when that trembling hand made him tremble. +“Marchioness,” says he, bowing, and on one knee, “is it only the hand I +may have the honor of saluting?” For, accompanying that inward laughter, +which the sight of such an astonishing old figure might well produce +in the young man, there was good will too, and the kindness of +consanguinity. She had been his father's wife, and was his grandfather's +daughter. She had suffered him in old days, and was kind to him now +after her fashion. And now that bar-sinister was removed from Esmond's +thought, and that secret opprobrium no longer cast upon his mind, he was +pleased to feel family ties and own them--perhaps secretly vain of the +sacrifice he had made, and to think that he, Esmond, was really the +chief of his house, and only prevented by his own magnanimity from +advancing his claim. + +At least, ever since he had learned that secret from his poor patron +on his dying bed, actually as he was standing beside it, he had felt an +independency which he had never known before, and which since did not +desert him. So he called his old aunt Marchioness, but with an air as if +he was the Marquis of Esmond who so addressed her. + +Did she read in the young gentleman's eyes, which had now no fear of +hers or their superannuated authority, that he knew or suspected the +truth about his birth? She gave a start of surprise at his altered +manner: indeed, it was quite a different bearing to that of the +Cambridge student who had paid her a visit two years since, and whom +she had dismissed with five pieces sent by the groom of the chamber. She +eyed him, then trembled a little more than was her wont, perhaps, and +said, “Welcome, cousin,” in a frightened voice. + +His resolution, as has been said before, had been quite different, +namely, so to bear himself through life as if the secret of his birth +was not known to him; but he suddenly and rightly determined on a +different course. He asked that her ladyship's attendants should be +dismissed, and when they were private--“Welcome, nephew, at least, +madam, it should be,” he said. “A great wrong has been done to me and to +you, and to my poor mother, who is no more.” + +“I declare before heaven that I was guiltless of it,” she cried out, +giving up her cause at once. “It was your wicked father who--” + +“Who brought this dishonor on our family,” says Mr. Esmond. “I know it +full well. I want to disturb no one. Those who are in present possession +have been my dearest benefactors, and are quite innocent of intentional +wrong to me. The late lord, my dear patron, knew not the truth until a +few months before his death, when Father Holt brought the news to him.” + +“The wretch! he had it in confession! he had it in confession!” cried +out the Dowager Lady. + +“Not so. He learned it elsewhere as well as in confession,” Mr. Esmond +answered. “My father, when wounded at the Boyne, told the truth to a +French priest, who was in hiding after the battle, as well as to the +priest there, at whose house he died. This gentleman did not think fit +to divulge the story till he met with Mr. Holt at Saint Omer's. And +the latter kept it back for his own purpose, and until he had learned +whether my mother was alive or no. She is dead years since, my poor +patron told me with his dying breath, and I doubt him not. I do not know +even whether I could prove a marriage. I would not if I could. I do +not care to bring shame on our name, or grief upon those whom I love, +however hardly they may use me. My father's son, madam, won't aggravate +the wrong my father did you. Continue to be his widow, and give me +your kindness. 'Tis all I ask from you; and I shall never speak of this +matter again.” + +“Mais vous etes un noble jeune homme!” breaks out my lady, speaking, as +usual with her when she was agitated, in the French language. + +“Noblesse oblige,” says Mr. Esmond, making her a low bow. “There are +those alive to whom, in return for their love to me, I often fondly said +I would give my life away. Shall I be their enemy now, and quarrel about +a title? What matters who has it? 'Tis with the family still.” + +“What can there be in that little prude of a woman that makes men so +raffoler about her?” cries out my Lady Dowager. “She was here for a +month petitioning the King. She is pretty, and well conserved; but she +has not the bel air. In his late Majesty's Court all the men pretended +to admire her, and she was no better than a little wax doll. She is +better now, and looks the sister of her daughter; but what mean you +all by bepraising her? Mr. Steele, who was in waiting on Prince George, +seeing her with her two children going to Kensington, writ a poem about +her, and says he shall wear her colors, and dress in black for the +future. Mr. Congreve says he will write a 'Mourning Widow,' that shall +be better than his 'Mourning Bride.' Though their husbands quarrelled +and fought when that wretch Churchill deserted the King (for which he +deserved to be hung), Lady Marlborough has again gone wild about the +little widow; insulted me in my own drawing-room, by saying 'twas not +the OLD widow, but the young Viscountess, she had come to see. Little +Castlewood and little Lord Churchill are to be sworn friends, and have +boxed each other twice or thrice like brothers already. 'Twas that +wicked young Mohun who, coming back from the provinces last year, where +he had disinterred her, raved about her all the winter; said she was a +pearl set before swine; and killed poor stupid Frank. The quarrel was +all about his wife. I know 'twas all about her. Was there anything +between her and Mohun, nephew? Tell me now--was there anything? About +yourself, I do not ask you to answer questions.” + +Mr. Esmond blushed up. “My lady's virtue is like that of a saint in +heaven, madam,” he cried out. + +“Eh!--mon neveu. Many saints get to heaven after having a deal to repent +of. I believe you are like all the rest of the fools, and madly in love +with her.” + +“Indeed, I loved and honored her before all the world,” Esmond answered. +“I take no shame in that.” + +“And she has shut her door on you--given the living to that horrid young +cub, son of that horrid old bear, Tusher, and says she will never see +you more. Monsieur mon neveu--we are all like that. When I was a young +woman, I'm positive that a thousand duels were fought about me. And when +poor Monsieur de Souchy drowned himself in the canal at Bruges because I +danced with Count Springbock, I couldn't squeeze out a single tear, but +danced till five o'clock the next morning. 'Twas the Count--no, 'twas my +Lord Ormond that played the fiddles, and his Majesty did me the honor of +dancing all night with me.--How you are grown! You have got the bel air. +You are a black man. Our Esmonds are all black. The little prude's son +is fair; so was his father--fair and stupid. You were an ugly little +wretch when you came to Castlewood--you were all eyes, like a young +crow. We intended you should be a priest. That awful Father Holt--how +he used to frighten me when I was ill! I have a comfortable director +now--the Abbe Douillette--a dear man. We make meagre on Fridays always. +My cook is a devout pious man. You, of course, are of the right way of +thinking. They say the Prince of Orange is very ill indeed.” + +In this way the old Dowager rattled on remorselessly to Mr. Esmond, who +was quite astounded with her present volubility, contrasting it with her +former haughty behavior to him. But she had taken him into favor for the +moment, and chose not only to like him, as far as her nature permitted, +but to be afraid of him; and he found himself to be as familiar with her +now as a young man, as, when a boy, he had been timorous and silent. +She was as good as her word respecting him. She introduced him to her +company, of which she entertained a good deal--of the adherents of King +James of course--and a great deal of loud intriguing took place over her +card-tables. She presented Mr. Esmond as her kinsman to many persons +of honor; she supplied him not illiberally with money, which he had no +scruple in accepting from her, considering the relationship which he +bore to her, and the sacrifices which he himself was making in behalf +of the family. But he had made up his mind to continue at no woman's +apron-strings longer; and perhaps had cast about how he should +distinguish himself, and make himself a name, which his singular +fortune had denied him. A discontent with his former bookish life and +quietude,--a bitter feeling of revolt at that slavery in which he had +chosen to confine himself for the sake of those whose hardness +towards him make his heart bleed,--a restless wish to see men and the +world,--led him to think of the military profession: at any rate, +to desire to see a few campaigns, and accordingly he pressed his new +patroness to get him a pair of colors; and one day had the honor of +finding himself appointed an ensign in Colonel Quin's regiment of +Fusileers on the Irish establishment. + +Mr. Esmond's commission was scarce three weeks old when that accident +befell King William which ended the life of the greatest, the wisest, +the bravest, and most clement sovereign whom England ever knew. +'Twas the fashion of the hostile party to assail this great prince's +reputation during his life; but the joy which they and all his enemies +in Europe showed at his death, is a proof of the terror in which they +held him. Young as Esmond was, he was wise enough (and generous enough +too, let it be said) to scorn that indecency of gratulation which broke +out amongst the followers of King James in London, upon the death of +this illustrious prince, this invincible warrior, this wise and moderate +statesman. Loyalty to the exiled king's family was traditional, as has +been said, in that house to which Mr. Esmond belonged. His father's +widow had all her hopes, sympathies, recollections, prejudices, engaged +on King James's side; and was certainly as noisy a conspirator as ever +asserted the King's rights, or abused his opponent's, over a +quadrille table or a dish of bohea. Her ladyship's house swarmed with +ecclesiastics, in disguise and out; with tale-bearers from St. Germains; +and quidnuncs that knew the last news from Versailles; nay, the exact +force and number of the next expedition which the French king was to +send from Dunkirk, and which was to swallow up the Prince of Orange, his +army and his court. She had received the Duke of Berwick when he landed +here in '96. She kept the glass he drank from, vowing she never would +use it till she drank King James the Third's health in it on his +Majesty's return; she had tokens from the Queen, and relics of the saint +who, if the story was true, had not always been a saint as far as she +and many others were concerned. She believed in the miracles wrought at +his tomb, and had a hundred authentic stories of wondrous cures effected +by the blessed king's rosaries, the medals which he wore, the locks of +his hair, or what not. Esmond remembered a score of marvellous tales +which the credulous old woman told him. There was the Bishop of Autun, +that was healed of a malady he had for forty years, and which left +him after he said mass for the repose of the king's soul. There was M. +Marais, a surgeon in Auvergne, who had a palsy in both his legs, which +was cured through the king's intercession. There was Philip Pitet, of +the Benedictines, who had a suffocating cough, which wellnigh +killed him, but he besought relief of heaven through the merits and +intercession of the blessed king, and he straightway felt a profuse +sweat breaking out all over him, and was recovered perfectly. And +there was the wife of Mons. Lepervier, dancing-master to the Duke +of Saxe-Gotha, who was entirely eased of a rheumatism by the king's +intercession, of which miracle there could be no doubt, for her surgeon +and his apprentice had given their testimony, under oath, that they did +not in any way contribute to the cure. Of these tales, and a thousand +like them, Mr. Esmond believed as much as he chose. His kinswoman's +greater faith had swallow for them all. + +The English High Church party did not adopt these legends. But truth and +honor, as they thought, bound them to the exiled king's side; nor +had the banished family any warmer supporter than that kind lady of +Castlewood, in whose house Esmond was brought up. She influenced her +husband, very much more perhaps than my lord knew, who admired his wife +prodigiously though he might be inconstant to her, and who, adverse +to the trouble of thinking himself, gladly enough adopted the opinions +which she chose for him. To one of her simple and faithful heart, +allegiance to any sovereign but the one was impossible. To serve King +William for interest's sake would have been a monstrous hypocrisy and +treason. Her pure conscience could no more have consented to it than to +a theft, a forgery, or any other base action. Lord Castlewood might have +been won over, no doubt, but his wife never could: and he submitted his +conscience to hers in this case as he did in most others, when he was +not tempted too sorely. And it was from his affection and gratitude +most likely, and from that eager devotion for his mistress, which +characterized all Esmond's youth, that the young man subscribed to this, +and other articles of faith, which his fond benefactress set him. Had +she been a Whig, he had been one; had she followed Mr. Fox, and turned +Quaker, no doubt he would have abjured ruffles and a periwig, and have +forsworn swords, lace-coats, and clocked stockings. In the scholars' +boyish disputes at the University, where parties ran very high, +Esmond was noted as a Jacobite, and very likely from vanity as much as +affection took the side of his family. + +Almost the whole of the clergy of the country and more than a half of +the nation were on this side. Ours is the most loyal people in the world +surely; we admire our kings, and are faithful to them long after they +have ceased to be true to us. 'Tis a wonder to any one who looks back at +the history of the Stuart family to think how they kicked their +crowns away from them; how they flung away chances after chances; what +treasures of loyalty they dissipated, and how fatally they were bent on +consummating their own ruin. If ever men had fidelity, 'twas they; if +ever men squandered opportunity, 'twas they; and, of all the enemies +they had, they themselves were the most fatal. + +When the Princess Anne succeeded, the wearied nation was glad enough to +cry a truce from all these wars, controversies, and conspiracies, and +to accept in the person of a Princess of the blood royal a compromise +between the parties into which the country was divided. The Tories +could serve under her with easy consciences; though a Tory herself, +she represented the triumph of the Whig opinion. The people of England, +always liking that their Princes should be attached to their own +families, were pleased to think the Princess was faithful to hers; and +up to the very last day and hour of her reign, and but for that fatality +which he inherited from his fathers along with their claims to the +English crown, King James the Third might have worn it. But he neither +knew how to wait an opportunity, nor to use it when he had it; he was +venturesome when he ought to have been cautious, and cautious when +he ought to have dared everything. 'Tis with a sort of rage at his +inaptitude that one thinks of his melancholy story. Do the Fates deal +more specially with kings than with common men? One is apt to imagine +so, in considering the history of that royal race, in whose behalf +so much fidelity, so much valor, so much blood were desperately and +bootlessly expended. + +The King dead then, the Princess Anne (ugly Anne Hyde's daughter, our +Dowager at Chelsey called her) was proclaimed by trumpeting heralds +all over the town from Westminster to Ludgate Hill, amidst immense +jubilations of the people. + +Next week my Lord Marlborough was promoted to the Garter, and to +be Captain-General of her Majesty's forces at home and abroad. This +appointment only inflamed the Dowager's rage, or, as she thought it, her +fidelity to her rightful sovereign. “The Princess is but a puppet in +the hands of that fury of a woman, who comes into my drawing-room and +insults me to my face. What can come to a country that is given over to +such a woman?” says the Dowager: “As for that double-faced traitor, my +Lord Marlborough, he has betrayed every man and every woman with whom he +has had to deal, except his horrid wife, who makes him tremble. 'Tis all +over with the country when it has got into the clutches of such wretches +as these.” + +Esmond's old kinswoman saluted the new powers in this way; but some good +fortune at last occurred to a family which stood in great need of it, by +the advancement of these famous personages who benefited humbler people +that had the luck of being in their favor. Before Mr. Esmond left +England in the month of August, and being then at Portsmouth, where he +had joined his regiment, and was busy at drill, learning the practice +and mysteries of the musket and pike, he heard that a pension on the +Stamp Office had been got for his late beloved mistress, and that the +young Mistress Beatrix was also to be taken into court. So much good, +at least, had come of the poor widow's visit to London, not revenge upon +her husband's enemies, but reconcilement to old friends, who pitied, and +seemed inclined to serve her. As for the comrades in prison and the +late misfortune, Colonel Westbury was with the Captain-General gone to +Holland; Captain Macartney was now at Portsmouth, with his regiment of +Fusileers and the force under command of his Grace the Duke of Ormond, +bound for Spain it was said; my Lord Warwick was returned home; and Lord +Mohun, so far from being punished for the homicide which had brought so +much grief and change into the Esmond family, was gone in company of my +Lord Macclesfield's splendid embassy to the Elector of Hanover, carrying +the Garter to his Highness, and a complimentary letter from the Queen. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +RECAPITULATIONS. + + +From such fitful lights as could be cast upon his dark history by the +broken narrative of his poor patron, torn by remorse and struggling in +the last pangs of dissolution, Mr. Esmond had been made to understand +so far, that his mother was long since dead; and so there could be +no question as regarded her or her honor, tarnished by her husband's +desertion and injury, to influence her son in any steps which he might +take either for prosecuting or relinquishing his own just claims. It +appeared from my poor lord's hurried confession, that he had been made +acquainted with the real facts of the case only two years since, when +Mr. Holt visited him, and would have implicated him in one of those many +conspiracies by which the secret leaders of King James's party in this +country were ever endeavoring to destroy the Prince of Orange's life or +power: conspiracies so like murder, so cowardly in the means used, so +wicked in the end, that our nation has sure done well in throwing +off all allegiance and fidelity to the unhappy family that could not +vindicate its right except by such treachery--by such dark intrigue and +base agents. There were designs against King William that were no +more honorable than the ambushes of cut-throats and footpads. 'Tis +humiliating to think that a great Prince, possessor of a great and +sacred right, and upholder of a great cause, should have stooped to such +baseness of assassination and treasons as are proved by the unfortunate +King James's own warrant and sign manual given to his supporters in this +country. What he and they called levying war was, in truth, no better +than instigating murder. The noble Prince of Orange burst magnanimously +through those feeble meshes of conspiracy in which his enemies tried +to envelop him: it seemed as if their cowardly daggers broke upon the +breast of his undaunted resolution. After King James's death, the +Queen and her people at St. Germains--priests and women for the most +part--continued their intrigues in behalf of the young Prince, James the +Third, as he was called in France and by his party here (this Prince, or +Chevalier de St. George, was born in the same year with Esmond's young +pupil Frank, my Lord Viscount's son); and the Prince's affairs, being in +the hands of priests and women, were conducted as priests and women will +conduct them, artfully, cruelly, feebly, and to a certain bad issue. The +moral of the Jesuits' story I think as wholesome a one as ever was +writ: the artfullest, the wisest, the most toilsome, and dexterous +plot-builders in the world--there always comes a day when the roused +public indignation kicks their flimsy edifice down, and sends its +cowardly enemies a-flying. Mr. Swift hath finely described that passion +for intrigue, that love of secrecy, slander, and lying, which belongs to +weak people, hangers-on of weak courts. 'Tis the nature of such to +hate and envy the strong, and conspire their ruin; and the conspiracy +succeeds very well, and everything presages the satisfactory overthrow +of the great victim; until one day Gulliver rouses himself, shakes off +the little vermin of an enemy, and walks away unmolested. Ah! the Irish +soldiers might well say after the Boyne, “Change kings with us and we +will fight it over again.” Indeed, the fight was not fair between the +two. 'Twas a weak, priest-ridden, woman-ridden man, with such puny +allies and weapons as his own poor nature led him to choose, contending +against the schemes, the generalship, the wisdom, and the heart of a +hero. + +On one of these many coward's errands then, (for, as I view them now, +I can call them no less,) Mr. Holt had come to my lord at Castlewood, +proposing some infallible plan for the Prince of Orange's destruction, +in which my Lord Viscount, loyalist as he was, had indignantly refused +to join. As far as Mr. Esmond could gather from his dying words, Holt +came to my lord with a plan of insurrection, and offer of the renewal, +in his person, of that marquis's title which King James had conferred on +the preceding viscount; and on refusal of this bribe, a threat was made, +on Holt's part, to upset my Lord Viscount's claim to his estate and +title of Castlewood altogether. To back this astounding piece of +intelligence, of which Henry Esmond's patron now had the first light, +Holt came armed with the late lord's dying declaration, after the affair +of the Boyne, at Trim, in Ireland, made both to the Irish priest and a +French ecclesiastic of Holt's order, that was with King James's army. +Holt showed, or pretended to show, the marriage certificate of the late +Viscount Esmond with my mother, in the city of Brussels, in the year +1677, when the viscount, then Thomas Esmond, was serving with the +English army in Flanders; he could show, he said, that this Gertrude, +deserted by her husband long since, was alive, and a professed nun in +the year 1685, at Brussels, in which year Thomas Esmond married +his uncle's daughter, Isabella, now called Viscountess Dowager of +Castlewood; and leaving him, for twelve hours, to consider this +astounding news (so the poor dying lord said), disappeared with his +papers in the mysterious way in which he came. Esmond knew how, well +enough: by that window from which he had seen the Father issue:--but +there was no need to explain to my poor lord, only to gather from his +parting lips the words which he would soon be able to utter no more. + +Ere the twelve hours were over, Holt himself was a prisoner, implicated +in Sir John Fenwick's conspiracy, and locked up at Hexton first, whence +he was transferred to the Tower; leaving the poor Lord Viscount, who +was not aware of the others being taken, in daily apprehension of his +return, when (as my Lord Castlewood declared, calling God to witness, +and with tears in his dying eyes) it had been his intention at once to +give up his estate and his title to their proper owner, and to retire to +his own house at Walcote with his family. “And would to God I had done +it,” the poor lord said. “I would not be here now, wounded to death, a +miserable, stricken man!” + +My lord waited day after day, and, as may be supposed, no messenger +came; but at a month's end Holt got means to convey to him a message +out of the Tower, which was to this effect: that he should consider all +unsaid that had been said, and that things were as they were. + +“I had a sore temptation,” said my poor lord. “Since I had come into +this cursed title of Castlewood, which hath never prospered with me, I +have spent far more than the income of that estate, and my paternal one, +too. I calculated all my means down to the last shilling, and found I +never could pay you back, my poor Harry, whose fortune I had had for +twelve years. My wife and children must have gone out of the house +dishonored, and beggars. God knows, it hath been a miserable one for me +and mine. Like a coward, I clung to that respite which Holt gave me. I +kept the truth from Rachel and you. I tried to win money of Mohun, and +only plunged deeper into debt; I scarce dared look thee in the face when +I saw thee. This sword hath been hanging over my head these two years. I +swear I felt happy when Mohun's blade entered my side.” + +After lying ten months in the Tower, Holt, against whom nothing could +be found except that he was a Jesuit priest, known to be in King James's +interest, was put on shipboard by the incorrigible forgiveness of King +William, who promised him, however, a hanging if ever he should again +set foot on English shore. More than once, whilst he was in prison +himself, Esmond had thought where those papers could be, which the +Jesuit had shown to his patron, and which had such an interest for +himself. They were not found on Mr. Holt's person when that Father was +apprehended, for had such been the case my Lords of the Council had seen +them, and this family history had long since been made public. However, +Esmond cared not to seek the papers. His resolution being taken; his +poor mother dead; what matter to him that documents existed proving his +right to a title which he was determined not to claim, and of which he +vowed never to deprive that family which he loved best in the world? +Perhaps he took a greater pride out of his sacrifice than he would have +had in those honors which he was resolved to forego. Again, as long as +these titles were not forthcoming, Esmond's kinsman, dear young Francis, +was the honorable and undisputed owner of the Castlewood estate and +title. The mere word of a Jesuit could not overset Frank's right of +occupancy, and so Esmond's mind felt actually at ease to think the +papers were missing, and in their absence his dear mistress and her son +the lawful Lady and Lord of Castlewood. + +Very soon after his liberation, Mr. Esmond made it his business to ride +to that village of Ealing where he had passed his earliest years in +this country, and to see if his old guardians were still alive and +inhabitants of that place. But the only relique which he found of old +M. Pastoureau was a stone in the churchyard, which told that Athanasius +Pastoureau, a native of Flanders, lay there buried, aged 87 years. The +old man's cottage, which Esmond perfectly recollected, and the garden +(where in his childhood he had passed many hours of play and reverie, +and had many a beating from his termagant of a foster-mother), were +now in the occupation of quite a different family; and it was with +difficulty that he could learn in the village what had come of +Pastoureau's widow and children. The clerk of the parish recollected +her--the old man was scarce altered in the fourteen years that had +passed since last Esmond set eyes on him. It appeared she had pretty +soon consoled herself after the death of her old husband, whom she ruled +over, by taking a new one younger than herself, who spent her money +and ill-treated her and her children. The girl died; one of the boys +'listed; the other had gone apprentice. Old Mr. Rogers, the clerk, said +he had heard that Mrs. Pastoureau was dead too. She and her husband had +left Ealing this seven year; and so Mr. Esmond's hopes of gaining any +information regarding his parentage from this family were brought to an +end. He gave the old clerk a crown-piece for his news, smiling to think +of the time when he and his little playfellows had slunk out of the +churchyard or hidden behind the gravestones, at the approach of this +awful authority. + +Who was his mother? What had her name been? When did she die? Esmond +longed to find some one who could answer these questions to him, and +thought even of putting them to his aunt the Viscountess, who had +innocently taken the name which belonged of right to Henry's mother. +But she knew nothing, or chose to know nothing, on this subject, nor, +indeed, could Mr. Esmond press her much to speak on it. Father Holt was +the only man who could enlighten him, and Esmond felt he must wait until +some fresh chance or new intrigue might put him face to face with his +old friend, or bring that restless indefatigable spirit back to England +again. + +The appointment to his ensigncy, and the preparations necessary for the +campaign, presently gave the young gentleman other matters to think of. +His new patroness treated him very kindly and liberally; she promised +to make interest and pay money, too, to get him a company speedily; she +bade him procure a handsome outfit, both of clothes and of arms, and +was pleased to admire him when he made his first appearance in his laced +scarlet coat, and to permit him to salute her on the occasion of this +interesting investiture. “Red,” says she, tossing up her old head, “hath +always been the color worn by the Esmonds.” And so her ladyship wore +it on her own cheeks very faithfully to the last. She would have him be +dressed, she said, as became his father's son, and paid cheerfully for +his five-pound beaver, his black buckled periwig, and his fine holland +shirts, and his swords, and his pistols, mounted with silver. Since the +day he was born, poor Harry had never looked such a fine gentleman: his +liberal step-mother filled his purse with guineas, too, some of which +Captain Steele and a few choice spirits helped Harry to spend in an +entertainment which Dick ordered (and, indeed, would have paid for, but +that he had no money when the reckoning was called for; nor would the +landlord give him any more credit) at the “Garter,” over against the +gate of the Palace, in Pall Mall. + +The old Viscountess, indeed, if she had done Esmond any wrong formerly, +seemed inclined to repair it by the present kindness of her behavior: +she embraced him copiously at parting, wept plentifully, bade him write +by every packet, and gave him an inestimable relic, which she besought +him to wear round his neck--a medal, blessed by I know not what pope, +and worn by his late sacred Majesty King James. So Esmond arrived at his +regiment with a better equipage than most young officers could afford. +He was older than most of his seniors, and had a further advantage which +belonged but to very few of the army gentlemen in his day--many of whom +could do little more than write their names--that he had read much, both +at home and at the University, was master of two or three languages, and +had that further education which neither books nor years will give, but +which some men get from the silent teaching of adversity. She is a great +schoolmistress, as many a poor fellow knows, that hath held his hand out +to her ferule, and whimpered over his lesson before her awful chair. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +I GO ON THE VIGO BAY EXPEDITION, TASTE SALT-WATER AND SMELL POWDER. + + +The first expedition in which Mr. Esmond had the honor to be engaged, +rather resembled one of the invasions projected by the redoubted Captain +Avory or Captain Kidd, than a war between crowned heads, carried on by +generals of rank and honor. On the 1st day of July, 1702, a great fleet, +of a hundred and fifty sail, set sail from Spithead, under the command +of Admiral Shovell, having on board 12,000 troops, with his Grace the +Duke of Ormond as the Capt.-General of the expedition. One of these +12,000 heroes having never been to sea before, or, at least, only once +in his infancy, when he made the voyage to England from that unknown +country where he was born--one of those 12,000--the junior ensign of +Colonel Quin's regiment of Fusileers--was in a quite unheroic state of +corporal prostration a few hours after sailing; and an enemy, had he +boarded the ship, would have had easy work of him. From Portsmouth +we put into Plymouth, and took in fresh reinforcements. We were off +Finisterre on the 31st of July, so Esmond's table-book informs him: and +on the 8th of August made the rock of Lisbon. By this time the Ensign +was grown as bold as an admiral, and a week afterwards had the fortune +to be under fire for the first time--and under water, too,--his boat +being swamped in the surf in Toros Bay, where the troops landed. The +ducking of his new coat was all the harm the young soldier got in this +expedition, for, indeed, the Spaniards made no stand before our troops, +and were not in strength to do so. + +But the campaign, if not very glorious, was very pleasant. New sights of +nature, by sea and land--a life of action, beginning now for the first +time--occupied and excited the young man. The many accidents, and the +routine of shipboard--the military duty--the new acquaintances, both of +his comrades in arms, and of the officers of the fleet--served to cheer +and occupy his mind, and waken it out of that selfish depression into +which his late unhappy fortunes had plunged him. He felt as if the ocean +separated him from his past care, and welcomed the new era of life which +was dawning for him. Wounds heal rapidly in a heart of two-and-twenty; +hopes revive daily; and courage rallies in spite of a man. Perhaps, +as Esmond thought of his late despondency and melancholy, and how +irremediable it had seemed to him, as he lay in his prison a few months +back, he was almost mortified in his secret mind at finding himself so +cheerful. + +To see with one's own eyes men and countries, is better than reading all +the books of travel in the world: and it was with extreme delight and +exultation that the young man found himself actually on his grand tour, +and in the view of people and cities which he had read about as a boy. +He beheld war for the first time--the pride, pomp, and circumstance of +it, at least, if not much of the danger. He saw actually, and with +his own eyes, those Spanish cavaliers and ladies whom he had beheld +in imagination in that immortal story of Cervantes, which had been +the delight of his youthful leisure. 'Tis forty years since Mr. Esmond +witnessed those scenes, but they remain as fresh in his memory as on the +day when first he saw them as a young man. A cloud, as of grief, that +had lowered over him, and had wrapped the last years of his life in +gloom, seemed to clear away from Esmond during this fortunate voyage and +campaign. His energies seemed to awaken and to expand under a cheerful +sense of freedom. Was his heart secretly glad to have escaped from that +fond but ignoble bondage at home? Was it that the inferiority to +which the idea of his base birth had compelled him, vanished with the +knowledge of that secret, which though, perforce, kept to himself, was +yet enough to cheer and console him? At any rate, young Esmond of the +army was quite a different being to the sad little dependant of the +kind Castlewood household, and the melancholy student of Trinity Walks; +discontented with his fate, and with the vocation into which that drove +him, and thinking, with a secret indignation, that the cassock and +bands, and the very sacred office with which he had once proposed to +invest himself, were, in fact, but marks of a servitude which was to +continue all his life long. For, disguise it as he might to himself, +he had all along felt that to be Castlewood's chaplain was to be +Castlewood's inferior still, and that his life was but to be a long, +hopeless servitude. So, indeed, he was far from grudging his old friend +Tom Tusher's good fortune (as Tom, no doubt, thought it). Had it been a +mitre and Lambeth which his friends offered him, and not a small living +and a country parsonage, he would have felt as much a slave in one case +as in the other, and was quite happy and thankful to be free. + +The bravest man I ever knew in the army, and who had been present in +most of King William's actions, as well as in the campaigns of the great +Duke of Marlborough, could never be got to tell us of any achievement of +his, except that once Prince Eugene ordered him up a tree to reconnoitre +the enemy, which feat he could not achieve on account of the horseman's +boots he wore; and on another day that he was very nearly taken prisoner +because of these jack-boots, which prevented him from running away. +The present narrator shall imitate this laudable reserve, and doth not +intend to dwell upon his military exploits, which were in truth not very +different from those of a thousand other gentlemen. This first campaign +of Mr. Esmond's lasted but a few days; and as a score of books have been +written concerning it, it may be dismissed very briefly here. + +When our fleet came within view of Cadiz, our commander sent a boat +with a white flag and a couple of officers to the Governor of Cadiz, Don +Scipio de Brancaccio, with a letter from his Grace, in which he hoped +that as Don Scipio had formerly served with the Austrians against the +French, 'twas to be hoped that his Excellency would now declare himself +against the French King, and for the Austrian in the war between King +Philip and King Charles. But his Excellency, Don Scipio, prepared a +reply, in which he announced that, having served his former king with +honor and fidelity, he hoped to exhibit the same loyalty and devotion +towards his present sovereign, King Philip V.; and by the time this +letter was ready, the two officers had been taken to see the town, and +the alameda, and the theatre, where bull-fights are fought, and the +convents, where the admirable works of Don Bartholomew Murillo inspired +one of them with a great wonder and delight--such as he had never felt +before--concerning this divine art of painting; and these sights over, +and a handsome refection and chocolate being served to the English +gentlemen, they were accompanied back to their shallop with every +courtesy, and were the only two officers of the English army that saw at +that time that famous city. + +The general tried the power of another proclamation on the Spaniards, in +which he announced that we only came in the interest of Spain and King +Charles, and for ourselves wanted to make no conquest nor settlement +in Spain at all. But all this eloquence was lost upon the Spaniards, it +would seem: the Captain-General of Andalusia would no more listen to us +than the Governor of Cadiz; and in reply to his Grace's proclamation, +the Marquis of Villadarias fired off another, which those who knew the +Spanish thought rather the best of the two; and of this number was Harry +Esmond, whose kind Jesuit in old days had instructed him, and now had +the honor of translating for his Grace these harmless documents of war. +There was a hard touch for his Grace, and, indeed, for other generals in +her Majesty's service, in the concluding sentence of the Don: “That he +and his council had the generous example of their ancestors to follow, +who had never yet sought their elevation in the blood or in the flight +of their kings. 'Mori pro patria' was his device, which the Duke might +communicate to the Princess who governed England.” + +Whether the troops were angry at this repartee or no, 'tis certain +something put them in a fury; for, not being able to get possession of +Cadiz, our people seized upon Port Saint Mary's and sacked it, burning +down the merchants' storehouses, getting drunk with the famous wines +there, pillaging and robbing quiet houses and convents, murdering and +doing worse. And the only blood which Mr. Esmond drew in this shameful +campaign, was the knocking down an English sentinel with a half-pike, +who was offering insult to a poor trembling nun. Is she going to turn +out a beauty? or a princess? or perhaps Esmond's mother that he had lost +and never seen? Alas no, it was but a poor wheezy old dropsical woman, +with a wart upon her nose. But having been early taught a part of the +Roman religion, he never had the horror of it that some Protestants have +shown, and seem to think to be a part of ours. + +After the pillage and plunder of St. Mary's and an assault upon a fort +or two, the troops all took shipping, and finished their expedition, at +any rate, more brilliantly than it had begun. Hearing that the French +fleet with a great treasure was in Vigo Bay, our Admirals, Rooke and +Hopson, pursued the enemy thither; the troops landed and carried the +forts that protected the bay, Hopson passing the boom first on board +his ship the “Torbay,” and the rest of the ships, English and Dutch, +following him. Twenty ships were burned or taken in the Port of +Redondilla, and a vast deal more plunder than was ever accounted for; +but poor men before that expedition were rich afterwards, and so often +was it found and remarked that the Vigo officers came home with pockets +full of money, that the notorious Jack Shafto, who made such a figure at +the coffeehouses and gaming-tables in London, and gave out that he had +been a soldier at Vigo, owned, when he was about to be hanged, that +Bagshot Heath had been HIS Vigo, and that he only spoke of La Redondilla +to turn away people's eyes from the real place where the booty lay. +Indeed, Hounslow or Vigo--which matters much? The latter was a bad +business, though Mr. Addison did sing its praises in Latin. That honest +gentleman's muse had an eye to the main chance; and I doubt whether she +saw much inspiration in the losing side. + +But though Esmond, for his part, got no share of this fabulous booty, +one great prize which he had out of the campaign was, that excitement of +action and change of scene, which shook off a great deal of his previous +melancholy. He learnt at any rate to bear his fate cheerfully. He +brought back a browned face, a heart resolute enough, and a little +pleasant store of knowledge and observation, from that expedition, which +was over with the autumn, when the troops were back in England again; +and Esmond giving up his post of secretary to General Lumley, whose +command was over, and parting with that officer with many kind +expressions of good will on the General's side, had leave to go to +London, to see if he could push his fortunes any way further, and found +himself once more in his dowager aunt's comfortable quarters at Chelsey, +and in greater favor than ever with the old lady. He propitiated her +with a present of a comb, a fan, and a black mantle, such as the ladies +of Cadiz wear, and which my Lady Viscountess pronounced became her style +of beauty mightily. And she was greatily edified at hearing of that +story of his rescue of the nun, and felt very little doubt but that her +King James's relic, which he had always dutifully worn in his desk, had +kept him out of danger, and averted the shot of the enemy. My lady made +feasts for him, introduced him to more company, and pushed his fortunes +with such enthusiasm and success, that she got a promise of a company +for him through the Lady Marlborough's interest, who was graciously +pleased to accept of a diamond worth a couple of hundred guineas, which +Mr. Esmond was enabled to present to her ladyship through his aunt's +bounty, and who promised that she would take charge of Esmond's fortune. +He had the honor to make his appearance at the Queen's drawing-room +occasionally, and to frequent my Lord Marlborough's levees. That +great man received the young one with very especial favor, so Esmond's +comrades said, and deigned to say that he had received the best reports +of Mr. Esmond, both for courage and ability, whereon you may be sure +the young gentleman made a profound bow, and expressed himself eager to +serve under the most distinguished captain in the world. + +Whilst his business was going on thus prosperously, Esmond had his +share of pleasure too, and made his appearance along with other young +gentlemen at the coffee-houses, the theatres, and the Mall. He longed to +hear of his dear mistress and her family: many a time, in the midst of +the gayeties and pleasures of the town, his heart fondly reverted to +them; and often as the young fellows of his society were making merry +at the tavern, and calling toasts (as the fashion of that day was) over +their wine, Esmond thought of persons--of two fair women, whom he had +been used to adore almost, and emptied his glass with a sigh. + +By this time the elder Viscountess had grown tired again of the younger, +and whenever she spoke of my lord's widow, 'twas in terms by no means +complimentary towards that poor lady: the younger woman not needing her +protection any longer, the elder abused her. Most of the family quarrels +that I have seen in life (saving always those arising from money +disputes, when a division of twopence halfpenny will often drive the +dearest relatives into war and estrangement,) spring out of jealousy +and envy. Jack and Tom, born of the same family and to the same fortune, +live very cordially together, not until Jack is ruined when Tom deserts +him, but until Tom makes a sudden rise in prosperity, which Jack can't +forgive. Ten times to one 'tis the unprosperous man that is angry, not +the other who is in fault. 'Tis Mrs. Jack, who can only afford a chair, +that sickens at Mrs. Tom's new coach-and-sick, cries out against her +sister's airs, and sets her husband against his brother. 'Tis Jack who +sees his brother shaking hands with a lord (with whom Jack would like +to exchange snuff-boxes himself), that goes home and tells his wife how +poor Tom is spoiled, he fears, and no better than a sneak, parasite, and +beggar on horse back. I remember how furious the coffee-house wits were +with Dick Steele when he set up his coach and fine house in Bloomsbury: +they began to forgive him when the bailiffs were after him, and abused +Mr. Addison for selling Dick's country-house. And yet Dick in the +sponging-house, or Dick in the Park, with his four mares and plated +harness, was exactly the same gentle, kindly, improvident, jovial Dick +Steele: and yet Mr. Addison was perfectly right in getting the money +which was his, and not giving up the amount of his just claim, to +be spent by Dick upon champagne and fiddlers, laced clothes, fine +furniture, and parasites, Jew and Christian, male and female, who clung +to him. As, according to the famous maxim of Monsieur de Rochefoucault, +“in our friends' misfortunes there's something secretly pleasant to us;” + so, on the other hand, their good fortune is disagreeable. If 'tis hard +for a man to bear his own good luck, 'tis harder still for his friends +to bear it for him and but few of them ordinarily can stand that trial: +whereas one of the “precious uses” of adversity is, that it is a great +reconciler; that it brings back averted kindness, disarms animosity, and +causes yesterday's enemy to fling his hatred aside, and hold out a hand +to the fallen friend of old days. There's pity and love, as well as +envy, in the same heart and towards the same person. The rivalry stops +when the competitor tumbles; and, as I view it, we should look at these +agreeable and disagreeable qualities of our humanity humbly alike. They +are consequent and natural, and our kindness and meanness both manly. + +So you may either read the sentence, that the elder of Esmond's two +kinswomen pardoned the younger her beauty, when that had lost somewhat +of its freshness, perhaps; and forgot most her grievances against the +other, when the subject of them was no longer prosperous and enviable; +or we may say more benevolently (but the sum comes to the same figures, +worked either way,) that Isabella repented of her unkindness towards +Rachel, when Rachel was unhappy; and, bestirring herself in behalf of +the poor widow and her children, gave them shelter and friendship. +The ladies were quite good friends as long as the weaker one needed a +protector. Before Esmond went away on his first campaign, his mistress +was still on terms of friendship (though a poor little chit, a +woman that had evidently no spirit in her, &c.) with the elder Lady +Castlewood; and Mistress Beatrix was allowed to be a beauty. + +But between the first year of Queen Anne's reign, and the second, sad +changes for the worse had taken place in the two younger ladies, +at least in the elder's description of them. Rachel, Viscountess +Castlewood, had no more face than a dumpling, and Mrs. Beatrix was grown +quite coarse, and was losing all her beauty. Little Lord Blandford--(she +never would call him Lord Blandford; his father was Lord Churchill--the +King, whom he betrayed, had made him Lord Churchill, and he was Lord +Churchill still)--might be making eyes at her; but his mother, that +vixen of a Sarah Jennings, would never hear of such a folly. Lady +Marlborough had got her to be a maid of honor at Court to the Princess, +but she would repent of it. The widow Francis (she was but Mrs. Francis +Esmond) was a scheming, artful, heartless hussy. She was spoiling her +brat of a boy, and she would end by marrying her chaplain. + +“What, Tusher!” cried Mr. Esmond, feeling a strange pang of rage and +astonishment. + +“Yes--Tusher, my maid's son; and who has got all the qualities of +his father the lackey in black, and his accomplished mamma the +waiting-woman,” cries my lady. “What do you suppose that a sentimental +widow, who will live down in that dingy dungeon of a Castlewood, where +she spoils her boy, kills the poor with her drugs, has prayers twice a +day and sees nobody but the chaplain--what do you suppose she can do, +mon Cousin, but let the horrid parson, with his great square toes and +hideous little green eyes, make love to her? Cela c'est vu, mon Cousin. +When I was a girl at Castlewood, all the chaplains fell in love with +me--they've nothing else to do.” + +My lady went on with more talk of this kind, though, in truth, Esmond +had no idea of what she said further, so entirely did her first words +occupy his thought. Were they true? Not all, nor half, nor a tenth part +of what the garrulous old woman said, was true. Could this be so? No +ear had Esmond for anything else, though his patroness chatted on for an +hour. + +Some young gentlemen of the town, with whom Esmond had made +acquaintance, had promised to present him to that most charming of +actresses, and lively and agreeable of women, Mrs. Bracegirdle, about +whom Harry's old adversary Mohun had drawn swords, a few years before my +poor lord and he fell out. The famous Mr. Congreve had stamped with his +high approval, to the which there was no gainsaying, this delightful +person: and she was acting in Dick Steele's comedies, and finally, and +for twenty-four hours after beholding her, Mr. Esmond felt himself, or +thought himself, to be as violently enamored of this lovely brunette, +as were a thousand other young fellows about the city. To have once seen +her was to long to behold her again; and to be offered the delightful +privilege of her acquaintance, was a pleasure the very idea of which set +the young lieutenant's heart on fire. A man cannot live with comrades +under the tents without finding out that he too is five-and-twenty. A +young fellow cannot be cast down by grief and misfortune ever so severe +but some night he begins to sleep sound, and some day when dinner-time +comes to feel hungry for a beefsteak. Time, youth and good health, new +scenes and the excitement of action and a campaign, had pretty well +brought Esmond's mourning to an end; and his comrades said that Don +Dismal, as they called him, was Don Dismal no more. So when a party was +made to dine at the “Rose,” and go to the playhouse afterward, Esmond +was as pleased as another to take his share of the bottle and the play. + +How was it that the old aunt's news, or it might be scandal, about +Tom Tusher, caused such a strange and sudden excitement in Tom's old +playfellow? Hadn't he sworn a thousand times in his own mind that the +Lady of Castlewood, who had treated him with such kindness once, +and then had left him so cruelly, was, and was to remain henceforth, +indifferent to him for ever? Had his pride and his sense of justice not +long since helped him to cure the pain of that desertion--was it even a +pain to him now? Why, but last night as he walked across the fields +and meadows to Chelsey from Pall Mall, had he not composed two or three +stanzas of a song, celebrating Bracegirdle's brown eyes, and declaring +them a thousand times more beautiful than the brightest blue ones that +ever languished under the lashes of an insipid fair beauty! But Tom +Tusher! Tom Tusher, the waiting-woman's son, raising up his little eyes +to his mistress! Tom Tusher presuming to think of Castlewood's widow! +Rage and contempt filled Mr. Harry's heart at the very notion; the honor +of the family, of which he was the chief, made it his duty to prevent +so monstrous an alliance, and to chastise the upstart who could dare +to think of such an insult to their house. 'Tis true Mr. Esmond often +boasted of republican principles, and could remember many fine speeches +he had made at college and elsewhere, with WORTH and not BIRTH for a +text: but Tom Tusher to take the place of the noble Castlewood--faugh! +'twas as monstrous as King Hamlet's widow taking off her weeds for +Claudius. Esmond laughed at all widows, all wives, all women; and were +the banns about to be published, as no doubt they were, that very next +Sunday at Walcote Church, Esmond swore that he would be present to shout +No! in the face of the congregation, and to take a private revenge upon +the ears of the bridegroom. + +Instead of going to dinner then at the “Rose” that night, Mr. Esmond +bade his servant pack a portmanteau and get horses, and was at Farnham, +half-way on the road to Walcote, thirty miles off, before his comrades +had got to their supper after the play. He bade his man give no hint to +my Lady Dowager's household of the expedition on which he was going; +and as Chelsey was distant from London, the roads bad, and infested +by footpads, and Esmond often in the habit, when engaged in a party of +pleasure, of lying at a friend's lodging in town, there was no need that +his old aunt should be disturbed at his absence--indeed, nothing more +delighted the old lady than to fancy that mon cousin, the incorrigible +young sinner, was abroad boxing the watch, or scouring St. Giles's. When +she was not at her books of devotion, she thought Etheridge and Sedley +very good reading. She had a hundred pretty stories about Rochester, +Harry Jermyn, and Hamilton; and if Esmond would but have run away with +the wife even of a citizen, 'tis my belief she would have pawned her +diamonds (the best of them went to our Lady of Chaillot) to pay his +damages. + +My lord's little house of Walcote--which he inhabited before he took +his title and occupied the house of Castlewood--lies about a mile from +Winchester, and his widow had returned to Walcote after my lord's death +as a place always dear to her, and where her earliest and happiest days +had been spent, cheerfuller than Castlewood, which was too large for her +straitened means, and giving her, too, the protection of the ex-dean, +her father. The young Viscount had a year's schooling at the famous +college there, with Mr. Tusher as his governor. So much news of them Mr. +Esmond had had during the past year from the old Viscountess, his own +father's widow; from the young one there had never been a word. + +Twice or thrice in his benefactor's lifetime, Esmond had been to +Walcote; and now, taking but a couple of hours' rest only at the inn on +the road, he was up again long before daybreak, and made such good speed +that he was at Walcote by two o'clock of the day. He rid to the end of +the village, where he alighted and sent a man thence to Mr. Tusher, with +a message that a gentleman from London would speak with him on urgent +business. The messenger came back to say the Doctor was in town, most +likely at prayers in the Cathedral. My Lady Viscountess was there, too; +she always went to Cathedral prayers every day. + +The horses belonged to the post-house at Winchester. Esmond mounted +again and rode on to the “George;” whence he walked, leaving his +grumbling domestic at last happy with a dinner, straight to the +Cathedral. The organ was playing: the winter's day was already growing +gray: as he passed under the street-arch into the Cathedral yard, and +made his way into the ancient solemn edifice. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE 29TH DECEMBER. + + +There was scarce a score of persons in the Cathedral beside the Dean and +some of his clergy, and the choristers, young and old, that performed +the beautiful evening prayer. But Mr. Tusher was one of the officiants, +and read from the eagle in an authoritative voice, and a great black +periwig; and in the stalls, still in her black widow's hood, sat +Esmond's dear mistress, her son by her side, very much grown, and indeed +a noble-looking youth, with his mother's eyes, and his father's curling +brown hair, that fell over his point de Venise--a pretty picture such +as Van Dyck might have painted. Mons. Rigaud's portrait of my Lord +Viscount, done at Paris afterwards, gives but a French version of his +manly, frank, English face. When he looked up there were two sapphire +beams out of his eyes such as no painter's palette has the color to +match, I think. On this day there was not much chance of seeing that +particular beauty of my young lord's countenance; for the truth is, he +kept his eyes shut for the most part, and, the anthem being rather long, +was asleep. + +But the music ceasing, my lord woke up, looking about him, and his eyes +lighting on Mr. Esmond, who was sitting opposite him, gazing with no +small tenderness and melancholy upon two persons who had so much of his +heart for so many years, Lord Castlewood, with a start, pulled at his +mother's sleeve (her face had scarce been lifted from her book), and +said, “Look, mother!” so loud, that Esmond could hear on the other side +of the church, and the old Dean on his throned stall. Lady Castlewood +looked for an instant as her son bade her, and held up a warning finger +to Frank; Esmond felt his whole face flush, and his heart throbbing, +as that dear lady beheld him once more. The rest of the prayers were +speedily over; Mr. Esmond did not hear them; nor did his mistress, very +likely, whose hood went more closely over her face, and who never lifted +her head again until the service was over, the blessing given, and Mr. +Dean, and his procession of ecclesiastics, out of the inner chapel. + +Young Castlewood came clambering over the stalls before the clergy were +fairly gone, and running up to Esmond, eagerly embraced him. “My dear, +dearest old Harry!” he said, “are you come back? Have you been to the +wars? You'll take me with you when you go again? Why didn't you write to +us? Come to mother.” + +Mr. Esmond could hardly say more than a “God bless you, my boy,” for +his heart was very full and grateful at all this tenderness on the lad's +part; and he was as much moved at seeing Frank as he was fearful about +that other interview which was now to take place: for he knew not if the +widow would reject him as she had done so cruelly a year ago. + +“It was kind of you to come back to us, Henry,” Lady Esmond said. “I +thought you might come.” + +“We read of the fleet coming to Portsmouth. Why did you not come from +Portsmouth?” Frank asked, or my Lord Viscount, as he now must be called. + +Esmond had thought of that too. He would have given one of his eyes so +that he might see his dear friends again once more; but believing +that his mistress had forbidden him her house, he had obeyed her, and +remained at a distance. + +“You had but to ask, and you know I would be here,” he said. + +She gave him her hand, her little fair hand; there was only her marriage +ring on it. The quarrel was all over. The year of grief and estrangement +was passed. They never had been separated. His mistress had never been +out of his mind all that time. No, not once. No, not in the prison; nor +in the camp; nor on shore before the enemy; nor at sea under the stars +of solemn midnight; nor as he watched the glorious rising of the dawn: +not even at the table, where he sat carousing with friends, or at the +theatre yonder, where he tried to fancy that other eyes were brighter +than hers. Brighter eyes there might be, and faces more beautiful, but +none so dear--no voice so sweet as that of his beloved mistress, who +had been sister, mother, goddess to him during his youth--goddess now no +more, for he knew of her weaknesses; and by thought, by suffering, +and that experience it brings, was older now than she; but more fondly +cherished as woman perhaps than ever she had been adored as divinity. +What is it? Where lies it? the secret which makes one little hand the +dearest of all? Whoever can unriddle that mystery? Here she was, her son +by his side, his dear boy. Here she was, weeping and happy. She took +his hand in both hers; he felt her tears. It was a rapture of +reconciliation. + +“Here comes Squaretoes,” says Frank. “Here's Tusher.” + +Tusher, indeed, now appeared, creaking on his great heels. Mr. Tom had +divested himself of his alb or surplice, and came forward habited in his +cassock and great black periwig. How had Esmond ever been for a moment +jealous of this fellow? + +“Give us thy hand, Tom Tusher,” he said. The chaplain made him a very +low and stately bow. “I am charmed to see Captain Esmond,” says he. “My +lord and I have read the Reddas incolumem precor, and applied it, I am +sure, to you. You come back with Gaditanian laurels; when I heard you +were bound thither, I wished, I am sure, I was another Septimius. My +Lord Viscount, your lordship remembers Septimi, Gades aditure mecum?” + +“There's an angle of earth that I love better than Gades, Tusher,” says +Mr. Esmond. “'Tis that one where your reverence hath a parsonage, and +where our youth was brought up.” + +“A house that has so many sacred recollections to me,” says Mr. Tusher +(and Harry remembered how Tom's father used to flog him there)--“a house +near to that of my respected patron, my most honored patroness, must +ever be a dear abode to me. But, madam, the verger waits to close the +gates on your ladyship.” + +“And Harry's coming home to supper. Huzzay! huzzay!” cries my lord. +“Mother, I shall run home and bid Beatrix put her ribbons on. Beatrix is +a maid of honor, Harry. Such a fine set-up minx!” + +“Your heart was never in the Church, Harry,” the widow said, in her +sweet low tone, as they walked away together. (Now, it seemed they never +had been parted, and again, as if they had been ages asunder.) “I always +thought you had no vocation that way; and that 'twas a pity to shut you +out from the world. You would but have pined and chafed at Castlewood: +and 'tis better you should make a name for yourself. I often said so to +my dear lord. How he loved you! 'Twas my lord that made you stay with +us.” + +“I asked no better than to stay near you always,” said Mr. Esmond. + +“But to go was best, Harry. When the world cannot give peace, you will +know where to find it; but one of your strong imagination and eager +desires must try the world first before he tires of it. 'Twas not to be +thought of, or if it once was, it was only by my selfishness, that you +should remain as chaplain to a country gentleman and tutor to a little +boy. You are of the blood of the Esmonds, kinsman; and that was always +wild in youth. Look at Francis. He is but fifteen, and I scarce can keep +him in my nest. His talk is all of war and pleasure, and he longs to +serve in the next campaign. Perhaps he and the young Lord Churchill +shall go the next. Lord Marlborough has been good to us. You know how +kind they were in my misfortune. And so was your--your father's widow. +No one knows how good the world is, till grief comes to try us. 'Tis +through my Lady Marlborough's goodness that Beatrix hath her place at +Court; and Frank is under my Lord Chamberlain. And the dowager lady, +your father's widow, has promised to provide for you--has she not?” + +Esmond said, “Yes. As far as present favor went, Lady Castlewood was +very good to him. And should her mind change,” he added gayly, “as +ladies' minds will, I am strong enough to bear my own burden, and make +my way somehow. Not by the sword very likely. Thousands have a better +genius for that than I, but there are many ways in which a young man of +good parts and education can get on in the world; and I am pretty sure, +one way or other, of promotion!” Indeed, he had found patrons already in +the army, and amongst persons very able to serve him, too; and told his +mistress of the flattering aspect of fortune. They walked as though +they had never been parted, slowly, with the gray twilight closing round +them. + +“And now we are drawing near to home,” she continued, “I knew you would +come, Harry, if--if it was but to forgive me for having spoken unjustly +to you after that horrid--horrid misfortune. I was half frantic with +grief then when I saw you. And I know now--they have told me. That +wretch, whose name I can never mention, even has said it: how you tried +to avert the quarrel, and would have taken it on yourself, my poor +child: but it was God's will that I should be punished, and that my dear +lord should fall.” + +“He gave me his blessing on his death-bed,” Esmond said. “Thank God for +that legacy!” + +“Amen, amen! dear Henry,” said the lady, pressing his arm. “I knew it. +Mr. Atterbury, of St. Bride's, who was called to him, told me so. And I +thanked God, too, and in my prayers ever since remembered it.” + +“You had spared me many a bitter night, had you told me sooner,” Mr. +Esmond said. + +“I know it, I know it,” she answered, in a tone of such sweet humility, +as made Esmond repent that he should ever have dared to reproach her. “I +know how wicked my heart has been; and I have suffered too, my dear. I +confessed to Mr. Atterbury--I must not tell any more. He--I said I +would not write to you or go to you--and it was better even that having +parted, we should part. But I knew you would come back--I own that. That +is no one's fault. And to-day, Henry, in the anthem, when they sang +it, 'When the Lord turned the captivity of Zion, we were like them that +dream,' I thought, yes, like them that dream--them that dream. And then +it went, 'They that sow in tears shall reap in joy; and he that goeth +forth and weepeth, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing +his sheaves with him;' I looked up from the book, and saw you. I was not +surprised when I saw you. I knew you would come, my dear, and saw the +gold sunshine round your head.” + +She smiled an almost wild smile as she looked up at him. The moon was up +by this time, glittering keen in the frosty sky. He could see, for the +first time now clearly, her sweet careworn face. + +“Do you know what day it is?” she continued. “It is the 29th of +December--it is your birthday! But last year we did not drink it--no, +no. My lord was cold, and my Harry was likely to die: and my brain +was in a fever; and we had no wine. But now--now you are come again, +bringing your sheaves with you, my dear.” She burst into a wild flood of +weeping as she spoke; she laughed and sobbed on the young man's heart, +crying out wildly, “bringing your sheaves with you--your sheaves with +you!” + +As he had sometimes felt, gazing up from the deck at midnight into the +boundless starlit depths overhead, in a rapture of devout wonder at that +endless brightness and beauty--in some such a way now, the depth of this +pure devotion (which was, for the first time, revealed to him) quite +smote upon him, and filled his heart with thanksgiving. Gracious God, +who was he, weak and friendless creature, that such a love should be +poured out upon him? Not in vain--not in vain has he lived--hard and +thankless should he be to think so--that has such a treasure given him. +What is ambition compared to that, but selfish vanity? To be rich, to be +famous? What do these profit a year hence, when other names sound louder +than yours, when you lie hidden away under the ground, along with +idle titles engraven on your coffin? But only true love lives after +you--follows your memory with secret blessing--or precedes you, and +intercedes for you. Non omnis moriar--if dying, I yet live in a tender +heart or two; nor am lost and hopeless living, if a sainted departed +soul still loves and prays for me. + +“If--if 'tis so, dear lady,” Mr. Esmond said, “why should I ever leave +you? If God hath given me this great boon--and near or far from me, as I +know now, the heart of my dearest mistress follows me, let me have that +blessing near me, nor ever part with it till death separate us. Come +away--leave this Europe, this place which has so many sad recollections +for you. Begin a new life in a new world. My good lord often talked +of visiting that land in Virginia which King Charles gave us--gave his +ancestor. Frank will give us that. No man there will ask if there is a +blot on my name, or inquire in the woods what my title is.” + +“And my children--and my duty--and my good father, Henry?” she broke +out. “He has none but me now! for soon my sister will leave him, and the +old man will be alone. He has conformed since the new Queen's reign; and +here in Winchester, where they love him, they have found a church for +him. When the children leave me, I will stay with him. I cannot follow +them into the great world, where their way lies--it scares me. They will +come and visit me; and you will, sometimes, Henry--yes, sometimes, as +now, in the Holy Advent season, when I have seen and blessed you once +more.” + +“I would leave all to follow you,” said Mr. Esmond; “and can you not be +as generous for me, dear lady?” + +“Hush, boy!” she said, and it was with a mother's sweet plaintive tone +and look that she spoke. “The world is beginning for you. For me, I have +been so weak and sinful that I must leave it, and pray out an expiation, +dear Henry. Had we houses of religion as there were once, and many +divines of our Church would have them again, I often think I would +retire to one and pass my life in penance. But I would love you +still--yes, there is no sin in such a love as mine now; and my dear lord +in heaven may see my heart; and knows the tears that have washed my sin +away--and now--now my duty is here, by my children whilst they need me, +and by my poor old father, and--” + +“And not by me?” Henry said. + +“Hush!” she said again, and raised her hand up to his lip. “I have been +your nurse. You could not see me, Harry, when you were in the small-pox, +and I came and sat by you. Ah! I prayed that I might die, but it would +have been in sin, Henry. Oh, it is horrid to look back to that time. +It is over now and past, and it has been forgiven me. When you need me +again, I will come ever so far. When your heart is wounded, then come +to me, my dear. Be silent! let me say all. You never loved me, dear +Henry--no, you do not now, and I thank heaven for it. I used to watch +you, and knew by a thousand signs that it was so. Do you remember how +glad you were to go away to college? 'Twas I sent you. I told my papa +that, and Mr. Atterbury too, when I spoke to him in London. And they +both gave me absolution--both--and they are godly men, having authority +to bind and to loose. And they forgave me, as my dear lord forgave me +before he went to heaven.” + +“I think the angels are not all in heaven,” Mr. Esmond said. And as +a brother folds a sister to his heart; and as a mother cleaves to her +son's breast--so for a few moments Esmond's beloved mistress came to him +and blessed him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +I AM MADE WELCOME AT WALCOTE. + + +As they came up to the house at Walcote, the windows from within were +lighted up with friendly welcome; the supper-table was spread in the +oak-parlor; it seemed as if forgiveness and love were awaiting the +returning prodigal. Two or three familiar faces of domestics were on the +look-out at the porch--the old housekeeper was there, and young Lockwood +from Castlewood in my lord's livery of tawny and blue. His dear mistress +pressed his arm as they passed into the hall. Her eyes beamed out on him +with affection indescribable. “Welcome,” was all she said, as she looked +up, putting back her fair curls and black hood. A sweet rosy smile +blushed on her face; Harry thought he had never seen her look so +charming. Her face was lighted with a joy that was brighter than +beauty--she took a hand of her son who was in the hall waiting his +mother--she did not quit Esmond's arm. + +“Welcome, Harry!” my young lord echoed after her. “Here, we are all come +to say so. Here's old Pincot, hasn't she grown handsome?” and Pincot, +who was older, and no handsomer than usual, made a curtsy to the +Captain, as she called Esmond, and told my lord to “Have done, now.” + +“And here's Jack Lockwood. He'll make a famous grenadier, Jack; and so +shall I; we'll both 'list under you, Cousin. As soon as I'm seventeen, +I go to the army--every gentleman goes to the army. Look! who comes +here--ho, ho!” he burst into a laugh. “'Tis Mistress Trix, with a new +ribbon; I knew she would put one on as soon as she heard a captain was +coming to supper.” + +This laughing colloquy took place in the hall of Walcote House: in the +midst of which is a staircase that leads from an open gallery, where are +the doors of the sleeping chambers: and from one of these, a wax candle +in her hand, and illuminating her, came Mistress Beatrix--the light +falling indeed upon the scarlet ribbon which she wore, and upon the most +brilliant white neck in the world. + +Esmond had left a child and found a woman, grown beyond the common +height; and arrived at such a dazzling completeness of beauty, that +his eyes might well show surprise and delight at beholding her. In hers +there was a brightness so lustrous and melting, that I have seen a whole +assembly follow her as if by an attraction irresistible: and that night +the great Duke was at the playhouse after Ramillies, every soul turned +and looked (she chanced to enter at the opposite side of the theatre at +the same moment) at her, and not at him. She was a brown beauty: that +is, her eyes, hair, and eyebrows and eyelashes were dark: her hair +curling with rich undulations, and waving over her shoulders; but her +complexion was as dazzling white as snow in sunshine; except her cheeks, +which were a bright red, and her lips, which were of a still deeper +crimson. Her mouth and chin, they said, were too large and full, and so +they might be for a goddess in marble, but not for a woman whose eyes +were fire, whose look was love, whose voice was the sweetest low song, +whose shape was perfect symmetry, health, decision, activity, whose +foot as it planted itself on the ground was firm but flexible, and whose +motion, whether rapid or slow, was always perfect grace--agile as +a nymph, lofty as a queen,--now melting, now imperious, now +sarcastic--there was no single movement of hers but was beautiful. As he +thinks of her, he who writes feels young again, and remembers a paragon. + +So she came holding her dress with one fair rounded arm, and her taper +before her, tripping down the stair to greet Esmond. + +“She hath put on her scarlet stockings and white shoes,” says my lord, +still laughing. “Oh, my fine mistress! is this the way you set your cap +at the Captain?” She approached, shining smiles upon Esmond, who could +look at nothing but her eyes. She advanced holding forward her head, as +if she would have him kiss her as he used to do when she was a child. + +“Stop,” she said, “I am grown too big! Welcome, cousin Harry,” and she +made him an arch curtsy, sweeping down to the ground almost, with the +most gracious bend, looking up the while with the brightest eyes and +sweetest smile. Love seemed to radiate from her. Harry eyed her with +such a rapture as the first lover is described as having by Milton. + +“N'est-ce pas?” says my lady, in a low, sweet voice, still hanging on +his arm. + +Esmond turned round with a start and a blush, as he met his mistress's +clear eyes. He had forgotten her, rapt in admiration of the filia +pulcrior. + +“Right foot forward, toe turned out, so: now drop the curtsy, and show +the red stockings, Trix. They've silver clocks, Harry. The Dowager sent +'em. She went to put 'em on,” cries my lord. + +“Hush, you stupid child!” says Miss, smothering her brother with kisses; +and then she must come and kiss her mamma, looking all the while at +Harry, over his mistress's shoulder. And if she did not kiss him, she +gave him both her hands, and then took one of his in both hands, and +said, “Oh, Harry, we're so, SO glad you're come!” + +“There are woodcocks for supper,” says my lord. “Huzzay! It was such a +hungry sermon.” + +“And it is the 29th of December; and our Harry has come home.” + +“Huzzay, old Pincot!” again says my lord; and my dear lady's lips looked +as if they were trembling with a prayer. She would have Harry lead in +Beatrix to the supper-room, going herself with my young Lord Viscount; +and to this party came Tom Tusher directly, whom four at least out of +the company of five wished away. Away he went, however, as soon as the +sweetmeats were put down, and then, by the great crackling fire, his +mistress or Beatrix, with her blushing graces, filling his glass +for him, Harry told the story of his campaign, and passed the most +delightful night his life had ever known. The sun was up long ere he +was, so deep, sweet, and refreshing was his slumber. He woke as if +angels had been watching at his bed all night. I dare say one that was +as pure and loving as an angel had blessed his sleep with her prayers. + +Next morning the chaplain read prayers to the little household at +Walcote, as the custom was; Esmond thought Mistress Beatrix did not +listen to Tusher's exhortation much: her eyes were wandering everywhere +during the service, at least whenever he looked up he met them. Perhaps +he also was not very attentive to his Reverence the Chaplain. “This +might have been my life,” he was thinking; “this might have been my duty +from now till old age. Well, were it not a pleasant one to be with these +dear friends and part from 'em no more? Until--until the destined lover +comes and takes away pretty Beatrix”--and the best part of Tom Tusher's +exposition, which may have been very learned and eloquent, was quite +lost to poor Harry by this vision of the destined lover, who put the +preacher out. + +All the while of the prayers, Beatrix knelt a little way before Harry +Esmond. The red stockings were changed for a pair of gray, and black +shoes, in which her feet looked to the full as pretty. All the roses +of spring could not vie with the brightness of her complexion; Esmond +thought he had never seen anything like the sunny lustre of her eyes. My +Lady Viscountess looked fatigued, as if with watching, and her face was +pale. + +Miss Beatrix remarked these signs of indisposition in her mother and +deplored them. “I am an old woman,” says my lady, with a kind smile; “I +cannot hope to look as young as you do, my dear.” + +“She'll never look as good as you do if she lives till she's a hundred,” + says my lord, taking his mother by the waist, and kissing her hand. + +“Do I look very wicked, cousin?” says Beatrix, turning full round on +Esmond, with her pretty face so close under his chin, that the soft +perfumed hair touched it. She laid her finger-tips on his sleeve as she +spoke; and he put his other hand over hers. + +“I'm like your looking-glass,” says he, “and that can't flatter you.” + +“He means that you are always looking at him, my dear,” says her mother, +archly. Beatrix ran away from Esmond at this, and flew to her mamma, +whom she kissed, stopping my lady's mouth with her pretty hand. + +“And Harry is very good to look at,” says my lady, with her fond eyes +regarding the young man. + +“If 'tis good to see a happy face,” says he, “you see that.” My lady +said, “Amen,” with a sigh; and Harry thought the memory of her dear lord +rose up and rebuked her back again into sadness; for her face lost the +smile, and resumed its look of melancholy. + +“Why, Harry, how fine we look in our scarlet and silver, and our black +periwig,” cries my lord. “Mother, I am tired of my own hair. When shall +I have a peruke? Where did you get your steenkirk, Harry?” + +“It's some of my Lady Dowager's lace,” says Harry; “she gave me this and +a number of other fine things.” + +“My Lady Dowager isn't such a bad woman,” my lord continued. + +“She's not so--so red as she's painted,” says Miss Beatrix. + +Her brother broke into a laugh. “I'll tell her you said so; by the Lord, +Trix, I will,” he cries out. + +“She'll know that you hadn't the wit to say it, my lord,” says Miss +Beatrix. + +“We won't quarrel the first day Harry's here, will we, mother?” said the +young lord. “We'll see if we can get on to the new year without a fight. +Have some of this Christmas pie. And here comes the tankard; no, it's +Pincot with the tea.” + +“Will the Captain choose a dish?” asked Mistress Beatrix. + +“I say, Harry,” my lord goes on, “I'll show thee my horses after +breakfast; and we'll go a bird-netting to-night, and on Monday there's a +cock-match at Winchester--do you love cock-fighting, Harry?--between +the gentlemen of Sussex and the gentlemen of Hampshire, at ten pound the +battle, and fifty pound the odd battle to show one-and-twenty cocks.” + +“And what will you do, Beatrix, to amuse our kinsman?” asks my lady. + +“I'll listen to him,” says Beatrix. “I am sure he has a hundred things +to tell us. And I'm jealous already of the Spanish ladies. Was that +a beautiful nun at Cadiz that you rescued from the soldiers? Your man +talked of it last night in the kitchen, and Mrs. Betty told me this +morning as she combed my hair. And he says you must be in love, for you +sat on deck all night, and scribbled verses all day in your tablebook.” + Harry thought if he had wanted a subject for verses yesterday, to-day he +had found one: and not all the Lindamiras and Ardelias of the poets were +half so beautiful as this young creature; but he did not say so, though +some one did for him. + +This was his dear lady, who, after the meal was over, and the young +people were gone, began talking of her children with Mr. Esmond, and of +the characters of one and the other, and of her hopes and fears for +both of them. “'Tis not while they are at home,” she said, “and in their +mother's nest, I fear for them--'tis when they are gone into the world, +whither I shall not be able to follow them. Beatrix will begin her +service next year. You may have heard a rumor about--about my Lord +Blandford. They were both children; and it is but idle talk. I know my +kinswoman would never let him make such a poor marriage as our Beatrix +would be. There's scarce a princess in Europe that she thinks is good +enough for him or for her ambition.” + +“There's not a princess in Europe to compare with her,” says Esmond. + +“In beauty? No, perhaps not,” answered my lady. “She is most beautiful, +isn't she? 'Tis not a mother's partiality that deceives me. I marked +you yesterday when she came down the stair: and read it in your face. +We look when you don't fancy us looking, and see better than you think, +dear Harry: and just now when they spoke about your poems--you writ +pretty lines when you were but a boy--you thought Beatrix was a pretty +subject for verse, did not you, Harry?” (The gentleman could only blush +for a reply.) “And so she is--nor are you the first her pretty face has +captivated. 'Tis quickly done. Such a pair of bright eyes as hers learn +their power very soon, and use it very early.” And, looking at him +keenly with hers, the fair widow left him. + +And so it is--a pair of bright eyes with a dozen glances suffice to +subdue a man; to enslave him, and inflame him; to make him even forget; +they dazzle him so that the past becomes straightway dim to him; and he +so prizes them that he would give all his life to possess 'em. What is +the fond love of dearest friends compared to this treasure? Is memory as +strong as expectancy? fruition, as hunger? gratitude, as desire? I have +looked at royal diamonds in the jewel-rooms in Europe, and thought how +wars have been made about 'em; Mogul sovereigns deposed and strangled +for them, or ransomed with them; millions expended to buy them; and +daring lives lost in digging out the little shining toys that I value +no more than the button in my hat. And so there are other glittering +baubles (of rare water too) for which men have been set to kill and +quarrel ever since mankind began; and which last but for a score of +years, when their sparkle is over. Where are those jewels now that +beamed under Cleopatra's forehead, or shone in the sockets of Helen? + +The second day after Esmond's coming to Walcote, Tom Tusher had leave +to take a holiday, and went off in his very best gown and bands to court +the young woman whom his Reverence desired to marry, and who was not +a viscount's widow, as it turned out, but a brewer's relict at +Southampton, with a couple of thousand pounds to her fortune: for honest +Tom's heart was under such excellent control, that Venus herself without +a portion would never have caused it to flutter. So he rode away on his +heavy-paced gelding to pursue his jog-trot loves, leaving Esmond to the +society of his dear mistress and her daughter, and with his young lord +for a companion, who was charmed, not only to see an old friend, but to +have the tutor and his Latin books put out of the way. + +The boy talked of things and people, and not a little about himself, in +his frank artless way. 'Twas easy to see that he and his sister had the +better of their fond mother, for the first place in whose affections, +though they fought constantly, and though the kind lady persisted that +she loved both equally, 'twas not difficult to understand that Frank was +his mother's darling and favorite. He ruled the whole household (always +excepting rebellious Beatrix) not less now than when he was a child +marshalling the village boys in playing at soldiers, and caning them +lustily too, like the sturdiest corporal. As for Tom Tusher, his +Reverence treated the young lord with that politeness and deference +which he always showed for a great man, whatever his age or his stature +was. Indeed, with respect to this young one, it was impossible not to +love him, so frank and winning were his manners, his beauty, his gayety, +the ring of his laughter, and the delightful tone of his voice. Wherever +he went, he charmed and domineered. I think his old grandfather the +Dean, and the grim old housekeeper, Mrs. Pincot, were as much his +slaves as his mother was: and as for Esmond, he found himself presently +submitting to a certain fascination the boy had, and slaving it like the +rest of the family. The pleasure which he had in Frank's mere company +and converse exceeded that which he ever enjoyed in the society of any +other man, however delightful in talk, or famous for wit. His presence +brought sunshine into a room, his laugh, his prattle, his noble beauty +and brightness of look cheered and charmed indescribably. At the least +tale of sorrow, his hands were in his purse, and he was eager with +sympathy and bounty. The way in which women loved and petted him, when, +a year or two afterwards, he came upon the world, yet a mere boy, and +the follies which they did for him (as indeed he for them), recalled +the career of Rochester, and outdid the successes of Grammont. His very +creditors loved him; and the hardest usurers, and some of the rigid +prudes of the other sex too, could deny him nothing. He was no more +witty than another man, but what he said, he said and looked as no +man else could say or look it. I have seen the women at the comedy at +Bruxelles crowd round him in the lobby: and as he sat on the stage more +people looked at him than at the actors, and watched him; and I remember +at Ramillies, when he was hit and fell, a great big red-haired Scotch +sergeant flung his halbert down, burst out a-crying like a woman, +seizing him up as if he had been an infant, and carrying him out of the +fire. This brother and sister were the most beautiful couple ever seen; +though after he winged away from the maternal nest this pair were seldom +together. + +Sitting at dinner two days after Esmond's arrival (it was the last day +of the year), and so happy a one to Harry Esmond, that to enjoy it was +quite worth all the previous pain which he had endured and forgot, my +young lord, filling a bumper, and bidding Harry take another, drank to +his sister, saluting her under the title of “Marchioness.” + +“Marchioness!” says Harry, not without a pang of wonder, for he was +curious and jealous already. + +“Nonsense, my lord,” says Beatrix, with a toss of her head. My Lady +Viscountess looked up for a moment at Esmond, and cast her eyes down. + +“The Marchioness of Blandford,” says Frank. “Don't you know--hath not +Rouge Dragon told you?” (My lord used to call the Dowager of Chelsey by +this and other names.) “Blandford has a lock of her hair: the Duchess +found him on his knees to Mistress Trix, and boxed his ears, and said +Dr. Hare should whip him.” + +“I wish Mr. Tusher would whip you too,” says Beatrix. + +My lady only said: “I hope you will tell none of these silly stories +elsewhere than at home, Francis.” + +“'Tis true, on my word,” continues Frank: “look at Harry scowling, +mother, and see how Beatrix blushes as red as the silver-clocked +stockings.” + +“I think we had best leave the gentlemen to their wine and their talk,” + says Mistress Beatrix, rising up with the air of a young queen, tossing +her rustling flowing draperies about her, and quitting the room, +followed by her mother. + +Lady Castlewood again looked at Esmond, as she stooped down and kissed +Frank. “Do not tell those silly stories, child,” she said: “do not drink +much wine, sir; Harry never loved to drink wine.” And she went away, +too, in her black robes, looking back on the young man with her fair, +fond face. + +“Egad! it's true,” says Frank, sipping his wine with the air of a lord. +“What think you of this Lisbon--real Collares? 'Tis better than your +heady port: we got it out of one of the Spanish ships that came from +Vigo last year: my mother bought it at Southampton, as the ship was +lying there--the 'Rose,' Captain Hawkins.” + +“Why, I came home in that ship,” says Harry. + +“And it brought home a good fellow and good wine,” says my lord. “I say, +Harry, I wish thou hadst not that cursed bar sinister.” + +“And why not the bar sinister?” asks the other. + +“Suppose I go to the army and am killed--every gentleman goes to the +army--who is to take care of the women? Trix will never stop at home; +mother's in love with you,--yes, I think mother's in love with you. She +was always praising you, and always talking about you; and when she +went to Southampton, to see the ship, I found her out. But you see it is +impossible: we are of the oldest blood in England; we came in with the +Conqueror; we were only baronets,--but what then? we were forced into +that. James the First forced our great grandfather. We are above titles; +we old English gentry don't want 'em; the Queen can make a duke any day. +Look at Blandford's father, Duke Churchill, and Duchess Jennings, what +were they, Harry? Damn it, sir, what are they, to turn up their noses at +us? Where were they when our ancestor rode with King Henry at Agincourt, +and filled up the French King's cup after Poictiers? 'Fore George, sir, +why shouldn't Blandford marry Beatrix? By G--! he SHALL marry Beatrix, +or tell me the reason why. We'll marry with the best blood of England, +and none but the best blood of England. You are an Esmond, and you can't +help your birth, my boy. Let's have another bottle. What! no more? I've +drunk three parts of this myself. I had many a night with my father; you +stood to him like a man, Harry. You backed your blood; you can't help +your misfortune, you know,--no man can help that.” + +The elder said he would go in to his mistress's tea-table. The young +lad, with a heightened color and voice, began singing a snatch of a +song, and marched out of the room. Esmond heard him presently calling +his dogs about him, and cheering and talking to them; and by a hundred +of his looks and gestures, tricks of voice and gait, was reminded of the +dead lord, Frank's father. + +And so, the sylvester night passed away; the family parted long before +midnight, Lady Castlewood remembering, no doubt, former New Years' Eves, +when healths were drunk, and laughter went round in the company of him, +to whom years, past, and present, and future, were to be as one; and so +cared not to sit with her children and hear the Cathedral bells ringing +the birth of the year 1703. Esmond heard the chimes as he sat in his own +chamber, ruminating by the blazing fire there, and listened to the last +notes of them, looking out from his window towards the city, and the +great gray towers of the Cathedral lying under the frosty sky, with the +keen stars shining above. + +The sight of these brilliant orbs no doubt made him think of other +luminaries. “And so her eyes have already done execution,” thought +Esmond--“on whom?--who can tell me?” Luckily his kinsman was by, +and Esmond knew he would have no difficulty in finding out Mistress +Beatrix's history from the simple talk of the boy. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FAMILY TALK. + + +What Harry admired and submitted to in the pretty lad his kinsman was +(for why should he resist it?) the calmness of patronage which my young +lord assumed, as if to command was his undoubted right, and all the +world (below his degree) ought to bow down to Viscount Castlewood. + +“I know my place, Harry,” he said. “I'm not proud--the boys at +Winchester College say I'm proud: but I'm not proud. I am simply Francis +James Viscount Castlewood in the peerage of Ireland. I might have been +(do you know that?) Francis James Marquis and Earl of Esmond in that of +England. The late lord refused the title which was offered to him by +my godfather, his late Majesty. You should know that--you are of our +family, you know you cannot help your bar sinister, Harry, my dear +fellow; and you belong to one of the best families in England, in spite +of that; and you stood by my father, and by G--! I'll stand by you. +You shall never want a friend, Harry, while Francis James Viscount +Castlewood has a shilling. It's now 1703--I shall come of age in 1709. +I shall go back to Castlewood; I shall live at Castlewood; I shall build +up the house. My property will be pretty well restored by then. The late +viscount mismanaged my property, and left it in a very bad state. +My mother is living close, as you see, and keeps me in a way hardly +befitting a peer of these realms; for I have but a pair of horses, a +governor, and a man that is valet and groom. But when I am of age, these +things will be set right, Harry. Our house will be as it should be. You +will always come to Castlewood, won't you? You shall always have your +two rooms in the court kept for you; and if anybody slights you, d--- +them! let them have a care of ME. I shall marry early--Trix will be a +duchess by that time, most likely; for a cannon ball may knock over his +grace any day, you know.” + +“How?” says Harry. + +“Hush, my dear!” says my Lord Viscount. “You are of the family--you are +faithful to us, by George, and I tell you everything. Blandford will +marry her--or”--and here he put his little hand on his sword--“you +understand the rest. Blandford knows which of us two is the best weapon. +At small-sword, or back-sword, or sword and dagger if he likes; I can +beat him. I have tried him, Harry; and begad he knows I am a man not to +be trifled with.” + +“But you do not mean,” says Harry, concealing his laughter, but not his +wonder, “that you can force my Lord Blandford, the son of the first man +of this kingdom, to marry your sister at sword's point?” + +“I mean to say that we are cousins by the mother's side, though that's +nothing to boast of. I mean to say that an Esmond is as good as a +Churchill; and when the King comes back, the Marquis of Esmond's sister +may be a match for any nobleman's daughter in the kingdom. There are +but two marquises in all England, William Herbert Marquis of Powis, and +Francis James Marquis of Esmond; and hark you, Harry,--now swear you +will never mention this. Give me your honor as a gentleman, for you ARE +a gentleman, though you are a--” + +“Well, well?” says Harry, a little impatient. + +“Well, then, when after my late viscount's misfortune, my mother went +up with us to London, to ask for justice against you all (as for Mohun, +I'll have his blood, as sure as my name is Francis Viscount Esmond)--we +went to stay with our cousin my Lady Marlborough, with whom we had +quarrelled for ever so long. But when misfortune came, she stood by her +blood:--so did the Dowager Viscountess stand by her blood,--so did +you. Well, sir, whilst my mother was petitioning the late Prince of +Orange--for I will never call him king--and while you were in prison, we +lived at my Lord Marlborough's house, who was only a little there, being +away with the army in Holland. And then . . . I say, Harry, you won't +tell, now?” + +Harry again made a vow of secrecy. + +“Well, there used to be all sorts of fun, you know: my Lady Marlborough +was very fond of us, and she said I was to be her page; and she got Trix +to be a maid of honor, and while she was up in her room crying, we used +to be always having fun, you know; and the Duchess used to kiss me, and +so did her daughters, and Blandford fell tremendous in love with Trix, +and she liked him; and one day he--he kissed her behind a door--he did +though,--and the Duchess caught him, and she banged such a box of the +ear both at Trix and Blandford--you should have seen it! And then she +said that we must leave directly, and abused my mamma who was cognizant +of the business; but she wasn't--never thinking about anything but +father. And so we came down to Walcote. Blandford being locked up, and +not allowed to see Trix. But I got at him. I climbed along the gutter, +and in through the window, where he was crying. + +“'Marquis,' says I, when he had opened it and helped me in, 'you know I +wear a sword,' for I had brought it. + +“'Oh, viscount,' says he--'oh, my dearest Frank!' and he threw himself +into my arms and burst out a-crying. 'I do love Mistress Beatrix so, +that I shall die if I don't have her.' + +“'My dear Blandford,' says I, 'you are young to think of marrying;' for +he was but fifteen, and a young fellow of that age can scarce do so, you +know. + +“'But I'll wait twenty years, if she'll have me,' says he. 'I'll +never marry--no, never, never, never, marry anybody but her. No, not a +princess, though they would have me do it ever so. If Beatrix will wait +for me, her Blandford swears he will be faithful.' And he wrote a paper +(it wasn't spelt right, for he wrote 'I'm ready to SINE WITH MY BLODE,' +which, you know, Harry, isn't the way of spelling it), and vowing that +he would marry none other but the Honorable Mistress Gertrude Beatrix +Esmond, only sister of his dearest friend Francis James, fourth Viscount +Esmond. And so I gave him a locket of her hair.” + +“A locket of her hair?” cries Esmond. + +“Yes. Trix gave me one after the fight with the Duchess that very day. +I am sure I didn't want it; and so I gave it him, and we kissed at +parting, and said--'Good-by, brother.' And I got back through the +gutter; and we set off home that very evening. And he went to King's +College, in Cambridge, and I'M going to Cambridge soon; and if he +doesn't stand to his promise (for he's only wrote once),--he knows I +wear a sword, Harry. Come along, and let's go see the cocking-match at +Winchester. + +“. . . . But I say,” he added, laughing, after a pause, “I don't think +Trix will break her heart about him. La bless you! whenever she sees +a man, she makes eyes at him; and young Sir Wilmot Crawley of Queen's +Crawley, and Anthony Henley of Airesford, were at swords drawn about +her, at the Winchester Assembly, a month ago.” + +That night Mr. Harry's sleep was by no means so pleasant or sweet as it +had been on the first two evenings after his arrival at Walcote. “So the +bright eyes have been already shining on another,” thought he, “and the +pretty lips, or the cheeks at any rate, have begun the work which they +were made for. Here's a girl not sixteen, and one young gentleman is +already whimpering over a lock of her hair, and two country squires +are ready to cut each other's throats that they may have the honor of a +dance with her. What a fool am I to be dallying about this passion, and +singeing my wings in this foolish flame. Wings!--why not say crutches? +'There is but eight years' difference between us, to be sure; but in +life I am thirty years older. How could I ever hope to please such a +sweet creature as that, with my rough ways and glum face? Say that I +have merit ever so much, and won myself a name, could she ever listen +to me? She must be my Lady Marchioness, and I remain a nameless bastard. +Oh! my master, my master!” (here he fell to thinking with a passionate +grief of the vow which he had made to his poor dying lord.) “Oh! my +mistress, dearest and kindest, will you be contented with the sacrifice +which the poor orphan makes for you, whom you love, and who so loves +you?” + +And then came a fiercer pang of temptation. “A word from me,” Harry +thought, “a syllable of explanation, and all this might be changed; but +no, I swore it over the dying bed of my benefactor. For the sake of him +and his; for the sacred love and kindness of old days; I gave my promise +to him, and may kind heaven enable me to keep my vow!” + +The next day, although Esmond gave no sign of what was going on in his +mind, but strove to be more than ordinarily gay and cheerful when he met +his friends at the morning meal, his dear mistress, whose clear eyes it +seemed no emotion of his could escape, perceived that something troubled +him, for she looked anxiously towards him more than once during the +breakfast, and when he went up to his chamber afterwards she presently +followed him, and knocked at his door. + +As she entered, no doubt the whole story was clear to her at once, +for she found our young gentleman packing his valise, pursuant to the +resolution which he had come to over-night of making a brisk retreat out +of this temptation. + +She closed the door very carefully behind her, and then leant against +it, very pale, her hands folded before her, looking at the young man, +who was kneeling over his work of packing. “Are you going so soon?” she +said. + +He rose up from his knees, blushing, perhaps, to be so discovered, in +the very act, as it were, and took one of her fair little hands--it was +that which had her marriage ring on--and kissed it. + +“It is best that it should be so, dearest lady,” he said. + +“I knew you were going, at breakfast. I--I thought you might stay. What +has happened? Why can't you remain longer with us? What has Frank told +you--you were talking together late last night?” + +“I had but three days' leave from Chelsey,” Esmond said, as gayly as he +could. “My aunt--she lets me call her aunt--is my mistress now! I owe +her my lieutenancy and my laced coat. She has taken me into high favor; +and my new General is to dine at Chelsey to-morrow--General Lumley, +madam--who has appointed me his aide-de-camp, and on whom I must have +the honor of waiting. See, here is a letter from the Dowager; the +post brought it last night; and I would not speak of it, for fear of +disturbing our last merry meeting.” + +My lady glanced at the letter, and put it down with a smile that +was somewhat contemptuous. “I have no need to read the letter,” says +she--(indeed, 'twas as well she did not; for the Chelsey missive, in the +poor Dowager's usual French jargon, permitted him a longer holiday +than he said. “Je vous donne,” quoth her ladyship, “oui jour, pour vous +fatigay parfaictement de vos parens fatigans”)--“I have no need to read +the letter,” says she. “What was it Frank told you last night?” + +“He told me little I did not know,” Mr. Esmond answered. “But I have +thought of that little, and here's the result: I have no right to the +name I bear, dear lady; and it is only by your sufferance that I am +allowed to keep it. If I thought for an hour of what has perhaps crossed +your mind too--” + +“Yes, I did, Harry,” said she; “I thought of it; and think of it. I +would sooner call you my son than the greatest prince in Europe--yes, +than the greatest prince. For who is there so good and so brave, and who +would love her as you would? But there are reasons a mother can't tell.” + +“I know them,” said Mr. Esmond, interrupting her with a smile. “I know +there's Sir Wilmot Crawley of Queen's Crawley, and Mr. Anthony Henley +of the Grange, and my Lord Marquis of Blandford, that seems to be the +favored suitor. You shall ask me to wear my Lady Marchioness's favors +and to dance at her ladyship's wedding.” + +“Oh! Harry, Harry, it is none of these follies that frighten me,” cried +out Lady Castlewood. “Lord Churchill is but a child, his outbreak about +Beatrix was a mere boyish folly. His parents would rather see him buried +than married to one below him in rank. And do you think that I would +stoop to sue for a husband for Francis Esmond's daughter; or submit to +have my girl smuggled into that proud family to cause a quarrel between +son and parents, and to be treated only as an inferior? I would disdain +such a meanness. Beatrix would scorn it. Ah! Henry, 'tis not with you +the fault lies, 'tis with her. I know you both, and love you: need I +be ashamed of that love now? No, never, never, and 'tis not you, dear +Harry, that is unworthy. 'Tis for my poor Beatrix I tremble--whose +headstrong will frightens me; whose jealous temper (they say I was +jealous too, but, pray God, I am cured of that sin) and whose vanity no +words or prayers of mine can cure--only suffering, only experience, and +remorse afterwards. Oh! Henry, she will make no man happy who loves her. +Go away, my son: leave her: love us always, and think kindly of us: and +for me, my dear, you know that these walls contain all that I love in +the world.” + +In after life, did Esmond find the words true which his fond mistress +spoke from her sad heart? Warning he had: but I doubt others had warning +before his time, and since: and he benefited by it as most men do. + +My young Lord Viscount was exceeding sorry when he heard that Harry +could not come to the cock-match with him, and must go to London, but no +doubt my lord consoled himself when the Hampshire cocks won the match; +and he saw every one of the battles, and crowed properly over the +conquered Sussex gentlemen. + +As Esmond rode towards town his servant, coming up to him, informed him +with a grin, that Mistress Beatrix had brought out a new gown and blue +stockings for that day's dinner, in which she intended to appear, and +had flown into a rage and given her maid a slap on the face soon after +she heard he was going away. Mistress Beatrix's woman, the fellow said, +came down to the servants' hall crying, and with the mark of a blow +still on her cheek: but Esmond peremptorily ordered him to fall back +and be silent, and rode on with thoughts enough of his own to occupy +him--some sad ones, some inexpressibly dear and pleasant. + +His mistress, from whom he had been a year separated, was his dearest +mistress again. The family from which he had been parted, and which he +loved with the fondest devotion, was his family once more. If Beatrix's +beauty shone upon him, it was with a friendly lustre, and he could +regard it with much such a delight as he brought away after seeing the +beautiful pictures of the smiling Madonnas in the convent at Cadiz, when +he was despatched thither with a flag; and as for his mistress, 'twas +difficult to say with what a feeling he regarded her. 'Twas happiness to +have seen her; 'twas no great pang to part; a filial tenderness, a love +that was at once respect and protection, filled his mind as he thought +of her; and near her or far from her, and from that day until now, and +from now till death is past and beyond it, he prays that sacred flame +may ever burn. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +I MAKE THE CAMPAIGN OF 1704. + + +Mr. Esmond rode up to London then, where, if the Dowager had been angry +at the abrupt leave of absence he took, she was mightily pleased at his +speedy return. + +He went immediately and paid his court to his new general, General +Lumley, who received him graciously, having known his father, and also, +he was pleased to say, having had the very best accounts of Mr. Esmond +from the officer whose aide-de-camp he had been at Vigo. During this +winter Mr. Esmond was gazetted to a lieutenancy in Brigadier Webb's +regiment of Fusileers, then with their colonel in Flanders; but being +now attached to the suite of Mr. Lumley, Esmond did not join his own +regiment until more than a year afterwards, and after his return from +the campaign of Blenheim, which was fought the next year. The campaign +began very early, our troops marching out of their quarters before the +winter was almost over, and investing the city of Bonn, on the Rhine, +under the Duke's command. His Grace joined the army in deep grief of +mind, with crape on his sleeve, and his household in mourning; and the +very same packet which brought the Commander-in-Chief over, brought +letters to the forces which preceded him, and one from his dear mistress +to Esmond, which interested him not a little. + +The young Marquis of Blandford, his Grace's son, who had been entered in +King's College in Cambridge, (whither my Lord Viscount had also gone, +to Trinity, with Mr. Tusher as his governor,) had been seized with +small-pox, and was dead at sixteen years of age, and so poor Frank's +schemes for his sister's advancement were over, and that innocent +childish passion nipped in the birth. + +Esmond's mistress would have had him return, at least her letters hinted +as much; but in the presence of the enemy this was impossible, and +our young man took his humble share in the siege, which need not be +described here, and had the good luck to escape without a wound of any +sort, and to drink his general's health after the surrender. He was +in constant military duty this year, and did not think of asking for a +leave of absence, as one or two of his less fortunate friends did, who +were cast away in that tremendous storm which happened towards the +close of November, that “which of late o'er pale Britannia past” (as +Mr. Addison sang of it), and in which scores of our greatest ships and +15,000 of our seamen went down. + +They said that our Duke was quite heart-broken by the calamity which had +befallen his family; but his enemies found that he could subdue them, +as well as master his grief. Successful as had been this great General's +operations in the past year, they were far enhanced by the splendor of +his victory in the ensuing campaign. His Grace the Captain-General went +to England after Bonn, and our army fell back into Holland, where, in +April 1704, his Grace again found the troops, embarking from Harwich +and landing at Maesland Sluys: thence his Grace came immediately to the +Hague, where he received the foreign ministers, general officers, and +other people of quality. The greatest honors were paid to his Grace +everywhere--at the Hague, Utrecht, Ruremonde, and Maestricht; the civil +authorities coming to meet his coaches: salvos of cannon saluting him, +canopies of state being erected for him where he stopped, and feasts +prepared for the numerous gentlemen following in his suite. His Grace +reviewed the troops of the States-General between Liege and Maestricht, +and afterwards the English forces, under the command of General +Churchill, near Bois-le-Duc. Every preparation was made for a long +march; and the army heard, with no small elation, that it was the +Commander-in-Chief's intention to carry the war out of the Low +Countries, and to march on the Mozelle. Before leaving our camp at +Maestricht, we heard that the French, under the Marshal Villeroy, were +also bound towards the Mozelle. + +Towards the end of May, the army reached Coblentz; and next day, his +Grace, and the generals accompanying him, went to visit the Elector of +Treves at his Castle of Ehrenbreitstein, the horse and dragoons passing +the Rhine whilst the Duke was entertained at a grand feast by the +Elector. All as yet was novelty, festivity, and splendor--a brilliant +march of a great and glorious army through a friendly country, and +sure through some of the most beautiful scenes of nature which I ever +witnessed. + +The foot and artillery, following after the horse as quick as possible, +crossed the Rhine under Ehrenbreitstein, and so to Castel, over against +Mayntz, in which city his Grace, his generals, and his retinue were +received at the landing-place by the Elector's coaches, carried to +his Highness's palace amidst the thunder of cannon, and then once more +magnificently entertained. Gidlingen, in Bavaria, was appointed as the +general rendezvous of the army, and thither, by different routes, the +whole forces of English, Dutch, Danes, and German auxiliaries took their +way. The foot and artillery under General Churchill passed the Neckar, +at Heidelberg; and Esmond had an opportunity of seeing that city and +palace, once so famous and beautiful (though shattered and battered by +the French, under Turenne, in the late war), where his grandsire had +served the beautiful and unfortunate Electress-Palatine, the first King +Charles's sister. + +At Mindelsheim, the famous Prince of Savoy came to visit our commander, +all of us crowding eagerly to get a sight of that brilliant and intrepid +warrior; and our troops were drawn up in battalia before the Prince, +who was pleased to express his admiration of this noble English army. At +length we came in sight of the enemy between Dillingen and Lawingen, the +Brentz lying between the two armies. The Elector, judging that Donauwort +would be the point of his Grace's attack, sent a strong detachment of +his best troops to Count Darcos, who was posted at Schellenberg, near +that place, where great intrenchments were thrown up, and thousands of +pioneers employed to strengthen the position. + +On the 2nd of July his Grace stormed the post, with what success on our +part need scarce be told. His Grace advanced with six thousand foot, +English and Dutch, thirty squadrons, and three regiments of Imperial +Cuirassiers, the Duke crossing the river at the head of the cavalry. +Although our troops made the attack with unparalleled courage and +fury--rushing up to the very guns of the enemy, and being slaughtered +before their works--we were driven back many times, and should not have +carried them, but that the Imperialists came up under the Prince of +Baden, when the enemy could make no head against us: we pursued them +into the trenches, making a terrible slaughter there, and into the very +Danube, where a great part of his troops, following the example of their +generals, Count Darcos and the Elector himself, tried to save themselves +by swimming. Our army entered Donauwort, which the Bavarians evacuated; +and where 'twas said the Elector purposed to have given us a warm +reception, by burning us in our beds; the cellars of the houses, when we +took possession of them, being found stuffed with straw. But though the +links were there, the link-boys had run away. The townsmen saved their +houses, and our General took possession of the enemy's ammunition in the +arsenals, his stores, and magazines. Five days afterwards a great “Te +Deum” was sung in Prince Lewis's army, and a solemn day of thanksgiving +held in our own; the Prince of Savoy's compliments coming to his Grace +the Captain-General during the day's religious ceremony, and concluding, +as it were, with an Amen. + +And now, having seen a great military march through a friendly country; +the pomps and festivities of more than one German court; the severe +struggle of a hotly contested battle, and the triumph of victory, Mr. +Esmond beheld another part of military duty: our troops entering the +enemy's territory, and putting all around them to fire and sword; +burning farms, wasted fields, shrieking women, slaughtered sons and +fathers, and drunken soldiery, cursing and carousing in the midst of +tears, terror, and murder. Why does the stately Muse of History, that +delights in describing the valor of heroes and the grandeur of conquest, +leave out these scenes, so brutal, mean, and degrading, that yet form by +far the greater part of the drama of war? You, gentlemen of England, who +live at home at ease, and compliment yourselves in the songs of triumph +with which our chieftains are bepraised--you pretty maidens, that come +tumbling down the stairs when the fife and drum call you, and huzzah for +the British Grenadiers--do you take account that these items go to make +up the amount of the triumph you admire, and form part of the duties of +the heroes you fondle? Our chief, whom England and all Europe, saving +only the Frenchmen, worshipped almost, had this of the godlike in him, +that he was impassible before victory, before danger, before defeat. +Before the greatest obstacle or the most trivial ceremony; before a +hundred thousand men drawn in battalia, or a peasant slaughtered at the +door of his burning hovel; before a carouse of drunken German lords, or +a monarch's court or a cottage table, where his plans were laid, or an +enemy's battery, vomiting flame and death, and strewing corpses round +about him;--he was always cold, calm, resolute, like fate. He performed +a treason or a court-bow, he told a falsehood as black as Styx, as +easily as he paid a compliment or spoke about the weather. He took a +mistress, and left her; he betrayed his benefactor, and supported him, +or would have murdered him, with the same calmness always, and having +no more remorse than Clotho when she weaves the thread, or Lachesis when +she cuts it. In the hour of battle I have heard the Prince of Savoy's +officers say, the Prince became possessed with a sort of warlike fury; +his eyes lighted up; he rushed hither and thither, raging; he shrieked +curses and encouragement, yelling and harking his bloody war-dogs on, +and himself always at the first of the hunt. Our duke was as calm at the +mouth of the cannon as at the door of a drawing-room. Perhaps he could +not have been the great man he was, had he had a heart either for +love or hatred, or pity or fear, or regret or remorse. He achieved +the highest deed of daring, or deepest calculation of thought, as he +performed the very meanest action of which a man is capable; told a lie, +or cheated a fond woman, or robbed a poor beggar of a halfpenny, with a +like awful serenity and equal capacity of the highest and lowest acts of +our nature. + +His qualities were pretty well known in the army, where there were +parties of all politics, and of plenty of shrewdness and wit; but there +existed such a perfect confidence in him, as the first captain of the +world, and such a faith and admiration in his prodigious genius and +fortune, that the very men whom he notoriously cheated of their pay, the +chiefs whom he used and injured--(for he used all men, great and small, +that came near him, as his instruments alike, and took something of +theirs, either some quality or some property)--the blood of a soldier, it +might be, or a jewelled hat, or a hundred thousand crowns from a king, +or a portion out of a starving sentinel's three-farthings; or (when he +was young) a kiss from a woman, and the gold chain off her neck, taking +all he could from woman or man, and having, as I have said, this of the +godlike in him, that he could see a hero perish or a sparrow fall, with +the same amount of sympathy for either. Not that he had no tears; he +could always order up this reserve at the proper moment to battle; he +could draw upon tears or smiles alike, and whenever need was for using +this cheap coin. He would cringe to a shoeblack, as he would flatter a +minister or a monarch; be haughty, be humble, threaten, repent, weep, +grasp your hand, (or stab you whenever he saw occasion)--but yet those +of the army, who knew him best and had suffered most from him, admired +him most of all: and as he rode along the lines to battle or galloped +up in the nick of time to a battalion reeling from before the enemy's +charge or shot, the fainting men and officers got new courage as they +saw the splendid calm of his face, and felt that his will made them +irresistible. + +After the great victory of Blenheim the enthusiasm of the army for the +Duke, even of his bitterest personal enemies in it, amounted to a sort +of rage--nay, the very officers who cursed him in their hearts were +among the most frantic to cheer him. Who could refuse his meed of +admiration to such a victory and such a victor? Not he who writes: a man +may profess to be ever so much a philosopher; but he who fought on that +day must feel a thrill of pride as he recalls it. + +The French right was posted near to the village of Blenheim, on the +Danube, where the Marshal Tallard's quarters were; their line extending +through, it may be a league and a half, before Lutzingen and up to a +woody hill, round the base of which, and acting against the Prince of +Savoy, were forty of his squadrons. + +Here was a village that the Frenchmen had burned, the wood being, in +fact, a better shelter and easier of guard than any village. + +Before these two villages and the French lines ran a little stream, not +more than two foot broad, through a marsh (that was mostly dried up +from the heats of the weather), and this stream was the only separation +between the two armies--ours coming up and ranging themselves in line +of battle before the French, at six o'clock in the morning; so that our +line was quite visible to theirs; and the whole of this great plain was +black and swarming with troops for hours before the cannonading began. + +On one side and the other this cannonading lasted many hours. The French +guns being in position in front of their line, and doing severe damage +among our horse especially, and on our right wing of Imperialists under +the Prince of Savoy, who could neither advance his artillery nor his +lines, the ground before him being cut up by ditches, morasses, and very +difficult of passage for the guns. + +It was past mid-day when the attack began on our left, where Lord Cutts +commanded, the bravest and most beloved officer in the English army. +And now, as if to make his experience in war complete, our young +aide-de-camp having seen two great armies facing each other in line of +battle, and had the honor of riding with orders from one end to other +of the line, came in for a not uncommon accompaniment of military glory, +and was knocked on the head, along with many hundred of brave fellows, +almost at the very commencement of this famous day of Blenheim. A little +after noon, the disposition for attack being completed with much delay +and difficulty, and under a severe fire from the enemy's guns, that +were better posted and more numerous than ours, a body of English and +Hessians, with Major-General Wilkes commanding at the extreme left of +our line, marched upon Blenheim, advancing with great gallantry, the +Major-General on foot, with his officers, at the head of the column, and +marching, with his hat off, intrepidly in the face of the enemy, who was +pouring in a tremendous fire from his guns and musketry, to which our +people were instructed not to reply, except with pike and bayonet when +they reached the French palisades. To these Wilkes walked intrepidly, +and struck the woodwork with his sword before our people charged it. +He was shot down at the instant, with his colonel, major, and several +officers; and our troops cheering and huzzaing, and coming on, as they +did, with immense resolution and gallantry, were nevertheless stopped by +the murderous fire from behind the enemy's defences, and then attacked +in flank by a furious charge of French horse which swept out of +Blenheim, and cut down our men in great numbers. Three fierce and +desperate assaults of our foot were made and repulsed by the enemy; so +that our columns of foot were quite shattered, and fell back, scrambling +over the little rivulet, which we had crossed so resolutely an hour +before, and pursued by the French cavalry, slaughtering us and cutting +us down. + +And now the conquerors were met by a furious charge of English horse +under Esmond's general, General Lumley, behind whose squadrons the +flying foot found refuge, and formed again, whilst Lumley drove back the +French horse, charging up to the village of Blenheim and the palisades +where Wilkes, and many hundred more gallant Englishmen, lay in +slaughtered heaps. Beyond this moment, and of this famous victory, Mr. +Esmond knows nothing; for a shot brought down his horse and our young +gentleman on it, who fell crushed and stunned under the animal, and came +to his senses he knows not how long after, only to lose them again from +pain and loss of blood. A dim sense, as of people groaning round about +him, a wild incoherent thought or two for her who occupied so much of +his heart now, and that here his career, and his hopes, and misfortunes +were ended, he remembers in the course of these hours. When he woke up, +it was with a pang of extreme pain, his breastplate was taken off, his +servant was holding his head up, the good and faithful lad of Hampshire* +was blubbering over his master, whom he found and had thought dead, and +a surgeon was probing a wound in the shoulder, which he must have got +at the same moment when his horse was shot and fell over him. The battle +was over at this end of the field, by this time: the village was in +possession of the English, its brave defenders prisoners, or fled, +or drowned, many of them, in the neighboring waters of Donau. But for +honest Lockwood's faithful search after his master, there had no doubt +been an end of Esmond here, and of this his story. The marauders were +out riffling the bodies as they lay on the field, and Jack had brained +one of these gentry with the club-end of his musket, who had eased +Esmond of his hat and periwig, his purse, and fine silver-mounted +pistols which the Dowager gave him, and was fumbling in his pockets +for further treasure, when Jack Lockwood came up and put an end to the +scoundrel's triumph. + + * My mistress, before I went this campaign, sent me John + Lockwood out of Walcote, who hath ever since remained with + me.--H. E. + +Hospitals for our wounded were established at Blenheim, and here for +several weeks Esmond lay in very great danger of his life; the wound +was not very great from which he suffered, and the ball extracted by the +surgeon on the spot where our young gentleman received it; but a fever +set in next day, as he was lying in hospital, and that almost carried +him away. Jack Lockwood said he talked in the wildest manner during his +delirium; that he called himself the Marquis of Esmond, and seizing one +of the surgeon's assistants who came to dress his wounds, swore that he +was Madam Beatrix, and that he would make her a duchess if she would +but say yes. He was passing the days in these crazy fancies, and vana +somnia, whilst the army was singing “Te Deum” for the victory, and +those famous festivities were taking place at which our Duke, now made a +Prince of the Empire, was entertained by the King of the Romans and his +nobility. His Grace went home by Berlin and Hanover, and Esmond lost +the festivities which took place at those cities, and which his general +shared in company of the other general officers who travelled with our +great captain. When he could move, it was by the Duke of Wurtemberg's +city of Stuttgard that he made his way homewards, revisiting Heidelberg +again, whence he went to Manheim, and hence had a tedious but easy water +journey down the river of Rhine, which he had thought a delightful and +beautiful voyage indeed, but that his heart was longing for home, and +something far more beautiful and delightful. + +As bright and welcome as the eyes almost of his mistress shone the +lights of Harwich, as the packet came in from Holland. It was not +many hours ere he, Esmond, was in London, of that you may be sure, and +received with open arms by the old Dowager of Chelsey, who vowed, in her +jargon of French and English, that he had the air noble, that his pallor +embellished him, that he was an Amadis and deserved a Gloriana; and oh! +flames and darts! what was his joy at hearing that his mistress was come +into waiting, and was now with her Majesty at Kensington! Although Mr. +Esmond had told Jack Lockwood to get horses and they would ride for +Winchester that night, when he heard this news he countermanded the +horses at once; his business lay no longer in Hants; all his hope and +desire lay within a couple of miles of him in Kensington Park wall. Poor +Harry had never looked in the glass before so eagerly to see whether he +had the bel air, and his paleness really did become him; he never +took such pains about the curl of his periwig, and the taste of his +embroidery and point-lace, as now, before Mr. Amadis presented himself +to Madam Gloriana. Was the fire of the French lines half so murderous +as the killing glances from her ladyship's eyes? Oh! darts and raptures, +how beautiful were they! + +And as, before the blazing sun of morning, the moon fades away in the +sky almost invisible, Esmond thought, with a blush perhaps, of another +sweet pale face, sad and faint, and fading out of sight, with its sweet +fond gaze of affection; such a last look it seemed to cast as Eurydice +might have given, yearning after her lover, when Fate and Pluto summoned +her, and she passed away into the shades. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +AN OLD STORY ABOUT A FOOL AND A WOMAN. + + +Any taste for pleasure which Esmond had (and he liked to desipere in +loco, neither more nor less than most young men of his age) he could +now gratify to the utmost extent, and in the best company which the town +afforded. When the army went into winter quarters abroad, those of the +officers who had interest or money easily got leave of absence, and +found it much pleasanter to spend their time in Pall Mall and Hyde Park, +than to pass the winter away behind the fortifications of the dreary +old Flanders towns, where the English troops were gathered. Yachts and +packets passed daily between the Dutch and Flemish ports and Harwich; +the roads thence to London and the great inns were crowded with +army gentlemen; the taverns and ordinaries of the town swarmed with +red-coats; and our great Duke's levees at St. James's were as thronged +as they had been at Ghent and Brussels, where we treated him, and he us, +with the grandeur and ceremony of a sovereign. Though Esmond had been +appointed to a lieutenancy in the Fusileer regiment, of which that +celebrated officer, Brigadier John Richmond Webb, was colonel, he +had never joined the regiment, nor been introduced to its excellent +commander, though they had made the same campaign together, and been +engaged in the same battle. But being aide-de-camp to General Lumley, +who commanded the division of horse, and the army marching to its point +of destination on the Danube by different routes, Esmond had not fallen +in, as yet, with his commander and future comrades of the fort; and it +was in London, in Golden Square, where Major-General Webb lodged, that +Captain Esmond had the honor of first paying his respects to his friend, +patron, and commander of after days. + +Those who remember this brilliant and accomplished gentleman may +recollect his character, upon which he prided himself, I think, not a +little, of being the handsomest man in the army; a poet who writ a +dull copy of verses upon the battle of Oudenarde three years after, +describing Webb, says:-- + + “To noble danger Webb conducts the way, + His great example all his troops obey; + Before the front the general sternly rides, + With such an air as Mars to battle strides: + Propitious heaven must sure a hero save, + Like Paris handsome, and like Hector brave.” + +Mr. Webb thought these verses quite as fine as Mr. Addison's on the +Blenheim Campaign, and, indeed, to be Hector a la mode de Paris, was +part of this gallant gentleman's ambition. It would have been difficult +to find an officer in the whole army, or amongst the splendid courtiers +and cavaliers of the Maison du Roy, that fought under Vendosme and +Villeroy in the army opposed to ours, who was a more accomplished +soldier and perfect gentleman, and either braver or better-looking. +And if Mr. Webb believed of himself what the world said of him, and was +deeply convinced of his own indisputable genius, beauty, and valor, who +has a right to quarrel with him very much? This self-content of his kept +him in general good-humor, of which his friends and dependants got the +benefit. + +He came of a very ancient Wiltshire family, which he respected above all +families in the world: he could prove a lineal descent from King Edward +the First, and his first ancestor, Roaldus de Richmond, rode by William +the Conqueror's side on Hastings field. “We were gentlemen, Esmond,” he +used to say, “when the Churchills were horse-boys.” He was a very +tall man, standing in his pumps six feet three inches (in his great +jack-boots, with his tall fair periwig, and hat and feather, he could +not have been less than eight feet high). “I am taller than Churchill,” + he would say, surveying himself in the glass, “and I am a better made +man; and if the women won't like a man that hasn't a wart on his nose, +faith, I can't help myself, and Churchill has the better of me there.” + Indeed, he was always measuring himself with the Duke, and always asking +his friends to measure them. And talking in this frank way, as he would +do, over his cups, wags would laugh and encourage him; friends would +be sorry for him; schemers and flatterers would egg him on, and +tale-bearers carry the stories to headquarters, and widen the difference +which already existed there, between the great captain and one of the +ablest and bravest lieutenants he ever had. + +His rancor against the Duke was so apparent, that one saw it in the +first half-hour's conversation with General Webb; and his lady, who +adored her General, and thought him a hundred times taller, handsomer, +and braver than a prodigal nature had made him, hated the great Duke +with such an intensity as it becomes faithful wives to feel against +their husbands' enemies. Not that my Lord Duke was so yet; Mr. Webb had +said a thousand things against him, which his superior had pardoned; and +his Grace, whose spies were everywhere, had heard a thousand things more +that Webb had never said. But it cost this great man no pains to pardon; +and he passed over an injury or a benefit alike easily. + +Should any child of mine take the pains to read these his ancestor's +memoirs, I would not have him judge of the great Duke* by what a +contemporary has written of him. No man hath been so immensely lauded +and decried as this great statesman and warrior; as, indeed, no man ever +deserved better the very greatest praise and the strongest censure. If +the present writer joins with the latter faction, very likely a private +pique of his own may be the cause of his ill-feeling. + + * This passage in the Memoirs of Esmond is written on a leaf + inserted into the MS. book, and dated 1744, probably after + he had heard of the Duchess's death. + +On presenting himself at the Commander-in-Chief's levee, his Grace had +not the least remembrance of General Lumley's aide-de-camp, and though +he knew Esmond's family perfectly well, having served with both lords +(my Lord Francis and the Viscount Esmond's father) in Flanders, and in +the Duke of York's Guard, the Duke of Marlborough, who was friendly +and serviceable to the (so-styled) legitimate representatives of the +Viscount Castlewood, took no sort of notice of the poor lieutenant +who bore their name. A word of kindness or acknowledgment, or a single +glance of approbation, might have changed Esmond's opinion of the great +man; and instead of a satire, which his pen cannot help writing, who +knows but that the humble historian might have taken the other side of +panegyric? We have but to change the point of view, and the greatest +action looks mean; as we turn the perspective-glass, and a giant appears +a pigmy. You may describe, but who can tell whether your sight is clear +or not, or your means of information accurate? Had the great man said +but a word of kindness to the small one (as he would have stepped out +of his gilt chariot to shake hands with Lazarus in rags and sores, if he +thought Lazarus could have been of any service to him), no doubt Esmond +would have fought for him with pen and sword to the utmost of his might; +but my lord the lion did not want master mouse at this moment, and so +Muscipulus went off and nibbled in opposition. + +So it was, however, that a young gentleman, who, in the eyes of his +family, and in his own, doubtless, was looked upon as a consummate hero, +found that the great hero of the day took no more notice of him than +of the smallest drummer in his Grace's army. The Dowager at Chelsey was +furious against this neglect of her family, and had a great battle with +Lady Marlborough (as Lady Castlewood insisted on calling the Duchess). +Her Grace was now Mistress of the Robes to her Majesty, and one of the +greatest personages in this kingdom, as her husband was in all Europe, +and the battle between the two ladies took place in the Queen's +drawing-room. + +The Duchess, in reply to my aunt's eager clamor, said haughtily, that +she had done her best for the legitimate branch of the Esmonds, and +could not be expected to provide for the bastard brats of the family. + +“Bastards!” says the Viscountess, in a fury. “There are bastards among +the Churchills, as your Grace knows, and the Duke of Berwick is provided +for well enough.” + +“Madam,” says the Duchess, “you know whose fault it is that there are +no such dukes in the Esmond family too, and how that little scheme of a +certain lady miscarried.” + +Esmond's friend, Dick Steele, who was in waiting on the Prince, heard +the controversy between the ladies at court. “And faith,” says Dick, “I +think, Harry, thy kinswoman had the worst of it.” + +He could not keep the story quiet; 'twas all over the coffee-houses ere +night; it was printed in a News Letter before a month was over, and “The +reply of her Grace the Duchess of M-rlb-r-gh to a Popish Lady of the +Court, once a favorite of the late K--- J-m-s,” was printed in half a +dozen places, with a note stating that “this duchess, when the head +of this lady's family came by his death lately in a fatal duel, never +rested until she got a pension for the orphan heir, and widow, from her +Majesty's bounty.” The squabble did not advance poor Esmond's promotion +much, and indeed made him so ashamed of himself that he dared not show +his face at the Commander-in-Chief's levees again. + +During those eighteen months which had passed since Esmond saw his dear +mistress, her good father, the old Dean, quitted this life, firm in his +principles to the very last, and enjoining his family always to remember +that the Queen's brother, King James the Third, was their rightful +sovereign. He made a very edifying end, as his daughter told Esmond, and +not a little to her surprise, after his death (for he had lived always +very poorly) my lady found that her father had left no less a sum than +3,000L. behind him, which he bequeathed to her. + +With this little fortune Lady Castlewood was enabled, when her +daughter's turn at Court came, to come to London, where she took a small +genteel house at Kensington, in the neighborhood of the Court, bringing +her children with her, and here it was that Esmond found his friends. + +As for the young lord, his university career had ended rather abruptly. +Honest Tusher, his governor, had found my young gentleman quite +ungovernable. My lord worried his life away with tricks; and broke out, +as home-bred lads will, into a hundred youthful extravagances, so that +Dr. Bentley, the new master of Trinity, thought fit to write to the +Viscountess Castlewood, my lord's mother, and beg her to remove the +young nobleman from a college where he declined to learn, and where he +only did harm by his riotous example. Indeed, I believe he nearly set +fire to Nevil's Court, that beautiful new quadrangle of our college, +which Sir Christopher Wren had lately built. He knocked down a +proctor's man that wanted to arrest him in a midnight prank; he gave +a dinner-party on the Prince of Wales's birthday, which was within +a fortnight of his own, and the twenty young gentlemen then present +sallied out after their wine, having toasted King James's health with +open windows, and sung cavalier songs, and shouted “God save the +King!” in the great court, so that the master came out of his lodge at +midnight, and dissipated the riotous assembly. + +This was my lord's crowning freak, and the Rev. Thomas Tusher, domestic +chaplain to the Right Honorable the Lord Viscount Castlewood, finding +his prayers and sermons of no earthly avail to his lordship, gave up his +duties of governor; went and married his brewer's widow at Southampton, +and took her and her money to his parsonage house at Castlewood. + +My lady could not be angry with her son for drinking King James's +health, being herself a loyal Tory, as all the Castlewood family were, +and acquiesced with a sigh, knowing, perhaps, that her refusal would be +of no avail to the young lord's desire for a military life. She would +have liked him to be in Mr. Esmond's regiment, hoping that Harry might +act as a guardian and adviser to his wayward young kinsman; but my young +lord would hear of nothing but the Guards, and a commission was got for +him in the Duke of Ormond's regiment; so Esmond found my lord, ensign +and lieutenant, when he returned from Germany after the Blenheim +campaign. + +The effect produced by both Lady Castlewood's children when they +appeared in public was extraordinary, and the whole town speedily rang +with their fame: such a beautiful couple, it was declared, never had +been seen; the young maid of honor was toasted at every table and +tavern, and as for my young lord, his good looks were even more admired +than his sister's. A hundred songs were written about the pair, and +as the fashion of that day was, my young lord was praised in these +Anacreontics as warmly as Bathyllus. You may be sure that he accepted +very complacently the town's opinion of him, and acquiesced with that +frankness and charming good-humor he always showed in the idea that he +was the prettiest fellow in all London. + +The old Dowager at Chelsey, though she could never be got to acknowledge +that Mistress Beatrix was any beauty at all, (in which opinion, as it +may be imagined, a vast number of the ladies agreed with her), yet, on +the very first sight of young Castlewood, she owned she fell in love +with him: and Henry Esmond, on his return to Chelsey, found himself +quite superseded in her favor by her younger kinsman. The feat of +drinking the King's health at Cambridge would have won her heart, she +said, if nothing else did. “How had the dear young fellow got such +beauty?” she asked. “Not from his father--certainly not from his mother. +How had he come by such noble manners, and the perfect bel air? That +countrified Walcote widow could never have taught him.” Esmond had his +own opinion about the countrified Walcote widow, who had a quiet grace +and serene kindness, that had always seemed to him the perfection of +good breeding, though he did not try to argue this point with his aunt. +But he could agree in most of the praises which the enraptured old +dowager bestowed on my Lord Viscount, than whom he never beheld a more +fascinating and charming gentleman. Castlewood had not wit so much as +enjoyment. “The lad looks good things,” Mr. Steele used to say; “and +his laugh lights up a conversation as much as ten repartees from +Mr. Congreve. I would as soon sit over a bottle with him as with Mr. +Addison; and rather listen to his talk than hear Nicolini. Was ever +man so gracefully drunk as my Lord Castlewood? I would give anything to +carry my wine” (though, indeed, Dick bore his very kindly, and plenty +of it, too), “like this incomparable young man. When he is sober he is +delightful; and when tipsy, perfectly irresistible.” And referring to +his favorite, Shakspeare (who was quite out of fashion until Steele +brought him back into the mode), Dick compared Lord Castlewood to Prince +Hal, and was pleased to dub Esmond as ancient Pistol. + +The Mistress of the Robes, the greatest lady in England after the Queen, +or even before her Majesty, as the world said, though she never could be +got to say a civil word to Beatrix, whom she had promoted to her place +as maid of honor, took her brother into instant favor. When young +Castlewood, in his new uniform, and looking like a prince out of a fairy +tale, went to pay his duty to her Grace, she looked at him for a minute +in silence, the young man blushing and in confusion before her, then +fairly burst out a-crying, and kissed him before her daughters and +company. “He was my boy's friend,” she said, through her sobs. “My +Blandford might have been like him.” And everybody saw, after this mark +of the Duchess's favor, that my young lord's promotion was secure, and +people crowded round the favorite's favorite, who became vainer and +gayer, and more good-humored than ever. + +Meanwhile Madam Beatrix was making her conquests on her own side, and +amongst them was one poor gentleman, who had been shot by her young eyes +two years before, and had never been quite cured of that wound; he knew, +to be sure, how hopeless any passion might be, directed in that quarter, +and had taken that best, though ignoble, remedium amoris, a speedy +retreat from before the charmer, and a long absence from her; and not +being dangerously smitten in the first instance, Esmond pretty soon got +the better of his complaint, and if he had it still, did not know he had +it, and bore it easily. But when he returned after Blenheim, the young +lady of sixteen, who had appeared the most beautiful object his eyes had +ever looked on two years back, was now advanced to a perfect ripeness +and perfection of beauty, such as instantly enthralled the poor devil, +who had already been a fugitive from her charms. Then he had seen her +but for two days, and fled; now he beheld her day after day, and when +she was at Court watched after her; when she was at home, made one of +the family party; when she went abroad, rode after her mother's chariot; +when she appeared in public places, was in the box near her, or in the +pit looking at her; when she went to church was sure to be there, though +he might not listen to the sermon, and be ready to hand her to her chair +if she deigned to accept of his services, and select him from a score of +young men who were always hanging round about her. When she went away, +accompanying her Majesty to Hampton Court, a darkness fell over London. +Gods, what nights has Esmond passed, thinking of her, rhyming about her, +talking about her! His friend Dick Steele was at this time courting +the young lady, Mrs. Scurlock, whom he married; she had a lodging in +Kensington Square, hard by my Lady Castlewood's house there. Dick and +Harry, being on the same errand, used to meet constantly at Kensington. +They were always prowling about that place, or dismally walking thence, +or eagerly running thither. They emptied scores of bottles at the +“King's Arms,” each man prating of his love, and allowing the other to +talk on condition that he might have his own turn as a listener. Hence +arose an intimacy between them, though to all the rest of their friends +they must have been insufferable. Esmond's verses to “Gloriana at the +Harpsichord,” to “Gloriana's Nosegay,” to “Gloriana at Court,” appeared +this year in the Observator.--Have you never read them? They were +thought pretty poems, and attributed by some to Mr. Prior. + +This passion did not escape--how should it?--the clear eyes of Esmond's +mistress: he told her all; what will a man not do when frantic with +love? To what baseness will he not demean himself? What pangs will he +not make others suffer, so that he may ease his selfish heart of a part +of its own pain? Day after day he would seek his dear mistress, pour +insane hopes, supplications, rhapsodies, raptures, into her ear. She +listened, smiled, consoled, with untiring pity and sweetness. Esmond was +the eldest of her children, so she was pleased to say; and as for her +kindness, who ever had or would look for aught else from one who was +an angel of goodness and pity? After what has been said, 'tis needless +almost to add that poor Esmond's suit was unsuccessful. What was a +nameless, penniless lieutenant to do, when some of the greatest in +the land were in the field? Esmond never so much as thought of asking +permission to hope so far above his reach as he knew this prize was +and passed his foolish, useless life in mere abject sighs and impotent +longing. What nights of rage, what days of torment, of passionate +unfulfilled desire, of sickening jealousy can he recall! Beatrix +thought no more of him than of the lackey that followed her chair. His +complaints did not touch her in the least; his raptures rather fatigued +her; she cared for his verses no more than for Dan Chaucer's, who's +dead these ever so many hundred years; she did not hate him; she rather +despised him, and just suffered him. + +One day, after talking to Beatrix's mother, his dear, fond, constant +mistress--for hours--for all day long--pouring out his flame and his +passion, his despair and rage, returning again and again to the theme, +pacing the room, tearing up the flowers on the table, twisting and +breaking into bits the wax out of the stand-dish, and performing a +hundred mad freaks of passionate folly; seeing his mistress at last +quite pale and tired out with sheer weariness of compassion, and +watching over his fever for the hundredth time, Esmond seized up his +hat, and took his leave. As he got into Kensington Square, a sense of +remorse came over him for the wearisome pain he had been inflicting upon +the dearest and kindest friend ever man had. He went back to the house, +where the servant still stood at the open door, ran up the stairs, and +found his mistress where he had left her in the embrasure of the window, +looking over the fields towards Chelsey. She laughed, wiping away at the +same time the tears which were in her kind eyes; he flung himself down +on his knees, and buried his head in her lap. She had in her hand the +stalk of one of the flowers, a pink, that he had torn to pieces. “Oh, +pardon me, pardon me, my dearest and kindest,” he said; “I am in hell, +and you are the angel that brings me a drop of water.” + +“I am your mother, you are my son, and I love you always,” she said, +holding her hands over him: and he went away comforted and humbled in +mind, as he thought of that amazing and constant love and tenderness +with which this sweet lady ever blessed and pursued him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE FAMOUS MR. JOSEPH ADDISON. + + +The gentlemen ushers had a table at Kensington, and the Guard a very +splendid dinner daily at St. James's, at either of which ordinaries +Esmond was free to dine. Dick Steele liked the Guard-table better than +his own at the gentlemen ushers', where there was less wine and more +ceremony; and Esmond had many a jolly afternoon in company of his +friend, and a hundred times at least saw Dick into his chair. If there +is verity in wine, according to the old adage, what an amiable-natured +character Dick's must have been! In proportion as he took in wine he +overflowed with kindness. His talk was not witty so much as charming. +He never said a word that could anger anybody, and only became the more +benevolent the more tipsy he grew. Many of the wags derided the poor +fellow in his cups, and chose him as a butt for their satire: but there +was a kindness about him, and a sweet playful fancy, that seemed to +Esmond far more charming than the pointed talk of the brightest wits, +with their elaborate repartees and affected severities. I think +Steele shone rather than sparkled. Those famous beaux-esprits of the +coffee-houses (Mr. William Congreve, for instance, when his gout and +his grandeur permitted him to come among us) would make many brilliant +hits--half a dozen in a night sometimes--but, like sharp-shooters, when +they had fired their shot, they were obliged to retire under cover till +their pieces were loaded again, and wait till they got another chance at +their enemy; whereas Dick never thought that his bottle companion was a +butt to aim at--only a friend to shake by the hand. The poor fellow had +half the town in his confidence; everybody knew everything about his +loves and his debts, his creditors or his mistress's obduracy. When +Esmond first came on to the town, honest Dick was all flames and +raptures for a young lady, a West India fortune, whom he married. In a +couple of years the lady was dead, the fortune was all but spent, and +the honest widower was as eager in pursuit of a new paragon of beauty, +as if he had never courted and married and buried the last one. + +Quitting the Guard-table one Sunday afternoon, when by chance Dick had a +sober fit upon him, he and his friend were making their way down Germain +Street, and Dick all of a sudden left his companion's arm, and ran after +a gentleman who was poring over a folio volume at the book-shop near to +St. James's Church. He was a fair, tall man, in a snuff-colored suit, +with a plain sword, very sober, and almost shabby in appearance--at +least when compared to Captain Steele, who loved to adorn his jolly +round person with the finest of clothes, and shone in scarlet and gold +lace. The Captain rushed up, then, to the student of the book-stall, +took him in his arms, hugged him, and would have kissed him--for Dick +was always hugging and bussing his friends--but the other stepped +back with a flush on his pale face, seeming to decline this public +manifestation of Steele's regard. + +“My dearest Joe, where hast thou hidden thyself this age?” cries the +Captain, still holding both his friend's hands; “I have been languishing +for thee this fortnight.” + +“A fortnight is not an age, Dick,” says the other, very good-humoredly. +(He had light blue eyes, extraordinary bright, and a face perfectly +regular and handsome, like a tinted statue.) “And I have been hiding +myself--where do you think?” + +“What! not across the water, my dear Joe?” says Steele, with a look of +great alarm: “thou knowest I have always--” + +“No,” says his friend, interrupting him with a smile: “we are not come +to such straits as that, Dick. I have been hiding, sir, at a place where +people never think of finding you--at my own lodgings, whither I am +going to smoke a pipe now and drink a glass of sack: will your honor +come?” + +“Harry Esmond, come hither,” cries out Dick. “Thou hast heard me talk +over and over again of my dearest Joe, my guardian angel?” + +“Indeed,” says Mr. Esmond, with a bow, “it is not from you only that I +have learnt to admire Mr. Addison. We loved good poetry at Cambridge as +well as at Oxford; and I have some of yours by heart, though I have put +on a red coat. . . . 'O qui canoro blandius Orpheo vocale ducis carmen;' +shall I go on, sir?” says Mr. Esmond, who, indeed, had read and loved +the charming Latin poems of Mr. Addison, as every scholar of that time +knew and admired them. + +“This is Captain Esmond who was at Blenheim,” says Steele. + +“Lieutenant Esmond,” says the other, with a low bow, “at Mr. Addison's +service. + +“I have heard of you,” says Mr. Addison, with a smile; as, indeed, +everybody about town had heard that unlucky story about Esmond's dowager +aunt and the Duchess. + +“We were going to the 'George' to take a bottle before the play,” says +Steele: “wilt thou be one, Joe?” + +Mr. Addison said his own lodgings were hard by, where he was still rich +enough to give a good bottle of wine to his friends; and invited the +two gentlemen to his apartment in the Haymarket, whither we accordingly +went. + +“I shall get credit with my landlady,” says he, with a smile, “when she +sees two such fine gentlemen as you come up my stair.” And he politely +made his visitors welcome to his apartment, which was indeed but a +shabby one, though no grandee of the land could receive his guests with +a more perfect and courtly grace than this gentleman. A frugal dinner, +consisting of a slice of meat and a penny loaf, was awaiting the owner +of the lodgings. “My wine is better than my meat,” says Mr. Addison; +“my Lord Halifax sent me the Burgundy.” And he set a bottle and glasses +before his friends, and ate his simple dinner in a very few minutes, +after which the three fell to, and began to drink. “You see,” says Mr. +Addison, pointing to his writing-table, whereon was a map of the action +at Hochstedt, and several other gazettes and pamphlets relating to the +battle, “that I, too, am busy about your affairs, Captain. I am engaged +as a poetical gazetteer, to say truth, and am writing a poem on the +campaign.” + +So Esmond, at the request of his host, told him what he knew about the +famous battle, drew the river on the table aliquo mero, and with the aid +of some bits of tobacco-pipe showed the advance of the left wing, where +he had been engaged. + +A sheet or two of the verses lay already on the table beside our bottles +and glasses, and Dick having plentifully refreshed himself from the +latter, took up the pages of manuscript, writ out with scarce a blot or +correction, in the author's slim, neat handwriting, and began to read +therefrom with great emphasis and volubility. At pauses of the verse, +the enthusiastic reader stopped and fired off a great salvo of applause. + +Esmond smiled at the enthusiasm of Addison's friend. “You are like the +German Burghers,” says he, “and the Princes on the Mozelle: when our +army came to a halt, they always sent a deputation to compliment the +chief, and fired a salute with all their artillery from their walls.” + +“And drunk the great chiefs health afterward, did not they?” says +Captain Steele, gayly filling up a bumper;--he never was tardy at that +sort of acknowledgment of a friend's merit. + +“And the Duke, since you will have me act his Grace's part,” says Mr. +Addison, with a smile, and something of a blush, “pledged his friends in +return. Most Serene Elector of Covent Garden, I drink to your Highness's +health,” and he filled himself a glass. Joseph required scarce more +pressing than Dick to that sort of amusement; but the wine never seemed +at all to fluster Mr. Addison's brains; it only unloosed his tongue: +whereas Captain Steele's head and speech were quite overcome by a single +bottle. + +No matter what the verses were, and, to say truth, Mr. Esmond found some +of them more than indifferent, Dick's enthusiasm for his chief +never faltered, and in every line from Addison's pen, Steele found +a master-stroke. By the time Dick had come to that part of the poem, +wherein the bard describes as blandly as though he were recording +a dance at the opera, or a harmless bout of bucolic cudgelling at a +village fair, that bloody and ruthless part of our campaign, with the +remembrance whereof every soldier who bore a part in it must sicken +with shame--when we were ordered to ravage and lay waste the Elector's +country; and with fire and murder, slaughter and crime, a great part of +his dominions was overrun; when Dick came to the lines-- + + “In vengeance roused the soldier fills his hand + With sword and fire, and ravages the land, + In crackling flames a thousand harvests burn, + A thousand villages to ashes turn. + To the thick woods the woolly flocks retreat, + And mixed with bellowing herds confusedly bleat. + Their trembling lords the common shade partake, + And cries of infants found in every brake. + The listening soldier fixed in sorrow stands, + Loth to obey his leader's just commands. + The leader grieves, by generous pity swayed, + To see his just commands so well obeyed;” + +by this time wine and friendship had brought poor Dick to a perfectly +maudlin state, and he hiccupped out the last line with a tenderness that +set one of his auditors a-laughing. + +“I admire the license of your poets,” says Esmond to Mr. Addison. (Dick, +after reading of the verses, was fain to go off, insisting on kissing +his two dear friends before his departure, and reeling away with his +periwig over his eyes.) “I admire your art: the murder of the campaign +is done to military music, like a battle at the opera, and the virgins +shriek in harmony, as our victorious grenadiers march into their +villages. Do you know what a scene it was?”--(by this time, perhaps, +the wine had warmed Mr. Esmond's head too,)--“what a triumph you are +celebrating? what scenes of shame and horror were enacted, over which +the commander's genius presided, as calm as though he didn't belong to +our sphere? You talk of the 'listening soldier fixed in sorrow,' the +'leader's grief swayed by generous pity;' to my belief the leader cared +no more for bleating flocks than he did for infants' cries, and many +of our ruffians butchered one or the other with equal alacrity. I was +ashamed of my trade when I saw those horrors perpetrated, which came +under every man's eyes. You hew out of your polished verses a stately +image of smiling victory; I tell you 'tis an uncouth, distorted, savage +idol; hideous, bloody, and barbarous. The rites performed before it are +shocking to think of. You great poets should show it as it is--ugly and +horrible, not beautiful and serene. Oh, sir, had you made the campaign, +believe me, you never would have sung it so.” + +During this little outbreak, Mr. Addison was listening, smoking out of +his long pipe, and smiling very placidly. “What would you have?” says +he. “In our polished days, and according to the rules of art, 'tis +impossible that the Muse should depict tortures or begrime her hands +with the horrors of war. These are indicated rather than described; as +in the Greek tragedies, that, I dare say, you have read (and sure there +can be no more elegant specimens of composition), Agamemnon is slain, or +Medea's children destroyed, away from the scene;--the chorus occupying +the stage and singing of the action to pathetic music. Something of this +I attempt, my dear sir, in my humble way: 'tis a panegyric I mean to +write, and not a satire. Were I to sing as you would have me, the town +would tear the poet in pieces, and burn his book by the hands of the +common hangman. Do you not use tobacco? Of all the weeds grown on earth, +sure the nicotian is the most soothing and salutary. We must paint our +great Duke,” Mr. Addison went on, “not as a man, which no doubt he is, +with weaknesses like the rest of us, but as a hero. 'Tis in a triumph, +not a battle, that your humble servant is riding his sleek Pegasus. We +college poets trot, you know, on very easy nags; it hath been, time +out of mind, part of the poet's profession to celebrate the actions of +heroes in verse, and to sing the deeds which you men of war perform. I +must follow the rules of my art, and the composition of such a strain +as this must be harmonious and majestic, not familiar, or too near +the vulgar truth. Si parva licet: if Virgil could invoke the divine +Augustus, a humbler poet from the banks of the Isis may celebrate a +victory and a conqueror of our own nation, in whose triumphs every +Briton has a share, and whose glory and genius contributes to every +citizen's individual honor. When hath there been, since our Henrys' and +Edwards' days, such a great feat of arms as that from which you yourself +have brought away marks of distinction? If 'tis in my power to sing that +song worthily, I will do so, and be thankful to my Muse. If I fail as a +poet, as a Briton at least I will show my loyalty, and fling up my cap +and huzzah for the conqueror:-- + + “'Rheni pacator et Istri + Omnis in hoc uno variis discordia cessit + Ordinibus; laetatur eques, plauditque senator, + Votaque patricio certant plebeia favori.'” + +“There were as brave men on that field,” says Mr. Esmond (who never +could be made to love the Duke of Marlborough, nor to forget those +stories which he used to hear in his youth regarding that great chiefs +selfishness and treachery)--“there were men at Blenheim as good as the +leader, whom neither knights nor senators applauded, nor voices plebeian +or patrician favored, and who lie there forgotten, under the clods. What +poet is there to sing them?” + +“To sing the gallant souls of heroes sent to Hades!” says Mr. Addison, +with a smile. “Would you celebrate them all? If I may venture to +question anything in such an admirable work, the catalogue of the ships +in Homer hath always appeared to me as somewhat wearisome; what had the +poem been, supposing the writer had chronicled the names of captains, +lieutenants, rank and file? One of the greatest of a great man's +qualities is success; 'tis the result of all the others; 'tis a latent +power in him which compels the favor of the gods, and subjugates +fortune. Of all his gifts I admire that one in the great Marlborough. To +be brave? every man is brave. But in being victorious, as he is, I fancy +there is something divine. In presence of the occasion, the great +soul of the leader shines out, and the god is confessed. Death itself +respects him, and passes by him to lay others low. War and carnage flee +before him to ravage other parts of the field, as Hector from before the +divine Achilles. You say he hath no pity; no more have the gods, who are +above it, and superhuman. The fainting battle gathers strength at his +aspect; and, wherever he rides, victory charges with him.” + +A couple of days after, when Mr. Esmond revisited his poetic friend, he +found this thought, struck out in the fervor of conversation, improved +and shaped into those famous lines, which are in truth the noblest in +the poem of the “Campaign.” As the two gentlemen sat engaged in talk, +Mr. Addison solacing himself with his customary pipe, the little +maid-servant that waited on his lodging came up, preceding a gentleman +in fine laced clothes, that had evidently been figuring at Court or a +great man's levee. The courtier coughed a little at the smoke of the +pipe, and looked round the room curiously, which was shabby enough, as +was the owner in his worn, snuff-colored suit and plain tie-wig. + +“How goes on the magnum opus, Mr. Addison?” says the Court gentleman on +looking down at the papers that were on the table. + +“We were but now over it,” says Addison (the greatest courtier in the +land could not have a more splendid politeness, or greater dignity of +manner). “Here is the plan,” says he, “on the table: hac ibat Simois, +here ran the little river Nebel: hic est Sigeia tellus, here are +Tallard's quarters, at the bowl of this pipe, at the attack of which +Captain Esmond was present. I have the honor to introduce him to Mr. +Boyle; and Mr. Esmond was but now depicting aliquo proelia mixta mero, +when you came in.” In truth, the two gentlemen had been so engaged when +the visitor arrived, and Addison, in his smiling way, speaking of Mr. +Webb, colonel of Esmond's regiment (who commanded a brigade in the +action, and greatly distinguished himself there), was lamenting that he +could find never a suitable rhyme for Webb, otherwise the brigade should +have had a place in the poet's verses. “And for you, you are but a +lieutenant,” says Addison, “and the Muse can't occupy herself with any +gentleman under the rank of a field officer.” + +Mr. Boyle was all impatient to hear, saying that my Lord Treasurer +and my Lord Halifax were equally anxious; and Addison, blushing, began +reading of his verses, and, I suspect, knew their weak parts as well +as the most critical hearer. When he came to the lines describing the +angel, that + + “Inspired repulsed battalions to engage, + And taught the doubtful battle where to rage,” + +he read with great animation, looking at Esmond, as much as to say, +“You know where that simile came from--from our talk, and our bottle of +Burgundy, the other day.” + +The poet's two hearers were caught with enthusiasm, and applauded the +verses with all their might. The gentleman of the Court sprang up in +great delight. “Not a word more, my dear sir,” says he. “Trust me with +the papers--I'll defend them with my life. Let me read them over to my +Lord Treasurer, whom I am appointed to see in half an hour. I venture to +promise, the verses shall lose nothing by my reading, and then, sir, we +shall see whether Lord Halifax has a right to complain that his friend's +pension is no longer paid.” And without more ado, the courtier in lace +seized the manuscript pages, placed them in his breast with his ruffled +hand over his heart, executed a most gracious wave of the hat with the +disengaged hand, and smiled and bowed out of the room, leaving an odor +of pomander behind him. + +“Does not the chamber look quite dark?” says Addison, surveying it, +“after the glorious appearance and disappearance of that gracious +messenger? Why, he illuminated the whole room. Your scarlet, Mr. Esmond, +will bear any light; but this threadbare old coat of mine, how very worn +it looked under the glare of that splendor! I wonder whether they will +do anything for me,” he continued. “When I came out of Oxford into the +world, my patrons promised me great things; and you see where their +promises have landed me, in a lodging up two pair of stairs, with a +sixpenny dinner from the cook's shop. Well, I suppose this promise will +go after the others, and fortune will jilt me, as the jade has been +doing any time these seven years. 'I puff the prostitute away,'” says +he, smiling, and blowing a cloud out of his pipe. “There is no hardship +in poverty, Esmond, that is not bearable; no hardship even in honest +dependence that an honest man may not put up with. I came out of the lap +of Alma Mater, puffed up with her praises of me, and thinking to make +a figure in the world with the parts and learning which had got me no +small name in our college. The world is the ocean, and Isis and Charwell +are but little drops, of which the sea takes no account. My reputation +ended a mile beyond Maudlin Tower; no one took note of me; and I learned +this at least, to bear up against evil fortune with a cheerful heart. +Friend Dick hath made a figure in the world, and has passed me in the +race long ago. What matters a little name or a little fortune? There is +no fortune that a philosopher cannot endure. I have been not unknown as +a scholar, and yet forced to live by turning bear-leader, and teaching +a boy to spell. What then? The life was not pleasant, but possible--the +bear was bearable. Should this venture fail, I will go back to Oxford; +and some day, when you are a general, you shall find me a curate in a +cassock and bands, and I shall welcome your honor to my cottage in the +country, and to a mug of penny ale. 'Tis not poverty that's the hardest +to bear, or the least happy lot in life,” says Mr. Addison, shaking the +ash out of his pipe. “See, my pipe is smoked out. Shall we have another +bottle? I have still a couple in the cupboard, and of the right sort. No +more?--let us go abroad and take a turn on the Mall, or look in at the +theatre and see Dick's comedy. 'Tis not a masterpiece of wit; but Dick +is a good fellow, though he doth not set the Thames on fire.” + +Within a month after this day, Mr. Addison's ticket had come up a +prodigious prize in the lottery of life. All the town was in an uproar +of admiration of his poem, the “Campaign,” which Dick Steele was +spouting at every coffee-house in Whitehall and Covent Garden. The wits +on the other side of Temple Bar saluted him at once as the greatest poet +the world had seen for ages; the people huzza'ed for Marlborough and +for Addison, and, more than this, the party in power provided for the +meritorious poet, and Addison got the appointment of Commissioner of +Excise, which the famous Mr. Locke vacated, and rose from this place to +other dignities and honors; his prosperity from henceforth to the end of +his life being scarce ever interrupted. But I doubt whether he was not +happier in his garret in the Haymarket, than ever he was in his splendid +palace at Kensington; and I believe the fortune that came to him in the +shape of the countess his wife was no better than a shrew and a vixen. + + +Gay as the town was, 'twas but a dreary place for Mr. Esmond, whether +his charmer was in or out of it, and he was glad when his general gave +him notice that he was going back to his division of the army which lay +in winter-quarters at Bois-le-Duc. His dear mistress bade him +farewell with a cheerful face; her blessing he knew he had always, and +wheresoever fate carried him. Mistress Beatrix was away in attendance on +her Majesty at Hampton Court, and kissed her fair fingertips to him, by +way of adieu, when he rode thither to take his leave. She received her +kinsman in a waiting-room, where there were half a dozen more ladies of +the Court, so that his high-flown speeches, had he intended to make +any (and very likely he did), were impossible; and she announced to her +friends that her cousin was going to the army, in as easy a manner as +she would have said he was going to a chocolate-house. He asked with +a rather rueful face, if she had any orders for the army? and she was +pleased to say that she would like a mantle of Mechlin lace. She made +him a saucy curtsy in reply to his own dismal bow. She deigned to kiss +her fingertips from the window, where she stood laughing with the other +ladies, and chanced to see him as he made his way to the “Toy.” The +Dowager at Chelsey was not sorry to part with him this time. “Mon cher, +vous etes triste comme un sermon,” she did him the honor to say to him; +indeed, gentlemen in his condition are by no means amusing companions, +and besides, the fickle old woman had now found a much more amiable +favorite, and raffoled for her darling lieutenant of the Guard. Frank +remained behind for a while, and did not join the army till later, in +the suite of his Grace the Commander-in-Chief. His dear mother, on the +last day before Esmond went away, and when the three dined together, +made Esmond promise to befriend her boy, and besought Frank to take the +example of his kinsman as of a loyal gentleman and brave soldier, so +she was pleased to say; and at parting, betrayed not the least sign of +faltering or weakness, though, God knows, that fond heart was fearful +enough when others were concerned, though so resolute in bearing its own +pain. + +Esmond's general embarked at Harwich. 'Twas a grand sight to see Mr. +Webb dressed in scarlet on the deck, waving his hat as our yacht put +off, and the guns saluted from the shore. Harry did not see his viscount +again, until three months after, at Bois-le-Duc, when his Grace the Duke +came to take the command, and Frank brought a budget of news from home: +how he had supped with this actress, and got tired of that; how he had +got the better of Mr. St. John, both over the bottle, and with Mrs. +Mountford, of the Haymarket Theatre (a veteran charmer of fifty, with +whom the young scapegrace chose to fancy himself in love); how his +sister was always at her tricks, and had jilted a young baron for an +old earl. “I can't make out Beatrix,” he said; “she cares for none of +us--she only thinks about herself; she is never happy unless she is +quarrelling; but as for my mother--my mother, Harry, is an angel.” Harry +tried to impress on the young fellow the necessity of doing everything +in his power to please that angel; not to drink too much; not to go into +debt; not to run after the pretty Flemish girls, and so forth, as became +a senior speaking to a lad. “But Lord bless thee!” the boy said; “I +may do what I like, and I know she will love me all the same;” and +so, indeed, he did what he liked. Everybody spoiled him, and his grave +kinsman as much as the rest. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +I GET A COMPANY IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 1706. + + +On Whit-Sunday, the famous 23rd of May, 1706, my young lord first came +under the fire of the enemy, whom we found posted in order of battle, +their lines extending three miles or more, over the high ground behind +the little Gheet river, and having on his left the little village of +Anderkirk or Autre-eglise, and on his right Ramillies, which has given +its name to one of the most brilliant and disastrous days of battle that +history ever hath recorded. + +Our Duke here once more met his old enemy of Blenheim, the Bavarian +Elector and the Marechal Villeroy, over whom the Prince of Savoy had +gained the famous victory of Chiari. What Englishman or Frenchman doth +not know the issue of that day? Having chosen his own ground, having +a force superior to the English, and besides the excellent Spanish and +Bavarian troops, the whole Maison-du-Roy with him, the most splendid +body of horse in the world,--in an hour (and in spite of the prodigious +gallantry of the French Royal Household, who charged through the centre +of our line and broke it,) this magnificent army of Villeroy was utterly +routed by troops that had been marching for twelve hours, and by the +intrepid skill of a commander, who did, indeed, seem in the presence of +the enemy to be the very Genius of Victory. + +I think it was more from conviction than policy, though that policy was +surely the most prudent in the world, that the great Duke always spoke +of his victories with an extraordinary modesty, and as if it was not so +much his own admirable genius and courage which achieved these amazing +successes, but as if he was a special and fatal instrument in the hands +of Providence, that willed irresistibly the enemy's overthrow. Before +his actions he always had the church service read solemnly, and +professed an undoubting belief that our Queen's arms were blessed and +our victory sure. All the letters which he writ after his battles +show awe rather than exultation; and he attributes the glory of these +achievements, about which I have heard mere petty officers and men +bragging with a pardonable vainglory, in nowise to his own bravery or +skill, but to the superintending protection of heaven, which he ever +seemed to think was our especial ally. And our army got to believe so, +and the enemy learnt to think so too; for we never entered into a battle +without a perfect confidence that it was to end in a victory; nor did +the French, after the issue of Blenheim, and that astonishing triumph of +Ramillies, ever meet us without feeling that the game was lost before it +was begun to be played, and that our general's fortune was irresistible. +Here, as at Blenheim, the Duke's charger was shot, and 'twas thought for +a moment he was dead. As he mounted another, Binfield, his master of the +horse, kneeling to hold his Grace's stirrup, had his head shot away by +a cannon-ball. A French gentleman of the Royal Household, that was a +prisoner with us, told the writer that at the time of the charge of +the Household, when their horse and ours were mingled, an Irish officer +recognized the Prince-Duke, and calling out--“Marlborough, Marlborough!” + fired his pistol at him a bout-portant, and that a score more carbines +and pistols were discharged at him. Not one touched him: he rode through +the French Curiassiers sword-in-hand, and entirely unhurt, and calm and +smiling, rallied the German Horse, that was reeling before the enemy, +brought these and twenty squadrons of Orkney's back upon them, and +drove the French across the river, again leading the charge himself, and +defeating the only dangerous move the French made that day. + +Major-General Webb commanded on the left of our line, and had his own +regiment under the orders of their beloved colonel. Neither he nor they +belied their character for gallantry on this occasion; but it was about +his dear young lord that Esmond was anxious, never having sight of him +save once, in the whole course of the day, when he brought an order from +the Commander-in-Chief to Mr. Webb. When our horse, having charged round +the right flank of the enemy by Overkirk, had thrown him into entire +confusion, a general advance was made, and our whole line of foot, +crossing the little river and the morass, ascended the high ground where +the French were posted, cheering as they went, the enemy retreating +before them. 'Twas a service of more glory than danger, the French +battalions never waiting to exchange push of pike or bayonet with ours; +and the gunners flying from their pieces, which our line left behind us +as they advanced, and the French fell back. + +At first it was a retreat orderly enough; but presently the retreat +became a rout, and a frightful slaughter of the French ensued on this +panic: so that an army of sixty thousand men was utterly crushed and +destroyed in the course of a couple of hours. It was as if a hurricane +had seized a compact numerous fleet, flung it all to the winds, +shattered, sunk, and annihilated it: afflavit Deus, et dissipati sunt. +The French army of Flanders was gone, their artillery, their standards, +their treasure, provisions, and ammunition were all left behind them: +the poor devils had even fled without their soup-kettles, which are +as much the palladia of the French infantry as of the Grand Seignior's +Janissaries, and round which they rally even more than round their +lilies. + +The pursuit, and a dreadful carnage which ensued (for the dregs of a +battle, however brilliant, are ever a base residue of rapine, cruelty, +and drunken plunder,) was carried far beyond the field of Ramillies. + +Honest Lockwood, Esmond's servant, no doubt wanted to be among the +marauders himself and take his share of the booty; for when, the action +over, and the troops got to their ground for the night, the Captain bade +Lockwood get a horse, he asked, with a very rueful countenance, whether +his honor would have him come too; but his honor only bade him go about +his own business, and Jack hopped away quite delighted as soon as he +saw his master mounted. Esmond made his way, and not without danger +and difficulty, to his Grace's headquarters, and found for himself very +quickly where the aide-de-camps' quarters were, in an out-building of +a farm, where several of these gentlemen were seated, drinking and +singing, and at supper. If he had any anxiety about his boy, 'twas +relieved at once. One of the gentlemen was singing a song to a tune that +Mr. Farquhar and Mr. Gay both had used in their admirable comedies, and +very popular in the army of that day; and after the song came a chorus, +“Over the hills and far away;” and Esmond heard Frank's fresh voice, +soaring, as it were, over the songs of the rest of the young men--a +voice that had always a certain artless, indescribable pathos with it, +and indeed which caused Mr. Esmond's eyes to fill with tears now, out +of thankfulness to God the child was safe and still alive to laugh and +sing. + +When the song was over Esmond entered the room, where he knew several of +the gentlemen present, and there sat my young lord, having taken off +his cuirass, his waistcoat open, his face flushed, his long yellow +hair hanging over his shoulders, drinking with the rest; the youngest, +gayest, handsomest there. As soon as he saw Esmond, he clapped down his +glass, and running towards his friend, put both his arms round him and +embraced him. The other's voice trembled with joy as he greeted the +lad; he had thought but now as he stood in the court-yard under the +clear-shining moonlight: “Great God! what a scene of murder is here +within a mile of us; what hundreds and thousands have faced danger +to-day; and here are these lads singing over their cups, and the same +moon that is shining over yonder horrid field is looking down on Walcote +very likely, while my lady sits and thinks about her boy that is at the +war.” As Esmond embraced his young pupil now, 'twas with the feeling +of quite religious thankfulness and an almost paternal pleasure that he +beheld him. + +Round his neck was a star with a striped ribbon, that was made of small +brilliants and might be worth a hundred crowns. “Look,” says he, “won't +that be a pretty present for mother?” + +“Who gave you the Order?” says Harry, saluting the gentleman: “did you +win it in battle?” + +“I won it,” cried the other, “with my sword and my spear. There was a +mousquetaire that had it round his neck--such a big mousquetaire, as big +as General Webb. I called out to him to surrender, and that I'd give him +quarter: he called me a petit polisson and fired his pistol at me, and +then sent it at my head with a curse. I rode at him, sir, drove my sword +right under his arm-hole, and broke it in the rascal's body. I found +a purse in his holster with sixty-five Louis in it, and a bundle of +love-letters, and a flask of Hungary-water. Vive la guerre! there are +the ten pieces you lent me. I should like to have a fight every day;” + and he pulled at his little moustache and bade a servant bring a supper +to Captain Esmond. + +Harry fell to with a very good appetite; he had tasted nothing since +twenty hours ago, at early dawn. Master Grandson, who read this, do you +look for the history of battles and sieges? Go, find them in the proper +books; this is only the story of your grandfather and his family. Far +more pleasant to him than the victory, though for that too he may say +meminisse juvat, it was to find that the day was over, and his dear +young Castlewood was unhurt. + +And would you, sirrah, wish to know how it was that a sedate Captain +of Foot, a studious and rather solitary bachelor of eight or nine and +twenty years of age, who did not care very much for the jollities which +his comrades engaged in, and was never known to lose his heart in any +garrison-town--should you wish to know why such a man had so prodigious +a tenderness, and tended so fondly a boy of eighteen, wait, my good +friend, until thou art in love with thy schoolfellow's sister, and then +see how mighty tender thou wilt be towards him. Esmond's general and +his Grace the Prince-Duke were notoriously at variance, and the former's +friendship was in nowise likely to advance any man's promotion of whose +services Webb spoke well; but rather likely to injure him, so the army +said, in the favor of the greater man. However, Mr. Esmond had the good +fortune to be mentioned very advantageously by Major-General Webb in his +report after the action; and the major of his regiment and two of the +captains having been killed upon the day of Ramillies, Esmond, who was +second of the lieutenants, got his company, and had the honor of serving +as Captain Esmond in the next campaign. + +My lord went home in the winter, but Esmond was afraid to follow him. +His dear mistress wrote him letters more than once, thanking him, as +mothers know how to thank, for his care and protection of her boy, +extolling Esmond's own merits with a great deal more praise than they +deserved; for he did his duty no better than any other officer; and +speaking sometimes, though gently and cautiously, of Beatrix. News came +from home of at least half a dozen grand matches that the beautiful maid +of honor was about to make. She was engaged to an earl, our gentleman of +St. James's said, and then jilted him for a duke, who, in his turn, had +drawn off. Earl or duke it might be who should win this Helen, Esmond +knew she would never bestow herself on a poor captain. Her conduct, it +was clear, was little satisfactory to her mother, who scarcely mentioned +her, or else the kind lady thought it was best to say nothing, and leave +time to work out its cure. At any rate, Harry was best away from the +fatal object which always wrought him so much mischief; and so he never +asked for leave to go home, but remained with his regiment that was +garrisoned in Brussels, which city fell into our hands when the victory +of Ramillies drove the French out of Flanders. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +I MEET AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE IN FLANDERS, AND FIND MY MOTHER'S GRAVE AND +MY OWN CRADLE THERE. + + +Being one day in the Church of St. Gudule, at Brussels, admiring the +antique splendor of the architecture (and always entertaining a great +tenderness and reverence for the Mother Church, that hath been as +wickedly persecuted in England as ever she herself persecuted in the +days of her prosperity), Esmond saw kneeling at a side altar an officer +in a green uniform coat, very deeply engaged in devotion. Something +familiar in the figure and posture of the kneeling man struck Captain +Esmond, even before he saw the officer's face. As he rose up, putting +away into his pocket a little black breviary, such as priests use, +Esmond beheld a countenance so like that of his friend and tutor of +early days, Father Holt, that he broke out into an exclamation of +astonishment and advanced a step towards the gentleman, who was making +his way out of church. The German officer too looked surprised when he +saw Esmond, and his face from being pale grew suddenly red. By this mark +of recognition, the Englishman knew that he could not be mistaken; and +though the other did not stop, but on the contrary rather hastily walked +away towards the door, Esmond pursued him and faced him once more, as +the officer, helping himself to holy water, turned mechanically towards +the altar, to bow to it ere he quitted the sacred edifice. + + +“My Father!” says Esmond in English. + +“Silence! I do not understand. I do not speak English,” says the other +in Latin. + +Esmond smiled at this sign of confusion, and replied in the same +language--“I should know my Father in any garment, black or white, +shaven or bearded;” for the Austrian officer was habited quite in the +military manner, and had as warlike a mustachio as any Pandour. + +He laughed--we were on the church steps by this time, passing through +the crowd of beggars that usually is there holding up little trinkets +for sale and whining for alms. “You speak Latin,” says he, “in the +English way, Harry Esmond; you have forsaken the old true Roman tongue +you once knew.” His tone was very frank, and friendly quite; the kind +voice of fifteen years back; he gave Esmond his hand as he spoke. + +“Others have changed their coats too, my Father,” says Esmond, glancing +at his friend's military decoration. + +“Hush! I am Mr. or Captain von Holtz, in the Bavarian Elector's service, +and on a mission to his Highness the Prince of Savoy. You can keep a +secret I know from old times.” + +“Captain von Holtz,” says Esmond, “I am your very humble servant.” + +“And you, too, have changed your coat,” continues the other in his +laughing way; “I have heard of you at Cambridge and afterwards: we have +friends everywhere; and I am told that Mr. Esmond at Cambridge was as +good a fencer as he was a bad theologian.” (So, thinks Esmond, my old +maitre d'armes was a Jesuit, as they said.) + +“Perhaps you are right,” says the other, reading his thoughts quite as +he used to do in old days; “you were all but killed at Hochstedt of a +wound in the left side. You were before that at Vigo, aide-de-camp to +the Duke of Ormonde. You got your company the other day after Ramillies; +your general and the Prince-Duke are not friends; he is of the Webbs of +Lydiard Tregoze, in the county of York, a relation of my Lord St. John. +Your cousin, M. de Castlewood, served his first campaign this year in +the Guard; yes, I do know a few things, as you see.” + +Captain Esmond laughed in his turn. “You have indeed a curious +knowledge,” he says. A foible of Mr. Holt's, who did know more about +books and men than, perhaps, almost any person Esmond had ever met, +was omniscience; thus in every point he here professed to know, he was +nearly right, but not quite. Esmond's wound was in the right side, not +the left; his first general was General Lumley; Mr. Webb came out of +Wiltshire, not out of Yorkshire; and so forth. Esmond did not think fit +to correct his old master in these trifling blunders, but they served +to give him a knowledge of the other's character, and he smiled to think +that this was his oracle of early days; only now no longer infallible or +divine. + +“Yes,” continues Father Holt, or Captain von Holtz, “for a man who has +not been in England these eight years, I know what goes on in London +very well. The old Dean is dead, my Lady Castlewood's father. Do you +know that your recusant bishops wanted to consecrate him Bishop +of Southampton, and that Collier is Bishop of Thetford by the same +imposition? The Princess Anne has the gout and eats too much; when the +King returns, Collier will be an archbishop.” + +“Amen!” says Esmond, laughing; “and I hope to see your Eminence no +longer in jack-boots, but red stockings, at Whitehall.” + +“You are always with us--I know that--I heard of that when you were at +Cambridge; so was the late lord; so is the young viscount.” + +“And so was my father before me,” said Mr. Esmond, looking calmly at the +other, who did not, however, show the least sign of intelligence in his +impenetrable gray eyes--how well Harry remembered them and their look! +only crows' feet were wrinkled round them--marks of black old Time had +settled there. + +Esmond's face chose to show no more sign of meaning than the Father's. +There may have been on the one side and the other just the faintest +glitter of recognition, as you see a bayonet shining out of an ambush; +but each party fell back, when everything was again dark. + +“And you, mon capitaine, where have you been?” says Esmond, turning +away the conversation from this dangerous ground, where neither chose to +engage. + +“I may have been in Pekin,” says he, “or I may have been in +Paraguay--who knows where? I am now Captain von Holtz, in the service of +his Electoral Highness, come to negotiate exchange of prisoners with his +Highness of Savoy.” + +'Twas well known that very many officers in our army were well-affected +towards the young king at St. Germains, whose right to the throne was +undeniable, and whose accession to it, at the death of his sister, by +far the greater part of the English people would have preferred, to +the having a petty German prince for a sovereign, about whose cruelty, +rapacity, boorish manners, and odious foreign ways, a thousand stories +were current. It wounded our English pride to think that a shabby +High-Dutch duke, whose revenues were not a tithe as great as those of +many of the princes of our ancient English nobility, who could not speak +a word of our language, and whom we chose to represent as a sort +of German boor, feeding on train-oil and sour-crout, with a bevy of +mistresses in a barn, should come to reign over the proudest and most +polished people in the world. Were we, the conquerors of the Grand +Monarch, to submit to that ignoble domination? What did the Hanoverian's +Protestantism matter to us? Was it not notorious (we were told and led +to believe so) that one of the daughters of this Protestant hero was +being bred up with no religion at all, as yet, and ready to be made +Lutheran or Roman, according as the husband might be whom her parents +should find for her? This talk, very idle and abusive much of it was, +went on at a hundred mess-tables in the army; there was scarce an ensign +that did not hear it, or join in it, and everybody knew, or affected to +know, that the Commander-in-Chief himself had relations with his nephew, +the Duke of Berwick ['twas by an Englishman, thank God, that we were +beaten at Almanza), and that his Grace was most anxious to restore the +royal race of his benefactors, and to repair his former treason. + +This is certain, that for a considerable period no officer in the +Duke's army lost favor with the Commander-in-Chief for entertaining or +proclaiming his loyalty towards the exiled family. When the Chevalier de +St. George, as the King of England called himself, came with the dukes +of the French blood royal, to join the French army under Vendosme, +hundreds of ours saw him and cheered him, and we all said he was like +his father in this, who, seeing the action of La Hogue fought between +the French ships and ours, was on the side of his native country during +the battle. But this, at least the Chevalier knew, and every one knew, +that, however well our troops and their general might be inclined +towards the prince personally, in the face of the enemy there was no +question at all. Wherever my Lord Duke found a French army, he would +fight and beat it, as he did at Oudenarde, two years after Ramillies, +where his Grace achieved another of his transcendent victories; and the +noble young prince, who charged gallantly along with the magnificent +Maison-du-Roy, sent to compliment his conquerors after the action. + +In this battle, where the young Electoral Prince of Hanover behaved +himself very gallantly, fighting on our side, Esmond's dear General +Webb distinguished himself prodigiously, exhibiting consummate skill +and coolness as a general, and fighting with the personal bravery of +a common soldier. Esmond's good-luck again attended him; he escaped +without a hurt, although more than a third of his regiment was killed, +had again the honor to be favorably mentioned in his commander's report, +and was advanced to the rank of major. But of this action there is +little need to speak, as it hath been related in every Gazette, and +talked of in every hamlet in this country. To return from it to the +writer's private affairs, which here, in his old age, and at a distance, +he narrates for his children who come after him. Before Oudenarde, after +that chance rencontre with Captain von Holtz at Brussels, a space of +more than a year elapsed, during which the captain of Jesuits and the +captain of Webb's Fusileers were thrown very much together. Esmond had +no difficulty in finding out (indeed, the other made no secret of it +to him, being assured from old times of his pupil's fidelity), that +the negotiator of prisoners was an agent from St. Germains, and that he +carried intelligence between great personages in our camp and that of +the French. “My business,” said he--“and I tell you, both because I can +trust you and your keen eyes have already discovered it--is between the +King of England and his subjects here engaged in fighting the French +king. As between you and them, all the Jesuits in the world will not +prevent your quarrelling: fight it out, gentlemen. St. George for +England, I say--and you know who says so, wherever he may be.” + +I think Holt loved to make a parade of mystery, as it were, and would +appear and disappear at our quarters as suddenly as he used to return +and vanish in the old days at Castlewood. He had passes between both +armies, and seemed to know (but with that inaccuracy which belonged to +the good Father's omniscience) equally well what passed in the French +camp and in ours. One day he would give Esmond news of a great feste +that took place in the French quarters, of a supper of Monsieur de +Rohan's, where there was play and violins, and then dancing and masques; +the King drove thither in Marshal Villars' own guinguette. Another day +he had the news of his Majesty's ague: the King had not had a fit these +ten days, and might be said to be well. Captain Holtz made a visit to +England during this time, so eager was he about negotiating prisoners; +and 'twas on returning from this voyage that he began to open himself +more to Esmond, and to make him, as occasion served, at their various +meetings, several of those confidences which are here set down all +together. + +The reason of his increased confidence was this: upon going to London, +the old director of Esmond's aunt, the dowager, paid her ladyship a +visit at Chelsey, and there learnt from her that Captain Esmond was +acquainted with the secret of his family, and was determined never to +divulge it. The knowledge of this fact raised Esmond in his old tutor's +eyes, so Holt was pleased to say, and he admired Harry very much for his +abnegation. + +“The family at Castlewood have done far more for me than my own ever +did,” Esmond said. “I would give my life for them. Why should I grudge +the only benefit that 'tis in my power to confer on them?” The good +Father's eyes filled with tears at this speech, which to the other +seemed very simple: he embraced Esmond, and broke out into many admiring +expressions; he said he was a noble coeur, that he was proud of him, and +fond of him as his pupil and friend--regretted more than ever that he +had lost him, and been forced to leave him in those early times, when +he might have had an influence over him, have brought him into that +only true church to which the Father belonged, and enlisted him in the +noblest army in which a man ever engaged--meaning his own society of +Jesus, which numbers (says he) in its troops the greatest heroes the +world ever knew;--warriors brave enough to dare or endure anything, to +encounter any odds, to die any death--soldiers that have won triumphs a +thousand times more brilliant than those of the greatest general; that +have brought nations on their knees to their sacred banner, the Cross; +that have achieved glories and palms incomparably brighter than those +awarded to the most splendid earthly conquerors--crowns of immortal +light, and seats in the high places of heaven. + +Esmond was thankful for his old friend's good opinion, however little +he might share the Jesuit-father's enthusiasm. “I have thought of +that question, too,” says he, “dear Father,” and he took the other's +hand--“thought it out for myself, as all men must, and contrive to do +the right, and trust to heaven as devoutly in my way as you in yours. +Another six months of you as a child, and I had desired no better. I +used to weep upon my pillow at Castlewood as I thought of you, and I +might have been a brother of your order; and who knows,” Esmond added, +with a smile, “a priest in full orders, and with a pair of mustachios, +and a Bavarian uniform?” + +“My son,” says Father Holt, turning red, “in the cause of religion and +loyalty all disguises are fair.” + +“Yes,” broke in Esmond, “all disguises are fair, you say; and all +uniforms, say I, black or red,--a black cockade or a white one--or a +laced hat, or a sombrero, with a tonsure under it. I cannot believe that +St. Francis Xavier sailed over the sea in a cloak, or raised the dead--I +tried, and very nearly did once, but cannot. Suffer me to do the right, +and to hope for the best in my own way.” + +Esmond wished to cut short the good Father's theology, and succeeded; +and the other, sighing over his pupil's invincible ignorance, did not +withdraw his affection from him, but gave him his utmost confidence--as +much, that is to say, as a priest can give: more than most do; for he +was naturally garrulous, and too eager to speak. + +Holt's friendship encouraged Captain Esmond to ask, what he long wished +to know, and none could tell him, some history of the poor mother +whom he had often imagined in his dreams, and whom he never knew. He +described to Holt those circumstances which are already put down in the +first part of this story--the promise he had made to his dear lord, and +that dying friend's confession; and he besought Mr. Holt to tell him +what he knew regarding the poor woman from whom he had been taken. + +“She was of this very town,” Holt said, and took Esmond to see the +street where her father lived, and where, as he believed, she was born. +“In 1676, when your father came hither in the retinue of the late king, +then Duke of York, and banished hither in disgrace, Captain Thomas +Esmond became acquainted with your mother, pursued her, and made a +victim of her; he hath told me in many subsequent conversations, which +I felt bound to keep private then, that she was a woman of great virtue +and tenderness, and in all respects a most fond, faithful creature. He +called himself Captain Thomas, having good reason to be ashamed of +his conduct towards her, and hath spoken to me many times with sincere +remorse for that, as with fond love for her many amiable qualities, he +owned to having treated her very ill: and that at this time his life was +one of profligacy, gambling, and poverty. She became with child of +you; was cursed by her own parents at that discovery; though she never +upbraided, except by her involuntary tears, and the misery depicted on +her countenance, the author of her wretchedness and ruin. + +“Thomas Esmond--Captain Thomas, as he was called--became engaged in a +gaming-house brawl, of which the consequence was a duel, and a wound so +severe that he never--his surgeon said--could outlive it. Thinking his +death certain, and touched with remorse, he sent for a priest of the +very Church of St. Gudule where I met you; and on the same day, after +his making submission to our Church, was married to your mother a few +weeks before you were born. My Lord Viscount Castlewood, Marquis of +Esmond, by King James's patent, which I myself took to your father, your +lordship was christened at St. Gudule by the same cure who married your +parents, and by the name of Henry Thomas, son of E. Thomas, officier +Anglois, and Gertrude Maes. You see you belong to us from your birth, +and why I did not christen you when you became my dear little pupil at +Castlewood. + +“Your father's wound took a favorable turn--perhaps his conscience was +eased by the right he had done--and to the surprise of the doctors +he recovered. But as his health came back, his wicked nature, too, +returned. He was tired of the poor girl, whom he had ruined; and +receiving some remittance from his uncle, my lord the old viscount, then +in England, he pretended business, promised return, and never saw your +poor mother more. + +“He owned to me, in confession first, but afterwards in talk before your +aunt, his wife, else I never could have disclosed what I now tell you, +that on coming to London he writ a pretended confession to poor Gertrude +Maes--Gertrude Esmond--of his having been married in England previously, +before uniting himself with her; said that his name was not Thomas; +that he was about to quit Europe for the Virginian plantations, where, +indeed, your family had a grant of land from King Charles the First; +sent her a supply of money, the half of the last hundred guineas he had, +entreated her pardon, and bade her farewell. + +“Poor Gertrude never thought that the news in this letter might be +untrue as the rest of your father's conduct to her. But though a young +man of her own degree, who knew her history, and whom she liked before +she saw the English gentleman who was the cause of all her misery, +offered to marry her, and to adopt you as his own child, and give you +his name, she refused him. This refusal only angered her father, who had +taken her home; she never held up her head there, being the subject +of constant unkindness after her fall; and some devout ladies of her +acquaintance offering to pay a little pension for her, she went into a +convent, and you were put out to nurse. + +“A sister of the young fellow who would have adopted you as his son +was the person who took charge of you. Your mother and this person were +cousins. She had just lost a child of her own, which you replaced, your +own mother being too sick and feeble to feed you; and presently your +nurse grew so fond of you, that she even grudged letting you visit the +convent where your mother was, and where the nuns petted the little +infant, as they pitied and loved its unhappy parent. Her vocation became +stronger every day, and at the end of two years she was received as a +sister of the house. + +“Your nurse's family were silk-weavers out of France, whither they +returned to Arras in French Flanders, shortly before your mother took +her vows, carrying you with them, then a child of three years old. 'Twas +a town, before the late vigorous measures of the French king, full of +Protestants, and here your nurse's father, old Pastoureau, he with +whom you afterwards lived at Ealing, adopted the reformed doctrines, +perverting all his house with him. They were expelled thence by the +edict of his most Christian Majesty, and came to London, and set up +their looms in Spittlefields. The old man brought a little money with +him, and carried on his trade, but in a poor way. He was a widower; by +this time his daughter, a widow too, kept house for him, and his son +and he labored together at their vocation. Meanwhile your father had +publicly owned his conversion just before King Charles's death (in whom +our Church had much such another convert), was reconciled to my Lord +Viscount Castlewood, and married, as you know, to his daughter. + +“It chanced that the younger Pastoureau, going with a piece of brocade +to the mercer who employed him, on Ludgate Hill, met his old rival +coming out of an ordinary there. Pastoureau knew your father at once, +seized him by the collar, and upbraided him as a villain, who had +seduced his mistress, and afterwards deserted her and her son. Mr. +Thomas Esmond also recognized Pastoureau at once, besought him to calm +his indignation, and not to bring a crowd round about them; and bade +him to enter into the tavern, out of which he had just stepped, when +he would give him any explanation. Pastoureau entered, and heard the +landlord order the drawer to show Captain Thomas to a room; it was by +his Christian name that your father was familiarly called at his tavern +haunts, which, to say the truth, were none of the most reputable. + +“I must tell you that Captain Thomas, or my Lord Viscount afterwards, +was never at a loss for a story, and could cajole a woman or a dun with +a volubility, and an air of simplicity at the same time, of which many +a creditor of his has been the dupe. His tales used to gather +verisimilitude as he went on with them. He strung together fact after +fact with a wonderful rapidity and coherence. It required, saving your +presence, a very long habit of acquaintance with your father to know +when his lordship was l----,--telling the truth or no. + +“He told me with rueful remorse when he was ill--for the fear of death +set him instantly repenting, and with shrieks of laughter when he was +well, his lordship having a very great sense of humor--how in a half an +hour's time, and before a bottle was drunk, he had completely succeeded +in biting poor Pastoureau. The seduction he owned to: that he could not +help: he was quite ready with tears at a moment's warning, and shed them +profusely to melt his credulous listener. He wept for your mother even +more than Pastoureau did, who cried very heartily, poor fellow, as my +lord informed me; he swore upon his honor that he had twice sent money +to Brussels, and mentioned the name of the merchant with whom it was +lying for poor Gertrude's use. He did not even know whether she had +a child or no, or whether she was alive or dead; but got these facts +easily out of honest Pastoureau's answers to him. When he heard that +she was in a convent, he said he hoped to end his days in one himself, +should he survive his wife, whom he hated, and had been forced by a +cruel father to marry; and when he was told that Gertrude's son was +alive, and actually in London, 'I started,' says he; 'for then, damme, +my wife was expecting to lie in, and I thought should this old Put, my +father-in-law, run rusty, here would be a good chance to frighten him.' + +“He expressed the deepest gratitude to the Pastoureau family for the +care of the infant: you were now near six years old; and on Pastoureau +bluntly telling him, when he proposed to go that instant and see the +darling child, that they never wished to see his ill-omened face again +within their doors; that he might have the boy, though they should all +be very sorry to lose him; and that they would take his money, they +being poor, if he gave it; or bring him up, by God's help, as they had +hitherto done, without: he acquiesced in this at once, with a sigh, +said, 'Well, 'twas better that the dear child should remain with +friends who had been so admirably kind to him;' and in his talk to +me afterwards, honestly praised and admired the weaver's conduct and +spirit; owned that the Frenchman was a right fellow, and he, the Lord +have mercy upon him, a sad villain. + +“Your father,” Mr. Holt went on to say, “was good-natured with his money +when he had it; and having that day received a supply from his uncle, +gave the weaver ten pieces with perfect freedom, and promised him +further remittances. He took down eagerly Pastoureau's name and place of +abode in his table-book, and when the other asked him for his own, +gave, with the utmost readiness, his name as Captain Thomas, New Lodge, +Penzance, Cornwall; he said he was in London for a few days only on +business connected with his wife's property; described her as a shrew, +though a woman of kind disposition; and depicted his father as a Cornish +squire, in an infirm state of health, at whose death he hoped for +something handsome, when he promised richly to reward the admirable +protector of his child, and to provide for the boy. 'And by Gad, sir,' +he said to me in his strange laughing way, 'I ordered a piece of brocade +of the very same pattern as that which the fellow was carrying, and +presented it to my wife for a morning wrapper, to receive company after +she lay in of our little boy.' + +“Your little pension was paid regularly enough; and when your father +became Viscount Castlewood on his uncle's demise, I was employed to keep +a watch over you, and 'twas at my instance that you were brought home. +Your foster-mother was dead; her father made acquaintance with a woman +whom he married, who quarrelled with his son. The faithful creature came +back to Brussels to be near the woman he loved, and died, too, a few +months before her. Will you see her cross in the convent cemetery? The +Superior is an old penitent of mine, and remembers Soeur Marie Madeleine +fondly still.” + + +Esmond came to this spot in one sunny evening of spring, and saw, +amidst a thousand black crosses, casting their shadows across the grassy +mounds, that particular one which marked his mother's resting-place. +Many more of those poor creatures that lay there had adopted that same +name, with which sorrow had rebaptized her, and which fondly seemed to +hint their individual story of love and grief. He fancied her in tears +and darkness, kneeling at the foot of her cross, under which her cares +were buried. Surely he knelt down, and said his own prayer there, not +in sorrow so much as in awe (for even his memory had no recollection of +her), and in pity for the pangs which the gentle soul in life had +been made to suffer. To this cross she brought them; for this heavenly +bridegroom she exchanged the husband who had wooed her, the traitor +who had left her. A thousand such hillocks lay round about, the gentle +daisies springing out of the grass over them, and each bearing its +cross and requiescat. A nun, veiled in black, was kneeling hard by, at a +sleeping sister's bedside (so fresh made, that the spring had scarce +had time to spin a coverlid for it); beyond the cemetery walls you had +glimpses of life and the world, and the spires and gables of the city. A +bird came down from a roof opposite, and lit first on a cross, and then +on the grass below it, whence it flew away presently with a leaf in its +mouth: then came a sound as of chanting, from the chapel of the +sisters hard by; others had long since filled the place which poor Mary +Magdeleine once had there, were kneeling at the same stall, and hearing +the same hymns and prayers in which her stricken heart had found +consolation. Might she sleep in peace--might she sleep in peace; and we, +too, when our struggles and pains are over! But the earth is the Lord's +as the heaven is; we are alike his creatures here and yonder. I took a +little flower off the hillock and kissed it, and went my way, like +the bird that had just lighted on the cross by me, back into the world +again. Silent receptacle of death; tranquil depth of calm, out of reach +of tempest and trouble! I felt as one who had been walking below the +sea, and treading amidst the bones of shipwrecks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE CAMPAIGN OF 1707, 1708. + + +During the whole of the year which succeeded that in which the glorious +battle of Ramillies had been fought, our army made no movement of +importance, much to the disgust of very many of our officers remaining +inactive in Flanders, who said that his Grace the Captain-General had +had fighting enough, and was all for money now, and the enjoyment of his +five thousand a year and his splendid palace at Woodstock, which was +now being built. And his Grace had sufficient occupation fighting his +enemies at home this year, where it began to be whispered that his favor +was decreasing, and his duchess losing her hold on the Queen, who was +transferring her royal affections to the famous Mrs. Masham, and Mrs. +Masham's humble servant, Mr. Harley. Against their intrigues, our Duke +passed a great part of his time intriguing. Mr. Harley was got out +of office, and his Grace, in so far, had a victory. But her Majesty, +convinced against her will, was of that opinion still, of which the poet +says people are when so convinced, and Mr. Harley before long had his +revenge. + +Meanwhile the business of fighting did not go on any way to the +satisfaction of Marlborough's gallant lieutenants. During all 1707, +with the French before us, we had never so much as a battle; our army in +Spain was utterly routed at Almanza by the gallant Duke of Berwick; and +we of Webb's, which regiment the young Duke had commanded before his +father's abdication, were a little proud to think that it was our +colonel who had achieved this victory. “I think if I had had Galway's +place, and my Fusileers,” says our General, “we would not have laid down +our arms, even to our old colonel, as Galway did;” and Webb's officers +swore if we had had Webb, at least we would not have been taken +prisoners. Our dear old general talked incautiously of himself and of +others; a braver or a more brilliant soldier never lived than he; but +he blew his honest trumpet rather more loudly than became a commander of +his station, and, mighty man of valor as he was, shook his great spear +and blustered before the army too fiercely. + +Mysterious Mr. Holtz went off on a secret expedition in the early part +of 1708, with great elation of spirits and a prophecy to Esmond that a +wonderful something was about to take place. This secret came out on +my friend's return to the army, whither he brought a most rueful and +dejected countenance, and owned that the great something he had been +engaged upon had failed utterly. He had been indeed with that luckless +expedition of the Chevalier de St. George, who was sent by the French +king with ships and an army from Dunkirk, and was to have invaded +and conquered Scotland. But that ill wind which ever opposed all the +projects upon which the Prince ever embarked, prevented the Chevalier's +invasion of Scotland, as 'tis known, and blew poor Monsieur von Holtz +back into our camp again, to scheme and foretell, and to pry about as +usual. The Chevalier (the king of England, as some of us held him) went +from Dunkirk to the French army to make the campaign against us. The +Duke of Burgundy had the command this year, having the Duke of Berry +with him, and the famous Mareschal Vendosme and the Duke of Matignon to +aid him in the campaign. Holtz, who knew everything that was passing +in Flanders and France (and the Indies for what I know), insisted that +there would be no more fighting in 1708 than there had been in the +previous year, and that our commander had reasons for keeping him quiet. +Indeed, Esmond's general, who was known as a grumbler, and to have a +hearty mistrust of the great Duke, and hundreds more officers besides, +did not scruple to say that these private reasons came to the Duke +in the shape of crown-pieces from the French King, by whom the +Generalissimo was bribed to avoid a battle. There were plenty of men in +our lines, quidnuncs, to whom Mr. Webb listened only too willingly, who +could specify the exact sums the Duke got, how much fell to Cadogan's +share, and what was the precise fee given to Doctor Hare. + +And the successes with which the French began the campaign of 1708 +served to give strength to these reports of treason, which were in +everybody's mouth. Our general allowed the enemy to get between us and +Ghent, and declined to attack him, though for eight and forty hours the +armies were in presence of each other. Ghent was taken, and on the same +day Monsieur de la Mothe summoned Bruges; and these two great cities +fell into the hands of the French without firing a shot. A few days +afterwards La Mothe seized upon the fort of Plashendall: and it began +to be supposed that all Spanish Flanders, as well as Brabant, would fall +into the hands of the French troops; when the Prince Eugene arrived from +the Mozelle, and then there was no more shilly-shallying. + +The Prince of Savoy always signalized his arrival at the army by a great +feast (my Lord Duke's entertainments were both seldom and shabby): and +I remember our general returning from this dinner with the two +commanders-in-chief; his honest head a little excited by wine, which +was dealt out much more liberally by the Austrian than by the English +commander:--“Now,” says my general, slapping the table, with an oath, +“he must fight; and when he is forced to it, d--- it, no man in Europe +can stand up against Jack Churchill.” Within a week the battle of +Oudenarde was fought, when, hate each other as they might, Esmond's +general and the Commander-in-Chief were forced to admire each other, so +splendid was the gallantry of each upon this day. + +The brigade commanded by Major-General Webb gave and received about +as hard knocks as any that were delivered in that action, in which Mr. +Esmond had the fortune to serve at the head of his own company in his +regiment, under the command of their own Colonel as Major-General; and +it was his good luck to bring the regiment out of action as commander +of it, the four senior officers above him being killed in the prodigious +slaughter which happened on that day. I like to think that Jack +Haythorn, who sneered at me for being a bastard and a parasite of +Webb's, as he chose to call me, and with whom I had had words, shook +hands with me the day before the battle began. Three days before, poor +Brace, our Lieutenant-Colonel, had heard of his elder brother's death, +and was heir to a baronetcy in Norfolk, and four thousand a year. Fate, +that had left him harmless through a dozen campaigns, seized on him just +as the world was worth living for, and he went into action knowing, as +he said, that the luck was going to turn against him. The Major had just +joined us--a creature of Lord Marlborough, put in much to the dislike of +the other officers, and to be a spy upon us, as it was said. I know +not whether the truth was so, nor who took the tattle of our mess to +headquarters, but Webb's regiment, as its Colonel, was known to be in +the Commander-in-Chief's black books: “And if he did not dare to break +it up at home,” our gallant old chief used to say, “he was determined to +destroy it before the enemy;” so that poor Major Proudfoot was put into +a post of danger. + +Esmond's dear young Viscount, serving as aide-de-camp to my Lord Duke, +received a wound, and won an honorable name for himself in the Gazette; +and Captain Esmond's name was sent in for promotion by his General, too, +whose favorite he was. It made his heart beat to think that certain eyes +at home, the brightest in the world, might read the page on which his +humble services were recorded; but his mind was made up steadily to keep +out of their dangerous influence, and to let time and absence conquer +that passion he had still lurking about him. Away from Beatrix, it did +not trouble him; but he knew as certain that if he returned home, his +fever would break out again, and avoided Walcote as a Lincolnshire man +avoids returning to his fens, where he is sure that the ague is lying in +wait for him. + +We of the English party in the army, who were inclined to sneer at +everything that came out of Hanover, and to treat as little better than +boors and savages the Elector's court and family, were yet forced to +confess that, on the day of Oudenarde, the young Electoral Prince, then +making his first campaign, conducted himself with the spirit and courage +of an approved soldier. On this occasion his Electoral Highness had +better luck than the King of England, who was with his cousins in the +enemy's camp, and had to run with them at the ignominious end of the +day. With the most consummate generals in the world before them, and +an admirable commander on their own side, they chose to neglect the +councils, and to rush into a combat with the former, which would have +ended in the utter annihilation of their army but for the great skill +and bravery of the Duke of Vendosme, who remedied, as far as courage and +genius might, the disasters occasioned by the squabbles and follies of +his kinsmen, the legitimate princes of the blood royal. + +“If the Duke of Berwick had but been in the army, the fate of the day +would have been very different,” was all that poor Mr. von Holtz could +say; “and you would have seen that the hero of Almanza was fit to +measure swords with the conqueror of Blenheim.” + +The business relative to the exchange of prisoners was always going on, +and was at least that ostensible one which kept Mr. Holtz perpetually on +the move between the forces of the French and the Allies. I can answer +for it, that he was once very near hanged as a spy by Major-General +Wayne, when he was released and sent on to head-quarters by a special +order of the Commander-in-Chief. He came and went, always favored, +wherever he was, by some high though occult protection. He carried +messages between the Duke of Berwick and his uncle, our Duke. He seemed +to know as well what was taking place in the Prince's quarter as our +own: he brought the compliments of the King of England to some of our +officers, the gentlemen of Webb's among the rest, for their behavior on +that great day; and after Wynendael, when our General was chafing at the +neglect of our Commander-in-Chief, he said he knew how that action +was regarded by the chiefs of the French army, and that the stand made +before Wynendael wood was the passage by which the Allies entered Lille. + +“Ah!” says Holtz (and some folks were very willing to listen to him), +“if the king came by his own, how changed the conduct of affairs would +be! His Majesty's very exile has this advantage, that he is enabled to +read England impartially, and to judge honestly of all the eminent men. +His sister is always in the hand of one greedy favorite or another, +through whose eyes she sees, and to whose flattery or dependants she +gives away everything. Do you suppose that his Majesty, knowing England +so well as he does, would neglect such a man as General Webb? He ought +to be in the House of Peers as Lord Lydiard. The enemy and all Europe +know his merit; it is that very reputation which certain great people, +who hate all equality and independence, can never pardon.” It was +intended that these conversations should be carried to Mr. Webb. They +were welcome to him, for great as his services were, no man could value +them more than John Richmond Webb did himself, and the differences +between him and Marlborough being notorious, his Grace's enemies in +the army and at home began to court Webb, and set him up against +the all-grasping, domineering chief. And soon after the victory of +Oudenarde, a glorious opportunity fell into General Webb's way, which +that gallant warrior did not neglect, and which gave him the means of +immensely increasing his reputation at home. + +After Oudenarde, and against the counsels of Marlborough, it was +said, the Prince of Savoy sat down before Lille, the capital of French +Flanders, and commenced that siege, the most celebrated of our time, +and almost as famous as the siege of Troy itself, for the feats of valor +performed in the assault and the defence. The enmity of the Prince of +Savoy against the French king was a furious personal hate, quite unlike +the calm hostility of our great English general, who was no more moved +by the game of war than that of billiards, and pushed forward his +squadrons, and drove his red battalions hither and thither as calmly as +he would combine a stroke or make a cannon with the balls. The game +over (and he played it so as to be pretty sure to win it), not the +least animosity against the other party remained in the breast of this +consummate tactician. Whereas between the Prince of Savoy and the French +it was guerre a mort. Beaten off in one quarter, as he had been at +Toulon in the last year, he was back again on another frontier of +France, assailing it with his indefatigable fury. When the Prince came +to the army, the smouldering fires of war were lighted up and burst +out into a flame. Our phlegmatic Dutch allies were made to advance at a +quick march--our calm Duke forced into action. The Prince was an army +in himself against the French; the energy of his hatred, prodigious, +indefatigable--infectious over hundreds of thousands of men. The +Emperor's general was repaying, and with a vengeance, the slight the +French King had put upon the fiery little Abbe of Savoy. Brilliant and +famous as a leader himself, and beyond all measure daring and intrepid, +and enabled to cope with almost the best of those famous men of war who +commanded the armies of the French King, Eugene had a weapon, the equal +of which could not be found in France, since the cannon-shot of Sasbach +laid low the noble Turenne, and could hurl Marlborough at the heads +of the French host, and crush them as with a rock, under which all the +gathered strength of their strongest captains must go down. + +The English Duke took little part in that vast siege of Lille, which +the Imperial Generalissimo pursued with all his force and vigor, further +than to cover the besieging lines from the Duke of Burgundy's army, +between which and the Imperialists our Duke lay. Once, when Prince +Eugene was wounded, our Duke took his Highness's place in the trenches; +but the siege was with the Imperialists, not with us. A division under +Webb and Rantzau was detached into Artois and Picardy upon the most +painful and odious service that Mr. Esmond ever saw in the course of his +military life. The wretched towns of the defenceless provinces, whose +young men had been drafted away into the French armies, which year after +year the insatiable war devoured, were left at our mercy; and our orders +were to show them none. We found places garrisoned by invalids, +and children and women; poor as they were, and as the costs of this +miserable war had made them, our commission was to rob these almost +starving wretches--to tear the food out of their granaries, and strip +them of their rags. 'Twas an expedition of rapine and murder we were +sent on: our soldiers did deeds such as an honest man must blush to +remember. We brought back money and provisions in quantity to the Duke's +camp; there had been no one to resist us, and yet who dares to tell with +what murder and violence, with what brutal cruelty, outrage, insult, +that ignoble booty had been ravished from the innocent and miserable +victims of the war? + +Meanwhile, gallantly as the operations before Lille had been conducted, +the Allies had made but little progress, and 'twas said when we returned +to the Duke of Marlborough's camp, that the siege would never be brought +to a satisfactory end, and that the Prince of Savoy would be forced to +raise it. My Lord Marlborough gave this as his opinion openly; those who +mistrusted him, and Mr. Esmond owns himself to be of the number, hinted +that the Duke had his reasons why Lille should not be taken, and that he +was paid to that end by the French King. If this was so, and I believe +it, General Webb had now a remarkable opportunity of gratifying his +hatred of the Commander-in-Chief, of balking that shameful avarice, +which was one of the basest and most notorious qualities of the famous +Duke, and of showing his own consummate skill as a commander. And when +I consider all the circumstances preceding the event which will now +be related, that my Lord Duke was actually offered certain millions +of crowns provided that the siege of Lille should be raised: that the +Imperial army before it was without provisions and ammunition, and must +have decamped but for the supplies that they received; that the march +of the convoy destined to relieve the siege was accurately known to the +French; and that the force covering it was shamefully inadequate to that +end, and by six times inferior to Count de la Mothe's army, which +was sent to intercept the convoy; when 'tis certain that the Duke of +Berwick, De la Mothe's chief, was in constant correspondence with his +uncle, the English Generalissimo: I believe on my conscience that 'twas +my Lord Marlborough's intention to prevent those supplies, of which the +Prince of Savoy stood in absolute need, from ever reaching his Highness; +that he meant to sacrifice the little army which covered this convoy, +and to betray it as he had betrayed Tollemache at Brest; as he had +betrayed every friend he had, to further his own schemes of avarice or +ambition. But for the miraculous victory which Esmond's general won over +an army six or seven times greater than his own, the siege of Lille +must have been raised; and it must be remembered that our gallant little +force was under the command of a general whom Marlborough hated, that he +was furious with the conqueror, and tried by the most open and shameless +injustice afterwards to rob him of the credit of his victory. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +GENERAL WEBB WINS THE BATTLE OF WYNENDAEL. + + +By the besiegers and besieged of Lille, some of the most brilliant feats +of valor were performed that ever illustrated any war. On the French +side (whose gallantry was prodigious, the skill and bravery of Marshal +Boufflers actually eclipsing those of his conqueror, the Prince of +Savoy) may be mentioned that daring action of Messieurs de Luxembourg +and Tournefort, who, with a body of horse and dragoons, carried powder +into the town, of which the besieged were in extreme want, each soldier +bringing a bag with forty pounds of powder behind him; with which +perilous provision they engaged our own horse, faced the fire of the +foot brought out to meet them: and though half of the men were blown up +in the dreadful errand they rode on, a part of them got into the town +with the succors of which the garrison was so much in want. A French +officer, Monsieur du Bois, performed an act equally daring, and +perfectly successful. The Duke's great army lying at Helchin, and +covering the siege, and it being necessary for M. de Vendosme to get +news of the condition of the place, Captain Dubois performed his famous +exploit: not only passing through the lines of the siege, but swimming +afterwards no less than seven moats and ditches: and coming back the +same way, swimming with his letters in his mouth. + +By these letters Monsieur de Boufflers said that he could undertake +to hold the place till October; and that if one of the convoys of the +Allies could be intercepted, they must raise the siege altogether. + +Such a convoy as hath been said was now prepared at Ostend, and about to +march for the siege; and on the 27th September we (and the French +too) had news that it was on its way. It was composed of 700 wagons, +containing ammunition of all sorts, and was escorted out of Ostend by +2,000 infantry and 300 horse. At the same time M. de la Mothe quitted +Bruges, having with him five-and-thirty battalions, and upwards of sixty +squadrons and forty guns, in pursuit of the convoy. + +Major-General Webb had meanwhile made up a force of twenty battalions +and three squadrons of dragoons at Turout, whence he moved to cover the +convoy and pursue La Mothe: with whose advanced guard ours came up upon +the great plain of Turout, and before the little wood and castle of +Wynendael; behind which the convoy was marching. + +As soon as they came in sight of the enemy, our advanced troops were +halted, with the wood behind them, and the rest of our force brought up +as quickly as possible, our little body of horse being brought forward +to the opening of the plain, as our General said, to amuse the enemy. +When M. de la Mothe came up, he found us posted in two lines in front of +the wood; and formed his own army in battle facing ours, in eight lines, +four of infantry in front, and dragoons and cavalry behind. + +The French began the action, as usual, with a cannonade which lasted +three hours, when they made their attack, advancing in eight lines, four +of foot and four of horse, upon the allied troops in the wood where we +were posted. Their infantry behaved ill; they were ordered to charge +with the bayonet, but, instead, began to fire, and almost at the very +first discharge from our men, broke and fled. The cavalry behaved +better; with these alone, who were three or four times as numerous as +our whole force, Monsieur de la Mothe might have won victory: but only +two of our battalions were shaken in the least; and these speedily +rallied: nor could the repeated attacks of the French horse cause our +troops to budge an inch from the position in the wood in which our +General had placed them. + +After attacking for two hours, the French retired at nightfall entirely +foiled. With all the loss we had inflicted upon him, the enemy was still +three times stronger than we: and it could not be supposed that our +General could pursue M. de la Mothe, or do much more than hold our +ground about the wood, from which the Frenchman had in vain attempted +to dislodge us. La Mothe retired behind his forty guns, his cavalry +protecting them better than it had been enabled to annoy us; and +meanwhile the convoy, which was of more importance than all our little +force, and the safe passage of which we would have dropped to the last +man to accomplish, marched away in perfect safety during the action, and +joyfully reached the besieging camp before Lille. + +Major-General Cadogan, my Lord Duke's Quarter-Master-General, (and +between whom and Mr. Webb there was no love lost), accompanied the +convoy, and joined Mr. Webb with a couple of hundred horse just as the +battle was over, and the enemy in full retreat. He offered, readily +enough, to charge with his horse upon the French as they fell back; but +his force was too weak to inflict any damage upon them; and Mr. Webb, +commanding as Cadogan's senior, thought enough was done in holding +our ground before an enemy that might still have overwhelmed us had we +engaged him in the open territory, and in securing the safe passage of +the convoy. Accordingly, the horse brought up by Cadogan did not draw +a sword; and only prevented, by the good countenance they showed, any +disposition the French might have had to renew the attack on us. And no +attack coming, at nightfall General Cadogan drew off with his squadron, +being bound for head-quarters, the two Generals at parting grimly +saluting each other. + +“He will be at Roncq time enough to lick my Lord Duke's trenchers at +supper,” says Mr. Webb. + +Our own men lay out in the woods of Wynendael that night, and our +General had his supper in the little castle there. + +“If I was Cadogan, I would have a peerage for this day's work,” General +Webb said; “and, Harry, thou shouldst have a regiment. Thou hast been +reported in the last two actions: thou wert near killed in the first. I +shall mention thee in my despatch to his Grace the Commander-in-Chief, +and recommend thee to poor Dick Harwood's vacant majority. Have you ever +a hundred guineas to give Cardonnel? Slip them into his hand to-morrow, +when you go to head-quarters with my report.” + +In this report the Major-General was good enough to mention Captain +Esmond's name with particular favor; and that gentleman carried the +despatch to head-quarters the next day, and was not a little pleased +to bring back a letter by his Grace's secretary, addressed to +Lieutenant-General Webb. The Dutch officer despatched by Count Nassau +Woudenbourg, Vaelt-Mareschal Auverquerque's son, brought back also a +complimentary letter to his commander, who had seconded Mr. Webb in the +action with great valor and skill. + +Esmond, with a low bow and a smiling face, presented his despatch, and +saluted Mr. Webb as Lieutenant-General, as he gave it in. The gentlemen +round about him--he was riding with his suite on the road to Menin as +Esmond came up with him--gave a cheer, and he thanked them, and opened +the despatch with rather a flushed, eager face. + +He slapped it down on his boot in a rage after he had read it. “'Tis not +even writ with his own hand. Read it out, Esmond.” And Esmond read it +out:-- + + +“SIR,--Mr. Cadogan is just now come in, and has acquainted me with the +success of the action you had yesterday in the afternoon against the +body of troops commanded by M. de la Mothe, at Wynendael, which must be +attributed chiefly to your good conduct and resolution. You may be sure +I shall do you justice at home, and be glad on all occasions to own the +service you have done in securing this convoy.--Yours, &c., M.” + + +“Two lines by that d--d Cardonnel, and no more, for the taking of +Lille--for beating five times our number--for an action as brilliant +as the best he ever fought,” says poor Mr. Webb. “Lieutenant-General! +That's not his doing. I was the oldest major-general. By ----, I believe +he had been better pleased if I had been beat.” + +The letter to the Dutch officer was in French, and longer and more +complimentary than that to Mr. Webb. + +“And this is the man,” he broke out, “that's gorged with gold--that's +covered with titles and honors that we won for him--and that grudges +even a line of praise to a comrade in arms! Hasn't he enough? Don't +we fight that he may roll in riches? Well, well, wait for the Gazette, +gentlemen. The Queen and the country will do us justice if his Grace +denies it us.” There were tears of rage in the brave warrior's eyes as +he spoke; and he dashed them off his face on to his glove. He shook his +fist in the air. “Oh, by the Lord!” says he, “I know what I had rather +have than a peerage!” + +“And what is that, sir?” some of them asked. + +“I had rather have a quarter of an hour with John Churchill, on a fair +green field, and only a pair of rapiers between my shirt and his--” + +“Sir!” interposes one. + +“Tell him so! I know that's what you mean. I know every word goes to him +that's dropped from every general officer's mouth. I don't say he's not +brave. Curse him! he's brave enough; but we'll wait for the Gazette, +gentlemen. God save her Majesty! she'll do us justice.” + +The Gazette did not come to us till a month afterwards; when my General +and his officers had the honor to dine with Prince Eugene in Lille; his +Highness being good enough to say that we had brought the provisions, +and ought to share in the banquet. 'Twas a great banquet. His Grace of +Marlborough was on his Highness's right, and on his left the Mareschal +de Boufflers, who had so bravely defended the place. The chief officers +of either army were present; and you may be sure Esmond's General was +splendid this day: his tall noble person, and manly beauty of face, made +him remarkable anywhere; he wore, for the first time, the star of the +Order of Generosity, that his Prussian Majesty had sent to him for +his victory. His Highness the Prince of Savoy called a toast to the +conqueror of Wynendael. My Lord Duke drank it with rather a sickly +smile. The aides-de-camp were present: and Harry Esmond and his dear +young lord were together, as they always strove to be when duty would +permit: they were over against the table where the generals were, and +could see all that passed pretty well. Frank laughed at my Lord Duke's +glum face: the affair of Wynendael, and the Captain-General's conduct to +Webb, had been the talk of the whole army. When his Highness spoke, and +gave--“Le vainqueur de Wynendael; son armee et sa victoire,” adding, +“qui nous font diner a Lille aujourd'huy”--there was a great cheer +through the hall; for Mr. Webb's bravery, generosity, and very +weaknesses of character caused him to be beloved in the army. + +“Like Hector, handsome, and like Paris, brave!” whispers Frank +Castlewood. “A Venus, an elderly Venus, couldn't refuse him a pippin. +Stand up, Harry. See, we are drinking the army of Wynendael. Ramillies +is nothing to it. Huzzay! huzzay!” + +At this very time, and just after our General had made his +acknowledgment, some one brought in an English Gazette--and was passing +it from hand to hand down the table. Officers were eager enough to read +it; mothers and sisters at home must have sickened over it. There scarce +came out a Gazette for six years that did not tell of some heroic death +or some brilliant achievement. + +“Here it is--Action of Wynendael--here you are, General,” says Frank, +seizing hold of the little dingy paper that soldiers love to read so; +and, scrambling over from our bench, he went to where the General +sat, who knew him, and had seen many a time at his table his laughing, +handsome face, which everybody loved who saw. The generals in their +great perukes made way for him. He handed the paper over General Dohna's +buff-coat to our General on the opposite side. + +He came hobbling back, and blushing at his feat: “I thought he'd like +it, Harry,” the young fellow whispered. “Didn't I like to read my name +after Ramillies, in the London Gazette?--Viscount Castlewood serving a +volunteer--I say, what's yonder?” + +Mr. Webb, reading the Gazette, looked very strange--slapped it down +on the table--then sprang up in his place, and began to--“Will your +Highness please to--” + +His Grace the Duke of Marlborough here jumped up too--“There's some +mistake, my dear General Webb.” + +“Your Grace had better rectify it,” says Mr. Webb, holding out the +letter; but he was five off his Grace the Prince Duke, who, besides, +was higher than the General (being seated with the Prince of Savoy, +the Electoral Prince of Hanover, and the envoys of Prussia and Denmark, +under a baldaquin), and Webb could not reach him, tall as he was. + +“Stay,” says he, with a smile, as if catching at some idea, and then, +with a perfect courtesy, drawing his sword, he ran the Gazette through +with the point, and said, “Permit me to hand it to your Grace.” + +The Duke looked very black. “Take it,” says he, to his Master of the +Horse, who was waiting behind him. + +The Lieutenant-General made a very low bow, and retired and finished his +glass. The Gazette in which Mr. Cardonnel, the Duke's secretary, gave an +account of the victory of Wynendael, mentioned Mr. Webb's name, but gave +the sole praise and conduct of the action to the Duke's favorite, Mr. +Cadogan. + +There was no little talk and excitement occasioned by this strange +behavior of General Webb, who had almost drawn a sword upon the +Commander-in-Chief; but the General, after the first outbreak of +his anger, mastered it outwardly altogether; and, by his +subsequent behavior, had the satisfaction of even more angering the +Commander-in-Chief, than he could have done by any public exhibition of +resentment. + +On returning to his quarters, and consulting with his chief adviser, Mr. +Esmond, who was now entirely in the General's confidence, and treated by +him as a friend, and almost a son, Mr. Webb writ a letter to his Grace +the Commander-in-Chief, in which he said:-- + + +“Your Grace must be aware that the sudden perusal of the London +Gazette, in which your Grace's secretary, Mr. Cardonnel, hath mentioned +Major-General Cadogan's name as the officer commanding in the late +action of Wynendael, must have caused a feeling of anything but pleasure +to the General who fought that action. + +“Your Grace must be aware that Mr. Cadogan was not even present at the +battle, though he arrived with squadrons of horse at its close, and put +himself under the command of his superior officer. And as the result of +the battle of Wynendael, in which Lieutenant-General Webb had the good +fortune to command, was the capture of Lille, the relief of Brussels, +then invested by the enemy under the Elector of Bavaria, the restoration +of the great cities of Ghent and Bruges, of which the enemy (by treason +within the walls) had got possession in the previous year, Mr. Webb +cannot consent to forego the honors of such a success and service, for +the benefit of Mr. Cadogan, or any other person. + +“As soon as the military operations of the year are over, +Lieutenant-General Webb will request permission to leave the army, and +return to his place in Parliament, where he gives notice to his Grace +the Commander-in Chief, that he shall lay his case before the House of +Commons, the country, and her Majesty the Queen. + +“By his eagerness to rectify that false statement of the Gazette, which +had been written by his Grace's secretary, Mr. Cardonnel, Mr. Webb, not +being able to reach his Grace the Commander-in-Chief on account of the +gentlemen seated between them, placed the paper containing the false +statement on his sword, so that it might more readily arrive in the +hands of his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, who surely would wish to do +justice to every officer of his army. + +“Mr. Webb knows his duty too well to think of insubordination to his +superior officer, or of using his sword in a campaign against any but +the enemies of her Majesty. He solicits permission to return to England +immediately the military duties will permit, and take with him to +England Captain Esmond, of his regiment, who acted as his aide-de-camp, +and was present during the entire action, and noted by his watch the +time when Mr. Cadogan arrived at its close.” + + +The Commander-in-Chief could not but grant this permission, nor could +he take notice of Webb's letter, though it was couched in terms the most +insulting. Half the army believed that the cities of Ghent and Bruges +were given up by a treason, which some in our army very well understood; +that the Commander-in-Chief would not have relieved Lille if he could +have helped himself; that he would not have fought that year had not the +Prince of Savoy forced him. When the battle once began, then, for his +own renown, my Lord Marlborough would fight as no man in the world ever +fought better; and no bribe on earth could keep him from beating the +enemy.* + + * Our Grandfather's hatred of the Duke of Marlborough + appears all through his account of these campaigns. He + always persisted that the Duke was the greatest traitor and + soldier history ever told of: and declared that he took + bribes on all hands during the war. My Lord Marquis (for so + we may call him here, though he never went by any other name + than Colonel Esmond) was in the habit of telling many + stories which he did not set down in his memoirs, and which + he had from his friend the Jesuit, who was not always + correctly informed, and who persisted that Marlborough was + looking for a bribe of two millions of crowns before the + campaign of Ramillies. + + And our Grandmother used to tell us children, that on his + first presentation to my Lord duke, the Duke turned his back + upon my Grandfather; and said to the Duchess, who told my + lady dowager at Chelsey, who afterwards told Colonel Esmond + --“Tom Esmond's bastard has been to my levee: he has the + hang-dog look of his rogue of a father”--an expression which + my Grandfather never forgave. He was as constant in his + dislikes as in his attachments; and exceedingly partial to + Webb, whose side he took against the more celebrated + general. We have General Webb's portrait now at Castlewood, + Va. + +But the matter was taken up by the subordinates; and half the army might +have been by the ears, if the quarrel had not been stopped. General +Cadogan sent an intimation to General Webb to say that he was ready if +Webb liked, and would meet him. This was a kind of invitation our +stout old general was always too ready to accept, and 'twas with great +difficulty we got the General to reply that he had no quarrel with Mr. +Cadogan, who had behaved with perfect gallantry, but only with those at +head-quarters, who had belied him. Mr. Cardonnel offered General Webb +reparation; Mr. Webb said he had a cane at the service of Mr. Cardonnel, +and the only satisfaction he wanted from him was one he was not likely +to get, namely, the truth. The officers in our staff of Webb's, and +those in the immediate suite of the General, were ready to come to +blows; and hence arose the only affair in which Mr. Esmond ever engaged +as principal, and that was from a revengeful wish to wipe off an old +injury. + +My Lord Mohun, who had a troop in Lord Macclesfield's regiment of the +Horse Guards, rode this campaign with the Duke. He had sunk by this time +to the very worst reputation; he had had another fatal duel in Spain; he +had married, and forsaken his wife; he was a gambler, a profligate, and +debauchee. He joined just before Oudenarde; and, as Esmond feared, as +soon as Frank Castlewood heard of his arrival, Frank was for seeking him +out, and killing him. The wound my lord got at Oudenarde prevented their +meeting, but that was nearly healed, and Mr. Esmond trembled daily lest +any chance should bring his boy and this known assassin together. They +met at the mess-table of Handyside's regiment at Lille; the officer +commanding not knowing of the feud between the two noblemen. + +Esmond had not seen the hateful handsome face of Mohun for nine years, +since they had met on that fatal night in Leicester Field. It was +degraded with crime and passion now; it wore the anxious look of a man +who has three deaths, and who knows how many hidden shames, and lusts, +and crimes on his conscience. He bowed with a sickly low bow, and slunk +away when our host presented us round to one another. Frank Castlewood +had not known him till then, so changed was he. He knew the boy well +enough. + +'Twas curious to look at the two--especially the young man, whose face +flushed up when he heard the hated name of the other; and who said in +his bad French and his brave boyish voice--“He had long been anxious to +meet my Lord Mohun.” The other only bowed, and moved away from him. I do +him justice, he wished to have no quarrel with the lad. + +Esmond put himself between them at table. “D--- it,” says Frank, “why +do you put yourself in the place of a man who is above you in degree? My +Lord Mohun should walk after me. I want to sit by my Lord Mohun.” + +Esmond whispered to Lord Mohun, that Frank was hurt in the leg at +Oudenarde; and besought the other to be quiet. Quiet enough he was for +some time; disregarding the many taunts which young Castlewood flung at +him, until after several healths, when my Lord Mohun got to be rather in +liquor. + +“Will you go away, my lord?” Mr. Esmond said to him, imploring him to +quit the table. + +“No, by G--,” says my Lord Mohun. “I'll not go away for any man;” he was +quite flushed with wine by this time. + +The talk got round to the affairs of yesterday. Webb had offered to +challenge the Commander-in-Chief: Webb had been ill-used: Webb was the +bravest, handsomest, vainest man in the army. Lord Mohun did not know +that Esmond was Webb's aide-de-camp. He began to tell some stories +against the General; which, from t'other side of Esmond, young +Castlewood contradicted. + +“I can't bear any more of this,” says my Lord Mohun. + +“Nor can I, my lord,” says Mr. Esmond, starting up. “The story my Lord +Mohun has told respecting General Webb is false, gentlemen--false, I +repeat,” and making a low bow to Lord Mohun, and without a single word +more, Esmond got up and left the dining-room. These affairs were common +enough among the military of those days. There was a garden behind +the house, and all the party turned instantly into it; and the two +gentlemen's coats were off and their points engaged within two minutes +after Esmond's words had been spoken. If Captain Esmond had put Mohun +out of the world, as he might, a villain would have been punished +and spared further villanies--but who is one man to punish another? I +declare upon my honor that my only thought was to prevent Lord Mohun +from mischief with Frank, and the end of this meeting was, that after +half a dozen passes my lord went home with a hurt which prevented him +from lifting his right arm for three months. + +“Oh, Harry! why didn't you kill the villain?” young Castlewood asked. “I +can't walk without a crutch: but I could have met him on horseback with +sword and pistol.” But Harry Esmond said, “'Twas best to have no man's +life on one's conscience, not even that villain's.” And this affair, +which did not occupy three minutes, being over, the gentlemen went back +to their wine, and my Lord Mohun to his quarters, where he was laid up +with a fever which had spared mischief had it proved fatal. And very +soon after this affair Harry Esmond and his General left the camp for +London; whither a certain reputation had preceded the Captain, for my +Lady Castlewood of Chelsey received him as if he had been a conquering +hero. She gave a great dinner to Mr. Webb, where the General's chair +was crowned with laurels; and her ladyship called Esmond's health in +a toast, to which my kind General was graciously pleased to bear the +strongest testimony: and took down a mob of at least forty coaches to +cheer our General as he came out of the House of Commons, the day when +he received the thanks of Parliament for his action. The mob huzza'd and +applauded him, as well as the fine company: it was splendid to see +him waving his hat, and bowing, and laying his hand upon his Order +of Generosity. He introduced Mr. Esmond to Mr. St. John and the Right +Honorable Robert Harley, Esquire, as he came out of the House walking +between them; and was pleased to make many flattering observations +regarding Mr. Esmond's behavior during the three last campaigns. + +Mr. St. John (who had the most winning presence of any man I ever saw, +excepting always my peerless young Frank Castlewood) said he had heard +of Mr. Esmond before from Captain Steele, and how he had helped Mr. +Addison to write his famous poem of the “Campaign.” + +“'Twas as great an achievement as the victory of Blenheim itself,” Mr. +Harley said, who was famous as a judge and patron of letters, and +so, perhaps, it may be--though for my part I think there are twenty +beautiful lines, but all the rest is commonplace, and Mr. Addison's hymn +worth a thousand such poems. + +All the town was indignant at my Lord Duke's unjust treatment of General +Webb, and applauded the vote of thanks which the House of Commons gave +to the General for his victory at Wynendael. 'Tis certain that the +capture of Lille was the consequence of that lucky achievement, and the +humiliation of the old French King, who was said to suffer more at +the loss of this great city, than from any of the former victories +our troops had won over him. And, I think, no small part of Mr. Webb's +exultation at his victory arose from the idea that Marlborough had been +disappointed of a great bribe the French King had promised him, should +the siege be raised. The very sum of money offered to him was mentioned +by the Duke's enemies; and honest Mr. Webb chuckled at the notion, +not only of beating the French, but of beating Marlborough too, and +intercepting a convoy of three millions of French crowns, that were on +their way to the Generalissimo's insatiable pockets. When the General's +lady went to the Queen's drawing-room, all the Tory women crowded round +her with congratulations, and made her a train greater than the Duchess +of Marlborough's own. Feasts were given to the General by all the chiefs +of the Tory party, who vaunted him as the Duke's equal in military +skill; and perhaps used the worthy soldier as their instrument, whilst +he thought they were but acknowledging his merits as a commander. As the +General's aide-de-camp and favorite officer, Mr. Esmond came in for a +share of his chief's popularity, and was presented to her Majesty, +and advanced to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, at the request of his +grateful chief. + +We may be sure there was one family in which any good fortune that +happened to Esmond caused such a sincere pride and pleasure, that he, +for his part, was thankful he could make them so happy. With these fond +friends, Blenheim and Oudenarde seemed to be mere trifling incidents of +the war; and Wynendael was its crowning victory. Esmond's mistress never +tired to hear accounts of the battle; and I think General Webb's lady +grew jealous of her, for the General was for ever at Kensington, and +talking on that delightful theme. As for his aide-de-camp, though, no +doubt, Esmond's own natural vanity was pleased at the little share +of reputation which his good fortune had won him, yet it was chiefly +precious to him (he may say so, now that he hath long since outlived +it,) because it pleased his mistress, and, above all, because Beatrix +valued it. + +As for the old Dowager of Chelsey, never was an old woman in all England +more delighted nor more gracious than she. Esmond had his quarters in +her ladyship's house, where the domestics were instructed to consider +him as their master. She bade him give entertainments, of which she +defrayed the charges, and was charmed when his guests were carried away +tipsy in their coaches. She must have his picture taken; and accordingly +he was painted by Mr. Jervas, in his red coat, and smiling upon a +bomb-shell, which was bursting at the corner of the piece. She vowed +that unless he made a great match, she should never die easy, and was +for ever bringing young ladies to Chelsey, with pretty faces and pretty +fortunes, at the disposal of the Colonel. He smiled to think how times +were altered with him, and of the early days in his father's lifetime, +when a trembling page he stood before her, with her ladyship's basin and +ewer, or crouched in her coach-step. The only fault she found with +him was, that he was more sober than an Esmond ought to be; and would +neither be carried to bed by his valet, nor lose his heart to any +beauty, whether of St. James's or Covent Garden. + +What is the meaning of fidelity in love, and whence the birth of it? +'Tis a state of mind that men fall into, and depending on the man rather +than the woman. We love being in love, that's the truth on't. If we +had not met Joan, we should have met Kate, and adored her. We know our +mistresses are no better than many other women, nor no prettier, nor no +wiser, nor no wittier. 'Tis not for these reasons we love a woman, or +for any special quality or charm I know of; we might as well demand that +a lady should be the tallest woman in the world, like the Shropshire +giantess,* as that she should be a paragon in any other character, +before we began to love her. Esmond's mistress had a thousand faults +beside her charms; he knew both perfectly well! She was imperious, she +was light-minded, she was flighty, she was false, she had no reverence +in her character; she was in everything, even in beauty, the contrast +of her mother, who was the most devoted and the least selfish of women. +Well, from the very first moment he saw her on the stairs at Walcote, +Esmond knew he loved Beatrix. There might be better women--he wanted +that one. He cared for none other. Was it because she was gloriously +beautiful? Beautiful as she was, he had heard people say a score of +times in their company that Beatrix's mother looked as young, and was +the handsomer of the two. Why did her voice thrill in his ear so? She +could not sing near so well as Nicolini or Mrs. Tofts; nay, she sang out +of tune, and yet he liked to hear her better than St. Cecilia. She had +not a finer complexion than Mrs. Steele, (Dick's wife, whom he had now +got, and who ruled poor Dick with a rod of pickle,) and yet to see her +dazzled Esmond; he would shut his eyes, and the thought of her dazzled +him all the same. She was brilliant and lively in talk, but not so +incomparably witty as her mother, who, when she was cheerful, said the +finest things; but yet to hear her, and to be with her, was Esmond's +greatest pleasure. Days passed away between him and these ladies, he +scarce knew how. He poured his heart out to them, so as he never could +in any other company, where he hath generally passed for being moody, or +supercilious and silent. This society** was more delightful than that +of the greatest wits to him. May heaven pardon him the lies he told +the Dowager at Chelsey, in order to get a pretext for going away +to Kensington: the business at the Ordnance which he invented; the +interview with his General, the courts and statesmen's levees which +he DIDN'T frequent and describe; who wore a new suit on Sunday at St. +James's or at the Queen's birthday; how many coaches filled the street +at Mr. Harley's levee; how many bottles he had had the honor to drink +over-night with Mr. St. John at the “Cocoa-Tree,” or at the “Garter” + with Mr. Walpole and Mr. Steele. + + * 'Tis not thus WOMAN LOVES: Col. E. hath owned to this + folly for a SCORE OF WOMEN besides.--R. + + ** And, indeed, so was his to them, a thousand thousand + times more charming, for where was his equal?--R. + +Mistress Beatrix Esmond had been a dozen times on the point of making +great matches, so the Court scandal said; but for his part Esmond never +would believe the stories against her; and came back, after three years' +absence from her, not so frantic as he had been perhaps, but still +hungering after her and no other; still hopeful, still kneeling, with +his heart in his hand for the young lady to take. We were now got to +1709. She was near twenty-two years old, and three years at Court, and +without a husband. + +“'Tis not for want of being asked,” Lady Castlewood said, looking into +Esmond's heart, as she could, with that perceptiveness affection gives. +“But she will make no mean match, Harry: she will not marry as I would +have her; the person whom I should like to call my son, and Henry Esmond +knows who that is, is best served by my not pressing his claim. Beatrix +is so wilful, that what I would urge on her, she would be sure to +resist. The man who would marry her, will not be happy with her, unless +he be a great person, and can put her in a great position. Beatrix loves +admiration more than love; and longs, beyond all things, for command. +Why should a mother speak so of her child? You are my son, too, Harry. +You should know the truth about your sister. I thought you might cure +yourself of your passion,” my lady added, fondly. “Other people can +cure themselves of that folly, you know. But I see you are still as +infatuated as ever. When we read your name in the Gazette, I pleaded +for you, my poor boy. Poor boy, indeed! You are growing a grave old +gentleman, now, and I am an old woman. She likes your fame well +enough, and she likes your person. She says you have wit, and fire, +and good-breeding, and are more natural than the fine gentlemen of the +Court. But this is not enough. She wants a commander-in-chief, and not +a colonel. Were a duke to ask her, she would leave an earl whom she +had promised. I told you so before. I know not how my poor girl is so +worldly.” + +“Well,” says Esmond, “a man can but give his best and his all. She has +that from me. What little reputation I have won, I swear I cared for it +because I thought Beatrix would be pleased with it. What care I to be a +colonel or a general? Think you 'twill matter a few score years hence, +what our foolish honors to-day are? I would have had a little fame, that +she might wear it in her hat. If I had anything better, I would endow +her with it. If she wants my life, I would give it her. If she marries +another, I will say God bless him. I make no boast, nor no complaint. I +think my fidelity is folly, perhaps. But so it is. I cannot help myself. +I love her. You are a thousand times better: the fondest, the fairest, +the dearest of women. Sure, my dear lady, I see all Beatrix's faults as +well as you do. But she is my fate. 'Tis endurable. I shall not die +for not having her. I think I should be no happier if I won her. Que +voulez-vous? as my Lady of Chelsey would say. Je l'aime.” + +“I wish she would have you,” said Harry's fond mistress, giving a hand +to him. He kissed the fair hand ['twas the prettiest dimpled little hand +in the world, and my Lady Castlewood, though now almost forty years old, +did not look to be within ten years of her age). He kissed and kept her +fair hand, as they talked together. + +“Why,” says he, “should she hear me? She knows what I would say. Far or +near, she knows I'm her slave. I have sold myself for nothing, it may +be. Well, 'tis the price I choose to take. I am worth nothing, or I am +worth all.” + +“You are such a treasure,” Esmond's mistress was pleased to say, “that +the woman who has your love, shouldn't change it away against a kingdom, +I think. I am a country-bred woman, and cannot say but the ambitions of +the town seem mean to me. I never was awe-stricken by my Lady Duchess's +rank and finery, or afraid,” she added, with a sly laugh, “of anything +but her temper. I hear of Court ladies who pine because her Majesty +looks cold on them; and great noblemen who would give a limb that +they might wear a garter on the other. This worldliness, which I can't +comprehend, was born with Beatrix, who, on the first day of her waiting, +was a perfect courtier. We are like sisters, and she the eldest sister, +somehow. She tells me I have a mean spirit. I laugh, and say she adores +a coach-and-six. I cannot reason her out of her ambition. 'Tis natural +to her, as to me to love quiet, and be indifferent about rank and +riches. What are they, Harry? and for how long do they last? Our home +is not here.” She smiled as she spoke, and looked like an angel that was +only on earth on a visit. “Our home is where the just are, and where our +sins and sorrows enter not. My father used to rebuke me, and say that +I was too hopeful about heaven. But I cannot help my nature, and grow +obstinate as I grow to be an old woman; and as I love my children so, +sure our Father loves us with a thousand and a thousand times greater +love. It must be that we shall meet yonder, and be happy. Yes, you--and +my children, and my dear lord. Do you know, Harry, since his death, it +has always seemed to me as if his love came back to me, and that we are +parted no more. Perhaps he is here now, Harry--I think he is. Forgiven +I am sure he is: even Mr. Atterbury absolved him, and he died forgiving. +Oh, what a noble heart he had! How generous he was! I was but fifteen +and a child when he married me. How good he was to stoop to me! He was +always good to the poor and humble.” She stopped, then presently, with a +peculiar expression, as if her eyes were looking into heaven, and saw +my lord there, she smiled, and gave a little laugh. “I laugh to see you, +sir,” she says; “when you come, it seems as if you never were away.” One +may put her words down, and remember them, but how describe her sweet +tones, sweeter than music! + +My young lord did not come home at the end of the campaign, and wrote +that he was kept at Bruxelles on military duty. Indeed, I believe he +was engaged in laying siege to a certain lady, who was of the suite of +Madame de Soissons, the Prince of Savoy's mother, who was just dead, and +who, like the Flemish fortresses, was taken and retaken a great +number of times during the war, and occupied by French, English, and +Imperialists. Of course, Mr. Esmond did not think fit to enlighten Lady +Castlewood regarding the young scapegrace's doings: nor had he said a +word about the affair with Lord Mohun, knowing how abhorrent that man's +name was to his mistress. Frank did not waste much time or money on pen +and ink; and, when Harry came home with his General, only writ two lines +to his mother, to say his wound in the leg was almost healed, that he +would keep his coming of age next year--that the duty aforesaid would +keep him at Bruxelles, and that Cousin Harry would tell all the news. + +But from Bruxelles, knowing how the Lady Castlewood always liked to have +a letter about the famous 29th of December, my lord writ her a long and +full one, and in this he must have described the affair with Mohun; for +when Mr. Esmond came to visit his mistress one day, early in the new +year, to his great wonderment, she and her daughter both came up and +saluted him, and after them the Dowager of Chelsey, too, whose chairman +had just brought her ladyship from her village to Kensington across the +fields. After this honor, I say, from the two ladies of Castlewood, the +Dowager came forward in great state, with her grand tall head-dress of +King James's reign, that, she never forsook, and said, “Cousin Henry, +all our family have met; and we thank you, cousin, for your noble +conduct towards the head of our house.” And pointing to her blushing +cheek, she made Mr. Esmond aware that he was to enjoy the rapture of an +embrace there. Having saluted one cheek, she turned to him the other. +“Cousin Harry,” said both the other ladies, in a little chorus, “we +thank you for your noble conduct;” and then Harry became aware that the +story of the Lille affair had come to his kinswomen's ears. It pleased +him to hear them all saluting him as one of their family. + +The tables of the dining-room were laid for a great entertainment; and +the ladies were in gala dresses--my Lady of Chelsey in her highest tour, +my Lady Viscountess out of black, and looking fair and happy a ravir; +and the Maid of Honor attired with that splendor which naturally +distinguished her, and wearing on her beautiful breast the French +officer's star which Frank had sent home after Ramillies. + +“You see, 'tis a gala day with us,” says she, glancing down to the star +complacently, “and we have our orders on. Does not mamma look charming? +'Twas I dressed her!” Indeed, Esmond's dear mistress, blushing as +he looked at her, with her beautiful fair hair, and an elegant dress +according to the mode, appeared to have the shape and complexion of a +girl of twenty. + +On the table was a fine sword, with a red velvet scabbard, and a +beautiful chased silver handle, with a blue ribbon for a sword-knot. +“What is this?” says the Captain, going up to look at this pretty piece. + +Mrs. Beatrix advanced towards it. “Kneel down,” says she: “we dub you +our knight with this”--and she waved the sword over his head. “My Lady +Dowager hath given the sword; and I give the ribbon, and mamma hath sewn +on the fringe.” + +“Put the sword on him, Beatrix,” says her mother. “You are our knight, +Harry--our true knight. Take a mother's thanks and prayers for defending +her son, my dear, dear friend.” She could say no more, and even the +Dowager was affected, for a couple of rebellious tears made sad marks +down those wrinkled old roses which Esmond had just been allowed to +salute. + +“We had a letter from dearest Frank,” his mother said, “three days +since, whilst you were on your visit to your friend Captain Steele, at +Hampton. He told us all that you had done, and how nobly you had put +yourself between him and that--that wretch.” + +“And I adopt you from this day,” says the Dowager, “and I wish I was +richer, for your sake, son Esmond,” she added with a wave of her hand; +and as Mr. Esmond dutifully went down on his knee before her ladyship, +she cast her eyes up to the ceiling, (the gilt chandelier, and the +twelve wax-candles in it, for the party was numerous,) and invoked a +blessing from that quarter upon the newly adopted son. + +“Dear Frank,” says the other viscountess, “how fond he is of his +military profession! He is studying fortification very hard. I wish he +were here. We shall keep his coming of age at Castlewood next year.” + +“If the campaign permit us,” says Mr. Esmond. + +“I am never afraid when he is with you,” cries the boy's mother. “I am +sure my Henry will always defend him.” + +“But there will be a peace before next year; we know it for certain,” + cries the Maid of Honor. “Lord Marlborough will be dismissed, and that +horrible duchess turned out of all her places. Her Majesty won't speak +to her now. Did you see her at Bushy, Harry? She is furious, and she +ranges about the park like a lioness, and tears people's eyes out.” + +“And the Princess Anne will send for somebody,” says my Lady of Chelsey, +taking out her medal and kissing it. + +“Did you see the King at Oudenarde, Harry?” his mistress asked. She was +a staunch Jacobite, and would no more have thought of denying her king +than her God. + +“I saw the young Hanoverian only,” Harry said. “The Chevalier de St. +George--” + +“The King, sir, the King!” said the ladies and Miss Beatrix; and she +clapped her pretty hands, and cried, “Vive le Roy.” + +By this time there came a thundering knock, that drove in the doors of +the house almost. It was three o'clock, and the company were arriving; +and presently the servant announced Captain Steele and his lady. + +Captain and Mrs. Steele, who were the first to arrive, had driven to +Kensington from their country-house, the Hovel at Hampton Wick. “Not +from our mansion in Bloomsbury Square,” as Mrs. Steele took care to +inform the ladies. Indeed Harry had ridden away from Hampton that very +morning, leaving the couple by the ears; for from the chamber where +he lay, in a bed that was none of the cleanest, and kept awake by the +company which he had in his own bed, and the quarrel which was going +on in the next room, he could hear both night and morning the curtain +lecture which Mrs. Steele was in the habit of administering to poor +Dick. + +At night it did not matter so much for the culprit; Dick was fuddled, +and when in that way no scolding could interrupt his benevolence. Mr. +Esmond could hear him coaxing and speaking in that maudlin manner, which +punch and claret produce, to his beloved Prue, and beseeching her to +remember that there was a distiwisht officer ithe rex roob, who would +overhear her. She went on, nevertheless, calling him a drunken wretch, +and was only interrupted in her harangues by the Captain's snoring. + +In the morning, the unhappy victim awoke to a headache, and +consciousness, and the dialogue of the night was resumed. “Why do you +bring captains home to dinner when there's not a guinea in the house? +How am I to give dinners when you leave me without a shilling? How am +I to go traipsing to Kensington in my yellow satin sack before all the +fine company? I've nothing fit to put on; I never have:” and so the +dispute went on--Mr. Esmond interrupting the talk when it seemed to be +growing too intimate by blowing his nose as loudly as ever he could, +at the sound of which trumpet there came a lull. But Dick was charming, +though his wife was odious, and 'twas to give Mr. Steele pleasure, that +the ladies of Castlewood, who were ladies of no small fashion, invited +Mrs. Steele. + +Besides the Captain and his lady, there was a great and notable +assemblage of company: my Lady of Chelsey having sent her lackeys +and liveries to aid the modest attendance at Kensington. There was +Lieutenant-General Webb, Harry's kind patron, of whom the Dowager +took possession, and who resplended in velvet and gold lace; there was +Harry's new acquaintance, the Right Honorable Henry St. John, Esquire, +the General's kinsman, who was charmed with the Lady Castlewood, even +more than with her daughter; there was one of the greatest noblemen in +the kingdom, the Scots Duke of Hamilton, just created Duke of Brandon +in England; and two other noble lords of the Tory party, my Lord +Ashburnham, and another I have forgot; and for ladies, her Grace the +Duchess of Ormonde and her daughters, the Lady Mary and the Lady Betty, +the former one of Mistress Beatrix's colleagues in waiting on the Queen. + +“What a party of Tories!” whispered Captain Steele to Esmond, as we were +assembled in the parlor before dinner. Indeed, all the company present, +save Steele, were of that faction. + +Mr. St. John made his special compliments to Mrs. Steele, and so charmed +her that she declared she would have Steele a Tory too. + +“Or will you have me a Whig?” says Mr. St. John. “I think, madam, you +could convert a man to anything.” + +“If Mr. St. John ever comes to Bloomsbury Square I will teach him what +I know,” says Mrs. Steele, dropping her handsome eyes. “Do you know +Bloomsbury Square?” + +“Do I know the Mall? Do I know the Opera? Do I know the reigning toast? +Why, Bloomsbury is the very height of the mode,” says Mr. St. John. +“'Tis rus in urbe. You have gardens all the way to Hampstead, and +palaces round about you--Southampton House and Montague House.” + +“Where you wretches go and fight duels,” cries Mrs. Steele. + +“Of which the ladies are the cause!” says her entertainer. “Madam, is +Dick a good swordsman? How charming the 'Tatler' is! We all recognized +your portrait in the 49th number, and I have been dying to know you +ever since I read it. 'Aspasia must be allowed to be the first of +the beauteous order of love.' Doth not the passage run so? 'In this +accomplished lady love is the constant effect, though it is never the +design; yet though her mien carries much more invitation than command, +to behold her is an immediate check to loose behavior, and to love her +is a liberal education.'” + +“Oh, indeed!” says Mrs. Steele, who did not seem to understand a word of +what the gentleman was saying. + +“Who could fail to be accomplished under such a mistress?” says Mr. St. +John, still gallant and bowing. + +“Mistress! upon my word, sir!” cries the lady. “If you mean me, sir, I +would have you know that I am the Captain's wife.” + +“Sure we all know it,” answers Mr. St. John, keeping his countenance +very gravely; and Steele broke in saying, “'Twas not about Mrs. Steele I +writ that paper--though I am sure she is worthy of any compliment I can +pay her--but of the Lady Elizabeth Hastings.” + +“I hear Mr. Addison is equally famous as a wit and a poet,” says Mr. +St. John. “Is it true that his hand is to be found in your 'Tatler,' Mr. +Steele?” + +“Whether 'tis the sublime or the humorous, no man can come near him,” + cries Steele. + +“A fig, Dick, for your Mr. Addison!” cries out his lady: “a gentleman +who gives himself such airs and holds his head so high now. I hope your +ladyship thinks as I do: I can't bear those very fair men with white +eyelashes--a black man for me.” (All the black men at table applauded, +and made Mrs. Steele a bow for this compliment.) “As for this Mr. +Addison,” she went on, “he comes to dine with the Captain sometimes, +never says a word to me, and then they walk up stairs both tipsy, to a +dish of tea. I remember your Mr. Addison when he had but one coat to his +back, and that with a patch at the elbow.” + +“Indeed--a patch at the elbow! You interest me,” says Mr. St. John. +“'Tis charming to hear of one man of letters from the charming wife of +another.” + +“La, I could tell you ever so much about 'em,” continues the voluble +lady. “What do you think the Captain has got now?--a little hunchback +fellow--a little hop-o'-my-thumb creature that he calls a poet--a little +Popish brat!” + +“Hush, there are two in the room,” whispers her companion. + +“Well, I call him Popish because his name is Pope,” says the lady. +“'Tis only my joking way. And this little dwarf of a fellow has wrote a +pastoral poem--all about shepherds and shepherdesses, you know.” + +“A shepherd should have a little crook,” says my mistress, laughing from +her end of the table: on which Mrs. Steele said, “She did not know, but +the Captain brought home this queer little creature when she was in bed +with her first boy, and it was a mercy he had come no sooner; and Dick +raved about his genus, and was always raving about some nonsense or +other.” + +“Which of the 'Tatlers' do you prefer, Mrs. Steele?” asked Mr. St. John. + +“I never read but one, and think it all a pack of rubbish, sir,” says +the lady. “Such stuff about Bickerstaffe, and Distaff, and Quarterstaff, +as it all is! There's the Captain going on still with the Burgundy--I +know he'll be tipsy before he stops--Captain Steele!” + +“I drink to your eyes, my dear,” says the Captain, who seemed to think +his wife charming, and to receive as genuine all the satiric compliments +which Mr. St. John paid her. + +All this while the Maid of Honor had been trying to get Mr. Esmond to +talk, and no doubt voted him a dull fellow. For, by some mistake, just +as he was going to pop into the vacant place, he was placed far away +from Beatrix's chair, who sat between his Grace and my Lord Ashburnham, +and shrugged her lovely white shoulders, and cast a look as if to say, +“Pity me,” to her cousin. My Lord Duke and his young neighbor were +presently in a very animated and close conversation. Mrs. Beatrix could +no more help using her eyes than the sun can help shining, and setting +those it shines on a-burning. By the time the first course was done the +dinner seemed long to Esmond; by the time the soup came he fancied they +must have been hours at table: and as for the sweets and jellies he +thought they never would be done. + +At length the ladies rose, Beatrix throwing a Parthian glance at her +duke as she retreated; a fresh bottle and glasses were fetched, and +toasts were called. Mr. St. John asked his Grace the Duke of Hamilton +and the company to drink to the health of his Grace the Duke of Brandon. +Another lord gave General Webb's health, “and may he get the command the +bravest officer in the world deserves.” Mr. Webb thanked the company, +complimented his aide-de-camp, and fought his famous battle over again. + +“Il est fatiguant,” whispers Mr. St. John, “avec sa trompette de +Wynendael.” + +Captain Steele, who was not of our side, loyally gave the health of the +Duke of Marlborough, the greatest general of the age. + +“I drink to the greatest general with all my heart,” says Mr. Webb; +“there can be no gainsaying that character of him. My glass goes to the +General, and not to the Duke, Mr. Steele.” And the stout old gentleman +emptied his bumper; to which Dick replied by filling and emptying a pair +of brimmers, one for the General and one for the Duke. + +And now his Grace of Hamilton, rising up with flashing eyes (we had all +been drinking pretty freely), proposed a toast to the lovely, to the +incomparable Mrs. Beatrix Esmond; we all drank it with cheers, and my +Lord Ashburnham especially, with a shout of enthusiasm. + +“What a pity there is a Duchess of Hamilton,” whispers St. John, who +drank more wine and yet was more steady than most of the others, and we +entered the drawing-room where the ladies were at their tea. As for poor +Dick, we were obliged to leave him alone at the dining-table, where he +was hiccupping out the lines from the “Campaign,” in which the greatest +poet had celebrated the greatest general in the world; and Harry Esmond +found him, half an hour afterwards, in a more advanced stage of liquor, +and weeping about the treachery of Tom Boxer. + +The drawing-room was all dark to poor Harry, in spite of the grand +illumination. Beatrix scarce spoke to him. When my Lord Duke went away, +she practised upon the next in rank, and plied my young Lord Ashburnham +with all the fire of her eyes and the fascinations of her wit. Most of +the party were set to cards, and Mr. St. John, after yawning in the face +of Mrs. Steele, whom he did not care to pursue any more; and talking in +his most brilliant animated way to Lady Castlewood, whom he pronounced +to be beautiful, of a far higher order of beauty than her daughter, +presently took his leave, and went his way. The rest of the company +speedily followed, my Lord Ashburnham the last, throwing fiery glances +at the smiling young temptress, who had bewitched more hearts than his +in her thrall. + +No doubt, as a kinsman of the house, Mr. Esmond thought fit to be the +last of all in it; he remained after the coaches had rolled away--after +his dowager aunt's chair and flambeaux had marched off in the darkness +towards Chelsey, and the town's people had gone to bed, who had been +drawn into the square to gape at the unusual assemblage of chairs and +chariots, lackeys, and torchmen. The poor mean wretch lingered yet for +a few minutes, to see whether the girl would vouchsafe him a smile, or a +parting word of consolation. But her enthusiasm of the morning was quite +died out, or she chose to be in a different mood. She fell to joking +about the dowdy appearance of Lady Betty, and mimicked the vulgarity +of Mrs. Steele; and then she put up her little hand to her mouth and +yawned, lighted a taper, and shrugged her shoulders, and dropping Mr. +Esmond a saucy curtsy, sailed off to bed. + +“The day began so well, Henry, that I hoped it might have ended better,” + was all the consolation that poor Esmond's fond mistress could give him; +and as he trudged home through the dark alone, he thought with bitter +rage in his heart, and a feeling of almost revolt against the sacrifice +he had made:--“She would have me,” thought he, “had I but a name to +give her. But for my promise to her father, I might have my rank and my +mistress too.” + +I suppose a man's vanity is stronger than any other passion in him; for +I blush, even now, as I recall the humiliation of those distant days, +the memory of which still smarts, though the fever of balked desire +has passed away more than a score of years ago. When the writer's +descendants come to read this memoir, I wonder will they have lived to +experience a similar defeat and shame? Will they ever have knelt to a +woman who has listened to them, and played with them, and laughed with +them--who beckoning them with lures and caresses, and with Yes smiling +from her eyes, has tricked them on to their knees, and turned her +back and left them. All this shame Mr. Esmond had to undergo; and he +submitted, and revolted, and presently came crouching back for more. + +After this feste, my young Lord Ashburnham's coach was for ever rolling +in and out of Kensington Square; his lady-mother came to visit Esmond's +mistress, and at every assembly in the town, wherever the Maid of Honor +made her appearance, you might be pretty sure to see the young gentleman +in a new suit every week, and decked out in all the finery that his +tailor or embroiderer could furnish for him. My lord was for ever paying +Mr. Esmond compliments: bidding him to dinner, offering him horses to +ride, and giving him a thousand uncouth marks of respect and +good-will. At last, one night at the coffee-house, whither my lord came +considerably flushed and excited with drink, he rushes up to Mr. Esmond, +and cries out--“Give me joy, my dearest Colonel; I am the happiest of +men.” + +“The happiest of men needs no dearest colonel to give him joy,” says Mr. +Esmond. “What is the cause of this supreme felicity?” + +“Haven't you heard?” says he. “Don't you know? I thought the family told +you everything: the adorable Beatrix hath promised to be mine.” + +“What!” cries out Mr. Esmond, who had spent happy hours with Beatrix +that very morning--had writ verses for her, that she had sung at the +harpsichord. + +“Yes,” says he; “I waited on her to-day. I saw you walking towards +Knightsbridge as I passed in my coach; and she looked so lovely, +and spoke so kind, that I couldn't help going down on my knees, +and--and--sure I am the happiest of men in all the world; and I'm very +young; but she says I shall get older: and you know I shall be of age in +four months; and there's very little difference between us; and I'm so +happy. I should like to treat the company to something. Let us have a +bottle--a dozen bottles--and drink the health of the finest woman in +England.” + +Esmond left the young lord tossing off bumper after bumper, and strolled +away to Kensington to ask whether the news was true. 'Twas only too +sure: his mistress's sad, compassionate face told him the story; and +then she related what particulars of it she knew, and how my young lord +had made his offer, half an hour after Esmond went away that morning, +and in the very room where the song lay yet on the harpsichord, which +Esmond had writ, and they had sung together. + + + + +BOOK III. + +CONTAINING THE END OF MR. ESMOND'S ADVENTURES IN ENGLAND. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +I COME TO AN END OF MY BATTLES AND BRUISES. + + +That feverish desire to gain a little reputation which Esmond had had, +left him now perhaps that he had attained some portion of his wish, and +the great motive of his ambition was over. His desire for military honor +was that it might raise him in Beatrix's eyes. 'Twas next to nobility +and wealth, the only kind of rank she valued. It was the stake quickest +won or lost too; for law is a very long game that requires a life to +practise; and to be distinguished in letters or the Church would not +have forwarded the poor gentleman's plans in the least. So he had no +suit to play but the red one, and he played it; and this, in truth, was +the reason of his speedy promotion; for he exposed himself more than +most gentlemen do, and risked more to win more. Is he the only man that +hath set his life against a stake which may be not worth the winning? +Another risks his life (and his honor, too, sometimes,) against a bundle +of bank-notes, or a yard of blue ribbon, or a seat in Parliament; and +some for the mere pleasure and excitement of the sport; as a field of a +hundred huntsmen will do, each out-bawling and out-galloping the other +at the tail of a dirty fox, that is to be the prize of the foremost +happy conqueror. + +When he heard this news of Beatrix's engagement in marriage, Colonel +Esmond knocked under to his fate, and resolved to surrender his sword, +that could win him nothing now he cared for; and in this dismal frame of +mind he determined to retire from the regiment, to the great delight of +the captain next in rank to him, who happened to be a young gentleman +of good fortune, who eagerly paid Mr. Esmond a thousand guineas for +his majority in Webb's regiment, and was knocked on the head the next +campaign. Perhaps Esmond would not have been sorry to share his fate. He +was more the Knight of the Woful Countenance than ever he had been. His +moodiness must have made him perfectly odious to his friends under the +tents, who like a jolly fellow, and laugh at a melancholy warrior always +sighing after Dulcinea at home. + +Both the ladies of Castlewood approved of Mr. Esmond quitting the army, +and his kind General coincided in his wish of retirement and helped +in the transfer of his commission, which brought a pretty sum into his +pocket. But when the Commander-in-Chief came home, and was forced, in +spite of himself, to appoint Lieutenant-General Webb to the command of a +division of the army in Flanders, the Lieutenant-General prayed Colonel +Esmond so urgently to be his aide-de-camp and military secretary, that +Esmond could not resist his kind patron's entreaties, and again took the +field, not attached to any regiment, but under Webb's orders. What must +have been the continued agonies of fears* and apprehensions which racked +the gentle breasts of wives and matrons in those dreadful days, when +every Gazette brought accounts of deaths and battles, and when the +present anxiety over, and the beloved person escaped, the doubt still +remained that a battle might be fought, possibly, of which the next +Flanders letter would bring the account; so they, the poor tender +creatures, had to go on sickening and trembling through the whole +campaign. Whatever these terrors were on the part of Esmond's mistress, +(and that tenderest of women must have felt them most keenly for both +her sons, as she called them), she never allowed them outwardly to +appear, but hid her apprehension, as she did her charities and devotion. +'Twas only by chance that Esmond, wandering in Kensington, found his +mistress coming out of a mean cottage there, and heard that she had +a score of poor retainers, whom she visited and comforted in their +sickness and poverty, and who blessed her daily. She attended the +early church daily (though of a Sunday, especially, she encouraged and +advanced all sorts of cheerfulness and innocent gayety in her little +household): and by notes entered into a table-book of hers at this time, +and devotional compositions writ with a sweet artless fervor, such as +the best divines could not surpass, showed how fond her heart was, how +humble and pious her spirit, what pangs of apprehension she endured +silently, and with what a faithful reliance she committed the care of +those she loved to the awful Dispenser of death and life. + + * What indeed? Psm. xci. 2, 3, 7.--R. E. + +As for her ladyship at Chelsey, Esmond's newly adopted mother, she was +now of an age when the danger of any second party doth not disturb the +rest much. She cared for trumps more than for most things in life. She +was firm enough in her own faith, but no longer very bitter against +ours. She had a very good-natured, easy French director, Monsieur +Gauthier by name, who was a gentleman of the world, and would take a +hand of cards with Dean Atterbury, my lady's neighbor at Chelsey, and +was well with all the High Church party. No doubt Monsieur Gauthier knew +what Esmond's peculiar position was, for he corresponded with Holt, and +always treated Colonel Esmond with particular respect and kindness; but +for good reasons the Colonel and the Abbe never spoke on this matter +together, and so they remained perfect good friends. + +All the frequenters of my Lady of Chelsey's house were of the Tory and +High Church party. Madame Beatrix was as frantic about the King as her +elderly kinswoman: she wore his picture on her heart; she had a piece +of his hair; she vowed he was the most injured, and gallant, and +accomplished, and unfortunate, and beautiful of princes. Steele, who +quarrelled with very many of his Tory friends, but never with Esmond, +used to tell the Colonel that his kinswoman's house was a rendezvous of +Tory intrigues; that Gauthier was a spy; that Atterbury was a spy; +that letters were constantly going from that house to the Queen at St. +Germains; on which Esmond, laughing, would reply, that they used to +say in the army the Duke of Marlborough was a spy too, and as much in +correspondence with that family as any Jesuit. And without entering very +eagerly into the controversy, Esmond had frankly taken the side of his +family. It seemed to him that King James the Third was undoubtedly King +of England by right: and at his sister's death it would be better to +have him than a foreigner over us. No man admired King William more; a +hero and a conqueror, the bravest, justest, wisest of men--but 'twas by +the sword he conquered the country, and held and governed it by the very +same right that the great Cromwell held it, who was truly and greatly +a sovereign. But that a foreign despotic Prince, out of Germany, +who happened to be descended from King James the First, should +take possession of this empire, seemed to Mr. Esmond a monstrous +injustice--at least, every Englishman had a right to protest, and the +English Prince, the heir-at-law, the first of all. What man of spirit +with such a cause would not back it? What man of honor with such a crown +to win would not fight for it? But that race was destined. That Prince +had himself against him, an enemy he could not overcome. He never dared +to draw his sword, though he had it. He let his chances slip by as he +lay in the lap of opera-girls, or snivelled at the knees of priests +asking pardon; and the blood of heroes, and the devotedness of honest +hearts, and endurance, courage, fidelity, were all spent for him in +vain. + +But let us return to my Lady of Chelsey, who, when her son Esmond +announced to her ladyship that he proposed to make the ensuing campaign, +took leave of him with perfect alacrity, and was down to piquet with +her gentlewoman before he had well quitted the room on his last visit. +“Tierce to a king,” were the last words he ever heard her say: the +game of life was pretty nearly over for the good lady, and three months +afterwards she took to her bed, where she flickered out without any +pain, so the Abbe Gauthier wrote over to Mr. Esmond, then with his +General on the frontier of France. The Lady Castlewood was with her at +her ending, and had written too, but these letters must have been taken +by a privateer in the packet that brought them; for Esmond knew nothing +of their contents until his return to England. + +My Lady Castlewood had left everything to Colonel Esmond, “as a +reparation for the wrong done to him;” 'twas writ in her will. But +her fortune was not much, for it never had been large, and the honest +viscountess had wisely sunk most of the money she had upon an annuity +which terminated with her life. However, there was the house and +furniture, plate and pictures at Chelsey, and a sum of money lying at +her merchant's, Sir Josiah Child, which altogether would realize a +sum of near three hundred pounds per annum, so that Mr. Esmond found +himself, if not rich, at least easy for life. Likewise there were the +famous diamonds which had been said to be worth fabulous sums, though +the goldsmith pronounced they would fetch no more than four thousand +pounds. These diamonds, however, Colonel Esmond reserved, having a +special use for them: but the Chelsey house, plate, goods, &c., with the +exception of a few articles which he kept back, were sold by his orders; +and the sums resulting from the sale invested in the public securities +so as to realize the aforesaid annual income of three hundred pounds. + +Having now something to leave, he made a will and despatched it home. +The army was now in presence of the enemy; and a great battle expected +every day. 'Twas known that the General-in-Chief was in disgrace, and +the parties at home strong against him, and there was no stroke this +great and resolute player would not venture to recall his fortune when +it seemed desperate. Frank Castlewood was with Colonel Esmond; his +General having gladly taken the young nobleman on to his staff. His +studies of fortifications at Bruxelles were over by this time. The +fort he was besieging had yielded, I believe, and my lord had not only +marched in with flying colors, but marched out again. He used to tell +his boyish wickednesses with admirable humor, and was the most charming +young scapegrace in the army. + +'Tis needless to say that Colonel Esmond had left every penny of his +little fortune to this boy. It was the Colonel's firm conviction that +the next battle would put an end to him: for he felt aweary of the sun, +and quite ready to bid that and the earth farewell. Frank would not +listen to his comrade's gloomy forebodings, but swore they would keep +his birthday at Castlewood that autumn, after the campaign. He had +heard of the engagement at home. “If Prince Eugene goes to London,” says +Frank, “and Trix can get hold of him, she'll jilt Ashburnham for his +Highness. I tell you, she used to make eyes at the Duke of Marlborough, +when she was only fourteen, and ogling poor little Blandford. I wouldn't +marry her, Harry--no, not if her eyes were twice as big. I'll take my +fun. I'll enjoy for the next three years every possible pleasure. I'll +sow my wild oats then, and marry some quiet, steady, modest, sensible +viscountess; hunt my harriers; and settle down at Castlewood. Perhaps +I'll represent the county--no, damme, YOU shall represent the county. +You have the brains of the family. By the Lord, my dear old Harry, you +have the best head and the kindest heart in all the army; and every man +says so--and when the Queen dies, and the King comes back, why shouldn't +you go to the House of Commons, and be a Minister, and be made a Peer, +and that sort of thing? YOU be shot in the next action! I wager a dozen +of Burgundy you are not touched. Mohun is well of his wound. He is +always with Corporal John now. As soon as ever I see his ugly face I'll +spit in it. I took lessons of Father--of Captain Holt at Bruxelles. What +a man that is! He knows everything.” Esmond bade Frank have a care; that +Father Holt's knowledge was rather dangerous; not, indeed, knowing as +yet how far the Father had pushed his instructions with his young pupil. + +The gazetteers and writers, both of the French and English side, +have given accounts sufficient of that bloody battle of Blarignies or +Malplaquet, which was the last and the hardest earned of the victories +of the great Duke of Marlborough. In that tremendous combat near upon +two hundred and fifty thousand men were engaged, more than thirty +thousand of whom were slain or wounded (the Allies lost twice as +many men as they killed of the French, whom they conquered): and this +dreadful slaughter very likely took place because a great general's +credit was shaken at home, and he thought to restore it by a victory. If +such were the motives which induced the Duke of Marlborough to venture +that prodigious stake, and desperately sacrifice thirty thousand brave +lives, so that he might figure once more in a Gazette, and hold his +places and pensions a little longer, the event defeated the dreadful and +selfish design, for the victory was purchased at a cost which no nation, +greedy of glory as it may be, would willingly pay for any triumph. The +gallantry of the French was as remarkable as the furious bravery of +their assailants. We took a few score of their flags, and a few pieces +of their artillery; but we left twenty thousand of the bravest soldiers +of the world round about the intrenched lines, from which the enemy was +driven. He retreated in perfect good order; the panic-spell seemed to +be broke, under which the French had labored ever since the disaster +of Hochstedt; and, fighting now on the threshold of their country, they +showed an heroic ardor of resistance, such as had never met us in the +course of their aggressive war. Had the battle been more successful, +the conqueror might have got the price for which he waged it. As it was, +(and justly, I think,) the party adverse to the Duke in England were +indignant at the lavish extravagance of slaughter, and demanded more +eagerly than ever the recall of a chief whose cupidity and desperation +might urge him further still. After this bloody fight of Malplaquet, I +can answer for it, that in the Dutch quarters and our own, and amongst +the very regiments and commanders whose gallantry was most conspicuous +upon this frightful day of carnage, the general cry was, that there was +enough of the war. The French were driven back into their own boundary, +and all their conquests and booty of Flanders disgorged. As for the +Prince of Savoy, with whom our Commander-in-Chief, for reasons of his +own, consorted more closely than ever, 'twas known that he was animated +not merely by a political hatred, but by personal rage against the old +French King: the Imperial Generalissimo never forgot the slight put by +Lewis upon the Abbe de Savoie; and in the humiliation or ruin of his +most Christian Majesty, the Holy Roman Emperor found his account. +But what were these quarrels to us, the free citizens of England and +Holland! Despot as he was, the French monarch was yet the chief of +European civilization, more venerable in his age and misfortunes than at +the period of his most splendid successes; whilst his opponent was but +a semi-barbarous tyrant, with a pillaging, murderous horde of Croats +and Pandours, composing a half of his army, filling our camp with their +strange figures, bearded like the miscreant Turks their neighbors, and +carrying into Christian warfare their native heathen habits of rapine, +lust, and murder. Why should the best blood in England and France be +shed in order that the Holy Roman and Apostolic master of these ruffians +should have his revenge over the Christian king? And it was to this end +we were fighting; for this that every village and family in England was +deploring the death of beloved sons and fathers. We dared not speak to +each other, even at table, of Malplaquet, so frightful were the gaps +left in our army by the cannon of that bloody action. 'Twas heartrending +for an officer who had a heart to look down his line on a parade-day +afterwards, and miss hundreds of faces of comrades--humble or of high +rank--that had gathered but yesterday full of courage and cheerfulness +round the torn and blackened flags. Where were our friends? As the great +Duke reviewed us, riding along our lines with his fine suite of prancing +aides-de-camp and generals, stopping here and there to thank an officer +with those eager smiles and bows of which his Grace was always lavish, +scarce a huzzah could be got for him, though Cadogan, with an oath, rode +up and cried--“D--n you, why don't you cheer?” But the men had no +heart for that: not one of them but was thinking, “Where's my +comrade?--where's my brother that fought by me, or my dear captain that +led me yesterday?” 'Twas the most gloomy pageant I ever looked on; and +the “Te Deum” sung by our chaplains, the most woful and dreary satire. + +Esmond's General added one more to the many marks of honor which he +had received in the front of a score of battles, and got a wound in +the groin, which laid him on his back; and you may be sure he +consoled himself by abusing the Commander-in-Chief, as he lay +groaning,--“Corporal John's as fond of me,” he used to say, “as King +David was of General Uriah; and so he always gives me the post of +danger.” He persisted, to his dying day, in believing that the Duke +intended he should be beat at Wynendael, and sent him purposely with a +small force, hoping that he might be knocked on the head there. Esmond +and Frank Castlewood both escaped without hurt, though the division +which our General commanded suffered even more than any other, having to +sustain not only the fury of the enemy's cannonade, which was very hot +and well served, but the furious and repeated charges of the famous +Maison du Roy, which we had to receive and beat off again and again, +with volleys of shot and hedges of iron, and our four lines of +musqueteers and pikemen. They said the King of England charged us +no less than twelve times that day, along with the French Household. +Esmond's late regiment, General Webb's own Fusileers, served in the +division which their colonel commanded. The General was thrice in the +centre of the square of the Fusileers, calling the fire at the French +charges, and, after the action, his Grace the Duke of Berwick sent his +compliments to his old regiment and their Colonel for their behavior on +the field. + +We drank my Lord Castlewood's health and majority, the 25th of +September, the army being then before Mons: and here Colonel Esmond was +not so fortunate as he had been in actions much more dangerous, and was +hit by a spent ball just above the place where his former wound was, +which caused the old wound to open again, fever, spitting of blood, +and other ugly symptoms, to ensue; and, in a word, brought him near to +death's door. The kind lad, his kinsman, attended his elder comrade with +a very praiseworthy affectionateness and care until he was pronounced +out of danger by the doctors, when Frank went off, passed the winter at +Bruxelles, and besieged, no doubt, some other fortress there. Very few +lads would have given up their pleasures so long and so gayly as Frank +did; his cheerful prattle soothed many long days of Esmond's pain and +languor. Frank was supposed to be still at his kinsman's bedside for +a month after he had left it, for letters came from his mother at +home full of thanks to the younger gentleman for his care of his elder +brother (so it pleased Esmond's mistress now affectionately to style +him); nor was Mr. Esmond in a hurry to undeceive her, when the good +young fellow was gone for his Christmas holiday. It was as pleasant to +Esmond on his couch to watch the young man's pleasure at the idea of +being free, as to note his simple efforts to disguise his satisfaction +on going away. There are days when a flask of champagne at a cabaret, +and a red-cheeked partner to share it, are too strong temptations for +any young fellow of spirit. I am not going to play the moralist, and +cry “Fie.” For ages past, I know how old men preach, and what young +men practise; and that patriarchs have had their weak moments too, long +since Father Noah toppled over after discovering the vine. Frank went +off, then, to his pleasures at Bruxelles, in which capital many young +fellows of our army declared they found infinitely greater diversion +even than in London: and Mr. Henry Esmond remained in his sick-room, +where he writ a fine comedy, that his mistress pronounced to be sublime, +and that was acted no less than three successive nights in London in the +next year. + +Here, as he lay nursing himself, ubiquitous Mr. Holt reappeared, and +stopped a whole month at Mons, where he not only won over Colonel Esmond +to the King's side in politics (that side being always held by the +Esmond family); but where he endeavored to reopen the controversial +question between the churches once more, and to recall Esmond to that +religion in which, in his infancy, he had been baptized. Holt was a +casuist, both dexterous and learned, and presented the case between +the English church and his own in such a way that those who granted +his premises ought certainly to allow his conclusions. He touched on +Esmond's delicate state of health, chance of dissolution, and so forth; +and enlarged upon the immense benefits that the sick man was likely to +forego--benefits which the church of England did not deny to those of +the Roman communion, as how should she, being derived from that church, +and only an offshoot from it? But Mr. Esmond said that his church was +the church of his country, and to that he chose to remain faithful: +other people were welcome to worship and to subscribe any other set of +articles, whether at Rome or at Augsburg. But if the good Father meant +that Esmond should join the Roman communion for fear of consequences, +and that all England ran the risk of being damned for heresy, Esmond, +for one, was perfectly willing to take his chance of the penalty along +with the countless millions of his fellow-countrymen, who were bred +in the same faith, and along with some of the noblest, the truest, the +purest, the wisest, the most pious and learned men and women in the +world. + +As for the political question, in that Mr. Esmond could agree with the +Father much more readily, and had come to the same conclusion, +though, perhaps, by a different way. The right divine, about which Dr. +Sacheverel and the High Church party in England were just now making a +bother, they were welcome to hold as they chose. If Richard Cromwell, +and his father before him had been crowned and anointed (and bishops +enough would have been found to do it), it seemed to Mr. Esmond that +they would have had the right divine just as much as any Plantagenet, or +Tudor, or Stuart. But the desire of the country being unquestionably +for an hereditary monarchy, Esmond thought an English king out of St. +Germains was better and fitter than a German prince from Herrenhausen, +and that if he failed to satisfy the nation, some other Englishman might +be found to take his place; and so, though with no frantic enthusiasm, +or worship of that monstrous pedigree which the Tories chose to consider +divine, he was ready to say, “God save King James!” when Queen Anne went +the way of kings and commoners. + +“I fear, Colonel, you are no better than a republican at heart,” says +the priest with a sigh. + +“I am an Englishman,” says Harry, “and take my country as I find her. +The will of the nation being for church and king, I am for church and +king too; but English church and English king; and that is why your +church isn't mine, though your king is.” + +Though they lost the day at Malplaquet, it was the French who were +elated by that action, whilst the conquerors were dispirited, by it; and +the enemy gathered together a larger army than ever, and made prodigious +efforts for the next campaign. Marshal Berwick was with the French this +year; and we heard that Mareschal Villars was still suffering of his +wound, was eager to bring our Duke to action, and vowed he would fight +us in his coach. Young Castlewood came flying back from Bruxelles, as +soon as he heard that fighting was to begin; and the arrival of the +Chevalier de St. George was announced about May. “It's the King's third +campaign, and it's mine,” Frank liked saying. He was come back a greater +Jacobite than ever, and Esmond suspected that some fair conspirators +at Bruxelles had been inflaming the young man's ardor. Indeed, he owned +that he had a message from the Queen, Beatrix's godmother, who had given +her name to Frank's sister the year before he and his sovereign were +born. + +However desirous Marshal Villars might be to fight, my Lord Duke did not +seem disposed to indulge him this campaign. Last year his Grace had been +all for the Whigs and Hanoverians; but finding, on going to England, his +country cold towards himself, and the people in a ferment of High Church +loyalty, the Duke comes back to his army cooled towards the Hanoverians, +cautious with the Imperialists, and particularly civil and polite +towards the Chevalier de St. George. 'Tis certain that messengers and +letters were continually passing between his Grace and his brave nephew, +the Duke of Berwick, in the opposite camp. No man's caresses were more +opportune than his Grace's, and no man ever uttered expressions of +regard and affection more generously. He professed to Monsieur de Torcy, +so Mr. St. John told the writer, quite an eagerness to be cut in pieces +for the exiled Queen and her family; nay more, I believe, this year +he parted with a portion of the most precious part of himself--his +money--which he sent over to the royal exiles. Mr. Tunstal, who was in +the Prince's service, was twice or thrice in and out of our camp; the +French, in theirs of Arlieu and about Arras. A little river, the Canihe +I think 'twas called, (but this is writ away from books and Europe; and +the only map the writer hath of these scenes of his youth, bears no +mark of this little stream,) divided our pickets from the enemy's. +Our sentries talked across the stream, when they could make themselves +understood to each other, and when they could not, grinned, and handed +each other their brandy-flasks or their pouches of tobacco. And one fine +day of June, riding thither with the officer who visited the outposts, +(Colonel Esmond was taking an airing on horseback, being too weak for +military duty,) they came to this river, where a number of English and +Scots were assembled, talking to the good-natured enemy on the other +side. + +Esmond was especially amused with the talk of one long fellow, with a +great curling red moustache, and blue eyes, that was half a dozen +inches taller than his swarthy little comrades on the French side of the +stream, and being asked by the Colonel, saluted him, and said that he +belonged to the Royal Cravats. + +From his way of saying “Royal Cravat,” Esmond at once knew that the +fellow's tongue had first wagged on the banks of the Liffey, and not +the Loire; and the poor soldier--a deserter probably--did not like to +venture very deep into French conversation, lest his unlucky brogue +should peep out. He chose to restrict himself to such few expressions +in the French language as he thought he had mastered easily; and +his attempt at disguise was infinitely amusing. Mr. Esmond whistled +Lillibullero, at which Teague's eyes began to twinkle, and then flung +him a dollar, when the poor boy broke out with a “God bless--that is, +Dieu benisse votre honor,” that would infallibly have sent him to the +provost-marshal had he been on our side of the river. + +Whilst this parley was going on, three officers on horseback, on the +French side, appeared at some little distance, and stopped as if eying +us, when one of them left the other two, and rode close up to us who +were by the stream. “Look, look!” says the Royal Cravat, with great +agitation, “pas lui, that's he; not him, l'autre,” and pointed to the +distant officer on a chestnut horse, with a cuirass shining in the sun, +and over it a broad blue ribbon. + +“Please to take Mr. Hamilton's services to my Lord Marlborough--my Lord +Duke,” says the gentleman in English: and, looking to see that the party +were not hostilely disposed, he added, with a smile, “There's a friend +of yours, gentlemen, yonder; he bids me to say that he saw some of your +faces on the 11th of September last year.” + +As the gentleman spoke, the other two officers rode up, and came quite +close. We knew at once who it was. It was the King, then two-and-twenty +years old, tall and slim, with deep brown eyes, that looked melancholy, +though his lips wore a smile. We took off our hats and saluted him. No +man, sure, could see for the first time, without emotion, the youthful +inheritor of so much fame and misfortune. It seemed to Mr. Esmond that +the Prince was not unlike young Castlewood, whose age and figure he +resembled. The Chevalier de St. George acknowledged the salute, and +looked at us hard. Even the idlers on our side of the river set up a +hurrah. As for the Royal Cravat, he ran to the Prince's stirrup, knelt +down and kissed his boot, and bawled and looked a hundred ejaculations +and blessings. The prince bade the aide-de-camp give him a piece of +money; and when the party saluting us had ridden away, Cravat spat upon +the piece of gold by way of benediction, and swaggered away, pouching +his coin and twirling his honest carroty moustache. + +The officer in whose company Esmond was, the same little captain of +Handyside's regiment, Mr. Sterne, who had proposed the garden at Lille, +when my Lord Mohun and Esmond had their affair, was an Irishman too, and +as brave a little soul as ever wore a sword. “Bedad,” says Roger Sterne, +“that long fellow spoke French so beautiful that I shouldn't have known +he wasn't a foreigner, till he broke out with his hulla-ballooing, and +only an Irish calf can bellow like that.” And Roger made another remark +in his wild way, in which there was sense as well as absurdity--“If that +young gentleman,” says he, “would but ride over to our camp, instead of +Villars's, toss up his hat and say, 'Here am I, the King, who'll follow +me?' by the Lord, Esmond, the whole army would rise and carry him home +again, and beat Villars, and take Paris by the way.” + +The news of the Prince's visit was all through the camp quickly, and +scores of ours went down in hopes to see him. Major Hamilton, whom +we had talked with, sent back by a trumpet several silver pieces for +officers with us. Mr. Esmond received one of these; and that medal, and +a recompense not uncommon amongst Princes, were the only rewards he +ever had from a Royal person, whom he endeavored not very long after to +serve. + +Esmond quitted the army almost immediately after this, following his +general home; and, indeed, being advised to travel in the fine weather +and attempt to take no further part in the campaign. But he heard from +the army, that of the many who crowded to see the Chevalier de St. +George, Frank Castlewood had made himself most conspicuous: my Lord +Viscount riding across the little stream bareheaded to where the Prince +was, and dismounting and kneeling before him to do him homage. Some +said that the Prince had actually knighted him, but my lord denied +that statement, though he acknowledged the rest of the story, and +said:--“From having been out of favor with Corporal John,” as he called +the Duke, “before his Grace warned him not to commit those follies, and +smiled on him cordially ever after.” + +“And he was so kind to me,” Frank writ, “that I thought I would put in a +good word for Master Harry, but when I mentioned your name he looked as +black as thunder, and said he had never heard of you.” + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +I GO HOME, AND HARP ON THE OLD STRING. + + +After quitting Mons and the army, and as he was waiting for a packet +at Ostend, Esmond had a letter from his young kinsman Castlewood at +Bruxelles, conveying intelligence whereof Frank besought him to be the +bearer to London, and which caused Colonel Esmond no small anxiety. + +The young scapegrace, being one-and-twenty years old, and being anxious +to sow his “wild otes,” as he wrote, had married Mademoiselle de +Wertheim, daughter of Count de Wertheim, Chamberlain to the Emperor, +and having a post in the Household of the Governor of the Netherlands. +“P.S.,” the young gentleman wrote: “Clotilda is OLDER THAN ME, which +perhaps may be objected to her: but I am so OLD A RAIK that the age +makes no difference, and I am DETERMINED to reform. We were married at +St. Gudule, by Father Holt. She is heart and soul for the GOOD CAUSE. +And here the cry is Vif-le-Roy, which my mother will JOIN IN, and Trix +TOO. Break this news to 'em gently: and tell Mr. Finch, my agent, to +press the people for their rents, and send me the RYNO anyhow. Clotilda +sings, and plays on the Spinet BEAUTIFULLY. She is a fair beauty. And +if it's a son, you shall stand GODFATHER. I'm going to leave the army, +having had ENUF OF SOLDERING; and my Lord Duke RECOMMENDS me. I shall +pass the winter here: and stop at least until Clo's lying in. I call +her OLD CLO, but nobody else shall. She is the cleverest woman in all +Bruxelles: understanding painting, music, poetry, and perfect at COOKERY +AND PUDDENS. I borded with the Count, that's how I came to know her. +There are four Counts her brothers. One an Abbey--three with the +Prince's army. They have a lawsuit for AN IMMENCE FORTUNE: but are now +in a PORE WAY. Break this to mother, who'll take anything from YOU. +And write, and bid Finch write AMEDIATELY. Hostel de l'Aigle Noire, +Bruxelles, Flanders.” + +So Frank had married a Roman Catholic lady, and an heir was expected, +and Mr. Esmond was to carry this intelligence to his mistress at London. +'Twas a difficult embassy; and the Colonel felt not a little tremor as +he neared the capital. + +He reached his inn late, and sent a messenger to Kensington to announce +his arrival and visit the next morning. The messenger brought back news +that the Court was at Windsor, and the fair Beatrix absent and engaged +in her duties there. Only Esmond's mistress remained in her house at +Kensington. She appeared in court but once in the year; Beatrix was +quite the mistress and ruler of the little mansion, inviting the company +thither, and engaging in every conceivable frolic of town pleasure. +Whilst her mother, acting as the young lady's protectress and elder +sister, pursued her own path, which was quite modest and secluded. + +As soon as ever Esmond was dressed (and he had been awake long before +the town), he took a coach for Kensington, and reached it so early that +he met his dear mistress coming home from morning prayers. She carried +her prayer-book, never allowing a footman to bear it, as everybody else +did: and it was by this simple sign Esmond knew what her occupation had +been. He called to the coachman to stop, and jumped out as she looked +towards him. She wore her hood as usual, and she turned quite pale when +she saw him. To feel that kind little hand near to his heart seemed +to give him strength. They were soon at the door of her ladyship's +house--and within it. + +With a sweet sad smile she took his hand and kissed it. + +“How ill you have been: how weak you look, my dear Henry,” she said. + +'Tis certain the Colonel did look like a ghost, except that ghosts do +not look very happy, 'tis said. Esmond always felt so on returning to +her after absence, indeed whenever he looked in her sweet kind face. + +“I am come back to be nursed by my family,” says he. “If Frank had +not taken care of me after my wound, very likely I should have gone +altogether.” + +“Poor Frank, good Frank!” says his mother. “You'll always be kind to +him, my lord,” she went on. “The poor child never knew he was doing you +a wrong.” + +“My lord!” cries out Colonel Esmond. “What do you mean, dear lady?” + +“I am no lady,” says she; “I am Rachel Esmond, Francis Esmond's widow, +my lord. I cannot bear that title. Would we never had taken it from him +who has it now. But we did all in our power, Henry: we did all in our +power; and my lord and I--that is--” + +“Who told you this tale, dearest lady?” asked the Colonel. + +“Have you not had the letter I writ you? I writ to you at Mons directly +I heard it,” says Lady Esmond. + +“And from whom?” again asked Colonel Esmond--and his mistress then told +him that on her death-bed the Dowager Countess, sending for her, had +presented her with this dismal secret as a legacy. “'Twas very malicious +of the Dowager,” Lady Esmond said, “to have had it so long, and to +have kept the truth from me.” “Cousin Rachel,” she said,--and Esmond's +mistress could not forbear smiling as she told the story--“Cousin +Rachel,” cries the Dowager, “I have sent for you, as the doctors say +I may go off any day in this dysentery; and to ease my conscience of a +great load that has been on it. You always have been a poor creature and +unfit for great honor, and what I have to say won't, therefore, affect +you so much. You must know, Cousin Rachel, that I have left my house, +plate, and furniture, three thousand pounds in money, and my diamonds +that my late revered Saint and Sovereign, King James, presented me with, +to my Lord Viscount Castlewood.” + +“To my Frank?” says Lady Castlewood; “I was in hopes--” + +To Viscount Castlewood, my dear; Viscount Castlewood and Baron Esmond +of Shandon in the Kingdom of Ireland, Earl and Marquis of Esmond under +patent of his Majesty King James the Second, conferred upon my husband +the late Marquis--for I am Marchioness of Esmond before God and man.” + +“And have you left poor Harry nothing, dear Marchioness?” asks Lady +Castlewood (she hath told me the story completely since with her quiet +arch way; the most charming any woman ever had: and I set down the +narrative here at length, so as to have done with it). “And have you +left poor Harry nothing?” asks my dear lady: “for you know, Henry,” she +says with her sweet smile, “I used always to pity Esau--and I think I am +on his side--though papa tried very hard to convince me the other way.” + +“Poor Harry!” says the old lady. “So you want something left to poor +Harry: he,--he! (reach me the drops, cousin). Well, then, my dear, since +you want poor Harry to have a fortune, you must understand that ever +since the year 1691, a week after the battle of the Boyne, where the +Prince of Orange defeated his royal sovereign and father, for which +crime he is now suffering in flames (ugh! ugh!) Henry Esmond hath been +Marquis of Esmond and Earl of Castlewood in the United Kingdom, and +Baron and Viscount Castlewood of Shandon in Ireland, and a Baronet--and +his eldest son will be, by courtesy, styled Earl of Castlewood--he! he! +What do you think of that, my dear?” + +“Gracious mercy! how long have you known this?” cries the other lady +(thinking perhaps that the old Marchioness was wandering in her wits). + +“My husband, before he was converted, was a wicked wretch,” the sick +sinner continued. “When he was in the Low Countries he seduced a +weaver's daughter; and added to his wickedness by marrying her. And then +he came to this country and married me--a poor girl--a poor innocent +young thing--I say,”--“though she was past forty, you know, Harry, when +she married: and as for being innocent”--“Well,” she went on, “I knew +nothing of my lord's wickedness for three years after our marriage, and +after the burial of our poor little boy I had it done over again, my +dear: I had myself married by Father Holt in Castlewood chapel, as soon +as ever I heard the creature was dead--and having a great illness then, +arising from another sad disappointment I had, the priest came and told +me that my lord had a son before our marriage, and that the child was at +nurse in England; and I consented to let the brat be brought home, and a +queer little melancholy child it was when it came. + +“Our intention was to make a priest of him: and he was bred for this, +until you perverted him from it, you wicked woman. And I had again hopes +of giving an heir to my lord, when he was called away upon the King's +business, and died fighting gloriously at the Boyne water. + +“Should I be disappointed--I owed your husband no love, my dear, for he +had jilted me in the most scandalous way and I thought there would be +time to declare the little weaver's son for the true heir. But I was +carried off to prison, where your husband was so kind to me--urging +all his friends to obtain my release, and using all his credit in my +favor--that I relented towards him, especially as my director counselled +me to be silent; and that it was for the good of the King's service +that the title of our family should continue with your husband the late +viscount, whereby his fidelity would be always secured to the King. And +a proof of this is, that a year before your husband's death, when he +thought of taking a place under the Prince of Orange, Mr. Holt went to +him, and told him what the state of the matter was, and obliged him to +raise a large sum for his Majesty; and engaged him in the true cause so +heartily, that we were sure of his support on any day when it should be +considered advisable to attack the usurper. Then his sudden death came; +and there was a thought of declaring the truth. But 'twas determined +to be best for the King's service to let the title still go with the +younger branch; and there's no sacrifice a Castlewood wouldn't make for +that cause, my dear. + +“As for Colonel Esmond, he knew the truth already.” (“And then, Harry,” + my mistress said, “she told me of what had happened at my dear husband's +death-bed”). “He doth not intend to take the title, though it belongs to +him. But it eases my conscience that you should know the truth, my dear. +And your son is lawfully Viscount Castlewood so long as his cousin doth +not claim the rank.” + +This was the substance of the Dowager's revelation. Dean Atterbury had +knowledge of it, Lady Castlewood said, and Esmond very well knows how: +that divine being the clergyman for whom the late lord had sent on his +death-bed: and when Lady Castlewood would instantly have written to her +son, and conveyed the truth to him, the Dean's advice was that a letter +should be writ to Colonel Esmond rather; that the matter should be +submitted to his decision, by which alone the rest of the family were +bound to abide. + +“And can my dearest lady doubt what that will be?” says the Colonel. + +“It rests with you, Harry, as the head of our house.” + +“It was settled twelve years since, by my dear lord's bedside,” says +Colonel Esmond. “The children must know nothing of this. Frank and his +heirs after him must bear our name. 'Tis his rightfully; I have not even +a proof of that marriage of my father and mother, though my poor lord, +on his death-bed, told me that Father Holt had brought such a proof to +Castlewood. I would not seek it when I was abroad. I went and looked at +my poor mother's grave in her convent. What matter to her now? No court +of law on earth, upon my mere word, would deprive my Lord Viscount and +set me up. I am the head of the house, dear lady; but Frank is Viscount +of Castlewood still. And rather than disturb him, I would turn monk, or +disappear in America.” + +As he spoke so to his dearest mistress, for whom he would have been +willing to give up his life, or to make any sacrifice any day, the fond +creature flung herself down on her knees before him, and kissed both his +hands in an outbreak of passionate love and gratitude, such as could not +but melt his heart, and make him feel very proud and thankful that God +had given him the power to show his love for her, and to prove it by +some little sacrifice on his own part. To be able to bestow benefits +or happiness on those one loves is sure the greatest blessing conferred +upon a man--and what wealth or name, or gratification of ambition or +vanity, could compare with the pleasure Esmond now had of being able to +confer some kindness upon his best and dearest friends? + +“Dearest saint,” says he--“purest soul, that has had so much to suffer, +that has blest the poor lonely orphan with such a treasure of love. 'Tis +for me to kneel, not for you: 'tis for me to be thankful that I can make +you happy. Hath my life any other aim? Blessed be God that I can serve +you! What pleasure, think you, could all the world give me compared to +that?” + +“Don't raise me,” she said, in a wild way, to Esmond, who would have +lifted her. “Let me kneel--let me kneel, and--and--worship you.” + +Before such a partial judge as Esmond's dear mistress owned herself to +be, any cause which he might plead was sure to be given in his favor; +and accordingly he found little difficulty in reconciling her to the +news whereof he was bearer, of her son's marriage to a foreign lady, +Papist though she was. Lady Castlewood never could be brought to think +so ill of that religion as other people in England thought of it: she +held that ours was undoubtedly a branch of the Catholic church, but that +the Roman was one of the main stems on which, no doubt, many errors had +been grafted (she was, for a woman, extraordinarily well versed in this +controversy, having acted, as a girl, as secretary to her father, the +late dean, and written many of his sermons, under his dictation); and if +Frank had chosen to marry a lady of the church of south Europe, as she +would call the Roman communion, there was no need why she should not +welcome her as a daughter-in-law: and accordingly she wrote to her new +daughter a very pretty, touching letter (as Esmond thought, who had +cognizance of it before it went), in which the only hint of reproof was +a gentle remonstrance that her son had not written to herself, to ask +a fond mother's blessing for that step which he was about taking. +“Castlewood knew very well,” so she wrote to her son, “that she never +denied him anything in her power to give, much less would she think of +opposing a marriage that was to make his happiness, as she trusted, and +keep him out of wild courses, which had alarmed her a good deal:” and +she besought him to come quickly to England, to settle down in his +family house of Castlewood (“It is his family house,” says she, to +Colonel Esmond, “though only his own house by your forbearance”) and to +receive the accompt of her stewardship during his ten years' minority. +By care and frugality, she had got the estate into a better condition +than ever it had been since the Parliamentary wars; and my lord was now +master of a pretty, small income, not encumbered of debts, as it +had been, during his father's ruinous time. “But in saving my son's +fortune,” says she, “I fear I have lost a great part of my hold on him.” + And, indeed, this was the case: her ladyship's daughter complaining that +their mother did all for Frank, and nothing for her; and Frank himself +being dissatisfied at the narrow, simple way of his mother's living at +Walcote, where he had been brought up more like a poor parson's son +than a young nobleman that was to make a figure in the world. 'Twas this +mistake in his early training, very likely, that set him so eager upon +pleasure when he had it in his power; nor is he the first lad that has +been spoiled by the over-careful fondness of women. No training is so +useful for children, great or small, as the company of their betters in +rank or natural parts; in whose society they lose the overweening sense +of their own importance, which stay-at-home people very commonly learn. + +But, as a prodigal that's sending in a schedule of his debts to his +friends, never puts all down, and, you may be sure, the rogue keeps back +some immense swingeing bill, that he doesn't dare to own; so the poor +Frank had a very heavy piece of news to break to his mother, and which +he hadn't the courage to introduce into his first confession. Some +misgivings Esmond might have, upon receiving Frank's letter, and knowing +into what hands the boy had fallen; but whatever these misgivings were, +he kept them to himself, not caring to trouble his mistress with any +fears that might be groundless. + +However, the next mail which came from Bruxelles, after Frank had +received his mother's letters there, brought back a joint composition +from himself and his wife, who could spell no better than her young +scapegrace of a husband, full of expressions of thanks, love, and duty +to the Dowager Viscountess, as my poor lady now was styled; and along +with this letter (which was read in a family council, namely, the +Viscountess, Mistress Beatrix, and the writer of this memoir, and which +was pronounced to be vulgar by the maid of honor, and felt to be so by +the other two), there came a private letter for Colonel Esmond from poor +Frank, with another dismal commission for the Colonel to execute, at his +best opportunity; and this was to announce that Frank had seen fit, +“by the exhortation of Mr. Holt, the influence of his Clotilda, and the +blessing of heaven and the saints,” says my lord, demurely, “to change +his religion, and be received into the bosom of that church of which +his sovereign, many of his family, and the greater part of the civilized +world, were members.” And his lordship added a postscript, of which +Esmond knew the inspiring genius very well, for it had the genuine twang +of the Seminary, and was quite unlike poor Frank's ordinary style of +writing and thinking; in which he reminded Colonel Esmond that he too +was, by birth, of that church; and that his mother and sister should +have his lordship's prayers to the saints (an inestimable benefit, +truly!) for their conversion. + +If Esmond had wanted to keep this secret, he could not; for a day or +two after receiving this letter, a notice from Bruxelles appeared in +the Post-Boy and other prints, announcing that “a young Irish lord, the +Viscount C-stlew--d, just come to his majority, and who had served the +last campaigns with great credit, as aide-de-camp to his Grace the Duke +of Marlborough, had declared for the Popish religion at Bruxelles, and +had walked in a procession barefoot, with a wax-taper in his hand.” The +notorious Mr. Holt, who had been employed as a Jacobite agent during +the last reign, and many times pardoned by King William, had been, the +Post-Boy said, the agent of this conversion. + +The Lady Castlewood was as much cast down by this news as Miss Beatrix +was indignant at it. “So,” says she, “Castlewood is no longer a home +for us, mother. Frank's foreign wife will bring her confessor, and there +will be frogs for dinner; and all Tusher's and my grandfather's sermons +are flung away upon my brother. I used to tell you that you killed him +with the catechism, and that he would turn wicked as soon as he broke +from his mammy's leading-strings. Oh, mother, you would not believe that +the young scapegrace was playing you tricks, and that sneak of a Tusher +was not a fit guide for him. Oh, those parsons, I hate 'em all!” says +Mistress Beatrix, clapping her hands together; “yes, whether they wear +cassocks and buckles, or beards and bare feet. There's a horrid Irish +wretch who never misses a Sunday at Court, and who pays me compliments +there, the horrible man; and if you want to know what parsons are, you +should see his behavior, and hear him talk of his own cloth. They're all +the same, whether they're bishops, or bonzes, or Indian fakirs. They +try to domineer, and they frighten us with kingdom come; and they wear a +sanctified air in public, and expect us to go down on our knees and ask +their blessing; and they intrigue, and they grasp, and they backbite, +and they slander worse than the worst courtier or the wickedest old +woman. I heard this Mr. Swift sneering at my Lord Duke of Marlborough's +courage the other day. He! that Teague from Dublin! because his Grace is +not in favor, dares to say this of him; and he says this that it may get +to her Majesty's ear, and to coax and wheedle Mrs. Masham. They say +the Elector of Hanover has a dozen of mistresses in his court at +Herrenhausen, and if he comes to be king over us, I wager that the +bishops and Mr. Swift, that wants to be one, will coax and wheedle them. +Oh, those priests and their grave airs! I'm sick of their square toes +and their rustling cassocks. I should like to go to a country where +there was not one, or turn Quaker, and get rid of 'em; and I would, only +the dress is not becoming, and I've much too pretty a figure to hide +it. Haven't I, cousin?” and here she glanced at her person and the +looking-glass, which told her rightly that a more beautiful shape and +face never were seen. + +“I made that onslaught on the priests,” says Miss Beatrix, afterwards, +“in order to divert my poor dear mother's anguish about Frank. Frank is +as vain as a girl, cousin. Talk of us girls being vain, what are WE to +you? It was easy to see that the first woman who chose would make a fool +of him, or the first robe--I count a priest and a woman all the same. We +are always caballing; we are not answerable for the fibs we tell; we are +always cajoling and coaxing, or threatening; and we are always making +mischief, Colonel Esmond--mark my word for that, who know the world, +sir, and have to make my way in it. I see as well as possible how +Frank's marriage hath been managed. The Count, our papa-in-law, is +always away at the coffee-house. The Countess, our mother, is always in +the kitchen looking after the dinner. The Countess, our sister, is at +the spinet. When my lord comes to say he is going on the campaign, the +lovely Clotilda bursts into tears, and faints--so; he catches her in his +arms--no, sir, keep your distance, cousin, if you please--she cries +on his shoulder, and he says, 'Oh, my divine, my adored, my beloved +Clotilda, are you sorry to part with me?' 'Oh, my Francisco,' says +she, 'oh my lord!' and at this very instant mamma and a couple of young +brothers, with moustaches and long rapiers, come in from the kitchen, +where they have been eating bread and onions. Mark my word, you will +have all this woman's relations at Castlewood three months after she has +arrived there. The old count and countess, and the young counts and all +the little countesses her sisters. Counts! every one of these wretches +says he is a count. Guiscard, that stabbed Mr. Harvey, said he was +a count; and I believe he was a barber. All Frenchmen are +barbers--Fiddledee! don't contradict me--or else dancing-masters, or +else priests.” And so she rattled on. + +“Who was it taught YOU to dance, Cousin Beatrix?” says the Colonel. + +She laughed out the air of a minuet, and swept a low curtsy, coming up +to the recover with the prettiest little foot in the world pointed out. +Her mother came in as she was in this attitude; my lady had been in her +closet, having taken poor Frank's conversion in a very serious way; the +madcap girl ran up to her mother, put her arms round her waist, kissed +her, tried to make her dance, and said: “Don't be silly, you kind little +mamma, and cry about Frank turning Papist. What a figure he must be, +with a white sheet and a candle, walking in a procession barefoot!” And +she kicked off her little slippers (the wonderfullest little shoes +with wonderful tall red heels: Esmond pounced upon one as it fell close +beside him), and she put on the drollest little moue, and marched up and +down the room holding Esmond's cane by way of taper. Serious as her mood +was, Lady Castlewood could not refrain from laughing; and as for +Esmond he looked on with that delight with which the sight of this fair +creature always inspired him: never had he seen any woman so arch, so +brilliant, and so beautiful. + +Having finished her march, she put out her foot for her slipper. The +Colonel knelt down: “If you will be Pope I will turn Papist,” says he; +and her Holiness gave him gracious leave to kiss the little stockinged +foot before he put the slipper on. + +Mamma's feet began to pat on the floor during this operation, and +Beatrix, whose bright eyes nothing escaped, saw that little mark of +impatience. She ran up and embraced her mother, with her usual cry of, +“Oh, you silly little mamma: your feet are quite as pretty as mine,” + says she: “they are, cousin, though she hides 'em; but the shoemaker +will tell you that he makes for both off the same last.” + +“You are taller than I am, dearest,” says her mother, blushing over her +whole sweet face--“and--and it is your hand, my dear, and not your foot +he wants you to give him;” and she said it with a hysteric laugh, that +had more of tears than laughter in it; laying her head on her daughter's +fair shoulder, and hiding it there. They made a very pretty picture +together, and looked like a pair of sisters--the sweet simple matron +seeming younger than her years, and her daughter, if not older, yet +somehow, from a commanding manner and grace which she possessed above +most women, her mother's superior and protectress. + +“But oh!” cries my mistress, recovering herself after this scene, and +returning to her usual sad tone, “'tis a shame that we should laugh +and be making merry on a day when we ought to be down on our knees and +asking pardon.” + +“Asking pardon for what?” says saucy Mrs. Beatrix--“because Frank takes +it into his head to fast on Fridays and worship images? You know if you +had been born a Papist, mother, a Papist you would have remained to the +end of your days. 'Tis the religion of the King and of some of the best +quality. For my part, I'm no enemy to it, and think Queen Bess was not a +penny better than Queen Mary.” + +“Hush, Beatrix! Do not jest with sacred things, and remember of what +parentage you come,” cries my lady. Beatrix was ordering her ribbons, +and adjusting her tucker, and performing a dozen provokingly pretty +ceremonies, before the glass. The girl was no hypocrite at least. She +never at that time could be brought to think but of the world and her +beauty; and seemed to have no more sense of devotion than some people +have of music, that cannot distinguish one air from another. Esmond +saw this fault in her, as he saw many others--a bad wife would Beatrix +Esmond make, he thought, for any man under the degree of a Prince. She +was born to shine in great assemblies, and to adorn palaces, and to +command everywhere--to conduct an intrigue of politics, or to glitter in +a queen's train. But to sit at a homely table, and mend the stockings of +a poor man's children! that was no fitting duty for her, or at least +one that she wouldn't have broke her heart in trying to do. She was a +princess, though she had scarce a shilling to her fortune; and one +of her subjects--the most abject and devoted wretch, sure, that ever +drivelled at a woman's knees--was this unlucky gentleman; who bound his +good sense, and reason, and independence, hand and foot, and submitted +them to her. + +And who does not know how ruthlessly women will tyrannize when they are +let to domineer? and who does not know how useless advice is? I could +give good counsel to my descendants, but I know they'll follow their own +way, for all their grandfather's sermon. A man gets his own experience +about women, and will take nobody's hearsay; nor, indeed, is the young +fellow worth a fig that would. 'Tis I that am in love with my mistress, +not my old grandmother that counsels me: 'tis I that have fixed the +value of the thing I would have, and know the price I would pay for +it. It may be worthless to you, but 'tis all my life to me. Had Esmond +possessed the Great Mogul's crown and all his diamonds, or all the Duke +of Marlborough's money, or all the ingots sunk at Vigo, he would have +given them all for this woman. A fool he was, if you will; but so is +a sovereign a fool, that will give half a principality for a little +crystal as big as a pigeon's egg, and called a diamond: so is a wealthy +nobleman a fool, that will face danger or death, and spend half his +life, and all his tranquillity, caballing for a blue ribbon; so is a +Dutch merchant a fool, that hath been known to pay ten thousand crowns +for a tulip. There's some particular prize we all of us value, and that +every man of spirit will venture his life for. With this, it may be +to achieve a great reputation for learning; with that, to be a man of +fashion, and the admiration of the town; with another, to consummate a +great work of art or poetry, and go to immortality that way; and with +another, for a certain time of his life, the sole object and aim is a +woman. + +Whilst Esmond was under the domination of this passion, he remembers +many a talk he had with his intimates, who used to rally Our Knight of +the Rueful Countenance at his devotion, whereof he made no disguise, to +Beatrix; and it was with replies such as the above he met his friends' +satire. “Granted, I am a fool,” says he, “and no better than you; but +you are no better than I. You have your folly you labor for; give me the +charity of mine. What flatteries do you, Mr. St. John, stoop to whisper +in the ears of a queen's favorite? What nights of labor doth not the +laziest man in the world endure, foregoing his bottle, and his boon +companions, foregoing Lais, in whose lap he would like to be yawning, +that he may prepare a speech full of lies, to cajole three hundred +stupid country-gentlemen in the House of Commons, and get the hiccupping +cheers of the October Club! What days will you spend in your jolting +chariot.” (Mr. Esmond often rode to Windsor, and especially, of later +days, with the secretary.) “What hours will you pass on your gouty +feet--and how humbly will you kneel down to present a despatch--you, the +proudest man in the world, that has not knelt to God since you were a +boy, and in that posture whisper, flatter, adore almost, a stupid woman, +that's often boozy with too much meat and drink, when Mr. Secretary goes +for his audience! If my pursuit is vanity, sure yours is too.” And then +the Secretary, would fly out in such a rich flow of eloquence, as this +pen cannot pretend to recall; advocating his scheme of ambition, showing +the great good he would do for his country when he was the undisputed +chief of it; backing his opinion with a score of pat sentences from +Greek and Roman authorities (of which kind of learning he made rather +an ostentatious display), and scornfully vaunting the very arts and +meannesses by which fools were to be made to follow him, opponents to be +bribed or silenced, doubters converted, and enemies overawed. + +“I am Diogenes,” says Esmond, laughing, “that is taken up for a ride +in Alexander's chariot. I have no desire to vanquish Darius or to tame +Bucephalus. I do not want what you want, a great name or a high place: +to have them would bring me no pleasure. But my moderation is taste, not +virtue; and I know that what I do want is as vain as that which you long +after. Do not grudge me my vanity, if I allow yours; or rather, let us +laugh at both indifferently, and at ourselves, and at each other.” + +“If your charmer holds out,” says St. John, “at this rate she may +keep you twenty years besieging her, and surrender by the time you are +seventy, and she is old enough to be a grandmother. I do not say the +pursuit of a particular woman is not as pleasant a pastime as any other +kind of hunting,” he added; “only, for my part, I find the game won't +run long enough. They knock under too soon--that's the fault I find with +'em.” + +“The game which you pursue is in the habit of being caught, and used to +being pulled down,” says Mr. Esmond. + +“But Dulcinea del Toboso is peerless, eh?” says the other. “Well, honest +Harry, go and attack windmills--perhaps thou art not more mad than other +people,” St. John added, with a sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A PAPER OUT OF THE “SPECTATOR.” + + +Doth any young gentleman of my progeny, who may read his old +grandfather's papers, chance to be presently suffering under the passion +of Love? There is a humiliating cure, but one that is easy and almost +specific for the malady--which is, to try an alibi. Esmond went away +from his mistress and was cured a half-dozen times; he came back to her +side, and instantly fell ill again of the fever. He vowed that he could +leave her and think no more of her, and so he could pretty well, at +least, succeed in quelling that rage and longing he had whenever he was +with her; but as soon as he returned he was as bad as ever again. Truly +a ludicrous and pitiable object, at least exhausting everybody's pity +but his dearest mistress's, Lady Castlewood's, in whose tender breast he +reposed all his dreary confessions, and who never tired of hearing him +and pleading for him. + +Sometimes Esmond would think there was hope. Then again he would be +plagued with despair, at some impertinence or coquetry of his mistress. +For days they would be like brother and sister, or the dearest +friends--she, simple, fond, and charming--he, happy beyond measure at +her good behavior. But this would all vanish on a sudden. Either he +would be too pressing, and hint his love, when she would rebuff him +instantly, and give his vanity a box on the ear; or he would be jealous, +and with perfect good reason, of some new admirer that had sprung up, +or some rich young gentleman newly arrived in the town, that this +incorrigible flirt would set her nets and baits to draw in. If Esmond +remonstrated, the little rebel would say--“Who are you? I shall go my +own way, sirrah, and that way is towards a husband, and I don't want +YOU on the way. I am for your betters, Colonel, for your betters: do +you hear that? You might do if you had an estate and were younger; only +eight years older than I, you say! pish, you are a hundred years older. +You are an old, old Graveairs, and I should make you miserable, that +would be the only comfort I should have in marrying you. But you have +not money enough to keep a cat decently after you have paid your man his +wages, and your landlady her bill. Do you think I am going to live in +a lodging, and turn the mutton at a string whilst your honor nurses the +baby? Fiddlestick, and why did you not get this nonsense knocked out of +your head when you were in the wars? You are come back more dismal and +dreary than ever. You and mamma are fit for each other. You might be +Darby and Joan, and play cribbage to the end of your lives.” + +“At least you own to your worldliness, my poor Trix,” says her mother. + +“Worldliness. Oh, my pretty lady! Do you think that I am a child in the +nursery, and to be frightened by Bogey! Worldliness, to be sure; and +pray, madam, where is the harm of wishing to be comfortable? When you +are gone, you dearest old woman, or when I am tired of you and have +run away from you, where shall I go? Shall I go and be head nurse to my +Popish sister-in-law, take the children their physic, and whip 'em, +and put 'em to bed when they are naughty? Shall I be Castlewood's upper +servant, and perhaps marry Tom Tusher? Merci! I have been long enough +Frank's humble servant. Why am I not a man? I have ten times his brains, +and had I worn the--well, don't let your ladyship be frightened--had +I worn a sword and periwig instead of this mantle and commode to which +nature has condemned me--(though 'tis a pretty stuff, too--Cousin +Esmond! you will go to the Exchange to-morrow, and get the exact +counterpart of this ribbon, sir; do you hear?)--I would have made our +name talked about. So would Graveairs here have made something out of +our name if he had represented it. My Lord Graveairs would have done +very well. Yes, you have a very pretty way, and would have made a very +decent, grave speaker.” And here she began to imitate Esmond's way of +carrying himself and speaking to his face, and so ludicrously that his +mistress burst out a-laughing, and even he himself could see there was +some likeness in the fantastical malicious caricature. + +“Yes,” says she, “I solemnly vow, own, and confess, that I want a +good husband. Where's the harm of one? My face is my fortune. Who'll +come?--buy, buy, buy! I cannot toil, neither can I spin, but I can play +twenty-three games on the cards. I can dance the last dance, I can hunt +the stag, and I think I could shoot flying. I can talk as wicked as any +woman of my years, and know enough stories to amuse a sulky husband for +at least one thousand and one nights. I have a pretty taste for dress, +diamonds, gambling, and old China. I love sugar-plums, Malines lace +(that you brought me, cousin, is very pretty), the opera, and everything +that is useless and costly. I have got a monkey and a little +black boy--Pompey, sir, go and give a dish of chocolate to Colonel +Graveairs,--and a parrot and a spaniel, and I must have a husband. +Cupid, you hear?” + +“Iss, Missis!” says Pompey, a little grinning negro Lord Peterborrow +gave her, with a bird of Paradise in his turbant, and a collar with his +mistress's name on it. + +“Iss, Missis!” says Beatrix, imitating the child. “And if husband not +come, Pompey must go fetch one.” + +And Pompey went away grinning with his chocolate tray as Miss Beatrix +ran up to her mother and ended her sally of mischief in her common way, +with a kiss--no wonder that upon paying such a penalty her fond judge +pardoned her. + + +When Mr. Esmond came home, his health was still shattered; and he took a +lodging near to his mistresses, at Kensington, glad enough to be served +by them, and to see them day after day. He was enabled to see a little +company--and of the sort he liked best. Mr. Steele and Mr. Addison both +did him the honor to visit him; and drank many a glass of good claret +at his lodging, whilst their entertainer, through his wound, was kept to +diet drink and gruel. These gentlemen were Whigs, and great admirers of +my Lord Duke of Marlborough; and Esmond was entirely of the other party. +But their different views of politics did not prevent the gentlemen from +agreeing in private, nor from allowing, on one evening when Esmond's +kind old patron, Lieutenant-General Webb, with a stick and a crutch, +hobbled up to the Colonel's lodging (which was prettily situate at +Knightsbridge, between London and Kensington, and looking over +the Gardens), that the Lieutenant-General was a noble and gallant +soldier--and even that he had been hardly used in the Wynendael affair. +He took his revenge in talk, that must be confessed; and if Mr. Addison +had had a mind to write a poem about Wynendael, he might have heard from +the commander's own lips the story a hundred times over. + +Mr. Esmond, forced to be quiet, betook himself to literature for a +relaxation, and composed his comedy, whereof the prompter's copy lieth +in my walnut escritoire, sealed up and docketed, “The Faithful Fool, +a Comedy, as it was performed by her Majesty's Servants.” 'Twas a +very sentimental piece; and Mr. Steele, who had more of that kind of +sentiment than Mr. Addison, admired it, whilst the other rather sneered +at the performance; though he owned that, here and there, it contained +some pretty strokes. He was bringing out his own play of “Cato” at the +time, the blaze of which quite extinguished Esmond's farthing candle; +and his name was never put to the piece, which was printed as by a +Person of Quality. Only nine copies were sold, though Mr. Dennis, the +great critic, praised it, and said 'twas a work of great merit; and +Colonel Esmond had the whole impression burned one day in a rage, by +Jack Lockwood, his man. + +All this comedy was full of bitter satiric strokes against a certain +young lady. The plot of the piece was quite a new one. A young woman was +represented with a great number of suitors, selecting a pert fribble of +a peer, in place of the hero (but ill-acted, I think, by Mr. Wilks, +the Faithful Fool,) who persisted in admiring her. In the fifth act, +Teraminta was made to discover the merits of Eugenio (the F. F.), and +to feel a partiality for him too late; for he announced that he had +bestowed his hand and estate upon Rosaria, a country lass, endowed with +every virtue. But it must be owned that the audience yawned through the +play; and that it perished on the third night, with only half a dozen +persons to behold its agonies. Esmond and his two mistresses came to the +first night, and Miss Beatrix fell asleep; whilst her mother, who had +not been to a play since King James the Second's time, thought the +piece, though not brilliant, had a very pretty moral. + +Mr. Esmond dabbled in letters, and wrote a deal of prose and verse at +this time of leisure. When displeased with the conduct of Miss Beatrix, +he would compose a satire, in which he relieved his mind. When smarting +under the faithlessness of women, he dashed off a copy of verses, in +which he held the whole sex up to scorn. One day, in one of these moods, +he made a little joke, in which (swearing him to secrecy) he got his +friend Dick Steele to help him; and, composing a paper, he had it +printed exactly like Steele's paper, and by his printer, and laid on his +mistress's breakfast-table the following-- + + “SPECTATOR. + + “No. 341. “Tuesday, April 1, 1712. + + Mutato nomine de te Fabula narratur.--HORACE. + Thyself the morain of the fable see.--CREECH. + + +“Jocasta is known as a woman of learning and fashion, and as one of +the most amiable persons of this court and country. She is at home two +mornings of the week, and all the wits and a few of the beauties of +London flock to her assemblies. When she goes abroad to Tunbridge or the +Bath, a retinue of adorers rides the journey with her; and besides +the London beaux, she has a crowd of admirers at the Wells, the +polite amongst the natives of Sussex and Somerset pressing round her +tea-tables, and being anxious for a nod from her chair. Jocasta's +acquaintance is thus very numerous. Indeed, 'tis one smart writer's work +to keep her visiting-book--a strong footman is engaged to carry it; +and it would require a much stronger head even than Jocasta's own to +remember the names of all her dear friends. + +“Either at Epsom Wells or at Tunbridge (for of this important matter +Jocasta cannot be certain) it was her ladyship's fortune to become +acquainted with a young gentleman, whose conversation was so sprightly, +and manners amiable, that she invited the agreeable young spark to visit +her if ever he came to London, where her house in Spring Garden should +be open to him. Charming as he was, and without any manner of doubt +a pretty fellow, Jocasta hath such a regiment of the like continually +marching round her standard, that 'tis no wonder her attention +is distracted amongst them. And so, though this gentleman made a +considerable impression upon her, and touched her heart for at least +three-and-twenty minutes, it must be owned that she has forgotten his +name. He is a dark man, and may be eight-and-twenty years old. His dress +is sober, though of rich materials. He has a mole on his forehead over +his left eye; has a blue ribbon to his cane and sword, and wears his own +hair. + +“Jocasta was much flattered by beholding her admirer (for that everybody +admires who sees her is a point which she never can for a moment doubt) +in the next pew to her at St. James's Church last Sunday; and the manner +in which he appeared to go to sleep during the sermon--though from under +his fringed eyelids it was evident he was casting glances of respectful +rapture towards Jocasta--deeply moved and interested her. On coming out +of church, he found his way to her chair, and made her an elegant bow as +she stepped into it. She saw him at Court afterwards, where he carried +himself with a most distinguished air, though none of her acquaintances +knew his name; and the next night he was at the play, where her ladyship +was pleased to acknowledge him from the side-box. + +“During the whole of the comedy she racked her brains so to remember his +name that she did not hear a word of the piece: and having the happiness +to meet him once more in the lobby of the playhouse, she went up to +him in a flutter, and bade him remember that she kept two nights in the +week, and that she longed to see him at Spring Garden. + +“He appeared on Tuesday, in a rich suit, showing a very fine taste both +in the tailor and wearer; and though a knot of us were gathered round +the charming Jocasta, fellows who pretended to know every face upon +the town, not one could tell the gentleman's name in reply to Jocasta's +eager inquiries, flung to the right and left of her as he advanced up +the room with a bow that would become a duke. + +“Jocasta acknowledged this salute with one of those smiles and curtsies +of which that lady hath the secret. She curtsies with a languishing air, +as if to say, 'You are come at last. I have been pining for you:' and +then she finishes her victim with a killing look, which declares: 'O +Philander! I have no eyes but for you.' Camilla hath as good a curtsy +perhaps, and Thalestris much such another look; but the glance and the +curtsy together belong to Jocasta of all the English beauties alone. + +“'Welcome to London, sir,' says she. 'One can see you are from the +country by your looks.' She would have said 'Epsom,' or 'Tunbridge,' +had she remembered rightly at which place she had met the stranger; but, +alas! she had forgotten. + +“The gentleman said, 'he had been in town but three days; and one of his +reasons for coming hither was to have the honor of paying his court to +Jocasta.' + +“She said, 'the waters had agreed with her but indifferently.' + +“'The waters were for the sick,' the gentleman said: 'the young and +beautiful came but to make them sparkle. And as the clergyman read the +service on Sunday,' he added, 'your ladyship reminded me of the angel +that visited the pool.' A murmur of approbation saluted this sally. +Manilio, who is a wit when he is not at cards, was in such a rage that +he revoked when he heard it. + +“Jocasta was an angel visiting the waters; but at which of the +Bethesdas? She was puzzled more and more; and, as her way always is, +looked the more innocent and simple, the more artful her intentions +were. + +“'We were discoursing,' says she, 'about spelling of names and words +when you came. Why should we say goold and write gold, and call china +chayney, and Cavendish Candish, and Cholmondeley Chumley? If we call +Pulteney Poltney, why shouldn't we call poultry pultry--and--' + +“'Such an enchantress as your ladyship,' says he, 'is mistress of all +sorts of spells.' But this was Dr. Swift's pun, and we all knew it. + +“'And--and how do you spell your name?' says she, coming to the point at +length; for this sprightly conversation had lasted much longer than is +here set down, and been carried on through at least three dishes of tea. + +“'Oh, madam,' says he, 'I SPELL MY NAME WITH THE Y.' And laying down his +dish, my gentleman made another elegant bow, and was gone in a moment. + +“Jocasta hath had no sleep since this mortification, and the stranger's +disappearance. If balked in anything, she is sure to lose her health and +temper; and we, her servants, suffer, as usual, during the angry fits of +our Queen. Can you help us, Mr. Spectator, who know everything, to read +this riddle for her, and set at rest all our minds? We find in her list, +Mr. Berty, Mr. Smith, Mr. Pike, Mr. Tyler--who may be Mr. Bertie, Mr. +Smyth, Mr. Pyke, Mr. Tiler, for what we know. She hath turned away +the clerk of her visiting-book, a poor fellow with a great family of +children. Read me this riddle, good Mr. Shortface, and oblige your +admirer--OEDIPUS.” + + +“THE TRUMPET COFFEE-HOUSE, WHITEHALL. + +“MR. SPECTATOR,--I am a gentleman but little acquainted with the town, +though I have had a university education, and passed some years +serving my country abroad, where my name is better known than in the +coffee-house and St. James's. + +“Two years since my uncle died, leaving me a pretty estate in the county +of Kent; and being at Tunbridge Wells last summer, after my mourning was +over, and on the look-out, if truth must be told, for some young lady +who would share with me the solitude of my great Kentish house, and be +kind to my tenantry (for whom a woman can do a great deal more good than +the best-intentioned man can), I was greatly fascinated by a young lady +of London, who was the toast of all the company at the Wells. Every one +knows Saccharissa's beauty; and I think, Mr. Spectator, no one better +than herself. + +“My table-book informs me that I danced no less than seven-and-twenty +sets with her at the Assembly. I treated her to the fiddles twice. I +was admitted on several days to her lodging, and received by her with a +great deal of distinction, and, for a time, was entirely her slave. It +was only when I found, from common talk of the company at the Wells, and +from narrowly watching one, who I once thought of asking the most sacred +question a man can put to a woman, that I became aware how unfit she was +to be a country gentleman's wife; and that this fair creature was but a +heartless worldly jilt, playing with affections that she never meant to +return, and, indeed, incapable of returning them. 'Tis admiration such +women want, not love that touches them; and I can conceive, in her old +age, no more wretched creature than this lady will be, when her beauty +hath deserted her, when her admirers have left her, and she hath neither +friendship nor religion to console her. + +“Business calling me to London, I went to St. James's Church last +Sunday, and there opposite me sat my beauty of the Wells. Her behavior +during the whole service was so pert, languishing, and absurd; she +flirted her fan, and ogled and eyed me in a manner so indecent, that I +was obliged to shut my eyes, so as actually not to see her, and whenever +I opened them beheld hers (and very bright they are) still staring at +me. I fell in with her afterwards at Court, and at the playhouse; and +here nothing would satisfy her but she must elbow through the crowd +and speak to me, and invite me to the assembly, which she holds at her +house, not very far from Ch-r-ng Cr-ss. + +“Having made her a promise to attend, of course I kept my promise; and +found the young widow in the midst of a half-dozen of card tables, and +a crowd of wits and admirers. I made the best bow I could, and advanced +towards her; and saw by a peculiar puzzled look in her face, though she +tried to hide her perplexity, that she had forgotten even my name. + +“Her talk, artful as it was, convinced me that I had guessed aright. She +turned the conversation most ridiculously upon the spelling of names and +words; and I replied with as ridiculous fulsome compliments as I could +pay her: indeed, one in which I compared her to an angel visiting the +sick wells, went a little too far; nor should I have employed it, but +that the allusion came from the Second Lesson last Sunday, which we both +had heard, and I was pressed to answer her. + +“Then she came to the question, which I knew was awaiting me, and asked +how I SPELT my name? 'Madam,' says I, turning on my heel, 'I spell it +with a Y.' And so I left her, wondering at the light-heartedness of the +town-people, who forget and make friends so easily, and resolved to look +elsewhere for a partner for your constant reader, + +“CYMON WYLDOATS.” + +“You know my real name, Mr. Spectator, in which there is no such a +letter as HUPSILON. But if the lady, whom I have called Saccharissa, +wonders that I appear no more at the tea-tables, she is hereby +respectfully informed the reason Y.” + + +The above is a parable, whereof the writer will now expound the meaning. +Jocasta was no other than Miss Esmond, Maid of Honor to her Majesty. +She had told Mr. Esmond this little story of having met a gentleman +somewhere, and forgetting his name, when the gentleman, with no such +malicious intentions as those of “Cymon” in the above fable, made the +answer simply as above; and we all laughed to think how little Mistress +Jocasta-Beatrix had profited by her artifice and precautions. + +As for Cymon, he was intended to represent yours and her very humble +servant, the writer of the apologue and of this story, which we had +printed on a “Spectator” paper at Mr. Steele's office, exactly as +those famous journals were printed, and which was laid on the table +at breakfast in place of the real newspaper. Mistress Jocasta, who had +plenty of wit, could not live without her Spectator to her tea; and +this sham Spectator was intended to convey to the young woman that +she herself was a flirt, and that Cymon was a gentleman of honor and +resolution, seeing all her faults, and determined to break the chains +once and for ever. + +For though enough hath been said about this love-business +already--enough, at least, to prove to the writer's heirs what a silly +fond fool their old grandfather was, who would like them to consider him +as a very wise old gentleman; yet not near all has been told concerning +this matter, which, if it were allowed to take in Esmond's journal the +space it occupied in his time, would weary his kinsmen and women of a +hundred years' time beyond all endurance; and form such a diary of folly +and drivelling, raptures and rage, as no man of ordinary vanity would +like to leave behind him. + +The truth is, that, whether she laughed at him or encouraged him; +whether she smiled or was cold, and turned her smiles on another; +worldly and ambitious, as he knew her to be; hard and careless, as she +seemed to grow with her court life, and a hundred admirers that came to +her and left her; Esmond, do what he would, never could get Beatrix out +of his mind; thought of her constantly at home or away. If he read his +name in a Gazette, or escaped the shot of a cannon-ball or a greater +danger in the campaign, as has happened to him more than once, the +instant thought after the honor achieved or the danger avoided, was, +“What will SHE say of it?” “Will this distinction or the idea of this +peril elate her or touch her, so as to be better inclined towards me?” + He could no more help this passionate fidelity of temper than he could +help the eyes he saw with--one or the other seemed a part of his nature; +and knowing every one of her faults as well as the keenest of her +detractors, and the folly of an attachment to such a woman, of which the +fruition could never bring him happiness for above a week, there was yet +a charm about this Circe from which the poor deluded gentleman could +not free himself; and for a much longer period than Ulysses (another +middle-aged officer, who had travelled much, and been in the foreign +wars,) Esmond felt himself enthralled and besotted by the wiles of this +enchantress. Quit her! He could no more quit her, as the Cymon of +this story was made to quit his false one, than he could lose his +consciousness of yesterday. She had but to raise her finger, and he +would come back from ever so far; she had but to say I have discarded +such and such an adorer, and the poor infatuated wretch would be sure to +come and roder about her mother's house, willing to be put on the ranks +of suitors, though he knew he might be cast off the next week. If he +were like Ulysses in his folly, at least she was in so far like Penelope +that she had a crowd of suitors, and undid day after day and night after +night the handiwork of fascination and the web of coquetry with which +she was wont to allure and entertain them. + +Part of her coquetry may have come from her position about the Court, +where the beautiful maid of honor was the light about which a thousand +beaux came and fluttered; where she was sure to have a ring of admirers +round her, crowding to listen to her repartees as much as to admire her +beauty; and where she spoke and listened to much free talk, such as +one never would have thought the lips or ears of Rachel Castlewood's +daughter would have uttered or heard. When in waiting at Windsor or +Hampton, the Court ladies and gentlemen would be making riding parties +together; Mrs. Beatrix in a horseman's coat and hat, the foremost after +the stag-hounds and over the park fences, a crowd of young fellows at +her heels. If the English country ladies at this time were the most pure +and modest of any ladies in the world--the English town and court ladies +permitted themselves words and behavior that were neither modest nor +pure; and claimed, some of them, a freedom which those who love that +sex most would never wish to grant them. The gentlemen of my family that +follow after me (for I don't encourage the ladies to pursue any such +studies), may read in the works of Mr. Congreve, and Dr. Swift and +others, what was the conversation and what the habits of our time. + +The most beautiful woman in England in 1712, when Esmond returned to +this country, a lady of high birth, and though of no fortune to be sure, +with a thousand fascinations of wit and manners, Beatrix Esmond was +now six-and-twenty years old, and Beatrix Esmond still. Of her hundred +adorers she had not chosen one for a husband; and those who had asked +had been jilted by her; and more still had left her. A succession of +near ten years' crops of beauties had come up since her time, and had +been reaped by proper HUSBANDmen, if we may make an agricultural simile, +and had been housed comfortably long ago. Her own contemporaries were +sober mothers by this time; girls with not a tithe of her charms, or +her wit, having made good matches, and now claiming precedence over +the spinster who but lately had derided and outshone them. The young +beauties were beginning to look down on Beatrix as an old maid, and +sneer, and call her one of Charles II.'s ladies, and ask whether her +portrait was not in the Hampton Court Gallery? But still she reigned, +at least in one man's opinion, superior over all the little misses +that were the toasts of the young lads; and in Esmond's eyes was ever +perfectly lovely and young. + +Who knows how many were nearly made happy by possessing her, or, rather, +how many were fortunate in escaping this siren? 'Tis a marvel to think +that her mother was the purest and simplest woman in the whole world, +and that this girl should have been born from her. I am inclined to +fancy, my mistress, who never said a harsh word to her children (and +but twice or thrice only to one person), must have been too fond and +pressing with the maternal authority; for her son and her daughter both +revolted early; nor after their first flight from the nest could they +ever be brought back quite to the fond mother's bosom. Lady Castlewood, +and perhaps it was as well, knew little of her daughter's life and real +thoughts. How was she to apprehend what passes in Queen's ante-chambers +and at Court tables? Mrs. Beatrix asserted her own authority so +resolutely that her mother quickly gave in. The maid of honor had her +own equipage; went from home and came back at her own will: her mother +was alike powerless to resist her or to lead her, or to command or to +persuade her. + +She had been engaged once, twice, thrice, to be married, Esmond +believed. When he quitted home, it hath been said, she was promised to +my Lord Ashburnham, and now, on his return, behold his lordship was just +married to Lady Mary Butler, the Duke of Ormonde's daughter, and his +fine houses, and twelve thousand a year of fortune, for which Miss +Beatrix had rather coveted him, was out of her power. To her Esmond +could say nothing in regard to the breaking of this match; and, asking +his mistress about it, all Lady Castlewood answered was: “do not speak +to me about it, Harry. I cannot tell you how or why they parted, and I +fear to inquire. I have told you before, that with all her kindness, and +wit, and generosity, and that sort of splendor of nature she has, I can +say but little good of poor Beatrix, and look with dread at the marriage +she will form. Her mind is fixed on ambition only, and making a +great figure; and, this achieved, she will tire of it as she does +of everything. Heaven help her husband, whoever he shall be! My Lord +Ashburnham was a most excellent young man, gentle and yet manly, of very +good parts, so they told me, and as my little conversation would enable +me to judge: and a kind temper--kind and enduring I'm sure he must have +been, from all that he had to endure. But he quitted her at last, +from some crowning piece of caprice or tyranny of hers; and now he has +married a young woman that will make him a thousand times happier than +my poor girl ever could.” + +The rupture, whatever its cause was, (I heard the scandal, but indeed +shall not take pains to repeat at length in this diary the trumpery +coffee-house story,) caused a good deal of low talk; and Mr. Esmond was +present at my lord's appearance at the Birthday with his bride, over +whom the revenge that Beatrix took was to look so imperial and lovely +that the modest downcast young lady could not appear beside her, and +Lord Ashburnham, who had his reasons for wishing to avoid her, slunk +away quite shamefaced, and very early. This time his Grace the Duke of +Hamilton, whom Esmond had seen about her before, was constant at Miss +Beatrix's side: he was one of the most splendid gentlemen of Europe, +accomplished by books, by travel, by long command of the best company, +distinguished as a statesman, having been ambassador in King Williamn's +time, and a noble speaker in the Scots' Parliament, where he had led the +party that was against the Union, and though now five or six and forty +years of age, a gentleman so high in stature, accomplished in wit, and +favored in person, that he might pretend to the hand of any Princess in +Europe. + +“Should you like the Duke for a cousin?” says Mr. Secretary St. John, +whispering to Colonel Esmond in French; “it appears that the widower +consoles himself.” + +But to return to our little Spectator paper and the conversation which +grew out of it. Miss Beatrix at first was quite BIT (as the phrase of +that day was) and did not “smoke” the authorship of the story; indeed +Esmond had tried to imitate as well as he could Mr. Steele's manner +(as for the other author of the Spectator, his prose style I think is +altogether inimitable); and Dick, who was the idlest and best-natured of +men, would have let the piece pass into his journal and go to posterity +as one of his own lucubrations, but that Esmond did not care to have +a lady's name whom he loved sent forth to the world in a light so +unfavorable. Beatrix pished and psha'd over the paper; Colonel Esmond +watching with no little interest her countenance as she read it. + +“How stupid your friend Mr. Steele becomes!” cries Miss Beatrix. “Epsom +and Tunbridge! Will he never have done with Epsom and Tunbridge, and +with beaux at church, and Jocastas and Lindamiras? Why does he not call +women Nelly and Betty, as their godfathers and godmothers did for them +in their baptism?” + +“Beatrix. Beatrix!” says her mother, “speak gravely of grave things.” + +“Mamma thinks the Church Catechism came from heaven, I believe,” + says Beatrix, with a laugh, “and was brought down by a bishop from a +mountain. Oh, how I used to break my heart over it! Besides, I had a +Popish godmother, mamma; why did you give me one?” + +“I gave you the Queen's name,” says her mother blushing. “And a very +pretty name it is,” said somebody else. + +Beatrix went on reading--“Spell my name with a Y--why, you wretch,” says +she, turning round to Colonel Esmond, “you have been telling my story to +Mr. Steele--or stop--you have written the paper yourself to turn me into +ridicule. For shame, sir!” + +Poor Mr. Esmond felt rather frightened, and told a truth, which was +nevertheless an entire falsehood. “Upon my honor,” says he, “I have not +even read the Spectator of this morning.” Nor had he, for that was not +the Spectator, but a sham newspaper put in its place. + +She went on reading: her face rather flushed as she read. “No,” she +says, “I think you couldn't have written it. I think it must have been +Mr. Steele when he was drunk--and afraid of his horrid vulgar wife. +Whenever I see an enormous compliment to a woman, and some outrageous +panegyric about female virtue, I always feel sure that the Captain and +his better half have fallen out over-night, and that he has been brought +home tipsy, or has been found out in--” + +“Beatrix!” cries the Lady Castlewood. + +“Well, mamma! Do not cry out before you are hurt. I am not going to say +anything wrong. I won't give you more annoyance than you can help, you +pretty kind mamma. Yes, and your little Trix is a naughty little Trix, +and she leaves undone those things which she ought to have done, and +does those things which she ought not to have done, and there's--well +now--I won't go on. Yes, I will, unless you kiss me.” And with this the +young lady lays aside her paper, and runs up to her mother and performs +a variety of embraces with her ladyship, saying as plain as eyes could +speak to Mr. Esmond--“There, sir: would not YOU like to play the very +same pleasant game?” + +“Indeed, madam, I would,” says he. + +“Would what?” asked Miss Beatrix. + +“What you meant when you looked at me in that provoking way,” answers +Esmond. + +“What a confessor!” cries Beatrix, with a laugh. + +“What is it Henry would like, my dear?” asks her mother, the kind soul, +who was always thinking what we would like, and how she could please us. + +The girl runs up to her--“Oh, you silly kind mamma,” she says, kissing +her again, “that's what Harry would like;” and she broke out into a +great joyful laugh; and Lady Castlewood blushed as bashful as a maid of +sixteen. + +“Look at her, Harry,” whispers Beatrix, running up, and speaking in her +sweet low tones. “Doesn't the blush become her? Isn't she pretty? She +looks younger than I am, and I am sure she is a hundred million thousand +times better.” + +Esmond's kind mistress left the room, carrying her blushes away with +her. + +“If we girls at Court could grow such roses as that,” continues Beatrix, +with her laugh, “what wouldn't we do to preserve 'em? We'd clip their +stalks and put 'em in salt and water. But those flowers don't bloom +at Hampton Court and Windsor, Henry.” She paused for a minute, and the +smile fading away from her April face, gave place to a menacing shower +of tears; “Oh, how good she is, Harry,” Beatrix went on to say. “Oh, +what a saint she is! Her goodness frightens me. I'm not fit to live with +her. I should be better I think if she were not so perfect. She has had +a great sorrow in her life, and a great secret; and repented of it. It +could not have been my father's death. She talks freely about that; nor +could she have loved him very much--though who knows what we women do +love, and why?” + +“What, and why, indeed,” says Mr. Esmond. + +“No one knows,” Beatrix went on, without noticing this interruption +except by a look, “what my mother's life is. She hath been at early +prayer this morning; she passes hours in her closet; if you were to +follow her thither, you would find her at prayers now. She tends the +poor of the place--the horrid dirty poor! She sits through the curate's +sermons--oh, those dreary sermons! And you see on a beau dire; but +good as they are, people like her are not fit to commune with us of the +world. There is always, as it were, a third person present, even when I +and my mother are alone. She can't be frank with me quite; who is always +thinking of the next world, and of her guardian angel, perhaps that's in +company. Oh, Harry, I'm jealous of that guardian angel!” here broke out +Mistress Beatrix. “It's horrid, I know; but my mother's life is all +for heaven, and mine--all for earth. We can never be friends quite; and +then, she cares more for Frank's little finger than she does for me--I +know she does: and she loves you, sir, a great deal too much; and I hate +you for it. I would have had her all to myself; but she wouldn't. In my +childhood, it was my father she loved--(oh, how could she? I remember +him kind and handsome, but so stupid, and not being able to speak after +drinking wine). And then it was Frank; and now, it is heaven and the +clergyman. How I would have loved her! From a child I used to be in a +rage that she loved anybody but me; but she loved you all better--all, I +know she did. And now, she talks of the blessed consolation of religion. +Dear soul! she thinks she is happier for believing, as she must, that +we are all of us wicked and miserable sinners; and this world is only a +pied-a-terre for the good, where they stay for a night, as we do, coming +from Walcote, at that great, dreary, uncomfortable Hounslow Inn, in +those horrid beds--oh, do you remember those horrid beds?--and the +chariot comes and fetches them to heaven the next morning.” + +“Hush, Beatrix,” says Mr. Esmond. + +“Hush, indeed. You are a hypocrite, too, Henry, with your grave airs +and your glum face. We are all hypocrites. O dear me! We are all alone, +alone, alone,” says poor Beatrix, her fair breast heaving with a sigh. + +“It was I that writ every line of that paper, my dear,” says Mr. Esmond. +“You are not so worldly as you think yourself, Beatrix, and better than +we believe you. The good we have in us we doubt of; and the happiness +that's to our hand we throw away. You bend your ambition on a great +marriage and establishment--and why? You'll tire of them when you win +them; and be no happier with a coronet on your coach--” + +“Than riding pillion with Lubin to market,” says Beatrix. “Thank you, +Lubin!” + +“I'm a dismal shepherd, to be sure,” answers Esmond, with a blush; +“and require a nymph that can tuck my bed-clothes up, and make me +water-gruel. Well, Tom Lockwood can do that. He took me out of the fire +upon his shoulders, and nursed me through my illness as love will scarce +ever do. Only good wages, and a hope of my clothes, and the contents of +my portmanteau. How long was it that Jacob served an apprenticeship for +Rachel?” + +“For mamma?” says Beatrix. “It is mamma your honor wants, and that I +should have the happiness of calling you papa?” + +Esmond blushed again. “I spoke of a Rachel that a shepherd courted five +thousand years ago; when shepherds were longer lived than now. And my +meaning was, that since I saw you first after our separation--a child +you were then . . .” + +“And I put on my best stockings to captivate you, I remember, sir . . .” + +“You have had my heart ever since then, such as it was; and such as you +were, I cared for no other woman. What little reputation I have won, it +was that you might be pleased with it: and indeed, it is not much; and +I think a hundred fools in the army have got and deserved quite as much. +Was there something in the air of that dismal old Castlewood that made +us all gloomy, and dissatisfied, and lonely under its ruined old roof? +We were all so, even when together and united, as it seemed, following +our separate schemes, each as we sat round the table.” + +“Dear, dreary old place!” cries Beatrix. “Mamma hath never had the heart +to go back thither since we left it, when--never mind how many years +ago.” And she flung back her curls, and looked over her fair shoulder at +the mirror superbly, as if she said, “Time, I defy you.” + +“Yes,” says Esmond, who had the art, as she owned, of divining many of +her thoughts. “You can afford to look in the glass still; and only be +pleased by the truth it tells you. As for me, do you know what my scheme +is? I think of asking Frank to give me the Virginian estate King Charles +gave our grandfather. (She gave a superb curtsy, as much as to say, +'Our grandfather, indeed! Thank you, Mr. Bastard.') Yes, I know you are +thinking of my bar-sinister, and so am I. A man cannot get over it in +this country; unless, indeed, he wears it across a king's arms, when +'tis a highly honorable coat; and I am thinking of retiring into the +plantations, and building myself a wigwam in the woods, and perhaps, if +I want company, suiting myself with a squaw. We will send your ladyship +furs over for the winter; and, when you are old, we'll provide you with +tobacco. I am not quite clever enough, or not rogue enough--I know not +which--for the Old World. I may make a place for myself in the New, +which is not so full; and found a family there. When you are a mother +yourself, and a great lady, perhaps I shall send you over from the +plantation some day a little barbarian that is half Esmond half Mohock, +and you will be kind to him for his father's sake, who was, after all, +your kinsman; and whom you loved a little.” + +“What folly you are talking, Harry,” says Miss Beatrix, looking with her +great eyes. + +“'Tis sober earnest,” says Esmond. And, indeed, the scheme had been +dwelling a good deal in his mind for some time past, and especially +since his return home, when he found how hopeless, and even degrading +to himself, his passion was. “No,” says he, then: “I have tried half a +dozen times now. I can bear being away from you well enough; but being +with you is intolerable” (another low curtsy on Mistress Beatrix's +part), “and I will go. I have enough to buy axes and guns for my men, +and beads and blankets for the savages; and I'll go and live amongst +them.” + +“Mon ami,” she says quite kindly, and taking Esmond's hand, with an air +of great compassion, “you can't think that in our position anything more +than our present friendship is possible. You are our elder brother--as +such we view you, pitying your misfortune, not rebuking you with it. +Why, you are old enough and grave enough to be our father. I always +thought you a hundred years old, Harry, with your solemn face and grave +air. I feel as a sister to you, and can no more. Isn't that enough, +sir?” And she put her face quite close to his--who knows with what +intention? + +“It's too much,” says Esmond, turning away. “I can't bear this life, +and shall leave it. I shall stay, I think, to see you married, and then +freight a ship, and call it the 'Beatrix,' and bid you all . . .” + +Here the servant, flinging the door open, announced his Grace the Duke +of Hamilton, and Esmond started back with something like an imprecation +on his lips, as the nobleman entered, looking splendid in his star and +green ribbon. He gave Mr. Esmond just that gracious bow which he would +have given to a lackey who fetched him a chair or took his hat, and +seated himself by Miss Beatrix, as the poor Colonel went out of the room +with a hang-dog look. + +Esmond's mistress was in the lower room as he passed down stairs. She +often met him as he was coming away from Beatrix; and she beckoned him +into the apartment. + +“Has she told you, Harry?” Lady Castlewood said. + +“She has been very frank--very,” says Esmond. + +“But--but about what is going to happen?” + +“What is going to happen?” says he, his heart beating. + +“His Grace the Duke of Hamilton has proposed to her,” says my lady. “He +made his offer yesterday. They will marry as soon as his mourning is +over; and you have heard his Grace is appointed Ambassador to Paris; and +the Ambassadress goes with him.” + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +BEATRIX'S NEW SUITOR. + + +The gentleman whom Beatrix had selected was, to be sure, twenty years +older than the Colonel, with whom she quarrelled for being too old; but +this one was but a nameless adventurer, and the other the greatest duke +in Scotland, with pretensions even to a still higher title. My Lord Duke +of Hamilton had, indeed, every merit belonging to a gentleman, and he +had had the time to mature his accomplishments fully, being upwards of +fifty years old when Madam Beatrix selected him for a bridegroom. Duke +Hamilton, then Earl of Arran, had been educated at the famous Scottish +university of Glasgow, and, coming to London, became a great favorite +of Charles the Second, who made him a lord of his bedchamber, and +afterwards appointed him ambassador to the French king, under whom the +Earl served two campaigns as his Majesty's aide-de-camp; and he was +absent on this service when King Charles died. + +King James continued my lord's promotion--made him Master of the +Wardrobe and Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Horse; and his lordship +adhered firmly to King James, being of the small company that never +quitted that unfortunate monarch till his departure out of England; and +then it was, in 1688 namely, that he made the friendship with Colonel +Francis Esmond, that had always been, more or less, maintained in the +two families. + +The Earl professed a great admiration for King William always, but never +could give him his allegiance; and was engaged in more than one of the +plots in the late great King's reign which always ended in the plotters' +discomfiture, and generally in their pardon, by the magnanimity of the +King. Lord Arran was twice prisoner in the Tower during this reign, +undauntedly saying, when offered his release, upon parole not to engage +against King William, that he would not give his word, because “he +was sure he could not keep it;” but, nevertheless, he was both times +discharged without any trial; and the King bore this noble enemy so +little malice, that when his mother, the Duchess of Hamilton, of her +own right, resigned her claim on her husband's death, the Earl was, +by patent signed at Loo, 1690, created Duke of Hamilton, Marquis +of Clydesdale, and Earl of Arran, with precedency from the original +creation. His Grace took the oaths and his seat in the Scottish +parliament in 1700: was famous there for his patriotism and eloquence, +especially in the debates about the Union Bill, which Duke Hamilton +opposed with all his strength, though he would not go the length of the +Scottish gentry, who were for resisting it by force of arms. 'Twas +said he withdrew his opposition all of a sudden, and in consequence +of letters from the King at St. Germains, who entreated him on his +allegiance not to thwart the Queen his sister in this measure; and the +Duke, being always bent upon effecting the King's return to his kingdom +through a reconciliation between his Majesty and Queen Anne, and quite +averse to his landing with arms and French troops, held aloof, and +kept out of Scotland during the time when the Chevalier de St. George's +descent from Dunkirk was projected, passing his time in England in his +great estate in Staffordshire. + +When the Whigs went out of office in 1710, the Queen began to show +his Grace the very greatest marks of her favor. He was created Duke +of Brandon and Baron of Dutton in England; having the Thistle already +originally bestowed on him by King James the Second, his Grace was +now promoted to the honor of the Garter--a distinction so great and +illustrious, that no subject hath ever borne them hitherto together. +When this objection was made to her Majesty, she was pleased to say, +“Such a subject as the Duke of Hamilton has a pre-eminent claim to every +mark of distinction which a crowned head can confer. I will henceforth +wear both orders myself.” + +At the Chapter held at Windsor in October, 1712, the Duke and other +knights, including Lord-Treasurer, the new-created Earl of Oxford +and Mortimer, were installed; and a few days afterwards his Grace was +appointed Ambassador-Extraordinary to France, and his equipages, plate, +and liveries commanded, of the most sumptuous kind, not only for his +Excellency the Ambassador, but for her Excellency the Ambassadress, +who was to accompany him. Her arms were already quartered on the coach +panels, and her brother was to hasten over on the appointed day to give +her away. + +His lordship was a widower, having married, in 1698, Elizabeth, daughter +of Digby Lord Gerard, by which marriage great estates came into the +Hamilton family; and out of these estates came, in part, that tragic +quarrel which ended the Duke's career. + + +From the loss of a tooth to that of a mistress there's no pang that is +not bearable. The apprehension is much more cruel than the certainty; +and we make up our mind to the misfortune when 'tis irremediable, part +with the tormentor, and mumble our crust on t'other side of the jaws. +I think Colonel Esmond was relieved when a ducal coach and six came and +whisked his charmer away out of his reach, and placed her in a higher +sphere. As you have seen the nymph in the opera-machine go up to the +clouds at the end of the piece where Mars, Bacchus, Apollo, and all the +divine company of Olympians are seated, and quaver out her last song +as a goddess: so when this portentous elevation was accomplished in +the Esmond family, I am not sure that every one of us did not treat the +divine Beatrix with special honors; at least the saucy little beauty +carried her head with a toss of supreme authority, and assumed a +touch-me-not air, which all her friends very good-humoredly bowed to. + +An old army acquaintance of Colonel Esmond's, honest Tom Trett, who had +sold his company, married a wife, and turned merchant in the city, was +dreadfully gloomy for a long time, though living in a fine house on the +river, and carrying on a great trade to all appearance. At length Esmond +saw his friend's name in the Gazette as a bankrupt; and a week after +this circumstance my bankrupt walks into Mr. Esmond's lodging with a +face perfectly radiant with good-humor, and as jolly and careless as +when they had sailed from Southampton ten years before for Vigo. “This +bankruptcy,” says Tom, “has been hanging over my head these three +years; the thought hath prevented my sleeping, and I have looked at poor +Polly's head on t'other pillow, and then towards my razor on the table, +and thought to put an end to myself, and so give my woes the slip. But +now we are bankrupts: Tom Trett pays as many shillings in the pound as +he can; his wife has a little cottage at Fulham, and her fortune secured +to herself. I am afraid neither of bailiff nor of creditor: and for the +last six nights have slept easy.” So it was that when Fortune shook her +wings and left him, honest Tom cuddled himself up in his ragged virtue, +and fell asleep. + +Esmond did not tell his friend how much his story applied to Esmond too; +but he laughed at it, and used it; and having fairly struck his docket +in this love transaction, determined to put a cheerful face on his +bankruptcy. Perhaps Beatrix was a little offended at his gayety. +“Is this the way, sir, that you receive the announcement of your +misfortune,” says she, “and do you come smiling before me as if you were +glad to be rid of me?” + +Esmond would not be put off from his good-humor, but told her the story +of Tom Trett and his bankruptcy. “I have been hankering after the grapes +on the wall,” says he, “and lost my temper because they were beyond my +reach; was there any wonder? They're gone now, and another has them--a +taller man than your humble servant has won them.” And the Colonel made +his cousin a low bow. + +“A taller man, Cousin Esmond!” says she. “A man of spirit would have +sealed the wall, sir, and seized them! A man of courage would have +fought for 'em, not gaped for 'em.” + +“A Duke has but to gape and they drop into his mouth,” says Esmond, with +another low bow. + +“Yes, sir,” says she, “a Duke IS a taller man than you. And why should I +not be grateful to one such as his Grace, who gives me his heart and his +great name? It is a great gift he honors me with; I know 'tis a bargain +between us; and I accept it, and will do my utmost to perform my part of +it. 'Tis no question of sighing and philandering between a noble man +of his Grace's age and a girl who hath little of that softness in her +nature. Why should I not own that I am ambitious, Harry Esmond; and if +it be no sin in a man to covet honor, why should a woman too not desire +it? Shall I be frank with you, Harry, and say that if you had not been +down on your knees, and so humble, you might have fared better with +me? A woman of my spirit, cousin, is to be won by gallantry, and not +by sighs and rueful faces. All the time you are worshipping and singing +hymns to me, I know very well I am no goddess, and grow weary of the +incense. So would you have been weary of the goddess too--when she was +called Mrs. Esmond, and got out of humor because she had not pin-money +enough, and was forced to go about in an old gown. Eh! cousin, a +goddess in a mob-cap, that has to make her husband's gruel, ceases to +be divine--I am sure of it. I should have been sulky and scolded; and of +all the proud wretches in the world Mr. Esmond is the proudest, let me +tell him that. You never fall into a passion; but you never forgive, I +think. Had you been a great man, you might have been good-humored; but +being nobody, sir, you are too great a man for me; and I'm afraid of +you, cousin--there! and I won't worship you, and you'll never be happy +except with a woman who will. Why, after I belonged to you, and after +one of my tantrums, you would have put the pillow over my head some +night, and smothered me, as the black man does the woman in the play +that you're so fond of. What's the creature's name?--Desdemona. You +would, you little black-dyed Othello!” + +“I think I should, Beatrix,” says the Colonel. + +“And I want no such ending. I intend to live to be a hundred, and to +go to ten thousand routs and balls, and to play cards every night of my +life till the year eighteen hundred. And I like to be the first of my +company, sir; and I like flattery and compliments, and you give me none; +and I like to be made to laugh, sir, and who's to laugh at YOUR +dismal face, I should like to know? and I like a coach-and six or a +coach-and-eight; and I like diamonds, and a new gown every week; and +people to say--'That's the Duchess--How well her Grace looks--Make +way for Madame l'Ambassadrice d'Angleterre--Call her Excellency's +people'--that's what I like. And as for you, you want a woman to bring +your slippers and cap, and to sit at your feet, and cry, 'O caro! O +bravo!' whilst you read your Shakespeares and Miltons and stuff. Mamma +would have been the wife for you, had you been a little older, though +you look ten years older than she does--you do, you glum-faced, +blue-bearded little old man! You might have sat, like Darby and Joan, +and flattered each other; and billed and cooed like a pair of old +pigeons on a perch. I want my wings and to use them, sir.” And she +spread out her beautiful arms, as if indeed she could fly off like the +pretty “Gawrie,” whom the man in the story was enamored of. + +“And what will your Peter Wilkins say to your flight?” says Esmond, who +never admired this fair creature more than when she rebelled and laughed +at him. + +“A duchess knows her place,” says she, with a laugh. “Why, I have a +son already made for me, and thirty years old (my Lord Arran), and four +daughters. How they will scold, and what a rage they will be in, when I +come to take the head of the table! But I give them only a month to +be angry; at the end of that time they shall love me every one, and +so shall Lord Arran, and so shall all his Grace's Scots vassals and +followers in the Highlands. I'm bent on it; and when I take a thing in +my head, 'tis done. His Grace is the greatest gentleman in Europe, and +I'll try and make him happy; and, when the King comes back, you may +count on my protection, Cousin Esmond--for come back the King will and +shall; and I'll bring him back from Versailles, if he comes under my +hoop.” + +“I hope the world will make you happy, Beatrix,” says Esmond, with a +sigh. “You'll be Beatrix till you are my Lady Duchess--will you not? I +shall then make your Grace my very lowest bow.” + +“None of these sighs and this satire, cousin,” she says. “I take his +Grace's great bounty thankfully--yes, thankfully; and will wear his +honors becomingly. I do not say he hath touched my heart; but he has my +gratitude, obedience, admiration--I have told him that, and no more; +and with that his noble heart is content. I have told him all--even the +story of that poor creature that I was engaged to--and that I could not +love; and I gladly gave his word back to him, and jumped for joy to get +back my own. I am twenty-five years old.” + +“Twenty-six, my dear,” says Esmond. + +“Twenty-five, sir--I choose to be twenty-five; and in eight years no man +hath ever touched my heart. Yes--you did once, for a little, Harry, when +you came back after Lille, and engaging with that murderer Mohun, and +saving Frank's life. I thought I could like you; and mamma begged me +hard, on her knees, and I did--for a day. But the old chill came over +me, Henry, and the old fear of you and your melancholy; and I was glad +when you went away, and engaged with my Lord Ashburnham, that I might +hear no more of you, that's the truth. You are too good for me, somehow. +I could not make you happy, and should break my heart in trying, and +not being able to love you. But if you had asked me when we gave you +the sword, you might have had me, sir, and we both should have been +miserable by this time. I talked with that silly lord all night just to +vex you and mamma, and I succeeded, didn't I? How frankly we can talk +of these things! It seems a thousand years ago: and, though we are here +sitting in the same room, there is a great wall between us. My dear, +kind, faithful, gloomy old cousin! I can like now, and admire you too, +sir, and say that you are brave, and very kind, and very true, and a +fine gentleman for all--for all your little mishap at your birth,” says +she, wagging her arch head. + +“And now, sir,” says she, with a curtsy, “we must have no more talk +except when mamma is by, as his Grace is with us; for he does not half +like you, cousin, and is jealous as the black man in your favorite +play.” + +Though the very kindness of the words stabbed Mr. Esmond with the +keenest pang, he did not show his sense of the wound by any look of his +(as Beatrix, indeed, afterwards owned to him), but said, with a perfect +command of himself and an easy smile, “The interview must not end yet, +my dear, until I have had my last word. Stay, here comes your mother” + (indeed she came in here with her sweet anxious face, and Esmond going +up kissed her hand respectfully). “My dear lady may hear, too, the +last words, which are no secrets, and are only a parting benediction +accompanying a present for your marriage from an old gentleman your +guardian; for I feel as if I was the guardian of all the family, and an +old old fellow that is fit to be the grandfather of you all; and in this +character let me make my Lady Duchess her wedding present. They are the +diamonds my father's widow left me. I had thought Beatrix might have +had them a year ago; but they are good enough for a duchess, though not +bright enough for the handsomest woman in the world.” And he took the +case out of his pocket in which the jewels were, and presented them to +his cousin. + +She gave a cry of delight, for the stones were indeed very handsome, +and of great value; and the next minute the necklace was where Belinda's +cross is in Mr. Pope's admirable poem, and glittering on the whitest and +most perfectly-shaped neck in all England. + +The girl's delight at receiving these trinkets was so great, that after +rushing to the looking-glass and examining the effect they produced upon +that fair neck which they surrounded, Beatrix was running back with her +arms extended, and was perhaps for paying her cousin with a price, that +he would have liked no doubt to receive from those beautiful rosy +lips of hers, but at this moment the door opened, and his Grace the +bridegroom elect was announced. + +He looked very black upon Mr. Esmond, to whom he made a very low bow +indeed, and kissed the hand of each lady in his most ceremonious manner. +He had come in his chair from the palace hard by, and wore his two stars +of the Garter and the Thistle. + +“Look, my Lord Duke,” says Mistress Beatrix, advancing to him, and +showing the diamonds on her breast. + +“Diamonds,” says his Grace. “Hm! they seem pretty.” + +“They are a present on my marriage,” says Beatrix. + +“From her Majesty?” asks the Duke. “The Queen is very good.” + +“From my cousin Henry--from our cousin Henry”--cry both the ladies in a +breath. + +“I have not the honor of knowing the gentleman. I thought that my Lord +Castlewood had no brother: and that on your ladyship's side there were +no nephews.” + +“From our cousin, Colonel Henry Esmond, my lord,” says Beatrix, taking +the Colonel's hand very bravely,--“who was left guardian to us by our +father, and who has a hundred times shown his love and friendship for +our family.” + +“The Duchess of Hamilton receives no diamonds but from her husband, +madam,” says the Duke--“may I pray you to restore these to Mr. Esmond?” + +“Beatrix Esmond may receive a present from our kinsman and benefactor, +my Lord Duke,” says Lady Castlewood, with an air of great dignity. “She +is my daughter yet: and if her mother sanctions the gift--no one else +hath the right to question it.” + +“Kinsman and benefactor!” says the Duke. “I know of no kinsman: and I do +not choose that my wife should have for benefactor a--” + +“My lord!” says Colonel Esmond. + +“I am not here to bandy words,” says his Grace: “frankly I tell you +that your visits to this house are too frequent, and that I choose no +presents for the Duchess of Hamilton from gentlemen that bear a name +they have no right to.” + +“My lord!” breaks out Lady Castlewood, “Mr. Esmond hath the best right +to that name of any man in the world: and 'tis as old and as honorable +as your Grace's.” + +My Lord Duke smiled, and looked as if Lady Castlewood was mad, that was +so talking to him. + +“If I called him benefactor,” said my mistress, “it is because he has +been so to us--yes, the noblest, the truest, the bravest, the dearest of +benefactors. He would have saved my husband's life from Mohun's sword. +He did save my boy's, and defended him from that villain. Are those no +benefits?” + +“I ask Colonel Esmond's pardon,” says his Grace, if possible more +haughty than before. “I would say not a word that should give him +offence, and thank him for his kindness to your ladyship's family. My +Lord Mohun and I are connected, you know, by marriage--though neither +by blood nor friendship; but I must repeat what I said, that my wife can +receive no presents from Colonel Esmond.” + +“My daughter may receive presents from the Head of our House: my +daughter may thankfully take kindness from her father's, her mother's, +her brother's dearest friend; and be grateful for one more benefit +besides the thousand we owe him,” cries Lady Esmond. “What is a string +of diamond stones compared to that affection he hath given us--our +dearest preserver and benefactor? We owe him not only Frank's life, but +our all--yes, our all,” says my mistress, with a heightened color and a +trembling voice. “The title we bear is his, if he would claim it. 'Tis +we who have no right to our name: not he that's too great for it. He +sacrificed his name at my dying lord's bedside--sacrificed it to my +orphan children; gave up rank and honor because he loved us so nobly. +His father was Viscount of Castlewood and Marquis of Esmond before +him; and he is his father's lawful son and true heir, and we are the +recipients of his bounty, and he the chief of a house that's as old as +your own. And if he is content to forego his name that my child may +bear it, we love him and honor him and bless him under whatever name he +bears”--and here the fond and affectionate creature would have knelt to +Esmond again, but that he prevented her; and Beatrix, running up to her +with a pale face and a cry of alarm, embraced her and said, “Mother, +what is this?” + +“'Tis a family secret, my Lord Duke,” says Colonel Esmond: “poor Beatrix +knew nothing of it; nor did my lady till a year ago. And I have as good +a right to resign my title as your Grace's mother to abdicate hers to +you.” + +“I should have told everything to the Duke of Hamilton,” said my +mistress, “had his Grace applied to me for my daughter's hand, and not +to Beatrix. I should have spoken with you this very day in private, my +lord, had not your words brought about this sudden explanation--and now +'tis fit Beatrix should hear it; and know, as I would have all the world +know, what we owe to our kinsman and patron.” + +And then in her touching way, and having hold of her daughter's hand, +and speaking to her rather than my Lord Duke, Lady Castlewood told the +story which you know already--lauding up to the skies her kinsman's +behavior. On his side Mr. Esmond explained the reasons that seemed quite +sufficiently cogent with him, why the succession in the family, as at +present it stood, should not be disturbed; and he should remain as he +was, Colonel Esmond. + +“And Marquis of Esmond, my lord,” says his Grace, with a low bow. +“Permit me to ask your lordship's pardon for words that were uttered in +ignorance; and to beg for the favor of your friendship. To be allied to +you, sir, must be an honor under whatever name you are known” (so his +Grace was pleased to say); “and in return for the splendid present you +make my wife, your kinswoman, I hope you will please to command any +service that James Douglas can perform. I shall never be easy until I +repay you a part of my obligations at least; and ere very long, and with +the mission her Majesty hath given me,” says the Duke, “that may perhaps +be in my power. I shall esteem it as a favor, my lord, if Colonel Esmond +will give away the bride.” + +“And if he will take the usual payment in advance, he is welcome,” says +Beatrix, stepping up to him; and, as Esmond kissed her, she whispered, +“Oh, why didn't I know you before?” + +My Lord Duke was as hot as a flame at this salute, but said never a +word: Beatrix made him a proud curtsy, and the two ladies quitted the +room together. + +“When does your Excellency go for Paris?” asks Colonel Esmond. + +“As soon after the ceremony as may be,” his Grace answered. “'Tis fixed +for the first of December: it cannot be sooner. The equipage will not be +ready till then. The Queen intends the embassy should be very grand--and +I have law business to settle. That ill-omened Mohun has come, or is +coming, to London again: we are in a lawsuit about my late Lord Gerard's +property; and he hath sent to me to meet him.” + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MOHUN APPEARS FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS HISTORY. + + +Besides my Lord Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, who for family reasons had +kindly promised his protection and patronage to Colonel Esmond, he had +other great friends in power now, both able and willing to assist him, +and he might, with such allies, look forward to as fortunate advancement +in civil life at home as he had got rapid promotion abroad. His Grace +was magnanimous enough to offer to take Mr. Esmond as secretary on +his Paris embassy, but no doubt he intended that proposal should be +rejected; at any rate, Esmond could not bear the thoughts of attending +his mistress farther than the church-door after her marriage, and so +declined that offer which his generous rival made him. + +Other gentlemen in power were liberal at least of compliments and +promises to Colonel Esmond. Mr. Harley, now become my Lord Oxford and +Mortimer, and installed Knight of the Garter on the same day as his +Grace of Hamilton had received the same honor, sent to the Colonel to +say that a seat in Parliament should be at his disposal presently, +and Mr. St. John held out many flattering hopes of advancement to +the Colonel when he should enter the House. Esmond's friends were all +successful, and the most successful and triumphant of all was his dear +old commander, General Webb, who was now appointed Lieutenant-General of +the Land Forces, and received with particular honor by the Ministry, by +the Queen, and the people out of doors, who huzza'd the brave chief +when they used to see him in his chariot going to the House or to the +Drawing-room, or hobbling on foot to his coach from St. Stephen's upon +his glorious old crutch and stick, and cheered him as loud as they had +ever done Marlborough. + +That great Duke was utterly disgraced; and honest old Webb dated all +his Grace's misfortunes from Wynendael, and vowed that Fate served the +traitor right. Duchess Sarah had also gone to ruin; she had been forced +to give up her keys, and her places, and her pensions:--“Ah, ah!” says +Webb, “she would have locked up three millions of French crowns with her +keys had I but been knocked on the head, but I stopped that convoy at +Wynendael.” Our enemy Cardonnel was turned out of the House of Commons +(along with Mr. Walpole) for malversation of public money. Cadogan lost +his place of Lieutenant of the Tower. Marlborough's daughters resigned +their posts of ladies of the bedchamber; and so complete was the Duke's +disgrace, that his son-in-law, Lord Bridgewater, was absolutely obliged +to give up his lodgings at St. James's, and had his half-pension, +as Master of the Horse, taken away. But I think the lowest depth of +Marlborough's fall was when he humbly sent to ask General Webb when he +might wait upon him; he who had commanded the stout old General, who +had injured him and sneered at him, who had kept him dangling in his +ante-chamber, who could not even after his great service condescend to +write him a letter in his own hand. The nation was as eager for peace as +ever it had been hot for war. The Prince of Savoy came amongst us, had +his audience of the Queen, and got his famous Sword of Honor, and strove +with all his force to form a Whig party together, to bring over the +young Prince of Hanover to do anything which might prolong the war, and +consummate the ruin of the old sovereign whom he hated so implacably. +But the nation was tired of the struggle: so completely wearied of it +that not even our defeat at Denain could rouse us into any anger, though +such an action so lost two years before would have set all England in +a fury. 'Twas easy to see that the great Marlborough was not with the +army. Eugene was obliged to fall back in a rage, and forego the dazzling +revenge of his life. 'Twas in vain the Duke's side asked, “Would we +suffer our arms to be insulted? Would we not send back the only +champion who could repair our honor?” The nation had had its bellyful of +fighting; nor could taunts or outcries goad up our Britons any more. + +For a statesman that was always prating of liberty, and had the grandest +philosophic maxims in his mouth, it must be owned that Mr. St. John +sometimes rather acted like a Turkish than a Greek philosopher, and +especially fell foul of one unfortunate set of men, the men of letters, +with a tyranny a little extraordinary in a man who professed to respect +their calling so much. The literary controversy at this time was very +bitter, the Government side was the winning one, the popular one, and +I think might have been the merciful one. 'Twas natural that the +opposition should be peevish and cry out: some men did so from their +hearts, admiring the Duke of Marlborough's prodigious talents, and +deploring the disgrace of the greatest general the world ever knew: +'twas the stomach that caused other patriots to grumble, and such men +cried out because they were poor, and paid to do so. Against these my +Lord Bolingbroke never showed the slightest mercy, whipping a dozen into +prison or into the pillory without the least commiseration. + +From having been a man of arms Mr. Esmond had now come to be a man of +letters, but on a safer side than that in which the above-cited poor +fellows ventured their liberties and ears. There was no danger on ours, +which was the winning side; besides, Mr. Esmond pleased himself by +thinking that he writ like a gentleman if he did not always succeed as a +wit. + +Of the famous wits of that age, who have rendered Queen Anne's reign +illustrious, and whose works will be in all Englishmen's hands in ages +yet to come, Mr. Esmond saw many, but at public places chiefly; never +having a great intimacy with any of them, except with honest Dick Steele +and Mr. Addison, who parted company with Esmond, however, when that +gentleman became a declared Tory, and lived on close terms with the +leading persons of that party. Addison kept himself to a few friends, +and very rarely opened himself except in their company. A man more +upright and conscientious than he it was not possible to find in public +life, and one whose conversation was so various, easy, and delightful. +Writing now in my mature years, I own that I think Addison's politics +were the right, and were my time to come over again, I would be a Whig +in England and not a Tory; but with people that take a side in politics, +'tis men rather than principles that commonly bind them. A kindness or a +slight puts a man under one flag or the other, and he marches with it +to the end of the campaign. Esmond's master in war was injured by +Marlborough, and hated him: and the lieutenant fought the quarrels of +his leader. Webb coming to London was used as a weapon by Marlborough's +enemies (and true steel he was, that honest chief); nor was his +aide-de-camp, Mr. Esmond, an unfaithful or unworthy partisan. 'Tis +strange here, and on a foreign soil, and in a land that is independent +in all but the name, (for that the North American colonies shall remain +dependants on yonder little island for twenty years more, I never can +think,) to remember how the nation at home seemed to give itself up to +the domination of one or other aristocratic party, and took a Hanoverian +king, or a French one, according as either prevailed. And while the +Tories, the October club gentlemen, the High Church parsons that held by +the Church of England, were for having a Papist king, for whom many of +their Scottish and English leaders, firm churchmen all, laid down their +lives with admirable loyalty and devotion; they were governed by men who +had notoriously no religion at all, but used it as they would use any +opinion for the purpose of forwarding their own ambition. The Whigs, on +the other hand, who professed attachment to religion and liberty too, +were compelled to send to Holland or Hanover for a monarch around +whom they could rally. A strange series of compromises is that English +History; compromise of principle, compromise of party, compromise of +worship! The lovers of English freedom and independence submitted their +religious consciences to an Act of Parliament; could not consolidate +their liberty without sending to Zell or the Hague for a king to live +under; and could not find amongst the proudest people in the world a +man speaking their own language, and understanding their laws, to govern +them. The Tory and High Church patriots were ready to die in defence of +a Papist family that had sold us to France; the great Whig nobles, the +sturdy republican recusants who had cut off Charles Stuart's head for +treason, were fain to accept a king whose title came to him through a +royal grandmother, whose own royal grandmother's head had fallen under +Queen Bess's hatchet. And our proud English nobles sent to a petty +German town for a monarch to come and reign in London and our prelates +kissed the ugly hands of his Dutch mistresses, and thought it no +dishonor. In England you can but belong to one party or t'other, and you +take the house you live in with all its encumbrances, its retainers, its +antique discomforts, and ruins even; you patch up, but you never build +up anew. Will we of the new world submit much longer, even nominally, +to this ancient British superstition? There are signs of the times which +make me think that ere long we shall care as little about King George +here, and peers temporal and peers spiritual, as we do for King Canute +or the Druids. + +This chapter began about the wits, my grandson may say, and hath +wandered very far from their company. The pleasantest of the wits I +knew were the Doctors Garth and Arbuthnot, and Mr. Gay, the author of +“Trivia,” the most charming kind soul that ever laughed at a joke or +cracked a bottle. Mr. Prior I saw, and he was the earthen pot swimming +with the pots of brass down the stream, and always and justly frightened +lest he should break in the voyage. I met him both at London and Paris, +where he was performing piteous congees to the Duke of Shrewsbury, not +having courage to support the dignity which his undeniable genius and +talent had won him, and writing coaxing letters to Secretary St. John, +and thinking about his plate and his place, and what on earth should +become of him should his party go out. The famous Mr. Congreve I saw +a dozen of times at Button's, a splendid wreck of a man, magnificently +attired, and though gouty, and almost blind, bearing a brave face +against fortune. + +The great Mr. Pope (of whose prodigious genius I have no words to +express my admiration) was quite a puny lad at this time, appearing +seldom in public places. There were hundreds of men, wits, and pretty +fellows frequenting the theatres and coffee-houses of that day--whom +“nunc perscribere longum est.” Indeed I think the most brilliant of that +sort I ever saw was not till fifteen years afterwards, when I paid my +last visit in England, and met young Harry Fielding, son of the Fielding +that served in Spain and afterwards in Flanders with us, and who for fun +and humor seemed to top them all. As for the famous Dr. Swift, I can say +of him, “Vidi tantum.” He was in London all these years up to the death +of the Queen; and in a hundred public places where I saw him, but no +more; he never missed Court of a Sunday, where once or twice he was +pointed out to your grandfather. He would have sought me out eagerly +enough had I been a great man with a title to my name, or a star on my +coat. At Court the Doctor had no eyes but for the very greatest. Lord +Treasurer and St. John used to call him Jonathan, and they paid him +with this cheap coin for the service they took of him. He writ their +lampoons, fought their enemies, flogged and bullied in their service, +and it must be owned with a consummate skill and fierceness. 'Tis said +he hath lost his intellect now, and forgotten his wrongs and his rage +against mankind. I have always thought of him and of Marlborough as the +two greatest men of that age. I have read his books (who doth not know +them?) here in our calm woods, and imagine a giant to myself as I think +of him, a lonely fallen Prometheus, groaning as the vulture tears him. +Prometheus I saw, but when first I ever had any words with him, the +giant stepped out of a sedan chair in the Poultry, whither he had come +with a tipsy Irish servant parading before him, who announced him, +bawling out his Reverence's name, whilst his master below was as yet +haggling with the chairman. I disliked this Mr. Swift, and heard many a +story about him, of his conduct to men, and his words to women. He could +flatter the great as much as he could bully the weak; and Mr. Esmond, +being younger and hotter in that day than now, was determined, should he +ever meet this dragon, not to run away from his teeth and his fire. + +Men have all sorts of motives which carry them onwards in life, and are +driven into acts of desperation, or it may be of distinction, from a +hundred different causes. There was one comrade of Esmond's, an honest +little Irish lieutenant of Handyside's, who owed so much money to a camp +sutler, that he began to make love to the man's daughter, intending to +pay his debt that way; and at the battle of Malplaquet, flying away from +the debt and lady too, he rushed so desperately on the French lines, +that he got his company; and came a captain out of the action, and had +to marry the sutler's daughter after all, who brought him his cancelled +debt to her father as poor Roger's fortune. To run out of the reach of +bill and marriage, he ran on the enemy's pikes; and as these did not +kill him he was thrown back upon t'other horn of his dilemma. Our great +Duke at the same battle was fighting, not the French, but the Tories in +England; and risking his life and the army's, not for his country but +for his pay and places; and for fear of his wife at home, that only +being in life whom he dreaded. I have asked about men in my own company, +(new drafts of poor country boys were perpetually coming over to us +during the wars, and brought from the ploughshare to the sword,) and +found that a half of them under the flags were driven thither on account +of a woman: one fellow was jilted by his mistress and took the shilling +in despair; another jilted the girl, and fled from her and the parish +to the tents where the law could not disturb him. Why go on +particularizing? What can the sons of Adam and Eve expect, but to +continue in that course of love and trouble their father and mother set +out on? Oh, my grandson! I am drawing nigh to the end of that period of +my history, when I was acquainted with the great world of England and +Europe; my years are past the Hebrew poet's limit, and I say unto thee, +all my troubles and joys too, for that matter, have come from a woman; +as thine will when thy destined course begins. 'Twas a woman that made a +soldier of me, that set me intriguing afterwards; I believe I would have +spun smocks for her had she so bidden me; what strength I had in my head +I would have given her; hath not every man in his degree had his Omphale +and Delilah? Mine befooled me on the banks of the Thames, and in dear +old England; thou mayest find thine own by Rappahannock. + +To please that woman then I tried to distinguish myself as a soldier, +and afterwards as a wit and a politician; as to please another I would +have put on a black cassock and a pair of bands, and had done so but +that a superior fate intervened to defeat that project. And I say, I +think the world is like Captain Esmond's company I spoke of anon; +and could you see every man's career in life, you would find a woman +clogging him; or clinging round his march and stopping him; or cheering +him and goading him: or beckoning him out of her chariot, so that he +goes up to her, and leaves the race to be run without him or bringing +him the apple, and saying “Eat;” or fetching him the daggers and +whispering “Kill! yonder lies Duncan, and a crown, and an opportunity.” + +Your grandfather fought with more effect as a politician than as a +wit: and having private animosities and grievances of his own and +his General's against the great Duke in command of the army, and more +information on military matters than most writers, who had never seen +beyond the fire of a tobacco-pipe at “Wills's,” he was enabled to do +good service for that cause which he embarked in, and for Mr. St. John +and his party. But he disdained the abuse in which some of the Tory +writers indulged; for instance, Dr. Swift, who actually chose to doubt +the Duke of Marlborough's courage, and was pleased to hint that his +Grace's military capacity was doubtful: nor were Esmond's performances +worse for the effect they were intended to produce, (though no doubt +they could not injure the Duke of Marlborough nearly so much in the +public eyes as the malignant attacks of Swift did, which were carefully +directed so as to blacken and degrade him,) because they were writ +openly and fairly by Mr. Esmond, who made no disguise of them, who was +now out of the army, and who never attacked the prodigious courage and +talents, only the selfishness and rapacity, of the chief. + +The Colonel then, having writ a paper for one of the Tory journals, +called the Post-Boy, (a letter upon Bouchain, that the town talked about +for two whole days, when the appearance of an Italian singer supplied +a fresh subject for conversation,) and having business at the Exchange, +where Mistress Beatrix wanted a pair of gloves or a fan very likely, +Esmond went to correct his paper, and was sitting at the printer's, when +the famous Doctor Swift came in, his Irish fellow with him that used +to walk before his chair, and bawled out his master's name with great +dignity. + +Mr. Esmond was waiting for the printer too, whose wife had gone to the +tavern to fetch him, and was meantime engaged in drawing a picture of +a soldier on horseback for a dirty little pretty boy of the printer's +wife, whom she had left behind her. + +“I presume you are the editor of the Post-Boy, sir?” says the Doctor, +in a grating voice that had an Irish twang; and he looked at the Colonel +from under his two bushy eyebrows with a pair of very clear blue eyes. +His complexion was muddy, his figure rather fat, his chin double. He +wore a shabby cassock, and a shabby hat over his black wig, and he +pulled out a great gold watch, at which he looks very fierce. + +“I am but a contributor, Doctor Swift,” says Esmond, with the little boy +still on his knee. He was sitting with his back in the window, so that +the Doctor could not see him. + +“Who told you I was Dr. Swift?” says the Doctor, eying the other very +haughtily. + +“Your Reverence's valet bawled out your name,” says the Colonel. “I +should judge you brought him from Ireland?” + +“And pray, sir, what right have you to judge whether my servant came +from Ireland or no? I want to speak with your employer, Mr. Leach. I'll +thank ye go fetch him.” + +“Where's your papa, Tommy?” asks the Colonel of the child, a smutty +little wretch in a frock. + +Instead of answering, the child begins to cry; the Doctor's appearance +had no doubt frightened the poor little imp. + +“Send that squalling little brat about his business, and do what I bid +ye, sir,” says the Doctor. + +“I must finish, the picture first for Tommy,” says the Colonel, +laughing. “Here, Tommy, will you have your Pandour with whiskers or +without?” + +“Whisters,” says Tommy, quite intent on the picture. + +“Who the devil are ye, sir?” cries the Doctor; “are ye a printer's man +or are ye not?” he pronounced it like NAUGHT. + +“Your reverence needn't raise the devil to ask who I am,” says Colonel +Esmond. “Did you ever hear of Doctor Faustus, little Tommy? or Friar +Bacon, who invented gunpowder, and set the Thames on fire?” + +Mr. Swift turned quite red, almost purple. “I did not intend any +offence, sir,” says he. + +“I dare say, sir, you offended without meaning,” says the other, dryly. + +“Who are ye, sir? Do you know who I am, sir? You are one of the pack +of Grub Street scribblers that my friend Mr. Secretary hath laid by the +heels. How dare ye, sir, speak to me in this tone?” cries the Doctor, in +a great fume. + +“I beg your honor's humble pardon if I have offended your honor,” says +Esmond in a tone of great humility. “Rather than be sent to the Compter, +or be put in the pillory, there's nothing I wouldn't do. But Mrs. +Leach, the printer's lady, told me to mind Tommy whilst she went for her +husband to the tavern, and I daren't leave the child lest he should fall +into the fire; but if your Reverence will hold him--” + +“I take the little beast!” says the Doctor, starting back. “I am +engaged to your betters, fellow. Tell Mr. Leach that when he makes an +appointment with Dr. Swift he had best keep it, do ye hear? And keep a +respectful tongue in your head, sir, when you address a person like me.” + +“I'm but a poor broken-down soldier,” says the Colonel, “and I've seen +better days, though I am forced now to turn my hand to writing. We can't +help our fate, sir.” + +“You're the person that Mr. Leach hath spoken to me of, I presume. Have +the goodness to speak civilly when you are spoken to--and tell Leach +to call at my lodgings in Bury Street, and bring the papers with him +to-night at ten o'clock. And the next time you see me, you'll know me, +and be civil, Mr. Kemp.” + +Poor Kemp, who had been a lieutenant at the beginning of the war, and +fallen into misfortune, was the writer of the Post-Boy, and now took +honest Mr. Leach's pay in place of her Majesty's. Esmond had seen this +gentleman, and a very ingenious, hardworking honest fellow he was, +toiling to give bread to a great family, and watching up many a long +winter night to keep the wolf from his door. And Mr. St. John, who had +liberty always on his tongue, had just sent a dozen of the opposition +writers into prison, and one actually into the pillory, for what he +called libels, but libels not half so violent as those writ on our +side. With regard to this very piece of tyranny, Esmond had remonstrated +strongly with the Secretary, who laughed and said the rascals were +served quite right; and told Esmond a joke of Swift's regarding the +matter. Nay, more, this Irishman, when St. John was about to pardon +a poor wretch condemned to death for rape, absolutely prevented the +Secretary from exercising this act of good-nature, and boasted that he +had had the man hanged; and great as the Doctor's genius might be, and +splendid his ability, Esmond for one would affect no love for him, and +never desired to make his acquaintance. The Doctor was at Court every +Sunday assiduously enough, a place the Colonel frequented but rarely, +though he had a great inducement to go there in the person of a fair +maid of honor of her Majesty's; and the airs and patronage Mr. +Swift gave himself, forgetting gentlemen of his country whom he knew +perfectly, his loud talk at once insolent and servile, nay, perhaps his +very intimacy with Lord Treasurer and the Secretary, who indulged all +his freaks and called him Jonathan, you may be sure, were remarked by +many a person of whom the proud priest himself took no note, during that +time of his vanity and triumph. + +'Twas but three days after the 15th of November, 1712 (Esmond minds him +well of the date), that he went by invitation to dine with his General, +the foot of whose table he used to take on these festive occasions, as +he had done at many a board, hard and plentiful, during the campaign. +This was a great feast, and of the latter sort; the honest old gentleman +loved to treat his friends splendidly: his Grace of Ormonde, before he +joined his army as generalissimo, my Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, one of +her Majesty's Secretaries of State, my Lord Orkney, that had served +with us abroad, being of the party. His Grace of Hamilton, Master of +the Ordnance, and in whose honor the feast had been given, upon his +approaching departure as Ambassador to Paris, had sent an excuse to +General Webb at two o'clock, but an hour before the dinner: nothing but +the most immediate business, his Grace said, should have prevented him +having the pleasure of drinking a parting glass to the health of General +Webb. His absence disappointed Esmond's old chief, who suffered much +from his wounds besides; and though the company was grand, it was rather +gloomy. St. John came last, and brought a friend with him: “I'm sure,” + says my General, bowing very politely, “my table hath always a place for +Dr. Swift.” + +Mr. Esmond went up to the Doctor with a bow and a smile:--“I gave Dr. +Swift's message,” says he, “to the printer: I hope he brought your +pamphlet to your lodgings in time.” Indeed poor Leach had come to his +house very soon after the Doctor left it, being brought away rather +tipsy from the tavern by his thrifty wife; and he talked of Cousin Swift +in a maudlin way, though of course Mr. Esmond did not allude to this +relationship. The Doctor scowled, blushed, and was much confused, and +said scarce a word during the whole of dinner. A very little stone +will sometimes knock down these Goliaths of wit; and this one was often +discomfited when met by a man of any spirit; he took his place sulkily, +put water in his wine that the others drank plentifully, and scarce said +a word. + +The talk was about the affairs of the day, or rather about persons than +affairs: my Lady Marlborough's fury, her daughters in old clothes and +mob-caps looking out from their windows and seeing the company pass to +the Drawing-room; the gentleman-usher's horror when the Prince of +Savoy was introduced to her Majesty in a tie-wig, no man out of a +full-bottomed periwig ever having kissed the Royal hand before; about +the Mohawks and the damage they were doing, rushing through the town, +killing and murdering. Some one said the ill-omened face of Mohun had +been seen at the theatre the night before, and Macartney and Meredith +with him. Meant to be a feast, the meeting, in spite of drink and talk, +was as dismal as a funeral. Every topic started subsided into gloom. +His Grace of Ormonde went away because the conversation got upon Denain, +where we had been defeated in the last campaign. Esmond's General +was affected at the allusion to this action too, for his comrade of +Wynendael, the Count of Nassau Woudenbourg, had been slain there. Mr. +Swift, when Esmond pledged him, said he drank no wine, and took his hat +from the peg and went away, beckoning my Lord Bolingbroke to follow him; +but the other bade him take his chariot and save his coach-hire--he had +to speak with Colonel Esmond; and when the rest of the company withdrew +to cards, these two remained behind in the dark. + +Bolingbroke always spoke freely when he had drunk freely. His enemies +could get any secret out of him in that condition; women were even +employed to ply him, and take his words down. I have heard that my Lord +Stair, three years after, when the Secretary fled to France and became +the Pretender's Minister, got all the information he wanted by putting +female spies over St. John in his cups. He spoke freely now:--“Jonathan +knows nothing of this for certain, though he suspects it, and by George, +Webb will take an Archbishopric, and Jonathan a--no,--damme--Jonathan +will take an Arch-bishopric from James, I warrant me, gladly enough. +Your Duke hath the string of the whole matter in his hand,” the +Secretary went on. “We have that which will force Marlborough to keep +his distance, and he goes out of London in a fortnight. Prior hath his +business; he left me this morning, and mark me, Harry, should fate carry +off our august, our beloved, our most gouty and plethoric Queen, and +Defender of the Faith, la bonne cause triomphera. A la sante de la bonne +cause! Everything good comes from France. Wine comes from France; give +us another bumper to the bonne cause.” We drank it together. + +“Will the bonne cause turn Protestant?” asked Mr. Esmond. + +“No, hang it,” says the other, “he'll defend our Faith as in duty bound, +but he'll stick by his own. The Hind and the Panther shall run in the +same car, by Jove. Righteousness and peace shall kiss each other: and +we'll have Father Massillon to walk down the aisle of St. Paul's, cheek +by jowl with Dr. Sacheverel. Give us more wine; here's a health to the +bonne cause, kneeling--damme, let's drink it kneeling.” He was quite +flushed and wild with wine as he was talking. + +“And suppose,” says Esmond, who always had this gloomy apprehension, +“the bonne cause should give us up to the French, as his father and +uncle did before him?” + +“Give us up to the French!” starts up Bolingbroke; “is there any English +gentleman that fears that? You who have seen Blenheim and Ramillies, +afraid of the French! Your ancestors and mine, and brave old Webb's +yonder, have met them in a hundred fields, and our children will be +ready to do the like. Who's he that wishes for more men from England? My +Cousin Westmoreland? Give us up to the French, pshaw!” + +“His uncle did,” says Mr. Esmond. + +“And what happened to his grandfather?” broke out St. John, filling out +another bumper. “Here's to the greatest monarch England ever saw; here's +to the Englishman that made a kingdom of her. Our great King came from +Huntingdon, not Hanover; our fathers didn't look for a Dutchman to rule +us. Let him come and we'll keep him, and we'll show him Whitehall. If +he's a traitor let us have him here to deal with him; and then there are +spirits here as great as any that have gone before. There are men +here that can look at danger in the face and not be frightened at it. +Traitor! treason! what names are these to scare you and me? Are all +Oliver's men dead, or his glorious name forgotten in fifty years? Are +there no men equal to him, think you, as good--ay, as good? God save the +King! and, if the monarchy fails us, God save the British Republic!” + +He filled another great bumper, and tossed it up and drained it wildly, +just as the noise of rapid carriage-wheels approaching was stopped at +our door, and after a hurried knock and a moment's interval, Mr. Swift +came into the hall, ran up stairs to the room we were dining in, and +entered it with a perturbed face. St. John, excited with drink, was +making some wild quotation out of Macbeth, but Swift stopped him. + +“Drink no more, my lord, for God's sake!” says he. “I come with the most +dreadful news.” + +“Is the Queen dead?” cries out Bolingbroke, seizing on a water-glass. + +“No, Duke Hamilton is dead: he was murdered an hour ago by Mohun and +Macartney; they had a quarrel this morning; they gave him not so much +time as to write a letter. He went for a couple of his friends, and he +is dead, and Mohun, too, the bloody villain, who was set on him. They +fought in Hyde Park just before sunset; the Duke killed Mohun, and +Macartney came up and stabbed him, and the dog is fled. I have your +chariot below; send to every part of the country and apprehend that +villain; come to the Duke's house and see if any life be left in him.” + +“Oh, Beatrix, Beatrix,” thought Esmond, “and here ends my poor girl's +ambition!” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +POOR BEATRIX. + + +There had been no need to urge upon Esmond the necessity of a separation +between him and Beatrix: Fate had done that completely; and I think from +the very moment poor Beatrix had accepted the Duke's offer, she began +to assume the majestic air of a Duchess, nay, Queen Elect, and to carry +herself as one sacred and removed from us common people. Her mother +and kinsman both fell into her ways, the latter scornfully perhaps, and +uttering his usual gibes at her vanity and his own. There was a certain +charm about this girl of which neither Colonel Esmond nor his fond +mistress could forego the fascination; in spite of her faults and her +pride and wilfulness, they were forced to love her; and, indeed, might +be set down as the two chief flatterers of the brilliant creature's +court. + +Who, in the course of his life, hath not been so bewitched, and +worshipped some idol or another? Years after this passion hath been dead +and buried, along with a thousand other worldly cares and ambitions, he +who felt it can recall it out of its grave, and admire, almost as fondly +as he did in his youth, that lovely queenly creature. I invoke that +beautiful spirit from the shades and love her still; or rather I should +say such a past is always present to a man; such a passion once felt +forms a part of his whole being, and cannot be separated from it; it +becomes a portion of the man of to-day, just as any great faith or +conviction, the discovery of poetry, the awakening of religion, ever +afterwards influence him; just as the wound I had at Blenheim, and of +which I wear the scar, hath become part of my frame and influenced my +whole body, nay, spirit subsequently, though 'twas got and healed forty +years ago. Parting and forgetting! What faithful heart can do these? +Our great thoughts, our great affections, the Truths of our life, never +leave us. Surely, they cannot separate from our consciousness; shall +follow it whithersoever that shall go; and are of their nature divine +and immortal. + +With the horrible news of this catsstrophe, which was confirmed by the +weeping domestics at the Duke's own door, Esmond rode homewards as quick +as his lazy coach would carry him, devising all the time how he should +break the intelligence to the person most concerned in it; and if a +satire upon human vanity could be needed, that poor soul afforded it in +the altered company and occupations in which Esmond found her. For +days before, her chariot had been rolling the street from mercer to +toyshop--from goldsmith to laceman: her taste was perfect, or at least +the fond bridegroom had thought so, and had given her entire authority +over all tradesmen, and for all the plate, furniture and equipages, with +which his Grace the Ambassador wished to adorn his splendid mission. She +must have her picture by Kneller, a duchess not being complete without +a portrait, and a noble one he made, and actually sketched in, on a +cushion, a coronet which she was about to wear. She vowed she would wear +it at King James the Third's coronation, and never a princess in the +land would have become ermine better. Esmond found the ante-chamber +crowded with milliners and toyshop women, obsequious goldsmiths with +jewels, salvers, and tankards; and mercers' men with hangings, and +velvets, and brocades. My Lady Duchess elect was giving audience to +one famous silversmith from Exeter Change, who brought with him a great +chased salver, of which he was pointing out the beauties as Colonel +Esmond entered. “Come,” says she, “cousin, and admire the taste of this +pretty thing.” I think Mars and Venus were lying in the golden bower, +that one gilt Cupid carried off the war-god's casque--another his +sword--another his great buckler, upon which my Lord Duke Hamilton's +arms with ours were to be engraved--and a fourth was kneeling down to +the reclining goddess with the ducal coronet in her hands, God help us! +The next time Mr. Esmond saw that piece of plate, the arms were changed, +the ducal coronet had been replaced by a viscount's; it formed part of +the fortune of the thrifty goldsmith's own daughter, when she married my +Lord Viscount Squanderfield two years after. + +“Isn't this a beautiful piece?” says Beatrix, examining it, and she +pointed out the arch graces of the Cupids, and the fine carving of the +languid prostrate Mars. Esmond sickened as he thought of the warrior +dead in his chamber, his servants and children weeping around him; and +of this smiling creature attiring herself, as it were, for that nuptial +death-bed. “'Tis a pretty piece of vanity,” says he, looking gloomily at +the beautiful creature: there were flambeaux in the room lighting up the +brilliant mistress of it. She lifted up the great gold salver with her +fair arms. + +“Vanity!” says she, haughtily. “What is vanity in you, sir, is propriety +in me. You ask a Jewish price for it, Mr. Graves; but have it I will, if +only to spite Mr. Esmond.” + +“Oh, Beatrix, lay it down!” says Mr. Esmond. “Herodias! you know not +what you carry in the charger.” + +She dropped it with a clang; the eager goldsmith running to seize +his fallen ware. The lady's face caught the fright from Esmond's pale +countenance, and her eyes shone out like beacons of alarm:--“What is it, +Henry!” says she, running to him, and seizing both his hands. “What do +you mean by your pale face and gloomy tones?” + +“Come away, come away!” says Esmond, leading her: she clung frightened +to him, and he supported her upon his heart, bidding the scared +goldsmith leave them. The man went into the next apartment, staring with +surprise, and hugging his precious charger. + +“Oh, my Beatrix, my sister!” says Esmond, still holding in his arms the +pallid and affrighted creature, “you have the greatest courage of any +woman in the world; prepare to show it now, for you have a dreadful +trial to bear.” + +She sprang away from the friend who would have protected her:--“Hath he +left me?” says she. “We had words this morning: he was very gloomy, and +I angered him: but he dared not, he dared not!” As she spoke a burning +blush flushed over her whole face and bosom. Esmond saw it reflected in +the glass by which she stood, with clenched hands, pressing her swelling +heart. + +“He has left you,” says Esmond, wondering that rage rather than sorrow +was in her looks. + +“And he is alive,” cried Beatrix, “and you bring me this commission! He +has left me, and you haven't dared to avenge me! You, that pretend to +be the champion of our house, have let me suffer this insult! Where is +Castlewood? I will go to my brother.” + +“The Duke is not alive, Beatrix,” said Esmond. + +She looked at her cousin wildly, and fell back to the wall as though +shot in the breast:--“And you come here, and--and--you killed him?” + +“No; thank heaven!” her kinsman said. “The blood of that noble heart +doth not stain my sword! In its last hour it was faithful to thee, +Beatrix Esmond. Vain and cruel woman! kneel and thank the awful heaven +which awards life and death, and chastises pride, that the noble +Hamilton died true to you; at least that 'twas not your quarrel, or your +pride, or your wicked vanity, that drove him to his fate. He died by the +bloody sword which already had drank your own father's blood. O woman, O +sister! to that sad field where two corpses are lying--for the murderer +died too by the hand of the man he slew--can you bring no mourners but +your revenge and your vanity? God help and pardon thee, Beatrix, as he +brings this awful punishment to your hard and rebellious heart.” + +Esmond had scarce done speaking, when his mistress came in. The colloquy +between him and Beatrix had lasted but a few minutes, during which time +Esmond's servant had carried the disastrous news through the household. +The army of Vanity Fair, waiting without, gathered up all their +fripperies and fled aghast. Tender Lady Castlewood had been in talk +above with Dean Atterbury, the pious creature's almoner and director; +and the Dean had entered with her as a physician whose place was at +a sick-bed. Beatrix's mother looked at Esmond and ran towards her +daughter, with a pale face and open heart and hands, all kindness +and pity. But Beatrix passed her by, nor would she have any of the +medicaments of the spiritual physician. “I am best in my own room and by +myself,” she said. Her eyes were quite dry; nor did Esmond ever see them +otherwise, save once, in respect to that grief. She gave him a cold hand +as she went out: “Thank you, brother,” she said, in a low voice, and +with a simplicity more touching than tears; “all you have said is true +and kind, and I will go away and ask pardon.” The three others remained +behind, and talked over the dreadful story. It affected Dr. Atterbury +more even than us, as it seemed. The death of Mohun, her husband's +murderer, was more awful to my mistress than even the Duke's unhappy +end. Esmond gave at length what particulars he knew of their quarrel, +and the cause of it. The two noblemen had long been at war with respect +to the Lord Gerard's property, whose two daughters my Lord Duke and +Mohun had married. They had met by appointment that day at the lawyer's +in Lincoln's Inn Fields; had words which, though they appeared very +trifling to those who heard them, were not so to men exasperated by long +and previous enmity. Mohun asked my Lord Duke where he could see his +Grace's friends, and within an hour had sent two of his own to arrange +this deadly duel. It was pursued with such fierceness, and sprung from +so trifling a cause, that all men agreed at the time that there was +a party, of which these three notorious brawlers were but agents, who +desired to take Duke Hamilton's life away. They fought three on a side, +as in that tragic meeting twelve years back, which hath been recounted +already, and in which Mohun performed his second murder. They rushed +in, and closed upon each other at once without any feints or crossing +of swords even, and stabbed one at the other desperately, each receiving +many wounds; and Mohun having his death-wound, and my Lord Duke lying +by him, Macartney came up and stabbed his Grace as he lay on the ground, +and gave him the blow of which he died. Colonel Macartney denied +this, of which the horror and indignation of the whole kingdom would +nevertheless have him guilty, and fled the country, whither he never +returned. + +What was the real cause of the Duke Hamilton's death?--a paltry quarrel +that might easily have been made up, and with a ruffian so low, base, +profligate, and degraded with former crimes and repeated murders, that +a man of such renown and princely rank as my Lord Duke might have +disdained to sully his sword with the blood of such a villain. But his +spirit was so high that those who wished his death knew that his courage +was like his charity, and never turned any man away; and he died by the +hands of Mohun, and the other two cut-throats that were set on him. The +Queen's ambassador to Paris died, the loyal and devoted servant of the +House of Stuart, and a Royal Prince of Scotland himself, and carrying +the confidence, the repentance of Queen Anne along with his own open +devotion, and the good-will of millions in the country more, to the +Queen's exiled brother and sovereign. + +That party to which Lord Mohun belonged had the benefit of his +service, and now were well rid of such a ruffian. He, and Meredith, and +Macartney, were the Duke of Marlborough's men; and the two colonels had +been broke but the year before for drinking perdition to the Tories. His +Grace was a Whig now and a Hanoverian, and as eager for war as Prince +Eugene himself. I say not that he was privy to Duke Hamilton's death, I +say that his party profited by it; and that three desperate and bloody +instruments were found to effect that murder. + +As Esmond and the Dean walked away from Kensington discoursing of this +tragedy, and how fatal it was to the cause which they both had at heart, +the street-criers were already out with their broadsides, shouting +through the town the full, true, and horrible account of the death of +Lord Mohun and Duke Hamilton in a duel. A fellow had got to Kensington, +and was crying it in the square there at very early morning, when Mr. +Esmond happened to pass by. He drove the man from under Beatrix's very +window, whereof the casement had been set open. The sun was shining +though 'twas November: he had seen the market-carts rolling into London, +the guard relieved at the palace, the laborers trudging to their work in +the gardens between Kensington and the City--the wandering merchants +and hawkers filling the air with their cries. The world was going to its +business again, although dukes lay dead and ladies mourned for them; and +kings, very likely, lost their chances. So night and day pass away, +and to-morrow comes, and our place knows us not. Esmond thought of the +courier, now galloping on the North road to inform him, who was Earl of +Arran yesterday, that he was Duke of Hamilton to-day, and of a thousand +great schemes, hopes, ambitions, that were alive in the gallant heart, +beating a few hours since, and now in a little dust quiescent. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +I VISIT CASTLEWOOD ONCE MORE. + + +Thus, for a third time, Beatrix's ambitious hopes were circumvented, and +she might well believe that a special malignant fate watched and pursued +her, tearing her prize out of her hand just as she seemed to grasp it, +and leaving her with only rage and grief for her portion. Whatever her +feelings might have been of anger or of sorrow, (and I fear me that the +former emotion was that which most tore her heart,) she would take no +confidant, as people of softer natures would have done under such a +calamity; her mother and her kinsman knew that she would disdain their +pity, and that to offer it would be but to infuriate the cruel wound +which fortune had inflicted. We knew that her pride was awfully humbled +and punished by this sudden and terrible blow; she wanted no teaching of +ours to point out the sad moral of her story. Her fond mother could give +but her prayers, and her kinsman his faithful friendship and patience to +the unhappy, stricken creature; and it was only by hints, and a word or +two uttered months afterwards, that Beatrix showed she understood their +silent commiseration, and on her part was secretly thankful for their +forbearance. The people about the Court said there was that in her +manner which frightened away scoffing and condolence: she was above +their triumph and their pity, and acted her part in that dreadful +tragedy greatly and courageously; so that those who liked her least were +yet forced to admire her. We, who watched her after her disaster, could +not but respect the indomitable courage and majestic calm with which she +bore it. “I would rather see her tears than her pride,” her mother said, +who was accustomed to bear her sorrows in a very different way, and +to receive them as the stroke of God, with an awful submission and +meekness. But Beatrix's nature was different to that tender parent's; +she seemed to accept her grief and to defy it; nor would she allow it (I +believe not even in private and in her own chamber) to extort from her +the confession of even a tear of humiliation or a cry of pain. Friends +and children of our race, who come after me, in which way will you bear +your trials? I know one that prays God will give you love rather than +pride, and that the Eye all-seeing shall find you in the humble place. +Not that we should judge proud spirits otherwise than charitably. 'Tis +nature hath fashioned some for ambition and dominion, as it hath formed +others for obedience and gentle submission. The leopard follows his +nature as the lamb does, and acts after leopard law; she can neither +help her beauty, nor her courage, nor her cruelty; nor a single spot on +her shining coat; nor the conquering spirit which impels her; nor the +shot which brings her down. + +During that well-founded panic the Whigs had, lest the Queen should +forsake their Hanoverian Prince, bound by oaths and treaties as she was +to him, and recall her brother, who was allied to her by yet stronger +ties of nature and duty; the Prince of Savoy, and the boldest of that +party of the Whigs, were for bringing the young Duke of Cambridge over, +in spite of the Queen, and the outcry of her Tory servants, arguing that +the Electoral Prince, a Peer and Prince of the Blood-Royal of this Realm +too, and in the line of succession to the crown, had, a right to sit +in the Parliament whereof he was a member, and to dwell in the country +which he one day was to govern. Nothing but the strongest ill will +expressed by the Queen, and the people about her, and menaces of the +Royal resentment, should this scheme be persisted in, prevented it from +being carried into effect. + +The boldest on our side were, in like manner, for having our Prince into +the country. The undoubted inheritor of the right divine; the feelings +of more than half the nation, of almost all the clergy, of the gentry of +England and Scotland with him; entirely innocent of the crime for which +his father suffered--brave, young, handsome, unfortunate--who in England +would dare to molest the Prince should he come among us, and fling +himself upon British generosity, hospitality, and honor? An invader with +an army of Frenchmen behind him, Englishmen of spirit would resist to +the death, and drive back to the shores whence he came; but a Prince, +alone, armed with his right only, and relying on the loyalty of his +people, was sure, many of his friends argued, of welcome, at least of +safety, among us. The hand of his sister the Queen, of the people his +subjects, never could be raised to do him a wrong. But the Queen was +timid by nature, and the successive Ministers she had, had private +causes for their irresolution. The bolder and honester men, who had at +heart the illustrious young exile's cause, had no scheme of interest of +their own to prevent them from seeing the right done, and, provided only +he came as an Englishman, were ready to venture their all to welcome and +defend him. + +St. John and Harley both had kind words in plenty for the Prince's +adherents, and gave him endless promises of future support; but hints +and promises were all they could be got to give; and some of his friends +were for measures much bolder, more efficacious, and more open. With +a party of these, some of whom are yet alive, and some whose names Mr. +Esmond has no right to mention, he found himself engaged the year after +that miserable death of Duke Hamilton, which deprived the Prince of +his most courageous ally in this country. Dean Atterbury was one of the +friends whom Esmond may mention, as the brave bishop is now beyond exile +and persecution, and to him, and one or two more, the Colonel opened +himself of a scheme of his own, that, backed by a little resolution on +the Prince's part, could not fail of bringing about the accomplishment +of their dearest wishes. + +My young Lord Viscount Castlewood had not come to England to keep his +majority, and had now been absent from the country for several years. +The year when his sister was to be married and Duke Hamilton died, my +lord was kept at Bruxelles by his wife's lying-in. The gentle Clotilda +could not bear her husband out of her sight; perhaps she mistrusted the +young scapegrace should he ever get loose from her leading-strings; and +she kept him by her side to nurse the baby and administer posset to the +gossips. Many a laugh poor Beatrix had had about Frank's uxoriousness: +his mother would have gone to Clotilda when her time was coming, but +that the mother-in-law was already in possession, and the negotiations +for poor Beatrix's marriage were begun. A few months after the horrid +catastrophe in Hyde Park, my mistress and her daughter retired to +Castlewood, where my lord, it was expected, would soon join them. But, +to say truth, their quiet household was little to his taste; he could be +got to come to Walcote but once after his first campaign; and then the +young rogue spent more than half his time in London, not appearing at +Court or in public under his own name and title, but frequenting plays, +bagnios, and the very worst company, under the name of Captain Esmond +(whereby his innocent kinsman got more than once into trouble); and so +under various pretexts, and in pursuit of all sorts of pleasures, +until he plunged into the lawful one of marriage, Frank Castlewood +had remained away from this country, and was unknown, save amongst the +gentlemen of the army, with whom he had served abroad. The fond heart of +his mother was pained by this long absence. 'Twas all that Henry Esmond +could do to soothe her natural mortification, and find excuses for his +kinsman's levity. + +In the autumn of the year 1713, Lord Castlewood thought of returning +home. His first child had been a daughter; Clotilda was in the way of +gratifying his lordship with a second, and the pious youth thought that, +by bringing his wife to his ancestral home, by prayers to St. Philip of +Castlewood, and what not, heaven might be induced to bless him with a +son this time, for whose coming the expectant mamma was very anxious. + +The long-debated peace had been proclaimed this year at the end of +March; and France was open to us. Just as Frank's poor mother had +made all things ready for Lord Castlewood's reception, and was eagerly +expecting her son, it was by Colonel Esmond's means that the kind lady +was disappointed of her longing, and obliged to defer once more the +darling hope of her heart. + +Esmond took horses to Castlewood. He had not seen its ancient gray +towers and well-remembered woods for nearly fourteen years, and since he +rode thence with my lord, to whom his mistress with her young children +by her side waved an adieu. What ages seemed to have passed since then, +what years of action and passion, of care, love, hope, disaster! The +children were grown up now, and had stories of their own. As for +Esmond, he felt to be a hundred years old; his dear mistress only seemed +unchanged; she looked and welcomed him quite as of old. There was the +fountain in the court babbling its familiar music, the old hall and its +furniture, the carved chair my late lord used, the very flagon he drank +from. Esmond's mistress knew he would like to sleep in the little room +he used to occupy; 'twas made ready for him, and wall-flowers and sweet +herbs set in the adjoining chamber, the chaplain's room. + +In tears of not unmanly emotion, with prayers of submission to the awful +Dispenser of death and life, of good and evil fortune, Mr. Esmond passed +a part of that first night at Castlewood, lying awake for many hours as +the clock kept tolling (in tones so well remembered), looking back, as +all men will, that revisit their home of childhood, over the great gulf +of time, and surveying himself on the distant bank yonder, a sad little +melancholy boy with his lord still alive--his dear mistress, a girl yet, +her children sporting around her. Years ago, a boy on that very bed, +when she had blessed him and called him her knight, he had made a vow +to be faithful and never desert her dear service. Had he kept that fond +boyish promise? Yes, before heaven; yes, praise be to God! His life had +been hers; his blood, his fortune, his name, his whole heart ever since +had been hers and her children's. All night long he was dreaming his +boyhood over again, and waking fitfully; he half fancied he heard Father +Holt calling to him from the next chamber, and that he was coming in and +out of from the mysterious window. + +Esmond rose up before the dawn, passed into the next room, where the +air was heavy with the odor of the wall-flowers; looked into the brazier +where the papers had been burnt, into the old presses where Holt's books +and papers had been kept, and tried the spring and whether the window +worked still. The spring had not been touched for years, but yielded at +length, and the whole fabric of the window sank down. He lifted it and +it relapsed into its frame; no one had ever passed thence since Holt +used it sixteen years ago. + +Esmond remembered his poor lord saying, on the last day of his life, +that Holt used to come in and out of the house like a ghost, and +knew that the Father liked these mysteries, and practised such secret +disguises, entrances and exits: this was the way the ghost came and +went, his pupil had always conjectured. Esmond closed the casement up +again as the dawn was rising over Castlewood village; he could hear the +clinking at the blacksmith's forge yonder among the trees, across the +green, and past the river, on which a mist still lay sleeping. + +Next Esmond opened that long cupboard over the woodwork of the +mantel-piece, big enough to hold a man, and in which Mr. Holt used to +keep sundry secret properties of his. The two swords he remembered so +well as a boy, lay actually there still, and Esmond took them out and +wiped them, with a strange curiosity of emotion. There were a bundle of +papers here, too, which no doubt had been left at Holt's last visit to +the place, in my Lord Viscount's life, that very day when the priest had +been arrested and taken to Hexham Castle. Esmond made free with these +papers, and found treasonable matter of King William's reign, the names +of Charnock and Perkins, Sir John Fenwick and Sir John Friend, Rookwood +and Lodwick, Lords Montgomery and Allesbury, Clarendon and Yarmouth, +that had all been engaged in plots against the usurper; a letter from +the Duke of Berwick too, and one from the King at St. Germains, offering +to confer upon his trusty and well-beloved Francis Viscount Castlewood +the titles of Earl and Marquis of Esmond, bestowed by patent royal, and +in the fourth year of his reign, upon Thomas Viscount Castlewood and +the heirs-male of his body, in default of which issue the ranks and +dignities were to pass to Francis aforesaid. + +This was the paper, whereof my lord had spoken, which Holt showed him +the very day he was arrested, and for an answer to which he would come +back in a week's time. I put these papers hastily into the crypt whence +I had taken them, being interrupted by a tapping of a light finger at +the ring of the chamber-door: 'twas my kind mistress, with her face full +of love and welcome. She, too, had passed the night wakefuly, no doubt; +but neither asked the other how the hours had been spent. There are +things we divine without speaking, and know though they happen out of +our sight. This fond lady hath told me that she knew both days when +I was wounded abroad. Who shall say how far sympathy reaches, and how +truly love can prophesy? “I looked into your room,” was all she said; +“the bed was vacant, the little old bed! I knew I should find you here.” + And tender and blushing faintly with a benediction in her eyes, the +gentle creature kissed him. + +They walked out, hand-in-hand, through the old court, and to the +terrace-walk, where the grass was glistening with dew, and the birds in +the green woods above were singing their delicious choruses under the +blushing morning sky. How well all things were remembered! The ancient +towers and gables of the hall darkling against the east, the purple +shadows on the green slopes, the quaint devices and carvings of the +dial, the forest-crowned heights, the fair yellow plain cheerful with +crops and corn, the shining river rolling through it towards the pearly +hills beyond; all these were before us, along with a thousand beautiful +memories of our youth, beautiful and sad, but as real and vivid in our +minds as that fair and always-remembered scene our eyes beheld once +more. We forget nothing. The memory sleeps, but wakens again; I often +think how it shall be when, after the last sleep of death, the +reveillee shall arouse us for ever, and the past in one flash of +self-consciousness rush back, like the soul revivified. + +The house would not be up for some hours yet, (it was July, and the dawn +was only just awake,) and here Esmond opened himself to his mistress, of +the business he had in hand, and what part Frank was to play in it. He +knew he could confide anything to her, and that the fond soul would die +rather than reveal it; and bidding her keep the secret from all, he laid +it entirely before his mistress (always as staunch a little loyalist as +any in the kingdom), and indeed was quite sure that any plan, of his was +secure of her applause and sympathy. Never was such a glorious scheme to +her partial mind, never such a devoted knight to execute it. An hour or +two may have passed whilst they were having their colloquy. Beatrix came +out to them just as their talk was over; her tall beautiful form robed +in sable (which she wore without ostentation ever since last year's +catastrophe), sweeping over the green terrace, and casting its shadows +before her across the grass. + +She made us one of her grand curtsies smiling, and called us “the +young people.” She was older, paler, and more majestic than in the year +before; her mother seemed the youngest of the two. She never once spoke +of her grief, Lady Castlewood told Esmond, or alluded, save by a quiet +word or two, to the death of her hopes. + +When Beatrix came back to Castlewood she took to visiting all the +cottages and all the sick. She set up a school of children, and taught +singing to some of them. We had a pair of beautiful old organs in +Castlewood Church, on which she played admirably, so that the music +there became to be known in the country for many miles round, and no +doubt people came to see the fair organist as well as to hear her. +Parson Tusher and his wife were established at the vicarage, but his +wife had brought him no children wherewith Tom might meet his enemies +at the gate. Honest Tom took care not to have many such, his great +shovel-hat was in his hand for everybody. He was profuse of bows +and compliments. He behaved to Esmond as if the Colonel had been a +Commander-in-Chief; he dined at the hall that day, being Sunday, and +would not partake of pudding except under extreme pressure. He deplored +my lord's perversion, but drank his lordship's health very devoutly; +and an hour before at church sent the Colonel to sleep, with a long, +learned, and refreshing sermon. + +Esmond's visit home was but for two days; the business he had in hand +calling him away and out of the country. Ere he went, he saw Beatrix +but once alone, and then she summoned him out of the long tapestry room, +where he and his mistress were sitting, quite as in old times, into +the adjoining chamber, that had been Viscountess Isabel's sleeping +apartment, and where Esmond perfectly well remembered seeing the old +lady sitting up in the bed, in her night-rail, that morning when the +troop of guard came to fetch her. The most beautiful woman in England +lay in that bed now, whereof the great damask hangings were scarce faded +since Esmond saw them last. + +Here stood Beatrix in her black robes, holding a box in her hand; 'twas +that which Esmond had given her before her marriage, stamped with a +coronet which the disappointed girl was never to wear; and containing +his aunt's legacy of diamonds. + +“You had best take these with you, Harry,” says she; “I have no need +of diamonds any more.” There was not the least token of emotion in her +quiet low voice. She held out the black shagreen case with her fair +arm, that did not shake in the least. Esmond saw she wore a black velvet +bracelet on it, with my Lord Duke's picture in enamel; he had given it +her but three days before he fell. + +Esmond said the stones were his no longer, and strove to turn off that +proffered restoration with a laugh: “Of what good,” says he, “are they +to me? The diamond loop to his hat did not set off Prince Eugene, and +will not make my yellow face look any handsomer.” + +“You will give them to your wife, cousin,” says she. “My cousin, your +wife has a lovely complexion and shape.” + +“Beatrix,” Esmond burst out, the old fire flaming out as it would at +times, “will you wear those trinkets at your marriage? You whispered +once you did not know me: you know me better now: how I sought, what I +have sighed for, for ten years, what foregone!” + +“A price for your constancy, my lord!” says she; “such a preux chevalier +wants to be paid. Oh fie, cousin!” + +“Again,” Esmond spoke out, “if I do something you have at heart; +something worthy of me and you; something that shall make me a name with +which to endow you; will you take it? There was a chance for me once, +you said; is it impossible to recall it? Never shake your head, but hear +me; say you will hear me a year hence. If I come back to you and bring +you fame, will that please you? If I do what you desire most--what he +who is dead desired most--will that soften you?” + +“What is it, Henry?” says she, her face lighting up; “what mean you?” + +“Ask no questions,” he said; “wait, and give me but time; if I bring +back that you long for, that I have a thousand times heard you pray for, +will you have no reward for him who has done you that service? Put away +those trinkets, keep them: it shall not be at my marriage, it shall not +be at yours; but if man can do it, I swear a day shall come when there +shall be a feast in your house, and you shall be proud to wear them. I +say no more now; put aside these words, and lock away yonder box until +the day when I shall remind you of both. All I pray of you now is, to +wait and to remember.” + +“You are going out of the country?” says Beatrix, in some agitation. + +“Yes, to-morrow,” says Esmond. + +“To Lorraine, cousin?” says Beatrix, laying her hand on his arm; 'twas +the hand on which she wore the Duke's bracelet. “Stay, Harry!” continued +she, with a tone that had more despondency in it than she was accustomed +to show. “Hear a last word. I do love you. I do admire you--who would +not, that has known such love as yours has been for us all? But I think +I have no heart; at least I have never seen the man that could touch it; +and, had I found him, I would have followed him in rags had he been a +private soldier, or to sea, like one of those buccaneers you used to +read to us about when we were children. I would do anything for such +a man, bear anything for him: but I never found one. You were ever too +much of a slave to win my heart; even my Lord Duke could not command it. +I had not been happy had I married him. I knew that three months after +our engagement--and was too vain to break it. Oh, Harry! I cried once or +twice, not for him, but with tears of rage because I could not be sorry +for him. I was frightened to find I was glad of his death; and were +I joined to you, I should have the same sense of servitude, the same +longing to escape. We should both be unhappy, and you the most, who are +as jealous as the Duke was himself. I tried to love him; I tried, indeed +I did: affected gladness when he came: submitted to hear when he was by +me, and tried the wife's part I thought I was to play for the rest of my +days. But half an hour of that complaisance wearied me, and what would +a lifetime be? My thoughts were away when he was speaking; and I was +thinking, Oh that this man would drop my hand, and rise up from before +my feet! I knew his great and noble qualities, greater and nobler than +mine a thousand times, as yours are, cousin, I tell you, a million and a +million times better. But 'twas not for these I took him. I took him to +have a great place in the world, and I lost it. I lost it, and do not +deplore him--and I often thought, as I listened to his fond vows and +ardent words, Oh, if I yield to this man, and meet THE OTHER, I shall +hate him and leave him! I am not good, Harry: my mother is gentle and +good like an angel. I wonder how she should have had such a child. She +is weak, but she would die rather than do a wrong; I am stronger than +she, but I would do it out of defiance. I do not care for what the +parsons tell me with their droning sermons: I used to see them at court +as mean and as worthless as the meanest woman there. Oh, I am sick and +weary of the world! I wait but for one thing, and when 'tis done, I will +take Frank's religion and your poor mother's, and go into a nunnery, and +end like her. Shall I wear the diamonds then?--they say the nuns wear +their best trinkets the day they take the veil. I will put them away as +you bid me; farewell, cousin: mamma is pacing the next room racking her +little head to know what we have been saying. She is jealous, all women +are. I sometimes think that is the only womanly quality I have.” + +“Farewell. Farewell, brother.” She gave him her cheek as a brotherly +privilege. The cheek was as cold as marble. + +Esmond's mistress showed no signs of jealousy when he returned to +the room where she was. She had schooled herself so as to look quite +inscrutably, when she had a mind. Amongst her other feminine qualities +she had that of being a perfect dissembler. + +He rode away from Castlewood to attempt the task he was bound on, and +stand or fall by it; in truth his state of mind was such, that he was +eager for some outward excitement to counteract that gnawing malady +which he was inwardly enduring. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +I TRAVEL TO FRANCE AND BRING HOME A PORTRAIT OF RIGAUD. + + +Mr. Esmond did not think fit to take leave at Court, or to inform all +the world of Pall Mall and the coffee-houses, that he was about to quit +England; and chose to depart in the most private manner possible. He +procured a pass as for a Frenchman, through Dr. Atterbury, who did that +business for him, getting the signature even from Lord Bolingbroke's +office, without any personal application to the Secretary. Lockwood, his +faithful servant, he took with him to Castlewood, and left behind there: +giving out ere he left London that he himself was sick, and gone to +Hampshire for country air, and so departed as silently as might be upon +his business. + +As Frank Castlewood's aid was indispensable for Mr. Esmond's scheme, his +first visit was to Bruxelles (passing by way of Antwerp, where the Duke +of Marlborough was in exile), and in the first-named place Harry found +his dear young Benedict, the married man, who appeared to be rather +out of humor with his matrimonial chain, and clogged with the obstinate +embraces which Clotilda kept round his neck. Colonel Esmond was not +presented to her; but Monsieur Simon was, a gentleman of the Royal +Cravat (Esmond bethought him of the regiment of his honest Irishman, +whom he had seen that day after Malplaquet, when he first set eyes on +the young King); and Monsieur Simon was introduced to the Viscountess +Castlewood, nee Comptesse Wertheim; to the numerous counts, the Lady +Clotilda's tall brothers; to her father the chamberlain; and to the lady +his wife, Frank's mother-in-law, a tall and majestic person of large +proportions, such as became the mother of such a company of grenadiers +as her warlike sons formed. The whole race were at free quarters in the +little castle nigh to Bruxelles which Frank had taken; rode his horses; +drank his wine; and lived easily at the poor lad's charges. Mr. Esmond +had always maintained a perfect fluency in the French, which was his +mother tongue; and if this family (that spoke French with the twang +which the Flemings use) discovered any inaccuracy in Mr. Simon's +pronunciation, 'twas to be attributed to the latter's long residence +in England, where he had married and remained ever since he was taken +prisoner at Blenheim. His story was perfectly pat; there were none there +to doubt it save honest Frank, and he was charmed with his kinsman's +scheme, when he became acquainted with it; and, in truth, always admired +Colonel Esmond with an affectionate fidelity, and thought his cousin +the wisest and best of all cousins and men. Frank entered heart and soul +into the plan, and liked it the better as it was to take him to Paris, +out of reach of his brothers, his father, and his mother-in-law, whose +attentions rather fatigued him. + +Castlewood, I have said, was born in the same year as the Prince of +Wales; had not a little of the Prince's air, height, and figure; and, +especially since he had seen the Chevalier de St. George on the occasion +before-named, took no small pride in his resemblance to a person so +illustrious; which likeness he increased by all means in his power, +wearing fair brown periwigs, such as the Prince wore, and ribbons, and +so forth, of the Chevalier's color. + +This resemblance was, in truth, the circumstance on which Mr. Esmond's +scheme was founded; and having secured Frank's secrecy and enthusiasm, +he left him to continue his journey, and see the other personages on +whom its success depended. The place whither Mr. Simon next travelled +was Bar, in Lorraine, where that merchant arrived with a consignment +of broadcloths, valuable laces from Malines, and letters for his +correspondent there. + +Would you know how a prince, heroic from misfortunes, and descended +from a line of kings, whose race seemed to be doomed like the Atridae of +old--would you know how he was employed, when the envoy who came to him +through danger and difficulty beheld him for the first time? The young +king, in a flannel jacket, was at tennis with the gentlemen of his +suite, crying out after the balls, and swearing like the meanest of his +subjects. The next time Mr. Esmond saw him, 'twas when Monsieur Simon +took a packet of laces to Miss Oglethorpe: the Prince's ante-chamber in +those days, at which ignoble door men were forced to knock for admission +to his Majesty. The admission was given, the envoy found the King and +the mistress together; the pair were at cards and his Majesty was +in liquor. He cared more for three honors than three kingdoms; and +a half-dozen glasses of ratafia made him forget all his woes and his +losses, his father's crown, and his grandfather's head. + +Mr. Esmond did not open himself to the Prince then. His Majesty was +scarce in a condition to hear him; and he doubted whether a King who +drank so much could keep a secret in his fuddled head; or whether a hand +that shook so, was strong enough to grasp at a crown. However, at last, +and after taking counsel with the Prince's advisers, amongst whom were +many gentlemen, honest and faithful, Esmond's plan was laid before the +King, and her actual Majesty Queen Oglethorpe, in council. The Prince +liked the scheme well enough; 'twas easy and daring, and suited to his +reckless gayety and lively youthful spirit. In the morning after he had +slept his wine off, he was very gay, lively, and agreeable. His manner +had an extreme charm of archness, and a kind simplicity; and, to do her +justice, her Oglethorpean Majesty was kind, acute, resolute, and of good +counsel; she gave the Prince much good advice that he was too weak +to follow, and loved him with a fidelity which he returned with an +ingratitude quite Royal. + +Having his own forebodings regarding his scheme should it ever be +fulfilled, and his usual sceptic doubts as to the benefit which might +accrue to the country by bringing a tipsy young monarch back to it, +Colonel Esmond had his audience of leave and quiet. Monsieur Simon took +his departure. At any rate the youth at Bar was as good as the older +Pretender at Hanover; if the worst came to the worst, the Englishman +could be dealt with as easy as the German. Monsieur Simon trotted +on that long journey from Nancy to Paris, and saw that famous town, +stealthily and like a spy, as in truth he was; and where, sure, more +magnificence and more misery is heaped together, more rags and lace, +more filth and gilding, than in any city in this world. Here he was +put in communication with the King's best friend, his half brother, the +famous Duke of Berwick; Esmond recognized him as the stranger who had +visited Castlewood now near twenty years ago. His Grace opened to him +when he found that Mr. Esmond was one of Webb's brave regiment, that had +once been his Grace's own. He was the sword and buckler indeed of the +Stuart cause: there was no stain on his shield except the bar across it, +which Marlborough's sister left him. Had Berwick been his father's heir, +James the Third had assuredly sat on the English throne. He could dare, +endure, strike, speak, be silent. The fire and genius, perhaps, he had +not (that were given to baser men), but except these he had some of the +best qualities of a leader. His Grace knew Esmond's father and history; +and hinted at the latter in such a way as made the Colonel to think he +was aware of the particulars of that story. But Esmond did not choose to +enter on it, nor did the Duke press him. Mr. Esmond said, “No doubt he +should come by his name if ever greater people came by theirs.” + +What confirmed Esmond in his notion that the Duke of Berwick knew of his +case was, that when the Colonel went to pay his duty at St. Germains, +her Majesty once addressed him by the title of Marquis. He took the +Queen the dutiful remembrances of her goddaughter, and the lady whom, +in the days of her prosperity, her Majesty had befriended. The +Queen remembered Rachel Esmond perfectly well, had heard of my Lord +Castlewood's conversion, and was much edified by that act of heaven in +his favor. She knew that others of that family had been of the only true +church too: “Your father and your mother, M. le Marquis,” her Majesty +said (that was the only time she used the phrase). Monsieur Simon bowed +very low, and said he had found other parents than his own, who had +taught him differently; but these had only one king: on which her +Majesty was pleased to give him a medal blessed by the Pope, which had +been found very efficacious in cases similar to his own, and to promise +she would offer up prayers for his conversion and that of the family: +which no doubt this pious lady did, though up to the present moment, and +after twenty-seven years, Colonel Esmond is bound to say that neither +the medal nor the prayers have had the slightest known effect upon his +religious convictions. + +As for the splendors of Versailles, Monsieur Simon, the merchant, only +beheld them as a humble and distant spectator, seeing the old King but +once, when he went to feed his carps; and asking for no presentation at +his Majesty's Court. + +By this time my Lord Viscount Castlewood was got to Paris, where, as the +London prints presently announced, her ladyship was brought to bed of a +son and heir. For a long while afterwards she was in a delicate state +of health, and ordered by the physicians not to travel; otherwise 'twas +well known that the Viscount Castlewood proposed returning to England, +and taking up his residence at his own seat. + +Whilst he remained at Paris, my Lord Castlewood had his picture done by +the famous French painter, Monsieur Rigaud, a present for his mother +in London; and this piece Monsieur Simon took back with him when he +returned to that city, which he reached about May, in the year 1714, +very soon after which time my Lady Castlewood and her daughter, and +their kinsman, Colonel Esmond, who had been at Castlewood all this +time, likewise returned to London; her ladyship occupying her house +at Kensington, Mr. Esmond returning to his lodgings at Knightsbridge, +nearer the town, and once more making his appearance at all public +places, his health greatly improved by his long stay in the country. + +The portrait of my lord, in a handsome gilt frame, was hung up in +the place of honor in her ladyship's drawing-room. His lordship was +represented in his scarlet uniform of Captain of the Guard, with a light +brown periwig, a cuirass under his coat, a blue ribbon, and a fall of +Bruxelles lace. Many of her ladyship's friends admired the piece beyond +measure, and flocked to see it; Bishop Atterbury, Mr. Lesly, good old +Mr. Collier, and others amongst the clergy, were delighted with the +performance, and many among the first quality examined and praised it; +only I must own that Doctor Tusher happening to come up to London, and +seeing the picture, (it was ordinarily covered by a curtain, but on this +day Miss Beatrix happened to be looking at it when the Doctor arrived,) +the Vicar of Castlewood vowed he could not see any resemblance in the +piece to his old pupil, except, perhaps, a little about the chin and the +periwig; but we all of us convinced him that he had not seen Frank for +five years or more; that he knew no more about the Fine Arts than a +ploughboy, and that he must be mistaken; and we sent him home assured +that the piece was an excellent likeness. As for my Lord Bolingbroke, +who honored her ladyship with a visit occasionally, when Colonel Esmond +showed him the picture he burst out laughing, and asked what devilry he +was engaged on? Esmond owned simply that the portrait was not that of +Viscount Castlewood; besought the Secretary on his honor to keep the +secret; said that the ladies of the house were enthusiastic Jacobites, +as was well known; and confessed that the picture was that of the +Chevalier St. George. + +The truth is, that Mr. Simon, waiting upon Lord Castlewood one day +at Monsieur Rigaud's whilst his lordship was sitting for his picture, +affected to be much struck with a piece representing the Chevalier, +whereof the head only was finished, and purchased it of the painter +for a hundred crowns. It had been intended, the artist said, for Miss +Oglethorpe, the Prince's mistress, but that young lady quitting Paris, +had left the work on the artist's hands; and taking this piece home, +when my lord's portrait arrived, Colonel Esmond, alias Monsieur Simon, +had copied the uniform and other accessories from my lord's picture to +fill up Rigaud's incomplete canvas: the Colonel all his life having been +a practitioner of painting, and especially followed it during his long +residence in the cities of Flanders, among the masterpieces of Van Dyck +and Rubens. My grandson hath the piece, such as it is, in Virginia now. + +At the commencement of the month of June, Miss Beatrix Esmond, and my +Lady Viscountess, her mother, arrived from Castlewood; the former to +resume her services at Court, which had been interrupted by the fatal +catastrophe of Duke Hamilton's death. She once more took her place, +then, in her Majesty's suite and at the Maids' table, being always a +favorite with Mrs. Masham, the Queen's chief woman, partly perhaps on +account of their bitterness against the Duchess of Marlborough, whom +Miss Beatrix loved no better than her rival did. The gentlemen about the +Court, my Lord Bolingbroke amongst others, owned that the young lady had +come back handsomer than ever, and that the serious and tragic air which +her face now involuntarily wore became her better than her former smiles +and archness. + +All the old domestics at the little house of Kensington Square were +changed; the old steward that had served the family any time these +five-and-twenty years, since the birth of the children of the house, was +despatched into the kingdom of Ireland to see my lord's estate there: +the housekeeper, who had been my lady's woman time out of mind, and the +attendant of the young children, was sent away grumbling to Walcote, +to see to the new painting and preparing of that house, which my Lady +Dowager intended to occupy for the future, giving up Castlewood to +her daughter-in-law that might be expected daily from France. Another +servant the Viscountess had was dismissed too--with a gratuity--on the +pretext that her ladyship's train of domestics must be diminished; so, +finally, there was not left in the household a single person who had +belonged to it during the time my young Lord Castlewood was yet at home. + +For the plan which Colonel Esmond had in view, and the stroke he +intended, 'twas necessary that the very smallest number of persons +should be put in possession of his secret. It scarce was known, except +to three or four out of his family, and it was kept to a wonder. + +On the 10th of June, 1714, there came by Mr. Prior's messenger from +Paris a letter from my Lord Viscount Castlewood to his mother, saying +that he had been foolish in regard of money matters, that he was ashamed +to own he had lost at play, and by other extravagances; and that instead +of having great entertainments as he had hoped at Castlewood this year, +he must live as quiet as he could, and make every effort to be saving. +So far every word of poor Frank's letter was true, nor was there a doubt +that he and his tall brothers-in-law had spent a great deal more than +they ought, and engaged the revenues of the Castlewood property, which +the fond mother had husbanded and improved so carefully during the time +of her guardianship. + +His “Clotilda,” Castlewood went on to say, “was still delicate, and her +physicians thought her lying-in had best take place at Paris. He should +come without her ladyship, and be at his mother's house about the 17th +or 18th day of June, proposing to take horse from Paris immediately, +and bringing but a single servant with him; and he requested that the +lawyers of Gray's inn might be invited to meet him with their account, +and the land-steward come from Castlewood with his, so that he might +settle with them speedily, raise a sum of money whereof he stood in +need, and be back to his viscountess by the time of her lying-in.” Then +his lordship gave some of the news of the town, sent his remembrance to +kinsfolk, and so the letter ended. 'Twas put in the common post, and no +doubt the French police and the English there had a copy of it, to which +they were exceeding welcome. + +Two days after another letter was despatched by the public post of +France, in the same open way, and this, after giving news of the fashion +at Court there, ended by the following sentences, in which, but for +those that had the key, 'twould be difficult for any man to find any +secret lurked at all:-- + + +“(The King will take) medicine on Thursday. His Majesty is better than +he hath been of late, though incommoded by indigestion from his too +great appetite. Madame Maintenon continues well. They have performed a +play of Mons. Racine at St. Cyr. The Duke of Shrewsbury and Mr. Prior, +our envoy, and all the English nobility here were present at it. (The +Viscount Castlewood's passports) were refused to him, 'twas said; his +lordship being sued by a goldsmith for Vaisselle plate, and a pearl +necklace supplied to Mademoiselle Meruel of the French Comedy. 'Tis a +pity such news should get abroad (and travel to England) about our young +nobility here. Mademoiselle Meruel has been sent to the Fort l'Evesque; +they say she has ordered not only plate, but furniture, and a chariot +and horses (under that lord's name), of which extravagance his +unfortunate Viscountess knows nothing. + +“(His Majesty will be) eighty-two years of age on his next birthday. The +Court prepares to celebrate it with a great feast. Mr. Prior is in a sad +way about their refusing at home to send him his plate. All here admired +my Lord Viscount's portrait, and said it was a masterpiece of Rigaud. +Have you seen it? It is (at the Lady Castlewood's house in Kensington +Square). I think no English painter could produce such a piece. + +“Our poor friend the Abbe hath been at the Bastile, but is now +transported to the Conciergerie (where his friends may visit him. They +are to ask for) a remission of his sentence soon. Let us hope the poor +rogue will have repented in prison. + +“(The Lord Castlewood) has had the affair of the plate made up, and +departs for England. + +“Is not this a dull letter? I have a cursed headache with drinking with +Mat and some more over-night, and tipsy or sober am + +“Thine ever ----.” + + +All this letter, save some dozen of words which I have put above between +brackets, was mere idle talk, though the substance of the letter was as +important as any letter well could be. It told those that had the key, +that The King will take the Viscount Castlewood's passports and travel +to England under that lord's name. His Majesty will be at the Lady +Castlewood's house in Kensington Square, where his friends may visit +him; they are to ask for the Lord Castlewood. This note may have passed +under Mr. Prior's eyes, and those of our new allies the French, and +taught them nothing; though it explains sufficiently to persons in +London what the event was which was about to happen, as 'twill show +those who read my memoirs a hundred years hence, what was that errand on +which Colonel Esmond of late had been busy. Silently and swiftly to do +that about which others were conspiring, and thousands of Jacobites +all over the country clumsily caballing; alone to effect that which the +leaders here were only talking about; to bring the Prince of Wales into +the country openly in the face of all, under Bolingbroke's very eyes, +the walls placarded with the proclamation signed with the Secretary's +name, and offering five hundred pounds reward for his apprehension: +this was a stroke, the playing and winning of which might well give any +adventurous spirit pleasure: the loss of the stake might involve a heavy +penalty, but all our family were eager to risk that for the glorious +chance of winning the game. + +Nor shall it be called a game, save perhaps with the chief player, who +was not more or less sceptical than most public men with whom he had +acquaintance in that age. (Is there ever a public man in England that +altogether believes in his party? Is there one, however doubtful, that +will not fight for it?) Young Frank was ready to fight without much +thinking, he was a Jacobite as his father before him was; all the +Esmonds were Royalists. Give him but the word, he would cry, “God save +King James!” before the palace guard, or at the Maypole in the Strand; +and with respect to the women, as is usual with them, 'twas not a +question of party but of faith; their belief was a passion; either +Esmond's mistress or her daughter would have died for it cheerfully. I +have laughed often, talking of King William's reign, and said I thought +Lady Castlewood was disappointed the King did not persecute the family +more; and those who know the nature of women may fancy for themselves, +what needs not here be written down, the rapture with which these +neophytes received the mystery when made known to them; the eagerness +with which they looked forward to its completion; the reverence which +they paid the minister who initiated them into that secret Truth, now +known only to a few, but presently to reign over the world. Sure there +is no bound to the trustingness of women. Look at Arria worshipping the +drunken clodpate of a husband who beats her; look at Cornelia treasuring +as a jewel in her maternal heart the oaf her son; I have known a woman +preach Jesuit's bark, and afterwards Dr. Berkeley's tar-water, as though +to swallow them were a divine decree, and to refuse them no better than +blasphemy. + +On his return from France Colonel Esmond put himself at the head of +this little knot of fond conspirators. No death or torture he knew would +frighten them out of their constancy. When he detailed his plan for +bringing the King back, his elder mistress thought that that Restoration +was to be attributed under heaven to the Castlewood family and to its +chief, and she worshipped and loved Esmond, if that could be, more than +ever she had done. She doubted not for one moment of the success of his +scheme, to mistrust which would have seemed impious in her eyes. And as +for Beatrix, when she became acquainted with the plan, and joined it, as +she did with all her heart, she gave Esmond one of her searching bright +looks. “Ah, Harry,” says she, “why were you not the head of our house? +You are the only one fit to raise it; why do you give that silly boy the +name and the honor? But 'tis so in the world; those get the prize that +don't deserve or care for it. I wish I could give you YOUR silly prize, +cousin, but I can't; I have tried, and I can't.” And she went away, +shaking her head mournfully, but always, it seemed to Esmond, that her +liking and respect for him was greatly increased, since she knew what +capability he had both to act and bear; to do and to forego. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE ORIGINAL OF THE PORTRAIT COMES TO ENGLAND. + + +'Twas announced in the family that my Lord Castlewood would arrive, +having a confidential French gentleman in his suite, who acted as +secretary to his lordship, and who, being a Papist, and a foreigner of +a good family, though now in rather a menial place, would have his meals +served in his chamber, and not with the domestics of the house. The +Viscountess gave up her bedchamber contiguous to her daughter's, and +having a large convenient closet attached to it, in which a bed was +put up, ostensibly for Monsieur Baptiste, the Frenchman; though, 'tis +needless to say, when the doors of the apartments were locked, and the +two guests retired within it, the young viscount became the servant of +the illustrious Prince whom he entertained, and gave up gladly the more +convenient and airy chamber and bed to his master. Madam Beatrix +also retired to the upper region, her chamber being converted into +a sitting-room for my lord. The better to carry the deceit, Beatrix +affected to grumble before the servants, and to be jealous that she was +turned out of her chamber to make way for my lord. + +No small preparations were made, you may be sure, and no slight tremor +of expectation caused the hearts of the gentle ladies of Castlewood to +flutter, before the arrival of the personages who were about to honor +their house. The chamber was ornamented with flowers; the bed covered +with the very finest of linen; the two ladies insisting on making it +themselves, and kneeling down at the bedside and kissing the sheets out +of respect for the web that was to hold the sacred person of a King. The +toilet was of silver and crystal; there was a copy of “Eikon Basilike” + laid on the writing-table; a portrait of the martyred King hung always +over the mantel, having a sword of my poor Lord Castlewood underneath +it, and a little picture or emblem which the widow loved always to have +before her eyes on waking, and in which the hair of her lord and her two +children was worked together. Her books of private devotions, as they +were all of the English Church, she carried away with her to the upper +apartment, which she destined for herself. The ladies showed Mr. Esmond, +when they were completed, the fond preparations they had made. 'Twas +then Beatrix knelt down and kissed the linen sheets. As for her mother, +Lady Castlewood made a curtsy at the door, as she would have done to the +altar on entering a church, and owned that she considered the chamber in +a manner sacred. + +The company in the servants' hall never for a moment supposed that these +preparations were made for any other person than the young viscount, +the lord of the house, whom his fond mother had been for so many years +without seeing. Both ladies were perfect housewives, having the greatest +skill in the making of confections, scented waters, &c., and keeping a +notable superintendence over the kitchen. Calves enough were killed to +feed an army of prodigal sons, Esmond thought, and laughed when he came +to wait on the ladies, on the day when the guests were to arrive, to +find two pairs of the finest and roundest arms to be seen in England (my +Lady Castlewood was remarkable for this beauty of her person), covered +with flour up above the elbows, and preparing paste, and turning +rolling-pins in the housekeeper's closet. The guest would not arrive +till supper-time, and my lord would prefer having that meal in his own +chamber. You may be sure the brightest plate of the house was laid out +there, and can understand why it was that the ladies insisted that they +alone would wait upon the young chief of the family. + +Taking horse, Colonel Esmond rode rapidly to Rochester, and there +awaited the King in that very town where his father had last set his +foot on the English shore. A room had been provided at an inn there for +my Lord Castlewood and his servant; and Colonel Esmond timed his ride so +well that he had scarce been half an hour in the place, and was looking +over the balcony into the yard of the inn, when two travellers rode in +at the inn gate, and the Colonel running down, the next moment embraced +his dear young lord. + +My lord's companion, acting the part of a domestic, dismounted, and was +for holding the viscount's stirrup; but Colonel Esmond, calling to his +own man, who was in the court, bade him take the horses and settle with +the lad who had ridden the post along with the two travellers, crying +out in a cavalier tone in the French language to my lord's companion, +and affecting to grumble that my lord's fellow was a Frenchman, and did +not know the money or habits of the country:--“My man will see to the +horses, Baptiste,” says Colonel Esmond: “do you understand English?” + “Very leetle!” “So, follow my lord and wait upon him at dinner in his +own room.” The landlord and his people came up presently bearing the +dishes; 'twas well they made a noise and stir in the gallery, or they +might have found Colonel Esmond on his knee before Lord Castlewood's +servant, welcoming his Majesty to his kingdom, and kissing the hand +of the King. We told the landlord that the Frenchman would wait on +his master; and Esmond's man was ordered to keep sentry in the gallery +without the door. The Prince dined with a good appetite, laughing and +talking very gayly, and condescendingly bidding his two companions +to sit with him at table. He was in better spirits than poor Frank +Castlewood, who Esmond thought might be woe-begone on account of parting +with his divine Clotilda; but the Prince wishing to take a short siesta +after dinner, and retiring to an inner chamber where there was a bed, +the cause of poor Frank's discomfiture came out; and bursting into +tears, with many expressions of fondness, friendship, and humiliation, +the faithful lad gave his kinsman to understand that he now knew all the +truth, and the sacrifices which Colonel Esmond had made for him. + +Seeing no good in acquainting poor Frank with that secret, Mr. Esmond +had entreated his mistress also not to reveal it to her son. The Prince +had told the poor lad all as they were riding from Dover: “I had as lief +he had shot me, cousin,” Frank said: “I knew you were the best, and the +bravest, and the kindest of all men” (so the enthusiastic young fellow +went on); “but I never thought I owed you what I do, and can scarce bear +the weight of the obligation.” + +“I stand in the place of your father,” says Mr. Esmond, kindly, “and +sure a father may dispossess himself in favor of his son. I abdicate the +twopenny crown, and invest you with the kingdom of Brentford; don't be a +fool and cry; you make a much taller and handsomer viscount than ever +I could.” But the fond boy, with oaths and protestations, laughter and +incoherent outbreaks of passionate emotion, could not be got, for some +little time, to put up with Esmond's raillery; wanted to kneel down to +him, and kissed his hand; asked him and implored him to order something, +to bid Castlewood give his own life or take somebody else's; anything, +so that he might show his gratitude for the generosity Esmond showed +him. + +“The K---, HE laughed,” Frank said, pointing to the door where the +sleeper was, and speaking in a low tone. “I don't think he should have +laughed as he told me the story. As we rode along from Dover, talking in +French, he spoke about you, and your coming to him at Bar; he called +you 'le grand serieux,' Don Bellianis of Greece, and I don't know what +names; mimicking your manner” (here Castlewood laughed himself)--“and +he did it very well. He seems to sneer at everything. He is not like a +king: somehow Harry, I fancy you are like a king. He does not seem +to think what a stake we are all playing. He would have stopped at +Canterbury to run after a barmaid there, had I not implored him to come +on. He hath a house at Chaillot, where he used to go and bury himself +for weeks away from the Queen, and with all sorts of bad company,” says +Frank, with a demure look; “you may smile, but I am not the wild fellow +I was; no, no, I have been taught better,” says Castlewood devoutly, +making a sign on his breast. + +“Thou art my dear brave boy,” says Colonel Esmond, touched at the young +fellow's simplicity, “and there will be a noble gentleman at Castlewood +so long as my Frank is there.” + +The impetuous young lad was for going down on his knees again, with +another explosion of gratitude, but that we heard the voice from the +next chamber of the august sleeper, just waking, calling out:--“Eh, +La-Fleur, un verre d'eau!” His Majesty came out yawning:--“A pest,” says +he, “upon your English ale, 'tis so strong that, ma foi, it hath turned +my head.” + +The effect of the ale was like a spur upon our horses, and we rode +very quickly to London, reaching Kensington at nightfall. Mr. Esmond's +servant was left behind at Rochester, to take care of the tired horses, +whilst we had fresh beasts provided along the road. And galloping by +the Prince's side the Colonel explained to the Prince of Wales what his +movements had been; who the friends were that knew of the expedition; +whom, as Esmond conceived, the Prince should trust; entreating him, +above all, to maintain the very closest secrecy until the time should +come when his Royal Highness should appear. The town swarmed with +friends of the Prince's cause; there were scores of correspondents with +St. Germains; Jacobites known and secret; great in station and humble; +about the Court and the Queen; in the Parliament, Church, and among the +merchants in the City. The Prince had friends numberless in the army, +in the Privy Council, and the Officers of State. The great object, as it +seemed, to the small band of persons who had concerted that bold stroke, +who had brought the Queen's brother into his native country, was, that +his visit should remain unknown till the proper time came, when his +presence should surprise friends and enemies alike; and the latter +should be found so unprepared and disunited, that they should not +find time to attack him. We feared more from his friends than from his +enemies. The lies and tittle-tattle sent over to St. Germains by the +Jacobite agents about London, had done an incalculable mischief to his +cause, and wofully misguided him, and it was from these especially, that +the persons engaged in the present venture were anxious to defend the +chief actor in it.* + + * The managers were the Bishop, who cannot be hurt by having + his name mentioned, a very active and loyal Nonconformist + Divine, a lady in the highest favor at Court, with whom + Beatrix Esmond had communication, and two noblemen of the + greatest rank, and a member of the House of Commons, who was + implicated in more transactions than one in behalf of the + Stuart family. + +The party reached London by nightfall, leaving their horses at the +Posting-House over against Westminster, and being ferried over the +water, where Lady Esmond's coach was already in waiting. In another hour +we were all landed at Kensington, and the mistress of the house had that +satisfaction which her heart had yearned after for many years, once more +to embrace her son, who, on his side, with all his waywardness, ever +retained a most tender affection for his parent. + +She did not refrain from this expression of her feeling, though the +domestics were by, and my Lord Castlewood's attendant stood in the hall. +Esmond had to whisper to him in French to take his hat off. Monsieur +Baptiste was constantly neglecting his part with an inconceivable +levity: more than once on the ride to London, little observations of the +stranger, light remarks, and words betokening the greatest ignorance of +the country the Prince came to govern, had hurt the susceptibility of +the two gentlemen forming his escort; nor could either help owning in +his secret mind that they would have had his behavior otherwise, +and that the laughter and the lightness, not to say license, which +characterized his talk, scarce befitted such a great Prince, and such a +solemn occasion. Not but that he could act at proper times with spirit +and dignity. He had behaved, as we all knew, in a very courageous manner +on the field. Esmond had seen a copy of the letter the Prince had writ +with his own hand when urged by his friends in England to abjure his +religion, and admired that manly and magnanimous reply by which he +refused to yield to the temptation. Monsieur Baptiste took off his +hat, blushing at the hint Colonel Esmond ventured to give him, and +said:--“Tenez, elle est jolie, la petite mere. Foi de Chevalier! elle +est charmante; mais l'autre, qui est cette nymphe, cet astre qui brille, +cette Diane qui descend sur nous?” And he started back, and pushed +forward, as Beatrix was descending the stair. She was in colors for the +first time at her own house; she wore the diamonds Esmond gave her; it +had been agreed between them, that she should wear these brilliants on +the day when the King should enter the house, and a Queen she looked, +radiant in charms, and magnificent and imperial in beauty. + +Castlewood himself was startled by that beauty and splendor; he stepped +back and gazed at his sister as though he had not been aware before (nor +was he very likely) how perfectly lovely she was, and I thought blushed +as he embraced her. The Prince could not keep his eyes off her; he quite +forgot his menial part, though he had been schooled to it, and a little +light portmanteau prepared expressly that he should carry it. He pressed +forward before my Lord Viscount. 'Twas lucky the servants' eyes were +busy in other directions, or they must have seen that this was no +servant, or at least a very insolent and rude one. + +Again Colonel Esmond was obliged to cry out, “Baptiste,” in a loud +imperious voice, “have a care to the valise;” at which hint the wilful +young man ground his teeth together with something very like a curse +between them, and then gave a brief look of anything but pleasure to his +Mentor. Being reminded, however, he shouldered the little portmanteau, +and carried it up the stair, Esmond preceding him, and a servant with +lighted tapers. He flung down his burden sulkily in the bedchamber:--“A +Prince that will wear a crown must wear a mask,” says Mr. Esmond in +French. + +“Ah peste! I see how it is,” says Monsieur Baptiste, continuing the +talk in French. “The Great Serious is seriously”--“alarmed for Monsieur +Baptiste,” broke in the Colonel. Esmond neither liked the tone with +which the Prince spoke of the ladies, nor the eyes with which he +regarded them. + +The bedchamber and the two rooms adjoining it, the closet and the +apartment which was to be called my lord's parlor, were already lighted +and awaiting their occupier; and the collation laid for my lord's +supper. Lord Castlewood and his mother and sister came up the stair +a minute afterwards, and, so soon as the domestics had quitted the +apartment, Castlewood and Esmond uncovered, and the two ladies went down +on their knees before the Prince, who graciously gave a hand to each. +He looked his part of Prince much more naturally than that of servant, +which he had just been trying, and raised them both with a great deal of +nobility, as well as kindness in his air. “Madam,” says he, “my mother +will thank your ladyship for your hospitality to her son; for you, +madam,” turning to Beatrix, “I cannot bear to see so much beauty in such +a posture. You will betray Monsieur Baptiste if you kneel to him; sure +'tis his place rather to kneel to you.” + +A light shone out of her eyes; a gleam bright enough to kindle passion +in any breast. There were times when this creature was so handsome, +that she seemed, as it were, like Venus revealing herself a goddess in a +flash of brightness. She appeared so now; radiant, and with eyes bright +with a wonderful lustre. A pang, as of rage and jealousy, shot through +Esmond's heart, as he caught the look she gave the Prince; and he +clenched his hand involuntarily and looked across to Castlewood, whose +eyes answered his alarm-signal, and were also on the alert. The Prince +gave his subjects an audience of a few minutes, and then the two ladies +and Colonel Esmond quitted the chamber. Lady Castlewood pressed his hand +as they descended the stair, and the three went down to the lower rooms, +where they waited awhile till the travellers above should be refreshed +and ready for their meal. + +Esmond looked at Beatrix, blazing with her jewels on her beautiful neck. +“I have kept my word,” says he: “And I mine,” says Beatrix, looking down +on the diamonds. + +“Were I the Mogul Emperor,” says the Colonel, “you should have all that +were dug out of Golconda.” + +“These are a great deal too good for me,” says Beatrix, dropping her +head on her beautiful breast,--“so are you all, all!” And when she +looked up again, as she did in a moment, and after a sigh, her eyes, +as they gazed at her cousin, wore that melancholy and inscrutable look +which 'twas always impossible to sound. + +When the time came for the supper, of which we were advertised by a +knocking overhead, Colonel Esmond and the two ladies went to the upper +apartment, where the Prince already was, and by his side the young +Viscount, of exactly the same age, shape, and with features not +dissimilar, though Frank's were the handsomer of the two. The Prince +sat down and bade the ladies sit. The gentlemen remained standing: there +was, indeed, but one more cover laid at the table:--“Which of you will +take it?” says he. + +“The head of our house,” says Lady Castlewood, taking her son's hand, +and looking towards Colonel Esmond with a bow and a great tremor of the +voice; “the Marquis of Esmond will have the honor of serving the King.” + +“I shall have the honor of waiting on his Royal Highness,” says Colonel +Esmond, filling a cup of wine, and, as the fashion of that day was, he +presented it to the King on his knee. + +“I drink to my hostess and her family,” says the Prince, with no very +well-pleased air; but the cloud passed immediately off his face, and he +talked to the ladies in a lively, rattling strain, quite undisturbed +by poor Mr. Esmond's yellow countenance, that, I dare say, looked very +glum. + +When the time came to take leave, Esmond marched homewards to his +lodgings, and met Mr. Addison on the road that night, walking to a +cottage he had at Fulham, the moon shining on his handsome serene +face:--“What cheer, brother?” says Addison, laughing: “I thought it was +a footpad advancing in the dark, and behold 'tis an old friend. We +may shake hands, Colonel, in the dark, 'tis better than fighting by +daylight. Why should we quarrel, because I am a Whig and thou art +a Tory? Turn thy steps and walk with me to Fulham, where there is a +nightingale still singing in the garden, and a cool bottle in a cave I +know of; you shall drink to the Pretender if you like, and I will drink +my liquor my own way: I have had enough of good liquor?--no, never! +There is no such word as enough as a stopper for good wine. Thou wilt +not come? Come any day, come soon. You know I remember Simois and the +Sigeia tellus, and the praelia mixta mero, mixta mero,” he repeated, +with ever so slight a touch of merum in his voice, and walked back a +little way on the road with Esmond, bidding the other remember he was +always his friend, and indebted to him for his aid in the “Campaign” + poem. And very likely Mr. Under-Secretary would have stepped in and +taken t'other bottle at the Colonel's lodging, had the latter invited +him, but Esmond's mood was none of the gayest, and he bade his friend an +inhospitable good-night at the door. + +“I have done the deed,” thought he, sleepless, and looking out into the +night; “he is here, and I have brought him; he and Beatrix are sleeping +under the same roof now. Whom did I mean to serve in bringing him? Was +it the Prince? was it Henry Esmond? Had I not best have joined the manly +creed of Addison yonder, that scouts the old doctrine of right +divine, that boldly declares that Parliament and people consecrate the +Sovereign, not bishops, nor genealogies, nor oils, nor coronations.” + The eager gaze of the young Prince, watching every movement of Beatrix, +haunted Esmond and pursued him. The Prince's figure appeared before him +in his feverish dreams many times that night. He wished the deed undone +for which he had labored so. He was not the first that has regretted his +own act, or brought about his own undoing. Undoing? Should he write +that word in his late years? No, on his knees before heaven, rather be +thankful for what then he deemed his misfortune, and which hath caused +the whole subsequent happiness of his life. + +Esmond's man, honest John Lockwood, had served his master and the family +all his life, and the Colonel knew that he could answer for John's +fidelity as for his own. John returned with the horses from Rochester +betimes the next morning, and the Colonel gave him to understand that on +going to Kensington, where he was free of the servants' hall, and indeed +courting Miss Beatrix's maid, he was to ask no questions, and betray no +surprise, but to vouch stoutly that the young gentleman he should see in +a red coat there was my Lord Viscount Castlewood, and that his attendant +in gray was Monsieur Baptiste the Frenchman. He was to tell his friends +in the kitchen such stories as he remembered of my Lord Viscount's youth +at Castlewood; what a wild boy he was; how he used to drill Jack and +cane him, before ever he was a soldier; everything, in fine, he knew +respecting my Lord Viscount's early days. Jack's ideas of painting +had not been much cultivated during his residence in Flanders with his +master; and, before my young lord's return, he had been easily got to +believe that the picture brought over from Paris, and now hanging in +Lady Castlewood's drawing-room, was a perfect likeness of her son, the +young lord. And the domestics having all seen the picture many times, +and catching but a momentary imperfect glimpse of the two strangers on +the night of their arrival, never had a reason to doubt the fidelity +of the portrait; and next day, when they saw the original of the piece +habited exactly as he was represented in the painting, with the same +periwig, ribbons, and uniform of the Guard, quite naturally addressed +the gentleman as my Lord Castlewood, my Lady Viscountess's son. + +The secretary of the night previous was now the viscount; the viscount +wore the secretary's gray frock; and John Lockwood was instructed to +hint to the world below stairs that my lord being a Papist, and very +devout in that religion, his attendant might be no other than his +chaplain from Bruxelles; hence, if he took his meals in my lord's +company there was little reason for surprise. Frank was further +cautioned to speak English with a foreign accent, which task he +performed indifferently well, and this caution was the more necessary +because the Prince himself scarce spoke our language like a native of +the island: and John Lockwood laughed with the folks below stairs at the +manner in which my lord, after five years abroad, sometimes forgot his +own tongue, and spoke it like a Frenchman. “I warrant,” says he, “that, +with the English beef and beer, his lordship will soon get back the +proper use of his mouth;” and, to do his new lordship justice, he took +to beer and beef very kindly. + +The Prince drank so much, and was so loud and imprudent in his talk +after his drink, that Esmond often trembled for him. His meals were +served as much as possible in his own chamber, though frequently he made +his appearance in Lady Castlewood's parlor and drawing-room, calling +Beatrix “sister,” and her ladyship “mother,” or “madam” before the +servants. And, choosing to act entirely up to the part of brother and +son, the Prince sometimes saluted Mrs. Beatrix and Lady Castlewood with +a freedom which his secretary did not like, and which, for his part, set +Colonel Esmond tearing with rage. + +The guests had not been three days in the house when poor Jack Lockwood +came with a rueful countenance to his master, and said: “My Lord--that +is the gentleman--has been tampering with Mrs. Lucy (Jack's sweetheart), +and given her guineas and a kiss.” I fear that Colonel Esmond's mind was +rather relieved than otherwise when he found that the ancillary beauty +was the one whom the Prince had selected. His royal tastes were known +to lie that way, and continued so in after life. The heir of one of +the greatest names, of the greatest kingdoms, and of the greatest +misfortunes in Europe, was often content to lay the dignity of his birth +and grief at the wooden shoes of a French chambermaid, and to repent +afterwards (for he was very devout) in ashes taken from the dust-pan. +'Tis for mortals such as these that nations suffer, that parties +struggle, that warriors fight and bleed. A year afterwards gallant heads +were falling, and Nithsdale in escape, and Derwentwater on the scaffold; +whilst the heedless ingrate, for whom they risked and lost all, was +tippling with his seraglio of mistresses in his petite maison of +Chaillot. + +Blushing to be forced to bear such an errand, Esmond had to go to the +Prince and warn him that the girl whom his Highness was bribing was John +Lockwood's sweetheart, an honest resolute man, who had served in six +campaigns, and feared nothing, and who knew that the person calling +himself Lord Castlewood was not his young master: and the Colonel +besought the Prince to consider what the effect of a single man's +jealousy might be, and to think of other designs he had in hand, more +important than the seduction of a waiting-maid, and the humiliation of a +brave man. + +Ten times, perhaps, in the course of as many days, Mr. Esmond had to +warn the royal young adventurer of some imprudence or some freedom. He +received these remonstrances very testily, save perhaps in this affair +of poor Lockwood's, when he deigned to burst out a-laughing, and said, +“What! the soubrette has peached to the amoureux, and Crispin is angry, +and Crispin has served, and Crispin has been a corporal, has he? Tell +him we will reward his valor with a pair of colors, and recompense his +fidelity.” + +Colonel Esmond ventured to utter some other words of entreaty, but the +Prince, stamping imperiously, cried out, “Assez, milord: je m'ennuye +a la preche; I am not come to London to go to the sermon.” And he +complained afterwards to Castlewood, that “le petit jaune, le noir +Colonel, le Marquis Misanthrope” (by which facetious names his Royal +Highness was pleased to designate Colonel Esmond), “fatigued him with +his grand airs and virtuous homilies.” + +The Bishop of Rochester, and other gentlemen engaged in the transaction +which had brought the Prince over, waited upon his Royal Highness, +constantly asking for my Lord Castlewood on their arrival at Kensington, +and being openly conducted to his Royal Highness in that character, who +received them either in my lady's drawing-room below, or above in his +own apartment; and all implored him to quit the house as little as +possible, and to wait there till the signal should be given for him to +appear. The ladies entertained him at cards, over which amusement he +spent many hours in each day and night. He passed many hours more in +drinking, during which time he would rattle and talk very agreeably, and +especially if the Colonel was absent, whose presence always seemed to +frighten him; and the poor “Colonel Noir” took that hint as a command +accordingly, and seldom intruded his black face upon the convivial hours +of this august young prisoner. Except for those few persons of whom the +porter had the list, Lord Castlewood was denied to all friends of the +house who waited on his lordship. The wound he had received had broke +out again from his journey on horseback, so the world and the domestics +were informed. And Doctor A----,* his physician (I shall not mention his +name, but he was physician to the Queen, of the Scots nation, and a man +remarkable for his benevolence as well as his wit), gave orders that he +should be kept perfectly quiet until the wound should heal. With this +gentleman, who was one of the most active and influential of our party, +and the others before spoken of, the whole secret lay; and it was kept +with so much faithfulness, and the story we told so simple and natural, +that there was no likelihood of a discovery except from the imprudence +of the Prince himself, and an adventurous levity that we had the +greatest difficulty to control. As for Lady Castlewood, although she +scarce spoke a word, 'twas easy to gather from her demeanor, and one +or two hints she dropped, how deep her mortification was at finding the +hero whom she had chosen to worship all her life (and whose restoration +had formed almost the most sacred part of her prayers), no more than +a man, and not a good one. She thought misfortune might have chastened +him; but that instructress had rather rendered him callous than humble. +His devotion, which was quite real, kept him from no sin he had a mind +to. His talk showed good-humor, gayety, even wit enough; but there was +a levity in his acts and words that he had brought from among those +libertine devotees with whom he had been bred, and that shocked the +simplicity and purity of the English lady, whose guest he was. Esmond +spoke his mind to Beatrix pretty freely about the Prince, getting her +brother to put in a word of warning. Beatrix was entirely of their +opinion; she thought he was very light, very light and reckless; she +could not even see the good looks Colonel Esmond had spoken of. The +Prince had bad teeth, and a decided squint. How could we say he did not +squint? His eyes were fine, but there was certainly a cast in them. She +rallied him at table with wonderful wit; she spoke of him invariably as +of a mere boy; she was more fond of Esmond than ever, praised him to her +brother, praised him to the Prince, when his Royal Highness was pleased +to sneer at the Colonel, and warmly espoused his cause: “And if your +Majesty does not give him the Garter his father had, when the Marquis +of Esmond comes to your Majesty's court, I will hang myself in my own +garters, or will cry my eyes out.” “Rather than lose those,” says the +Prince, “he shall be made Archbishop and Colonel of the Guard” (it was +Frank Castlewood who told me of this conversation over their supper). + + * There can be very little doubt that the Doctor mentioned + by my dear father was the famous Dr. Arbuthnot.--R. E. W. + +“Yes,” cries she, with one of her laughs--I fancy I hear it now. +Thirty years afterwards I hear that delightful music. “Yes, he shall be +Archbishop of Esmond and Marquis of Canterbury.” + +“And what will your ladyship be?” says the Prince; “you have but to +choose your place.” + +“I,” says Beatrix, “will be mother of the maids to the Queen of his +Majesty King James the Third--Vive le Roy!” and she made him a great +curtsy, and drank a part of a glass of wine in his honor. + +“The Prince seized hold of the glass and drank the last drop of it,” + Castlewood said, “and my mother, looking very anxious, rose up and asked +leave to retire. But that Trix is my mother's daughter, Harry,” Frank +continued, “I don't know what a horrid fear I should have of her. I +wish--I wish this business were over. You are older than I am, +and wiser, and better, and I owe you everything, and would die for +you--before George I would; but I wish the end of this were come.” + +Neither of us very likely passed a tranquil night; horrible doubts and +torments racked Esmond's soul: 'twas a scheme of personal ambition, +a daring stroke for a selfish end--he knew it. What cared he, in his +heart, who was King? Were not his very sympathies and secret convictions +on the other side--on the side of People, Parliament, Freedom? And here +was he, engaged for a Prince that had scarce heard the word liberty; +that priests and women, tyrants by nature, both made a tool of. The +misanthrope was in no better humor after hearing that story, and his +grim face more black and yellow than ever. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +WE ENTERTAIN A VERY DISTINGUISHED GUEST AT KENSINGTON. + + +Should any clue be found to the dark intrigues at the latter end of +Queen Anne's time, or any historian be inclined to follow it, 'twill be +discovered, I have little doubt, that not one of the great personages +about the Queen had a defined scheme of policy, independent of that +private and selfish interest which each was bent on pursuing: St. +John was for St. John, and Harley for Oxford, and Marlborough for +John Churchill, always; and according as they could get help from +St. Germains or Hanover, they sent over proffers of allegiance to +the Princes there, or betrayed one to the other: one cause, or one +sovereign, was as good as another to them, so that they could hold the +best place under him; and like Lockit and Peachem, the Newgate chiefs +in the “Rogues' Opera,” Mr. Gay wrote afterwards, had each in his hand +documents and proofs of treason which would hang the other, only he did +not dare to use the weapon, for fear of that one which his neighbor +also carried in his pocket. Think of the great Marlborough, the greatest +subject in all the world, a conqueror of princes, that had marched +victorious over Germany, Flanders, and France, that had given the law to +sovereigns abroad, and been worshipped as a divinity at home, forced to +sneak out of England--his credit, honors, places, all taken from him; +his friends in the army broke and ruined; and flying before Harley, as +abject and powerless as a poor debtor before a bailiff with a writ. A +paper, of which Harley got possession, and showing beyond doubt that the +Duke was engaged with the Stuart family, was the weapon with which the +Treasurer drove Marlborough out of the kingdom. He fled to Antwerp, and +began intriguing instantly on the other side, and came back to England, +as all know, a Whig and a Hanoverian. + +Though the Treasurer turned out of the army and office every man, +military or civil, known to be the Duke's friend, and gave the vacant +posts among the Tory party; he, too, was playing the double game between +Hanover and St. Germains, awaiting the expected catastrophe of the +Queen's death to be Master of the State, and offer it to either family +that should bribe him best, or that the nation should declare for. +Whichever the King was, Harley's object was to reign over him; and to +this end he supplanted the former famous favorite, decried the actions +of the war which had made Marlborough's name illustrious, and disdained +no more than the great fallen competitor of his, the meanest arts, +flatteries, intimidations, that would secure his power. If the greatest +satirist the world ever hath seen had writ against Harley, and not for +him, what a history had he left behind of the last years of Queen Anne's +reign! But Swift, that scorned all mankind, and himself not the least of +all, had this merit of a faithful partisan, that he loved those chiefs +who treated him well, and stuck by Harley bravely in his fall, as he +gallantly had supported him in his better fortune. + +Incomparably more brilliant, more splendid, eloquent, accomplished than +his rival, the great St. John could be as selfish as Oxford was, and +could act the double part as skilfully as ambidextrous Churchill. He +whose talk was always of liberty, no more shrunk from using persecution +and the pillory against his opponents than if he had been at Lisbon and +Grand Inquisitor. This lofty patriot was on his knees at Hanover and St. +Germains too; notoriously of no religion, he toasted Church and Queen +as boldly as the stupid Sacheverel, whom he used and laughed at; and +to serve his turn, and to overthrow his enemy, he could intrigue, coax, +bully, wheedle, fawn on the Court favorite and creep up the back-stair +as silently as Oxford, who supplanted Marlborough, and whom he himself +supplanted. The crash of my Lord Oxford happened at this very time +whereat my history is now arrived. He was come to the very last days of +his power, and the agent whom he employed to overthrow the conqueror of +Blenheim, was now engaged to upset the conqueror's conqueror, and hand +over the staff of government to Bolingbroke, who had been panting to +hold it. + +In expectation of the stroke that was now preparing, the Irish regiments +in the French service were all brought round about Boulogne in Picardy, +to pass over if need were with the Duke of Berwick; the soldiers of +France no longer, but subjects of James the Third of England and Ireland +King. The fidelity of the great mass of the Scots (though a most active, +resolute, and gallant Whig party, admirably and energetically ordered +and disciplined, was known to be in Scotland too) was notoriously +unshaken in their King. A very great body of Tory clergy, nobility, and +gentry, were public partisans of the exiled Prince; and the indifferents +might be counted on to cry King George or King James, according as +either should prevail. The Queen, especially in her latter days, +inclined towards her own family. The Prince was lying actually in +London, within a stone's cast of his sister's palace; the first Minister +toppling to his fall, and so tottering that the weakest push of +a woman's finger would send him down; and as for Bolingbroke, his +successor, we know on whose side his power and his splendid eloquence +would be on the day when the Queen should appear openly before her +Council and say:--“This, my lords, is my brother; here is my father's +heir, and mine after me.” + +During the whole of the previous year the Queen had had many and +repeated fits of sickness, fever, and lethargy, and her death had been +constantly looked for by all her attendants. The Elector of Hanover had +wished to send his son, the Duke of Cambridge--to pay his court to his +cousin the Queen, the Elector said;--in truth, to be on the spot when +death should close her career. Frightened perhaps to have such a memento +mori under her royal eyes, her Majesty had angrily forbidden the young +Prince's coming into England. Either she desired to keep the chances for +her brother open yet; or the people about her did not wish to close with +the Whig candidate till they could make terms with him. The quarrels +of her Ministers before her face at the Council board, the pricks of +conscience very likely, the importunities of her Ministers, and constant +turmoil and agitation round about her, had weakened and irritated the +Princess extremely; her strength was giving way under these continual +trials of her temper, and from day to day it was expected she must +come to a speedy end of them. Just before Viscount Castlewood and his +companion came from France, her Majesty was taken ill. The St. +Anthony's fire broke out on the royal legs; there was no hurry for +the presentation of the young lord at Court, or that person who should +appear under his name; and my Lord Viscount's wound breaking out +opportunely, he was kept conveniently in his chamber until such time as +his physician would allow him to bend his knee before the Queen. At +the commencement of July, that influential lady, with whom it has been +mentioned that our party had relations, came frequently to visit her +young friend, the Maid of Honor, at Kensington, and my Lord Viscount +(the real or supposititious), who was an invalid at Lady Castlewood's +house. + +On the 27th day of July, the lady in question, who held the most +intimate post about the Queen, came in her chair from the Palace hard +by, bringing to the little party in Kensington Square intelligence of +the very highest importance. The final blow had been struck, and my Lord +of Oxford and Mortimer was no longer Treasurer. The staff was as yet +given to no successor, though my Lord Bolingbroke would undoubtedly be +the man. And now the time was come, the Queen's Abigail said: and now my +Lord Castlewood ought to be presented to the Sovereign. + +After that scene which Lord Castlewood witnessed and described to his +cousin, who passed such a miserable night of mortification and jealousy +as he thought over the transaction, no doubt the three persons who were +set by nature as protectors over Beatrix came to the same conclusion, +that she must be removed from the presence of a man whose desires +towards her were expressed only too clearly; and who was no more +scrupulous in seeking to gratify them than his father had been before +him. I suppose Esmond's mistress, her son, and the Colonel himself, had +been all secretly debating this matter in their minds, for when Frank +broke out, in his blunt way, with:--“I think Beatrix had best be +anywhere but here,”--Lady Castlewood said:--“I thank you, Frank, I have +thought so, too;” and Mr. Esmond, though he only remarked that it was +not for him to speak, showed plainly, by the delight on his countenance, +how very agreeable that proposal was to him. + +“One sees that you think with us, Henry,” says the viscountess, with +ever so little of sarcasm in her tone: “Beatrix is best out of this +house whilst we have our guest in it, and as soon as this morning's +business is done, she ought to quit London.” + +“What morning's business?” asked Colonel Esmond, not knowing what had +been arranged, though in fact the stroke next in importance to that of +bringing the Prince, and of having him acknowledged by the Queen, +was now being performed at the very moment we three were conversing +together. + +The Court-lady with whom our plan was concerted, and who was a chief +agent in it, the Court physician, and the Bishop of Rochester, who +were the other two most active participators in our plan, had held many +councils in our house at Kensington and elsewhere, as to the means best +to be adopted for presenting our young adventurer to his sister the +Queen. The simple and easy plan proposed by Colonel Esmond had been +agreed to by all parties, which was that on some rather private day, +when there were not many persons about the Court, the Prince should +appear there as my Lord Castlewood, should be greeted by his sister in +waiting, and led by that other lady into the closet of the Queen. And +according to her Majesty's health or humor, and the circumstances that +might arise during the interview, it was to be left to the discretion +of those present at it, and to the Prince himself, whether he should +declare that it was the Queen's own brother, or the brother of Beatrix +Esmond, who kissed her Royal hand. And this plan being determined on, +we were all waiting in very much anxiety for the day and signal of +execution. + +Two mornings after that supper, it being the 27th day of July, the +Bishop of Rochester breakfasting with Lady Castlewood and her family, +and the meal scarce over, Doctor A.'s coach drove up to our house at +Kensington, and the Doctor appeared amongst the party there, enlivening +a rather gloomy company; for the mother and daughter had had words in +the morning in respect to the transactions of that supper, and other +adventures perhaps, and on the day succeeding. Beatrix's haughty spirit +brooked remonstrances from no superior, much less from her mother, the +gentlest of creatures, whom the girl commanded rather than obeyed. And +feeling she was wrong, and that by a thousand coquetries (which she +could no more help exercising on every man that came near her, than the +sun can help shining on great and small) she had provoked the Prince's +dangerous admiration, and allured him to the expression of it, she was +only the more wilful and imperious the more she felt her error. + +To this party, the Prince being served with chocolate in his bedchamber, +where he lay late, sleeping away the fumes of his wine, the Doctor came, +and by the urgent and startling nature of his news, dissipated instantly +that private and minor unpleasantry under which the family of Castlewood +was laboring. + +He asked for the guest; the guest was above in his own apartment: he +bade Monsieur Baptiste go up to his master instantly, and requested that +MY LORD VISCOUNT CASTLEWOOD would straightway put his uniform on, and +come away in the Doctor's coach now at the door. + +He then informed Madam Beatrix what her part of the comedy was to +be:--“In half an hour,” says he, “her Majesty and her favorite lady +will take the air in the Cedar-walk behind the new Banqueting-house. Her +Majesty will be drawn in a garden-chair, Madam Beatrix Esmond and HER +BROTHER, MY LORD VISCOUNT CASTLEWOOD, will be walking in the private +garden, (here is Lady Masham's key,) and will come unawares upon the +Royal party. The man that draws the chair will retire, and leave the +Queen, the favorite, and the maid of honor and her brother together; +Mistress Beatrix will present her brother, and then!--and then, my Lord +Bishop will pray for the result of the interview, and his Scots clerk +will say Amen! Quick, put on your hood, Madam Beatrix; why doth not his +Majesty come down? Such another chance may not present itself for months +again.” + +The Prince was late and lazy, and indeed had all but lost that chance +through his indolence. The Queen was actually about to leave the garden +just when the party reached it; the Doctor, the Bishop, the maid of +honor and her brother went off together in the physician's coach, +and had been gone half an hour when Colonel Esmond came to Kensington +Square. + +The news of this errand, on which Beatrix was gone, of course for a +moment put all thoughts of private jealousy out of Colonel Esmond's +head. In half an hour more the coach returned; the Bishop descended from +it first, and gave his arm to Beatrix, who now came out. His lordship +went back into the carriage again, and the maid of honor entered the +house alone. We were all gazing at her from the upper window, trying to +read from her countenance the result of the interview from which she had +just come. + +She came into the drawing-room in a great tremor and very pale; she +asked for a glass of water as her mother went to meet her, and after +drinking that and putting off her hood, she began to speak--“We may all +hope for the best,” says she; “it has cost the Queen a fit. Her Majesty +was in her chair in the Cedar-walk, accompanied only by Lady ----, when +we entered by the private wicket from the west side of the garden, and +turned towards her, the Doctor following us. They waited in a side +walk hidden by the shrubs, as we advanced towards the chair. My heart +throbbed so I scarce could speak; but my Prince whispered, 'Courage, +Beatrix,' and marched on with a steady step. His face was a little +flushed, but he was not afraid of the danger. He who fought so bravely +at Malplaquet fears nothing.” Esmond and Castlewood looked at each other +at this compliment, neither liking the sound of it. + +“The Prince uncovered,” Beatrix continued, “and I saw the Queen turning +round to Lady Masham, as if asking who these two were. Her Majesty +looked very pale and ill, and then flushed up; the favorite made us a +signal to advance, and I went up, leading my Prince by the hand, quite +close to the chair: 'Your Majesty will give my Lord Viscount your hand +to kiss,' says her lady, and the Queen put out her hand, which the +Prince kissed, kneeling on his knee, he who should kneel to no mortal +man or woman. + +“'You have been long from England, my lord,' says the Queen: 'why were +you not here to give a home to your mother and sister?' + +“'I am come, Madam, to stay now, if the Queen desires me,' says the +Prince, with another low bow. + +“'You have taken a foreign wife, my lord, and a foreign religion; was +not that of England good enough for you?' + +“'In returning to my father's church,' says the Prince, 'I do not love +my mother the less, nor am I the less faithful servant of your majesty.' + +“Here,” says Beatrix, “the favorite gave me a little signal with her +hand to fall back, which I did, though I died to hear what should pass; +and whispered something to the Queen, which made her Majesty start and +utter one or two words in a hurried manner, looking towards the Prince, +and catching hold with her hand of the arm of her chair. He advanced +still nearer towards it; he began to speak very rapidly; I caught the +words, 'Father, blessing, forgiveness,'--and then presently the Prince +fell on his knees; took from his breast a paper he had there, handed it +to the Queen, who, as soon as she saw it, flung up both her arms with +a scream, and took away that hand nearest the Prince, and which he +endeavored to kiss. He went on speaking with great animation of gesture, +now clasping his hands together on his heart, now opening them as though +to say: 'I am here, your brother, in your power.' Lady Masham ran round +on the other side of the chair, kneeling too, and speaking with great +energy. She clasped the Queen's hand on her side, and picked up the +paper her Majesty had let fall. The Prince rose and made a further +speech as though he would go; the favorite on the other hand urging her +mistress, and then, running back to the Prince, brought him back once +more close to the chair. Again he knelt down and took the Queen's hand, +which she did not withdraw, kissing it a hundred times; my lady all the +time, with sobs and supplications, speaking over the chair. This while +the Queen sat with a stupefied look, crumpling the paper with one hand, +as my Prince embraced the other; then of a sudden she uttered several +piercing shrieks, and burst into a great fit of hysteric tears and +laughter. 'Enough, enough, sir, for this time,' I heard Lady Masham +say: and the chairman, who had withdrawn round the Banqueting-room, came +back, alarmed by the cries. 'Quick,' says Lady Masham, 'get some help,' +and I ran towards the Doctor, who, with the Bishop of Rochester, came up +instantly. Lady Masham whispered the Prince he might hope for the very +best; and to be ready to-morrow; and he hath gone away to the Bishop +of Rochester's house, to meet several of his friends there. And so the +great stroke is struck,” says Beatrix, going down on her knees, and +clasping her hands. “God save the King: God save the King!” + +Beatrix's tale told, and the young lady herself calmed somewhat of +her agitation, we asked with regard to the Prince, who was absent with +Bishop Atterbury, and were informed that 'twas likely he might remain +abroad the whole day. Beatrix's three kinsfolk looked at one another at +this intelligence: 'twas clear the same thought was passing through the +minds of all. + +But who should begin to break the news? Monsieur Baptiste, that is Frank +Castlewood, turned very red, and looked towards Esmond; the Colonel +bit his lips, and fairly beat a retreat into the window: it was Lady +Castlewood that opened upon Beatrix with the news which we knew would do +anything but please her. + +“We are glad,” says she, taking her daughter's hand, and speaking in a +gentle voice, “that the guest is away.” + +Beatrix drew back in an instant, looking round her at us three, and +as if divining a danger. “Why glad?” says she, her breast beginning to +heave; “are you so soon tired of him?” + +“We think one of us is devilishly too fond of him,” cries out Frank +Castlewood. + +“And which is it--you, my lord, or is it mamma, who is jealous because +he drinks my health? or is it the head of the family” (here she turned +with an imperious look towards Colonel Esmond), “who has taken of late +to preach the King sermons?” + +“We do not say you are too free with his Majesty.” + +“I thank you, madam,” says Beatrix, with a toss of the head and a +curtsey. + +But her mother continued, with very great calmness and dignity--“At +least we have not said so, though we might, were it possible for a +mother to say such words to her own daughter, your father's daughter.” + +“Eh? mon pere,” breaks out Beatrix, “was no better than other persons' +fathers.” And again she looked towards the Colonel. + +We all felt a shock as she uttered those two or three French words; her +manner was exactly imitated from that of our foreign guest. + +“You had not learned to speak French a month ago, Beatrix,” says her +mother, sadly, “nor to speak ill of your father.” + +Beatrix, no doubt, saw that slip she had made in her flurry, for she +blushed crimson: “I have learnt to honor the King,” says she, drawing +up, “and 'twere as well that others suspected neither his Majesty nor +me.” + +“If you respected your mother a little more,” Frank said, “Trix, you +would do yourself no hurt.” + +“I am no child,” says she, turning round on him; “we have lived very +well these five years without the benefit of your advice or example, and +I intend to take neither now. Why does not the head of the house speak?” + she went on; “he rules everything here. When his chaplain has done +singing the psalms, will his lordship deliver the sermon? I am tired of +the psalms.” The Prince had used almost the very same words in regard to +Colonel Esmond that the imprudent girl repeated in her wrath. + +“You show yourself a very apt scholar, madam,” says the Colonel; +and, turning to his mistress, “Did your guest use these words in your +ladyship's hearing, or was it to Beatrix in private that he was pleased +to impart his opinion regarding my tiresome sermon?” + +“Have you seen him alone?” cries my lord, starting up with an oath: “by +God, have you seen him alone?” + +“Were he here, you wouldn't dare so to insult me; no, you would not +dare!” cries Frank's sister. “Keep your oaths, my lord, for your wife; +we are not used here to such language. Till you came, there used to be +kindness between me and mamma, and I cared for her when you never did, +when you were away for years with your horses and your mistress, and +your Popish wife.” + +“By ---,” says my lord, rapping out another oath, “Clotilda is an angel; +how dare you say a word against Clotilda?” + +Colonel Esmond could not refrain from a smile, to see how easy Frank's +attack was drawn off by that feint:--“I fancy Clotilda is not the +subject in hand,” says Mr. Esmond, rather scornfully; “her ladyship is +at Paris, a hundred leagues off, preparing baby-linen. It is about my +Lord Castlewood's sister, and not his wife, the question is.” + +“He is not my Lord Castlewood,” says Beatrix, “and he knows he is not; +he is Colonel Francis Esmond's son, and no more, and he wears a false +title; and he lives on another man's land, and he knows it.” Here was +another desperate sally of the poor beleaguered garrison, and an alerte +in another quarter. “Again, I beg your pardon,” says Esmond. “If there +are no proofs of my claim, I have no claim. If my father acknowledged +no heir, yours was his lawful successor, and my Lord Castlewood hath +as good a right to his rank and small estate as any man in England. But +that again is not the question, as you know very well; let us bring our +talk back to it, as you will have me meddle in it. And I will give +you frankly my opinion, that a house where a Prince lies all day, who +respects no woman, is no house for a young unmarried lady; that you were +better in the country than here; that he is here on a great end, from +which no folly should divert him; and that having nobly done your part +of this morning, Beatrix, you should retire off the scene awhile, and +leave it to the other actors of the play.” + +As the Colonel spoke with a perfect calmness and politeness, such as +'tis to be hoped he hath always shown to women,* his mistress stood by +him on one side of the table, and Frank Castlewood on the other, hemming +in poor Beatrix, that was behind it, and, as it were, surrounding her +with our approaches. + + * My dear father saith quite truly, that his manner towards + our sex was uniformly courteous. From my infancy upwards, + he treated me with an extreme gentleness, as though I was a + little lady. I can scarce remember (though I tried him + often) ever hearing a rough word from him, nor was he less + grave and kind in his manner to the humblest negresses on + his estate. He was familiar with no one except my mother, + and it was delightful to witness up to the very last days + the confidence between them. He was obeyed eagerly by all + under him; and my mother and all her household lived in a + constant emulation to please him, and quite a terror lest in + any way they should offend him. He was the humblest man + with all this; the least exacting, the more easily + contented; and Mr. Benson, our minister at Castlewood, who + attended him at the last, ever said--“I know not what + Colonel Esmond's doctrine was, but his life and death were + those of a devout Christian.”--R. E. W. + +Having twice sallied out and been beaten back, she now, as I expected, +tried the ultima ratio of women, and had recourse to tears. Her +beautiful eyes filled with them; I never could bear in her, nor in any +woman, that expression of pain:--“I am alone,” sobbed she; “you are +three against me--my brother, my mother, and you. What have I done, that +you should speak and look so unkindly at me? Is it my fault that the +Prince should, as you say, admire me? Did I bring him here? Did I do +aught but what you bade me, in making him welcome? Did you not tell me +that our duty was to die for him? Did you not teach me, mother, night +and morning to pray for the King, before even ourselves? What would you +have of me, cousin, for you are the chief of the conspiracy against me; +I know you are, sir, and that my mother and brother are acting but as +you bid them; whither would you have me go?” + +“I would but remove from the Prince,” says Esmond, gravely, “a dangerous +temptation; heaven forbid I should say you would yield; I would only +have him free of it. Your honor needs no guardian, please God, but his +imprudence doth. He is so far removed from all women by his rank, that +his pursuit of them cannot but be unlawful. We would remove the dearest +and fairest of our family from the chance of that insult, and that is +why we would have you go, dear Beatrix.” + +“Harry speaks like a book,” says Frank, with one of his oaths, “and, by +---, every word he saith is true. You can't help being handsome, Trix; +no more can the Prince help following you. My counsel is that you go out +of harm's way; for, by the Lord, were the Prince to play any tricks with +you, King as he is, or is to be, Harry Esmond and I would have justice +of him.” + +“Are not two such champions enough to guard me?” says Beatrix, something +sorrowfully; “sure, with you two watching, no evil could happen to me.” + +“In faith, I think not, Beatrix,” says Colonel Esmond; “nor if the +Prince knew us would he try.” + +“But does he know you?” interposed Lady Castlewood, very quiet: “he +comes of a country where the pursuit of kings is thought no dishonor +to a woman. Let us go, dearest Beatrix. Shall we go to Walcote or to +Castlewood? We are best away from the city; and when the Prince is +acknowledged, and our champions have restored him, and he hath his own +house at St. James's or Windsor, we can come back to ours here. Do you +not think so, Harry and Frank?” + +Frank and Harry thought with her, you may be sure. + +“We will go, then,” says Beatrix, turning a little pale; “Lady Masham is +to give me warning to-night how her Majesty is, and to-morrow--” + +“I think we had best go to-day, my dear,” says my Lady Castlewood; “we +might have the coach and sleep at Hounslow, and reach home to-morrow. +'Tis twelve o'clock; bid the coach, cousin, be ready at one.” + +“For shame!” burst out Beatrix, in a passion of tears and mortification. +“You disgrace me by your cruel precautions; my own mother is the first +to suspect me, and would take me away as my gaoler. I will not go with +you, mother; I will go as no one's prisoner. If I wanted to deceive, do +you think I could find no means of evading you? My family suspects me. +As those mistrust me that ought to love me most, let me leave them; I +will go, but I will go alone: to Castlewood, be it. I have been unhappy +there and lonely enough; let me go back, but spare me at least the +humiliation of setting a watch over my misery, which is a trial I can't +bear. Let me go when you will, but alone, or not at all. You three can +stay and triumph over my unhappiness, and I will bear it as I have borne +it before. Let my gaoler-in-chief go order the coach that is to take me +away. I thank you, Henry Esmond, for your share in the conspiracy. All +my life long I'll thank you, and remember you, and you, brother, and +you, mother, how shall I show my gratitude to you for your careful +defence of my honor?” + +She swept out of the room with the air of an empress, flinging glances +of defiance at us all, and leaving us conquerors of the field, but +scared, and almost ashamed of our victory. It did indeed seem hard and +cruel that we three should have conspired the banishment and humiliation +of that fair creature. We looked at each other in silence: 'twas not the +first stroke by many of our actions in that unlucky time, which, being +done, we wished undone. We agreed it was best she should go alone, +speaking stealthily to one another, and under our breaths, like persons +engaged in an act they felt ashamed in doing. + +In a half-hour, it might be, after our talk she came back, her +countenance wearing the same defiant air which it had borne when +she left us. She held a shagreen-case in her hand; Esmond knew it as +containing his diamonds which he had given to her for her marriage with +Duke Hamilton, and which she had worn so splendidly on the inauspicious +night of the Prince's arrival. “I have brought back,” says she, “to +the Marquis of Esmond the present he deigned to make me in days when he +trusted me better than now. I will never accept a benefit or a kindness +from Henry Esmond more, and I give back these family diamonds, which +belonged to one king's mistress, to the gentleman that suspected I would +be another. Have you been upon your message of coach-caller, my Lord +Marquis? Will you send your valet to see that I do not run away?” We +were right, yet, by her manner, she had put us all in the wrong; we +were conquerors, yet the honors of the day seemed to be with the poor +oppressed girl. + +That luckless box containing the stones had first been ornamented with +a baron's coronet, when Beatrix was engaged to the young gentleman from +whom she parted, and afterwards the gilt crown of a duchess figured +on the cover, which also poor Beatrix was destined never to wear. Lady +Castlewood opened the case mechanically and scarce thinking what she +did; and behold, besides the diamonds, Esmond's present, there lay in +the box the enamelled miniature of the late Duke, which Beatrix had laid +aside with her mourning when the King came into the house; and which the +poor heedless thing very likely had forgotten. + +“Do you leave this, too, Beatrix?” says her mother, taking the miniature +out, and with a cruelty she did not very often show; but there are some +moments when the tenderest women are cruel, and some triumphs which +angels can't forego.* + + * This remark shows how unjustly and contemptuously even the + best of men will sometimes judge of our sex. Lady + Castlewood had no intention of triumphing over her daughter; + but from a sense of duty alone pointed out her deplorable + wrong.--H. E. + +Having delivered this stab, Lady Castlewood was frightened at the effect +of her blow. It went to poor Beatrix's heart: she flushed up and passed +a handkerchief across her eyes, and kissed the miniature, and put it +into her bosom:--“I had forgot it,” says she; “my injury made me forget +my grief: my mother has recalled both to me. Farewell, mother; I think I +never can forgive you; something hath broke between us that no tears +nor years can repair. I always said I was alone; you never loved me, +never--and were jealous of me from the time I sat on my father's knee. +Let me go away, the sooner the better: I can bear to be with you no +more.” + +“Go, child,” says her mother, still very stern; “go and bend your +proud knees and ask forgiveness; go, pray in solitude for humility and +repentance. 'Tis not your reproaches that make me unhappy, 'tis your +hard heart, my poor Beatrix; may God soften it, and teach you one day to +feel for your mother.” + +If my mistress was cruel, at least she never could be got to own as +much. Her haughtiness quite overtopped Beatrix's; and, if the girl had a +proud spirit, I very much fear it came to her by inheritance. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +OUR GUEST QUITS US AS NOT BEING HOSPITABLE ENOUGH. + + +Beatrix's departure took place within an hour, her maid going with her +in the post-chaise, and a man armed on the coach-box to prevent any +danger of the road. Esmond and Frank thought of escorting the carriage, +but she indignantly refused their company, and another man was sent to +follow the coach, and not to leave it till it had passed over Hounslow +Heath on the next day. And these two forming the whole of Lady +Castlewood's male domestics, Mr. Esmond's faithful John Lockwood came +to wait on his mistress during their absence, though he would have +preferred to escort Mrs. Lucy, his sweetheart, on her journey into the +country. + +We had a gloomy and silent meal; it seemed as if a darkness was over the +house, since the bright face of Beatrix had been withdrawn from it. In +the afternoon came a message from the favorite to relieve us somewhat +from this despondency. “The Queen hath been much shaken,” the note said; +“she is better now, and all things will go well. Let MY LORD CASTLEWOOD +be ready against we send for him.” + +At night there came a second billet: “There hath been a great battle in +Council; Lord Treasurer hath broke his staff, and hath fallen never to +rise again; no successor is appointed. Lord B----receives a great Whig +company to-night at Golden Square. If he is trimming, others are true; +the Queen hath no more fits, but is a-bed now, and more quiet. Be ready +against morning, when I still hope all will be well.” + +The Prince came home shortly after the messenger who bore this billet +had left the house. His Royal Highness was so much the better for the +Bishop's liquor, that to talk affairs to him now was of little service. +He was helped to the Royal bed; he called Castlewood familiarly by his +own name; he quite forgot the part upon the acting of which his crown, +his safety, depended. 'Twas lucky that my Lady Castlewood's servants +were out of the way, and only those heard him who would not betray +him. He inquired after the adorable Beatrix, with a royal hiccup in his +voice; he was easily got to bed, and in a minute or two plunged in that +deep slumber and forgetfulness with which Bacchus rewards the votaries +of that god. We wished Beatrix had been there to see him in his cups. We +regretted, perhaps, that she was gone. + +One of the party at Kensington Square was fool enough to ride to +Hounslow that night, coram latronibus, and to the inn which the family +used ordinarily in their journeys out of London. Esmond desired my +landlord not to acquaint Madam Beatrix with his coming, and had the grim +satisfaction of passing by the door of the chamber where she lay with +her maid, and of watching her chariot set forth in the early morning. He +saw her smile and slip money into the man's hand who was ordered to ride +behind the coach as far as Bagshot. The road being open, and the other +servant armed, it appeared she dispensed with the escort of a second +domestic; and this fellow, bidding his young mistress adieu with many +bows, went and took a pot of ale in the kitchen, and returned in company +with his brother servant, John Coachman, and his horses, back to London. + +They were not a mile out of Hounslow when the two worthies stopped for +more drink, and here they were scared by seeing Colonel Esmond gallop by +them. The man said in reply to Colonel Esmond's stern question, that his +young mistress had sent her duty; only that, no other message: she had +had a very good night, and would reach Castlewood by nightfall. The +Colonel had no time for further colloquy, and galloped on swiftly to +London, having business of great importance there, as my reader very +well knoweth. The thought of Beatrix riding away from the danger soothed +his mind not a little. His horse was at Kensington Square (honest Dapple +knew the way thither well enough) before the tipsy guest of last night +was awake and sober. + +The account of the previous evening was known all over the town early +next day. A violent altercation had taken place before the Queen in +the Council Chamber; and all the coffee-houses had their version of the +quarrel. The news brought my Lord Bishop early to Kensington Square, +where he awaited the waking of his Royal master above stairs, and spoke +confidently of having him proclaimed as Prince of Wales and heir to +the throne before that day was over. The Bishop had entertained on the +previous afternoon certain of the most influential gentlemen of the +true British party. His Royal highness had charmed all, both Scots and +English, Papists and Churchmen: “Even Quakers,” says he, “were at our +meeting; and, if the stranger took a little too much British punch and +ale, he will soon grow more accustomed to those liquors; and my Lord +Castlewood,” says the Bishop with a laugh, “must bear the cruel charge +of having been for once in his life a little tipsy. He toasted your +lovely sister a dozen times, at which we all laughed,” says the Bishop, +“admiring so much fraternal affection.--Where is that charming nymph, +and why doth she not adorn your ladyship's tea-table with her bright +eyes?” + +Her ladyship said, dryly, that Beatrix was not at home that morning; +my Lord Bishop was too busy with great affairs to trouble himself much +about the presence or absence of any lady, however beautiful. + +We were yet at table when Dr. A---- came from the Palace with a look of +great alarm; the shocks the Queen had had the day before had acted on +her severely; he had been sent for, and had ordered her to be blooded. +The surgeon of Long Acre had come to cup the Queen, and her Majesty was +now more easy and breathed more freely. What made us start at the name +of Mr. Ayme? “Il faut etre aimable pour etre aime,” says the merry +Doctor; Esmond pulled his sleeve, and bade him hush. It was to Ayme's +house, after his fatal duel, that my dear Lord Castlewood, Frank's +father, had been carried to die. + +No second visit could be paid to the Queen on that day at any rate; and +when our guest above gave his signal that he was awake, the Doctor, the +Bishop, and Colonel Esmond waited upon the Prince's levee, and +brought him their news, cheerful or dubious. The Doctor had to go away +presently, but promised to keep the Prince constantly acquainted with +what was taking place at the Palace hard by. His counsel was, and the +Bishop's, that as soon as ever the Queen's malady took a favorable turn, +the Prince should be introduced to her bedside; the Council summoned; +the guard at Kensington and St. James's, of which two regiments were to +be entirely relied on, and one known not to be hostile, would declare +for the Prince, as the Queen would before the Lords of her Council, +designating him as the heir to her throne. + +With locked doors, and Colonel Esmond acting as secretary, the Prince +and his Lordship of Rochester passed many hours of this day, composing +Proclamations and Addresses to the Country, to the Scots, to the Clergy, +to the People of London and England; announcing the arrival of the exile +descendant of three sovereigns, and his acknowledgment by his sister as +heir to the throne. Every safeguard for their liberties, the Church and +People could ask, was promised to them. The Bishop could answer for the +adhesion of very many prelates, who besought of their flocks and brother +ecclesiastics to recognize the sacred right of the future sovereign, and +to purge the country of the sin of rebellion. + +During the composition of these papers, more messengers than one came +from the Palace regarding the state of the august patient there lying. +At mid-day she was somewhat better; at evening the torpor again seized +her, and she wandered in her mind. At night Dr. A---- was with us again, +with a report rather more favorable: no instant danger at any rate was +apprehended. In the course of the last two years her Majesty had had +many attacks similar, but more severe. + +By this time we had finished a half-dozen of Proclamations, (the wording +of them so as to offend no parties, and not to give umbrage to Whigs or +Dissenters, required very great caution,) and the young Prince, who had +indeed shown, during a long day's labor, both alacrity at seizing the +information given him, and ingenuity and skill in turning the phrases +which were to go out signed by his name, here exhibited a good-humor and +thoughtfulness that ought to be set down to his credit. + +“Were these papers to be mislaid,” says he, “or our scheme to come to +mishap, my Lord Esmond's writing would bring him to a place where I +heartily hope never to see him; and so, by your leave, I will copy the +papers myself, though I am not very strong in spelling; and if they are +found they will implicate none but the person they most concern;” and +so, having carefully copied the Proclamations out, the Prince burned +those in Colonel Esmond's handwriting: “And now, and now, gentlemen,” + says he, “let us go to supper, and drink a glass with the ladies. My +Lord Esmond, you will sup with us to-night; you have given us of late +too little of your company.” + +The Prince's meals were commonly served in the chamber which had been +Beatrix's bedroom, adjoining that in which he slept. And the dutiful +practice of his entertainers was to wait until their Royal guest bade +them take their places at table before they sat down to partake of the +meal. On this night, as you may suppose, only Frank Castlewood and his +mother were in waiting when the supper was announced to receive the +Prince; who had passed the whole of the day in his own apartment, with +the Bishop as his Minister of State, and Colonel Esmond officiating as +Secretary of his Council. + +The Prince's countenance wore an expression by no means pleasant; when +looking towards the little company assembled, and waiting for him, he +did not see Beatrix's bright face there as usual to greet him. He asked +Lady Esmond for his fair introducer of yesterday: her ladyship only cast +her eyes down, and said quietly, Beatrix could not be of the supper that +night; nor did she show the least sign of confusion, whereas Castlewood +turned red, and Esmond was no less embarrassed. I think women have an +instinct of dissimulation; they know by nature how to disguise their +emotions far better than the most consummate male courtiers can do. Is +not the better part of the life of many of them spent in hiding their +feelings, in cajoling their tyrants, in masking over with fond smiles +and artful gayety, their doubt, or their grief, or their terror? + +Our guest swallowed his supper very sulkily; it was not till the second +bottle his Highness began to rally. When Lady Castlewood asked leave to +depart, he sent a message to Beatrix, hoping she would be present at the +next day's dinner, and applied himself to drink, and to talk afterwards, +for which there was subject in plenty. + +The next day, we heard from our informer at Kensington that the Queen +was somewhat better, and had been up for an hour, though she was not +well enough yet to receive any visitor. + +At dinner a single cover was laid for his Royal Highness; and the two +gentlemen alone waited on him. We had had a consultation in the morning +with Lady Castlewood, in which it had been determined that, should his +Highness ask further questions about Beatrix, he should be answered by +the gentlemen of the house. + +He was evidently disturbed and uneasy, looking towards the door +constantly, as if expecting some one. There came, however, nobody, +except honest John Lockwood, when he knocked with a dish, which those +within took from him; so the meals were always arranged, and I believe +the council in the kitchen were of opinion that my young lord had +brought over a priest, who had converted us all into Papists, and that +Papists were like Jews, eating together, and not choosing to take their +meals in the sight of Christians. + +The Prince tried to cover his displeasure; he was but a clumsy +dissembler at that time, and when out of humor could with difficulty +keep a serene countenance; and having made some foolish attempts at +trivial talk, he came to his point presently, and in as easy a manner +as he could, saying to Lord Castlewood, he hoped, he requested, his +lordship's mother and sister would be of the supper that night. As +the time hung heavy on him, and he must not go abroad, would not Miss +Beatrix hold him company at a game of cards? + +At this, looking up at Esmond, and taking the signal from him, Lord +Castlewood informed his Royal Highness* that his sister Beatrix was not +at Kensington; and that her family had thought it best she should quit +the town. + + * In London we addressed the Prince as Royal Highness + invariably, though the women persisted in giving him the + title of King. + +“Not at Kensington!” says he; “is she ill? she was well yesterday; +wherefore should she quit the town? Is it at your orders, my lord, or +Colonel Esmond's, who seems the master of this house?” + +“Not of this, sir,” says Frank very nobly, “only of our house in the +country, which he hath given to us. This is my mother's house, and +Walcote is my father's, and the Marquis of Esmond knows he hath but to +give his word, and I return his to him.” + +“The Marquis of Esmond!--the Marquis of Esmond,” says the Prince, +tossing off a glass, “meddles too much with my affairs, and presumes +on the service he hath done me. If you want to carry your suit with +Beatrix, my lord, by blocking her up in gaol, let me tell you that is +not the way to win a woman.” + +“I was not aware, sir, that I had spoken of my suit to Madam Beatrix to +your Royal Highness.” + +“Bah, bah, Monsieur! we need not be a conjurer to see that. It makes +itself seen at all moments. You are jealous, my lord, and the maid of +honor cannot look at another face without yours beginning to scowl. That +which you do is unworthy, Monsieur; is inhospitable--is, is lache, yes, +lache:” (he spoke rapidly in French, his rage carrying him away with each +phrase:) “I come to your house; I risk my life; I pass it in ennui; I +repose myself on your fidelity; I have no company but your lordship's +sermons or the conversations of that adorable young lady, and you take +her from me, and you, you rest! Merci, Monsieur! I shall thank you +when I have the means; I shall know to recompense a devotion a little +importunate, my lord--a little importunate. For a month past your airs +of protector have annoyed me beyond measure. You deign to offer me the +crown, and bid me take it on my knees like King John--eh! I know my +history, Monsieur, and mock myself of frowning barons. I admire your +mistress, and you send her to a Bastile of the Province; I enter your +house, and you mistrust me. I will leave it, Monsieur; from to-night I +will leave it. I have other friends whose loyalty will not be so ready +to question mine. If I have garters to give away, 'tis to noblemen who +are not so ready to think evil. Bring me a coach and let me quit this +place, or let the fair Beatrix return to it. I will not have your +hospitality at the expense of the freedom of that fair creature.” + +This harangue was uttered with rapid gesticulation such as the French +use, and in the language of that nation. The Prince striding up and down +the room; his face flushed, and his hands trembling with anger. He was +very thin and frail from repeated illness and a life of pleasure. Either +Castlewood or Esmond could have broke him across their knee, and in +half a minute's struggle put an end to him; and here he was insulting +us both, and scarce deigning to hide from the two, whose honor it most +concerned, the passion he felt for the young lady of our family. My Lord +Castlewood replied to the Prince's tirade very nobly and simply. + +“Sir,” says he, “your Royal Highness is pleased to forget that others +risk their lives, and for your cause. Very few Englishmen, please God, +would dare to lay hands on your sacred person, though none would ever +think of respecting ours. Our family's lives are at your service, and +everything we have except our honor.” + +“Honor! bah, sir, who ever thought of hurting your honor?” says the +Prince with a peevish air. + +“We implore your Royal Highness never to think of hurting it,” says Lord +Castlewood with a low bow. The night being warm, the windows were open +both towards the Gardens and the Square. Colonel Esmond heard through +the closed door the voice of the watchman calling the hour, in the +square on the other side. He opened the door communicating with the +Prince's room; Martin, the servant that had rode with Beatrix to +Hounslow, was just going out of the chamber as Esmond entered it, and +when the fellow was gone, and the watchman again sang his cry of “Past +ten o'clock, and a starlight night,” Esmond spoke to the Prince in a low +voice, and said--“Your Royal Highness hears that man.” + +“Apres, Monsieur?” says the Prince. + +“I have but to beckon him from the window, and send him fifty yards, and +he returns with a guard of men, and I deliver up to him the body of the +person calling himself James the Third, for whose capture Parliament +hath offered a reward of 500L., as your Royal Highness saw on our ride +from Rochester. I have but to say the word, and, by the heaven that made +me, I would say it if I thought the Prince, for his honor's sake, would +not desist from insulting ours. But the first gentleman of England knows +his duty too well to forget himself with the humblest, or peril his +crown for a deed that were shameful if it were done.” + +“Has your lordship anything to say,” says the Prince, turning to Frank +Castlewood, and quite pale with anger; “any threat or any insult, with +which you would like to end this agreeable night's entertainment?” + +“I follow the head of our house,” says Castlewood, bowing gravely. “At +what time shall it please the Prince that we should wait upon him in the +morning?” + +“You will wait on the Bishop of Rochester early, you will bid him bring +his coach hither; and prepare an apartment for me in his own house, or +in a place of safety. The King will reward you handsomely, never fear, +for all you have done in his behalf. I wish you a good night, and +shall go to bed, unless it pleases the Marquis of Esmond to call his +colleague, the watchman, and that I should pass the night with the +Kensington guard. Fare you well, be sure I will remember you. My Lord +Castlewood, I can go to bed to-night without need of a chamberlain.” And +the Prince dismissed us with a grim bow, locking one door as he spoke, +that into the supping-room, and the other through which we passed, after +us. It led into the small chamber which Frank Castlewood or MONSIEUR +BAPTISTE occupied, and by which Martin entered when Colonel Esmond but +now saw him in the chamber. + +At an early hour next morning the Bishop arrived, and was closeted for +some time with his master in his own apartment, where the Prince laid +open to his counsellor the wrongs which, according to his version, he +had received from the gentlemen of the Esmond family. The worthy prelate +came out from the conference with an air of great satisfaction; he was a +man full of resources, and of a most assured fidelity, and possessed of +genius, and a hundred good qualities; but captious and of a most jealous +temper, that could not help exulting at the downfall of any favorite; +and he was pleased in spite of himself to hear that the Esmond Ministry +was at an end. + +“I have soothed your guest,” says he, coming out to the two gentlemen +and the widow; who had been made acquainted with somewhat of the dispute +of the night before. (By the version we gave her, the Prince was only +made to exhibit anger because we doubted of his intentions in respect +to Beatrix; and to leave us, because we questioned his honor.) “But I +think, all things considered, 'tis as well he should leave this house; +and then, my Lady Castlewood,” says the Bishop, “my pretty Beatrix may +come back to it.” + +“She is quite as well at home at Castlewood,” Esmond's mistress said, +“till everything is over.” + +“You shall have your title, Esmond, that I promise you,” says the +good Bishop, assuming the airs of a Prime Minister. “The Prince hath +expressed himself most nobly in regard of the little difference of last +night, and I promise you he hath listened to my sermon, as well as to +that of other folks,” says the Doctor, archly; “he hath every great and +generous quality, with perhaps a weakness for the sex which belongs to +his family, and hath been known in scores of popular sovereigns from +King David downwards.” + +“My lord, my lord!” breaks out Lady Esmond, “the levity with which +you speak of such conduct towards our sex shocks me, and what you call +weakness I call deplorable sin.” + +“Sin it is, my dear creature,” says the Bishop, with a shrug, taking +snuff; “but consider what a sinner King Solomon was, and in spite of a +thousand of wives too.” + +“Enough of this, my lord,” says Lady Castlewood, with a fine blush, and +walked out of the room very stately. + +The Prince entered it presently with a smile on his face, and if he felt +any offence against us on the previous night, at present exhibited none. +He offered a hand to each gentleman with great courtesy. “If all your +bishops preach so well as Doctor Atterbury.” says he, “I don't know, +gentlemen, what may happen to me. I spoke very hastily, my lords, last +night, and ask pardon of both of you. But I must not stay any longer,” + says he, “giving umbrage to good friends, or keeping pretty girls away +from their homes. My Lord Bishop hath found a safe place for me, hard +by at a curate's house, whom the Bishop can trust, and whose wife is so +ugly as to be beyond all danger; we will decamp into those new quarters, +and I leave you, thanking you for a hundred kindnesses here. Where is +my hostess, that I may bid her farewell; to welcome her in a house of my +own, soon, I trust, where my friends shall have no cause to quarrel with +me.” + +Lady Castlewood arrived presently, blushing with great grace, and tears +filling her eyes as the Prince graciously saluted her. She looked so +charming and young, that the doctor, in his bantering way, could not +help speaking of her beauty to the Prince; whose compliment made her +blush, and look more charming still. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A GREAT SCHEME, AND WHO BALKED IT. + + +As characters written with a secret ink come out with the application +of fire, and disappear again and leave the paper white, as soon as it is +cool; a hundred names of men, high in repute and favoring the Prince's +cause, that were writ in our private lists, would have been visible +enough on the great roll of the conspiracy, had it ever been laid open +under the sun. What crowds would have pressed forward, and subscribed +their names and protested their loyalty, when the danger was over! What +a number of Whigs, now high in place and creatures of the all-powerful +Minister, scorned Mr. Walpole then! If ever a match was gained by the +manliness and decision of a few at a moment of danger; if ever one was +lost by the treachery and imbecility of those that had the cards in +their hands, and might have played them, it was in that momentous game +which was enacted in the next three days, and of which the noblest crown +in the world was the stake. + +From the conduct of my Lord Bolingbroke, those who were interested +in the scheme we had in hand, saw pretty well that he was not to be +trusted. Should the Prince prevail, it was his lordship's gracious +intention to declare for him: should the Hanoverian party bring in their +sovereign, who more ready to go on his knee, and cry, “God Save King +George?” And he betrayed the one Prince and the other; but exactly at +the wrong time. When he should have struck for King James, he faltered +and coquetted with the Whigs; and having committed himself by the most +monstrous professions of devotion, which the Elector rightly scorned, +he proved the justness of their contempt for him by flying and taking +renegade service with St. Germains, just when he should have kept +aloof: and that Court despised him, as the manly and resolute men who +established the Elector in England had before done. He signed his own +name to every accusation of insincerity his enemies made against him; +and the King and the Pretender alike could show proofs of St. John's +treachery under his own hand and seal. + +Our friends kept a pretty close watch upon his motions, as on those of +the brave and hearty Whig party, that made little concealment of theirs. +They would have in the Elector, and used every means in their power to +effect their end. My Lord Marlborough was now with them. His expulsion +from power by the Tories had thrown that great captain at once on the +Whig side. We heard he was coming from Antwerp; and, in fact, on the day +of the Queen's death, he once more landed on English shore. A great part +of the army was always with their illustrious leader; even the Tories +in it were indignant at the injustice of the persecution which the Whig +officers were made to undergo. The chiefs of these were in London, and +at the head of them one of the most intrepid men in the world, the Scots +Duke of Argyle, whose conduct on the second day after that to which I +have now brought down my history, ended, as such honesty and bravery +deserved to end, by establishing the present Royal race on the English +throne. + +Meanwhile there was no slight difference of opinion amongst the +councillors surrounding the Prince, as to the plan his Highness should +pursue. His female Minister at Court, fancying she saw some amelioration +in the Queen, was for waiting a few days, or hours it might be, until +he could be brought to her bedside, and acknowledged as her heir. Mr. +Esmond was for having him march thither, escorted by a couple of troops +of Horse Guards, and openly presenting himself to the Council. During +the whole of the night of the 29th-30th July, the Colonel was engaged +with gentlemen of the military profession, whom 'tis needless here to +name; suffice it to say that several of them had exceeding high rank in +the army, and one of them in especial was a General, who, when he heard +the Duke of Marlborough was coming on the other side, waved his crutch +over his head with a huzzah, at the idea that he should march out and +engage him. Of the three Secretaries of State, we knew that one was +devoted to us. The Governor of the Tower was ours; the two companies +on duty at Kensington barrack were safe; and we had intelligence, very +speedy and accurate, of all that took place at the Palace within. + +At noon, on the 30th of July, a message came to the Prince's friends +that the Committee of Council was sitting at Kensington Palace, their +Graces of Ormonde and Shrewsbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury and +the three Secretaries of State, being there assembled. In an hour +afterwards, hurried news was brought that the two great Whig Dukes, +Argyle and Somerset, had broke into the Council-chamber without a +summons, and taken their seat at table. After holding a debate there, +the whole party proceeded to the chamber of the Queen, who was lying in +great weakness, but still sensible, and the Lords recommended his Grace +of Shrewsbury as the fittest person to take the vacant place of Lord +Treasurer; her Majesty gave him the staff, as all know. “And now,” writ +my messenger from Court, “NOW OR NEVER IS THE TIME.” + +Now or never was the time indeed. In spite of the Whig Dukes, our side +had still the majority in the Council, and Esmond, to whom the message +had been brought, (the personage at Court not being aware that the +Prince had quitted his lodging in Kensington Square,) and Esmond's +gallant young aide-de-camp, Frank Castlewood, putting on sword and +uniform, took a brief leave of their dear lady, who embraced and blessed +them both, and went to her chamber to pray for the issue of the great +event which was then pending. + +Castlewood sped to the barrack to give warning to the captain of the +Guard there; and then went to the “King's Arms” tavern at Kensington, +where our friends were assembled, having come by parties of twos +and threes, riding or in coaches, and were got together in the upper +chamber, fifty-three of them; their servants, who had been instructed to +bring arms likewise, being below in the garden of the tavern, where they +were served with drink. Out of this garden is a little door that leads +into the road of the Palace, and through this it was arranged that +masters and servants were to march; when that signal was given, and that +Personage appeared, for whom all were waiting. There was in our company +the famous officer next in command to the Captain-General of the Forces, +his Grace the Duke of Ormonde, who was within at the Council. There +were with him two more lieutenant-generals, nine major-generals and +brigadiers, seven colonels, eleven Peers of Parliament, and twenty-one +members of the House of Commons. The Guard was with us within and +without the Palace: the Queen was with us; the Council (save the two +Whig Dukes, that must have succumbed); the day was our own, and with a +beating heart Esmond walked rapidly to the Mall of Kensington, where +he had parted with the Prince on the night before. For three nights +the Colonel had not been to bed: the last had been passed summoning the +Prince's friends together, of whom the great majority had no sort of +inkling of the transaction pending until they were told that he was +actually on the spot, and were summoned to strike the blow. The night +before and after the altercation with the Prince, my gentleman, having +suspicions of his Royal Highness, and fearing lest he should be minded +to give us the slip, and fly off after his fugitive beauty, had spent, +if the truth must be told, at the “Greyhound” tavern, over against my +Lady Castlewood's house in Kensington Square, with an eye on the door, +lest the Prince should escape from it. The night before that he had +passed in his boots at the “Crown” at Hounslow, where he must watch +forsooth all night, in order to get one moment's glimpse of Beatrix in +the morning. And fate had decreed that he was to have a fourth night's +ride and wakefulness before his business was ended. + +He ran to the curate's house in Kensington Mall, and asked for Mr. +Bates, the name the Prince went by. The curate's wife said Mr. Bates had +gone abroad very early in the morning in his boots, saying he was going +to the Bishop of Rochester's house at Chelsey. But the Bishop had been +at Kensington himself two hours ago to seek for Mr. Bates, and had +returned in his coach to his own house, when he heard that the gentleman +was gone thither to seek him. + +This absence was most unpropitious, for an hour's delay might cost a +kingdom; Esmond had nothing for it but to hasten to the “King's Arms,” + and tell the gentlemen there assembled that Mr. George (as we called the +Prince there) was not at home, but that Esmond would go fetch him; and +taking a General's coach that happened to be there, Esmond drove across +the country to Chelsey, to the Bishop's house there. + +The porter said two gentlemen were with his lordship, and Esmond ran +past this sentry up to the locked door of the Bishop's study, at which +he rattled, and was admitted presently. Of the Bishop's guests one was a +brother prelate, and the other the Abbe G----. + +“Where is Mr. George?” says Mr. Esmond; “now is the time.” The Bishop +looked scared: “I went to his lodging,” he said, “and they told me he +was come hither. I returned as quick as coach would carry me; and he +hath not been here.” + +The Colonel burst out with an oath; that was all he could say to their +reverences; ran down the stairs again, and bidding the coachman, an old +friend and fellow-campaigner, drive as if he was charging the French +with his master at Wynendael--they were back at Kensington in half an +hour. + +Again Esmond went to the curate's house. Mr. Bates had not returned. The +Colonel had to go with this blank errand to the gentlemen at the “King's +Arms,” that were grown very impatient by this time. + +Out of the window of the tavern, and looking over the garden wall, you +can see the green before Kensington Palace, the Palace gate (round which +the Ministers' coaches were standing), and the barrack building. As +we were looking out from this window in gloomy discourse, we heard +presently trumpets blowing, and some of us ran to the window of the +front-room, looking into the High Street of Kensington, and saw a +regiment of Horse coming. + +“It's Ormonde's Guards,” says one. + +“No, by God, it's Argyle's old regiment!” says my General, clapping down +his crutch. + +It was, indeed, Argyle's regiment that was brought from Westminster, +and that took the place of the regiment at Kensington on which we could +rely. + +“Oh, Harry!” says one of the generals there present, “you were born +under an unlucky star; I begin to think that there's no Mr. George, nor +Mr. Dragon either. 'Tis not the peerage I care for, for our name is so +ancient and famous, that merely to be called Lord Lydiard would do me no +good; but 'tis the chance you promised me of fighting Marlborough.” + +As we were talking, Castlewood entered the room with a disturbed air. + +“What news, Frank?” says the Colonel. “Is Mr. George coming at last?” + +“Damn him, look here!” says Castlewood, holding out a paper. “I found +it in the book--the what you call it, 'Eikum Basilikum,'--that villain +Martin put it there--he said his young mistress bade him. It was +directed to me, but it was meant for him I know, and I broke the seal +and read it.” + +The whole assembly of officers seemed to swim away before Esmond's eyes +as he read the paper; all that was written on it was:--“Beatrix Esmond +is sent away to prison, to Castlewood, where she will pray for happier +days.” + +“Can you guess where he is?” says Castlewood. + +“Yes,” says Colonel Esmond. He knew full well, Frank knew full well: our +instinct told whither that traitor had fled. + +He had courage to turn to the company and say, “Gentlemen, I fear +very much that Mr. George will not be here to-day; something hath +happened--and--and--I very much fear some accident may befall him, which +must keep him out of the way. Having had your noon's draught, you had +best pay the reckoning and go home; there can be no game where there is +no one to play it.” + +Some of the gentlemen went away without a word, others called to pay +their duty to her Majesty and ask for her health. The little army +disappeared into the darkness out of which it had been called; there had +been no writings, no paper to implicate any man. Some few officers and +Members of Parliament had been invited over night to breakfast at the +“King's Arms,” at Kensington; and they had called for their bill and +gone home. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +AUGUST 1ST, 1714. + + +“Does my mistress know of this?” Esmond asked of Frank, as they walked +along. + +“My mother found the letter in the book, on the toilet-table. She had +writ it ere she had left home,” Frank said. “Mother met her on the +stairs, with her hand upon the door, trying to enter, and never left her +after that till she went away. He did not think of looking at it there, +nor had Martin the chance of telling him. I believe the poor devil meant +no harm, though I half killed him; he thought 'twas to Beatrix's brother +he was bringing the letter.” + +Frank never said a word of reproach to me for having brought the villain +amongst us. As we knocked at the door I said, “When will the horses be +ready?” Frank pointed with his cane, they were turning the street that +moment. + +We went up and bade adieu to our mistress; she was in a dreadful state +of agitation by this time, and that Bishop was with her whose company +she was so fond of. + +“Did you tell him, my lord,” says Esmond, “that Beatrix was at +Castlewood?” The Bishop blushed and stammered: “Well,” says he, +“I . . .” + +“You served the villain right,” broke out Mr. Esmond, “and he has lost a +crown by what you told him.” + +My mistress turned quite white, “Henry, Henry,” says she, “do not kill +him.” + +“It may not be too late,” says Esmond; “he may not have gone to +Castlewood; pray God, it is not too late.” The Bishop was breaking +out with some banale phrases about loyalty, and the sacredness of the +Sovereign's person; but Esmond sternly bade him hold his tongue, burn +all papers, and take care of Lady Castlewood; and in five minutes he +and Frank were in the saddle, John Lockwood behind them, riding towards +Castlewood at a rapid pace. + +We were just got to Alton, when who should meet us but old Lockwood, the +porter from Castlewood, John's father, walking by the side of the Hexton +flying-coach, who slept the night at Alton. Lockwood said his young +mistress had arrived at home on Wednesday night, and this morning, +Friday, had despatched him with a packet for my lady at Kensington, +saying the letter was of great importance. + +We took the freedom to break it, while Lockwood stared with wonder, +and cried out his “Lord bless me's,” and “Who'd a thought it's,” at the +sight of his young lord, whom he had not seen these seven years. + +The packet from Beatrix contained no news of importance at all. It was +written in a jocular strain, affecting to make light of her captivity. +She asked whether she might have leave to visit Mrs. Tusher, or to walk +beyond the court and the garden wall. She gave news of the peacocks, +and a fawn she had there. She bade her mother send her certain gowns +and smocks by old Lockwood; she sent her duty to a certain Person, if +certain other persons permitted her to take such a freedom; how that, +as she was not able to play cards with him, she hoped he would read good +books, such as Doctor Atterbury's sermons and “Eikon Basilike:” she was +going to read good books; she thought her pretty mamma would like to +know she was not crying her eyes out. + +“Who is in the house besides you, Lockwood?” says the Colonel. + +“There be the laundry-maid, and the kitchen-maid, Madam Beatrix's maid, +the man from London, and that be all; and he sleepeth in my lodge away +from the maids,” says old Lockwood. + +Esmond scribbled a line with a pencil on the note, giving it to the old +man, and bidding him go on to his lady. We knew why Beatrix had been +so dutiful on a sudden, and why she spoke of “Eikon Basilike.” She writ +this letter to put the Prince on the scent, and the porter out of the +way. + +“We have a fine moonlight night for riding on,” says Esmond; “Frank, we +may reach Castlewood in time yet.” All the way along they made inquiries +at the post-houses, when a tall young gentleman in a gray suit, with a +light brown periwig, just the color of my lord's, had been seen to pass. +He had set off at six that morning, and we at three in the afternoon. He +rode almost as quickly as we had done; he was seven hours a-head of us +still when we reached the last stage. + +We rode over Castlewood Downs before the breaking of dawn. We passed the +very spot where the car was upset fourteen years since, and Mohun lay. +The village was not up yet, nor the forge lighted, as we rode through +it, passing by the elms, where the rooks were still roosting, and by +the church, and over the bridge. We got off our horses at the bridge and +walked up to the gate. + +“If she is safe,” says Frank, trembling, and his honest eyes filling +with tears, “a silver statue to Our Lady!” He was going to rattle at +the great iron knocker on the oak gate; but Esmond stopped his kinsman's +hand. He had his own fears, his own hopes, his own despairs and griefs, +too; but he spoke not a word of these to his companion, or showed any +signs of emotion. + +He went and tapped at the little window at the porter's lodge, gently, +but repeatedly, until the man came to the bars. + +“Who's there?” says he, looking out; it was the servant from Kensington. + +“My Lord Castlewood and Colonel Esmond,” we said, from below. “Open the +gate and let us in without any noise.” + +“My Lord Castlewood?” says the other; “my lord's here, and in bed.” + +“Open, d--n you,” says Castlewood, with a curse. + +“I shall open to no one,” says the man, shutting the glass window as +Frank drew a pistol. He would have fired at the porter, but Esmond again +held his hand. + +“There are more ways than one,” says he, “of entering such a great house +as this.” Frank grumbled that the west gate was half a mile round. “But +I know of a way that's not a hundred yards off,” says Mr. Esmond; and +leading his kinsman close along the wall, and by the shrubs which had +now grown thick on what had been an old moat about the house, they came +to the buttress, at the side of which the little window was, which was +Father Holt's private door. Esmond climbed up to this easily, broke a +pane that had been mended, and touched the spring inside, and the two +gentlemen passed in that way, treading as lightly as they could; and so +going through the passage into the court, over which the dawn was now +reddening, and where the fountain plashed in the silence. + +They sped instantly to the porter's lodge, where the fellow had not +fastened his door that led into the court; and pistol in hand came +upon the terrified wretch, and bade him be silent. Then they asked +him (Esmond's head reeled, and he almost fell as he spoke) when Lord +Castlewood had arrived? He said on the previous evening, about eight of +the clock.--“And what then?”--His lordship supped with his sister.--“Did +the man wait?” Yes, he and my lady's maid both waited: the other +servants made the supper; and there was no wine, and they could give +his lordship but milk, at which he grumbled; and--and Madam Beatrix kept +Miss Lucy always in the room with her. And there being a bed across +the court in the Chaplain's room, she had arranged my lord was to sleep +there. Madam Beatrix had come down stairs laughing with the maids, and +had locked herself in, and my lord had stood for a while talking to her +through the door, and she laughing at him. And then he paced the court +awhile, and she came again to the upper window; and my lord implored her +to come down and walk in the room; but she would not, and laughed at him +again, and shut the window; and so my lord, uttering what seemed curses, +but in a foreign language, went to the Chaplain's room to bed. + +“Was this all!”--“All,” the man swore upon his honor; all as he hoped +to be saved.--“Stop, there was one thing more. My lord, on arriving, and +once or twice during supper, did kiss his sister, as was natural, and +she kissed him.” At this Esmond ground his teeth with rage, and wellnigh +throttled the amazed miscreant who was speaking, whereas Castlewood, +seizing hold of his cousin's hand, burst into a great fit of laughter. + +“If it amuses thee,” says Esmond in French, “that your sister should be +exchanging of kisses with a stranger, I fear poor Beatrix will give thee +plenty of sport.”--Esmond darkly thought, how Hamilton, Ashburnham, had +before been masters of those roses that the young Prince's lips were now +feeding on. He sickened at that notion. Her cheek was desecrated, her +beauty tarnished; shame and honor stood between it and him. The love +was dead within him; had she a crown to bring him with her love, he felt +that both would degrade him. + +But this wrath against Beatrix did not lessen the angry feelings of the +Colonel against the man who had been the occasion if not the cause of +the evil. Frank sat down on a stone bench in the court-yard, and fairly +fell asleep, while Esmond paced up and down the court, debating what +should ensue. What mattered how much or how little had passed between +the Prince and the poor faithless girl? They were arrived in time +perhaps to rescue her person, but not her mind; had she not instigated +the young Prince to come to her; suborned servants, dismissed others, +so that she might communicate with him? The treacherous heart within her +had surrendered, though the place was safe; and it was to win this that +he had given a life's struggle and devotion; this, that she was ready to +give away for the bribe of a coronet or a wink of the Prince's eye. + +When he had thought his thoughts out he shook up poor Frank from his +sleep, who rose yawning, and said he had been dreaming of Clotilda. +“You must back me,” says Esmond, “in what I am going to do. I have been +thinking that yonder scoundrel may have been instructed to tell that +story, and that the whole of it may be a lie; if it be, we shall find it +out from the gentleman who is asleep yonder. See if the door leading to +my lady's rooms,” (so we called the rooms at the north-west angle of the +house,) “see if the door is barred as he saith.” We tried; it was indeed +as the lackey had said, closed within. + +“It may have been opened and shut afterwards,” says poor Esmond; “the +foundress of our family let our ancestor in in that way.” + +“What will you do, Harry, if--if what that fellow saith should turn out +untrue?” The young man looked scared and frightened into his kinsman's +face; I dare say it wore no very pleasant expression. + +“Let us first go see whether the two stories agree,” says Esmond; and +went in at the passage and opened the door into what had been his own +chamber now for wellnigh five-and-twenty years. A candle was still +burning, and the Prince asleep dressed on the bed--Esmond did not care +for making a noise. The Prince started up in his bed, seeing two men +in his chamber. “Qui est la” says he, and took a pistol from under his +pillow. + +“It is the Marquis of Esmond,” says the Colonel, “come to welcome his +Majesty to his house of Castlewood, and to report of what hath happened +in London. Pursuant to the King's orders, I passed the night before +last, after leaving his Majesty, in waiting upon the friends of the +King. It is a pity that his Majesty's desire to see the country and to +visit our poor house should have caused the King to quit London without +notice yesterday, when the opportunity happened which in all human +probability may not occur again; and had the King not chosen to ride to +Castlewood, the Prince of Wales might have slept at St. James's.” + +“'Sdeath! gentlemen,” says the Prince, starting off his bed, whereon he +was lying in his clothes, “the Doctor was with me yesterday morning, and +after watching by my sister all night, told me I might not hope to see +the Queen.” + +“It would have been otherwise,” says Esmond with another bow; “as, by +this time, the Queen may be dead in spite of the Doctor. The Council +was met, a new Treasurer was appointed, the troops were devoted to the +King's cause; and fifty loyal gentlemen of the greatest names of this +kingdom were assembled to accompany the Prince of Wales, who might have +been the acknowledged heir of the throne, or the possessor of it by this +time, had your Majesty not chosen to take the air. We were ready; there +was only one person that failed us, your Majesty's gracious--” + +“Morbleu, Monsieur, you give me too much Majesty,” said the Prince, who +had now risen up and seemed to be looking to one of us to help him to +his coat. But neither stirred. + +“We shall take care,” says Esmond, “not much oftener to offend in that +particular.” + +“What mean you, my lord?” says the Prince, and muttered something about +a guet-a-pens, which Esmond caught up. + +“The snare, Sir,” said he, “was not of our laying; it is not we that +invited you. We came to avenge, and not to compass, the dishonor of our +family.” + +“Dishonor! Morbleu, there has been no dishonor,” says the Prince, +turning scarlet, “only a little harmless playing.” + +“That was meant to end seriously.” + +“I swear,” the Prince broke out impetuously, “upon the honor of a +gentleman, my lords--” + +“That we arrived in time. No wrong hath been done, Frank,” says Colonel +Esmond, turning round to young Castlewood, who stood at the door as the +talk was going on. “See! here is a paper whereon his Majesty has deigned +to commence some verses in honor, or dishonor, of Beatrix. Here is +'Madame' and 'Flamme,' 'Cruelle' and 'Rebelle,' and 'Amour' and 'Jour' +in the Royal writing and spelling. Had the Gracious lover been happy, +he had not passed his time in sighing.” In fact, and actually as he was +speaking, Esmond cast his eyes down towards the table, and saw a paper +on which my young Prince had been scrawling a madrigal, that was to +finish his charmer on the morrow. + +“Sir,” says the Prince, burning with rage (he had assumed his Royal coat +unassisted by this time), “did I come here to receive insults?” + +“To confer them, may it please your Majesty,” says the Colonel, with a +very low bow, “and the gentlemen of our family are come to thank you.” + +“Malediction!” says the young man, tears starting into his eyes with +helpless rage and mortification. “What will you with me, gentlemen?” + +“If your Majesty will please to enter the next apartment,” says Esmond, +preserving his grave tone, “I have some papers there which I would +gladly submit to you, and by your permission I will lead the way;” + and, taking the taper up, and backing before the Prince with very great +ceremony, Mr. Esmond passed into the little Chaplain's room, through +which we had just entered into the house:--“Please to set a chair for +his Majesty, Frank,” says the Colonel to his companion, who wondered +almost as much at this scene, and was as much puzzled by it, as the +other actor in it. Then going to the crypt over the mantel-piece, the +Colonel opened it, and drew thence the papers which so long had lain +there. + +“Here, may it please your Majesty,” says he, “is the Patent of Marquis +sent over by your Royal Father at St. Germains to Viscount Castlewood, +my father: here is the witnessed certificate of my father's marriage +to my mother, and of my birth and christening; I was christened of that +religion of which your sainted sire gave all through life so shining +example. These are my titles, dear Frank, and this what I do with them: +here go Baptism and Marriage, and here the Marquisate and the August +Sign-Manual, with which your predecessor was pleased to honor our race.” + And as Esmond spoke he set the papers burning in the brazier. “You will +please, sir, to remember,” he continued, “that our family hath ruined +itself by fidelity to yours: that my grandfather spent his estate, and +gave his blood and his son to die for your service; that my dear lord's +grandfather (for lord you are now, Frank, by right and title too) died +for the same cause; that my poor kinswoman, my father's second wife, +after giving away her honor to your wicked perjured race, sent all her +wealth to the King; and got in return, that precious title that lies in +ashes, and this inestimable yard of blue ribbon. I lay this at your feet +and stamp upon it: I draw this sword, and break it and deny you; and, +had you completed the wrong you designed us, by heaven I would have +driven it through your heart, and no more pardoned you than your father +pardoned Monmouth. Frank will do the same, won't you, cousin?” + +Frank, who had been looking on with a stupid air at the papers, as they +flamed in the old brazier, took out his sword and broke it, holding his +head down:--“I go with my cousin,” says he, giving Esmond a grasp of +the hand. “Marquis or not, by ---, I stand by him any day. I beg your +Majesty's pardon for swearing; that is--that is--I'm for the Elector of +Hanover. It's all your Majesty's own fault. The Queen's dead most likely +by this time. And you might have been King if you hadn't come dangling +after Trix.” + +“Thus to lose a crown,” says the young Prince, starting up, and speaking +French in his eager way; “to lose the loveliest woman in the world; to +lose the loyalty of such hearts as yours, is not this, my lords, enough +of humiliation?--Marquis, if I go on my knees will you pardon me?--No, +I can't do that, but I can offer you reparation, that of honor, that +of gentlemen. Favor me by crossing the sword with mine: yours is +broke--see, yonder in the armoire are two;” and the Prince took them out +as eager as a boy, and held them towards Esmond:--“Ah! you will? Merci, +monsieur, merci!” + +Extremely touched by this immense mark of condescension and repentance +for wrong done, Colonel Esmond bowed down so low as almost to kiss the +gracious young hand that conferred on him such an honor, and took his +guard in silence. The swords were no sooner met, than Castlewood knocked +up Esmond's with the blade of his own, which he had broke off short at +the shell; and the Colonel falling back a step dropped his point with +another very low bow, and declared himself perfectly satisfied. + +“Eh bien, Vicomte!” says the young Prince, who was a boy, and a French +boy, “il ne nous reste qu'une chose a faire:” he placed his sword upon +the table, and the fingers of his two hands upon his breast:--“We have +one more thing to do,” says he; “you do not divine it?” He stretched out +his arms:--“Embrassons nous!” + +The talk was scarce over when Beatrix entered the room:--What came she +to seek there? She started and turned pale at the sight of her +brother and kinsman, drawn swords, broken sword-blades, and papers yet +smouldering in the brazier. + +“Charming Beatrix,” says the Prince, with a blush which became him very +well, “these lords have come a-horseback from London, where my sister +lies in a despaired state, and where her successor makes himself +desired. Pardon me for my escapade of last evening. I had been so long a +prisoner, that I seized the occasion of a promenade on horseback, and my +horse naturally bore me towards you. I found you a Queen in your little +court, where you deigned to entertain me. Present my homages to your +maids of honor. I sighed as you slept, under the window of your chamber, +and then retired to seek rest in my own. It was there that these +gentlemen agreeably roused me. Yes, milords, for that is a happy day +that makes a Prince acquainted, at whatever cost to his vanity, with +such a noble heart as that of the Marquis of Esmond. Mademoiselle, +may we take your coach to town? I saw it in the hangar, and this poor +Marquis must be dropping with sleep.” + +“Will it please the King to breakfast before he goes?” was all Beatrix +could say. The roses had shuddered out of her cheeks; her eyes were +glaring; she looked quite old. She came up to Esmond and hissed out a +word or two:--“If I did not love you before, cousin,” says she, “think +how I love you now.” If words could stab, no doubt she would have killed +Esmond; she looked at him as if she could. + +But her keen words gave no wound to Mr. Esmond; his heart was too hard. +As he looked at her, he wondered that he could ever have loved her. +His love of ten years was over; it fell down dead on the spot, at +the Kensington Tavern, where Frank brought him the note out of “Eikon +Basilike.” The Prince blushed and bowed low, as she gazed at him, and +quitted the chamber. I have never seen her from that day. + +Horses were fetched and put to the chariot presently. My lord rode +outside, and as for Esmond he was so tired that he was no sooner in the +carriage than he fell asleep, and never woke till night, as the coach +came into Alton. + +As we drove to the “Bell” Inn comes a mitred coach with our old friend +Lockwood beside the coachman. My Lady Castlewood and the Bishop were +inside; she gave a little scream when she saw us. The two coaches +entered the inn almost together; the landlord and people coming out with +lights to welcome the visitors. + +We in our coach sprang out of it, as soon as ever we saw the dear lady, +and above all, the Doctor in his cassock. What was the news? Was there +yet time? Was the Queen alive? These questions were put hurriedly, as +Boniface stood waiting before his noble guests to bow them up the stair. + +“Is she safe?” was what Lady Castlewood whispered in a flutter to +Esmond. + +“All's well, thank God,” says he, as the fond lady took his hand +and kissed it, and called him her preserver and her dear. SHE wasn't +thinking of Queens and crowns. + +The Bishop's news was reassuring: at least all was not lost; the Queen +yet breathed, or was alive when they left London, six hours since. (“It +was Lady Castlewood who insisted on coming,” the Doctor said.) Argyle +had marched up regiments from Portsmouth, and sent abroad for more; the +Whigs were on the alert, a pest on them, (I am not sure but the Bishop +swore as he spoke,) and so too were our people. And all might be saved, +if only the Prince could be at London in time. We called for horses, +instantly to return to London. We never went up poor crestfallen +Boniface's stairs, but into our coaches again. The Prince and his Prime +Minister in one, Esmond in the other, with only his dear mistress as a +companion. + +Castlewood galloped forwards on horseback to gather the Prince's friends +and warn them of his coming. We travelled through the night. Esmond +discoursing to his mistress of the events of the last twenty-four hours; +of Castlewood's ride and his; of the Prince's generous behavior and +their reconciliation. The night seemed short enough; and the starlit +hours passed away serenely in that fond company. + +So we came along the road; the Bishop's coach heading ours; and, with +some delays in procuring horses, we got to Hammersmith about four +o'clock on Sunday morning, the first of August, and half an hour after, +it being then bright day, we rode by my Lady Warwick's house, and so +down the street of Kensington. + +Early as the hour was, there was a bustle in the street and many people +moving to and fro. Round the gate leading to the Palace, where the +guard is, there was especially a great crowd. And the coach ahead of us +stopped, and the Bishop's man got down to know what the concourse meant? + +There presently came from out of the gate--Horse Guards with their +trumpets, and a company of heralds with their tabards. The trumpets +blew, and the herald-at-arms came forward and proclaimed GEORGE, by the +Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of +the Faith. And the people shouted God save the King! + +Among the crowd shouting and waving their hats, I caught sight of one +sad face, which I had known all my life, and seen under many disguises. +It was no other than poor Mr. Holt's, who had slipped over to England +to witness the triumph of the good cause; and now beheld its enemies +victorious, amidst the acclamations of the English people. The poor +fellow had forgot to huzzah or to take his hat off, until his neighbors +in the crowd remarked his want of loyalty, and cursed him for a Jesuit +in disguise, when he ruefully uncovered and began to cheer. Sure he +was the most unlucky of men: he never played a game but he lost it; or +engaged in a conspiracy but 'twas certain to end in defeat. I saw him in +Flanders after this, whence he went to Rome to the head-quarters of his +Order; and actually reappeared among us in America, very old, and +busy, and hopeful. I am not sure that he did not assume the hatchet and +moccasins there; and, attired in a blanket and war-paint, skulk about +a missionary amongst the Indians. He lies buried in our neighboring +province of Maryland now, with a cross over him, and a mound of earth +above him; under which that unquiet spirit is for ever at peace. + + +With the sound of King George's trumpets, all the vain hopes of the weak +and foolish young Pretender were blown away; and with that music, too, I +may say, the drama of my own life was ended. That happiness, which hath +subsequently crowned it, cannot be written in words; 'tis of its nature +sacred and secret, and not to be spoken of, though the heart be ever so +full of thankfulness, save to Heaven and the One Ear alone--to one fond +being, the truest and tenderest and purest wife ever man was blessed +with. As I think of the immense happiness which was in store for me, and +of the depth and intensity of that love which, for so many years, hath +blessed me, I own to a transport of wonder and gratitude for such a +boon--nay, am thankful to have been endowed with a heart capable of +feeling and knowing the immense beauty and value of the gift which God +hath bestowed upon me. Sure, love vincit omnia; is immeasurably above +all ambition, more precious than wealth, more noble than name. He knows +not life who knows not that: he hath not felt the highest faculty of +the soul who hath not enjoyed it. In the name of my wife I write the +completion of hope, and the summit of happiness. To have such a love is +the one blessing, in comparison of which all earthly joy is of no value; +and to think of her, is to praise God. + +It was at Bruxelles, whither we retreated after the failure of our +plot--our Whig friends advising us to keep out of the way--that the +great joy of my life was bestowed upon me, and that my dear mistress +became my wife. We had been so accustomed to an extreme intimacy and +confidence, and had lived so long and tenderly together, that we +might have gone on to the end without thinking of a closer tie; but +circumstances brought about that event which so prodigiously multiplied +my happiness and hers (for which I humbly thank Heaven), although a +calamity befell us, which, I blush to think, hath occurred more than +once in our house. I know not what infatuation of ambition urged the +beautiful and wayward woman, whose name hath occupied so many of these +pages, and who was served by me with ten years of such constant fidelity +and passion; but ever after that day at Castlewood, when we rescued her, +she persisted in holding all her family as her enemies, and left us, and +escaped to France, to what a fate I disdain to tell. Nor was her son's +house a home for my dear mistress; my poor Frank was weak, as perhaps +all our race hath been, and led by women. Those around him were +imperious, and in a terror of his mother's influence over him, lest +he should recant, and deny the creed which he had adopted by their +persuasion. The difference of their religion separated the son and the +mother: my dearest mistress felt that she was severed from her children +and alone in the world--alone but for one constant servant on whose +fidelity, praised be Heaven, she could count. 'Twas after a scene of +ignoble quarrel on the part of Frank's wife and mother (for the poor lad +had been made to marry the whole of that German family with whom he had +connected himself), that I found my mistress one day in tears, and then +besought her to confide herself to the care and devotion of one who, +by God's help, would never forsake her. And then the tender matron, as +beautiful in her Autumn, and as pure as virgins in their spring, with +blushes of love and “eyes of meek surrender,” yielded to my respectful +importunity, and consented to share my home. Let the last words I write +thank her, and bless her who hath blessed it. + +By the kindness of Mr. Addison, all danger of prosecution, and every +obstacle against our return to England, was removed; and my son Frank's +gallantry in Scotland made his peace with the King's government. But we +two cared no longer to live in England: and Frank formally and joyfully +yielded over to us the possession of that estate which we now occupy, +far away from Europe and its troubles, on the beautiful banks of the +Potomac, where we have built a new Castlewood, and think with grateful +hearts of our old home. In our Transatlantic country we have a season, +the calmest and most delightful of the year, which we call the Indian +summer: I often say the autumn of our life resembles that happy and +serene weather, and am thankful for its rest and its sweet sunshine. +Heaven hath blessed us with a child, which each parent loves for her +resemblance to the other. Our diamonds are turned into ploughs and axes +for our plantations; and into negroes, the happiest and merriest, I +think, in all this country: and the only jewel by which my wife sets +any store, and from which she hath never parted, is that gold button she +took from my arm on the day when she visited me in prison, and which she +wore ever after, as she told me, on the tenderest heart in the world. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2511 *** |