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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sir Jasper Carew, by Charles James Lever
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Sir Jasper Carew
+       His Life and Experience
+
+Author: Charles James Lever
+
+Illustrator: E. Van Muyden and Phiz.
+
+Release Date: July 5, 2010 [EBook #33081]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIR JASPER CAREW ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+SIR JASPER CAREW.
+
+His Life and Experience
+
+By Charles James Lever
+
+
+Illustrated By E. Van Muyden and Phiz.
+
+
+Boston: Little, Brown, And Company. 1904.
+
+Copyright, 1894, By Little, Brown, And Company.
+
+
+
+DEDICATED TO H. D. W.
+
+By ONE WHO THINKS HIGHLY OF HIS HEART, AND HOPES MUCH FROM HIS HEAD.
+
+
+
+
+NOTICE
+
+It has been constantly observed by writers of travels that to gain
+credence for any of the strange incidents of their journeys, they have
+been compelled to omit many of the most eventful passages of their
+lives. "The gentlemen," and still more the ladies, "who live at home at
+ease" take, indeed, but little account of those adventures which are the
+daily lot of more precarious existences, and are too prone to set
+down as marvellous, or worse, events which have comparatively little
+remarkable for those whose fortunes have thrown them on the highways of
+the world.
+
+I make this remark in part to deprecate some of the criticism which I
+have seen pronounced upon these Memoirs. It has been said: How could any
+man have met so many adventures? and my answer is simply: By change of
+place. Nothing more is required. The pawn on the chess-board has a life
+of a very uneventful character, simply because his progress is slow,
+methodical, and unchanging. Not so the knight, who, with all the
+errantry of his race, dashes here and there, encountering every rank and
+condition of men,--continually in difficulties himself, or the cause of
+them to others. What the knight is to the chess-board, the adventurer
+is to real life. The same wayward fortune and zig-zag course belongs
+to each, and each is sure to have his share in nearly every great event
+that occurs about him. But I also refer to this subject on another
+account. Tale-writers are blamed for the introduction of incidents which
+have little bearing on the main story, or whose catastrophes are veiled
+in obscurity. But I would humbly ask, Are not these exactly the very
+traits of real life? Is not every man's course checkered with incidents,
+and crossed by people who never affect his actual career? Do not things
+occur every week singular enough to demand a record, and yet, to all
+seeming, not in any way bearing upon our fortunes? While I need but
+appeal to universal experience to corroborate me when I say that life
+is little else than a long series of uncompleted adventures, I do not
+employ the strongest of all argument on this occasion, and declare
+that in writing my Memoirs I had no choice but to set down the whole
+or nothing, because I am aware that some sceptical folk would like to
+imagine _me_ a shade, and _my story_ a fiction!
+
+I am quite conscious of some inaccuracies; for aught I know, there may
+be many in these pages; but I wrote most of them in very old age, away
+from books, and still further away from the friends who might have
+afforded me their counsel and guidance. I wrote with difficulty and
+from memory,--that is, from a memory in which a fact often faded while
+I transcribed it, and where it demanded all my efforts to call up
+the incidents, without, at the same time, summoning a dozen others,
+irrelevant and unwarranted.
+
+These same pages, with all their faults, have been a solace to many a
+dreary hour, when, alone and companionless, I have sat in the stillness
+of a home that no footsteps resound in, and by a hearth where none
+confronts me. They would be still richer in comfort if I thought they
+could cheer some heart lonely as my own, and make pain or sorrow forget
+something of its sting. I scarcely dare to hope for this, but I _wish_
+it heartily! And if there be aught of presumption in the thought, pray
+set it down amongst the other errors and short-comings of
+
+Jasper Carew.
+
+Palazzo Guidotte, Senegaqlia, Jan. 1855.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. SOME "NOTICES OF MY FATHER AND MOTHER"
+
+It has sometimes occurred to me that the great suits of armor we see in
+museums, the huge helmets that come down like extinguishers on the penny
+candles of modern humanity, the enormous cuirasses and gigantic iron
+gloves, were neither more nor less than downright and deliberate cheats
+practised by the "Gents" of those days for the especial humbugging of
+us, their remote posterity. It might, indeed, seem a strange and absurd
+thing that any people should take so much pains, and incur so much
+expense, just for the sake of mystifying generations then unborn. Still,
+I was led to this conclusion by observing and reflecting on a
+somewhat similar phenomenon in our own day; and indeed it was the only
+explanation I was ever able to come to, respecting those great mansions
+that we Irish gentlemen are so fond of rearing on our estates, "totally
+regardless of expense," and just as indifferent to all the circumstances
+of our fortune, and all the requirements of our station,--the only real
+difference being, that our forefathers were satisfied with quizzing
+their descendants, whereas we, with a livelier appreciation of fun,
+prefer enjoying the joke in our own day.
+
+Perhaps I am a little too sensitive on this point; but my reader will
+forgive any excess of irritability when I tell him that to this national
+ardor for brick and mortar--this passion for cutstone and stucco--it is
+I owe, not only some of the mischances of my life, but also a share of
+what destiny has in store for those that are to come after me. We came
+over to Ireland with Cromwell; my ancestor, I believe, and I don't
+desire to hide the fact, was a favorite trumpeter of Old Noll. He was a
+powerful, big-boned, slashing trooper, with a heavy hand on a sabre, and
+a fine deep, bass voice in the conventicle; and if his Christian
+name was a little inconvenient for those in a hurry,--he was called
+Bind-your-kings-in-chains-and-your-nobles-in-links-of-iron Carew,--it
+was of the less consequence, as he was always where he ought to
+be, without calling. It was said that in the eyes of his chief his
+moderation was highly esteemed, and that this virtue was never more
+conspicuous than in his choice of a recompense for his services; since,
+instead of selecting some fine, rich tract of Meath or Queen's County,
+some fruitful spot on the Shannon or the Blackwater, with a most
+laudable and exemplary humility he pitched upon a dreary and desolate
+region in the County Wicklow,--picturesque enough in point of scenery,
+but utterly barren and uncultivated. Here, at a short distance from the
+opening of the Vale of Arklow, he built a small house, contiguous
+to which, after a few years, was to be seen an outlandish kind of
+scaffolding,--a composite architecture between a draw-well and a
+gallows; and which, after various conjectures about its use,--some even
+suggesting that it was a new apparatus "to raise the Devil,"--turned
+out to be the machinery for working a valuable lead mine which, by "pure
+accident," my fortunate ancestor had just discovered there.
+
+It was not only lead, but copper ore was found there, and at last
+silver; so that in the course of three generations the trumpeter's
+descendants became amongst the very richest of the land; and when my
+father succeeded to the estate, he owned almost the entire country
+between Newrath Bridge and Arklow. There were seventeen townlands in
+our possession, and five mines in full work. In one of these, gold was
+found, and several fine crystals of topaz and beryl,--a few specimens
+of which are yet to be seen in the Irish Academy. It has been often
+remarked that men of ability rarely or never transmit their gifts to the
+generation succeeding them. Nature would seem to set her face against
+monopolies, and at least, so far as intellect is concerned, to be a
+genuine "Free-Trader." There is another and very similar fact, however,
+which has not attracted so much notice. It is this: that not only the
+dispositions and tastes of successive generations change and alternate,
+but that their luck follows the same law, and that after a good run of
+fortune for maybe a century or two, there is certain to come a turn;
+and thus it is that these ups and downs, which are only remarked in
+the lives of individuals, are occurring in the wider ocean of general
+humanity. The common incident that we so often hear of a man winning
+an enormous sum and losing every farthing of it, down to the
+very half-crown he began with, is just the type of many a family
+history,--the only difference being that the event which in one case
+occupied a night, in the other was spread over two, or maybe three,
+hundred years.
+
+When my father succeeded to the family property, Ireland was enjoying
+her very palmiest days of prosperity. The spirit of her nationality,
+without coming into actual collision with England, yet had begun
+to assume an attitude of proud hostility,--a species of haughty
+defiance,--the first effect of which was to develop and call forth all
+the native ardor and daring of a bold and generous people. It was in the
+celebrated year '82; and, doubtless, there are some yet living who
+can recall to memory the glorious enthusiasm of the "Volunteers." The
+character of the political excitement was eminently suited to the nature
+of the people. The themes were precisely those which lay fastest hold of
+enthusiastic temperaments. Liberty and Independence were in every mouth.
+From the glowing eloquence of the Parliament House,--the burning words
+and heart-stirring sentences of Grattan and Ponsonby,--they issued forth
+to mingle in all the exciting din of military display,--the tramp of
+armed battalions, and the crash and glitter of mounted squadrons. To
+these succeeded those festive meetings, resounding with all the zeal of
+patriotic toasts,--brilliant displays of those convivial accomplishments
+for which the Irish gentlemen of that day were so justly famed. There
+was something peculiarly splendid and imposing in the spectacle of the
+nation at that moment; but, like the grand groupings we witness upon the
+stage, all the gorgeousness of the display was only to intimate that
+the curtain was about to fall!
+
+But to come back to personal matters. At the first election which
+occurred after his accession to the property, my father was returned for
+Wicklow, by a large majority, in opposition to the Government candidate;
+and thus, at the age of twenty-two, entered upon life with all the
+glowing ardor of a young patriot,--rich, well-looking, and sufficiently
+gifted to be flattered into the self-confidence of actual ability.
+
+Parliamentary conflicts have undergone a change just as great as those
+of actual warfare. In the times I speak of, tactical skill and subtlety
+would have availed but little, in comparison with their present success.
+The House was then a species of tournament, where he who would break his
+lance with the most valiant tilter was always sure of an antagonist. The
+marshalling of party, the muster of adherents, was not, as it now is,
+all-sufficient against the daring eloquence of a solitary opponent;
+and if, as is very probable, men were less under the guidance of great
+political theorems, they were assuredly not less earnest and devoted
+than we now see them. The contests of the House were carried beyond its
+walls, and political opponents became deadly enemies, ready to stake
+life at any moment in defence of their opinions. It was the school of
+the period; nor can it be better illustrated than by the dying farewell
+of a great statesman, whose last legacy to his son was in the words: "Be
+always ready with the pistol." This great maxim, and the maintenance of
+a princely style of living, were the two golden rules of the time. My
+father was a faithful disciple of the sect.
+
+In the course of a two years' tour on the Continent, he signalized
+himself by various adventures, the fame of which has not yet faded
+from the memory of some survivors. The splendor of his retinue was the
+astonishment of foreign courts; and the journals of the time constantly
+chronicled the princely magnificence of his entertainments, and the
+costly extravagance of his household. Wagers were the fashionable
+pastime of the period; and to the absurd extent to which this passion
+was carried, are we in all probability now indebted for that character
+of eccentricity by which our countrymen are known over all Europe.
+
+The most perilous exploits, the most reckless adventures, ordeals of
+personal courage, strength, endurance, and address, were invented as
+the subject of these wagers; and there was nothing too desperately
+hazardous, nor too absurdly ridiculous, as not to find a place in such
+contests. My father had run the gauntlet through all, and in every
+adventure was said to have acquitted himself with honor and distinction.
+
+Of one only of these exploits do I intend to make mention here; the
+reason for the selection will soon be palpable to my reader. At the time
+I speak of, Paris possessed two circles totally distinct in the great
+world of society. One was that of the Court; the other rallied around
+the Duc d'Orleans. To this latter my father's youth, wealth, and
+expensive tastes predisposed him, and he soon became one of the most
+favored guests of the Palais Royal. Scanty as are the materials which
+have reached us, there is yet abundant reason to believe that never, in
+the most abandoned days of the Regency, was there any greater degree
+of profligacy than then prevailed there. Every vice and debauchery of
+a corrupt age was triumphant, and even openly defended on the base and
+calumnious pretence that the company was at least as moral as that of
+the "Petit Trianon." My father, I have said, was received into this set
+with peculiar honor. His handsome figure, his winning manners, an easy
+disposition, and an ample fortune were ready recommendations in his
+favor, and he speedily became the chosen associate of the Prince.
+
+Amongst his papers are to be found the unerring proofs of what this
+friendship cost him. Continued losses at play had to be met by loans
+of money, at the most ruinous rates of interest; and my poor father's
+memoranda are filled with patriarchal names that too surely attest the
+nature of such transactions. It would seem, however, that fortune
+at last took a turn,--at least, the more than commonly wasteful
+extravagance of his life at one period would imply that he was a winner.
+These gambling contests between the Duke and himself had latterly become
+like personal conflicts, wherein each staked skill, fortune, and address
+on the issue,--duels which involved passions just as deadly as any whose
+arbitrament was ever decided by sword or pistol! As luck favored my
+father, the Duke's efforts to raise money were not less strenuous, and
+frequently as costly, as his own; while on more than one occasion the
+jewelled decorations of his rank--his very sword--were the pledges of
+the play-table. At last, so decidedly had been the run against him that
+the Prince was forced to accept of loans from my father to enable him to
+continue the contest. Even this alternative, however, availed nothing.
+Loss followed upon loss, till at length, one night, when fortune had
+seemed to have utterly forsaken him, the Prince suddenly rose from
+the table, and saying, "Wait a moment, I'll make one 'coup' more,"
+disappeared from the room. When he returned, his altered looks almost
+startled my father. The color had entirely deserted his cheeks; his very
+lips were bloodless; his eyes were streaked with red vessels; and when
+he tried to speak, his first words were inaudible. Pressing my father
+down again upon the seat from which he had arisen, he leaned over his
+shoulder, and whispered in a voice low and broken,--
+
+"I have told you, Chevalier, that I would make one 'coup' more. This
+sealed note contains the stake I now propose to risk. You are at liberty
+to set any sum you please against it. I can only say, it is all that
+now remains to me of value in the world. One condition, however, I must
+stipulate for; it is this: If you win"--here he paused, and a convulsive
+shudder rendered him for some seconds unable to continue--"if you win,
+that you leave France within three days, and that you do not open this
+paper till within an hour after your departure."
+
+My father was not only disconcerted by the excessive agitation of his
+manner, but he was little pleased with a compact, the best issue of
+which would compel him to quit Paris and all its fascinations at a
+very hour's notice. He tried to persuade the Prince that there was no
+necessity for so heavy a venture; that he was perfectly ready to advance
+any sum his Royal Highness could name; that fortune, so persecuting as
+she seemed, should not be pushed further, at least for the present.
+In fact, he did everything which ingenuity could prompt to decline the
+wager. But the more eagerly he argued, the more resolute and determined
+became the Duke; till at last, excited by his losses, and irritated
+by an opposition to which he was but little accustomed, the Prince
+cut short the discussion by the insolent taunt "that the Chevalier was
+probably right, and deemed it safer to retain what he had won, than risk
+it by another venture."
+
+"Enough, sir; I am quite ready," replied my father, and reseated himself
+at the table.
+
+"There's my stake, then," said the Prince, throwing a sealed envelope on
+the cloth.
+
+"Your Royal Highness must correct me if I am in error," said my father,
+"and make mine beneath what it ought to be." At the same moment he
+pushed all the gold before him--several thousand louis--into the middle
+of the table.
+
+The Prince never spoke nor moved; and my father, after in vain waiting
+for some remark, said,--
+
+"I perceive, sir, that I have miscalculated. These are all that I
+have about me;" and he drew from his pocket a mass of bank-notes of
+considerable amount. The Prince still maintained silence.
+
+"If your Royal Highness will not vouchsafe to aid me, I must only trust
+to my unguided reason, and, however conscious of the inferiority of
+the venture, I can but stake all that I possess. Yes, sir, such is my
+stake."
+
+The Prince bowed formally and coldly, and pushed the cards towards my
+father. The fashionable game of the day was called Barocco, in which,
+after certain combinations, the hand to whom fell the Queen of Spades
+became the winner. So evenly had gone the fortune of the game that all
+now depended on this card. My father was the dealer, and turned up each
+card slowly, and with a hand in which not the slightest tremor could
+be detected. The Prince, habitually the very ideal of a gambler's cold
+impassiveness, was agitated beyond all his efforts to control, and
+sat with his eyes riveted on the game; and when the fatal card fell at
+length from my father's hand, his arms dropped powerless at either side
+of him, and with a low groan he sank fainting on the floor.
+
+He was quickly removed by his attendants, and my father never saw him
+after! All his efforts to obtain an audience were in vain; and when his
+entreaties became more urgent, he was given significantly to understand
+that the Prince was personally indisposed to receive him. Another and
+stronger hint was also supplied, in the-shape of a letter from the
+Minister of Police, inclosing my father's passport, and requiring his
+departure, by way of Calais, within a given time.
+
+Whatever share curiosity as to the contents of the paper might have
+had in my father's first thoughts, a sense of offended dignity for the
+manner of his treatment speedily mastered; and as he journeyed along
+towards the coast, his mind was solely occupied with one impression. To
+be suddenly excluded from the society in which he had so long mixed, and
+banished from the country where he had lived with such distinction, were
+indeed deep personal affronts, and not without severe reflection on his
+conduct and character.
+
+His impatience to quit a land where he had been so grossly outraged grew
+greater with every mile he travelled; and although the snow lay heavily
+on the road, he passed on, regardless of everything but his insulted
+honor. It was midnight when he reached Calais. The packet, which had
+sailed in the afternoon, had just re-entered the port, driven back by
+a hurricane that had almost wrecked her. The passengers, overcome with
+terror, fatigue, and exhaustion, were crowding into the hotel at the
+very moment of my father's arrival. The gale increased in violence at
+every instant, and the noise of the sea breaking over the old piles of
+the harbor was now heard like thunder. Indifferent to such warning, my
+father sent for the captain, and asked him what sum would induce him to
+put to sea. A positive refusal to accept of any sum was the first reply;
+but by dint of persuasion, persistence, and the temptation of a large
+reward, he at last induced him to comply.
+
+To my father's extreme surprise, he learned that two ladies who had just
+arrived at the hotel were no less resolutely bent on departure, and,
+in defiance of the gale, which was now terrific, sent to beg that they
+might be permitted to take their passage in the vessel. To the landlord,
+who conveyed this request, my father strongly represented the danger of
+such an undertaking; that nothing short of an extreme necessity would
+have induced him to embark in such a hurricane; that the captain,
+who had undertaken the voyage at his especial entreaty, might,
+most naturally, object to the responsibility. In a word, he pleaded
+everything against this request, but was met by the steady, unvarying
+reply, "That their necessity was not less urgent than his own, and that
+nothing less than the impossibility should prevent their departure."
+
+"Be it so, then," said my father, whose mind was too much occupied with
+his own cares to bestow much attention on strangers. Indeed, so little
+of either interest or curiosity did his fellow travellers excite in him
+that although he assisted them to ascend the ship's side, he made no
+effort to see their faces; nor did he address to them a single word.
+They who cross the narrow strait nowadays, with all the speed of a
+modern mail-steamer, can scarcely credit how much of actual danger
+the passage once involved. The communication with the Continent was
+frequently suspended for several days together; and it was no unusual
+occurrence to hear of three or even four mails being due from France.
+So great was the storm on the occasion I refer to that it was full two
+hours before the vessel could get clear of the port; and even then, with
+a mainsail closely reefed, and a mere fragment of a foresail, the utmost
+she could do was to keep the sea. An old and worthless craft, she was
+ill-suited to such a service; and now, at each stroke of the waves, some
+bulwark would be washed away, some spar broken, or part of the rigging
+torn in shreds. The frail timbers creaked and groaned with the working,
+and already, from the strain, leaks had burst open in many places, and
+half the crew were at the pumps. My father, who kept the deck without
+quitting it, saw that the danger was great, and, not improbably, now
+condemned his own rashness when it was too late. Too proud, however,
+to confess his shame, he walked hurriedly up and down the poop, only
+stopping to hold on at those moments when some tremendous lurch almost
+laid the craft under. In one of these it was that he chanced to look
+down through the cabin grating, and there beheld an old lady, at prayer,
+on her knees; her hands held a crucifix before her, and her upturned
+eyes were full of deep devotion. The lamp which swung to and fro above
+her head threw a passing light upon her features, and showed that she
+must once have been strikingly handsome, while even yet the traces were
+those that bespoke birth and condition. My father in vain sought for her
+companion, and while he bent down over the grating to look, the captain
+came up to his side.
+
+"The poor Duchess is terribly frightened," said he, with an attempt at a
+smile which only half succeeded.
+
+"How do you call her?" asked my father.
+
+"La Duchesse de Sargance, a celebrated court beauty some forty years
+ago. She has been always attached to the Duchess of Orleans; or, some
+say, to the Duke. At least, she enjoys the repute of knowing all his
+secret intrigues and adventures."
+
+"The Duke!" said my father, musing; and, suddenly calling to mind his
+pledge, he drew nigh to the binnacle lamp, and, opening his letter,
+bent down to read it. A small gold locket fell into his hand, unclasping
+which, he beheld the portrait of a beautiful girl of eighteen or
+nineteen. She was represented in the act of binding up her hair; and in
+the features, the coloring, and the attitude, she seemed the very ideal
+of a Grecian statue. In the corner of the paper was written the words,
+"Ma Fille," "Philippe d'Orleans."
+
+"Is this possible? can this be real?" cried my father, whose quick
+intelligence at once seemed to divine all. The next instant he was at
+the door of the cabin, knocking impatiently to get in.
+
+"Do you know this, madam?" cried he, holding out the miniature towards
+the Duchess. "Can you tell me aught of this?"
+
+"Is the danger over? Are we safe?" was her exclamation, as she arose
+from her knees.
+
+"The wind is abating, madam,--the worst is over; and now to my
+question."
+
+"She is yours, sir," said the Duchess, with a deep obeisance. "His
+Royal Highnesses orders were, not to leave her till she reached England.
+Heaven grant that we are to see that hour! This is Mademoiselle de
+Courtois," continued she, as at the same instant the young lady entered
+the cabin.
+
+The graceful ease and unaffected demeanor with which she received my
+father at once convinced him that she at least knew nothing of the
+terrible compact in which she was involved. Habituated as he was to all
+the fascinations of beauty, and all the blandishments of manner, there
+was something to him irresistibly charming in the artless tone with
+which she spoke of her voyage, and all the pleasure she anticipated from
+a tour through England.
+
+"You see, sir," said the Duchess, when they were once more alone
+together, "Mademoiselle Josephine is a stranger to the position in which
+she stands. None could have undertaken the task of breaking it to her.
+Let us trust that she is never to know it."
+
+"How so, madam? Do you mean that I am to relinquish my right?" cried my
+father.
+
+"Nothing could persuade me that you would insist upon it, sir."
+
+"You are wrong, then, madam," said he, sternly. "To the letter I will
+maintain it. Mademoiselle de Courtois is mine; and within twenty-four
+hours the law shall confirm my title, for I will make her my wife."
+
+I have heard that however honorable my father's intentions thus
+proclaimed themselves, the Duchess only could see a very lamentable
+_mesalliance_ in such a union; nor did she altogether disguise from my
+father that his Royal Highness was very likely to take the same view of
+the matter. Mademoiselle's mother was of the best blood of France,
+and illegitimacy signified little if Royalty but bore its share of the
+shame. Fortunately the young lady's scruples were more easily disposed
+of: perhaps my father understood better how to deal with them; at all
+events, one thing is certain, Madame de Sargance left Dover for
+Calais on the same day that my father and his young bride started for
+London,--perhaps it might be exaggeration to say the happiest, but it is
+no extravagance to call them--as handsome a pair as ever journeyed the
+same road on the same errand. I have told some things in this episode
+which, perhaps, second thoughts would expunge, and I have omitted others
+that as probably the reader might naturally have looked for. But the
+truth is, the narrative has not been without its difficulties. I have
+had to speak of a tone of manners and habits now happily bygone, of
+which I dare not mark my reprehension with all the freedom I could wish,
+since one of the chief actors was my father,--its victim, my mother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. THE ILLUSTRATION OF AN ADAGE
+
+"Marry in haste," says the adage, and we all know what occupation
+leisure will bring with it; unhappily, my father was not to prove the
+exception to the maxim. It was not that his wife was wanting in any
+quality which can render married life happy; she was, on the contrary,
+most rarely gifted with them all. She was young, beautiful, endowed with
+excellent health and the very best of tempers. The charm of her manner
+won every class with whom she came into contact. But--alas that
+there should be a but!--she had been brought up in habits of the most
+expensive kind. Living in royal palaces, waited on by troops of menials,
+with costly equipages and splendid retinues ever at her command, only
+mingling with those whose lives were devoted to pleasure and amusement,
+conversant with no other themes than those which bore upon gayety and
+dissipation, she was peculiarly unsuited to the wear and tear of a
+social system which demanded fully as much of self-sacrifice as of
+enjoyment. The long lessons my father would read to her of deference
+to this one, patient endurance of that, how she was to submit to the
+tiresome prosings of certain notorieties in respect of their
+political or social eminence,--she certainly heard with most
+exemplary resignation; but by no effort of her reason, nor, indeed, of
+imagination, could she attain to the fact why any one should associate
+with those distasteful to them, nor ever persuade herself that any
+worldly distinction could possibly be worth having at such a price.
+
+She was quite sure--indeed, her own experience proved it--"that the
+world was full of pleasant people." Beauty to gaze on and wit to listen
+to, were certainly not difficult to be found; why, then, any one should
+persist in denying themselves the enjoyment derivable from such sources
+was as great a seeming absurdity as that of him who, turning his back on
+the rare flowers of a conservatory, would go forth to make his bouquet
+of the wild flowers and weeds of the roadside. Besides this, in the
+world wherein she had lived, her own gifts were precisely those which
+attracted most admiration and exerted most sway; and it was somewhat
+hard to descend to a system where such a coinage was not accepted as
+currency, but rather regarded as gilded counters, pretty to look at,
+but, after all, a mere counterfeit money, unrecognized by the mint.
+
+My father saw all this when it was too late; but he lost no time in vain
+repinings. On the contrary, having taken a cottage in a secluded part
+of North Wales, by way of passing the honeymoon in all the conventional
+isolation that season is condemned to, he devoted himself to that
+educational process at which I have hinted, and began to instil those
+principles, to the difficulty of whose acquirement I have just alluded.
+
+I believe that his life at this period was one of as much happiness as
+ever is permitted to poor mortality in this world; so, at least, his
+letters to his friends bespeak it. It may be even doubted if the little
+diversities of taste and disposition between himself and my mother did
+not heighten the sense of his enjoyment; they assuredly averted that
+lassitude and ennui which are often the results of a connubial duet
+unreasonably prolonged. I know, too, that my poor mother often looked
+back to that place as to the very paradise of her existence. My father
+had encouraged such magnificent impressions of his ancestral house
+and demesne that he was obliged to make great efforts to sustain the
+deception. An entire wing had to be built to complete the symmetry of
+the mansion. The roof had also to be replaced by another, of more
+costly construction. In the place of a stucco colonnade, one of
+polished granite was to be erected. The whole of the furniture was to
+be exchanged. Massive old cabinets and oaken chairs, handsome enough in
+their way, were but ill-suited to ceilings of fretted gold, and walls
+hung in the rich draperies of Lyons. The very mirrors, which had been
+objects of intense admiration for their size and splendor, were now to
+be discarded for others of more modern pretensions. The china bowls and
+cups which for centuries had been regarded as very gems of virtu were
+thrown indignantly aside, to make place for Sevres vases and rich
+groupings of pure Saxon. In fact, all the ordinary comforts and
+characteristics of a country gentleman's house were abandoned for the
+sumptuous and splendid furniture of a palace. To meet such expenses
+large sums were raised on loan, and two of the richest mines on the
+estate were heavily mortgaged. Of course it is needless to say that
+preparations on such a scale of magnificence attracted a large share of
+public attention. The newspapers duly chronicled the increasing splendor
+of "Castle Carew." Scarcely a ship arrived without some precious
+consignment, either of pictures, marbles, or tapestries; and these
+announcements were usually accompanied by some semi-mysterious paragraph
+about the vast wealth of the owner, and the great accession of fortune
+he had acquired by his marriage. On this latter point nothing was known,
+beyond the fact that the lady was of an ancient ducal family of France,
+of immense fortune and eminently beautiful. Even my father's most
+intimate friends knew nothing beyond this; for, however strange it
+may sound to our present-day notions, my father was ashamed of her
+illegitimacy and rightly judged what would be the general opinion
+of her acquaintances, should the fact become public. At last came the
+eventful day of the landing in Ireland; and, certainly, nothing could be
+more enthusiastic nor affectionate than the welcome that met them.
+
+Personally, my father's popularity was very great; politically, he had
+already secured many admirers, since, even in the few months of his
+parliamentary life, he had distinguished himself on two or three
+occasions. His tone was manly and independent; his appearance was
+singularly prepossessing; and then, as he owned a large estate, and
+spent his money freely, it would have been hard if such qualities had
+not made him a favorite in Ireland.
+
+It was almost a procession that accompanied him from the quay to the
+great hotel of the Drogheda Arms, where they stopped to breakfast.
+
+"I am glad to see you back amongst us, Carew!" said Joe Parsons, one of
+my father's political advisers, a county member of great weight with the
+Opposition. "We want every good and true man in his place just now."
+
+"Faith! we missed you sorely at the Curragh meetings, Watty," cried a
+sporting-looking young fellow, in "tops and leathers." "No such thing as
+a good handicap, nor a hurdle race for a finish, without you."
+
+"Harry deplores those pleasant evenings you used to spend at
+three-handed whist, with himself and Dick Morgan," said another,
+laughing.
+
+"And where's Dick?" asked my father, looking around him on every side.
+
+"Poor Dick!" said the last speaker. "It's no fault of his that he 's not
+here to shake your hand to-day. He was arrested about six weeks ago, on
+some bills he passed to Fagan."
+
+"Old Tony alive still?" said my father, laughing. "And what was the
+amount?" added he, in a whisper.
+
+"A heavy figure,--above two thousand, I believe; but Tony would be right
+glad to take five hundred."
+
+"And couldn't Dick's friends do that much for him?" asked my father,
+half indignantly. "Why, when I left this, Dick was the very life of your
+city. A dinner without him was a failure. Men would rather have met him
+at the cover than seen the fox. His hearty face and his warm shake-hands
+were enough to inspire jollity into a Quaker meeting."
+
+"All true, Watty; but there's been a general shipwreck of us all,
+somehow. Where the money has gone, nobody knows; but every one seems out
+at elbows. You are the only fellow the sun shines upon."
+
+"Make hay, then, when it does so," said my father, laughing; and, taking
+but his pocket-book, he scribbled a few lines on a leaf which he tore
+out. "Give that to Dick, and tell him to come down and dine with us on
+Friday. You'll join him. Quin and Parsons won't refuse me.--And what do
+you say, Gervy Power? Can you spare a day from the tennis-court, or an
+evening from piquet?--Jack Gore, I count upon you. Harvey Hepton will
+drive you down, for I know you never can pay the post-boys."
+
+"Egad, they 're too well trained to expect it. The rascals always look
+to me for a hint about the young horses at the Curragh, and, now and
+then, I do throw a stray five-pound in their way."
+
+"We have not seen madam yet. Are we not to have that honor to-day?" said
+Parsons.
+
+"I believe not; she's somewhat tired. We had a stormy time of it," said
+my father, who rather hesitated about introducing his bachelor friends
+to my mother without some little preparation.
+
+Nor was the caution quite unreasonable. Their style and breeding
+were totally unlike anything she had ever seen before. The tone of
+familiarity they used towards each other was the very opposite to that
+school of courtly distance which even the very nearest in blood or
+kindred observed in her own country; and lastly, very few of those then
+present understood anything of French; and my mother's English, at the
+time I speak of, did not range beyond a few monosyllables, pronounced
+with an accent that made them all but unintelligible.
+
+"You'll have Kitty Dwyer to call upon you the moment she hears you 're
+come," said Quin.
+
+"Charmed to see her, if she 'll do us that honor," said my father,
+laughing.
+
+"You must have no common impudence, then, Watty," said another; "you
+certainly jilted her."
+
+"Nothing of the kind," replied my father; "she it was who refused me."
+
+"Bother!" broke in an old squire, a certain Bob French of Frenchmount;
+"Kitty refuse ten thousand a-year, and a good-looking fellow into the
+bargain! Kitty's no fool; and she knows mankind just as well as she
+knows horseflesh,--and, faix, that's not saying a trifle."
+
+"How is she looking?" asked my father, rather anxious to change the
+topic.
+
+"Just as you saw her last. She hurt her back at an ugly fence in
+Kennedy's park, last winter; but she's all right again, and riding the
+little black mare that killed Morrissy, as neatly as ever!"
+
+"She's a fine dashing girl!" said my father.
+
+"No, but she's a good girl," said the old squire, who evidently admired
+her greatly. "She rode eight miles of a dark night, three weeks ago, to
+bring the doctor to old Hackett's wife, and it raining like a waterfall;
+and she gave him two guineas for the job. Ay, faith, and maybe at the
+same time, two guineas was two guineas to her."
+
+"Why, Mat Dwyer is not so hard-up as that comes to?" exclaimed my
+father.
+
+"Is n't he, faith? I don't believe he knows where to lay his hand on a
+fifty-pound note this morning. The truth is, Walter, Mat ran himself out
+for _you_."
+
+"For me! How do you mean for me?"
+
+"Just because he thought you 'd marry Kitty. Oh! you need n't laugh.
+There 's many more thought the same thing. You remember yourself that
+you were never out of the house. You used to pretend that Bishop's-Lough
+was a better cover than your own,--that it was more of a grass country
+to ride over. Then, when summer came, you took to fishing, as if your
+bread depended on it; and the devil a salmon you ever hooked."
+
+A roar of laughter from the surrounders showed how they relished the
+confusion of my father's manner.
+
+"Even all that will scarcely amount to an offer of marriage," said he,
+in half pique.
+
+"Nobody said it would," retorted the other; "but when you teach a girl
+to risk her life, four days in the week, over the highest fences in a
+hunting country,--when she gives up stitching and embroidery, to tying
+flies and making brown hackles,--when she 'd rather drive a tandem than
+sit quiet in a coach and four,--why, she's as good as spoiled for any
+one else. 'Tis the same with women as with young horses,--every one
+likes to break them in for himself. Some like a puller; others prefer a
+light mouth; and there's more that would rather go along without having
+to think at all, sure that, no matter how rough the road, there would be
+neither a false step nor stumble in it."
+
+"And what's become of MacNaghten?" asked my father, anxious to change
+the topic.
+
+"Scheming, scheming, just the same as ever. I 'm sure I wonder he 's not
+here to-day. May I never! if that's not his voice I hear on the stairs.
+Talk of the devil--"
+
+"And you're sure to see Dan MacNaghten," cried my father; and the next
+moment he was heartily shaking hands with a tall, handsome man who,
+though barely thirty, was yet slightly bald on the top of the head. His
+eyes were blue and large; their expression full of the joyous merriment
+of a happy schoolboy,--a temperament that his voice and laugh fully
+confirmed.
+
+"Watty, boy, it 's as good as a day rule to have a look at you
+again," cried he. "There's not a man can fill your place when you 're
+away,--devil a one."
+
+"There he goes,--there he goes!" muttered old French, with a sly wink at
+the others.
+
+"Ireland wasn't herself without you, my boy," continued MacNaghten.
+"We were obliged to put up with Tom Burke's harriers and old French's
+claret; and the one has no more scent than the other has bouquet."
+
+French's face at this moment elicited such a roar of laughter as drowned
+the remainder of the speech.
+
+"'T was little time you had either to run with the one or drink the
+other, Dan," said he; "for you were snug in Kilmainham the whole of the
+winter."
+
+"_Otium cum dignitate_," said Dan. "I spent my evenings in drawing up a
+bill for the better recovery of small debts."
+
+"How so, Dan?"
+
+"Lending enough more, to bring the debtor into the superior
+courts,--trying him for murder instead of manslaughter."
+
+"Faith, you'd do either if you were put to it," said French, who merely
+heard the words, without understanding the context.
+
+Dan MacNaghten was now included in my father's invitation to Castle
+Carew; and, after a few other allusions to past events and absent
+friends, they all took their leave, and my father hastened to join his
+bride.
+
+"You thought them very noisy, my dear," said my father, in reply to a
+remark of hers. "They, I have no doubt, were perfectly astonished at
+their excessive quietness,--an air of decorum only assumed because they
+heard you were in the next room."
+
+"They were not afraid of me, I trust," said she, smiling. "Not exactly
+afraid," said my father, with a very peculiar smile.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. A FATHER AND DAUGHTER
+
+The celebrated money-lender and bill-discounter of Dublin in the times
+we speak of, was a certain Mr. Fagan, popularly called "The Grinder,"
+from certain peculiarities in his dealings with those who stood in need
+of his aid. He had been, and indeed so had his father before him, a
+fruit-seller, in a quarter of the city called Mary's Abbey,--a trade
+which he still affected to carry on, although it was well known that the
+little transactions of the front shop bore no imaginable proportion
+to the important events which were conducted in the small and gloomy
+back-parlor behind it.
+
+It was a period of unbounded extravagance. Few even of the wealthiest
+lived within their incomes. Many maintained a style and pretension
+far beyond their fortunes, the first seeds of that crop of ruin whose
+harvest we are now witnessing. By large advances on mortgage, and great
+loans at moments of extreme pressure, the Grinder had amassed an
+immense fortune, at the same time that he possessed a very considerable
+influence in many counties, in whose elections he took a deep although
+secret interest.
+
+If money-getting and money-hoarding was the great passion of his
+existence, it was in reality so in furtherance of two objects, on which
+he seemed to have set his whole heart. One of these was the emancipation
+of the Catholics; the other, the elevation of his only child, a
+daughter, to rank and station, by means of a high marriage.
+
+On these two themes his every thought was fixed; and however closely
+the miser's nature had twined itself around his own, all the thirst for
+gain, all the greed of usury, gave way before these master-passions.
+So much was he under their guidance that no prospect of advantage ever
+withdrew him from their prosecution; and he who looked for the Grinder's
+aid, must at least have appeared to him as likely to contribute towards
+one or other of these objects.
+
+Strange as it may seem to our modern notions, the political ambition
+seemed easier of success than the social. With all their moneyed
+embarrassments, the higher classes of Ireland refused to stoop to an
+alliance with the families of the rich plebeians, and were much more
+ready to tamper with their conscience on questions of state, than to
+abate a particle of their pride on a matter of family connection. In
+this way, Mr. Fagan could command many votes in the House from those who
+would have indignantly refused his invitation to a dinner.
+
+In pursuit of this plan, he had given his daughter the best education
+that money could command. She had masters in every modern language, and
+in every fashionable accomplishment. She was naturally clever and quick
+of apprehension, and possessed considerable advantages in person and
+deportment. Perhaps an overweening sense of her own importance, in
+comparison with those about her, imparted a degree of assumption to her
+manner, or perhaps this was instilled into her as a suitable lesson for
+some future position; but so was it, that much of the gracefulness of
+her youth was impaired by this fault, which gradually settled down into
+an almost stern and defiant hardiness of deportment,--a quality little
+likely to be popular in high society.
+
+A false position invariably engenders a false manner, and hers was
+eminently so. Immeasurably above those with whom she associated, she saw
+a great gulf between her and that set with whose habits and instincts
+she had been trained to assimilate. To condescend to intimacy with her
+father's guests, was to undo all the teachings of her life; and yet
+how barren seemed every hope of ascending to anything higher! No young
+proprietor had attained his majority for some years back, without being
+canvassed by the Grinder as a possible match for his daughter. He
+well knew the pecuniary circumstances of them all. To some he had
+lent largely; and yet somehow, although his emissaries were active in
+spreading the intelligence that Bob Fagan's daughter would have upwards
+of three hundred thousand pounds.
+
+It seemed a point of honor amongst this class that none should descend
+to such a union, nor stoop to an alliance with the usurer. If, in the
+wild orgies of after-dinner in the mad debauchery of the mess-table,
+some reckless spendthrift would talk of marrying Polly Fagan, a burst of
+mockery and laughter was certain to hail the proposition. In fact, any
+alternative of doubtful honesty, any stratagem to defeat a creditor,
+seemed a more honorable course than such a project.
+
+There were kind friends--mayhap amongst them were some disappointed
+suitors--ready to tell Polly how she was regarded by this set; and this
+consciousness on her part did not assuredly add to the softness of a
+manner that each day was rendering her more cold and severe; and, from
+despising those of her own rank, she now grew to hate that above her.
+
+It so chanced that my father was one of those on whom Fagan had long
+speculated for a son-in-law. There was something in the careless ease
+of his character that suggested the hope that he might not be very
+difficult of persuasion; and, as his habits of expense required large
+and prompt supplies, the Grinder made these advances with a degree of
+liberality that could not fail to be flattering to a young heir.
+
+On more than one occasion, the money was paid down before the lawyers
+had completed the documents; and this confidence in my father's honor
+had greatly predisposed him in Fagan's favor. The presumptuous idea of
+an alliance with him would have, of course, routed such impressions, but
+this never occurred to my father. It is very doubtful that he could have
+brought himself to believe the thing possible. So secret had been my
+father's marriage that none, even of his most intimate friends, knew
+of it till within a short time before he arrived in Ireland. The great
+outlay at Castle Carew of course attracted its share of gossip, but all
+seemed to think that these were the preparations for an event not yet
+decided on. This also was Fagan's reading of it; and he watched with
+anxious intensity every step and detail of that costly expenditure in
+which his now last hope was centred.
+
+"He must come to me for all this; I alone can be the paymaster here,"
+was his constant reflection, as he surveyed plans which required a
+princely fortune to execute, and which no private income could possibly
+have supported by a suitable style of living. "A hundred thousand pounds
+will pay for all," was the consolatory thought with which he solaced
+himself for this extravagance.
+
+The frequent calls for money, the astounding sums demanded from time to
+time, did indeed alarm Fagan. The golden limit of a hundred thousand had
+long been passed, and yet came no sign of retrenchment; on the contrary,
+the plans for the completion of the Castle were on a scale of even
+greater magnificence.
+
+It was to assure himself as to the truth of these miraculous narratives,
+to see with his own eyes the splendors of which he had heard so much,
+that Fagan once undertook a journey down to Castle Carew. For reasons
+the motives of which may be as well guessed as described, he was
+accompanied by his daughter. Seeming to be engaged on a little tour
+of the county, they arrived at the village inn at nightfall, and the
+following morning readily obtained the permission to visit the grounds
+and the mansion.
+
+Perhaps there is no higher appreciation of landscape beauty than that of
+him who emerges from the dark and narrow street of some busy city,--from
+its noise, and smoke, and din,--from its vexatious cares and harassing
+duties, and strolls out, of a bright spring morning, through the grassy
+fields and leafy lanes of a rural country; there is a repose, a sense of
+tranquil calm in the scene, so refreshing to those whose habitual rest
+comes of weariness and exhaustion. No need is there of the painter's
+eye nor the poet's fancy to enjoy to the utmost that rich combination of
+sky, and wood, and glassy lake.
+
+There may be nothing of artistic excellence in the appreciation, but the
+sense of pleasure, of happiness even, is to the full as great.
+
+It was in such a mood that Fagan found himself that morning slowly
+stealing along a woodland-path, his daughter at his side; halting
+wherever a chance opening afforded a view of the landscape, they walked
+leisurely on, each, as it were, respecting the other's silence. Not that
+their secret thoughts were indeed alike,--far from it! The daughter had
+marked the tranquil look, the unembarrassed expression of those features
+so habitually agitated and careworn: she saw the sense of relief even
+one day, one single day of rest, had brought with it. Why should it not
+be always thus? thought she. He needs no longer to toil and strive.
+His might be a life of quietude and peace. Our fortune is far above our
+wants, beyond even our wishes. We might at last make friendships, real
+friendships, amongst those who would look on us as equals and neighbors,
+not as usurers and oppressors.
+
+While such was passing in the daughter's mind, the father's thoughts
+ran thus: Can she see these old woods, these waving lawns, these
+battlemented towers, topping the great oaks of centuries, and yet not
+wish to be their mistress? Does no ambition stir her heart to think,
+These might be mine? He scanned her features closely, but in her
+drooping eyelids and pensive look he could read no signs of the spirit
+he sought for.
+
+"Polly," said he, at length, "this is finer, far finer than I expected;
+the timber is better grown, the demesne itself more spacious. I hardly
+looked for such a princely place."
+
+"It is very beautiful," said she, pensively.
+
+"A proud thing to be the owner of, Polly,--a proud thing! This is
+not the home of some wealthy citizen; these trees are like blazons of
+nobility, girl."
+
+"One might be very happy here, father," said she, in the same low voice.
+
+"The very thought of my own mind, Polly," cried he, eagerly. "The
+highest in the land could ask for nothing better. The estate has been in
+his family for four or five generations. The owner of such a place has
+but to choose what he would become. If he be talented, and with capacity
+for public life, think of him in Parliament, taking up some great
+question, assailing some time-worn abuse,--some remnant of that
+barbarous code that once enslaved us,--and standing forward as the
+leader of an Irish party. How gracefully patriotism would sit on one
+who could call this his own! Not the sham patriotism of your envious
+plebeian, nor the mock independence of the needy lawyer, but the sturdy
+determination to make his country second to none. There 's the Castle
+itself," cried he, suddenly, as they emerged into an open space in front
+of the building; and, amazed at the spacious and splendid edifice before
+them, they both stood several minutes in silent admiration.
+
+"I scarcely thought any Irish gentleman had a fortune to suit this,"
+said she, at length.
+
+"You are right, Polly; nor has Carew himself. The debts he will have
+incurred to build that Castle will hamper his estate, and cripple him
+and those that are to come after him. Nothing short of a large sum of
+ready money, enough to clear off every mortgage and incumbrance at once,
+could enable this young fellow to save them. Even then, his style
+should not be the spendthrift waste they say he is fond of. A princely
+household he might have, nobly maintained, and perfect in all its
+details, but with good management, girl. You must remember that, Polly."
+
+She started at this direct appeal to herself; and, as her cheeks grew
+crimson with conscious shame, she turned away to avoid his glance,--not
+that the precaution was needed, for he was far too much immersed in his
+own thoughts to observa her. Polly had on more than one occasion seen
+through the ambitious schemes of her father. She had detected many
+a deep-laid plot he had devised to secure for her that eminence and
+station he longed for. Deep and painful were the wounds of her offended
+pride at the slights, the insults of these defeated plans. Resentments
+that were to last her lifetime had grown of them, and in her heart a
+secret grudge towards that class from which they sprung. Over and over
+had she endeavored to summon up courage to tell him that, to her, these
+schemes were become hateful; that all dignity, all self-respect,
+were sacrificed in this unworthy struggle. At last came the moment of
+hardihood; and in a few words, at first broken and indistinct, but more
+assured and distinct as she went on, she said that she, at least, could
+never partake in his ambitious views.
+
+"I have seen you yourself, father, after a meeting with one of
+these--these high and titled personages, come home pale, careworn, and
+ill. The contumely of their manner had so offended you that you sat down
+to your meal without appetite. You could not speak to me; or, in a few
+words you dropped, I could read the bitter chagrin that was corroding
+your heart. You owned to me, that in the very moment of receiving favors
+from you, they never forgot the wide difference of rank that separated
+you,--nay more, that they accepted your services as a rightful homage
+to their high estate, and made you feel a kind of serfdom in your very
+generosity."
+
+"Why all this? To what end do you tell me these things, girl?" cried he,
+angrily, while his cheek trembled with passion.
+
+"Because if I conceal them longer,--if I do not speak them,--they will
+break my heart," said she, in an accent of deepest emotion; "because the
+grief they give me has worn me to very wretchedness. Is it not clear
+to you, father, that they wish none of us,--that our blood is not their
+blood, nor our traditions their traditions?"
+
+"Hold--stop--be silent, I say, or you will drive me distracted," said
+he, grasping her wrist in a paroxysm of rage.
+
+"I will speak out," said she, resolutely. "The courage I now feel
+may, perhaps, never return to me. There is nothing humiliating in our
+position, save what we owe to ourselves; there is no meanness in our
+rank in life, save when we are ashamed of it! Our efforts to be what we
+were not born to be, what we ought not to be, what we cannot be,--these
+may, indeed, make us despicable and ridiculous, for there are things in
+this world, father, that not even gold can buy."
+
+"By Heaven, that is not true!" said he, fiercely. "There never yet was
+that in rank, honor, and distinction that was not ticketed with its own
+price! Our haughtiest nobility--the proudest duke in the land--knows
+well what his alliance with a plebeian order has done for him. Look
+about you, girl. Who are these marchionesses, these countesses,
+who sweep past us in their pride? The daughters of men of my own
+station,--the wealthy traders of the country--"
+
+"And what is their position, father? A living lie. What is their haughty
+carriage? The assumption of a state they were not born to,--the insolent
+pretension to despise all amidst which they passed their youth, their
+earliest friendships, their purest, best days. Let them, on the other
+hand, cling to these; let them love what has grown into their natures
+from infancy,--the home, the companions of their happy childhood,--and
+see how the world will scoff at their vulgarity, their innate
+degeneracy, their low-born habits: vulgar if generous, vulgar when
+saving; their costly tastes a reproach, their parsimony a sneer."
+
+There was a passionate energy in her tone and manner, which, heightening
+the expression of her handsome features, made her actually beautiful;
+and her father half forgot the opposition to his opinions, in his
+admiration of her. As he still gazed at her, the sharp sound of a
+horse's canter was heard behind them; and, on turning round, they saw
+advancing towards them a young man, mounted on a blood horse, which he
+rode with all the careless ease of one accustomed to the saddle; his
+feet dangling loosely out of the stirrups, and one hand thurst into the
+pocket of his shooting-jacket.
+
+"Stand where you are!" he cried, as the father and daughter were about
+to move aside, and give him room to pass; and immediately after he
+rushed his horse at the huge trunk of a fallen beech-tree, and cleared
+it with a spring.
+
+"He 'll be perfect at timber, when he gets a little cooler in temper,"
+said he, turning on his saddle; and then, recognizing Fagan, he reined
+short in, and called out, "Halloo, Tony! who ever expected to see you
+here?--Miss Polly, your servant. A most unexpected pleasure this," added
+he, springing from his saddle, and advancing towards them with his hat
+off.
+
+"It is not often I indulge myself with a holiday, Mr. MacNaghten," said
+Fagan, as though half ashamed of the confession.
+
+"So much the worse for you, Fagan, and for your handsome daughter
+here,--not to speak of the poor thriftless devils, like myself, who are
+the objects of your industrious hours. Eh, Tony, is n't that true?" and
+he laughed heartily at his impudent joke.
+
+
+"And if it were not for such industry, sir," said the daughter, sternly,
+"how many like you would be abroad to-day?"
+
+[Illustration: 052]
+
+"By Jove, you are quite right, Miss Polly. It is exactly as you say.
+Your excellent father is the providence of us younger sons; and I, for
+one, will never prove ungrateful to him. But pray let us turn to another
+theme. Shall I show you the grounds and the gardens? The house is
+in such a mess of confusion that it is scarcely worth seeing. The
+conservatory, however, and the dairy are nearly finished; and if you can
+breakfast on grapes and a pineapple, with fresh cream to wash them down,
+I 'll promise to entertain you."
+
+"We ask for nothing better, Mr. MacNaghten," said Fagan, who was not
+sorry to prolong an interview that might afford him the information he
+sought for.
+
+"Now for breakfast, and then for sight-seeing," said Dan, politely
+offering his arm to the young lady, and leading the way towards the
+house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. A BREAKFAST AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
+
+To do the honors of another man's house is a tremendous test of tact.
+In point of skill or address, we know of few things more difficult. The
+ease which sits so gracefully on a host becomes assurance when practised
+by a representative; and there is a species of monarchy about the
+lord of a household that degenerates into usurpation in the hands of a
+pretender. It is not improbable, then, Dan MacNaghten's success in
+this trying part was mainly attributable to the fact that he had never
+thought of its difficulty. He had gone through a fine property in a
+few years of dissipation, during which he had played the entertainer so
+often and so well that nothing seemed to him more natural than a seat
+at the head of a table, nor any task more simple or agreeable than to
+dispense its hospitalities.
+
+The servants of the Castle were well accustomed to obey him, and when
+he gave his orders for breakfast to be speedily laid out in the
+conservatory, they set about the preparations with zeal and activity.
+With such promptitude, indeed, were the arrangements made that by
+the time MacNaghten had conducted his guests to the spot, all was in
+readiness awaiting them.
+
+The place was admirably chosen, being a central point in the
+conservatory, from which alleys branched out in different directions;
+some opening upon little plots of flowers or ornamental shrubbery,
+others disclosing views of the woodland scenery or the distant mountains
+beyond it. The table was spread beside a marble basin, into which a
+little group of sportive Titans were seen spouting. Great Nile lilies
+floated on the crystal surface, and gold and silver fish flashed and
+glittered below. The board itself, covered with luscious fruit, most
+temptingly arranged amidst beautiful flowers, displayed, besides,
+some gorgeous specimens of Sevres and Saxony, hastily taken from their
+packing-cases, while a large vase of silver, richly chased, stood in the
+centre, and exhibited four views of the Castle, painted in medallions on
+its sides.
+
+"If you'll sit here, Miss Polly," said MacNaghten, "you'll have a
+prettier view, for you'll see the lake, and catch a peep, too, of the
+Swiss Cottage on the crag above it. I must show you the cottage after
+breakfast. It was a bit of fancy of my own,--copied, I am free to
+confess, from one I saw in the Oberland.--Fagan, help yourself; you 'll
+find these cutlets excellent. Our friend Carew has made an admirable
+choice of a cook."
+
+"You treat us in princely fashion, sir," said Fagan, whose eyes glanced
+from the splendor before him to his daughter, and there tried to read
+her thoughts.
+
+"You gave me no time for that; had you told me you were coming down, I
+'d have tried to receive you properly. As it is, pray make up your mind
+to stay a day or two,--Carew will be so delighted; nothing flatters him
+so much as to hear praise of this place."
+
+"Ah, sir, you forget that men like myself have but few holidays."
+
+"So much the worse, Fagan; remember what the adage says about all
+work and no play. Not, by Jove, but I 'm sure that the converse of the
+proposition must have its penalty, too; for if not, I should have been a
+marvellously clever fellow.--Ay, Miss Polly, my life has been all play."
+
+"A greater fault than the other, sir, and with this addition, too, that
+it makes proselytes," said she, gravely; "my father's theory finds fewer
+followers."
+
+"And you not one of them?" said MacNaghten, rapidly; while he fixed a
+look of shrewd inquiry on her.
+
+"Assuredly not," replied she, in a calm and collected tone.
+
+"By Jove, I could have sworn to it," cried he, with a burst of
+enthusiastic delight. "There, Fagan, you see Miss Polly takes my side,
+after all."
+
+"I have not said so," rejoined she, gravely. "Gain and waste are nearer
+relatives than they suspect."
+
+"I must own that I have never known but one of the family," said Dan,
+with one of those hearty laughs which seemed to reconcile him to any
+turn of fortune.
+
+Fagan all this time was ill at ease and uncomfortable; the topic annoyed
+him, and he gladly took occasion to change it by an allusion to the
+wine.
+
+"And yet there are people who will tell you not to drink champagne for
+breakfast," exclaimed Dan, draining his glass as he spoke; "as if any
+man could be other than better with this glorious tipple. Miss Polly,
+your good health, though it seems superfluous to wish you anything."
+
+She bowed half coldly to the compliment, and Fagan added hurriedly, "We
+are at least contented with our lot in life, Mr. MacNaghten."
+
+"Egad, I should think you were, Tony, and no great merit in the
+resignation, after all. Put yourself in my position, however,--fancy
+yourself Dan MacNaghten for one brief twenty-four hours. Think of
+a fellow who began the world--ay, and that not so very long ago
+either--with something over five thousand a-year, and a good large sum
+in bank, and who now, as he sits here, only spends five shillings
+when he writes his name on a stamp; who once had houses and hounds and
+horses, but who now sits in the rumble, and rides a borrowed hack. If
+you want to make a virtue of your contentment, Fagan, change places with
+me."
+
+"But would you take mine, Mr. MacNaghten? Would you toil, and slave, and
+fag,--would you shut out the sun, that your daily labor should have no
+suggestive temptings to enjoyment,--would you satisfy yourself that the
+world should be to you one everlasting struggle, till at last the very
+capacity to feel it otherwise was lost to you forever?"
+
+"That's more than I am able to picture to myself," said MacNaghten,
+sipping his wine. "I 've lain in a ditch for two hours with a broken
+thigh-bone, thinking all the time of the jolly things I 'd do when I 'd
+get well again; I 've spent some very rainy weeks in a debtor's prison,
+weaving innumerable enjoyments for the days when I should be at liberty;
+so that as to any conception of a period when I should not be able to be
+happy, it 's clean and clear beyond me."
+
+Polly's eyes were fixed on him as he spoke, and while their expression
+was almost severe, the heightened color of her cheeks showed that she
+listened to him with a sense of pleasure.
+
+"I suppose it's in the family," continued Dan, gayly. "My poor father
+used to say that no men have such excellent digestion as those that have
+nothing to eat."
+
+"And has it never occurred to you, sir," said Polly, with a degree of
+earnestness in her voice and manner,--"has it never occurred to you
+that this same buoyant temperament could be turned to other and better
+account than mere "--she stopped, and blushed, and then, as if by an
+effort, went on--"mere selfish enjoyment? Do you not feel that he who
+can reckon on such resources but applies them to base uses when he
+condescends to make them the accessories of his pleasures? Is there
+nothing within your heart to whisper that a nature such as this was
+given for higher and nobler purposes; and that he who has the spirit
+to confront real danger should not sit down contented with a mere
+indifference to shame?"
+
+"Polly, Polly!" cried her father, alike overwhelmed by the boldness and
+the severity of her speech.
+
+"By Jove, the young lady has given me a canter," cried MacNaghten, who,
+in spite of all his good temper, grew crimson; "and I only wish the
+lesson had come earlier. Yes, Miss Polly," added he, in a voice of more
+feeling, "it 's too late now."
+
+"You must forgive my daughter, Mr. MacNaghten,--she is not usually so
+presumptuous," said Fagan, rising from the table, while he darted
+a reproving glance towards Polly; "besides, we are encroaching most
+unfairly on your time."
+
+"Are you so?" cried Dan, laughing. "I never heard it called mine before!
+Why, Tony, it's yours, and everybody's that has need of it. But if you
+'ll not eat more, let me show you the grounds. They are too extensive
+for a walk, Miss Polly, so, with your leave, we 'll have something to
+drive; meanwhile I'll tell the gardener to pluck you some flowers."
+
+Fagan waited till MacNaghten was out of hearing, and then turned angrily
+towards his daughter.
+
+"You have given him a sorry specimen of your breeding, Polly; I thought,
+indeed, you would have known better."
+
+"You forget already, then, the speech with which he accosted us," said
+she, haughtily; "but my memory is better, sir."
+
+"His courtesy might have effaced the recollection, I think," said Fagan,
+testily.
+
+"His courtesy! Has he not told you himself that every gift he possesses
+is but an emanation of his selfishness? The man who can be anything so
+easily, will be nothing if it cost a sacrifice."
+
+"I don't care what he is," said Fagan, in a low, distinct voice, as
+though he wanted every word to be heard attentively. "For what he has
+been, and what he will be, I care just as little. It is where he moves,
+and lives, and exerts influence,--these are what concern me."
+
+"Are the chance glimpses that we catch of that high world so attractive,
+father?" said she, in an accent of almost imploring eagerness. "Do
+they, indeed, requite us for the cost we pay for them? When we leave the
+vulgar circle of our equals, is it to hear of generous actions, exalted
+sentiments, high-souled motives; or is it not to find every vice that
+stains the low pampered up into greater infamy amongst the noble?"
+
+"This is romance and folly, girl. Who ever dreamed it should be
+otherwise? Nature stamped no nobility on gold, nor made copper plebeian.
+This has been the work of men; and so of the distinctions among
+themselves, and it will not do for us to dispute the ordinance. Station
+is power, wealth is power; he who has neither, is but a slave; he who
+has both, may be all that he would be!"
+
+A sudden gesture to enforce caution followed these words; and at
+the same time MacNaghten's merry voice was heard, singing as he came
+along,--
+
+  "'Kneel down there, and say a prayer,
+    Before my hounds shall eat you.'
+  'I have no prayer,' the Fox replied,
+    'For I was bred a Quaker.'
+
+"All right, Miss Polly. Out of compliment to you, I suppose, Kitty
+Dwyer, that would never suffer a collar over her head for the last six
+weeks, has consented to be harnessed as gently as a lamb; and my own
+namesake, 'Dan the Smasher,' has been traced up, without as much as one
+strap broken. They 're a little pair I have been breaking in for Carew;
+for he's intolerably lazy, and expects to find his nags trained to
+perfection. Look at them, how they come along,--no bearing reins, no
+blinkers. That 's what I call a very neat turn-out."
+
+The praise was, assuredly, not unmerited, as two highbred black ponies
+swept past with a beautiful phaeton, and drew up at the door of the
+conservatory.
+
+The restless eyes, the wide-spread nostrils and quivering flanks of
+the animals, not less than the noiseless caution of the grooms at their
+heads, showed that their education had not yet been completed; and so
+Fagan remarked at once.
+
+"They look rakish,--there's no denying it!" said Mac-Naghten; "but they
+are gentleness itself. The only difficulty is to put the traps on them;
+once fairly on, there's nothing to apprehend. You are not afraid of
+them, Miss Polly?" said he, with a strong emphasis on the "you."
+
+"When you tell me that I need not be, I have no fears," said she,
+calmly.
+
+"I must be uncourteous enough to say that I do not concur in the
+sentiment," said Fagan; "and, with your leave, Mr. MacNaghten, we will
+walk."
+
+"Walk! why, to see anything, you'll have twelve miles a-foot. It must
+n't be thought of, Miss Polly,--I cannot hear of it!" She bowed, as
+though in half assent; and he continued: "Thanks for the confidence; you
+shall see it is not misplaced. Now, Fagan--"
+
+"I am decided, Mr. MacNaghten; I'll not venture; nor will I permit my
+daughter to risk her life."
+
+"Neither would I, I should hope," said MacNaghten; and, although the
+words were uttered with something of irritation, there was that in the
+tone that made Polly blush deeply.
+
+"It's too bad, by Jove!" muttered he, half aloud, "when a man has so
+few things that he really can do, to deny his skill in the one he knows
+best."
+
+"I am quite ready, sir," said Polly, in that tone of determination which
+she was often accustomed to assume, and against which her father rarely
+or never disputed.
+
+"There now, Fagan, get up into the rumble. I 'll not ask you to be the
+coachman. Come, come,--no more opposition; we shall make them impatient
+if we keep them standing much longer."
+
+As he spoke, he offered his arm to Polly, who, with a smile,--the first
+she had deigned to give him,--accepted it, and then, hastily leading her
+forward, he handed her into the carriage. In an instant MacNaghten was
+beside her. With the instinct of hot-tempered cattle, they no sooner
+felt a hand upon the reins than they became eager to move forward, and,
+while one pawed the ground with impatience, the other, retiring to the
+very limit of the pole-strap, prepared for a desperate plunge.
+
+"Up with you, Fagan; be quick--be quick!" cried Dan. "It won't do to
+hold them in. Let them go, lads, or they 'll smash everything!" and the
+words were hardly out, when, with a tremendous bound, that carried
+the front wheels off the road, away they went. "Meet us at the other
+gate,--they 'll show you the way," cried MacNaghten, as, standing up,
+he pointed with his whip in the direction he meant. He had no time
+for more; for all his attention was now needed to the horses, as, each
+exciting the other, they dashed madly on down the road.
+
+"This comes of keeping them standing," muttered Dan; "and the scoundrels
+have curbed them up too tight. You're not afraid, Miss Polly? By Jove,
+that was a dash,--Kitty showed her heels over the splash-board. Look at
+that devil Dan,--see how he 's bearing on the pole-piece!--an old trick
+of his."
+
+A tremendous cut on his flank now drove him almost furious, and the
+enraged animal set off at speed.
+
+"We must let them blow themselves, Miss Polly. It all comes of their
+standing so long. You're not afraid?--Well, then, they may do their
+worst."
+
+By this time the pace had become a tearing gallop, and seeing that
+nothing short of some miles would suffice to tame them down, MacNaghten
+turned their heads in the direction of a long avenue which led towards
+the sea.
+
+It was all in vain that Fagan fastened through the flower-garden, and
+across a private shrubbery; when he reached the "gate," there was no
+sign of the phaeton. The cuckoo and the thrush were the only voices
+heard in the stillness; and, at intervals, the deep booming of the sea,
+miles distant, told how unbroken was the silence around. His mind was
+a conflict of fear and anger; terrible anxieties for his daughter were
+mixed up with passion at this evidence of her wayward nature, and he
+walked along, reproaching himself bitterly for having accepted the
+civilities of MacNaghten.
+
+Fagan's own schemes for a high alliance for his daughter had made him
+acquainted with many a counterplot of adventurers against himself.
+He well knew what a prize Polly Fagan was deemed amongst the class of
+broken-down and needy spendthrifts who came to him for aid. Often and
+often had he detected the first steps of such machinations, till at
+length he had become suspectful of everything and everybody. Now,
+MacNaghten was exactly the kind of man he most dreaded in this respect.
+There was that recklessness about him that comes of broken fortune; he
+was the very type of a desperate adventurer, ready to seize any chance
+to restore himself to fortune and independence. Who could answer for
+such a man in such an emergency?
+
+Driven almost mad with these terrors, he now hastened his steps,
+stopping at times to listen, and at times calling on his daughter in the
+wildest accents. Without knowing whither he went, he soon lost himself
+in the mazes of the wood, and wandered on for hours in a state bordering
+upon distraction. Suspicion had so mastered his reason that he had
+convinced himself the whole was a deliberate scheme,--that MacNaghten
+had planned all beforehand. In his disordered fancies, he did not
+scruple to accuse his daughter of complicity, and inveighed against her
+falsehood and treachery in the bitterest words.
+
+And what was Dan MacNaghten doing all this time? Anything, everything,
+in short, but what he was accused of! In good truth, he had little time
+for love-making, had such a project even entered his head, so divided
+were his attentions between the care of the cattle and his task of
+describing the different scenes through which they passed at speed,--the
+prospect being like one of those modern inventions called dissolving
+views,--no sooner presenting an object than superseding it by another.
+In addition to all this, he had to reconcile Miss Polly to what seemed
+a desertion of her father; so that, what with his "cares of coachman,
+cicerone, and consoler," as he himself afterwards said, it was clean
+beyond him to slip in even a word on his own part. It is no part of my
+task to inquire how Polly enjoyed the excursion, or whether the dash of
+recklessness, so unlike every incident of her daily life, did not repay
+her for any discomfort of her father's absence: certain is it that when,
+after about six miles traversed in less than half an hour, they returned
+to the Castle, her first sense of apprehension was felt by not finding
+her father to meet her. No sooner had MacNaghten conducted her to the
+library than he set out himself in search of Fagan, having despatched
+messengers in all directions on the same errand. Dan, it must be owned,
+had far rather have remained to reassure Miss Polly, and convince her
+that her father's absence would be but momentary; but he felt that it
+was a point of duty with him to go--and go he did.
+
+It chanced that, by dint of turning and winding, Fagan had at length
+approached the Castle again, so that MacNaghten came up with him within
+a few minutes after his search began. "Safe, and where?" were the only
+words the old man could utter as he grasped the other's arm. Dan, who
+attributed the agitation to but one cause, proceeded at once to reassure
+him on the score of his daughter's safety, detailing, at the same time,
+the circumstances which compelled him to turn off in a direction the
+opposite of that he intended. Fagan drank in every word with eagerness,
+his gray eyes piercingly fixed on the speaker all the while. Great
+as was his agitation throughout, it became excessive when MacNaghten
+chanced to allude to Polly personally, and to speak of the courage she
+displayed.
+
+"She told you that she was not afraid?--she said so to yourself?" cried
+he, eagerly.
+
+"Ay, a dozen times," replied Dan, freely. "It was impossible to have
+behaved better."
+
+"You said so,--you praised her for it, I have no doubt," said the other,
+with a grim effort at a smile.
+
+"To be sure I did, Tony. By Jove, you've reason to be proud of her.
+I don't speak of her beauty,--that every one can see; but she's a
+noble-minded girl. She would grace any station in the land."
+
+"She heard you say as much with pleasure, I 'm certain," said Fagan,
+with a smile that was more than half a sneer.
+
+"Nay, faith, Tony, I did not go so far. I praised her courage. I told
+her that not every man could have behaved so bravely."
+
+MacNaghten paused at this.
+
+"And then--and then, sir," cried Fagan, impatiently.
+
+Dan turned suddenly towards him, and, to his amazement, beheld a
+countenance tremulous with passionate excitement.
+
+"What then, sir? Tell me what then? I have a right to ask, and I will
+know it. I 'm her father, and I demand it."
+
+"Why, what in Heaven's name is the matter?" exclaimed MacNaghten. "I
+have told you she is safe,--that she is yonder."
+
+"I speak not of that, sir; and you know it," cried Fagan, imperiously.
+"The dissimulation is unworthy of you. You ought to be a man of honor."
+
+"Egad, good temper would be the best quality for me just now," said the
+other, with a smile; "for you seem bent on testing it."
+
+"I see it all," cried Fagan, in a voice of anguish. "I see it all. Now
+hear me, Mr. MacNaghten. You are one who has seen much of the world, and
+will readily comprehend me. You are a man reputed to be kind-hearted,
+and you will not pain me by affecting a misunderstanding. Will you leave
+this to-morrow, and go abroad, say for a year or two? Give me your hand
+on it, and draw on me for one thousand pounds."
+
+"Why, Tony, what has come over you? Is it the air of the place has
+disordered your excellent faculties? What can you mean?"
+
+"This is no answer to my question, sir," said Fagan, rudely.
+
+"I cannot believe you serious in putting it," said MacNaghten, half
+proudly. "Neither you nor any other man has the right to make such a
+proposal to me."
+
+"I say that I have, sir. I repeat it. I am her father, and by one dash
+of my pen she is penniless to-morrow. Ay, by Heaven, it is what I will
+do if you drive me to it."
+
+"At last I catch your meaning," said MacNaghten, "and I see where your
+suspicions have been pointing at. No, no; keep your money. It might be a
+capital bargain for me, Tony, if I had the conscience to close with it;
+and if you knew but all, you 've no right to offer so much temptation.
+That path will bring you to the Castle. You 'll find Miss Polly in the
+library. Good-bye, Fagan."
+
+And without waiting for a reply, MacNaghten turned abruptly away, and
+disappeared in the wood.
+
+Fagan stood for a second or two deep in thought, and then bent his steps
+towards the Castle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. JOE RAPER
+
+The little incident which forms the subject of the last chapter occurred
+some weeks before my father's return to Ireland, and while as yet the
+fact of his marriage was still a secret to all, save his most intimate
+friends. The morning after Fagan's visit, however, MacNaghten received a
+few lines from my father, desiring him to look after and "pass" through
+the Custom House certain packages of value which would arrive there
+about that time. It chanced that poor Dan's circumstances just at
+this moment made seclusion the safer policy, and so he forwarded the
+commission to Fagan.
+
+The packages contained the wardrobe of Madame de Carew, and revealed
+the mystery of my father's marriage. Fagan's plans and speculations must
+have attained to a great maturity in his own mind, to account for the
+sudden shock which this intelligence gave him. He was habitually a
+cautious calculator, rarely or never carried away by hope beyond the
+bounds of stern reality, and only accepting the "probable" as the
+"possible." In this instance, however, he must have suffered himself a
+wider latitude of expectation, for the news almost stunned him. Vague as
+were the chances of obtaining my father for a son-in-law, they were yet
+fair subjects of speculation; and he felt like one who secures a great
+number of tickets in a lottery, to augment his likelihood to win.
+Despite of all this, he had now to bear the disappointment of a "blank."
+The great alliance on which he had built all his hopes of position and
+station was lost to him forever; and, unable to bear up against the
+unexpected stroke of fortune, he feigned illness and withdrew.
+
+It is very difficult for some men to sever the pain of a disappointment
+from a sense of injury towards the innocent cause of it. Unwilling to
+confess that they have calculated ill, they turn their anger into some
+channel apart from themselves. In the present case Fagan felt as if my
+father had done him a foul wrong, as though he had been a party to the
+deceit he practised on himself, and had actually traded on the hopes
+which stirred his own heart. He hastened home, and, passing through the
+little shop, entered the dingy parlor behind it.
+
+At a large, high desk, at each side of which stood innumerable
+pigeon-holes, crammed with papers, a very diminutive man was seated
+writing. His suit of snuff-brown was worn and threadbare, but
+scrupulously clean, as was also the large cravat of spotless white
+which enclosed his neck like a pillory. His age might have been about
+fifty-one or two; some might have guessed him more, for his features
+were cramped and contracted with wrinkles, which, with the loss of one
+of his eyes from small-pox, made him appear much older than he was. His
+father had been one of the first merchants of Dublin, in whose ruin and
+bankruptcy, it was said, Fagan's father had a considerable share. The
+story also ran that Joe Raper--such was his name--had been the accepted
+suitor of her who subsequently married Fagan. The marriage having been
+broken off when these disasters became public, young Raper was forced
+by poverty to relinquish his career as a student of Trinity College,
+and become a clerk in Fagan's office and an inmate of his house. In this
+station he had passed youth and manhood, and was now growing old;
+his whole ambition in life being to see the daughter of his former
+sweetheart grow up in beauty and accomplishments, and to speculate with
+himself on some great destiny in store for her. Polly's mother had
+died within two years after her marriage, and to her child had Joe
+transmitted all the love and affection he had borne to herself. He had
+taken charge of her education from infancy, and had labored hard himself
+to acquire such knowledge as might keep him in advance of his gifted
+pupil. But for this self-imposed task it is more than likely that all
+his little classic lore had been long forgotten, and that the graceful
+studies of his earlier days had been obliterated by the wear and tear of
+a life so little in unison with them. To be her teacher, he had toiled
+through the long hours of the night, hoarding up his miserable earnings
+to buy some coveted book of reference, some deeply prized authority in
+criticism. By dint of downright labor,--for his was not one of those
+bright intelligences that acquire as if by instinct,--he had mastered
+several of the modern languages of Europe, and refreshed his knowledge
+of the ancient ones. With such companionship and such training, Polly
+Fagan's youth had been fashioned into that strange compound, where high
+ambitions and gentle tastes warred with each other, and the imaginative
+faculties were cultivated amidst views of life alone suggestive of gain
+and money-getting.
+
+If Fagan took little interest in the care bestowed by Raper on his
+daughter's education, he was far from indifferent to the devotion of
+his faithful follower; while Joe, on the other hand, well knowing that
+without him the complicated business of the house could not be carried
+on for a single day, far from presuming on his indispensable services,
+only felt the more bound in honor to endure any indignity rather than
+break with one so dependent on him. It had been a kind of traditionary
+practice with the Fagans not to keep regular books, but to commit all
+their transactions to little fragments of paper, which were stuffed,
+as it seemed, recklessly into some one or other of that vast nest of
+pigeon-holes, which, like a gigantic honeycomb, formed the background
+of Joe Raper's desk, and of which he alone, of men, knew the secret
+geography. No guide existed to these mysterious receptacles, save when
+occasionally the name of some suitor of uncommon importance appeared
+over a compartment; and as an evidence of what a share our family
+enjoyed in such distinction, I have heard that the word "Carew" figured
+over as many as five of these little cells.
+
+Joe turned round hastily on his stool as his chief entered, and saluted
+him with a respectful bow; and then, as if continuing some unbroken
+thread' of discourse, said, "Whyte is protested,--Figgis and Read
+stopped."
+
+"What of Grogan?" said Fagan, harshly.
+
+"Asks for time. If he sells his stock at present prices, he 'll be a
+heavy loser."
+
+"So let him,--say that we'll proceed."
+
+"The writ can't run there; he lives in Mayo."
+
+"We 'll try it."
+
+"We did so before, and the sub-sheriff was shot."
+
+"Attorneys are plenty,--we 'll send down another."
+
+"Hump!" muttered Joe, as he turned over a folio of papers before him.
+"Ay, here it is," said he. "Oliver Moore wishes to go to America, and
+will give up his lease; he only begs that you will vouchsafe to him some
+small compensation--"
+
+"Compensation! That word is one of yours, Mr. Raper, and I've no doubt
+has a classical origin,--you got it in Homer, perhaps; but, let me
+tell you, sir, that it is a piece of vulgar cant, and, what is worse,
+a swindle! Ay, grow pale if you like; but I 'll repeat the word,--a
+swindle! When a man wants to sell a pair of old boots, does he think
+of charging for all the blacking he has put on them for the three years
+before? And yet that is precisely what you dignify with the name of
+compensation. Tell him if he built a house, that he lived in it; if he
+fenced the land, that the neighbors' cattle made fewer trespasses; if
+he drained, the soil was the drier. Your cry of compensation won't do,
+Raper. I might as well ask an insurance office to pay me for taking care
+of my health, and give me a bonus whenever I took castor oil!"
+
+"The cases are not alike, sir. If his improvements be of a permanent
+character--"
+
+"Is this an office, Mister Raper, or is it a debating society?" broke in
+Fagan. "My answer to Moore is, pay, and go--to the devil, if he likes."
+
+"Sir Harry Wheeler," continued Joe, "writes from Cheltenham that he
+thinks there must be a mistake about the bill for three hundred and
+forty odd,--that it was included In the bond he gave in September last."
+
+"File a bill, send for Crowther, and let him proceed against him."
+
+"But I think he 's right, sir; the memorandum is somewhere here. I put
+it amongst the W's; for we have no box for Sir Harry."
+
+"It's a nice way to keep accounts, Mister Raper; I must say it's very
+creditable to you," said Fagan, who, when any inaccuracy occurred,
+always reproached Joe with the system that he rigidly compelled him
+to follow. "Perhaps it's classical, however; maybe it's the way the
+ancients did it! But I 'll tell you what, sir, you 'd cut an ugly figure
+before the courts if you came to be examined; your Latin and Greek
+wouldn't screen you there."
+
+"Here it is,--here's the note," said Joe, who had all the while been
+prosecuting his search. "It's in your own hand, and mentions that this
+sum forms a portion of the debt now satisfied by his bond."
+
+"Cancel the bill, and tell him so. What's that letter yonder?"
+
+"It is marked 'strictly private and confidential,' sir; but comes from
+Walter Carew, Esq."
+
+"Then why not give it to me at once? Why keep pottering about every
+trifle of no moment, sir?" said Fagan, as he broke the seal, and drew
+near to the window to read. It was very brief, and ran thus:--
+
+  Dear Fagan,--Shylock could n't hold a candle to you; such
+  an infernal mess of interest, compound interest, costs, and
+  commission as you have sent me I never beheld! However, for
+  the present I must endure all your exactions, even to the
+  tune of fifty per cent. Let me have cash for the enclosed
+  three bills, for one thousand each, drawn at the old dates,
+  and, of course, to be 'done' at the old discount.
+
+  I have just taken a wife, and am in want of ready money to
+  buy some of the customary tomfooleries of the occasion.
+  Regards to Polly and her fat terrier.
+
+  Yours, in haste,
+
+  Walter Carew.
+
+"Read that," said Fagan, handing the letter to his clerk, while the
+veins in his forehead swelled out with passion, and his utterance grew
+hoarse and thick.
+
+Raper carefully perused the note, and then proceeded to examine the
+bills, when Fagan snatched them rudely from his hand.
+
+"It was his letter I bade you read,--the gross insolence of his manner
+of addressing me. Where's his account, Raper? How does he stand with
+us?"
+
+"That's a long affair to make out," said Joe, untying a thick roll of
+papers.
+
+"I don't want details. Can you never understand that? Tell me in three
+words how he stands."
+
+"Deeply indebted,--very deeply indebted, sir," said Joe, poring over the
+papers.
+
+"Tell Crowther to come over this evening at six o'clock, and write to
+Carew by this post, thus:--
+
+"'Mr. Fagan regrets that in the precarious condition of the money
+market he is obliged to return you the bills, herewith enclosed, without
+acceptance. Mr. F., having some large and pressing claims to meet,
+desires to call your attention to the accompanying memorandum, and
+to ask at what early period it will be your convenience to make an
+arrangement for its settlement.'
+
+"Make out an account and furnish it, Raper; we'll see how he relishes
+Shylock when he comes to read that."
+
+Joseph sat with the pen in his hand, as if deep in thought.
+
+"Do you hear me, Raper?" asked Fagan, in a harsh voice.
+
+"I do," said the other, and proceeded to write.
+
+"There's a judgment entered upon Carew's bond of February, isn't there?"
+
+"There is! Crowther has it in his office."
+
+"That's right. We 'll see and give him a pleasant honeymoon." And with
+these words, uttered with an almost savage malevolence, he passed out
+into the street.
+
+Joe Raper's daily life was a path on which the sunlight seldom fell; but
+this day it seemed even darker than usual, and as he sat and wrote, many
+a heavy sigh broke from him, and more than once did he lay down his pen
+and draw his hand across his eyes. Still he labored on, his head bent
+down over his desk, in that selfsame spot where he had spent his youth,
+and was now dropping down into age unnoticed and unthought of. Of those
+who came and went from that dreary room, who saw and spoke with him, how
+many were there who knew him, who even suspected what lay beneath that
+simple exterior! To some he was but the messenger of dark tidings, the
+agent of those severe measures which Fagan not unfrequently employed
+against his clients. To others he seemed a cold, impassive, almost
+misanthropic being, without a tie to bind him to his fellow-man; while
+not a few even ascribed to his influences all the harshness of
+the "Grinder." It is more than likely that he never knew of, never
+suspected, the different judgments thus passed on him. So humbly did he
+think of himself, so little disposed was he to fancy that he could be
+an object of attention to any, the chances are that he was spared this
+source of mortification. Humility was the basis of his whole character,
+and by its working was every action of his simple life influenced. It
+might be a curious subject of inquiry how far this characteristic was
+fashioned by his habits of reading and of thought. Holding scarcely
+any intercourse with the world of society, companionless as he was,
+his associates were the great writers of ancient or modern times,--the
+mighty spirits whose vast conceptions have created a world of their
+own. Living amongst them, animated by their glorious sentiments, feeling
+their thoughts, breathing their words, how natural that he should have
+fallen back upon himself with a profound sense of his inferiority! How
+meanly must he have thought of his whole career in life, in presence of
+such standards!
+
+Upon this day Joe never once opened a book; the little volumes which
+lay scattered through his drawers were untouched, nor did he, as was
+his wont, turn for an instant to refresh himself in the loved pages of
+Metastasio or of Uhland. Whenever he had more than usual on hand, it was
+his custom not to dine with the family, but to eat something as he sat
+at his desk. Such was his meal now: a little bread and cheese, washed
+down by a glass of water.
+
+"Miss Polly hopes you'll take a glass of wine, Mr. Joe," said a
+maid-servant, as she appeared with a decanter in her hand.
+
+"No! Thanks--thanks to Miss Polly; many thanks--and to you Margaret; not
+to-day. I have a good deal to do." And he resumed his work with that air
+of determination the girl well knew brooked no interruption.
+
+It was full an hour after sunset when he ceased writing; and then,
+laying his head down between his hands, he slept,--the sound, heavy
+sleep that comes of weariness. Twice or thrice had the servant to call
+him before he could awake, and hear that "Miss Polly was waiting tea for
+him."
+
+"Waiting for me!" cried he, in mingled shame and astonishment. "How
+forgetful I am; how very wrong of me! Is Mr. Crowther here, Margaret?"
+
+"He came an hour ago, sir."
+
+"Dear me, how I have forgotten myself!" And he began gathering up
+his papers, the hard task of the day, in all haste. "Say I'm coming,
+Margaret; tell Miss Polly I'm so sorry." And thus with many an excuse,
+and in great confusion, Raper hurried out of the office, and upstairs
+into the drawing-room.
+
+Fagan's house was, perhaps, the oldest in the street, and was remarkable
+for possessing one of those quaint, old-fashioned windows, which,
+projecting over the door beneath,-formed a species of little boudoir,
+with views extending on either side. Here it was Polly's pleasure to
+sit, and here she now presided at her tea-table; while in a
+remote corner of the room her father and Mr. Crowther were deep in
+conversation.
+
+"Have you finished the statement? Where 's the account?" cried Fagan,
+roughly interrupting the excuses that Raper was making for his absence.
+
+"Here it is,--at least, so far as I was able to make it. Many of our
+memoranda, however, only refer to verbal arrangements, and allude to
+business matters transacted personally between you and Mr. Carew."
+
+"Listen to him, Crowther; just hear what he says," said Fagan, angrily.
+"Is not that a satisfactory way to keep accounts?"
+
+"Gently, gently; let us go quietly to work," said Crowther, a large,
+fat, unwieldy man, with a bloated, red face, and an utterance rendered
+difficult from the combined effects of asthma and over-eating. "Raper is
+generally most correct, and your own memory is admirable. If Miss Polly
+will give me a cup of her strongest tea, without any sugar, I 'll answer
+for it I 'll soon see my way."
+
+When Raper had deposited the mass of papers on the table, and presented
+the cup of tea to Crowther, he stole, half timidly, over to where Polly
+sat.
+
+"You must be hungry, Papa Joe,"--it was the name by which she called him
+in infancy,--"for you never appeared at dinner. Pray eat something now."
+
+"I have no appetite, Polly,--that is, I have eaten already. I 'm quite
+refreshed," said he, scarcely thinking of what he said, for his eyes
+were directed to the table where Crowther was seated, and where a kind
+of supercilious smile on the attorney's face seemed evoked by something
+in the papers before him.
+
+"Some cursed folly of his own,--some of that blundering nonsense that
+he fills his brains with!" cried Fagan, as he threw indignantly away
+a closely written sheet of paper, the lines of which unmistakably
+proclaimed verse.
+
+Joe eyed the unhappy document wistfully for a second or two, and then,
+with a stealthy step, he crept over, and threw it into the hearth.
+
+"I found out the passage, Polly," said he, in a whisper, so as not
+to disturb the serious conference of the others; and he drew a few
+well-thumbed leaves from his pocket, and placed them beside her, while
+she bent over them till her glossy ringlets touched the page.
+
+"This is the Medea," said she; "but we have not read that yet."
+
+"No, Polly; you remember that we kept it for the winter nights; we
+agreed Tieck and Chamisso were better for summer evenings--'Quando
+ridono i prati,' as Petrarch says;" and her eyes brightened, and her
+cheek glowed as he spoke. "How beautiful was that walk we took on Sunday
+evening last! That little glen beside the river, so silent, so still,
+who could think it within a mile or two of a great city? What a
+delightful thing it is to think, Polly, that they who labor hard in the
+week--and there are so many of them!--can yet on that one day of rest
+wander forth and taste of the earth's freshness.
+
+  "'L; oro e le perle--i fior vermegli ed i bianchi.'"
+
+"Confound your balderdash!" cried Fagan, passionately; "you've put me
+out in the tot--seventeen and twelve, twenty-nine--two thousand nine
+hundred pounds, with the accruing interest. I don't see that he has
+added the interest."
+
+Mr. Crowther bent patiently over the document for a few minutes, and
+then, taking off his spectacles, and wiping them slowly, said, in
+his blandest voice: "It appears to me that Mr. Raper has omitted
+to calculate the interest. Perhaps he would kindly vouchsafe us his
+attention for a moment."
+
+Raper was, however, at that moment deaf to all such appeals; his spirit
+was as though wandering free beneath the shade of leafy bowers or along
+the sedgy banks of some clear lake.
+
+"You remember Dante's lines, Polly, and how he describes--
+
+  "'La divina foresta--
+    Che agli occhi tempera va il nuovo giorno,
+  Senza piu aspettar lasciai la riva,
+    Preudendo la campagna lento lento.'
+
+How beautiful the repetition of the word 'lento;' how it conveys the
+slow reluctance of his step!"
+
+"There is, to my thinking, even a more graceful instance in Metastasio,"
+said Polly:--
+
+"'L' onda che mormora, Fra sponda e sponda, L' aura che tremola, Fra
+fronda e fronda."
+
+"Raper, Raper,--do you hear me, I say?" cried Fagan, as he knocked
+angrily with his knuckles on the table.
+
+"We are sorry, Miss Fagan," interposed Crowther, "to interrupt such
+intellectual pleasure, but business has its imperative claims."
+
+"I 'm ready--quite ready, sir," said Joe, rising in confusion, and
+hastening across the room to where the others sat.
+
+"Take a seat, sir," said Fagan, peremptorily; "for here are some points
+which require full explanation. And I would beg to remind you that if
+the cultivation of your mind, as I have heard it called, interferes with
+your attention to office duties, it would be as well to seek out some
+more congenial sphere for its development than my humble house. I'm
+too poor a man for such luxurious dalliance, Mr. Raper." These words,
+although spoken in a whisper, were audible to him to whom they were
+addressed, and he heard them in a state of half-stupefied amazement.
+"For the present, I must call your attention to this. What is it?"
+
+Raper was no sooner in the midst of figures and calculations than all
+his instincts of office-life recalled him to himself, and he began
+rapidly but clearly to explain the strange and confused-looking
+documents which were strewn before him, and Crowther could not but feel
+struck by the admirable memory and systematic precision which alone
+could derive information from such disorderly materials. Even Fagan
+himself was so carried away by a momentary impulse of enthusiasm as to
+say, "When a man is capable of such a statement at this, what a disgrace
+that he should fritter away his faculties with rhymes and legends!"
+
+"Mr. Raper is a philosopher, sir; he despises the base pursuits and
+grovelling ambitions of us lower mortals," said Crowther, with a
+well-feigned humility.
+
+"We must beg of him to lay aside his philosophy, then, for this evening,
+for there is much to be done yet," said Fagan, untying a large bundle
+of letters. "This is the correspondence of the last year,--the most
+important of all."
+
+"Large sums! large sums, these!" said Crowther, glancing his eyes over
+the papers. "You appear to have placed a most unlimited confidence in
+this young gentleman,--a very well merited trust, I have no doubt."
+
+Fagan made no reply, but a slight contortion of his mouth and eyebrows
+seemed to offer some dissent to the doctrine.
+
+"I have kept the tea waiting for you, Papa Joe," said Polly, who took
+the opportunity of a slight pause to address him; and Raper, like an
+escaped schoolboy, burst away from his task at a word.
+
+"I have just remembered another instance, Polly," said he, "of what we
+were speaking; it occurs in Schiller,--
+
+    "'Es bricht sich die Wellen mit Macht--mit Macht.'"
+
+"Take your books to your room, Polly," said Fagan, harshly; "for I see
+that as long as they are here, we have little chance of Mr. Raper's
+services."
+
+Polly rose, and pressed Joe's hand affectionately, and then, gathering
+up the volumes before her, she left the room. Raper stood for a second
+or two gazing at the door after her departure, and then, heaving a faint
+sigh, muttered to himself:--
+
+"I have just recalled to mind another,--
+
+  "'Eine Blueth', eine Blueth' mir brich,
+     Vom den Baum im Garten.'
+
+Quite ready, sir," broke he in suddenly, as a sharp summons from Fagan's
+knuckles once more admonished him of his duty; and now, as though the
+link which had bound him to realms of fancy was snapped, he addressed
+himself to his task with all the patient drudgery of daily habit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. TWO FRIENDS AND THEIR CONFIDENCES
+
+By the details of my last two chapters, I have been obliged to recede,
+as it were, from the due course of my story, and speak of events
+which occurred prior to those mentioned in a former chapter; but this
+irregularity was a matter of necessity, since I could not pursue the
+narrative of my father's life without introducing to the reader certain
+characters who, more or less, exerted an influence on his fortunes.
+Let me now, however, turn to my tale, from which it is my intention in
+future to digress as seldom as possible. A few lines, written in haste,
+had summoned MacNaghten to Castle Carew, on the morning of that Friday
+for which my father had invited his friends to dinner. With all
+his waywardness, and all the weaknesses of an impulsive nature, Dan
+MacNaghten stood higher in my father's esteem than any other of his
+friends. It was not alone that he had given my father the most signal
+proofs of his friendship, but that, throughout his whole career, marked
+as it was by folly and rashness, and the most thoughtless extravagance,
+he had never done a single action that reflected on his reputation as a
+man of honor, nor, in all the triumphs of his prosperous days, or in the
+trials of his adverse ones, had be forfeited the regard of any who knew
+him. My father had intrusted to him, during his absence, everything that
+could be done without correspondence; for amongst Dan's characteristics.
+none was more remarkable than his horror of letter-writing; and it was
+a popular saying of the time "that Dan MacNaghten would rather fight two
+duels than write one challenge." Of course, it may be imagined how much
+there was for two such friends to talk over when they met, for if my
+father's letters were few and brief, MacNaghten's were still fewer and
+less explicit, leaving voids on either side that nothing but a meeting
+could supply.
+
+Early, therefore, that Friday morning, Dan's gig and mottled gray, the
+last remnant of an extensive stable establishment, rattled up the avenue
+of Castle Carew, and MacNaghten strolled into the garden to loiter about
+till such time as my father might be stirring. He was not many minutes
+there, however, when my father joined him, and the two friends embraced
+cordially, and arm-in-arm returned to the house.
+
+It was not without astonishment Dan saw that the breakfast-table was
+spread in the same little garden-room which my father always used in his
+bachelor days, and, still more, that only two places were laid.
+
+"You are wondering, where's my wife, Dan. She never breakfasts with me;
+nor indeed, do we see each other till late in the afternoon,--a custom,
+I will own, that I used to rebel against at first, but I 'm getting more
+accustomed to it now. And, after all, Dan, it would be a great sacrifice
+of all her comfort should I insist on a change; so I put up with it as
+best I can."
+
+"Perhaps she 'll see herself, in time, that these are not the habits
+here."
+
+"Perhaps so," said my father; "but usually French people think their
+own ways the rule, and all others the exception. I suppose you were
+surprised at my marriage, Dan."
+
+"Faith, I was, I own to you. I thought you one of those inveterate
+Irishers that could n't think of anything but Celtic blood. You
+remember, when we were boys, how we used to rave on that theme."
+
+"Very true. Like all the grafts, we deemed ourselves purer than the
+ancient stock; but no man ever knows when, where, or whom he'll marry.
+It's all nonsense planning and speculating about it. You might as well
+look out for a soft spot to fall in a steeplechase. You come smash down
+in the very middle of your speculations. I 'm sure, as for me, I never
+dreamed of a wife till I found that I had one."
+
+"I know so well how it all happened," cried Dan, laughing. "You got
+up one of those delightful intimacies--that pleasant, familiar kind of
+half-at-homishness that throws a man always off his guard, and leaves
+him open to every assault of female fascination, just when he fancies
+that he is the delight of the whole circle. Egad, I've had at least
+half-a-dozen such, and must have been married at least as many times, if
+somebody hadn't discovered, in the mean while, that I was ruined."
+
+"So that you never fell in love in your prosperous days, Dan?"
+
+"Who does--who ever did? The minor that wrote sonnets has only to come
+of age, and feel that he can indite a check, to be cured of his love
+fever. Love is a passion most intimately connected with laziness and
+little money. Give a fellow seven or eight thousand a-year, good
+health and good spirits, and I 'll back him to do every other folly in
+Christendom before he thinks of marriage."
+
+"From all of which I am to conclude that you set down this act of
+mine either as a proof of a weak mind or a failing exchequer," said my
+father.
+
+"Not in your case," said he, more slowly, and with a greater air of
+reflection. "You had always a dash of ambition about you; and the
+chances are that you set your affections on one that you half despaired
+of obtaining, or had really no pretentions to look for. I see I 'm
+right, Walter," said he, as my father fidgeted, and looked confused. "I
+could have wagered a thousand on it, if I had as much. You entered for
+the royal plate, and, by Jove! I believe you were right."
+
+"You have not made so bad a guess of it, Dan; but what say the rest?
+What's the town gossip?"
+
+"Do you not know Dublin as well or better than I do? Can't you frame to
+a very letter every syllable that has been uttered on the subject? or
+need I describe to you my Lady Kilfoyle's fan-shaking horror as she
+tells of 'that poor dear Carew, and his unfortunate marriage with Heaven
+knows whom!' Nor Bob French's astonishment that you, of all men, should
+marry out of your sphere,--or, as he calls it, your 'spire.' Nor
+how graphically Mrs. Stapleton Harris narrates the manner of your
+entanglement: how you fought two brothers, and only gave in to the
+superior force of an outraged mamma and the tears of your victim! Nor
+fifty other similar stories, in which you figured alternately as the
+dupe or the deceived,--the only point of agreement being a universal
+reprobation of one who, with all his pretentions to patriotism, should
+have entirely forgotten the claims of Irish manufacture."
+
+"And are they all so severe,--so unjust?"
+
+"Very nearly. The only really warm defender I 've heard of you, was one
+from whom you probably least expected it."
+
+"And who might that be?"
+
+"Can't you guess, Watty?"
+
+"Harry Blake--Redmond--George Macartney?"
+
+"Confound it, you don't think I mean a man!"
+
+"A woman,--who could she be? Not Sally Talbot; not Lady Jane Rivers;
+not--"
+
+"Kitty Dwyer; and I think you might have guessed her before, Watty! It
+is rather late, to be sure, to think of it; but my belief is that you
+ought to have married that girl."
+
+"She refused me, Dan. She refused me," said my father, growing red,
+between shame and a sense of irritation.
+
+"There 's a way of asking that secures a refusal, Watty. Don't tell me
+Kitty was not fond of you. I ought to know, for she told me so herself."
+
+"She told you so," cried my father, slowly.
+
+"Ay, did she. It was in the summer-house, down yonder. You remember the
+day you gave a great picnic to the Carbiniers; they were ordered off to
+India, and you asked them out here to a farewell breakfast. Well, I did
+n't know then how badly matters were with me. I thought at least that I
+could scrape together some thirteen or fourteen hundreds a year; and I
+thought, too, that I had a knowledge of the world that was worth as much
+more, and that Kitty Dwyer was just the girl that suited me. She was
+never out of humor, could ride anything that ever was backed, did
+n't care what she wore, never known to be sick, sulky, nor sorry for
+anything; and after a country dance that lasted two hours, and almost
+killed everybody but ourselves, I took her a walk round the gardens,
+and seated her in the summer-house there. I need n't tell all I said,"
+continued he, with a sigh. "I believe I could n't have pleaded harder
+for my life, if it was at stake; but she stopped me short, and,
+squeezing my hand between both of hers, said: 'No, Dan, this cannot be,
+and you are too generous to ask me why.' But I was not! I pressed her
+all the more; and at last--not without seeing a tear in her eye, too--I
+got at her secret, and heard her say your name. I swore by every saint
+we could either of us remember, never to tell this to man or mortal
+living; and I suppose, in strict fact, I ought n't to do so now; but, of
+course, it 's the same thing as if you were dead, and you, I well know,
+will never breathe it again."
+
+"Never!" said my father, and sat with his head on his hand, unable to
+utter a word more.
+
+"Poor Kitty!" said Dan, with a heavy sigh, while he balanced his spoon
+on the edge of his teacup. "I half suspect she is the only one in the
+world that you ever seriously wronged, and yet she is the very first to
+uphold you."
+
+"But you are unjust, Dan,--most unjust," cried my father, warmly. "There
+was a kind of flirtation between us--I don't deny it,--but nothing more
+than is always going forward in this free-and-easy land of ours, where
+people play with their feelings as they do with their fortunes, and are
+quite astonished to discover, some fine morning, that they have fairly
+run through both one and the other. I liked her, and she perhaps liked
+me, somewhat better than any one else that she met as often. We got
+to become very intimate; to feel that in the disposal of our leisure
+hours--which meant the livelong day--we were excessively necessary to
+each other; in fact, that if our minds were not quite alike, our tastes
+were. Of course, before one gets that far, one's friends, as they call
+themselves, have gone far beyond it. There's no need of wearying you
+with detail. Somebody, I 'm sure I forget who it was, now took occasion
+to tell me that I was behaving ill to Kitty; that unless I really
+intended seriously,--that's the paraphrase for marriage,--my attentions
+were calculated to do her injury. Ay, by Jove! your match-making
+moralists talk of a woman as they would of a horse, and treat a broken
+flirtation as if it were a breach of warranty. I was, I own it, not a
+little annoyed at the unnecessary degree of interest my friends insisted
+on taking in my welfare; but I was not fool enough to go to war with the
+world single-handed, so I seemed to accept the counsel, and went my way.
+That same day, I rode out with Kitty. There was a large party of us, but
+by some chance we found ourselves side by side and in an avenue of the
+wood. Quite full as my mind was of the communication of the morning, I
+could not resist my usual impulse, which was to talk to her of any or
+every thing that was uppermost in my thoughts. I don't mean to say, Dan,
+that I did so delicately, or even becomingly, for I confess to you I had
+grown into that kind of intimacy whose gravest fault is that it has
+no reserve. I 'm quite certain that nothing could be worse in point of
+taste or feeling than what I said. You can judge of it from her reply:
+'And are you such a fool, Walter, as to cut an old friend for such silly
+gossip?' I blundered out something in defence of myself,--floundered
+away into all kinds of stupid, unmeaning apologies, and ended by asking
+her to marry me. Up to that moment we were conversing in all the freedom
+of our old friendship, not the slightest reserve on either side; but no
+sooner had I uttered these words than she turned towards me with a look
+so sad and so reproachful, I did not believe that her features could
+have conveyed the expression, while, in a voice of deepest emotion, she
+said: 'Oh, Walter, this from you!' I was brute enough--there 's only one
+word for it--to misunderstand her; and, full of myself and the splendid
+offer I had made her, and my confounded _amour propre_, I muttered
+something about the opinion of the world, the voice of friends, and so
+on. 'Tell your friends, then,' said she, and with such an emphasis on
+the word,--'tell your friends that I refused you!' and giving her mare a
+tremendous cut of the whip, she dashed off at speed, and was up with the
+others before I had even presence of mind to follow her."
+
+"You behaved devilish badly,--infamously. If I 'd been her brother, I'd
+have shot you like a dog!" cried Dan, rising, and walking the room.
+
+"I see it," said my father, covering his face with his handkerchief.
+
+"I am sorry I said that, Watty,--I don't mean that," said Dan, laying
+his hand on my father's shoulder. "It all comes of that infernal system
+of interference! If they had left you alone, and to the guidance of your
+own feelings, you 'd never have gone wrong. But the world will poke
+in its d----d finger everywhere. It's rather hard, when good-breeding
+protests against the bystander meddling with your game at chess, that he
+should have the privilege of obtruding on the most eventful incident of
+your existence."
+
+"Let us never speak of this again, Dan," said my father, looking up with
+eyes that were far from clear.
+
+MacNaghten squeezed his band, and said nothing.
+
+"What have you been doing with Tony Fagan, Dan?" said my father,
+suddenly. "Have you drawn too freely on the Grinder, and exhausted the
+liberal resources of his free-giving nature?"
+
+"Nothing of the kind; he has closed his books against me this many a
+day. But why do you ask this?"
+
+"Look here." And he opened a drawer and showed a whole mass of papers,
+as he spoke. "Fagan, whom I regarded as an undrainable well of
+the precious metals, threatens to run dry; he sends me back bills
+unaccepted, and actually menaces me with a reckoning."
+
+"What a rascal, not to be satisfied with forty or fifty per cent!"
+
+"He might have charged sixty, Dan, if he would only 'order the bill to
+lie on the table.' But see, he talks of a settlement, and even hints at
+a lawyer."
+
+"You ought to have married Polly."
+
+"Pray, is there any one else that I should have married, Dan?" cried my
+father, half angrily; "for it seems to me that you have quite a passion
+for finding out alliances for me."
+
+"Polly, they say, will have three hundred thousand pounds," said Dan,
+slowly, "and is a fine girl to boot. I assure you, Watty, I saw her the
+other day, seated in the library here; and with all the splendor of
+your stained-glass windows, your gold-fretted ceiling, and your gorgeous
+tapestries, she looked just in her place. Hang me, if there was a
+particle of the picture in better style or taste than herself."
+
+"How came she here?" cried my father, in amazement. And MacNaghten now
+related all the circumstances of Fagan's visit, the breakfast, and the
+drive.
+
+"And you actually sat with three hundred thousand pounds at your side,"
+said my father, "and did not decamp with it?"
+
+"I never said she had the money in her pocket, Watty. Egad! that would
+have been a very tempting situation."
+
+"How time must have changed you, Dan, when you could discuss the
+question thus calmly! I remember the day when you 'd have won the race,
+without even wasting a thought on the solvency of the stakeholder."
+
+"Faith, I believe it were the wisest way, after all, Watty," said he,
+carelessly; "but the fact is, in the times you speak of, my conscience,
+like a generous banker, never refused my drafts; now, however, she has
+taken a circumspect turn, and I 'm never quite certain that I have not
+overdrawn my account with her. In plain words, I could not bring myself
+to do with premeditation what once I might have done from recklessness."
+
+"And so the scruple saved Polly?" cried my father.
+
+"Just so; not that I had much time to reflect on it, for the blacks were
+pulling fearfully, and Dan had smashed his splinter-bar with a kick.
+Still, in coming up by the new shrubbery there, I did say to myself:
+'Which road shall I take?' The ponies were going to decide the matter
+for me; but I turned them short round with a jerk, and laid the whip
+over their flanks with a cut,--the dearest, assuredly, I ever gave to
+horseflesh, for it cost me, in all likelihood, three hundred thousand."
+
+"Who 'd have ever thought Dan MacNaghten's conscience would have been so
+expensive!"
+
+"By Jove, Watty, it's the only thing of value remaining to me. Perhaps
+my creditors left it on the same polite principle that they allow a
+respectable bankrupt to keep his snuff-box or his wife's miniature,--a
+cheap complaisance that reads well in the newspapers."
+
+"The Grinder, of course, thought that he had seen the last of you," said
+my father, laughing.
+
+"He as much as said so to me when I came back. He even went further,"
+said Dan, reddening with anger as he spoke: "he proposed to me to go
+abroad and travel, and that he would pay the cost. But he 'll scarcely
+repeat the insolence."
+
+"Why, what has come over you all here? I scarcely know you for what I
+left you some short time back. Dan Mac-Naghten taking to scruples, and
+Tony Fagan to generosity, seem, indeed, too much for common credulity!
+And now as to politics, Dan! What are our friends doing? for I own to
+you I have not opened one of Bagwell's letters since I left Paris."
+
+"You 're just as wise as if you had. Tom has got into all that
+Rotundo cant about the 'Convention,' and the 'Town Council,' and the
+'Sub-Committee of Nine,' so that you'd not make anything out of the
+correspondence. I believe the truth is, that the Bishop is mad, and they
+who follow him are fools. The Government at first thought of buying them
+over; but they now perceive it's a cheaper and safer expedient to
+leave them to themselves and their own-indiscretions. But I detest the
+subject; and as we 'll have nothing else talked of to-day at dinner,
+I'll cry truce till then. Let us have a look at the stable, Watty. I
+want to talk to you about the 'nags.'" And so saying, MacNaghten arose
+from table, and, taking my father's arm, led him away into the garden.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. SHOWING HOW CHANCE IS BETTER THAN DESIGN
+
+It was not the custom of the day for the lady of the house to present
+herself at dinner when the party consisted solely of men, so that
+my mother's absence from table appeared nothing remarkable. To her,
+however, it did seem somewhat singular that, although she descended
+to the drawing-room in all the charming elegance of a most becoming
+costume, not one of the guests presented himself to pay his respects,
+or, as she would have said, his dutiful homage. It is possible that my
+father had forgotten to apprise her that the company of a dinner-party
+were not usually in that temperate and discreet frame of mind which
+would make their appearance in a drawing-room desirable. In his various
+lessons, it is more than likely that this escaped him; and I believe
+I am not far wrong in wishing that many other of his instructions had
+shared the same fate. The fact was, that in preparing my mother for the
+duties and requirements of a novel state of society, he had given her
+such false and exaggerated notions of the country and the people, she
+had imbibed a hundred absurd prejudices about them which, had she been
+left to her own unguided good sense and tact, she would have totally
+escaped; and while, as he thought, he was storing her mind with a
+thorough knowledge of Ireland, he was simply presenting her with
+a terrifying picture of such inconsistency, incongruity, and
+wrongheadedness that no cleverness on her part could ever succeed in
+combating.
+
+It is perfectly true that the courtly deference and polished reserve of
+old French manners, its thousand observances, and its unfailing devotion
+to ladies, were not the striking features of Irish country-house life;
+but there was a great deal in common between them, and perhaps no
+country of Europe in that day could so easily, and with such little
+sacrifice, have conformed to the French standard of good-breeding as
+Ireland; and I have little doubt that if left to herself, my mother
+would have soon discovered the points of contact, without even troubling
+her head or puzzling her ingenuity over their discrepancies. However
+that may be, there she sat, in all the attractive beauty of full dress,
+alone and in silence, save when the door of the distant dinner-room
+opening bore to her ears the wild and vociferous merriment of a party
+excited by wine and conviviality.
+
+I know not, I can but fancy, what thoughts of her own dear land were
+hers at that moment, what memory of delicious evenings spent amidst
+alleys of orange and lime trees, the rippling fountain mingling its
+sounds with the more entrancing music of flattery; what visions rose
+before her of scenes endeared from infancy, of objects that recalled
+that soft, luxurious dalliance which makes of life a dream. I can but
+imagine that of this kind were her reveries, as she sat in solitude, or
+slowly paced up and down the immense room which, but partially lighted
+up, looked even larger than it was. To cut off every clew to her family,
+my father had sent back from England the maid who accompanied her,
+and taken in her place one who knew nothing of my mother's birth or
+connections, so that she had not even the solace of so much confidential
+intercourse, and was utterly, completely alone. While in Wales she had
+been my father's companion for the entire day, accompanying him when
+he walked or rode, and beside him on the river's bank as he fished;
+scarcely had they arrived in Ireland, however, when the whole course of
+life was changed. The various duties of his station took up much of his
+time, he was frequently occupied all the day, and they met but rarely;
+hence had she adopted those old habits of her native country,--that
+self-indulgent system which surrounds itself with few cares, fewer
+duties, and, alas! no resources.
+
+So fearful was my father that she might take a dislike to the country
+from the first impressions produced upon her by new acquaintances that
+he actually avoided every one of his neighbors, hesitating where or with
+whom to seek companionship for his wife: some were too old, some too
+vulgar, some were linked with an objectionable "set," some were of the
+opposite side in politics. His fastidiousness increased with every day;
+and while he was assuring her that there was a delightful circle into
+which she would be received, he was gradually offending every one of his
+old neighbors and associates. Of the great heap of cards which covered
+her table, she had not yet seen one of the owners, and already a hundred
+versions were circulated to account for the seclusion in which she
+lived.
+
+I have been obliged to burden my reader with these explanations, for
+whose especial enlightenment they are intended, for I desire that he
+should have as clear an idea of the circumstances which attended my
+mother's position as I am able to convey, and without which he would
+be probably unjust in his estimate of her character. In all likelihood
+there is not any one less adapted to solitude than a young, very
+handsome, and much-flattered Frenchwoman. Neither her education nor her
+tastes fit her for it; and the very qualities which secure her success
+in society are precisely those which most contribute to melancholy when
+alone; wit and brilliancy when isolated from the world being like the
+gold and silver money which the shipwrecked sailor would willingly have
+bartered for the commonest and vilest articles of simple utility.
+
+Let the reader, then, bearing all this in his mind, picture to himself
+my mother, who, as the night wore on, became more and more impatient,
+starting at every noise, and watching the door, which she momentarily
+expected to see open.
+
+During all this time, the company of the dinner-room were in the fullest
+enjoyment of their conviviality,--and let me add, too, of that species
+of conviviality for which the Ireland of that day was celebrated. It
+is unhappily too true: those habits of dissipation prevailed to such
+an extent that a dinner-party meant an orgie; but it is only fair to
+remember that it was not a mere festival of debauch, but that native
+cleverness and wit, the able conversationalist, the brilliant talker,
+and the lively narrator had no small share in the intoxication of
+the hour. There was a kind of barbaric grandeur in the Irish country
+gentleman of the time--with his splendid retinue, his observance of the
+point of honor, his contempt of law, and his generous hospitality--that
+made him a very picturesque, if not a very profitable, feature of his
+native country. The exact period to which I refer was remarkable in this
+respect: the divisions of politics had risen to all the dignity of a
+great national question, and the rights of Ireland were then on trial.
+
+It is not my object, perhaps as little would it be the reader's wish, to
+enter on any description of the table-talk, where debates in the House,
+duels, curious assize cases, hard runs with fox-hounds, adventures
+with bailiffs, and affairs of gallantry all followed pell-mell, in
+wild succession. None were above telling of their own defeats and
+discomfitures. There was little of that overweening self-esteem which in
+our time stifles many a good story, for fear of the racy ridicule that
+is sure to follow it. Good fellowship and good temper were supreme, and
+none felt that to be offence which was uttered in all the frank gayety
+of the bottle. Even then the western Irishman had his distinctive
+traits; and while the taste for courtly breeding and polished manners
+was gradually extending, he took a kind of pride in maintaining his
+primitive habits of dress and demeanor, and laughed at the newfangled
+notions as a fashionable folly that would last its hour and disappear
+again. Of this school was a certain Mr., or rather, as he was always
+called, "Old Bob Ffrench," the familiar epithet of Bitter Bob being his
+cognomen among friends and intimates. I am unwilling to let my readers
+suppose, even for a moment, that he really deserved the disparaging
+prefix. He was, indeed, the very emblem of an easy-tempered,
+generous-hearted old man, the utmost extent of whose bitterness was the
+coarseness of a manner that, however common in his own country, formed
+a strong contrast to the tone of the capital. Although a man of a
+large fortune and ancient family, in his dress and appearance he looked
+nothing above the class of a comfortable farmer. His large loose brown
+coat was decorated with immense silver buttons, and his small clothes,
+disdaining all aid from braces, displayed a liberal margin of linen over
+his hips; but his stockings were most remarkable of all, being of lamb's
+wool and of two colors, a light-brown and blue,--an invention of his own
+to make them easy of detection if stolen, but which assuredly secured
+their safety on better grounds. He was a member of Parliament for a
+western borough; and despite many peculiarities of diction, and an
+occasional lapse of grammar, was always listened to with attention in
+the House, and respected for the undeviating honor and manly frankness
+of his character. Bob had been, as usual, an able contributor to the
+pleasures of the evening; he had sung, told stories, joked, and quizzed
+every one around him, and even, in a burst of confidence, communicated
+the heads of a speech he was about to make in the House on the question
+of reform, when he suddenly discovered that his snuffbox was empty.
+Now, amongst his many peculiarities, one was the belief that no man in
+Ireland knew how to apportion the various kinds of tobacco like himself,
+and Bob's mixture was a celebrated snuff of the time.
+
+To replenish his box he always carried a little canister in his
+great-coat pocket, but never would intrust the care of this important
+casket to a servant; so that when he saw that he was "empty," he quietly
+stole from the room and went in search of his great-coat. It was not
+without some difficulty that he found his way through the maze of rooms
+and corridors to the antechamber where he had deposited his hat and
+coat. Having found it at last, however, he set out to retrace his steps;
+but whether it was that the fresh air of the cool galleries, or the
+walking, or that the wine was only then producing its effects, certain
+is it Mr. Ffrench's faculties became wonderfully confused. He thought
+he remembered a certain door; but, to his misery, there were at least
+half-a-dozen exactly like it; he knew that he turned off into a passage,
+but passages and corridors opened on all sides of him. How heartily did
+he curse the architect that could not build a house like all the world,
+with a big hall, having the drawing-room to the left and the dinner-room
+to the right,--an easy geography that any one could recollect after
+dinner as well as before. With many a malediction on all newfangled
+notions, he plodded on, occasionally coming to the end of an impassable
+gallery, or now straying into rooms in total darkness. "A blessed way
+to be spending the evening," muttered he to himself; "and maybe these
+rascals are quizzing me all this time." Though he frequently stopped to
+listen, he never could catch the sounds of a conviviality that he well
+knew was little measured, and hence he opined that he must have wandered
+far away from the right track. In the semi-desperation of the moment, he
+would gladly have made his escape by a window, and trusted to his chance
+of discovering the hall door; but unfortunately the artifices of
+a modern window-bolt so completely defied his skill that even this
+resource was denied him. "'I'll take one 'cast' more," muttered he, "and
+if that fails, I 'll lie down on the first snug place I can find till
+morning." It became soon evident to him that he had, at least, entered
+new precincts; for he now found himself in a large corridor, splendidly
+lighted, and with a rich carpeting on the floor. There were several
+doors on either side, but although he tried them each in turn, they were
+all locked. At last he came to a door at the extreme end of the
+gallery, which opened to his hand, and admitted him into a spacious
+and magnificently furnished apartment, partially lit up, and by this
+deceptive light admitting glimpses of the most rare and costly objects
+of china, glass, and marble. It needed not the poetizing effects of
+claret to make Bob fancy that this was a fairy palace; but perhaps the
+last bottle contributed to this effect, for he certainly stood amazed
+and confounded at a degree of magnificence and splendor with which he
+had never seen anything to compare. Vainly endeavoring to peer through
+the dubious half light, and see into the remote distance of the chamber,
+Ffrench reached the middle of the room, when he heard, or thought he
+heard, the rustling sounds of silk. It was in the days of hoops and
+ample petticoats. He turned abruptly, and there stood directly in front
+of what, in his own description, he characterized as "the elegantest
+crayture ye ever set eyes upon." Young, beautiful, and most becomingly
+dressed, it is no wonder if my mother did produce a most entrancing
+effect on his astounded senses. Never for a moment suspecting that his
+presence was the result of an accident, my mother courtesied very low,
+and, with a voice and a smile of ineffable sweetness, addressed him.
+Alas! poor Bob's mystifications were not to end here, for she spoke in
+French, and however distinguished the City of the Tribes might be in
+many respects, that language was but little cultivated there. He could,
+therefore, only bow, and lay his hand on his heart, and look as much
+devotion, respect, and admiration as it was in his power to express at
+that late hour of the evening.
+
+"Perhaps you'll accept of a cup of tea?" said she at length, leading the
+way towards the table; and as Ffrench said, afterwards, that he never
+declined drink, no matter what the liquor, he readily consented, and
+took his place beside her on the sofa. Full of all my father's lessons
+and precepts about the civilities she was to bestow on the Irish
+gentlemen and their wives, the importance of creating the most favorable
+impression on them, and ingratiating herself into their esteem, my
+mother addressed herself to the task in right earnest. Her first care
+was to become intelligible, and she accordingly spoke in the slowest
+and most measured manner, so as to give the foreigner every possible
+facility to follow her. Her second was to impose as little necessity on
+her companion for reply as it was possible. She accordingly talked on
+of Ireland, of the capital, the country, the scenery about them, the
+peasantry,--everything, in short, that she could think of, and always in
+a tone of praise and admiration. The single monosyllable "oui" was the
+whole stock of old Bob's French, but, as he often remarked, "we hear
+of a man walking from Ballinasloe to Dublin with only tu'pence in his
+pocket; and I don't see why he should not be able to economize his parts
+of speech like his pence, and travel through the French dictionary with
+only one word of it!" Bob's "oui" was uttered, it is true, with every
+possible variety of tone and expression. It was assent, conviction,
+surprise, astonishment, doubt, and satisfaction, just as he uttered
+it. So long debarred from all intercourse with strangers, it is not
+improbable that my mother was perfectly satisfied with one who gave her
+the lion's share of the conversation. She certainly seemed to ask for
+no higher efforts at agreeability than the attention he bestowed, and
+he often confessed that he could have sat for a twelvemonth listening to
+her, and fancying to himself all the sweet things that he hoped she was
+saying to him. Doubtless not ignorant of her success, she was determined
+to achieve a complete victory, for after upwards of an hour speaking in
+this manner, she asked him if he liked music. Should she sing for him?
+The "oui" was of course ready, and without further preface she arose
+and walked over to the pianoforte. The fascination which was but begun
+before was now completed, for, however weak his appreciation of her
+conversational ability, he could, like nearly all his countrymen, feel
+the most intense delight in music. It was fortunate, too, that the
+tastes of that day did not rise beyond those light "chansonettes," those
+simple melodies which are so easy to execute that they are within the
+appreciation of the least-educated ears.
+
+Had the incident occurred in our own day, the chances are that some
+passionate scene from Verdi, or some energetic outburst of despised love
+or betrayed affection from Donizetti or Meyerbeer, had been the choice,
+and poor Bob had gone away with a lamentable opinion of musical science,
+and regret for the days when "singing was preferred to screeching."
+Happily the ballad was more in vogue then than the bravura, and instead
+of holding his ears with his hands, Bob felt them tremble with ecstasy
+as he listened. Enjoying thoroughly a praise so heartily accorded, my
+mother sung on, song after song: now some bold "romance" of chivalry,
+now some graceful little air of pastoral simplicity. No matter what the
+theme, the charm of the singer was over him, and he listened in perfect
+rapture! There is no saying to what pitch of enthusiasm he might have
+soared, had he felt the fascination of the words as he appreciated the
+flood of melody. As it was, so completely was he carried away by his
+emotions that in a rapture of admiration and delight he threw himself on
+his knees, and, seizing her hand, covered it with kisses.
+
+"You're an angel; you're the loveliest, sweetest, and most enchanting
+crayture--" He had got thus far in his rhapsody when my father entered
+the room, and, throwing himself into a chair, laughed till the tears ran
+down his cheeks.
+
+"Bob! Bob!" cried he, "is this quite fair, I say?" And the old man, at
+once alive to the bantering and ridicule to which his adventure would
+expose him, got slowly up and resumed his seat, with a most ludicrous
+expression of shame on his features.
+
+"There is no necessity of introducing one of my oldest friends to
+you, Josephine," said my father. "He has already done so without my
+intervention, and, I must say, he seems to have lost no time in pushing
+the acquaintance."
+
+"He is quite charming," said my mother. "We had an old Marquis de
+Villebois so like him, and he was the delight of our neighborhood in
+Provence."
+
+"I see what it is now," muttered Ffrench, "you are cutting me up,
+between you; but I deserve it well. I was an old fool,--I am ashamed of
+myself."
+
+"Are you going away?" cried my mother.
+
+"What is she saying?" asked he.
+
+"She asks if you have really the heart to leave her," rejoined my
+father, laughing.
+
+"Begad, you may laugh now, Watty," replied he, in a half-angry tone;
+"but I tell you what it is, you'd neither be so ready with your fun,
+nor so willing to play interpreter, if old Bob was the same man he
+was five-and-thirty years ago!--No, ma'am, he would not," added he,
+addressing my mother. "But maybe, after all, it's a greater triumph for
+you to turn an old head than a young one."
+
+He hurried away after this; and although my father followed him, and
+did all in his power to make him join his companions at table, it was
+in vain; he insisted on going to his room, probably too full of the
+pleasant vision he had witnessed to destroy the illusion by the noisy
+merriment of a drinking-party.
+
+Trivial as the event was in itself, it was not without its
+consequences. Bob Ffrench had spread the fame of my mother's beauty
+and accomplishments over Dublin before the following week closed, and
+nothing else was talked of in the society of the capital. My father,
+seeing that all further reserve on his part was out of the question,
+and being satisfied besides that my mother had acquitted herself most
+successfully in a case of more than ordinary difficulty, resolved on
+leaving the rest to fortune.
+
+From all that I have ever heard of the society of the time, and from
+what has reached me by description of my mother's manner and deportment,
+I am fully convinced that she was exactly the person to attain an
+immense popularity with all classes. The natural freshness and gayety
+of her character, aided by beauty and the graceful duties of a
+hostess,--which she seemed to fill as by an instinct,--made her the
+object of universal admiration,--a homage which, I believe, it was not
+difficult to see was even more pleasing to my father than to herself.
+
+Castle Carew was from this time crowded with visitors, who, strangely
+enough, represented the most opposite sections of politics and party.
+My father's absence during some of the most exciting sessions of
+parliamentary life had invested him with a species of neutrality that
+made his house an open territory for men of all shades of opinion;
+and he was but too glad to avail himself of the privilege to form
+acquaintance with the most distinguished leaders of opposite sections
+of the House; and here were now met the Castle officials, the chiefs of
+Opposition, the violent antagonists of debate, not sorry, perhaps,
+for even this momentary truce in the strife and conflict of a great
+political campaign.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. A STATE TRUMPETER
+
+The 27th of May, 1782, was the day on which Parliament was to assemble
+in Dublin, and under circumstances of more than ordinary interest. The
+great question of the independence of the Irish Legislature was then
+to be discussed and determined; and never was the national mind so
+profoundly excited as when that time drew near. They who have only
+known Ireland in a later period, when her political convulsions have
+degenerated into low sectarian disputes,--irregular irruptions,
+headed by men of inferior ability, and stimulated solely by personal
+considerations,--can scarcely form any idea of Dublin in the days of the
+Volunteers. It was not alone that the Court of the Viceroy was unusually
+splendid, or that the presence of the Parliament crowded the capital
+with all the country could boast of wealth, station, and influence,
+but that the pomp and parade of a powerful army added brilliancy and
+grandeur to a spectacle which, for the magnitude of the interests at
+stake, and the genius and capacity of those that controlled them, had
+not its superior in Europe.
+
+The position of England at the moment was pregnant with anxiety; at war
+with two powerful nations, she had more than ever reason to conciliate
+the feelings and consult the wishes of Ireland. The modern theory of
+English necessity being Irish opportunity had not the same prevalence
+then as in our own day, but still it had some followers, not one of
+whom more profoundly believed the adage, or was more prepared to stake
+fortune on the issue, than our acquaintance, Anthony Fagan.
+
+If the Grinder was not possessed of very sage and statesmanlike opinions
+on politics generally, he was, on Irish questions, fully as far advanced
+as the patriots of our own time; his creed of "Ireland for the Irish"
+comprising every article of his political belief, with this advantage
+over modern patriotism that he was immensely rich, and quite ready to
+employ his wealth in the furtherance of his conviction. He was no
+needy adventurer, seeking, as the price of a parliamentary display, the
+position to which mere professional attainments would never have raised
+him, but a hard-working, slow-thinking, determined man, stimulated by
+the ambition that is associated with great riches, and stung by the
+degradation of low birth and proscribed religion.
+
+Such men are dangerous in proportion as they are single-minded. Fagan,
+with all his sincerity of purpose, failed in this respect, for he
+was passionate and resentful to an extent which made him often forget
+everything else but his desire of a personal reparation. This was his
+great fault, and, strange enough, too, he knew it. The working of that
+failing, and his iron efforts to control it, made up the whole character
+of the man.
+
+The gross corruption which characterized a late period of Irish history
+was then comparatively unknown. It is very possible that had it been
+attempted, its success had been very inferior to that it was destined to
+obtain subsequently, for the whole tone of public feeling was higher
+and purer. Public men were both more independent in property, as well as
+principle, and no distinction of talent or capacity could have dispensed
+with the greater gifts of honesty and good faith. If there were not
+venality and low ambition, however, to work upon, there were other
+national traits no less open to the seductive arts of a crafty
+administration. There was a warm-hearted and generous confidence, and
+a gratitude that actually accepted a pledge, and acknowledged it for
+performance. These were weaknesses not likely to escape the shrewd
+perception of party, and to the utmost were they profited by. The great
+game of the government was to sow, if not dissension, at least distrust,
+in the ranks of the national party,--to chill the ardor of patriotism,
+and, wherever possible, to excite different views, and different roads
+to success, amongst the popular leaders of the time. There came a day
+when corruption only asked to see a man's rent-roll and the list of his
+mortgages, when his price could be estimated as easily as an actuary
+can calculate an annuity when given the age and the circumstances of
+the individual. Then, however, the investigation demanded nicer and
+more delicate treatment, for the question was the more subtle one of the
+mixed and often discordant motives of the human heart.
+
+The Duke of Portland was well calculated to carry out a policy of this
+kind; but I am far from suspecting that he was himself fully aware of
+the drama in which he acted. He was a plain, straightforward man, of
+average good sense, but more than average firmness and determination.
+He came over to Ireland thoroughly impressed with the favorite English
+maxim that whatever Irishmen wish is assuredly bad for them, and
+thought, like the old physicians of the sixteenth century, that a
+patient's benefit was in the exact proportion to his repugnance for the
+remedy. I am not quite sure that this pleasant theory is not even yet
+the favorite one as regards Ireland, which, perhaps, after all, might be
+permitted the privilege so generally accorded to the incurable, to
+take a little medicine of her own prescribing. Be this as it may, I
+am convinced that the Duke of Portland was no hypocrite, but firmly
+believed in the efficacy of the system he advocated, and only made use
+of the blandishments and hospitalities of his station to facilitate
+connections which he trusted would at last be concurred in on the
+unerring grounds of reason and judgment. Whatever people may say or
+think to the contrary, hypocrisy--that is, a really well-sustained and
+long-maintained hypocrisy--is one of the rarest things to be met with,
+and might even be suspected never to exist at all, since the qualities
+and gifts necessary, or indeed indispensable, to its attainment are
+exactly of an order which bespeaks some of the first and greatest
+traits of human nature, and for that reason would make the game of
+dissimulation impossible; and I would be as slow to believe that a
+man could search the heart, study the passions, weigh the motives, and
+balance the impulses of his fellow-men, for mere purposes of trick or
+deception, as that a doctor would devote years of toil and labor in his
+art for the sole aim of poisoning and destroying his patients.
+
+Few men out of the lists of party took so great an interest in the great
+struggle as Tony Fagan. With the success of the patriotic side his own
+ambitions were intimately involved. It was not the section of great
+wealth, and there was no saying to what eminence a man of his affluence
+might attain amongst them. He not only kept a registry of all the
+members, with their peculiar leanings and party connections annexed to
+it, but he carefully noted down any circumstance likely to influence
+the vote or sway the motives of the principal leaders of the people. His
+sources of information were considerable, and penetrated every class of
+society, from the high world of Dublin down to the lowest resorts of
+the rabble. The needy gentleman, hard pressed for resources, found
+his dealings with the Grinder wonderfully facilitated by any little
+communication of backstairs doings at the Castle, or the secrets of the
+chief secretary's office; while the humble ballad-singer of the streets,
+or the ragged newsman, were equally certain of a "tester," could they
+only supply some passing incident that bore upon the relations of party.
+
+If not one of the most brilliant, certainly one of the most assiduous of
+Fagan's emissaries was a certain Samuel Cotterell,--a man who held the
+high and responsible dignity of state trumpeter in the Irish Court. He
+was a large, fine-looking, though somewhat over-corpulent, personage,
+with a most imposing dignity of air, and a calm self-possession of
+manner that well became his functions. Perhaps this was natural to him;
+but some of it may well be attributed to his sense of the dignity of
+one who only appeared in public on the very greatest occasions, and was
+himself the herald of a splendid ceremonial.
+
+From long association with the Viceregal Court, he had grown to
+believe himself a part, and by no means an insignificant part, of the
+Government, and spoke of himself as of one mysteriously but intimately
+mixed up in all the acts of the State. The pretentious absurdity, the
+overweening vanity of the man, which afforded so much amusement to
+others, gave no pleasure to Fagan,--they rather vexed and irritated him;
+but these were feelings that he cautiously concealed, for he well knew
+the touchy and irritable nature of the man, and that whatever little
+information could be derived from him was only come-at-able by indulging
+his vein of self-esteem.
+
+It had been for years his custom to pay a visit to Fagan on the eve
+of any great solemnity, and he was snugly installed in the little
+bow-window on the evening of the 26th May, with a goodly array of
+glasses and a very formidable square decanter of whiskey on a table in
+front of him. Fagan, who never could trust to the indiscreet propensity
+of Polly to "quizz" his distinguished friend, had sent her to spend
+the day in the country with some acquaintances; Raper was deep in a
+difficult passage of Richter, in his own chamber; so that the Grinder
+was free to communicate with the great official unmolested and
+undisturbed.
+
+Most men carry into private life some little trait or habit of their
+professional career. The lawyer is apt to be pert, interrogative,
+and dictatorial; the doctor generally distils the tiresomeness of the
+patient in his own conversation; the soldier is proverbially pipeclay;
+and so perhaps we may forgive our friend Cotterell if his voice, in
+speaking, seemed to emulate the proud notes of his favorite instrument,
+while his utterance came in short, broken, abrupt bursts,--faint,
+but faithful, imitations of his brazen performances in public. He was
+naturally not given to talking, so that it is more than probable the
+habit of _staccato_ was in itself a great relief to him.
+
+I will not pretend to say that Fagan's patience was not sorely tried as
+well by the matter as the manner of his friend. His pursuit of politics
+was, indeed, under the greatest of difficulties; but he labored on, and,
+like some patient gold-seeker, was satisfied to wash the sand for hours,
+rewarded with even a few grains of the precious metal at the end of his
+toil.
+
+"Help yourself, Sam. That's the poteen,--this, here, is Kinahan," said
+the Grinder, who well knew that until the finish of the third tumbler,
+Mr. Cotterell's oracle gave no sound. "Help yourself, and remember you
+'ll have a fatiguing day to-morrow!"
+
+"A great day,--say rather a great day for Ireland," tolled out the
+trumpeter.
+
+"That's to be seen," replied Fagan, caustically. "I have witnessed a
+good many of those great days for Ireland, but I 'd be sorely puzzled to
+say what has come of them."
+
+"There are three great days for Ireland every year. There's the opening,
+one; the King's, two; St. Patrick's, three--"
+
+"I know all that," muttered Tony, discontentedly.
+
+"St. Patrick's, three; and a collar day!" repeated Sam, solemnly.
+
+"Collars, and curs to wear them," growled out Tony, under his breath.
+
+"Ay, a collar day!" and he raised his eyes with a half devotional
+expression at these imposing words.
+
+"The Duke will open Parliament in person?" asked Fagan, as a kind of
+suggestive hint, which chanced to turn the talk.
+
+"So we mean, sir,--we have always done so. Procession to form in the
+Upper Castle Yard at twelve; battle-axes in full dress; Ulster in his
+tabard!"
+
+"Yes, yes; I have seen it over and over again," sighed Fagan, wearily.
+
+"Sounds of trumpet in the court--flourish!"
+
+"Flourish, indeed!" sighed Tony; "it's the only thing does flourish in
+poor Ireland. Tell me, Sam, has the Court been brilliant lately?"
+
+"We gave two dinners last week--plain dress--bags and swords!"
+
+"And who were the company?"
+
+"Loftus, Lodge, and Morris, Skeffington, Langrishe, and others--Boyle
+Roche, the Usher-in-waiting. On Friday, we had Rowley, Charlemont--"
+
+"Lord Charlemont,--did he dine with the Viceroy on Friday last?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and it was the first time we have asked him since the Mutiny
+Bill!"
+
+"This is indeed strange, Sam; I scarcely thought he was on such terms
+with the Court!"
+
+"We forgive and forget, sir,--we forgive and forget," said Sam, waving
+his hand with dignity.
+
+"There was young Carew also."
+
+"Walter Carew, the member for Wicklow?"
+
+"The same--took in Lady Charlotte Carteret--sat next to her Grace, and
+spoken to frequently--French wife--much noticed!"
+
+"Is he one of the new converts, then?" asked Fagan, slowly; "is he about
+to change the color of his coat?"
+
+"A deep claret, with diamond buttons, jabot, and ruffles, Mechlin
+lace--"
+
+"And the Duke, you say, spoke much with him?"
+
+"Repeatedly."
+
+"They talked of politics?"
+
+"We talked of everything."
+
+"And in terms of agreement too?"
+
+"Not about artichokes. Carew likes them in oil,--we always prefer
+butter."
+
+"That is a most important difference of opinion," said Tony, with a
+sneer.
+
+"We thought nothing of it," said the other, with an air of dignity; "for
+shortly after, we accepted an invitation to go down to Castle Carew for
+a week."
+
+"To spend a week at Castle Carew?"
+
+"A half state visit."
+
+"With all the tagrag and bobtail of a Court,--the lazy drones of
+pageantry, the men of painted coats and patched characters, the women
+painted too, but beyond the art of patching for a reputation."
+
+"No, in half state," replied Cotterell, calmly, and not either heeding
+or attending to this passionate outburst,--"two aides-de-camp; Mr.
+Barrold, private secretary; Sir George Gore; and about thirty servants."
+
+"Thirty thieves in state livery,--thirty bandits in silk stockings and
+powder!"
+
+"We have made mutual concessions, and shall, I doubt not, be good
+friends," continued Sam, only thinking of what he said himself. "Carew
+is to give our state policy a fair trial, and we are to taste the
+artichokes with oil. His Grace proposed the contract, and then proposed
+the visit."
+
+A deep groan of angry indignation was all that Tony could utter in
+reply. "And this same visit," said he, at last, "when is it to take
+place?"
+
+"Next week; for the present we have much on our hands. We open
+Parliament to-morrow; Wednesday, grand dinner to peers and peeresses;
+Thursday, the judges and law officers; Friday, debate on the
+address--small party of friends; Saturday we go to the play in
+state,--we like the play."
+
+"You do, do you?" said the Grinder, with a grin of malice, as some
+vindictive feeling worked within him.
+
+"We have commanded 'The Road to Ruin,'" continued Cotterell.
+
+"Out of compliment to your politics, I suppose!"
+
+"Holman's Young Rapid always amused us!"
+
+"Carew's performance of the character is better still,--it is real;
+it is palpable." Then, suddenly carried beyond himself by a burst of
+passion, he cried: "Now, is it possible that your heavy browed Duke
+fancies a country can be ruled in this wise? Does he believe that a
+little flattery here, a little bribery there, some calumny to separate
+friends, some gossip to sow dissension amongst intimates, a promise of
+place, a title or a pension thrown to the hungry hounds that yelp, and
+bark, and fawn about a Court,--that this means government, or that these
+men are the nation?"
+
+"You have overturned the sugar-bowl," observed Cotterell.
+
+"Better than to upset the country," said the other, with a contemptuous
+look at his stolid companion. "I tell you what it is, Cotterell," added
+he, gravely, "these English had might and power on their side, and had
+they rested their strength on them, they might defy us, for we are the
+weaker party; but they have condescended to try other weapons, and would
+encounter us with subtlety, intrigue, and cabal. Now, mark my words: we
+may not live to see it, but the time will come when their scheme will
+recoil upon themselves; for we are their equals,--ay, more than their
+equals,--with such arms as these! Fools that they are, not to see that
+if they destroy the influence of the higher classes, the people will
+elect leaders from their own ranks; and, instead of having to fight
+Popery alone, the day is not distant when they 'll have to combat
+democracy too. Will not the tune be changed then?"
+
+"It must always be 'God save the King,' sir, on birthdays," said
+Cotterell, who was satisfied if he either caught or comprehended the
+last words of any discourse.
+
+It is difficult to say whether the Grinder's temper could have
+much longer endured these assaults of stupidity, but for the sudden
+appearance of Raper, who, coming stealthily forward, whispered a few
+words in Fagan's ear.
+
+"Did you say here?--here?" asked Fagan, eagerly.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Raper; "below in the office."
+
+"But why there? Why not show him upstairs? No, no, you 're right," added
+he, with a most explanatory glance towards his guest. "I must leave you
+for a few minutes, Cotterell. Take care of yourself till I come back;"
+and with this apology he arose, and followed Raper downstairs.
+
+The visitor, who sat on one of the high office-stools, dressed in the
+first fashion of the day, slapped his boot impatiently with his cane,
+and did not even remove his hat as Fagan entered, contenting himself
+with a slight touch of the finger to its leaf for salutation.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, Fagan," said he, half cavalierly; "but being
+in town late this evening, and knowing the value of even five minutes'
+personal intercourse, I have dropped in to say,--what I have so often
+said in the same place,--I want money."
+
+"Grieved to hear it, Mr. Carew," was the grave, sententious reply.
+
+"I don't believe you, Tony. When a man can lend, as you can, on his own
+terms, he 's never very sorry to hear of the occasion for his services."
+
+"Cash is scarce, sir."
+
+"So I have always found it, Tony; but, like everything else, one gets
+it by paying for. I 'm willing to do so, and now, what's the rate,--ten,
+fifteen, or are you Patriarch enough to need twenty per cent?"
+
+"I'm not sure that I could oblige you, even on such terms, Mr. Carew.
+There is a long outstanding, unsettled account between us. There is
+a very considerable balance due to me. There are, in fact, dealings
+between us which call for a speedy arrangement."
+
+"And which are very unlikely to be favored with it, Tony. Now, I have
+n't a great deal of time to throw away, for I'm off to the country
+to-night, so that pray let us understand each other at once. I shall
+need, before Monday next, a sum of not less than eight thousand pounds.
+Hacket, my man of law, will show you such securities as I possess. Call
+on him, and take your choice of them. I desire that our negotiation
+should be strictly a matter between ourselves, because we live in
+gossiping times, and I don't care to amuse the town with my private
+affairs. Are you satisfied with this?"
+
+"Eight thousand, in bills, of course, sir?"
+
+"If you wish it!"
+
+"At what dates?"
+
+"The longer the better."
+
+"Shall we say in two sums of four thousand each,--six months and nine?"
+
+"With all my heart. When can I touch the coin?"
+
+"Now, sir; this moment if you desire it."
+
+"Write the check, then, Tony," said he, hurriedly.
+
+"There, sir, there are the bills for your signature," said Fagan. "Will
+you have the goodness to give me a line to Hacket about the securities?"
+
+"Of course," said he; and he at once wrote the note required. "Now for
+another point, Tony: I am going to ask a favor of you. Are you in a
+gracious mood this evening?"
+
+The appeal was sudden enough to be disconcerting, and so Fagan felt it,
+for he looked embarrassed and confused in no ordinary degree.
+
+"Come, I see I shall not be refused," said my father, who at once saw
+that the only course was the bold one. "It is this: we are expecting
+some friends to spend a few days with us at Castle Carew, a kind of
+house-warming to that new wing; we have done our best to gather around
+us whatever our good city boasts of agreeability and beauty, and with
+tolerable success. There is, I may say, but one wanting to make our
+triumph complete. With her presence I 'd wager a thousand guineas that
+no country mansion in Great Britain could contest the palm with us."
+
+Fagan grew deadly pale as he listened, then flushed deeply, and a second
+time a sickly hue crept over his features as, in a voice barely above a
+whisper, he said,--
+
+"You mean my daughter, sir?"
+
+"Of course I do, Tony. A man need n't read riddles to know who is the
+handsomest girl in Dublin. I hope you 'll not deny us the favor of her
+company. My wife will meet her at Bray; she'll come into town, if you
+prefer it, and take her up here."
+
+"Oh, no, sir; not here," said Fagan, hurriedly, who, whatever plans he
+might be forming in his mind, quickly saw the inconvenience of such a
+step.
+
+"It shall be as you please in every respect, Fagan. Now, on Tuesday
+morning--"
+
+"Not so fast, sir,--not so fast," said Fagan, calmly. "You have n't
+given me time for much reflection now; and the very little thought I
+have bestowed on the matter suggests grave doubts to me. Nobody knows
+better than Mr. Carew that a wide gulf separates our walk in life from
+his; that however contented with our lot in this world, it is a very
+humble one--"
+
+"Egad! I like such humility. The man who can draw a check for ten
+thousand at sight, and yet never detect any remarkable alteration in
+his banker's book, ought to be proud of the philosophy that teaches him
+contentment. Tony, my worthy friend, don't try to mystify me. You know,
+and you 'd be a fool if you did n't know, that with your wealth and your
+daughter's beauty you have only to choose the station she will occupy.
+There is but one way you can possibly defeat her success, and that is by
+estranging her from the world, and withdrawing her from all intercourse
+with society. I can't believe that this is your intention; I can
+scarcely credit that it could be her wish. Let us, then, have the honor
+of introducing her to that rank, the very highest position in which she
+would grace and dignify. I ask it as a favor,--the very greatest you can
+bestow on us."
+
+"No, sir; it cannot be. It's impossible, utterly impossible."
+
+"I am really curious to know upon what grounds, for I confess they are a
+secret to me!"
+
+"So they must remain, then, sir, if you cannot persuade me to open more
+of my heart than I am in the habit of doing with comparative strangers.
+I can be very grateful for the honor you intend me, Mr. Carew; but the
+best way to be so is, probably, not to accompany that feeling with any
+sense of personal humiliation!"
+
+"You are certainly not bent on giving me any clew to your motives,
+Fagan."
+
+"I'm sorry for it, sir; but frankness to you might be great unfairness
+to myself."
+
+"More riddles, Tony, and I 'm far too dull to read them."
+
+"Well, then, sir, perhaps you'd understand me when I say that Anthony
+Fagan, low and humble as he is, has no mind to expose his daughter to
+the sneers and scoffs of a rank she has no pretension to mix with; that,
+miser as he is, he would n't bring a blush of shame to her cheek for all
+the wealth of India! and that, rather than sit at home here and brood
+over every insult that would be offered to the usurer's daughter by
+those beggarly spendthrifts that are at liberty by his bounty, he 'd
+earn his name of the Grinder by crushing them to the dust!"
+
+The vehemence of his utterance had gone on increasing as he spoke, till
+at the end the last words were given with almost a scream of passion.
+
+"I must say, Fagan," replied my father, calmly, "that you form a very
+humble, I trust a very unfair, estimate of the habits of my house, not
+to say of my own feelings. However, we'll not dispute the matter. Good
+evening to you."
+
+"Good evening, sir; I 'm sorry I was so warm; I hope I have said nothing
+that could offend you."
+
+"Not when you did n't mean offence, believe me, Fagan. I repeat my
+hope that the friends and acquaintances with whom I live are not the
+underbred and ill-mannered class you think them; beyond that I have
+nothing to say. Good evening."
+
+Probably no amount of discussion and argument on the subject could so
+palpably have convinced Fagan of the vast superiority of a man of good
+manners over one of inferior breeding as did the calm and gentleman-like
+quietude of my father's bearing, in contradistinction to his own
+passionate outbreak.
+
+"One moment, sir,--one moment," cried he, laying his hand on my father's
+arm; "you really believe that one humbly born as Polly, the daughter of
+a man in my condition, would be received amongst the high and titled of
+Dublin without a scornful allusion to whence she came,--without a sneer
+at her rank in life?"
+
+"If I thought anything else, Fagan, I should be dishonored in making
+this request of you."
+
+"She shall go, sir,--she shall go," cried Fagan.
+
+"Thanks for the confidence, Fagan; I know you 'd rather trust me with
+half your fortune without a scratch of my pen in return."
+
+Fagan turned away his head; but a motion of his hand across his eyes
+showed how he felt the speech.
+
+To obviate the awkwardness of the moment, my father entered upon the
+details of the journey, for which it was arranged that Fagan was to send
+his daughter to Bray, where a carriage from Castle Carew would be in
+waiting to convey her the remainder of the way. These points being
+settled, my father once again thanked him for his compliance, and
+departed.
+
+I should be only mystifying my reader most unjustifiably should I affect
+any secrecy as to my father's reasons for this singular invitation;
+for although the gossipry of the day could adduce innumerable plots
+and plans which were to spring out of it, I sincerely believe his sole
+motive was the pleasure that he and my mother were sure to feel in doing
+a piece of graceful and generous politeness. MacNaghten's account of
+Polly had strongly excited their curiosity, not to speak of a more
+worthy feeling, in her behalf; and knowing that Fagan's immense wealth
+would one day or other be hers, they felt it was but fair that she
+should see, and be seen, by that world of which she was yet to be a
+distinguished ornament. Beyond this, I implicitly believe they had no
+motive nor plan. Of course, I do not pretend to say that even
+amongst his own very guests, the men who travelled down to enjoy his
+hospitality, his conduct did not come in for its share of criticism.
+Many an artful device was attributed to this seeming stroke of policy,
+not one of which, however, did not more redound to my father's craft
+than to his character for honorable dealing. But what would become
+of "bad tongues" in this world if there were not generous natures to
+calumniate and vilify? Of a verity, scandal prefers a high mark and an
+unblemished reputation for its assaults, far better than a damaged fame
+and a tattered character; it seems more heroic to shy a pebble through a
+pane of plate-glass than to pitch a stone through a cracked casement!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. A GENTLEMAN USHER
+
+Among the members of the Viceregal suite who were to accompany his
+Grace on a visit was a certain Barry Rutledge, a gentleman usher, whose
+character and doings were well known in the times I speak of. When a
+very young man, Rutledge had been stripped of his entire patrimony on
+the turf, and was thrown for support upon the kindness of those who
+had known him in better days. Whether it was that time had developed or
+adversity had sharpened his wits, it is certain that he showed himself
+to be a far shrewder and more intelligent being than the world had
+heretofore deemed him. If he was not gifted with any very great insight
+into politics, for which he was free to own he had no taste, he was well
+versed in human nature, at least in all its least favorable aspects,
+and thoroughly understood how to detect and profit by the weaknesses of
+those with whom he came in contact.
+
+His racing experiences had given him all the training and teaching which
+he possessed, and to his own fancied analogy between the turf and the
+great race of life did he owe all the shrewd inspirations that guided
+him.
+
+His favorite theory was, that however well a horse may gallop, there
+is always, if one but knew it, some kind of ground that would throw
+him "out of stride;" and so of men: he calculated that every one
+is accompanied by some circumstance or other which forms his
+stumbling-block through life; and however it may escape notice, that
+to its existence will be referrable innumerable turnings and windings,
+whose seeming contradictions excite surprise and astonishment.
+
+To learn all these secret defects, to store his mind with every incident
+of family and fortune of the chief actors of the time, was the mechanism
+by which he worked, and certainly in such inquisitorial pursuits it
+would have been hard to find his equal. By keenly watching the lines
+of action men pursued, he had taught himself to trace back to their
+motives, and by the exercise of these faculties he had at last attained
+to a skill in reading character that seemed little short of marvellous.
+
+Nature had been most favorable in fitting him for his career, for his
+features were of that cast which bespeaks a soft, easy temperament,
+careless and unsuspecting. His large blue eyes and curly golden hair
+gave him, even at thirty, a boyish look, and both in voice and manner
+was he singularly youthful, while his laugh was like the joyous outburst
+of a happy schoolboy.
+
+None could have ever suspected that such a figure as this, arrayed in
+the trappings of a courtly usher, could have inclosed within it a whole
+network of secret intrigue and plot. My mother had the misfortune to
+make a still more fatal blunder; for, seeing him in what she pardonably
+enough believed to be a livery, she took him to be a menial, and
+actually despatched him to her carriage to fetch her fan! The incident
+got abroad, and Rutledge, of course, was well laughed at; but he seemed
+to enjoy the mirth so thoroughly, and told the story so well himself,
+that it could never be imagined he felt the slightest annoyance on the
+subject. By all accounts, however, the great weakness of his character
+was the belief that he was decidedly noble-looking and highbred; that
+place him where you would, costume him how you might, surround him
+with all that might disparage pretension, yet that such was the innate
+gentlemanhood of his nature, the least critical of observers would not
+fail to acknowledge him. To say that he concealed this weakness most
+completely, that he shrouded it in the very depth of his heart, is only
+to repeat what I have already mentioned as to his character; for he was
+watchful over every trifle that should betray a knowledge of his nature,
+and sensitively alive to the terrors of ridicule. From that hour forward
+he became my mother's enemy,--not, as many others might, by decrying her
+pretensions to beauty, or by any depreciatory remarks on her dress
+or manner, but in a far deeper sense, and with more malignant
+determination.
+
+To learn who she was, of what family, what were her connections, their
+rank, name, and station, were his first objects; and although the
+difficulties of the inquiry were considerable, his sources of knowledge
+were sufficient to overcome them. He got to hear something at least
+of her history, and to trace back her mysterious journey to an
+ancient chateau belonging to the Crown of France. Beyond this, in all
+livelihood, he could not go; but even here were materials enough for his
+subtlety to make use of.
+
+The Viceregal visit to Castle Carew had been all planned by him. He
+had persuaded the Duke that the time was come when, by a little timely
+flattering, the whole landed gentry of Ireland were in his hands. The
+conciliating tone of the speech which opened Parliament, the affectedly
+generous confidence of England in all the acts of the Irish Legislature,
+had already succeeded to a miracle. Grattan himself moved the address
+in terms of unbounded reliance on the good faith of Government. Flood
+followed in the same strain, and others, of lesser note, were ashamed
+to utter a sentiment of distrust, in the presence of such splendid
+instances of confiding generosity. My father, although not a leading
+orator of the House, was, from connection and fortune, possessed of much
+influence, and well worth the trouble of gaining over, and, as Rutledge
+said, "It was pleasant to have to deal with a man who wanted neither
+place, money, nor the peerage, but whose alliance could be ratified at
+his own table, and pledged in his own Burgundy."
+
+Every one knows what happens in the East when a great sovereign makes a
+present of an elephant to some inferior chief. The morale of a Viceregal
+visit is pretty much in the same category. It is an honor that cannot be
+declined, and it is generally sure to ruin the entertainer. Of course
+I do not talk of the present times nor of late years. Lord-Lieutenants
+have grown to be less stately; the hosts have become less splendid. But
+in the days I speak of here, there were great names and great fortunes
+in the land. The influence of the country neither flowed from Roman
+rescripts nor priestly denunciations. The Lions of Judah and the Doves
+of Elphin were as yet unknown to our political zoology; and, with all
+their faults and shortcomings, we had at least a national gentry party,
+high-spirited, hospitable, and generous, and whose misfortunes were
+probably owing to the fact that they gave a too implicit faith to the
+adaptiveness of English laws to a people who have not, in their habits,
+natures, or feelings, the slightest analogy to Englishmen! and that,
+when at length they began to perceive the error, it was already too late
+to repair it.
+
+The Viceroy's arrival at Castle Carew was fixed for a Tuesday, and on
+Monday evening Mr. Barry Rutledge drove up to the door just as my father
+and mother, with Dan Mac-Naghten, were issuing forth for a walk. He
+had brought with him a list of those for whom accommodation should be
+provided, and the number considerably exceeded all expectation. Nor was
+this the only disconcerting event, for my father now learned, for the
+first time, that he should have taken his Grace's pleasure with regard
+to each of the other guests he had invited to meet him,--a piece of
+etiquette he had never so much as thought of. "Of course it's not much
+matter," said Rutledge, laughing easily; "your acquaintances are all
+known to his Grace."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," interposed my father, quickly; for he
+suddenly remembered that Polly Fagan was not likely to have been
+presented at Court, nor was she one to expect to escape notice.
+
+"He never thinks of politics in private life; he has not the smallest
+objection to meet every shade of politician."
+
+"I 'm quite sure of that," said my father, musing, but by no means
+satisfied with the prospect before him.
+
+"Tell Rutledge whom you expect," broke in Dan, "and he'll be able to
+guide you, should there be any difficulty about them."
+
+"Ma foi!" broke in my mother, half impatiently, in her imperfect
+language. "If dey are of la bonne societe, what will you have more?"
+
+"Of course," assented Rutledge. "The names we are all familiar
+with,--the good houses of the country." Carelessly as he spoke,
+he contrived to dart a quick glance towards my mother; but, to his
+astonishment, she showed no sign of discomfort or uneasiness.
+
+"Egad! I think it somewhat hard that a man's company should not be of
+his own choosing!" said MacNaghten, half angrily. "Do you think his
+Grace would order the dinner away if there happened to be a dish at
+table he didn't like?"
+
+"Not exactly, if he were not compelled to eat of it," said Rutledge,
+good-humoredly; "but I 'm sure, all this time, that we 're only amusing
+ourselves fighting shadows. Just tell me who are coming, and I 'll be
+able to give you a hint if any of them should be personally displeasing
+to his Grace."
+
+"You remember them all, Dan," said my father; "try and repeat the
+names."
+
+"Shall we keep the lump of sugar for the last," said Dan, "as they do
+with children when they give them medicine? or shall we begin with your
+own friends, Rut-ledge? for we've got Archdall, and Billy Burton, and
+Freke, and Barty Hoare, and some others of the same stamp,--fellows that
+I call very bad company, but that I'm well aware you Castle folk expect
+to see everywhere you go!"
+
+"But you've done things admirably," cried Rutledge. "These are exactly
+the men for us. Have you Townsend?"
+
+"Ay, and his flapper, Tisdall; for without Joe he never remembers what
+story to tell next. And then there's Jack Preston! Egad! you 'll fancy
+yourselves on the Treasury benches."
+
+"Well, now for the Opposition," said Rutledge, gayly.
+
+"To begin: Grattan can't come,--a sick child, the measles, or something
+or other wrong in the nursery, which he thinks of more consequence than
+'all your houses;' Ponsonby won't come,--he votes you all very dull
+company; Hugh O'Donnell is of the same mind, and adds that he 'd rather
+see Tom Thumb, in Fishamble Street, than all your court tomfooleries
+twice over. But then we've old Bob Ffrench,--Bitter Bob; Joe Curtis--"
+
+"Not the same Curtis that refused his Grace leave to shoot over his bog
+at Bally vane?"
+
+"The very man, and just as likely to send another refusal if the request
+be repeated."
+
+"I didn't know of this, Dan," interposed my father. "This is really
+awkward."
+
+"Perhaps it was a little untoward," replied MacNaghten, "but there was
+no help for it. Joe asked himself; and when I wrote to say that the Duke
+was coming, he replied that he 'd certainly not fail to be here, for he
+did n't think there was another house in the kingdom likely to harbor
+them both at the same time."
+
+"He was right there," said Rutledge, gravely.
+
+"He generally is right," replied MacNaghten, with a dry nod. "Stephen
+Blake, too, isn't unlikely to come over, particularly if he finds
+out that we 've little room to spare, and that he 'll put us all to
+inconvenience."
+
+"Oh, we'll have room enough for every one," cried my father.
+
+"I do hope, at least, none will go away for want of--how you say,
+place?" said my mother.
+
+"That's exactly the right word for it," cried MacNaghten, slyly. "'Tis
+looking for places the half of them are. I've said nothing of the
+ladies, Rutledge; for of course your courtly habits see no party
+distinctions amongst the fair sex. We'll astonish your English notions,
+I fancy, with such a display of Irish beauty as you 've no idea of."
+
+"That we can appreciate without the slightest disparagement on the score
+of politics."
+
+"Need you tell him of Polly?" whispered my father in Dan's ear.
+
+"No; it's just as well not." "I'd tell him, Dan; the thing is done, and
+cannot be undone," continued he, in the same undertone.
+
+"As you please."
+
+"We mean to show you such a girl, Rutledge, as probably not St. James's
+itself could match. When I tell you she 'll have not very far from half
+a million sterling, I think it's not too much to say that your English
+Court has n't such a prize in the wheel."
+
+"It 's Westrop's daughter you mean?"
+
+"Not a bit of it, man. Dorothy won't have fifty thousand. I doubt
+greatly if she 'll have thirty; and as to look, style, and figure, she's
+not to compare with the girl I mean."
+
+"The Lady Lucy Lighton? and she is very beautiful, I confess."
+
+"Lucy Lighton! Why, what are you thinking of? Where would she get the
+fortune I am speaking of? But you'd never guess the name; you never saw
+her,--perhaps never so much as heard of her. She is a Miss Fagan."
+
+"Polly--Polly Fagan, the Grinder's daughter?"
+
+"So, then, you have heard of her?" said Dan, not a little disconcerted
+by this burst of intelligence.
+
+"Heard of her! Nay, more, I've seen and spoken with her. I once made a
+descent on the old father, in the hope of doing something with him;
+and being accidentally, I believe it was, shown upstairs, I made Miss
+Polly's acquaintance, but with just as little profit."
+
+"You'll have more time to improve the intimacy here, Rutledge," said my
+father, laughingly, "if MacNaghten be not a rival 'near the throne.'"
+
+"I'll not interfere with you, Barry," cried MacNaghten, carelessly.
+
+Rutledge gave one of his usual unmeaning laughs, and said, "After all,
+if we except Ffrench and Curtis, there's nothing to be afraid of; and I
+suppose there will be no difficulty in keeping them at a safe distance."
+
+"Bob Ffrench cares much more for Carew's Burgundy than for his grand
+acquaintances," interposed MacNaghten; "and as for Curtis, he only comes
+out of curiosity. Once satisfied that all will go on in the routine
+fashion of every other country visit, he'll jog home again, sorely
+discontented with himself for the trouble he has taken to come here."
+
+"I need scarcely tell you," said Rutledge, taking my father's arm, and
+leading him to one side,--"I need scarcely tell you that we 'd better
+avoid all discussion about politics and party. You yourself are very
+unlikely to commit any error in tact, but of course you cannot answer
+for others. Would it not, then, be as well to give some kind of hint?"
+
+"Faith," broke in my father, hastily, "I will never attempt to curb the
+liberty of speech of any one who does me the honor to be my guest; and I
+am sure I have not a friend in the world who would tamely submit to such
+dictation."
+
+"Perhaps you are right. Indeed, I'm sure you are," broke in Rutledge,
+and hastened his step till he joined the others.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. THE COMPANY AT CASTLE CAREW
+
+From an early hour on the following morning, the company began to pour
+in to Castle Carew, then style and retinue being as varied as may well
+be imagined,--some arriving in all the pomp and splendor of handsomely
+appointed equipage; some dashing up with splashed and panting posters;
+and others jogging lazily along the avenue in some old "conveniency"
+of a past age, drawn by animals far more habituated to the plough than
+the phaeton. Amongst those first was conspicuous the singular old noddy,
+as it was called, in which Ffrench and Curtis travelled; the driver
+being perilously elevated some dozen feet above the earth, and perched
+on a bar which it required almost a rope-dancer's dexterity to occupy.
+This primitive conveyance, as it trundled along before the windows, drew
+many to gaze and jest upon its curious appearance,--a degree of notice
+which seemed to have very opposite effects on the two individuals
+exposed to it; for while Ffrench nodded, kissed hands, and smiled
+good-humoredly to his friends, Curtis sat back with his arms folded, and
+his hat slouched over his eyes, as if endeavoring to escape recognition.
+
+"Confound the rascal!" muttered he between his teeth. "Could n't he
+have managed to creep round by some back way? His blasted jingling
+old rat-trap has called the whole household to look at us!--and, may I
+never, if he has n't broken something! What's the matter,--what are you
+getting down for?"
+
+"'T is the mare's got the reins under her tail, yer honer!" said the
+driver, as he descended some half-dozen feet to enable him to get near
+enough to rectify the entanglement The process was made more difficult
+by the complicated machinery of springs, straps, bars, and bolts which
+supported the box, and in the midst of which the poor fellow sat as in a
+cage. He was, however, proceeding in a very business-like way to tug
+at the tail with one hand, and pull out the reins with the other, when,
+suddenly, far behind, there came the tearing tramp of horses advancing
+at speed, the cracking of the postilions' whips adding to the clamor.
+The horses of the noddy, feeling no restraint from the reins, and
+terrified by the uproar, kicked up their heels at once, and bolted away,
+shooting the driver out of his den into a flowerpot. Away dashed the
+affrighted beasts, the crazy old conveyance rattling and shaking behind
+them with a deafening uproar. Immediately beyond the hall-door, the
+avenue took a sweep round a copse, and by a gentle descent wound its
+course towards the stables, a considerable expanse of ornamental water
+bordering the-road on the other side. Down the slope they now rushed
+madly; and, unable from their speed to accomplish the turn in safety,
+they made a sudden "jib" at the water's edge, which upset the noddy,
+pitching its two occupants over head and heels into the lake. By good
+fortune it was not more than four or five feet deep in this part, so
+that they came off with no other injury than a thorough drenching, and
+the ridicule which met them in the laughter of some fifty spectators.
+As for Ffrench, he had to sit down on the bank and laugh till the very
+tears came; the efforts of Curtis to rid himself of tangled dead weed
+and straggling aquatic plants having driven that choleric subject almost
+out of his wits.
+
+"This may be an excellent joke,--I've no doubt it is, since you seem
+to think so; but, by Heaven, sir, I 'll try if I cannot make some one
+responsible for it! Yes, gentlemen," added he, shaking his fist at the
+crowded windows, "it's not all over yet; we'll see who laughs last!"
+
+"Faith, we're well off, to escape with a little fright, and some
+frog-spawn," said Bob; "it might have been worse!"
+
+"It shall be worse, sir, far worse, depend upon it!" said the other.
+
+By this time my father had come up to the spot, and endeavored, as well
+as the absurdity of the scene would permit him, to condole with the
+angry sufferer. It was not, however, without the greatest difficulty
+that Curtis could be prevailed upon to enter the house. The very idea of
+being a laughing-stock was madness to him; and it was only on the strict
+assurance that no allusion to the event would be tolerated by my father
+that he at last gave in and accompanied him.
+
+Insignificant as was this incident in itself, it was the origin of very
+grave consequences. Curtis was one of those men who are unforgiving to
+anything like ridicule; and the sense of injury, added to the poignant
+suffering of a ruined estate and a fallen condition, by no means
+improved a temper irascible beyond everything. He entered the house
+swearing every species of vengeance on the innocent cause of his
+misadventure.
+
+"Time was, sir, when a lord-lieutenant drove to a gentleman's door in
+a style becoming his dignity, and not heralded by half-a-dozen rascals,
+whip-cracking and caracolling like the clowns in a circus!"
+
+Such was his angry commentary as he pushed past my father and hastened
+to his room. Long after, he sat brooding and mourning over his calamity.
+It was forgotten in the drawing-room, where Polly had now arrived,
+dividing attention and interest with the Viceroy himself. Indeed, while
+his Grace was surrounded with courtly and grave figures, discussing the
+news of the day and the passing topics, Polly was the centre of a
+far more animated group, whose laughter and raillery rung through the
+apartment.
+
+My mother was charmed with her, not only because she possessed
+considerable personal charms, but, being of her own age, and speaking
+French with ease and fluency, it was a great happiness to her to unbend
+once again in all the freedom of her own delightful language. It was
+to no purpose that my father whispered to her the names and titles of
+various guests to whom peculiar honor was due; it was in vain that
+he led her to the seat beside some tiresome old lady, all dulness and
+diamonds; by some magical attraction she would find herself leaning over
+Polly's chair, and listening to her, as she talked, in admiring ecstasy.
+It was unquestionably true that although most of the company were
+selected less for personal qualities than their political influence,
+there were many most agreeable persons in the number. My mother,
+however, was already fascinated, and she required more self-restraint
+than she usually imposed upon herself to forego a pleasure which she saw
+no reason for relinquishing.
+
+My father exerted himself to the uttermost. Few men, I believe,
+performed the host more gracefully; but nothing more fatally mars
+the ease and destroys the charm of that character than anything like
+over-effort at success. His attentions were too marked and too hurried;
+he had exaggerated to himself the difficulties of his situation, and he
+increased them tenfold by his own terrors.
+
+The Duke was one of those plain, quiet, well-bred persons so frequently
+met with in the upper classes of England, and whose strongest
+characteristic is, probably, the excessive simplicity of their manners,
+and the total absence of everything bordering on pretension. This
+very quietude, however, is frequently misinterpreted, and, in Ireland
+especially, often taken for the very excess of pride and haughtiness.
+Such did it seem on the present occasion; for now that the restraint
+of a great position was removed, and that he suffered himself to unbend
+from the cumbrous requirements of a state existence, the ease of his
+deportment was suspected to be indifference, and the absence of all
+effort was deemed a contemptuous disregard for the company.
+
+The moment, too, was not happily chosen to bring men of extreme and
+opposite opinions into contact. They met with coldness and distrust;
+they were even suspectful of the motives which had led to their
+meeting,--in fact, a party whose elements were less suited to each other
+rarely assembled in an Irish country-house; and by ill luck the weather
+took one of those wintry turns which are not unfrequent in our so-called
+summers, and set in to rain with that determined perseverance so common
+to a July in Ireland.
+
+Nearly all the resources by which the company were to have been amused
+were of an outdoor kind, and depended greatly on weather. The shooting,
+the driving, the picnicing, the visits to remarkable scenes in the
+neighborhood, which Dan MacNaghten had "programmed" with such care and
+zeal, must now be abandoned, and supplied by occupation beneath the
+roof.
+
+Oh, good reader, has it ever been your lot to have your house filled
+with a large and incongruous party, weatherbound and "bored"? To see
+them stealing stealthily about corridors, and peeping into rooms, as if
+fearful of chancing on something more tiresome than themselves? To watch
+their silent contemplation of the weather-glass, or their mournful gaze
+at the lowering and leaden sky? To hear the lazy, drowsy tone of the
+talk, broken by many a half-suppressed yawn? To know and to feel that
+they regard themselves as your prisoners, and you as their jailer?--that
+your very butler is in their eyes but an upper turnkey? Have you
+witnessed the utter failure of all efforts to amuse them?--have you
+overheard the criticism that pronounced your piano out of tune, your
+billiard-table out of level, your claret out of condition? Have you
+caught mysterious whisperings of conspiracies to get away? and heard the
+word "post-horses" uttered with an accent of joyful enthusiasm? Have you
+watched the growing antipathies of those that, in your secret plannings,
+you had destined to become sworn friends? Have you grieved over the
+disappointment which your peculiar favorites have been doomed to
+experience? Have you silently contemplated all the wrong combinations
+and unhappy conjunctures that have grown up, when you expected but
+unanimity and good feeling? Have you known all these things? and have
+you passed through the terrible ordeal of endeavoring to amuse the
+dissatisfied, to reconcile the incompatible, and to occupy the indolent?
+Without some such melancholy experience, you can scarcely imagine all
+that my poor father had to suffer.
+
+Never was there such discontent as that household exhibited. The
+Viceregal party saw few of the non-adherents, and perceived that they
+made no converts amongst the enemy. The Liberals were annoyed at the
+restraint imposed on them by the presence of the Government people;
+the ladies were outraged at the distinguished notice conferred by their
+hostess on one who was not their equal in social position, and whom they
+saw for the first time admitted into the "set." In fact, instead of
+a large party met together to please and be pleased, the society was
+broken up into small coteries and knots, all busily criticising and
+condemning their neighbors, and only interrupting their censures by
+grievous complaints of the ill-fortune that had induced them to come
+there.
+
+It was now the third morning of the Duke's visit, and the weather
+showed no symptoms of improvement. The dark sky was relieved towards the
+horizon by that line of treacherous light which to all accustomed to an
+Irish climate is the signal for continued rain. The most intrepid votary
+of outdoor amusements had given up the cause in despair, and, as though
+dreading to augment the common burden of dulness by meeting most of the
+guests, preferred keeping their rooms, and confining to themselves the
+gloom that oppressed them.
+
+The small drawing-room that adjoined my mother's dressing-room was the
+only exception to this almost prison discipline; and there she now sat
+with Polly, MacNaghten, Rutledge, and one or two more, the privileged
+visitors of that favored spot,--my mother at her embroidery-frame, that
+pleasant, mock occupation which serves so admirably as an aid to talking
+or to listening, which every Frenchwoman knows so well how to employ
+as a conversational fly-wheel. They assuredly gave no evidence in their
+tone of that depression which the gloomy weather had thrown over the
+other guests. Laughter and merriment abounded; and a group more amusing
+and amused it would have been difficult to imagine. Rutledge, perhaps,
+turned his eyes towards the door occasionally, with the air of one in
+expectation of something or somebody; but none noticed this anxiety,
+nor, indeed, was he one to permit his thoughts to sway his outward
+actions.
+
+"The poor Duke," cried MacNaghten, "he can bear it no longer. See,
+there he goes, in defiance of rain and wind, to take his walk in the
+shrubbery!"
+
+"And mon pauvre mari--go with him," said my mother, in a tone of
+lamentation that made all the hearers burst out a-laughing. "Ah, I know
+why you Irish are all so domestic," added she,--"c'est le climat!"
+
+"Will you allow us nothing to the credit of our fidelity,--to our
+attachments, madame?" said Rutledge, who, while he continued to talk,
+never took his eyes off the two figures, who now walked side by side in
+the shrubbery.
+
+"It is a capricious kind of thing, after all, is your Irish fidelity,"
+said Polly. "Your love is generally but another form of self-esteem;
+you marry a woman because you can be proud of her beauty, her wit, her
+manners, and her accomplishments, and you are faithful because you never
+get tired in the indulgence of your own vanity."
+
+"How kind of you is it, then, to let us never want for the occasion of
+indulging it," said Rutledge, half slyly.
+
+"I don't quite agree with you, Miss Polly," said Mac-Naghten, after a
+pause, in which he seemed to be reflecting over her words; "I think
+most men--Irishmen, I mean--marry to please themselves. They may make
+mistakes, of course,--I don't pretend to say that they always choose
+well; but it is right to bear in mind that they are not free agents, and
+cannot have whom they please to wife."
+
+"It is better with us," broke in my mother. "You marry one you have
+never seen before; you have nothing of how you call 'exultation,' point
+des idees romantiques; you are delighted with all the little 'soins'
+and attentions of your husband, who has, at least, one inestimable
+merit,--he is never familiar."
+
+"How charming!" said Rutledge, with mock seriousness.
+
+"Is it not?" continued she, not detecting the covert irony of his tone;
+"it is your intimite,--how you call it?"
+
+"Intimacy."
+
+"Oui," said she, smiling, but not trusting herself to repeat the word.
+"C'est cela,--that destroys your happiness."
+
+"Egad! I 'd as soon be a bachelor," broke in MacNaghten, "if I only
+were to look at my wife with an opera-glass across the theatre, or be
+permitted to kiss her kid glove on her birthday."
+
+"What he say,--why you laugh?" cried my mother, who could not follow the
+rapidity of his utterance.
+
+"Mr. MacNaghten prefers homeliness to refinement," said Polly.
+
+"Oui, you are right, my dear," added my mother; "it is more refined. And
+then, instead of all that 'tracasserie' you have about your house, and
+your servants, and the thousand little 'inconvenance de menage,'
+you have one whom you consult on your toilette, your equipage, your
+'coiffure,'--in fact, in all affairs of good taste. Voila Walter, par
+exemple: he never derange me for a moment,--I hope I never ennuye him."
+
+"Quite right,--perfectly right," said Polly, with a well-assumed
+gravity.
+
+"By Jove, that's only single harness work, after all," said MacNaghten;
+"I'd rather risk a kick, now and then, and have another beside me to tug
+at this same burden of daily life."
+
+"I no understand you, you speak so fast. How droll you are, you Irish!
+See there, the Lord Duke and my husband, how they shake hands as if they
+did not meet before, and they walk together for the last half-hour."
+
+"A most cordial embrace, indeed," said Polly, fixing her eyes on
+Rutledge, who seemed far from being at ease under the inspection, while
+MacNaghten, giving one hasty glance through the window, snatched up his
+hat and left the room. He passed rapidly down the stairs, crossed the
+hall, and was just leaving the house when my father met him.
+
+"The very man I wanted, Dan," cried he; "come to my room with me for a
+few minutes."
+
+As they entered the room, my father turned the key in the door, and
+said,--
+
+"We must not be interrupted, for I want to have a little talk with you.
+I have just parted with the Duke--"
+
+"I know it," broke in Dan, "I saw you shake hands; and it was that made
+me hurry downstairs to meet you."
+
+My father flushed up suddenly, and it was not till after a few seconds
+he was collected enough to continue.
+
+"The fact is, Dan," said he, "this gathering of the clans has been a
+most unlucky business, after all. There's no telling how it might
+have turned out, with favorable weather and good sport; but caged up
+together, the menagerie has done nothing but growl and show their teeth;
+and, egad! very little was wanting to have set them all by the ears in
+open conflict."
+
+MacNaghten shrugged his shoulders, without speaking.
+
+"It's an experiment I 'll assuredly never try again," continued my
+father; "for whether it is that I have forgotten Irishmen, or that they
+are not what they used to be, but all has gone wrong."
+
+"Your own fault, Watty. You were far too anxious about it going right;
+and whenever a man wants to usurp destiny, he invariably books himself
+for a 'break down.' You tried, besides, what no tact nor skill could
+manage. You wanted grand people to be grand, and witty people to be
+witty, and handsome people to look beautiful. Now, the very essence of a
+party like this is, to let everybody try and fancy themselves something
+that they are not, or at least that they are not usually. Your great
+folk ought to have been suffered to put off the greatness, and only be
+esteemed for their excessive agreeability. Your smart men ought not to
+have been called on for pleasantry, but only thought very high-bred and
+well-mannered, or, what is better still, well-born. And your beauties
+should have been permitted to astonish us all by a simplicity that
+despised paint, patches, and powder, and captivate us all, as a kind of
+domestic shepherdesses."
+
+"It's too serious for jesting about, Dan; for I doubt if I have not
+offended some of the oldest friends I had in the world."
+
+"I hope not," said MacNaghten, more seriously.
+
+"I am sadly afraid it is so, though," said my father. "You know the
+Fosbrokes are gone?"
+
+"Gone? When? I never heard of it!"
+
+"They 're gone. They left this about an hour ago. I must say it was very
+absurd of them. They ought to have made allowances for difference of
+country, habits, education; her very ignorance of the language should
+have been taken as an excuse. The Tisdalls I am less surprised at."
+
+"Are they gone too?"
+
+"Yes! and without a leave-taking,--except so far as a very dry note,
+dated five o'clock in the morning, may be taken for such, telling of
+sudden intelligence just received, immediate necessity, and so forth.
+But after Harvey Hepton, I ought to be astonished at nothing."
+
+"What of Harvey?" cried Dan, impatiently.
+
+"Why, he came into my room while I was dressing, and before I had time
+to ask the reason, he said,--
+
+"'Watty, you and I have been friends since our schooldays, and it would
+tell very badly for either, or both of us, if we quarrelled; and that no
+such ill-luck may befall us, I have come to say good-bye.'
+
+"'Good-bye! but on what account?' exclaimed I.
+
+"'Faith, I 'd rather you 'd guess my reason than ask me for it, Watty.
+You well know how, in our bachelor days, I used to think this house half
+my own. I came and went as often without an invitation as with one; and
+as to supposing that I was not welcome, it would as soon have occurred
+to me to doubt of my identity. Now, however, we are both married.
+Matters are totally changed; nor does it follow, however we might wish
+it so, that our wives will like each other as well as you and I do.'
+
+"'I see, Harvey,' said I, interrupting him, 'Mrs. Hepton is offended at
+my wife's want of attention to her guests; but will not so amiable and
+clever a person as Mrs. Hepton make allowances for inexperience, a new
+country, a strange language, her very youth,--she is not eighteen?'
+
+"'I'm sure my wife took no ill-natured view of the case. I 'm certain
+that if she alone were concerned,--that is, I mean, if she herself were
+the only sufferer--'
+
+"'So, then, it seems there is a copartnery in this misfortune,' broke I
+in, half angrily, for I was vexed to hear an old friend talk like some
+frumpy, antiquated dowager.
+
+"'That's exactly the case, Watty,' said he, calmly. 'Your friends will
+go their way, sadly enough, perhaps, but not censoriously; but others
+will not be so delicately minded, and there will be plenty rude enough
+to say, Who and what is she that treats us all in this fashion?'
+
+"Yes, Dan," cried my father, with a flushed brow and an eye flashing
+with passion, "he said those words to me, standing where you stand this
+instant! I know nothing more afterwards. I believe he said something
+about old friendship and school-days, but I heard it imperfectly, and I
+was relieved when he was gone, and that I could throw myself down into
+that chair, and thank God that I had not insulted an old friend under my
+own roof. It would actually seem as if some evil influence were over the
+place. The best-tempered have become cross; the good-natured have grown
+uncharitable; and even the shrewd fellows that at least know life and
+manners have actually exhibited themselves as totally deficient in the
+commonest elements of judgment. Just think of Rutledge,--who, if not a
+very clever fellow, should, at all events, have picked up some share of
+luck by his position,--just fancy what he has done: he has actually had
+the folly--I might well give it a worse name--to go to Curtis and ask
+him to make some kind of apology to the Duke for his rude refusal of
+leave to shoot over his estate,--a piece of impertinence that Curtis
+has never ceased to glory in and boast of; a refusal that the old fellow
+has, so to say, lived on ever since,--to ask him to retract and excuse
+it! I have no exact knowledge of what passed between them,--indeed, I
+only know what his Grace himself told me,--but Curtis's manner must have
+been little short of outrage; and the only answer Rutledge could obtain
+from him was: 'Did your master send you with this message to me?'--a
+question, I fancy, the other was not disposed to answer. The upshot,
+however, was, that as the Duke was taking his walk this morning, after
+breakfast, he suddenly came upon Curtis, who was evidently waiting for
+him. If the Duke did not give me very exact details of the interview, I
+am left to conjecture from his manner that it must have been one of no
+common kind. 'Your friend,' said his Grace, 'was pleased to tell me what
+he called some home truths; he took a rapid survey of the acts of the
+Government, accompanying it with a commentary as little flattering
+as may be; he called us all by very hard names, and did not spare our
+private characters. In fact, as he himself assured me, fearing so good
+an opportunity might not readily present itself of telling me a piece
+of his mind, he left very little unsaid on any topic that he could
+think of, concluding with a most meaning intimation that although he had
+refused me the shooting of his woodcocks, he would be charmed to afford
+me the opportunity of another kind of sport,--I suppose he meant a
+better mark for me to aim at; and so he left me.' Though nothing could
+possibly be in better taste or temper than the Duke's recital of the
+scene, it was easy to see that he was sorely pained and offended by it.
+Indeed, he wound up by regretting that a very urgent necessity would
+recall him at once to town, and a civil assurance that he 'd not fail to
+complete his visit at some more fortunate opportunity. I turned at once
+to seek out Curtis, and learn his version of the affair; but he and
+Ffrench had already taken their departure, this brief note being all
+their leave-taking:--
+
+  "Dear Watty,--In your father's, and indeed in your
+  grandfather's, day one was pretty sure what company might be
+  met with under your roof. I 'm sorry to see times are
+  changed, and deeply deplore that your circumstances make it
+  necessary for you to fill your house with Government hacks,
+  spies, and informers. Take my word for it, honest men and
+  their wives won't like such associates; and though they
+  sneer now at the Grinder's daughter, she 'll be the best of
+  your company ere long.
+
+  "My compliments to his Grace, and say I hope he 'll not
+  forget that I have promised him some shooting.
+
+  "Yours truly,
+
+  "M. Curtis.
+
+"A line from Ffrench followed:--
+
+  "D. W.,--As I came with Curtis, I must go with him; but I
+  hope soon to see you, and explain some things which I grieve
+  to defer even for a short time.
+
+"Now, Dan, I ask you, is this courteous,--is it even fair and manly?
+They see me endeavoring to bring men together socially who, whatever
+their political differences, might yet learn to know and esteem each
+other in private. They comprehend all the difficulty imposed by my
+wife's extreme youth and inexperience; and this is the aid they give
+me! But I know well what it means! The whole thing is part and parcel
+of that tyranny that a certain set of fellows have exercised over this
+country for the last century. A blind, misguided, indiscriminate hatred
+of England and of Englishmen is their only notion of a policy, and
+they'd stop short at nothing in their stupid animosity. They've mistaken
+their man, however, this time. Egad! they ought to have tried some other
+game before they ventured to bully me. In their blind ignorance, they
+fancied that because I entertained a Viceroy, I must necessarily be
+a Castle hack. Faith, if I become so yet, they 've only themselves to
+thank for it. As it is, I had no sooner read that note than I hastened
+downstairs to seek the Duke, and just overtook him in the shrubbery. I
+told him frankly the indignation I felt at a dictation which I suffered
+no man to assume towards me. I said more,--I assured him that no sneers
+of party, nor any intimidation of a set, should ever prevent me giving
+the Government a support whenever the measures were such as in my
+conscience I approved of. I am the more free to say so, because I want
+nothing,--I would accept of nothing from them; and I went so far as
+to say as much. 'I 'll never insult you with an offer, Carew,' was the
+Duke's reply to me, and we shook hands on our bargain!"
+
+"It was that very shake-hands alarmed me!" said Dan, gravely; "I saw it
+from the window, and guessed there was something in the wind!"
+
+"Come, come, Dan, it's not in your nature to be suspectful; you could
+n't possibly suppose--"
+
+"I never lose time in suspecting anybody," broke in MacNaghten; "but
+indeed it's not worth any one's while to plot against me! I only say,
+Watty, don't be hurried away by any momentary anger with Curtis and
+the like of him. You have a fine position, don't wreck it out of a mere
+pique!"
+
+"I 'll go abroad again! I 've lived too long out of this wasps' nest to
+endure the eternal buzzing and stinging that goes on around me."
+
+"I think you 're right there," said MacNaghten.
+
+My father made no reply, and looked anything but pleased at the ready
+concurrence in his plan.
+
+"We shall never understand them, nor they us," said he, peevishly, after
+a pause.
+
+MacNaghten nodded an affirmative.
+
+"The Duke, of course, then, remains here?" said Dan, after a pause.
+
+"Of course he does not," replied my father, pettishly; "he has announced
+to me the urgent necessity of his return to Dublin, nor do I see that
+anything has since occurred to alter that contingency."
+
+The tone in which he had spoken these words showed not only how he
+felt the taunt implied in Dan's remark, but how sincerely to his own
+conscience he acknowledged its justice. There was no doubt of it! My
+father's patriotism, that withstood all the blandishments of "Castle"
+flattery, all the seductions of power, and all the bright visions of
+ambition, had given way under the impulse of a wounded self-love. That
+men so inferior to him should dictate and control his actions, presume
+to influence his whole conduct, and even exercise rule in his household,
+gave him deep offence, coming as it did at a moment when his spirit
+was chafed by disappointment; and thus, he that could neither have been
+bribed nor bought was entrapped by a trick and an accident.
+
+Every one knows that there are little social panics as there are
+national ones,--terrors for which none can account, leading to actions
+for which none can give the reason; so here, all of a sudden, all the
+guests discovered that they had reached the limit of their stay: some
+had to hasten home to receive visitors, others were engaged elsewhere;
+there were innumerable calls of duty, and affection, and business, all
+uttered with the accustomed sincerity, and listened to by my father
+with a cold acquiescence which assuredly gave no fresh obstacles to the
+departures.
+
+As for my mother, her graciousness at the leave-takings only served to
+increase the displeasure her former indifference had created. It seemed
+as if her courtesy sprung out of the pleasure of being free from her
+guests; and as she uttered some little polite phrase in her broken
+language to each, the recipients looked anything but flattered at the
+alteration of her manner. The Viceroy alone seemed to accept these
+civilities literally; he vowed that he had never enjoyed three days more
+in his life; that Castle Carew and its hospitalities would hold the very
+first place in his future recollections of Ireland: these and such like,
+uttered with the very best of manners, and with all the influence which
+rank could bestow, actually delighted my mother, who was not slow
+to contrast the high-bred tone of the great personage with the less
+flattering deportment of her other guests.
+
+It would not be a very pleasing task were we to play the eavesdropper,
+and, following the various carriages of the departing company, hear the
+comments now so freely bestowed on the host of Castle Carew. It is true
+some were kind-hearted enough to see all the difficulties of my father's
+position in the true light, and to hope that by time and a little
+management these might be overcome.
+
+There were others less generous; but what they said it would be scarcely
+more graceful of me to repeat; enough that my mother was the especial
+mark of the strictures,--the censure of my father went no further than
+compassion! And oh, dear! when the world condescends to compassion,
+what execration is equal to it! How beautifully it draws up the full
+indictment of your failings, that it may extend its clemency to each!
+How carefully does it discriminate between your depravity and your
+weakness, that it may not wrong you! But how cutting is the hopefulness
+it expresses for your future, by suggesting some utterly impossible road
+for your reformation!
+
+And now they were all gone,--all except Polly Fagan and MacNaghten; but
+Dan, indeed, was part of the household, and came and went as he liked.
+Fagan had sent his carriage to Bray to meet his daughter, as had been
+agreed upon; but a letter from Polly came to say that Madame Carew had
+pressed her with so much kindness to remain, and that she herself was
+so happy, that she sincerely hoped the permission might be accorded her.
+The note concluded by stating that Mr. Carew would visit Dublin by the
+end of the week, and take that opportunity of leaving her at home.
+
+"Oh, que nous sommes bien, ainsi!" exclaimed my mother, as the little
+party of four sat down to dinner; and all seemed to applaud the
+sentiment but my father, who seemed far more thoughtful and grave than
+his wont. Even this, however, threw no gloom over the rest, who were in
+the very happiest and best of humors. My mother was in all the ecstasy
+of her now joyous nature, suddenly emancipated from the toilsome
+drudgery of a duty she disliked. Polly, flattered by the tone of perfect
+equality extended to her, and by the unequivocal preference of my mother
+for her, hourly developed more and more of those graces which only
+needed opportunity for their growth, and displayed charms of manner
+and resources of mind that actually delighted her companions; while in
+MacNaghten's happy nature and gay-heartedness there was the only other
+element wanting to make the party a most pleasant one.
+
+The arrival of the letter-bag--that little moment which in every country
+household forms the privileged interruption to every care and every
+amusement--broke suddenly in upon their carouse; and as my father
+unlocked the precious sack, each looked eagerly for his share of the
+contents.
+
+"All for myself, I see," muttered he; "nothing but 'Walter Carew' here.
+Your creditors are forgetting you, Dan,--not even a note of reminder or
+remonstrance. Silence, of course, means consent, Miss Polly: your father
+says nothing against your stay. But what is this, Josephine? This looks
+as if meant for you; but it has been sent over half the post-offices of
+the kingdom, with 'Try Compton Basset, Caresfort, and Chirck Castle,' I
+believe this is; there's no making out the address."
+
+"Plain enough, I think," cried MacNaghten; "it is, 'Madame la Comtesse
+de Carew, a son Chateau, ou en Ville, Irlande.'"
+
+"At all events, it is for me," said my mother, breaking the seal with
+impatience. Scarcely had she opened the letter when she exclaimed, "Oh,
+la bonne chance,--only think, Walter, here is Emile de Gabriac coming to
+Ireland!"
+
+"You forget, dearest, that I have never seen him," said my father,
+dryly.
+
+"Does that signify?" said she, with enthusiastic rapidity. "Is he
+not known over all Europe by reputation? That dear Emile, so good, so
+generous, so handsome, so full of accomplishments,--rides so perfectly,
+sings so beautifully. Ah, ma chere, c'est fait de vous," said she to
+Polly, "when you see him."
+
+Polly only smiled and bowed, with an arch look of submission, while my
+father broke in,--
+
+"But how comes it that so much brilliancy should waste itself on the
+unprofitable atmosphere of Ireland? What is bringing him here?"
+
+My mother continued to read on, heedless of the question, not, however,
+without showing by her countenance the various emotions which the letter
+excited; for while, at times, her color came and went, and her eyes
+filled with tears, a smile would pass suddenly across her features, and
+at last a merry burst of laughter stopped her. "Shall I read it for you?"
+cried she, "for it will save me a world of explanations. This is dated
+from our dear old country-house on the Loire, Chateau de Lesieux:--
+
+"'April 20th.
+
+"'Ma chere et ma belle Fifine,"--he always called me Fifine when we were
+children. ["Humph!" muttered my father, "read on!" and she resumed:] 'Ma
+belle Fifine,--
+
+"'How the dear name recalls happy hours, gay, buoyant, and brilliant with
+all that could make life a paradise! when we were both so much in love
+with all the world, and, consequently, with each other!' Ah, oui,"
+exclaimed she, in a tone so perfectly simple as to make MacNaghten burst
+out into a laugh, which Polly with difficulty refrained from joining.--
+"'You,'" continued she, reading, "'you, ma belle, have doubtless grown
+wiser; but I remain the same dreamy, devoted thing you once knew me.
+Well, perhaps we may soon have an opportunity to talk over all this; and
+so now no more of it. You may perhaps have heard--I cannot guess what
+news may or may not reach you in your far-away solitudes--that the Cour
+de Cassation has decided against me, and that, consequently, they have
+not only rejected my claim, but have actually questioned my right to
+the domain of Chasse Loups and the famous jewels which my grandfather
+received from Isabella of Spain.
+
+"'They say--I 'm not going to worry you with details, but they say
+something to this effect--that as we were engaged with Law in that
+great scheme of his,--the Mississippi affair they called it,--we stand
+responsible, in all that we possess, to the creditors or the heirs, as
+if we ourselves were not the greatest losers by that charlatan of the
+Rue Quincampoix! Perhaps you never heard of that notorious business, nor
+knew of a time when all Paris went mad together, and bartered everything
+of price and value for the worthless scrip of a mountebank's invention.
+How sorry I am, dearest Fifine, to tease you with all this, but I cannot
+help it. They have found--that is, the lawyers--that there are two
+parties in existence whose claims extend to our poor old chateau by some
+private arrangement contracted between my grandfather and the then Duc
+d'Orleans. One of these is Louis's own son, now living at Venice; the
+other--you'll scarcely believe me--yourself! Yes, my dear cousin, you
+possess a part right over Chasse Loups. There was a day when you might
+have had the whole I--not my fault that it was not so!'"
+
+"Is this a lover's letter, or a lawyer's, Josephine?" said my father,
+dryly.
+
+"Ah, you cannot understand Emile," said she, artlessly; "he is so unlike
+the rest of the world, poor fellow! But I 'll read on.
+
+"'It all comes to this, Fifine: you must give me a release, so they
+call it, and Louis, if I can find him out, must do something of the same
+kind; for I am going to be married'--[she paused for a few seconds, and
+then read on] 'to be married to Mademoiselle de Nipernois, sister of
+Charles de Nipernois. When you went, remember, as a page to the Queen,
+you never saw ma belle Hortense, for she was educated at Bruges. Alas,
+oui! so is my episode to end also! Meanwhile I 'm coming to see you, to
+obtain your signature to these tiresome papers, and to be, for a while
+at least, out of the way, since I have been unlucky enough to wound
+Auguste Vallaume seriously, I 'm afraid,--all his own fault, however, as
+I will tell you at another time. Now, can you receive me,--I mean is it
+convenient? Will it be in any way unpleasant? Does le bon mari like or
+dislike us French? Will he be jealous of our cousinage?'"
+
+"On the score of frankness, Josephine, you may tell him I have nothing
+to complain of," broke in my father, dryly.
+
+"Is it not so?" rejoined my mother. "Emile is candor itself." She read:
+"'At all hazards, I shall try, Fifine. If he does not like me, he must
+banish me. The difficulty will be to know where; for I have debts on all
+sides, and nothing but marriage will set me right. Droll enough, that
+one kind of slavery is to be the refuge for another. Some of your
+husband's old associates here tell me he is charming,--that he was the
+delight of all the society at one time. Tell me all about him. I can
+so readily like anything that belongs to you, I 'm prepared already to
+esteem him.'"
+
+"Most flattering," murmured my father.
+
+"'It will be too late, dear cousin, to refuse me; for when this
+reaches you, I shall be already on the way to your mountains.--Are they
+mountains, by the way?--So then make up your mind to my visit, with
+the best grace you can. I should fill this letter with news of all
+our friends and acquaintances here, but that I rely upon these very
+narratives to amuse you when we meet,--not that there is anything very
+strange or interesting to recount. People marry, and quarrel, and make
+love, fight, go in debt, and die, in our enlightened age, without the
+slightest advancement on the wisdom of our ancestors; and except that we
+think very highly of ourselves, and very meanly of all others, I do not
+see that we have made any considerable progress in our knowledge.
+
+"'I am all eagerness to see you once again. Are you altered?--I hope and
+trust not. Neither fatter nor thinner, nor paler, nor more carnation,
+than I knew you; not graver, I could swear. No, ma chere cousine, yours
+was ever a nature to extract brightness from what had been gloom to
+others. What a happy inspiration was it of that good Monsieur Carew to
+relieve the darkness of his native climate by such brilliancy!
+
+"'Still, how many sacrifices must this banishment have cost you! Do not
+deny it, Fifine. If you be not very much in love, this desolation must
+be a heavy infliction. I have just been looking at the map, and the
+whole island has an air of indescribable solitude and remoteness, and
+much further distant from realms of civilization than I fancied.
+You must be my guide, Fifine; I will accept of no other to all those
+wonderful sea-caves and coral grottoes which I hear so much of! What
+excursions am I already planning! what delicious hours, floating over
+the blue sea, beneath those gigantic cliffs that even in a woodcut look
+stupendous! And so you live almost entirely upon fish! I must teach your
+chef some Breton devices in cookery. My old tutor, who was a cure at
+Scamosse, taught me to dress soles "en gratin," with two simple herbs to
+be found everywhere; so that, like Vincent de Paul, I shall be extending
+the blessings of cultivation in the realms of barbarism. I picture you
+strolling along the yellow beach, or standing storm-lashed on some lone
+rock, with your favorite pet seal at your feet.'"
+
+"Is the gentleman an idiot, or is he only ignorant?" broke in my father.
+
+My mother gave a glance of half-angry astonishment, and resumed: "'A
+thousand pardons, ma chere et bonne; but, with my habitual carelessness,
+I have been looking at Iceland, and not Ireland, on the map. You will
+laugh, I'm certain; but confess how natural was the mistake, how similar
+the names, how like are they, perhaps, in other respects. At all events,
+I cannot alter what I have written; it shall go, if only to let you have
+one more laugh at that silly Emile, whose blunders have so often amused
+you. Pray do not tell your "dear husband" of my mistake, lest his
+offended nationality should take umbrage; and I am resolved--yes,
+Fifine, I am determined on his liking me.'"
+
+My father's face assumed an expression here that was far too much for
+MacNaghten's gravity; but my mother read on, unconcerned: "'And now I
+have but to say when I shall be with you. It may be about the 12th--not
+later than the 20th--of next month. I shall take no one but Francois
+with me; I shall not even bring the dogs, only Jocasse, my monkey,--for
+whom, by the way, I beg to bespeak a quiet room, with a south aspect.
+I hope the climate will not injure him; but Dr. Reynault has given me
+numerous directions about his clothing, and a receipt for a white wine
+posset that he assures me will be very bracing to his nervous system.
+You have no idea how susceptible he has grown latterly about noise
+and tumult. The canaille have taken to parade the streets, singing and
+shouting their odious songs, and Jocasse has suffered much from the
+disturbance. I mentioned the fact to M. Mirabeau, whom I met at your
+aunt's the other night, and he remarked gravely, "It's a bad time for
+monkeys just now,--'singerie' has had its day." The expression struck
+me as a very hollow, if not a very heartless,' one; but I may say, en
+passant, that this same M. Mirabeau, whom it is the fashion to think
+clever and agreeable, is only abrupt and rude, with courage to say the
+coarse things that good-breeding retreats from! I am glad to find
+how thoroughly the Court dislikes him. They say that he has had the
+effrontery to tell the King the most disagreeable stories about popular
+discontent, distress, and so forth. I need scarcely say that he met the
+dignified rebuke such underbred observations merited.
+
+"'And now, Fifine, to say adieu until it be my happiness once again to
+embrace you and that dear Carew, who must have more good qualities than
+I have known centred in one individual, to deserve you. Think of me,
+dearest cousin, and do not forget Jocasse.'"
+
+"The association will aid you much," said my father, dryly.
+
+"'Let him have a cheerful room, and put me anywhere, so that I have a
+place in your heart. Your dearly attached cousin,
+
+"'Emile de Gabriac.'"
+
+"Is that all?" asked my father, as she concluded.
+
+"A few words on the turn-down: 'Hortense has just sent me her picture.
+She is blond, but her eyes want color; the hair, too, is sandy, and not
+silky; the mouth--But why do I go on?--it is not Fifine's.'"
+
+"Our cousin is the most candid of mortals," said my father, quietly;
+"whatever opinion we may entertain of his other gifts, on the score of
+frankness he is unimpeachable. Don't you think so, Miss Polly?"
+
+"His letter is a most unreserved one, indeed," said she, cautiously.
+
+And now a silence fell on all, for each was following out in his own way
+some train of thought suggested by the Count's letter. As if to change
+the current of his reflections, my father once more turned to the
+letter-bag, and busied himself running hastily over some of the many
+epistles addressed to him. Apparently there was little to interest or
+amuse amongst them, for he threw them from him half read,--some, indeed,
+when he had but deciphered the writers' names; one short note from
+Hackett, his man of business, alone seemed to excite his attention, and
+this he read over twice.
+
+"Look at that, Dan," said he, handing the paper to MacNaghten, who,
+walking to the window slowly, perused the following lines:--
+
+  "Dear Sir,--In accordance with the directions contained in
+  your note of Friday last, and handed to me by Mr. Fagan, I
+  placed at his disposal all the deeds and securities at
+  present in my possession, for him to select such as would
+  appear sufficient guarantee for the sum advanced to you on
+  that day. I now beg to state that he has made choice of the
+  title to Lucksleven silver mine, and a bond of joint
+  mortgage over a French estate which I apprehend to form part
+  of the dowry of Madame Carew. I endeavored to induce him to
+  make choice of some other equally valuable document, not
+  knowing whether this selection might be to your satisfaction;
+  he, however, persisted, and referred to the tenor of your
+  note to substantiate his right. Of course, I could offer no
+  further opposition, and have now only to mention the
+  circumstance for your information. I have the honor to be,
+  dear sir, respectfully yours,
+
+  "E. Hackett."
+
+"Curious enough, that, Dan!" muttered my father. MacNaghten assented
+with a nod, and handed back the letter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. POLITICS AND NEWSPAPERS
+
+The venality and corruption which accomplished the Legislative Union
+between England and Ireland admit of as little doubt as of palliation.
+There was an epidemic of baseness over the land, and but few escaped the
+contagion. To whatever section of party an Irishman may belong, he never
+can cease to mourn over the degenerate temper of a time which exhibited
+the sad spectacle of a Legislature declaring its own downfall. Nor does
+the secret history of the measure offer much ground for consolation.
+
+And yet what a position did the Irish Parliament hold, but eighteen
+short years before that event! Never, perhaps, in the whole history of
+constitutional government was the stand of a representative body more
+boldly maintained, alike against the power and the secret influence of
+the Crown; and England, in all the plenitude of her glory and influence,
+was forced to declare the necessity of finally adjusting the differences
+between the two countries.
+
+The very admission of separate interests seemed a fatal confession,
+and might--had a more cautious temper swayed the counsels of the Irish
+party--have led to very momentous consequences; but in the enthusiasm
+of victory all thought of the spoils was forgotten. It was a moment
+of national triumph from which even the coldest could not withhold
+his sympathies. The "Dungannon Declaration" became at once the adopted
+sentiment of the national party, and it was agreed that Ireland was
+bound by no laws save such as her own Lords and Commons enacted.
+
+In the very crisis of this national enthusiasm was it that the Duke
+of Portland arrived as Viceroy in Ireland. His secret instructions
+counselled him to endeavor to prorogue the Parliament, and thus obtain a
+short breathing-time for future action. This policy, in the then temper
+of the people, was soon declared impossible. Mr. Grattan had already
+announced his intention of proposing a final settlement of the national
+differences by a "Bill of Rights," and the country would not brook any
+delay as to their expectations.
+
+But one other safe course remained, which was, by a seeming concurrence
+in the views of the Irish party, to affect that a change had come over
+the spirit of English legislation towards Ireland, and a sincere desire
+grown up to confirm her in the possession of "every privilege not
+inconsistent with the stability of the empire." Mr. Grattan was induced
+to see the Viceroy in private, and submit to his Grace his intended
+declaration of rights. Without conceding the slightest alteration in his
+plan, the great leader was evidently impressed by the conciliating tone
+of the Duke, and, with a generous credulity, led to believe in the most
+favorable dispositions of the Government towards Ireland. The measure in
+itself was so strong and so decisive that the Duke could not say how it
+would be received by his party. He had no time to ask for instructions,
+for Parliament was to assemble on the day but one after; and thus was
+he driven to a policy of secret influence,--the origin of that school of
+corruption which ultimately was to effect the doom of Irish nationality.
+
+I am sorry to be obliged to impose upon my reader even so much of a
+digression; but the requirements of my story demand it. I wish, as
+briefly, of course, as may be, to place before him a state of society
+wherein as yet the arts of corruption had made no great progress, and
+in which the open bribery of a subsequent time would have been perfectly
+impossible.
+
+This was in reality a great moment in Irish history. The patriotism of
+the nation had declared itself not less manfully than practically. The
+same avowal which pronounced independence also proclaimed the principles
+of free trade, and that the ports of Ireland were open to all foreign
+countries not at war with England. It is humiliating enough to contrast
+the patriotic spirit of those times with the miserable policy of popular
+leaders in our own day; but in the names of the men who then swayed
+her counsels we read some of the greatest orators and statesmen of our
+country,--a race worthy of nobler successors than those who now trade
+upon the wrongs of Ireland, and whose highest aspirations for their
+country are in the despotism of an ignorant and intolerant priesthood.
+
+The Duke of Portland was not ill suited to the task before him. A man of
+more shining abilities, one who possessed in a higher degree the tact of
+winning over his opponents, might have awakened suspicion and
+distrust; but his was precisely the stamp and temperament which suggest
+confidence; and in his moderate capacity and easy nature there seemed
+nothing to excite alarm. "Bonhomie"--shame that we must steal a French
+word for an English quality!--was his great characteristic; and all who
+came within the circle of his acquaintance felt themselves fascinated by
+his free and unpretending demeanor.
+
+To him was now intrusted the task of sowing schism among the members of
+the Irish party,--the last and only resource of the English Government
+to thwart the progress of national independence. The Opposition had
+almost every element of strength. Amongst them were the first and most
+brilliant orators of the day,--men trained to all the habits of debate,
+and thoroughly masters of all Irish questions. They possessed the entire
+confidence of the great body of the people, asserting, as they did, the
+views and sentiments of the country; and they were, what at that time
+had its own peculiar value, men of great boldness and intrepidity. There
+was but one feature of weakness in the whole party, and this was the
+almost inevitable jealousy which is sure to prevail where many men of
+great abilities are mixed up together, and where the success of a party
+must alternately depend upon qualities the most discrepant and opposite.
+The very purest patriotism is sure to assume something of the character
+of the individual; and in these varying tints of individuality the Irish
+Government had now to seek for the chance of instilling those doubts and
+hesitations which ultimately must lead to separation.
+
+Nor was this the only artifice to which they descended. They also
+invented a policy which in later days has been essayed with very
+indifferent success, which was, to outbid the national party in
+generosity, and to become actual benefactors where mere justice was
+asked at their hands,--a very dangerous game, which, however well
+adapted for a critical emergency, is one of the greatest peril as a line
+of policy and a system of government. In the spirit of this new tactic
+was it that Mr. Bagenal's motion to confer some great mark of national
+gratitude on Mr. Grattan was quickly followed by an offer of the Viceroy
+to bestow upon him the Viceregal palace in the Phoenix Park, as "a
+suitable residence for one who had conferred the greatest services on
+his country, and as the highest proof the Government could give of their
+value of such services." A proposal of such unbounded generosity was
+sure to dim the lustre of the popular enthusiasm, and at the same time
+cast a shadow of ministerial protection over the patriot himself, who,
+in the event of acceptance, would have been the recipient of royal, and
+not of national, bounty. And when, in fact, the grant of a sum of money
+was voted by Parliament, the splendor of the gift was sadly tarnished by
+the discussion that accompanied it!
+
+Enough has here been said to show the general policy of that short but
+eventful administration; and now to our story.
+
+My father's reception of the Viceroy had blazed in all the ministerial
+papers with a kind of triumphant announcement of the progress the
+Government were making in the esteem and confidence of the Irish gentry.
+Walter Carew was quoted as the representative of a class eminently
+national, and one most unlikely to be the mark for Castle intrigue
+or seduction. His large fortune was expatiated on, and an "authentic
+assurance" put forth that he had already refused the offer of being made
+a Privy Councillor. These statements were sure to provoke rejoinder. The
+national papers denied that the hospitalities of Castle Carew had any
+peculiar or political significance. It was very natural that one of the
+first of the gentry should receive the representative of his Sovereign
+with honor, and pay him every possible mark of respect and attention.
+But that Walter Carew had done any more than this, or had sacrificed
+anything of his old connection with his party, the best contradiction
+lay in the fact that his guests contained many of the very foremost and
+least compromising men of the Liberal party; and "Curtis" was quoted in
+a very conspicuous type as the shortest refutation of such a charge.
+
+It was, unfortunately, a moment of political inaction--a lull in the
+storm of Parliamentary conflict--when this discussion originated;
+and the newspapers were but too happy to have any theme to occupy the
+attention of their readers. The Castle press became more confident and
+insulting every day, and at last tauntingly asked why and how did this
+great champion of nationality,--Curtis,--take leave of Castle Carew?
+The question was unreplied to, and consequently appeared again, and
+in larger capitals, followed by an article full of innuendo and
+insinuation, and conveying the most impertinent allusions to the
+antiquated section of party to which Curtis belonged.
+
+It is notorious that a subject totally devoid of any interest in itself
+will, by the bare force of repetition, assume a degree of importance
+far above its due, and ultimately engage the sympathies of many for
+or against it. Such was the case here; certain personalities, that
+occasionally were thrown out, giving a piquancy to the controversy, and
+investing it with the attraction of town gossip. "Falkner's Journal,"
+"The Press," "The Post," and "The Freeman" appeared each morning
+with some new contribution on the same theme; and letters from, and
+contradictions to, "A Visitor at Castle Carew," continued to amuse the
+world of Dublin.
+
+The fashionable circles enjoyed recitals which contained the names of
+so many of their own set; the less distinguished were pleased with even
+such passing peeps at a world from which they were excluded; and thus
+the discussion very soon usurped the place of all other subjects in
+public interest.
+
+It was remarked throughout the controversy that the weight of authority
+lay all with the Castle press. Whatever bore the stamp of real
+information was on that side; and the national journals were left merely
+to guess and surmise, while their opponents made distinct assertions. At
+last, to the astonishment of the town, appeared a letter in "Falkner's
+Journal" from Curtis. He had been ill of the gout; and, as it seemed,
+had only become aware of the polemic the preceding day. Indeed, the tone
+of the epistle showed that the irritability consequent on his malady
+was still over him. After a brief explanation of his silence, he went on
+thus:
+
+"The Castle hacks have asked, Why and how did Curtis take his leave of
+Castle Carew? Now, without inquiring by what right these low scullions
+presume to put such a question, I 'll tell them: Curtis left when he
+discovered the company by whom he was surrounded; when he found that
+he should sit down at the same table with a knavish pack of English
+adventurers, bankrupt in character, and beggars in pocket.
+
+"When he saw the house where his oldest friend in the world was wont
+to gather round him all that was eminently Irish, and where a generous
+hospitality developed a hearty and noble conviviality, converted into a
+den of scheming and intriguing politicians, seeking to snare support by
+low flattery, or to entrap a vote, in the confidence of the bottle; when
+he saw this, and more than this,--that the best names and the best blood
+in the land were slighted, in order to show some special and peculiar
+attention to vulgar wealth or still more vulgar pretension, Curtis
+thought it high time to take his leave. This is the why; and as to the
+how, he went away in the same old conveniency that he arrived by; and,
+though drawn by a sorry hack, and driven by a ragged Irishman, he felt
+prouder as he sat in it than if his place had been beside a duke in the
+king's livery, with a coach paid for out of the pockets of the people.
+
+"This is the answer, therefore, to your correspondent. And if he wants
+any further information, will you tell him that it will be more in
+accordance with the habits of Irish gentlemen if he'll address himself
+personally to Mr. Curtis, 12, Ely Place, than by any appeal in the
+columns of a newspaper.
+
+"And now, Mr. Editor, a word for yourself and the others. I know nothing
+about the habits of your order, nor the etiquette of the press; but this
+I do know: I am a private gentleman, living, so far, at least, as you
+and the like of you are concerned, out of the world; I am very unlikely
+to fill a paragraph either among the marriages or the births; and
+if--mark me well, for I am not joking--you, or any of you, print my name
+again in your pages, except to announce my decease, I will break every
+bone in your body; and this 'without prejudice,' as the attorneys say,
+to any future proceedings I may reserve for your correspondent."
+
+None who knew Curtis doubted for an instant the authenticity of this
+letter, though many at the time fancied it must be a queer quiz upon
+his style. The effect of it was, however, marvellous; for, in the most
+implicit confidence that he meant to keep his word, his name entirely
+dropped out of the discussion, which, however, raged as violently, if
+not more violently, than ever. Personalities of the most offensive kind
+were interchanged; and the various guests were held up, with little
+histories of their private life, by the journals of one side or the
+other.
+
+Up to this moment my father's name had never been regularly introduced
+into the discussion. Regrets, it is true, were insinuated that he
+who could afford the shortest and most satisfactory explanations of
+everything should not condescend to give the public such information. It
+was deplored that one who so long enjoyed the confidence of the national
+party should feel himself bound to maintain a silence on questions which
+a few words would suffice to make intelligible. Gradually these regrets
+grew into remonstrances, and even threatened to become reproach.
+Anonymous letters, in the same spirit, were addressed to him in great
+numbers; but they all failed in their object,--for the best reason, that
+my father saw none of them. A feverish cold, attended with some return
+of an old gout attack, had confined him to bed for some weeks, so that
+he had never heard of the controversy; all the newspapers, filled as
+they were with it, having been cautiously withheld from him by the
+careful watchfulness of MacNaghten.
+
+Such was the state of matters as my father, still weak from his attack,
+descended, for the first time, to the drawing-room. MacNaghten had
+persuaded my mother to accompany him on a short drive through the
+grounds, when my father, whom they had left in his room, thought he
+would make an effort to get downstairs, and surprise them on their
+return. He was seated at an open window that looked out upon a
+flower-garden, enjoying, with all an invalid's relish, the balmy air of
+a summer's day, and feeling as if he drank in health at every stir
+of the leaves by the light wind. His illness had not only greatly
+debilitated him, but had even induced a degree of indolent inaction
+very foreign to the active habit of his mind in health; and instead of
+experiencing his wonted curiosity to know what the world had been doing
+during his illness, he was actually happy in the thought of the perfect
+repose he was enjoying, undisturbed by a single care. The rattling of
+wheels on the ground at last gave token of some one coming, and a few
+moments after, my father heard the sound of voices in the hall. Resolved
+to deny himself to all strangers, he had risen to reach the bell, when
+the door opened, and Rutledge entered.
+
+"Why, they told me you were in bed, Carew," cried he, endeavoring by a
+half-jocular manner to conceal the shock my father's wasted appearance
+imparted. "They said I could not possibly see you, so that I had to send
+up a few lines on my card to say how urgently I wished it, and meanwhile
+came in to await your answer."
+
+"They only said truly," muttered my father. "I have crept down to-day
+for the first time, and I 'm not quite sure that I have done prudently."
+
+"What has it been?--gout--rheumatic fever?"
+
+"Neither; a bad cold neglected, and then an old ague on the back of it."
+
+"And of course the fellows have bled and blistered you, without mercy.
+My medical skill is borrowed from the stable: hot mashes and double
+body-clothes are generally enough for a common attack. But rich fellows
+like you cannot get off so cheaply. And madam--how is she?"
+
+"Perfectly well, thank you. And how are all your friends?"
+
+"As well as men can be who are worried and badgered every hour of the
+twenty-four. It 's no use in sending Englishmen here, they are never
+trusted! I don't believe it's possible to find an honester man, nor a
+truer friend to Ireland, than Portland; but his Saxon blood is quite
+enough to mar his utility and poison every effort he makes to be of
+service."
+
+"The children are paying off the scores of their fathers, Rutledge.
+The sentiment that has taken some centuries to mature, can scarcely be
+treated like a mere prejudice."
+
+"Very true; but what bad policy it is--as policy--to obstruct the flow
+of concessions, even coming from a suspected channel. It 's rather too
+hard to criticise them for doing the very things we ask them."
+
+"I have not looked into a newspaper these few weeks," said my father,
+half wearied of the theme.
+
+"So that you know nothing, then, of--" He stopped short, for he just
+caught himself in time.
+
+"I know nothing whatever of the events that have occurred in that
+interval; and--however inglorious the confession, Rutledge, I must make
+it--I 'd almost as soon live over my attack again as hear them. Take it
+as a sick man's peevishness or sound philosophy, as you may; but, in the
+jarring, squabbling world we live in, there 's nothing so good as to let
+bygones be bygones."
+
+"That's taking for granted that anything is ever a 'bygone,' Walter;
+but, faith, my experience says that we are feeling, to the end of
+centuries, the results of the petty mischances that befell us in the
+beginning of them."
+
+My father sighed, but it was more in weariness than sorrow; and Rutledge
+said,--
+
+"I came out to have a long chat with you, Walter, about various things;
+but I fear talking fatigues you."
+
+"It does fatigue me,--I'm not equal to it," said my father, faintly.
+
+"It's unlucky too," said the other, half peevishly, "one so seldom
+can catch you alone; and though MacNaghten is the best fellow in the
+world--"
+
+"You must still say nothing against him, at least in my hearing," added
+my father, as if to finish the sentence for him.
+
+"I was only going to observe that in all that regards politics--"
+
+"Pardon my interrupting you again," broke in my father, "but Dan never
+pretended to know anything about them; nor is it likely that a fellow
+that felt the turf a contamination will try to cultivate his morals by
+the intrigues of party."
+
+Rutledge affected to laugh at the sneering remark, and after a moment
+resumed,--
+
+"Do you know, then, it was precisely about that very subject of politics
+I came out to talk with you to-day. The Duke told me of the generous way
+you expressed yourself to him during his visit here, and that although
+not abating anything of your attachment to what you feel a national
+cause, you never would tie yourself hand and foot to party, but
+stand free to use your influence at the dictates of your own honest
+conviction. Now, although there is no very important question at issue,
+there are a number of petty, irritating topics kept continually before
+Parliament by the Irish party, which, without the slightest pretension
+to utility, are used as means of harassing and annoying the Government."
+
+"I never heard of this before, Rutledge; but I know well, if the measures
+you speak of have Grattan and Flood and Ponsonby, and others of the same
+stamp, to support them, they are neither frivolous nor contemptible;
+and if they be not advocated by the leaders of the Irish party, you can
+afford to treat them with better temper."
+
+"Be that as it may, Walter, the good men of the party do not side with
+these fellows. But I see all this worries you, so let 's forget it!" And
+so, taking a turn through the room, he stopped opposite a racing print,
+and said: "Poor old Gadfly, how she reminds me of old times! going along
+with her head low, and looking dead-beat when she was just coming to her
+work. That was the best mare ever you had, Carew!"
+
+"And yet I lost heavily on her," said my father, with a half sigh.
+
+"Lost! Why the report goes that you gained above twenty thousand by her
+the last year she ran."
+
+"'Common report,' as Figaro says, 'is a common liar;' my losses were
+very nearly one-half more! It was a black year in my life. I began it
+badly in Ireland, and ended it worse abroad!"
+
+The eager curiosity with which Rutledge listened, suddenly caught my
+father's attention, and he stopped short, saying: "These are old stories
+now, and scarcely worth remembering. But here comes my wife; she 'll be
+glad to see you, and hear all the news of the capital, for she has been
+leading a stupid life of it these some weeks back."
+
+However uneasy my mother and MacNaghten might have been lest Rutledge
+should have alluded to the newspaper attacks, they were soon satisfied
+on that point, and the evening passed over pleasantly in discussing the
+sayings and doings of the Dublin world.
+
+It was late when Rutledge rose to take his leave, and my father had
+so far rallied by the excitement of conversation that he already felt
+himself restored to health; and his last words to his guest at parting
+were,--
+
+"I'll call and see you, Rutledge, before the week is over."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. SHOWING THAT "WHAT IS CRADLED IN SHAME IS HEARSED IN
+SORROW."
+
+Accustomed all his life to the flattery which surrounds a position of
+some eminence, my father was not a little piqued at the coldness of
+his friends during his illness. The inquiries after him were neither
+numerous nor hearty. Some had called once or twice to ask how he was;
+others had written brief excuses for their absence; and many contented
+themselves with hearing that it was a slight attack, which a few days
+would see the end of. Perhaps there were not many men in the kingdom
+less given to take umbrage at trifles than my father. Naturally disposed
+to take the bold and open line of action in every affair of life, he
+never suspected the possibility of a covert insult; and that any one
+could cherish ill-feeling to another, without a palpable avowal
+of hostility, was a thing above his conception. At any other time,
+therefore, this negligence, or indifference, or whatever it was,
+would not have occasioned him a moment's unpleasantness. He would have
+explained it to himself in a dozen ways, if it ever occurred to him to
+require explanation. Now, however, he was irritable from the effects of
+a malady peculiarly disposed to ruffle nervous susceptibility; while
+the chagrin of the late Viceregal visit, and its abrupt termination, was
+still over him. There are little eras in the lives of the best-tempered
+men, when everything is viewed in wrong and discordant colors, and when,
+by a perverse ingenuity, they seek out reasons for their own unhappiness
+in events and incidents that have no possible bearing on the question.
+Having once persuaded himself that his friends were faithless to him, he
+set about accounting for it by every casuistry he could think of. I have
+lived too long abroad; I have mixed too much in the great world, thought
+he, to be able to conform to this small and narrow circle. I am not
+local enough for them. I cannot trade on the petty prejudices they love
+to cherish, and which they foolishly think means being national. My
+wider views of life are a rebuke to their pettiness; and it 's clear we
+do not suit each other. To preserve my popularity I should have lived at
+home, and married at home; never soared beyond a topic of Irish growth,
+and voted at the tail of those two or three great men who comprise
+within themselves all that we know of Irish independence. "Even idolatry
+would be dear at that price," cried he, aloud, at the end of his
+reflections,--bitter and unpleasant reveries in which he had been sunk
+as he travelled up to town some few days after the events related in the
+last chapter.
+
+Matters of business with his law agent had called him to the capital,
+where he expected to be detained for a day or two. My mother had not
+accompanied him, her state of health at the time requiring rest
+and quietude. Alone, an invalid, and in a frame of, to him, unusual
+depression, he arrived at his hotel at nightfall. It was not the
+"Drogheda Arms," where he stopped habitually, but the "Clare," a smaller
+and less frequented house in the same street, and where he hoped to
+avoid meeting with his ordinary acquaintances.
+
+Vexed with everything, even to the climate, to which he wrongfully
+ascribed the return of his malady, he was bent on making immediate
+arrangements to leave Ireland, and forever. His pecuniary affairs were,
+it is true, in a condition of great difficulty and embarrassment; still,
+with every deduction, a very large income, or at least what for the
+Continent would be thought so, would remain; and with this he determined
+to go abroad and seek out some spot more congenial to his tastes and
+likings, and, as he also fancied, more favorable to his health.
+
+The hotel was almost full, and my father with difficulty obtained
+a couple of rooms; and even for these he was obliged to await the
+departure of the occupant, which he was assured would take place
+immediately. In the mean while, he had ordered his supper in the
+coffee-room, where now he was seated, in one of those gloomy looking
+stalls which in those times were supposed to comprise all that could be
+desired of comfort and isolation.
+
+It was, indeed, a new thing for him to find himself thus,--he, the rich,
+the flattered, the high-spirited, the centre of so much worship and
+adulation, whose word was law upon the turf, and whose caprices gave the
+tone to fashion, the solitary occupant of a dimly lighted division in a
+public coffee-room, undistinguished and unknown. There was something
+in the abrupt indifference of the waiter that actually pleased him,
+ministering, as it did, to the self-tormentings of his reflections. All
+seemed to say, "This is what you become when stripped of the accidents
+of wealth and fortune,--these are your real claims." There was no
+deference to him there. He had asked for the newspaper, and been curtly
+informed "that 'Falkner' was engaged by the gentleman in the next box;"
+so was he left to his own lucubrations, broken in upon only by the
+drowsy, monotonous tone of his neighbor in the adjoining stall, who was
+reading out the paper to a friend. Either the reader had warmed into a
+more distinct elocution, or my father's ears had become more susceptible
+by habit, but at length he found himself enabled to overhear the
+contents of the journal, which seemed to be a rather flippant criticism
+on a late debate in the Irish House of Commons.
+
+A motion had been made by the Member for Cavan for leave to bring in
+a bill to build ships of war for Ireland,--a proposition so palpably
+declaring a separate and independent nationality that it not only
+incurred the direct opposition of Government, but actually met with the
+disapprobation of the chief men of the Liberal party, who saw all the
+injury that must accrue to just and reasonable demands, by a course of
+policy thus exaggerated. "Falkner" went even further; for he alleged
+that the motion was a trick of the Castle party, who were delighted to
+see the patriots hastening their own destruction, by a line of action
+little short of treason. The arguments of the journalist in support of
+this view were numerous and acute. He alleged the utter impossibility
+of the measure ever being accepted by the House, or sanctioned by the
+Crown. He showed its insufficiency for the objects proposed, were
+it even to become law; and, lastly, he proceeded to display all the
+advantages the Government might derive from every passing source of
+disunion amongst the Irish party,--schisms which, however insignificant
+at first, were daily widening into fatal breaches of all confidence. His
+last argument was based on the fact that had the Ministry anticipated
+any serious trouble by the discussion, they would never have displayed
+such utter indifference about mustering their forces. "We saw not,"
+said the writer, "the accustomed names of Townley, Tisdale, Loftus,
+Skeffington, and fifty more such, on the division. Old Roach did
+n't whistle up one of his pack, but hunted down the game with the fat
+poodles that waddle after the Viceroy through the Castle-yard."
+
+"M'Cleary had a caricature of the Portland hunt this morning in his
+window," cried the listener; "and capital likenesses there are of Bob
+Uniack and Vandeleur. Morris, too, is represented by a lame dog that
+stands on a little eminence and barks vigorously, but makes no effort to
+follow the chase."
+
+"Much they care for all the ridicule and all the obloquy you can throw
+on them," replied the reader. "They well know that the pensions and
+peerages that await them will survive newspaper abuse, though every
+word of it was true as Gospel. Now, here's a list of them alphabetically
+arranged; and will you tell me how many will read or remember one line
+of them a dozen years hence? Besides, there is a kind of exaggeration in
+these attacks that deprives them of credit; when you read such stories
+as that of Carew, for instance, throwing a main with the dice to decide
+whether or not he'd vote with the Government."
+
+"I would not say that it was impossible, however," broke in the other.
+"Carew's a confirmed gambler, and we know what that means; and as to his
+having a particle of principle, if Rutledge's story be true, he has done
+far worse than this."
+
+My father tried to arise from his seat; he even attempted to call out,
+and impose silence on those whose next words might possibly contain an
+insult irreparable forever: but he could not do either; a cold sweat
+broke over him, and he sat powerless and almost fainting, while they
+continued:--
+
+"I'd be slow to take Master Bob's word, either in praise or dispraise of
+any man," said the first speaker.
+
+"So should I, if he could make it the subject of a wager," said
+the other; "but here is a case quite removed from all chance of the
+betting-ring."
+
+"And what does it amount to, if true?" said the other. "He married
+somebody's illegitimate daughter. Look at the peerage; look at one half
+the small sovereignties of Europe."
+
+"That's not the worst of it at all," broke in the former. "It was the
+way he got his wife."
+
+"Then I suppose I have not heard the story aright. How was it?"
+
+"Rutledge's version is something in this wise: Carew had won such
+enormous sums at play from one of the French princes that at last he
+actually held in his hands some of the rarest of the crown jewels as
+pledges. One of the ministers, having heard of the transaction, went
+to the prince and insisted, under threat of a public exposure, on an
+immediate settlement of the debt. In this terrible dilemma, the prince
+had nothing for it but to offer Carew the valuable paintings and
+furniture of his chateau,--reputed to be the most costly in the whole
+kingdom. The report goes that the pictures alone were estimated at
+several millions of francs. Carew at once accepts the proposition; but,
+as if not to be outdone in generosity, even by a royal prince, he lets
+it be known that he will only accept of one solitary article from the
+whole collection,--rather, in fact, a souvenir than a ransom. I suppose
+the prince, like everybody else, felt that this was very handsome
+conduct, for he frankly said: 'The chateau and all within it are at his
+disposal; I reserve nothing.' Armed with this authority, Carew never
+waits for morning, but starts that night, by post, for Auvergne,
+where the chateau lies. I believe it is not ascertained whether he was
+previously acquainted with the circumstances of the prince's domestic
+affairs. The probability, however, is that he must have been; for within
+a week he returned to Paris, bringing with him the object selected as
+his choice, in the person of a beautiful girl, the natural daughter of
+his Royal Highness. Whether he married her then under compulsion, or
+subsequently of his own free will, is to this day a secret. One thing,
+however, is certain: he was banished from the French territory by a
+summary order, which gave him barely time to reach the coast and
+embark. Of course, once in England, he had only to select some secluded,
+out-of-the-way spot for a while, and there could be no likelihood
+of leaving any trace to his adventure. Indeed, the chances are that
+Rutledge is about the only man who could have unravelled so tangled a
+skein. How he ever contrived to do so, is more than I can tell you!"
+
+My father sat listening to this story more like one whose faculties are
+under the dominion of some powerful spell, than of a man in the free
+exercise of reason. There was something in the mingled truth and
+falsehood of the tale that terrified and confused him. Up to that moment
+he had no notion in what a light his conduct could be exhibited, nor
+could he see by what means the calumny could be resented. There was,
+however, one name he could fix upon. Rutledge at least should be
+accountable! There was enough of falsehood in the story to brand him as
+a foul slanderer, and he should not escape him.
+
+By an effort that demanded all his strength my father rose, the cold
+sweat dropping from his forehead, and every limb trembling, from
+weakness and passion. His object was to present himself to the strangers
+in the adjoining box, and, by declaring his name, to compel them to
+bring home to Rutledge the accusation he had overheard. He had no
+time, had he even head, to weigh all the difficulties of such a line
+of procedure. It was not at such a moment that he could consider the
+question calmly and deliberately. Next to the poignant sense of injury,
+the thought of vengeance was uppermost in his mind; and the chances
+were that he was ready to wreak his fury on the first object that should
+present itself. Fortunately,--might I not rather say unfortunately,
+since nothing could be more disastrous than the turn affairs were fated
+to take; it seemed, however, at the moment, as though it were good
+fortune that when my father by an immense effort succeeded in reaching
+the adjoining box, the former occupants had departed. Several persons
+were leaving the coffee-room at the same instant; and though my father
+tried to hasten after them, and endeavor to recognize the voices he
+had overheard, his strength was unequal to the effort, and he sank
+back powerless on a bench. He beckoned to a waiter who was passing,
+and questioned him eagerly as to their names, and, giving him a guinea,
+promised as much more if he should follow them to their residences and
+bring back their addresses. But the man soon returned to say that as
+the strangers were not remarked by him, he had no clew whatever to Their
+detection in the crowded streets of the capital.
+
+It struck my father as though destiny itself pointed out Rutledge as
+the only one of whom he could seek reparation; and now he retired to
+his room to weigh the whole question in his mind, and see by what means,
+while gratifying his thirst for vengeance, he should best avoid that
+degree of exposure which would be fatal to the future happiness of my
+mother.
+
+In this lay all the difficulty. To demand satisfaction from Rutledge
+required that he should specify the nature of the injury, open the whole
+history of the slander, and, while giving contradiction to all that was
+false, publish to the world a true version of an incident that, up to
+that moment, he had never confided to his dearest friend. Terrible as
+seemed the task of such a revelation, it was nothing in comparison with
+what he judged would be the effect upon my mother when she came to learn
+the course of events which preceded her marriage.
+
+And now this must be given to the world, with all that accompaniment
+of gossip and scandal such a story would be sure to evoke. Was this
+possible?--could he venture to embark upon such a sea of peril as
+this?--could he dare to confront difficulties that would rise up against
+him at every step and in every relation of life, to assail his political
+reputation to-day--to slur his personal honor to-morrow--to cast shame
+upon her whose fair fame was dearer to him than life itself twice
+told--to be an inheritance of disgrace to his children, if he were to
+have children? No, no I For such an exposure as this nothing short of
+downright desperation could give courage.
+
+Far from serving to allay his passion for vengeance, these difficulties
+but deepened the channel of his wrath, and made the injury itself appear
+more irreparable. Nor did he know whom to consult at such a crisis. To
+unbosom himself to MacNaghten was like confessing that he could do, from
+personal motives, what he had shrunk from in the full confidence of his
+friendship; and such an avowal would, he was well aware, give heartfelt
+pain to his best friend in the world. Many other names occurred to him,
+but each was accompanied by some especial difficulty. It was a case
+which demanded great discretion, and at the same time promptitude and
+decision. To have allowed any interval for discussion would have been to
+incur that publicity which my father dreaded beyond all.
+
+The indignant energy of his mind had given a kind of power to his
+emaciated and wasted frame; and as he paced his room in passionate
+emotion, he felt as though all his wonted strength and vigor were
+returning to "stand by him" in his hour of peril. He had opened his
+window to admit the cool air of the night; and scarcely had he thrown
+wide the sash when the cry of a newsvendor met his ear.
+
+"Here's the 'List of the Castle hacks,' to be sold to the highest
+bidder, the Government having no further use for them; with the pedigree
+and performances set forth in full, and a correct account of the sums
+paid for each of them."
+
+To this succeeded a long catalogue of gentlemen's names, which were
+received by the mob that followed the hawker, with shouts and cries of
+derision. Groan followed groan as they were announced, and my father
+listened with an agonizing suspense lest he should hear his own amidst
+the number; but, to his inexpressible relief, the fellow concluded his
+muster-roll without alluding to him. Just, however, as he was about to
+close the window, the man again broke out with: "On Saturday next will
+be published the account of the five bought in by the Crown; and Mark
+Brown, Sam Vesey, William Burton, Ross Mahon, and Walter Carew will be
+given in full, on a separate sheet, for one halfpenny!"
+
+A wild outburst of derisive laughter from the crowd followed, and my
+father heard no more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. A MIDNIGHT RENCONTRE
+
+My father had walked several streets of the capital before he could
+collect his thoughts, or even remember where he was. He went along, lost
+to everything save memory of his vengeance. He tried to call to mind
+the names of those on whose zeal and devotedness he could reckon; but so
+imbued with suspicion had his mind become, so distrustful of every thing
+and every one, that he actually felt as if deserted by all the world,
+without one to succor or stand by him.
+
+Thus rambling by chance, he found himself in Stephen's Green, where he
+sat down to rest under one of those great trees which in those times
+shaded the favorite promenade of Dublin. Directly in front of him was
+a large mansion, brilliantly lighted up, and crowded by a numerous
+company, many of whom were enjoying the balmy air of a summer's night on
+the balcony in front of the windows. As they moved to and fro, passing
+back and forwards, my father could recognize several that he was
+acquainted with, and some that he knew most intimately.
+
+Filled with one consuming thought, he fancied that he heard his name at
+every moment; that every allusion was to him, and each burst of laughter
+was uttered in derision at his cost. His rage had worked him up almost
+to madness, and he could hardly restrain himself from calling out, and
+replying aloud to these fancied insults and aspersions on his character.
+
+At such moments of doubt as these, certainty flashes on the mind with a
+power of concentration and resolution that seems to confer strength
+for anything, however difficult. So was it to my father as suddenly the
+tones of a well-known voice struck on his ear, and he heard the easy
+laugh of him that he hated most of all the world. It was Barry Rutledge
+himself, who now was leaning over the balcony, in the centre of a group
+whom, he was evidently entertaining by his remarks.
+
+The bursts of laughter which at each moment interrupted him, showed how
+successfully his powers of entertaining were being exercised, while at
+intervals a dead silence around proved the deep attention with which
+they listened.
+
+It was at the moment when, by the death of the Marquis of Rockingham,
+a new Ministry was formed in England, and the Duke of Portland recalled
+from his viceroyalty, to be succeeded by Lord Temple. The changes that
+were like to ensue upon this new appointment were actively discussed in
+society, and now formed the subject of conversation on the balcony.
+
+"You will be at large again, Barry," said one of the group; "these new
+people won't know your value."
+
+"Pardon me!" cried he, laughing, "I'm handed over with Cotterell and the
+state coach, as functionaries that cannot be easily replaced. Let them
+try and manage Dublin without me! I defy them! Who knows every flaw and
+crack of reputation, every damaged character, and every tarnished fame,
+as I do? Who can tell each man's price, from knowing his weak points?
+Who can play off the petty jealousies of rivals against each other;
+disgust them with their party; and buy them cheap for the Castle? Who
+but Barry Rutledge? I'll offer a wager of five hundred that there is not
+a family secret I can't have the key to within one week."
+
+"What the devil ever induced you to take up such a career?" asked a
+deep-voiced, burly-looking country gentleman.
+
+"The turf gave me the hint," said Rutledge, coolly. "I lost every
+sixpence I once possessed, when I backed this horse, or betted on that
+one. I regained a considerable share of my loss when I limited myself to
+looking out for what they style 'disqualifications,'--to discover that
+Wasp was n't a two-year-old, or that Muffin was clean bred; that Terry
+had won before, and that Ginger was substituted for another. I saw that
+political life was pretty much the same kind of game, and that there
+would be a grand opening for the first fellow that brought his racing
+craft to bear on the great world of state affairs. I 'm sure others will
+follow out the line, and doubtless eclipse all the cleverness of Barry
+Rutledge; but, at all events, they can't deny him the merit of the
+invention. They talk to you about skilful secretaries and able debaters:
+I tell you flatly I 've got more votes for the Government than any one
+of them all, and just in the way I 've mentioned. Was it Dick Talbot's
+convictions, or his wife's losses at lqo that made him join us last
+session? How did Rowley come over? Ask Harvey Bruce who horsewhipped him
+in the mess-room at Kells. Why did Billy Hamilton desert his party? Lady
+Mary may tell you; and if she won't, George Gordon, of the Highlanders,
+can. What's the use of going through the list, from old Hemphill, that
+was caught cheating at piquet, down to Watty Carew, with his wife won at
+a game of Barocco?"
+
+"Slanderer--scoundrel!" cried out my father, in a voice hoarse with
+passion; and as the words were uttered, the balcony was suddenly
+deserted, and the rushing sounds of many people descending the stairs
+together were as quickly heard. For a few seconds my father stood
+uncertain and undecided; but then, with a bold precipitancy, he seemed
+to calculate every issue in an instant, and made up his mind how to
+proceed. He dashed across the street towards the dark alley which
+flanked the "Green," and along which ran a deep and stagnant ditch, of
+some ten or twelve feet in width. Scarcely had he gained the shelter
+of the trees, when a number of persons rushed from the house into the
+street, and hurried hither and thither in pursuit. As they passed out,
+my father was enabled to recognize several whom he knew; but for
+one only had he any care; on him he fastened his eyes with the eager
+steadfastness of hate, and tracked him as he went, regardless of all
+others.
+
+Without concert among themselves, or any clew to direct their search,
+they separated in various directions. Still, my father held his place
+unchanged, doubtless revolving in that brief interval the terrible
+consequences of his act. Some fifteen or twenty minutes might have thus
+elapsed, and now he saw one return to the house, speedily followed by
+another, and then a third. At last Rutledge came alone; he walked along
+slowly, and as if deep in meditation. As though revolving the late
+incident in his mind, he stood for a moment looking up at the windows,
+and probably speculating in his mind on the precise spot occupied by him
+who had uttered the insult.
+
+"Here, beneath the trees," said my father, in a low, but clear accent;
+and Rutledge turned, and hastened across the street. It will, of course,
+never be known whether he understood these words as coming from a
+stranger, or from some one of his own friends, suggesting pursuit in a
+particular direction.
+
+My father only waited to see that the other was following, when he
+turned and fled. The entrances to the park, or green, as it was called,
+were by small pathways across the moat, closed by low wooden wickets.
+Across one of these my father took his way, tearing down the gate with
+noise sufficient to show the course he followed.
+
+Rutledge was close at his heels, and already summoning all his efforts
+to come up with him, when my father turned round and stood.
+
+"We are alone!" cried he; "there is none to interrupt us. Now, Barry
+Rutledge, you or I, or both of us, mayhap, shall pass the night here!"
+and, as he spoke, he drew forth his sword-cane from the walking-stick
+that he carried.
+
+"What! is that Carew? Are you Walter Carew?" said Rutledge, advancing
+towards him.
+
+"No nearer,--not a step nearer!--or, by Heaven! I 'll not answer for my
+passion. Draw your sword, and defend yourself!"
+
+"Why, this is sheer madness, Watty. What is your quarrel with me?"
+
+"Do you ask me?--do you want to hear why I called you a scoundrel and a
+slanderer?--or is it that I can brand you as both, at noon-day, and in a
+crowd, adding coward to the epithets?"
+
+"Come, come," said the other, with a sarcastic coolness that only
+increased my father's rage. "You know, as well as any man, that these
+things are not done in this fashion. I am easily found when wanted."
+
+"Do you think that I will give you another day to propagate your
+slander? No, by Heaven! not an hour!" And so saying, he rushed on,
+probably to consummate the outrage by a blow. Rutledge, who was in full
+dress, now drew his rapier, and the two steels crossed.
+
+[Illustration: Not An Hour]
+
+My father was a consummate swordsman; he had fought several times with
+that weapon when abroad; and had he only been guided by his habitual
+temper, nothing would have been easier for him than to overcome his
+antagonist. So ungovernable, however, was his passion now, that he lost
+almost every advantage his superior skill might have conferred.
+
+[Illustration: The Duel]
+
+As if determined to kill his enemy at any cost, he never stood on his
+guard, nor parried a single thrust, but rushed wildly at him. Rutledge,
+whose courage was equal to his coolness, saw all the advantage this gave
+him; and, after a few passes, succeeded in running his sword through
+my father's chest so that the point actually projected on the opposite
+side. With a sudden jerk of his body, my father snapped the weapon in
+two, and then, shortening his own to within about a foot of the point,
+he ran Rutledge through the heart. One heavy groan followed, and he fell
+dead upon his face.
+
+My father drew forth the fragment from his own side, and then, stooping
+down, examined the body of his adversary. His recollection of what
+passed in that terrible moment was horribly distinct ever after. He
+mentioned to him from whom I myself learned these details that so
+diabolical was the hatred that held possession of him that he sat
+down in the grass beside the body, and contemplated it with a kind of
+fiend-like exultation. A light, thin rain began to fall soon after, and
+my father, moved by some instinctive feeling, threw Rutledge's cloak
+over the lifeless body, and then withdrew. Although the pain of his own
+wound was considerable, he soon perceived that no vital part had been
+injured,--indeed, the weapon had passed through the muscles without ever
+having penetrated the cavity of the chest. He succeeded, by binding his
+handkerchief around his waist, in stanching the blood; and, although
+weakened, the terrible excitement of the event seemed to lend him a
+momentary strength for further exertion.
+
+His first impulse, as he found himself outside the Green, was to deliver
+himself up to the authorities, making a full avowal of all that had
+occurred. To do this, however, would involve other consequences which
+he had not the courage to confront. Any narrative of the duel would
+necessarily require a history of the provocation, and thus a wider
+publicity to that shame which was now embittering his existence.
+
+Without ultimately deciding what course he should adopt, my father
+determined to give himself further time for reflection, by at once
+hastening back to the country ere his presence in the capital was known.
+He now returned to the hotel, and, asking for his bill, informed the
+waiter that if any one inquired for Mr. Cuthbert, that he should mention
+his address at a certain number in Aungier Street. The carman who drove
+him from the door was directed to drive to the same place, and there
+dismissed. After this, taking his carpet-bag in his hand, he walked
+leisurely along towards Ball's Bridge, where already, as the day was
+breaking, a number of vehicles were assembled on the stand. Affecting
+a wish to catch the packet for England, he drove hastily to the Pigeon
+House; but the vessel had already sailed. It was strange enough that
+he never was able to say actually whether he meditated passing over to
+England, or simply to conceal the line of his flight. Thus uncertain
+whither to go or what to do, a considerable time was passed; and he was
+on the point of engaging a boat to cross over to Howth, when a sudden
+thought struck him that he would drive direct to Fagan's, in Mary's
+Abbey.
+
+It was about six o'clock of a bright summer's morning as my father
+alighted at Fagan's door. "The Grinder" was already up, and busily
+engaged inspecting the details of his shop; for, however insignificant
+as a source of gain, some strange instinct seemed to connect his
+prosperity with the humble occupation of his father and his grandfather,
+and he appeared to think that the obscure fruit-stall formed a secret
+link between their worldly successes and his own.
+
+It was with surprise not altogether devoid of shame that he saw my
+father descend from the jaunting-car to salute him.
+
+"I've come to take my breakfast with you, Tony," said he, gayly; "and,
+determining to be a man of business for once, I 'm resolved to catch
+these calm hours of the morning that you prudent fellows make such good
+use of!"
+
+Fagan stared with astonishment at this sudden apparition of one from
+whom he neither expected a visit at such an hour, much less a speech
+of such meaning. He, however, mumbled out some words of welcome, with
+a half-intelligible compliment about my father's capacity being fully
+equal to any exigencies or any demands that might be made upon it.
+
+"So they told me at school, Tony, and so they said in college. They
+repeated the same thing when I entered Parliament; but, somehow, I
+have been always a fellow of great promise and no performance, and I
+am beginning at last to suspect that I shall scarcely live to see this
+wonderful future that is to reveal me to the world in the plenitude of
+my powers!"
+
+"It will, then, be entirely your own fault, sir," said Fagan, with an
+earnestness that showed the interest he felt in the subject. "Let me
+speak to you seriously, sir," said he; and he led the way into a room,
+where, having seated themselves, he went on: "With your name, and
+your position, and your abilities, Mr. Carew,--no sir, I am too deeply
+concerned in what I say to be a flatterer,--there was a great and
+glorious career open before you; nor is the time to follow it gone by.
+Think what you might be amongst your countrymen, by standing forward as
+their champion! Picture to yourself the place you might hold, and
+the power you might wield,--not a power to depend upon the will of
+a minister, or the caprice of a cabinet, but a power based upon the
+affections of an entire people; for, I say it advisedly, the leadership
+of the national party is yet to be claimed. Lord Charlemont is too weak
+and too ductile for it. Besides that, his aristocratic leanings
+unfit him for close contact with the masses. Henry Grattan has great
+requisites, but he has great deficiencies too. The favor that he wins in
+the senate, he loses in society. We want a man who shall speak for us in
+public the sentiments that fall from us at our tables; who shall assure
+the English Government, and the English nation too, that the Irish
+Catholic is equal in loyalty as in courage,--that his fealty is not less
+because his faith is that of his fathers. It is not eloquence we
+need, Mr. Carew. Our cause does not want embellishment. Orators may
+be required to prop up a weak or falling case. Ours can stand
+alone, without such aid! An honest, a resolute, and an independent
+advocate,--one whose ancient name on one side, and whose genial nature
+on the other, shall be a link betwixt the people and the gentry,--such a
+man, whenever found, may take the lead in Ireland; and, however English
+ministers may dictate laws, he, and he alone, will govern this country."
+
+My father listened with intense eagerness to every word of this appeal.
+Not even the flattery to himself was more pleasing than the glimpses he
+caught of a great national struggle, in which Ireland should come
+out triumphant. Such visions were amongst the memories of his boyish
+enthusiasm, begotten in the wild orgies of a college life, and nurtured
+amidst the excesses of many a debauch; and although foreign travel and
+society had obliterated most of these impressions, now they came back
+with tenfold force, in a moment when his mind was deeply agitated and
+excited. For an instant he had been carried away by this enticing theme;
+he had actually forgotten, in his ardor the terrible incident which so
+lately he had passed through, when Raper rushed hurriedly into the room
+where they sat, exclaiming,--
+
+"A dreadful murder has taken place in the city. Mr. Rutledge, of the
+Viceroy's household, was found dead this morning in Stephen's Green."
+
+"Within the Green?" asked Fagan. "What could have brought him there
+after nightfall? There must have been some assignation in the case."
+
+"Do you know, have you heard any of the circumstances, sir?" asked my
+father.
+
+"No further than that he was killed by a sword-thrust which passed
+completely through his chest. Some suspect that he was lured to the
+spot by one pretence or other; others are of opinion that it was a duel.
+Robbery had certainly nothing to say to it, for his watch and purse were
+found on the body."
+
+"Have they taken the body away?"
+
+"No, sir. It remains for the coroners inquest, which is to assemble
+immediately."
+
+"Had Rutledge any political enemies? Is it supposed that the event was
+in any way connected with party?"
+
+"That could scarcely be," said Fagan. "He was one who gave himself
+little concern about state affairs,--an easy fop that fluttered about
+the Court, caring for little above the pleasures of his valueless
+existence!"
+
+"For such men you have few sympathies, Fagan!"
+
+"None, sir, not one. Their history is ever the same,--a life of debauch,
+a death of violence!"
+
+"This is to speak hardly, Fagan," said my father, mildly. "Men like poor
+Rutledge have their good qualities, though they be not such as you and I
+set store by. I never thought so myself, but others, indeed, deemed him
+a most amusing companion, and with more than an ordinary share of wit
+and pleasantry."
+
+"The wit and pleasantry were both exerted to make his friends
+ridiculous, sir," said Fagan, severely. "He was a man that lived upon a
+reputation for smartness, gained at the expense of every good feeling."
+
+"I'll wager a trifle, Tony," said my father, laughing, "that he died
+deep in your books. Come, be frank, and say how much this unhappy affair
+will cost you."
+
+"Not so dearly as it may you, sir," whispered Fagan in my father's ear;
+and the words nearly overcame him.
+
+"How so?--what do you mean?" muttered my father, in a broken, faltering
+voice.
+
+"Come this way for a moment, Mr. Carew," said the other, aloud, "and
+I'll show you my snuggery, where I live, apart from all the world."
+
+My father followed him into a small chamber, where Fagan at once closed
+the door and locked it, and then, approaching him, pulled forth from
+beneath his loose cuff a lace ruffle stained and clotted with blood.
+
+"It is fortunate for you, Mr. Carew," said he, "that Raper is so
+unobservant; any other than he would have seen this, and this;" and
+as he spoke the last words, he pointed to a small portion of a bloody
+handkerchief which projected outside the shirt-frill.
+
+So overwhelmed was my father by these evidences that he sank powerless
+into a chair, without strength to speak.
+
+"How was it?--how did it occur?" asked Fagan, sitting down in front of
+him, and placing one hand familiarly on my father's knee. Simple as the
+action was, it was a liberty that he had never dared before to take with
+my father, who actually shuddered at the touch, as though it had been a
+pollution.
+
+"Unpremeditated, of course, I conclude," said Fagan, still endeavoring
+to lead him on to some explanation. My father nodded.
+
+"Unwitnessed also," said Fagan, slowly. Another nod implied assent.
+
+"Who knows of your presence in Dublin?--Who has seen you since your
+arrival in Dublin?" asked he.
+
+"None of my acquaintances, so far, at least, as I know. I went, by a
+mere accident, to an hotel where I am not known. By another accident, if
+I dare so call it, I fell upon this rencontre. I will endeavor to tell
+you the whole, as it occurred,--that is, if I can sufficiently collect
+myself; but first let me have some wine, Fagan, for I am growing weak."
+
+As Fagan left the room, he passed the desk where Raper was already
+seated, hard at work, and, laying his hand on the clerk's shoulder, he
+whispered,--
+
+"Be cautious that you do not mention Mr. Carew's arrival here. There is
+a writ out against him for debt, and he has come up here to be out of
+the way."
+
+Raper heard the words without even discontinuing to write, and merely
+muttered a brief "Very well," in reply.
+
+When Fagan re-entered the chamber, he found my father just rallying from
+a fainting-fit, which loss of blood and agitation together had brought
+on. Two or three glasses of wine, hastily swallowed, restored him, and
+he was again able to converse.
+
+"Can you be traced to this house? Is there any clew to you here?" asked
+Fagan, resuming his former seat.
+
+"None, so far as I know. The affair occurred thus--"
+
+"Pardon my interrupting you," broke in Fagan; "but the most important
+thing at this moment is, to provide for your safety, in the event of any
+search after you. Have you any ground to apprehend this?"
+
+"None whatever. You shall hear the story."
+
+"They are talking of it outside!" whispered Fagan, with a gesture of his
+hand to enforce caution; "let us listen to them." And he slowly unlocked
+the door, and left it to stand ajar.
+
+The outer shop was by this time filling with the small fruit-vendors of
+the capital,--a class peculiarly disposed to collect and propagate the
+gossip of the day; and Fagan well knew how much the popular impression
+would depend upon the coloring of their recital.
+
+"'T is lucky," said one, "that his watch and money was on him, or they
+'d say at once it was the boys done it."
+
+"Faix! they could n't do that," broke in another; "there's marks about
+the place would soon contradict them."
+
+"What marks?"
+
+"The print of an elegant boot. I saw it myself; it is small in the heel,
+and sharp in the toe,--very unlike yours or mine, Tim."
+
+"Begad! so much the better," said the other, laughing.
+
+"And I 'll tell you more," resumed the former speaker: "it was a
+dress-sword--what they wear at the Castle--killed him. You could scarce
+see the hole. It 's only a little blue spot between the ribs."
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" exclaimed a woman's voice; "and they say he was an
+elegant, fine man!"
+
+"As fine a figure of a man as ever ye looked at!"
+
+"And nobody knows the reason of it at all?" asked she again.
+
+"I'll engage it was about a woman!" muttered a husky, old, cracked
+voice, that was constantly heard, up to this moment, bargaining for
+oranges.
+
+And Fagan quickly made a sign to my father to listen attentively.
+
+"That's Denny Cassin," whispered he, "the greatest newsmonger in
+Dublin."
+
+"The devil recave the fight ever I heerd of hadn't a woman in it,
+somehow or other; an' if she did n't begin it, she was sure to come in
+at the end, and make it worse. Was n't it a woman that got Hemphill Daly
+shot? Was n't it a woman was the death of Major Brown, of Coolmiues? Was
+n't it a woman--"
+
+"Arrah! bother ye, Denny!" broke in the representative of the sex,
+who stood an impatient listener to this long indictment; "what's worth
+fightin' for in the world barrin' ourselves?"
+
+A scornful laugh was all the reply he deigned to this appeal; and he
+went on,--
+
+"I often said what Barry Rutledge 'ud come to,--ay, and I told himself
+so. 'You 've a bad tongue,' says I, 'and you 've a bad heart. Some day
+or other you 'll be found out;' and ye see, so he was."
+
+"I wonder who did it!" exclaimed another.
+
+"My wonder is," resumed Denny, "that it was n't done long ago; or
+instead of one wound in his skin, that he had n't fifty. Do you know
+that when I used to go up to the officers' room with oranges, I'd hear
+more wickedness out of his mouth in one mornin' than I 'd hear in Pill
+Lane, here, in a month of Sundays. There was n't a man dined at the
+Castle, there was n't a lady danced at the Coort, that he had n't a
+bad story about; and he always began by saying: 'He and I were old
+schoolfellows,' or 'She 's a great friend of mine.' I was up there the
+morning after the Coort came home from Carew Castle; and if ye heard
+the way he went on about the company. He began with Curtis, and finished
+with Carew himself."
+
+Fagan closed the door here, and, walking over, sat down beside my
+father's chair.
+
+"We 've heard enough now, sir," said he, "to know what popular opinion
+will pronounce upon this man. Denny speaks with the voice of a large
+mass of this city; and if they be not either very intelligent or
+exalted, they are at least fellows who back words by deeds, and are
+quite ready to risk their heads for their convictions,--a test of
+honesty that their betters, perhaps, would shrink from. From what he
+says, there will be little sympathy for Rutledge. The law, of course,
+will follow its due path; but the law against popular feeling is like
+the effort of the wind to resist the current of a fast river: it may
+ruffle the surface, but never will arrest the stream. Now, sir, just
+tell me, in a few words, what took place between you?"
+
+My father detailed everything, from the hour of his arrival in Dublin,
+down to the very moment of his descending at Fagan's door. He faltered,
+indeed, and hesitated about the conversation of the coffee-room, for
+even in all the confidence of a confession, he shrunk from revealing the
+story of his marriage. And in doing so, he stammered and blundered
+so much that Fagan could collect little above the bare facts, that my
+mother had been wagered at a card-table, and won by my father.
+
+Had my father been in a cooler mood, he could not have failed to remark
+how much deeper was the interest Fagan took in the story of his first
+meeting with my mother than in all the circumstances of the duel. So
+far as it was safe,--further than it would have been so at any other
+moment,--the Grinder cross-questioned my father as to her birth, the
+manner of her education, and the position she held before her marriage.
+
+"This is all beside the matter," cried my father, at last, impatiently.
+"I am now to think what is best to be done here. Shall I give myself
+up at once?--And why not, Fagan?" added he, abruptly, interrogating the
+look of the other.
+
+"For two sufficient reasons, sir: first, that you would be needlessly
+exposing yourself to great peril; and, secondly, you would certainly be
+exposing another to great--" He stopped and faltered, for there was that
+in my father's face that made the utterance of a wrong word dangerous.
+
+"Take care what you say, Master Tony; for, however selfish you may deem
+me, I have still enough of heart left to consider those far worthier of
+thought than myself."
+
+"And yet, sir, the fact is so, whether I speak it or not," said Fagan.
+"Once let this affair come before a public tribunal, and what is there
+that can be held back from the prying impertinence of the world? And I
+see no more reason why you should peril life than risk all that makes
+life desirable."
+
+"But what or where is all this peril, Fagan? You talk as if I had been
+committing a murder."
+
+"It is precisely the name they would give it in the indictment, sir,"
+said the other, boldly. "Nay, hear me out, Mr. Carew. Were I to tell the
+adventure of last night as the bare facts reveal it, who would suggest
+the possibility of its being a duel? Think of the place--the hour--the
+solitude--the mere accident of the meeting! Oh, no, sir; duels are not
+fought in this fashion."
+
+"You are arguing against yourself, Tony. You have convinced me that
+there is but one course open. I must surrender myself!"
+
+"Think well of it first, Mr. Carew," said Fagan, drawing his chair
+closer, and speaking in a lower tone. "We must not let any false
+delicacy deceive us. There never was a case of this kind yet that did
+not less depend upon its own merits than on fifty things over which
+one has no control. The temper of the judge--the rank in life of the
+jury--the accidental tone of public opinion at the moment--the bias of
+the press: these are the agencies to be thought of. When Grogan Hamilton
+was tried for shooting John Adair in the mess-room at Carlow, his
+verdict was pronounced before the jury was empanelled!"
+
+"I never heard of that case," said my father, anxiously.
+
+"It occurred when you were a boy at school, sir; and although the facts
+would not read so condemnatory now, at that time there was not one voice
+to be heard on the side of mercy. The duel, if duel it could be called,
+took place after every one, save themselves, had left the table. The
+quarrel was an old grudge revived over the bottle. They fought without
+witnesses and with Heaven knows what inequality of weapons; and although
+Hamilton gave himself up----"
+
+"He gave himself up?" interrupted my father.
+
+"Yes, sir; in direct opposition to his friends' advice, he did so:
+but had he followed a different course,--had he even waited till
+the excitement had calmed down a little, till men began to talk more
+dispassionately on the subject, the result might have been different."
+
+"And what was the result?"
+
+"I have already told you, sir,--a conviction."
+
+"And what followed?"
+
+"He was hanged,--hanged in front of the old jail at Naas, where the
+regiment he once had served in was quartered. I don't know how or why
+this was done. Some said it was to show the people that there was no
+favoritism towards a man of rank and fortune. Some alleged it was to
+spare the feelings of his relatives, who were Carlow people."
+
+"Good Heavens!" exclaimed my father, passionately; "was there ever such
+an infamy!"
+
+"The event happened as I tell you, sir. I believe I have the trial in
+the house; if I have not, Crowther will have it, for he was engaged in
+the defence, and one of those who endeavored to dissuade Hamilton from
+his resolution of surrender."
+
+"And who is Crowther?"
+
+"A solicitor, sir, of great practice and experience."
+
+"In whom you have confidence, Fagan?"
+
+"The most implicit confidence."
+
+"And who could be useful to us in this affair?"
+
+"Of the very greatest utility, sir,--not alone from his legal knowledge,
+but from his consummate acquaintance with the world and its modes of
+thinking."
+
+"Can you send for him? Can you get him here without exciting suspicion?"
+said my father; for already had terror seized hold on him, and even
+before he knew it was he entangled in the toils.
+
+"I can have him here within an hour, sir, and without any risk whatever;
+for he is my own law adviser, and in constant intercourse with me."
+
+Fagan now persuaded my father to lie down and try to obtain some sleep,
+promising to awake him the moment that Crowther arrived.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. A CONFERENCE
+
+Scarcely had my father laid himself down on the bed, when he fell off
+into a heavy sleep. Fatigue, exhaustion, and loss of blood all combined
+to overcome him, and he lay motionless in the same attitude he at first
+assumed.
+
+Fagan came repeatedly to the bedside, and, opening the curtains
+slightly, gazed on the cold, impassive features with a strange
+intensity. One might have supposed that the almost deathlike calm of the
+sleeper's face would have defied every thought or effort of speculation;
+but there he sat, watching it as though, by dint of patience and study,
+he might at length attain to reading what was passing within that brain.
+
+At the slightest sound that issued from the lips, too, he would bend
+down to try and catch its meaning. Perhaps, at moments like these, a
+trace of impatience might be detected in his manner; but, for the most
+part, his hard, stern features showed no sign of emotion, and it was in
+all his accustomed self-possession that he descended to the small and
+secluded chamber where Crowther sat awaiting him.
+
+"Still asleep, Fagan?" asked the lawyer, looking hastily up from the
+papers and documents he had been perusing.
+
+"He is asleep, and like enough to continue so," replied the other,
+slowly, while he sank down into an arm-chair, and gave himself up to
+deep reflection.
+
+"I have been thinking a good deal over what you have told me,"
+said Crowther, "and I own I see the very gravest objections to his
+surrendering himself."
+
+"My own opinion!" rejoined Fagan, curtly.
+
+"Even if it were an ordinary duel, with all the accustomed formalities
+of time, place, and witnesses, the temper of the public mind is just
+now in a critical state on these topics; MacNamara's death and that
+unfortunate affair at Kells have made a deep impression. I'd not trust
+too much to such dispositions. Besides, the chances are they would not
+admit him to bail, so that he 'd have to pass three, nearly four, months
+in Newgate before he could be brought to trial."
+
+"He'd not live through the imprisonment. It would break his heart, if it
+did not kill him otherwise."
+
+"By no means unlikely."
+
+"I know him well, and I am convinced he 'd not survive it. Why, the very
+thought of the accusation, the bare idea that he could be arraigned as
+a criminal, so overcame him here this morning that he staggered back and
+sunk into that chair, half fainting."
+
+"He thinks that he was not known at that hotel where he stopped?"
+
+"He is quite confident of that; the manner of the waiters towards him
+convinces him that he was not recognized."
+
+"Nor has he spoken with any one since his arrival, except yourself?"
+
+"Not one, save the hackney carman, who evidently did not know him."
+
+"He left home, you say, without a servant?"
+
+"Yes! he merely said that he was going over for a day or two, to the
+mines, and would be back by the end of the week. But, latterly, he has
+often absented himself in this fashion; and, having spoken of visiting
+one place, has changed his mind and gone to another, in an opposite
+direction."
+
+"Who has seen him since he arrived here?"
+
+"No one but myself and Raper."
+
+"Ah! Raper has seen him?"
+
+"That matters but little. Joe has forgotten all about it already, or,
+if he has not, I have but to say that it was a mistake, for him to
+fancy that it was so. You shall see, if you like, that he will not even
+hesitate the moment I tell him the thing is so."
+
+"It only remains, then, to determine where he should go,--I mean Carew;
+for although any locality would serve in one respect, we must bethink
+ourselves of every issue to this affair: and, should there be any
+suspicion attaching to him, he ought to be out of danger,--the danger of
+arrest. Where do his principal estates lie?"
+
+"In Wicklow,--immediately around Castle Carew."
+
+"But he has other property?"
+
+"Yes, he has some northern estates; and there is a mine, also, on Lough
+Allen belonging to him."
+
+"Well, why not go there?"
+
+"There is no residence; there is nothing beyond the cabins of the
+peasantry, or the scarcely more comfortable dwelling of the overseer.
+I have it, Crowther," cried he, suddenly, as though, a happy notion had
+just struck him; "I have it. You have heard of that shooting-lodge of
+mine at the Killeries? It was Carew's property, but has fallen into my
+hands; he shall go there. So far as seclusion goes, I defy Ireland to
+find its equal. They who have seen it, tell me it is a perfect picture
+of landscape beauty. He can shoot and fish and sketch for a week or
+so, till we see what turn this affair is like to take. Nothing could be
+better; the only difficulty is the distance."
+
+"You tell me that he is ill."
+
+"It is more agitation than actual illness; he was weak and feeble before
+this happened, and of course his nerves are terribly shaken by it."
+
+"The next consideration is, how to apprise his wife; at least, what we
+ought to tell her if he be incapable of writing."
+
+"I hinted that already as I accompanied him upstairs, and by his manner
+it struck me that he did not lay much stress on the matter; he merely
+said, 'Oh! she has no curiosity; she never worries herself about what
+does not concern her.'"
+
+"A rare quality in a wife, Fagan," said the other, with a smile.
+
+Whether it was the prompting of his own thoughts, or that some real
+or fancied emphasis on the word "wife" caught him, but Fagan asked
+suddenly, "What did you say?"
+
+"I remarked that it was a rare quality for a wife to possess. You
+thought, perhaps, it was rather the gift of those who enjoy the
+privilege, and not the name of such."
+
+"Maybe you're right, then, Crowther. Shall I own to you, it was the very
+thought that was passing through my own brain!"
+
+"How strange that Rutledge should have hinted the very same suspicion to
+myself, the last time we ever spoke together," said Crowther, in a low,
+confidential whisper. "We were sitting in my back office; he had come to
+show me some bills of money won at play, and ask my advice about them.
+Carew was the indorser of two or three amongst them, and Rutledge
+remarked at the tremendous pace the other was going, and how impossible
+it was that any fortune could long maintain it. There was some
+difficulty in catching exactly his meaning, for he spoke rapidly, and
+with more than his accustomed warmth. It was something, however, to this
+effect: 'All this extravagant display is madame's doing, and the natural
+consequence of his folly in France. If, instead of this absurd mistake,
+he had married and settled in Ireland, his whole career would have taken
+a different turn.' Now, when I reflected on the words after he left me,
+I could not satisfy myself whether he had said that Carew ought to have
+married, in contradistinction to have formed this French attachment, or
+simply that he deemed an Irish wife would have been a wiser choice than
+a French one."
+
+"The former strikes me as the true interpretation," said Fagan; "and the
+more I think on every circumstance of this affair, the more do I incline
+to this opinion. The secrecy so unnecessary, the mystery as to
+her family, even as to her name, all so needless. That interval of
+seclusion, in which, probably, he had not yet resolved finally on the
+course he should adopt. And, lastly, a point more peculiarly referring
+to ourselves, and over which I have often pondered,--I mean the
+selection of my daughter Polly to be her friend and companion. It is not
+at my time of life," added Fagan, with an almost fierce energy of voice,
+"that I have to learn how the aristocracy regard me and such as me.
+No one needs to tell me that any intercourse between us must depend on
+something else than similarity of taste and pursuit; that if we ever sit
+down to the same table together, it is on the ground of a compromise.
+There is a shame to be concealed or consoled, or there is a debt to be
+deferred, or left unclaimed forever. Walter Carew's wife would scarcely
+have sought out the Grinder's daughter for her friend and bosom
+companion. His mistress might have thought such an alliance most
+suitable. Polly has herself told me the terms of perfect equality on
+which they lived; that never by a chance word, look, or gesture was
+there aught which could imply a position of superiority above her own.
+They called each other by their Christian names, they assumed all the
+intimacy of sisters, and that almost at once. When she related these
+things to me," cried Fagan, sternly, "my passion nearly overcame me, to
+think how we had been outraged and insulted; but I remembered, suddenly,
+that there were others, far higher than us, exposed to the same
+indignity. The Castle was crowded by the rank, the wealth, and the
+influence of the whole country; and if there be a disgrace to be
+endured, we have at least partners in our shame."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Crowther, nodding his head slowly in assent; "the whole
+assumes a strange and most remarkable consistency. I remember well,
+hearing how many of those invited on that occasion had sent letters of
+apology; and stranger again, the way in which the party broke up and
+separated has been made public enough in the newspapers. Rutledge's
+own words were: 'It was a rout, not a retreat.' That was a curious
+expression."
+
+Who has not, at some time or other of his life, experienced the force
+of that casuistry which is begotten of suspicion? Who has not felt how
+completely reason is mastered by the subtle assaults of a wily ingenuity
+which, whilst combining the false and the true, the possible and
+impossible together, makes out a mock array of evidence almost too
+strong for a doubt? The least creative of minds are endowed with this
+faculty, and even the most commonplace and matter-of-fact temperaments
+are sometimes the slaves of this delusion! To render its influence all
+powerful, however, it should be exercised by two who, in the interchange
+of suspicions, and by bartering their inferences, arrive at a degree of
+certainty in their conclusions rarely accorded to the most convincing
+testimony. As a river is swollen by the aid of every tiny rill that
+trickles down the mountain side, so does the current of conviction
+receive as tributary, incidents the most trivial, and events of the
+slightest meaning.
+
+Fagan's spirit revolted at what he felt to be a gross insult passed upon
+his daughter; but this very indignation served to rivet more firmly his
+suspicions, for he reasoned thus: Men are ever ready to credit what they
+desire to be credible, and to disbelieve that which it is unpleasant
+to accept as true. Now, here have I every temptation to incredulity!
+If this be the fact, as my suspicions indicate, I have been deeply
+outraged. An affront has been offered to me which dared not have been
+put upon one of higher rank and better blood. It is, therefore, my
+interest and my wish to suppose this impossible; and yet I cannot do
+so. Not all the self-respect I can call to aid, not all the desire to
+shelter myself behind a doubt, will suffice. My reason accepts what my
+feelings would reject, and I believe what it is a humiliation for me to
+credit.
+
+Such was, in brief, the substance of a long mental struggle and
+self-examination on Fagan's part,--a process to which he addressed
+himself with all the shrewdness of his nature. It was a matter of deep
+moment to him in every way. He ardently desired that he should arrive
+at a right judgment upon it; and yet, with all his penetration and
+keen-sighted-ness, he never perceived that another agency was at work
+all the while, whose tendencies were exactly in the opposite direction.
+To believe Walter Carew still unmarried was to revive his long-extinct
+hope of calling him his son-in-law, and to bring back once more that
+gorgeous dream of Polly's elevation to rank and position, which had
+filled his mind for many a year. His whole heart had been set upon this
+object. In pursuit of it, he had made the most immense advances of money
+to my father, many of them on inferior security. For some he had the
+mere acknowledgment contained in a few lines of a common letter. The
+measures of severity which he had once menaced were undertaken in
+the very paroxysm of his first disappointment, and were as speedily
+relinquished when calm reflection showed him that they could avail
+nothing against the past. Besides this he felt that there was still
+an object, to the attainment of which my father's aid might contribute
+much, and towards which he hoped to urge him,--the emancipation of the
+Catholics. It had been long Fagan's cherished idea that the leadership
+of that party should be given to one who united to reasonable good
+abilities the advantages of birth, large fortune, and, above all,
+personal courage.
+
+"We have orators and writers in abundance," would he say. "There are
+plenty who can make speeches, and even songs, for us; but we want a
+few men who, with a large stake in the country, and high position in
+society, are willing and ready to peril both, and themselves into the
+bargain, in the assertion of our cause. If we ever chance to find these,
+our success is certain. The worst thing about our cause," added he, "is
+not its disloyalty, for that admits of discussion and denial; but the
+real plague-spot is its vulgarity. Our enemies have been cunning enough
+to cast over the great struggle of a nation all the petty and miserable
+characteristics of a faction, and not of mere faction, but of one
+agitated by the lowest motives, and led on by the meanest advocates.
+A gentleman or two, to take service with us, will at once repulse this
+tactic; and until we can hit upon these, we shall make no progress."
+
+I have been obliged to dwell even to tediousness on these traits of the
+Grinder; for if they be not borne in mind, his actions and motives will
+seem destitute of any satisfactory explanation. And I now return to
+the chamber where he sat with Crowther as they compared impressions
+together, and bartered suspicions about my father's marriage.
+
+"Now that I begin to consider the matter in this light," said Crowther,
+"it is curious what an explanation it affords to many things that used
+to puzzle me formerly: all that coldness and reserve towards Carew that
+his neighbors showed; the way his former acquaintances fell off from
+him, one by one; and, lastly, those strange hints about him in the
+newspapers. I suppose we should see the meaning of every one of them now
+easily enough?"
+
+Fagan made no reply; his mind was travelling along over the road it had
+entered upon, and would not be turned away by any call whatsoever.
+
+"Yes," muttered he to himself, "the little cottage at Fallrach, in the
+Killeries,--that's the place! and the only thing now is to get him down
+there. I must go up and see how he gets on, Crowther. I 'm half afraid
+that he ought to see a surgeon." And, so saying, he arose and left the
+room.
+
+My father was still sleeping as he entered, but less tranquilly than
+before, with a feverish flush upon his face, and his lips dry and
+dark-colored.
+
+With a noiseless hand, Fagan drew back the curtain, and, seating himself
+close to the bed, bent down to gaze on him. The uneasy motions of the
+sleeper denoted pain; and more than once his hand was pressed against
+his side, as if it was the seat of some suffering. Fagan watched every
+gesture eagerly, and tried, but in vain, to collect some meaning from
+the low and broken utterance. Rapidly speaking at intervals, and at
+times moaning painfully, he appeared to labor either under some mental
+or bodily agony, in a paroxysm of which, at last, he burst open his
+vest, and clutched his embroidered shirt-frill with a violence that tore
+it in fragments.
+
+As he did so, Fagan caught sight of a handkerchief stained with blood,
+which, with cautious gesture, he slowly removed, and, walking to
+the window, examined it carefully. This done, he folded it up, and,
+enveloping it in his own, placed it in his pocket. Once more he took
+his place at the bedside, and seemed to listen with intense anxiety for
+every sound of the sleeper's lips. The fever appeared to gain ground,
+for the flush now covered the face and forehead, and the limbs were
+twitched with short convulsive motions.
+
+At last, as the paroxysm had reached its height, he bounded up from the
+bed and awoke.
+
+"Where am I?" cried he, wildly. "Who are all these? What do they allege
+against me?"
+
+"Lie down; compose yourself, Mr. Carew. You are amongst friends, who
+wish you well, and will treat you kindly," said Fagan, mildly.
+
+"But it was not of my seeking,--no one can dare to say so. Fagan will be
+my back to any amount,--ten thousand, if they ask it."
+
+"That will I,--to the last penny I possess."
+
+"There, I told you so. I often said I knew the Grinder better than any
+of you. You laughed at me for it; but I was right, for all that."
+
+"I trust you were right, sir," said Fagan, calmly.
+
+"What I said was this," continued he, eagerly: "the father of such a
+girl as Polly must be a gentleman at heart. He may trip and stumble, in
+his imitations of your modish paces; but the soul of a gentleman must be
+in him. Was I right there, or not?"
+
+"Pray, calm yourself; lie down, and take your rest," said Fagan, gently
+pushing him back upon the pillow.
+
+"You are quite right," said he; "there is nothing for it now but
+submission. MacNaghten, Harvey, Burton,--all who have known me from
+boyhood,--can testify if I were one to do a dishonorable action. I tell
+you again and again, I will explain nothing; life is not worth such a
+price,--such ignominy is too great!"
+
+He paused, as if the thought was too painful to pursue; and then, fixing
+his eyes on Fagan, he laughed aloud, and added,--
+
+"Eh, Fagan! that would be like one of your own contracts,--a hundred per
+cent!"
+
+"I have not treated you in this wise, Mr. Carew," said he, calmly..
+
+"No, my boy! that you have not. To the last hour of my life--no great
+stretch of time, perhaps--I 'll say the same. You have been a generous
+fellow with me--the devil and yourself may perhaps know why,--I do not;
+nay, more, Fagan--I never cared to know. Perhaps you thought I 'd marry
+Polly. By George! I might have done worse; and who knows what may be yet
+on the cards? Ay, just so--the cards--the cards!"
+
+He did not speak again for several minutes; but when he did, his voice
+assumed a tone of greater distinctness and accuracy, as if he would not
+that a single word were lost.
+
+"I knew your scheme about the Papists, Tony; I guessed what you were at
+then. I was to have emancipated you!"
+
+A wild laugh broke from him, and he went on,--
+
+"Just fancy the old trumpeter's face, that hangs up in the dinner-room
+at Castle Carew! Imagine the look he would bestow on his descendant as I
+sat down to table. Faith! Old Noll himself would have jumped out of the
+canvas at the tidings. If you cannot strain your fancy that far, Tony,
+think what your own father would have said were his degenerate son to
+be satisfied with lawful interest!--imagine him sorrowing over the lost
+precepts of his house!"
+
+"There; I'll close the curtains, and leave you to take a sleep," said
+Fagan.
+
+"But I have no time for this, man," cried the other, again starting up;
+"I must be up and away. You must find some place of concealment for me
+till I can reach the Continent. Understand me well, Fagan, I cannot, I
+will not, make a defence; as little am I disposed to die like a felon!
+There's the whole of it! Happily, if the worst should come, Tony, the
+disgrace dies with me; that's something,--eh?"
+
+"You will make yourself far worse by giving way to this excitement, Mr.
+Carew; you must try and compose yourself."
+
+"So I will, Fagan; I'll be as obedient as you wish. Only tell me that
+you will watch for my safety, assure me of that, and I 'm content."
+
+As though the very words he had just uttered had brought a soothing
+influence to his mind, he had scarcely finished speaking when he fell
+off into a deep sleep, unbroken by even a dream. Fagan stood long enough
+at the bedside to assure himself that all was quiet, and then left the
+room, locking the door as he passed out, and taking the key with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE
+
+In these memoirs of my father, I have either derived my information from
+the verbal accounts of his friends and contemporaries, or taken it from
+his own letters and papers. Many things have I omitted, as irrelevant to
+his story, which, in themselves, might not have been devoid of interest;
+and of some others, the meaning and purport being somewhat obscure,
+I have abstained from all mention. I make this apology for the
+incompleteness of my narrative; and the reader will probably accept
+my excuses the more willingly since he is spared the infliction of my
+discursiveness on topics only secondary and adventitious.
+
+I now, however, come to a period the most eventful of his story, but,
+by an unhappy accident, the least illustrated by any record of its acts.
+MacNaghten, my chief source of information hitherto, is here unable to
+guide or direct me. He knew nothing of my father's movements, nor did
+he hold any direct intercourse with him. Whatever letters may have been
+written by my father himself, I am unable to tell, none of them having
+ever reached me. My difficulty is therefore considerable, having little
+to guide me beyond chance paragraphs in some of Fagan's letters to
+his daughter, and some two or three formal communications on business
+matters to my mother.
+
+There is yet enough even in these scattered notices to show that Fagan's
+hopes of realizing the great ambition of his life had been suddenly
+and unexpectedly renewed. Not alone was he inclined to believe that my
+father might become the political leader of his own peculiar party, and
+take upon him the unclaimed position of an Irish champion, but, further
+still, he persuaded himself that my father was not really married, and
+that the present conjuncture offered a favorable prospect of making him
+his son-in-law.
+
+The reader has already seen from what a slight foundation this edifice
+sprung,--a random word spoken by my father at a moment of great
+excitement; a half-muttered regret, wrung from him in a paroxysm of
+wounded self-love.
+
+He was not the first, nor will he be the last, who shall raise up a
+structure for which the will alone supplies material; mayhap, too, in
+his case, the fire of hope had never been totally extinguished in
+his heart, and from its smouldering embers now burst out this new and
+brilliant flame.
+
+It was about an hour after midnight that a chaise, with four horses,
+drew up at Fagan's door; and, after a brief delay, a sick man was
+assisted carefully down the stairs and deposited within the carriage.
+Raper took his place beside him, and, with a speed that denoted urgency,
+the equipage drove away, and, passing through many a narrow lane and
+alley, emerged from the city at last, and took the great western road.
+
+Fallrach, even in our own day of universal travel and research, is a
+wild and lonely spot; but at the time I refer to, it was as utterly
+removed from all intercourse with the world as some distant settlement
+of Central America. Situated in a little bend or bight of coast where
+the Killeries opens to the great ocean, backed by lofty mountains, and
+flanked either by the sea or the still less accessible crags of granite,
+this little cottage was almost concealed from view. Unpretending as it
+was without, its internal arrangements included every comfort; and my
+father found himself not only surrounded with all the appliances of ease
+and enjoyment, but in the very midst of objects well known and dear
+to him from old associations. It had been in our family for about a
+century; but up to this moment my father had never seen it, nor was he
+aware of the singular beauty of the neighboring coast scenery.
+
+At first, he could do no more than sit at an open window that looked
+over the sea, enjoying, with dreamy languor, the calm influences of a
+solitude so thoroughly unbroken. To an overwrought and excited mind,
+this interval of quiet was a priceless luxury; and far from experiencing
+weariness in his lonely life, the days glided past unnoticed.
+
+Raper was not of a nature to obtrude himself on any one; and as my
+father neither sought nor needed a companion, they continued to live
+beneath the same roof almost without meeting. While, therefore, there
+was the most scrupulous attention to all my father's wants, and a
+watchfulness that seemed even to anticipate a wish on his part, his
+privacy was never invaded nor disturbed. A few words each morning
+between Raper and himself provided for all the arrangements of the day,
+and there ended their intercourse.
+
+Leaving him, therefore, in the indulgence of this placid existence,
+I must now turn to another scene, where very different actors and
+interests were engaged.
+
+The death of Barry Rutledge had created the most intense excitement,
+not alone in Dublin, but throughout the country generally. He was almost
+universally known. His acquaintanceship embraced men of every shade of
+opinion, and of all parties; and if his character did not suggest any
+feelings of strong attachment or regard, there were social qualities
+about him which, at least, attracted admiration, and made him welcome in
+society.
+
+Such men are often regretted by the world more deeply than is their due.
+Their amusing faculties are frequently traced back to some imaginary
+excellence in their natures, and there mingles with the sorrow for their
+loss a sort of tender compassion for the fate of abilities misapplied,
+and high gifts wasted. This was exactly the case here. Many who did not
+rank amongst his intimates while he lived, now affected to deplore his
+death most deeply; and there was a degree of sympathy felt, or assumed
+to be felt, for his fate, widely disproportioned to his claims upon real
+regard.
+
+The manner of his death still remained a profound mystery. The verdict
+of the coroner's jury was simply to the effect that "he had died of
+wounds inflicted by a person or persons unknown," but without an attempt
+at explanation. The witnesses examined deposed to very little more
+than the state in which the body was found, and the prints of footsteps
+discovered in its vicinity. These, indeed, and other marks about the
+spot seemed to indicate that a struggle had taken place; but a strange
+and unaccountable apathy prevailed as to all investigation, and the
+public was left to the very vaguest of speculations as they appeared
+from time to time in the columns of the newspapers.
+
+Amongst those who accompanied Rutledge into the street there was a
+singular discrepancy of opinion, some averring that they heard him
+called on by his name, and others equally positive in asserting that the
+provocation was uttered only in the emphatic monosyllable, "a lie." They
+were all men of standing and position in the world; they were persons
+of indisputable honor; and yet, strange to say, upon a simple matter of
+fact which had occupied but a few seconds, they could not be brought
+to anything like agreement. The most positive of all in maintaining his
+opinion was a Colonel Vereker, who persisted in alleging that he stood
+side by side with Rutledge the whole time he was speaking; that he could
+swear not only to the words used by the unknown speaker, but that he
+would go so far as to say, that such was the impression made upon his
+senses that he could detect the voice were he ever to hear it again.
+
+This assertion, at first uttered in the small circle of intimacy, at
+last grew to be talked of abroad, and many were of opinion it would
+one day or other give the clew to this mysterious affair. As to Vereker
+himself, he felt that he was to a certain extent pledged to the proof
+of what he had maintained so persistently. His opinions had gained
+currency, and were discussed by the press, which, in the dearth of
+other topics of interest, devoted a large portion of their columns to
+commentary on this event.
+
+Any one now looking back to the pages of the Dublin "Express" or
+"Falkner" of that date will scarcely fail to find that each day
+contributed some new and ingenious suggestion as to the manner of
+Rutledge's death. Some of these were arrayed with great details and the
+most minute arrangement of circumstances; others were constructed of
+materials the least probable and likely. Every view had, however, its
+peculiar advocates, and it was curious to see to what violence was
+carried the war of controversy upon the subject.
+
+By the publicity which accompanies such events as these, the ends of
+justice are mainly sustained and aided. Discussion suggests inquiry,
+and by degrees the general mind is turned with zeal to an investigation
+which, under ordinary circumstances, had only occupied the attention of
+the authorities.
+
+To any one who has not witnessed a similar movement of popular anxiety,
+it would be difficult to believe how completely this topic engrossed
+the thoughts of the capital; and through every grade of society the same
+intense desire prevailed to unravel this mystery. Amongst the many facts
+adduced, was one which attracted a large share of speculation, and this
+was the track of footsteps from the very opposite corner of the "Green"
+to the fatal spot, and their issue at the little wicket gate of which
+we have already spoken. These traces were made by a large foot, and were
+unmistakably those of a heavy man, wearing boots such as were usually
+worn by gentlemen. One peculiarity of them, too, was, that the heels
+were studded with large nails, rarely worn save by the peasantry. A
+shoemaker who served on the inquest was heard to remark that a very few
+country gentlemen still persisted in having their boots thus provided,
+and that he himself had only one such customer, for whom he had just
+finished a new pair that were then ready to be sent home.
+
+The remark attracted attention, and led to an examination of the boots,
+which, strange to say, were found exactly to correspond with the tracks
+in the clay. This fact, coupled with another, that the person for whom
+they were made, and who had been impatient to obtain them, had not even
+called at the shop or made any inquiry since the night of Rutledge's
+death, was of so suspicious a nature, that the boots were taken
+possession of by the authorities, and the maker strictly enjoined to the
+most guarded secrecy as to the name of him by whom they were ordered.
+
+With every precaution to secure secrecy, the story of the boots got
+noised about, and letters poured forth in print to show that the custom
+of wearing such heels as were described was by no means so limited as
+was at first assumed. In the very thick of discussion on this subject,
+there came a post letter one evening to the bootmaker's house,
+requesting him to send the boots lately ordered by an old customer, J.
+C, to the "Blue Balls," at Clontarf, addressed, "George J. Grogan, Esq."
+
+The shopkeeper, on receiving this epistle, immediately communicated it
+to the authorities, who could not fail to see in it another circumstance
+of deep suspicion. From the first moment of having learned his name,
+they had prosecuted the most active inquiries, and learned that he had
+actually been in town the evening of Rutledge's death, and suddenly
+taken his departure on the morning after. The entire of the preceding
+evening, too, he had been absent from his hotel, to which he returned
+late at night, and instead of retiring to bed, immediately occupied
+himself with preparations for his departure.
+
+As the individual was one well known, and occupying a prominent position
+in society, it was deemed to be a step requiring the very gravest
+deliberation in what manner to proceed. His political opinions, and even
+his personal conduct, being strongly opposed to the Government, rather
+increased than diminished this difficulty, since the Liberal papers
+would be sure to lay hold of any proceedings as a gross insult to the
+national party.
+
+The advice of the law officers, however, overruled all these objections;
+a number of circumstances appeared to concur to inculpate him, and it
+was decided on issuing a warrant for his arrest at the place which he
+had named as his address.
+
+Secrecy was now no longer practicable; and to the astonishment of
+all Dublin was it announced in the morning papers that Mr. Curtis was
+arrested the preceding night, on a judge's warrant, charged with the
+murder of Barry Rutledge.
+
+Terrible as such an accusation must always sound, there is something
+doubly appalling when uttered against one whose rank in society would
+seem to exempt him from the temptations of such guilt. The natural
+revulsion to credit a like imputation is, of course, considerable; but,
+notwithstanding this, there were circumstances in Curtis's character and
+habits that went far to render the allegation not devoid of probability.
+He was a rash, impetuous, and revengeful man, always involved
+in pecuniary difficulties, and rarely exempt from some personal
+altercation. Harassed by law, disappointed, and, as he himself thought,
+persecuted by the Government, his life was a continual conflict. Though
+not without those who recognized in him traits of warm-hearted and
+generous devotion, the number of these diminished as he grew older, and,
+by the casualties of the world, he lived to fancy himself the last of a
+bygone generation far superior in every gift and attribute to that which
+succeeded it.
+
+When arrested, and charged with the crime of wilful murder, so far
+from experiencing the indignant astonishment such an allegation might
+naturally lead to, he only accepted it as another instance of the
+unrelenting hate with which the Government, or, as he styled it, "the
+Castle," had, through his life long, pursued him.
+
+"Who is it," cried he, with sarcastic bitterness, "that I have
+murdered?"
+
+"You are charged with being accessory to the death of Mr. Barry
+Rutledge, sir," said the other.
+
+"Barry Rutledge!--the Court-jester, the Castle-mimic, the tale-bearer
+of the Viceroy's household, the hireling scoffer at honest men, and
+the cringing supplicant of bad ones. The man who crushed such a reptile
+would have deserved well of his country, if it were not that the breed
+is too large to be extirpated."
+
+"Take care what you say, Mr. Curtis," said the other, respectfully;
+"your words may be used to your disadvantage."
+
+"Take care what I say! Who are you speaking to, sirrah? Is the caution
+given to Joe Curtis? Is it to the man that has braved your power and
+laughed at your Acts of Parliament these fifty years? Are you going to
+teach me discretion now? Hark ye, my man, tell your employers not to
+puzzle their heads with plots and schemes about a conviction; they need
+neither bribe a witness, corrupt a judge, nor pack a jury. Familiar as
+such good actions are to them, their task will still be easier here.
+Tell them this; and tell them also that the score they must one day be
+prepared to settle would be lighter if Joe Curtis was the last man they
+had sent innocently to the scaffold."
+
+As though he had disburdened his mind by this bitter speech, Curtis
+never again adverted to the dreadful accusation against him. He was
+committed to Newgate; and while treated with a certain deference to his
+position in life, he never relaxed in the stern and unbending resolve
+neither to accept any favor, nor even avail himself of the ordinary
+means of legal defence.
+
+"Prison diet and a straw mattress!" cried he; "such you cannot deny me;
+and they will be the extent of the favors I'll receive at your hands."
+
+As the day fixed for the trial approached, the popular excitement rose
+to a high degree. Curtis was not a favorite even with his own party; his
+temper was sour, and his disposition unconciliatory; so that even by the
+Liberal press, his name was mentioned with little sympathy or regard.
+Besides this feeling, there was another, and a far more dangerous one,
+then abroad. The lower classes had been of late reflected on severely
+for the crimes which disgraced the county calendars, and the opportunity
+of retaliating against the gentry, by a case which involved one of
+their order, was not to be neglected. While, therefore, the daily papers
+accumulated a variety of strange and seemingly convincing circumstances,
+the street literature did not scruple to go further, and Curtis was
+the theme of many a ballad, wherein his guilt was depicted in all the
+glowing colors of verse.
+
+It is one of the gravest inconveniences which accompany the liberty of
+free discussion that an accused man is put upon his trial before the
+bar of public opinion, and his guilt or innocence pronounced upon, long
+before he takes his place in presence of his real judges; and although,
+in the main, popular opinion is rarely wrong, still there are moments
+of rash enthusiasm, periods of misguided zeal or unbridled bigotry, in
+which such decisions are highly perilous. Too frequently, also, will
+circumstances quite foreign to the matter at issue be found to influence
+the opinions expressed upon it.
+
+So far had the popular verdict gone against the accused in the present
+case that there was a considerable time spent on the morning of the
+trial, before a jury could be empanelled which should not include any
+one who had already pronounced strongly on the case.
+
+Curtis, as I have mentioned, declined all means of defence; he
+thought, or affected to think, that every member of the bar was open to
+Government corruption, and that as the whole was an organized plot for
+his destruction, resistance was perfectly vain and useless. When asked,
+therefore, to whom he had intrusted his case, he advanced to the front
+of the dock, and said: "Gentlemen of the jury, the disagreeable duties
+you are sworn to discharge shall not be protracted by anything on my
+part. Whatever falsehoods the counsel for the Crown may advance, and the
+witnesses swear to, shall meet neither denial nor refutation from me.
+The Castle scoundrels shall play the whole game themselves, and whenever
+you agree 'what 's to pay,' I 'll settle the score without flinching."
+
+This extraordinary address, uttered in a tone of half-savage jocularity,
+excited a strange mixture of emotion in those who heard it, which
+ultimately ended in half-subdued laughter throughout the court,
+repressing which at once, the judge gravely reprimanded the prisoner
+for the aspersions he had thrown on the administration of justice, and
+appointed one of the most distinguished members of the bar to conduct
+his defence.
+
+It was late in the day when the Crown counsel rose to open his case. His
+address was calm and dispassionate. It was divested of what might seem
+to be any ungenerous allusion to the peculiar character or temperament
+of the accused, but it promised an amount of circumstantial evidence
+which, were the credit of the witnesses to stand unimpeached, would be
+almost impossible to reconcile with anything short of the guilt of the
+prisoner in the dock.
+
+"We shall show you, gentlemen of the jury," said he, "first of all that
+there was a manifest motive for this crime,--at least, what to a man of
+the prisoner's temper and passions might adequately represent a motive.
+We shall produce evidence before you to prove his arrival secretly in
+Dublin, where he lodged in an obscure and little-frequented locality,
+avoiding all occasion of recognition, and passing under an assumed name.
+We shall show you that on each evening he was accustomed to visit an
+acquaintance--a solicitor, whom we shall produce on the table--whose
+house is situated at the very opposite end of the city; returning from
+which, it was his habit to pass through Stephen's Green, and that he
+took this path on the night of the murder, having parted from his friend
+a little before midnight. We shall next show you that the traces of
+the footsteps correspond exactly with his boots, even to certain
+peculiarities in their make. And, lastly, we shall prove his immediate
+and secret departure from the capital on this very night in question;
+his retirement to a distant part of the country, where he remained till
+within a few days previous to his arrest.
+
+"Such are the brief outlines of a case, the details of which will
+comprise a vast number of circumstances,--slight, perhaps, and trivial
+individually, but which, taken collectively, and considered in regard to
+their bearing on the matter before us, will make up a mass of evidence
+that the most sceptical cannot reject.
+
+"Although it may not be usual to advert to the line of conduct which the
+prisoner has adopted, in refusing to name a counsel for his defence,
+I cannot avoid warning the jury that such a course may bear an
+interpretation very remote from that which at first sight it seems
+to convey. He would wish you to accept this position as the strongest
+evidence of innocence; as if, relying on the justice of his cause, he
+requires neither guidance nor counsel!
+
+"It will be for you, gentlemen, to determine if the evidence placed
+before you admit of such a construction; or whether, on the contrary,
+it be not of such a nature that would foil the skill of the craftiest
+advocate to shake, and be more effectually rebutted by a general and
+vague denial, than by any systematic endeavors to impeach.
+
+"You are not, therefore, to accept this rejection of aid as by any means
+a proof of conscious innocence. Far from it. The more correct reading
+might show it to be the crafty policy of a man who throughout his whole
+life has been as remarkable for self-reliance as for secrecy; who,
+confiding in his own skill to direct him in the most difficult
+circumstances, places far more reliance on his personal adroitness than
+upon the most practised advocacy; and whose depreciatory estimate of
+mankind is but the gloomy reflection of a burdened conscience."
+
+It was so late when the counsel had concluded that the court adjourned
+its proceedings till the following morning; and the vast assembly which
+thronged the building dispersed, deeply impressed with the weighty
+charge against the prisoner, and with far less of sympathy than is
+usually accorded to those who stand in like predicament.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. AN UNLOOKED-FOR DISCLOSURE.
+
+On the second day of the trial, the court-house was even more densely
+crowded than on the first. The rank and station which the accused had
+held in society, as well as the mysterious character of the case itself,
+had invested the event with an uncommon interest; and long before the
+doors were opened, a vast concourse filled the streets, amidst which
+were to be seen the equipages of many of the first people of the
+country.
+
+Scarcely had the judges taken their places, when every seat in the court
+was occupied,--the larger proportion of which displayed the rank and
+beauty of the capital, who now thronged to the spot, all animated with
+the most eager curiosity, and speculating on the result in a spirit
+which, whatever anxiety it involved, as certainly evinced little real
+sympathy for the fate of the prisoner. The bold, defiant tone which
+Curtis had always assumed in the world had made him but few friends,
+even with his own party; his sneering, caustic manner had rendered him
+unpopular; few could escape his censures,--none his sarcasms. It would,
+indeed, have been difficult to discover one for whom less personal
+interest was felt than for the individual who that morning stood erect
+in the dock, and with a calm but stern expression regarded the bench and
+the jury-box.
+
+As the court continued to fill, Curtis threw his eyes here and there
+over the crowded assemblage, but in no wise disconcerted by the
+universal gaze of which he was the object. On the contrary, he nodded
+familiarly to some acquaintances at a distance; and, recognizing one
+whom he knew well in the gallery over his head, he called out,--
+
+"How are you, Ruxton? Let me advise you to change your bootmaker, or
+I would n't say that the Crown lawyers won't put you, one day, where I
+stand now!"
+
+The laugh which followed this sally was scarcely repressed, when the
+trial began. The first witness produced was a certain Joseph Martin,
+the solicitor at whose house Curtis had passed the evening on which the
+murder was committed. His evidence, of course, could throw little or no
+light upon the event, and merely went to establish the fact that Curtis
+had stayed with him till nigh midnight, and left him about that hour
+to proceed to his home. When questioned as to the prisoner's manner and
+general bearing during that evening, he replied that he could detect
+nothing strange or unusual in it; that he talked pretty much as he
+always did, and upon the same topics.
+
+"Did he allude to the Government, or to any of its officials?" was then
+asked; and, before a reply could be given, Curtis cried out,--
+
+"Yes. I told Martin that if the scoundrels who rule us should only
+continue their present game, nobody could regret the ruin of a country
+that was a disgrace to live in. Did n't I say that?"
+
+"I must remind you, sir," interposed the judge, gravely, "how seriously
+such conduct as this is calculated to prejudice the character of your
+defence."
+
+"Defence! my Lord," broke in Curtis, "when did I ever think of a
+defence? The gentlemen of the jury have heard me more plainly than
+your Lordship. I told them, as I now tell you, that innocence is no
+protection to a man when hunted down by legal bloodhounds; that--"
+
+"I must enforce silence upon you, sir, if I cannot induce caution,"
+said the judge, solemnly; "you may despise your own safety, but you must
+respect this court."
+
+"You 'll find that even a more difficult lesson to teach me, my Lord.
+I can remember some eight-and-forty years of what is called the
+administration of justice in Ireland. I am old enough to remember when
+you hanged a priest who married a Protestant, and disbarred the lawyer
+that defended him."
+
+"Be silent, sir," said the judge, in a voice of command; and with
+difficulty was Curtis induced to obey the admonition.
+
+As the trial proceeded, it was remarked that Colonel Vereker was seen in
+close communication with one of the Crown lawyers, who soon afterwards
+begged to tender him as a witness for the prosecution. The proposal
+itself and the object it contained were made the subject of a very
+animated discussion; and although the testimony offered seemed of the
+greatest importance, the court decided that it was of a kind which,
+according to the strict rules of evidence, could not be received.
+
+"Then you may rely upon it, gentlemen of the jury," cried Curtis, "it is
+favorable to me."
+
+"Let me assure you, sir, to the contrary," said the judge, mildly, "and
+that it is with a jealous regard for your interest we have agreed not to
+accept this evidence."
+
+"And have you had no respect for poor Vereker, my Lord? He looks as if
+he really would like to tell the truth for once in his life."
+
+"If Colonel Vereker's evidence cannot be admitted upon this point, my
+Lord," said the Crown lawyer, "there is yet another, in which it is
+all-essential. He was one of those who stood beside Rutledge on the
+balcony when the words were uttered which attracted his notice. The
+tone of voice, and the manner in which they were uttered, made a deep
+impression upon him, and he is fully persuaded that they were spoken by
+the prisoner in the dock."
+
+"Let us listen to him about that," said Curtis, who now bestowed a
+more marked attention to the course of the proceeding. Vereker was
+immediately sworn, and his examination began. He detailed with great
+clearness the circumstances which preceded the fatal event, and the
+nature of the conversation on the balcony, till he came to that part
+where the interruption from the street took place. "There," he said, "I
+cannot trust my memory as to the words employed by Rutledge, although I
+am confident as to the phrase used in rejoinder, and equally certain as
+to the voice of him who uttered it."
+
+"You mean to say," said the judge, "that you have recognized that voice
+as belonging to the prisoner."
+
+"I mean to say, my Lord, that were I to hear him utter the same words in
+an excited tone, I should be able to swear to them."
+
+"That's a lie!" cried Curtis.
+
+"These were the words, and that the voice, my Lord," said Vereker; and
+as he spoke, a deep murmur of agitated feeling rang through the crowded
+court.
+
+"By Heaven!" cried Curtis, in a tone of passionate excitement, "I hold
+my life as cheaply as any man; but I cannot see it taken away by the
+breath of a false witness: let me interrogate this man." In vain was it
+that the practised counsel appointed to conduct his case interposed,
+and entreated of him to be silent. To no purpose did they beg of him
+to leave in their hands the difficult game of cross-examination. He
+rejected their advice as haughtily as he had refused their services, and
+at once addressed himself to the critical task.
+
+"With whom had you dined, sir, on the day in question,--the 7th of
+June?" asked he of Vereker.
+
+"I dined with Sir Marcus Hutchinson."
+
+"There was a large party?"
+
+"There was."
+
+"Tell us, so far as you remember, the names of the guests."
+
+"Some were strangers to me,--from England, I believe; but of those
+I knew before, I can call to mind Leonard Fox, Hamilton Gore, John
+Fortescue, and his brother Edward, Tom Beresford, and poor Rutledge."
+
+"It was a convivial party, and you drank freely?"
+
+"Freely, but not to excess."
+
+"You dined at five o'clock?"
+
+"At half-after five."
+
+"And rose from table about eleven?"
+
+"About that hour."
+
+"There were speeches made and toasts drunk, I believe?"
+
+"There were,--a few."
+
+"The toasts and the speeches were of an eminently loyal character; they
+all redounded to the honor and credit of the Government?"
+
+"Highly so."
+
+"And as strikingly did they reflect upon the character of all Irishmen
+who opposed the ministry, and assumed for themselves the position of
+patriots. Come, sir, no hesitation; answer my question boldly. Is this
+not true?"
+
+"We certainly did not regard the party you speak of as being true and
+faithful subjects of the king."
+
+"You thought them rebels?"
+
+"Perhaps not exactly rebels."
+
+"You called them rebels; and you yourself prayed that the time was
+coming when the lamp-iron and the lash should reward their loyalty. Can
+you deny this?"
+
+"We had a great deal of conversation about politics. We talked in all
+the freedom of friendly intercourse, and, doubtless, with some of that
+warmth which accompanies after-dinner discussions. But as to the exact
+words--"
+
+"It is the exact words I want; it is the exact words I insist upon, sir.
+They were used by yourself, and drew down rounds of applause. You were
+eloquent and successful."
+
+"I am really unable, at this distance of time, to recollect a word or a
+phrase that might have fallen from me in the heat of the moment."
+
+"This speech of yours was made about the middle of the evening?"
+
+"I believe it was."
+
+"And you afterwards sat a considerable time and drank freely?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And although your recollection of what passed before that is so obscure
+and inaccurate, you perfectly remember everything that took place when
+standing on the balcony two hours later, and can swear to the very tone
+of a voice that uttered but three words: 'That is a lie, sir!'"
+
+"Prisoner at the bar, conduct yourself with the respect due to the court
+and to the witness under its protection," interposed the judge, with
+severity.
+
+"You mistake me, my Lord," said Curtis, in a voice of affected
+deprecation. "The words I spoke were not used as commenting on the
+witness or his veracity. They were simply those to which he swore, those
+which he heard once, and, although after a five hours' debauch, remained
+fast graven on his memory, along with the very manner of him who uttered
+them. I have nothing more to ask him. He may go down--down!" repeated
+he, solemnly; "if there be yet anything lower that he can descend to!"
+
+Once more did the judge admonish the prisoner as to his conduct, and
+feelingly pointed out to him the serious injury he was inflicting upon
+his own case by this rash and intemperate course of proceeding; but
+Curtis smiled half contemptuously at the correction, and folded his arms
+with an air of dogged resignation.
+
+It is rarely possible, from merely reading the published proceedings of
+a trial, to apportion the due degree of weight which the testimony of
+the several witnesses imposes, or to estimate that force which manner
+and conduct supply to the evidence when orally delivered. In the
+present case, the guilt of the accused man rested on the very vaguest
+circumstances, not one of which but could be easily and satisfactorily
+accounted for on other grounds. He admitted that he had passed through
+Stephen's Green on the night in question, and that possibly the tracks
+imputed to him were actually his own; but as to the reasons for his
+abrupt departure from town, or the secrecy which he observed when
+writing to the bootmaker,--these, he said, were personal matters which
+he would not condescend to enter upon, adding, sarcastically,--
+
+"That though they might not prove very damning omissions in defence of a
+hackney-coach summons, he was quite aware that they might prove fatal to
+a man who stood charged with murder."
+
+After a number of witnesses were examined, whose testimony went to prove
+slight and unimportant facts, Anthony Fagan was called to show that
+a variety of bill transactions had passed between the prisoner and
+Rutledge, and that on more than one occasion very angry discussions had
+occurred between them in reference to these.
+
+There were many points in which Fagan sympathized with the prisoner.
+Curtis was violently national in his politics; he bore an unmeasured
+hatred to all that was English; he was an extravagant asserter of
+popular rights: and yet, with all these, and, stranger still, with a
+coarse manner, and an address totally destitute of polish, he was in
+heart a haughty aristocrat, who despised the people most thoroughly.
+He was one of that singular class who seemed to retain to the very last
+years of the past century the feudal barbarism of a bygone age.
+
+Thus was it that the party who accepted his advocacy had to pay the
+price of his services in deep humiliation; and many there were who felt
+that the work was more than requited by the wages.
+
+To men like Fagan, whose wealth suggested various ambitions, Curtis was
+peculiarly offensive, since he never omitted an occasion to remind them
+of their origin, and to show them that they were as utterly debarred
+from all social acceptance as in the earliest struggles of their
+poverty.
+
+The majority of those in court, who only knew generally the agreement
+between Curtis and Fagan in political matters, were greatly struck by
+the decisive tone in which the witness spoke; and the damaging character
+of the evidence was increased by this circumstance.
+
+Among the scenes of angry altercation between the prisoner and Rutledge,
+Fagan spoke to one wherein Curtis had actually called the other a
+"swindler." Rutledge, however, merely remarked upon the liberties which
+his advanced age entitled him to assume; whereupon Curtis replied,
+"Don't talk to me, sir, of age! I am young enough and able enough to
+chastise such as you!"
+
+"Did the discussion end here?" asked the court.
+
+"So far as I know, my Lord, it did; for Mr. Rutledge left my office soon
+after, and apparently thinking little of what had occurred."
+
+"If honest Tony had not been too much engrossed with the cares of
+usury," cried out Curtis from the dock, "he might have remembered that I
+said to Rutledge, as he went out, 'The man that injures Joe Curtis owes
+a debt that he must pay sooner or latter.'"
+
+"I remember the words now," said Fagan.
+
+"Ay, and so have I ever found it," said Curtis, solemnly. "There are few
+who have gone through life with less good fortune than myself, and yet I
+have lived to see the ruin of almost every man that has injured me!"
+
+The savage vehemence with which he uttered these words caused a shudder
+throughout the crowded court, and went even further to criminate him in
+popular opinion than all that had been alleged in evidence.
+
+When asked by the court if he desired to cross-examine the witness,
+Curtis, in a calm and collected voice, replied:
+
+"No, my Lord; Tony Fagan will lose a hundred and eighty pounds if you
+hang me; and if he had anything to allege in my favor, we should have
+heard it before this." Then, turning towards the jury-box, he went on:
+"Now, gentlemen of the jury, there's little reason for detaining you any
+longer. You have as complete a case of circumstantial evidence before
+you as ever sent an innocent man to the scaffold. You have had the
+traits of my temper and the tracks of my boots, and, if you believe
+Colonel Vereker, the very tones of my voice, all sworn to; but, better
+than all these, you have at your disposal the life of a man who is too
+sick of the world to stretch out a hand to save himself, and who would
+even accept the disgrace of an ignominious death for the sake of the
+greater ignominy that is sure to fall later upon the unjust laws and
+the corrupt court that condemned him. Ay!" cried he, with an impressive
+solemnity of voice that thrilled through every heart, "you 'll array
+yourselves in all the solemn mockery of your station; you 'll bewail my
+guilt, and pronounce my sentence; but it is I, from this dock, say unto
+you upon that bench, the Lord have mercy upon your souls!"
+
+There was in the energy of his manner, despite all its eccentricity and
+quaintness, a degree of power that awed the entire assembly; and more
+than one trembled to think, "What if he really were to be innocent!"
+
+While this singular address was being delivered, Fagan was engaged in
+deep and earnest conversation with the Crown prosecutor; and from his
+excited manner might be seen the intense anxiety under which he labored.
+He was evidently urging some proposition with all his might, to which
+the other listened with deep attention.
+
+At this instant Fagan's arm was tapped by a hand from the crowd. He
+turned, and as suddenly grew deadly pale; for it was Raper stood before
+him!--Raper, whom he believed at that moment to be far away in a remote
+part of the country.
+
+"What brings you here? How came you to Dublin?" said Fagan, in a voice
+tremulous with passion.
+
+"We have just arrived; we heard that you were here, and he insisted upon
+seeing you before he left town."
+
+"Where is he, then?" asked Fagan.
+
+"In his carriage at the door of the court-house."
+
+"Does he know--has he heard of the case before the court? Speak, man! Is
+he aware of what is going on here?"
+
+The terrified eagerness of his whisper so overcame poor Raper that he
+was utterly unable to reply, and Fagan was obliged to clutch him by the
+arm to recall him to consciousness. Even, then, however, his vague and
+broken answer showed how completely his faculties were terrorized over
+by the despotic influence of his master. An indistinct sense of having
+erred somehow overcame him, and he shrank back from the piercing glance
+of the other, to hide himself in the crowd. Terrible as that moment
+of suspense must have been to Fagan, it was nothing to the agony which
+succeeded It, as he saw the crowd separating on either side to leave a
+free passage for the approach of an invalid who slowly came forward
+to the side-bar, casting his eyes around him, in half-bewildered
+astonishment at the scene.
+
+Being recognized by the Bench, an usher of the court was sent round to
+say that their Lordships would make room for him beside them; and my
+father--for it was he--with difficulty mounted the steps and took his
+seat beside the Chief Justice, faintly answering the kind inquiries for
+his health in a voice weak and feeble as a girl's.
+
+"You little expected to see me in such a place as this, Walter!" cried
+out Curtis from the dock; "and I just as little looked to see your
+father's son seated upon the bench at such a moment!"
+
+"What is it? What does it all mean? How is Curtis there? What has
+happened?" asked my father, vaguely.
+
+The Chief Justice whispered a few words in reply, when, with a shriek
+that made every heart cold, my father sprang to his feet, and, leaning
+his body over the front of the bench, cried out,--
+
+"It was I killed Barry Rutledge! There was no murder in the case! We
+fought with swords; and there," said he, drawing the weapon, "there's
+the blade that pierced his heart! and here" (tearing open his vest and
+shirt)--"and here the wound he gave me in return. The outrage for which
+he died well merited the penalty; but if there be guilt, it is mine, and
+mine only!"
+
+A fit of choking stopped his utterance. He tried to overcome it; he
+gasped convulsively twice or thrice; and then, as a cataract of bright
+blood gushed from nostrils and mouth together, he fell back and rolled
+heavily to the ground--dead.
+
+So exhausted was nature by this last effort that the body was cold
+within an hour after.
+
+[Illustration: 208]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. A FRIEND'S TRIALS
+
+The day of my beloved father's funeral was that of my birth! It is not
+improbable that he had often looked forward to that day as the crowning
+event of his whole life, destining great rejoicings, and planning every
+species of festivity; and now the summer clouds were floating over the
+churchyard, and the gay birds were carolling over the cold grave where
+he lay.
+
+What an emblem of human anticipation, and what an illustration of his
+own peculiar destiny! Few men ever entered upon life with more brilliant
+prospects. With nearly every gift of fortune, and not one single adverse
+circumstance to struggle against, he was scarcely launched upon the
+ocean of life ere he was shipwrecked! Is it not ever thus? Is it not
+that the storms and seas of adverse fortune are our best preservatives
+in this world, by calling into activity our powers of energy and of
+endurance? Are we not better when our lot demands effort, and exacts
+sacrifice, than when prosperity neither evokes an ungratified wish, nor
+suggests a difficult ambition?
+
+The real circumstances of his death were, I believe, never known to my
+mother, but the shock of the event almost killed her. Her cousin, Emile
+de Gabriac, had just arrived at Castle Carew, and they were sitting
+talking over France and all its pleasant associations, when a servant
+entered hastily with a letter for MacNaghten. It was in Fagan's
+handwriting, and marked "Most private, and with haste."
+
+"See," cried Dan, laughing,--"look what devices a dun is reduced to, to
+obtain an audience! Tony Fagan, so secret and so urgent on the outside,
+will be candid enough within, and beg respectfully to remind Mr.
+MacNaghten that his indorsement for two hundred and something pounds
+will fall due on Wednesday next, when he hopes--"
+
+"Let us see what he hopes," cried my mother, snatching the letter from
+him, "for it surely cannot be that he hopes you will pay it."
+
+The terrific cry she uttered, as her eyes read the dreadful lines, rang
+through that vast building. Shriek followed shriek in quick succession
+for some seconds; and then, as if exhausted nature could no more, she
+sank into a death-like trance, cold, motionless, and unconscious.
+
+Poor MacNaghten! I have heard him more than once say that if he were to
+live five hundred years, he never could forget the misery of that day,
+so graven upon his memory was every frightful and harrowing incident
+of it. He left Castle Carew for Dublin, and hastened to the courthouse,
+where, in one of the judge's robing-rooms, the corpse of his poor friend
+now lay. A hurried inquest had been held upon the body, and pronounced
+that "Death had ensued from natural causes;" and now the room was
+crowded with curious and idle loungers, talking over the strange event,
+and commenting upon the fate of him who, but a few hours back, so many
+would have envied.
+
+Having excluded the throng, he sat down alone beside the body, and, with
+the cold hand clasped between his own, wept heartily.
+
+"I never remember to have shed tears before in my life," said he, "nor
+could I have done so then, if I were not looking on that pale, cold
+face, which I had seen so often lighted up with smiles; on those
+compressed lips, from which came so many words of kindness and
+affection; and felt within my own that hand that never till now had met
+mine without the warm grasp of friendship."
+
+Poor Dan! he was my father's chief mourner,--I had almost said his only
+one. Several came and asked leave to see the body. Many were visibly
+affected at the sight. There was decent sorrow on every countenance; but
+of deep and true affliction MacNaghten was the solitary instance.
+
+It was late on the following evening as MacNaghten, who had only quitted
+the rooms for a few minutes, found on his return that a stranger was
+standing beside the body.
+
+"Ay," muttered he, solemnly, "the green and the healthy tree cut down,
+and the old sapless, rotten trunk left to linger on in slow decay!"
+
+"What! Curtis, is this you?" cried MacNaghten.
+
+"Yes, sir, and not mine the fault that I have not changed places with
+him who lies there. He had plenty to live for; I nothing, nor any one.
+And it was not that alone, MacNaghten!" added he, fiercely, "but think,
+reflect for one moment on what might have happened had they condemned
+and executed me! Is there a man in all Ireland, with heart and soul
+in him, who would not have read that sentence as an act of Government
+tyranny and vengeance? Do you believe the gentry of the country would
+have accepted the act as an accident, or do you think that the people
+would recognize it as anything else than a murder solemnized by the law?
+And if love of country could not stimulate and awake them, is it not
+possible that fears for personal safety might?"
+
+"I have no mind for such thoughts as these," said MacNaghten, sternly;
+"nor is it beside the cold corpse of him who lies there I would
+encourage them. If you come to sorrow over him, take your place beside
+me; if to speculate on party feuds or factious dissensions, then I beg
+you will leave me to myself."
+
+Curtis made him no reply, but left the room in silence.
+
+There were some legal difficulties raised before the funeral could be
+performed. The circumstances of Rutledge's death required to be cleared
+up; and Fagan--to whom my father had made a full statement of the whole
+event--underwent a long and close examination by the law authorities of
+the Castle. The question was a grave one as regarded property, since
+if a charge of murder could have been substantiated, the whole of my
+father's fortune would have been confiscated to the Crown. Fagan's
+testimony, too, was not without a certain disqualification, because
+he held large liens over the property, and must, if the estate were
+estreated, have been a considerable loser. These questions all required
+time for investigation; but, by dint of great energy and perseverance,
+MacNaghten obtained permission for the burial, which took place with
+strict privacy at the small churchyard of Killester,--a spot which, for
+what reason I am unaware, my father had himself selected, and mention of
+which desire was found amongst his papers.
+
+Fagan accompanied MacNaghten to the funeral, and Dan returned to his
+house afterwards to breakfast. Without any sentiment bordering on esteem
+for the "Grinder," MacNaghten respected him generally for his probity,
+and believed him to be as honorable in his dealings as usury and
+money-lending would permit any man to be. He was well aware that for
+years back the most complicated transactions with regard to loans had
+taken place between him and my father, and that to a right understanding
+of these difficult matters, and a satisfactory adjustment of them,
+nothing could conduce so much as a frank intercourse and a friendly
+bearing. These were at all times no very difficult requirements from
+honest Dan, and he did not assume them now with less sincerity or
+willingness that they were to be practised for the benefit of his poor
+friend's widow and orphan.
+
+MacNaghten could not help remarking that Fagan's manner, when speaking
+of my father's affairs, was characterized by a more than common caution
+and reserve, and that he strenuously avoided entering upon anything
+which bore, however remotely, upon the provision my mother was to enjoy,
+or what arrangements were to be made respecting myself. There was a
+will, he thought, in Crowther's possession; but it was of the less
+consequence, since the greater part, nearly all, of the Carew property
+was under the strictest entail.
+
+"The boy will be rich, one of the richest men in Ireland, if he lives,"
+said MacNaghten; but Fagan made no reply for some time, and at last
+said,--
+
+"If there be not good sense and moderation exercised on all sides, the
+Carews may gain less than will the Court of Chancery."
+
+MacNaghten felt far from reassured by the cautious and guarded reserve
+of Fagan's manner; he saw that in the dry, sententious tone of his
+remarks there lurked difficulties, and perhaps troubles; but he resolved
+to devote himself to the task before him in a spirit of patience and
+calm industry which, unhappily for him, he had never brought to bear
+upon his own worldly fortunes.
+
+"There is nothing either obtrusive or impertinent," said he, at last,
+to Fagan, "in my making these inquiries, for, independently of poor
+Walter's affection for me, I know that he always expected me to take the
+management of his affairs, should I survive him; and if there be a will,
+it is almost certain that I am named his executor in it."
+
+Fagan nodded affirmatively, and merely said,--
+
+"Crowther will be able to clear up this point."
+
+"And when shall we see him?"
+
+"He is in the country, down south, I think, at this moment; but he will
+be up by the end of the week. However, there are so many things to be
+done that his absence involves no loss of time. Where shall I address
+you, if I write?"
+
+"I shall return to Castle Carew this evening, and in all probability
+remain there till I hear from you."
+
+"That will do," was the dry answer; and MacNaghten took his leave, more
+than ever puzzled by the Grinder's manner, and wondering within himself
+in what shape and from what quarter might come the storm, which he
+convinced himself could not be distant.
+
+Grief for my father's death, and anxiety for my poor mother's fate,
+were, however, the uppermost thoughts in his mind; and as he drew nigh
+Castle Carew, his heart was so much overpowered by the change which had
+fallen upon that once happy home that he totally forgot all the dark
+hints and menacing intimations of his late interview.
+
+It was truly a gloom-stricken mansion. The servants moved about sadly,
+conversing in low whispers; save in one quarter, all the windows were
+closed, and the rooms locked up,--not a voice nor a footstep was to
+be heard. Mourning and woe were imprinted on every face and in every
+gesture. MacNaghten knew not where to go, nor where to stay. Every
+chamber he entered was full of its memories of the past, and he wandered
+on from room to room, seeking some spot which should not remind him
+of days whose happiness could never return. In this random search he
+suddenly entered the chamber where M. de Gabriac lay at full length upon
+a sofa, enjoying, in all the ease of a loose dressing-gown, the united
+pleasures of a French novel and a bottle of Bordeaux. MacNaghten would
+willingly have returned at once. Such a scene and such companionship
+were not to his taste; but the other quickly detected him, and called
+out,--
+
+"Ah! M. MacNaghten, how delighted am I to see you again! What days of
+misery and gloom have I been passing here,--no one to speak to, none to
+sit with."
+
+"It is, indeed, a sad mansion," sighed MacNaghten, heavily.
+
+"So, then, it is all true?" asked the other. "Poor fellow, what
+a sensitive nature,--how impressible. To die just for a matter of
+sentiment; for, after all, you know it was a sentiment, nothing else.
+Every man has had his affairs of this kind,--few go through life without
+something unpleasant; but one does not die broken-hearted for all that.
+No, _parbleu_, that is a very poor philosophy. Tell me about the duel; I
+am greatly interested to hear the details."
+
+To escape as far as possible any further moralizings of his companion,
+Dan related all that he knew of the fatal rencontre, answering, so
+well as he might, all the Frenchman's questions, and, at the same time,
+avoiding all reference to the provocation which led to the meeting.
+
+"It was a mistake, a great mistake, to fight in this fashion," said
+Gabriac, coldly. "There is an etiquette to be observed in a duel, as
+in a dinner; and you can no more hurry over one than the other, without
+suffering for it afterwards. Maybe these are, however, the habits of the
+country."
+
+MacNaghten calmly assured him that they were not.
+
+"Then the offence must have been an outrage,--what was it?"
+
+"Some expression of gross insult; I forget the exact nature of it."
+
+"Poor fellow!" said the other, sipping his wine, "with so much to live
+for,--a magnificent chateau, a pretty wife, and a good fortune. What
+folly, was it not?"
+
+MacNaghten afterwards acknowledged that even the Grinder's sententious
+dryness was preferable to the heartless indifference of the Frenchman's
+manner; but a deferential regard for her whose relative he was,
+restrained him from all angry expression of feeling on the subject, and
+he suffered him to discuss the duel and all its consequences, without
+the slightest evidence of the suffering it cost him.
+
+"Josephine will not be sorry to leave it," said Gabriac, after a short
+silence. "She told me that they never understood her, nor she them; and,
+after all, you know," said he, smiling, "there is but one France!"
+
+"And but one Ireland!" said MacNaghten, heartily.
+
+"Heureusement!" muttered the Frenchman, but employing a word which,
+happily, the other did not understand.
+
+"Her state is one of great danger still," said Dan, alluding to my
+mother.
+
+"They say so; but that is always the way with doctors. One may die of
+violent anger, rage, ungratified vengeance, jealousy, but not of mere
+grief. Sorrow is rather a soothing passion,--don't you think so?"
+
+Had MacNaghten been in the mood, he might have laughed at the remark,
+but now it only irritated and incensed him; and to such an extent did
+the heartless manner of the Frenchman grate upon his feelings that he
+was in momentary danger of including my poor mother in the depreciatory
+estimate he conceived of France and all that belonged to it. Nor was his
+temper improved by the inquiries of Gabriac concerning the property
+and estates of my father; in fact, unable any longer to continue a
+conversation, every portion of which, was an outrage, he arose abruptly,
+and, wishing him a good night, left the room.
+
+"Poor Walter," said he, as he slowly sauntered along towards his
+chamber, "is it to such as these your memory is to be intrusted, and
+your name and fortune bequeathed?" And with this gloomy reflection he
+threw himself upon his bed, to pass a sad and a sleepless night.
+
+It was in a curious reverie--a kind of inquiring within himself,
+"How came it that qualities so calculated to make social intercourse
+delightful in days of happiness, should prove positively offensive in
+moments of trial and affliction?" for such he felt to be the case as
+regarded Gabriac--that MacNaghten lay, when a servant came to inform
+him that Mr. Crowther had just arrived at the Castle, and earnestly
+requested to see him.
+
+"At once," replied he, "show him up to me here;" and in a few moments
+that most bland and imperturbable of solicitors entered, and, drawing a
+chair to the bedside, sat down.
+
+"This is a sad occasion, Mr. MacNaghten. I little thought when I last
+saw you here that my next visit would have been on such an errand."
+
+MacNaghten nodded sorrowfully, and Crowther went on:
+
+"Sad in every sense, sir," sighed he, heavily. "The last of his
+name--one of our oldest gentry--the head of a princely fortune--with
+abilities, I am assured, of a very high order, and, certainly, most
+popular manners."
+
+"You may spare me the eulogy," said MacNaghten, bluntly. "He was a
+better fellow than either you or I should be able to describe, if we
+spent an hour over it."
+
+Crowther took the rebuke in good part, and assented to the remark with
+the best possible grace. Still, he seemed as if he would like to dwell a
+little longer on the theme before he proceeded to other matters. Perhaps
+he thought by this to secure a more favorable acceptance for what he had
+to say; perhaps he was not fully made up in mind how to approach the
+subject before him. MacNaghten, who always acted through life as he
+would ride in a steeplechase, straight onward, regardless of all in his
+way, stopped him short, by saying,--
+
+"Carew has left a will in your hands, I believe?"
+
+"You can scarcely call it a will, sir. The document is very irregular,
+very informal."
+
+"It was his act, however; he wrote or dictated it himself?"
+
+"Not even that, sir. He suggested parts of it, made trifling corrections
+with his own pen, approved some portions, and left others for
+after-consideration."
+
+"It is, at all events, the only document of the kind in existence?"
+
+"That would be too much to affirm, sir."
+
+"I mean that you, at least, know of no other; in fact, I want to hear
+whether you conceive it to be sufficient for its object, as explaining
+Carew's wishes and intentions."
+
+A dubious half-smile, and a still more dubious shake of the head,
+seemed to infer that this view of the subject was far too sweeping and
+comprehensive.
+
+"Come, come," said Dan, good-humoredly, "I'm not the Chancellor, nor
+even Master of the Rolls. Even a little indiscretion will never injure
+your reputation in talking with me. Just tell me frankly what you
+know and think about my poor friend's affairs. His widow, if she ever
+recover, which is very doubtful, is but little suited to matters of
+business; and as it is not a case where any adverse litigation is to
+be apprehended--What do you mean by that shake of the head? You surely
+would not imply that the estate, or any part of it, could be contested
+at law?"
+
+"Who could say as much for any property, sir?" said Crowther,
+sententiously.
+
+"I know that; I am well aware that there are fellows in your tribe who
+are always on the lookout for a shipwrecked fortune, that they may earn
+the salvage for saving it; but here, if I mistake not very much, is an
+estate that stands in need of no such aids. Carew may have debts."
+
+"Very large debts,--debts of great amount indeed!"
+
+"Well, be it so; there ends the complication."
+
+"You have a very concise and, I must say, a most straightforward mode
+of regarding a subject, sir," said Crowther, blandly. "There is an
+admirable clearness in your views, and a most business-like promptitude
+in your deductions; but we, poor moles of the law, are condemned to
+work in a very different fashion; and, to be brief, here is a case that
+requires the very nicest management. To enable Madame Carew to take out
+letters of administration to her late husband's property, we must
+prove her marriage. Now, so far as I can see, sir, this is a matter of
+considerable difficulty."
+
+"Why, you would not dare to assert--to insinuate even--"
+
+"Nothing of the kind, sir. Pray be calm, Mr. Mac-Naghten. I am as
+incapable of such a thought as yourself. Of the fact, I entertain no
+more doubt than you do. The proof of it,--the legal proof,--however, I
+am most anxious to obtain."
+
+"But, with search amongst his papers--"
+
+"Very true, sir; it may be discovered. I have no doubt it will be
+discovered. I only mean to say that such a document is not to be met
+with amongst those in my hands, and I have very carefully gone over a
+large packet, labelled 'Papers and letters relating to France during my
+last residence there in '80-81,' which, you may remember, was the period
+of his marriage."
+
+"But he alludes to that event?"
+
+"Not once, sir; there is not a single passage that even bears upon it.
+There are adventures of various kinds, curious incidents, many of
+them in love, play, and gallantry; but of marriage, or even of any
+speculation on the subject, not the remotest mention."
+
+"This is most singular!"
+
+"Is it not so, sir? But I have thought, perhaps, that you, who were
+always his most attached friend,--you, at least, possessed some letters
+which should throw light upon this matter, even to indicate the exact
+date of it, where it occurred, who the witnesses."
+
+"Not a line, not a syllable," said MacNaghten, with a sigh.
+
+"This is more unfortunate than I expected," said Crowther. "I always
+said to myself, 'Well, in his private correspondence, in the close
+relations of friendship, we shall come upon some clew to the mystery.' I
+always understood that with you he was frankness itself, sir?"
+
+"So he was," rejoined MacNaghten.
+
+"This reserve is therefore the more remarkable still. Can you account
+for it in any way, sir?"
+
+"Why should I account for it?" cried Dan, passionately. "My friend had
+his own reasons for whatever he did,--good and sufficient ones, I 'll be
+sworn."
+
+"I feel assured of that, sir; don't mistake me for a moment, or suppose
+I am impugning them. I merely desired to learn if you could, from your
+intimate knowledge of your friend's character, trace this reserve on his
+part to any distinct cause."
+
+"My knowledge of him goes this far," said MacNaghten, haughtily, "that
+he had an honorable motive for every aet of his life."
+
+It required some address on Crowther's part to bring back MacNaghten to
+that calm and deliberate tone of mind which the subject demanded. After
+a while, however, he perfectly succeeded; and Dan arose, and accompanied
+him to the library, where they both proceeded to search among my
+father's papers, with which several boxes were filled.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. DISAPPOINTMENTS
+
+The search for any document that could authenticate my father's marriage
+proved totally unsuccessful, and although poor MacNaghten's zeal was
+untiring and unwearied, all his efforts were fruitless.
+
+Guided by the clew afforded in some of my father's letters, Dan
+proceeded to Wales, ascertained the cottage where they had passed their
+first month of married life, and found out many who had known them
+by sight; but could chance upon nothing which should lead him to the
+important fact where, and by whom, the marriage ceremony was solemnized.
+
+The state of my mother's health was so precarious for a long time as to
+render all inquiry from her impracticable; while there was also a very
+natural fear of the consequences that might ensue, were she to suspect
+the object of any investigation, and learn the perilous position in
+which she stood. Her condition was, indeed, a pitiable one,--a young and
+widowed mother; a stranger in a foreign land, of whose language she knew
+scarcely anything; without one friend of her own sex, separated by what,
+in those days, seemed an immense distance from all belonging to her. It
+was a weary load of misfortune to be borne by one who till that moment
+had never known a sorrow.
+
+Nor was MacNaghten's lot more enviable as, day by day, he received
+packets of letters detailing the slow but steady march of those legal
+proceedings which were to end in the ruin of those whom he felt to have
+been bequeathed to his friendship. Already two claimants for the estate
+had appeared in the field,--one, a distant relation of my father, a very
+rich southern baronet, a certain Carew O'Moore; the other, an unknown,
+obscure person, whose pretensions, it was said, were favored by Fagan,
+and at whose cost the suit was said to be maintained. With the former,
+MacNaghten at once proceeded to open relations personally, by a letter
+describing in simple but touching terms the sad state in which my poor
+mother yet lay, and appealing to his feelings as a gentleman and a man
+of humanity to stay the course of proceedings for a while, at least, and
+give time to enable her to meet them by such information as she might
+possess.
+
+A very polite reply was at once returned to this, assuring MacNaghten
+that whatever delays could be accorded to the law proceedings--short
+of defeating the object altogether--should certainly be accorded; that
+nothing was further from Sir Carew's desire than to increase, in the
+slightest, the sorrows of one so heavily visited; and expressing, in
+conclusion, a regret that his precarious health should preclude him
+paying his personal visit of condolence at the Castle, where, he
+trusted, the lady would continue to reside so long as her health or
+convenience made it desirable. If the expressions of the letter were not
+as hearty and generous as honest Dan might have wished them, they were
+more gratifying than the note he received from Fagan, written with all
+the caution and reserve of the Grinder's manner; for, while not going so
+far as to admit that he was personally interested and concerned for the
+new claimant, he guardedly avoided giving any denial to the fact.
+
+For three weeks did MacNaghten continue to search through immense masses
+of papers and documents; he ransacked musty drawers of mustier cabinets;
+he waded through piles of correspondence, in the hope of some faint
+flickering of light, some chance phrase that might lead him to the right
+track; but without success! He employed trusty and sharp-witted agents
+to trace back, through England, the journey my father and mother had
+come by, but so secretly had every step of that wedding-tour been
+conducted, that no clew remained.
+
+Amidst the disappointments of this ineffectual pursuit, there came,
+besides, the disheartening reflection that from those who were most
+intimately acquainted with my father's affairs he met neither counsel
+nor co-operation. On the contrary, Crowther's manner was close and
+secret on every matter of detail, and as to the chances of a suit,
+avowed how little ground they had for resistance. Fagan even went
+further, and spoke with an assumed regret that my father should have
+made no provision for those belonging to him.
+
+All these were, however, as nothing to the misery of that day in which
+McNaughten was obliged to break the disclosure to my mother, and explain
+to her the position of ruin and humiliation in which she was placed!
+She was still weak and debilitated from her illness, her bodily strength
+impaired, and her mind broken by suffering, when this new shock came
+upon her; nor could she at first be made to understand the full measure
+of her misfortune, nor to what it exactly tended. That the home of her
+husband was no longer to be hers was a severe blow; it was endeared to
+her by so many of the tenderest recollections. It was all that really
+remained associated with him she had lost. "But perhaps," thought she,
+"this is the law of the country: such are the inevitable necessities of
+the land." Her boy would, if he lived, one day possess it for his own,
+and upon this thought she fell back for consolation.
+
+MacNaghten did not venture in his first interview to undeceive her; a
+second and even a third passed over without his being equal to the task:
+but the inexorable course of law gave, at last, no time for further
+delay. The tenants of the estate had received formal notice to pay the
+amount of their several holdings into court, pending the litigation of
+the property. A peremptory order to surrender the house and demesne was
+also issued. The servants talked openly of the approaching break-up of
+the household, and already vague and shadowy rumors ran that my father
+had died intestate, and that my mother was left without a shilling.
+
+From early morning till late at night, MacNaghten had toiled without
+ceasing. He had visited lawyers, attended consultations, instituted
+fresh searches through Crowther's papers, but all with the same result.
+The most hopeful counsels only promised a barren resistance, the less
+sanguine advisers recommended any compromise that might secure to my
+mother some moderate competence to live on. So much had the course of
+events preyed upon his mind, and so dispirited had he grown that, as he
+afterwards owned, he found himself listening to arguments, and willing
+to entertain projects, which, had they been presented but a few weeks
+before, he had rejected with scorn and indignation. It was then, too,
+and for the first time, that the possibility struck him that my father's
+marriage might have been solemnized without that formality which should
+make it good in law. He remembered the reserve with which, in all their
+frank friendship, the subject was ever treated. He bethought him of the
+reluctance with which my father suffered himself to be drawn into any
+allusion to that event; and that, in fact, it was the only theme on
+which they never conversed in perfect frankness and sincerity.
+
+"After all," thought he, "the matter may be difficult of proof. There
+may have been reasons, real or imaginary, for secrecy; there may
+have been certain peculiar circumstances requiring unusual caution or
+mystery; but Watty was quite incapable of presenting to his friends and
+to the world as his wife one who had not every title to the name, while
+she who held that place gave the best guarantee, by her manner and
+conduct, that it was hers by right." To this consolation he was obliged
+to fall back at each new moment of discomfiture; but although it served
+to supply him with fresh energy and courage, it also oppressed him with
+the sad reflection that conviction and belief in his friend's honor
+would have no weight in the legal discussion of the case, and that one
+scrawled fragment of paper would be better in evidence than all the
+trustfulness that was ever inspired by friendship.
+
+If gifted with a far more than common amount of resolution and energy,
+MacNaghten was by nature impulsive to rashness, and consequently not
+well suited to deal with those who, more cautious by temperament, and
+less given to exhibit their feelings, find their profit in trading upon
+the warmer and less suspectful natures of others. In proportion as his
+daily disappointment preyed upon him, he displayed the effect in his
+manner and appearance, and at length, between mental agitation and
+bodily fatigue, became the mere wreck of what he had been. It was thus
+that, after a long day passed in toil and excitement, he strolled into
+one of the squares after nightfall, to seek in the solitude of the spot
+some calm and tranquillity for his harassed spirit.
+
+It was the autumn,--that season when Dublin is almost deserted by its
+residents, and scarcely any of those who constitute what is called
+society were in the capital. Mac-Naghten, therefore, was not likely to
+find any to interfere with the loneliness he sought for, and loitered
+unmolested for hours through the lanes and alleys of the silent square.
+There was a certain freshness in the night air that served to rally his
+jaded frame; and he felt, in the clear and half* frosty atmosphere, a
+sense of invigoration that made him unwilling to leave the spot.
+While thus gathering strength for the coming day, he thought he heard
+footsteps in the walk behind him; he listened, and now distinctly heard
+the sound of a voice talking in loud tones, and the shuffling sounds of
+feet on the gravel. Stepping aside into the copse, he waited to see who
+and for what purpose might they be who came there at this unfrequented
+hour.
+
+To his astonishment, a solitary figure moved past, walking with short,
+hasty steps, while he talked and gesticulated to himself with every
+appearance of intense excitement. Mac-Naghten had but to hear a word
+or two, at once to recognize the speaker as Curtis--that strange,
+half-misanthropic creature, who, partly from fault, and in part from
+misfortune, now lived in a state of friendless isolation.
+
+It was rumored that, although his bearing and manner before the Court
+displayed consummate coolness and self-possession, that the effect of
+the recent trial had been to shake his intellect seriously, and, while
+impressing upon him more strongly the notion of his being selected and
+marked out for persecution by the Government, to impart to him a kind
+of martyr's determination to perish in the cause. At no time were he and
+Dan congenial spirits. Their natures and their temperaments were widely
+different; and, from the great disparity in their ages, as well as in
+all their associations, there was scarcely one point of friendly contact
+in common to them.
+
+There is a companionable element in misfortune, however, stronger than
+what we discover in prosperity; and partly from this cause, and partly
+from a sense of compassion, MacNaghten followed him quickly, and hailed
+him by his name.
+
+"Joe Curtis!" repeated the old man, stopping suddenly. "I submit, my
+Lord, that this is an insufficient designation. I am Joseph Curtis,
+Esquire, of Meagh-valley House."
+
+"With all my heart," said MacNaghten, cordially taking his hand and
+shaking it warmly, "though I think you'll suffer an old friend to be
+less ceremonious with you."
+
+"Ah! you here, Dan MacNaghten,--why, what in the name of all mischief
+has led you to this place? I thought I was the only maniac in this
+ward;" and he gave a harsh, grating laugh of irony at his own jesting
+allusion.
+
+"I came here partly by accident, and have loitered from choice."
+
+"We must take care that no gentlemen have fixed this evening for a
+meeting here," said Curtis, in a low, guarded whisper. "You and I,
+MacNaghten, would fare badly, depend upon it. What! with our known
+reputations, and the nails in our boots,--eh! the nails in our
+boots,--they 'll make what's called a strong case against us! You'd
+get off,--they 've nothing against you; but they 'll not let me slip
+through, like last time. Did you ever know such a close thing? The
+foreman, old Andrews, told me since, 'We had quite made up our minds,
+sir. We 'd have said guilty without leaving the box.' Just think of
+their dilemma if they had hanged me! My papers, for I took care to leave
+all in writing, would have shown up the whole conspiracy. I 've set
+forth the game they have been playing since the year '42. I detailed all
+their machinations, and showed the secret orders they had given to each
+successive Viceroy. There were three men--only three men--in all Ireland
+that they dreaded! And that blundering fool Carew must rush in with his
+rashness and absurdity! Who ever heard or saw the like?"
+
+"Poor fellow!" muttered MacNaghten.
+
+"'Poor fellow,' as much as you wish, sir; but remember that some degree
+of consideration is due to me also! I was a prisoner seven weeks in
+Newgate; I stood in the dock, arraigned for a murder; I was on the eve
+of a false conviction and a false sentence; and there is no man living
+can say what results might not have followed on my being falsely
+executed! Your friend's stupid interference has spoiled everything, and
+you need n't ask me, at least, to feel grateful to him."
+
+"There are men who, in your situation that day, would not hesitate to
+acknowledge their gratitude, notwithstanding," said MacNaghten.
+
+"There are poor-spirited, contemptible curs in every country, sir, if
+you mean that!" said Curtis. "As for Carew, he was a gentleman by birth.
+He had the fortune and the education of one. He might, if he had wished
+it, have been one of the first, if not the very first, men in this
+country. He thought it a finer thing to be a horse-racer and a gambler.
+He saw greater distinction in being the dangler at the court of a
+foreign debauchee to being the leading character in his own land. Don't
+interrupt me, sir," cried he, haughtily, waving his hand, while he went
+on, with increased vehemence. "I tell you again that Walter Carew might
+now have been a great living patriot--instead of--"
+
+"If you utter one syllable of insult to his memory," broke in
+MacNaghten, boldly, "neither your age nor your folly shall save you;
+for, by Heaven--"
+
+He stopped, for the aspect of the broken-down, white-' haired figure in
+front of him suddenly overcame him with shame for his own violence.
+
+"Well, and what then?" said Curtis, calmly. "Shall I finish your threat
+for you? for, in truth, you seem quite unable to do so yourself. No,
+I 'll not--Dan MacNaghten--never fear me. I 'm just as incapable of
+defaming him who has left us as you are of offering insult to an old,
+decrepit, half-crazed man, whose only use in life is to cast obloquy
+upon those that have made him the thing he is."
+
+"Forgive me, Curtis; I am heartily sorry for my rude speech," cried
+MacNaghten.
+
+"Forgive you, sir!" said he, already following out another and a very
+different train of thought. "I have nothing to forgive. You were only
+doing what all the world does; what your Government and its authorities
+give the example of,--insulting one whom it is safe to outrage!
+You treat me as you treat Ireland, that's all! Give me your hand,
+MacNaghten; I think, indeed I always said, you were the best of those
+fellows about Carew. If he had n't been away from you, probably he 'd
+not have fallen into that stupid mistake,--that French connection."
+
+"His marriage, do you mean?" cried Dan, eagerly.
+
+"Marriage, if you like to call it so!" rejoined the other.
+
+"Have you a single doubt that it was such?"
+
+"Have I a single reason to believe it?" said Curtis, doggedly. "If a man
+of fifteen thousand a-year takes a wife, he selects a woman whose rank
+and station are at least equal to his own, and he takes care besides
+that the world knows it. If she brings him no fortune, he makes the more
+fuss about her family, and parades her high relations. He does n't wed
+in secret, and keep the day, the place, the witnesses, a mystery; he
+doesn't avoid even a chance mention of the event to his dearest friends;
+he does n't settle down to live in an obscure retreat, when he owns a
+princely residence in the midst of his friends. When he does come back
+amongst them, he does not shrink from presenting her to the world; to be
+driven at last by necessity to the bold course,--to fill his house with
+company, and see them drop off,--fritter away one by one, distrustful,
+dissatisfied, and suspecting. Don't tell me, sir, that if he had a good
+cause and a safe cause behind him, that Walter Carew would n't have
+asked explanations, ay, and enforced them, too, from some of those
+guests who rewarded his hospitality so scurvily. You knew him well; and
+I ask you, was he the man to suffer the insolent attacks of the public
+journals, if it were not that he dreaded even worse exposures by
+provocation? You are a shrewd and a clever fellow, MacNaghten; and if
+you don't see this matter as all the world sees it--"
+
+"And is this the common belief? Do you tell me that such is the
+impression abroad in society?"
+
+"Consult Matt Fosbroke. Ask Harvey Hempton what his wife says. Go to
+George Tisdall and get his account of their departure from Castle Carew,
+and the answer they sent when invited there a second time."
+
+"Why, all this is new to me!" cried MacNaghten, in amazement.
+
+"To be sure, it's only circumstantial evidence," broke in Curtis, with a
+bitter laugh; "but that is precisely what the courts of law tell you is
+the most unimpeachable of all testimony. It may fail to convince you,
+but it would be quite sufficient to hang me!"
+
+The bare recurrence, for a second, to this theme at once brought back
+the old man to his own case, into which he launched with all the fervor
+of a full mind; now sneering at the capacity of those before whom he was
+arraigned, now detailing with delight the insolent remarks he had taken
+occasion to make on the administration of justice generally. It was
+in vain that MacNaghten tried to lead him away from the subject. It
+constituted his world to him, and he would not quit it. A chance mention
+of Fagan's name in the proceedings of the trial gave occasion at last
+for interruption, and MacNaghten said,--
+
+"By the way, Fagan is a difficult fellow to deal with. You know him
+well, I believe?"
+
+"Know him. Ay, that I do, sir. I have known that den of his since it was
+an apple-stall. My first post-obit was cashed by his worthy father. My
+last bill"--here he laughed heartily--"my last bill was protested by the
+son! And yet the fellow is afraid of me. Ay, there is no man that walks
+this city he dreads so much as me!"
+
+Curtis was so much in the habit of exaggerating his own importance,
+and particularly as it affected others, that MacNaghten paid but little
+attention to this remark, when the other quickly rejoined,--
+
+"If you want to manage Fagan, take me with you. He 'll not give you
+money on my bond, nor will he discount a bill for my name's sake; but he
+'ll do what costs him to the full as much,--he 'll tell you the truth,
+sir. Mark that,--he 'll tell you the truth."
+
+"Will you accompany me to his house to-morrow?" asked Dan, eagerly.
+
+"Ay, whenever you will."
+
+"I 'll call upon you at ten o'clock, then, if not too early, and talk
+over the business for which I want your assistance. Where are you
+stopping?"
+
+"My town residence is let to Lord Belview, and to avoid the noise and
+turmoil of a hotel, I live in lodgings," said Curtis, slowly, and with
+a certain pomposity of air and manner; suddenly changing which to his
+ordinary jocular tone, he said: "You have, maybe, heard of a place
+called Fum's Alley. It lies in the Liberty, and opens upon that classic
+precinct called 'The Poddle.' There, sir, at a door over which a straw
+chair is suspended,--it's the manufacture of the house,--there, sir,
+lives Joe Curtis."
+
+"I 'll be with you at ten," said Dan; and, with some pass-ing allusion
+to the lateness of the hour, he led the way back into the town, where
+they parted.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. "FUM'S ALLEY, NEAR THE PODDLE"
+
+MacNaghten's object in seeking an interview with Fagan was to ascertain,
+in the first place, who that claimant to the estate was whose views he
+advocated; and, secondly, what prospect there might be of effecting
+some species of compromise which should secure to my mother a reasonable
+competence. Although, in his isolation, he had grasped eagerly even
+at such co-operation as that of Curtis, the more he thought over the
+matter, the less reason did he see to rejoice in the alliance. Even
+before misfortune had affected his intellect, his temper was violent,
+and his nature impracticable. Always yielding to impulse far more than
+to mature judgment, he rushed madly on, scrambling from difficulty
+to difficulty, and barely extricated from one mishap till involved in
+another.
+
+Such aid as he could proffer, therefore, promised little, and Dan felt
+more than half disposed to relinquish it. This, however, should be done
+with all respect to the feelings of Curtis, and, reflecting in what way
+the object could best be compassed, MacNaghten slowly sauntered onwards
+to the appointed place. It was not without some difficulty that he
+at last discovered the miserable lane, at the entrance to which a
+jaunting-car was now waiting,--a mark of aristocratic intercourse
+which seemed, by the degree of notice it attracted, to show that such
+equipages rarely visited this secluded region. MacNaghten's appearance,
+however, soon divided public curiosity with the vehicle, and he
+was followed by a ragged gathering of every age and sex, who very
+unceremoniously canvassed the object of his coming, and with a most
+laudable candor criticised his look and appearance. Although poor and
+wretched in the extreme, none of them asked alms, nor seemed in
+the slightest degree desirous of attracting attention to their own
+destitution.
+
+"Is it a lodgin' yer honer wants?" whispered an old fellow on crutches,
+sidling close up to MacNaghten, and speaking in a confidential tone.
+"I 've a back room looks out on the Poddle, for two shillings a week,
+furnished."
+
+"I've the elegant place Mary Murdoch lived in for ten months, yer honer,
+in spite of all the polis', and might be livin' there yet, if she did
+n't take into her head to go to Fishamble Street playhouse one night and
+get arrested," cried a one-eyed old hag, with a drummer's coat on.
+
+"He does n't want a room,--the gentleman is n't the likes of them that
+comes here," growled out a cripple, who, with the sagacity that often
+belongs to the maimed, seemed better to divine Dan's motives.
+
+"You 're right, my lad; I was trying to find out where a friend of mine
+lived,--Mr. Curtis."
+
+"Faix, ould Joe has company this mornin'," said the first speaker. "It
+was to see him that the fat man came on the jaunting-car."
+
+"Are yiz goin' to try him agen?" said a red-eyed, fierce-looking woman,
+whose face was a mass of bruises.
+
+"Sure the gentleman isn't a bailiff nor a polisman," broke in the
+cripple, rebukingly.
+
+"There's not a man in the Poddle won't stand up for Joe Curtis, if he
+needs it," cried a powerfully built man, whose energy of manner showed
+that he was the leader of a party.
+
+"Yer honer's looking for Kitty Nelligan; but she's gone," whispered a
+young creature, with a baby at her breast; and her eyes overran with
+tears as she spoke. "She died o' Friday last," added she, in a still
+fainter voice.
+
+"Did n't ye hear him say it was Mister Joe he wanted? and there's the
+house he lives in," said another.
+
+"Yis, but he can't go up to him now," said the man who affected to
+assume rule amongst them; "the one that came on the car said he was n't
+to be disturbed on any account."
+
+"Begorra," chimed in the cripple, "if it's a levee, yer honer must wait
+yer turn!"
+
+"I 'm quite willing," said Dan, good-humoredly; "a man has no right to
+be impatient in the midst of such pleasant company;" and as he spoke, he
+seated himself on a low stone bench beside the house door, with, all the
+ease of one bent on being companionable.
+
+Had MacNaghten assumed airs of haughty superiority or insolent contempt
+for that motley assembly, he never could have attained to the position
+to which the last words, carelessly uttered as they were, at once raised
+him. They not only pronounced him a gentleman, but a man of the world
+besides,--the two qualities in the very highest repute in that class by
+which he was surrounded. Instead, therefore, of the familiar tone they
+had previously used towards him, they now stood silently awaiting him to
+speak.
+
+"Do the people hereabouts follow any particular trade?" asked Dan.
+
+"'T is straw chairs principally, your honer," replied the cripple, "is
+the manufacture of the place; but most of us are on the streets."
+
+"On the streets,--how do you mean?"
+
+"There's Billy Glory, there yonder, he sings ballads; that man with the
+bit of crape round his hat hawks the papers; more of us cry things lost
+or stolen; and a few more lives by rows and rucktions at elections, and
+the like."
+
+"Faix! and," sighed the strong man, "the trade isn't worth the following
+now. I remember when Barry O'Hara would n't walk the streets without
+a body-guard,--five in front, and five behind him,--and well paid they
+were; and I remember Hamilton Brown payin' fifty of us to keep College
+Green against the Government, on a great Parliament night. Ay, and we
+did it too!"
+
+"They wor good times for more than you," broke in the woman in the
+uniform coat; "I made seven-and-sixpence on Essex Bridge in one night by
+the 'Shan van voght.'"
+
+"The grandest ballad that ever was written," chimed in an old man with
+one eye; "does yer honer know it?"
+
+"I'm ashamed to say not perfectly," said Dan, with an air of humility.
+
+"Molly Daly's the one can sing it well, then," cried he; a sentiment
+re-echoed with enthusiasm by all.
+
+"I'm low and down-hearted of a mornin'," said Molly, bashfully; "but
+maybe after a naggin and a pint I'll be better."
+
+"Let me have the honor to treat the company," said Dan, handing a
+crown-piece to one near him.
+
+"If your honor wants to hear Molly right, make her sing Tom Molloy's
+ballad for the Volunteers," whispered the cripple; and he struck up in a
+hoarse voice,--
+
+  "'Was she not a fool,
+    When she took off our wool,
+  To leave us so much of the
+    Leather--the leather!
+
+  "'It ne'er entered her pate
+    That a sheepskin will 'bate,'
+  Will drive a whole nation
+    Together--together.'"
+
+"I'd rather she 'd sing Mosy Cassan's new song on Barry Rutledge,"
+growled out a bystander.
+
+"A song on Rutledge?" cried Dan.
+
+"Yes, sir. It was describin' how Watty Carew enticed him downstairs,
+to kill him. Faix, but there's murder now goin' on upstairs; do ye hear
+ould Joe, how he's cursin' and swearin'?"
+
+The uproar was assuredly enough to attract attention; for Curtis was
+heard screaming something at the top of his voice, and as if in high
+altercation with his visitor. Mac-Naghten accordingly sprang from
+his seat, and hurried up the stairs at once, followed by the
+powerful-looking fellow I have already mentioned. As he came near
+Curtis's chamber, however, the sounds died away and nothing could
+be heard but the low voices of persons conversing in ordinary tones
+together.
+
+"Step in here, sir," said the fellow to Dan, unlocking a door at the
+back of the house; "step in here, and I'll tell you when Mister Joe is
+ready to see you."
+
+MacNaghten accepted the offer, and now found himself in a mean-looking
+chamber, scantily furnished, and looking out upon some of those
+miserable lanes and alleys with which the place abounded. The man
+retired, locking the door after him, and leaving Dan to his own
+meditations in solitude.
+
+He was not destined to follow these thoughts long undisturbed, for again
+he could hear Curtis's voice, which, at first from a distant room, was
+now to be heard quite close, as he came into the very chamber adjoining
+that where Dan was.
+
+"Come this way, come this way, I say," cried the old man, in a voice
+tremulous with passion. "If you want to seize, you shall see the
+chattels at once,--no need to trouble yourself about an inventory! There
+is my bed; I got fresh straw into the sacking on Saturday. The blanket
+is a borrowed one; that horseman's cloak is my own. There 's not much
+in that portmanteau," cried he, kicking it with his foot against the
+wall. "Two ragged shirts and a lambskin waistcoat, and the title-deeds
+of estates that not even your chicanery could get back for me. Take them
+all, take that old blunderbuss, and tell the Grinder that if I 'd have
+put it to my head twenty years ago, it would have been mercy, compared
+to the slow torture of his persecution!"
+
+"My dear Mr. Curtis, my dear sir," interposed a bland, soft voice that
+Dan at once recognized as belonging to Mr. Crowther, the attorney, "you
+must allow me once more to protest against this misunderstanding. There
+is nothing farther from my thoughts at this moment than any measure of
+rigor or severity towards you."
+
+"What do you mean, then, by that long catalogue of my debts? Why have
+you hunted me out to show me bills I can never pay, and bonds I can
+never release?"
+
+"Pray be calm, sir; bear with me patiently, and you will see that my
+business here this morning is the very reverse of what you suspect it
+to be. It is perfectly true that Mr. Fagan possesses large, very large,
+claims upon you."
+
+"How incurred, sir?--answer me that. Who can stand forty, fifty, ay,
+sixty per cent? Has he not succeeded to every acre of my estate? Have I
+anything, except that settle-bed, that is n't his?"
+
+"You cannot expect me to go at length into these matters, sir," said
+Crowther, mildly; "they are now bygones, and it is of the future I wish
+to speak."
+
+"If the past be bad, the future promises to be worse," cried Curtis,
+bitterly. "It is but sorry mercy to ask me to look forward!"
+
+"I think I can convince you to the contrary, sir, if you vouchsafe me a
+hearing. I hope to show you that there are in all probability many happy
+years before you,--years of ease and affluence. Yes, sir, in spite of
+that gesture of incredulity, I repeat it,--of ease and affluence."
+
+"So, then, they think to buy me at last," broke in the old man. "The
+scoundrels must have met with few honest men, or they had never dared
+to make such a proposal. What do the rascals think to bribe me with, eh?
+Tell me that."
+
+"You persist in misunderstanding me, sir. I do not come from the
+Government; I would not presume to wait on you in such a cause!"
+
+"What's the peerage to me? I have no descendants to profit by my infamy.
+I cannot barter my honor for my children's greatness! I 'm prouder with
+that old hat on my head than with the coronet; tell them that. Tell
+them that Joe Curtis was the only man in all Ireland they never could
+purchase; tell them that when I had an estate I swore to prosecute for a
+poacher their ducal Viceroy if he shot a snipe over my lands; and that I
+'m the same man now I was then!"
+
+Crowther sighed heavily, like one who has a wearisome task before him,
+but must go through with it.
+
+"If I could but persuade you, sir, to believe that my business here has
+no connection with politics whatever; that the Castle has nothing to do
+with it--"
+
+"Ay, I see," cried Curtis, "it's Lord Charlemont sent you. It 's no
+use; I 'll have nothing to say to any of them. He's too fond of Castle
+dinners and Castle company for me! I never knew any good come of the
+patriotism that found its way up Corkhill at six o'clock of an evening!"
+
+"Once for all, Mr. Curtis, I say that what brought me here this morning
+was to show you that Mr. Fagan would be willing to surrender all claim
+against you for outstanding liabilities, and besides to settle on you a
+very handsome annuity, in consideration of some concessions on your part
+with respect to a property against which he has very large claims."
+
+"What's the annuity,--how much?" cried Curtis, hastily.
+
+"What sum would you yourself feel sufficient, sir? He empowered me to
+consult your own wishes and expectations on the subject."
+
+"If I was to say a thousand a-year, for instance?" said Curtis, slowly.
+
+"I'm certain he would not object, sir."
+
+"Perhaps if I said two, he 'd comply?"
+
+"Two thousand pounds a-year is a large income for a single man," replied
+Crowther, sententiously.
+
+"So it is; but I could spend it. I spent eight thousand a-year once in
+my life, and when my estate was short of three! and that 's what comes
+of it;" and he gave the settle-bed a rude kick as he spoke. "Would he
+give two? That's the question, Crowther: would he give two?"
+
+"I do not feel myself competent to close with that offer, Mr. Curtis;
+but if you really think that such a sum is necessary--"
+
+"I do,--I know it; I could n't do with a shilling less; in fact, I'd
+find myself restricted enough with that. Whenever I had to think about
+money, it was hateful to me. Tell him two is the lowest, the very
+lowest, I 'd accept of; and if he wishes to treat me handsomely, he may
+exceed it. You 're not to judge of my habits, sir, from what you see
+here," added he, fiercely; "this is not what I have been accustomed
+to. You don't know the number of people who look up to me for bread. My
+father's table was laid for thirty every day, and it had been well for
+us if as many more were not fed at our cost elsewhere."
+
+"I have often heard tell of Meagh-valley House and its hospitalities,"
+said Crowther, blandly.
+
+"'Come over and drink a pipe of port' was the invitation when I was a
+boy. A servant was sent round to the neighborhood to say that a
+hogshead of claret was to be broached on such a day, and to beg that the
+gentlemen around would come over and help to drink it,--ay, to drink it
+out! Your piperly hounds, with their two-bottle magnum, think themselves
+magnificent nowadays; why, in my time they 'd have been laughed to
+scorn!"
+
+"They were glorious times indeed," cried Crowther, with mad enthusiasm.
+
+"Glorious times to beggar a nation, to prostitute public honor and
+private virtue," broke in Curtis, passionately; "to make men heartless
+debauchees first, that they might become shameless scoundrels after; to
+teach them a youth of excess and an old age of venality. These were your
+Glorious Times! But you, sir, may be forgiven for praising them; to you,
+and others like you, they have been indeed 'Glorious Times'! Out of them
+grew those lawsuits and litigations that have enriched you, while they
+ruined us. Out of that blessed era of orgie and debauch came beggared
+families and houseless gentry; men whose fathers lay upon down couches,
+and whose selves sleep upon the like of that;" and the rude settle
+rocked as his hand shook it. "Out upon your Glorious Times, say I; you
+might as well call the drunken scene of a dinner-party a picture of
+domestic comfort and happiness! It was a long night of debauchery, and
+this that we now see is the sad morning afterwards! Do you know besides,
+sir," continued he, in a still fiercer tone, "that in those same
+'Glorious Times,' you, and others of your stamp, would have been baited
+like badgers if found within the precincts of a gentleman's house? Ay,
+faith, and if my memory does not betray me, I can call to mind one or
+two such instances."
+
+The violence of the old man's passion seemed to have exhausted him, and
+he sat down on the bed, breathing heavily and panting.
+
+"Where were we?" cried he at last. "What was it that we were arguing?
+Yes--ay--to be sure--these bills--these confounded bills. I can't pay
+them. I would n't if I could. That scoundrel Fagan has made enough of me
+without that. What was it you said of an annuity? There was some talk of
+an annuity, eh?"
+
+Crowther bent down, and spoke some words in a low, murmuring voice.
+
+"Well, and for that what am I to do?" cried Curtis, suddenly. "My share
+of the compact is heavy enough, I'll be sworn. What is it?"
+
+"I think I can show you that it is not much of a sacrifice, sir. I know
+you hate long explanations, and I 'll make mine very brief. Mr. Fagan
+has very heavy charges against an estate which is not unlikely to be
+the subject of a disputed ownership. It may be a long suit, with all
+the delays and difficulties of Chancery; and in looking over the various
+persons who may prefer claims here and there, we find your name amongst
+the rest, for it is a long list, sir. There may be forty or forty-five
+in all! The principal one, however, is a wealthy baronet who has ample
+means to prosecute his claim, and with fair hopes of succeeding. My
+notion, however, was that if Mr. Fagan could arrange with the several
+persons in the cause to waive their demands for a certain consideration,
+that it would not be difficult then to arrange some compromise with the
+baronet himself,--he surrendering the property to Fagan for a certain
+amount, on taking with it all its liabilities. You understand?"
+
+"And who's the owner?" asked Curtis, shortly.
+
+"He is dead, sir."
+
+"Who was he when alive?"
+
+"An old friend, or rather the son of an old friend of yours, Mr.
+Curtis!"
+
+"Ah, Brinsley Morgan! I guess him at once; but you are wrong, quite
+wrong there, my good fellow. I have n't the shadow of a lien on
+his estate. We talked it over together one day, and Hackett, the
+Attorney-General, who was in the house, said that my claim was n't
+worth five shillings. But I 'll tell you where I have a claim,--at least
+Hackett said so, I have a very strong claim--No, no; I was forgetting
+again,--my memory is quite gone. It is so hard when one grows old to
+bear the last ten or fifteen years in mind. I can remember my boyhood
+and my school-days like yesterday. It is late events that confuse me!
+You 'll scarce believe me when I tell you I often find myself going to
+dine with some old friend, and only discover when I reach his door that
+he is dead and gone this many a day! There was something in my mind to
+tell you, and it has escaped me already. Oh! I have it. There are some
+curious old family papers in that musty-looking portmanteau. I should
+like to find out some clever fellow that would look them over without
+rushing me into a lawsuit, mind ye, for I have no heart for that now! My
+brother Harry's boy is dead. India finished him, poor fellow! That's the
+key of it,--see if it will open the lock."
+
+"If you like I 'll take them back with me, sir, and examine them myself
+at home."
+
+"Do so, Crowther. Only understand me well, no bills of costs, my worthy
+friend; no searches after this, or true copies of that; I 'll have
+none of them. As Dick Parsons said, I 'd rather spend my estate at the
+'Fives' than the 'Four' Courts."
+
+Crowther gave one of his complacent laughs; and having induced Curtis
+to accept an invitation for the following day at dinner, he took the
+portmanteau under his arm and withdrew.
+
+He had scarcely descended the stairs when Dan found the door unlocked,
+and proceeded to pay his visit to Curtis, his mind full of all that he
+had just overheard, and wondering at the many strange things he had been
+a listener to.
+
+When MacNaghten entered, he found Curtis sitting at a table, with
+his head resting on his hand, and looking like one deeply engaged in
+thought. Dan saluted him twice, without obtaining a reply, and at last
+said,--
+
+"They said that you had a visitor this morning, and so I have been
+waiting for some time to see you."
+
+The other nodded assentingly, but did not speak.
+
+"You are, perhaps, too much tired now," said Dan, in a kind voice, "for
+much talking. Come and have a turn in the open air; it will refresh
+you."
+
+Curtis arose and took his hat, without uttering a word.
+
+"You are a good walker, Curtis," said MacNaghten, as they reached the
+street. "What say you if we stroll down to Harold's Cross, and eat our
+breakfast at the little inn they call 'The Friar'?"
+
+"Agreed," muttered the other, and walked along at his side, without
+another word; while Dan, to amuse his companion, and arouse him from
+the dreary stupor that oppressed him, exerted himself in various ways,
+recounting the popular anecdotes of the day, and endeavoring, so far as
+might be, to entertain him.
+
+It was soon, however, evident that Curtis neither heard nor heeded the
+efforts the other was making, for he continued to move along with
+his head down, mumbling at intervals to himself certain broken and
+incoherent words. At first, MacNaghten hoped that this moody dejection
+would pass away, and his mind recover its wonted sharpness; but now
+he saw that the impression under which he labored was no passing or
+momentary burden, but a heavy load that weighed wearily on his spirits.
+
+"I am afraid you are scarcely so well as usual to-day?" asked Dan, after
+a long interval of silence between them.
+
+"I have a pain hereabouts,--it is not a pain either, but I feel uneasy,"
+said Curtis, pushing his hat back from his forehead, and touching his
+temple with his finger.
+
+"It will pass away with the fresh air and a hearty breakfast, I hope. If
+not, I will see some one on our return. Who is your doctor?"
+
+"My doctor! You ask a man who has lived eighty-four years who is his
+doctor! That nature that gave him a good stout frame; the spirit that
+told him what it could, and what it could not, bear,--these, and a
+hearty contempt for physic and all that live by it, have guided me so
+far, and you may call them my doctors if you wish."
+
+Rather pleased to have recalled the old man to his habitual energy,
+Dan affected to contest his opinions, by way of inducing him to support
+them; but he quickly saw his error, for Curtis, as though wearied by
+even this momentary effort, seemed more downcast and depressed than
+before.
+
+MacNaghten, therefore, contented himself with some commonplace remarks
+about the country around and the road they were walking, when Curtis
+came to a sudden halt, and said,--
+
+"You would n't take the offer, I 'll be sworn. You 'd say at once:
+'Show me what rights I 'm surrendering; let me know the terms of the
+agreement.' But what signifies all that at my age?--the last of the
+stock besides! If I lay by what will pay the undertaker, it's all the
+world has a right to demand at my hands."
+
+"Here's 'The Friar,'--this is our inn," said MacNaghten. "Shall I be the
+caterer, eh? What say you to some fried fish and a glass of Madeira, to
+begin with?"
+
+"I 'll have a breakfast, sir, that suits my condition," said Curtis,
+haughtily. "Send the landlord here for my orders."
+
+"Here's our man, then," said MacNaghten, humoring the whim, as he pushed
+the innkeeper towards him.
+
+"What's your name, my good fellow?" asked Curtis, with a supercilious
+look at the short but well-conditioned figure before him.
+
+"Billy Mathews, sir," said the other, with difficulty restraining a
+smile at the dilapidated look of his interrogator.
+
+"Well, Mathews, keep the Billy for your equals, my good friend. Mathews,
+I say, let us have the best your house affords, served in your best room
+and in your best manner. If I ate prison fare for nine weeks, sir, it
+is no reason that I am not accustomed to something different. My name
+is Joseph Curtis, of Meagh-valley House; I sat in Parliament for
+eight-and-twenty years, for the borough of Kilternon; and I was tried
+for a murder at the last commission. There, sir! it's not every day you
+have a guest who can say as much."
+
+As the landlord was moving away to give his orders, Curtis called out
+once more:--
+
+"Stay, sir; hear me out. There are spies of the Castle wherever I go.
+Who have you here just now? Who's in this house?"
+
+"There's but one gentleman here at present, sir. I've known him these
+twenty years, and I 'll vouch for it he's neither a Government spy nor
+an informer."
+
+"And who will be satisfied with your guarantee, sir?" cried Curtis,
+insolently. "It's not a fellow in your position that can assure the
+scruples of a man in mine. Who is he? What's his name?"
+
+"He's a respectable man, sir, well known in Dublin, and the son of one
+that held a good position once."
+
+"His name,--his name!" cried Curtis, imperiously.
+
+"It's no matter about his name!" replied the host, sulkily. "He has come
+to eat his breakfast here, as he does once or twice a week, and that's
+all that I have to say to him."
+
+"But I 'll have his name,--I 'll insist upon it," shouted out Curtis,
+in a voice of high excitement; "persecuted and hunted down as I am, I'll
+defend myself. Your Castle bloodhounds shall see that Joe Curtis will
+not run from them. This gentleman here is the son of MacNaghten of
+Greenan. What signifies it to you if he be ruined! What affair is it of
+yours, I ask, if he has n't a sixpence in the world?--I'll pay for what
+he takes here. I'm responsible for everything. I have two thousand a
+year secured on my life,"--he stopped, and seemed to reflect for a
+moment, then added,--"that is, I may have it if I please."
+
+MacNaghten made a signal for the innkeeper to serve the breakfast, and
+not notice any of the extravagances of his strange companion. Mathews
+was about to obey, when Curtis, recurring to his former thought, cried
+out,--
+
+"Well, sir, this fellow's name?"
+
+"Tell him who it is," whispered Dan, secretly; and the host said,--
+
+"The gentleman is one Mr. Raper, sir, head clerk to Mr. Fagan, of Mary's
+Abbey."
+
+"Leave the room--close the door," said Curtis, with an air of caution.
+"I saw the signal you gave the innkeeper a moment ago, MacNaghten," said
+he, in the same low and guarded tone. "I read its meaning perfectly.
+You would imply: The old fellow is not right--a crack in the upper
+story--humor him a bit. Don't deny it, man; you acted for the best; you
+thought, as many think, that my misfortunes had affected my intellect
+and sapped my understanding; and so they had done this many a day,"
+added he, fiercely, "but for one thing. I had one grand security against
+madness, Dan; one great barrier, my boy: shall I tell it you? It
+was this, then: that if my head wandered sometimes, my heart never
+did--never! I hated the English and their party in this country with a
+hate that never slept, never relaxed! I knew well that I was the only
+man in Ireland that they could not put down. Some they bought--some
+they ruined--some they intimidated--some they destroyed by calumny. They
+tried all these with me, and at last were driven to a false accusation,
+and had me up for a murder! and that failed them, too! Here I stand,
+their opponent, just as I did fifty-two years ago, and the only man in
+all Ireland that dares to brave and defy them. They 'd make me a peer
+to-morrow, Dan; they 'd give me a colonial government; they 'd take me
+into the Cabinet; there is not a demand of mine they 'd say 'No' to, if
+I 'd join them; but my answer is, 'Never! never!' Go down to your grave,
+Joe Curtis, ruined, ragged, half-famished, mayhap. Let men call you a
+fool, and worse! but the time will come, and the people will say: There
+was once a man in Ireland that never truckled to the Castle, nor fawned
+on the Viceroy; and that when he stood in the dock, with his life on the
+venture, told them that he despised their vengeance, though he knew that
+they were covering it with all the solemnity of a law-court; and that
+man his contemporaries--ay, even his friends--were pleased to call Mad!"
+
+"Come, come, Curtis, you know well this is not my impression of you; you
+only say so jestingly."
+
+"It's a sorry theme to crack jokes upon," said the other, sadly. He
+paused, and seemed to reflect deeply for some minutes, and then, in a
+voice of peculiar meaning, and with a look of intense cunning in his
+small gray eyes, said, "We heard the name he mentioned,--Raper, Fagan's
+man of business. Let 's have him in, MacNaghten; the fellow is a half
+simpleton in many things. Let's talk to him."
+
+"Would you ask Mr. Raper to join our breakfast?" asked Dan of the
+innkeeper.
+
+"He has just finished his own, sir; some bread and watercresses, with a
+cup of milk, are all that he takes."
+
+"Poor fellow!" said Dan, "I see him yonder in the summer-house; he
+appears to be in hard study, for he has not raised his head since we
+entered the room. I 'll go and ask him how he is."
+
+MacNaghten had not only time to approach the little table where Raper
+was seated unobserved, but even to look over the object of his study,
+before his presence was recognized.
+
+"German, Mr. Raper; reading German?" cried MacNaghten. "I know the
+characters, at least."
+
+"Yes, sir, it is German; an odd volume of Richter that I picked up a few
+days ago. A difficult author at first, somewhat involved and intricate
+in construction: here, for instance is a passage--"
+
+"My dear friend, it is all a Greek chorus to me, or anything else you
+can fancy equally unintelligible."
+
+"It is the story of an humble man, a village cobbler, who becomes by
+an accident of fortune suddenly rich. Now, the author, instead of
+describing the incidents of life and the vicissitudes that encounter
+him, leaves us only to guess, or rather to supply them for ourselves, by
+simply dwelling upon all the 'Gedaenkskriege,' or mental conflicts, that
+are the consequences of his altered position. The notion is ingenious,
+and if not overlayed with a certain dreamy mysticism, would be very
+interesting."
+
+"I," said Dan, "would far rather hear of his acts than his reflections.
+What he did would amuse me more to know than to learn why."
+
+"But how easy to imagine the one!" exclaimed Raper. "Wealth has its
+habits all stereotyped: from Dives to our own days the catalogue has
+been ever the same, 'purple and fine linen.' And if some have added to
+the mere sensual pleasures the higher enjoyments derivable from objects
+of art and the cultivation of letters, has it not been because their
+own natures were more elevated, and required such refinements as daily
+necessaries? The humble man, suddenly enriched, lives no longer in the
+sphere of his former associates, but ascends into one of whose habits he
+knows nothing; and Jean Paul condemns him for this, and reminds him that
+when a river is swollen by autumn rains it does not desert its
+ancient channel, but enlarges the sphere of its utility, by spreading
+fertilization on each side of it, seeming to think: I may, by the
+accidents of life, grow small and humble again; it is as well that I
+should not quit the tiny course I have followed in my humble fortunes."
+
+"And do you agree with him?" asked Dan, more amazed by the enthusiasm of
+his companion than by the theme that suggested it.
+
+"I do so in everything; I speak, of course, as one who knows nothing of
+those ambitions by which wealthy men are encompassed; I am not in
+the position of one who has seen and felt these fascinations, and who
+emerges from his poverty to re-assume a former station. Take the case of
+Mr. Curtis, for instance."
+
+"What! old Curtis--Joe Curtis?" asked Dan, eagerly.
+
+"Yes, Curtis, formerly of Meagh-valley. Well, if his claim be as good as
+they suppose, he 'll not only inherit the great Wicklow estates, but the
+Western property so long in Chancery."
+
+MacNaghten saw that Raper was pouring forth this knowledge without being
+conscious that he was making an important revelation, and gave a dry,
+commonplace assent.
+
+"Who can say what may not be his income?" exclaimed Raper, thoughtfully;
+"twenty thousand a-year, at the least."
+
+"And his prospects are good, you say,--his chances of success?"
+
+"The marriage certificate of Noah Curtis and Eleanor Carew has been
+discovered, sir, and if the will of Fownes Carew be authentic, the case,
+I believe, is clear."
+
+"What Carews were these?"
+
+"The ancestors of Walter Carew, sir, whose estates now descend to the
+heirs of the female branch."
+
+"And Curtis will inherit these?"
+
+The tone in which Dan uttered these words so startled Raper that he
+suddenly recovered his self-possession, and remembered how unguardedly
+he had related this mysterious piece of intelligence.
+
+"When was this discovery made?--who chanced to trace this relationship
+between Curtis and the Carew family?" cried MacNaghten, in intense
+anxiety.
+
+A signal from Raper suddenly suggested caution and reserve; but Dan, too
+much excited to attend it, went on:
+
+"Sir, never believe it! It is some infernal scheme concocted between
+Fagan and the lawyers. They have put forward this wretched old man,
+half-witted as he is--"
+
+A hand grasped Dan's arm as he said this; he turned, and there stood
+Curtis beside him!
+
+"I 've heard you both!" said the old man, dryly. "To you, sir," said
+he to Raper, "I owe my thanks for a piece of welcome news; to you,
+MacNaghten, I feel grateful for all your candor!"
+
+"Come, come, Curtis; be angry with me, if you will; but for Heaven's
+sake do not lend yourself to these base plots and schemes. If there be a
+conspiracy to rob poor Walter's widow and her child, let not one of his
+oldest, best friends have any share in it."
+
+"I 'll maintain my rights, sir, be assured of that!" said Curtis, with
+a degree of resolution strangely different from his former manner. "Mr.
+MacNaghten's impression of my competence to conduct my own affairs may
+possibly be disparaging, but, happily, there is another tribunal which
+shall decide on that question. Raper, I 'm going into town,--will you
+accompany me? Mr. MacNaghten, I wish you a good morning." And with these
+words he took Raper's arm, and retired, leaving Dan still standing,
+mute, overwhelmed, and thunderstruck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY
+
+What I have heretofore mentioned of the events which followed
+immediately on my father's death were all related circumstantially to me
+by MacNaghtan himself, who used to dwell upon them with a most painfully
+accurate memory. There was not an incident, however slight, there was
+not a scene of passing interest, that did not leave its deep impression
+on him; and, amid all the trials of his own precarious life, these were
+the events which he recurred to most frequently.
+
+Poor fellow, how severely did he reproach himself for calamities that no
+effort of his could avert! How often has he deplored mistakes and errors
+which, though they perhaps hastened, by no means caused, the ruin that
+imperilled us. The simple fact was, that in his dread of litigation,
+from which almost all his own misfortunes had sprung, he endeavored to
+conduct affairs which required the most acute and subtle intelligence
+to guide. He believed that good sense and good intentions would be amply
+sufficient to divest my father's circumstances of all embarrassment;
+and when, at last, he saw two claimants in the field for the
+property--immense, almost fabulous, demands from Fagan--and heard,
+besides, that no provision was made for my mother, whose marriage
+was utterly denied and disbelieved,--then he appears to have lost all
+self-control altogether, and in his despair to have grasped at any
+expedient that presented itself; one day addressing a confidential
+letter to Sir Carew O'Moore, whom he regarded as the rightful heir
+to the property; the next, adventuring to open relations with Curtis,
+through the mediation of Fagan. Every weak point in my mother's position
+became, of course, exposed by these fruitless communications; while, by
+his own change of purpose, he grew to be distrusted by each in turn.
+
+It was a theme that he avoided speaking on; but when questioned closely
+by me, he has owned that Curtis exercised a kind of sway, a species of
+terror-like influence, over him that totally overcame him.
+
+"That old, besotted, crazy intellect," said he, "appeared to have
+recovered freshness and energy with prosperity; and, animated with
+almost diabolical acuteness, to profit by every weakness of my own
+nature. Even Fagan, with all his practised craft, had to succumb to the
+shrewd and keenwitted powers of the old man; and Crowther owned that
+all his experience of life had not shown him his equal in point of
+intelligence."
+
+A misanthropic, bitter spirit gave him a vigor and energy that his years
+might have denied him; and there was a kind of vindictive power about
+him that withstood all the effects of fatigue and exhaustion.
+
+The law had now begun its campaign in right earnest. There were two
+great issues to be tried at bar, and a grand question, involving
+any amount of intricacy, for the Chancery Court. The subject was the
+possession of a large estate, and every legal celebrity of the day was
+engaged by one side or the other. Of course such an event became the
+general topic of discussion in all circles, but more particularly in
+those wherein my father had once moved. Alas for the popularity of
+personal qualities,--how short-lived is it ever! Of the many who used
+to partake of his generous hospitality, and who benefited by his
+friendship, how few could now speak even charitably of his acts! Indeed,
+it would appear, from the tone in which they spoke, that each, even the
+least observant or farseeing, had long anticipated his ruin. Such absurd
+extravagance, such pretension! A house fit for a sovereign prince, and
+a retinue like that of royalty! And then the daily style of
+living,--endless profusion and waste! The "French connection"--none
+would say marriage--also had its share of reprobation. The kindly
+disposed only affected to deplore and grieve over the unhappy mistake.
+The rigidly right seemed to read in his own downfall a justice for a
+crime committed; while another section, as large as either, "took out"
+their indignation at his insolence in having dared to present her to the
+world as his wife!
+
+And yet his once warm heart was scarcely cold when they said these
+things of him. And so it is to this day and to this hour: the same code
+of morality exists, and the same set of moralizers are to be met with
+everywhere. Far be it from me to say that faults and follies should
+pass unnoticed and unstigmatized; but, at least, let the truth-teller
+of to-day not have been the tuft-hunter of yesterday,--let the grave
+monitor who rebukes extravagance, not once have been the Sybarite guest
+who provoked excess; but least of all let us hear predictions of ruin
+from the lips that only promised long years of happiness and enjoyment.
+
+Events moved rapidly. The Chancellor appointed a receivership over the
+property, and an order from the Court required that immediate possession
+should be taken of the house and demesne. My father's balance at his
+bankers' amounted to some thousand pounds. This, too, was sequestered
+by a judge's order, "awaiting proceedings." An inventory of everything,
+even to the personal effects of my mother, the jewellery she had brought
+with her from France, her very wardrobe, was taken. The law has a most
+microscopic eye for detail. Carriages, horses, servants' liveries, were
+numbered, the very cradle in which lay her baby was declared to belong
+to some unknown owner; and a kind of mystical proprietorship seemed
+to float unseen through the chambers and corridors of that devoted
+dwelling.
+
+My poor mother!--removed from room to room, with good-natured care, to
+spare her the shock of proceedings which even her ignorance of the
+world might have taken alarm at; weak, scarcely able to walk; only
+half conscious of the movement around her; asking every moment for
+explanations which none had courage to give her; agitated with vague
+terror; a sense of some misfortune lowering over her, and each moment
+nearer; catching at a chance word dropped here; eagerly watching
+at every look there,--what misery, what suffering was yours, poor,
+friendless, forsaken widow!
+
+Where was MacNaghten, her one faithful friend and counsellor? He had
+gone to town early that morning, and had not yet returned. One last but
+fruitless effort to induce Curtis to come to terms had led him again to
+seek an interview. Her cousin De Gabriac, who had been ill for several
+days, had by a mere accident, from expressions picked up by his valet
+in the household, learned the nature of the allegation against my
+mother,--that her marriage was denied, and my illegitimacy declared.
+Almost driven to madness by what sounded like an outrage to his pride,
+he had set out for Dublin to fasten upon some one--any one--a personal
+quarrel in the vindication of my mother's honor. Fagan's address
+was known to him, by frequent mention of his name, and thither he
+accordingly hastened. The Grinder was from home; but to await his
+return, De Gabriac was ushered upstairs into the drawing-room, where an
+elderly man was seated writing at a table. The old man lifted his head
+and slightly saluted the stranger, but continued his occupation without
+any further notice, and De Gabriac threw himself into a chair to wait,
+with what patience he could, for Fagan's coming.
+
+There was a newspaper on the table, and De Gabriac took it up to spell
+as he could the intelligence of the day. Almost the very first lines
+which caught his eye were an announcement of an "Extensive sale of
+valuable furniture, plate, and household effects, late the property
+of Walter Carew, Esq." Certain enigmatical words that headed the
+advertisement puzzled the foreigner, and, unable to restrain his
+eagerness to unravel their meaning, he advanced to the table where the
+old man was writing, and in a polite tone asked him to explain what
+meant such phrases as "_In re_ Joseph Curtis, Esq., of Meagh-valley
+House, and others, petitioners."
+
+The other, thus addressed, looked from the newspaper to the inquirer,
+and back again to the paper, and then to the astonished face of the
+Frenchman, without a word. "I have to hope," said De Gabriac, "that
+nothing in my question may appear rude or uncivil. I merely wished to
+know--"
+
+"To know who Joseph Curtis is!" broke in the old man, quickly. "Then
+I 'll tell you, sir. He is the only surviving son of Robert Harrison
+Curtis and Eleanor Anne, his wife, born at Meagh-valley House, in
+the parish of Cappagh, barony of Ivrone, Anno Domini 1704. Served in
+Parliament for twenty-eight years, and commanded the militia of his
+native county till deprived of that honor by a rascally Government and a
+perjured Viceroy." Here his voice grew loud, and his manner violent and
+excited. "Since when, sir, harassed, persecuted, and tortured, he has
+been robbed of his estates, stripped of his property, and left houseless
+and friendless,--ay, sir, friendless, I say; for poverty and want
+attract no friendship,--and who would still be the victim of knavery and
+scoundrelism if Providence had not blessed him with a clear head as well
+as a strong heart. Such he is, and such he stands before you. And now,
+sir, that I have answered your question, will you favor me with a reply
+to mine: what are you called?"
+
+"I am the Count Emile de Gabriac," said the Frenchman, smiling; "I will
+spare you the pedigree and the birthplace."
+
+"Wisely done, I've no doubt, sir," said Curtis, "if, as I surmise, you
+are the relative of that French lady whom I met at Castle Carew."
+
+"You speak of my cousin, sir,--Madame de Carew."
+
+"I do not recognize her as such, sir, nor does the law of this country."
+
+"How do you mean, sir,--not married? Is it such you would imply?" cried
+De Gabriac, fiercely.
+
+"Never imagine that your foreign airs can terrify me, young gentleman,"
+said Curtis, insolently. "I 've seen you in your own country, and
+know well the braggadocio style you can assume. If you ask me for
+information, do so with the manner that beseems inquiry. If you are for
+a quarrel, it's not Joe Curtis will balk your good intentions."
+
+"Poor old fool," said De Gabriac, contemptuously. "If you had a grandson
+or a nephew to answer for your insolence--"
+
+"But I have neither, I want neither; I am ready, willing, and able to
+defend my own honor; and this is exactly what I suspect you are unable
+to say."
+
+"But you do not suppose that I can cross a weapon with the like of you!"
+said De Gabriac, with an insolent laugh.
+
+"You would n't be a Frenchman if you had n't a subterfuge to escape a
+meeting!" cried Curtis, with a most taunting impertinence of manner.
+
+"This is pushing insolence too far, old man," said De Gabriac, barely
+able to restrain himself.
+
+"And yet not far enough, it would seem, to prompt you to an act of
+manhood. Now hear me, Monsieur Count. I am no admirer of your country,
+nor its ways; but this I will say, that a French gentleman, so far as I
+have seen of them, was always ready to resent an insult; and whenever
+a slight was passed by unnoticed, the presumption ever was that he who
+endured it was not a gentleman. Is it to some such explanation you wish
+to conduct me in the present case?"
+
+A contemptuous exclamation and a glance of ineffable disdain was all the
+reply the Count vouchsafed to this outrageous appeal; and probably by
+no means could he so effectually have raised the old man's anger. Any
+allusion to his age, to the infirmities that pertained to it, he bore
+always with the greatest impatience; but to suppose that his time of
+life placed him beyond self-vindication was an insult too great to be
+endured, and he would have braved any peril to avenge it. His sudden
+access to wealth, far from allaying the irritabilities of his nature,
+had increased and exaggerated them all. The insolence of prosperity
+was now added to the querulous temperament that narrow fortune had
+engendered, and the excitement of his brain was little short of actual
+frenzy. To what extent of outrage passion might have carried him there
+is no saying, for he was already hurriedly advancing towards the Count,
+when the door opened, and Polly Fagan entered. She had overheard from an
+adjoining room the words of high altercation, and recognizing Curtis as
+one of the speakers, determined, at any cost, to interfere.
+
+"I am sure, sir," said she, addressing the old man, while she courtesied
+deeply to the stranger, "that you will forgive my intrusion; but I
+only this moment learned that you were here writing, and I thought that
+probably the quiet seclusion of my room would suit you better: may I
+make bold to offer it to you?"
+
+"Thanks, madam; but, with your leave, this is quite to my taste," said
+he, stiffly.
+
+"It is so comfortable, sir, and looks out upon our little garden!" said
+Polly, coaxingly.
+
+"I am certain, madam, that it has every attraction, and only needs your
+presence there to be incomparable."
+
+"Nay, sir," said she, laughing, "I'll not take your innuendo, save in
+its flattering sense."
+
+"I never flatter, madam, for I would n't try to pass on another the
+base coinage I 'd reject myself. Others, however," and here he glanced
+towards the Frenchman, "may not have these scruples; and I am sure the
+charms of your apartment will be fully appreciated elsewhere."
+
+Polly blushed deeply, not the less so that the Frenchman's eyes were
+bent upon her during the delivery of the speech with evident admiration.
+
+"If mademoiselle would permit me, even as a sanctuary--" began the
+Count.
+
+"Just so, Miss Polly," broke in Curtis; "let him take refuge there, as
+he tells you, for he feels very far from at his ease in my company."
+
+Polly's quick intelligence read in these few words the real state of the
+case; and, resolved at all hazards to prevent untoward consequences, she
+made a sign to the Frenchman to follow her, and left the room.
+
+It was in vain that the old man re-seated himself at the writing-table;
+all his efforts at composure were fruitless, and he muttered to himself
+threats of vengeance and imprecations till he worked his mind up to a
+state of ungovernable fury. It was in the very paroxysm of this passion,
+and while he was pacing the chamber with hasty steps, that Fagan
+entered.
+
+"Nothing unpleasant has occurred, sir, I trust," exclaimed the Grinder,
+as he beheld the agitated face, and watched the lips that never ceased
+to mutter unintelligibly.
+
+"Tell me, sir," cried he, advancing up to Fagan, and placing one hand
+upon his shoulder, "tell me, sir, what is there in my age and appearance
+that should exclude me from exacting the satisfaction in vogue amongst
+gentlemen? I ask you, sir, in plain language,--and you have a right
+to answer me, for it was in your house and under your roof that I have
+received this outrage,--where and what is my disqualification?"
+
+"Pray explain yourself, Mr. Curtis. I trust I have n't heard you aright,
+and that any one had dared to offend you within these walls!"
+
+"Yes, sir, in the very room where we stand, not half an hour ago, an
+insolent scoundrel of a foreigner--a French lackey, a hairdresser,
+perhaps--has had the insolence to talk to me, a gentleman of fortune
+and position, a man whose estate places him in the first rank of this
+country's gentry. You said so yesterday. Don't deny it, sir; I quote
+your own very words."
+
+"I am most ready and willing to repeat them, Mr. Curtis," said Fagan,
+humbly; "pray go on."
+
+"You said yesterday," continued Curtis, "in the presence of two others,
+that, except Lord Kiltimon's, there was not so large a property in the
+country; did you, sir, or did you not?"
+
+"I certainly did say so, sir."
+
+"And now, sir, you would go back of it,--you had some reservation,
+some qualifying something or other, I'll be bound; but I tell you,
+Mr. Anthony Fagan, that though these habits may suit an apple-stall in
+Mary's Abbey, they are unbecoming when used in the presence of men of
+rank and fortune. I believe that is plain speaking, sir; I trust there
+may be no misconception of my meaning, at least!"
+
+Fagan was not, either by nature or by disposition, disposed to submit
+tamely to insult; but whether it was from some strong reason of policy,
+or that he held Curtis as one not fully responsible for his words, he
+certainly took no steps to resent his language, but rather seemed eager
+to assuage the violence of the old man's temper.
+
+"It's all very well, sir," said Curtis, after listening with
+considerable show of impatience to these excuses; "it's all very well
+to say you regret this, and deplore that. But let me tell you there are
+other duties of your station beside apologies. You should take measures
+that when persons of my rank and station accept the shelter of
+your roof, they are not broken in upon by rascally foreigners, vile
+adventurers, and swindlers! You may be as angry as you please, sir, but
+I will repeat every word I have said. Yes, Mr. Fagan; I talk from book,
+sir,--I speak with knowledge; for when you were serving out crab-apples,
+in a check-apron, at your father's stall, I was travelling on the
+Continent as a young gentleman of fortune!"
+
+"Until you tell me how you have been insulted, and by whom," said Fagan,
+with some warmth, "I must hope that there is some easily explained
+mistake."
+
+"Egad! this is better and better," exclaimed Curtis. "No, sir, you
+mistake me much; you entirely misunderstand me. I should most implicitly
+accept your judgment as to a bruised peach or a blighted pear; but upon
+a question of injured honor or of outraged feeling, I should scarcely
+defer to you so humbly!" and as he said these words, with an air of
+most exaggerated self-importance, he put on his hat and left the room,
+without once noticing the respectful salutation of the Grinder.
+
+When Fagan entered his daughter's room, he was surprised at the presence
+of the stranger, whom she presented to him as the Count de Gabriac, and
+who had so far profited by the opportunity as to have already made a
+most favorable impression upon the fair Polly.
+
+Polly rapidly told her father that the stranger, while awaiting his
+return, had been accidentally exposed to the most outrageous treatment
+from Curtis, to shelter him from a continuance of which she had offered
+him the hospitality of her own apartment.
+
+"He came in," resumed she, "to learn some tidings of his cousin's
+affairs; for it appears that law proceedings of the most rigorous kind
+are in operation, and the poor widow will be obliged to leave Castle
+Carew."
+
+Polly spoke with true feelings of regret, for she really now learned for
+the first time that my mother's position was involved in any difficulty,
+though from what precise cause she was still in ignorance.
+
+"Leave me to speak with the Count alone, Polly; I can probably afford
+him the information he seeks."
+
+The interview was not of long duration; but Fagan acquitted himself with
+a degree of tact and delicacy that scarcely seemed native to him. It
+is difficult to guess at his real motives in the matter. Perhaps he
+entertained some secret doubts that my mother's marriage might one day
+or other admit of proof; perhaps he felt some touch of gratitude for
+the treatment his daughter had experienced when a guest at Castle Carew.
+Indeed, he spoke of this to the Count with pride and satisfaction.
+Whatever the reasons, he used the greatest and most delicate reserve
+in alluding to my mother's situation, and told De Gabriac that the
+proceedings, however rigorous they might appear, were common in such
+cases, and that when my mother had sufficiently recovered herself to
+give detailed information as to the circumstances of her marriage, there
+would be ample time and opportunity to profit by the knowledge. He went
+even further, and suggested that for the present he wished to place his
+little cottage at the Killeries at her disposal, until such time as
+she could fix upon a residence more to her taste. In fact, both his
+explanations and his offers were made so gracefully and so kindly that
+De Gabriac assented at once, and promised to come to dinner on the
+following day to complete all the arrangements.
+
+When MacNaghten came to hear of the plan, he was overjoyed, not only
+because it offered a home to my mother in her houseless destitution, but
+as evidencing a kind spirit on Fagan's part, from which he augured
+most favorably. In fact, the arrangement, while relieving them from
+all present embarrassment, suggested also future hope; and it was now
+determined that while De Gabriac was to accompany my mother to the far
+west, Dan himself was to set out for France, with a variety of letters
+which might aid him in tracing out the story of my father's marriage.
+
+It was at an humble little hotel in Stafford Street, a quaint old house
+called "The Hart," that they passed the last evening together before
+separating. Polly Fagan came over to drink tea with my mother, and they
+chatted away in sombre mood till past midnight. MacNaghten was to sail
+with an early tide, and they agreed to sit up till it should be his time
+to depart. Often and often have I heard Dan speak of that evening. Every
+incident of it made an impression upon his memory quite disproportioned
+to their non-importance, and he has taken pains even to show me where
+each of them sat. The corner where my mother's chair stood is now
+before me, and I fancy I can bring up her pale young widow's face,
+tear-furrowed and sad, trying to look interested where, with all her
+efforts, her wandering thoughts were ever turning to the past, and where
+by no exertion could she keep pace with those who "sorrowed not as she
+sorrowed."
+
+"We did not dare to talk to her of the future," said poor
+MacNaghten,--"her grief was too holy a thing to be disturbed by such
+thoughts; but amongst ourselves we spoke whisperingly of when we were
+all to meet again, and she seemed to listen to us with interest. It
+was strange enough," remarked he, "how sorrow had blended all our
+natures,--differing and discordant as Heaven knows they were--into some
+resemblance of a family. I felt towards Polly as though she had been
+my sister, and totally forgot that Gabriac belonged to another land and
+another people: so humanizing is the touch of affliction!"
+
+It struck three; and at four o'clock Dan was to sail. As he stood up, he
+caught sight of my mother, and saw that her eyes were full of tears. She
+made a signal to him to approach, and then said, in a fervent whisper,--
+
+"Come and see him before you go;" and led the way to the adjoining room,
+where her baby lay asleep. "I know," said she, in broken accents, "that
+you will be a friend to him always; but if aught were to befall you--"
+
+MacNaghten cast his eyes heavenward, but made no answer.
+
+"Yes," cried she, "I have that hope;" and, so saying, she knelt down
+beside the little cot to pray.
+
+"It was odd," said he, when telling me this. "I had never heard words of
+prayer in the French language before; but they struck upon my heart with
+a power and significance I cannot explain. Was it some strange inward
+consciousness of the power of Him before whom I was standing, and who
+knows every tongue and every people, and to whom all hearts are open,
+let their accents be ever so unlike or so various? I was in the street,"
+added he, "without knowing how I came there, for my brain was turning
+with a thousand thoughts.
+
+"'Where to, sir?' said the carman.
+
+"'The Pigeon House,' said I, seating myself on the vehicle.
+
+"'Ain't you Mr. MacNaghten, sir?' asked a large, well-dressed man, in a
+civil voice, as he touched his hat respectfully to me.
+
+"'That is my name,' replied I.
+
+"'Mr. Daniel MacNaghten, of Garrah Lynn?' asked he, again.
+
+"'When I owned it,' rejoined I, trying to smile at a sad recollection.
+
+"'Then I have a writ against you, sir,' continued he, 'and I'm sorry I
+must execute it, too.'
+
+"'At whose suit, and for what sum?' asked I, trying to be calm and
+collected. He answered my last question first, by saying it was for an
+acceptance for twelve hundred and seventy-six pounds odd; and, after a
+little pressing, added,--
+
+"'At the suit of Joseph Curtis, Esq., of Meagh-valley House.'
+
+"'What's to be done?' said I. 'I cannot pay it.'
+
+"'Come over to Green Street for the present, anyhow,' said he, civilly;
+'there are plenty of houses.'
+
+"'No, no; to jail, if I must,' said I, boldly. 'It's not myself I was
+thinking about.'
+
+"Just as day was breaking, I passed into the prison; and when I thought
+to be looking upon the mountains of the bay slowly fading behind me,
+I was ushered into the debtors' yard, to wait till my future
+dwelling-place should be assigned me."
+
+I copy this incident in the very words he himself related it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. AT REST
+
+Having already acquainted my reader with the source from which I
+have derived all these materials of my family history, he will not be
+surprised to learn that MacNaghten's imprisonment leaves a blank in this
+part of my narrative. All that I know, indeed, of these early years can
+be told in a few lines. My mother repaired with me to the cottage in
+the Killeries, to which also came De Gabriac shortly after, followed
+by Polly Fagan, whose affection for my mother now exhibited itself most
+remarkably. Not vainly endeavoring to dam up the current of a grief that
+would flow on, she tried to interest my mother in ways and by pursuits
+which were totally new to her, and, consequently, not coupled with
+painful recollections. She taught her to visit the poor in their cabins;
+to see them, in the hard struggle of their poverty, stoutly confronting
+fortune day by day, carrying the weary load of adversity, without one
+hope as to the time when they might cease to labor and be at rest. These
+rambles through wild and unvisited tracts rewarded them well in the
+grand and glorious objects of scenery with which they became acquainted.
+It was everlasting discovery,--now of some land-locked little bay,
+half-hid among its cliffs; now some lone island, with its one family for
+inhabitants; or now some picturesque bit of inland scenery, with wood
+and mountain and waving grass. Occasionally, too, they ventured out to
+sea, either to creep along the coast, and peep into the rocky caverns
+with which it is perforated, or they would set sail for the distant
+islands of Arran,--bleak and desolate spots on the wide, wild ocean. The
+charms of landscape in its grandest features were, however, the least of
+the benefits these excursions conferred, at least on my poor mother. She
+learned then to see and to feel that the sorrows of life fall uniformly;
+that few, indeed, are singled out for especial suffering; and that
+the load is apportioned to the strength that is to bear it. She saw,
+besides, how the hard necessities of existence formed in themselves
+a barrier against the wearing influence of grief: the hands that must
+labor for daily bread are not wrung in the wild transports of misery!
+It is the law of human nature, and the claims of the living are the
+counterpoise to the memory of the dead.
+
+Neither her early education nor her habits disposed her to any exertion.
+All her ideas of life were circumscribed within the limits of certain
+pleasures and enjoyments. From her infancy she had never known any other
+care than how to make time pass swiftly and agreeably: now she had to
+learn the more rewarding lesson that life can be profitably passed;
+and to this task she addressed herself, I believe, with a hearty
+earnestness.
+
+It is only by estimating the change which took place in her character at
+this time, and which marked it during the short remainder of her life,
+that I am led to speculate upon the cause. Her days were passed in
+intercourse with the peasantry, whom, at last, she began to understand,
+through all the difficulties of their strange temperament and all the
+eccentricities of their habits. There was not a cabin for miles round,
+with every one of whose inmates she was not acquainted, and of whose
+joys and sorrows, whose hopes and cares, she was not in some shape the
+participator.
+
+When the sea was too rough and the weather too wild for the fishermen to
+venture out, she was constantly amongst them with some material for home
+occupation; and it was curious to see those fingers, which had never
+been used to harder toil than the mock labor of the embroidery frame,
+ingeniously moving through the mazes of a fishing-net, while in her
+foreign English she would relate some story of her Breton countrymen,
+certain to interest those who sat admiringly around her.
+
+How singular it is that the experience and the habits which are destined
+to guide us through the great trials of life are frequently acquired in
+scenes and amongst people the very opposite to those wherein the lesson
+is to be profitable! And yet so it was. In exhorting and cheering others
+she elevated the tone of her own mind; in suggesting exertion to the
+faint-hearted, she imbibed courage herself; and when teaching them to be
+of good cheer, she spoke the language of encouragement to herself.
+Her bodily health, too, kept pace with her mental. She who rarely had
+ventured out if the weather merely were threatening, could now face the
+stormiest seasons of that wild west. The darkest day of winter would see
+her abroad, braving with an almost childish excitement the beating
+rain and wind, or fighting onward to some lone cabin amongst the hills,
+through sleet and snowdrift, undeterred!
+
+I have heard but little of the life they led within doors, but I believe
+that the evenings were passed pleasantly with books and conversation,
+De Gabriac reading aloud, while my mother and Polly worked; and thus the
+winter glided easily over, and spring was now approaching ere they were
+well aware that so many months had gone by. If my mother wondered at
+times why they never heard from MacNaghten, De Gabriac and Polly,
+who were in the secret for his mishap, would frame various excuses
+to account for his silence. Meanwhile they heard that such was the
+complication of the law proceedings which concerned the estate, so
+intricate the questions, and so puzzling, that years might pass in
+litigation ere any decision could be come to. A reserved offer came
+at this time from Sir Carew O'Moore to settle some small annuity on my
+mother if she would relinquish all claim to the estate in his favor; but
+Fagan hesitated to acquaint her with a proposal which he well knew
+she would reject, and the very fact of which must be an insult to her
+feelings. This the Grinder commented on in a letter to his daughter,
+while he also avowed that as he saw no prospect of anything favorable to
+my mother likely to issue from the course of law, he must press upon her
+the necessity of her seeking an asylum in her own country and amongst
+her own friends.
+
+I have never been able to ascertain why my mother herself did not at
+once determine on returning to France after my father's death. Perhaps
+the altered circumstances of her fortune deterred her. There might have
+been reasons, perhaps, on the score of her birth. My impression is, that
+De Gabriac had quitted the Continent overwhelmed with debt, and dared
+not return there, and that, as his counsels greatly swayed her, she was
+influenced by whatever arguments he adduced.
+
+So little was my mother acquainted with the details of her altered
+condition in life, that she still believed a small but secure income
+remained to her; and it was only by a few lines addressed to her, and
+inclosed in a letter to Polly, that she was at length brought to see
+that she was actually without means of support for a single day, and
+that hitherto she had been a dependent on Fagan's kindness for a home.
+
+I believe that this communication was not made with any harshness or
+want of feeling; on the contrary, that it was conveyed with whatever
+delicacy the writer could summon to so ungracious a task. It is more
+than probable, besides, that Fagan would not have made it at all, or
+at least not for a considerable time, had he not at that moment been
+involved in an angry correspondence with Polly, who had flatly refused
+to quit my mother and return home. Irritated at this, and driven to
+extremities, he had determined in this last course to accomplish his
+object.
+
+My mother was so much overwhelmed by the tidings that she thought she
+could not have understood them aright, and hastened to Polly's room,
+with the letter in her hand.
+
+"Tell me," cried she, "what this means. Is it possible--can it be
+true--that I am actually a beggar?"
+
+Polly read the lines with a flashing eye and heightened color, but never
+uttered a word.
+
+"Speak, Polly, dearest, and relieve me of this terrible fear, if you
+can," cried my mother, passionately.
+
+"I understand what this means," said Polly, crushing the note in her
+hand; "this is a question that requires explanation. You must leave it
+to me. I'll go up to town this evening, and before the end of the week
+I 'll be back with you. My father is mistaken,--that's all; and you have
+misunderstood him!"
+
+And thus planning, and excusing and contradicting herself, she at last
+succeeded in allaying my mother's fears and assuring her that it was a
+mere misapprehension, and that a few days would suffice to rectify it.
+
+My mother insisted that Polly should not travel alone, and that Gabriac
+should be her companion,--an arrangement to which she acceded with
+comparative ease and willingness. Had Polly Fagan and Gabriac merely met
+as people meet in society, with no other opportunities of knowing each
+other than are presented by the ordinary intercourse with the world,
+the great likelihood is that they should have conceived for each other
+a rooted dislike. There was scarcely one single subject on which they
+thought in common. They differed in ideas of country and people. Their
+tastes, their prejudices, their ambitions, all took opposite directions;
+and yet such is the effect of intimacy, such the consequence of daily,
+hourly communion, that each not only learned to tolerate, but even
+to imbibe, some of the notions of the other; and an imperceptible
+compromise was at length entered into, by Which individuality became
+tempered down, and even the broad traits of nationality almost effaced.
+The Count came to perceive that what he had at first regarded as coarse
+and inelegant was in reality the evidence of only a bold and vigorous
+spirit, exulting in its own energy, and confident of its power; and
+Polly began to recognize that remarkable truth, that a coxcomb need
+not necessarily be a coward, and that the most excessive puppyism
+can consort with even a chivalrous courage and daring. Of these
+qualities--the very first in Polly's estimation--he had given several
+proofs in their adventures by sea and land, and under circumstances,
+too, where the very novelty of the peril to be surmounted might have
+suggested some fear.
+
+There is a generous impulse usually to exalt in our esteem those whom we
+had once held cheaply, when on nearer intimacy we discover that we had
+wronged them. We feel as if there was a debt of reparation due to them,
+and that we are unjust till we have acquitted it. It may chance that now
+and then this honorable sentiment may carry us beyond reasonable bounds,
+and that we are disposed to accord even more than is due to them.
+
+I have no means of knowing if such were the case here: I can but surmise
+from other circumstances the causes which were in operation. It is
+enough, however, if I state that long before Gabriac had passed the
+limit of admiration for Polly, she had conceived for him a strong
+sentiment of love; and while he was merely exerting those qualities
+which are amongst the common gifts of his class and his country, she
+was becoming impressed with the notion of his vast superiority to all
+of those she had ever met in society. It must be taken into account that
+his manner towards her evinced a degree of respect and devotion which,
+though not overpassing the usual observance of good manners in France,
+contrasted very favorably with the kind of notice bestowed by country
+gentlemen upon "the Grinder's daughter." Those terrible traditions of
+exorbitant interest, those fatal compacts with usury, that had made
+Fagan's name so dreadfully notorious in Ireland, were all unknown to
+Gabriac. He only saw in Polly a very handsome girl, of a far more than
+common amount of intelligence, and with a spirit daringly ambitious. As
+the favored friend and companion of his cousin, he took it for granted
+that the peculiar customs of Ireland admitted such intimacies between
+those socially unequal, and that there was nothing strange or unusual in
+seeing her where she was. He therefore paid her every attention he
+would have bestowed on the most high-born damsel of his own court; he
+exhibited that deference which his own language denominated homage; and,
+in fact, long before he had touched her affections, he had flattered
+her pride and self-love by a courtesy to which she had never, in all her
+intercourse with the world, been habituated.
+
+Perhaps my reader needs not one-half of the explanation to surmise
+why two young people--both good-looking, both attractive, and both
+idle--should, in the solitude of a country cottage, fall in love
+with each other. That they did so, at all events,--she first, and he
+afterwards,--is, however, the fact; and now, by the simple-hearted
+arrangement of my poor mother,--whose thoughts had never taken in such
+a casualty,--were they to set off together as fellow-travellers for
+Dublin. So far, indeed, from even suspecting such a possibility, it
+was only a few days previously that she had been deploring to Polly her
+cousin's fickleness in breaking off his proposed marriage in France, on
+the mere ground that his absence must necessarily have weakened the ties
+that bound him to his betrothed What secret hopes the revelation may
+have suggested to Polly's mind is matter that I cannot even speculate
+on.
+
+It was with a heavy heart my poor mother saw them drive from the door,
+and came back to sit down in solitude beside the cradle of her baby. It
+was a dark and rainy day of winter; the beating of the waves against
+the rocky shore, and the wailing winds, made sad chorus together; and
+without, as well as within, all was cheerless and depressing. Dark and
+gloomy as was the landscape, it was to the full as bright as the scene
+within her own heart; for now that she began to arrange facts and
+circumstances together, and to draw inferences from them, she saw that
+nothing but ruin lay before her. The very expressions of Fagan's letter,
+so opposite to the almost submissive courtesy of former times, showed
+her that he no longer hesitated to declare her the dependent on his
+bounty. "And yet," cried she, aloud, "are these the boasted laws of
+England? Is the widow left to starve?--is the orphan left houseless,
+except some formality or other be gone through? To whom descends the
+heritage of the father, while the son is still living?" From these
+thoughts, which no ingenuity of hers could pierce, she turned to others
+not less depressing. What had become of all those who once called
+themselves her husband's friends? She, it is true, had herself lived
+estranged and retired from the world; but Walter was everywhere,--all
+knew him, all professed to love him. Bitter as ingratitude will ever
+seem, all its poignancy is nothing compared to the smart it inflicts
+when practised towards those who have gone from us forever; we feel then
+as though treachery had been added to the wrong. "Oh!" cried she, in her
+anguish, "how have they repaid him whose heart and hand were ever open
+to them!" A flood of recollections, long dammed up by the habits of her
+daily life, and the little cares by which she was environed, now swept
+through her mind, and from her infancy and her childhood, in all its
+luxurious splendor, to her present destitution, each passage of her
+existence seemed revealed before her. The solitude of the lonely cottage
+suggesting such utter desolation, and the wild and storm-lashed scene
+without adding its influence to her depression, she sat for some time
+still and unmoved, like one entranced; and then, springing to her feet,
+she rushed out into the beating rain, glad to exchange the conflict of
+the storm for that more terrible war that waged within her.
+
+Like one flying from some terrific enemy, she ran with all her speed
+towards the shore. The sea was now breaking over the rocks with
+tremendous force, and sending vast clouds of spray high into the air,
+while whole sheets of foam were wildly tossed about by the wind. Through
+these she struggled on; now stumbling or falling, as her tender feet
+yielded to the sharp rocks, till she reached a little promontory over
+the sea, on which the waves struck with all their force; and there, with
+streaming hair and dripping garments, she sat braving the hurricane,
+and, in a wild paroxysm of imagined heroism, daring fortune to her
+worst.
+
+Physical ills are as nothing to those that make the heart their
+dwelling-place; and to her there seemed an unspeakable relief in the
+thundering crash of the storm, as compared with the desolate silence of
+her lonely house.
+
+[Illustration:  Self-same spot]
+
+The whole of that day saw her on the self-same spot; and there was she
+discovered at nightfall by some fishermen, propped up in a crevice of
+the rock, but cold, and scarcely conscious. They all knew her well, and
+with the tenderest care they carried her to her cottage. Even before
+they reached it, her mind began to wander, and wild and incoherent
+words dropped from her. That same night she was seized with fever; the
+benevolent but simple people about her knew not what to do; the nearest
+medical aid was many miles off; and when it did arrive, on the following
+morning, the malady had already attacked the brain.
+
+The same sad, short series of events so many have witnessed, so many
+have stood by, with breaking hearts, now occurred. To wild delirium,
+with all its terrible excesses, succeeded the almost more dreadful
+stupor; and to that again the brief lucid moment of fast-ebbing life;
+and then came the sleep that knows no waking--and my mother was at rest!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. THE VILLAGE OF REICHENAU.
+
+I must now ask of my reader to clear at a bound both time and space, and
+stand beside me some years later, and in a foreign land.
+
+The scene is at the foot of the Splugen Alps, in a little village begirt
+with mountains, every crag and eminence of which is surmounted by a
+ruined castle. There is a grandeur and solemnity in the whole landscape,
+not alone from its vast proportions, but from the character of
+impregnability suggested by those fastnesses and the gray, sad-colored
+tint of hill and verdure around.
+
+There is barely space for the# village in the narrow glen, which is
+traversed by two streams,--the one, yellow, turbid, and sluggish; the
+other, sparkling, bright, and impetuous. These are the Rhines, which,
+uniting below the village of Reichenau, form that noble river whose
+vine-clad cliffs and castled crags are lyrical in every land of Europe.
+
+I scarcely know a spot throughout the whole Continent more typical of
+isolation and retirement than this. There is no entrance to it from the
+north, save by a wooden bridge over the torrent; towards the south it
+is only accessible by the winding zig-zag of the "Via Mala;" east and
+westward rise gigantic mountains untraversed by even the chamois-hunter;
+and yet there is no appearance of that poverty and destitution so
+usually observable in remote and unvisited tracts. Many of the houses
+are large and substantially built, some evince a little architectural
+pretension in the way of ornament, and one, which occupies a little
+terrace above the river, has somewhat the air of a chateau, and in its
+windowed roof and moated gardens shows that it aspired to the proud
+distinction of a seignorial residence.
+
+It might be difficult to ascertain how an edifice of this size and
+pretension came to be built in such a place; at the time I speak of, it
+was a school, and a modest-looking little board affixed to a pear-tree
+at the gate announced, "The Academy of Monsieur Jost." In my boyish
+eyes, this chateau, its esplanade above the stream, the views it
+embraced, and the wild, luxuriant orchard by which it was begirt,
+comprised an amount of magnificence and beauty such as no stretch of
+imagination could surpass. In respect to its picturesque site, my error
+was probably not great: the mountain scene, in all its varied tints of
+season and sunlight, is still before me, nor can I remember one whose
+impression is more pleasing.
+
+The chateau, for so it was called, lost nothing in my estimation by any
+familiarity with its details. I only knew of the large school-room with
+its three windows that opened on the terrace, the smaller chamber where
+the classical teacher held his more select audience, and a little den,
+fitted up with cases of minerals, insects, and stuffed birds, which
+was denominated Monsieur Jost's cabinet, and where that worthy man sat,
+weeks, mouths, I believe years long, microscope in eye, examining the
+intricate anatomy of beetles, or poring over some singular provisions in
+the eyelids of moths. Save when "brought up" for punishment, we rarely
+saw him. Entirely engrossed with his own pursuits, he seldom bestowed
+a thought upon us; and when, by any untoward incident such as I
+have alluded to, we were thrust into his notice, the presence of a
+strange-looking butterfly, a brilliant dragon-moth, a spider even, would
+be certain to divert his thoughts into a new channel, and ourselves and
+our derelictions be utterly forgotten. Need I say that no culprit ever
+appeared in the dock without some such recommendation to mercy, nor was
+there one of us ever unprepared with some specimen of the insect tribe,
+ready to be produced at any moment of emergency?
+
+It is but fair to say that the other masters--there were but two--were
+singularly forbearing and indulgent. Monsieur Gervois, who "taught"
+the little boys, was a quaint-looking, venerable old gentleman, with a
+queue, and who wore on fete-days a ribbon in his button-hole. He was, it
+was said, originally a French noble of large fortune, but who had lost
+everything by the extravagance of an only son, and had sought out, in
+voluntary exile, this remote spot to end his days in. His manners were
+always marked with a tinge of proud reserve which none ever infringed
+upon, nor, out of school-hours, did any one ever presume to obtrude upon
+his retirement.
+
+The classical teacher was a foreigner, we knew not of what nation; we
+called him sometimes a Pole, now a Spaniard, now an Irishman,--for all
+these nationalities only to us expressed distant and unknown lands. He
+was small almost to dwarfishness, and uniformly dressed in a suit of
+peculiarly colored brown cloth; his age might have been fifty, sixty, or
+even more, for there was little means of deciphering the work of time in
+a face sad and careworn, but yet un wrinkled, and where sorrow had set
+its seal in early life, but without having worn the impress any deeper
+by time. Large spectacles of blue glass concealed his eyes, of which,
+the story ran, one was sightless; and his manner was uniformly quiet and
+patient,--extending to every one the utmost limit of forbearance,
+and accepting the slightest efforts to learn, as evidences of a noble
+ambition. To myself he was more than generous,--he was truly and deeply
+affectionate. I was too young to be one of his class, but he came for
+me each morning to fetch me to the school; for I did not live at the
+chateau, but at a small two-storied house abutting against the base of
+the mountain. There we lived; and now let me explain who we were.
+
+But a peep within our humble sitting-room will save both of us much
+time. I have called it humble,--I might have used a stronger word; for
+it was poor almost to destitution. The wooden chairs and tables; the
+tiled floor; the hearth, on which some soaked branches of larch are
+smoking; the curtainless window; as well as the utter absence of even
+the very cheapest appliances of comfort,--all show indigence; while a
+glance at the worn form and hollow cheek of her who now bends over
+the embroidery-frame attests that actual want of sustenance is there
+written. Haggard and thin as the features are, it needs no effort to
+believe that they once constituted beauty of a high order. The eye, now
+sunken and almost colorless, was once flashing in its brilliancy; and
+that lip, indrawn and bloodless, was full and rounded like that of
+a Grecian statue. Even yet, amidst all the disfigurement of a coarse
+dress, the form is graceful, and every motion and gesture indicate a
+culture that must have been imbibed in a very different sphere.
+
+How I have her before me at this instant, as, hearing my childish
+footstep at the door, she pulls the string to admit me, and then,
+turning from her frame, kneels down to kiss me! Monsieur Joseph, for
+so is the Latin master called, stands just within the doorway, as if
+waiting to be invited to come further.
+
+"And how has he been to-day,--a good boy?" asks she.
+
+Monsieur Joseph smiles, and nods his head.
+
+"I'm glad of it; Jasper will always behave well. He will know that to do
+right is a duty, and a duty fulfilled is a blessing. What says Monsieur
+Gervois,--is he content too?"
+
+"Quite so," I reply. "He said I knew my hymn perfectly, and that if I
+learned the two pages that he showed me, off by heart, I should be made
+'elite' of my class."
+
+"And what will that be?"
+
+"I shall be above them all, and they must salute me when we meet out of
+school and in play-hours."
+
+"Let them do so in affection, but not for coercion, Jasper; he who is
+cleverer than his fellows ought to be humbler, if he would be as happy."
+
+"Quite true, Polly, quite true; you never said anything more just. The
+conscious power of intellect tells its possessor of his weakness as well
+as of his strength. Jasper, my child, be humble."
+
+"But when I said humble," broke in she again, "I meant in self-esteem;
+for there is a kind of pride that sustains and elevates us."
+
+Monsieur Joseph only sighed gently, but never spoke.
+
+After a few words like these, I was usually dismissed to my play-room,
+a little corner eked out of an old tower which had been accidentally
+joined to the house after it was built, but which to me was a boon
+unspeakable, for it was all my own; but can I revel in the delight of
+that isolation which each afternoon saw me enjoy? I would briefly tell
+my reader, if so be that he need the information, that she who in that
+worn attire bends over her task is Polly Fagan, and that Monsieur Joseph
+is no other than our old acquaintance Joe Raper!
+
+De Gabriac had married Polly secretly, Joe Raper alone being admitted
+to their confidence. For months long they had watched for some favorable
+opportunity of breaking the event to the old man; and at last, worn out
+by care and anxiety, Polly could refrain no longer, but made the avowal
+herself, and, in a few brief words, told her fault and her sorrow.
+
+The Grinder heard her with the stern impassiveness that he ever could
+summon in any dread emergency. He had that species of courage that can
+surmount every peril, only let its full extent be known; and although
+it was true that the announcement of the loss of all he was worth in the
+world would have been lighter tidings than those he now listened to, he
+heard her to the end without interruption. There was that in his calm,
+cold face which smote her to the very heart; the very way he drew back
+his hand, as she tried to grasp it in her own, was a shock to her;
+and ere she finished her sad story, her voice was broken, and her lips
+tremulous.
+
+Terrible conflict was it between father and child! between two natures
+each proud as the other,--each bold, stern, and unforgiving!
+
+"The date of this event?" asked he, as she concluded.
+
+"The ninth of October."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At a chapel in Cullenswood Avenue."
+
+"Who witnessed it?"
+
+"Raper."
+
+"Any other?"
+
+"No other."
+
+"The ninth of October fell on a Tuesday; it was then, or the day after,
+that I gave you a diamond clasp, a present?"
+
+"It was."
+
+"Who performed this ceremony?"
+
+"A priest, but I am not at liberty to tell his name,--at least, without
+the assurance of your forgiveness."
+
+"Then do not tell it! The man is still living?"
+
+"I believe so."
+
+"And your husband,--where is he?"
+
+"In the city. He is waiting but to be received by you ere he return to
+France to arrange his affairs in that country."
+
+"He need not long delay his departure, then: tell him so."
+
+"You forgive us, then?" cried she, almost bursting with gratitude.
+
+"No!--never!"
+
+"Not forgive us!--not acknowledge us!"
+
+"Never! never!" reiterated he, with a thick utterance that sounded like
+the very concentration of passion. The words seemed to have a spell in
+them to conjure up a feeling in her who heard, as deeply powerful as in
+him who spoke them.
+
+"Am I no longer your daughter, sir?" asked she, rising and drawing
+herself to her full height before him.
+
+"You are a Countess, madam," said he, with a scornful irony; "I am but
+an humble man, of obscure station and low habits. I know nothing of
+nobility, nor of its ways."
+
+"I ask again, do you disown me?" said she, with a voice as calm and
+collected as his own.
+
+"For ever and ever," said he, waving his hand, as though the gesture was
+to be one of adieu. "You are mine no longer,--you had ceased to be so
+ere I knew it. Go to your home, if you have one; here, you are but an
+intruder,--unasked, unwished for!"
+
+"Bitter words to part with! but hear me, sir. He who has joined his lot
+to mine should not pay the penalty of my fault. Against him you can bear
+no malice; he at least does not merit the reproach you have cast on me.
+Will you see him,--may he speak with you?"
+
+"Whenever he pleases,--provided it be but once. I will not be
+importuned."
+
+"You will bear in mind, sir, that he is a man of birth and station, and
+that to his ears words of insult are a stranger."
+
+"I will treat him with all the deference I owe to his rank, and to the
+part he has performed towards myself," said Fagan, slowly.
+
+"It were, perhaps, better, then, that you should not meet?"
+
+"It were, perhaps, better so!"
+
+"Good-bye, sir. I have no more to say."
+
+"Good-bye, madam. Tell Raper I want to speak to him, as you pass out."
+
+With Raper the interview was briefer still. Fagan dryly informed his old
+follower that he no longer needed his services. And although Joe
+heard the words as a criminal might have listened to those of his last
+sentence, he never uttered a syllable. Fagan was brief, though bitter.
+He reproached him with the long years he had sheltered him beneath his
+roof, and reviled him for ingratitude! He spoke of him as one who
+had eaten the bread of idleness, and repaid an existence of ease by
+treachery. Once, and only once, did the insulting language he lavished
+on him seem to sting him beyond further endurance. It was when Fagan
+said:
+
+"You think me in your power, sir; you fancy that amid that mass of
+rubbish and confusion my affairs have been involved in, that you alone
+can be the guide. But I tell you here now that were it even so, I 'd
+rather heap them on the fire, and stand forth a beggar to the world,
+than harbor within my doors a man like you!"
+
+The struggle that it cost poor Joe to hear this, without reply, was
+great; but a sense of the deference that throughout a long life he had
+ever rendered to his master, overpowered all considerations of self. He
+indeed felt that he had been wronged; he knew all the injustice of the
+reproach; but he also bethought him of the many years in which that
+house had been his home, and that hearth his own. He was not one to
+remember what he had rendered in return, nor think of the long existence
+of toil by which he had earned his livelihood. The settled humility
+which was the basis of his whole character made him esteem himself as
+one whose station excluded all thought of those relations that exist
+between members of the same community; and that his conduct should be
+arraigned, argued that his acts possessed a degree of importance he had
+never attributed to them.
+
+He heard Fagan, therefore, throughout, without any effort at reply; and,
+heaving a faint sigh, withdrew.
+
+I have no means of knowing how Gabriac behaved in this trying emergency.
+All that I have heard came from Raper; and poor Joe was neither shrewd
+in his observation of character, nor quick to appreciate motives. The
+Count decided at once on a return to the Continent: perhaps he thought
+there might arise some chance of reconciliation with the father if
+Polly, for a time, at least, were withdrawn from his sight; perhaps,
+too, some hope there might be of arrangement of his own affairs. Raper
+was also to accompany them, in the prospect of finding some clerkship
+in an office, or some employment in a mercantile house abroad, where his
+knowledge of languages might be available. At all events, his protection
+and companionship would be useful to Polly, whenever the Count would be
+compelled to absent himself from home; and, lastly, the funds for the
+enterprise were all supplied by Joe, who contributed something under
+four hundred pounds,--the savings of a whole life of labor!
+
+As for Polly, to the humblest ornament she had ever worn, to the meanest
+gift she had received in childhood,--she left all behind her. Her jewels
+were worth some thousands,--her wardrobe was even splendid; but she went
+forth without a gem, and with barely what sufficed her in dress.
+
+"And what is this?" said the Count, half disdainfully touching with his
+foot what seemed to be an oblong basket of colored straw.
+
+"Poor Josephine's baby!" said Polly, with eyes swimming in tears.
+
+"And is he, is she,--whichever it be,--to form one of the party?" asked
+he, angrily.
+
+"Can you ask it, Emile? You remember the last words she ever spoke to us
+on the morning we left the Killeries."
+
+"That unlucky journey!" muttered he; but fortunately not loud enough for
+her to catch the words.
+
+"The little fellow will soon be able to walk, and to mutter some words;
+he will be company for me when you are away!" said she, sorrowfully.
+
+"L'Ami Joseph ought to fill up that void," said De Gabriac, laughing. "I
+think myself the very paragon of husbands to accede to the arrangement!"
+
+Strange words were these for her to hear,--nor, indeed, could she
+penetrate their meaning; but Polly's cares at that moment gave little
+time for thought, for every detail of preparation was left to her.
+Raper, it is true, did his utmost to aid her; but already De Gabriac had
+assumed a manner of superiority and command towards Joe which greatly
+embarrassed Polly, and compelled her to use every means of keeping them
+apart.
+
+Thus were they started on the sea of life: does it need much foresight
+to predict the voyage?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. A MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE
+
+Why do we all refer to the period of boyhood as one of happiness? It
+is not that it had not its own sorrows, nor that they were really so
+light,--it is simply because it was the season of hope. In after-life,
+as deception after deception has checked us, when disappointment has
+dulled expectancy, we become more practical, less dreamy, and, alas!
+less happy. The possible and the probable of youth are not the possible
+and the probable of manhood, still less those of riper age. The realms
+of boyish fancy are as wide as the great ocean; and we revel in them in
+all the plenitude of unrestricted power. There is not a budding effort
+of intellect that we do not magnify to ourselves as the origin of future
+distinction. We exalt our feats of strength and courage into deeds of
+heroic daring; and we fancy that the little struggles and crosses we
+meet with are like the great trials and reverses of after-life; and in
+our pride of success, we deem ourselves conquerors. Oh for one day, for
+even one short hour, of that time of glorious delusions! Oh that I
+could once more look out upon the world as one gazes at a sunset at
+sea, wondering what beauteous lands lie afar off in the distance, and
+imagining the time when we should be journeying towards them, buoyant,
+high-hearted, hopeful! Who has ever achieved any success that equalled
+his boyish ambitions? Who has ever been as great or as good as his early
+visions have pictured him?
+
+I have already told my reader that my youth was not passed in affluence.
+Our means were limited to the very merest requirements of existence; our
+food and our clothing were humble as our dwelling; and I believe that
+many a sore privation was needed to escape the calamity of debt. Of all
+these hardships I knew nothing at the time; my experience pointed out
+none who seemed to possess an existence happy as my own. I had all that
+unvarying affection and devoted love could bestow. My little turret
+in winter, the fields and the mountains in summer, made up a glorious
+world, full of interest; and the days seemed never long enough for all
+my plans of pleasure.
+
+I had no companions of my own age, nor did I feel the want of them; for
+when my school hours were over I was free to follow the caprices of
+my own fancy. There was in my isolation a sort of independence that
+I gloried in. To be alone with my own day-dreams--my own ambitious
+hopes--my own high-soaring thoughts--was an ecstasy of delight that I
+would not have exchanged for any companionship. The very indulgence
+of these humors soon rendered me unsuited for association with others,
+whose ideas and habits appeared to me to be all vain, and trifling, and
+contemptible. The books of travel and discovery which I loved to read,
+had filled my mind with those stories of adventure which attend the
+explorer of unknown lands,--the wonders of scenery, and the strange
+pictures of life and people. There was in the career itself that
+blending of heroism and philanthropy, that mingled courage and humanity,
+which appealed to my heart by its very strongest sympathies; and I felt
+for these noble and devoted adventurers not less admiration than love.
+All my solitary rambles through the wild valleys of the neighborhood,
+all my lonely walks over mountains, were in imitation of these
+wanderers, whose hardships I envied, and whose perils I longed to share.
+Not a rugged crag nor snow-capped summit that I did not name after some
+far-away land; and every brook and rippling stream became to me the
+Nile, the Euphrates, or the Ganges. The desolate character of the
+scenery amidst which we lived, the wide tracts of uninhabited country,
+favored these illusions; and for whole days long not an incident would
+occur to break the spell which fancy had thrown around me.
+
+My kind mother--for so Polly always taught me to call her--seemed to
+take delight in favoring these self-delusions of mine, and fell readily
+into all my caprices about locality.
+
+She made me, too, with her own hands, a little knapsack to wear; bought
+me an iron-shod staff such as Alpine travellers carry; and made me keep
+a kind of journal of these wanderings, noting down all my accidents and
+adventures, and recording even the feelings which beset me when afar
+off and alone in the mountains. So intent did I become at last on these
+imaginings that the actual life of school and its duties grew to seem
+visionary and unreal, and my true existence to be that when wandering
+through the lonely valleys of the Alps, or sitting in solitude in some
+far-away gorge of the mountains.
+
+As I grew older I pushed my journeys further, and carried my explorings
+to the very foot of the Splugen, through that dreariest of all mountain
+passes, the "Verlohrnes Loch." The savage grandeur of this desolate
+spot, its gloom, its solitude, its utter desertion, its almost
+uninhabitable character, gave it a peculiar attraction in my eyes, for
+there nothing ever occurred to dispel the colorings of my imagination.
+There I revelled at will amidst the wildest flights of my fancy. An old
+castle, one of the many feudal remains of this tract of country, stood
+upon a lone crag to the centre of the valley. It seemed as if Nature
+herself had destined the rock for such a structure, for while there was
+barely space sufficient at the top, the approach lay by a zig-zag: path,
+rugged and dangerous, cut in the solid granite. When I first saw this
+rude old tower, the melting snows of early summer had flooded a small
+rivulet at the base of the crag, and the stream, being divided in its
+course against the rock, swept along on either side, leaving the castle,
+as it were, on an island.
+
+I had long resolved to scale this cliff, the view from the summit of
+which I knew would be magnificent, extending for miles both up and down
+the valley; and at last, took advantage of my first holiday from school
+to accomplish my purpose. The Forlorn Glen, as the translation of the
+name would imply, lay about thirteen miles away by taking the mountain
+paths, though its distance by road was more than double, and to go
+and return in the same day required an early start. I set out before
+daybreak, having packed my knapsack with food to last me while I should
+be away.
+
+I never remember to have felt a greater degree of exhilaration than as I
+set forth that morning. It was in the month of June, that season of all
+others the most beautiful in Alpine scenery, since it combines all
+the charms of spring with the balmy air and more genial atmosphere of
+summer. The cherry-trees were all in blossom in the glens, and the rich
+pink of the apricot peeped out from many a little grove. I went along,
+happy and light-hearted, passing many a spot to which I had given some
+name of a far-away scene, and recognizing places which once had been
+to me the utmost limits of my wanderings. So, thought I, shall it be
+in after-life, and we can look back upon efforts that we once deemed
+stupendous, and regard them as mere tiny steps in the great steep we are
+climbing.
+
+I breakfasted at a little waterfall in the midst of the wildest
+mountain, not a sound save the plashing waters to break the stillness;
+the birds gathered round me for the crumbs of my meal, and ate them
+within a few paces of where I sat. There was something that I felt as
+indescribably touching, in the trustfulness of the humbler creation, in
+scenes deserted and forsaken of men; and musing on the theme, I arose
+and pursued my way.
+
+When I reached the Verlohrnes Loch it was still early, and I was
+delighted to find that the stream at the foot of the castle rock was
+dwindled down to a mere rivulet, and fordable with ease. I crossed, and
+at once began the ascent of the crag. Before I had spent half an hour at
+my task, however, I found that its difficulties were far greater than
+I had anticipated. The path was often interrupted by masses of fallen
+rock, and frequently, from long disuse, difficult to hit upon when once
+lost. Brambles and prickly pears, too, formed terrible obstacles at some
+places, while at others the rocks were rendered slippery by dripping
+water, and the danger of a false step was very great. In no wise
+discouraged, I struggled on; but to my astonishment I could perceive
+that it was wearing nigh to noon before I had accomplished more than
+half the ascent. I had therefore to take counsel with myself whether I
+should abandon my enterprise at once, or resolve to pass the night on
+the crag, for I readily saw that before I could reach the level plain
+again it would be too late to resume my homeward road over the mountain,
+many parts of which required daylight to traverse. Although I had never
+passed a night away from home, I had often told my mother that I should
+probably be led to do so, and that she should not feel any alarm at
+my absence; and she, who well knew the honest character of the
+mountaineers, also knew that I was known to them for miles far around.
+My resolve was at length taken to pass the night in the shelter of the
+old castle, and take the following morning for my return.
+
+As the day wore on, the heat grew more and more oppressive; occasional
+gusts of wind would sweep past, followed by a dead, unbroken stillness,
+in which not a leaf moved. It seemed as though mysterious spirits of the
+elemental world were conversing together in this lone region, and the
+thought impressed me more powerfully as at intervals a low, half-subdued
+murmuring seemed to rise from the deep glens around me. At first I
+deemed they were self-delusions; but as I listened I could distinctly
+trace the sounds as they rose and fell, swelling now to a deep rolling
+noise, and then dying away in soft fading cadences.
+
+My mind was stored with stories of supernatural interest, and if I did
+not implicitly believe the existence of such agencies, yet I cannot
+affirm that I altogether rejected them. I was in that state in which,
+while reason is unconvinced, the imagination is still impressed, and
+fears and terrors hold sway, when the very causes of them were stoutly
+denied reality. One of the commonest of all the superstitions of
+mountain regions is the belief in a certain genius who invariably
+resists the intrusion of mortals within the precincts of his realm. The
+terrible tales of his vengeance form the subject of Alpine horrors, and
+the dreadful miseries of those who have incurred his displeasure point
+the moral of many a story, and "the Kobold of the Lost Glen" held a
+proud pre-eminence among such narratives. The heat, as I have said, grew
+oppressive; it became at last almost stifling, for the clouds descended
+near the earth, and the atmosphere became dense and suffocating. A
+few heavy drops of rain then fell, pattering slowly and lazily on the
+leaves; and then, as if at the word of some dread command, the thunder
+rolled forth in one long, loud, continuous peal that seemed to shake the
+very mountains. Crash after crash followed, till the very rocks seemed
+splitting with the loud artillery, while through the darkness of the
+murky air great sheets of yellow lightning gleamed, and long chains of
+the bright element zig-zagged through the sky; the rain, too, began to
+fall in torrents, and almost at once the mountain streams swelled
+and bounded in foamy cataracts from cliff and precipice. The din was
+deafening; and the loud crashing thunder with the hissing rain, the
+rushing rivers, and the dense shaking forests made up a grand and awful
+chorus. For a while I found a shelter beneath the thick foliage of the
+hollies, but the sweeping wind at last rent this frail sanctuary in
+twain, and in a moment I was drenched thoroughly.
+
+Although still early in the afternoon, a premature night seemed to have
+set in, for the air grew darker and darker, till at length the mountains
+at either side of the glen were lost to sight, and a dense watery vapor
+surrounded the crag on which I stood. My position was not without peril,
+since if the waters did not abate at the end of some hours, I should be
+left to starve on the rock. This danger at once occurred to me, and my
+mind was already overcome by gloomy forebodings. One thing was, however,
+certain,--I must endeavor to reach the castle before nightfall; for to
+pass the dark hours where I was would be impossible. The difficulty of
+the ascent was now increased fourfold; the footing was less secure on
+the rocks, and dashing torrents tore past with a force that strength
+like mine could never have combated. It is with pride that I remember to
+have looked all those perils boldly in the face; it is, I say, a proud
+thought to me, even now, that as a mere boy I could meet danger boldly
+and undauntedly. More than once, indeed, the fatal terrors of my
+position stood arrayed before me, and I thought that I had seen my dear
+home and my kind mother for the last time; I could even speculate
+upon poor Raper's affliction when he came to hear of my calamity. With
+thoughts like these I wended my way along, ever upwards and ever more
+steep and difficult. Although the storm had spent much of its fury, the
+rain continued to fall in torrents, and the roar of the swollen
+streams almost equalled the deafening clamor of the thunder. The sudden
+transition from unbroken silence to the crash and tumult of falling
+waters is one of the most striking features of Alpine scenery, and
+suggests, even at moments of the greatest calm and quiet, a sense of
+foreboding peril. The sudden change of temperature, too, from intense
+heat to an almost biting cold, induces terrific storms of wind, almost
+tornadoes, by whose violence great trees are torn up by the roots, and
+vast rocks hurled down from crag and precipice. In turning the angle
+of a cliff, I came suddenly upon one of these gusts, which carried me
+completely off my legs, and swept me into a low copse of brushwood,
+stunned and senseless. I must have remained a considerable time
+unconscious, for when I came to myself the stars were shining in the
+dark blue sky of night, and the air calm, serene, and summer-like. It
+was with difficulty I could remember where I was, and by what chances I
+had come there; and it was indeed with a sinking heart that I arose, not
+knowing whither to turn my steps, nor whether my chance of safety lay
+above or below me.
+
+I was sorely bruised besides, and one of my arms severely injured by
+my fall, as I discovered in attempting to use my staff. It was at that
+moment, thoughts of my home came full and forcibly before me; the little
+chamber where I used to sit for hours in happy occupation; my seat
+beside the hearth; my place at my mother's wheel, for she used to spin
+during the hazy days of winter; and, in my despair, I burst into a flood
+of tears. The excess of grief passed off, and there now succeeded a
+dogged resolve to accomplish my first purpose, and I again set out for
+the summit.
+
+I had not proceeded far, when on looking upward towards the sky I saw,
+or thought I saw, a light twinkling through the trees above me. The
+foliage was dense and thick, and grew around the base of the rock which
+formed the immediate foundation of the castle, so that it was only at
+certain spots a light, if such there was, could be visible. Onward I
+pushed now, with a new impulse given by hope; and to my inexpressible
+joy, as I rounded the corner of a crag, I came full in sight of the old
+tower, and saw, from one of the narrow windows, the sparkle of a bright
+light that, streaming forth, formed a long line upon the grass.
+
+The window was fully twenty feet from the ground, nor was the entrance
+door more than a few feet lower,--being one of those fastnesses to which
+access was had by a ladder, drawn up for safety after entering. Many
+of these ruined castles in the valley of the Reichenau were, I
+knew, occupied by the shepherds; some indeed had been converted into
+refuge-houses for lost travellers, and supplied by the government of the
+canton with some few appliances of succor. The situation of this one,
+however, refuted all such possibility, since its very difficulty of
+approach would have rendered it unavailable for either purpose. As I
+stood on the little level tableland in front of the old ruin, and gazed
+upwards at the narrow window from which gleamed the light, all my former
+superstitious terrors returned, and I felt that cold shrinking of the
+heart that comes of a danger undefined and incomprehensible; nor am
+I certain that I would not rather have looked upon the ruin dark and
+desolate, than with that yellow streak that told of some inhabitant
+within.
+
+The northern side of the Alpine ranges have few, if any, traditions of
+robbers. The horrors with which they are peopled are all those of an
+immaterial world, so that my mind ranged over the tales of wood-demons,
+Kobolds, and mountain imps, without one single thought of the perils
+of banditti; nor was I altogether without a strong prompting of eager
+curiosity to know what precise shape and semblance these strange
+creatures wore. Thus impelled, I set about examining the spot, and
+seeing in what way I might be able to approach the window. The trees on
+either side were too low, and the ivy which grew against the ruined wall
+itself offered the only means of ascent. I was an expert climber, and
+well knew that, though the ivy will often afford good and safe footing,
+it will always give way beneath the grasp of the hand, and that the
+stones of the wall would afford me the only security. In this wise it
+was, therefore, I began the ascent, and, with slow and careful steps, I
+arrived at last within a few feet of the window-sill. My impatience at
+this moment overcame all my prudence, and, with an eager spring, I tried
+to catch the stone. I missed it, and grasping the ivy in my despair, the
+branches gave way, and, after a brief struggle, and with a loud cry of
+terror, I fell backwards to the ground.
+
+The stars seemed to flit to and fro above me; trees, mountains, and
+rocks seemed to heave in mad commotion around; my brain was filled
+with the wildest images of peril and suffering; and then came blank
+unconsciousness.
+
+I was sitting rather than lying on a low pallet-bed stretched
+against the wall; in front of me a window curtained with a worn
+horseman's cloak; and around me in the room, which was lofty and
+spacious, were a few rudely fashioned articles of furniture, and two or
+three utensils for cooking,--all of the very meanest kind. My arm was
+bound with a bandage where I had been bled, and my great debility, and a
+sense of half-incoherence in all my thoughts, told of severe illness. At
+a table beneath the window, and bent over it as if writing, sat a tall,
+very old man, in a coarse woollen blouse of red-brown stuff, with a cap
+of the same color and material; sandals, fastened round the ankles with
+leather thongs, formed the protection of his feet; these, and a belt
+with a gourd for carrying water attached to it, made up his whole
+costume.
+
+His face, when he seemed to look towards me, was harshly lined and
+severe; the lower jaw projected greatly, and the character of the whole
+expression was cold and stern: but the head was lofty and capacious, and
+indicated considerable powers of thought and reflection.
+
+There was over me a sense of weakness so oppressive and so overwhelming
+that though I saw the objects I have here mentioned, and gazed on them
+for hours long, yet I made no effort to speak, nor ask where I was, nor
+to whom I was indebted for shelter and succor. This apathy--for it was,
+indeed, such--held me entranced, even when the old man would approach
+the bed to feel my pulse, to bathe my temples with water, or wet my
+lips with a drink. After these visits he would take his staff from the
+corner, and leave the room, to which he frequently did not return for
+many hours. Thus went day after day, monotony over everything, till my
+head ached with very weariness, as the lazy hours went by. Where was I?
+Was this a state of suffering malady? Or was it imprisonment? Why was
+I thus? How long should I still continue so? Such were the puzzling
+questions which would present themselves before me,--never to be
+solved--never replied to.
+
+In my dreamy debility, when my faculties tottered like wearied limbs,
+I often wondered if I might not have entered upon some new kind of
+existence, in which long years of such wakeful sorrow should be gone
+through; and in a mood like this was it that I lay one day all alone,
+when from the open window there came the thrilling notes of a
+blackbird which sat ou a tree close by. Not even the kindest words of a
+fellow-creature could have filled my heart with more ecstasy than those
+sounds reminding me of my once happy life, my home, the little garden of
+the chateau, and its tangled alleys of fruit-trees and flowering shrubs.
+I struggled to arise from my bed, and after some efforts I succeeded,
+and with weak step and trembling limbs I reached the window and looked
+out.
+
+Sudden as the change from blackest night to the light of breaking
+day was the effect that came over me as I gazed down the valley, and
+recognized each well-known crag, and cliff, and mountain peak of the
+Verlohrnes Loch. At once now came back all memory of my adventure and
+the night of the storm; and at once I saw that I was standing at the
+window of that old ruin which had been the goal of my wandering.
+
+How I longed to learn what interval of time had gone over! I tried to
+calculate it by remembering that it was early summer when I came, but
+still the trees wore no tokens of coming autumn. They were bright in
+foliage, and leafy, and the streams that traversed the valley were small
+and tiny rills that showed no touch of the season of rains. From these
+observations I now addressed myself to an inspection of the interior.
+Well used as I had been to habits of poverty, the aspect of this chamber
+still struck me with astonishment. The only thing like food was some
+Indian cornmeal carefully covered up in an iron vessel, and a jar of
+water; of clothing, the cloak which formed the window-curtain, and a
+sheepskin fashioned into a rude resemblance to a coat, were all that
+were to be seen. The furniture consisted of a low stool and a single
+chair, the trunk of an elm-tree representing a table. On this, however,
+an attempt at a desk had been made, and here, to my astonishment, were
+now masses of papers covered with figures from top to bottom,--algebraic
+signs and calculations without end! Not one word of writing, not a
+phrase in any language, was to be met with, but page after page of these
+mystical sums, which seemed to be carried on from one sheet of paper to
+the other. How eagerly I sought out something which might give me a clew
+to the writer of these figures, but in vain; I pored over them long
+and carefully, I studied their form and their size. I tried--how
+hopelessly!--to trace out some purpose in the calculations, and to
+divine their object and end; but to no avail! I had heard tell of
+persons whose intellects had been deranged by the intense study of a
+difficult problem, the search after some unattainable object in science.
+I had read wonderful stories of long years of toilsome labor,--whole
+lives passed in an arduous struggle, till death had at last relieved
+them from a contest with the "impossible." Could the writer of these be
+the victim of such a delusion? Might he have sought out this lone spot,
+to live apart and away from all the distracting influences of life, and
+to devote himself to some such task? Had his mind given way under this
+pressure, or had weakened faculties first led to this career? All these
+doubts presented themselves to me in turns; and again I turned to the
+complex pages of figures to assist my conjectures.
+
+Alas! they could convey nothing to me,--they were symbols only of so
+much toil and labor, but to what end or object I could not guess. As I
+sat thus, I thought that I detected an error in one of the calculations.
+It was an algebraic quantity misstated; and, on looking down, I remarked
+that the mistake was repeated over and over, through a long series of
+figures. Any proficiency I had ever attained at school was in matters
+of this kind, owing, as I did, everything to Raper's guidance and
+instruction; so that I found little difficulty in ascertaining that
+this error had really occurred, and in all likelihood marred all the
+deductions to be hoped from the calculation.
+
+To escape from the dreamy vacuity of my late life, by an actual
+occupation, was an unspeakable relief; and I felt in the pursuit all the
+interest of an adventurer. There was something positive, tangible, real,
+as it were, here, instead of that boundless expanse of doubt over which
+my mind had been wandering, and I addressed myself to the task
+with eagerness. The error first discovered had led to others, and I
+diligently traced out all its consequences; and making the fitting
+corrections, I set forth the results on a slip of paper that I found,
+happily, clear of figures.
+
+So tired was I with the unaccustomed exertion that, when I had done, I
+had barely reached my bed ere I fell off in a deep and heavy sleep. I
+awoke late in the night, for so I judged it from the starry sky which
+I could see through the open window. The old man sat at his usual seat
+beside the desk, and, with his head supported by his hands, seemed to
+study the pages before him. The flickering lamplight that fell upon
+his worn features, his snow-white beard, his wrinkled forehead and
+thick-veined hands, together with the heavy folds of the cloak which,
+for warmth, he had thrown over his shoulders, made him resemble one
+of those alchemists or astrologers we see in Dutch pictures. I had not
+looked long at him till I saw that he was pondering over the corrections
+I had made, and trying to remember if they were by his own hand. At last
+he turned suddenly round, and fixed his eyes on me. Mine met the glance,
+and thus we remained for some seconds staring steadily at each other. He
+then rose slowly like one fatigued from exertion, and, with the paper in
+his hand, approached the bed. How my heart beat as he drew nigh! how I
+wondered what words he would utter, what accents he would speak in, and
+in what mood of mind!
+
+He came slowly forward, and, seating himself beside my bed on the low
+stool, he pointed to the figures on the paper, and said, in the Romaic
+dialect of the mountaineers, the one word, "Yours?" Though the word was
+uttered in the peasant dialect, the tone of the voice was not that of
+a "Bauer;" and, reassured by thinking that he might be of superior
+condition, I answered him at once in French.
+
+"Is that your native tongue?" said he, replying to me in the same
+language.
+
+I shook my head in negative.
+
+"You are a German boy, then?" said he.
+
+"Nor that either," replied I. "I am English."
+
+"English! you English, and in this place!" cried he, in astonishment.
+"From what part of England do you come?" said he, in English, which he
+spoke as a native.
+
+"I came from Ireland. My father was of that country. My mother, I have
+heard, was French."
+
+"You have heard! So that you do not know it of yourself?"
+
+"I never remember to have seen either of them."
+
+"Your name?"
+
+"Carew--Jasper Carew."
+
+"I recollect one of that name," said he, pondering for some time. "But
+he could not have been your father. And how came you here?"
+
+In a few words I told him of my adventure, and in doing so revealed such
+habits as appeared to interest him, for he questioned me closely about
+my wanderings, and the causes which at first suggested them. In turn
+I asked and learned from him that several weeks had elapsed since my
+accident; that numerous scouts had traversed the glen, evidently sent
+in search of me, but that for reasons which regarded himself he had
+not spoken with, nor, indeed, been seen by any of them, but still
+had written a few lines to the Cure of Reichenau to say that I was in
+safety, and should be soon restored to my friends. This he had conveyed
+to the post by night, but without suffering any clew to escape from
+whence it came.
+
+"And these figures are yours?" said he, referring to the paper.
+
+I nodded, and he went on:--
+
+"What toilsome nights, boy, had I been spared if I had but detected this
+error! These mistakes have marred whole weeks of labor. I must have been
+ill. My head must have been suffering, to have fallen into error like
+this; for see, here are far deeper and more abstruse calculations,--all
+correct, all accurate. But who can answer for moments of weakness!"
+
+He sighed heavily, and the stern expression of his features assumed a
+look of softened, but suffering meaning.
+
+"I have often thought," said he, hastily, "that if another were joined
+with me in this task, its completeness would be more certain; while to
+trust myself alone with this secret is both unwise and unjust. Human
+life is the least certain of all things. To-morrow I may be no more. I
+have already passed through enough to have brought many to the grave.
+You, however, are young. You have yet, in all likelihood, long years of
+life before you. What if you were to become my associate?"
+
+I gave no reply for some seconds. When he repeated his words still more
+forcibly,--
+
+"I should first learn what it is I should be engaged in," said I. "I
+should be satisfied that the object was just, reasonable, and, above
+all, practicable."
+
+"You speak like a sage, boy," cried he. "Whence came such wisdom as
+this?"
+
+"All my teachings of this kind," said I, "have come from her who now
+calls herself my mother, and whom I love with a son's affection."
+
+"And how is she called?"
+
+I could not tell him. I only knew her as one who was as a mother to me,
+and yet said she had no title to that name. Once or twice I had
+heard her addressed as the Countess. There ended my knowledge of her
+condition.
+
+"She is rich, then?" asked be.
+
+"Far from it," said I, sorrowfully.
+
+"Then can I make her so!" exclaimed he. "Joined with me in this mighty
+enterprise, you can be the richest and the greatest man of the age. Nay,
+child, this is not matter to smile at. I am no dreamer, no moon-struck
+student of the impossible. I do not ponder over those subtle
+combinations of metals that are to issue forth in yellow gold, nor do I
+labor to distil the essences which are to crystallize into rubies. What
+I strive at has been reached already,--the goal won, the prize enjoyed!
+Ay, by my own father. By him was this brilliant discovery proclaimed
+triumphantly before the face of Europe."
+
+The exultation with which he uttered these words seemed to carry him
+away in thought from the scene wherein he stood, and his eyes gleamed
+with a strange fire, and his lips continued to mutter rapidly. Then,
+ceasing of a sudden, he said,--
+
+"I must seek her; she will recognize me, for she will have heard our
+history. She will give her permission, too, to you to join me in my
+great design. The fate that sent you hither was no accident. Boy, there
+are none such in life. Our passions in their wilfulness color destiny
+with fitful changes, and these we call chance; but in nature all is
+predetermined, and by plan."
+
+Now rambling on this wise, now stopping to question me as to who we
+were, whence we came, and with what objects, he continued to talk till,
+fairly overcome by weariness, I dropped off to sleep, his loud tones
+still ringing in my ears through my dreams.
+
+The following day he never left me; he seemed insatiable in his
+desire to learn what progress I had made in knowledge, and how far my
+acquirements extended. For classical learning and literature he
+evinced no respect. These and modern languages, he said, were mere
+accomplishments that might adorn a life of ease and luxury; but that
+to a man who would be truly great there was but one subject of
+inquiry,--the source of wealth, and the causes which make states
+affluent. These, he said, were the legitimate subjects for high
+intelligence to engage upon. "Master these," said he, "and monarchs are
+your vassals." I was amazed to discover that amid the mass of prejudices
+which encumbered his mind, it was stored with information the most
+various and remarkable. It was evident, too, that he had lived much in
+the great world, and was familiar with all its habits and opinions. As
+time wore on, I learned from him that his present life, with all its
+privations, was purely voluntary; that he possessed sufficient means to
+support an existence of comfort and ease. "But," added he, "if you would
+give the intelligence a supremacy, it must be done at the cost of animal
+enjoyment. If the body is to be pampered, the brain will take its ease.
+To this end came I here; to this end have I lived fourteen years of toil
+and isolation. I have estranged myself from all that could distract me;
+friendships, pleasures, the great events of the age,--I know none of
+them! I am satisfied to toil and think now that, in after ages, men
+should hold my name in reverence, and regard my memory with affection."
+
+Although he constantly made allusions of this kind, he never proceeded
+to give me any closer insight into his designs; and if at moments
+the reasonableness of his manner and the strong force of his remarks
+impressed me favorably with regard to his powers of mind, at others I
+was induced to think that nothing short of erring faculties could have
+condemned a man to a voluntary life of such abject want and of such
+cruel privation as he endured.
+
+It was still some weeks before I had strength to return home; but he
+permitted me to write every second day to my mother and Raper, from
+whom I heard in return. If at first my ardent longing to be once more
+at home--to be with those who made up the whole world of my
+existence--surpassed all other thoughts, I grew day by day to feel the
+strange fascination of an unknown interest in the subject of his talk,
+and to experience an intense anxiety to know his secret.
+
+It was evident that he felt the influence he had obtained over me, and
+was bent on extending and enlarging it; for constantly would he dwell
+upon the themes which attracted me and fascinated my attention. Shall
+I confess what these were? The brilliant pictures of courtly life, the
+splendor and fascination of a palace, where all that could charm and
+captivate abounded, and all were at the feet of one who, not a king, was
+yet greater than a king, and who in the mighty power of his intellect
+held kings and kaisers as his bond-slaves.
+
+That these were not mere fancies he assured me by saying,--
+
+"This has been witnessed by all Europe; it is not more than fifty years
+ago that the world has seen all that I tell you. When I can convince you
+of this, will you pledge yourself to be my follower?"
+
+I at once gave my promise, and ratified it by a solemn row.
+
+The next day we started on our return to Reichenau.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. "THE HERR ROBERT"
+
+I will not attempt to describe the welcome that met me on my return, nor
+the gratitude with which my mother overwhelmed my kind protector. The
+whole school, and no inconsiderable part of the village itself, had gone
+forth to meet us, and we were conducted back in a sort of triumph. Over
+and over again was I obliged to recount my story, of which the mystery
+still remained unexplained. Who and what was the strange recluse who
+so long had inhabited the castle of the Forlorn Glen, and who now stood
+before them, old and simply clad, but still bearing unmistakable marks
+of having been a person of some condition?
+
+As Mr. Robert he desired to be known by me, and as such was he received
+by my mother. He declined the offer she freely made him of a room in
+her own small house, and hired a little lodging in the toll-house on the
+bridge, and which he said was convenient to the garden of the chateau,
+where he obtained the liberty of walking. If the interest which he
+manifested in me was at first a cause of anxiety to my mother, not
+knowing what it portended, nor how far it might contribute to withdraw
+my affection from herself, it was clear that she soon became
+satisfied with whatever explanation he afforded, and that those long
+conversations, frequently prolonged to a late hour of the night, which
+they held together, had the effect of reconciling her to his views and
+intentions.
+
+Thus was a new individual introduced into the little circle of our
+family party, and each Sunday saw him seated at our dinner-table, of
+which his conversation formed the great charm. It was not alone that his
+mind was stored with varied information the most rare and curious, but
+his knowledge of the world itself and of mankind seemed more remarkable
+still; and frequently, after he had left us of an evening, have I
+overheard my mother express her wonder to Raper who and what he
+had been, and by what strange events he was reduced to his present
+condition. These remarks of hers at first showed me that whatever
+revelations he might have made in his long interviews with her, he had
+told little or nothing of his own story. Such was indeed the case, and
+I can remember well a little scene, in itself unimportant and of no
+consequence, which can both portray my mother's intense curiosity on
+this theme, and display some traits of him for whom it was excited.
+
+It happened that at the period when her little quarterly pittance came
+due, my mother was confined to home by a slight feverish cold, and Herr
+Klann, the banker and moneychanger of the village, was condescending
+enough to come in person and hand her the amount. In spite of her narrow
+fortune, my mother had always been treated with a marked deference by
+the village, and Herr Klann demeaned himself on the occasion with every
+show of courtesy and politeness. He indeed did not scruple to display
+that he was the great depositary of riches for miles and miles around;
+that all the relations of trade and commerce, all the circumstances
+of family fortune,--the dowries of brides, the portions of younger
+sons,--were in his charge and keeping. He talked much of the
+responsibility of his station and its requirements, and, like many
+others, while encomiumizing his secrecy, he exhibited the very opposite
+quality. There was not a house in the village or its neighborhood of
+which he did not incidentally relate some story or incident. He became,
+in fact, candor itself in his confessions. It is but fair to own that my
+mother looked most becomingly in her half invalid costume, and that the
+little straw-wrapped flask of "Sieben-berger" with which she regaled him
+was excellent. Herr Klann was a man to acknowledge both such influences.
+He possessed the Hebrew weaknesses both as regards gold and beauty. He
+therefore became largely confidential,--taking a survey of the whole
+neighborhood, and revealing their circumstances with the minute anatomy
+that a surgeon might have employed in displaying their structure. My
+mother heard him with no peculiar interest till by accident he alluded
+to the "Herr Robert;" it was a mere reference to the toll-house where he
+lived, but the name at once awakened her attention.
+
+"With him, I conclude," said she, "your money dealings are few. He does
+not appear to be wealthy."
+
+"He is a mystery in every way, madam," replied Klann, "his very cash
+does not come through a banker or an agent; he has no credit, no
+bills--nothing. He comes down to me at times, say once a month or so,
+to change a few gold pieces,--they are always 'Louis.' I remark, and
+sometimes of the time of the late reign. They are good money, and full
+weight invariably, that I must say."
+
+"And what may be your own opinion of all this?"
+
+"I can form none,--positively none, madam. Of course I need not say that
+I regret the vulgar notion in the village that he is in communication
+with supernatural agencies; neither you nor I, madam, are likely to fall
+into this absurd mistake."
+
+"And so you rather incline to suppose--" She drew out the words tardily,
+and fixed on Herr Klann a look of ineffable softness and intelligence
+together.
+
+"I do, madam,--that is my private opinion," said he, sententiously.
+
+"Would that account for the life he has been leading for some years
+back,--should we have found him passing such a long term in isolation
+from all the world?" asked she.
+
+"I think so, madam, and I will tell you why. The agents employed by the
+regency, and in the beginning of the present reign in France, were all
+men of certain condition,--many of them belonged to high families, and,
+having ruined their fortunes by extravagance, were fain to take any
+occupation for mere subsistence. Some of them resided as nobles in
+Vienna, and were received at the court of the Empress. Others gained
+admittance to St. James's. They were supplied with money, both for
+purposes of play and bribery; and that they used such means to good
+account is now matter of history. When the game was played out, and they
+were no longer needed by the government, such men were obliged to
+retire from the stage whereon they had only played a part. The Duc de
+Senneterre went into a monastery; Count Leon de Rhode set off for the
+New World; and there was one taken ill in this very village, whose
+name I now forget, who had gone into the priesthood, and was head of a
+seminary in Flanders. What more likely, then, than that our friend at
+the bridge yonder was some great celebrity of those times, of which I
+hear he loves to talk and declaim?"
+
+The hint thus thrown out made a deep impression on my mother. It served
+to explain not only many circumstances of Herr Robert's position, but
+also to account for the strange glimpses of a great and glorious future,
+in which at moments of excitement he would indulge. A life of intrigue
+and plot would naturally enough suggest ambitious hopes, and conduce to
+the very frame of mind which he appeared to reach. That I should become
+the follower of such a man, and the disciple of such a school, revolted
+against all her feelings. The spy, no matter how highly accredited and
+how richly rewarded, was, in her eyes, the most ignoble of all careers;
+and she would rather have seen me clad in the sheepskin of an Alpine
+shepherd than wearing, in this capacity, the decorations of every order
+of Europe.
+
+From the moment, therefore, the suspicion crossed her mind that Herr
+Robert had been such, she firmly determined to withdraw me altogether
+from his intimacy. Nor was the step an easy one. He had become a
+recognized member of our little household; each evening saw him seated
+at our hearth or board; on every Sunday he dined with us. His little
+presents of wine and fruit, and occasionally of books, showed that he
+intended reciprocity to be a basis of our intercourse, of which, indeed,
+the balance lay in our favor. How, therefore, was such a state of things
+to be suddenly arrested? How bring to an abrupt conclusion an intimacy
+of which nothing had hitherto interrupted the peaceful course? This was
+a matter of no common difficulty, and for several days did she ponder
+over it to herself.
+
+It chanced that, for the first time since her arrival at Reichenau, Herr
+Robert had been slightly indisposed, and being unable to come and see
+us, had sent for me to come each evening and read to him. At any other
+moment my mother would have thought no more of this, but coming now, at
+the very time when her feelings of doubt and suspicion were torturing
+her, she regarded the circumstance with actual apprehension.
+
+At first, she thought of sending Raper along with me, in the guise
+of protector; but as Herr Robert had not requested his company, there
+seemed an awkwardness in this; then she half resolved to refuse me
+permission, on pretence of requiring my presence at home: this, too,
+would look ungracious; and when at last she did accord her leave, it was
+for a very limited time, and with strict injunctions to be back by an
+early hour.
+
+It chanced that Herr Robert felt on this evening a more than ordinary
+desire to be frank and confidential. He related to me various anecdotes
+of his early days, the scenes he had mixed in, and the high associates
+with whom he was intimate; and when he had excited my curiosity and
+wonderment to a high degree, by gorgeous narratives of the great world,
+he stopped short and said: "I would not have you think, Jasper, that
+these dukes and princes were more gifted or more endowed than other
+men; the only real difference between them is, that they employ their
+faculties on great events, not little ones; and all their pleasures,
+their amusements, their very vices, react upon the condition of mankind
+in general, and consequently whatever goes forward in their society has
+a certain amount of importance, not for itself, but for what may follow
+it."
+
+These words made a profound impression upon me, leading to the
+conviction that out of this charmed circle life had no ambition worth
+striving for, no successes that deserved a struggle. From my mother I
+had no concealment, and before I went to my bed I told her all that the
+Herr Robert had said to me, and showed how deeply this sentiment had
+sunk into my mind.
+
+I conclude that it must have been from some relation to her former fears
+she took immediate alarm at the possible bent my mind was receiving.
+Assuredly she deemed that his influence over me was not without peril,
+and resolved the following morning to send for the Herr Robert, and
+in all frankness avow her fears, and appeal to his friendship to allay
+them.
+
+I was about to set off for school when the old man was ascending the
+stairs, and taking me by the hand he led me back again into the little
+chamber, where my mother awaited him.
+
+"Let Jasper remain with us, madam," said he; "the few words of your note
+have shown me what is passing in your mind, and it will save you and me
+a world of explanation if he be suffered to be present."
+
+My mother assented, not over willingly, perhaps, and the old man, taking
+a seat, at once begun,--
+
+"If I had ever suspected, madam, that my history could have possibly
+possessed any interest for you, you should certainly have heard it ere
+now. My opinion was, however, different; and I thought, moreover, that
+as I had strictly abstained from encroaching upon your confidence, an
+equal reserve might have protected mine. Forgive me if by any accident
+the slightest word should escape me to cause you pain or displeasure.
+Nothing can be further from my thoughts than this intention, and I beg
+of you so to receive whatever I say.
+
+"Some years ago, a physician, in whom I had and have the fullest
+confidence, forewarned me that if certain symptoms which I then labored
+under should ever recur, my case would be beyond remedy, and my life
+could not be prolonged many days. Two days since, the first signs of
+these became evident; yesterday the appearance became more palpable;
+to-day I recognize them in full force. When a man of my age talks of his
+approaching death, he only speaks of what has been before his thoughts
+every day and every night for years back. Whatever benefit I was ever
+capable of rendering my fellow-men in my younger days, I have been
+latterly a useless and profitless member of the guild, and for this
+reason, that though time had not effaced my powers of intellect, the
+energy and the force that should develop them was gone. Without youth
+there is no vitality; without vitality, no action; without action,
+no success. I often fancied what results might arise if to the mature
+thoughts and experience of age were to be added the fire, the energy,
+and the passion of youth. If caution and rashness, reserve and
+intrepidity, the distrust that comes of knowing men, with that credulous
+hope that stirs the young heart, were all to centre in one nature, what
+might we not effect? The fate that brought Jasper and myself together
+whispered to me that he might become such! I pictured to my mind the
+training he should go through, the hard discipline of work and labor,
+and yet without impairing in the slightest that mainspring of all power,
+the daring courage and energy of a young and brave spirit. To this end,
+he should incur no failures in early life, never know a reverse till
+it could become to him the starting-point for higher success. And thus
+launched upon life with every favoring breeze of fortune, what might not
+be predicted of his course?
+
+"He who would stand high among his fellow-men, and be regarded as their
+benefactor and superior during his lifetime, must essentially be a man
+of action! The great geniuses of authorship, the illustrious in art,
+have received their best rewards from posterity; contemporaries have
+attacked them, depreciated and reviled them; the very accidents of their
+lives have served to injure the excellence of their compositions. But
+the man of action stands forth to his own age great and distinguished;
+the world on which his services have bestowed benefits is proud to
+reward him! and either as a legislator, a conqueror, or a discoverer,
+his claims meet full acknowledgment.
+
+"Who would not be one of these, then?--who would not aspire to win the
+enthusiasm that tracks such a career, and makes a mere mortal godlike?
+
+"To be such I possessed the secret! Nay, madam, this is not the weakness
+of faltering intellect, nor the outpouring of a silly vanity. Hear me
+out with patience but a very little longer. It is not of some wonder of
+science or of mystery, of occult art, that I speak; and yet the power to
+which I allude is infinitely greater than any of these were ever fancied
+to bestow. Imagine an engine by which the failing energies of a whole
+nation can be rallied, its wasting vigor repaired, its resources
+invigorated. Fancy a nation--millions--brought out of poverty, debt, and
+distress, into wealth, affluence, and abundance; the springs of their
+industry reinforced, the sources of their traffic refreshed. Picture
+to your mind the change from an embarrassed government, a ruined
+aristocracy, an indebted, poverty-stricken people, to a full treasury,
+a splendid nobility, and a prosperous and powerful nation. Imagine all
+this; and then, if you can ascribe the transformation to the working of
+one man's intelligence, what will you say of him?
+
+"I am not conjuring up a mere visionary or impossible triumph; what I
+describe has been actually done, and he who accomplished it was my own
+father!
+
+"Yes, madam, the mightiest financial scheme the world has ever
+witnessed, the grandest exemplification of the principle of credit that
+has ever been promulgated by man, was his invention. He farmed the whole
+revenues of France, and at one stroke annihilated the peculation of
+receivers-general, and secured the revenue of the nation. He fructified
+the property of the state by employing its vast resources in commercial
+speculations; from the east to the west, from the fertile valley of the
+Mississippi to the golden plains of Asia, he opened every land to the
+enterprise of Frenchmen. Paris itself he made the capital city of the
+world. Who has not heard of the splendor of the regency, of Chantilly,
+the gorgeous palace of the Duc d'Orleans, the very stables more
+magnificent than the residences of many princes? The wealth and the
+rank of Europe flocked thither; and in the pleasures of that paradise
+of capitals lies the history of an age! He who did all this was my own
+father, and his name was John Law, of Lauriston! Ay, madam, you see
+before you, poor, humbly clad, and gray-haired, going down to the
+grave in actual want, the son of a man who once counted his revenue by
+millions, whose offerings to the Church of St. Roch would have made a
+meet dowry for a princess, and whose very menials acquired fortunes such
+as modern nobility cannot equal."
+
+As he spoke, he drew forth a large silver-clasped pocket-book, and,
+opening it, took out a mass of papers.
+
+"I do not ask you to take any part of this on trust," continued he.
+"There, with the seal of the chancellor, and the date, January the 5th,
+1720, is his patent as comptroller-general of France. Here are letters
+from the Regent, the Prince of Deux-Ponts, the Duke of Rohan; I leave
+them in your hands, and will send you others that authenticate all I
+have stated. Of my own life, humble and uneventful, I have no wish
+to speak; more than this I know, for I have long studied the great
+principles of my father's secret. The causes of his reverses I have
+thoroughly investigated; they are not inherent in the system, nor are
+they reasonably attributable to it in any way. His discovery must not be
+disparaged by the vices of a profligate prince, a venal administration,
+and an ignorant cabinet; nor must the grandeur of his conception be
+charged with the rash infatuation of a nation of gamblers. Law's system
+stands free from every taint of dishonesty, when dissociated with the
+names of those who prostituted it. For years long have I studied the
+theory, and tested it by every proof within my power. To make the fact
+known to the world; to publish abroad the great truth, that credit well
+based and fortified is national wealth, and that national wealth, so
+based, is almost boundless,--this became the object of my whole life. I
+knew that a certain time must elapse ere the disasters that followed my
+father's downfall were forgotten, and that I should, in all likelihood,
+never live to see the day when his glorious system would be revived, and
+his memory vindicated; but I hoped to have found one worthy to inherit
+this secret, and in whose keeping it might be transmitted to after
+ages. I will not weary you with the story of all my disappointments, the
+betrayals, and the treachery, and the falsehoods I have endured. Enough!
+I became a recluse from mankind. I gave myself up to my old pursuits of
+calculation and combination, undisturbed; and I have lived on, to this
+hour, with one thought ever before me, and one fear,--is this great
+secret to die out with me? and are countless millions of men destined
+to toil and slavery, while this vast source of affluence and power shall
+lie rusting and unused?"
+
+The intense fervor of his voice, and his tone of self-conviction as he
+spoke, had evidently impressed my mother strongly in his favor; and when
+she turned over one by one the letters before her, and read passages
+penned by the hand of Du Pin, the chief secretary of the Regent,
+D'Argen-son, Alberoni the Cardinal, and others of like station, and then
+turned to look on the feeble and wasted figure of the old man, her eyes
+filled with tears of pity and compassion.
+
+"My heart is now relieved of a weary load," said he, sighing. "Now I
+shall go back to my home, and to-morrow, if I be not able to come here,
+you and Jasper will visit me, for I have still much to tell you."
+
+My mother did her utmost to detain him where he was. She saw that the
+excitement of his narrative had greatly increased the symptoms of fever
+upon him, and she wished to tend and watch over him; but he was resolute
+in his determination, and left us, almost abruptly.
+
+Raper and myself went several times that evening to see him, but he
+would not receive us. The reply to our inquiries was, that he was deeply
+engaged, and could not be disturbed. I remember well how often during
+the night I arose from my bed to look out at the little window of the
+tollhouse, which was that of Herr Robert's room. A light burned there
+the whole night through, and more than once I could see his figure pass
+between it and the window. Poor old man!--was it that he was devoting
+the last few hours of his life to the weary task that had worn him to
+a very shadow? Towards daybreak I sank into a heavy sleep, from which
+I was suddenly awakened by Raper calling on me to get up and dress at
+once.
+
+"Herr Robert is dying!" said he, "and wishes to see you and speak with
+you. Be quick, for there is not a moment to lose."
+
+I dressed myself as speedily as my trembling limbs would permit, and
+followed Raper down the stairs and into the street. My mother was
+already there, waiting for us, and we hurried along towards the
+toll-house without a word.
+
+The toll-keeper's wife beckoned to us impatiently as we came in sight,
+and we pressed eagerly on, and entered the little chamber where Herr
+Robert lay half-dressed upon his bed. He knew us, and took each of us by
+the hand as we came forward. His face was greatly flushed, and his eyes
+stared wildly, and his dry, cracked lips muttered frequently and fast.
+Several large packages of papers lay beside him, sealed and addressed,
+and to these he made a motion with his hand, as if he would speak of
+them.
+
+"Tell us of yourself, Herr Robert," said my mother, in a kind voice, as
+she sat down beside him. "Do you feel any pain?"
+
+He seemed not to hear her, but muttered indistinctly to himself. Then,
+turning short round to me, he said,--
+
+"I have forgotten the number of the house, but you can't mistake it. It
+is the only one with a stone balcony over the entrance gate. It was well
+enough known once. John Law's house,--the 'Rue Quincampoix.' The room
+looks to the back--and the safe--Who is listening to us?"
+
+I reassured him, and he went on:--
+
+"The ingots were forged as if coming from the gold mines of Louisiana.
+D'Argenson knew the trick, and the Regent too. They it was who wrecked
+him,--they and Tencivi."
+
+His eyes grew heavy, and his voice subsided to a mere murmur after this,
+and he seemed to fall off in a drowsy stupor. The whole of that day
+and the next he lingered on thus, breathing heavily, and at intervals
+seeming to endeavor to rally himself from the oppression of sleep; but
+in vain! Exhaustion was complete, and he passed away calmly, and so
+quietly that we did not mark the moment when he ceased to breathe.
+
+My mother led me away weeping from the room, and Raper remained to look
+after his papers and make the few arrangements for his humble burial.
+
+The same day that we laid him in the earth came a letter from the Count
+de Gabriac to say that he would be with us on the morrow. It was the
+only letter he had written for several months past, and my mother's joy
+was boundless at the prospect of seeing him. Thus did sunshine mingle
+with shadow in our life, and tears of happiness mingle with those of
+sorrow!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV. THE COUNT DE GABRIAC
+
+I had often heard that the day which should see the Count restored to us
+would be one of festivity and enjoyment. Again and again had we talked
+over all our plans of pleasure for that occasion; but the reality was
+destined to bring back disappointment! We were returning in sadness from
+the toll-house, when a messenger came running to tell of the Count's
+arrival; and my mother, leaving me with Raper, to whom she whispered a
+few hurried words, hastened homewards.
+
+I thought it strange that she had not taken me along with her; but I
+walked along silently at Raper's side, lost in my own thoughts, and not
+sorry to have for my companion one little likely to disturb them. We
+sauntered onward through some meadows that skirted the river; and at
+last, coming down to the stream, seated ourselves by the brink, each
+still sunk in his own reflections.
+
+It was a bright day of midsummer: the air had all that exhilaration
+peculiar to the season in these Alpine districts. The stream ran clear
+as crystal at our feet; and the verdure of grass and foliage was in its
+full perfection. But one single object recalled a thought of sorrow, and
+that was the curtained window of the little chamber wherein Herr Robert
+lay dead.
+
+To this spot my eyes would return, do what I could; and thither, too,
+sped all my thoughts, in spite of me. The influence which for some time
+back he had possessed over me was perfectly distinct from that which
+originates in affectionate attachment. Indeed, all his appeals to me
+were the very reverse of such. His constant argument was, that a man
+fettered by affection, and restricted by ties of family, was worthless
+for all purposes of high ambition, and that for the real successes of
+life, one must sacrifice everything like individual enjoyment. So far
+had he impressed me with these notions that I already felt a kind of
+pleasure in little acts of self-denial, and rose in my own esteem by
+slight traits of self-restraint. The comparative isolation in which
+I lived, and my estrangement from those of my own age, favored this
+impression, and I grew by degrees to look upon the sports and pleasures
+of boyhood with all the disdainful compassion of an old ascetic.
+
+I remember well how, as I lay in the deep grass and watched the rippling
+circles of the fast-flowing river, that a sudden thought shot
+through me. What if all this theory should prove but a well-disguised
+avarice,--that this passion for distinction be only the thirst for
+wealth,--these high purposes of philanthropy but another scheme for
+self-advancement! Is it possible that for such a price as this I would
+surrender all the enjoyments of youth, and all the budding affections of
+coming manhood?
+
+"Mr. Joseph," said I, suddenly, "what is the best life?"
+
+"How do you mean, Jasper? Is it, how shall a man do most good to
+others?" said he.
+
+"Not alone that; but how shall he best employ his faculties for his own
+sake?"
+
+"That may mean for his personal advancement, Jasper, for objects purely
+selfish, and be the reverse of what your first question implied."
+
+"When I said the best, I meant the wisest," replied I.
+
+"The wisest choice is that of a career, every duty of which can
+be fulfilled without the sacrifice of kindly affections or the
+relinquishment of family ties. He who can adopt such is both wise and
+happy."
+
+"Are you happy, Mr. Joseph?" asked I; "for I know you are wise."
+
+"Far more happy than wise, Jasper," said he, smiling. "For one like me,
+life has borne many blessings."
+
+"Like you!" exclaimed I, in surprise, for to my thinking he was a
+most enviable mortal; I knew of no one so learned, nor of such varied
+acquirements. "Like you, Mr. Joseph!"
+
+"Just so, Jasper; I, who have had neither home nor family, have yet
+found both; I, whom no ties of affection encircled, have lived to feel
+what it is to be cared for; and I, that almost despaired of being aught
+to any one, have found that I can be of use to those whom it is my chief
+happiness to love."
+
+"Tell me your history, Mr. Joseph, or at least tell me something about
+yourself."
+
+"My story, my dear Jasper, is but the history of my own day. The least
+eventful of lives would be adventurous if placed alongside of mine. I
+began the world such as you see me, poor, humble-minded, and lowly. I
+continue my journey in the same spirit that I set out. The tastes and
+pursuits that then gave me pleasure are still the same real sources of
+enjoyment to me. What were duties are now delights. Your dear mother was
+once my pupil, as you are now; and it is my pride to see that she has
+neither forgotten our old lessons, nor lived to think them valueless.
+Even here have I seen her fall back upon the pursuits which occupied her
+childhood--ay, and they have served to lighten some gloomy hours too."
+
+Raper quickly perceived, from the anxiety with which I had listened,
+that he had already spoken too much; and he abruptly changed the topic
+by saying,--
+
+"How we shall miss the poor Herr Robert! He had grown to seem one of
+ourselves."
+
+"And is my mother unhappy, Mr. Joseph?" said I, recurring to the former
+remarks.
+
+"Which of us can claim an exemption from sorrow, Jasper? Do you
+not think that the little village yonder, in that cleft of the
+mountain--secluded as it looks--has not its share of this world's
+griefs? Are there not the jealousies, and the rivalries, and the
+heartburnings of large communities within that narrow spot?"
+
+While he was yet speaking, a messenger came to summon me home. The
+Countess, he said, was waiting dinner for me, and yet no invitation came
+for Raper. He seemed, however, not to notice the omission, but, taking
+my hand, led me along homeward. I saw that some strong feeling was
+working within, for twice or thrice he pressed my hand fervently, and
+seemed as if about to say something; and then, subduing the impulse, he
+walked on in silence.
+
+"Make my respectful compliments to the Count, Jasper," said he, as we
+came to the door, "and say that I will wait upon him when it is his
+pleasure to see me."
+
+"That would be now, I 'm sure," said I, eagerly.
+
+"Perhaps not so soon; he will have so much to say to your mother.
+Another time;" and, hurriedly shaking my hand, he retired.
+
+As I slowly, step by step, mounted the stair, I could not help asking
+myself, was this the festive occasion I had so often pictured to
+myself?--was this the happy meeting I had looked forward to so
+longingly? As I drew near the door, I thought I heard a sound like a.
+heavy sob; my hand trembled when I turned the handle of the lock and
+entered the room.
+
+"This is Jasper," said my mother, coming towards me, and trying to smile
+through what I could see were recent tears.
+
+The Count was seated on an easy-chair, still dressed in the pelisse he
+had worn on the journey, and with his travelling-cap in his hand. He
+struck me as a handsome and distinguished-looking man, 'but with a
+countenance that alike betrayed passion and intemperance. The look he
+turned on me as I came forward was assuredly not one of kindness or
+affection, nor did he extend his hand to me in sign of salutation.
+
+"And this is Jasper!" repeated he slowly after my mother. "He is n't
+tall of his age, I think."
+
+"We have always thought him so," said my mother, gently, "and assuredly
+he is strong and well grown."
+
+"The better able will he be to brave fatigue and hardship," said he,
+sternly. "Come forward, sir, and tell me something about yourself. What
+have they taught you at school?--has Raper made you a bookworm, dreamy
+and good-for-nothing as himself?"
+
+"Would that he had made me resemble him in anything!" cried I,
+passionately.
+
+"It were a pity such a moderate ambition should go unrewarded," replied
+he, with a sneer. "But to the purpose: what do you know?"
+
+"Little, sir; very little."
+
+"And what can you do?"
+
+"Even less."
+
+"Hopeful, at all events," rejoined he, with a shrug of the shoulders.
+"They haven't made you a scholar: they surely might have trained you to
+something."
+
+My mother, who seemed to suffer most acutely during this short dialogue,
+here whispered something in his ear, to which he as hastily replied,--
+
+"Not a bit of it. I know him better than that; better than you do.
+Come, sir," added he, turning to me, "the Countess tells me that you are
+naturally sensitive, quick to feel censure, and prone to brood over it.
+Is this the case?"
+
+"I scarcely know if it be," said I. "I have but a slight experience of
+it."
+
+"Ay, that's more like the truth," said he, gayly. "The language of blame
+is not familiar to him. So, then, from Raper you have learned little.
+Now, what has the great financier and arch-swindler Law taught you?"
+
+"Emile, Emile," broke in my mother, "this is not a way to speak to
+the boy, nor is it by such lessons he will be trained to gratitude and
+affection."
+
+"Even there, then, will my teaching serve him," said he, laughingly.
+"From all that I have seen of life, these are but unprofitable
+emotions."
+
+I did not venture to look at my mother; but I could hear how her
+breathing came fast and thick, and could mark the agitation she was
+under.
+
+"Now, Jasper," said he, "sit down here beside me, and let us talk to
+each other in all confidence and sincerity. You know enough of your
+history to be aware that you are an orphan, that both your parents died
+leaving you penniless, and that to this lady, whom till now you have
+called your mother, you owe your home."
+
+My heart was full to bursting, and I could only clasp my mother's hand
+and kiss it passionately, without being able to utter a word.
+
+"I neither wish to excite your feelings nor to weary you," said he,
+calmly; "but it is necessary that I should tell you we are not rich.
+The fact, indeed, may have occurred to you already," said he, with
+a disdainful gesture of his hand, while his eye ranged over the
+poverty-stricken chamber where we sat. "Well," resumed he, "not being
+rich, but poor,--so poor that I have known what it is to feel hunger and
+thirst and cold, for actual want! Worse again," cried he, with a wild
+and savage energy, "have felt the indignity of being scoffed at for my
+poverty, and seen the liveried scullions of a great house make jests
+upon my threadbare coat and worn hat! It has been my own choosing,
+however, all of it!" and as he spoke, he arose, and paced the room with
+strides that made the frail chamber tremble beneath the tread.
+
+"Dearest Emile," cried my mother, "let us have no more of this. Remember
+that it is so long since we met. Pray keep these sad reflections
+for another time, and let us enjoy the happiness of being once more
+together."
+
+"I have no time for fooling, madame," said he, sternly. "I have come a
+long and weary journey about this boy. It is unlikely that I can afford
+to occupy myself with his affairs again. Let him have the benefit--if
+benefit there be--of my coming. I would relieve you of the burden of his
+support, and himself of the misery of dependence."
+
+I started with surprise. It was the first time I had ever heard the word
+with reference to myself, and a sense of shame, almost to sickness, came
+over me as I stood there.
+
+"Jasper is my child; he is all that a son could be to his mother," cried
+Polly, clasping me in her arms, and kissing my forehead; and I felt
+as if my very heart was bursting. "Between us there is no question of
+burden or independence."
+
+"We live in an age of fine sentiments and harsh actions," said the
+Count. "I have seen M. de Robespierre shed tears over a dead canary, and
+I believe that he could control his feelings admirably on the Place de
+Greve. Jasper, I see that we must finish this conversation when we are
+alone together. And now to dinner."
+
+He assumed a half air of gayety as he said this; but it was unavailing
+as a means of rallying my poor mother, whose tearful eyes and trembling
+lips told how sadly dispirited she felt at heart.
+
+I had heard much from my mother about the charms of the Count's
+conversation, his brilliant tone, and his powers of fascination. It had
+been a favorite theme with her to dilate upon his wondrous agreeability,
+and the vast range of his acquaintance with popular events and topics.
+She had always spoken of him, too, as one of buoyant spirits, and even
+boyish light-heartedness. She had even told me that he would be my
+companion, like one of my own age. With what disappointment, then, did I
+find him the very reverse of all this! All his views of life savored of
+bitterness and scorn; all his opinions were tinged with scepticism and
+distrust; he sneered at the great world and its vanities, but even these
+he seemed to hold in greater estimation than the humble tranquillity of
+our remote village. I have him before me this instant as he leaned out
+of the window and looked down the valley towards the Splugen Alps. The
+sun was setting, and only the tops of the very highest glaciers were now
+touched with its glory; their peaks shone like burnished gold in the sea
+of sky, azure and cloudless. The rest of the landscape was softened down
+into various degrees of shade, but all sufficiently distinct to display
+the wild and fanciful outlines of cliff and crag, and the zigzag course
+by which the young Rhine forced its passage through the rocky gorge.
+Never had the scene looked in greater beauty,--never had every effect of
+light and shadow been more happily distributed; and I watched him with
+eagerness as he gazed out upon a picture which nothing in all Europe can
+surpass. His countenance for a while remained calm, cold, and unmoved;
+but at last he broke silence and said:
+
+"This it was, then, that gave that dark coloring to all your letters to
+me, Polly; and I half forgive you as I look at it. Gloom and barbarism
+were never more closely united."
+
+"Oh, Emile, you surely see something else in this grand picture?" cried
+she, in a deprecating voice.
+
+"Yes," said he, slowly, "I see poverty and misery; half-fed and
+half-clad shepherds; figures of bandit rugged-ness and savagery. I see
+these, and I feel that to live amongst them, even for a brief space,
+would be to endure a horrid nightmare."
+
+He moved away as he spoke, and sauntered slowly out of the room, down
+the stairs, and into the street.
+
+"Follow him, Jasper," cried Polly, eagerly; "he is dispirited and
+depressed,--the journey has fatigued him, and he looks unwell. Go with
+him; but do not speak till he addresses you."
+
+I did not much fancy the duty, but I obeyed without a word. He seemed to
+have quickened his pace as he descended; for when I reached the street,
+I could detect his figure at some distance off in the twilight. He
+walked rapidly on, and when he arrived at the bridge, he stopped, and,
+leaning against the balustrade, looked up the valley.
+
+"Are you weary of this, boy?" asked he, while he pointed up the glen.
+
+I shook my head in dissent.
+
+"Not tired of it," he exclaimed, "not heartsick of a life of dreary
+monotony, without ambition, without an object! When I was scarcely older
+than you I was a garde du corps; at eighteen I was in the household, and
+mixing in all the splendor and gayety of Paris; before I was twenty I
+fought the Duc de Valmy and wounded him. At the Longchamps of that same
+year I drove in the carriage with La Marquese de Rochvilliers; and
+all the world knows what success that was! Well, all these things have
+passed away, and now we have a republic and the coarse pleasures and
+coarser tastes of the 'canaille.' Men like me are not the 'mode,' and
+I am too old to conform to the new school. But you are not so; you must
+leave this, boy,--you must enter the world, and at once, too. You shall
+come back with me to Paris."
+
+"And leave my mother?"
+
+"She is not your mother,--you have no claim on her as such; I am more
+your relative than she is, for your mother was my cousin. But we live in
+times when these ties are not binding. The guillotine loosens stronger
+bonds, and the whisper of the spy is more efficacious than the law of
+divorce. You must see the capital, and know what life really is. Here
+you will learn nothing but the antiquated prejudices of Raper, or the
+weak follies of--others."
+
+He only spoke the last word after a pause of some seconds, and then
+moodily sank into silence.
+
+I did not venture to utter a word, and waited patiently till he resumed,
+which he did by saying,--
+
+"The Countess has told you nothing of your history,--nothing of your
+circumstances? Well, you shall hear all from me. Indeed, there are facts
+known to me with which she is unacquainted. For the present, Jasper,
+I will tell you frankly that the humble pittance on which she lives is
+insufficient for the additional cost of your support. I can contribute
+nothing; I can be but a burden myself. From herself you would never hear
+this; she would go on still, as she has done hitherto, struggling and
+pinching, battling with privations, and living that fevered life of
+combat that is worse than a thousand deaths. Raper, too, in his own
+fashion, would make sacrifices for you; but would you endure the thought
+of this? Does not the very notion revolt against all your feelings of
+honor and manly independence? Yes, boy, that honest grasp of the hand
+assures me that you think so! You must not, however, let it appear that
+I have confided this fact to you. It is a secret that she would never
+forgive my having divulged. The very discussion of it has cost us the
+widest estrangements we have ever suffered, and it would peril the
+continuance of our affection to speak of it."
+
+"I will be secret," said I, firmly.
+
+"Do so, boy; and remember that when I speak of your accompanying me
+to Paris, you express your wish to see the capital and its brilliant
+pleasures. Show, if not weary of this dreary existence here, that you at
+least are not dead to all higher and nobler ambitions. Question me about
+the life of the great world, and in your words and questions exhibit the
+interest the theme suggests. I have my own plan for your advancement, of
+which you shall hear later."
+
+He seemed to expect that I would show some curiosity regarding the
+future, but my thoughts were all too busy with the present. They were
+all turned to that home I was about to leave, to the fond mother I was
+to part from, to honest Joseph himself,--my guide, my friend, and my
+companion; and for what? An unknown sea, upon which I was to adventure
+without enterprise or enthusiasm.
+
+The Count continued to talk of Paris and his various friends there, with
+whom he assured me I should be a favorite. He pictured the life of the
+great city in all its brightest colors. He mentioned the names of many
+who had entered it as unknown and friendless as myself, and yet, in
+a few years, had won their way up to high distinction. There was a
+vagueness in all this which did not satisfy me; but I was too deeply
+occupied with other thoughts to question or cavil at what he said.
+
+When we went back to supper, Raper was there to pay his respects to
+the Count. De Gabriac received his respectful compliments coldly and
+haughtily; he even interrupted the little address poor Joseph had
+so carefully studied and committed to memory, by asking if he still
+continued to bewilder his faculties with Greek particles and obsolete
+dialects; and then, without waiting for his reply, he seated himself at
+the table, and arranged his napkin.
+
+"Master Joseph," said he, half sarcastically, "the world has been
+pleased to outlive these follies; they have come to the wise resolve
+that, when languages are dead, they ought to be buried; and they have
+little sympathy with those who wish to resuscitate and disinter them."
+
+"It is but an abuse of terms to call them dead, Count," replied Joseph.
+"Truth, in whatever tongue it be syllabled, does not die. Fidelity to
+nature in our age will be acknowledged as correct in centuries after."
+
+"Our own time gives us as good models, and with less trouble to look for
+them," said the Count, flippantly. "Your dreamy bookworm is too prone to
+delve in the earth, and not to coin the ore that he has discovered. Take
+Jasper there: you have taught him diligently and patiently; I 'll be
+sworn you have neglected him in nothing, so far as your own knowledge
+went; and yet, before he shall have been three months in Paris, he will
+look upon you, his master, as an infant. The interval between you
+will be wide as the broad Atlantic; and the obstacles and crosses, to
+overcome which will be with him the work of a second, would be to you
+difficulties insurmountable."
+
+"To Paris! Jasper go to Paris!" exclaimed my mother, as she grew deadly
+pale.
+
+"Jasper leave us!" cried Raper, in a tone of terror.
+
+"And why not?" replied the Count. "Is it here you would have him waste
+the best years of youth? Is it in the wild barbarism of this dreary
+valley that he will catch glimpses of the prizes for which men struggle
+and contend? The boy himself has higher and nobler instincts; he feels
+that this is but the sluggish existence of a mere peasant, and that
+yonder is the tournament where knights are jousting."
+
+"And you wish to leave us, Jasper?" cried my mother, with a quivering
+lip, and a terrible expression of anxiety in her features.
+
+"To forsake your home!" muttered Raper.
+
+"Ask himself; let him be as frank with you as he was half-an-hour ago
+with me, and you will know the truth."
+
+"Oh, Jasper, speak!--leave me not in this dreadful suspense!" cried
+my mother; "for in all my troubles I never pictured to my mind this
+calamity."
+
+"No, no!" said Raper; "the boy 's nature has no duplicity,--he never
+thought of this!"
+
+"Ask him, I say," cried the Count; "ask him if he wish not to accompany
+me to Paris."
+
+I could bear no longer the power of the gaze that I felt was fixed
+upon me, but, falling at her feet, I hid my face in her lap, and cried
+bitterly. My heart was actually bursting with the fulness of sorrow, and
+I sobbed myself to sleep, still weeping through my dreams, and shedding
+hot tears as I slumbered.
+
+My dream is more graven on my memory than the events which followed my
+awaking. I could recount the strange and incoherent fancies which chased
+each other through my brain on that night, and yet not tell the actual
+occurrences of the following day.
+
+I do remember something of sitting beside my mother, with my hand locked
+in hers, and feeling the wet cheek that from time to time was pressed
+against my own; of the soft hand as it parted the hair upon my forehead,
+and the burning kiss that seemed to sear it. Passages of intense
+emotion--how caused I know not--are graven in my mind; memories of a
+grief that seemed to wrench the heart with present suffering, and cast
+shadows of darkest meaning on the future. Oh, no, no!--the sorrows--if
+they be indeed sorrows--of childhood are not short-lived; they mould the
+affections, and dispose them in a fashion that endures for many a year
+to come.
+
+While I recall to mind these afflictions, of the actual events of my
+last hours at Reichenau I can relate but the very slightest traits. I do
+remember poor Raper storing my little portmanteau with some of the last
+few volumes that remained to him of his little store of books; of my
+mother showing me a secret pocket of the trunk, not to be opened
+save when some emergency or difficulty had presented itself; of my
+astonishment at the number of things provided for my use, and the
+appliances of comfort and convenience which were placed at my disposal;
+and then, more forcibly than all else, of the contemptuous scorn with
+which the Count surveyed the preparation, and asked "if my ward robe
+contained nothing better than these rags?"
+
+Of the last sad moment of parting,--the agony of my mother's grief as
+she clasped me in her arms, till I was torn away by force, and with
+my swimming faculties I thought to have seen her fall fainting to the
+ground,--of these I will not speak, for I dare not, even now!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. PARIS IN '95
+
+Our journey was a dreary and wearisome one. The diligence travelled
+slowly, and as the weather was dull and rainy, the road presented
+nothing of interest, at least of interest sufficient to combat the grief
+that still oppressed me. We were upwards of a week travelling before we
+reached Paris, which I own presented a very different aspect from what
+my ardent imagination had depicted. The narrow streets were scarcely
+lighted,--it was night,--the houses seemed poor and mean and
+dilapidated, the inhabitants rude-looking and ill-dressed. The women
+especially were ill-favored, and with an air of savage daring and
+effrontery I had never seen before. Gangs of both sexes patrolled the
+streets, shouting in wild chorus some popular chant of the time; and as
+the diligence did not venture to pierce these crowds, we were frequently
+delayed in our progress to the "bureau," which was held in the Rue
+Didier of the Battignolles; for it was in that unfashionable quarter in
+which my first impressions of the capital were conceived.
+
+"Remember, boy, I am no longer a Count here," said my companion, as we
+got out of the conveyance, "I am the citizen Gabriac; and be careful
+that you never forget it. Take that portmanteau on your shoulder, and
+follow me!"
+
+We treaded a vast number of streets and alleys, all alike wretched and
+gloomy, till we entered a little "Place" which formed a "cul de sac" at
+the end of a narrow lane, and was lighted by a single lantern, suspended
+from a pole in the centre. This was called the Place de Trieze, in
+memory, as I afterwards learned, of thirteen assassins who had once
+lived there, and been for years the terror of the capital. It was now
+but scantily tenanted, none of the rooms on the ground-floor being
+inhabited at all; and in some instances an entire house having but one
+or two occupants. The superstitious terrors that were rife about it (and
+there were abundance of ghost stories in vogue) could scarcely account
+for this desertion, for assuredly the fears of a spiritual world could
+not have proved formidable to the class who frequented it; but an
+impression had got abroad that it was a favorite resort of the spies of
+the police, who often tracked the victims to this quarter, or at least
+here obtained information of their whereabouts. Plague itself would have
+been a preferable reputation to such a report, and accordingly few but
+the very poorest and most destitute would accept the shelter of this
+ill-omened spot.
+
+A single light, twinkling like a faint star, showed through the gloom as
+we entered, where some watcher yet sat; but all the rest of the "Place"
+was in darkness. Gabriac threw some light gravel at the window, which
+was immediately opened, and a head enveloped in a kerchief, by way of
+nightcap, appeared.
+
+"It is I, Pierre," cried he; "come down and unbar the door!"
+
+"Ma foi," said the other, "that is unnecessary. The commissaire broke it
+down yesterday, searching for 'Torchon,' and the last fragment cooked my
+dinner to-day."
+
+"And Torchon, did they catch him?"
+
+"No, he escaped, but only to reach the Pont Neuf, where he threw himself
+over the balustrade into the river."
+
+"And was drowned?"
+
+"Doubtless, he was."
+
+"I scarcely regret him," said Gabriac.
+
+"And I not at all," replied the other. "Good night;" and with this he
+closed the window, leaving us to find our way as best we could.
+
+I followed Gabriac as he slowly groped his way up the stairs and reached
+a door on the third story, of which he produced the key. He struck a
+light as he passed in, and lighted a small lamp, by which I was enabled
+to see the details of a chamber poorer and more miserable than anything
+I had ever conceived. A board laid upon two chairs served for a table,
+and some wood-shavings, partially covered by a blanket, formed a bed;
+a couple of earthenware pipkins comprised the cooking utensils, and a
+leaden basin supplied the provisions for the toilet.
+
+"Lie down there and take a sleep, Jasper, for I have no supper for you,"
+said Gabriac; but his voice had a touch of compassionate gentleness in
+it which I heard for the first time.
+
+"And you, sir," said I, "have you no bed?"
+
+"I have no need of one. I have occupation that will not admit of sleep,"
+said he. "And now, boy, once for all, never question me, nor ask the
+reasons of what may seem strange or odd to you. Your own faculties
+must explain whatever requires explaining--or else you must remain in
+ignorance;" and with these words he passed into an inner chamber, from
+which he speedily issued forth to descend the stairs into the street,
+leaving me alone to my slumbers. And they were heavy and dreamless ones,
+for I was thoroughly wearied and worn out by the road.
+
+I was still asleep, and so soundly that I resisted all efforts to awake
+me till a strong shake effectually succeeded, and, on looking up, I saw
+Gabriac standing by my side.
+
+"Get up, boy, and dress. These are your clothes," said he, pointing to
+a uniform of dark green and black, with a sword-belt of black leather,
+from which hung a short, broad-bladed weapon. The dress was without any
+richness, still a becoming one, and I put it on without reluctance.
+
+"Am I to be a soldier, then?" asked I, in half shame at disobeying his
+injunction of the night before.
+
+"All Paris, all France, is arrayed at one side or the other just now,
+Jasper," said he, as he busied himself in the preparation of our coffee.
+"The men who have ruled the nation by the guillotine have exhausted
+its patience at last. A spirit, if not of resistance, of at least
+self-defence, has arisen, and the little that remains of birth and blood
+amongst us has associated with the remnant of property to crush the
+hell-hounds that live by carnage. One of these bands is called the
+battalion of 'La Jeunesse Doree,' and into this I have obtained your
+admission. Meanwhile, you will be attached to the staff of General
+Danitan, who will employ you in the 'secretariat' of his command.
+Remember, boy, your tale is, you are the son of parents that have died
+on the scaffold. You are the nephew of Emile de Gabriac, brother of
+Jules Louis de Gabriac, your father, whom you cannot remember. Your life
+in Switzerland you can speak of with safety. You will not talk of these
+matters save to the General, and to him only if questioned about them."
+
+"But is this disguise necessary, sir? May I not assume the name I have a
+right to, and accept the fate that would follow it?"
+
+"The guillotine," added he, sarcastically. "Are you so ignorant,
+child, as not to know that England and France are at war, and that your
+nationality would be your condemnation? Follow my guidance or your own,"
+said he, sternly, "but do not seek to weld the counsels together."
+
+"But may I not know in what service I am enrolled?"
+
+"Later on, when you can understand it," was the cold reply.
+
+"I am not so ignorant," said I, taking courage, "as not to be aware of
+what has happened of late years in France. I know that the king has been
+executed."
+
+"Murdered!--martyred!" broke in Gabriac.
+
+"And monarchy abolished."
+
+"Suspended--interrupted," added he, in the same voice. "But I will not
+discuss these matters with you. When you have eaten your breakfast, take
+that letter to the address in the Rue Lepelletier, see the General, and
+speak with him. As you go along the streets you will not fail to meet
+many of those to whom your duty will at some later period place you in
+opposition. If they by look, by dress, by bearing and manner captivate
+your imagination and seduce your allegiance to their ranks, tear off
+your colors then, and join them, boy; the choice is open to you. My
+charge is then ended; we are not, nor ever can be, aught to each other
+again."
+
+I saw that he would not be questioned by me, and, forbearing at once,
+from the risk of offending him, I ate my meal in silence.
+
+"I am ready now, sir," said I, standing up in front of him.
+
+He wheeled me round by the arm to look at me in my new dress. He
+adjusted my belt, and arranged my sword-knot more becomingly, muttering
+to himself a few words of approval at my appearance, and then said
+aloud,--
+
+"Salute all whom you see in this uniform, boy, and bear yourself
+haughtily as you pass the 'canaille.' Remember that between you and them
+must be the struggle at last, and show that you do not blink it."
+
+He patted me good-naturedly on the shoulder as he said this, and, with
+the word "Go," half-pushed me from the room.
+
+I soon found myself in the open air, and, having inquired my way to the
+Rue Lepelletier, walked rapidly along, endeavoring, as best I might, to
+disguise the astonishment I felt at so many new and wonderful objects.
+As I emerged from the meaner quarter of the Battignolles, the streets
+grew finer and more spacious, and the dress of the people and their
+appearance generally improved also. Still, there was none of that
+splendor of equipage of which I had heard so much. The carriages were
+few, and neither rich nor well-appointed. The horses were poor-looking,
+and seemed all over-worked and exhausted. The same tired and worn-out
+air pervaded the people too. They all looked as though fatigue and
+excitement had finally conquered them, and that they were no longer
+capable of endurance. At the bakers' shops that I passed, great
+crowds were assembled, waiting for the distribution of bread which the
+Government each morning doled out to the population. I watched these,
+and saw, to my amazement, that the ration was a small piece of black
+and coarse bread, weighing two ounces, and for this many were content
+to wait patiently the entire day. In my curiosity to see this, I had
+approached an old man of a strong, athletic appearance, who, leaning on
+his staff, made no effort to pierce the crowd, but waited calmly till
+his name was called aloud, and even then received his pittance as it was
+passed to him from hand to hand. There was something of dignity in the
+way he subdued every trace of that anxious impatience so perceptible
+around him, and I drew nigh to speak to him, with a sense of respect.
+
+"Is that meant for a day's subsistence?" asked I.
+
+He stared at me calmly for a few seconds, but made no reply.
+
+"I asked the question," began I, with an attempt to apologize, when he
+interrupted me thus:--
+
+"Are you one of the Troupe Doree, and ask this? Is it from you, who live
+in fine houses and eat sumptuously, that comes the inquiry, how men like
+me exist?"
+
+"I am newly come to Paris; I am only a few hours here."
+
+"See here, comrades," cried the old man, in a loud and ringing voice to
+the crowd, "mark what the 'Sections' are doing: drafting the peasants
+from the Provinces, dressing them in their livery, and arming them to
+slaughter us. Starvation marches too slowly for the wishes of these
+aristocrats!"
+
+"Down with the 'aristos,' down with the 'Troupe!'" broke in one wild
+yell from the multitude, who turned at once towards me with looks of
+menace.
+
+"Ay," continued the old man, waving his hand to maintain silence, "he
+dared to taunt me with the pittance we receive, and to scoff at our
+mendicancy!"
+
+"Down with him! down with him!" cried the crowd; but, interposing his
+staff like a barrier against the mob, the old fellow said,--
+
+"Spare him, comrades; he is, as you see, only a boy; let him live to be
+wiser and better. Come, lad, break that sword upon your knee, tear off
+that green cockade, and go back to your village again!"
+
+I stepped back, and, drawing my sword, motioned to those in front to
+give way.
+
+"I'll cut down the first that opposes me!" cried I, with a wave of the
+steel round my head; and at the same instant I dashed forward.
+
+The mass fell back, and left me a free passage, while a chorus of
+the wildest yells and screams burst around and about me. Mad with
+the excitement of the moment, I shook my sword at them as I went, in
+defiance, and even laughed my scorn of their cowardice. My triumph was
+brief; a stunning blow on the back of the head sent me reeling forwards,
+and at the same instant the ranks of the mob closed in, and, hurling
+me to the ground, trampled and jumped upon me. Stunned, but not
+unconscious, I could perceive that a battle was waged over me, in which
+my own fate was forgotten, for the multitude passed and repassed my body
+without inflicting other injury than their foot-treads. Even this was
+brief, too, and I was speedily raised from the earth, and saw myself
+in the arms of two young men in uniform like my own. One of them was
+bleeding from a wound in the temple, but seemed only to think of me and
+my injuries. We were soon joined by several others of the troop, who,
+having returned from a pursuit of the mob, now pressed around me with
+kindest questions and inquiries. My name, whence I came, and how long I
+had been in Paris, were all asked of me in a breath; while others, more
+considerate still, sought to ascertain if I had been wounded in the
+late scuffle. Except in some bruises, and even those not severe, I
+had suffered nothing; and when my clothes were brushed, and shako
+readjusted, and a new cockade affixed to it, I was as well as ever. From
+the kind attentions we met with in the shops, and the sympathy which
+the better-dressed people displayed towards us, I soon gathered that the
+conflict was indeed one between two classes of the population, and that
+the Troupe were the champions of property.
+
+"Show him the Rue Lepelletier, Guillaume," said an officer to one of
+the youths; and a boy somewhat older than myself now undertook to be my
+guide.
+
+I had some difficulty in answering his questions as to the names and
+the number of my family who were guillotined, and when and where the
+execution had occurred; but I was spared any excessive strain on my
+imagination by the palpable indifference my companion exhibited to a
+theme now monstrously tiresome. He, however, was communicative enough on
+the subject of the Troupe and their duties, which he told me were daily
+becoming more onerous. The Government, harassed by the opposition of
+the National Guards and the Jeunesse Doree together, had resorted to
+the terrible expedient of releasing above a thousand prisoners from the
+galleys; and these, he assured me, were now on their way to Paris, to be
+armed and formed into a regiment.
+
+Though he told this with a natural horror, he still spoke of his own
+party with every confidence. They comprised, he said, the courage, the
+property, and the loyalty of France. The whole nation looked to them as
+the last stay and succor, and felt that the hope of the country was in
+their keeping.
+
+I asked him what was the number now enrolled in the Troupe? and, to my
+astonishment, he could not tell me. In fact, he owned that many had of
+late assumed the uniform as spies, and General Danitan had resolved
+that each volunteer should present himself to him for acceptance before
+receiving any charge, or being appointed to any guard.
+
+I had not time for further questioning, when we arrived at the hotel of
+the general, when my companion, having given me full directions for my
+guidance, shook my hand cordially, and departed.
+
+As I ascended the stairs I overtook an elderly gentleman in a gray
+military frock, who was slowly making his way upwards by the aid of the
+balustrade.
+
+"Give me your arm, lad," said he, "for this stair seems to grow steeper
+every day. Thanks; now I shall get on better. What has torn your
+coat-sleeve?"
+
+I told him in a few words what had just occurred in the streets, and he
+listened to me with a degree of interest that somewhat surprised me.
+
+"Come along, my lad. Let General Danitan hear this from your own lips;"
+and with an agility that I could not have believed him capable of,
+he hurried up the stairs, and, crossing a kind of gallery crowded with
+officers of different grades, he entered a chamber where two persons in
+military undress were writing.
+
+"Can I see the general, Francois?" said he, abruptly.
+
+The officer thus addressed, coolly replied that he believed not, and
+went on with his writing as before.
+
+"But I have something important to say to him,--my business is of
+consequence," said he.
+
+"As it always is," muttered the other, in a tone of sarcasm that
+fortunately was only overheard by myself.
+
+"You will announce me, then, Francois?" continued he.
+
+"My orders are not to admit any one, Captain."
+
+"They were never meant to include me, sir,--of that I 'm positive," said
+the old man; "and if you will not announce me, I will enter without it;"
+and, half dragging me by the arm, he moved forward, opened the door,
+and passed into an inner room.
+
+General Danitan, a small, dark-eyed, severe-looking man, was standing
+with his back to the fire, and in the act of dictating to a secretary,
+as we entered. An expression of angry impatience at our unauthorized
+appearance was the only return he vouchsafed to our salute; and he
+continued his dictation, as before.
+
+"Don't interrupt me, sir," said he, hastily, as the old captain made an
+effort to address him. "Don't interrupt me, sir.--'Which difficulties,'"
+continued he, as he took up the thread of his dictation,--"'which
+difficulties are considerably increased by the obtrusive habit of
+tendering advice by persons in whose judgment I place no reliance, and
+whose conduct, when they leave me, is open to the suspicion of being
+prejudicial to the public service. Amongst such offenders the chief is
+a retired captain of the 8th regiment of Chasseurs, called Hugues Le
+Bart--'"
+
+"Why, General, it is of me--me myself--you are speaking!" broke in the
+captain.
+
+"'An officer,'" continued the other, perfectly heedless of the
+interruption, "'into whose past services I would strenuously recommend
+some inquiry; since neither from the information which has reached me
+with regard to his habits, nor from the characters of his intimates, am
+I disposed to regard him as well affected to the Government, or in other
+respects trustworthy.' How do you do, Captain? Who is our young friend
+here?" continued he, with a smile and a bow towards us.
+
+"In what way am I to understand this, General? Is it meant for a piece
+of coarse pleasantry--"
+
+"For nothing of the kind, sir," interrupted the other, sternly. "That
+you have been a witness to the words of a confidential communication
+is entirely attributable to yourself; and I have only to hope you will
+respect the confidence of which an accident has made you a participator.
+Meanwhile, I desire to be alone."
+
+The manner in which these words were uttered was too decisive for
+hesitation, and the old man bowed submissively and withdrew. As I was
+about to follow him, the general called out,--
+
+"Stay: a word with you. Are you the captain's protege, boy?"
+
+I told him that our first meeting only dated a few moments back, and how
+it had occurred.
+
+"Then you are not of the 'Troupe'? You have never worn the uniform till
+this morning?" said he, somewhat severely.
+
+I bowed assent.
+
+He turned hastily about at the moment, and said something to his
+secretary in a low voice, of which I just could catch the concluding
+words, which were far from flattering to the corps in whose livery I was
+dressed.
+
+"Well, boy, go back and take off those clothes," said he, sternly;
+"resume your trade or occupation, whatever it be, and leave politics and
+state affairs to those who can understand them. Tell your father--"
+
+"I have none, sir."
+
+"Your mother, then, or your friends, I care not what they be. What
+letter is that you are crumpling in your fingers?" broke he in,
+suddenly.
+
+"To General Danitan, sir."
+
+"Give it me," said he, half snatching it from me.
+
+He tore it hastily open and read it, occasionally looking from the
+paper to myself, as he went on. He then leaned over the table where the
+secretary sat, and, showed him the letter. They conversed eagerly for
+some seconds together, and then the general said,--
+
+"Your friends have recommended you for a post in the 'chancellerie
+militaire': is that your liking, lad?"
+
+"I should be proud to think myself capable of doing anything for my own
+support," was my answer.
+
+"D'Artans, see to him; let him be enrolled as a supernumerary, and
+lodged with the others.--This gentleman will instruct you in your duty,"
+added he to me, while, with a slight nod towards the door, he motioned
+me to withdraw.
+
+I retired at once to the antechamber, where I sat down to think over my
+future prospects, and canvass in my mind my strange situation.
+
+Troops of officers in full and half dress, orderlies with despatches,
+aides-de-camp in hot haste, came and went through that room for hours;
+and yet there I sat, unnoticed and unrecognized by any, till I began
+to feel in my isolation a sense of desertion and loneliness I had never
+known before.
+
+It was already evening when D'Artans joined me, and taking my arm
+familiarly within his own, said,--
+
+"Come along, Jasper, and let us dine together."
+
+The sound of my own name so overcame me that I could scarcely restrain
+my tears as I heard it. It was a memory of home and the past too
+touching to be resisted!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. THE BATTLE OF THE SECTIONS
+
+There could not have been a readier process of disenchantment to me, as
+to all my boyish ambitions and hopes, than the routine of my daily
+life at this period. I was lodged, with some fourteen others, in an old
+Pension in the Rue des Augustines, adjoining the bureau in which we were
+employed. We repaired each morning at an early hour to our office, and
+never left it till late in the evening,--sometimes, indeed, to a late
+hour of the night. Neither the manners nor the habits of my companions
+inspired me with a desire to cultivate their intimacy. They were
+evidently of a low class by birth, and with tastes even inferior to
+their position. They construed my estrangement to the true cause, and
+did not scruple to show that I was not a favorite amongst them. In
+ridicule of my seeming pretensions, they called me the "Count," and
+never passed me without an obsequious mock salutation, which I returned
+as punctiliously, and not appearing to detect its sarcasm. With
+experience of life and mankind, isolation is probably a condition
+not devoid of certain pleasures,--it may minister to a kind of proud
+self-reliance and independence of spirit; but to a boy it is one of
+unalloyed misery. There is no heavier infliction than the want of that
+free expansion of the heart that comes of early friendship. Youth is
+essentially the season of confidence; and to restrain its warm impulses,
+and dam up the flow of its affections, is to destroy its best and
+highest charm. I will not venture to assert that I was not myself much
+to blame for the seclusion in which I lived. I probably resented too
+forcibly what I need scarcely have noticed, and felt too acutely what,
+at worst, were but trifling annoyances. Some of this may be attributed
+to me constitutionally, but even more to the nature of my bringing
+up. All my boyish impulses were stimulated by affection; whatever I
+attempted was in a wish to gain praise; all my ambitions were to be
+loved the more. In my loneliness I sought out M. de Gabriac, but in
+vain. His lodging on the Place was now occupied by another, who could
+give no tidings of him whatever. I wrote to my mother and to Raper,
+but without receiving a reply. I then tried M. Jost, and received a
+few lines to say that my friends had taken their departure some months
+before from Reichenau, but in what direction he knew not. This letter
+put the finishing stroke to my sense of utter desolation. It was indeed
+not possible to conceive a more forlorn and friendless being than I now
+was. By my superior in the office I was held in little favor or esteem.
+I was indeed, in many respects, less capable than many of my colleagues,
+and it is not impossible that my apparent pride may have contrasted with
+my real deficiency. All these causes pressed upon me together, and made
+up a series of annoyances which came very little short of downright
+unhappiness.
+
+My circumstances, too, were not calculated to dispel these gloomy
+tendencies. Beyond our maintenance, which was of the very humblest kind,
+our whole pay was five hundred francs yearly; and as this was paid in
+paper money, it reduced the actual amount more than one-fourth. By the
+very strictest economy, and by many an act of self-denial, I was
+enabled to keep myself out of debt; but it was an existence of continued
+watchfulness and care, and in which not even the very cheapest pleasure
+found a place. My colleagues, indeed, talked of cafes, restaurants,
+excursions, and theatres, as of matters of daily habit; but in what way
+they compassed such enjoyments I knew not. The very freedom of their
+language on these themes cast an air of contemptuous mockery over my
+humbler existence that assuredly did not diminish its bitterness.
+
+My inexpertness frequently compelled me to remain in the office long
+after the rest. The task allotted to me was often of greater length, and
+many times have I passed a considerable part of the night at my desk. On
+these occasions, when I had finished, my head was too much excited for
+sleep, and I then sat up and read--usually one of the volumes Raper had
+given me--till morning. These were my happiest hours; but even they
+were alloyed by the weariness of an exhausted and tired intellect. So
+thoroughly apart from the world did I live, so completely did I hug my
+solitary existence at this period, that of the events happening around
+I positively knew nothing. With cafes and their company, or with
+newspapers, I had no intercourse; and although at moments some street
+encounter, some collision between the mob and the National Guard, would
+excite my curiosity, I never felt interest enough to inquire the cause,
+or care for the consequences.
+
+Such incidents grew day by day more common; firing was frequently
+heard at night in different parts of the capital, and it was no rare
+occurrence to see carts with wounded men conveyed to hospital through
+the streets, at early morning. That the inhabitants were fully alive to
+the vicinity of some peril was plain to see. At the slightest sign of
+tumult, at the least warning, shops were closed and shutters fastened,
+doors strongly barricaded, and armed figures seen cautiously peering
+from casements and parapets. At one time a single horseman at full
+gallop would give the signal for these precautions; at others, they
+seemed the result of some instinctive apprehension of danger, so rapidly
+and so silently were they effected. Amid all these portents, the daily
+life of Paris went on as before. It was just as we hear tell of in the
+countries where earthquakes are frequent, and where in almost every
+century some terrible convulsion has laid a whole city in ruins, the
+inhabitants acquire a strange indifference to peril till the very
+instant of its presence, and learn to forget calamities when once they
+have passed.
+
+As for myself, so accustomed had I become to these shocks of peril
+that I no longer went to the window when the uproar beneath betokened
+a conflict, nor even cared to see which side were conquerors in the
+affray. It was in a mood of this acquired indifference that I sat
+reading one evening in my office long after the others had taken their
+departure; twice or thrice had loud and prolonged shouts from the street
+disturbed me, but without exciting in me sufficient of curiosity to
+see what was going forward, when at last, hearing the rumbling sound of
+artillery trains as they moved past, I arose and went to the window.
+To my surprise, the streets were densely crowded, an enormous concourse
+filling them, and only leaving a narrow lane through which the wagons
+could pass. That it was no mere procession was clear enough, for the
+gunners carried their matches lighted, and there was that in the stern
+air of the soldiery that bespoke service. They wheeled past the church
+of St. Roch, and entered a small street off the Rue St. Honore called
+La Dauphine, where, no sooner had they passed in, than the sappers
+commenced tearing up the pavement in front of the guns, and speedily
+formed a trench of about five feet in depth before them. While this was
+doing, some mounted dragoons gave orders to the people to disperse, and
+directed them to move away by the side streets,--an order so promptly
+obeyed that in a few minutes the long line of the Rue St. Honore was
+totally deserted. From the position at La Dauphine to the Tuileries I
+could perceive that a line of communication was kept open, and orderlies
+passed at a gallop frequently from one side to the other. Another
+circumstance, too, struck me: the windows, instead of being crowded by
+numbers of eager spectators, were strongly shuttered and barred;
+and when that was impossible, the glass frames were withdrawn, and
+bed-mattresses and tables placed in the spaces. Along the parapets,
+also, vast crowds of armed men were to be seen, and the tower and
+battlements of St. Roch were studded over with soldiers of the National
+Guard, all armed and in readiness. From the glances of the artillerymen
+beneath to the groups above, it required no great prescience to detect
+that they stood opposed to each other as enemies.
+
+It was a calm mellow evening of the late autumn. The air was perfectly
+still; and now the silence was unbroken on all sides, save when, from a
+distance, the quick tramp of cavalry might be momentarily heard, as if
+in the act of forcing back a crowd; and then a faint shout would follow,
+whose accents might mean triumph or defiance.
+
+I was already beginning to weary of expectancy, when I perceived, from
+the movement on the house-tops and the church tower, that something was
+going forward within the view of those stationed there. I had not to
+look long for the cause, for suddenly the harsh, sharp beat of a drum
+was heard, and immediately after the head of a column wheeled from one
+of the side streets into the Rue St. Honore. They were grenadiers of
+the National Guard, and a fine body of men they seemed, as they marched
+proudly forward till they came to a halt before the steps of St.
+Roch. Handkerchiefs were waved in salutation to them from windows and
+housetops, and cheering followed them as they went. A single figure at
+the entrance of La Dauphine stood observing them with his glass: he
+was an artillery officer, and took a long and leisurely survey of the
+troops, and then directed his eyes towards the crowded roofs, which he
+swept hastily with his telescope. This done, he sauntered carelessly
+back, and disappeared.
+
+The grenadiers were soon followed by the line, and now, as far as my eye
+could carry, I beheld vast masses of soldiery who filled the street
+in its entire breadth. Up to this all was preparation. Not a sight, or
+sound, or gesture indicated actual conflict, and the whole might have
+meant a mere demonstration on either side, when suddenly there burst
+forth a crash like the most terrific thunder. It made the very street
+tremble, and the houses seemed to shake as the air vibrated around
+them; a long volley of musketry succeeded,'and then there arose a din of
+artillery, shouts, and small-arms that made up the infernal chaos. This
+came from the quarter of the river, and in that direction every eye was
+turned. I hurried to the back of the house in the hope of being able to
+see something; but the windows only looked into a court surrounded by
+tall buildings. Ere I returned to my place the conflict had already
+begun. The troops of the National Guard advanced, firing by sections,
+and evidently bent on forcing their passage up the street; and their
+firing seemed as if meant in declaration of their intentions rather than
+aggressively, since no enemy appeared in front; when, no sooner had the
+leading files reached the opening of La Dauphine, than the artillery
+opened with grape and round shot. The distance could scarcely have
+exceeded forty yards, and the withering fire tore through the dense
+ranks, forming deep lanes of death! Smoke soon enveloped the masses, and
+it was only at intervals I could catch sight of the moving body, which
+still moved up! There was something indescribably dreadful in seeing the
+steady march of men to inevitable destruction; and even their slow pace
+(for such was it of necessity, from the numbers of dead and dying that
+encumbered their path) increased the horror of the spectacle. A deadly
+musketry poured down from the tower of St. Roch upon the gunners.
+
+The whole fire from housetops and windows was directed at them; but fast
+as they fell, others took their places, and the roll of the artillery
+never slackened nor ceased for an instant. The shot rattled like hail
+on the walls of the houses, or crashed through them with clattering
+destruction. Wild and demoniac yells, death-shouts, and cries of triumph
+mingled with the terrible uproar. Above all, however, roared the
+dread artillery, in one unbroken thunder. At last the column seemed
+to waver--the leading files fell back--a moment's hesitation ensued--a
+fresh discharge of grape, at less than pistol range, tore through them;
+and now the word was given to retire. Shouts and cries poured from the
+housetops and parapets. Were they of encouragement or derision?--who can
+tell? The street now presented the horrid spectacle of indiscriminate
+carnage; the guns were wheeled forward as the troops retired, cavalry
+charging on the broken masses while the guns were reloading; the
+cavalcade of death rode past at a walk, the gunners firing steadily on,
+till the word was given to cease. The smoke cleared lazily away at last,
+and now no living thing was seen to stir in front: the long line of
+the Rue St. Honore presented nothing but the bodies of the dead. The
+housetops and parapets, too, were speedily deserted; for the houses were
+now forced by the infantry of the line, who at every moment appeared at
+the windows and waved their shakos in token of victory. As I looked, a
+crash recalled my attention behind me; and now the door of the bureau
+was in ruins, and four soldiers, with their bayonets at the charge,
+dashed forward. On seeing me alone and unarmed, they only laughed, and
+passed on to the upper story.
+
+"Are you in charge here?" asked a young corporal of me.
+
+"I belong to the bureau," said I, in reply.
+
+"Place your books and papers under lock and key, then," said he, "and
+make your way to headquarters."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"At the Tuileries. There goes the Commander-in-Chief," added he,
+mechanically saluting, as a staff of officers rode by beneath.
+
+"Who is that pale man in front, with the long hair?" asked I.
+
+"General Bonaparte," was the answer; "and few can handle artillery like
+him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. AN EPISODE OF MY LIFE
+
+If I could have turned my thoughts from my own desolate condition, the
+aspect of Paris on the morning after the battle might well have engaged
+my attention. The very streets presented a scene such as never can
+be forgotten! The Government had adventured on the bold experiment
+of employing the masses to control the few, and the fruits of this
+dangerous alliance might be seen in the various groups that passed
+along. Officials wearing their badges of duty, officers in full uniform,
+walked arm in arm with leaders of the popular party; men high in the
+state talked familiarly in the midst of little groups of working-men;
+parties of the popular force, rudely armed, ill-dressed, and disorderly,
+presented arms as some officer of rank rode by. All attested the
+existence of that strange compact by which the nation was again to be
+subjugated, and terror made the active principle of a government. The
+terrific songs of the bloody days of the Revolution were once more
+heard, and the cruel denunciations of the mob again rang aloud in the
+open streets! I heard and saw all these like one in a dream, as, with my
+portfolio of office-papers under my arm, I held my way to the Tuileries;
+nor was it till I had reached the wooden stockade in front of that
+palace that I became collected enough to ask myself whither I was going,
+and for what.
+
+The machinery of government to which I belonged was annihilated and
+destroyed; they who had guided and controlled it were gone; and there
+I stood alone, friendless, and without a home in that vast city,
+not knowing which way to turn me. I wandered into the garden of the
+Tuileries, and sat down upon a bench in one of the less-frequented
+alleys. The cries and shouts of the populace rung faintly in my ear, and
+the noises of the city came dulled and indistinct by distance. From the
+quiet habits of my simple life, I had scarcely learned anything whatever
+of Paris. My acquaintances were limited to the few I had seen at the
+bureau, and these I only met when there. My means were too scanty to
+admit of even the cheapest pleasures; and up to this my existence had
+been one uniform but contented poverty. Even this humble provision was
+now withdrawn from me. What was I to do? Was there a career by which I
+could earn my bread? I knew of none save daily labor with my hands; and
+where to seek for even this I did not know. In my little lodging behind
+the bureau I possessed a few articles of clothes and some books; these,
+if sold, would support me for a week or two; and then--ay, then! But who
+can tell? thought I: a day has marred,--who knows but another day may
+make my fortune?
+
+It was night when I turned homeward. To my surprise, the stair was not
+lit up as usual, and it was only after repeated knockings that the door
+was opened to me, and old Lizette, my landlady's servant, with a voice
+broken by sobs, bade me pass in quietly, and to make no noise. I asked
+eagerly if any misfortune had occurred, and heard that Monsieur Bernois,
+my landlord, had been mortally wounded in the affray of the night
+before, and was then lying at the point of death.
+
+"Is it the surgeon, Lizette?" cried Marguerite, a little girl of about
+fourteen, and whose gentle "Good-day" had been the only thing like
+welcome I had ever heard during my stay there; "is it the surgeon?"
+
+"Helas, no, mademoiselle, it is the lodger!"
+
+I had not even a name for them! I was simply the occupant of a solitary
+chamber, for whom none cared or thought; and yet at that instant I
+felt my isolation the greatest blessing of Heaven, and would not have
+exchanged my desolate condition for all the ties of family!
+
+"Oh, sir," cried Marguerite, "have pity on us, and come to papa. He is
+bleeding on the bed here, and none of us know how to aid him!"
+
+"But I am no less ignorant, mademoiselle," said I; "would that I could
+be of any use to you!"
+
+"Oh, come," cried she, "come; and Heaven may direct you how to succor
+us, for we are utterly deserted!"
+
+Scarcely knowing what I did, I followed the little girl into a darkened
+room, where the long-drawn breathings of the wounded man were the only
+sounds. By the dim half-light I could see a figure seated at the foot
+of the bed. It was my hostess, pale, stern-looking, and collected;
+there she sat, gazing at the gasping object before her, with a terrible
+composure.
+
+"Mamma, it is monsieur; monsieur who lives here is come to see papa,"
+whispered Marguerite, timidly.
+
+The mother nodded her head, as if to imply that she had heard her, but
+never spoke. I drew nigh the bed, the rather to show my sympathy with
+the sorrow, than that I could be of any service; and the dying man's
+eyes met mine. Glazed and filmy as they seemed at first, I fancied they
+grew bright and lustrous as he continued to stare. Such, at all events,
+was their fascination that I could not look away from them, and so I
+stood under that steadfast gaze forgetful even of the state of him who
+bestowed it. At last the orbs slowly turned, at first towards where his
+wife sat, then to Marguerite as she knelt by the bedside, and then back
+again to me, with an expression that needed no words to convey. I took
+the clammy hand in my own, and felt the fingers give a faint pressure. I
+squeezed them gently, and saw that his lips parted; they moved, too,
+as though with an effort to speak, but without avail. The attempt had
+evidently cost him a severe pang, for his features were convulsed for a
+few seconds, at the end of which he gently drew me a little towards him,
+and with a sigh so faint as to be scarcely heard, uttered the words,
+"Pauvre femme!"
+
+It was not until some minutes had elapsed that I saw he had ceased
+to breathe, for his eyes seemed to stare with meaning on me, and his
+countenance remained unchanged. At length, however, I became conscious
+that the struggle was over, and his spirit had passed away forever. The
+stillness of the room was terrible, for not a stir broke it; and I knelt
+down beside Marguerite to pray.
+
+"Here is the surgeon, mademoiselle," said Lizette, hurriedly; and an old
+man drew nigh the bed and touched the wrist of the dead man.
+
+"Ma foi!" said he, "this is the fourth time I have been sent for to-day
+on a like errand;" and, so saying, he tapped me on the shoulder, and
+motioned me to follow him.
+
+I obeyed at once.
+
+"Are you his son?" asked he, briefly.
+
+"No," I replied.
+
+"His nephew?--his clerk, then?"
+
+"Neither; I am a lodger here, and do not even claim acquaintance with
+the family."
+
+"No matter," resumed he, dryly, "you will do as well as another; give me
+pen and paper."
+
+I took some from an open portfolio on the table and laid it before him,
+and he wrote rapidly a few lines in a straggling hand:--
+
+"The citizen Louis Bernois, age--; domiciled, Rue Neuve de Viardot, No.
+318, avocat,"--"we may call him _avocat_, though he was only a writer,"
+said he, looking up,--"wounded fatally in the lungs and heart, and
+attended till his death, on this morning, by the doctor Joseph Caillot,
+surgeon and licentiate. The above verified by me."--"Sign here," added
+he, handing me the pen, "and put your quality. Say, 'Friend of the
+family.'"
+
+"But I never knew them; I have only lodged in the house for some months
+back."
+
+"What signifies that? It is a mere form for the authorities, to whom his
+death must be reported, or his family exposed to trouble and annoyance.
+I will take it to the bureau myself."
+
+I signed my name, therefore, as he directed me, and sealed the "act"
+with a seal I found on the table. The doctor pocketed the paper and
+withdrew, not even bestowing on me a good-bye as he left the room.
+
+Lizette came to me for instructions as to what was to be done. Madame
+had never recovered consciousness from the very first moment of the
+misfortune; mademoiselle was too young and too inexperienced to be
+consulted on the occasion. The family, too, had only been a few months
+in Paris, and had no acquaintance save with the tradespeople they dealt
+with.
+
+I asked the name of the _avocat_ for whom he usually transcribed the
+deeds and papers, and learned that it was a certain Monsieur le Monnier,
+a lawyer of high standing at the bar of Paris, and who lived in the
+Rue Quincampoix! With what a strange sensation I heard the name of that
+street, which was the same that Herr Robert spoke of as inhabited by his
+father in the days of his greatest prosperity! The thought merely shot
+through my head rapidly, for other and far more pressing considerations
+demanded all my attention. I resolved at once to call on Monsieur le
+Monnier and ask his advice and guidance in the difficult position I
+then found myself. Dressing myself with all the care my scanty wardrobe
+permitted, I set out for the Rue Quincampoix, and soon found the house,
+which was a large and spacious though somewhat sombre-looking hotel,
+with a half-effaced shield over the doorway. The porter inquired if I
+came on business; and on my saying "Yes," informed me that I must
+call on the following morning, from eleven to two o'clock,--that the
+"batonnier," for such was his rank, did not transact affairs in the
+evening.
+
+I argued and pressed my suit with all zeal; but it was only when I
+produced a piece of two francs that he consented to present my card, on
+which I had written a few lines to explain the urgent cause of my visit.
+
+After a long and most impatient waiting a servant came to Bay that
+monsieur would receive me, and I followed him up a spacious but dimly
+lighted stair, and across a long dreary gallery, where a single lamp
+shone, into a small chamber fitted up like a study. Here, although it
+was autumn, the "batonnier" was seated beside a brisk fire, enjoying
+his coffee. He was a small man, with a massive, well-shaped head covered
+with a profusion of snow-white hair, which he wore in such careless
+fashion as to make his head appear even much larger than it was;
+his features were pleasing, and his eyes were singularly soft and
+gentle-looking. With a voice of peculiar sweetness, and in a low tone,
+he welcomed me and desired me to be seated. This done, he begged me to
+state the object of my visit.
+
+In the very fewest words I could relate it, I mentioned the sad
+circumstances about which I came, told my own difficulty in the matter,
+and asked for advice.
+
+"At any other moment," said he, when I concluded, "your task would be
+an easy one. You could report the event to the 'commissaire' of the
+'Quarter,' state what you know, and withdraw from the affair altogether.
+Now, however, the troubles in which we live excite suspicions in every
+mind. Your name will be associated with the opinions for which this poor
+man has given his life. The authorities will be on your track at every
+moment, and every act of your life watched and reported. With whom were
+you acquainted in Paris?"
+
+"With none."
+
+He stared with some surprise; and I told him briefly the circumstances
+of my own situation.
+
+"A strange story indeed!" said he, taking up my card from the
+chimney-piece. "And your name, for I cannot decipher it here, is--"
+
+"Carew,--Jasper Carew."
+
+"That name is Irish, if I mistake not," said he; "at least I remember,
+some twenty years ago, we had here a distinguished stranger who came
+from Ireland, and was called Carew. He was the fashionable celebrity of
+a very famous period."
+
+"He was my father, sir."
+
+The old lawyer bowed and smiled; but though the gesture was eminently
+polite, the shrewd twinkle of his eyes bespoke incredulity. I saw this,
+and said at once,--
+
+"I have many letters of his, dated from the 'Place Vendome,' No. 13,
+where he lived."
+
+"Indeed!" cried he, in astonishment. "You possess these at present?"
+
+"Some few I have with me; others, a large number, are in the keeping
+of my friends, as well as notes and papers in the hand of the late
+Duc d'Orleans, with whom my father appeared to live on considerable
+intimacy."
+
+"That I can vouch for myself," said the _avocat_, hastily; then,
+suddenly correcting himself, added,--"Perhaps you would give me a sight
+of some of these documents. I do not ask from any impertinent curiosity,
+but with the conviction that I can be of some service to you."
+
+I readily promised to do so, and the following day was named for the
+purpose.
+
+"Now, for the present case," said he. "I know nothing of Monsieur
+Bernois beyond what a client of mine from the Auvergnat told me. He was
+the son of a poor farmer near Linange, who studied the law at Paris,
+went back to his native village and married, and, after some years of
+failure at home, came here to make his fortune. I employed him partly
+from motives of charity, for he was irregular in his habits of work, and
+seemed overcome by a depression that rendered him often incapable of all
+exertion. Make what arrangements you think suitable for his burial, and
+then induce his poor widow and daughter to return home. Call upon me
+for any expenses that may be needed, and say that I will send one of my
+clerks to make an inventory of his effects and draw up the 'proces' the
+law requires."
+
+There was a mingled kindness and commonplace in the way he spoke this
+that left me in doubt which of the two frames of mind predominated in
+his nature. At all events, I had good reason to be satisfied with my
+reception, and, resisting his invitation to stay to supper, I hastened
+back to the Rue de Viardot.
+
+The poor widow still remained in the state of stupor in which I first
+saw her; but Marguerite's grief had taken a more violent form, and
+the terrible shock had brought on brain-fever,--at least, so Lizette
+pronounced it. My sad duties were thus multiplied by the cares of the
+sick-room, for Lizette threw all upon me, and would do nothing without
+my guidance and advice.
+
+By great exertions, and by working all night through, I reduced the
+affairs of the family to a condition of order; and when Monsieur le
+Monnier's clerk appeared in the morning, I had already compiled the
+inventory and drawn up the "acte de deces," as it is called, for the
+authorities.
+
+By searching amongst papers I also found the address of the widow's
+father, who lived in the village of "Linange," and to him I wrote a few
+lines, acquainting him with what had occurred, and asking his counsel
+with regard to the family. Though Lizette had accompanied them from
+their native village to Paris, she was greatly indisposed to afford any
+information as to their circumstances or condition in life, and seemed
+only eager to complete all the formalities of the law and quit
+the capital. I certainly did not impose any unfair burden upon her
+incommunicative disposition. I asked a few questions,--none that were
+not in a measure indispensable.
+
+I suppose my reserve in this wise impressed her favorably, for she grew
+gradually more and more open, dropping hints of sad circumstances and
+calamities, in a way that seemed half to invite inquiry on my part. I
+was resolved, however, not to make any advances, and left her entirely
+to her own choice as to what revelations she might make me. I have no
+doubt that had my object been to gratify my curiosity, I could not have
+hit upon any surer means of success.
+
+We laid the remains of poor Bernois in a little graveyard outside the
+Porte St. Denis; Lizette and myself the only mourners that followed the
+bier! As I slowly ascended the stairs towards my room, I said,--
+
+"Come to me this evening, Lizette, and say if I can be of any further
+service to you, since I mean to leave Paris to-morrow."
+
+"To leave Paris!" cried she; "Grand Dieu!--why, and for where?"
+
+"For Switzerland," replied I. "My friends there have not answered my
+letters for some time back, and I have determined to set off and see
+them."
+
+"But why not write again? Think of what a journey it is!"
+
+"I have written till I have lost all hope. I must satisfy myself by
+going in person."
+
+"But you will not leave us helpless, friendless, as we are!" cried she.
+
+Never till that moment had it occurred to me that my assistance could
+avail to any one, or that there existed one in the world humble
+enough to be benefited by my guidance. The appeal, however, gave me
+a self-confidence and an energy which I had not felt before, and I
+listened to the explanations of the old servant with every desire to aid
+her.
+
+She judged rightly enough that as soon as removal were possible, the
+safest course would be for the widow and her daughter to return to their
+village.
+
+"I know," added she, "that this is not to be effected without
+difficulty. 'Madame' will oppose it to the last; and it may be that
+nothing short of force will accomplish it."
+
+I asked the reason of this repugnance, and she only gave me a vague,
+unmeaning answer. It was clear to me there was a mystery in the affair;
+and though piqued that I was not intrusted with the secret, I felt that
+to withdraw my aid from them on such grounds would be both selfish and
+unworthy.
+
+"I will consult M. le Monnier," said I, at last; "he shall decide what
+is best to be done;" and at once set out for the Rue Quincampoix.
+
+The old lawyer received me blandly as before, and gave me a few lines
+for his family physician, who would see the widow and Marguerite, and
+pronounce his opinion on their fitness for removal. Le Monnier seemed
+pleased with the interest I manifested for these poor friendless people,
+and readily promised to aid me in their behalf.
+
+The doctor, too, was no less benevolently disposed, and came at once
+with me to the house. His visit was a long one,--so long that more than
+once I asked Lizette if she were quite certain that he had not taken
+his departure. At length, however, he came forth, and, leading me into a
+room, closed the door behind us with all the air of great secrecy.
+
+"There is some sad story," said he, "here, of which we have not the
+clew. This is a serious affair."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked I.
+
+"I mean that the state in which I find this woman is not attributable
+to the recent shock. It is not her husband's death has caused these
+symptoms."
+
+"And what are they? Do they threaten her life?"
+
+"No, certainly not; she may live for years."
+
+"What then? They will cause great suffering, perhaps?"
+
+"Not even that, but worse than that. It is her intelligence is lost;
+she has been stunned by some terrible shock of calamity, and her mind is
+gone, in all likelihood forever!"
+
+To my eager questioning he replied by explaining that these cases were
+far less hopeful than others in which more palpable symptoms manifested
+themselves; that they were of all others the least susceptible of
+treatment.
+
+"When we say," continued he, "that 'time' is the best physician for
+them, we declare in one word our own ignorance of the malady; and
+yet such is the simple truth! A course of years may restore her to
+reason,--there is no other remedy."
+
+"And her daughter?"
+
+"That is not a case for apprehension,--it is a common fever, the result
+of a nervous impression; a few days will bring her completely about."
+
+I mentioned to the doctor my belief that Lizette could probably impart
+some explanation of the mystery; but the old woman was proof against all
+cross-examination, and professed to know nothing that could account
+for her mistress's condition. The question was now how to act in this
+emergency? and the doctor pronounced that there was no other course
+than to obtain her admission into some _maison de sante_: if her fortune
+permitted, to one of the better class; if not, there were various
+humbler houses, where the patients were treated well and skilfully. As a
+preliminary step, however, he requested me to write again to her family,
+to state the opinion he had come to, and ask for their advice.
+
+"It is little other than a form to do so," added he, "for we live in
+times when the state is everything, family nothing. If I report this
+case to-morrow to the Bureau of Health of the 'Quarter,' a commission
+will assemble, examine, and decide upon it at once. The measures adopted
+will be as imperatively executed as though the law were in pursuit of a
+criminal; and though this be so, and we cannot help it, it will have
+the semblance of consideration for the feelings of her relatives, if we
+consult them."
+
+He left me, therefore, to make this sad communication, and promised
+to repeat his visit on the following day. By way of extorting some
+confession from old Lizette, I told her the course the doctor had
+resolved upon; but, far from exhibiting any repugnance to it, she
+briefly said, "It was all for the best."
+
+It was not till after repeated efforts I could satisfy myself with the
+terms of my letter. The occasion itself was a difficult one; but my
+sense of a mystery of which I knew nothing, added immensely to the
+embarrassment. I was, moreover, addressing persons I had never seen,
+and of whose very condition in life I was ignorant. This in itself was
+a circumstance that required consideration. I thought I would read my
+letter to Lizette, and sent for her to hear it. She listened attentively
+as I read it, but made no other remark than, "Yes; that will be
+sufficient."
+
+On the fourth day after I despatched this, came a letter in reply, the
+handwriting, style, and appearance of which were all superior to what
+I had expected. It was from an unmarried sister of Madame Bernois,
+who signed herself "Ursule," that being the name by which she had
+"professed" formerly in a convent, destroyed in the early days of the
+Revolution. The writer, after expressing deep gratitude for the part
+I had taken, went on to speak of the subject of my communication.
+Her father's infirmities had rendered him bedridden, and so utterly
+incapable of affording any help or even counsel that she hesitated
+about informing him of the terrible calamity that had befallen them. She
+perfectly concurred in the advice given by the doctor, if "only that
+it saved her poor sister from a return to a home now associated with
+nothing but sorrow, and where, of course, her chances of recovery would
+be diminished." These strange expressions puzzled me much, and led me at
+first to suppose that Ursule believed I knew more of her sister's story
+than I really was acquainted with; but as I read them again, I saw that
+they might possibly only have reference to her father's sad condition.
+Margot, for so she called her niece, "would, of course, come back to
+them;" and she charged me to despatch her, under Lizette's care, by the
+diligence, as soon as she was judged sufficiently well to encounter the
+fatigue of the journey. With regard to any property or effects belonging
+to them, she left all implicitly at my own discretion, believing, as
+she said, the same kindness that had hitherto guided me would also here
+suggest what was best for the interests of the widow and her child.
+
+Some days of unremitting exertion succeeded the receipt of this letter,
+for there was no end to the formalities requisite before I could obtain
+admission for the widow into a small _maison de sante_, at Mont Martre.
+It was, indeed, a moment at which the authorities were overwhelmed with
+business, and many of the public functionaries were new to office,
+and totally ignorant of its details. The public, too, were under the
+influence of a terror that seemed to paralyze all powers of reason. In
+my frequent visits to the commissaire of the "Quarter," when waiting for
+hours long in his antechamber, I had abundant opportunity to measure the
+extent of the fear that then dominated the mind of the capital, since
+every trifling incident evidenced and betrayed it.
+
+Ladies of rank and condition would come, earnestly entreating that they
+might obtain leave to attend the sick in the hospitals, and nurse the
+"dear brothers" who had fallen in the cause of liberty. Others, of equal
+station, requested that materials might be distributed to them to knit
+stockings for the soldiers of the republic, regretting their poverty
+at not being able to supply them from their own resources. Shopkeepers
+besought the authorities that their taxes might be doubled, or
+even trebled; and some professed to hope that the maladies which
+incapacitated them from military service might be compensated by
+works of charity and benevolence. There was an abject meanness in the
+character of these petitions too revolting to endure the thought of.
+The nation seemed prostrated by its' terror, and degraded to the very
+deepest abyss of shame and self-contempt. The horrible scenes of blood
+through which they had passed might, indeed, excuse much, but there
+were proofs of national cowardice at this juncture such as scarcely any
+suffering could justify or palliate.
+
+For these considerations I had but a passing thought. My whole attention
+was devoted to the little circle of cares and sorrows around me; and,
+in addition to other calamities, poor old Lizette, my aid and help
+throughout all difficulties, was seized with a violent fever, and
+obliged to be conveyed to hospital. I do not believe that anything can
+sustain mere bodily strength more powerfully than the sense of doing a
+benevolent action. Fatigue, weariness, exhaustion, sickness itself,
+can be combated by this one stimulant. For myself, I can aver that
+I scarcely ate or slept during the ten days that these events were
+happening. Never had any incident of my own life so much engrossed me
+as the care of these unhappy people; and when once or twice Le Monnier
+adverted to my own story, I always replied that for the moment I had
+no thoughts, nor hopes, nor fears, save for the widow and her orphan
+daughter.
+
+The old lawyer's benevolence enabled me to meet all the expenses which
+from day to day were incurred. He supplied me with means to pay the
+charges of the _maison de sante_ and the fees to the physicians, and
+enabled me to procure some articles of mourning for poor "Margot,"
+who had now sufficiently recovered from her illness to comprehend her
+bereavement and the desolate condition in which she was placed. It
+was, indeed, a sad lesson to teach the poor child; nor did I, in my own
+forlorn and isolated state, know what consolations to offer, nor what
+hopes to set before her. I could but tell her that I too was an orphan,
+friendless,--nay, far more so than herself; that for me the world had
+neither home nor country; and yet that each day, glimpses of bright
+hopes gleamed upon me, kind words and acts met me, and that as I lived
+I learned to feel that there was a brotherhood in humanity, and that
+amidst all the adverse incidents of fortune, warm hearts and generous
+natures were scattered about to sustain the drooping courage of those
+deserted as we were.
+
+"And be assured, Margot," said I, "the time will come yet when you and
+I will recall these dark hours with a sense of not unpleasant sorrow,
+to think how patiently we bore our ills, how submissively and how
+trustfully. Then shall we teach others, young as we are now, that even
+the humblest has a duty to do in this life, and that he who would do it
+well must bring to his task a stout heart and a steady will, and with
+these there are no failures."
+
+I do not think that Margot derived much hope from all my efforts at
+consolation, but she certainly felt a strong interest in the similarity
+of our fortunes. Again and again did she question me if I had seen and
+could remember my mother, and asked me a thousand questions about the
+dear friend whom I had ever called by that name. We talked of no other
+theme than this, and our isolation served to link us together, as that
+of two beings deserted by all, and only cared for by each other. There
+was a character of depression about her that seemed to come of a life
+of habitual gloom; the ordinary state of her mind was sad, and yet her
+dark, lustrous eyes could flash with sudden brilliancy; her deep color
+knew how to heighten; and I have seen her lip tremble with proud emotion
+at moments of excitement.
+
+When sufficiently recovered to bear the journey, Le Monnier
+counselled me to convey her to her friends; and I yielded--shall I own
+it?--reluctantly; for of all the world, Margot was now the only one
+to whom I could speak, as youth loves to speak, of all my hopes and
+my dreads, my ambitions and my aspirings. So long as my duty each day
+revolved round her, I had no time to think of my own fate, save as a
+thing to weave fancies about, to speculate on a brilliant future, and
+imagine incidents and events at random. With what enthusiasm was I
+often carried away by these self-wrought fancies!--with what a sense of
+triumph have I seen Margot, forgetting for the instant the sad realities
+of her lot, listen breathlessly to me as I told of my ambitious plans!
+To her I was already a hero; and oh! the glorious fascination with which
+one first feels the thought that another's heart has learned to beat
+highly for our successes, and to throb with eagerness for our triumph!
+I was but a boy, Margot was a child; and of love, as poets describe it,
+there was none between us. Still, in my devotion there was nothing I
+would not have dared, to please her,--nothing I would not have braved,
+to make her think more highly of me. It was self-love, but self-love
+ennobled by generous wishes and high ambitions. I strove to be worthy of
+her affection, that so I might be capable of doing more still to deserve
+it!
+
+Is it to be wondered at if I dreaded to break this spell, and to awaken
+from a trance of such fascination? But there was no alternative; Margot
+must go, and I must address myself to the stern business of life, for I
+had my bread to earn! How ardently I wished it was to my dear mother's
+arms that I should consign her, that her home could be that same humble
+home I had just quitted, and that poor Joseph could have been her
+teacher and her guide! Alas! I no longer knew in what part of the world
+to look for them, and I could only speak of these things as I spoke of
+the dream-wrought fancies that my hopes called up!
+
+It was on a bright November morning, clear, sharp, and frosty, that we
+left Paris in the diligence for Lyons. M. le Monnier had accompanied us
+himself to the bureau, and given the _conducteur_ directions to show us
+every attention in his power. Three days' and nights' travelling brought
+us to Valence, where poor Margot, completely worn out, was obliged to
+repose for some hours, during which time I strolled through the town to
+see its churches and other remarkable monuments. It was the hour of
+the table-d'hote as I regained the inn, and the hostess advised that we
+should dine at the public table, as less expensive than in private.
+I remember well with what mingled bashfulness and pride I entered the
+room, with Margot holding my hand. The company was a numerous one,
+comprising, besides many of the townspeople, several officers of the
+garrison, all of whom stared with undisguised astonishment at the aspect
+of two travellers of our youth and palpable inexperience, while the
+contrast between the deep mourning of her dress and the gay colors
+of mine at once showed that we were not brother and sister. To my
+respectful salute on entering, few deigned to reply; my companion's
+beauty had arrested every attention, and all eyes were turned towards
+her as she took her place at table.
+
+For the incident which succeeded, I must devote a short chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. THE INN AT VALENCE
+
+Preceded by the waiter, who was about to point out the places destined
+for us at the table, I walked up the room, holding Margot by the
+hand. The strangers made way for us as we went, not with any of the
+deferential politeness so usual in France, but in a spirit of insolent
+astonishment at our presence there. Such, at least, was the impression
+their behavior produced on me; and I was only anxious that it should not
+be so felt by my companion.
+
+As I drew back my chair, to seat myself at her side, I felt a hand
+placed on my arm. I turned, and saw an officer, a man of about six or
+seven and twenty, with a bushy red beard and moustache, who said,--
+
+"This place is mine, citizen; you must go seek for one elsewhere."
+
+I appealed to the waiter, who merely shrugged his shoulders, and
+muttered something unintelligible; to which I replied by asking him to
+show me another place, while I assisted Margot to rise.
+
+"La petite shall stay where she is," broke in the officer, bluntly, as
+he brushed in front of me; and an approving laugh from his comrades at
+once revealed to me the full meaning of the impertinence.
+
+"This young lady is under my care, sir," said I, calmly, "and needs no
+protection from you."
+
+"The young lady," cried he, with a burst of coarse laughter at the
+words, "knows better how to choose! Is it not so, citizen? I look a more
+responsible guardian than that thin stripling with the pale cheek."
+
+"I appeal to this company, to the superiors of this officer,--if there
+be such present,--to know are these the habits of this place, or have I
+been singled out specially for this insolence?"
+
+"Insolence! insolence!" repeated every voice around me, in accents of
+astonishment and reprobation; while suddenly above the clamor a deep
+voice said,--
+
+"Lieutenant Carrier, take a place at the foot of the table!"
+
+"Oui, mon Colonel!" was the reply; and he who accosted me so rudely, now
+moved away, and I seated myself at Margot's side.
+
+I believe that during this brief scene the poor girl knew little or
+nothing of what was going forward. The fatigue, from which she had not
+yet recovered; the novelty of the place in which she found herself; the
+confusion natural to mixing with a strange company,--all contributed to
+engage her attention and occupy her thoughts. It was only by the deadly
+paleness of my features that she at last guessed that something had gone
+wrong. I tried by every means in my power to reassure her. I affected,
+as well as I might, to seem easy and unconcerned. I even essayed, by
+way of showing my self-possession, to engage the person next me in
+conversation; but a cold stare of surprise arrested the attempt, and I
+sat abashed and ashamed at the rebuke.
+
+I do not know if in my whole life, I ever passed an hour of greater
+misery than the time of that dinner. Had I been there alone, I could
+have confronted manfully whatever threatened me; but the thought of
+involving Margot in any scene of shame--of exposing her to the rude
+insolence of which I saw myself the mark--was insupportably painful. I
+felt, besides, that I had a character to support in her eyes; nor could
+I yet divine what adverse turn affairs might take. If I looked down the
+table, it was to meet, on every side, glances of haughty or insolent
+meaning. It was easy to perceive, too, that the whole company was under
+the impression of the disagreeable incident which had occurred before
+sitting down to table, and which none believed was yet concluded.
+Instead of the noisy chit-chat so usual in such places, there was
+either a perfect silence, or the low murmuring sounds of a conversation
+maintained in whispers. At last the colonel and those around him stood
+up, and gathered in a group at one of the windows. The civilians of the
+party broke into knots, conversed for a few seconds, and separated;
+and, taking Margot's hand, I arose, and prepared to withdraw. As I was
+leaving the room the officer who first accosted me, whispered in my
+ear,--
+
+"You will come back again, I suppose?"
+
+"Certainly, if you want me," said I.
+
+He nodded, and I passed out.
+
+"I am glad it is over," said Margot, pressing my hand; "that dinner was
+a tiresome affair!"
+
+"So it was," said I; "and I am well pleased that it is finished. I 'll
+go down now and look after this caleche they promised me they should
+have ready for us by this time;" and with this excuse I quitted her, and
+hastened downstairs again.
+
+I was just making for the door of the _salle-a-manger_ when the hostess
+overtook me.
+
+"A word with you, monsieur,--one word!" cried she.
+
+"At another moment, madam," said I, trying to pass on; "I am greatly
+pressed for time just now."
+
+"It is exactly for that reason I must speak with you," said she, firmly;
+and at the same instant she seized my arm and drew me into a room, of
+which she closed the door at once. "I suspect the object you have in
+view, young man," said she, boldly, to me. "You are eager for a quarrel.
+The waiters have told me all that has occurred at table; and I can guess
+what is likely to follow. But surely it is not for one in _her_ position
+that you will risk your life, or rather sell it; for Carrier would
+surely kill you!"
+
+"In _her_ position!" said I. "What do you mean? You cannot dare to throw
+an imputation on one who is little more than a child!"
+
+"True; but a child of shame and infamy," said she, sternly.
+
+"It is a falsehood,--a damnable falsehood!" cried I. "I knew both her
+parents: her father died almost in my arms."
+
+"It is as likely that you never saw her father in your life," rejoined
+she, calmly. "I see that you know little of her history; but she comes
+from the village of Linange, and we Auvergnats are well acquainted with
+her."
+
+"Yes, Linange is her native village,--that is true," cried I, in a vague
+terror of some dreadful tidings. "Tell me, I beseech you, whatever you
+know of her story."
+
+"It is soon told, though the tale be sad enough," said she, after a
+pause. "Her mother was a Mademoiselle Nipernois. She called herself De
+Nipernois, and not without reason; for the family had been of rank, and
+were Grand Seigneurs once on a time. Her father had, however, fallen
+into poverty, and for a livelihood was obliged to become a _pharmacien_
+in the little village of Linange, every house of which had once belonged
+to his family. They said he was a great chemist, which he had become for
+his own amusement in his prosperous days; and fortunately he could now
+practise the art for his support. At all events, the Blues wrecked
+his chateau, burned his books, melted down his plate, and left him
+penniless; so that he was fain to seek shelter amidst what once he would
+have styled his own 'vilains,' but who were now, thanks to the glorious
+fruits of the Revolution, his equals. That was not to be his only
+humiliation, however. A young noble that was betrothed to his eldest
+daughter, Hortense, and was to have married her just before 'the
+troubles,' joined the mildest party of the anarchists, and actually
+assisted at the sack of the chateau. Some said that he had had a
+dreadful altercation and quarrel with the father; some averred that he
+had met a contemptuous refusal from the daughter: either, or both, may
+have been the truth. What is certain is, that he exacted a vengeance
+far heavier than any injury he could have received. On the pretence of
+seeking for some concealed royalist, a party of the Blues, headed by the
+count, in disguise, broke into the old man's house in the village, and
+carried off his eldest daughter,--indeed, the only child that remained
+to him; for his second girl was an admitted nun of the Chaise Dieu,
+which had hitherto escaped pillage and destruction. From that hour no
+trace of her could ever be obtained; but on the same day twelvemonths,
+as morning broke, she was found on the steps of her father's door, with
+a baby in her arms. I have heard, for I have often spoken with those
+who discovered her, that her reason was shattered, and her memory so
+completely lost that she did not know her own name. An unbroken apathy
+settled down on her from that time.
+
+"She cared for nothing, not even her child; and though Margot was very
+beautiful, and so engaging that all the neighbors loved and caressed
+her, her mother saw her without the slightest touch of interest or
+affection! After the lapse of thirteen, or almost fourteen years, a
+young man of the village named Bernois, who had just returned from
+studying at Paris, proposed to marry her. Some are of opinion that he
+had never heard her real history, nor knew of the relationship between
+her and Margot; others think differently, and say that he was aware
+of all, and acquitted her of everything save the misfortune that had
+befallen her. By what persuasion she was induced to accept him I never
+knew, but she did so, and accompanied him to Paris; for, strangely
+enough, they who had hitherto treated her with all the respect due to
+undeserved calamity, no sooner beheld her as a married woman, and
+lifted into a position of equality with them, than they vented a hundred
+calumnies upon her, and affected to think her beneath their condition.
+This persecution it was which drove Bernois to seek his fortune in
+Paris, where he has now met his death! The _conducteur_ who arrived here
+last night told who had accompanied him from Paris, and the officers,
+who are all familiar with her mother's story, were curious to see the
+girl. They induced me to advise you to dine at the public table, and
+unhappily I yielded to their solicitations, not suspecting what might
+ensue. The only reparation in my power now is to tell you this whole
+story; for of course, having heard it, you will perceive how fruitless
+and vain it would be for you to oppose yourself to the entire force of
+public opinion.
+
+"And is it the custom of the world to insult those situated as she
+is?" asked I, in a voice that plainly showed I put the question in all
+sincerity and ignorance.
+
+"It is assuredly the habit of young men, and more especially soldiers,
+to treat them with less deference than the daughters of honest women;
+and you must have seen but little of life, or you had not asked the
+question."
+
+I sat silent for some seconds, revolving in my mind the sad history I
+had just listened to, and comparing the events with what I had myself
+witnessed of her who had been their victim. The hostess cut short my
+musing by saying,--
+
+"There, I see the caleche has just driven into the _cour_: lose no time
+in getting away at once. The officers are now at coffee in the garden,
+and you can escape unobserved."
+
+So engrossed was I by thoughts of Margot, and the necessity of shielding
+her from insult, that I forgot totally all about myself, and what bore
+reference to my own feelings exclusively. I therefore hastened from
+the room to make the preparations for our departure. While I was thus
+engaged, and occupied with seeing our luggage tied on, a young officer,
+touching his cap in salute, asked if I was not the stranger who dined
+that day at the table-d'hote, in company with a young lady; and on my
+replying, "Yes," added,--
+
+"Are you not aware, sir, that we have been expecting the pleasure of
+your society in the garden for some time back?"
+
+I answered that I was totally ignorant of their polite intentions
+respecting me; that I was anxious to reach my destination, still twelve
+leagues away, and unable to accept of their hospitality.
+
+He gave a faint smile as I said this, and then rejoined:
+
+"But you can surely spare a few moments to make your apologies to our
+colonel?"
+
+"They must be, then, of the very briefest," said I. "Will you kindly
+guide me to where he is?"
+
+With a slight bow he walked on, and, crossing the courtyard, entered a
+garden; on traversing a considerable portion of which, we came out upon
+a kind of terrace, where a large party of officers were seated around a
+table, smoking, and drinking coffee. Some, too, were engaged playing
+at chess or dominoes, some reading, and some apparently asleep;
+but, however occupied, no sooner had I made my appearance than all,
+forgetting everything but my presence, turned their eyes upon me.
+
+"The citizen," cried out my guide, as we came up, "the citizen tells me
+that he was quite unconscious of our polite intentions in his behalf;
+and I can fully believe him, for he was on the eve of departure when I
+caught him!"
+
+"What does he think a French soldier is made of?" shouted out the
+colonel, with a blow of his closed fist on the table. "He dares to make
+use of an expression insulting to every officer of my regiment, and then
+says he is unaware of any claim we have upon him!"
+
+A new light broke upon me at these words, and, for a moment, the sense
+of shame at my mistake nearly overcame me. I rallied, however, enough to
+say,--
+
+"It is quite as you say, Monsieur le Colonel; I was really unaware that
+you or your officers had any claim upon me! I had been the subject of a
+rudeness to-day, at the table-d'hote, which, in my little knowledge of
+the world, I attributed to the underbred habits of a coarse school of
+manners. I now perceive that I was too lenient in my judgment."
+
+"Are we to listen to any more of this, messieurs?" said the colonel,
+rising; "or is it from me that chastisement is to come?"
+
+"No; I have the right, I claim the place, I am the youngest subaltern,
+I am the 'cadet of the corps,'" cried half-a-dozen in a breath; but
+Carrier's voice overbore the others, saying,--
+
+"Comrades, you seem to forget that this is my quarrel; I will not yield
+my right to any one!"
+
+"Yes, yes," exclaimed several voices together; "Carrier says truly.
+The affair is his. We fight with the sabre, citizen, in the
+Chasseurs-a-Cheval. Is the weapon to your liking?"
+
+"One arm is the same to me as another," replied I; and unfortunately
+this was too literally the case, since I was equally inexpert in all!
+
+"You can claim the pistol, if you wish it," whispered an old captain,
+with a snow-white moustache. "The challenged chooses his weapons."
+
+"The sabre be it, then," exclaimed Carrier, catching me up at once.
+
+"Not if the citizen prefer the pistol," interposed the captain.
+
+"He has already made his choice: he said all weapons were alike to him."
+
+"Quite true," said I; "I did say so!"
+
+"The greater fool you, then!" murmured the captain, between his teeth.
+"You might just as well have given yourself your chance. Carrier won't
+be so generous to you!"
+
+"Will you be my second?" asked I of him.
+
+"_Ma foi!_ if you wish it," said he, with a shrug of the shoulders and
+a glance of such tender pity that could not be mistaken. "Let us follow
+them!"
+
+And so saying, we strolled leisurely on after the others, who, now
+passing through a small wicket, entered a little wood that adjoined the
+garden. A few minutes more brought us to an open space, which I rightly
+guessed had been often before the scene of similar affairs.
+
+I had never witnessed a duel in my life. I knew nothing of the
+formalities which were observed in its arrangement; and the questions
+which I asked the captain so palpably betrayed my ignorance that he
+stared at me with mute astonishment.
+
+"Have you any friends, boy," asked he, after a pause, "to whom I can
+write for you?"
+
+"Not one," said I.
+
+"All the better!" rejoined he, tersely.
+
+I nodded an assent; and from that moment we understood each other
+perfectly. No lengthy explanation could more plainly have declared that
+he thought I was doomed, and that I concurred in the foreboding.
+
+"My sabre will be too heavy for you, boy," said he; "I 'll see and
+borrow a lighter one from one of my comrades. Chasteler, will you lend
+me yours?"
+
+"_Parbleu!_ that will I not. I'd never wear it again if used in such a
+quarrel."
+
+"Right, Chasteler," cried another; "I hope there is only one amongst us
+could forget an insult offered to the whole regiment."
+
+"I wore my epaulette when you were in the cradle, Lieutenant Hautmain,"
+said the old captain; "so don't pretend to teach me the feelings that
+become a soldier. There, boy," he added, drawing his sabre as he spoke,
+"take mine."
+
+By this time my antagonist had divested himself of coat and neckcloth,
+and stood, with open shirt-breast and the sleeve of his sword-arm rolled
+up to the shoulder, before me.
+
+He was as much an overmatch for me in strength and vigor as in skill,
+and I felt an acute sense of shame in pitting myself against him. As
+he swung his sabre jauntily to and fro with the dexterous facility of a
+practised swordsman, I could read the confidence with which he entered
+upon the encounter.
+
+"It is the first time you ever handled a sword, I think?" said the
+captain, as he assisted me off with my coat.
+
+"The very first," said I, endeavoring, I know not how successfully, to
+smile.
+
+"_Parbleu!_" cried he, aloud. "This is no better than a murder! The boy
+knows nothing of fencing; he never had a sabre in his hands till now."
+
+"He should have thought of that before he uttered an insult," said
+Carrier, placing himself _en garde_. "Come on, boy!"
+
+The offensive look and manner in which he spoke so carried me away that
+I rushed in, and aimed a cut at his head. He parried it, and came down
+with a sharp stroke on my shoulder, exclaiming, "_Ca!_" as he did it.
+The same word followed every time that he touched me; nor did it require
+the easy impertinence of the glances he gave towards his comrades to
+show that he was merely amusing himself; as, at one moment, he covered
+my face with blood, and at another disarmed me by a severe wound on the
+wrist.
+
+"Enough of this,--too much of it!" cried the captain, as the blood
+streamed down my cheeks from a cut on the forehead, and almost blinded
+me.
+
+"When _he_ says so, it will be time to stop,--not till then," said
+Carrier, as he gave me a sharp cut on the neck.
+
+My rage so overpowered me at this that I lost all control over myself;
+and, resolving to finish the struggle at once, I sprang at him, and,
+with both hands on my sword, made a cut at his head. The force was such
+that the blow broke down his guard and felled him to the earth, with a
+tremendous wound of the scalp; and there he lay, stunned and senseless,
+while, scarcely more conscious, I stood over him. Passion had up to that
+sustained me; but loss of blood and exhaustion now succeeded together,
+and I reeled back and fainted.
+
+Though terribly hacked and sorely treated, none of my wounds were
+dangerous; and after being bandaged, and stitched, and plastered in
+various ways, I was able--or at least insisted that I was able--to
+pursue my journey that evening; and away we drove, with no very grateful
+recollection of Valence, except, indeed, towards the old captain, who
+saw us off, and took a most affectionate leave of us at parting.
+
+Margot had heard from the hostess enough to show her that I had been
+her champion and defender, though in what cause she could not possibly
+divine. Whatever her anxiety to learn the facts, she never put a single
+question to me as we went along, her sole care being to do whatever
+might assuage my pain and alleviate my suffering. Thanks to this
+kindness, and the cool air of an autumn night, I travelled with
+comparatively little uneasiness; and as day was breaking we entered the
+quiet street of the little village.
+
+"There, yonder is our house,--the porch with the jasmine over it. Oh,
+how the rose-trees have grown!"
+
+Such was Margot's exclamation, as we drew up at the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX. LINANGE
+
+I do not know how far other men's experiences will corroborate the
+opinion, but for myself I will say that more than once has it occurred
+to me to remark that some of the most monotonous periods of my life have
+been those to which I often look back with the greatest pleasure, and
+love to think over as amongst the happiest. The time I passed at Linange
+was one of these. Nothing could be more simple, nothing more uniform
+than our life there. The unhappy circumstance to which I have already
+alluded had completely estranged from the family any of those with whom
+they might have associated. From some, the former rank and condition
+of the house separated them; from others they were removed by political
+bias; and to the rest, the event of which I have already spoken was the
+barrier. Thus, then, was our life passed within the limits of an humble
+household of four persons. The old Marquis--for such was he still styled
+by us--was a fine specimen of the class to which he belonged: proud and
+stately in manner, but courteous almost to humility in his bearing to
+one beneath his roof. Unbroken by misfortune, he trusted that--although
+not in his time--the world would yet return to its ancient course, and
+the good king "have his own again." His personal calamities sat lightly
+on him, or, rather, he bore them bravely. If he spoke of his former
+state and position, it was in regret for those faithful followers he
+could no longer support,--not for himself, whose wants were few, and
+whose habits demanded no luxuries. In the calling that he practised for
+his maintenance, he saw rather an occasion for pride than humiliation.
+There was but one topic from which he shrunk back; nor could all his
+courage enable him to approach that. When I first saw him, it was after
+a severe attack brought on by the dreadful tidings from Paris; and yet
+his composure seemed to me almost bordering on indifference, and I half
+revolted against the calm elegance of a good-breeding that seemed above
+the reach of all feeling. Ursule was a "nun;" and whether the walls
+around her were those of a cloister or a cottage, her heart was enclosed
+within the observances of the convent. She rose hours before daybreak,
+to pass her time in prayer and solitude. She fasted, and toiled, and
+observed penances, exactly as if beneath the rule of the Superior. She
+had been singularly handsome, and there was still a character of beauty
+in her features, to which her devotional life imparted an expression of
+sublimity such as I have never seen even in a "Raphael." Suffering and
+sorrow seemed so blended with hopefulness--present agony so tinctured
+with a glorious future--that, to me at least, she appeared almost
+angelic.
+
+As for "Margot," child as she was, the whole care of the household
+devolved upon her. The humblest _menage_ is not without its duties,
+and to these she addressed herself at once. It was on the day after my
+arrival, and while just meditating a return to Paris, that symptoms
+of fever first showed themselves, and a severe shivering, followed by
+intense headache, showed me that I was not to escape the consequences of
+my unhappy encounter. Ursule, whose experience in hospital life had been
+considerable, was the first to see the mischief that threatened, and at
+once persuaded me to submit to treatment. The old Marquis was soon at
+my bedside, but as quickly did he perceive that the case was beyond his
+skill. The surgeon of the village was now sent for; he bled me largely,
+dressed my wounds, administered some cooling drink, and then left me
+to that terrible interval which precedes mania, and when the enfeebled
+intellect struggles for mastery against the force of wandering
+faculties.
+
+In my wild fancies, all the incidents of my early days, the little
+adventures of boyhood, my mountain ramble, and my life in Paris, came
+back, and I talked with intense eagerness to those around me of them
+all. Short intervals of consciousness, like gleams of sunlight in a
+lowering sky, would break through these, and then I saw beside the bed
+the kind faces, and heard the gentle accents, of my friends. "Ursule"
+and, "Margot" scarcely ever left me. In the dark hours of the long
+night, if a weary sigh escaped me, one of them was sure to be near to
+ask if I was in pain or if I needed anything. How often have I turned
+away from these gentle questionings to hide my face within my hands and
+cry, not in sorrow, but in a thankful outpouring of emotion, that I, the
+poor unfriended, uncared-for orphan, should be thus watched, and tended,
+and loved!
+
+It was not till after a lapse of weeks that I was pronounced out of
+danger, nor even till long after that that I could arise from my bed.
+Shall I ever forget the strange confusion of ideas that beset me as
+I first found myself alone one morning in the little garden, scarcely
+knowing if I was still dreaming, or if all was reality around me! Where
+was I? how came I there? were questions that I could not follow to
+a solution. Some resemblance in the scenery with the country around
+Reichenau assisted the mystification, and from the entanglement of my
+thoughts no effort could rescue me. As, one by one, memories of the
+past came up, there came with them the sad reflection of my own lonely,
+isolated condition in life. The humblest had a home--had those around
+them to whose love and affection they could lay claim as from blood
+and kindred--who bore the same name, were supported by the same hopes,
+cheered by the same joys, and sorrowed for the same sufferings! It was
+true that no affection a sister could bestow could exceed that I had met
+with where I was. There was not a kindness of which I had not been
+the object. Was I, could I, be ungrateful for these? Far from it!--my
+melancholy lay in the thought that these were the very evidences of my
+own forlorn lot, and that compassion and pity were the sentiments that
+prompted them in my behalf.
+
+I knew, besides, that in my long illness I must have proved a grievous
+burden to those whose own circumstances were straitened to the utmost
+limit of narrow fortune. I saw about me comforts, even luxuries, that
+must have cost many a privation to acquire. I felt that, in succoring
+me, they had imposed upon themselves the weight of many a future
+want. These were afflicting considerations, nor could all my ingenuity
+discover one resource against them. I was still too weak to walk; my
+limbs tottered under me as I went. Perhaps it were better it had been
+so, since I really believe if I had had strength sufficient for
+the effort, notwithstanding all the shame that might attach to my
+ingratitude, I should have fled from the house that moment, never to
+return! It was in the abandonment of grief arising from these thoughts
+that "Ursule" discovered me. With what tenderness did she rally my
+drooping spirits; how gently did she chide my faint-heartedness!
+
+"You must rise above these things, Jasper," said she to me. "You must
+learn to see that the small ills of life are difficult to be borne just
+because they suggest no high purpose."
+
+And from this she went on to tell me of the noble devotion of the
+missionary, the splendid enthusiasm that elevated men above every
+thought of peril, and taught them to court danger and confront
+suffering. How mean and sordid did she represent every other ambition in
+comparison with this! How ignoble was the soldier's heroism when placed
+beside the martyrdom of the priest! With consummate art she displayed
+before my boyish fancy all that was attractive, all that was
+picturesque, in the missionary's life. To glowing descriptions of
+scenery and savage life succeeded touching episodes of deep interest
+and passages of tenderest emotions, the power of the Church--whether
+as consoler or comforter, as healing the sick or supporting the
+weak-hearted--being never forgotten. If she saw that my mind dwelt with
+pleasure on pictures of splendor, she lingered on scenes of greatness
+and royal power, when priests associated with monarchs as their guides
+and counsellors. If, at another moment, the romance seemed to engage my
+attention, she narrated incidents of the most affecting kind. At these
+moments it was strange to mark how the cold and almost stern reserve of
+the cloister seemed lost in the glowing enthusiasm of the devotee. It
+was not the nun broken down by fasting, wasted by penance, and subdued
+by prayer, but the almost inspired daughter of the Church, glorying and
+exulting in its triumph. She gave me books to read,--lives of saints and
+martyrs, of devoted missionaries and pious fathers. If in some instances
+the sufferings they endured seemed more than mere humanity could
+support, the triumphant joy of their victories appeared to partake of
+a celestial brilliancy. Day by day, hour by hour, did she pursue
+the theme, till the subject, like a river fed by a thousand rills,
+overflowed all else in my mind, and left no room for aught but itself.
+
+It was not difficult for her to show that the frightful condition of
+France at the period--its lawless confiscations, its pillage, and its
+bloodshed--all dated from the extinction of the Church. The task was an
+easy one to contrast past peace and happiness with present anarchy
+and suffering. I reflected long and deeply on the subject. If doubts
+assailed me, I came to her to solve them; if difficulties embarrassed
+me, I asked her to explain them. I applied the question to the
+circumstances of my own position in life, and began to believe that it
+was exactly the career to suit me. I eagerly inquired, next, how
+the fitting education might be obtained, and learned that since the
+destruction of the religious societies of France and the Low Countries,
+many had emigrated to Spain and Italy, and some to England. Sister
+"Ursule" was in correspondence with more than one of these, and promised
+to obtain all the information I sought for; meanwhile, she besought
+me to devote my whole mind and thoughts to these sacred subjects,
+withdrawing, so far as I might, all my desires and ambition from the
+world.
+
+Margot, I am obliged to own, contributed but little to aid my pious
+purpose; her gay and joyous nature had no sympathy with asceticism and
+restraint. The poets and dramatists, whose works she read in secret,
+inspired very different thoughts from the subject of my studies; her
+childish buoyancy could not endure the weight of that gloom which a life
+of denial imposes; and whenever we were alone together, she rallied
+me on my newly assumed seriousness as on a costume which I would soon
+discover to be insufferable.
+
+I dwell on these things, trifling as they are, because they convey the
+curious conflict which my mind sustained at this time, and the struggle
+that went on within me between the tendencies natural to my age, and the
+impulses that grew out of a sudden enthusiasm. Perhaps I might not care
+to recall them, if it was not that they remind me of Margot such as I
+then remember her. I see her before me: her dark eyes, flashing with
+daring brilliancy, dropped in a half-rebellious submission, her changing
+color, her fair and open brow, her beautiful mouth, with all its varying
+expression, her very gait, haughty even in its girlish gayety,--all rise
+to my mind's eye; and I feel even yet within me the remembrance of that
+strange distrust and bashfulness with which I endeavored to reply to her
+witty sallies, and recall her to a seriousness like my own I I was no
+hypocrite, and yet she half hinted that I was; neither was it a dash of
+thoughtless enthusiasm that carried me away, though she often said so.
+It was the very reverse of vanity or self-exaltation,--it was humility
+that prompted me to devote myself to a career from which others might
+have been withheld by the ties of home and affection.
+
+"You forget, Margot," cried I one day, when she bantered me beyond
+endurance, "that I am already an idle and homeless being, without one on
+earth to love me!"
+
+"But I love you, Jasper!" said she, seizing my hand and pressing it to
+her lips; and then, as suddenly dropping it, she became pale as death,
+and staggered as if falling. I caught her in my arms; but she disengaged
+herself at once, and, with her hands pressed closely over her face, fled
+from the spot.
+
+From that day she never jested with me, nor even alluded to my choice of
+a career. She, I fancied, even avoided being alone with me as she used
+to be; the playful tricks she had indulged in of hiding my serious
+books, or substituting for them others of a very different kind, were
+all abandoned. Her whole manner and bearing were changed, nor could I
+fail to see that there was no longer between us the cordial frankness
+that hitherto united us. If this were, in one respect, a source of
+sorrow to me, in another there was a strange, secret charm in that
+reserve so full of meaning,--in that shyness so suggestive!
+
+Up to that time I had been in the habit of reading with her some part
+of every day. My school-learning, such as it was, was yet fresh in my
+memory, and I was delighted to have a pupil so gifted and intelligent;
+but from this time forth she never resumed her studies, but pretended a
+variety of occupations as excuses. I know not, I cannot even speculate,
+on how this might have ended, when a sudden change of events gave a
+decisive turn to my destinies.
+
+The batonnier who had so kindly undertaken to look after the little
+remnant of Monsieur Bernois' fortune was no less prompt than he had
+promised. He made all the arrangements required by law, and corresponded
+with me on each step of the proceedings. In one of these letters was
+a postscript containing these words: "Is it true that you have had a
+serious rencontre with a captain of the Chasseurs-a-Cheval who is still
+in danger from the wound he received?" Before my reply to this question
+could have reached him, came the following brief note:--
+
+"My dear Monsieur Carew,--I learned late last night the whole
+circumstances of the adventure of which I had asked an explanation from
+you by my letter of Tuesday. The affair is a most unhappy one on every
+account, but on none more than the fact that your antagonist was Captain
+Carrier, the brother of the celebrated member of the Constituent of
+that name. I need scarcely remind you that his friends, numerous and
+influential as they are, are now your bitterest enemies. They are at
+this moment busily employed in making searches into your previous
+life and habits; and should all other sources of accusation fail, will
+inevitably make your nationality the ground of attack, and perhaps
+denounce you as a spy of the English Government. The source from which
+I obtained this information leaves no doubt of its correctness, as you
+will acknowledge when I add that it enables me to forward to you, by
+this enclosure, a passport for England, under the name of Bernard. I
+also transmit a bank order for one thousand francs, which I beg you will
+use freely, as if your own, and part of a fund, the remainder of which
+I will take an early opportunity of placing in your hands. The hurried
+nature of my present communication prevents me adding more than that I
+am, very faithfully, your friend."
+
+His initials alone were inscribed at the foot of this most extraordinary
+epistle. I hastened to show it to the Marquis, who, on learning the name
+of the writer, pronounced him one of the first men at the French bar.
+
+"The warning of such a man," said he, "must not be neglected; and
+although Carrier's faction have fallen, who can answer what to-morrow
+may bring forth? At all events, your position as an alien is highly
+perilous, and you must see to your safety at once."
+
+As for the concluding portion of the letter, he could not assist me to
+any explanation of it. The nearest approach to elucidation was, that
+many of the leading lawyers of Paris were frequently selected by their
+clients as depositaries of property, and that it was just possible such
+had been the case here.
+
+With this meagre suggestion he left me, and I proceeded, with a heavy
+heart, to make my preparations for departure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. HAVRE.
+
+The diligence passed our door, and the conductor had orders to stop and
+take me up, as he went by. That supper was a sorrowful meal to all of
+us. They had come to think of me as one of themselves, and I felt as if
+I was about to part with the last who would ever befriend me.
+
+There was but little said on any side, and none of us ventured on a word
+alluding to my departure. At last the old Marquis, laying his hand on my
+shoulder, said,--
+
+"These are not days in which one can trust to the post, Jasper; but if
+ever the occasion offer of letting us hear of you by other means, you
+'ll not neglect it."
+
+"The Pere Tonsurd will manage this for you," broke in Ursule. "He knows
+how to communicate, when, and with whom he pleases."
+
+"But how am I to meet with him?" asked I.
+
+"This is his address, and this letter will introduce you," said she,
+giving me a carefully-folded and well-sealed packet. "Make a friend of
+him, Jasper, and your happiness will be the reward."
+
+I thought that Margot's lip was upturned at these words, with a faint
+expression of disdainful meaning; but I may easily have been deceived,
+for as I looked again, her features were calm and unmoved.
+
+"The Pere," resumed Ursule, "was superintendent of the 'Chaise Dieu,'
+and removed to be a Professor at Namur. He is a man of high acquirements
+and sincere piety, but his great characteristic is his humility. With a
+tenth of the ambition that others possess, he had been a Prince of the
+Church."
+
+Margot's eyes were downcast as this was spoken, so that I could not
+detect how the speech affected her; but again it struck me that her
+mouth was moved with an expression of scorn.
+
+"There! I hear the horn of the postilion; you have n't a moment to
+lose!" cried Ursule.
+
+A fond, close embrace with each in turn, and a whispered word from
+Margot which I tried in vain to catch, and I was gone! I buried my head
+between my hands in shame, for I was crying bitterly, and never looked
+up till we were far away from the village, and traversing a wide,
+open country, with great undulating fields of corn, and few traces of
+habitation.
+
+"Come, come, be a man," broke in the _conducteur_, with a rough
+good-humor. "You 're not the first who had to leave his home for the
+conscription, and some have gone back _chefs-d' escadron_, afterwards."
+
+I accepted the part he thus erringly assigned me, and let him run on
+about all the fortunes and chances of a soldier's life.
+
+If his conversation did not divert my thoughts, it at least suffered me
+to pursue them unmolested; and so I travelled along through the whole
+of that night and the following day, seldom speaking, or only in half
+mechanical assent to some remark of my companion.
+
+"They 'll want to see your passport here, citizen," said he, as we
+approached the gate of a fortified town; "so get it ready, and don't
+delay the authorities."
+
+A few minutes more brought us to the outworks of a fortification,
+passing through which, we crossed a drawbridge, over a deep moat,
+and entered a long, dark archway. Here the diligence drew up, and the
+passengers were ordered to descend. I overheard the _conducteur_ say the
+word "conscript," and began to fear that he used it in relation to me,
+when suddenly the official, opening my passport, called out:
+
+"Which of you is the citizen Bernard?"
+
+I at once remembered that it was the name I had recruited under, and
+answered, "It is I."
+
+"Step inside here," said he, civilly; "I have some directions with
+respect to you."
+
+I walked into a small chamber off the public room, when, having
+carefully closed the door, he said,--
+
+"So you are going over to England, monsieur?"
+
+The last word was accented deeply, and with an emphasis meant to
+show that he who used it proclaimed himself no partisan of republican
+principles, but one who held to the ancient habits of the monarchy.
+
+The manners of the time suggested distrust on all sides, and I answered,
+guardedly, that I had some intention of visiting England.
+
+"You will see them, then," resumed he, "and even that much is a blessing
+in itself! How do I envy you! Ah, monsieur, if the name should not
+escape you, will you try and remember Claude Mirepois? My father was
+head postilion in the royal stables, and enjoyed his pension to his
+death; and I was educated by order of the princes, and was to have been
+in the household too."
+
+"Are we all right and regular, citizen?" broke in the _conducteur_,
+putting in his head.
+
+"All right--quite right, citizen Guichemar," said the other, in some
+confusion. "These are ticklish times; I was anxious to see that this
+youth's pass was regular."
+
+"_Parbleu!_ a conscript is always _en regle_," said the other, laughing,
+and so hurried me away to the diligence; and once more we rattled along
+on our journey.
+
+The whole of that night my mind dwelt upon this incident. Amongst the
+various parties that disputed for preeminence in the country, I had
+never heard of any professing royalist principles, except the Vendeans;
+nor had I the slightest suspicion that many concealed monarchists held
+places of trust under the government of the republic.
+
+At Havre, I discovered that the measures of the police were of the
+very strictest kind, and that to obtain a permission to embark, it was
+necessary to have a reference to some citizen of the town, who should
+stand guarantee for your loyalty and integrity. Now, I had never been
+there before; I knew none, not even by name; and what was I to do?
+Great as my difficulty was, I did not suffer it to appear so to the
+commissary, but calmly said that I 'd return to my hotel, and run my eye
+over a list of the merchants for one to be my bail.
+
+The packet was to sail that evening with the tide; and as the office of
+the commissaire closed at four o'clock, there was little time to lose.
+I wandered on "from street to street; I walked into cafes; I sat down in
+the most public places, scanning with eagerness every face that
+passed me, and straining my eyes to try and detect the features of
+an acquaintance. The pursuit became at length a perfect farce, and I
+hurried to and fro with a burning brain, and a restless impatience that
+was almost maddening.
+
+"Parbleu! this is the fourth time you've been in here to-day," cried
+a short, thickset man, past the prime of life, and who kept a sort of
+slop-shop near the quay. "What do you want with me, my lad?"
+
+I was turning to leave the spot without replying, when he closed the
+half-door of his shop, and placed his back against it.
+
+"Come, my friend, you shall certainly say what has brought you here, ere
+you get away this time."
+
+"I am in search of some one,--I am looking for one of my acquaintances,"
+said I, hurriedly.
+
+"And expected to find him here?" added he, half sneeringly.
+
+"Here--anywhere," said I, recklessly.
+
+"Just so; I thought as much. Well, my lad, you had better give a more
+satisfactory account of yourself to the commissary. Come along with me
+to the police."
+
+"With all my heart," cried I.
+
+"Who are you? Whence do you come?" asked he, with somewhat of kindliness
+in his voice.
+
+"These are questions you have no right to ask me, citizen," replied I.
+
+"Well, have I not a right to know why you have been four several times
+in my shop this forenoon, and never bought nor asked for anything?"
+
+"That you shall hear freely and frankly," said I; "I have a passport
+made out for England, whither I wish to go. The authorities require that
+I should have some reference to a citizen of Havre before they allow me
+to depart. I am a stranger here,--I know of no one, not even by name.
+The whole of this morning I have spent hurrying hither and thither to
+find out some one I have seen before, but in vain. All are strangers
+to me; none know me. In my wanderings, it may be that I have chanced to
+come here as often as you say,--perhaps I have done so in twenty places;
+for my head is distracted, and I cannot collect my thoughts. There,
+then, is the answer to your inquiry."
+
+"Have you a trade or a handicraft, lad?"
+
+"Not either."
+
+"Nor any means of support?"
+
+"Quite sufficient for all my wants," replied I, boldly; and at the same
+time producing my purse, well stored as it was with five-franc pieces.
+
+"Ah, then, you belong to some of the _emigres?_ You are going to join
+your family?" asked he, but in a lower and more cautious voice.
+
+"Don't you think that I have been candid enough already, friend?" said
+I; "and do you not know sufficient of my affairs, without asking me
+more?"
+
+"Not if it be for more than mere curiosity," said he, drawing nearer to
+me; "not if I ask from a sincere interest in you."
+
+"But I ought, perhaps, to hear something of him that questions me," said
+I, affecting an amount of circumspection that was far from natural to
+me.
+
+"Then go out upon the quay yonder, and ask who is Pierre Dubos. My
+character and my name are well known in Havre; you 'll not have to ask
+often without an answer."
+
+"Well, then, citizen, tell me what more you wish to learn about me. I
+'ll tell you whatever you like, if I only know it."
+
+"Have you dined yet, lad?" asked he, quietly.
+
+"No; I have not had time."
+
+"Come, then, and partake of mine;" and, without waiting for an answer,
+he let down the shutter that closed the entrance to his shop, and led me
+by the arm into a room behind it.
+
+Pierre Dubos, though nearer to sixty than fifty, was only a short time
+married to a very pretty and young woman who, as he entered the room,
+was arranging the table for dinner. She received me with much courtesy,
+scarcely heeding, if she even heard, the explanation her husband gave to
+account for my presence.
+
+The meal was an excellent one, and passed off with all that easy
+conviviality that every class of Frenchmen know how to display. Monsieur
+Dubos seemed somewhat of a character, and rather piqued himself on doing
+things that others might never have thought of. His marriage appeared to
+have been one of these; his invitation to myself was another.
+
+"You know, Jeanette," said he, "we might never have met if it had not
+been for the ferry being delayed at Honfleur. We made acquaintance on
+the steps of the pier; and see what has come of it! Now, I have come to
+know Bernard here by a similar accident. Who knows what may arise out of
+that?"
+
+Madame smiled benignly in assent to the theory, the happy results of
+which she seemed to acknowledge.
+
+Coffee came after dinner; and then I began to think how I should take my
+leave. Ere I could solve the problem to my satisfaction, Dubos said,--
+
+"Shall we all go to the comedy this evening? They play a grand piece,
+one of Beaumanhui's,--and it will amuse us."
+
+Madame hailed the proposition with delight; and I really felt sorry as I
+said,--
+
+"But this will never bring me to England."
+
+"What need to go there? Why not stay in France? Was it not a pleasanter
+country and a better climate? At all events, what urgent haste was
+there? Would not to-morrow serve as well as to-day?"
+
+These and such-like arguments were showered upon me, and not a little
+aided by many little coquetries of look and gesture.
+
+"One thing is quite certain," said Dubos: "it is now three,--the bureau
+closes at four o'clock; and if you know of any one in Havre who will be
+your sponsor, the sooner you find him the better."
+
+This speech was uttered with so much gravity that it completely
+mystified me; nor did the next remark serve greatly to elucidate
+matters, as his wife said she hoped "I 'd have a pleasant voyage." After
+enjoying my astonished and puzzled look for a second or two, they both
+burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Don't you see, Bernard," said the man, "that you have no other
+acquaintance in the city than ourselves; and if we have a fancy for your
+company, and do not care to part with it, the option is with us?"
+
+"But if you really do feel an interest for me, you would befriend me,"
+said I. "Is not that so?"
+
+"And so I 'm ready to do," said he, rising. "Say the word, and I 'll go
+with you this moment to the commissary."
+
+I arose too. Already the syllables were on my lips, when the sudden
+thought flashed across me: Whither am I hurrying, and for what? Was I
+returning to home and family and country? Was I going back to kind and
+loving friends, whose hearts were yearning for my coming? I paused, and
+at the same instant the laughing eyes of the young Frenchwoman seemed to
+read my embarrassment.
+
+"Well," cried Dubos, "how is it to be?"
+
+"Sit down, Pierre, and take your coffee," said she, smiling. "Citizen
+Bernard has not the slightest intention of leaving us. He knows,
+besides, that you will be just as ready to serve him any other day, and
+not the less so when you will have been better acquainted."
+
+"She is right," said he, pressing me down into my seat again. "Let's
+have a _chasse_ in ease, and quick."
+
+I did not stop to reason the question. If I had, perhaps I should only
+have seen stronger cause to concur with my kind hosts. The world was a
+wide and trackless ocean before me, and even the humblest haven was a
+welcome harbor to me for a day or two.
+
+I stayed accordingly, and went to the theatre with them. The following
+day was Sunday, and we went over to Honneur, and dined at the "Trois
+Pigeons;" and Pierre showed me the spot where he first saw his pretty
+wife, and said,--
+
+"Who knows but some day or other I may be telling of the day and the
+hour and the way I became acquainted with you?"
+
+As I parted with them each night, some little plan or project was always
+struck out for the morrow; and so I lingered on from day to day, half
+listless, and half pleased. At length, as I was proceeding one morning
+towards the house, I saw a crowd in front of a cafe all busily engaged
+in reading a large placard which had just been affixed to the wall. It
+was an account of the seizure by the English of the very vessel I had
+intended to have taken my passage in; for, strangely enough, though the
+countries were at war, a species of half intercourse was kept up between
+them for some time, and travellers often passed from one shore to
+the other. This system was now, it seemed, to have an end; and it was
+curious to remark how bitter were the commentaries the change excited.
+
+Pierre had learned the news by the time I reached his house, and
+laughingly remarked on the good luck that always attended his
+inspirations.
+
+"But for me," said he, "and my wise counsels, you had been a prisoner
+now, and all your claims to nationality would only have got you hanged
+for a traitor. From the first moment I saw you, something whispered me
+that we were destined to know more of each other; and now I perceive
+that the impression was-well founded."
+
+"How do you infer that?" asked I, smiling.
+
+"Because my instincts have never betrayed me yet."
+
+"And what is to be the upshot of our acquaintance, then?"
+
+"Do you ask this seriously, Bernard, or are you only jesting at my
+presentiments?"
+
+"In all seriousness and in all trustfulness," replied I.
+
+"You 'll stay here in Havre--join me in my business--make money--be a
+rich man--and--" he paused.
+
+"Go on; I like the prophecy," said I, laughing.
+
+"And I was going to say, just as likely to lose it all, some fine
+morning, as easily as you earned it."
+
+"But I have not a single requisite for the part you assign me. I am
+ignorant of every branch of trade and traffic; nor, if I know myself, do
+I possess one single quality that insures success in them."
+
+"I'll teach you, Bernard! There are few secrets in my craft. We deal
+with smugglers,--we buy from them, and sell to them! For the pedler that
+comes to us in our shop in the 'Rue des Sol,' we care little; for our
+customers who drop in after nightfall, we have a sincere affection. You
+have hitherto regarded them in the light of visitors and friends. You
+little suspected that through them we carried on all our business; and
+just as little did it ever occur to you that you yourself are already a
+great favorite with them. Your stories, your remarks, the views you
+take of life, all your observations, are quite novel and amusing to
+poor fellows whose whole experience of the world is picked up in stormy
+nights in the Channel, or still more perilous adventures on shore. Many
+have already asked me when you would be with me of an evening, that they
+might come; others have begged they might bring friends along with them;
+and, in short, they like you; and they are fellows who, when they have
+fancies, don't grudge the price they pay for them."
+
+I laughed heartily as I heard this. Assuredly it had never occurred to
+myself to observe the circumstance, still less to make it a matter of
+profit or speculation; but, somehow, the coarse flattery of even such
+admiration was not without a certain charm for my mind.
+
+Still, it was a part I could not have condescended to practise for gain,
+nor, perhaps, had such been my intention, could I have been equally
+successful.
+
+Dubos, however, assigned me a duty which made a happy compromise
+between my self-esteem and my desire for employment. This was to make
+acquaintance with all of that adventurous race comprised between the
+buccaneer and the smuggler; to learn their various wants, when they
+voyaged, and for what, became my province. They were a wild, wasteful,
+and reckless class, who loved far better to deal with one who should
+stand to them in the relation of a companion than as a chapman or a
+dealer.
+
+If I am free to own that my occupation was not very dignified, I am
+equally able to assert that I never prostituted any influence I obtained
+in this way to personal objects of profit. On the contrary, I have
+repeatedly been able to aid, by good counsel and advice, men whose
+knowledge of adventurous life was far greater than my own; and
+oftentimes has it occurred to me to obtain for them quadruple the value
+they had themselves set upon objects they possessed.
+
+I can scarcely account to myself for the extraordinary interest the
+pursuit engendered,--the characters, the places they frequented, the
+habits, were all of the strangest, and might reasonably have amused one
+ardently fond of adventure; but there was, besides all this, a degree
+of danger in the intercourse that imparted a most intense degree of
+interest to it.
+
+Many of these men were great criminals. Many of the valuables confided
+to my keeping were obtained by the most questionable means. They
+trafficked not alone in articles of contraband, but they dealt in the
+still more dangerous wares of secret information to governments; some
+were far less smugglers than spies. All these curious traits became
+revealed to me in our intercourse; and I learned to see by what low
+and base agencies are often moved the very greatest and most momentous
+incidents of the world. It was not alone that many of these men
+were employed by persons high in station, but they were really often
+intrusted with functions very disproportionate to their own claim for
+either character or fitness. At one time it would be a state secret; at
+another, some dark piece of treacherous vengeance, or some scarcely less
+dark incident of what fashion calls "gallantry;" while occasionally
+a figure would cross the scene of a very different order, and men of
+unquestionable station be met with in the garb and among the haunts of
+the freebooter.
+
+There was scarcely a leader of the republican party with whom some
+member of the exiled family had not attempted the arts of seduction.
+With many of them, it was said, they really succeeded; and others only
+waited their opportunity to become their partisans. Whether the English
+Government actually adopted the same policy or not, they assuredly had
+the credit of doing so; and the sudden accession to wealth and affluence
+of men who had no visible road to fortune, greatly favored this
+impression. My friend Pierre Dubos troubled his head very little about
+these things. So long as his "brandies could be run" upon the shores
+of England, and his bales of silk find their way to London without
+encountering a custom-house, he cared nothing for the world of
+politics and statecraft; and it is not impossible that his well-known
+indifference to these matters contributed something to the confidence
+with which they were freely imparted to myself. Whatever the cause, I
+soon became the trusted depositary of much that was valuable, not alone
+in actual wealth, but in secret information. Jewels, sums of money,
+securities to a great amount, papers and documents of consequence, all
+found their way to my hands; and few went forth upon any expedition of
+hazard without first committing to my keeping whatever he possessed of
+worth.
+
+I was now living in privacy and simplicity, it is true, but in the
+enjoyment of every comfort; but, still, with all the sense of a
+precarious and even a perilous existence. More than once had I been
+warned that the authorities entertained suspicion of me; and although
+the police, even to its highest grades, was in our pay, it was yet
+possible that they should find it their interest to betray us. It was
+just at this time that a secret envoy arrived from Paris at Havre, en
+route for England, and was arrested on entering the town. His papers
+were all seized, except one small packet which was conveyed by a safe
+hand to myself, and my advice and counsel requested on the subject
+of it. The address was simply "W. P.," and marked, "with the greatest
+speed." There was an enclosure that felt like a locket-case or a
+medallion, inside, and three large seals without.
+
+The envoy, who had contrived to disburden himself of this in the very
+moment of his arrestation, at once made a signal indicative of its
+pressing emergency; and his own rank and position seemed to guarantee
+the fact. One of our luggers was only waiting for the tide to weigh
+anchor and sail for England; and the sudden resolve struck me to take
+charge of the letter, and see if I could not discover for whom it was
+meant. Both Dubos and his wife did all in their power to dissuade me
+from the project. They spoke of the great peril of the attempt, and its
+utter fruitlessness besides; but for the former I had not many fears,
+and as to the latter consideration, I was fortified by a strong
+and deep-felt conviction that the locket was intended for no less a
+personage than the head of the English ministry, and that "William
+Pitt" was designated by the initials of the direction. I own that the
+conjecture was mainly suggested to me by the constant reference made to
+his name, and the frequent allusions I had heard made to him by many of
+the secret emissaries.
+
+If I did not impart this impression to Dubos, it was simply because
+I knew how little interest the subject would have for him, and that I
+should frame very different reasons for my journey if I looked for
+his concurrence. I need not stop to record the discussion that ensued
+between us. Enough if I say that honest Pierre made me an offer of
+partnership with him if I consented to forego my journey, from which he
+steadily predicted that I should return no more. This prophecy had no
+power to deter me,--nay, I half suspect that it furnished an additional
+argument for my going.
+
+Having consigned to him, therefore, all the objects of value that had
+been left with me, and taking nothing but the few papers and letters
+belonging to myself, I sailed that evening; and, as day was breaking, I
+saw looming through the distance the tall and chalky cliffs of England.
+We were a long way to the northward of the part usually frequented by
+our skipper, and it was not without difficulty that I persuaded him to
+land me in a small bay, in which a solitary cottage was the only sign of
+habitation.
+
+By noon I gained the hut of a fisherman, who, though he had seen me put
+out from a craft that he knew to be French, yet neither expressed any
+surprise at my appearance, nor thought it a matter for any questioning.
+The shoal water and the breakers, it is true, could have prevented
+the spot being selected as a landing-place for troops; but nothing was
+easier than to use it to disembark either secret emissaries, or even a
+small body of men. I walked from this to a small town about eight miles
+inland, whence I started the same night by coach for London. I cannot
+convey my notion of the sense of freedom I felt at wandering thus at
+will, unquestioned by any one. Had I but travelled a dozen miles
+in France, I should have been certain of encountering full as many
+obstacles. Here none troubled their heads about me; and whence I came,
+or whither I went, were not asked by any. Some, indeed, stared at my
+travel-worn dress, and looked with surprise at my knapsack, covered with
+undressed calf-skin; but none suspected that it was French, nor that
+he who carried it had landed, but a few hours before, from the land of
+their dread and abhorrence. In fact, the England and France of those
+days were like countries widely separated by distance, and the narrow
+strip of sea between them was accounted as a great ocean. No sooner
+had I arrived in London than I inquired for the residence of the Prime
+Minister. It was not a period when the Parliament was sitting. They told
+me that I should rarely find him in town, but was sure of meeting with
+him at Hounslow, where he had taken a house for his health, then much
+broken by the cares and fatigues of office.
+
+It was evening--a fine, mellow autumn evening--as I found myself in
+front of a large, lonely house, in the midst of a neglected-looking
+garden, the enclosure of which was a dilapidated wall, broken in many
+places, and admitting glimpses of the disorder and decay within. I
+pulled the string of the bell, but it was broken; and while I stood
+uncertain what course to pursue, I caught sight of a man who was leaning
+over a little balustrade, and apparently watching some fish in a pond
+at his feet. He was thin and spare-looking, with somewhat the air of
+premature age; and though dressed in the very simplest manner, there was
+the unmistakable mark of a gentleman in his appearance.
+
+He seemed to have observed me, but made no sign of recognition as I came
+towards him. He even turned his head to look at me, and then resumed his
+former attitude. I believe that I would willingly have retreated at
+that moment, if I knew how. I felt that my presence there was like an
+intrusion, and was already ashamed of it. But it was now too late;
+for, standing erect, and with his hands behind him, he fixed his eyes
+steadily on me, and asked me my business there. I replied that I wished
+to speak with Mr. Pitt.
+
+"Do so, then," rejoined he; "I am he."
+
+I hesitated for a second or two how to open my communication; but he
+waited for me without the slightest show of impatience, till, gaining
+courage, I told him in a few words by what means I had become possessed
+of a letter, the contents of which I had surmised might by possibility
+have been intended for him. Short as was my explanation, it seemed to
+suffice, for he nodded twice or thrice in assent as I went on, and then,
+taking the letter from my hand, said,--
+
+"Yes, this is for me."
+
+So saying, he turned away into an alley of the garden to peruse the
+letter at his leisure.
+
+I remember as well as though it were but yesterday the strange crowd of
+sensations that pressed upon my mind as I stood there waiting for his
+return. Astonishment at finding myself in such a presence was the first
+of these; the second was a surprise to see with how little of awe or
+embarrassment I bore myself before one whose haughty bearing was the
+terror of his contemporaries. I did not know enough of life to be aware
+that the very fact of my humble station was the levelling influence that
+operated in my favor, and that if, instead of an unknown emissary, I had
+been the deputed envoy of a great government, I should have found the
+minister as coldly haughty as I had heard him described.
+
+While I was yet surmising and reasoning with myself, he came up to me,
+saying,--
+
+"They have arrested Monsieur Ducoste, you said. Is the affair like to be
+serious?"
+
+"I believe not, sir; his only paper of consequence was this."
+
+He opened the letter again, and seemed lost in contemplation of
+something it contained; at length he said,--
+
+"Have you brought any newspapers or journals with you?"
+
+"None, sir; I came away at a moment's warning."
+
+"You are an Englishman. How came it that you have been a resident in
+France?"
+
+For the first time his face assumed an expression of severity as he said
+this, and I could not but feel that the inquiry was one that touched my
+personal honor. I replied, therefore, promptly that I had come abroad
+from causes of a family nature, and that they were matters which could
+not interest a stranger.
+
+"They do interest me, sir," was his reply, "and I have a right to know
+them."
+
+If my first impulse was to resent what I conceived to be a tyranny,
+my second was to clear myself from any possibility of an imputation.
+I believe it was the wiser of the two; at all events, I yielded to
+it, and, apologizing for the intrusion upon time valuable as his, I
+narrated, in a few minutes, the leading features of my history.
+
+"A singular story," said he, as I concluded: "the son of an Irish
+Opposition leader reduced to this! What proofs have you of the
+correctness of your account? Have you acquaintances? Letters?"
+
+"Some letters, but not one acquaintance."
+
+"Let me see some of these. Come here to-morrow, fetch your papers with
+you, and be here at eleven o'clock."
+
+"But excuse me, sir," said I, "if I ask wherefore I should do this? I
+came here at considerable personal hazard to render you a service. I
+have been fortunate enough to succeed. I have also made known to you
+certain circumstances of a purely private nature, and which only can
+concern myself. You either believe them or you do not."
+
+"This is precisely the difficulty that I have not solved, young
+gentleman," said he, courteously; "you may be speaking in all the
+strongest conviction of truthfulness, and yet be incorrect. I desire to
+be satisfied on this head, and I am equally ready to assure you that the
+inquiry is not prompted by any motive of mere curiosity."
+
+I remained silent for a minute or two; I tried to weigh the different
+reasons for and against either course in my mind, but I was too much
+agitated for the process. He seemed to guess what was passing within me,
+and said,--
+
+"Don't you perceive, sir, that I am your debtor for a service, and that
+before I attempt to acquit the obligation I ought to know the rank and
+station of my creditor? You would not accept of a pecuniary reward?"
+
+"Certainly not, and as little any other."
+
+"But I might possibly present my thanks in a form to be acceptable,"
+said he, blandly; "and I wish you would give me the opportunity!"
+
+And with that he bowed deeply, and walked slowly away. I returned to
+London with a head full of my interview.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. MY REWARD
+
+I had taken up my quarters in one of the small streets which lead from
+the Strand to the river; a very humble abode it was, and such as suited
+very humble fortune. When I arrived there, after the interview I have
+related, I sat down and wrote a short account of the events of my life,
+so far as they were known to me. I subjoined any letters and documents
+that I possessed which gave confirmation to my statement, addressing the
+entire to the minister, with the request that if my capacity could fit
+me for any employment in the public service, he would graciously make
+a trial of me; and if not, that he would enable me to return to France,
+where a livelihood at least was procurable.
+
+This I despatched on a Tuesday morning, and it was not until the
+following Saturday that I obtained my reply. I cannot think of that
+painful interval even now without a shudder. The torture of suspense
+had risen to a fever, and for the last day and night I neither ate nor
+slept. On Saturday came a brief note, in these words: "J. C. may call at
+Hounslow before ten to-morrow."
+
+It was not signed, nor even dated; and so I was left to surmise if it
+had reached me in fitting time. It was scarcely eight o'clock on Sunday
+morning as I found myself standing beside the wicket of the garden,
+which seemed as deserted and desolate as before. At an open window,
+however, on the ground floor I saw a breakfast-table laid out; and as I
+looked, a lady and gentleman entered, and took their places at it. One
+was, I knew, the minister. The lady, who was a tall and dignified person
+rather than a handsome one, bore some resemblance to him. Her quick
+glance detected me from afar, and as quickly she called attention to my
+presence there. Mr. Pitt arose and beckoned me to come forward, which I
+did, with no small shame and embarrassment.
+
+While I stood at the hall-door, uncertain whether to knock or wait, it
+was opened by the minister himself, who kindly wished me good-morning,
+and desired me to follow him.
+
+"This is the youth himself, Hester," said he, as we entered the room;
+"and I have no doubt he will be happy to answer any questions you may
+put to him."
+
+The lady motioned to me to be seated, and in a grave, almost severe
+tone, said,--
+
+"Who composed this paper,--this narrative of yours?"
+
+"I did, madam."
+
+"The whole of it?"
+
+"Yes, madam, the whole of it."
+
+"Where have you been educated?"
+
+"At Reichenau, madam."
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"In Switzerland, on the frontiers of the Vorarlberg."
+
+"And your parents are both dead, and you have actually none in the shape
+of relatives?"
+
+"Not one, madam."
+
+She whispered something here to the minister, who quickly said,--
+
+"Certainly, if you wish it."
+
+"Tell me, sir," said she, addressing me again, "who is this same Count
+de Gabriac, of whom mention is made here. Is he the person called
+Couvre-Tete in the circles of the Jacobins?"
+
+"I never have heard him so called, madam."
+
+"You know him at least to be of that party?"
+
+"No, madam. The very little I do know of him personally would induce me
+to suppose the opposite."
+
+She shook her head, and gave a faint supercilious smile, as though in
+total disbelief of my words.
+
+"If you have read my memoir, madam," said I, hastily, "you will perceive
+how few have been the occasions of my meeting with the Count, and that,
+whatever his politics, I may be excused for not knowing them."
+
+"You say that you went along with him to Paris?"
+
+"Yes, madam, and never saw him afterwards."
+
+"You have heard from him, however, and are, in fact, in correspondence
+with him?"
+
+"No, madam, nothing of the kind."
+
+As I said this, she threw the paper indignantly on the table, and walked
+away to the window. The minister followed her, and said something in a
+low whisper, to which she replied aloud,--
+
+"Well, it's not my opinion. Time will tell which of us was more right."
+
+"Tell me something of the condition of parties in France," said he,
+drawing his chair in front of mine. "Are the divisions as wide as
+heretofore?"
+
+I will not go over the conversation that ensued, since I was myself the
+principal speaker. Enough if I say that I told him whatever I knew or
+had heard of the various subdivisions of party: of the decline of the
+terrorists, and the advent to power of men who, with equal determination
+and firmness, yet were resolute to uphold the laws and provide for the
+security of life and property. In the course of this I had to speak of
+the financial condition of the country; and in the few words that fell
+from me, came the glimpses of some of that teaching I had obtained from
+the Herr Robert.
+
+"You appear to have devoted attention to these topics," said he, with
+a smile. "They are scarcely the subjects most attractive to youth. How
+came that to pass?"
+
+"By an accident, sir, that made me acquainted with the son of one who,
+if not a great financier, was at least the most notorious one the world
+has ever seen,--Robert Law, of Lauriston." And at a sign from him to
+continue, I related the whole incident I referred to. He listened to me
+throughout with deep attention.
+
+"These papers that you speak of," said he, interrupting, "would
+certainly be curious, if not actually valuable. They are still at the
+Rue Quincampoix?"
+
+"I believe so, sir."
+
+"Well, the day may come when they may be obtainable. Meanwhile, of this
+Count, this Monsieur de Gabriac,--for I want to hear more of him,--when
+did he arrive in England?"
+
+"I did not know that he was here, sir."
+
+He looked at me calmly, but with great intentness, as I said this; and
+then, as if satisfied with his scrutiny, drew a small case from his
+pocket, and, opening it, held it before me.
+
+"Is this a portrait of the Count de Gabriac?"
+
+"Yes, and a striking likeness," replied I, promptly.
+
+"And you know his business in England, young man?" said the lady,
+turning suddenly from the window to address me.
+
+"I do not, madam."
+
+"Then I will tell you," said she.
+
+"No, no, Hester," said the minister; "this is not necessary. You say
+that this is like him,--like enough to lead to his recognition; that is
+quite sufficient. Now, for yourself, Mr. Carew, for it is time I should
+speak of you. You have rendered a very considerable service to this
+Government, and I am ready to requite it. What are your own wishes in
+this respect?"
+
+I bethought me for a moment what reply to make; but the more
+I considered, the more difficult became the reply. I might, by
+possibility, look too highly; or, by an equally probable error, I might
+place myself on too humble a level. He waited with courteous patience
+while this struggle lasted; and then, as if seeing all the force of my
+embarrassment, he hastened to relieve it.
+
+"My question was perhaps ill-judged," said he, kindly. "I should
+have remembered that your knowledge of this country and its habits is
+necessarily limited; and, consequently, that to choose a career in it
+must be difficult. If you will permit me, I will myself make the choice
+for you; meanwhile, and until the opportunity offer, I will employ you.
+You speak foreign languages--at least, French and German--fluently.
+Well, these are exactly the qualifications I desire to find at this
+moment."
+
+He paused for a second or two, and then, as though abandoning some
+half-formed intention, he named a day for me to wait on him at his
+official residence, and dismissed me.
+
+I have now come to a portion of my history of which I scruple to follow
+rigorously the details. I cannot speak of myself without introducing
+facts, and names, and events which became known to me, some in strict
+confidence, some under solemn pledges of secrecy, and some from the
+accident of my position. I have practised neither disguise nor mystery
+with my reader, nor do I desire to do so now. No false shame, as regards
+myself, would induce me to stoop to this. But as I glance over the notes
+and journals before me, as I read, at random, snatches of the
+letters that litter my table, I half regret that I have been led into
+revelations which I must necessarily leave incomplete, or rashly involve
+myself in disclosures which I have no right to publish to the world.
+
+So far as I can venture, however, I will dare to go. And to resume where
+I left off: From the time I saw the minister at Hounslow, I never
+beheld him again. A certain Mr. Addington--one of his secretaries, I
+believe--received me when I called, and was the means of intercourse
+between us. He was uniformly polite in his manner, but still cold and
+distant with me; treating me with courtesy, but strenuously declining
+all intimacy. For some weeks I continued to wait in expectancy of some
+employment. I sat my weary hours in the antechamber, and walked the
+lobbies with all the anxiety of a suitor; but to all appearance I was
+utterly forgotten, and the service I had rendered ignored. At last (it
+was about ten weeks after my interview), as I was proceeding one morning
+to my accustomed haunt,--hope had almost deserted me, and I persisted,
+more from habit than any prospect of success,--a servant, in the undress
+livery of one of the departments of state, met me in the street.
+
+"Mr. Carew, I believe?" said he, touching his hat. "I have been over
+half the town this morning, sir, in search of you. You are wanted
+immediately, sir, at the Foreign Office."
+
+How my heart jumped at the words! What a new spring of hope burst up
+within me! I questioned and cross-questioned the man, in the foolish
+expectation that he could tell me anything I desired to know; and in
+this eager pursuit of some clew to the future, I found myself ascending
+the stairs to Mr. Addington's office. No sooner had I appeared in the
+antechamber than I was ushered into the presence of the secretary. There
+were several persons--all strangers to me--present, who were conversing
+so eagerly together that my entrance was for some minutes unnoticed.
+
+"Oh! here is Carew," said Mr. Addington, turning hastily from the rest.
+"He can identify him at once."
+
+A large elderly man, who I afterwards learned was a city magistrate,
+came up at this, and, regarding me steadily for a few seconds, said,--
+
+"You are well acquainted with the person of a certain Count de Gabriac?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And could swear to his identity, if required?"
+
+"I could."
+
+How long I had known him, where, and under what circumstances, were also
+asked of me; and, finally, what space of time had elapsed since I had
+last seen him.
+
+While this inquiry was going forward, I was not unmindful of the remarks
+and observations around me, and, although apparently only occupied with
+my own examination, was shrewdly attending to every chance word that
+fell at either side of me. I collected quite enough from these to
+perceive that the Count was at that moment in England, and in custody
+under some very weighty charge; that the difficulty of identification
+was one of the obstacles to his committal; and that this was believed
+to be surmountable by my aid. Now, I never loved him, nor did he me; but
+yet I could not forget how every care of my infancy and childhood was
+owing to her who bore his name and shared his fortunes, and that for me
+to repay such kindness with an injury would have been the very blackest
+ingratitude.
+
+These thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, and as hastily I
+determined to act upon them. I asked Mr. Addington to give me a couple
+of minutes' audience in private, and he at once led me into an inner
+room. In scarcely more words than I have used here to mention the fact,
+I told him in what relationship I stood towards the Count, and how
+impossible it would be for me to use any knowledge I might possess, to
+his detriment.
+
+"I don't think that you have much option in the matter, sir," was his
+cold reply. "You can be compelled to give the evidence in question, so
+that your very excellent scruples need in no wise be offended."
+
+"Compelled to speak, sir!" cried I, in amazement.
+
+"Just so," said he, with a faint smile.
+
+"And if I still refuse, sir?"
+
+"Then the law must deal with you. Have you anything more to say to me?"
+
+"Nothing," said I, resolutely; for now my mind was determined, and I no
+longer hesitated what course to pursue.
+
+Mr. Addington now returned to the adjoining room, and I followed him.
+For a few moments a whispered conversation was maintained between him
+and one or two of the others, after which the magistrate, a certain Mr.
+Kirby, said to me,--
+
+"It appears, young man, that you have a reluctance, from conscientious
+scruples, about giving your evidence in this case; but probably when I
+tell you all that is required of you is a simple act of identification,
+and, moreover, that the charge against the prisoner is the very
+weightiest in the catalogue of crime, you will not any longer hesitate
+about your obvious duty."
+
+He waited for a few seconds; but as I made no reply, he went on:--
+
+"This Frenchman is accused of nothing less than the premeditation of
+a murder; that he is, in fact, a hired assassin, paid for the crime
+of murdering the exiled King of France. The evidence against him is
+exceedingly strong; but, of course, the law will place within his reach
+every possible means of defence. It is needless to say that no private
+or personal feeling can exist in such a case, and I really do not see
+how you can decline your aid to the cause of justice."
+
+I was still silent; my difficulties were increasing every moment; and as
+they thickened around me, I needed time to decide how to proceed.
+
+Perhaps my anxious appearance may have struck him, for he quickly
+said,--
+
+"You will be specially warned against saying anything which might
+criminate yourself, so that you need have no fears on that account."
+
+These words at once suggested my course to me; and whatever peril there
+might lie in the way, I determined to take shelter under the pretence
+that I was myself implicated in the conspiracy. I do not seek to excuse
+myself for such a subterfuge; it was the last refuge I saw in the
+midst of my difficulties, and I sought it in all the misery of
+half-desperation.
+
+"I am not going to betray my confederates, sir," was my dogged reply to
+his appeal; and no other could all their argument and entreaties obtain
+from me.
+
+Some of those present could not believe me guilty, and warmly pressed me
+to rescue myself, ere too late, from the odious imputation; others
+but saw their previous impressions confirmed by what they called my
+confession; and, between them, my poor head was racked and tortured by
+turns. The scene ended at last by my being committed to Newgate, under
+suspicion, and till further evidence could be adduced against me.
+
+It was clear that either they greatly doubted of my guilt, or were
+disposed to regard me as very slightly implicated, for I was not
+confined in a cell or with the other prisoners, but accommodated with
+a room in the jailer's own apartment, and received as a guest at his
+table.
+
+I was not only treated with kindness and attention here, but with a
+degree of candor that amazed me. The daily papers were freely
+placed before me, and I read how a well-known member of the "French
+Convention," popularly called Couvre-Tete, but styling himself the Count
+de Gabriac, had been brought up before the magistrates under a charge
+of a grave description, which, for the ends of justice, had been
+investigated with closed doors. Several others were in custody for their
+implication in the same charge, it was added, and great hopes maintained
+that the guilty parties would be made amenable to the law.
+
+Mr. Holt, the jailer, spoke of all the passing events of the day freely
+in my presence, and discussed the politics and position of France, and
+the condition of parties, with all the ease of old intimacy between us.
+At first, I half suspected this to be a mere artifice to lure me on to
+some unguarded expression, or even some frank admission about myself;
+but I gradually grew out of this impression, and saw him as he really
+was, a straightforward, honorable man, endeavoring to lighten the gloom
+of a dreary duty by acts of generosity and benevolence. Save that it
+was captivity, I really had nothing to complain of in my life at this
+period. Mr. Holt's family was numerous, and daily some two or three
+guests, generally persons in some degree placed similarly to myself,
+were present at his table; and with these my time passed smoothly and
+even swiftly along.
+
+The confinement, however, and a depression, of which I was not conscious
+myself, at length made their impression on my health, and one morning
+Mr. Holt remarked to me that I was scarcely looking so well as usual.
+
+"It is this place, I have no doubt," said he, "disagrees with you; but
+you will be liberated in a day or two."
+
+"How so?" asked I, in some surprise.
+
+"Have you not heard of Gabriac's death," said he, "by suicide? He was to
+have been brought up a second time for examination on Friday last, but
+he was found dead in his cell, by poison, on Thursday evening."
+
+I scarcely heard him through the details which followed. I only could
+catch a stray expression here and there; but I collected enough to learn
+that he had written a full exculpation of all the others who had been
+accused with himself, and specially with regard to me, of whom, also,
+it was said, he forwarded some important papers to some one high in
+station.
+
+This conversation occurred on a Saturday, and on the following Monday I
+was liberated.
+
+"I told you how it would be, Mr. Carew," said Holt, as he read me out
+the order, "and I hope sincerely there are now better and pleasanter
+days before you. More prosperous ones they are likely to be, for I have
+a Secretary of State's order to hand you one hundred pounds, which, I
+can assure you, is a rare event with those who leave this."
+
+While I stood amazed at this intelligence, he went on:
+
+"You are also requested to present yourself at Treverton House,
+Richmond, to-morrow, at eleven o'clock, where a person desires to see
+and speak with you. This comes somewhat in the shape of a command, and I
+hope you'll not neglect it."
+
+I promised rigid obedience to the direction; and after a very grateful
+recognition of all I owed my kind host, we parted, warm and cordial
+friends, and as such I have never ceased to believe and regard him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. A GLIMPSE OF A NEW PATH
+
+Shall I own it that when I once more found myself at liberty, and with
+means sufficient for the purpose, my first thought was to leave England
+forever? So far as I was concerned, my country had shown herself
+anything but a kind mother to me. It was an impulse of patriotism--a
+vague desire to serve her--had brought me to her shores; and yet my
+requital had been at first neglect, and at last imprisonment. Had I
+the very slightest clew to where "my mother" and Raper were, I should
+inevitably have set out to seek them; but of the track I knew nothing
+whatever. I ransacked my few letters and papers, amongst which I found
+the yet undelivered note to the Pere Tonsurd; and this I determined to
+present on that very day. The mere thought of meeting with one to whom I
+could speak of my kind friends at Linange was a comfort in the midst of
+all my desolation.
+
+On arriving at his lodgings, however, I learned that he had gone to
+Richmond; and as suddenly I bethought me of my own visit, the hour for
+which had already gone by. Determining to repair my fault as well as I
+could, I set out at once, and by three o'clock in the afternoon arrived
+at a neat-looking house, standing in a small park that descended to the
+river, and which, they told me, was Treverton. All I could ascertain of
+the proprietor was that he was a French gentleman, an _emigre_, who had
+lived there for two years, and was popularly known as the "General," his
+servants always giving him that title. I presented myself at his door
+and sent in my card, with the request that I might be admitted to an
+interview.
+
+Before I could well believe that my message was delivered, the servant
+returned to say that the General was expecting me since morning, and
+desired to see me at once. I followed him through two or three rooms
+till we reached a door covered with green cloth, and which concealed
+another behind it, on opening which I found myself in a small chamber
+fitted up like a library, where two gentlemen were seated at a table.
+One arose as I entered, and in a polite, but somewhat haughty, tone
+said,--
+
+"You are scarcely as punctual, sir, as I had hoped. Eleven o'clock was,
+I think, the hour mentioned."
+
+As the appointment had not been of my seeking, I returned a very cold
+and half-careless apology for my tardy appearance; but he stopped me
+quietly, saying,--
+
+"Apparently, then, you have not been informed as to the object of this
+visit, nor by whom--"
+
+A hasty gesture from the other interrupted his speech, and he stopped
+short.
+
+"I mean," added he, "that you are unaware of the reason for which your
+presence here has been requested."
+
+"I have not the slightest knowledge of it, sir," was my reply.
+
+"We wished to see and speak with you about many things in France, sir.
+You have latterly been there? We are given to understand that you are a
+shrewd observer, and we desire to learn your views of events, and of the
+people who direct them. Our own informant induces us to believe that the
+tide of popular favor is turning against the men of violent opinions,
+and that a wiser and healthier tone pervades the nation. Does that agree
+with your experience?"
+
+"Quite so, sir; there cannot be a second opinion on the question."
+
+"And the old attachment to the monarchy is again displaying itself, far
+and near, through the country?" added he, warmly.
+
+"There I cannot go with you, sir," was my answer; and although his look
+was a fierce, almost an angry one, I continued: "The military spirit is
+that which now sways the nation, and he who can best gratify the thirst
+of glory will be the ruler. The kings of France have been but pageants
+of late."
+
+"Be discreet, sir. Speak of what you know, and do not dare to insult--"
+he paused, and then added, "an ancient follower of his sovereign."
+
+His age and his fervor repressed any resentment the speech might have
+suggested, and I only said,--
+
+"You asked me for opinions, sir, and I gave you mine frankly. You must
+not be displeased if they do not always chime with your own."
+
+"Monsieur is perfectly right. His remark is a just one," said the other,
+who now spoke for the first time.
+
+"I think he is mistaken, though," replied the former. "I fancy that he
+is led away by that vulgar cant which sees in the degradation of one
+solitary individual the abasement of his whole class and order. By the
+way, you knew that same Count de Gabriac?"
+
+I bowed my assent.
+
+"You may speak freely of him now he is past the consequences of either
+our censure or our praise. You know, perhaps, that he completely
+exonerated you from all share in his odious scheme, and at the same
+time communicated certain particulars about yourself which suggested the
+desire to see you here."
+
+"Yes," said the other, with a faint but very pleasing smile. "We are
+relatives, Monsieur Carew; and if all that I hear of you be true, I
+shall not disown the relationship."
+
+"You knew my dear mother, then," cried I, wild with the glad thought.
+
+"Pardon me," said he, slowly, "I had not that honor. I have, however,
+frequently heard of her beauty and her fascination; but I never saw
+her."
+
+The General here whispered a few words, to which the other replied
+aloud,--
+
+"Be it so, then. My friend here," resumed he, addressing me, "is of
+opinion that your information and habits would well fit you for a task
+which will be at once one of emolument and trust. The English minister
+has already pointed you out as a suitable agent, and nothing but your
+own concurrence is now needed."
+
+I begged for a further explanation; and he briefly told me that the
+Royalist party, not alone throughout France, but in different parts of
+the Continent, where they had sought refuge, were distracted and broken
+up for want of due intercourse with each other and with the head of
+their party; that false intelligence and fictitious stories had been
+circulated industriously to sow discord and disunion amongst them;
+and that nothing but an actual, direct, and personal agency could
+efficiently counteract this peril and restore confidence and stability
+to the party. Many--some of them men of the highest rank--had taken
+service in this way; some had condescended to accept of the very
+humblest stations, and almost menial duties, where they could obtain
+information of value; and all we're ready to risk life and fortune for
+the Prince to whom they owed their allegiance.
+
+"But you forget, sir, that the loyalty which reflects such honor on them
+would be wanting in my case: I am not a Frenchman."
+
+"But your mother was French," said he who sat at the table, "and of the
+best blood of France too. I have told you we are relations."
+
+A gesture of caution from the General stopped him here, and he was
+silent. I saw there was embarrassment somewhere; but on what ground I
+knew not. More to relieve the awkwardness of the moment than from any
+other intention, I asked what my duties might be in this capacity.
+
+"On that head you will receive the fullest instructions," said the
+General. "Once say that you are ready and at our disposal, and we shall
+supply you with every means and every knowledge you can wish for."
+
+"May I have a little time to consider of it, sir?" asked I. "A night,
+for instance?"
+
+"Yes, a night,--certainly; only remember that whether you accept or
+refuse, this interview is a secret, and not to be divulged to any one."
+
+"I shall so consider it," said I.
+
+"You will, then, be here to-morrow at ten,--at ten, remember, and this
+time punctually." And with that he bowed me ceremoniously to the door,
+the other waving his hand more familiarly, and wishing me a good-bye as
+I passed out.
+
+As I reached the outer gate of the lawn, a servant hastily overtook
+me. It was a gentleman, he said, who wished to return to London, begged
+permission to accompany me, if I would so far oblige him.
+
+"With pleasure," said I. "Will you favor me with his name?"
+
+"The Abbe Tonsurd."
+
+"The Abbe Tonsurd!--the very man of all others I wished to meet!" And
+while I was just rejoicing over my good fortune on the occurrence, he
+came hurrying forward to offer me his thanks.
+
+"Chance has favored me for once, Monsieur l'Abbe," said I, "since I have
+the good fortune to see one to whom I have a letter of introduction. I
+called this very morning at your lodgings to deliver this."
+
+"Oh, the rare good luck indeed," cried he, breaking open the seal
+and rapidly perusing the contents. "That dear Ursule," said he, with
+something very near to a smile, "always so good and so confiding, trusts
+even after hope has departed. But tell me rather of themselves; for this
+is the theme she has not spoken of."
+
+I rapidly related all that I knew of the family. I saw, however, that
+his mind was wandering from the subject ere I had finished.
+
+"And you," said he, suddenly, "when do you set out on your mission?"
+
+"I have not decided on accepting it."
+
+"Not decided! Can you hesitate, can you waver for a moment? Has not the
+Count himself charged you with his commands?"
+
+"And who may the Count be?" asked I.
+
+"His Majesty the rightful king of France. You cannot be well versed in
+physiognomy, or you must have recognized the royal features of his race.
+He is every inch a Bourbon."
+
+"He who sat at the table?"
+
+"The same. The General Guerronville is reckoned handsome; but he is
+vulgar and commonplace when seen beside his Majesty."
+
+The Abbe, to whom, doubtless, the letter imparted sufficient to give him
+full confidence in me, spoke frankly and openly of the Royalist party,
+their hopes and fears and future prospects. He even went so far as to
+say that they were losing confidence in the English Government, of whose
+designs for a peace they entertained deep suspicion. Turning hastily
+from this, he urged me earnestly not to decline the duty proposed to me,
+and said at last,--
+
+"That if no other argument could weigh with me, personal advantage
+might, and that success in my enterprise was my fortune made forever."
+
+While he was thus speaking, I was only dwelling upon what I could recall
+of my late scene with the King of France, and wondering what he
+possibly could mean by a relationship between us. The Abbe explained
+the difficulty away by a careless reply as to the various small channels
+into which the royal blood had been diverted, by obscure marriages and
+the like.
+
+"At all events," said he, "if his Majesty could remember the tie, it
+would come badly from you to forget it. Accept this offer, therefore,
+and be assured that you will serve yourself even more than his cause."
+
+It was not very difficult to persuade me; and even where his arguments
+failed, my own necessities urged me to accept the offer. I therefore
+agreed, and, charging the Abbe to convey my sentiments of gratitude
+for the trust reposed in me, I stated my readiness to set out at once
+wherever it was deemed necessary to employ me; and with this I lay down
+to rest, more at ease in heart than I had felt for months long.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV. SECRET SERVICE
+
+When I come to reflect over the space I have devoted in these memoirs of
+my life to slight and unimportant circumstances,--the small incidents
+of a purely personal character,--I feel that I owe my readers an apology
+for passing rapidly over events of real moment. My excuse, however,
+is, the events were such as to render my share in them most humble and
+insignificant. My figure was never a foreground one; and in the great
+drama that Europe then played, my part was obscure indeed. It is true,
+I was conversant with stirring themes. I had on many occasions
+opportunities of meeting with the mighty intelligences that gave the
+world its destiny for the time; but in no history will there ever be
+a record of the humble name of Paul Gervois. Such I now found myself
+called; and the passport delivered to me called me, in addition, "Agent
+secret." It is true, I had another, which represented me as travelling
+for a Dutch commercial house; but the former was the document which,
+in my interviews with prefects and men in authority, I made use of, and
+which at once obtained for me protection and respect.
+
+It is well known that the rightful king of France in his exile made
+a personal appeal by letters to Bonaparte to induce him to devote his
+genius and influence to the cause of the monarchy. The example of Monk
+was cited, and the boundless gratitude of royalty pledged on the issue.
+The fact is history. Of this memorable note I was the bearer. Looking
+back at the wondrous destiny of that great man, such an overture may
+easily appear vain and absurd to a degree; but it was by no means so
+destitute of all chance of success at the time in which it was made. Of
+this I feel assured, and for the following reason: There was a frequent
+interchange of letters between the persons attached to the exiled family
+and leading members of the then French Government. This correspondence
+was carried on by secret agents, who were suffered to pass freely
+from capital to capital, and more than once intrusted with even verbal
+communications. These agents were rigidly instructed to limit themselves
+strictly to the duty assigned to them, and neither to use their
+opportunities for personal objects, nor for the acquirement of
+information on subjects foreign to their mission. They were narrowly
+watched, and I believe myself that a secret espionage was maintained
+expressly to observe them. The sudden disappearance of more than one
+amongst them fully warrants the suspicion that indiscretion had paid its
+greatest and last penalty.
+
+By the means of these persons, then, a close and compact correspondence
+was maintained,--a tone of familiarity, and even frankness, was, I am
+assured, paraded in it; while, in reality, the object of each side was
+purely treacherous. At one time it was a proposition to some high
+and leading individual to desert his party and espouse that of its
+opponents; at another, it was an artful description of the decline of
+revolutionary doctrines, made purposely to draw from the Royalists some
+confession of their own future intentions; while, more important than
+all, there came a letter in Bonaparte's own hand, offering to Louis a
+sum of several millions of francs, in return for a formal renunciation
+of all right to that throne from which his destiny seemed sufficiently
+to exclude him. What a curious page of history will it fill when this
+secret correspondence shall one day see the light! I know, of my own
+knowledge, that a great part of it is still in existence, though in the
+hands of those who have solid reasons for not revealing it.
+
+At the time when I first joined this secret service, the interchange of
+letters was more than ordinarily great. The momentous change which had
+taken place in France by the ascendancy of Bonaparte had imparted new
+hopes to the Royalist party; and they were profuse in their expressions
+of admiration for the man who of all the world was fated to be
+the deadliest enemy of their race. Their gratitude was, indeed,
+boundless,--at least, it transcended the usual limits of the virtue,
+since it went so far as to betray the cause of the very nation to which
+they were at the very same moment beholden for a refuge and an asylum!
+Secret information of the views of the English cabinet; the opinions of
+statesmen about the policy of the war; the resources, the plans, even
+the discontents, of the country were all commented on and detailed;
+while carefully drawn-up statistics were forwarded, setting forth the
+ships in commission or in readiness for sea, with every circumstance
+that could render the information valuable.
+
+I know not if the English Government looked with contempt on these
+intrigues, or whether they themselves did not acquire information more
+valuable than that they connived at; for assuredly every secret agent
+was well known to them, and more than one actually in their pay.
+Of myself, I can boldly say such was not the case. I traversed the
+Continent, from Hamburg to Naples; I passed freely across Europe in
+every direction; and on my return to England I met neither molestation
+nor hindrance, nor did I attract any more attention than an ordinary
+traveller. If I owed this immunity to a settled plan I had set down for
+my guidance, it is equally true that it impeded my promotion, and
+left me in the rank of those who were less secret agents than mere
+messengers. My plan was to appear totally ignorant of the countries
+through which I journeyed, neither remarking the events, nor being able
+to afford any tidings about them. I was not ignorant of the injury this
+course of action inflicted on my prospects. I saw myself passed over for
+others of less capacity; I noticed the class with which I was associated
+as belonging to the humblest members of the walk; and I even overheard
+myself quoted as unfit for this, and unequal to that. Shall I own
+at once that the career was distasteful to me in the highest degree?
+Conceal it how we could, wear what appellation we might, we were only
+spies; and any estimation we were held in simply depended on whatever
+abilities we could display in this odious capacity. It was, then, in
+a sort of compromise with my pride that I stooped to the lowest grade,
+rather than win my advancement by the low arts of the eavesdropper.
+
+If I seemed utterly incapable of those efforts which depended on
+tact and worldly skill, my employers freely acknowledged that, as a
+messenger, I had no equal. No difficulties could arrest my progress; the
+most arduous journeys I surmounted with ease; the least-frequented roads
+were all familiar to me. Three, four, and even five days consecutively
+have I passed in the saddle; and whether over the rude sierras of Spain,
+the wild paths of the Apennines, or the hot sands of the desert, no
+fatigue ever compelled me to halt. The Royalist partisans were scattered
+over the whole globe. Some of them had taken service in the German
+armies; some were in the Neapolitan service; some had abjured their
+religion, and were high in command over the Sultan's troops; and many
+had emigrated to America, where they settled. Wherever they were,
+whatever cloth they wore, or the flag they were ranged under, they had
+but one cause and one hope,--the restoration of the Bourbons; and
+for this were they ever ready to abandon any eminence they might have
+gained, or any fame or fortune they had acquired, to rally at a moment
+beneath the banner of him they regarded as their true and rightful
+sovereign. I knew them well, for I saw them near. Their littleness,
+their jealousies, their absurd vanity and egregious pretensions, were
+all well known to me; but many a time have I felt a sort of contemptuous
+scorn of them repelled by reflecting over the heroic and chivalrous
+loyalty which bound them to a cause so all but hopeless. If it be asked
+why I remained in a career so distasteful to me, and served a cause to
+which no sympathy bound me, my answer is, that I followed it with an
+object which had engrossed every ambition and every wish of my heart;
+and this was to find out "my mother" and Raper. I knew that the secrets
+of my birth were known to them, and that with them alone, of all the
+world, lay the clew to my family and kindred. While the Count lived, my
+mother--I cannot call her by any other name--was fearful of revealing
+circumstances to me, of which he would not suffer any mention in his
+presence. This barrier was now removed. Besides, I had grown up to
+manhood, and had a better pretension to ask for the satisfaction of my
+curiosity.
+
+This was, then, the stimulus that supported me in many a long and
+weary journey; this the hope that sustained me through every reverse of
+fortune, and through what is still harder to bear,--the solitude of my
+lonely, friendless lot. By degrees, however, it began to fail within
+me; frequent disappointment at last so chilled my ardor that I almost
+determined to abandon the pursuit forever, and with it a career which I
+detested. The slightest accident that foreshadowed a prospect of success
+was still enough to make me change my resolve; and thus I lived on,
+vacillating now to this side, now to that, and enduring the protracted
+tortures of expectation.
+
+It was in one of these moments, when despair was in the ascendant, that
+I received an order to set out for Reichenau and obtain certain papers
+which had been left there in the keeping of Monsieur Jost, the property
+of a certain person whose initial was the letter C. I was given to
+understand that the documents were of great importance, and the mission
+one to be executed with promptitude. I had almost decided on abandoning
+this pursuit. The very note in which I should communicate my resignation
+was begun on the table, when the Abbe, who generally was the bearer of
+my instructions, came to convey this order. He was in a mood of unusual
+gayety and frankness; and after rallying me on my depression, and
+jestingly pointing out the great rewards which one day or other would
+be bestowed upon me, he told me that the tidings from France were of the
+very best kind, that the insolent airs of Bonaparte were detaching
+from him many of his stanchest adherents, that Pichegru openly, and
+Bernadotte secretly, had abandoned him; Davoust had ceased to visit at
+his house; while Lasalle and others of less note were heard to declare
+that if they were to have a master, at least it should be one who was
+born to the station that conferred command.
+
+"We knew," continued he, joyously, "that we had only to leave this man
+alone, and he would be his own executioner; and the event has only come
+a little earlier than we looked for. These papers for which you are now
+despatched contain a secret correspondence between a great personage and
+some of the most distinguished generals of the Republic."
+
+He said much more on this theme,--indeed, he sat late, and talked of
+nothing else; but I paid little attention to the subject. I had over
+and over again heard the same observation; and at least a dozen eventful
+crises had occurred when the Republic was declared in its last struggle,
+and the cause of the king triumphant.
+
+"I perceive," said he, at last, "you are less sanguine than I am. Is it
+not so?"
+
+"You mistake me, Monsieur l'Abbe," said I; "my depression has a selfish
+origin. I have been long weary of this career of mine, and the note
+which you see there was the beginning of a formal renunciation of it."
+
+"It is impossible you could be so insane," cried he. "You are not one of
+that vulgar herd that can be scared from a noble duty by a mere name. It
+is not the word 'spy' that could wound you, enlisted as you are in the
+noblest cause that ever engaged heroism, and in which the first men of
+France are your associates."
+
+"I am no Frenchman, Abbe," said I; "remember that."
+
+"But you are a good Catholic," said he, promptly, "and, Ursule tells me,
+well versed in every duty of the faith."
+
+I by no means fancied the turn our discussion was likely to take. More
+than once before had the Abbe made allusion to the principles which he
+hoped might animate me, and which at some future time might obtain for
+me an admission into his own order; so I hastily changed the topic,
+by declaring that this journey I should certainly undertake, whatever
+resolve I might come to for the future.
+
+He had far too much tact to persevere on an unpleasant theme, and
+after some further allusion to the prospects before me he wished me
+good-night, and left me. I took my departure the next morning for
+Hamburg; since latterly some impediments had been thrown in our way
+about landing in France, and the process of verifying our passports as
+"agents secrets" occupied much time, and caused delay. On the journey
+thither I made acquaintance with a young Pole, who, exchanging with me
+the private signal, showed that he was a "brother of the craft." He was
+a fine, dashing, good-looking fellow, with a certain air of pretension
+and swagger about him that savored more of the adventurer than of the
+character he wished to assume. He told me that he was the son of
+the Empress Catherine, and that his father had been a soldier of the
+Imperial Guard. The story might or might not have been true, but at all
+events he seemed to believe and was exceedingly vain of it.
+
+With all the secret plotting and political intrigue of the day he
+appeared quite conversant, and found it difficult to believe in my
+ignorance or apathy.
+
+"I conceive," said he, at last, "that you are one of those who feel
+ashamed of your position, and dislike the word 'spy.' Be it so; it is
+not a flattering name. But have we not within ourselves the power to
+extort by force the degree of consideration we would be held in? Any act
+of insubordination from one or two, or even three of us, would be sure
+to meet its penalty. That price has been paid before." [Here he made a
+significant sign, by rapidly drawing his hand across his throat.] "But
+if we combined, met at some appointed spot, discussed our rights, and
+agreed upon the means of asserting them, do you believe that there
+exists the king or kaiser who could refuse the demand? It is not enough
+for me that I can pass a frontier by a secret signal, enter a minister's
+cabinet while others wait in the antechamber, or even ascend the back
+stairs of a palace. I want a place and a recognition in society; I want
+that standing in the world to which my habits and manners entitle me,
+and for which now my hand is ever on the hilt of a rapier or the trigger
+of a pistol to secure. It is an outrage on us that this has been delayed
+so long; but if it be deferred a little longer, the remedy will have
+passed from our hands. Already some of the governments of the Continent
+begin to suspect that the system works badly."
+
+"My astonishment is only that it ever could have been permitted," broke
+I in; "for it is plain that to know the secrets of others, each country
+has had to sacrifice its own."
+
+He gave a smile of supreme contempt, and replied,--
+
+"You are but an apprentice of the trade, after all, Monsieur Gervois,
+though I have often heard you called a man of tact and shrewdness. Do
+you not know that we are not the agents of governments or of cabinets,
+but of those who rule cabinets, dread them, and betray them? The
+half-dozen crowned heads who rule Europe form a little fraternity apart
+from all the world. The interests, the passions, the jealousies, and the
+ambition of the several nations may involve them in wars, compel them
+to stand in hostility against each other and be what is called great
+enemies; but while their cannon are thundering and their cavalry
+charging, while squadrons are crashing and squares are breaking, they
+for whose sake the blood is shed and life poured forth are calmly
+considering whether they should gain most by victory or defeat, and
+how far the great cause--the subjugation of the niasses to the will of
+one--can be benefited or retarded by any policy they would pursue."
+
+I need not follow him in his reasonings,--indeed, they were more
+ingenious and astute than I should be able to convey by repetition. His
+theory was, that the rulers of states maintained a secret understanding
+with each other; that however the casualties of fortune should fall
+heavily on their countries, they themselves should be exempted from such
+consequences; and that the people might fall, but dynasties should be
+spared. As long as the Bourbons sat on the throne of France, the compact
+was a safe and a sure one. The Revolution, however, has broken up the
+sacred league, and none can tell now what people are next ripe for
+revolt. As Bonaparte for the moment represents power in France,
+every effort has been made by the sovereign to draw him into this
+alliance,--not, of course, to found a dynasty, but to serve the cause of
+the rightful one. I abstain from entering more fully into his views, or
+citing the mass of proofs by which he endeavored to sustain them. If
+not convinced by his arguments, I am free to own that they made a
+deep impression upon me; rendered more so, perhaps, from the number of
+circumstances I could myself call to mind which in my own secret service
+tended to corroborate them.
+
+I asked him whither he was then going, and he told me to Moscow.
+
+"Russia and England meditate a war," said he, "the two cabinets are
+embroiled; and I am hastening with an autograph letter from one great
+personage to another to say with what regret he countersigns a policy
+so distasteful, and how sincerely he preserves the tie of personal
+friendship. Believe me," said he, laughing, "we are the professed
+traitors of the world; but we are simple-hearted and honest, if weighed
+in the scale with those who employ us!"
+
+If I was amused by much of what he said, I was also piqued at the tone
+of superiority he assumed towards me, as he very frankly intimated that
+by the low estimation in which I held my walk in life I had contrived to
+make it still meaner and lower.
+
+"It rests with ourselves," said he, "to be the diplomatists of Europe.
+Your men who pore over treaties and maps and protocols may plan and
+scheme to their hearts' content; but we can act. If I choose to change
+the destination of this letter, and deliver it at Berlin or Vienna; or
+if I go forward now to Moscow, and convey the answer to Paris, instead
+of London, do you not suppose that the world would feel it, and to its
+very centre, too?"
+
+He paused for a minute or two, and then added,--
+
+"You are wondering all this while within yourself why one who knows so
+well the price of treason has not earned it; and shall I tell you? I
+am not always aware of the value of my tidings. I may be charged with
+a secret treaty. It may be a piece of court gossip, the mishap of
+an archduchess, or the portrait of a court favorite. This very
+letter--whose contents I believe I know--I am perhaps deceived in. Who
+can tell, till it be opened, if my treachery be worth a farthing?"
+
+If there was anything wanting to the measure of abhorrence with which
+I regarded my career, it was amply supplied by such doctrines as these;
+but probably much of the disgust they were calculated to inspire was
+lost in the amusement the narrator afforded me. Everything about him
+bespoke levity rather than systematic rascality; and yet he was one who
+appeared to have thought profoundly on men and the world.
+
+"I 'll wager a crown," said he, as we jumped into the boat that was to
+row us on shore, "that you are fully bent on hiding yourself and your
+shame in the 'Golden Plover,' or the 'Pilot's Rest,' or some such
+obscure hotel; but this you shall not for the present. You are my guest
+while we stay at Hamburg. Unfortunately, the time must needs be brief to
+both of us. To-morrow we shall be on the road; but to-day is our own."
+
+I did not consent without reluctance; but he would not take a refusal,
+and so I yielded; and away we went together to the "Schleswicker Hof," a
+magnificent hotel in the finest quarter of the town.
+
+"No need to show your passport to any one," said he to me, in a whisper,
+as we entered the house; "I 'll arrange all."
+
+By the time I had refreshed myself with a bath and dressed, the waiter
+came to say that Count Ysaffich was waiting dinner for me; and though
+I gladly would have asked a few particulars of one with whose name and
+person he seemed evidently acquainted, there was no time allowed me,
+as he led the way to a splendid apartment, where the table was already
+spread.
+
+It was not without an effort that I recognized my friend the Count
+in his change of costume; for, though good-looking and even handsome
+before, he might now strike the beholder with admiration. He wore a
+blue military pelisse, richly braided with gold, and fastened with large
+Brandenburg buttons. It was sufficiently open in front to display a vest
+of scarlet cloth, all slashed with gold. His trousers were black, with a
+broad gold band along the sides, while a richly embossed belt of Russia
+leather supported a sabre of most costly and gorgeous make. He wore
+several handsome decorations, and around the throat, by a broad blue
+ribbon, a splendid diamond cross, with the letters "P. C." in the
+centre.
+
+"I have not dressed for dinner," said he, as I entered, "since we must
+take a stroll under the linden-trees when it grows cool, and have our
+cigar there. After that, we 'll look in at the opera; and if not very
+attractive, I 'll present you at one or two houses where they receive of
+an evening, and where, when you come again, you will be always welcome."
+
+Since I had gone so far, I resolved to abide by all his arrangements,
+and suffer him to dispose of my time just as he pleased.
+
+Our dinner was excellent. The Count had bestowed pains in ordering it,
+and all was of that perfection in cookery for which Hamburg was, and
+is, so justly famed. Nor was the wine inferior to the rest of the
+entertainment. Of this the Count appeared to be a connoisseur, and
+pressed me to taste a dozen different kinds, the very names of which
+were unknown to me. His conversation, too, was so amusing, so full of
+strange incidents and adventures, such curious anecdotes, such shrewd
+remarks, that I was by no means impatient to rise from table.
+
+"I see," said he, at last, "we are too late for the opera. Hanserlist's
+reception is also nearly over by this time. Shall we just drop in, then,
+at Madame von Geysiger's? It is the latest house here, and every one
+goes there to finish the evening."
+
+"They are all strangers to me," I replied, "and I am entirely under your
+orders."
+
+"Then Madame von Geysiger's be it," said he, rising.
+
+As we went along, he told me that the lady to whose house we were going
+had been, some thirty-five or forty years ago, the great prima donna
+of Europe. She was also the most celebrated beauty of her time; and by
+these combined attractions had so captivated a rich merchant of Hamburg
+that he married her, bequeathing to her on his death-bed the largest
+fortune of that wealthy city.
+
+"They count it by millions and tens of millions," said he; "but what
+matter to us?--at least to me?--for I have been refused by her some
+half-dozen times; and indeed now am under the heaviest recognizance
+never to repeat my proposal. If you, however, should like to
+adventure--"
+
+"Oh, excuse me," said I, laughing. "Not even all the marcobrunner and
+champagne I have been drinking could give hardihood for such a piece of
+impudence."
+
+"Why not?" cried he. "You are young, good-looking, and of a fashionable
+exterior. You are a stranger, besides,--and that is a great point; for
+she is well weary of Hamburg and Hamburgers."
+
+I stopped him at once by saying that I was by far too conscious of the
+indignity attached to my career to aspire to the eminence he spoke of.
+
+"And too proud to marry an old woman for her money! Can't you add that?"
+said he, laughing. "Well, there we differ. I am neither ashamed of the
+'espionage,' nor should I be averse to the marriage. To say truth, my
+dear Gervois, when I have dined in a splendid salon hung round with
+the best pieces of Cuyp, Wouvermans, and Jansens; when I have seen the
+dessert set forth in a golden service, of which the great Schnyders over
+the fireplace was but a faint copy; when I have supped my Mocha out of a
+Sevres cup worth more than its full of gold louis, and rested myself
+on the fairest tapestries of France, with every sense entranced by
+luxury,--I do find it excessively hard to throw my mantle over my
+shoulders, and trudge home through the rain and mud to resume the sorry
+existence that for an hour I had abandoned."
+
+"There lies the whole question," said I; "since, for my part, I could
+not throw off the identity, even under such captivations as you speak
+of."
+
+He looked at me very fixedly as I said this,--so fixedly, indeed, that
+he seemed to feel some apology necessary for it.
+
+"Forgive me," cried he; "but I could not help staring at the prodigy of
+a man content to be himself."
+
+"I have not said that," replied I. "I only said I was incapable of
+feeling myself to be any other."
+
+"You plume yourself upon your birth then, doubtless," added he; "and so
+should I, if I knew how to get rid of my father. What were your people:
+you said they were not French?"
+
+Had the question been put to me half an hour before, as we sat over
+our wine, I have little doubt that, in the expansiveness of such a
+situation, I should have told him all that I knew or suspected of my
+family. The season of confidence, however, had passed. We were walking
+along a crowded thoroughfare; our talk was desultory, as the objects
+about were various; and so I coined some history of my family for the
+occasion, ascribing my birth to a very humble source, and my rank as one
+of the meanest.
+
+"Your father was, however, English," said he; "so much you know?"
+
+"Yes," said I, "that point there is no doubt about."
+
+"Is he alive?"
+
+"No, he is dead a great many years back."
+
+"How did he die, or where? Excuse these questions, which I have only to
+say are not out of idle importunity."
+
+I own that I did not feel easy under this cross-examination. It
+might mean more than I liked to avow even to myself. At all events, I
+resolved, whatever his object, to evade it; and at once gave him some
+absurd narrative of my father having served in the war of the Low
+Countries, where he married a Frenchwoman or a Fleming; that he died, of
+some fever of the country, at a small fishing town on the Dutch coast,
+leaving me an orphan, since my mother survived him but a few months.
+
+"All this is excellent," cried he, enthusiastically. "It could not be
+better by any possibility. Forgive me, Gervois, till I can explain my
+meaning to you more fully; but what you have just told me has filled my
+heart with delight. You 'll see how Madame von Geysiger will receive you
+when she hears this."
+
+I started back with astonishment. Could it possibly be the case that
+my stupid story might chime in with the facts of some real history; and
+should I thus be involved in the web of some tangled incidents in which
+I had rightfully no share? There was shame and falsehood both in such a
+situation, and I shrank from it with disgust.
+
+"I will not go to this house, Count," said I, resolutely. "I foresee
+that somehow or other an interest would attach to me to which I can lay
+no claim. Neither Madame von Geysiger, nor any belonging to her, could
+have known my parents. Their walk in life was of the very humblest."
+
+"I have not said she did, my dear friend," said he, soothingly, "nor
+is it exactly generous to be so suspectful of one whose only feeling
+towards you is that of kindness and good will. Once for all, if you
+desire it, I will allude no further to this subject here or elsewhere."
+
+"On that condition I will accompany you," said I.
+
+He pressed my hand as if in recognition of the compact, and we entered
+the house.
+
+There were not above half-a-dozen carriages at the door; but still I
+could perceive, as we passed through the salons, that a very numerous
+company was assembled. It was exactly what the Count said,--a rendezvous
+where all came to wind up the evening; and here were some in all the
+blaze of diamonds, and in the splendor of full dress; others less
+magnificently attired, and some again in their walking costume. The
+suite of rooms then open were not the state ones in use for great
+occasions, but a ground floor, opening by several doors upon a handsome
+pleasure ground, that blending of copse and "bosquet," of terrace and
+shady alley, which foreigners call an English garden.
+
+Here and there through this, many of the Company lounged and loitered,
+enjoying the cool of a summer night in preference to the heated and
+crowded rooms within. We were not long in search of our hostess when
+she came towards us,--a large, full, but still handsome person,
+magnificently attired, and with somewhat of what I, at least, fancied
+the assured air and bearing of the stage.
+
+To the Count she was most cordial; while to me her manner was courteous
+in the extreme. She regretted that we had not come earlier, and
+mentioned the names of some one or two distinguished visitors who had
+just left. After some little conversation on commonplace matters,
+I joined a party at ombre, a game of which I was fond, and where,
+fortunately, I found the players satisfied to contend for stakes humble
+enough for my means. The Count had, meanwhile, given his arm to the
+hostess, and was making a tour of the company. He appeared to have
+acquaintance with every one. Indeed, with most it was an easy intimacy;
+and all saluted him as one they were glad to welcome. I watched him with
+considerable curiosity, for I own the man was a puzzle to me. At times
+I half persuaded myself that he was something very much above the
+condition he assumed; and at other moments I suspected him to be below
+even that. If he be an impostor, thought I, assuredly there are more
+dupes than me, and in this very room too. My game soon absorbed my
+attention, and I ceased to think of or look after him. I know not how
+long this may have lasted; but I remember, when lifting my head from
+my cards, I saw straight in front of me Madame von Geysiger steadily
+contemplating me through her glass, and standing, to do so, in an
+attitude that implied profound scrutiny. The moment she caught my eye
+she dropped her "lorgnette," and hurried away, in what was clear to see
+was an air of confusion.
+
+It immediately struck me that the Count had broken faith with me, and,
+whatever his secret scheme, had revealed it to the lady; and, indignant
+at the treachery, I would have risen at once from the table if I could;
+as it was, I took the very first opportunity that presented itself,
+and, by feigning the fatigue of a long journey, I made my excuses and
+withdrew.
+
+My next care was to leave the house without attracting any notice; and
+so I mingled with the crowd, and held on my way towards the room by
+which we had entered. The dense throng interrupted my progress; and
+in order to make my escape more rapidly, I passed out into the garden,
+intending to enter the house again by some door lower down. To do
+so more secretly, I moved into one of the dark alleys, which, after
+following some time, brought me out upon a little open space, with a
+small marble fountain spouting its tiny jet in the midst of a clear
+and starlit pond. Though so near to the house, the spot was still and
+noiseless, for the thick copse on every side effectually excluded sound.
+The calming influence of the silence and the delicious freshness of the
+night air induced me to linger here for a while; and even longer, too,
+I should have stayed, had not the sound of voices warned me that some
+persons were approaching. That they might pass without observing me, I
+stepped hastily into the bosquet, and concealed myself in the thick and
+leafy cover. My misery and terror may be imagined when I heard my own
+name uttered, and then perceived that it was the Count and Madame von
+Geysiger, who now stood within a few feet of where I was, in deep and
+secret conference.
+
+Not all my training in my odious mode of life had reconciled me to the
+part of an eavesdropper. Yet what could I do? Should I discover myself,
+no explanation could possibly account for my situation, nor would any
+assurances on my part have satisfied them of my ignorance. I will not
+presume to say that if these were my first thoughts, my second, with
+some tinge of sophistry, suggested that if treachery were intended me,
+it would be unpardonable in me to neglect the means of defeating it.
+There is assuredly a stronger impulse in curiosity, united with fear,
+than exists in most other incentives; for, reason how I would, it was
+impossible for me to resist the temptation thus presented to me.
+
+"You mistake him, Anatole," said the lady; "believe me, you mistake
+him. I have watched his countenance, and read it carefully as he sat at
+cards, and my interpretation of him is, that he would never consent."
+
+"The greater fool he, then," replied the other. "Take my word for it,
+his splendid abilities will not stand him in such stead as his mongrel
+parentage and mongrel tongue. But I do not, cannot, agree with you. It
+is just possible that so long as the world goes smoothly with him, and
+no immediate pressure of any kind exists, that he might refuse. But why
+need that continue? If fortune will deal him bad cards, don't you think
+we might contrive to shuffle the pack ourselves?"
+
+She muttered something I could not hear, and he quickly rejoined,--
+
+"Even for that I am not unprepared; no, no. Be assured of one thing, he
+may decline, but will not defy us."
+
+"I know where your confidence is, Count," said she; "but that rapier of
+yours has got you into more trouble than it has ever worked you good."
+
+"Parbleu, I have no reason to be ungrateful to it!" replied he,
+laughing; "and, perhaps, with all its rust, it may do some service yet."
+
+"At all events," said she, "bethink you well of the consequences before
+you admit him to any confidence. Remember that when once he is intrusted
+with our plan, he is the master of our secret, and we are without a
+remedy.--Pshaw!" said she, scornfully, as if in reply to some gesture on
+his part; "that remedy may be applied once too often."
+
+My heart beat fast and full as I heard these words, whose significance
+there could not be a doubt of, as the same curiosity to discover some
+clew to the scheme by which I was to be snared was superior to all my
+fears, and I half resolved, at whatever risk it might cost, to suffer
+myself to be drawn into the intrigue. They now moved on, and though I
+could hear their voices stop in low discourse, I could not detect the
+words they uttered. It was evident that some proposition was to be
+made to me, the rejection of which on my part might involve me in the
+greatest peril. With what straining ingenuity did I endeavor to divine
+what this might be! In all likelihood, it referred to some political
+intrigue, for which my character as a "secret agent" might seem to adapt
+me. Yet some of the expressions they had let drop by no means favored
+this interpretation. What could my "mongrel nationality," as the Count
+styled it, avail me in such a conjuncture?
+
+As these thoughts were chasing each other through my mind, I was
+threading my way through the salons, and at length, to my sincere
+satisfaction, found myself in the open street. By the time I reached
+the hotel I had made up my mind to start at once on my mission, without
+waiting for the Count's arrival. I hastily scratched a few lines
+of commonplace acknowledgment for his attentions to me, and
+half-significantly adding that I hoped to express them personally when
+we met again, wished him a "good journey," and then set out on my own.
+
+During the rest of that night, and, indeed, for a great part of the
+following day, I did not feel satisfied with myself for what I had done.
+It was, indeed, an inglorious mode of escaping from a difficulty,
+and argued more of fear than resolution. As time wore on, however, I
+reasoned myself into the notion that against secret treachery, courage
+and firmness avail little, and if a well-planned scheme was about to
+environ me, I had done the wisest thing in the emergency.
+
+I suppose the experience of others will bear me out in saying that the
+actual positive ills of life are more easily endured than the vague and
+shadowy dangers which seem to hover over the future, and darken the road
+before us. The calamities that lie in ambush for us are ever present to
+our thoughts. The hour of our misfortune may be to-day, to-morrow, or
+the day after. Every chance incident of untoward aspect may herald the
+bad tidings, and we live in unceasing expectancy of evil. Do what I
+would, a dreary and despondent gloom now settled on me; I felt as if
+I were predestined to some grievous misfortune, against which I was
+utterly powerless, and the hour of which I could neither hasten nor
+retard. How bitterly I reproached myself for making an acquaintance with
+the Count! For years I had lived a life of solitary seclusion, avoiding
+even the commonest forms of acquaintanceship. The shame my calling
+inspired me with made me reluctant to know those who, perhaps, when they
+discovered me to be the spy, would have regarded me with aversion! Not
+that in reality the odious epithet could, with any fairness, be applied
+to me. My "secret agency" had not risen beyond the mere functions of
+a messenger; and though at times I was intrusted with verbal
+communications, they were delivered in confidence of my trustworthiness,
+and not imparted in any reliance on my skill to improve them; but I
+cannot stoop to apologize for a condition to which bitter necessity
+reduced me, and which I clung to as offering the last remnant of hope
+to find out those who, of all the world, were the only ones who bore me
+affection.
+
+I have already said that this hope was now fast dying out; repeated
+disappointment had all but extinguished it; and it was only when
+the name "Reichenau" had again stirred its almost cold embers that I
+determined on this last chance ere I abandoned my career forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV. "DISCOVERIES"
+
+Only ye who have felt what it is after long years of absence, after
+buffeting with the wild waves of life, and learning by heart that bitter
+lesson they call the world, to come back to what was once a home, can
+form some notion of the mingled emotions of joy and sorrow with which I
+drew near Reichenau.
+
+As the road grew gradually more steep, and the mountain gorge became
+narrower and wilder, I found myself at each moment in sight of some
+well-remembered object. Now it was a well beside which I had often
+rested; now a cross or a shrine beneath which I had knelt. Here was a
+rocky eminence I had climbed, to gain a wider view of the winding valley
+before me; here was a giant oak under which I had sheltered from a
+storm. Every turn of the way brought up some scene, some incident, or
+some train of long-forgotten thought of that time when, as a boy, I
+wandered all alone, weaving fancies of the world, and making myself the
+hero of a hundred stories. Sad and sorrowful as it is to reckon scores
+with our hopes and mark how little life has borne out the promises
+of our youth, yet I cannot help thinking that our grief is nobly
+recompensed by the very memory of that time, that glorious time, when,
+shadowed by no scepticism, nor darkened by any distrust, we were happy
+and hopeful and confiding. It is not alone that we recur to those
+memories with pleasure, but we are actually better for the doing so.
+They tell of a time when our hearts were yet uncorrupted, our ambitions
+were noble, and our aspirations generous. They remind us of a period
+when the episodes of life rarely outlived the day, and our griefs never
+endured through half the night. And so comes it that when, in after
+years, we are tired and careworn by the world, it is not to our
+experience of mankind we look for support and comfort, but to the time
+when, in happy innocence, we wandered all alone, peopling space with
+images of kindness and goodness, and making for ourselves an ideal
+world, so much better than the real one!
+
+It was sunset. The "Angelus" was ringing as I entered Reichenau, and
+the postilion--a mountaineer--reverently descended from the saddle, and
+knelt upon the roadside in silent prayer. How long was it since I had
+witnessed even so much of devotion! The world in which I had mixed
+had its occupations of intrigue and plot, its schemes of greatness and
+wealth and power, but no space for thoughts like those of this poor
+peasant. Alas! and was I not myself corrupted by their contact? That
+penitent attitude--that prayerful look--those clasped hands--were now
+all objects of astonishment to me, when once I had deemed them the fit
+accompaniment of the hour. Too truly was I changed from what I had been!
+
+Night was falling fast as we reached the bridge, and a light twinkled
+in the little window which had once been the Herr Robert's. A little
+further on, I saw the chateau and the terrace; then came the tower of
+the old church; and as we turned into the Platz, I beheld the arched
+gateway, and the small diamond-paned window of the little inn. How sadly
+did they all remind me of my solitary existence! for here, in the midst
+of every object of my childish memory, was I, friendless and alone.
+A little crowd gathered around the carriage as I got out. The staring
+rustics little thought that he who then descended had been, perhaps,
+their playfellow and companion. The postilion had styled me an
+"Excellency," and the landlord received me with all his deference.
+
+I pretended that I should stay a day or two, in expectation of a
+friend's arrival, and ordered the best rooms in the house; and, as was
+not unusual in those days, begged the favor of my host's company
+at supper. The invitation was gladly accepted, and Herr Kirschler
+entertained me till past midnight with an account of Reichenau and its
+inhabitants. I affected to know the village as a mere traveller who had
+passed through it some years back, on my way to Italy; and the host,
+with true innkeeper memory, remembered me perfectly. I was fatter,
+or thinner, or browner, or somewhat paler than before, but in other
+respects little changed. So, at least, he told me, and I accepted the
+description. I reminded him that when I last came through, the chateau
+had been a school: was it so still?
+
+"Yes; and Monsieur Jost was still the master, although now very old and
+infirm, and, of course, little able to direct it. In fact, he devoted
+his time far more to beetles and butterflies than to the boys; and
+so most of the scholars had left him, and the school was rapidly
+declining."
+
+I turned the conversation on Reichenau itself, and asked in a careless
+tone if strangers ever sought it as a residence. He shook his head
+sorrowfully, and said rarely, if ever.
+
+"There had," he added, "been one or two families who had fled thither
+on the outbreak of the French Revolution, but they had long since taken
+their departure. One of them," added he, rising, and opening the window,
+"one of them lived yonder, where your Excellency sees that old tower;
+and mean as it looks without, I can assure you it is still poorer
+within; and yet they were noble,--at least, so it was said here."
+
+"You cannot remember the name?" said I.
+
+"No; but it is written in one of my old ledgers."
+
+"Will you do me the kindness to look for it?" said I, "as these things
+have a deep interest for me, since I have known so many of the exiled
+families."
+
+It was in no spirit of curiosity that I made this request; I needed
+nothing to aid me. There stood the old tower which contained my
+play-room; there, the little window at which I have sat, silent and
+alone, whole nights long. It was to conceal my emotion that I wished him
+away; and scarcely had he left the room, when I hid my face within my
+hands and sobbed aloud. The search occupied him some time; and when he
+returned, I had recovered myself sufficiently to escape his notice.
+
+"Well, have you found it?" said I.
+
+"Yes, your Excellency, here it is,--in the lady's own writing too."
+
+The words were simply the routine entry of travellers in the
+"police-sheet" of the hotel, stating that Madame la Comtesse de Gabriac,
+accompanied by _son secretaire_. Monsieur Raper, had passed two days
+there, and then departed for------. The word had been written, and then
+blotted out.
+
+"For where?" asked I.
+
+"That is the strangest point of all," said he; "for after having taken
+the places for Milan, and their passports all vised for that city, when
+day broke they were not to be found. Some peasants, who came to market
+that day, thought they had seen them on the mountains taking the path to
+Feldkirch; but wherever they went, they were never heard of more."
+
+"Do you mean that they had to set out on foot?"
+
+"Parbleu! your Excellency; the route they took can be travelled in no
+other fashion."
+
+"But their baggage, their effects"
+
+"They were of the lightest, I assure you," said he, laughing. "Madame
+la Comtesse carried hers in a kerchief, and Monsieur le Secretaire had a
+common soldier's knapsack, and a small bundle in his hand, when he came
+here."
+
+I suppose the expression of my face at the ribald tone of this remark
+must have intimated what I felt, but 'tried to conceal, since he
+speedily corrected himself, and said, in a voice of apology,--
+
+"It is not, assuredly, at their poverty I would sneer, your Excellency;
+but for persons of their condition this was not the suitable way to
+travel."
+
+"Did they leave no friends behind them who might give a clew to their
+mysterious departure?"
+
+"Friends! No, your Excellency, they were too proud and too highly born
+for us of Reichenau,--at least, the Comtesse was; as for Monsieur Raper,
+poor fellow, he was a teacher at Monsieur Jost's yonder, and rarely seen
+amongst us."
+
+"And how do you explain it?--I mean, what explanation was the common one
+in vogue in the village?"
+
+"As for that, there were all manner of rumors. Some said they had fled
+from their debts, which was false; for they had sold the little they
+possessed, and came to pass the two last days here while paying whatever
+they owed in the village. Some thought that they had been hiding from
+justice, and that their refuge had been at last discovered; and some,
+among whom I confess myself one, think that it was with reference to the
+Count's affairs that they had taken to flight."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked I.
+
+"Oh, De Gabriac was a 'bad subject,' and, if report speak truly, was
+implicated in many crimes. One thing is certain: before they had been
+gone a week, the gensdarmes were here in search of him; they ransacked
+the lodging for some clew to his hiding-place, and searched the post for
+letters to or from him."
+
+"And so you think that it was probably to avoid him that she fled?" said
+I, hazarding a question, to obtain a fuller admission than he had made.
+
+"That is precisely my opinion; and when I tell your Excellency that it
+was on receiving a letter from Paris, most probably from him, that she
+hastily sold off everything, you will possibly be of my mind also."
+
+"And Gabriac, did he ever appear here again?"
+
+"Some say he did; but it is doubtful. One thing, however, is certain:
+there was a teacher here in Monsieur Jost's academy, a certain Monsieur
+Augustin, who gave lessons in mathematics, and the secret police gave
+him some tidings that made him also leave this; and the report is,
+that Gabriac was somehow the cause of this. Nobody ever thought ill of
+Augustin, and it is hard to believe he was Gabriac's accomplice."
+
+I could perceive, from this reply of the host, that he was "all
+abroad" as to any real knowledge of events, and had only got some faint
+glimmerings of the truth. I now suffered him to run on about people
+and occurrences of which I knew nothing, so as to divert him from any
+attention to myself, and then betook me to my bed with an anxious mind
+and a wearied one.
+
+I was up early the next morning, and hastened to the chateau, where
+I found my old master already up, and walking in the garden. He was,
+indeed, much changed. Time had told heavily on him too, and he seemed
+far more feeble than I expected to find him. The letter with which I was
+charged for him invited him to make me any confidential communication he
+desired to impart, and to regard me as trustworthy in all respects. He
+read it over, I should think, several times; for he sat down on a bench,
+and seemed to study it profoundly.
+
+"You shall have the papers," said he at length; "but I doubt that they
+will be found of use now. Dumourier's influence is at an end with his
+old adherents. The party is broken up; and, so far as human foresight
+can go, the cause is lost."
+
+"I ought to tell you, Monsieur Jost," then broke I in, "that although
+you are speaking to one who will not abuse your confidence, that it is
+also one who knows nothing of the plan you speak of."
+
+He appeared to reflect some minutes over my words, and then said,--
+
+"These are matters, however, not for my judgment. If the Prince think
+well of the scheme, it is enough."
+
+I saw that this was said unconsciously and to himself, and so I made no
+remark on it.
+
+"At all events, Monsieur Gervois," continued he, "let them not build
+upon many whose names are here. We saw what Dejaunay became t' other
+day. Jussard is little better than a spy for the First Consul; and as
+for Gabriac, to whom we all trusted, he would have been even worse than
+a spy, if his villany had succeeded."
+
+"You knew him, then, sir?" asked I.
+
+"Knew him! Parbleu! I did know him; and better, too, than most did! I
+always said he would play the traitor,--not to one, but to every cause.
+He was false to all, sir," said he, with increasing bitterness,--"to his
+King; to that King's enemies; to the Convention; to the 'Emigration;' to
+the nobles; to the people: false everywhere and to every one! False to
+her who bore his name, and to her whom he led away to ruin,--that poor
+girl, whose father's chivalrous loyalty alone might have protected
+her--How do you call him?--the Marquis de Bresinart? No, not him; I mean
+that old loyalist leader who lived near Valence."
+
+"Not the Marquis de Nipernois?" said I, in trembling eagerness.
+
+"The same; the Marquis de Nipernois, to whose daughter he was once
+betrothed, and whose fair fame and name he has tarnished forever!"
+
+"You do not mean that Gabriac was the seducer of Madame de Bertin?" said
+I.
+
+"The world knows it as well as I do; and although one alone ever dared
+to deny it, and branded the tale with the epithet of base scandal, she
+came at last to see its truth; and her broken heart was the last of his
+triumphs!"
+
+"You speak of the Countess,--his wife?"
+
+He grasped my hand within one of his own, and pressed the other across
+his eyes, unable to speak, through emotion. Nor were my feelings less
+moved. What a terrible revelation was this! Misfortune upon misfortune,
+and De Gabriac the cause of all!
+
+For a moment I thought of declaring myself to be his old pupil, and the
+child who had called that dear Comtesse "mother;" but the morbid shame
+with which I remembered what I then was, stopped me, and I was silent.
+
+"You know, of course, whither she went from this, and what became of
+her?" asked I, anxiously.
+
+"Yes. I had two letters from her,--at long intervals, though; the last,
+when about to sail for Halifax--"
+
+"For Halifax!--gone to America?"
+
+"Even so. She said that the Old World had been long unkind to her, and
+that she would try the New! and then as their only friend in Hamburg was
+dead--"
+
+"They were at Hamburg!--you did not say that?" said I.
+
+"Yes, to be sure. Monsieur Raper, who was a worthy, good man, and a
+smart scholar besides, had obtained the place of correspondence clerk in
+a rich mercantile house in that city, where he lived with credit, till
+the death of the head of the firm. After that, I believe the house
+ceased business, or broke up. At all events, Raper was thrown on the
+world again, and resolved to emigrate. I suppose if Monsieur Geysiger
+had lived--"
+
+"Geysiger!--is that the name you said?"
+
+"Ay; Adam Geysiger,--the great house of Geysiger, Mersman, and Dorth, of
+Hamburg, the first merchants of that city."
+
+Though he continued to talk on, I heard no more; my thoughts become
+confused, and my head felt turning with the intense effort to collect
+myself. Geysiger? thought I; the very house where I had been at
+Hamburg,--where I had overheard the project of a plan against myself!
+Could it be, that through all my disguise of name and condition, that
+they knew me? With what increase of terror did this discovery come upon
+me! If they have, indeed, recognized me, it may be that some scheme
+is laid against my life. I could not tell how or whence this suspicion
+came; but, doubtless, some chance word let drop before me in my infancy,
+and dormant since in my mind, now rushed forth to my recollection with
+all the power of a fact!
+
+I questioned the old man about this Geysiger,--where he had lived, whom
+he had married, and so on; but he only knew that his wife had been an
+actress. I did not ask for more. The identity was at once established.
+I next tried to find out if any relations of friendship or intimacy
+had subsisted between the Comtesse and Madame de Geysiger; but, on the
+contrary, he told me they had not met nor known each other when she
+wrote to him; and her stay after that in Hamburg was very brief. I
+wearied him with asking to repeat for me several circumstances of
+these strange revelations; nor was it till I saw him fatigued and half
+exhausted that I could prevail on myself to cease. I had now loitered
+here to the last limit of my time; and, with an affectionate leave of
+my kind old master, I left Reichenau to make my way with all speed to
+England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI. THE ORDEAL
+
+My first care on arriving in England was to resign my post as an "Agent
+secret." This was not, however, so easily accomplished as I thought; for
+the Royalists had more than once before discovered that those in their
+employment had been seduced into the service of their enemies, whose
+rewards were greater, and who had a large field of patronage at their
+disposal. Unable to prevent these desertions by the inducements of
+profit, they had resorted to a system of secret intimidation and menace
+which unquestionably had its influence over many.
+
+I have not space here to dwell on a theme, some of whose details might,
+however, prove amusing, illustrating as they did the mysterious working
+of that Jesuit element which labored so zealously and so long in the
+cause of the Restoration. There is a little work still extant, called
+"L'Espionage et ses Dangers," by Jules Lacoste, published at Bruxelles,
+in 1802, which gives, if not a perfectly authentic, at least a very
+graphic, description of this curious system. The writer distinctly
+alleges that five of his colleagues met their deaths by poison, on mere
+suspicion of their disloyalty, and gives the names of several whose
+impaired faculties and shattered health showed that they had narrowly,
+but perhaps not more fortunately, escaped a similar fate.
+
+For my own part I must own that such perils were not mine. It is true,
+I was asked to reconsider my determination. It was at first hinted
+vaguely, and then positively assured me, that my long and faithful
+services were on the eve of a high and substantial recognition. I was
+even told that my own wishes would be consulted as to the nature of my
+reward, since I was not to be treated like one of the mere herd. When
+all these temptations were found to fail, I was left, as it were, to
+reflect on the matter, while in reality a still more ingenious and
+artful scheme was drawn around me; the Abbe being employed as its chief
+agent. Affecting, in a measure, to coincide with and even encourage my
+determination, he invited me constantly to his lodgings, and by degrees
+insinuated himself into my confidence. At least he learned that it was
+in pure disgust of the career itself that I desired to forsake it, and
+not with any prospect of other advancement in life. He sought eagerly to
+discover the secret subject which engaged my thoughts, for I could
+not succeed in concealing my deep pre-occupation; but he cautiously
+abstained from ever obtruding even a word of question or inquiry. Nor
+did his ardor stop here; he studied my tastes, my passions, and my
+disposition, as subjects for successful temptation. I was young,
+high-couraged, and enthusiastic; and yet he found me indifferent to
+pleasure, and indisposed to society and its amusements. He knew me to
+be poor, and yet saw clearly that wealth did not dazzle me. I was humble
+and unknown; yet no recognition of the high and great could stir my
+heart nor awaken my ambitions. He was too well read in human nature
+to accept these as signs of an apathetic and callous disposition: he
+recognized them rather as evidences of a temperament given up to some
+one and engrossing theme.
+
+I own that in my utter destitution there was a pleasing flattery to me
+in this pursuit; and I could not but feel gratified at the zeal with
+which he seemed to devote himself to comprehend me. He exposed me to the
+various subjects of temptation which so successfully assail youth; but
+he perceived that not one could touch the secret cord of my nature.
+To some I was averse; I was indifferent to others. He took me into
+society,--that circle of his intimates, which really in conversational
+excellence surpassed anything I had ever met before; and although I
+enjoyed it at the time, I could refrain from frequenting it without a
+regret.
+
+"You are a puzzle to me, Bernard," said he, addressing me by my former
+"sobriquet," which he always used in private; "I want to see you take
+interest in something, and show that humanity is not dead within you;
+but nothing seems to touch, nothing to attract you; and yet it was not
+thus that Sister Ursule first represented you to me. She spoke of you
+as one that could be warmed by the zeal of a great cause, and whose
+faculties would expand when once engaged in it. If the monarchy be too
+mean for your ambition, what say you to the church?"
+
+I pleaded my unworthiness, but he stopped me, saying:
+
+"The career it is that creates the man. Only resolve firmly to fulfil a
+duty, and mark how capacity comes of mere volition! Ursule herself is
+an instance of what I say. Bred up amidst those who only cared for the
+world and its vanities, see what she became by the working of noble
+devotion, and see what has Margot sunk to for want of it!"
+
+"Margot! what of her?" asked I, eagerly. "You did not tell me that you
+had tidings of her."
+
+The sallow cheek of the Abbe seemed tinged with a faint color as I
+uttered these words with unusual warmth. Whatever his feelings, however,
+they were quickly under control, as he said,--
+
+"Margot has fallen,--fallen as never before fell one of her high
+estate!"
+
+I could not speak from emotion, but by my anxious look I entreated him
+to continue. The recital, as he gave it, was a long one, but briefly
+told was this: Margot had been "prepared" by her sister for admission
+into the restored convent of the "Chaise Dieu," and at length had
+entered upon her novitiate. This being completed, she had returned home,
+in compliance with the precepts of the order, to mix in the world and
+its pleasures for three months,--the abandonment of such temptation
+being accepted as the best evidence of fitness for the last solemn vow.
+Dangerous as such an ordeal would seem, yet scarcely ever is one found
+to fail under it. The long previous training of the mind, the deep
+impression made by a life of unbroken devotion, and that isolation
+that comes of a conventual existence, joined to the sense of disgrace
+attendant on desertion, all combined to make the novice faithful to her
+first pledge. The trial is, therefore, little other than a formality,
+and she who goes through it seems rather a martyr suffering torture,
+than a youthful spirit taking its last fleeting glimpse of joy forever!
+
+To fulfil this accustomed ceremonial--for it was simply such--Margot
+came home to her father's house. The violent spirit of the Revolutionary
+period had given way to a more calm and dispassionate tone, and already
+the possessors of ancient names and titles were returning to the respect
+they once were held in. In the little village of Linange the old Marquis
+was now esteemed a high personage,--by some, indeed, was he placed above
+the "Maire" himself. To do his daughter honor was, therefore, a duty;
+and every one whose rank gave them the pretension, endeavored to show
+her some mark of respect and attention. Small as the community was, it
+had its dignitaries and its leaders, and they vied with each other on
+this occasion.
+
+Margot had been a favorite, she was about to be a nun,--two claims which
+appeal to the heart by separate roads; for, while one exacts admiration,
+the other disarms jealousy. Thus, even they who would have felt the
+rivalry of her beauty as a subject of irritation, could now bestow their
+praises on her without a pang. This flattery of admiration from every
+quarter was too much for the brain of one whose chief fault was vanity.
+The splendor of her dress, the presents lavished on her, the worship
+which reached her wherever she went, all served to heighten the
+fascination; and while Ursule prayed and entreated her to remember that
+these were but as the flowers that deck the victim at the altar, she
+would not heed her. How could she? Was not the swell of approving
+voices which met her in society louder than the faint whisperings of her
+sister's admonition? How could the cold warnings of prudence stem the
+torrent of adulation that swept through her heart? She was conscious,
+too, of her beauty; and, for the first time, felt that its influence was
+experienced by others. The reputation of the lovely novice spread far
+and near, and strangers came to Linange to see and speak with her. The
+little weekly receptions at the "Mairie" were crowded with new faces.
+Officers from the garrison at Valence, and travellers, were continually
+arriving; and "La Belle Margot" was a toast pledged by hundreds who
+never saw her.
+
+From Ursule alone came words of warning. The world of her acquaintance
+met her with nothing but flattery, and flattery, too, more palpably
+expressed than is usual, since used to one upon whom, in a few days,
+life was to close forever.
+
+Margot was told that, to waste her charms on the dull world of a little
+village was an insult to her own beauty, and that Valence, which so
+long had heard of should certainly see her. She believed this, and
+accordingly insisted on going there. At Valence her triumphs were
+greater than ever; but there she heard that Paris alone could rightly
+appreciate loveliness such as hers. They told her, too, that it was
+an age in which beauty was sovereign; and the nation, wearied of a
+monarchy, had accepted military glory and female loveliness as the true
+elements of command. The will of the novice is a law at this period, and
+the old Marquis, who had now regained some remnant of his fortune, set
+out for Paris.
+
+The most hackneyed in the world's ways knows well with what a sense
+of enjoyment he finds himself in Paris, the most brilliant of all the
+cities of the earth. The gorgeous panorama of life that passes there
+before his eyes has nowhere its equal. What, then, must it have appeared
+to the fresh enthusiasm of that young girl, eager for pleasure, for
+excitement and admiration!
+
+At first her whole soul was bent upon the gorgeous spectacle before
+her,--the splendor of a scene such as she in imagination had never
+realized. The palaces, the military pomp, the equipages, the dress, were
+far above all she had conceived of magnificence and display; but the
+theatres imparted a delight to her beyond all the rest. The ideal world
+that she saw there typified a world of passionate feeling, of love,
+joy, ambition, and triumph! What a glorious contrast to the grave-like
+stillness of the convent,--to the living death of a poor nun's
+existence! It is true, she had been taught to regard these things as
+sinful, and as the base conceptions of a depraved nature; she had even
+come to witness them to confirm the abhorrence in which she held them,
+and show that they appealed to no one sentiment of her heart. Alas! the
+experiment was destined to prove too costly.
+
+The splendor, the beauty, the glowing language of the scene, the
+strains of music, softer and more entrancing than ever swept across her
+senses,--the very picturesque effect of everything,--varied with every
+artifice of light and shadow, carried her away, and bore her to an ideal
+world, where she, too, had her homage of devotion, where her beauty
+had its worshippers, and she was herself loved. It was in vain that she
+tried to reason herself out of these fancies, and regard such displays
+as unreal and fictitious. Had they been so, thought she, they could not
+appeal, as I see and know they do, to the sympathies of those thousands
+whose breasts are heaving in suspense, and whose hearts are throbbing
+in agony. But more than that, she beheld the great actress of the day
+received with all the homage rendered to a queen in the real world.
+
+If ever there was one calculated to carry with her from the stage into
+society all the admiration she excited, it was that admirable actress
+who was then at the very outset of that brilliant career which for
+nigh half a century adorned the French stage, and rendered it the most
+celebrated in Europe. Young, beautiful in the highest sense of the word,
+with a form of perfect mould, gifted and graceful in every gesture, with
+a voice of thrilling sweetness and a manner that in the highest circles
+found no superior, Mademoiselle Mars brought to her profession traits
+and powers, any one of which might have insured success. I remember her
+well! I can bring to mind the thundering applause that did not wait for
+her appearance on the boards, but announced her coming; that gorgeous
+circle of splendid and apparelled beauty, stimulated to a momentary
+burst of enthusiasm; that waving pit, rocking and heaving like a stormy
+sea,--the hoarse bray of ten thousand voices, rude and ruthless enough
+many of them, and yet all raised in homage of one who spoke to the
+tenderest feelings of the heart, and whose accents were the softest
+sounds that ever issued from human lips. And I remember, too, how, at
+the first syllable she uttered, that deafening clamor would cease, and,
+by an impulse that smote every one of that vast assemblage in the same
+instant of time, the stillness was like the grave!
+
+Margot became so fascinated by her that she would not lose one single
+night when she performed. It was at first a pleasure,--it then became
+a passion with her. The real life she mixed in became poor, weak, and
+uninteresting beside the world of intense feeling the stage presented.
+The one seemed all false, unreal, and fictitious; the other truthful,
+and addressing itself to the heart direct.
+
+Mademoiselle Mars herself at length remarked the lovely girl who, with
+eager gaze and steadfast, sat each night in the same place, indifferent
+to everything save the business of the scene. She felt the power she
+exercised over her, and saw how her whole nature was her captive. Once
+or twice their eyes actually met, and Margot felt at the moment that she
+was beneath the glance of one who read her very thoughts, and knew each
+working of her heart.
+
+A few nights after this, they met in society, and Mademoiselle Mars,
+without introduction of any kind, approached and spoke to her. The
+words were few and commonplace,--some half apology for a liberty, an
+expression of pleasure at meeting her, and a kind of thankful return for
+the attention by which she marked her. She saw the attraction which the
+stage possessed for her, and made it the subject of their conversation.
+The great actress was herself an enthusiast about her art, and when
+she spoke of it, her genius kindled at once, and her words rose to high
+eloquence. She told Margot the whole story of her own devotion to
+the stage,--how she had been destined to the cloister, and that an
+accidental visit to the theatre at Nancy had determined the entire
+fortunes of her life. "I felt within me," said she, "a power of
+expression that I could not bear to bury beneath the veil of the nun.
+The poetry that stirred my heart should find its utterance; nor could
+I endure the stormy conflict of passion that raged within me, save in
+giving it a form and a shape. I became an actress for myself; and hence
+perhaps why I have met with the applause of others."
+
+Margot's acquaintance thus casually formed ripened into intimacy, and
+quickly into a close friendship. The ritual that prescribed the ordeal
+through which she was going, ordained that it should be restricted by
+scarcely a limit. The novice was really to be her own mistress for a
+brief season in that world she was to leave so soon and forever.
+
+She now accompanied Mademoiselle Mars not only into the wide circle of
+Parisian society, but into that far more seductive one which consisted
+of her most intimate friends. Here she met all that boasted of artistic
+excellence in the capital,--the brilliant dramatist, the witty reviewer
+of the "Debats," the great actor,--it was Talma in those days,--the
+prima donna who was captivating all Europe, and a host of lesser
+celebrities, all brimful of spirits, joy, and gayety, as people with
+whom the world went well, and whose very business in it was that of
+pleasure and amusement. I need not trace the course by which Margot grew
+to a perfect infatuation with such company. Wiser and calmer heads than
+hers have been unable to resist the charms of a society made up of such
+elements, nor was she herself to pass without admiration from them.
+Her beauty and her youth, the mingled gentleness and energy of her
+temperament, her girlish modesty, blended with a highly-wrought
+enthusiasm, were exactly the qualities which they could value and
+appreciate.
+
+"What gifts for the stage!" said one of the greatest amongst them, one
+night; "if Mademoiselle was not a Marchioness, she might be a Mars."
+
+"But I am going to be a nun," said she, innocently; and a joyous burst
+of laughter received the speech. "It is quite true," said she, "and most
+unkind of you to laugh at me."
+
+"By Saint Denis, I'll go and turn Trappist or Carmelite to-morrow,"
+cried one, "if only to pay you a visit in your convent."
+
+"I wish they'd accept me as almoner to your cloister, Mademoiselle,"
+said Breslot, the comedian; "I'm getting tired of serious parts, and
+would like a little light business."
+
+"Am I the style of thing for a superior, think ye?" said Jossard, the
+life of the "Francais," throwing over his head a lace scarf of one of
+the ladies, and assuming a demure look of indescribable drollery.
+
+"How I should like to hear Mademoiselle recite those lines in your play
+of 'Cecile,' Monsieur Bertignac," said a famous actress of tragedy. "Her
+face, figure, voice, and air are perfect for them. I mean the farewell
+the novice takes of her sister as day is just breaking, and the distant
+bells of the cloister announce the approach of the ceremony."
+
+"Where's the book?--who has it?" called out three or four together.
+
+"The copies have been all seized by the police," said one. "Bertignac
+was suspected of a covert satire on the authorities."
+
+"Or they have been bought up for distribution by the Society of 'Bons
+Livres,'" said another; "and Bertignac is to be made Gentleman of the
+Pope's Antechamber."
+
+"Here is one, however, fortunately rescued," said Mademoiselle Mars,
+producing the volume, which Jossard quickly snatched from her, and
+began, in pompous tones, reciting the lines, beginning,--
+
+   "Sour de mon enfance, si je te quitte pour toujours."
+
+"An abominable line," cried one, "and perfectly impossible to give
+without a bassoon accompaniment for the last word."
+
+"The epithet, too, is downright nonsense. Why sister of her infancy? Did
+she cease to be so as she grew up?" said another.
+
+"I wrote the lines after supping with Breslot," said the author. "One is
+not accountable for words uttered in moments of debility and hunger."
+
+"Be the lines what they may, let us hear Mademoiselle read them," said
+Talma; "and I mistake greatly but, with all our studied accuracy,
+we shall learn something from one whose nature is not bound by our
+trammels."
+
+To have adventured on such a task, before such an audience, was more
+than Margot could dare to contemplate, and she grew faint and sick at
+the bare thought. They were not, however, of that mould which listens to
+excuses and refusals. The great familiarity which existed amongst them
+excluded all deference to individual likings or dislikings, and if
+servants of the public on the stage, off the boards they were the
+slaves of each other. Margot, almost lifeless with terror, was therefore
+obliged to comply. At first the words fell from her lips almost
+inaudibly; by degrees her voice gained strength, and only a tremulous
+accent betrayed the struggle within her. But at last, when she came to
+the part where the nun, as if asking herself whether the world and its
+fascinations had taken no hold upon her heart, confesses, with a burst
+of spirit-wrung misery, that it was so, and that to leave that joyous
+sunlight for the gloomy sepulchre of the cloister was worse than death
+itself, her utterance grew full and strong, her dark eyes flashed, her
+color heightened, her bosom heaved, and she gave the passage with such
+a burst of thrilling eloquence that the last words were drowned in
+thunders of applause, only hushed as they beheld her fall back fainting,
+and perfectly overcome by her emotions.
+
+"And you think you can take the veil, child?" asked Mademoiselle Mars,
+when they were alone.
+
+But Margot made no answer.
+
+"You believe, Margot, that it will be possible for you to stifle within
+you feelings such as these, and that the veil and the cord can change
+your nature? No, no! If the heart be not dead, it is cruelty to bury it.
+Yours is not so, and shall have another destiny."
+
+Mademoiselle Mars at once communicated with the old Marquis, and
+endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose regarding his granddaughter;
+but he would not listen to her arguments, nor heed her counsels. At
+first, indeed, he could not be brought to believe that Margot herself
+could concur in them. It seemed incredible to him that a child of
+his house could so far forget her station and self-respect as to avow
+herself unequal to any sacrifice or any trial, much less one in itself
+the noblest and the highest of all martyrdom.
+
+"You will see," cried he, eagerly, "that it is you--not I--have mistaken
+her. These gauds of the fashionable world have no real attraction for
+her. Her heart is within those walls, where, in a few days more, she
+will herself be forever. She shall come and tell you so with her own
+lips."
+
+He sent a servant to call her, but she was not to be found! He searched
+everywhere, but in vain. Margot was gone! From that day forth she was
+not to be met with. No means were spared in prosecuting the search.
+Mademoiselle Mars herself, deeply afflicted at any inducements she might
+have held forth to her, joined eagerly in the pursuit, but to no end.
+
+"But you cannot mean, Abbe," said I, as he completed the narrative,
+"that to this very hour no trace of her has been discovered?"
+
+"I will not say so much," said he; "for once or twice tidings have
+reached her friends that she was well and happy. The career she
+had chosen, she well knew would be regarded by her family as a deep
+degradation; and she only said to one who saw her, 'Tell them that their
+name shall not be dishonored. As for her who bears it, she deems herself
+ennobled by the stage!' She was in Italy when last heard of, and in the
+Italian theatres; and in some of Alfieri's pieces had earned the most
+triumphant successes. Poor girl! from her very cradle her destiny marked
+her for misfortune. What a mockery, then, these triumphs if she but
+recalls the disgrace by which they are purchased!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII. THE GLOOMIEST PASSAGE OF ALL
+
+Shall I own that Margot's story affected me in a very different
+manner from what the good Abbe had intended it should? I could neither
+sympathize with the outraged pride of the old Marquis, the offended
+dignity of family, nor with the insulted honor of the sacred vocation
+she had abandoned. My reflections took a very different form, and turned
+entirely upon the dangers of the career she had adopted,--perils which,
+from what I could collect of her character, were extremely likely to
+assail her. She was young, beautiful, gifted, and ambitious; and, above
+all, she was friendless. What temptations would not assail her,--by what
+flatteries would she not be beset! Would she be endowed with strength
+to resist these? Would the dignity of her ancient descent guard her, or
+would the enthusiasm for her art protect her? These were questions that
+I could not solve, or, rather, I solved them in many and different ways.
+For a long time had she occupied a great share in my heart; sometimes
+I felt towards her as towards a sister. I thought of the hours we had
+passed side by side over our books,--now working hard and eagerly, now
+silent and thoughtful, as some train of ideas would wile us away from
+study, and leave us forgetful of even each other,--till a chance word,
+a gesture, a sigh, would recall us, and then, interchanging our
+confessions,--for such they were,--we turned to our books again. But at
+other times I thought of her as one dearer still than this,--as of
+one to win whose praise I would adventure anything; whose chance words
+lingered in my memory, suggestive of many a hope, and, alas! many a
+fear. It is no graceful reflection to dwell upon, however truthful, that
+our first loves are the emanations of our self-esteem. They who first
+teach us to be heroes to our own hearts are our earliest idols. Ay, and
+with all the changes and chances of life, they have their altars within
+us to our latest years. Why should it not be so? What limit ought there
+to be to our gratitude to those who first suggested noble ambitions,
+high-soaring thoughts, and hopes of a glorious future,--who instilled in
+us our first pride of manhood, and made us seem worthy of being loved!
+
+Margot had done all this for me when but a child, and now she was a
+woman, beautiful and gifted! The fame of her genius was world-wide. Did
+she still remember me?--had she ever a thought for the long past hours
+when we walked hand-in-hand together, or sat silently in some summer
+arbor? I recalled all that she had ever said to me, in consolation of
+the past, or with hope for the future. I pondered over little incidents,
+meaningless at the time, but now full of their own strong significance;
+and I felt at last assured that, when she had spoken to me of ambitious
+darings and high exploits, she had been less exhorting me than giving
+utterance to the bursting feelings of her own adventurous spirit.
+
+Her outbreaks of impatience, her scarcely suppressed rebellion against
+the dull ritual of our village life, her ill-disguised suspicion of
+priestly influence, now rose before me; and I could see that the flame
+which had burst forth at last, had been smouldering for many a year
+within her. I could remember, too, the temper, little short of scorn, in
+which she saw me devote myself to Jesuit readings, and labor hard at the
+dry tasks the Sister Ursule had prescribed for me. And yet then all
+my ambitions were of the highest and noblest. I could have braved
+any dangers, or met any perils, in the career of a missionary! Labor,
+endurance, suffering, martyrdom itself, had no terror for me. How was
+it that this spirit did not touch her heart? Were all her sympathies
+so bound up with the world that every success was valueless that won
+no favor with mankind? Had she no test for nobility of soul save in
+recognition of society? When I tried to answer these questions, I
+suddenly bethought me of my own shortcomings. Where had this ambition
+led me,--what were its fruits? Had I really pursued the proud path
+I once tracked out for myself? or, worse thought again, had it no
+existence whatever? Were devotion, piety, and single-heartedness nothing
+but imposition, hypocrisy, and priestcraft? Were the bright examples
+of missionary enterprise only cheats? were all the narratives of their
+perilous existence but deception and falsehood? My latter experiences of
+life had served little to exalt the world in my esteem. I had far more
+frequently come into contact with corruption than with honesty. My
+experiences were all those of fraud and treachery,--of such, too, from
+men that the world reputed as honorable and high-minded. There was but
+one step more, and that a narrow one, to include the priest in the same
+category with the layman, and deem them all alike rotten and corrupted.
+I must acknowledge that the Abbe himself gave no contradiction to this
+unlucky theory. Artful and designing always, he scrupled at nothing to
+attain an object, and could employ a casuistry to enforce his views far
+more creditable to his craft than to his candor. I was no stranger to
+the arts by which he thought to entrap myself. I saw him condescend to
+habits and associates the very reverse of those he liked, in the hope
+of pleasing me; and even when narrating the story of Margot's fall,--for
+such he called it,---I saw him watching the impression it produced upon
+me, and canvassing, as it were, the chances that here at length might
+possibly be found the long-wished-for means of obtaining influence over
+me.
+
+"I do not ask of you," said he, as he concluded, "to see all these
+things as I see them. You knew them in their days of poverty and
+downfall; you have seen them the inhabitants of an humble village,
+leading a life of obscurity and privation,--their very pretension to
+rank and title a thing to conceal; their ancient blood a subject of
+scorn and insult. But I remember the Marquis de Nipernois a haughty
+noble in the haughtiest court of Europe; I have see that very Marquis
+receiving royalty on the steps of his own chateau, and have witnessed
+his days of greatness and grandeur."
+
+"True," said I, "but even with due allowance for all this, I cannot
+regard the matter in the same light that you do. To my eyes, there is no
+such dignity in the life of a nun, nor any such disgrace in that of an
+actress."
+
+I said this purposely in the very strongest terms I could employ, to see
+how he would reply to it.
+
+"And you are right, Gervois," said he, laying his hand affectionately on
+mine. "You are right. Genius and goodness can ennoble any station, and
+there are few places where such qualities exert such influence as the
+stage."
+
+I suffered him to continue without interruption in this strain,
+for every word he spoke served to confirm me in my suspicion of his
+dishonesty. Mistaking the attention with which I listened for an
+evidence of conviction, he enlarged upon the theme, and ended at last by
+the conclusion that to judge of Margot's actions fairly we should first
+learn her motives.
+
+"Who can tell," said he, "what good she may not have proposed to
+herself!--by what years of patient endurance and study--by what passages
+of suffering and sorrow--she may have planned some great and good
+object! It is a narrow view of life that limits itself to the day we
+live in. They who measure their station by the task they perform, and
+not by its results on the world at large, are but shortsighted mortals;
+and it is thus I would speak to yourself, Gervois. You are dissatisfied
+with your path in life. You complain of it as irksome, and even ignoble.
+Have you never asked yourself, is not this mere egotism? Have I the
+right to think only of what suits me, and accommodates itself to
+my caprices? Are there no higher objects than my pleasure or my
+convenience? Is the great fabric of society of less account than my
+likings or dislikings? Am I the judge, too, of the influence I may exert
+over others, or how my actions may sway the destinies of mankind? None
+should be more able to apply these facts than yourself,--you that in
+a rank of which you were, I must say unjustly, ashamed, and yet
+were oftentimes in possession of secrets on which thrones rested and
+dynasties endured."
+
+He said much more in the same strain; some of his observations being
+true and incontestable, and others the mere outpouring of his crafty and
+subtle intellect. They both alike fell unheeded by me now. Enough for
+me that I had detected, or fancied I had detected, him. I listened only,
+from curiosity, and as one listens for the last time.
+
+Yes! I vowed to myself that this should be our last meeting. I could not
+descend to the meanness of dissimulation, and affect a friendship I did
+not feel; nor could I expose myself to the chances of a temptation which
+assailed me in so many shapes and forms. I resolved, therefore, that I
+would not again visit the Abbe; and my only doubt was, whether I should
+not formally declare my determination.
+
+He had ceased to speak; and I sat, silently pondering this question in
+my own mind. I forgot that I was not alone, and was only conscious of my
+error when I looked up and saw his small and deep-set eyes firmly fixed
+upon me.
+
+"Well, be it so, Gervois," said he, calmly; "but let us part friends."
+
+I started, and felt my face and forehead burning with a sudden flush
+of shame. There are impulses that sway us sometimes stronger than our
+reason; but they are hurricanes that pass away quickly, and leave the
+bark of our destiny to sail on its course unswervingly.
+
+"You 'll come back to me one of these days, and I will be just as ready
+to say, 'Welcome!' as I now say 'Good-bye! good-bye!'" and, sorrowfully
+repeating the last word as he went, he waved his hand to me, and
+withdrew.
+
+For a moment I wished to follow him, to say I know not what; but calmer
+thoughts prevailed, and I left the house and wandered homewards. That
+same evening I sent in my demand of resignation, and the next morning
+came the reply according it. My first thought was a joyful sense of
+liberty and freedom from a bondage I had long rebelled against; my next
+was a dreary consciousness of my helpless and friendless condition
+in life. I opened my little purse upon the table, and spread out its
+contents before me. There were seven pounds and a few shillings. A
+portion of my salary was still due to me, but now I would have felt it
+a degradation to claim it, so odious had the career become in my eyes.
+
+I began to think over the various things for which my capacity might fit
+me. They seemed a legion when I stood in no need of them, and yet none
+now rose to my mind without some almost impassable barrier. I knew no
+art nor handicraft. My habits rendered me unequal to daily labor with
+my hands. I knew many things en amateur, but not as an artist. I could
+ride, draw, fence, and had some skill in music; but in not one of these
+could I compete with the humblest of those who taught them. Foreign
+languages, too, I could speak, read, and write well; but of any method
+to communicate their knowledge I had not the vaguest conception. After
+all, these seemed my best acquirements, and I determined to try and
+teach them.
+
+With this resolve I went out and spent two pounds of my little capital
+in books. It was a scanty library, but I arrayed it on a table next
+my window with pride and satisfaction. I turned over the leaves of my
+dictionary with something of the feeling with which a settler in a new
+region of the globe might have wandered through his little territory.
+
+My grammars I regarded as mines whose ores were to enrich me; and
+my well-thumbed copy of Telemachus, and an odd volume of Lessing's
+comedies, were in themselves stores of pleasure and amusement. I suppose
+it is a condition of the human mind that makes our enjoyments in the
+ratio of the sacrifices they have cost us. I know of myself, that
+since that day I now speak of, it has been my fortune to be wealthy, to
+possess around me every luxury my wish could compass, and yet I will
+own it, that I have never gazed on the well-filled shelves of a costly
+library, replete with every comfort, with a tithe of the satisfaction I
+then contemplated the two or three dog-eared volumes that lay before me.
+
+My first few days of liberty were passed in planning out the future.
+I studied the newspapers in hope of meeting something adapted to my
+capacity; but though in appearance no lack of these, I invariably found
+some fatal obstacle intervened to prevent my success. At one place,
+the requirements were beyond my means; at another, the salary was
+insufficient for bare support; and at one I remember my functions of
+teacher were to be united with menial offices against which my
+pride revolted. I resolved to adventure at last, and opened a little
+school,--an evening school for those whose occupations made the day too
+valuable to devote any part of it to education.
+
+At the end of some five weeks I had three pupils; hard-working and
+hard-worked men they were, who, steadily bent upon advancement in life,
+now entered upon a career of labor far greater than all they had ever
+encountered.
+
+Two were about to emigrate, and their studies were geography, with some
+natural history, and whatever I could acquire for them of information
+about the resources of a certain portion of Upper Canada. The third
+was a weaver, and desired to learn French in order to read the works of
+French mathematicians, at that time sparingly translated into English.
+He was a man of superior intellect, and capable of a high cultivation,
+but poor to the very last degree. The thirst for knowledge had possessed
+him exactly as the passion for gambling lays hold of some other men; he
+lived for nothing else. The defeats and difficulties he encountered but
+served to brace him to further efforts, and he seemed to forget all his
+privations and his poverty in the aim of his glorious pursuit.
+
+To keep in advance of him in his knowledge, I found impossible. All that
+I could do was to aid him in acquiring French, which, strange to say,
+presented great difficulties to him. He however made me a partaker of
+his own enthusiasm, and I worked hard and long at pursuits for which my
+habits of mind and thought little adapted me. I need scarcely say that
+all this time my worldly wealth made no progress. My scholars were very
+poor themselves, and the pittance I earned from them I had oftentimes to
+refuse accepting. Each day showed my little resources growing smaller,
+and my hopes held out no better prospect for the future.
+
+Was I to struggle on thus to the last, and sink under the pressure? was
+now the question that kept perpetually rising to my mind. My poverty
+had now descended to actual misery; my clothes were ragged; my shoes
+scarcely held together; more than once an entire day would pass without
+my breaking my fast.
+
+I lost all zest for life, and wandered about in lonely and unfrequented
+places, in a half-dreamy state, too vague to be called melancholy. My
+mind, at this time, vacillated between a childish timidity and a species
+of almost savage ferocity. At some moments tears would steal along my
+cheeks, and my heart vibrated to the very finest emotions; at others,
+I was possessed with an almost demoniac fierceness, that seemed only in
+search of some object to wreak its vengeance upon. A strange impression,
+however, haunted me through both these opposite states, and this was,
+that my life was menaced by some one or other, and that I went in hourly
+peril of assassination. This sense of danger impressed me with either a
+miserable timidity, or a reckless, even an insolent, intrepidity.
+
+By degrees, all other thoughts were merged in this one, and every
+incident, no matter how trifling, served to strengthen and confirm it.
+Fortunately for my reader, I have no patience to trace out the fancies
+by which I was haunted. I imagined that kings and emperors were in the
+conspiracy against me, and that cabinets only plotted how to entrap me.
+I sold the last remnant of my wardrobe and my few remaining books, and
+quitted my dwelling, to forsake it again for another, after a few days.
+Grim want was, at length, before me, and I found myself one morning--it
+was a cold one of December--with only a few pence remaining. It chanced
+to be one of my days of calmer temperament; for some previous ones I had
+been in a state bordering on frenzy; and now the reaction had left me
+weak and depressed, but reasonable.
+
+I went over, to myself, as well as I was able, all my previous life; I
+tried to recall the names of the few with whom my fate seemed to connect
+me, and of whose whereabouts I knew nothing; I canvassed in my own mind
+how much might be true of these stories which I used to hear of my
+birth and parentage, and whether the whole might not possibly have been
+invented to conceal some darker history. Such doubts had possibly not
+assailed me in other times; but now, with broken hopes and shattered
+strength, they took a bold possession of me. I actually possessed
+nothing which might serve to confirm my pretension to station. Documents
+or papers I had none; nor was there, so far as I knew, a living
+witness to bear testimony to my narrative. In pondering thus I suddenly
+remembered that, in the letter which I once had addressed to Mr. Pitt,
+were enclosed some few memoranda in corroboration of my story.
+
+What they were exactly, and to what extent they went, I could not recall
+to memory; but it was enough that they were, in some shape, evidences
+of that which already to my own mind was assuming the character of a
+delusion.
+
+To this faint chance I now attached myself with a last effort of
+desperation. Some clew might possibly be found in these papers to guide
+my search, and my whole thoughts were now bent upon obtaining them.
+With this object I sat down and wrote a few most respectful lines to the
+minister, stating the nature of my request, and humbly excusing myself
+for the intrusion on his attention. A week passed over,--a week of
+almost starvation,--and yet no reply reached me. I now wrote again more
+pressingly than before, adding that my circumstances did not admit
+of delay, and that if, by any mischance, the papers had been lost or
+mislaid, I still would entreat his Excellency's kindness to--I believe
+I said recall what he could remember of these documents, and thus supply
+the void left by their loss. This letter shared the same fate as my
+former one. I wrote a third time, I knew not in what terms, for I wrote
+late at night, after a day of mad and fevered impatience. I had fasted
+for nigh two entire days. An intense thirst never ceased to torture me;
+and as I wandered wildly here and there, my state alternated between
+fits of cold shuddering, and a heat that seemed to be burning my very
+vitals. The delusions of that terrible interval were, doubtless, the
+precursors of actual madness. I bethought me of every torture I had ever
+heard of,--of all the sufferings martyrdom had ever borne, but to which
+death came at last as the comforter; but to me no such release seemed
+possible. I felt as though I had done all that should invoke it.
+"Want--sickness--suffering--despair,--are these not enough," I asked
+myself,--"must guilt and self-murder be added to the terrible list?"
+And it was, I remember, with a kind of triumphant pride I determined
+against this. "If mankind reject me," said I,--"if they make of me an
+outcast and a victim, on them shall lie all the shame and all the sin.
+Enough for me the misery,--I will not have the infamy of my death!"
+
+I have said I wrote a third letter; and to make sure of its coming to
+hand, I walked with it to Hounslow. The journey occupied me more than
+half the night, for it was day when I arrived. I delivered it into the
+hands of a servant, and, saying that I should wait for the answer, I
+sat down upon a stone bench beside the door. Overcome with fatigue,
+and utterly exhausted, I fell off asleep,--a sound and, strange to say,
+delicious sleep, with calm and pleasant dreams. From this I was aroused
+by a somewhat rude shake, and on looking up saw that a considerable
+number of persons were around me.
+
+"Stand up, my good fellow," cried a man, who, though in plain clothes
+and unarmed, proclaimed by his manner of command that he was in
+authority; "stand up, if you please."
+
+I made an effort to obey, but sank down again upon the bench, faint and
+exhausted.
+
+"He wants a drink of water," cried one.
+
+"He wants summut to eat,--that's what he wants," said a laboring man in
+front of me.
+
+"We'll take him where he'll be properly looked after," said the first
+speaker. "Just stand back, good people, and leave me to deal with
+him." The crowd retired as he spoke, while, coming nearer, he bent down
+towards me and said, "Is your name Paul Gervois?"
+
+"I have gone by that name," I replied.
+
+"And is this in your handwriting?--Mind, you need n't say so if you
+don't like; I only ask the question out of curiosity."
+
+"Yes," said I, eagerly; "what does Mr. Pitt say?--what reply does he
+make me?"
+
+"Oh, you 'll hear all that time enough. Just try now if you could
+n't come along with me as far as the road; I 've a carriage there
+a-waiting."
+
+I did my best to rise, but weakness again overcame me, and I could only
+stammer out a few faint words of excuse.
+
+"Don't you see that the man is dying?" said some one, half indignantly;
+but the constable--for such he was--made some rough answer, and then,
+stooping down, he passed his arm round me, and lifted me to my feet at
+once. As he half carried, half pushed me along, I tried to obtain an
+answer to my former question, "What reply had the minister made me?"
+
+"You 'll know all that time enough, my good friend," was all the answer
+I could obtain, as, assisting me into the carriage, he took his place at
+my side, and gave the word to proceed "to town."
+
+Not a word passed between us as we went along; for my part, I was too
+indifferent to life itself to care whither he was conducting me, or with
+what object. As well as utter listlessness would permit me to think, I
+surmised that I had been arrested. Is it not a strange confession, that
+I felt a sense of pleasure in the thought that I had not been utterly
+forgotten by the world, and that my existence was recognized, even at
+the cost of an accusation. I conclude that to understand this feeling
+on my part, one must have been as forlorn and desolate as I was. I
+experienced neither fear nor curiosity as to what might be the charge
+against me; nor was my indifference that of conscious innocence,--it was
+pure carelessness!
+
+I slept that night in a prison, and ate of prison fare,--ravenously and
+eagerly too; so much so that the turnkey, compassionating me, fetched me
+some of his own supper to satisfy my cravings. I awoke the next day with
+a gnawing sense of hunger, intensely painful, far more so than my former
+suffering from want. That day, and I believe the two following ones,
+I spent in durance, and at last was conveyed in the prison-cart to the
+office of a magistrate.
+
+The court was densely crowded, but the cases called seemed commonplace
+and uninteresting,--at least so they appeared to me, as I tried in vain
+to follow them. At length the crier called out the name of Paul Gervois,
+and it was less the words than the directed looks of the vast assembly,
+as they all turned towards me, showed that I was the representative of
+that designation.
+
+My sense of shame at this moment prevented my observing accurately what
+went forward; but I soon rallied, and perceived that my case was then
+before the court, and my accuser it was who then addressed the bench.
+
+The effort to follow the speaker, to keep up with the narrative that
+fell from his lips, was indescribably painful to me. I can compare my
+struggle to nothing save the endeavor of one with a shattered limb to
+keep pace with the step of his unwounded comrades. The very murmurs of
+indignation that at times stirred the auditory, increased this feeling
+to a kind of agony. I knew that it was all-important I should hear and
+clearly understand what was said, and yet my faculties were unequal to
+the effort.
+
+The constable who arrested me came forward next, and spoke as to the
+few words which passed between us, affirming how I had confessed to a
+certain letter as being written by myself, and that I alone was to be
+held responsible for its contents. When he left the table, the judge
+called on me for my defence. I stared vaguely from side to side, and
+asked to what charge?
+
+"You have been present, prisoner, during the whole of this examination,
+and have distinctly heard the allegation against you," replied he.
+"The charge is for having written a threatening letter to one of his
+Majesty's ministers of state,--a letter which in itself constitutes
+a grave offence, but is seriously aggravated as being part of a
+long-pursued system of intimidation, and enforced by menaces of the most
+extreme violence."
+
+I was now suddenly recalled to a clearness of comprehension, and able
+to follow him as he detailed how a certain Mr. Conway--the private
+secretary of the minister--proved the receipt of the letter in question,
+as well as two others in the same hand. The last of these--which
+constituted the chief allegation against me--was then read aloud; and
+anything more abominable and detestable it would be hard to conceive.
+After recapitulating a demand for certain documents,--so vaguely worded
+as to seem a mere invented and trumped-up request,--it went to speak
+of great services unrewarded, and honorable zeal not only neglected
+but persecuted. From this--which so far possessed a certain degree of
+coherency and reason--it suddenly broke off into the wildest and most
+savage menaces. It spoke of one who held life so cheaply that he felt no
+sacrifice in offering it up for the gratification of his vengeance.
+
+"Houseless, friendless, and starving; without food, without a
+name,---for you have robbed me of even that,--I have crawled to your
+door to avenge myself and die!"
+
+Such were the last words of this epistle; and they ring in my ears even
+yet, with shame and horror.
+
+"I never uttered such sentiments as these,--words like those never
+escaped me!" cried I, in an agony of indignation.
+
+"There is the letter," said the magistrate; "do you deny having written
+it?"
+
+"It is mine,--it is in my own hand," muttered I, in a voice scarcely
+audible; and I had to cling to the dock to save myself from falling.
+
+Of what followed I know nothing, absolutely nothing. There seemed to be
+a short debate and discussion of some kind; and I could catch, here and
+there, some chance phrase or word that sounded compassionately towards
+me. At last I heard the magistrate say,--
+
+"If you tell me, Mr. Conway, that Mr. Pitt does not wish to press the
+charge, nor do more than protect himself from future molestation, I am
+willing to admit the prisoner to bail--good and sufficient bail--for his
+conduct hereafter. In default of this, however, I shall feel bound to
+commit him."
+
+Again some discussion ensued, terminated by some one asking me if I
+could produce the required securities.
+
+By this time a slight reaction to my state of debility had set in,--that
+fevered condition in which passion assumed the ascendant; and I
+answered, haughtily,--
+
+"Bail for whom? Is it for him to whom they refused bread that they will
+go surety? Look at these rags, sir,--see these wasted arms,--hear this
+voice, hoarse as it is with hunger,--and ask yourself who could pledge
+himself for such misery?"
+
+He uttered some commonplaces--at least so they sounded to me--about
+there being no necessary connection between want and crime; but I
+stopped him short, saying,--
+
+"Then you have never fasted, sir,--never known what it was to struggle
+against the terrible temptations that arise in a famished heart; to sink
+down upon a bed of straw, and think of the thousands at that moment in
+affluence, and think of them with hate! No link between want and
+crime! None, for they are one. Want is envy--want is malice. Its evil
+counsellors are everywhere,--in the plash of the wave at midnight; in
+the rustle of the leaves in a dark wood; in the chamber of the sick man:
+wherever guilt can come, a whispering voice will say, 'Be there!'"
+
+Some friendly bystander here counselled me to calm myself, and not
+aggravate my position by words of angry impatience. The air of sympathy
+touched me, and I said no more.
+
+I was committed to prison--remanded, I believe they said--to be called
+up at some future day, when further inquiries had been made into my mode
+of life and habits. The sentence--so well as I could understand it--was
+not a severe one,--imprisonment without labor or any other penalty. I
+was told that I had reason to be grateful! but gratitude was then at a
+low ebb within me; for whatever moralists may say, it is an emotion that
+never thrives on misery. As I was led away, I overheard some comments
+that were passed upon me. One called me mad, and pitied me; another
+said I was a practised impostor, far too leniently dealt with; a third
+classed me with the vile herd of those who live by secret crimes, and
+hoped for some stringent act against such criminals.
+
+There was not one to ask, Why has he done this thing? and how shall
+others be saved from his example?
+
+They who followed me with looks of contempt and aversion never guessed
+that the prison was to me a grateful home; that if the strong door shut
+out liberty, it excluded starvation too; and that if I could not stray
+at will through the green lanes, yet my footsteps never bore me to the
+darksome pond where the black depth whispered--oblivion!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE STREETS
+
+I was liberated from prison at the end of eight days. I begged hard to
+be allowed to remain there, but was not permitted. This interval, short
+as it was, had done much to recruit my strength and rally my faculties;
+it served besides to instil into me a calm and patient resolve to depend
+solely on myself; and effacing, so far as I might, all hopes of tracing
+out my family, I determined now to deem no labor too humble by which I
+might earn a livelihood.
+
+I am now speaking of fifty years ago, and the world has made rapid
+strides since that. The growing necessities of our great population, and
+the wide field for enterprise offered by our colonies, have combined to
+produce a social revolution few could have predicted once. The well-born
+and the tenderly-nurtured have now gone forth in thousands to try their
+fortunes in far-away lands, to brave hardships and encounter toil that
+the hard sons of labor themselves are fain to shrink from; but at the
+time I speak of, this bold spirit had not burst into life,--the world
+was insolent in its prosperity, and never dreamed of a reverse.
+
+By transcribing letters and papers for one of the officials while in
+jail, I had earned four shillings; and with this sum, my all in the
+world, I now found myself following the flood-tide of that host which
+moves daily along the Strand in London. I had breakfasted heartily
+before I left the prison, and resolving to hoard up my little treasure,
+determined to eat nothing more on that day. As I walked along I felt
+that the air, sharp and frosty as it was, excited and invigorated me.
+The bright blue sky overhead, the clear outline of every object, the
+brisk stir and movement of the population, all helped to cheer my
+spirits, and I experienced a sense of freedom, as that of one who,
+having thrown off a long-carried burden, is at last free to walk
+unencumbered. A few hours before I fancied I could have been well
+satisfied to wear out life within the walls of my prison, but now I felt
+that liberty compensated for any hardship. The town on that morning
+presented an aspect of more than ordinary stir and excitement. Men were
+at work in front of all the houses, on ladders and scaffoldings; huge
+frameworks, with gaudy paintings, were being hoisted from the roofs, and
+signs of wonderful preparation of one kind or other were everywhere
+visible. I stopped to inquire the meaning, and was told, not without a
+stare of surprise, that London was about to illuminate in joyful
+commemoration of the treaty of peace just signed with France. I thanked
+my informant, and moved on. Assuredly there were few in either country
+who had less reason to be interested in such tidings than myself. I
+possessed nothing, not even a nationality, that I could safely lay claim
+to. In the hope of approaching prosperity tomorrow, so forcibly
+expressed in many an inscription,--in all those devices of enthusiastic
+patriotism, I had no share. In fact, I was like one of another nation,
+suddenly dropped in the midst of a busy population, whose feelings,
+hopes, and aspirations were all new and strange to me.
+
+As I came up to Charing Cross a dense crowd stopped the way, gazing with
+wondering eyes at a great triumphal arch which spanned the thoroughfare,
+and whose frail timbers gave but a sorry intimation of the splendor
+it should exhibit after nightfall. Immense draperies floated from this
+crazy framework, and vast transparencies displayed in tasteless allegory
+the blessings of a peace. The enthusiasm of admiration was high among
+the spectators; doubtless, the happy occasion itself suggested a
+cordiality of approval that the preparations themselves did not warrant;
+for at every step in the construction, a hearty cheer would burst forth
+from the crowd, in recognition of the success of the work. My attention,
+undisturbed by such emotions, was fixed upon one of the poles of the
+scaffolding, which, thrown considerably out of its perpendicular,
+swayed and bent at every step that approached it, and threatened, if not
+speedily looked to, to occasion some disaster. I pointed this out to one
+beside me, who as quickly communicated it to another, and in less than a
+minute after, a panic cry was raised that the scaffold was falling.
+The crowd fell back in terror, while the men upon the scaffolding, not
+knowing in what quarter the danger existed, stood in terrified groups,
+or madly rushed to the ladders to escape. The mad shouts and screams
+of those beneath added to the confusion, and rendered it impossible
+to convey warning to those in peril. At this instant a man was seen
+approaching the weak part of the scaffold, and though at every step
+he took, the ill-fated pole swerved further and further from the right
+line, he was utterly unconscious of his danger, and seemed only bent on
+gaining a rope, which, fastened by one end above, hung down to the porch
+beneath. Wild cries and yells were raised to warn him of his peril, but,
+not heeding, nor, perhaps, hearing them, he seized the cord and swung
+himself free of the scaffold.
+
+In an instant the fabric gave way, and, bending over, came down with a
+terrible crash of falling beams and splintered timber. It fell so close
+to where I stood that it struck down an old man with whom I had been
+conversing the moment before. Strangely too, amidst that dense throng,
+this was the only serious injury inflicted; but he was struck dead,--at
+least, he only lingered for the few minutes it took to carry him to a
+neighboring public-house, where he expired.
+
+"It's old Harry; he always said he'd die at his crossing," said the
+publican, as he recognized the features.
+
+"He thought it was them new-fashioned curricles would do for him,
+though," said another. "He said so to me last week, for he was getting
+too old to escape when he saw them coming."
+
+"Old! I should think he was. He was on that there crossing at the
+coronation,--a matter of fifty years ago."
+
+"Say forty, my good friend, and you'll be nigher the mark; but even
+forty sufficed to leave him well off for the rest of his days, if he had
+but had prudence to know it."
+
+As I stood thus listening, I leaned upon the broom which I had taken
+from the old man's hand when I lifted him up.
+
+"I 'll give you a matter of ten pounds for it, master," said a
+gruff-looking fellow, addressing me, while he touched the broom with his
+knuckle. "Five down on the nail, and the rest ten shillings a-week. Do
+you say done?" Before I could collect myself to understand what this
+offer might mean, a dozen others were crowding around me with a number
+of similar proposals.
+
+"You don't know the rule amongst these fellows," said the landlord,
+addressing me; "but it is this, that whoever touches the broom first
+after its owner is killed, succeeds to the crossing. It 's yours now, to
+work or dispose of, as you like best."
+
+"He 'll never work it,--he does n't know the town," said one.
+
+"He'd not know Charley Fox from Big Hullescoat the tailor."
+
+"He 'd splash Colonel Hanyer, and sweep clean for the Duke of
+Queensberry."
+
+"And forget to have change for Lord Bute," cried another,--a sally
+so generally applauded that it showed a full appreciation of its
+truthfulness.
+
+"I 'll try it, nevertheless, gentlemen," said I, addressing the
+company respectfully; "and if the landlord will only give me credit for
+half-a-guinea's worth of liquor, we'll drink my accession to office at
+once."
+
+This was agreeably received by all, even the landlord, who ushered us
+into an inner room to enjoy ourselves.
+
+If I had not transgressed too freely already on my reader's patience by
+details which have no immediate bearing on my own life, I should have
+been greatly tempted to revive some recollections of that evening,--one
+of the strangest I ever passed. Assuredly the guild of which I suddenly
+found myself a member was not one in which I could have either expected
+laws and regulations, or looked for anything like a rigid etiquette; yet
+such was precisely the case. The rules, if not many, were imperative,
+while the requirements to obtain success were considerable. It was not
+enough to know every remarkable character about town, but you should
+also have a knowledge of their tone and temper. Some should be dunned
+with importunity; others never asked for a farthing; a Scotch accent
+went far with General Dundas; a jest never failed with Mr. Sheridan.
+Besides this, an unfailing memory for every one who had crossed during
+the day was indispensable, and if this gift extended to chairs and
+coaches, all the better was it.
+
+My brethren, I must do them the justice to say, were no niggards
+of information. To me, perhaps, they felt a sense of exultation in
+describing the dignity of the craft,--perhaps they hoped to deter me
+from a career so surrounded with difficulties. They little knew that
+they were only stimulating the curiosity of one to whom any object or
+any direction in life was a boon and a blessing. Hardship and neglect
+had so far altered my appearance that, even had I cared for it, any
+artificial disguisement was unnecessary. My beard and moustache covered
+the lower part of my face, and my hair, long and lank, hung heavily on
+my neck behind. But, were it otherwise, how few had ever known me! There
+were none to blush for me,--none to feel implicated in what they might
+have called the disgrace of my position. I reasoned thus,--I went even
+further, and persuaded myself there was something akin to heroism in
+thus braving the current of opinion, and stemming the strong tide of
+the world's prejudice. If this be my fitting station in life, thought I,
+there is no impropriety in my abiding by it; and if, perchance, I might
+have worthily filled a higher one, the disgrace is not with me, but with
+that world that treated me so harshly.
+
+Though all these arguments satisfied me thoroughly as I thought over
+them, they did not give me the support I had hoped for. When the hour
+came for me to assume my calling, I am almost ashamed to say how I
+shrunk from it. I grieve to think how much more easy for me had it
+been to commit a crime than to go forth, broom in hand, and earn my
+livelihood! But I was determined to go on, and I did so. The first week
+or so was absolute misery; I scarcely dared to look any one in the face.
+If perchance I caught an eye fixed upon me, I imagined I was recognized.
+I dreaded to utter a word, lest my voice might betray me. I was
+repeatedly questioned about old Harry, and what had become of him; and
+I could see, that with all my attempts at disguise, my accent attracted
+attention, and men looked at me with curiosity, and even suspicion. Is
+it not strange that there should be more real awkwardness in maintaining
+a station that one deems below him than in the assumption of a rank as
+unquestionably above his own? Perhaps our self-love is the cause of it,
+and that, in our estimate of our own natures, we think nothing too great
+or too exalted for us.
+
+Be this as it may, my struggles were very painful; and, far from
+conforming easily to the exigencies of my lot, each day's experience
+rendered them still harder to me. Two entire days passed over without my
+having received a farthing. I could not bring myself to ask for payment,
+and the crowd passed on, unheeding me. Some who seemed prepared with the
+accustomed mite replaced it in their pockets when they saw what seemed
+my indifference. One young fellow threw me a penny as he went, but I
+could not have stooped for it had my life been on the issue. What a
+wonderful thing is fortune!--or rather, how rarely can we plot for
+ourselves any combination of circumstances so successful as those that
+arise from what we deem accident! These that seemed evidences of failure
+were the first promises of prosperity. My comrades had given me the
+nickname of "Gentleman Jack." The sobriquet attracted notice to me and
+to my habit of never making a demand; and long ere I came to learn the
+cause, I found myself deriving all the advantage of it. Few now went
+by without paying; many gave me silver, some even accompanying the gift
+with a passing salutation, or a word of recognition. Slight as these
+were, and insignificant, they were far more precious to me than any
+praises I have ever listened to in my days of prosperity!
+
+I gradually came to know all the celebrities of the town, and be myself
+known by them. How like a dream does it seem to me, as I think over
+those days! When Alderman Whitbread would give me a shilling, and Wilkes
+borrow a crown of me; when Colonel O'Kelly would pay me with a wink,
+and Sir Philip Francis with a curse; when Baron Geramb, frizzed,
+moustached, and decorated, lounged lazily along on the arm of Admiral
+Payne, followed by a gorgeously-equipped chasseur,--a rare sight in
+those days! Nor is it altogether an old man's prejudice makes me think
+that the leaders of fashion in those times had more unmistakably the
+signs of being Grand Seigneurs than the men of our own day.
+
+I have said that the tide of fortune had turned with me, and to an
+extent scarcely credible. Many days saw my gains above a guinea; once
+or twice they more than doubled that amount. I have frequently read in
+newspapers announcements of the fortunes accumulated by men in the very
+humblest stations,--statements which, with less experience than my own,
+I might have hesitated to believe; but now I know them to be credible. I
+know, too, that many of the donors who contemptuously threw their penny
+as they passed were far poorer than the recipient of their bounty.
+
+If time did not reconcile me to my lot, yet a certain hardihood to brave
+destiny in any shape fortified me. I reasoned repeatedly with myself on
+this wise: Fate can scarcely have anything lower in store for me; from
+this there can be no descent in fortune. If, then, I can here maintain
+within me the feelings which moved me in happier days, and live
+unchanged in the midst of what might have been degradation, there is yet
+a hope that I may emerge to hold a worthy station among my fellow-men.
+
+I will not affirm that this feeling was not heightened by an almost
+resentful sense of the world's treatment of me,--a feeling which, combat
+how I would, hourly gained more and more possession of me. To struggle
+against this growing misanthropy, I formed the resolve that I would
+devote all my earnings of each Sunday to charity. It was but too easy,
+in my walk of life, for me to know objects of want and suffering. The
+little close in which I lived--near Seven Dials--was filled with such;
+and amongst them I now dispensed the seventh of my gains,--in reality
+far more, since Sunday almost equalled two entire days in profit. Thus
+did I vacillate betwixt good and evil influences,--now yielding, now
+resisting,--but always gaining some little advantage over
+selfishness and narrow-mindedness, by the training of that best of
+teachers,--adversity. How my trials might have ended, had the course of
+my life gone on uninterruptedly, I cannot even guess. Whether the bad
+might have gained the ascendant, or the good triumphed, I know not. An
+incident, too slight to advert to, save in its influence upon my fate,
+suddenly gave another direction to my destiny; and though, as I have
+said, in itself a mere trifle, yet for its singularity, as well as in
+its consequences, requires a mention, and shall have--albeit a short
+one--a chapter of its own.
+
+The incident I am about to relate has not--at least so far as I
+know--ever been made public. Up to three years ago I could have called
+a witness to its truth; but I am now the only survivor of those who once
+could have corroborated my tale. Still, I am not without hope that
+there are some living who, having heard the circumstances before, will
+generously exonerate me from any imputation of being the inventor.
+
+This preface may excite in my reader the false expectation of something
+deeply interesting; and I at once and most explicitly own that I have
+none such in store for him. It is, I repeat for the third time, an
+incident only curious from those engaged in it, and only claiming a
+mention in such a history as mine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX. A STRANGE INCIDENT TO BE A TRUE ONE
+
+It was on one of the coldest of a cold December days, when a dry north
+wind, with a blackish sky, portended the approach of a heavy snow-storm,
+that I was standing at my usual post, with little to occupy me, for the
+weather for some time previous had been dry and frosty. Habit, and the
+security that none could recognize me, had at length inured me to my
+condition; and I was beginning to feel the same indifference about my
+station that I felt as to my future.
+
+Pride may, in reality, have had much to say to this, for I was proud to
+think that of the thousands who flowed past me each day I could claim
+equality with a large share, and perhaps more than equality with many.
+This pride, too, was somehow fostered by a sense of hope which I could
+have scarcely credited; for there constantly occurred to me the thought
+that one day or other I should be able to say: "Yes, my Lord Duke, I
+have known you these twenty years. I remember having swept the crossing
+for you in the autumn after the Peace. Ay, ay, Right Honorable Sir, I
+owe you my gratitude, if only for this that you never passed me without
+saying, 'Good day, Jack!'"
+
+Was it not strange, too, how fondly I clung to, what importance I
+attached to, these little passing recognitions; they seemed to me the
+last remaining ties that bound me to my fellow-men, and that to deny
+them to me was to declare me an outcast forever. To this hour I feel my
+thankfulness to those who thus acknowledged me; nor can I even yet
+conquer an unforgiving memory of some chance, mayhap unintentional,
+rudeness which, as it were, seemed to stamp my degradation more deeply
+upon me. Stranger still that I must own how my political bias was
+decided by these accidental causes; for while the great Tory leaders
+rarely or never noticed me, the Whigs--a younger and more joyous section
+in those times--always flung me a passing word, and would even
+occasionally condescend to listen to my repartee.
+
+I must guard myself from giving way to the memories which are already
+crowding fast about me. Names, and characters, and events rise up
+before my mind in myriads, and it is with difficulty I can refrain from
+embarking on that flood of the past which now sweeps along through my
+brain. The great, the high-born, the beautiful, the gifted, all dust and
+ashes now!--they who once filled the whole page of each day's history
+utterly ignored and forgotten! It is scarcely more than fifty years
+ago; and yet of all the eloquence that shook the "House," of all the
+fascinations that stirred the hearts of princes, of the high ambitions
+that made men demigods in their time, how much have reached us? Nothing,
+or less than nothing. A jest or a witticism that must be read with a
+commentary, or told with an explanation,--the repartee that set the
+table in a roar, now heard with a cold, half-contemptuous astonishment,
+or a vacant inquiry "if such were really the wits of those times."
+
+Amongst those with whose appearance I had become familiar were three
+young men of very fashionable exterior, who always were seen together.
+They displayed, by the dress of blue coat and buff waistcoat, the
+distinctive colors of the Whigs; but their buttons more emphatically
+declared their party in the letters P. F., by which the friends of the
+Prince then loved to designate themselves. The "Bucks" of that age had
+one enormous advantage over the Dandies of ours,--they had no imitators.
+They stood alone and unapproachable in all the glories of tight leathers
+and low top-boots. No spurious copies of them got currency; and the man
+of fashion was unmistakable amongst a thousand. The three of whom I have
+made mention were good specimens of that school, which dated its
+birth from the early years of the Prince, and by their habits and tone
+imparted a distinctive character to the party. They dressed well,
+they looked well, they comported themselves as though life went ever
+pleasantly with them; and in their joyous air and easy bearing one might
+read the traits of a set well adapted to be the friends and companions
+of a young prince, himself passionately devoted to pleasure, and
+reckless in regard to its price.
+
+I am now speaking of long ago, and have no hesitation in giving the real
+names of those to whom I allude. One was a captain in the navy, called
+Payne; the second was a young colonel in the foot-guards, Conway; and
+the third was an Irishman named O'Kelly, whom they called the Count or
+the Chevalier, about town, from what cause or with what pretension I
+never ascertained.
+
+Even in my own narrow sphere of observation it was clear to me that this
+last exercised a great influence over his companions. The tone of
+his voice, his air, his every gesture, bespoke a certain degree of
+dictation, to which the others seemed to lend a willing obedience.
+It was just that amount of superiority which a greater buoyancy of
+character confers,--a higher grade of vitality some would call it,--but
+which never fails through life to make itself felt and acknowledged.
+The three kept a bachelor house at Kensington, whose fame ran a close
+rivalry with that of the more celebrated Carlton House. O'Kelly lived
+below, Conway occupied the drawing-room story, and Payne the third
+floor; and with one or other of these all the great characters of the
+Opposition were constant guests. Here, amidst brilliant sallies of
+wit and loud bursts of laughter, the tactics of party were planned and
+conned over. While songs went round and toasts were cheered, the subtle
+schemes of politics were discussed and determined on; and many a sudden
+diversion of debate that seemed the accident of the moment took its
+origin in some suggestion that arose in these wild orgies. The Prince
+himself was a frequent guest, since the character of these meetings
+allowed of many persons being admitted to his society whose birth and
+position might not have warranted their being received at his own table;
+and here also were many presented to him whose station could not have
+claimed a more formal introduction.
+
+It was rumored that these same meetings were wild and desperate orgies,
+in which every outrage on morality was practised, and that the spirit of
+libertinism raged without control or hindrance. I have not of myself any
+means of judging how far this statement might be correct, but I rather
+incline to believe it one of those calumnies which are so constantly
+levelled at any society which assumes to itself exclusiveness and
+secrecy. They who were admitted there assuredly were not given to
+divulge what they saw, and this very reserve must have provoked its
+interpretation.
+
+A truce to these speculations; and now back to my story. I was standing
+listlessly on the edge of the flag-way, while a long funeral procession
+was passing. The dreary day and drearier object seemed to harmonize well
+together. The wheels of the mourning-coaches grated sorrowfully on the
+half-frozen ground, and the leaden canopy of sky appeared a suitable
+covering to the melancholy picture. My thoughts were of the very
+saddest, when suddenly a merry burst of laughing voices broke in upon
+my ear; and without turning my head, I recognized the three young men of
+whom I have just spoken, as standing close behind me.
+
+Some jocular allusion to the slow march of the procession had set them
+a-laughing; and O'Kelly said,--
+
+"Talk as men will about the ills of life, see how tardily they move out
+of it."
+
+"That comes of not knowing the road before them," cried Payne.
+
+"Egad! they might remember, though, that it is a well-worn highway by
+this time," chimed in Conway; "and now that poor Dick has gone it, who's
+to fill his place?"
+
+"No very hard matter," said O'Kelly. "Take every tenth fellow you 'll
+meet from this to Temple Bar, and you 'll have about the same kind of
+intelligence Harvey had. You gave him credit for knowing everything,
+whereas his real quality was knowing everybody."
+
+"For that matter, so does Jack here," cried Conway.
+
+"And capital company he'd be, too, I've no doubt," added Payne.
+
+A moment of whispering conversation ensued, and O'Kelly said, half
+aloud,--
+
+"I 'll lay five hundred on it!"
+
+"By Jove! I 'll have no hand in it," said Conway.
+
+"Nor I neither," chimed in Payne.
+
+"Courageous allies both," said O'Kelly, laughing. "Happily I need not
+such aid,--I 'll do it myself. I only ask you not to betray me."
+
+[Illustration: 460]
+
+Without heeding the protestations they both poured forth, O'Kelly
+stepped forward and whispered in my ear,--
+
+"Will you dine with me to-morrow, Jack?"
+
+I stared at him in silent astonishment, and he went on:
+
+"I have a wager on it; and if I win, you shall have five guineas
+for your share; and, to show you my confidence of success, I pay
+beforehand."
+
+He opened his purse as he spoke; but I stopped him suddenly with,--
+
+"No need of that, sir; I accept your invitation. The honor alone is
+enough for me."
+
+"But you must have a coat, Jack, and ruffles, man."
+
+"I 'll not disgrace you, sir,--at least, so far as appearance goes,"
+said I.
+
+He stared at me for a second or two, and then said,--
+
+"By Jove! I was certain of it. Well, seven o'clock is the hour.
+Kensington,--every one knows the Bird Cage."
+
+I touched my cap and bowed. He gravely returned my salute, and walked
+on between his friends, whose loud laughter continued to ring out for a
+long way down the street.
+
+My first impressions were, I own, the reverse of agreeable, and I felt
+heart-sick with shame for having accepted the invitation. The very
+burst of laughter told me in what point of view they regarded the
+whole incident. I was, doubtless, to be the ignoble instrument of some
+practical joke. At first I tortured my ingenuity to think how I could
+revenge myself for the indignity; but I suddenly remembered that I had
+made myself a willing party to the scheme, whatever it might be. I had
+agreed to avail myself of the invitation, and should, therefore, accept
+its consequences.
+
+With what harassing doubts did I rack my suffering brain! At one time,
+frenzied with the idea of an insult passed upon my wretchedness and
+poverty; at another, casuistically arguing myself into the belief that,
+whatever the offence to others, to me there could be none intended.
+But why revive the memory of a conflict which impressed me with all the
+ignominy of my station, and made me feel myself, as it were, selected
+for an affront that could not with impunity have been practised towards
+another?
+
+I decided not to go, and then just as firmly determined I would
+present myself. My last resolve was to keep my promise, to attend the
+dinner-party; to accept, as it were in the fullest sense, the equality
+tendered to me; and, if I could detect the smallest insult, or even a
+liberty taken with me, to claim my right to resent it, by virtue of
+the act which admitted me to their society, and made me for the
+time then-companion. I am not quite sure that such conduct was very
+justifiable. I half suspect that the easier and the better course
+would have been to avoid a situation in which there was nothing to be
+anticipated but annoyance or difficulty.
+
+My mind once made up, I hastened to prepare for the event, by
+immediately ordering a handsome dress-suit. Carefully avoiding what
+might be deemed the impertinence of assuming the colors of party, I
+selected a claret-colored coat, with steel buttons; a richly-embroidered
+waistcoat; and for my cravat one of French cambric, with a deep fall of
+Mechlin lace. If I mention matters so trivial, it is because at the time
+to which I refer, the modes of dress were made not only to represent the
+sections of politics, but to distinguish between those who adhered to
+an antiquated school of breeding and manners, and those who now avowed
+themselves the disciples of a new teaching. I wished, if possible, to
+avoid either extreme, and assumed the colors and the style usually worn
+by foreigners in English society. Like them, too, I wore a sword and
+buckles; for the latter I went to the extravagance of paying two guineas
+for the mere hire.
+
+If you have ever felt in life, good reader, what it was to have awaited
+in anxious expectancy for the day of some great examination whose issue
+was to have given the tone to all your future destiny, you may form some
+notion of the state of mental excitement in which I passed the ensuing
+twenty-four hours. It was to no purpose that I said to myself all that
+my reason could suggest or my ingenuity fancy; a certain instinct,
+stronger than reason, more convincing than ingenuity, told me that this
+was about to be an eventful moment of' my life.
+
+The hour at length arrived; the carriage that was to convey me stood at
+the door; and as I took a look at myself, full dressed and powdered, in
+the glass, I remember that my sensations vibrated between the exulting
+vanity and pride of a gallant about to set out for a fete, and the
+terrors of a criminal on his way to the block. My head grew more and
+more confused as I drove along. At moments I thought that all was a
+dream, and I tried to arouse and wake myself; then I fancied that it was
+the past was fictitious,--that my poverty, my want, and my hardship were
+all imaginary; that my real condition was one of rank and affluence.
+I examined the rich lace of my ruffles, the sparkling splendor of my
+sword-knot, and said, "Surely these are not the signs of squalid misery
+and want." I called to mind my impressions of the world, my memories of
+life and society, and asked, "Can these be the sentiments of a miserable
+outcast?" Assuredly, my poor brain was sorely tried to reconcile these
+strong contradictions; nor do I yet understand how I obtained
+sufficient mastery over my emotions to present myself at the house of my
+entertainer.
+
+"What name, sir?" said the obsequious servant, who, with noiseless
+footsteps, had preceded me to the drawing-room door.
+
+"What name shall I announce, sir?" said he a second time, as,
+overwhelmed with confusion, I still stood speechless before him. Till
+that very moment all thought on the subject had escaped me, and I
+utterly forgot that I was actually without a designation in the world.
+In all my shame and misery it had been a kind of consolation to me that
+the name of my father had never been degraded, and that whatever might
+have been my portion of worldly hardship, the once-honored appellation
+had not shared in it. To assume it at this instant was too perilous.
+Another day, one short night, would again reduce me to the same
+ignominious station; and I should have thus, by a momentary rashness,
+compromised the greatest secret of my heart. A third time did he ask the
+same question; and as I stood uncertain and overwhelmed, a quiet foot
+was heard ascending the stairs, a handsome, bright-looking man came
+forward, the door was flung open at his approach, and the servant called
+out, "Mr. Sheridan." I followed quickly, and the door closed behind us.
+Hastily passing from Sheridan, O'Kelly came forward to me and shook
+me cordially by the hand. Thanking me politely for my punctuality, he
+welcomed me with all the semblance of old friendship.
+
+"Colonel Conway and Payne you are already acquainted with," said he;
+"but your long absence from England excuses you for not knowing my
+other friends. This is Mr. Sheridan,"--we bowed,--"Mr. Malcomb, Captain
+Seymour, Sir George Begley," and so on, with two or three more. He made
+a rapid tour of the party, holding me by the arm as he went, till he
+approached a chair where a young and very handsome man sat, laughing
+immoderately at some story another at his side was whispering to him.
+
+"What the devil am I to call you?" said O'Kelley to me in my ear. "Tell
+me quickly."
+
+Before I could stammer out my own sense of confusion, the person seated
+in the arm-chair called out,--
+
+"By Jove! O'Kelly must hear that. Tell him, Wynd-ham." But as suddenly
+stopping, he said, "A friend of yours, O'Kelly?"
+
+"Yes, your Royal Highness, a very old and valued friend, whom I have
+not seen since our school-days. He has been vagabondizing over the whole
+earth, fighting side by side with I know not how many of your Royal
+Highness's enemies; and, having made his fortune, has come back to lose
+it here amongst us, as the only suitable reparation in his power for all
+his past misconduct."
+
+"With such excellent intentions, he could not have fallen into better
+hands than yours, O'Kelly," said the Prince, laughing; "and I wish all
+the fellows we have been subsidizing these ten years no worse than to be
+your antagonists at piquet." Then, addressing me, he said, "An Irishman,
+I presume?"
+
+"Yes, your Royal Highness," said I, bowing deeply.
+
+"He started as an something, or Mac somebody," said O'Kelly,
+interrupting; "but having been Don'd in Spain, 'Strissemoed' in Italy,
+and almost guillotined in France for calling himself Monsieur, he has
+come back to us without any designation that he dares to call his own."
+
+"That is exactly what happened to a very well known character in the
+reign of Charles I.," said Conway, "who called himself by the title of
+his last conquest in the fair sex, saying, 'When I take a reputation, I
+accept all the reproach of the name.'"
+
+"There was another authority," said Sheridan,--"a fellow who called
+himself the King of the Beggars, who styled himself each day after the
+man who gave him most, and died inheriting the name of Bamfield Moore
+Carew."
+
+"Carew will do admirably for my friend here, then," said O'Kelly, "and
+we 'll call him so henceforth."
+
+It may be imagined with what a strange rush of emotion I accepted this
+designation, and laughingly joined in the caprice of the hour. I saw
+enough to convince me that all around received O'Kelly's story as a mere
+piece of jest, and that none had any suspicion of my real condition save
+himself and his two friends. This conviction served to set me much at my
+ease, and I went down to dinner with far less of constraint than might
+have been supposed for one in my situation.
+
+I will not disguise the fact that I thought for the first half-hour
+that every eye was on me, that whatever I did or said was the subject
+of general remark, and that my manner as I ate, and my tone as I spoke,
+were all watched and scrutinized. Gradually, however, I grew to perceive
+that I attracted no more notice than others about me, and that, to all
+purposes, I was admitted to a perfect equality with the rest.
+
+Conversation ranged freely over a wide field. Politics of every state of
+Europe, the leading public characters and statesmen, their opinions and
+habits, the modes of life abroad, literature and the drama, were all
+discussed, if not always with great knowledge, still with the ready
+smartness of practised talkers. Anecdotes and incidents of various
+kinds were narrated, quips and sharp replies abounded; and amidst much
+cleverness and agreeability, a truly good-humored, convivial spirit
+leavened the whole mass, and made up a most pleasant party.
+
+So interested had I become in the conversation about me that I did not
+perceive how, by degrees, I had been drawn on to talk on a variety of
+subjects which travel had made me familiar with, and to speak of persons
+of mark and station whom I had met and known. Still less did I remark
+that I was submitted to a species of examination as to my veracity, and
+that I was asked for dates, and times, and place, in a manner that might
+have startled one more susceptible. Warmed with what I may dare to call
+my success, and heated with wine, I grew bolder; I stigmatized as gross
+ignorance and folly the policy of the English Government in maintaining
+a war for what no success could ever bring back again,--the prestige of
+loyalty, and the respect once tendered to nobility.
+
+I know not into what excesses my enthusiasm may have carried me. Enough
+when I say that I encountered the most brilliant talkers without fear,
+and entered the list with all that the day possessed of conversational
+power, without any sense of faint-heartedness. On such questions as the
+military system of France, the division of parties in that country,
+the probable issue to which the struggle pointed, I was, indeed, better
+informed than my neighbors; but when they came to discuss the financial
+condition of the French, and what it had been in the late reigns, I at
+once recalled all my conversations with Law, with every detail of whose
+system I was perfectly familiar.
+
+Of the anecdotes of that time--a most amusing illustration of society
+as it then existed--I remembered many; and I had the good fortune to see
+that the Prince listened with evident pleasure to my recitals; and, at
+last, it was in the very transport of success I found myself ascending
+the stairs to the drawing-room, while O'Kelly whispered in my ear,--
+
+"Splendidly done, by Jove! The Prince is going to invite you to Carlton
+House."
+
+After coffee was served, the party sat down to play of various
+kinds,--dice, cards, and backgammon. At the Prince's whist-table there
+was a vacant place, and I was invited to take it. I had twenty guineas
+in gold in my pocket. They were my all in the world; but had they been
+as many millions, I would not have scrupled to risk them at such a
+moment. There was a strange, almost insane spirit that seemed to
+whisper to me that nothing could be too bold to adventure--no flight too
+high--no contrast with my real condition too striking to attempt! They
+who have braved danger and death to ascend some great glacier, the
+whole object the one triumphant moment on which they behold the blaze
+of sunrise, may form some conception of the maddening ecstasy of my
+sensations.
+
+"Do you play at whist? If so, come and join us," said the Prince.
+
+"Take my purse," whispered O'Kelly, endeavoring to slip it into my hand
+as he spoke.
+
+I accepted the invitation; and, without taking any notice of O'Kelly's
+offer, took my place at the table.
+
+"We play low stakes, too low, perhaps, for you," said his Royal
+Highness,--"mere guinea points; but there's Canthorpe, and Sedley, and
+two or three more, will indulge you in any wager you fancy."
+
+"Fifty on the rubber, if you like, sir," said Colonel Canthorpe, a tall,
+soldier-like man, who stood with his back to the fire.
+
+"If my friend O'Kelly will be my banker for to-night, I shall take your
+offer."
+
+Without the slightest hesitation, O'Kelly replied, "To be sure, my boy!"
+and the game began.
+
+My mastery at the game was soon apparent; and the Prince complimented me
+by saying,--
+
+"I wish we could discover in what you are deficient; for up to this we
+have certainly not hit upon it."
+
+It needed not all this flattery to make me feel almost mad with
+excitement. I remember little of that scene; but still there is one
+trait of it fast graven on my memory, to hold its place there forever.
+It was this: that while I betted largely, and lost freely considerable
+sums, O'Kelly, who had become the security for my debts, never
+winced for a moment, nor showed the slightest mark of discomfiture or
+uneasiness. My demand, in the first instance, was suggested by the not
+over generous motive of making him pay the penalty he had incurred by
+having invited me. He has called me his friend before the world, thought
+I, and if he means this for a cruel jest, it shall at least cost him
+dearly. In a sort of savage ferocity, I fed myself with thinking of the
+tortures with which I should afflict him, in return for all the agony
+and suffering I had myself gone through. He also shall know what it is
+to act a lie, said I to myself; and with this hateful resolve I sat down
+to play. His ready acceptance of my proposition, his gentleman-like
+ease and calm, his actual indifference as I lost, and lost heavily, soon
+staggered all my reasonings, and routed all my theory. And when at last
+the Prince, complimenting me on my skill, deplored the ill-luck that
+more than balanced it, O'Kelly said, gayly,--
+
+"Depend on 't, you'll have better fortune after supper. Come and have a
+glass of champagne."
+
+I was now impatient until we were again at the card-table.
+
+All my former intentions were reversed, and I would have given my right
+hand to have been able to repay my debt to him ere I said "Good night."
+Perhaps he read what was passing within me; I almost suspect that
+he construed aright the restless anxiety that now beset me; for he
+whispered, as we went back to the drawing-room,--
+
+"You are evidently out of luck. Wait for your revenge on another
+evening."
+
+"Now or never," said I. And so was it in reality. I had secretly
+determined within myself to try and win back O'Kelly's losses, and if
+I failed, at once to stand forward and declare myself in my real
+character. No false shame, no real dread of the ignominy to which I
+should expose myself should prevent me; and with an oath to my own heart
+I ratified this compact.
+
+Again we took our places; the stakes were now doubled; and all the
+excitement of mind was added to the gambler's infatuation. Colonel
+Canthorpe, who had been for some minutes occupied with his note-book,
+at last tore out the leaf he had been writing on, and handed it to me,
+saying,--
+
+"Is that correct?"
+
+The figures were six hundred and fifty,--the amount of my loss.
+
+I simply nodded an assent, and said,--
+
+"We go on, I suppose?"
+
+"We 'll double, if you prefer it," said he.
+
+"What says my banker?" said I.
+
+"He says, 'Credit unlimited,'" cried O'Kelly, gayly.
+
+"Egad! I wish mine would say as much," said the Prince, laughing, as he
+cut the cards for me to deal.
+
+Although I had drunk freely, and talked excitingly, my head became
+suddenly calm and collected, just as if some great emergency had
+sufficed to dispel all illusions, and enabled my faculties to assume
+their full exercise. Of O'Kelly I saw nothing more; he was occupied in
+an adjoining room; and even this element of anxiety was spared me.
+
+I will not ask my reader to follow me through the vicissitudes of play,
+nor expect from him any share of interest in a passion which of all
+others is the most bereft of good, and allied with the very lowest of
+all motives, and the meanest of all ambitions. Enough that I tell the
+result. After a long course of defeats and disasters, I rose, not only
+clear of all my debts, but a winner of two hundred pounds.
+
+The Prince heartily congratulated me on my good fortune, saying that
+none could better deserve it. He complimented me much on my play, but
+still more on my admirable temper as a loser,--a quality which, he
+added, he never could lay claim to.
+
+"I'm a bad beaten man, but you are the very reverse," said he. "Dine
+with me on Saturday, and I hope to see how you'll comport yourself as a
+winner."
+
+I had but time to bow my humble acknowledgment of this gracious speech,
+when O'Kelly came up, saying,--
+
+"So Canthorpe tells me you beat him, after all; but I always knew how it
+would end,--play must and will tell in the long run."
+
+"Non numen habes si sit Prudentia,--eh, O'Kelly?" said Conway.
+
+"Prudentia means the ace of trumps, then," said Sheridan.
+
+"Where shall I send you my debt?" said Canthorpe to me, in a whisper.
+"What's your club?"
+
+"He's only just arrived in town," interrupted O'Kelly; "but I intend to
+put him up for Brooke's on Wednesday, and will ask you to second him.
+You 're on the committee, I think?"
+
+"Yes; and I 'll do it with great pleasure," said Canthorpe.
+
+"I'll settle your score for you," said O'Kelly to Canthorpe; and now,
+with much handshaking and cordiality, the party broke up.
+
+"Don't go for a moment," said O'Kelly to me, as he passed to accompany
+the Prince downstairs. I sat down before the fire in the now deserted
+room, and, burying my head between my hands, I endeavored to bring my
+thoughts to something like order and discipline. It was to no use; the
+whirlwind of emotions I had endured still raged within me, and I could
+not satisfy myself which of all my characters was the real one. Was
+I the outcast, destitute and miserable? or was I the friend of the
+high-born, and the associate of a Prince? Where was this to end? Should
+I awake to misery on the morrow, or was madness itself to be the issue
+to this strange dream? Heaven forgive me if I almost wished it might be
+so, and if in my abject terror I would have chosen the half-unconscious
+existence of insanity to the sense of shame and self-upbraiding my
+future seemed to menace!
+
+While I sat thus, O'Kelly entered, and, having locked the door after
+him, took his place beside me. I was not aware of his presence till he
+said,--
+
+"Well, Jack, I intended to mystify others; but, by Jove! it has ended in
+mystifying myself. Who the devil are you? What are you?"
+
+"If I don't mistake me, you are the man to answer that question
+yourself. You presented me not alone to your friends, but to your
+Prince; and it is but fair to infer that you knew what you were about."
+
+He stared at me steadily without speaking. I saw the state of confusion
+and embarrassment from which he suffered, and I actually revelled in the
+difficulty in which I had placed him. I perceived all the advantage of
+my position, and resolved to profit by it.
+
+"One thing is quite evident," said I, calmly and collectedly, like a man
+who weighed all his words, and spoke with deep deliberation,--"one
+thing is quite evident, you could scarcely have presumed to take such
+a liberty with your Prince as to present to him, and place at the same
+table with him, a man whom you picked up from the streets,--one whose
+very station marked him for an outcast, whose exterior showed his
+destitution. This, I conclude, you could not have dared to do; and yet
+it is in the direct conviction that such was my position yesterday, I
+sit here now, trying to reconcile such inconsistency, and asking myself
+which of us two is in the wrong."
+
+"My good friend," said O'Kelly, with a deliberation fully the equal of
+my own, and in a way that, I must confess, somewhat abashed me,--"my
+good friend, do not embarrass yourself by any anxieties for me. I
+am quite able and ready to account for my actions to any who deem
+themselves eligible to question them."
+
+"From which number," said I, interrupting, "you would, of course, infer
+that I am to be excluded?"
+
+"By no means," said he, "if you can satisfy me to the contrary. I shall
+hold myself as responsible to you as to any one of those gentlemen who
+have just left us, if you will merely show me sufficient cause."
+
+"As how, for instance?" asked I.
+
+"Simply by declaring yourself the rightful possessor of a station and
+rank in life for which your habits and manners plainly show you to be
+fitted. Let me be convinced that you have not derogated from this by any
+act unworthy of a man of honor--"
+
+"Stop, sir," said I. "By what right do you dare to put me on my trial?
+Of your own free will you presumed to ask for my companionship. You
+extended to me an equality which, if not sincere, was an insult."
+
+"Egad! if you be really a gentleman, your reasons are all good ones,"
+said O'Kelly. "I own, too, frankly, I intended my freak as the subject
+of a wager. If I be caught in my own toils, I must only pay the
+penalty."
+
+"And give me satisfaction?"
+
+"That is what I mean," replied he, bowing.
+
+"Then you have done it already," said I, rising. "I ask for no more than
+the frank and manly readiness with which you acknowledge that poverty is
+no disqualification to the assertion of an honorable pride, and that the
+feeling of a gentleman may still throb in the heart of a ragged man."
+
+"You are surely not going to leave me this way," said he, catching my
+hand in both his own. "You'll tell me who you are,--you 'll let me know
+at least something of you."
+
+"Not now, at all events," said I. "I'm not in a mood to encounter more
+at present. Good night. Before I leave you, however, I owe it, as some
+return for your hospitality, to say that I shall not hazard your credit
+with your Prince,--I do not mean to accept his invitation. You must
+find the fitting apology, for I shall leave England to-morrow, in all
+likelihood for years,--at all events, for a period long enough to make
+this incident forgotten. Good-bye."
+
+"By Jove! I 'll never forgive myself if we part in this fashion,"
+said O'Kelly. "Do--as a proof of some regard, or at least of some
+consideration for me--do tell me your real name."
+
+"Carew," said I, calmly.
+
+"No, no; that was but a jest. I ask in all earnestness and sincerity;
+tell me your name."
+
+"Jasper Carew," said I, again; and before he could collect himself to
+reply, I had reached the door, and, with a last "good-night," I passed
+out, and left him.
+
+I could not bring myself to return to my miserable lodging again. I felt
+as if a new phase of life had opened on me, and that it would be an act
+of meanness to revert to the scenes of my former obscurity. I entered a
+hotel, and ordered a room. My appearance and dress at once exacted every
+respect and attention. A handsome chamber was immediately prepared for
+me; and just as day was breaking, I fell off into a deep sleep which
+lasted till late in the afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL. AT SEA
+
+I cannot attempt to describe my feelings on awaking, nor the lamentable
+failure of all my efforts at recalling the events of the night before.
+That many real occurrences seemed to me the mere effects of wine and a
+heated imagination, and that some of the very wildest freaks of my fancy
+were assumed by me as facts, I can now readily believe. In truth, my
+head was in a state of the wildest credulity and the very narrowest
+distrust, and my only astonishment now is, how I resisted impulses
+plainly suggested by coming insanity.
+
+At one time I thought of calling O'Kelly out; then my indignation was
+directed against some other of the company, for either a real or a
+fancied grievance. Perhaps they had all been in the league against
+me, and that I had been invited merely to make a sport of my absurd
+pretensions, and to afford laughter by my vanity. Then it occurred to me
+that it was the Prince himself who was insulted by my companionship, and
+that they who had dared to make me the means of such an outrage should
+be held accountable.
+
+Lastly came the thought, Is the whole a dream? Have I been drugged to
+play some absurd and ridiculous part, and shall I be exposed to ridicule
+when I appear abroad again? This impression was strengthened by the
+appearance of my dress, so unlike anything I had ever worn before. Of
+the incidents of the card-table I could remember next to nothing. A
+few trivial facts of the game, an accidental event in the play itself,
+remained in my memory, but that was all. I fancied I had been a heavy
+loser; but how, when, or to whom, I knew not. I opened my pocket-book,
+and found four notes for fifty pounds each; but how they came there I
+could not conceive! And yet, said I, all this took place yesterday! and
+what was I before that?--where did I live, and with whom associate? My
+head began to turn, the strangest thoughts chased each other through my
+brain. Incidents of the street, collisions and accidents of all kinds,
+were mingled with events of the previous evening; want and squalor stood
+side by side with splendor, and the bland accents of royalty blended
+themselves with the brutal exclamations of my former fellows. Then there
+flashed across me the thought that the drama in which I had been made
+to perform was not yet played out. They mean me to figure further on the
+boards, said I to myself; the money has been supplied to me to tempt
+me into extravagance which shall make me even more ridiculous still. My
+every action watched, my words listened to, my gestures noted down, I
+am to be the butt of their sarcastic pleasure, and all my pretensions to
+the' habits, the feelings, and the manners of a gentleman be held up as
+a subject for mockery and derision.
+
+I half dreaded to ring the bell and summon the waiter, lest I should be
+exposing myself to a spy on my actions. When I approached the window to
+look out, I fancied that every accidental glance of a passer-by was the
+prying gaze of insolent curiosity. It was in a state of fever that I
+dressed myself; and even then my costume of full dinner dress made
+me feel ashamed to venture abroad. At last I took courage to order
+breakfast. The respectful demeanor of the waiter gave me further
+confidence, and I ventured to ask him a few questions on passing events.
+I learned that the hotel was one usually frequented by foreigners, for
+whose accommodation two or three Continental newspapers were taken. At
+my request he fetched me one of these,--"La Gazette de Paris;" and with
+this for my companion, I sat myself down at my fire, resolved to remain
+a close prisoner for at least a day or two.
+
+Towards evening I sent for a tailor and ordered two suits of clothes,
+with linen, and, in fact, all that I stood in need of; and when night
+set in, I issued forth to make several small purchases of articles I
+wanted. It was late when I entered the hotel, and, not having eaten any
+dinner, I felt hungry. The waiter showed me into the coffee-room, which
+was arrayed in foreign fashion, and where they supped _a la carte_.
+
+The general appearance of the company at once proclaimed their origin;
+and a less practised eye than mine even, might have seen that they
+were all natives of some Continental country. They talked loudly and
+gesticulated wildly, careless to all seeming of being overheard
+by strangers, and little regarding in whose presence they might be
+standing. Their bearing was, in fact, such as speedily set me at ease
+amongst them, and made me feel myself unnoticed and unremarked.
+
+Seated at a small table by myself, I ordered my supper, and half
+carelessly watched the others while it was being prepared. Whatever they
+might have been by birth or station, they seemed now all in the very
+narrowest circumstances. Threadbare coats and broken boots, worn hats
+and gloveless hands, bespoke their condition; nor could all the swagger
+of manner, or pretentious display of a ribbon or a cross, cover over the
+evidences of real poverty that oppressed them.
+
+Had I noticed these signs earlier, I should certainly have restricted
+myself to a meal more befitting the place and its occupants. The humble
+suppers I saw around me of bread and cheese now shocked me at what might
+well appear display on my part; and had there been time to correct my
+error, I should gladly have done so. It was, however, too late. Already
+had the landlord carried in a silver tureen of soup, and set it before
+me; and the tall neck of a champagne bottle rose amidst the mimic
+icebergs at my side.
+
+The others took no pains to hide their astonishment at all this; they
+stood in knots and groups about, with eyes directed full upon me, and
+as evidently made me the subject of their remarks. I could perceive that
+the landlord was far from being at his ease, and that all his endeavors
+were employed either to conceal from me these demonstrations, or to give
+them some harmless interpretation.
+
+"You have travelled, sir, and know well what foreigners are," said he,
+in a whisper; "and although all these are gentlemen by birth, from one
+misfortune or other they are a bit down in the world now, and they look
+with jealousy at any one better off than themselves."
+
+"Foreigners are usually better bred than to exhibit such feelings," said
+I.
+
+"Nor would they, perhaps, sir, if at home and in prosperity; but so
+many are ruined now by wars and revolutions--so many banished and
+exiled--that one ought to make large allowances for their tempers. That
+old man yonder, for instance, was a duke somewhere in Brittany; and the
+thin, tall one, that is gesticulating with his stick, served as colonel
+in the bodyguard of the King of France. And there, next the fire,--you
+see he has taken off a kind of smock-frock and is drying it at the
+blaze,--that is a Pomeranian count who owned a principality once, they
+tell me."
+
+"He looks very poor now; what means of support has he?"
+
+"None, I believe, sir; he was bred to nothing, and can neither teach
+drawing, nor music, nor the sword-exercise, like Frenchmen or Italians;
+and the consequence is, that he actually--you 'll not believe it, but it
+is true, notwithstanding--he actually sweeps a crossing at Cheapside for
+his living."
+
+I started, as he said this, as if I had been stung by a reptile. For a
+moment I was convinced that the speech was a designed insult. I thought
+that the very expression of his eyes as he turned them on me was
+malignant. It was all I could do not to resent the insolence; but I
+restrained myself and was silent.
+
+"Heaven knows," continued he, "if he have eaten once to-day."
+
+"Do you think," said I, "it would be possible to induce him to join me
+at supper,--I mean, could it be managed without offence?"
+
+"Egad! I should say so, sir, and easily enough, too. These poor fellows
+have gone through too much to carry any excess of pride about with
+them."
+
+"Would you undertake the office, then?" asked I.
+
+"With pleasure, sir;" and, as he spoke, he crossed the room, and,
+standing over the old man's chair, whispered in his ear. I soon
+perceived, by the manner of each, that the negotiation was not as simple
+as he had fancied it. Remark, reply, and rejoinder seemed to follow
+each other quickly; and I could almost detect something like an insolent
+rejection of the landlord's suit in the old man's manner. Indeed, I had
+not long to remain in doubt on the subject; for, rising from his seat,
+the Count addressed some hurried words to those about him, to which they
+replied by expressions of anger and astonishment. In vain the landlord
+interposed, and tried to calm down their impatience; they grew more
+and more excited, and I could detect expressions of insulting meaning
+through what they uttered.
+
+"What is the matter?" asked I of the landlord; but ere he could reply, a
+tall, dark man, with the marked physiognomy of a Pole, came up to me and
+said,--
+
+"The Graf von Bildstein has received a grave provocation at your hands:
+are you prepared to justify it?"
+
+"I must first of all learn how I may have offended him," said I, calmly.
+
+"We all of us heard it," said he, impatiently; "you insulted every man
+in this room through him. Either, then, you leave it at once [and he
+pointed insolently to the door], or you give him satisfaction."
+
+The only reply I made to this speech was a haughty laugh, as I filled my
+glass with champagne. I had but done so when, with a blow of his cane,
+he swept my bottle and the glasses from the table; and then, stepping
+back and drawing a sword from the stick, threw himself into an attitude
+of defence. I drew my sword and rushed in on him. Either that he was
+not a skilful fencer, or unprepared for the suddenness of my attack, he
+defended himself badly; his guards were all wide, and his eyes unsteady.
+I felt my advantage in a moment, and, after a couple of passes, ran
+my point through his side, just close to the ribs. A loud cry from the
+bystanders, as the blood gushed forth, now stopped the encounter, and
+they speedily dashed forward to catch him as he reeled and fell.
+
+"Away with you, for Heaven's sake, or you are a murdered man," cried the
+landlord to me, while he pushed me violently from the room and out into
+the street, barring and bolting the door within, at the same instant.
+The terrible clamor inside, and the efforts to force a passage, now
+warned me of my danger, and I fled at the very top of my speed, not
+knowing nor caring whither. I had gone considerably above a mile ere
+I ventured to halt and draw breath. I was in a part of the city with
+narrow streets and tall warehouses, dark, gloomy, and solitary; a small,
+mean-looking alley led me down to the river's side, from which I could
+perceive the Tower quite close, and a crowd of shipping in the stream.
+A small schooner, with a foresail alone set, was just getting under way,
+and as she slowly moved along, boats came and went from the shore to
+her.
+
+"Want to go aboard, sir?" asked a waterman, who observed me as I stood
+watching the movement of the craft. I nodded, and the next moment we
+were alongside. I asked for the skipper, and heard that he was to join
+us at Gravesend. The mate politely said I might go below; and, accepting
+the permission, I descended to the cabin, and lay down on a bench. A boy
+was cleaning plates and glasses in a little nook at one side, and from
+him I learned that the schooner was the "Martha," of Hull, bound for
+Cherbourg; her captain was her owner, and usually traded between the
+English coast and the Channel Islands. At all events, thought I, I am
+safe out of England; and with that reflection I turned on my side and
+went off to sleep.
+
+Just as day broke, the skipper came on board, and I could perceive, by
+the gushing noise beside my ear, that we were going fast through the
+water. The craft lay over, too, and seemed as if under a press of
+canvas. It was not for full an hour afterwards that the skipper
+descended to the cabin, and, shaking me roughly by the shoulder, asked
+how I came there.
+
+I had gone asleep concocting a story to account for my presence; and so
+I told him in a few words that I had just been engaged in a duel wherein
+I had wounded my antagonist; that as the event had occurred suddenly,
+I had no time for any preparation, but just threw myself on board the
+first craft about to sail, ready and willing to pay liberally for the
+succor it afforded me.
+
+Either he disbelieved my narrative, or fancied that it might involve
+himself in some trouble, for he doggedly said I had no right to come
+aboard of her without his leave, and that he should certainly put in at
+Ramsgate and hand me over to the authorities.
+
+"Be it so," said I, with an affected indifference. "The greater fool you
+not to earn fifty guineas for a kind office than go out of your way to
+do a churlish one."
+
+He left me at this to go up on deck, and came down again about half an
+hour later. I heard enough to convince me that the wind was freshening,
+and that a heavy sea, too, was getting up, so that in all likelihood he
+would hesitate ere he 'd try to put in at Ramsgate. He did not speak to
+me this time, but sat with folded arms watching me as I lay pretending
+to be asleep. At length he said,--
+
+"I say, friend, you 've got no passport, I suppose? How do you mean to
+land in France? or, if there, how do you propose to travel?"
+
+"These are matters I don't mean to trouble you about, Captain," said I,
+haughtily; and though I said the words boldly enough, it was exactly the
+very puzzle that was then working in my brain.
+
+"Ay, sir; but they are exactly matters that concern me; for you are not
+on the schooner's manifest,--you are not one of her crew,--and I don't
+mean to get into trouble on your behalf."
+
+"Put me ashore at night, or leave me to reach it in any way," said I,
+half angrily; for I was well-nigh out of patience at these everlasting
+difficulties.
+
+He made no reply to this speech, but starting suddenly up, like a man
+who had hastily made up his mind on some particular course, he went
+up on deck. I overheard orders given, and immediately after a stir and
+bustle among the sailors, and in my anxiety at once connected myself
+with these movements. What project had they regarding me? In what way
+did they mean to treat me?--were the questions that rose to my mind. The
+heavy working of the craft showed me that her course had been altered,
+and I began to dread lest we should be turning again towards England.
+
+From these thoughts my mind wandered back and back, reviewing the chief
+events of my life, and wondering whether I were ever destined to reach
+one spot that I could rest in, and where my weary spirit might find
+peace. To be the sport of Fortune in her most wilful of moods seemed,
+indeed, my lot; and to go on through life unattached to my fellows,
+appeared my fate. I remember once to have read in some French author
+that the attachment we feel to home, the sacred names of son and
+brother, are not more than the instincts of habit; that natural
+affection, as it is called, has no real existence; and that it is the
+mere force of repetition that forms the tie by which we love those whom
+we call father or mother. It is a cold and a cheerless theory, and yet
+now it struck me with a certain melancholy satisfaction to think that,
+save in the name of parentage, I was not worse off than others.
+
+The hours glided on unnoticed as I lay thus dreaming, and night at last
+fell, dark and starless. I had almost attained to a kind of careless
+indifference as to my future, when the mate, coming up to me, said,--
+
+"Wake up, master; we 're going to put you ashore here."
+
+I made no answer: half in recklessness, half in pride, I was silent.
+
+"You 'd better throw my boat-cloak over you. It's blowing fresh, and a
+heavy sea running," said he, in a kindly voice.
+
+"Thanks," said I, declining; "but I 'm little used to care for my
+comforts. Can I see the skipper?"
+
+"He told me that he preferred not to see you," said the mate,
+hesitatingly, "and bade me arrange for putting you ashore myself."
+
+"It is a question of money--not of politeness--with me," said I,
+producing my purse. "Tell me what I owe him."
+
+"Not a farthing, sir. He 'd not touch a piece of money that belonged to
+you. He only wants you to go your way, and part company with him."
+
+"Why--what does he take me for? What means this dread of me?"
+
+The man looked confusedly up and down, to either hand, and was silent.
+At last he said,--
+
+"Come; all this is lost time. We 're close in now. Are you ready, sir?"
+
+"Quite ready," said I, rising, and following him.
+
+The boat's crew was already mustered, and, springing into the boat,
+she was lowered at once; and before I well knew of it, we were plunging
+through a heavy sea, by the force of four strong oars.
+
+Through the darkness and the showering spray we went,--now rising on
+the crest of some swelling wave, now diving down between the foaming
+cataracts. I never asked whither we were bound. I scarcely wished for
+land. There was something so exciting in the sense of peril about, that
+I only desired it might continue. Such a relief is physical danger to
+the slow and cankering disease of a despairing heart!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI. LYS
+
+A long, low line of coast loomed through the darkness, and towards this
+we now rowed through a heavy, breaking surf. More than once did they lie
+on their oars to consult as to the best landing-place, and again resume
+their labor as before. At last, seeing that neither creek nor inlet
+presented itself, they made straight for the shore, and when within
+about thirty paces of the strand, they dropped anchor and suffered the
+boat to drift into shallow water.
+
+"There now, master," said the steersman to me, "you'll have to wet your
+feet, for we can't venture further in. Jump over, and you'll soon touch
+land again."
+
+I obeyed without a word, and ere I reached the shore the boat was
+already on her way back to the schooner. As I stood gazing on the dark
+expanse of sea before me, and then turned to the gloomy outline of the
+land, I felt a sense of desolation no words can render. I had not the
+very vaguest notion where I was. So far as I could see, there were no
+traces of habitation near; and as I wandered inland, the same unbroken
+succession of sand hummocks surrounded me. How strange is it that in
+this old Europe of ours, so time-worn by civilization, so crossed and
+recrossed by man's labors, how many spots there are which, in this wild
+solitude, might well be supposed to form parts of Africa or distant
+America! The day broke to find me still wandering along these dreary
+sand-hills; but to my great delight two church towers about a league off
+showed me that a village was near; and thither I now proceeded to bend
+my steps.
+
+After walking about a mile I reached a high road which evidently led to
+the village; and now it became necessary to bethink me what account I
+should give of myself, and how explain my appearance when questioned, as
+I inevitably should be, by the authorities.
+
+My drenched and shrunk-up clothes and my way-worn look might well have
+warranted the story of a shipwreck, and for some minutes I had almost
+resolved to give that version of my calamity; but I was so weary of the
+vicissitudes a false representation involved, so actually tired out by
+the labor of sustaining a part that was not my own, that I determined to
+take no heed of what was to follow, and leave myself to the chances of
+destiny, without a struggle against them.
+
+Fortune, thought I, has never been over kind to me when I did my best to
+woo her; let me see if a little indifference on my part may not render
+her more graciously disposed. From some peasants on their way to market
+I learned that the village was called Lys, and was on the high road to
+Montreuil. At all events, then, I was in France, which was almost as
+much my country as England, and with even so much did I rally my spirits
+and encourage my hopes. The country-people, with their pack-mules,
+stared at my strange appearance, and evidently wondered what manner of
+man I might be, for I still wore my full-dress suit; and my lace ruffles
+and sabot, however discolored, showed undeniable signs of condition.
+Many, however, saluted me respectfully, and touched their hats as to
+one of rank above their own, and not one displayed anything approaching
+levity or a jest at my singular exterior. It might possibly have been
+the secluded character of the spot itself, or that the recent peace with
+England had brought about the change; but whatever the cause, neither
+police nor gendarmerie questioned me as to my passport, and I strolled
+into the first cafe that presented itself, to take my breakfast, without
+hindrance or impediment.
+
+While I enjoyed my meal, I amused myself with the newspapers, at that
+time filled with descriptions of festivities and court receptions, at
+which the English were the honored guests. Instead of the accustomed
+allusions to insular eccentricity, awkwardness, and boorish unsociality,
+there were nothing but praises of English frankness and cordial
+simplicity. I saw that the Government, for doubtless good reasons of its
+own, had given the initiative to this new estimation of my countrymen;
+and resolved, if possible, to reap the benefit of it, I repaired to the
+Mairie and asked to see the "Maire." In a few words, I told him that I
+had laid a heavy wager to travel up to Paris and back to England without
+a passport; that I had made this foolish bet at a dinner-party, which
+I quitted to accomplish my undertaking. My intention had been to have
+landed at Havre; but, by ill-luck, we were driven on shore to the
+north'ard, and narrowly escaped shipwreck; from which having saved
+myself, I reached Lys, destitute of everything save a small sum of money
+I carried about me. I told this story with the air of one who really
+felt that any impediment to so harmless a project must be impossible,
+and with such success that the Maire invited me into his drawing-room to
+repeat my tale to his family, as an excellent illustration of the length
+to which English eccentricity could go.
+
+My manners, the facility with which I spoke French, my calm assurance of
+not requiring any other aid or assistance than the friendly offices of
+the authorities, so gained his favor that he promised to think over the
+matter, and give me his opinion in the morning. I asked for no more.
+I was not impatient to get forward; and at that moment the little
+grass-grown streets and alleys of Lys were as pleasing to me as the most
+fashionable thoroughfares of a great city.
+
+He did not send for me, as he promised, on the following morning. A
+second day and a third passed over with the same results; and still I
+remained loitering about the village and making acquaintance with every
+notable monument, from its quaint old church to the little obelisk in
+the marketplace, commemorating the birthplace of its great citizen, the
+architect Mansard.
+
+I had by this time formed two or three slight acquaintanceships with
+the townsfolk, who, although living on a high road much traversed by
+travellers, were a simple-minded and maritime set of people. The little
+routine of this quaint old spot also pleased me; and I persuaded myself
+that I should ask nothing better from fortune than to be able to pass my
+life and end my days in Lys. Vast numbers of English poured daily into
+France at this time; and it was one of my chief amusements to sit at
+the little cafe in front of the "poste," and watch them as they changed
+horses. I do not suppose that even yet our countrymen escape from what
+would appear to be the almost inevitable blunders of foreign travel;
+but at the time I speak of, these mistakes and misapprehensions were
+far greater. The Continent and its languages were alike new to them.
+National peculiarities were all more marked, and John Bull himself less
+compliant and more exacting than he now is.
+
+As the temper and tone of the day were, however, favorable to England,
+and as Englishmen were remarkable for the liberality of their payments
+for all services rendered them, the nation was popular, and whatever
+errors or awkwardness they committed were speedily forgotten or
+forgiven. I was seated, as was my custom, one morning, watching the
+tide of travellers that rolled by unceasingly, when a large travelling
+carriage, with eight horses and a mounted courier in front, drew up
+at the "poste." While the horses were being harnessed, two gentlemen
+descended, and, crossing the "Place," entered the cafe. One was a
+large, full, and somewhat handsome man, with that florid look and air so
+characteristic of an English country squire; the other I had not time to
+remark ere he came up to me and said,--
+
+"Happy to meet you again, Mr. Carew; I trust you don't forget me.'"
+
+It was Colonel Canthorpe, whom I had met at O'Kelly's dinner-table.
+
+"This chance meeting is a piece of good fortune," continued he,
+"since it enables me to pay a debt I owe you. On looking over my
+memorandum-book, I discovered I had lost three hundred, and not two, to
+you. Am I correct?"
+
+I professed, with truth, that I had no recollection of the matter, nor
+had anything to guide me to its memory.
+
+"I'm quite positive that I'm right, however," said he, "and you must
+allow me to acquit myself of the obligation. Who is your banker at
+Paris?"
+
+I had to say that so many years had passed over since I was there, I
+really had not thought of selecting one.
+
+"But you are going on thither?" asked he.
+
+"Yes, in a day or two; that is, as soon as I have arranged a difficulty
+about my passport."
+
+"If that's the only thing that detains you," said he, "pray accept of
+mine. In travelling with my friend Mr. Fox, I need none."
+
+I turned at the sound of the name, and at once recognized, by the
+resemblance to the prints, the bluff and manly features of the great
+leader of the Opposition.
+
+"This is our famous whist-player, Fox, Mr. Carew," said Canthorpe,
+presenting me; and the other rose and received me most courteously,
+adding some little compliments on my reputed skill at the game.
+
+While we were yet talking, their breakfast made its appearance, and I
+was invited to partake of the meal,--a politeness which I accepted of
+readily, while I congratulated myself by thinking that up to this time
+at least O'Kelly had not divulged the secret of my former station.
+
+The conversation turned principally on France and its relations with
+England; and I was surprised to find the great parliamentary leader so
+little acquainted with either the character of the people or of those
+who ruled them. He seemed willing to accept all the present civil
+overtures as guarantees of lasting and cordial friendship, and to regard
+as antiquated and unworthy prejudices those expressions of distrust
+to which, in my more intimate knowledge of France, I occasionally gave
+utterance.
+
+"Mr. Carew's whist experiences, I perceive'," said he, "are not his
+guides in politics. He will not trust his partner."
+
+"There is this difference," said I, "that in whist you sit opposite to
+your ally: in politics, as in war, your vis-a-vis is your enemy."
+
+"For my part," said he, good-humoredly, "I think, having fought against
+each other--bravely fought, as France and England have--is one of the
+very best elements towards a lasting peace. Each must by this time have
+attained to a proper estimate of the other; and from that source alone
+a degree of respect springs up, fit to become the foundation of true
+friendship."
+
+"Your theory excludes all notion of a rivalry, sir."
+
+"Rivalry can exist only between small states or individuals. Great
+countries have great ambitions, and these are usually above mere
+rivalries."
+
+I have quoted, word for word, the expressions he made use of, less for
+any importance of their own than for the sake of the man who spoke them.
+They were, as I afterwards came to know, specimens of that careless
+habit of talking in which he constantly indulged, and in which an
+indolent goodnature rather swayed him than the use of those fine
+faculties of judgment he so eminently possessed. My more intimate
+acquaintance with France and its language gave me certain advantages
+in our discussion which he soon perceived, and he questioned me closely
+about the people and their natural tendencies.
+
+Colonel Canthorpe came twice to announce that the horses were ready,
+and yet still Mr. Fox stood, inquiring eagerly into points of which he
+confessed himself quite uninformed.
+
+"How glad I should be," said he, "to have an opportunity of continuing
+this conversation. Is there any chance of our meeting at Paris?"
+
+I owned that the expression of his wish on the subject quite decided me
+to go there.
+
+"On what day, then, may I expect you? Shall we say Saturday, and at
+dinner?"
+
+"Most willingly," said I, "if I can accomplish it."
+
+"As to the passport, nothing easier," said Canthorpe. "This is mine--it
+is perfectly regular--requires no _vise_; and once in Paris, my friend
+here will obtain one for you in your own name."
+
+"Just so," said Fox, shaking my hand cordially; and repeating
+"Saturday--Quillac's Hotel," away he went, leaving me almost incredulous
+of all I had seen and been saying.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII. THE COMING SHADOW
+
+I arrived in Paris a few days after, and took up my abode at the Hotel
+Quillac, then one of the most splendid in the capital. Mr. Fox and
+Colonel Canthorpe received me most courteously, willingly accepting my
+guidance in their visits to the various objects of interest that this
+glorious city contains. Such a knowledge of the language as I possessed
+was a rarer gift at that time than it now is, when education and foreign
+travel are so widely enjoyed; and I could plainly see that they regarded
+their chance acquaintanceship with me as quite a piece of good fortune.
+This did not, however, prevent their feeling--as I could perceive they
+felt--a most lively curiosity as to what might have been my former life,
+where it had been passed, and how. Too well bred to suffer this anxiety
+of theirs to appear, except by a mere accident, yet it was evident to
+me, by a hundred little circumstances, how it formed a constant subject
+of conversation between them.
+
+I am far from implying that their intercourse with me was marked by
+anything like distrust or suspicion; on the contrary, they talked freely
+in my presence on every subject, and upon politics Mr. Fox especially
+spoke with a degree of openness that, had he been less distinguished, I
+should have presumed to call indiscreet. He made almost daily visits at
+the Tuileries, and never hesitated, on his return, to recount to us what
+had passed between the First Consul and himself.
+
+The manly character of the English statesman contributed to give the
+interviews many very interesting traits, to which also his imperfect
+knowledge of French lent several amusing features. Were I not afraid
+of repeating well-known anecdotes, I should avail myself of this
+opportunity to recall some instances of these. At all events, I am happy
+to have the occasion of saying that the veriest Tory that ever inveighed
+against France never had a more thoroughly English heart and spirit than
+Charles Fox. I have seen it imputed to him that in his partisanship
+he would willingly have accepted a dishonorable peace, and made common
+cause with the First Consul on any terms; and I affirm that I am in a
+position to refute this foul charge, and prove it a calumny.
+
+Neither, as was asserted at the time, did the unquestionable fascination
+of Bonaparte's manner gain a complete ascendancy over the Englishman's
+less-cultivated tact. It is true he came back--as who would not?--from
+these meetings amazed at the extensive knowledge, the vast acquirements,
+and the profound sagacity of that great man; nor did he hesitate to own
+that even these were thrown into the shade by the charms of his manner
+and the captivation of an address which I believe at that period had
+reached its very point of perfection.
+
+An attack of gout confined Mr. Fox for some time to his room, and thus
+interfered with the progress of an intimacy that might be fairly called
+friendship. Who can say now how far the highest interests of mankind,
+the fortunes of the whole world, may not have been influenced by that
+casual indisposition! It is certain that Fox had already been able to
+disabuse Bonaparte's mind with regard to a variety of things in which
+he judged erroneously. He had succeeded in setting him right on several
+points of our national spirit and the spirit of our constitution. He had
+even done much towards convincing him that England was not inspired with
+an insane hatred to France, and would willingly live at peace with her,
+only asking that a peace should have guarantees for its duration, and
+not be, as it but too often is, but the interval of preparation for war.
+I say then again what a change might there have been to the destinies of
+mankind, had this intercourse gone on uninterruptedly! How differently
+might Bonaparte have learned to regard and consider Englishmen, and
+what allowances might he not have come to make for peculiarities purely
+national!
+
+How naturally might a great intelligence like his have seen that the
+alliance of two such nations is the guarantee of civilization throughout
+the globe, and that all our smaller rivalries and national jealousies
+sink to insignificance when viewed in presence of the great perils to
+which disunion exposes us,--perils that, at the hour in which I write
+these lines, are neither vague nor visionary, and against which an
+honest and cordial alliance can alone prevail. Let it be taken as
+the tremulous terror of an old man's mind if I add, that even banded
+together, and with all their energies to the task, they will not be more
+than enough for the work that is before them.
+
+I have spoken of the friendly reception I met with from Mr. Fox. I dined
+constantly with him and Colonel Canthorpe alone, and accompanied them
+frequently on their evening visits amongst their acquaintances. I joined
+in everything, even to the high play which they both were passionately
+devoted to, and lost and won without any decisive results. Meanwhile
+my resources ran lower and lower. The style of living I maintained was
+costly; and at the end of some weeks I saw myself with barely sufficient
+to carry me through another fortnight. To this very hour I cannot
+explain to myself the calm indifference with which I contemplated my
+approaching and inevitable ruin. I really know nothing of the flatteries
+by which I may have beguiled my own heart, and am left to the conclusion
+that the intoxicating pleasures of the time had rendered me insensible
+to every thought for the future. I went further, too, than might be
+supposed possible. I accepted invitations to shoot in Scotland, and pass
+my Christmas at Canthorpe's seat in Cumberland, promising everything
+with the ease of one free to dispose of himself as he fancied.
+
+Meanwhile time went on. I had asked Mr. Fox and Canthorpe to dine
+with me at the Fleur-de-Pois, outside the barrier. It was a celebrated
+restaurant of those times, as distinguished for the excellence of its
+wine as the perfection of its cookery. I had often given myself the
+airs of connoisseurship in these matters, and I was resolved that my
+entertainment should not disparage my taste.
+
+More than one morning had I passed in council over the bill of fare,
+discussing the order of the courses, canvassing the appropriate sauces,
+and tasting the various wines. It was to be a "Diner a soixante francs
+par tete;" the reader may imagine the rest. I knew that my friends were
+unacquainted with the repute this house enjoyed, and I congratulated
+myself in fancying the surprise they would feel at the unexpected
+perfection of every arrangement within doors. I went down early on the
+morning of the eventful day to see that everything was in readiness. All
+was perfect; the table was decorated with the choicest flowers, amidst
+which an ornamental dessert lay scattered, as it were. The temperature
+of the room, the lighting, all were cared for; and I returned to Paris
+fully satisfied that nothing had been omitted or forgotten. Instead,
+however, of repairing to my hotel, I went to a small restaurant near the
+Luxembourg to breakfast, and lounged afterwards at the gardens there,
+intending to keep myself "up" for the evening, and not dissipate any
+of those conversational resources I wished to hoard for the hours of
+conviviality. The reader may well smile at the inconsistency of the man
+who could so collectedly devise a few hours of pleasure, and yet face
+the whole future without a moment's thought or deliberation! Towards
+five o'clock I sauntered slowly back to the hotel.
+
+"A note for you, sir," said the porter, presenting me with a letter as
+I entered. "The gentleman said it was to be given to you the moment you
+came in."
+
+I took it with a strange, half-sickening sense of coming evil. I broke
+the seal, and read:--
+
+  Crillan, Three o'clock. Dear C,--We are off for England at
+  a moment's warning, and have only time to counsel you to the
+  same. There is some mischief brewing, and the d----d Tories
+  are likely to involve us in another war. Keep this to
+  yourself. Get your passport ready, and let us soon see you
+  across the water. With many regrets from F. and myself at
+  the loss of your good dinner to-day, believe me
+  Yours truly,
+
+  George Canthorpe.
+
+The whole fabric in which I had been living for weeks past fell at once
+to the ground; all the illusions of my daily existence were suddenly
+swept away; and there I stood in presence of my own heart,--a poor
+bankrupt pretender, without one to know or acknowledge him!
+
+I hastened to my room and sat down, for some minutes actually
+overwhelmed by the chaotic flood of thought that now poured through my
+brain. Very little calm consideration would have shown me that my real
+condition in life had undergone no change, that I stood precisely as I
+had done the day before,--a ruined, houseless adventurer! With a little
+reflection, too, it is not impossible I might have congratulated
+myself that my separation had not been brought about by any disgraceful
+discovery of my actual rank in life, and that I had escaped the
+humiliation of an exposure. These thoughts came later; for the moment
+all was sadness and gloomy depression.
+
+The waiter entered to say that the carriage Monsieur had ordered was at
+the door, and it took me some minutes to recall my mind to the fact,
+and to remember that I had ordered a carriage to convey us to the
+restaurant. "Be it so," said I to myself, "let us play out the comedy;"
+and with this resolve I proceeded to dress myself for dinner with all
+the elegance I could bestow on my toilet.
+
+Had I been about to dine at court, I could not have been more
+particular. My sabot and ruffles were of the finest "Valenciennes;" my
+vest was white satin, richly embroidered with gold; and the hilt of my
+sword glittered with marqueseta and turquoise. I took a look at myself
+in the glass, and almost started back as I saw the contrast between
+this finery of my apparel and the haggard expression of my features;
+for though my cheek was flushed and my eyes sparkled, my mouth was drawn
+down, and my thin, parched lips denoted fever. There was that in my
+looks that actually scared myself.
+
+"To the Fleur-de-Pois," said I, throwing myself back in the carriage;
+and away we drove along the crowded Boulevard, many an eye turned on
+the foppish figure that lounged so elegantly in his carriage, never
+suspecting the while what the tone of his thoughts at that moment was,
+and that he was gravely canvassing within himself the strange stories
+that would circulate on the morrow, should his body be taken up in the
+"Filets de St. Cloud." True was it, the dark and muddy Seine, the
+cold, fast-flowing river, was never out of my thoughts. It swept,
+torrent-like, through all my reasoning, and the surging water seemed to
+rise and swell around me. At that moment short, fitful thoughts of the
+long past shot through my mind; and my mother, and Raper, and Margot
+too, came and went before me. Where were all the teachings of my infancy
+now; where the holy aspirations of my early boyhood; where the simple
+tastes and lowly desires, the home affections and blest humility I
+once loved to dream over; where that calm existence, so bounded by easy
+ambitions; and where, above all, that honesty of life that spurned
+every thought of deception? "A meet ending for such a career," said I,
+bitterly, as I gazed down on the river along whose bank we were driving.
+"Ay," thought I, as we passed along, "there is not one so miserable
+nor so poor with whom I would not change places, only that this mockery
+should cease, and that I should be something to my own heart besides a
+cheat."
+
+The day suddenly grew overcast, the clouds massed themselves heavily
+together, and the rain began to descend in torrents. When we reached
+the restaurant the storm had become a hurricane, and all who had been
+preparing to dine through the arbors of the garden were quickly driven
+to seek shelter within doors. As I descended from the carriage, all was
+tumult and confusion; for although every available spot had been given
+up to the guests, yet from their numbers they were crowded together
+most uncomfortably, and loud and angry complaints and remonstrances
+were heard on all sides. In vain the waiters heard patiently or answered
+courteously the various discontents of those who appealed to their rank
+and station as claims for special consideration. Distinguished generals,
+ministers, great leaders of fashion, were all condemned to the same
+indiscriminate fortune of humbler natures.
+
+From where I sat in the little _salon_ reserved for myself, I could
+overhear these complaints and remonstrances, and it was in a kind of
+savage irony with Fortune that I bethought me of my sumptuous lot in
+comparison with the discomforts of those around me. Twice or thrice was
+my door flung open by persons in search of an apartment, and in this
+confusion and shame I revelled as in a momentary triumph. At length, in
+an interval of comparative quiet, I thought I heard voices whispering
+outside my door. I listened, and could distinguish that they were female
+accents, and discussing, as it seemed, some project on which they were
+not agreed. One appeared to insist as eagerly as the other was bent
+upon opposing; and the words, "Mais oui," "Mais non," followed in
+quick succession. I know not how it was, but I conceived a most intense
+curiosity to learn the subject of the discussion. I felt as if I must
+have some share or concern in the matter, and eagerly bent my ear to
+hear further. Nor was I wrong. The question argued was, whether or not
+the two ladies should appeal to the gallantry of the occupant of the
+room to afford them shelter till such time as their carriage might
+arrive to fetch them for Paris. She who spoke with more authority was in
+favor of the appeal, while the younger voice expressed dissent to it.
+
+Being in a measure a party to the cause, I resolved to lend what
+influence I might possess towards the decision; and so, flinging wide
+the door, I saluted the strangers courteously, and informing them that I
+had accidentally overheard their discussion, begged they would permit
+me to decide it by placing my apartment at their disposal at once. The
+elder of the two immediately addressed me in a tone and manner that
+bespoke a person of condition, accepting my hospitality, but only on
+the condition that I myself should remain, for I had made a gesture
+indicative of departure. The younger, with a veil closely drawn across
+her face, courtesied without speaking. I at once acceded, and placing
+chairs for my guests, requested them to be seated.
+
+The waiter at length made his appearance to say dinner was ready
+"whenever Monsieur desired it." This was a new difficulty, and I really
+felt much embarrassed by it. Resolving, however, to adopt the bold
+course, I hastily apologized for the great liberty I was about to take,
+and after briefly explaining the departure of the two friends I had
+expected, begged they would allow me to believe that Fortune had really
+been kind to me for once, in replacing them.
+
+A sign of half-impatience by the younger was speedily corrected by the
+other, as she said,--
+
+"Monsieur forgets that we are strangers to each other."
+
+But there was nothing like rebuke in the tone she spoke in; but rather,
+as I thought, a suggestive hint thrown out to provoke some effort at
+explanation on my part. I was right in this conjecture, as I speedily
+saw by the degree of attention she vouchsafed me.
+
+Perhaps if I had had a better cause, I should not have pleaded so
+successfully. I mean, that if I had been really the owner of a high name
+and station, it is just possible I might not so ably have combated the
+difficulty of the situation.
+
+"At all events," said the elder lady, "Monsieur has one advantage: he
+knows who we are."
+
+"I shame to say, Madame," said I, bowing low, "that, in my ignorance of
+Paris, I have not that honor."
+
+"Indeed!" cried she, half incredulously.
+
+"It is quite true, Madame; I have been but a few days here, and have no
+acquaintance whatever."
+
+They now spoke to each other for a few seconds; and after what seemed
+strong persuasion, the younger turned away to remove her bonnet.
+
+"We have, then, no right to exact any concession from Monsieur," said
+the elder lady, "seeing that we preserve our own secret."
+
+I could not but assent to this doctrine, and had just acknowledged
+it, when the younger turned abruptly round, uttering a half cry of
+amazement.
+
+"Margot!" exclaimed I; for it was she. But already had she buried her
+face between her hands, and refused to look up.
+
+"What means this?" said the elder, sternly, to me. "Do you know this
+young lady?"
+
+"I did so, once, Madame," said I, sorrowfully.
+
+"Well, sir?" replied she, proudly, and as if desiring me to finish my
+speech.
+
+"Yes, Madame. I knew her as a child in her grandfather's house. I was
+scarcely more than a boy myself at the time; but had the interval been
+four times as great, I could not forget all that I owe to his kindness
+and to hers."
+
+I could scarcely utter the last words from emotion. The child Margot--a
+beautiful woman, graceful and fascinating--now stood before me, changed,
+but still the same; her dark eyes darker and more meaning; her fair brow
+expanded and more lofty.
+
+"You know my story?" asked she, in a low, soft voice.
+
+"Yes, Margot. And oftentimes in my saddest hours have I sought
+excitement and relief in the thought of your triumphs--"
+
+"There, child,--there!" exclaimed the elder, enthusiastically, "there
+is at least one who can prize the glorious ambitions of the scene, and
+knows how to appreciate the successes of high art. Stand not abashed
+before him, child; he comes not here as your accuser."
+
+"Is it so indeed?" cried Margot, entreatingly.
+
+"Oh, if you but knew, Margot, how proudly I have often pondered over our
+hours of the past,--now fancying that in my teachings of those days some
+germ of that high ambition you have tried to reach may then have been
+dropped into your heart; now wondering if in your successes some memory
+of me might have survived. If you but knew this, Margot, you would soon
+see how this bright moment of our meeting repays all the sorrows of a
+life long."
+
+"I am in the third act of the drama," said the elder lady, smiling.
+"Pray let me into the secret of the piece. Where, when, and how were you
+first acquainted?"
+
+Margot looked at me to speak; but I returned her glance so entreatingly
+that, taking her friend's hand between her own, she seated her at her
+side and began.
+
+While she narrated the story of our first meeting, I had full time to
+look at her, and see the changes a few years had made. Beautiful as
+she had been in childhood, far more lovely was she now in the grace of
+developed beauty. Her art, too, had cultivated expression to its very
+highest point, yet without exaggerating a trait of her features; the
+tones of her voice had in them a melody I had never heard before; and I
+hung on her very utterance as though it were music!
+
+I dare not trust myself to recall more of that scene: already are
+emotions struggling within me, the conflict of which this poor shattered
+heart is not equal to. The great trials of life are often easier burdens
+to memory than some flitting moment of passionate existence, some one
+brief hour of mingled hope and fear.
+
+Margot's friend--it was Mademoiselle Mars herself--felt the liveliest
+interest in the story of our first meeting, my boyish duel and--why
+should I not say it?--my boyish love. She took pleasure in hearing
+of every indication of that genius in infancy which she had seen so
+splendidly displayed in womanhood, and asked me for traits of Margot's
+childhood with the greatest eagerness.
+
+Margot--the first excitement over--seemed sad and dispirited; she even
+showed impatience once or twice as Mademoiselle Mars insisted on hearing
+some little incident of childhood, and then abruptly said,--
+
+"And you, Monsieur, how has the world treated you since we met?"
+
+"Not so flatteringly; I am not spoiled by Fortune."
+
+"Nor am I," said she, hastily taking up my words.
+
+"No, dearest, that you are not," cried the other. "You are as first I
+knew you, generous, warm-hearted, and kind."
+
+"I mean," said Margot, "that these successes have not made me vain nor
+proud; that I know how to esteem them at their true price, and
+feel, moreover, how in my heart there lives a spirit above all this
+loud-tongued flattery."
+
+Mademoiselle Mars looked at me while she spoke, and I thought that her
+eyes conveyed the strangest meaning. There was admiration, indeed, but
+blended with something of tender pity and compassion. What would I not
+have given to have been able to read this glance aright! No time was
+given me to think on the theme, for Margot now, with a kind of half
+impetuous curiosity, asked me for my adventures.
+
+"Tell us all, everything," said she, laughingly,--"your successes, your
+failures, your hopes, your loves, your joys and sorrows. I am eager
+to hear if Fortune has not dealt more generously by you than me. This
+splendid preparation here"--and she pointed to the dinner-table--"would
+seem to say much."
+
+"The story will tell better at table," said I, gayly, and not sorry to
+relieve the awkwardness of the moment by any new incident; and with this
+I ordered dinner at once. As course succeeded course of the magnificent
+repast, I could not help feeling what a singular preface was all this
+splendor to the confession that was to follow it, and how oddly would it
+tell that the host of such a feast was without a sou in the world. Our
+spirits rose as dinner went on. We talked together like old friends
+who had met yesterday; we discussed passing topics--all the news of
+the day--lightly and amusingly; we jested and laughed, with all the
+light-hearted gayety of unburdened spirits; nor can I remember anything
+more brilliant than the flow of wit and pleasantry that went on amongst
+us.
+
+What strange mysterious link unites our lowest moment of despair with a
+wild and almost headlong joyousness, making of the darkness of our souls
+a fitting atmosphere for the lightning play of fancy and the bright
+coruscations of wit! But an hour back, and never was depression deeper
+than my own; and now my brain abounded with bright-hued thoughts and
+pleasant imaginings.
+
+It was late when the carriage arrived, and we returned to Paris
+to finish the evening at Mademoiselle Mars' lodgings in the Rue de
+Choiseul. The little _salons_, furnished with a consummate taste and
+elegance, were crowded with visitors, as we reached them,--artists,
+authors, musicians, theatrical people of every kind and sort, with
+a sprinkling of the higher world, admitted as a rare favor to these
+"Saturdays."
+
+It was in the fascination of this very class of society that Margot
+had originally conceived her passion for the stage. It was in their
+enthusiasm for her genius and their admiration of her beauty she had
+first tasted the ambitious longing for fame and applause; and it was
+still here that she revelled, as in a charmed existence,--here sought
+the inspirations that quickened her spirit to its proudest darings, and
+nerved her heart for efforts almost beyond human strength.
+
+I had but to see her for a moment in the midst of this adulation to
+comprehend the whole history of her life. The poet brought his verses,
+the musician his strains, the sculptor laid his own image of herself at
+her feet; the most rapturous verses, the most polished flatteries, met
+her as she entered. Mademoiselle Mars herself swelled the chorus of
+these praises, and seemed prouder in the triumphs of her _protegee_ than
+she had ever been in her own. Margot accepted all this homage as a queen
+might have done. She received it as a tribute that was due, and of
+which none dared to defraud her. Shall I own that if at first a modest
+humility and a girlish diffidence had been more gratifying to me to
+witness, yet, as the hours wore on, not only had I accustomed myself
+to bear with, but I actually felt myself joining in that same spirit of
+adulation which seemed so meetly offered at this shrine?
+
+What sad repinings, what terrible self-reproaches come over me as I
+write these lines! My thoughts all turn to the very darkest, and yet
+the most brilliant, moment of my life: the brightest in all its actual
+splendor and delight,--the gloomiest in its dreary memory! Lest these
+fancies should master me, I will pursue my story rapidly, coldly,
+apathetically, if I may. I will not suffer a word, if I can help it,
+to escape me that may unman me for my task, now all but completed. I
+suppose that no man can write of himself without becoming more or less
+his own apologist. Even in his self-accusings there will be mingled a
+degree of commiseration, and his judgments will be found tempered
+with merciful considerations. I would that I were capable of something
+better, bolder, and more manly than this. I would that others might
+learn of my "short-comings," and be taught by my "over-reachings"! But
+though I cannot point the moral, I will tell the tale.
+
+Margot--it was the caprice of the moment--presented me to the society
+as her cousin. I was the Chevalier de Bertin, of good family and ample
+fortune. "Passionne pour les arts," as she said, "and the devoted
+slave of genius." The introduction was well calculated to insure me a
+favorable reception; and so it proved. I was at once admitted into all
+the masonry of the craft. The "coulisses" of every theatre were open
+to me; the private box of the prima donna, the editorial sanctum, the
+dressing-room where the great actress received her chosen few, and
+the little supper-table, at which a place would have been a boon to
+royalty,--all were mine. To support myself, and maintain a condition
+proportionate to my pretended rank, I labored immensely. I wrote for
+no less than four of the great journals of Paris. I was the leading
+political writer in the Bonapartist "Presse," the royalist in the
+"Gazette de la Vendee," and the infuriated defender of the Girondins in
+the terrible columns of "Le Drapeau de Pays," theatrical and literary
+criticism being my walk in the pages of the "Avant Scene."
+
+Two persons only were in my secret,--Sanson, the subeditor of the
+"Presse," and Jostard, who was a royalist agent, and who paid with a
+liberal hand all the advocates of the Bourbons. My intimate knowledge of
+the secret history of party, my acquaintance with political characters
+personally, and, above all, my information on England and English
+topics, gave me enormous advantages, and many of my contributions
+were attributed to persons high in political station, and speaking the
+sentiments of authority. I was well versed in the slashing insolence
+of the military style in which the Bonapartists wrote, and knew all the
+cant of the Jesuit, as well as the chosen phraseology of the wildest
+republican. In this way I attacked and replied to myself vindictively,
+and even savagely. Assault and counter-attack, insulting demands and
+still more insulting replies, issued forth each morning to amaze the
+capital, and make men ask how long could such a polemic be sustained
+without personal vengeance?
+
+In my Bonapartist capacity I assailed Pitt unceasingly. It was the theme
+of which that party never wearied, and in which all their hatred to
+England could be carried without openly wounding the susceptibilities of
+the nation. If I assailed the covert treachery of the English minister
+by the increased activity in the dockyards during a state of peace, I
+hailed that very sign in a Bourbonist article as an evidence that the
+cause of the exiled family had not been abandoned in Great Britain;
+while in the "Drapeau" I turned attention to the glorious struggle for
+freedom then sustained by the blacks of St. Domingo under the chivalrous
+guidance of Toussaint, openly declaring that with the negro lay at that
+moment the whole destiny of all Europe.
+
+One of these articles--I wrote it half wild with the excitement of a
+supper at the Rue Choiseul; I came home nearly distracted by a quarrel
+with a Martogard--I cannot continue--was headed "Noir au Blanc," and
+was an insulting comparison between "Negro Chivalry and the White Man's
+Subserviency." An outrageously insolent contrast of Bonaparte with
+Toussaint closed the paper, and occasioned a police visit to the office
+of the journal, demanding the name and address of the writer. Of these
+the editor knew nothing; and though he succeeded in establishing his
+innocence, the journal was declared to be suppressed, and a heavy fine
+imposed upon its conductors. I was resolved, at whatever sacrifice,
+to pay this, and consulted with Sanson how best to set about it. My
+receipts at that time were as follows: from the "Presse" sixty francs
+daily; fifty from the "Vendee;" the theatrical journal paid me one
+hundred weekly; and the "Drapeau," up to the time of its suppression,
+forty francs for every article, irrespective of its length. In a word,
+each day's revenue averaged above a hundred and fifty francs, which it
+was my custom to spend to the last sou-piece.
+
+To sustain the character of wealth and fortune, I not only toiled
+without ceasing, but I entered on a career of extravagance almost as
+distasteful to me. Margot loved display of every kind. The theatrical
+passion seemed to suggest a desire for every species of notoriety;
+and to please her I set up a costly equipage, with showy liveries and
+magnificent horses. The dinners I gave were of the most extravagant
+kind; the bouquets I presented to her each evening at the theatre would
+have in their price supported a family. My earnings could never have
+compassed such outlay, and to meet it I became a gambler,--a practised,
+a professional gambler,--playing with all the calm-headed skill of a
+deep calculator. Fortune vacillated; but, on the whole, I was a large
+winner. The fine decreed against the "Drapeau" was fifteen thousand
+francs,--a large sum for me, and far above what any effort at
+accumulation could possibly compass. So, indeed, Sanson told me, and
+laughed at the bare thought of my attempting it. There was, however, he
+said, a possibility--a mere possibility--of a way to meet this, and he
+would think over it. I gave him a day or two, and at the end of that
+time he told me his plan. It was this. There was a certain minister
+high in the confidence of Bonaparte, whose counsels had not been always
+followed, nor even listened to at times. These counsels had been founded
+on the assumption that certain views and intentions of a particular
+kind were maintained by the royalists,--secretly maintained, but still
+occasionally shadowed forth in such a way as to be intelligible to all
+in the secrets of the party. To be plain, the suspected plan was neither
+more nor less than a union of the royalist with the republican faction
+to overthrow the Bonapartists. This idea seemed so chimerical to
+Bonaparte that to broach it was at once to lose character with him for
+acuteness or political foresight. Not so to him of whom Sanson spoke,
+and whom I at once pronounced to be Fouche.
+
+"Then you are mistaken," said he; "but to any other guess I will make no
+reply, nor, if you press me on this subject, will I consent to continue
+the negotiation."
+
+I yielded to his terms; and after a brief interval came an order for
+me to hold myself in readiness on a particular evening, when a carriage
+would be sent to fetch me to the house of the minister. At eight, the
+hour indicated, I was ready; and scarcely had the clock struck when the
+carriage rolled into the courtyard.
+
+I have been led, as it were by accident, into the mention of this little
+incident, which had no bearing nor influence on my future; but now that
+I have touched upon it, I will finish it as briefly as I can.
+
+I was received in a small office-like chamber by a man somewhat past
+middle life, but whose appearance gave him the look of even age. He was
+short, broad-shouldered, and slightly stooped; the figure altogether
+vulgar, but the bead massive and lofty, and the face the strangest
+mixture of dignity and cunning--a blending of the high-bred gentleman
+with the crafty pettifogger--I ever beheld. He received me courteously,
+and at once opened the business for which we met. After some compliments
+on the vigor of my articles in the "Presse," he proceeded to ask what my
+peculiar opportunities might be for knowing the secret intentions of the
+two great parties who opposed the government.
+
+My replies were guarded and reserved; seeing which, he at once said,--
+
+"This information is to be recompensed."
+
+I bowed coldly, and only replied that, if he would put distinct
+questions to me, I should endeavor to answer them.
+
+After some little fencing on both sides, he asked me for the writer of
+the leading articles in the "Drapeau"--his name and position in life.
+
+For reasons that may be guessed, I declined to reveal these. A similar
+question as to the "Gazette" met a similar reply. Undeterred by these
+refusals, he asked me my opinion of these writers' abilities, and the
+likelihood of their being available to the cause of the Government,
+under suitable circumstances.
+
+I spoke half slightingly of their talents, but professed implicit trust
+in their integrity. He turned the conversation then towards politics,
+and discussed with me the questions on which I had been writing so
+earnestly, both for and against, in the two opposing journals. The tone
+of virulent abuse of both was great; and I half hinted that a personal
+_amende_ was perhaps the point to which my opponent and as well myself
+were tending. He smiled slightly, but meaningly.
+
+"That opinion is not yours, then, sir?" asked I.
+
+"Certainly not," said he, blandly. "Monsieur Bertin of the 'Presse' will
+not seek satisfaction from Monsieur Bertin of the Drapeau,' still
+less of Monsieur Bertin of the 'Gazette,' whom he holds in such slight
+esteem."
+
+"How, sir! Do you mean to imply that I am the writer in all these
+journals?"
+
+"You have just told me so, sir," said he, still smiling; "and I respect
+the word of a gentleman. The tone of identity assumed on paper is
+exactly that you have yourself put on when advocating any of these lines
+of policy. I suspected this from the first; now I know it. Ah, Monsieur
+Bertin, you are in the mere nursery of craftiness,--not but I must admit
+you are a very promising child of your years."
+
+Far from presuming on his discovery, he spoke more kindly and more
+confidentially than ever to me; asked my reasons for this opinion and
+for that, and seemed to think that I must have studied the questions I
+wrote on deeply and maturely. There was nothing like disparagement
+in his tone towards me, but, on the contrary, an almost flattering
+appreciation of my ingenuity as a writer.
+
+"Still, Monsieur Bertin," said he, with affected gravity, "the 'Drapeau'
+went too far,--that you must allow; and, for your sake as for ours, it
+is better it should be suppressed. The fine shall be paid, but it must
+appear to have come from the royalists. Can I trust you for this?"
+
+He looked at me calmly, but steadily as he spoke; and certainly I felt
+as if any deceit, should I desire it, were perfectly impossible before
+him. He did not wait for my reply, but, with a seriousness that savored
+of sincerity, said,--
+
+"The press in France at this moment is the expression of this man or
+that, but it is no more. We live in a period of too much change to
+have anything like a public opinion; so that what is written to-day is
+forgotten to-morrow. Yet with all that, the people must be taught to
+have one religion of the State as they have one of the Church, and
+heresies of either kind must be suppressed. Now, Monsieur Bertin, my
+advice to you is, be of the good fold,--not alone because it is good,
+but because it is likely to be permanent. Continue to write for the
+'Gazette.' When you want information, Sanson will procure it for you;
+but you must not come here again. Temper your royalist zeal with a
+seeming regard for your personal safety. Remember that a gentleman gives
+larger recognizances than a _sans-culottes_; and, above all, keep in
+mind that you serve us better in those columns than in our own. C'est de
+la haute politique, de faire combattre ses ennemis pour soi."
+
+He repeated this sentiment twice over, and then with a courteous gesture
+dismissed me. I was now in the secret pay of the Government,--no regular
+allowance made me, but permitted to draw freely; and when any occasion
+of real information offered, to pay largely for it.
+
+Had time been given me for reflection, I believe I should have abhorred
+myself for the life I now led. It was one course of daily trick and
+deception. In society I was a spy; in secret, a traitor. Trusted by all,
+and false to all, I hurried along in a headlong career of the wildest
+excitement. To enable me to write, I had recourse to various stimulants;
+and from one excess to another I became a confirmed opium-eater. I had
+by habit acquired a degree of nervous irritability that almost defied
+sleep. For days and days frequently I took no other rest than an
+occasional half-hour's repose when overcome, and then back to the desk
+again,--if not refreshed, at least rallied. The turmoil and confusion of
+my thoughts at any chance interval of quiet was terrific. So long as
+I was in action, all went well; when my brain was overworked, and my
+faculties stretched to their extreme tension, the excitement sustained
+me, and I could develop whatever there was in me of intellectual power.
+The effort over, and my task accomplished, I became almost bereft of
+life; a trance-like lethargy seized me; my voice failed, my sight and
+hearing grew dulled, and I would lie thus, sometimes for hours, scarcely
+breathing, indifferent to everything.
+
+When I rallied from these seizures, I hurried off to Margot, either to
+her home or to the theatre. To see her, to speak to her, even to hear
+her, was enough to call me back once more to life and the love, of life.
+There was that in her own career, with all its changes and vicissitudes,
+that seemed to fashion her mind into moods similar to my own. On one
+day she would be to me like a sister,--kind and warmly affectionate; on
+another, she would be as though I were her accepted lover, and show me
+all the tender interest of one whose fate was bound up with my own;
+and perhaps the very next meeting she would receive me coldly and
+distrustfully, and darkly hint that my secret life was known to her.
+
+These were to me moments of intense agony. To see through them was worse
+than any death, and the very dread of them made existence a perfect
+torture. Till I had seen her I never knew, each day, in what mood she
+might feel towards me; and if I revelled in the heaven of her smiles,
+felt her deep glances descending into my very heart, and thrilled with
+ecstasy at each word she uttered, suddenly there would come the thought
+that this was but a dream, and that to-morrow would be the dreadful
+awaking!
+
+Her conduct was inexplicable, for it changed sometimes within the
+compass of a few hours, and from warmest confidence would become the
+most chilling reserve. She would pour out her whole heart before me;
+tell me how barren were all the triumphs she had achieved; how remote
+from happiness was this eternal struggle for fame; how her nature
+yearned for one true, unchanging devotion; how this mockery of passion
+made shipwreck of all real feeling, and left the nature worn out,
+wearied, and exhausted. She would, perhaps at our next meeting, efface
+all thought of this confidence by some passionate burst of enthusiasm
+for the stage, and some bold apostrophe to the glory of a great
+success,--scornfully contrasting such a moment with the whole happiness
+of a life spent m obscurity. I own that in these outbursts of her
+wildest imagination her beauty of expression attained its highest
+excellence. Her dark eyes flashed with the fire of an inspired nature,
+and her whole figure seemed imbued with a more than mortal loveliness;
+while in her softer moods there was a sad and plaintive tenderness about
+her that subdued the spirit, and made her seem even more worthy of love
+than she had been of admiration. These fitful changes, which at first
+were only displayed in private, became after a while palpable to the
+public eye. On one night she would thrill an audience with horror, and
+in the power of her delineations make the very sternest natures yield to
+terror. At another, she would shock the public by some indifference to
+the exigencies of the scene, walk through her part in listless apathy,
+and receive with calm unconcern the ill-disguised disapproval of the
+spectators. At such times praise or blame were alike to her; she seemed
+like one laboring under some pressure of thought too engrossing to admit
+of any attention to passing objects; and in this dreary pre-occupation
+she moved like one spell-bound and entranced.
+
+To allude to these passing states of mind after they had occurred was
+sure to give her deep offence; and although for a while I dared to do
+this, yet I saw reason to abandon the attempt, and maintain silence like
+the rest. The press, with less delicacy, expressed severe censure on
+what they characterized as an insulting appreciation of the public,
+and boldly declared that the voices which had made could still unmake a
+reputation, and that the lesson of contempt might soon pass from behind
+the footlights to the space before them.
+
+It was both my province to keep these criticisms from her eye, and to
+answer them in print; and for a while I succeeded. I wrote, I argued, I
+declaimed,--now casuisti-cally expressing praise of what in my heart I
+condemned; now seeming to discover a hidden meaning where none existed.
+I even condescended to appeal to the indulgence of the public in favor
+of those whose efforts were not always under their own control, and
+whose passing frames of sorrow or sickness must incapacitate them at
+seasons from embodying their own great conceptions. So sensitive had
+she become on the subject of remark that the slightest allusion to her
+health was now resented as an offence, and even Mademoiselle Mars dared
+not to say that she looked paler or thinner, or in better or worse
+spirits,--so certain would any allusion of the kind be to displease her.
+
+This irritability gradually widened and extended itself to everything.
+The slightest sign of inattention of the audience--any movement in the
+house while she was acting--a want of ability in those _en scene_ with
+her--an accidental error in even their costume--gave umbrage; and she
+would stop in her part, and only by an effort seem able to recover
+herself and continue. These evidences of indifference to public
+opinion--for so were they construed--gradually arrayed against her
+nearly the entire force of the press.
+
+They who had been her most devoted admirers, now displayed all their
+zeal in the discovery of her faults. The very excellences they had once
+extolled, they now censured as stage trickery and deceit. One by one,
+they despoiled her of every qualification for art, save her beauty; and
+even that, they said, already proclaimed its perishable nature. My heart
+sickens as I think over the refined cruelty of these daily attacks,--the
+minute and careful anatomy of humanity studied to inflict misery! To
+stem this torrent of opinion, I devoted myself alone. Giving up all
+other writing, I thought only of Margot and her cause. I assailed
+her critics with the foulest abuse. I aspersed their motives, and not
+unfrequently their lives. I eagerly sought out circumstances of their
+private habits and actions, and proclaimed them to the world as the men
+who dared to teach the expressions by which virtues should be rendered,
+and of whose very existence they were ignorant. I contrasted their means
+of judgment with their daily lives. I exhibited them as mere hirelings,
+the cowardly bravos of a degenerate age; and, of course,--for Paris was
+always the same in this respect,--various duels were fastened on me for
+my insolence.
+
+My skill at the sword exercise carried me safely through many of these
+encounters. My recklessness of life may perhaps have served to preserve
+it, for I was utterly reckless of it! My neglect of politics, and all
+interest about them, procured my dismissal from the Government journal.
+The "Vendee" soon followed the example; and although the violence of
+my articles in the "Avant Scene" had for a time amused the town, the
+editors told me that my defence of Mademoiselle Margot had now been
+carried far enough, and that I should look elsewhere for a new topic.
+
+Not a few of Margot's warmest admirers condemned the ill-advised zeal
+of my advocacy. Some even affirmed that much of her unpopularity had its
+origin in my indiscreet defence. I was coldly told I had "written too
+much." One said I had "fought too often." The fastidious public--which
+acknowledged no sincerity, nor would recognize such a thing as
+truth--condemned, as bad taste, the excesses into which my heartfelt
+indignation had hurried me. Mademoiselle Mars was a half convert to this
+opinion; I shuddered one day as I suspected that even Margot seemed to
+entertain it. I had been pressing her to do something--a mere trifle--to
+which she dissented. I grew eager, and at last insisted; when, looking
+at me steadily for some seconds, she said,--
+
+"Has it never occurred to you that over-zeal is apt to defeat itself,
+from the very suspicion that it excites, that there may be a deeper
+motive than that which meets the eye?"
+
+The words smote me to the heart. They were the death-knell to all the
+hope that had sustained me through my long struggle; and though I tried
+to read them in various ways less wounding to my feelings, one terrible
+signification surmounted all the others, and seemed to proclaim itself
+the true meaning. What if it were really so? was the dreadful question
+that now struck me. What if I had been the cause of her downfall?
+The thought so stunned me that I sat powerless under the spell of its
+terror,--a terror which has tempered every hour of life from that day to
+this.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII. A PASSAGE IN THE DRAMA
+
+One of the noted characters about Paris at this time was a certain
+Captain Fleury; he called himself "Fleury de Montmartre." He had been,
+it was said, on Bonaparte's staff in Egypt, but got into disgrace by
+having taken Kleber's side, in the differences between the two generals.
+Disgusted with the service, in which he saw no prospect of promotion,
+he quitted the army and came to live in Paris, as some thousands live
+there, no one can tell how or in what manner. His chief, if not only,
+occupation seemed to be the frequenting of all the low gambling-houses,
+where, however, he rarely was seen to play, but rather waited for the
+good fortune which befell some other, with whom he either dined, or
+succeeded in borrowing a few francs. Less reputable habits than even
+these were likewise attributed to him: it was said that he often thrust
+quarrels upon people at the tables, which he afterwards compromised
+for money, many preferring to pay rather than risk an encounter with a
+professed duellist.
+
+In his threadbare military frock and shabby hat, with broken boots
+and ragged gloves, he still maintained the semblance of his former
+condition, for he was eminently good-looking, and, in gait and bearing,
+every inch a soldier. I had made his acquaintance by an accident. I
+happened to have let fall beside my chair a bank-note for one hundred
+francs, one night at play. The waiter hurried after me to restore it,
+just as I was descending the stairs with this Captain Fleury at my side.
+I was not aware of my loss, and insisted that the money could not be
+mine. The waiter was equally positive, and appealed to the Captain to
+decide the question. Fleury, instead of replying, took out a much-worn
+pocket-book, and proceeded to examine its contents.
+
+"I'll wager as much," cried I, "that this gentleman is the owner of the
+note."
+
+"And you would win, sir," said Fleury, taking it from the waiter's
+reluctant fingers, and carefully enclosing it within his case.
+
+The waiter never uttered a syllable, but, with a look that revealed an
+entire history, bowed and retired. I complimented the Captain on the
+good fortune of his presence in such a critical moment, touched my hat
+to him, and departed.
+
+It was only the next morning that I recollected the sum of money I had
+had about me, and perceived that the note must have been my own. It was
+of course too late to think of repairing the loss, but I was far from
+desiring to do so. The man's appearance had interested me; I was deeply
+struck by the signs of poverty in his dress, and only happy to have
+had this slight occasion to serve him, without any infringement on his
+self-respect. It was, indeed, a question I often debated with myself
+whether or not he really believed that he was the owner of the note.
+
+From that day forth we saluted whenever we met; and if by any chance we
+came together, we exchanged the usual courtesies of acquaintance. There
+was a degree of pleasure afforded him by even this much of recognition,
+from one whose air betokened more prosperous circumstances, that I
+gladly yielded. I had known even harder fortune than his, and could well
+understand the importance he might attach to such a trifle.
+
+By degrees I began to feel a strange kind of interest for this
+man,--so calm, so self-possessed as he seemed in the midst of scenes of
+passionate and violent excitement. What signified any sudden reverse of
+fortune, thought I, in comparison with the daily misery of such a lot as
+his? And yet day after day I saw him unmoved and tranquil; he came and
+went like one to whom all the vicissitudes of life brought no emotion.
+He was a study for me, whether I met him at the play-table or the
+restaurant, or saw him at night in the theatre in his accustomed spot,
+close to the orchestra, where, with folded arms and bent brows, he
+stood the entire night without moving. I watched him closely during that
+terrible week when, each night of Margot's appearance, the conflict of
+public opinion grew stronger and stronger, when, as her enemies gained
+strength, her former friends either gathered in little despairing knots
+together, or abandoned the field in defeat. I thought, or rather I
+seemed to feel, that this man's eyes were fixed upon me oftentimes when
+I was not looking at him. I had a strange sense of consciousness that,
+affect what bearing I might, he was reading my secret thoughts at his
+leisure, and conning over traits of my character. Whenever any momentary
+burst of disapprobation from the audience had made me fall back in shame
+and anger within my box, I could feel that his eyes were following me
+with a glance of persecuting keenness.
+
+Margot's enemies were triumphant; they came each night in crowds, and
+by a hundred contrivances of insult displayed their bitter and undying
+hatred of her. The leader of the party was a Vicomte Dechaine, whose
+mistress was the rival of Margot,--if even third-rate powers could
+aspire to contend with genius such as hers! Her friend, it was said, had
+organized the entire conspiracy, and, being a rich man, his purse and
+his influence were powerful allies. At his supper-table, the writers of
+the papers, the young fashionables of society, and the professed critics
+who swayed public taste, were said to meet and concert their measures.
+Their victory cost them less than they had ever anticipated. Margot's
+own indiscretions--I have no other word for them--had worked faster
+for her ruin than all their bitterest animosity. It was not a mere
+indifference to public opinion she displayed,--it was a downright
+contempt for it. If they censured any peculiarity of expression,--a
+pause, or a gesture,--she was sure not only to repeat, but even
+exaggerate it. Did any detail of her costume excite reproof, she at once
+assumed it as a reason for maintaining it. In a word, it seemed that all
+the arts others employ to win praise and secure popularity were used by
+her to show her utter disdain of the world's opinion; and this, too, in
+a career where such opinion is the law, and where there exists no appeal
+against it.
+
+To restrain this spirit, even to moderate it, her friends utterly
+failed. She who once heard even the humblest with deference, and
+accepted suggestions with a degree of humility, now rejected all counsel
+and guidance, and boldly proclaimed herself the only competent judge of
+what regarded her. A frequent subject of censure amongst her critics was
+a habit she had fallen into, of pressing both hands to her temples in
+moments of intense passion. The gesture was not alone ungraceful, but
+from its frequency it became, in a measure, a trick; and this they
+assailed with a degree of virulence far out of proportion to the
+offence. Mademoiselle Mars counselled her to guard against any
+mannerism, and mentioned this one in illustration. Margot--once the very
+emblem of obedience to her gifted friend--resented the advice with angry
+indignation, and flatly declared that her own inspirations were her best
+advisers.
+
+In the temper she had now assumed, it may be imagined how difficult had
+all intercourse with her become. Her waywardness increased as the public
+favor declined; and she who once might have been permitted to indulge
+any caprice, was now rigidly denied even the commonest liberty. At
+first, the hardest task was to blind her to the censures the press was
+heaping upon her. Now, however, a new difficulty arose. It was to hint
+that she no longer could count upon the fickle favor of the multitude,
+and that the hour of her triumph had gone by.
+
+At moments, it is true, in some scenes of intense passion, where a deep
+emotion of the soul was to find its utterance in a few broken words,
+a cry, or perhaps a look, her wonderful genius shone forth still; and,
+surmounting all the prejudices of sworn enemies, the theatre would burst
+forth into one of those thundering peals of applause that sound like the
+very artillery of human feeling. Such a passage was there in "Bajazet."
+It is the scene where Roxalane listens to the warm protestations of her
+lover, of whose perfidy she is assured, and whom she herself overheard
+declaring that his love for her was little other than compassion. For
+a few seconds the words of adoration seemed to act on her like a spell.
+She drinks them eagerly and madly; her eyes sparkle; her bosom heaves,
+her half-opened lips seem, as it were, to catch the accents; when
+suddenly the truth flashes across her. Her color flies; her face becomes
+livid in its paleness. A terrible shudder shakes her frame. She snatches
+her hand from his grasp, and turns him a look of loathing, contemptuous
+aversion such as actually sickens the very heart to behold!
+
+From, I know not what caprice, she disliked this part now, although once
+it had been her favorite above all others. Her friends made every effort
+to induce her to resume it, but in vain. Their entreaties, indeed, only
+served to excite her opposition; and the subject was at last dropped
+as hopeless. The Court, however, had fixed on a night to visit the
+"Francais" and "Bajazet" was their choice. There was now no alternative
+left her but to accept her part or see it filled by another. The latter
+was her immediate resolve; and Mademoiselle Leonie, her rival, was at
+length installed in all the honors of the "first character." It was
+evident now to all Margot's friends that her career was over. An act of
+abdication like this was always irrevocable; and the Parisian public was
+never known to forgive what they regarded as an open act of insult to
+their authority in taste. Well knowing that all attempts at dissuasion
+would be hopeless, we made no appeal against her determination, but in
+calm submission waited for the course of events,--waited, in fact, to
+witness the last crash of ruin to that fame in whose edifice we once had
+gloried.
+
+Mademoiselle Mars advised Margot to travel. Italy had been always the
+land of her predilection. She had even acted there with immense success
+in Alfieri's tragedies, for her knowledge of the language equalled that
+of her own country. It would be a good opportunity to revisit it; "And
+perhaps, who knew," said she, "but that the echo of her fame coming over
+the Alps might again rouse the enthusiasm of Paris in her favor?" I
+warmly supported this plan, and Margot consented to it. A _dame de
+compagnie_, an old friend of Mademoiselle de Mars, was chosen to be her
+travelling companion, and I was to be of the party as secretary.
+
+We hurried on all the arrangements as rapidly as possible. We desired
+that she should leave Paris before the night of the command, and thus
+remove her from all the enthusiasm of praise the press had prepared to
+shower down on her rival, with the customary expressions of contemptuous
+contrast for the fallen idol. We well knew the excess of adulation that
+was in readiness to burst forth, and dreaded less the effect it might
+produce on Margot's mind regarding her rival than that it should inspire
+her with a curiosity to witness her performance; for such was exactly
+the wayward character of her mode of thinking and acting.
+
+To our joy, we discovered that Margot's impatience equalled, if not
+exceeded, our own. She entered with an almost childish delight into
+all the preparations for the journey. We hung over the map for hours
+together, tracing our route, and revelling in anticipated pleasure
+at the thought of all those glorious old cities of the peninsula. We
+consulted guide-books and journals, and pictured to ourselves all the
+delights of a happy journey. With what ecstasy she recalled the various
+scenes of her former visit to Italy, and the names of those whose
+friendship she had acquired, and with whom she longed to make me
+acquainted! In her enthusiasm she seemed to recover her long-lost
+buoyancy of heart, and to be of the same gay and happy nature I had
+known her. I dare not trust myself with more of these memories; they
+come upon me like the thought of those moments when on a sick bed some
+dear friend has uttered words to be treasured up for years long,--words
+of promise, mayhap words of hope, for a future that was never to come;
+plans for a time that dark destiny had denied us!
+
+Our arrangements were all completed, our passports procured, a courier
+engaged, and everything in readiness for the road. We were to set out
+on the following day. It was a Friday, and Margot's prejudices would not
+permit her to begin a journey on such an inauspicious day. I reasoned
+with her and argued earnestly, for I remembered it was on that night
+Mademoiselle Leonie was to appear at the Francais. She was resolved,
+however, to have her way, and I gave in. No allusion to the theatre, nor
+to anything concerning it, had ever escaped either of us. By as it were
+a tacit understanding, each avoided the theme as one only suggestive
+of distressing memories; and then we had so many topics that were
+delightful to talk over.
+
+I went out early in the morning to make some purchases, some trifling
+things we wanted for the road, and on my return I found Margot with
+flushed face and feverish look rapidly walking to and fro in the
+drawing-room. She tried to seem calm and composed as I entered, she even
+made jest of her own agitation, and tried to laugh it off as a weakness
+she was ashamed of; but her efforts were sad failures: her quivering lip
+and trembling accents showed that deep agitation was at work within her.
+
+"I cannot tell you, I will not tell you, what is the matter with me,"
+said she, at last; "it would but lead to some rash outbreak of your
+temper,--the very last thing I could endure at such a time. No, no; let
+us go; let us leave Paris at once,--to-day, now, if you wish it; I am
+ready."
+
+This was impossible; all our arrangements had been made, and horses
+ordered for the next day. My curiosity now became an agony, and I grew
+almost angry at her continued refusal to satisfy me; when at last,
+after exacting from me a solemn oath to do nothing nor to take any step
+without her concurrence, she placed in my hands a letter, saying, "This
+came while you were out."
+
+It ran to this effect:--
+
+"The Vicomte Dechaine begs to offer to Mademoiselle De La Veronie
+[Margot's name in the theatre] his box at the Francais for this evening,
+as it must doubtless be interesting to her to witness the performance of
+Roxalane by one who labors under the double difficulty of her beauty and
+her reason. An answer will be called for."
+
+"You cannot expect me to endure this outrage, Margot!" cried I,
+trembling with passion; "you could not suppose that I can live under
+it?"
+
+"I have your oath, sir," said she, solemnly, and with a dignity that at
+once recalled me to myself.
+
+"But if I am to drag out life dishonored and degraded even to my own
+heart, Margot," said I, imploringly, "you surely would take pity on me!"
+
+"And who would pity me, sir, were I to make you a murderer? No, no!"
+cried she, "you would have this secret,--you insisted on it; show
+yourself worthy of this confidence, by keeping your solemn pledge. We
+leave this to-morrow; a few hours is not too much sacrifice for one who
+will give her whole life to you after."
+
+As she spoke she fell into my arms, and sobbed as though her heart was
+breaking. As for me, my transports knew no bounds. I dropped at her
+feet; I vowed and swore a thousand times that not only my life, but that
+my fame, my honor, were all hers; that to deserve her there was no trial
+I would not dare. Oh, the glorious ecstasy of that moment comes back
+like a flood of youth once more upon this old and shattered heart; and,
+as I write these lines, the hot tears are falling on the paper, and my
+lips are murmuring a name I have not strength to write.
+
+"I will put your loyalty to the test at once," said she, gayly, and with
+a degree of wild joyousness the very opposite to her late emotion. "Sit
+down there, and write as I dictate."
+
+I obeyed, and she began:--
+
+"'Mademoiselle De La Veronie begs to acknowledge, with a gratitude
+suitable to the occasion, the polite note of the Vicomte Dechaine, and
+to accept--'"
+
+"What!" cried I, dropping the pen.
+
+"Go on," said she, calmly; "write as I tell you: 'to accept his box this
+evening at the Francais.'"
+
+"Margot, you are not in earnest!" said I, entreatingly.
+
+"I am resolved, sir," said she, with a voice of determination and a look
+of almost reproving sternness. "I hope it is not from you, at least,
+will come any doubts of my courage!"
+
+These words seemed to indicate the spirit in which her resolution had
+been taken, and to show that she preferred accepting, as it were, this
+challenge, to the humbler alternative of an escape from it.
+
+I wrote as she bade me, and despatched the letter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV. THE PRICE OF FAME
+
+If the triumphs of genius be amongst the most exalted pleasures of
+our nature, its defeats and reverses are also the very saddest of all
+afflictions. He who has learned to live, as it were, on the sympathies
+of his fellows--to be inspired by them at times, and inspire them at
+others--to feel his existence like a compact with the world, wherein
+he alternately gives and receives, cannot endure the thought of being
+passed over and forgotten. The loss of that favor in which, as in a
+sunshine, he basked, is a bereavement too great to be borne. He may
+struggle for a while against this depression--he may arm himself with
+pride against what his heart denounces as injustice--he may even deceive
+him* self into a mock indifference of such judgments; but, do all
+he will, he comes at the last to see that his greatest efforts were
+prompted by the very enthusiasm they evoked,--that the impression he
+produced upon others was like an image in a mirror, by which he could
+view the proportions of his mind, and that the flame of his intellect
+burned purest and brightest when fanned by the breath of praise.
+
+It will be seen that I limit these observations to dramatic success;
+that I am only speaking of the stage and the actor. For him there is
+no refuge in the calmer judgment of posterity; there is no appeal to a
+dispassionate future. The value stamped upon him now is to be his fame
+forever. No other measure of his powers can be taken than the effect he
+produced upon his contemporaries; and hence the great precariousness
+of a career wherein each passing mood of illness, sorrow, anxiety, or
+exhaustion may influence the character of a reputation that might seem
+established beyond reversal.
+
+How leniently, then, should we deal with those who labor for our
+pleasure in these capacities! How indulgent should we show ourselves
+even to their caprices,--justly remembering the arduous nature of a
+struggle in which so many requirements are summoned, and that genius
+itself is insufficient, if there be not the vigor of health, the high
+promptings of ambition, and the consciousness of power that springs from
+unimpaired faculties.
+
+I have come to think over these things with a sad heart. Within the
+circle of such memories lies enshrined the greatest sorrow of a life
+that has not been without its share of trials. I had intended to have
+revealed to my reader a painful incident, but I find that age has not
+yet blunted the acute misery of my feelings; nor can I, with all the
+weight of long years upon me, endure to open up again a grief whose
+impress has stamped every hour of existence. Let me not be supposed as
+uttering these words in any spirit of querulousness with fortune; I have
+had much, far more than most men, to feel grateful for. Well do I know,
+besides, that to my successes in life I can lay no claim in any merits
+or deservings of my own; that my shortcomings have been numerous, and
+leniently dealt with. I speak, therefore, not complainingly. I would
+not, moreover, like to spend in repinings the last hours of a long life:
+the goal cannot well be distant now; and as, footsore and weary, I tread
+the few remaining miles of my earthly pilgrimage, I would rather cheer
+my heart with the prospect of rest before me, than darken the future
+with one shadow of the past.
+
+Margot had insisted on remaining. She felt as though a challenge had
+been offered to her, and it would be cowardice to decline it. Over and
+over again was she wont to repeat to herself the contempt she felt
+for that applause in which it was believed she exulted. She burned,
+therefore, for a moment wherein she could display this haughty contempt,
+and throw back with proud disdain their homage, by showing herself as
+indifferent to rebuke as she had ever been to adulation. The day was
+passed in moods of silence, or paroxysms of the wildest excitement.
+After an hour or more perhaps of unbroken calm, she would burst forth
+into a passionate denunciation of the world's injustice, with bitter
+and poignant regrets for the hour when she became a suppliant for its
+favors. The proudest efforts she would make to rise above this were sure
+to be defeated by some sudden sense of defeat,--an agonizing conviction
+that threw her into violent weeping; a state of suffering that even now
+I dread to think of.
+
+She grew calmer towards evening, but it was a calm that terrified me:
+there was a slow and careful precision in every word she spoke that
+denoted effort; her smile, too, had a fixity in it that remained for
+seconds after the emotion which occasioned it; and while a stern and
+impassive quietude characterized her expression generally, her eyes
+at times flashed and sparkled like the glaring orbs of a lioness. She
+descended to the drawing-room most magnificently attired, a splendid
+diamond tiara on her head, and a gorgeous bouquet of rubies and
+brilliants on the corsage of her dress. Although pale as death,--for
+she wore no rouge,--I had never seen her look so beautiful. There is a
+Titian picture of Pompey's daughter receiving the tidings of Pharsalia,
+and, while too proud to show her agony, is yet in the very struggle of
+a breaking heart: the face is like enough to have been her portrait, and
+even to the color of the massive, waving hair, is wonderfully identical.
+
+The play had already begun when we arrived at the theatre, and in
+the little bustle caused by our entry into the box, a half impatient
+expression ran through the audience; but as suddenly suppressed, it
+became a murmur of wondering admiration. The stage was forgotten, and
+every eye turned at once towards her who so often had moved their hearts
+by every emotion, and who now seemed even more triumphant in the calm
+self-possession of her beauty. Rank over rank leaned forward in the
+boxes to gaze at her, and the entire pit turned and stood, as it were,
+spell-bound at her feet. Had she wished for a triumph over her rival,
+she could not have imagined a more signal one; for none now directed
+their attention to the business of the play, but all seemed forgetful of
+everything save her presence. Margot appeared to accept this homage with
+the naughty consciousness of its being her due; her eyes ranged proudly
+over the dense crowd, and slowly turned away, as though she had seen
+nothing there to awaken one sentiment of emotion.
+
+There was less an expression of disdain than of utter indifference in
+her look,--it was almost like the cold impassive-ness of a statue.
+
+For myself I am unable to speak. I saw nothing of the play or the
+actors. Margot, and Margot alone, filled my eyes; and I sat far back
+in the box. My glances revelled on her, watching with unceasing anxiety
+that pale and passionless face. In the fourth act comes the scene where
+Roxalane, aware of her lover's falsehood, hears him profess the vows
+that he but feigns to feel. It was the great triumph of Margot's
+genius,--the passage of power in which she rose unapproachably above all
+others; and now in the stilled and silent assembly might be noted the
+anxiety with which they awaited her rival's delineation. Unlike the
+cold, unmoved, and almost patient bearing which Margot displayed at
+first, as though, having schooled her mind to a lesson, she would
+practise it, had not aversion or contempt overmastered her, and in the
+very sickness of her soul revealed her sorrow, the other burst forth
+into a wild and passionate declamation,--an outburst of vulgar rage. A
+low murmur of discontent ran through the house, and, swelling louder
+and louder, drowned the words of the piece. The actress faltered and
+stopped; and, as if by some resistless impulse, turned towards the
+box where Margot sat, still and motionless. The entire audience turned
+likewise, and every eye was now bent on her whose genius had become so
+interwoven with the scene that it was as though associated with her very
+identity. Slowly rising from her seat, Margot stood erect, gazing on
+that dense mass with the proud look of one who defied them. The same
+stern, cold stare of insult she had once bestowed on the stage she now
+directed on the spectators. It was a moment of terrible interest, as
+thus she stood, confronting, almost daring, those who had presumed to
+condemn her; and then, in the same words Roxalane uses, she addressed
+them, every accent tremulous with passion, and every syllable
+vibrating with the indignant hate that worked within her. The measured
+distinctness of every word rang out clear and full. It was less
+invective than scornful, and scorn that seemed to sicken her as she
+spoke it.
+
+The effect upon the audience will best evidence the power of the moment.
+On all sides were seen groups gathered around one who had swooned away.
+Many were carried out insensible, and fearful cries of hysteric passion
+betrayed the secret sympathies her words had smitten. She paused, and,
+with that haughty gesture with which she takes eternal farewell of her
+lover, she seemed to say, "Adieu forever!" and then pushing back her
+dark ringlets, and tearing away the diamond coronet from her brows,
+she burst into a fit of laughter. Oh! how terribly its very
+cadence sounded,--sharp, ringing, and wild! the cry of an escaped
+intellect,--the shriek of an intelligence that had fled forever!
+
+Margot was mad. The violent conflict of passion to which her mind
+was exposed had made shipwreck of a glorious intellect, and the very
+exercise of emotion had exhausted the wells of feeling. I cannot go on.
+Already have these memories sapped the last foundations of my broken
+strength, and my old eyes are dimmed with tears.
+
+The remainder of her life was passed in a little chateau near Sevres,
+where Mademoiselle Mars had made arrangements for her reception. She
+lingered for three years, and died out, like one exhausted. As for me,
+I worked as a laborer in the garden of the chateau to the day of her
+death; and although I never saw her, the one thought that I was still
+near her sustained and supported me,--not, indeed, with hope, for I had
+long ceased to hope.
+
+I knew the window of the room she sat in; and when, at evening, I left
+the garden, I knew it was the time she walked there. These were the
+two thoughts that filled up all my mind; and out of these grew the
+day-dreams in which my hours were passed. Still fresh as yesterday
+within my heart are the sensations with which I marked a slight change
+in the curtain of her window, or bent over the impress of her foot upon
+the gravel. How passionately have I kissed the flowers that I hoped she
+might have plucked! how devotedly knelt beside the stalks from which she
+had broken off a blossom!
+
+These memories live still, nor would I wish it otherwise. In the tender
+melancholy, I can sit and ponder over the past, more tranquilly, may be,
+than if they spoke of happiness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV. DARK PASSAGES OF LIFE
+
+For some years after the death of Margot, my life was like a restless
+dream,--a struggle, as it were, between reality and a strange scepticism
+with everything and every one. At moments a wish would seize me to
+push my fortune in the world,--to become rich and powerful; and then as
+suddenly would I fall back upon my poverty as the condition least open
+to great reverses, and hug myself in the thought that my obscurity was
+a shield against adverse fortune. I tried to school my mind to a
+misanthropy that might throw me still more upon myself; but I could not.
+Even in my isolated, friendless condition, I loved to contemplate the
+happiness of others. I could watch children for hours long at their
+play; and if the sounds of laughter or pleasant revelry came from a
+house as I passed at nightfall, my heart beat responsively to every note
+of joy, and in my spirit I was in the midst of them. I had neither
+home nor country, and my heart yearned for both. I felt the void like a
+desert, bleak and desolate, within me; and it was in vain I endeavored,
+by a hundred artifices, to make me suffice to myself. I came, at length,
+to think that it were better to attach myself to the world by even the
+interests of a crime than to live on thus, separated and apart from
+all sympathy. In humble life, he who retreats from association with his
+fellows must look to be severely judged. The very lightest allegation
+against him will be a charge of pride; and even this is no slight
+offence before such a tribunal. Vague rumors of worse will gain
+currency, and far weightier derelictions be whispered about him. His
+own rejection of the world now recoils upon himself, and he comes to
+discover that he has neglected to cultivate the sympathies which are
+not alone the ties of brotherhood between men, but the strong appeals to
+mercy when mercy is needed.
+
+By much reflection on these things, I was led to feel at last that
+nothing but a strong effort could raise me from the deep depression I
+had fallen into; that I should force myself to some pursuit which might
+awaken zeal or ambition within me; and that, at any cost, I should throw
+off the hopeless, listless lethargy of my present life. While I was yet
+hesitating what course to adopt, my attention was attracted one morning
+to a large placard affixed to the walls of the Hotel de Ville, and which
+set forth the tidings that "all men who had not served as soldiers, and
+were between the ages of fifteen and thirty, were to present themselves
+at the Prefecture at a certain hour of a certain day." The consternation
+this terrible announcement called forth may easily be imagined; for
+although only a very limited number of these would be drafted, yet each
+felt that the evil lot might be his own.
+
+I really read the announcement with a sense of pleasure, It seemed to
+me as though fate no longer ignored my very existence, but had at length
+agreed to reckon me as one amongst the wide family of men. Nor was it
+that the life of a soldier held out any prize to my ambition; I had
+never at any time felt such. It was the simple fact that I should be
+recognized by others, and no longer accounted a mere waif upon the shore
+of existence.
+
+The conscription is a stern ordinance. Whatever its necessities, there
+is something painfully afflicting in every detail of its execution. The
+disruption of a home, and the awful terrors of a dark future, are sad
+elements to spread themselves over the peaceful monotony of a village
+life. Nor does a war contain anything more heart-rending in all its
+cruel history than the tender episodes of these separations. I have the
+scene before me now as I saw it on that morning, and a sadder sight I
+never have looked upon. The little village was crowded, not alone
+by those summoned by the conscription, but by all their friends and
+relations; and as each new batch of twelve were marched forward within
+the gloomy portals of the Hotel de Ville, a burst of pent-up sorrow
+would break forth, that told fearfully the misery around. But sad
+as was this, it was nothing to the scene that ensued when the lot had
+fallen upon some one well known and respected by his neighbors. He who
+had drawn the lowest number was enlisted, and instead of returning to
+join his fellows outside, never made his appearance till his hair had
+been closely cropped, and the addition of a tri-colored ribbon to his
+cap proclaimed him a soldier. Of these poor fellows some seemed stunned
+and stupefied, looked vaguely about them, and appeared incapable to
+recognize friends or acquaintances; some endeavored to carry all off
+with an air of swaggering recklessness, but in the midst of their
+assumed indifference natural feeling would burst forth, and scenes of
+the most harrowing misery be exhibited; and, lastly, many came forth so
+drunk that they knew nothing either of what happened or where they were;
+and to see these surrounded by the friends who now were to take their
+last leave of them was indescribably painful.
+
+Like most of those who care little for fortune, I was successful; that
+is, I drew one of the highest numbers, and was pronounced "exempt from
+service." There was not one, however, to whom the tidings could bring
+joy, nor was there one to whom I could tell the news with the hope of
+hearing a word of welcome in return. I was turning away from the spot,
+not sorry to leave a place so full of misery, when I came upon a group
+around a young man who had fainted and been carried out for fresh air.
+He had been that moment enlisted, and the shock had proved over-much for
+him. Poor fellow! well might it--the same week saw him the happy father
+of his firstborn, and the sworn soldier of the Empire. What a wide gulf
+separates such fortunes!
+
+I pushed my way into the midst, and offered myself to take his place.
+At first none so much as listened to me; they deemed my proposal absurd,
+perhaps impossible. An old sergeant who was present, however, thought
+differently, and, measuring me calmly with his eye, left the spot.
+He returned soon, and beckoned me to follow. I did so. A few brief
+questions were put to me. I answered them, was desired to pass on to an
+inner room, where, in a file of some twenty strong, the chosen recruits
+were standing before a desk. A man rapidly repeated certain words, to
+which we were ordered to respond by lifting the right hand to the face.
+
+This was an oath of allegiance, and when taken we moved on to the
+barber, and in a few minutes the ceremony was completed, and we were
+soldiers of France.
+
+I had imagined, and indeed I had convinced myself, that I was so
+schooled in adversity I could defy fortune. I thought that mere bodily
+privations and sufferings could never seriously affect me, and that,
+with the freedom of my own thoughts unfettered, no real slavery could
+oppress me. In this calculation I had forgotten to take count of those
+feelings of self-esteem which are our defences against the promptings of
+every mean ambition. I had not remembered that these may be outraged by
+the very same rules of discipline that taught us to fire and load, and
+march and manouvre! It was a grievous error!
+
+France was once more at war with all the world: her armies were now
+moving eastward to attack Austria, and more than mere menaces declared
+the intention to invade England. Fresh troops were called for with such
+urgency that a fortnight or three weeks was only allowed to drill the
+new recruits and fit them for regimental duty. Severity compensated for
+the briefness of the time, and the men were exercised with scarcely an
+interval of repose. In periods of great emergency many things are done
+which in days of calmer influences would not be thought of; and now the
+officers in command of depots exercised a degree of cruelty towards the
+soldiers which is the very rarest of all practices in the French army;
+in consequence, desertions became frequent, and, worse again, men maimed
+and mutilated themselves in the most shocking manner to escape from a
+tyranny more insupportable than any disease. It is known to all that
+such practices assume the characteristics of an epidemic, and when
+once they have attained to a certain frequency, men's minds become
+familiarized to the occurrence, and they are regarded as the most
+ordinary of events. The regiment to which I was attached--the 47th of
+the line--was one of the very worst for such acts of indiscipline; and
+although the commanding officers had been twice changed, and one entire
+battalion broken up and reformed, the evil repute still adhered to the
+corps. It is a mistake to suppose that common soldiers are indifferent
+to the reputation of their regiment; even the least subordinate, those
+in whom military ardor is lowest, feel acutely, too, the stigma of a
+condemned corps. We had reason to experience this, on even stronger
+grounds. We were despatched to Brest to garrison the prison, and hold in
+check that terrible race who are sentenced to the galleys for life.
+This mark of disgrace was inflicted on us as the heaviest stain upon a
+regiment openly pronounced unworthy to meet the enemies of France in the
+field.
+
+This act seemed to consummate the utter degradation of our corps, from
+which, weekly, some one or other was either sentenced to be shot, or
+condemned to the even worse fate of a galley-slave. I shrink from the
+task of recalling a period so full of horror. It was one long dream
+of ruffian insubordination and cruel punishment. Time, so far from
+correcting, seemed to confirm the vices of this fated regiment; and at
+length a commission arrived from the ministry of war to examine into the
+causes of this corruption. This inquiry lasted some weeks; and amongst
+those whose evidence was taken, I was one. It chanced that no punishment
+had ever been inflicted on me in the corps; nor was there a single mark
+in the "conduct roll" against my name. Of course, these were favorable
+circumstances, and entitled any testimony that I gave to a greater
+degree of consideration. The answers I returned, and the views I had
+taken, were deemed of consequence enough to require further thought. I
+was ordered to be sent to Paris to be examined by General Caulincourt,
+at that time the head of the _etat major_.
+
+It would little interest the reader to enter further into this question,
+to which I have only made allusion from its reference to my own
+fortunes. The opinions I gave, and the suggestions I made, attracted
+the notice of my superiors, and I received, as a reward, the grade
+of corporal, and was attached to the Chancellerie Militaire at
+Strasburg,--a post I continued to occupy for upwards of two years. Two
+peaceful, uneventful years were they, and to look back upon, they seem
+but as a day.
+
+The unbroken monotony of my life, the almost apathetic calm which had
+come over me, and my isolation from all other men, gave me the semblance
+of a despondent and melancholy nature; but I was far from unhappy, and
+had schooled myself to take pleasure in a variety of simple, uncostly
+pursuits which filled up my leisure hours; and thus my little
+flower-garden, stolen from an angle of the glacis, was to me a domain
+of matchless beauty. Every spare moment of my time was passed here,
+and every little saving of my humble pay was expended on this spot. The
+rose, the clematis, and the jessamine here twined their twigs together
+to make an arbor, in which I used to sit at evening, gazing out upon the
+spreading Rhine, or watching the sunset on the Vosges mountains. I had
+trained myself not to think of the great events of the world, momentous
+and important as they then were, and great with the destiny of mankind.
+I never saw a newspaper,--I held no intercourse with others; to me life
+had resolved itself into the very simplest of all episodes,--it was mere
+existence, and no more.
+
+This dream might possibly have ended without a waking shock, and the
+long night of the grave have succeeded to the dim twilight of oblivion,
+had not an event occurred to rouse me from my stupor, and bring me back
+to life and its troubles.
+
+An order had arrived from Paris to put the fortress into a state of
+perfect defence. New redoubts and bastions were to be erected, the
+ditches widened, and an additional force of guns to be mounted on the
+walls. The telegraph had brought the news in the morning, and ere the
+sunset that same evening my little garden was a desert; all my care and
+toil scattered to the winds; the painful work of long months in ruin,
+and my one sole object in life obliterated and gone. I had thought that
+all emotions were long since dead within me. I fervently believed that
+every well of feeling was dry and exhausted in my nature; but I cried
+and cried bitterly as I beheld this desolation. There seemed to my eyes
+a wantonness in the cruelty thus inflicted, and in my heart I inveighed
+against the ruthless passions of men, and the depravity by which their
+actions are directed. Was the world too much a paradise for me, I
+asked, that this small spot of earth could not be spared to me? Was I
+over-covetous in craving this one corner of the vast universe? In
+my folly and my selfishness I fancied myself the especial mark of
+adversity, and henceforth I vowed a reckless front to fortune.
+
+He who lives for himself alone, has not only to pay the penalty of
+unguided counsels, but the far heavier one of following impulses
+of which egotism is the mainspring. The care for others, the
+responsibilities of watching over and protecting something besides
+ourselves, are the very best of all safeguards against our own hearts. I
+have a right to say this.
+
+From a life of quiet and orderly regularity, I now launched out into
+utter recklessness and abandonment. I formed acquaintances with the
+least reputable of my comrades, frequented their haunts, and imitated
+their habits. I caught vice as men catch a malady. It was a period
+little short of insanity, since every wish was perverted, and every
+taste the opposite of my real nature. I, who was once the type of
+punctuality and exactness, came late and irregularly to my duties. My
+habits of sobriety were changed for waste, and even my appearance,
+my very temper, altered; I became dissolute-looking and abandoned,
+passionate in my humors, and quick to take offence.
+
+The downward course is ever a rapid one, and vices are eminently
+suggestive of each other. It took a few weeks to make me a spendthrift
+and a debauchee; a few more, and I became a duellist and a brawler. I
+ceased to hold intercourse with all who had once held me in esteem, and
+formed friends among the dissolute and the depraved. Amidst men of this
+stamp the sentence of a Provost-Marshal, or the durance of the Salle de
+Police, are reckoned distinctions; and he who has oftenest insulted his
+superiors and outraged discipline is deemed the most worthy of respect.
+I had won no laurels of this kind, and resolved not to be behind my
+comrades in such claims. My only thought was how to obtain some peculiar
+notoriety by my resistance to authority.
+
+I had now the rank of sergeant,--a grade which permitted me to frequent
+the cafe resorted to by the officers; but as this was a privilege no
+sous-officer availed himself of, I of course did not presume to take.
+It now, however, occurred to me that this was precisely the kind of
+infraction the consequences of which might entail the gravest events,
+and yet be, all the while, within the limits of regimental discipline.
+With this idea in my head I swaggered, one evening, into the "Lion
+Gaune," at that time the favorite military cafe of Strasburg. The look
+of astonishment at my entrance was very soon converted into a most
+unmistakable expression of angry indignation; and when, calling for the
+waiter, I seated myself at a table, my intrusion was discussed in terms
+quite loud enough for me to hear.
+
+It was well known that the Emperor distinguished the class I belonged
+to, by the most signal marks of favor: the sergeant and the corporal
+might have dared to address him when the field-marshal could not have
+uttered a word. It was part of his military policy to unbend to those
+whose position excluded them from even the very shadow of a rivalry,
+and be coldly distant to all whose station approached an equality. This
+consideration restrained the feelings of those who now beheld me, and
+who well knew, in any altercation, into which scale would be thrown the
+weight of the imperial influence.
+
+To desert the side of the room where I sat, and leave me in a marked
+isolation, was their first move; but seeing that I rather assumed this
+as a token of victory, they resorted to another tactic,--they occupied
+all the tables, save one at the very door, and thus virtually placed me
+in a position of obloquy and humiliation. For a night or two I held my
+ground without flinching; but I felt that I could not continue a
+merely defensive warfare, and determined, at any hazard, to finish the
+struggle. Instead, therefore, of resuming the humble place they had
+assigned me, I carried my coffee with me, and set the cup on a table
+at which a lieutenant-colonel was seated, reading his newspaper by
+the fire. He started up as he saw me, and called out, "What means this
+insolence? Is this a place for you?"
+
+"The general instructions of the army declare that a sous-officer has
+the entree to all public cafes and restaurants frequented by regimental
+officers, although not to such as are maintained by them as clubs and
+messrooms. I am, therefore, only within the limits of a right, Monsieur
+Colonel," said I, offering a military salute as I spoke.
+
+"Leave the room, sir, and report yourself to your captain," said he,
+boiling over with rage.
+
+I arose, and prepared to obey his command.
+
+"If that fellow be not reduced to the ranks on to-morrow's parade, I 'll
+leave the service," said he to an officer at his side.
+
+"If I have your permission to throw him out of the window, Monsieur
+Colonel, I 'll promise to quit the army if I don't do it," said a young
+lieutenant of cuirassiers. He was seated at a table near me, and with
+his legs in such a position as to fill up the space I had to pass out
+by.
+
+[Illustration: Struck him to the ground]
+
+Without any apology for stepping across him, I moved forward, and
+slightly--I will not say unintentionally--struck his foot with my own.
+He sprang up with a loud oath, and knocked my shako off my head. I
+turned quickly and struck him to the ground with my clenched hand. A
+dozen swords were drawn in an instant. Had it not been for the most
+intrepid interference, I should have been cut to pieces on the spot.
+As it was, I received five or six severe sabre wounds, and one entirely
+laid my cheek open from the eye to the mouth.
+
+I was soon covered with blood from head to foot; but I stood calmly,
+until faintness came on, without stirring; then I staggered back, and
+sat down upon a chair. A surgeon bandaged my wrist, which had been
+cut across, and my face; and, a carriage being sent for, I was at once
+conveyed to hospital. The loss of blood perhaps saved me from fever. At
+all events, I was calm and self-possessed; and, strangest of all, the
+excitement which for months back had taken possession of me was gone,
+and I was once again myself,--in patience and quiet submission calmly
+awaiting the sentence which I well knew must be my death. We frequently
+hear that great reverses of fortune elicit and develop resources of
+character which under what are called happier circumstances had remained
+dormant and unknown. I am strongly disposed to attribute much of this
+result to purely physical changes, and that our days of prosperity
+are seasons of inordinate excitement, with all the bodily ills that
+accompany such a state. If it be so hard for the rich man to enter the
+kingdom of heaven, is it not that his whole nature has been depraved
+and perverted by the consummate selfishness that comes of power? What
+hardeners of the heart are days of pleasure and nights of excess! And
+how look for the sympathy that consoles and comforts, from him whose
+greatest sufferings are the jarring contrarieties of his own nature?
+
+I have said I was again myself, but with this addition, that a deep and
+sincere sorrow was over me for my late life, and an honest repentance
+for the past. I was eleven weeks in hospital; two severe relapses had
+prolonged my malady; and it was nigh three months after the occurrence I
+have detailed, that I was pronounced fit to be sent forward for trial by
+court-martial.
+
+There were a considerable number awaiting their trial at the same time.
+Men had been drafted to Strasburg from various places, and a commission
+sat _en permanence_, to dispose of them. There was little formality,
+and even less time, wasted in these proceedings. The prisoner defended
+himself if he were able; if not, the reading of the charge and some
+slight additions of testimony completed the investigation; the sentence
+being, for form sake, reserved for a later period. Occasionally it would
+happen that some member of the court would interpose a few favorable
+words, or endeavor to throw a pretext over the alleged crime; but these
+cases were rare, and usually nothing was heard but the charge of the
+accuser.
+
+Having determined to make no defence, my whole effort was to accustom my
+mind to the circumstances of my fate, and so steel my heart to bear up
+manfully to the last. My offence was one never pardoned. This I well
+knew, and it only remained for me to meet the penalty like a brave man.
+Few, indeed, could quit the world with less ties to break,--few could
+leave it with less to regret; and yet, such is the instinctive love of
+life, and so powerful are the impulses to struggle against fate, that as
+the time of my trial drew nigh, I would have dared any danger with the
+hope of escape, and accepted any commutation of a sentence short of
+death. I believe that this is a stage of agony to which all are exposed,
+and that every criminal sentenced to the scaffold must pass through this
+terrible period. In my case it was prolonged, my name being one of the
+very last for trial; and already five weeks had gone over before I was
+called. Even then a postponement took place, for the Emperor had arrived
+on his way to Germany, and a great review of the garrison superseded all
+other duties.
+
+Never had all the pomp and circumstance of war seemed so grand and so
+splendid to my eyes as when, through the grating of my prison-cell, I
+strained my glances after the dense columns and the clanking
+squadrons, as they passed. The gorgeous group of staff-officers and the
+heavy-rolling artillery had all a significance and a meaning that they
+had never possessed for me before. They seemed to shadow forth great
+events for the future, portentous changes in time to come, gigantic
+convulsions in the condition of the world, kingdoms rocking, and thrones
+overturned. The shock of battle was, too, present to my eyes,--the din,
+the crash, and the uproar of conflict, with all its terrors and all its
+chivalry. What a glorious thing must life be to those about to enter on
+such a career! How high must beat the hearts of all who joined in this
+enthusiasm!
+
+That day was to me like whole years of existence, filled with passages
+of intensest excitement and moments of the very saddest depression. My
+brain, hitherto calm and collected, struggled in vain against a whole
+torrent of thoughts without coherence or relation, and at length my
+faculties began to wander. I forgot where I was, and the fate
+that impended over me. I spoke of all that had happened to me long
+before,--of my infancy, my boyhood, my adventures as a man, and those
+with whom I lived in intimacy. The turnkey, an invalided sergeant of
+artillery and a kind-hearted fellow, tried to recall me to myself, by
+soothing and affectionate words. He even affected an interest in what I
+said, to try and gain some clew to my wanderings, and caught eagerly
+at anything that promised a hope of obtaining an influence over me. He
+fetched the surgeon of the jail to my cell at last, and he pronounced
+my case the incipient stage of a brain fever. I heard the opinion as he
+whispered it, and understood its import thoroughly. I was in that state
+where reason flashes at moments across the mind, but all powers of
+collected thought are lost. Amongst the names that I uttered in my
+ravings one alone attracted their attention: it was that of Ysaffich,
+the Pole, of whom I spoke frequently.
+
+"Do you know the Colonel Ysaffich?" said the doctor to me.
+
+"Yes," said I, slowly; "he is a Russian spy."
+
+"That answer scarcely denotes madness," whispered the doctor to the
+turnkey, with a smile, as he turned away from the bed.
+
+"Should you like to see him?" said he, in a kind tone.
+
+"Of all things," replied I, eagerly; "tell him to come to me."
+
+I conclude that this question was asked simply to amuse my mind, and
+turn it from other painful thoughts, for he shortly after retired,
+without further allusion to it; but from that hour my mind was riveted
+on the one idea; and to everybody that approached my sick bed, my first
+demand was, "Where was Count Ysaffich, and when was he coming to see
+me?"
+
+I had been again conveyed back to the military hospital, in which I was
+lying when the Emperor came to make his customary visit. The prisoners'
+ward was, however, one exempted from the honor he bestowed on the rest;
+and one could only hear the distant sounds of the procession as it
+passed from room to room.
+
+I was lying, with my eyes half closed, lethargic and dull, when I heard
+a voice say,--
+
+"Yes, Colonel, he has spoken of you constantly, and asks every day when
+you mean to come and see him."
+
+"He never served in the Legion, notwithstanding," replied another voice,
+"nor do I remember ever to have seen him before."
+
+The tones of the speaker recalled me suddenly to myself. I looked
+up, and beheld Count Ysaffich before me. Though dressed in the lancer
+uniform of the Garde, his features were too marked to be forgotten, and
+I accosted him at once.
+
+"Have you forgotten your old colleague, Paul Gervois?" said I, trying to
+appear calm and at ease.
+
+"What!--is this--can you be my old friend Gervois?" cried be, laying a
+hand on my shoulder, and staring hard at my face. But I could not utter
+a word; shame and sorrow overcame me, and I covered my face with both my
+hands.
+
+Ysaffich was not permitted to speak more with me at the time; but he
+returned soon, and passed hours with me every day to the end of my
+illness. He was intimate with the officer I had insulted; and, by
+immense efforts, and the kind assistance of the medical authorities,
+succeeded in establishing a plea of temporary insanity for my offence,
+by which I escaped punishment, and was dismissed the service. This was
+a period of much suffering to me, mentally as well as bodily. I felt all
+the humiliation at which my life had been purchased, and more than once
+did the price appear far too great a one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI. YSAFFICH
+
+I was now domesticated with Ysaffich, who occupied good quarters in
+Kehl, where the Polish Legion, as it was called, was garrisoned. He
+treated me with every kindness, and presented me to his comrades as an
+old and valued friend. I was not sorry to find myself at once amongst
+total strangers,--men of a country quite new to me, and who themselves
+had seen reverses and misfortunes enough to make them lenient in their
+judgments of narrow fortune. They were, besides, a fine, soldier-like
+race of fellows,--good horsemen, excellent swordsmen, reckless as all
+men who have neither home nor country, and ready for any deed of daring
+or danger. There was a jealousy between them and the French officers
+which prevented any social intercourse; and duels were by no means a
+rare event whenever they had occasion to meet. The Imperial laws were
+tremendously severe on this offence; and he who killed his adversary
+in a duel was certain of death by the law. To evade the consequences of
+such a penalty, the most extravagant devices were practised, and many a
+deadly quarrel was decided in a pretended fencing-match. It was in
+one of these mock trials of skill that Colonel le Brun was killed, an
+officer of great merit, and younger brother of the general of that name.
+
+From that time the attention of the military authorities was more
+closely drawn to this practice; and such meetings were for the future
+always attended by several gendarmes, who narrowly scrutinized every
+detail of the proceeding. With such perfect good faith, however, was the
+secret maintained on both sides that discovery was almost impossible.
+Not only was every etiquette of familiar intimacy strictly observed on
+these occasions, but a most honorable secrecy by all concerned.
+
+I was soon to be a witness of one of these adventures. Ysaffich, whose
+duties required him to repair frequently to Strasburg, had been grossly
+and, as I heard, wantonly outraged by a young captain of the Imperial
+staff who, seeing his name on a slip of paper on a military table
+d'hote, added with his pencil the words _Espion Musse_ after it.
+Of course a meeting was at once arranged, and it was planned that
+Challendrouze, the captain, and four of his brother officers were to
+come over and visit the fortifications at Kehl, breakfasting with us,
+and being our guests for the morning. Two only of Ysaffich's friends
+were intrusted with the project, and invited to meet the others.
+
+I cannot say that I ever felt what could be called a sincere friendship
+for Ysaffich. He was one of those men who neither inspire such
+attachments, nor need them in return. It was not that he was cold and
+distant, repelling familiarity and refusing sympathy. It was exactly the
+opposite. He revealed everything, even to the minutest particle of his
+history, and told you of himself every emotion and every feeling that
+moved him. He was frankness and candor itself; but it was a frankness
+that spoke of utter indifference,--perfect recklessness as to your
+judgment on him, and what opinion you should form of his character.
+He told you of actions that reflected on his good faith, and uttered
+sentiments that arraigned his sense of honor, not only without
+hesitation, but with an air of assumed superiority to all the prejudices
+that sway other men in similar cases. Even in the instance of the
+approaching duel, he avowed that Challendrouze's offence was in the
+manner, and not the matter, of the insult. His whole theory of life was
+that every one was false, not only to others, but to himself; that no
+man really felt love, patriotism, or religion in his heart, but that
+he assumed one or more of these affections as a cloak to whatever vices
+were most easily practised under such a disguise. It was a code to
+stifle every generous feeling of the heart, and make a man's nature
+barren as a desert.
+
+He never fully disclosed these sentiments until the evening before the
+duel. It was then, in the midst of preparations for the morrow, that he
+revealed to me all that he felt and thought. There was, throughout these
+confessions, a tone of indifference that shocked me more, perhaps, than
+actual levity; and I own I regarded him with a sense of terror, and as
+one whose very contact was perilous.
+
+"I have married since I saw you last," said he to me, after a long
+interval of silence. "My wife was a former acquaintance of yours.
+You must go and see her, if this event turn out ill, and 'break
+the tidings,' as they call it,--not that the task will demand any
+extraordinary display of skill at your hands," said he, laughing.
+"Madame the Countess will bear her loss with becoming dignity; and as I
+have nothing to bequeath, the disposition of my property cannot offend
+her. If, however," added he, with more energy of manner, "if, however,
+the Captain should fall, we must take measures to fly. I 'll not risk a
+_cour militaire_ in such a cause, so that we must escape."
+
+All his arrangements had been already made for this casualty; and I
+found that relays of horses had been provided to within a short distance
+of Mannheim, where we were to cross the Rhine, and trust to chances to
+guide us through the Luxembourg territory down to Namur, at a little
+village in the neighborhood of which town his wife was then living. My
+part in the plan was to repair by daybreak to Erlauch, a small village
+on the Rhine, three leagues from Kehl, and await his arrival, or such
+tidings as might recall me to Kehl.
+
+"If I be not with you by seven o'clock at the latest," said he, "it is
+because Challendrouze has _vised_ my passports for another route."
+
+These were his last words to me ere I started, with, it is not too much
+to say, a far heavier heart than he had who uttered them.
+
+It was drawing towards evening, and I was standing watching the lazy
+drift of a timber-raft as it floated down the river, when I heard the
+clattering of a horse's hoofs approaching at a full gallop. I turned,
+and saw Ysaffich, who was coming at full speed, waving his handkerchief
+by way of signal.
+
+I hurried back to the inn to order out the horses at once, and ere many
+minutes we were in the saddle, side by side, not a word having passed
+between us till, as we passed out into the open country, Ysaffich
+said,--
+
+"We must ride for it, Gervois."
+
+"It's all over, then?" said I.
+
+"Yes, all over," said he while, pressing his horse to speed, he dashed
+on in front of me; nor was I sorry that even so much of space separated
+us at that moment.
+
+Through that long, bright, starry night we rode at the top speed of our
+horses, and, as day was breaking, entered Rostadt, where we ate a hasty
+breakfast, and again set out. Ysaffich reported himself at each military
+station as the bearer of despatches, till, on the second morning, we
+arrived at Hellsheim, on the Bergstrasse, where we left our horses, and
+proceeded on foot to the Rhine by a little pathway across the fields. We
+crossed the river, and, hiring a wagon, drove on to Erz, a hamlet on the
+Moselle, at which place we found horses again ready for us. I was
+terribly fatigued by this time, but Ysaffich seemed fresh as when we
+started. Seeing, however, my exhaustion, he proposed to halt for a
+couple of hours,--a favor I gladly accepted. The interval over, we
+remounted, and so on to Namur, where we arrived on the sixth day, having
+scarcely interchanged as many words with each other from the moment of
+our setting out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII. TOWARDS HOME
+
+Ysaffich's retreat was a small cottage about two miles from Dinant, and
+on the verge of the Ardennes forest. He had purchased it from a retired
+"Garde Chasse" some years before, "seeing," as he said, "it was exactly
+the kind of place a man may lie concealed in, whenever the time comes,
+as it invariably does come, that one wants to escape from recognition."
+
+I have already said that he was not very communicative as we went along;
+but as we drew nigh to Dinant he told me in a few words the chief events
+of his career since we had parted.
+
+"I have made innumerable mistakes in life, Gervois, but my last was the
+worst of all. I married! Yes, I persuaded your old acquaintance Madame
+von Geysiger to accept me at last. She yielded, placed her millions
+and tens of millions at my disposal, and three months after we were
+beggared. Davoust found, or said he found, that I was a Russian spy;
+swore that I was carrying on a secret correspondence with Sweden;
+confiscated every sou we had in the world, and threw me into jail at
+Lubeck, from which I managed to escape, and made my way to Paris. There
+I preferred my claim against the marshal: at first before the _cour
+militaire_, then to the minister, then to the Emperor. They all agreed
+that Davoust was grossly unjust; that my case was one of the greatest
+hardship, and so on; that the money was gone, and there was no help for
+it. In fact, I was pitied by some, and laughed at by others; and out
+of sheer disgust at the deplorable spectacle I presented, a daily
+supplicant at some official antechamber, I agreed to take my indemnity
+in the only way that offered,--a commission in the newly raised Polish
+Legion, where I served for two years, and quitted three days ago in the
+manner you witnessed."
+
+His narrative scarcely occupied more words than I have given it. He told
+me the story as we led our horses up a narrow bridle-path that ascended
+from the river's side to a little elevated terrace where a cottage
+stood.
+
+"There," said he, pointing with his whip, "there is my _pied a terre_,
+all that I possess in the world, after twenty years of more persevering
+pursuit of wealth than any man in Europe. Ay, Gervois, for us who are
+not born to the high places in this world, there is but one road open
+to power, and that is money! It matters not whether the influence
+be exerted by a life of splendor or an existence of miserable
+privation,--money is power, and the only power that every faction
+acknowledges and bows down to. He who lends is the master, and he who
+borrows is the slave. That is a doctrine that monarchs and democrats
+all agree in. The best proof I can afford you that my opinion is sincere
+lies in the simple fact that he who utters the sentiment lives here;"
+and with these words he tapped with the head of his riding-whip at the
+door of the cottage.
+
+Although only an hour after the sun set, the windows were barred and
+shuttered for the night, and all within seemingly had retired to rest.
+The Count repeated his summons louder; and at last the sounds of heavy
+_sabots_ were heard approaching the door. It was opened at length, and
+a sturdy-looking peasant woman, in the long-eared cap and woollen jacket
+of the country, asked what we wanted.
+
+"Don't you know me, Lisette?" said the Count. "How is madame?"
+
+The brown cheeks of the woman became suddenly pale, and she had to grasp
+the door for support before she could speak.
+
+"Eh heu!" said he, accosting her familiarly in the patois of the land,
+"what is it? what has happened here?"
+
+The woman looked at me and then at him, as though to say that she
+desired to speak to him apart. I understood the glance, and fell back
+to a little distance, occupying myself with my horse, ungirthing the
+saddle, and so on. The few minutes thus employed were passed in close
+whispering by the others, at the end of which the Count said aloud,--
+
+"Well, who is to look after the beasts? Is Louis not here?"
+
+"He was at Dinant, but would return presently."
+
+"Be it so," said the Count; "we 'll stable them ourselves. Meanwhile,
+Lisette, prepare something for our supper.--Lisette has not her equal
+for an omelet," said he to me, "and when the Meuse yields us fresh
+trout, you 'll acknowledge that her skill will not discredit them."
+
+The woman's face, as he spoke these words in an easy, jocular tone,
+was actually ghastly. It seemed as if she were contending against some
+sickening sensation that was over-powering her, for her eyes lost all
+expression, and her ruddy lips grew livid. The only answer was a brief
+nod of her head as she turned away and re-entered the house. I watched
+the Count narrowly as we busied ourselves about our horses, but nothing
+could be possibly more calm, and to all seeming unconcerned, than his
+bearing and manner. The few words he spoke were in reference to objects
+around us, and uttered with careless ease.
+
+When we entered the cottage we found Lisette had already spread a cloth,
+and was making preparations for our supper; and Ysaffich, with the
+readiness of an old campaigner, proceeded to aid her in these details.
+At last she left the room, and, looking after her for a second or two in
+silence, he said compassionately,--
+
+"Poor creature! she takes this to heart far more heavily than I
+could have thought;" and then, seeing that the words were not quite
+intelligible to me, he added, "Yes, mon cher Gregoire, I am a bachelor
+once more; Madame the Countess has left me! Weary of a life of poverty
+to which she had been so long unaccustomed, she has returned to the
+world again--to the stage, perhaps--who knows?" added he, with a
+careless indifference, and as though dismissing the theme from his
+thoughts forever.
+
+I had never liked him, but at no time of our intercourse did he appear
+so thoroughly odious to me as when he uttered these words.
+
+There is some strange fatality in the way our characters are frequently
+impressed by circumstances and intimacies which seem the veriest
+accidents. We linger in some baneful climate till it has made its fatal
+inroad on our health; and so we as often dally amidst associations fully
+as dangerous and deadly. In this way did I continue to live on with
+Ysaffich, daily resolving to leave him, and yet, by some curious chain
+of events, bound up inseparably with his fortunes. At one moment his
+poverty was the tie between us We supported ourselves by the _chasse_,
+a poor and most precarious livelihood, and one which we well knew
+would fail us when the spring came. At other moments he would gain an
+influence over me by the exercise of that sanguine, hopeful spirit which
+seemed never to desert him. He saw, or affected to see, that the great
+drama of revolution which closed the century in France must yet be
+played out over the length and breadth of Europe, and that in this great
+piece the chief actors would be those who had all to gain and nothing
+to lose by the convulsion. "We shall have good parts in the play,
+Gregoire," would he repeat to me, time after time, till he thoroughly
+filled my mind with ambitions that rose far above the region of all
+probability, and, worse still, that utterly silenced every whisper of
+conscience within me.
+
+Had he attempted to corrupt me by the vulgar ideas of wealth,--by
+the splendor of a life of luxurious ease and enjoyment, with all the
+appliances of riches,--it is more than likely he would have failed. He
+however assailed me by my weak side: the delight I always experienced
+in acts of protection and benevolence--the pleasure I felt in being
+regarded by others as their good genius--this was a flattery that never
+ceased to sway me! The selfishness of such a part lay so hidden from
+view; there was a plausibility in one's conviction of being good and
+amiable,--that the enjoyment became really of a higher order than
+usually waits on mere egotism. I had been long estranged from the world,
+so far as the ties of affection and friendship existed. For me there was
+neither home nor family, and yet I yearned for what would bind me to the
+cause of my fellow-men. All my thoughts were now centred on this object,
+and innumerable were the projects by which I amused my imagination about
+it. Ysaffich perhaps detected this clew to my confidence. At all events,
+he made it the pivot of all reasonings with me. To be powerless with
+good intentions--to have the "will" to work for good, and yet want the
+"way"--was, he would say, about the severest torture poor humanity could
+be called on to endure. When he had so far imbued my mind with these
+notions that he found me not only penetrated with his own views, but
+actually employing his own reasonings, his very expressions, to maintain
+them, he then advanced a step further; and this was to demonstrate that
+to every success in life there was a compromise attached, as inseparable
+as were shadow and substance.
+
+"Was there not," he would say, "a compensation attached to every great
+act of statesmanship, to every brilliant success in war,--in fact, to
+every grand achievement, wherever and however accomplished? It is simply
+a question of weighing the evil against the good, whatever we do in
+life; and he is the best of us who has the largest balance in the scales
+of virtue."
+
+When a subtle theory takes possession of the mind, it is curious to
+mark with what ingenuity examples will suggest themselves to sustain
+and support it. Ysaffich possessed a ready memory, and never failed to
+supply me with illustrations of his system. There was scarcely a good
+or great name of ancient or modern times that he could not bring within
+this category; and many an hour have we passed in disputing the claims
+of this one or that to be accounted as the benefactor or the enemy of
+mankind. If I recall these memories now, it is simply to show the steps
+by which a mind far more subtle and acute than my own succeeded in
+establishing its influence over me.
+
+I have said that we were very poor; our resources were derived from
+the scantiest of all supplies; and even these, as the spring drew nigh,
+showed signs of failure. If I at times regarded our future with gloomy
+anticipations, my companion never did so. On the contrary, his hopeful
+spirit seemed to rise under the pressure of each new sufferance, and he
+constantly cheered me by saying, "The tide must ebb soon." It is true,
+this confidence did not prevent him suggesting various means by which we
+might eke out a livelihood.
+
+"It is the same old story over again," said he to me one day, as we sat
+at our meal of dry bread and water. "Archimedes could have moved the
+world had he had a support whereon to station his lever, and so with me;
+I could at" this very moment rise to wealth and power, could I but find
+a similar appliance. There is a million to be made on the Bourse of
+Amsterdam any morning, if one only could pay for a courier who should
+arrive at speed from the Danube with the news of a defeat of the French
+army. A lighted tar-barrel in the midst of the English fleet at Spithead
+would n't cost a deal of money, and yet might do great things towards
+changing the fortunes of mankind. And even here," added he, taking a
+letter from his pocket, "even here are the means of wealth and fortune
+to both of us, if I could rely on you for the requisite energy and
+courage to play your part."
+
+"I have at least had courage to share your fortunes," said I, half
+angrily; "and even that much might exempt me from the reproach of
+cowardice."
+
+Not heeding my taunt in the slightest, he resumed his speech with slow
+and deliberate words:--
+
+"I found this paper last night by a mere accident, when looking over
+some old letters; but, unfortunately, it is not accompanied by any other
+document which could aid us, though I have searched closely to discover
+such."
+
+So often had it been my fate to hear him hold forth on similar
+themes--on incidents which lacked but little, the veriest trifle, to
+lead to fortune--that I confess I paid slight attention to his words,
+and scarcely heard him as he went on describing how he had chanced upon
+his present discovery, when he suddenly startled me by saying,--
+
+"And yet, even now, if you were of the stuff to dare it, there is
+wherewithal in that letter to make you a great man, and both of us rich
+ones."
+
+Seeing that he had at least secured my attention, he went on:--
+
+"You remember the first time we ever met, Gervois, and the evening of
+our arrival at Hamburg. Well, on that same night there occurred to me
+the thought of making your fortune and my own; and when I shall have
+explained to you how, you will probably look less incredulous than you
+now do. You may remember that the first husband of Madame von Geysiger
+was a rich merchant of Hamburg. Well, there chanced to be in his
+employment a certain English clerk who conducted all his correspondence
+with foreign countries,--a man of great business knowledge and strict
+probity, and by whose means Von Geysiger once escaped the risk of total
+bankruptcy. Full of gratitude for his services, Von Geysiger wished to
+give him a partnership in the house; but however flattering the prospect
+for one of humble means, he positively rejected the offer; and when
+pressed for his reasons for so doing, at last owned that he could not
+consistently pledge himself to adhere to the fortunes of his benefactor,
+since he had in heart devoted his life to another object,--one for which
+he then only labored to obtain means to prosecute. I do not believe that
+the secret to which he alluded was divulged at the time, nor even for a
+long while after, but at length it came out that this poor fellow had no
+other aim in life than to find out the heir to a certain great estate
+in England which had lapsed from its rightful owner, and to obtain the
+document which should establish his claim. To this end he had associated
+himself with some relative of the missing youth,--a lady of rank, I have
+heard tell, and of considerable personal attractions, who had braved
+poverty and hardship of the severest kind in the pursuit of this one
+object. I do not know where they had not travelled, nor what amount of
+toil they had not bestowed on this search. Occasionally, allured by some
+apparent clew, they had visited the most remote parts of the Continent;
+and at last, acting on some information derived from one of their
+many agents, they left Europe for America. That the pursuit is still
+unsuccessful, an advertisement that I saw, a few days back, in a Dutch
+newspaper, assures me. A large reward is there offered for any one who
+can give certain information as to the surviving relatives of a French
+lady,--the name I forget, but which at the time I remembered as one of
+those connected with this story. And now, to apply the case to yourself,
+there were so many circumstances of similitude in the fortunes of this
+youth and your own life that it occurred to me, and not alone to me, but
+to another, to make you his representative."
+
+For a moment I scarcely knew whether to be indignant or amused at this
+shameless avowal; but the absurdity overcame my anger, and I laughed
+long and heartily at it.
+
+"Laugh if you will, my dear Gervois," said he; "but you are not the
+first, nor will you be the last, kite who has roosted in the eagle's
+nest. Take my word for it, with all the cares and provisions of law, it
+is seldom enough that the rightful heir sits in the hall of his fathers;
+and, in the present case, we know that the occupant is a mere pretender;
+so that your claim, or mine, if you like it, is fully as good as his to
+be there."
+
+"You have certainly excited my curiosity on one point," said I, "and it
+is to know where the resemblance lies between this gentleman's case and
+my own; pray tell me that!"
+
+"Easily enough," said he, "and from the very papers in my hand: a mixed
+parentage, French and English--a father of one country, a mother of
+another--a life of scrapes and vicissitudes; but, better than all, a
+position so isolated that none can claim you. There, my dear Gervois,
+there is the best feature in the whole case; and if I could only inspire
+your heart with a dash of the ambitious daring that fills my own, it is
+not on a straw bed nor a starvation diet we should speculate over the
+future before us. Just fancy, if you can, the glorious life of ease and
+enjoyment that would reward us if we succeed; and as to failure, conjure
+up, if you are able, anything worse than this;" and as he spoke he made
+a gesture with his hand towards the wretched furniture of our humble
+chamber.
+
+"You seem to exclude from your calculation all question of right and
+wrong," said I, "of justice or injustice."
+
+"I have already told you that he who now enjoys this estate is not its
+real owner. It is, to all purposes, a disputed territory, where the
+strongest may plant his flag,--yours to-day; another may advance to the
+conquest to-morrow. I only say that to fellows like us, who, for aught I
+see, may have to take the high-road for a livelihood, this chance is not
+to be despised."
+
+"Then why not yourself attempt it?"
+
+"For two sufficient reasons. I am a Pole, and my nationality can be
+proved; and, secondly, I am full ten years too old: this youth was born
+about the year 1782."
+
+"The very year of my own birth!" said I.
+
+"By Jove, Gervois! everything would seem to aid us. There is but one
+deficiency," added he, after a pause, and a look towards me of such
+significance that I could not misunderstand it.
+
+"I know what you mean," said I; "the want lies in me,--in my lack of
+energy and courage. I might, perhaps, give another name to it," added
+I, after waiting in vain for some reply on his part, "and speak of
+reluctance to become a swindler."
+
+A long silence now ensued between us. Each seemed to feel that another
+word might act like a spark in a magazine, and produce a fearful
+explosion; and so we sat, scarcely daring to look each other in the
+face. As we remained thus, my eyes fell upon the paper in his hand, and
+read the following words: "Son of Walter Carew, of Castle Carew, and
+Josephine de Courtois, his wife," I snatched the document from his
+fingers, and read on. "The proof of this marriage wanting, but supposed
+to have been solemnized at or about the year 1780 or '81. No trace of
+Mademoiselle de Courtois' family obtainable, save her relationship to
+Count de Gabriac, who died in England three years ago. The youth Jasper
+Carew served in the Bureau of the Minister of War at Paris in '95, and
+was afterwards seen in the provinces, supposed to be employed by the
+Legitimist party as an agent; traced thence to England, and believed
+to have gone to America, or the West Indies." Then followed some vague
+speculations as to where and how this youth was possibly employed,
+and some equally delusive guesses as to the signs by which he might be
+recognized.
+
+"Does that interest you, Gervois?" said Ysaffich. "This is the best part
+of the narrative, to my thinking; read that, and say if your heart does
+not bound at the very notion of such a prize."
+
+The paper which he now handed to me was closely and carefully written,
+and headed, "Descriptive sketch of the lands and estate of the late
+Walter Carew, Esq., known as the demesne of Castle Carew, in the county
+of Wicklow, in Ireland."
+
+"Two thousand seven hundred acres of a park, and a princely mansion!"
+exclaimed the Count. "An estate of at least twelve thousand pounds a
+year! Gervois, my boy, why not attempt it?"
+
+"You talk wildly, Ysaffich," said I, restraining by a great effort the
+emotions that were almost suffocating me. "Bethink you who I am,--poor,
+friendless, and unprotected. Take it, even, that I had the most
+indisputable right to this fortune; assume, if you will, that I am the
+very person here alluded to,--where is there a single document to
+prove my claim? Should I not be scouted at the bare mention of such
+pretensions?"
+
+"That would all depend on the way the affair was managed," said he. "If
+these solicitors whose names and addresses I have here, were themselves
+convinced or even disposed to credit the truth of the tale we should
+tell them, they would embark in the suit with all their influence and
+all their wealth. Once engaged in it, self-interest would secure their
+zealous co-operation. As to documents, proofs, and all that, these
+things are a material that lawyers know how to supply, or, if need be,
+explain the absence of. Of this missing youth's story I already know
+enough for our purpose; and when you have narrated for me your own life,
+we will arrange the circumstances together, and weave of the two one
+consistent and plausible tale. Take my word for it, that if we can once
+succeed in interesting counsel in your behalf, the very novelty of
+the incident will enlist public sympathy. Jurors are, after all, but
+representatives of that same passing opinion, and will be well disposed
+to befriend our cause. I speak as if the matter must come to a head; but
+it need not go so far. When our plans are laid and all our advances duly
+prepared, we may condescend to treat with the enemy. Ay, Gervois, we may
+be inclined to accept a compromise of our claim. These things are done
+every day. The men who seem to sit in all the security of undisturbed
+possession are buying off demands here, paying hush-money to this man,
+and bribery to that."
+
+"But if the real claimant should appear on the stage--"
+
+"I have reason to believe he is dead these many years," said he,
+interrupting; "but were it otherwise, these friends of his are of such
+a scrupulous temperament, they would not adventure on the suit without
+such a mass of proof as no concurrence of accidents could possibly
+accumulate. They have not the nerve to accomplish an undertaking of this
+kind, where much must be hazarded, and many things done at risk."
+
+"Which means, in plain words, done fraudulently," said I, solemnly.
+
+"Let us not fall out about words," said he, smiling. "When a state
+issues a paper currency, it waits for the day of prosperity to recall
+the issue and redeem the debt; and if we live and do well, what shall
+prevent us making an equally good use of our fortune? But you may leave
+all this to me; I will undertake every document, from the certificate
+of your father's marriage to your own baptism; I will legalize you and
+legitimatize you; you have only to be passive."
+
+"I half suspect, Count," said I, laughing, "that if my claim to
+this estate were a real one, I should not be so sure of your aid and
+assistance."
+
+"And you are right there, Gervois. It is in the very daring and danger
+of this pursuit I feel the pleasure. The game on which I risk nothing
+has no excitement for me; but here the stake is a heavy one."
+
+"And how would you proceed?" asked I, not heeding this remark.
+
+"By opening a correspondence with Bickering and Ragge, the lawyers. They
+have long been in search of the heir, and would be delighted to hear
+there were any tidings of his existence. My name is already known to
+them, and I could address them with confidence. They would, of course,
+require to see you, and either come over here or send for you. In either
+case you would be preceded by your story; the family parts should be
+supplied by me; the other details you should fill in at will. All
+this, however, should be concerted together. The first point is your
+consent,--your hearty consent; and even that I would not accept, unless
+ratified by a solemn oath, to persist to the last, and never falter nor
+give in to the end, whatever it be!"
+
+I at first hesitated, but at last consented to give the required pledge;
+and though for a while it occurred to me that a frank avowal of my real
+claim to be the person designated might best suit the object I had in
+view, I suddenly bethought me that if Ysaffich once believed that he
+himself was not the prime mover in the scheme, and that I was other than
+a mere puppet in his hand, he was far more likely to mar than to make
+our fortune. Intrigue and trick were the very essence of the man's
+nature; and it was enough that the truthful entered into anything to
+destroy its whole value or interest in his eyes. That this plot had long
+been lying in his mind, I had but to remember the night in the garden at
+Hamburg to be convinced of, and since that time he had never ceased to
+ruminate upon it. Indeed, he now told me that it constantly occurred to
+him to fancy that this piece of success was to be a crowning recompense
+for a long life of reverses and failures.
+
+How gladly did my thoughts turn from him and all his crafty counsels to
+think of that true friend, poor Raper, and my dear, dear mother, as
+I used to call her, who had, in the midst of their own hard trials,
+devoted their best energies to my cause. It is not necessary to say that
+Raper was the faithful clerk, and Polly the unknown lady who had given
+the impulse to this search. The papers, of which Ysaffich showed me
+several, were all in the handwriting of one or other of them; a few of
+my father's own letters were also in one packet, and though referring to
+matters far remote from this object, had an indescribable interest for
+me.
+
+"Seven years ago," said the Count, "this estate was in the possession
+of a certain Mr. Curtis, who claimed to be the next of kin of the
+late owner, and who, I believe, was so, in the failure of this youth's
+legitimacy. This is now our great fact, since we have already found the
+individual. Eh, Gervois?" said he, laughing. "Our man is here, and from
+this hour forth your name is--let me see what it is--ay, here we have
+it: Jasper Carew, son of Walter Carew and Josephine de Courtois, his
+wife."
+
+"Jasper Carew am I from this day, then, and never to be called by any
+other name," said I.
+
+"Ay, but you must have your lesson perfect," said he; "you must not
+forget the name of your parents."
+
+"Never fear," said I; "Walter Carew and Josephine de Courtois are easily
+remembered."
+
+"All correct," said he, well pleased at my accuracy. "Now, as to family
+history, this paper will tell you enough. It is drawn out by Mr. Raper,
+and is minutely exact. There is not a strong point of the case omitted,
+nor a weak one forgotten. Read it over carefully; mark the points in
+which you trace resemblance to your own life; study well where any
+divergence or difficulty may occur; and, lastly, draw up a brief
+memoir in the character of Jasper Carew, with all your recollections of
+childhood: for remember that up to the age of twelve or thirteen, if not
+later, you were domesticated with this Countess de Gabriac, and educated
+by Raper. After that you are free to follow out what fancy, or reality,
+if you like it better, may suggest. When you have drawn up everything,
+with all the consistency and plausibility you can, avoid none of the
+real difficulties, but rather show yourself fully aware of them, and
+also of all their importance. Let the task of having persuaded you to
+address Messrs. Bickering and Ragge be left to me; I have already held
+correspondence with them, and on this very subject. I give you three
+days to do this; meanwhile I start at once for Brussels, where I can
+consult a lawyer, an old friend of mine, as to our first steps in the
+campaign."
+
+The man who stoops once to a minute dissection of his life must perforce
+steel his heart against many a sense of shame, since even in the story
+of the good and the upright are passages of dark omen, moments when the
+bad has triumphed, and seasons when the true has been postponed by the
+false. It is not now that, having revealed so much as I have done of
+my secret history, I dare make any pretensions to superior honesty,
+or affect to be one of the "unblemished few." Still, I have a craving
+desire not to be judged over harshly,--a painful feeling of anxiety that
+no evil construction should be put upon those actions of my life
+other than what they absolutely merit. My "over-reachings" have been
+many,--my "shortcomings" still more; but, with all their weight and
+gravity before me, I still entreat a merciful judgment, and hope that
+if the sentence be "guilty," there will be at least the alleviation of
+"attenuating circumstances."
+
+I am now an old man; the world has no more any bribe to my ambition than
+have I within me the energy to attempt it. The friendships that warmed
+up the late autumn of my life are departed; they lie in the churchyard,
+and none have ever replaced them. In these confessions, therefore,
+humiliating as they often would seem, there are none to suffer pain. I
+make them at the cost of my own feelings alone, and in some sense I do
+so as an act of atonement and reparation to a world that, with some
+hard lessons, has still treated me with kindness, and to whom, with the
+tremulous fingers of old age, I write myself most grateful.
+
+If they who read this story suppose that I should not have hesitated to
+propose myself a claimant for an estate to which I had no right, I have
+no better answer to give them than a mere denial, and even that uttered
+in all humility, since it comes from one whose good name has been
+impeached, and whose good faith may be questioned. Still do I repeat
+it, this was an act I could not have done. There is a kind of half-way
+rectitude in the world which never scruples at the means of any success
+so long as it injures no other, but which recoils from the thought of
+any advantage obtained at another's cost and detriment. Such I suspect
+to have been mine. At least, I can declare with truth that I am not
+conscious of an incident in my life which will bear the opposite
+construction.
+
+But to what end should I endeavor to defend my motives, since my actions
+are already before the world, and each will read them by the light his
+own conscience lends? Let me rather hasten to complete a task which,
+since it has involved an apology, has become almost painful to pursue.
+
+So successfully had Ysaffich employed his time at Brussels that a
+well-known notary there had already consented to aid our plans and
+furnish means for our journey to England. I cannot go over with
+minuteness details in which the deceptions I had to concur in still
+revive my shame. I could, it is true, recite the story of my birth and
+parentage, my early years abroad, and so on, with the conscious force of
+truth; but there were supplementary evidences required of me with which
+I could not bring myself to comply. Ysaffich, naturally enough, could
+not understand the delicacy of scruples which only took alarm by mere
+caprice, nor could he comprehend why he who was willing to feign a name
+and falsify a position should hesitate about assuming any circumstances
+that might be useful to sustain it.
+
+Of course I could not explain this mystery, and was obliged to endure
+all the sarcastic allusions he vented on the acuteness of my sense of
+honor and the extreme susceptibility of my notions of right. It
+chanced, however, that this very repugnance on my part should prove more
+favorable for us than all his most artful devices, and indeed it shows
+with clearness how often the superadded efforts fraud contributes to
+insure success are as frequently the very sources of its failure,--just
+as we see in darker crimes how the over care and caution of the murderer
+have been the clew that has elicited the murder.
+
+Ysaffich wished me to detail, amongst the memories of my childhood, the
+having heard often of the great estate and vast fortune to which I was
+entitled. He wanted me to supply, as it were from memory, many links
+of the chain of evidence that seemed deficient,--vague recollections of
+having heard this, that, and the other; but, with an obstinacy that
+to him appeared incomprehensible, I held to my own unadorned tale, and
+would not add a word beyond my own conviction.
+
+Mr. Ragge, the solicitor by whom the case was undertaken, seemed most
+favorably impressed by this reserve on my part; and, far from being
+discouraged by my ignorance of certain points, appeared, on the
+contrary, only the more satisfied as to the genuineness of my story.
+Over and over have I felt in my conversations with him how impossible it
+would have been for me to practise any deception successfully with him.
+Without any semblance of cross-examination, he still contrived to bring
+me again and again over the same ground, viewing the same statement from
+different sides, and trying to discover a discrepancy in my narrative.
+When at length assured, to all appearance, at least, of my being the
+person I claimed to be, he drew up a statement of my case for
+counsel, and a day was named when I should be personally examined by a
+distinguished member of the bar. I cannot even now recall that interview
+without a thrill of emotion. My sense of hope, dashed as it was by a
+conscious feeling that I was, in some sort, practising a deception,--for
+in all my compact with Ysaffich our attempt was purely a fraud,--I
+entered the chamber with a faltering step and a failing heart Far,
+however, from questioning and cross-questioning, like the solicitor, the
+lawyer suffered me to tell my story without even so much as a word of
+interruption. I had, I ought to remark, divested my tale of many of
+the incidents which really befell me. I made my life one of commonplace
+events and unexciting adventures, in which poverty occupied the
+prominent place. I as cautiously abstained from all mention of the
+distinguished persons with whom accident had brought me into contact,
+since any allusion to them would have compromised the part I Was obliged
+to play with Ysaffich. When asked what documents or written evidence
+I had to adduce in support of my pretensions, and I had confessed to
+possessing none, the old lawyer leaned back in his chair, and, closing
+his eyes, seemed lost in thought.
+
+"At the best," said he, at length, "it is a case for a compromise. There
+is really so little to go upon, I can advise nothing better."
+
+I need not go into the discussion that ensued further than to say
+the weight of argument was on the side of those who counselled the
+compromise, and, however little disposed to yield, I felt myself
+overborne by numbers, and compelled to give in.
+
+Weeks, even months, were now passed without any apparent progress in our
+suit. The party in possession of the estate treated our first advances
+with the most undisguised contempt, and even met our proposals with
+menaces of legal vengeance. Undeterred by these signs of strength, Mr.
+Ragge persevered in his search for evidence, sent his emissaries hither
+and thither, and entered upon the case with all the warm zeal of a
+devoted friend. It was at length thought that a visit to Ireland might
+possibly elicit some information on certain points, and thither we went
+together.
+
+It was little more than a quarter of a century since the date of my
+father's death, and yet such had been the changes in the condition of
+Ireland, and so great the social revolution accomplished there, that men
+talked of the bygone period like some long-past history. The days of the
+parliaments, and the men who figured in them, were alike for* gotten;
+and although there were many who had known my father well, all memory,
+not to speak of affection for him, had lapsed from their natures.
+
+Crowther and Fagan were dead, but Joe Curtis was alive, and continued to
+live in Castle Carew in a style of riotous debauchery that scandalized
+the whole country. In fact, the mere mention of his name was sufficient
+to elicit the most disgraceful anecdotes of his habits. Unknown to
+and unrecognized by his equals, this old man had condescended to form
+intimacy with all that Dublin contained of the profligate and abandoned;
+and, surrounded by men and women of this class, his days and nights were
+one continued orgie. Although the estate was a large one, it was rumored
+that he was deeply in debt, and only obtained means for this wasteful
+existence by loans on ruinous conditions. In vain Mr. Ragge made
+inquiries for some one who might possess his confidence and have the
+legal direction of his affairs. He had changed from this man to that
+so often that it was scarcely possible to discover in what quarter the
+property was managed. Without any settled plan of procedure, but half
+to watch the eventualities that might arise, it was determined that I
+should proceed to Castle Carew and present myself as the son and the
+heir of the last owner.
+
+If there were circumstances attendant on this step which I by no means
+fancied, there was one gratification that more than atoned for them
+all: I should see the ancient home of my family; the halls wherein my
+father's noble hospitalities had been practised; the chamber which had
+been my dear mother's! I own that the sight of the princely domain and
+all its attendant wealth, contrasting with my own poverty, served to
+extinguish within me the last spark of hope. How could I possibly dream
+of success against the power of such adjuncts as these? Were my cause
+fortified by every document and evidence, how little would it avail
+against the might of vast wealth and resources! Curtis would laugh my
+pretensions to scorn, if not treat them with greater violence; and
+with such thoughts I found myself one bright morning of June slowly
+traversing the approach to the Castle. The sight of the dense dark
+woods, the swelling lawns dotted over with grazing cattle, the distant
+corn-fields waving beneath a summer wind, and the tall towers of the
+Castle itself far off above the trees, all filled my heart with a
+strange chaos, in which hope, and fear, and proud ambition, and the very
+humblest terrors were all commingled. Although my plan of procedure had
+been carefully sketched out for me by Ragge, so confused were all my
+thoughts that I forgot everything. I could not even bethink me in what
+character and with what pretension I was to present myself, and I was
+actually at the very entrance of the Castle, still trying to remember
+the part I was to play.
+
+There before me rose the grand and massive edifice, to erect which had
+been one of the chief elements of my poor father's ruin. Though far
+from architecturally correct in its details, the effect of the whole was
+singularly fine. Between two square towers of great size extended a long
+facade, in which, from the ornamented style of architraves and brackets,
+it was easy to see the chief suite of apartments lay; and in front of
+this the ground had been artificially terraced, and gardens formed in
+the Italian taste, the entire being defended by a deep fosse in front,
+and crossed by a drawbridge. Neglect and dilapidation had, however,
+disfigured all these; the terraces were broken down by the cattle,
+the cordage of the bridge hung in fragments in the wind, and even the
+stained-glass windows were smashed, and their places filled by paper
+or wooden substitutes. As I came nearer, these signs of ruin and
+devastation were still more apparent. The marble statues were fractured,
+and fissured by bullet-marks; the pastures were cut up by horses' feet;
+and even fragments of furniture were strewn about, as though thrown from
+the windows in some paroxysm of passionate debauchery. The door of
+the mansion was open, and evidences of even greater decay presented
+themselves within. Massive cornices of carved oak hung broken and
+shattered from the walls; richly cut wainscotings were split and
+fissured; a huge marble table of immense thickness was smashed through
+the centre, and the fragments still lay scattered on the floor
+where they had fallen. As I stood, in mournful mood, gazing on this
+desecration of what once had been a noble and costly estate, an
+ill-dressed, slatternly woman-servant chanced to cross the hall, and
+stopped with some astonishment to stare at me. To my inquiry if I could
+see Mr. Curtis, she replied by a burst of laughter too natural to be
+deemed offensive.
+
+"By coorse you couldn't," said she, at length; "sure there's nobody
+stirrin', nor won't be these two hours."
+
+"At what time, then, might I hope to be more fortunate?"
+
+If I came about three or four in the afternoon, when the gentlemen were
+at breakfast, I might see Mr. Archy,--Archy M'Clean.
+
+This gentleman was, as she told me, the nephew of Mr. Curtis, and his
+reputed heir.
+
+Having informed her that I was a stranger in Ireland, and come from a
+long distance off to pay this visit, she good-naturedly suffered me to
+enter the house and rest myself in a small and meanly furnished chamber
+adjoining the hall. If I could but recall the sensations which passed
+through my mind as I sat in that solitary room, I could give a more
+correct picture of my nature than by all I have narrated of my actual
+life. Hour after hour glided by at first, in all the stillness of
+midnight; but gradually a faint noise would be heard afar off, and
+now and again a voice would echo through the long corridors, the very
+accents of which seemed to bring up thoughts of savage revelry and
+debauch. It had been decided by my lawyers that I should present myself
+to Curtis, without any previous notification of my identity or my claim;
+that, in fact, not to prejudice my chances of success by any written
+application for an audience, I should contrive to see him without his
+having expected me; and thus derive whatever advantage might accrue from
+any admissions his surprise should betray him into. I had been drilled
+into my part by repeated lessons. I was instructed as to every word I
+was to utter, and every phrase I was to use; but now that the moment to
+employ these arts drew nigh, I had utterly forgotten them all. The one
+absorbing thought: that beneath the very roof under which I now stood,
+my father and mother had lived; that these walls were their own
+home; that within them had been passed the short life they had shared
+together,--overcame me so completely that I lost all consciousness about
+myself and my object there.
+
+At length the loud tones of many voices aroused me from my half
+stupor, and on drawing nigh the door I perceived a number of servants,
+ill-dressed and disorderly looking, carrying hurriedly across the hall
+the materials for a breakfast. I addressed myself to one of these, with
+a request to know when and how I could see Mr. Curtis. A bold stare
+and a rude burst of laughter was, however, the only reply he made me.
+I tried another, who did not even vouchsafe to hear more than half my
+question, when he passed on.
+
+"Is it possible," said I, indignantly, "that none of you will take a
+message for your master?"
+
+"Begad, we have so many masters," said one, jocosely, "it's hard to say
+where we ought to deliver it;" and the speech was received with a roar
+of approving laughter.
+
+"It is Mr. Curtis I desire to see," said I.
+
+"It's four hours too early, then," said the same speaker. "Old Joe won't
+be stirring till nigh eight o'clock. If Mr. Archy would do, he's in the
+stables, and it's the best time to talk to him."
+
+"And if it's the master you want," chimed in another, "he 's your man."
+
+"Lead me to him, then," said I, resolving at least to see the person who
+claimed to be supreme in this strange household. Traversing a number of
+passages and dirty, ill-kept rooms, we descended by a small stone stair
+into an ample courtyard, two sides of which were occupied by ranges of
+stables. The spacious character of the building and the costly style
+of the arrangements were evident at a glance; and even a glance was all
+that I had time for, when my guide, whispering, "There is Mr. Archy,"
+hurriedly withdrew and left me. The person indicated was standing as
+if to examine a young horse which had met with some accident, for the
+animal could scarcely move, and with the greatest difficulty could bring
+up his hind legs.
+
+I had time to observe him; and certainly, though by no means deficient
+as regarded good features, I had rarely seen anything so repulsive
+as the expression of his face. Coarsely sensual and brutal, they were
+rendered worse by habits of dissipation and debauch; and in the
+filmy eye and the tremulous lip might be read the signs of habitual
+drunkenness. In figure he was large and most powerfully built, and if
+not over-fleshy, must have been of great muscular strength.
+
+"Shoot him, Ned," he cried, after a few minutes of close scrutiny; "he's
+as great a cripple as old Joe himself."
+
+"I suppose, your honor," said the groom, "there's nothing else to be
+done, it 's in the back it is."
+
+"I don't care a curse where it is," said the other, savagely; "I only
+know when a horse can't go. You can put a bullet in him, and more's the
+pity all other useless animals are not as easily disposed of.--And who
+is our friend here?" added he, turning and approaching where I stood.
+
+I briefly said that I was a stranger desirous of seeing and speaking
+with Mr. Curtis; that my business was one of importance not less to
+myself than to him; and that I would feel obliged if he could procure me
+the opportunity I sought for.
+
+"If you talk of business, and important business," said he, sternly,
+"you ought to know, if you haven't heard it already, that the man you
+want to discuss it with is upwards of a hundred years of age; that he is
+a doting idiot; and that, for many a day, the only one who has given any
+orders here now stands before you."
+
+"In that case," said I, courteously, "I am equally prepared to address
+myself to him. Will you kindly accord me an interview?"
+
+"Are you a dun?" said he, rudely.
+
+"No," said I, smiling at the abruptness of the demand.
+
+"Are you a tenant in arrear of his rent? or wanting an abatement?"
+
+"Neither one nor the other."
+
+"Are you sent by a friend with a hostile message?"
+
+"Not even that," said I, with impassive gravity.
+
+"Then, what the devil are you?" said he, rudely; "for I don't recognize
+you as one of my friends or acquaintances."
+
+I hesitated for a moment what reply I should make to this coarsely
+uttered speech. Had I reflected a little longer, it is possible that
+good sense might have prevailed, and taught me how inopportune was
+the time for such reprisals; but I was stung by an insult offered in
+presence of many others; and in a tone of angry defiance answered,--
+
+"You may discover to your cost, sir, that my right to be here is
+somewhat better than your own, and that the day is not very distant when
+your presence in this domain will be more surely questioned than is
+mine now. Is that name new to you?" And as I spoke I handed him my
+card, whereupon, with my name, the ancient arms of my family were also
+engraved. A livid paleness suddenly spread over his features as he read
+the words, and then as quickly his face became purple red.
+
+"Do you mean," said he, in a voice guttural with passion, "do you mean
+to impose upon a man of my stamp with such stupid balderdash as that?
+And do you fancy that such a paltry attempt at a cheat will avail you
+here? Now, I'll show you how we treat such pretensions without any help
+from lawyers. Garvey," cried he, addressing one of the grooms who stood
+by, laughing heartily at his master's wit, "Garvey, go in and rouse the
+gentlemen; tell them to dress quickly and come downstairs; for I 've
+got sport for them. And you, Mick, saddle Ranty for me, and get out the
+dogs. Now, Mr. Carew, I like fair play, and so I'll give you fifteen
+minutes law. Take the shortest cut you can out of these grounds; for, by
+the rock of Cashel, if you 're caught, I would n't be in your skin for a
+trifle."
+
+A regular burst of savage laughter from the bystanders met this brutal
+speech, and the men scattered in all directions to obey the orders,
+while I, overwhelmed with passion, stood motionless in the now deserted
+yard. M'Clean himself had entered the house, and it was only when a
+signal from one of the grooms attracted my notice that I remarked his
+absence.
+
+"This way--this way, sir, and don't lose a second," said the man; "take
+that path outside the garden wall, and cross the nursery beyond it. If
+you don't make haste, it's all over with you."
+
+"He would n't dare--"
+
+"Would n't he?" said he, stopping me. "It's little you know him. The
+dogs themselves has more mercy than himself when his blood is up."
+
+"Get the cob ready for me, Joe," cried a half-dressed man from one of
+the upper windows of the house, "and a snaffle bridle, remember."
+
+"Yes, sir," was the quick reply. "That's ould Delany of Shanestown, and
+a greater devil there isn't from this to his own place. Blood and ages,"
+cried he, addressing me, "won't you give yourself a chance? do you want
+them to tear you to pieces where you stand?"
+
+The man's looks impressed me still more than his words; and though I
+scarcely believed it possible that my peril could be such as he spoke
+of, the terrified faces about me struck fear into my heart.
+
+"Would men stand by," cried I, "and see such an infamous cruelty?"
+
+"Arrah! how could we help it?" said one, stopping me; "and if you won't
+do anything for yourself, what use can we be?"
+
+"There, be off, you, in the name of Heaven," said another, pushing me
+through a small door that opened into a shrubbery; "down that lane as
+fast as you can, and keep to the right after you pass the fish-pond."
+
+"It wouldn't be bad to swim to one of the islands!" muttered another;
+but the counsel was overruled by the rest.
+
+By this time, the contagion of terror had so completely seized upon
+me that I yielded myself to the impulse of the moment, and, taking the
+direction they pointed out, I fled along the path beneath the garden
+wall at full speed.
+
+In the unbroken stillness I could hear nothing but the tramp of my own
+feet, or the rustling of the branches as I tore through them. I gained
+at last the open fields, and with one hurried glance behind to see that
+I was not pursued, still dashed onwards. The young cattle started off at
+full speed as they saw me, and the snorting horses galloped wildly here
+and there as I went.
+
+Again, beneath the shade of a wood I would have halted to repose myself,
+but suddenly a sound came floating along the air, which swelled louder
+and louder, till I could recognize in it the deep, hoarse bay of dogs,
+as in wild chorus they yelped together; and high above all could
+be heard the more savage notes of men's voices cheering them on and
+encouraging them. With the mad speed of terror, I now fled onward; the
+very air around me seeming to resound with the dreadful cries of my
+pursuers. Now tumbling headlong over the tangled roots, now dashing
+recklessly forward through stony watercourses or fissured crevices of
+ground, I ran with mad impulse, heedless of all peril but one. At some
+moments the deafening sounds of the wild pack seemed close about me; at
+others, all was still as the grave around.
+
+[Illustration: 564]
+
+I had forgotten every direction the men had given me, and only thought
+of pressing onward without any thought of whither. At last I came to a
+rapid but narrow river, with steep and rugged banks at either side.
+To place this between myself and my pursuers seemed the best chance of
+escape, and without a second's hesitation I dashed into the stream. Far
+stronger than I had supposed, the current bore me down a considerable
+distance, and it was not till after a long and tremendous effort that
+I gained the bank. Just as I had reached it, the wild cry of the dogs
+again met my ears; and, faint and dripping as I was, once more I took to
+speed.
+
+Through dark woods and waving plains of tall grass, over deep
+tillage ground and through the yellow corn, I fled like one bereft of
+reason,--the terror of a horrible and inglorious death urging me on to
+efforts that my strength seemed incapable of making. Cut and bleeding in
+many places, my limbs were at last yielding to fatigue, when I saw at
+a short distance in front of me a tall but dilapidated stone wall. With
+one last effort I reached this, and, climbing by the crevices, gained
+the top. But scarcely had I gained it when my head reeled, my senses
+left me, and, overcome by sickness and exhaustion, I fell headlong to
+the ground beneath.
+
+[Illustration: Fell headlong to the ground]
+
+It was already evening when I came to myself, and
+still lay there stunned, but uninjured. A wild plain, studded over with
+yellow furze bushes, lay in front, and beyond in the distance I could
+see the straggling huts of a small village. It was a wild and dreary
+scene; but the soft light of a summer's evening beamed calmly over
+it, and the silence was unbroken around. With an effort, I arose, and,
+though weak and sorely bruised, found that I could walk. My faculties
+were yet so confused that of the late events I could remember but little
+with any distinctness. At times I fancied I had been actually torn and
+worried by savage dogs; and then I would believe that the whole was but
+a wild and feverish dream, brought on by intense anxiety and care. My
+tattered and ragged clothes, clotted over with blood, confused, but did
+not aid, my memory; and thus struggling with my thoughts, I wandered
+along, and, as night was falling, reached the little village of
+Shanestown. Directing my steps towards a cabin where I perceived a
+light, I discovered that it was the alehouse of the village. Two or
+three country people were sitting smoking on a bench before the door,
+who arose as I came forward, half in curiosity, half in respect; and as
+I was asking them in what quarter I might find a lodging for the night,
+the landlord came out. No sooner did his eyes fall on me than he started
+back in seeming terror, and, after a pause of a few seconds, cried
+out,--
+
+"Molly! Molly! come here quick! Who's that standing there?" said he, as
+he pointed with his finger towards me.
+
+"The heavens be about us! but it's Mr. Walter Carew himself," said the
+woman, crossing herself.
+
+This sudden recognition of my resemblance to my father so overcame me
+that though I struggled hard for speech, the words would not come; and I
+stood pale and gasping before them.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, speak!" cried the man, in terror.
+
+I heard no more; faint, agitated, and exhausted, I tottered towards the
+bank, and swooned away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII. THE PERILS OF EVIL
+
+The last few pages I mean to append to these notices of my life might
+be, perhaps, equally well derived from the public newspapers of the
+time. At a period when great events were occurring; when the conquering
+armies of France marched over the length and breadth of Europe,--the
+humble historian of these pages was able, for a brief space, to engage
+public attention, and become for a short season the notoriety of the
+hour. I will not presume so far as to say that the fame to which I
+attained was of that kind which flatters most, or that the reputation
+attaching to me was above reproach. Still, I had my partisans
+and adherents, nay, I believe I might even aver, my friends and
+well-wishers. He must, perchance, have had a fortunate existence who can
+say more.
+
+Of what followed after the event detailed in my last chapter I can
+relate nothing, for I was seized with shivering and other signs of fever
+that same night, and for several weeks my life was despaired of. Even
+when the dangerous period passed over, my convalescence made but little
+progress. For me there were none of those aids which so powerfully
+assist the return to health. The sympathy of friends, the affections of
+family, the very hope of once more assuming one's place at hearth and
+board,--I had none of these. If the past was filled with trouble and
+suffering, the future was a bleak expanse that offered nothing to
+speculate on. My thoughts turned to the New World beyond the seas, to a
+region wherein nothing should recall a memory of the bygone, and where
+even I might at last forget the early years of my own life. There were
+not then, as now, the rapid means of intercourse between this country
+and America; as little, too, was there of that knowledge of the great
+continent of the west which now prevails. Men talked of it as a far-away
+land only emerging into civilization, and whose vast regions were still
+untrodden and unexplored. Dreamy visions of the existence men might
+carve out for themselves in such a scene formed the amusements of the
+long hours of my solitary sick bed. I fancied myself at times a lone
+settler on the bank of some nameless river, and at other moments as a
+member of some Indian tribe, following their fortunes to the chase
+and to the battle-field, and dreaming through life in the uneventful
+stillness of the forest.
+
+In part from the effect of malady itself, in part from this dreamy
+state of mind, I sank into a state of impassive lethargy wherein nothing
+pleased or displeased me. Worse than actual despondency, a sense of
+indifference had settled down on all my feelings; and if I could have
+asked a boon, it would have been to have been left utterly alone.
+To reply when spoken to became irksome; even to listen was a painful
+exertion to me. Looking back now on this period, it seems to me that
+such intervals of apathetic repose are often inserted in the lives of
+men of more than ordinary activity, acting as sleep does in our habitual
+existence, and serving to rest and recruit faculties overcharged and
+overworked.
+
+I was in a very humble lodging in a very humble street, still attended
+by doctors, and besieged by lawyers and solicitors, who came and went,
+held consultations, questioned and cross-questioned me with a greedy
+avidity on themes in which my own interest had long ceased, and which I
+was gradually learning to think of with absolute aversion.
+
+Ysaffich, whose confidence in our success rose higher every day,
+appeared from time to time to see me; but his visits were generally
+hurried ones, as he was constantly on the road, travelling hither
+and thither, exploring registries here, and certificates there, and
+fortifying our case by every possible means he could think of.
+His energy was untiring; and in the shrewd devices of his quick
+intelligence, even the long-practised acuteness of the lawyers
+discovered great resources.
+
+Paragraphs of a half mysterious kind in the public newspapers announced
+to the world that a most remarkable case might ere long transpire, and
+a claim be preferred which should threaten the possession of one of
+the largest estates in a county adjacent to the metropolis. To these
+succeeded others, more openly expressed, in which it was announced that
+some of the most distinguished members of the inner bar had received
+retainers for a cause that would soon astonish the world, wherein the
+plaintiff was represented to be the son and heir of one who once had
+figured most conspicuously in the fashionable and political circles of
+Dublin.
+
+As the time approached for bringing the case to trial it was judged
+expedient that I should be provided with lodgings in a more fashionable
+quarter of the town, be seen abroad in places of public resort, and, in
+fact, a certain _eclat_ be imparted to my presence, which should enlist,
+so far as might be, popular feeling in my favor. The chief adviser and
+leader of my case was a lawyer of great repute in the Irish bar of those
+days,--a certain Samuel Hanchett,--one of those men who owe their
+success in life less to actual learning than to the possession of
+immense natural acuteness, great resources in difficulty, and a vast
+acquaintance with all the arts of their fellow-men. There had been, I
+believe, considerable difficulty in securing his services originally in
+our behalf. It was reported that he disliked such cases; that they were
+not what "suited him." He made various objections when first addressed,
+and threw every discouragement when the cause was submitted for his
+opinion. He asked for evidence that was not to be obtained, and proofs
+that were not forthcoming. The merest accident--if I am justified in
+calling such what was to be followed by consequences so important to
+myself--overruled these objections on his part. It chanced that in one
+of my solitary walks on a Sunday afternoon I happened to find myself at
+the bank of a little stream near Milltown, with an elderly man who
+seemed to have some apprehensions about crossing on the slippery and
+uncertain stepping-stones by which the passage was forded. Perceiving
+his difficulty, I tendered my assistance to him at once, which he
+accepted. On arriving at then opposite bank, and finding that our roads
+led in the same direction, we began to converse together, during which
+my accidental pronunciation of a word with a slightly foreign accent
+attracted his notice. To a question on his part, I mentioned that a
+great part of my life had been passed abroad; and amongst the places to
+which I alluded was Reichenau. He asked me in what year I had been
+there, and inquired if by any chance I had ever heard of a certain
+school there in which it was said the son of the late Duke of Orleans
+had been a teacher.
+
+"You are speaking of Monsieur Jost, my old master?" said I, warmed up by
+even this passing remembrance of happier days.
+
+"Will you pardon the liberty I am about to take," said he, with some
+earnestness, "and allow me to ask, with whom I have the honor to speak?"
+
+"My name is Jasper Carew, sir," said I, with a degree of stern pride a
+man feels in asserting a claim that he knows may be contested.
+
+"Jasper Carew!" repeated he, slowly, while he stood still and stared
+steadfastly at me--"Jasper Carew! You are then the claimant to the
+estates of Castle Carew and Crone Lofty in Wicklow?"
+
+"The property of my late father," said I, assentingly.
+
+"What a singular coincidence should have brought us together," said he,
+after a pause. "Do you know, sir, that when you overtook me half an hour
+ago, and saw me standing on the side of the stream there, I was less
+occupied in thinking how I should cross it than how I could reconcile
+certain strange statements which had been made to me respecting your
+claim. I am Mr. Hanchett, sir, the counsel to whom your case has been
+submitted."
+
+"It is indeed a curious accident that has brought us thus in contact,"
+exclaimed I, in surprise.
+
+"I should like to give it another name, young gentleman," said he,
+thoughtfully, while he walked along at my side for some moments in
+silence. "Has it ever been explained to you, Mr. Carew," said he,
+gravely, "what dangers attend such a course of proceeding as you are
+now engaged in? How necessarily you must be prepared to give in your
+adhesion to many things your advisers deem essential, and of which you
+can have no cognizance personally,--in a word, how frequently you
+will be forced into a responsibility which you never contemplated or
+anticipated? Have all these circumstances been placed fairly and clearly
+before you?"
+
+"Never!" replied I.
+
+"Then suffer me to endeavor, in a very few words, to show you some at
+least of the perils I allude to." In a few short and graphic sentences
+he stated my case, with all its favorable points forcibly and well
+delineated. He then exhibited its various weaknesses and deficiencies,
+the assumptions for which no proofs were forthcoming, the positions
+which were taken without power to maintain them. "To give the required
+coherence and consistency to these, your advisers will of course take
+all due precaution; but they will require aid also from you. You will
+be asked for information you have no means of obtaining, for details you
+cannot supply. A lawsuit is like a chase: the ardor of pursuit deadens
+every sense of peril, and in the desire to win you become reckless for
+the cost. I perceive," said he, "that you demur to some of this; but
+remember that as yet you have not entered the field, that you have only
+viewed the sport from afar, and its passions of hope and fear are all
+untasted by you!"
+
+"It may be as you say," said I, "and that hereafter I may seem to feel
+differently; but for the present I can promise you that to secure a
+verdict in my favor, not only would I not strain any point myself, but I
+would not condescend to accept the benefit of such a sacrifice from
+another. I believe--I have strong reasons to believe--that I am
+asserting a rightful claim; the arguments that shall be sufficient to
+convince others that I am wrong will, doubtless, be strong enough to
+satisfy me."
+
+He had fixed his eyes steadily on me while I was speaking these words,
+and I could, easily perceive that the impression they produced on
+him was favorable. He then led me on to speak of my life and its
+vicissitudes, and I could detect in many of his questions that he had
+formed erroneous notions as to various parts of my story. I cannot
+attempt to explain why it was so; but the fact unquestionably was, that
+I opened my heart more freely and unreservedly to this stranger than I
+had ever done to any of those with whom I had before conversed; and when
+we parted at length, it was like old friends.
+
+The accident of our meeting was not known to others, and there was
+considerable astonishment excited when it was heard that Hanchett, who
+had hitherto shown no disposition to engage in the cause, now accepted
+the brief and exhibited the warmest anxiety for success. His acute
+intelligence quickly detected many things which had been passed over
+as immaterial, and by his activity various channels of information were
+opened which others had not thought of. In these details Ysaffich came
+more than once before him; and it was remarkable with what shrewdness
+he read the man's nature, bold, resolute, and unscrupulous as it was.
+Between the two, the feeling of distrust rapidly ripened into open
+hatred, each not hesitating to accuse the other of treachery; and thus
+was a new element of difficulty added to a case whose complications were
+already more than enough.
+
+My own position at this period was embarrassing in the extreme. Hanchett
+frequently invited me to his house, and presented me freely to his
+friends; while Ysaffich continued to suggest doubts of his good faith
+on every occasion, and by a hundred petty slights showed his implacable
+enmity towards him. Day after day this breach grew wider and wider,
+every effort of the one being sure to excite the animosity and
+opposition of the other. Ysaffich, too, far from endeavoring to repress
+this spirit on his part, seemed to foster and encourage it, sneering at
+the old lawyer's caution and reserve, and even insinuating against him
+darker and more treacherous intentions.
+
+"To what end," said he, at length, one morning when our discussion had
+become unusually warm and animated, "to what end the inquiries to which
+this learned adviser of yours would push us: he wants to discover the
+Countess of Ga-briac and Raper. Why, bethink you, my worthy friend, that
+these are the very people we hope never to hear more of; that if by any
+mischance they could possibly be forthcoming, our whole scheme is blown
+up at once. We have now enough, or we shall have enough by the end of
+the month, to go to a jury. There is not a document nor a paper that
+will not, in some form or other, be supplied. Let us stand or fall by
+that issue; but, of all things, let us not protract the campaign till
+the arrival of the forces that shall overwhelm us. If this be your
+policy, Master Gervois, speak it out freely, and let us be frank with
+each other."
+
+There was a tone of bold defiance in this speech that startled me; but
+the way in which he addressed me, as Gervois, a name he had never called
+me by for several months, in even our closest intimacy, was like a
+declaration of open hostility.
+
+"I claim to be called Jasper Carew," said I, calmly and slowly; "I will
+accept no other designation from you nor any one."
+
+"You have learned your part admirably," said he, with a sneer; "but
+remember that I am myself the prompter; so pray reserve the triumphs of
+your art for the public!"
+
+"Anatole," said I, addressing him with an emotion I could not repress,
+"I desire to be frank and candid with you. This name of Jasper Carew I
+believe firmly to be mine."
+
+A burst of laughter, insulting to the last degree, stopped me in my
+speech.
+
+"Why, Gervois, this is madness, my worthy fellow. Just bethink you of
+how this plot originated; who suggested, who carried it on,--ay, and
+where it stands at this very moment. That you yourself are as nothing
+in it; the breath that made can still unmake you; and that I have but
+to declare you an impostor and a cheat,--hard words, but you will have
+them,--and the law will deal with you as it knows how to deal with those
+who trade on false pretences. Yours be the blame if I be pushed to such
+reprisals!"
+
+"And what if I defied you, Count Ysaffich?" said I, boldly.
+
+"If you but dared to do it!" said he, with a menace of his clenched
+hand.
+
+"Now listen to me calmly," said I; "and there is the more need of calm,
+since, possibly, these are the very last words that shall ever pass
+between us. My claim can neither be aided nor opposed by you."
+
+"Is the fellow mad?" exclaimed he, staring wildly at me.
+
+"I am in my calm and sober senses," replied I, quietly.
+
+"Then what say you to this bond?" said he, taking a paper from his
+pocket-book. "Is this a written promise that if you succeed to the
+fortune and estates of the late Walter Carew, you will pay me, Count
+Anatole Ysaffich, one hundred thousand pounds?"
+
+"I own every word of it," said I.
+
+"And for what service is this the recompense? Answer me that."
+
+"That I am indebted to you for having opened to me the path by which my
+right was to be established."
+
+"Say rather that by me was the fraud of a false name, and birth, and
+rank first suggested; that from Gervois the courier I created you Carew
+the gentleman. The whole scheme was and is my own. You are as nothing in
+it."
+
+Stupefied, almost stunned, by the outrageous insult of his words, I did
+not speak, and he went on,--
+
+"But you have not taken me unawares. I was not without my suspicion
+that such an incident as this might arise. I foresaw at least its
+possibility, and was prepared for it. Be advised, then, in time, since
+if your foot was on the very threshold of that door you hope to call
+your own, the power lies with me to drag you back again and proclaim you
+to all the world a swindler."
+
+My passion boiled over at the word, and I sprung towards him, I know not
+with what thoughts of vengeance. He darted back suddenly, and gained the
+door.
+
+"If you had dared," said he, with a savage grin, "you had been a corpse
+on that floor the minute after."
+
+The shining blade of a stiletto glanced within his waistcoat as he
+spoke. The next moment he had descended the stairs, and was gone.
+
+I will not speak of the suffering this scene cost me,--a misery, I am
+free to declare, less proceeding from my dread of his resentment than
+from the thought that one of the very few with whom I had ever lived on
+terms approaching friendship had now become a declared and bitter enemy.
+Oh for the hollowness of such attachments! The bonds which bind men to
+evil are the deadliest snares that beset us; and thus the very qualities
+which seem our best and purest, are among the weakest and the worst of
+our depraved natures.
+
+To add to my discomfiture, Hanchett was obliged to go over to London in
+some case before the House of Lords, and my cause was intrusted to
+the second counsel, one with whom I had little intercourse, and few
+opportunities of knowing. Ysaffich's defection, too, threw a great gloom
+over all my supporters. His readiness in every difficulty was not less
+remarkable than his unwearied and untiring energy. He was, in fact, the
+bond of union between all the parties, stimulating, encouraging,
+and cheering them on. Even they who were least disposed towards him
+personally, avowed that his loss was irreparable; and some, taking a
+still graver view of the matter, owned their fears that he might seek
+service with the enemy.
+
+I cannot tell the relief I experienced on hearing that he had sailed
+from Ireland the very night of our quarrel; and, from the observations
+he had dropped, it was believed with the intention of going abroad.
+
+As the day fixed for the trial drew nigh, public curiosity rose to the
+very highest degree. The real nature of the claim to be set up was no
+longer a secret, and the case became the town talk of every club and
+society of the capital. Curtis had long ceased to be popular with any
+party. His dissolute life had thrown a disrepute upon those who sided
+with him; and the newspapers, almost without an exception, inclined
+towards my side. There is, perhaps, something too that savors of
+generosity in such cases, and disposes many to favor what they feel to
+be the weaker party. I am sure I had reason to experience much of this
+kind of sympathy, nor do I think of it even now without gratitude.
+
+Early as it was when I prepared to leave my hotel, I found a
+considerable crowd had assembled in the street without, curious to see
+one whose story had attracted so much popular notice. They were mostly
+of the lower classes, but I observed that a knot of gentlemen had
+gathered on the steps of an adjoining door, and were eagerly watching
+for my appearance. As the window of my room was almost directly over
+their heads, and lay open, I could hear the conversation which passed
+between them. Shall I own that the words I overheard set my heart a
+beating violently?
+
+"You knew Carew intimately, Parsons?" asked one.
+
+"Watty! to be sure I did. We were class-fellows at school and at
+college."
+
+"And liked him, I have heard you say?"
+
+"Extremely. There was no better fellow to be found. He had his
+weaknesses like the rest of us; but he was a true-hearted, generous
+friend, and a resolute enemy also."
+
+"Were you acquainted with his wife, Ned?" asked another.
+
+"I was presented to her the day he brought her over," replied he; "we
+all lunched with him at the hotel, but I never saw her after. The fact
+was, Watty made a foolish match, and never was the same man to his
+old friends after. Perhaps we were as much in fault as he was; at all
+events, except MacNaghten and a few who were very intimate with him, all
+fell off, and Carew, who was a haughty fellow, drew back from us, and
+left the breach still wider."
+
+"And what's your opinion of this claim?" asked another, who had not
+spoken before.
+
+"That I 'd not give sixpence for the chance of its success," said
+he, laughingly. "Why, everybody knows that no trace of any document
+establishing Carew's marriage could be found after his death. Some went
+so far as to say that there never had been a marriage at all; and as to
+the child, Dan MacNaghten told me years ago that the boy was killed
+in some street skirmish in Paris,--so that, taking all the doubts and
+difficulties together, and bearing in mind that old Joe Curtis has a
+strong purse and is in possession, is there any man with common sense to
+guide him would think the contest worth a trial?"
+
+"Have you seen this young fellow yet?"
+
+"No; and I am rather curious to have a look at him, for there were
+strong family traits about the Carews."
+
+As I heard these last words, I walked boldly out upon the balcony as if
+to examine the state of the weather. There was a slight murmur of voices
+heard beneath as I came forward, and one speaker exclaimed, "Indeed!" to
+which Parsons quickly replied,--
+
+"Positively astounding! It is not only that he has Carew's features,
+but the carriage of the head and a certain half supercilious look are
+exactly his!"
+
+The words sent a thrill of hope through me, more than enough to
+recompense me for the pain his former speech had inflicted; and as I
+left the window, I felt a degree of confidence in the future that never
+entirely deserted me after.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX. THE FIRST DAY
+
+I can more easily imagine a man being able to preserve the memory of
+all his sensations during some tremendous operation of surgery than to
+recall the varied tortures of his mind in the progress of a long
+and eventful trial. Certain incidents will impress themselves more
+powerfully than others, not always those of the deepest importance,--far
+from it; the veriest trifles--a stern look of the presiding judge, a
+murmur in the court--will live in the recollection for long years after
+the great events of the scene; and a casual glance, a half-uttered word,
+become texts of sorrow for many a day to come.
+
+I could myself be better able to record my sensations throughout a long
+fever than tell of the emotions which I suffered in the three days of
+that trial. I awake occasionally from a dream full of every circumstance
+all sharply defined, clear, and distinct. My throbbing temples and moist
+brow evidence the agonies I have gone through; my nerves still tingle
+with the torture; but with the first moments of wakefulness the memory
+is gone!--the sense of pain alone remains; but the cause fades away in
+dim indistinctness, and my heart throbs with gratitude at last to know
+it was but a dream, and has passed away.
+
+But there are days, too, when all these memories are revived; and I
+could recount, even to the slightest circumstance, the whole progress of
+the case, from the moment when a doorkeeper drew aside a heavy curtain
+to let me pass into the court, to the dreadful instant when--But I
+cannot go on; already are images and forms crowding around me. To
+continue this theme would be to call up spirits of torture to the
+bedside, or the lonely chamber where, friendless and solitary, I sit as
+I write these lines.
+
+I owe it to him whose patience and sympathy may have carried him so far
+as my listener, to complete this much of the story of my life; happily a
+few words will now suffice to do so.
+
+A newspaper of "Old Dublin," a great authority in those days, the
+"Morning Advertiser," informed its readers on a certain day of February
+that the interesting events of a recent trial should be its apology for
+any deficiency in its attention to foreign news, or even the domestic
+occurrences of the country, since the editor could not but participate
+in the intense anxiety felt by all classes of his fellow-citizens in
+the progress of one of the most remarkable cases ever submitted before a
+jury.
+
+After a brief announcement of the trial, he proceeds:
+
+"Mr. Foxley opened the plaintiff's case, in the absence of Serjeant
+Hanchett; and certainly even the distinguished leader of the Western
+Circuit never exceeded in clearness, accuracy, or close reasoning the
+admirable statement then delivered,--a statement which, while supported
+by a vast variety of well-known incident, may yet vie with romance for
+the strangeness of the events it records.
+
+"Probably, with a view of enlisting public sympathy in his client's
+behalf, not impossibly also to give a semblance of consistency to a
+narrative wherein any individual incident might have startled credulity,
+the learned counsel gave a brief history of the claimant from his birth;
+and certainly a stranger tale it would be hard to conceive. Following
+all the vicissitudes of fortune, fighting to-day in the ranks of the
+revolutionists in Paris, we find him to-morrow the bearer of important
+despatches from crowned heads to the members of the exiled family of
+France. Ever active, ever employed, and ever faithful to his trust, this
+extraordinary youth became mixed up with great events, and conversant
+with great people everywhere. If a consciousness that he was a man of
+birth, and with just claims to station and property, often sustained
+him in moments of difficulty, there were also times when this thought
+suggested his very saddest reflections. He saw himself poor, and almost
+unfriended; he knew the scarcely passable barriers the law erects
+against all pretenders, whatever the justice of their demands; he was
+aware that his adversary would have all the benefit which vast resources
+and great wealth can command. No wonder, then, if he felt faint-hearted
+and dispirited! Another and a very different train of reasoning may,
+possibly, have also had its influence on his mind.
+
+"This boy grew up to manhood in the midst of all the startling theories
+of the French Revolution. He had imbibed the doctrines of equality and
+universal brotherhood; he had been taught that a state was a family,
+and its population were the children, amongst whom no inequality of
+condition should prevail. To sue for the restitution of his own was,
+then, but a sorry recognition of the principles he professed. The
+society of the time enjoined the theory that property was a mere
+usurpation; and I say it is by no means improbable that, educated in
+such opinions, he should have deemed the prosecution of such a suit a
+direct falsification of his professions. The world, however, changed.
+
+"After the Revolution came the reaction of order. To the guillotine
+succeeded the court-martial; then the Consulate, then the Empire. All
+the external forms of society underwent a less change than did the very
+nature of men themselves.
+
+"Wearied of anarchy, they sought the repose of a despotism. With
+monarchy, too, came back all the illusions of pomp and splendor, all
+the tastes that wealth fosters and wealth alone confers. Carew, who
+had never bewailed his condition when a 'sansculottes,' now saw himself
+degraded in the midst of the new movement. He knew that he had been
+born to fortune and high estate. He had heard of the vast domains of
+his ancestry, from his cradle. He had got off by heart the names of
+townlands and baronies that all belonged to his family; and though, at
+the time he learned the lesson, the more stern teaching of democracy
+instilled the maxim that 'all property was a wrong,' yet now another
+impression had gained currency in the world, and he saw that even for
+the purposes of public utility, and the benefit of society, a man was
+powerless who was poor.
+
+"Alas, however, for his prospects! every document, every letter, every
+scrap of writing that could have authenticated his claim was gone.
+Of the very nature of these papers he scarcely retains a recollection
+himself; he only knows that Madame de Gabriac, whose name I have already
+introduced to your notice, deemed them all-sufficient, if only backed by
+one essential document,--the certificate of his father's marriage with
+his mother. To obtain this had been the great object of her whole life.
+
+"With a heroic devotion to the cause of her friend's orphan child, she
+had travelled over Europe in every direction, and during times of the
+greatest peril and disturbance. Accompanied by one trusty companion, Mr.
+Raper, she had never wearied in her pursuit.
+
+"Probably, if the occasion permitted, the story I could tell of her
+efforts in this cause would surprise you not less than that of my client
+himself. Enough that I say that she stooped to poverty and privation of
+the very severest kind; she toiled, and labored, and suffered for years
+long; and, when having exhausted every resource the Old World seemed
+to offer to her search, she set out for the New! Since that she has not
+been heard of. The solicitors with whom she had corresponded have long
+since ceased to receive tidings of her. The belief in her death was so
+complete that her father, a well-known citizen of Dublin, who died
+two years back, bequeathed his vast fortune to various charitable
+institutions, alleging his childless condition as the cause.
+
+"I have told you how, originally, my client, then a mere boy, became
+separated from her he had ever regarded as his mother; I have traced him
+through some, but far from the whole, of the strange incidents of his
+eventful career; and it now only remains that I should speak of the
+extraordinary accident by which he came upon the clew to his long
+sought-for, long despaired-of, inheritance.
+
+"A short statement will suffice here, since the witnesses I mean to
+call before you will amply elucidate this part of my case. It was while
+travelling with despatches to the North of Europe my client formed
+acquaintance with a certain Count Ysaffich, at that time himself
+employed in the diplomatic service; and though at the period a warm
+friendship grew up between them, it was not till after the lapse of many
+years that the Count came to know that a large mass of papers--copies of
+documents drawn out by Raper, and which had come into the Count's hands
+in a manner I shall relate to you--actually bore reference to his former
+acquaintance,--the casual intimate of a journey.
+
+"These two men, thrown together by one of the most extraordinary chances
+of fortune, sit down to recount their lives to each other. Beside the
+fire of an humble chalet, in a forest, Carew hears again the story he
+had once listened to in his infancy; the very tale his dear mother had
+repeated to him in the midst of the Alps, he now hears from the lips
+of one almost a stranger. Names once familiar, but long forgotten, come
+back to him. The very sounds thrilled through his heart like as the
+notes of the Swiss melody awaken in the far-away wanderer thoughts
+of home and fatherland. In an instant he throws off the apathy of his
+former life, he ceases to be the sport and plaything of fortune, and
+devotes himself heart and soul to the restitution of the ancient name of
+his house and the long dormant honors of a distinguished family.
+
+"We cannot," writes the journalist, "undertake at this late hour to
+follow the learned counsel into the minute enumeration he went into,
+of small circumstances of proof, memoranda of conversations, scraps
+of letters, allusions in the course of correspondence, and so on; the
+object of which was to show that although the late Walter Carew had some
+secret reason of his own for maintaining a mystery about his marriage,
+that of the fact of the marriage there could be no doubt,--nor of the
+legitimacy of him who claimed to be his heir; neither are we able to
+enter upon the intricate question of establishing the identity of the
+present claimant; suffice it to say that he succeeded in connecting him
+with a number of events from the days of his earliest childhood to a
+comparatively recent period, all corroboratory of his assumption; the
+possession of the seal and arms of his family, his name, and, above all,
+the unmistakable traits of family resemblance, being wonderful evidences
+in his favor. Indeed, we are not aware of a more dramatic incident in
+the administration of justice than our court presented yesterday,
+when, at the close of his seven hours' speech, full of all its details,
+narrative and legal, the able counsel suddenly paused, and, in a voice
+of subdued accent, asked if there chanced at that moment to be present
+in the court any of those who once enjoyed the friendship or even the
+acquaintance of the late Walter Carew. He was one, continued he, not
+easily to be forgotten, even by a casual observer. His tall and manly
+figure, the type at once of dignity and strength, his bold, high
+forehead, his deep-set blue eyes, soft as a child's in their expression,
+or sparkling like the orbs of an eagle; his mouth more characteristic
+than all, since, though marked by an air of pride, it never moved
+without an expression of genial kindliness and good-humor,--the traits
+that we love to think eminently national; the mingled nature of daring
+intrepidity with a careless ease; the dash of almost reckless courage
+with a still milder gayety,--these were all his. Are there not some
+here, is there not even one who can recall them? And if there be, let
+him look there! and he pointed to the gallery beside the jury-box, at
+the end of which was seated a young man, pale and sickly-looking, it is
+true, but whose countenance at once corroborated the picture. The vast
+multitude that filled the body of the court, crowding every avenue and
+space, and even invading the seats reserved for the Bar, rose as one
+man, and turned to gaze on the living evidence of the description. It
+would be difficult to conceive a more striking scene enacted within
+walls where the solemnity of the law usually represses every semblance
+of popular emotion; nor was it till after several seconds had elapsed
+that the judges were enabled to recall the Court to the observance of
+the rigid propriety of the justice-seat.
+
+"Himself exhausted by his efforts, and really overborne by feeling, the
+counsel was unable to continue his address, and the Court, willingly
+granting an indulgence that his exertions amply deserved, adjourned till
+to-morrow, when at ten o'clock this remarkable case will be resumed;
+though it is believed, from the number of witnesses to be examined,
+and the necessary length of 'the reply,' the trial cannot be completed
+before Saturday evening."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L. A TRIAL--CONCLUSION
+
+The second day was chiefly occupied in examining witnesses,--old
+acquaintances of my father's, for the most part, who had known him on
+his return to Ireland, and who could bear their testimony as to the
+manner in which he lived, and the acceptance he and my mother had met
+with in the best society of the capital. Though their evidence really
+went no further than a mere impression on their part, it was easy to
+perceive that its effect was most favorable on the jury; nor could
+cross-examination elicit the slightest flaw in the belief that they
+lived amongst their equals, without the shadow of aspersion on their
+honor.
+
+An uninterested spectator of the scene might have felt amusement in
+contrasting the description of manners and habits with the customs of
+the present time; for although the evidence referred to a period so
+recent, yet were all the details mixed up with usages, opinions,
+and ways that seemed those of a long-past epoch. Men were just then
+awakening after that long and splendid orgie which had formed the life
+of Ireland before the Union. With bankrupt fortunes and ruined
+estates, they saw themselves the successors of a race whose princely
+hospitalities had never known a limit, and who had really imparted a
+character of barbaric splendor to lives of reckless extravagance.
+
+A certain Mr. Archdall was examined as to his recollection of Castle
+Carew and the company who frequented there. He had been my father's
+guest when the Viceroy visited him; and certainly his account of the
+festivities might well have startled the credulity of his hearers.
+It was not at first apparent with what object these revelations were
+elicited by the cross-examination; but at length it came out that they
+were intended to show that my father, having no heir, nor expecting
+to have any, suffered himself to follow a career of the wildest
+wastefulness. With equal success they drew forth from the witness
+stories of my mother's unpopularity with the ladies of her own set
+in society, and the suspicion and distrust that pervaded the world of
+fashion that she had not originally been born in, or belonged to, the
+class with which she was then associating.
+
+It was but too plain to what all this pointed; and although old servants
+of the family were brought forward to show the deference with which my
+mother's position was ever regarded, and the degree of respect, almost
+amounting to state, with which she was treated, yet the artfulness of
+the cross-examiner had at least succeeded in representing her to the
+jury as self-willed, vain, and capricious, constantly longing for a
+return to France, and cordially hating her banishment to Ireland.
+My mother's friendship and attachment to Polly Fagan was ingeniously
+alluded to as a strange incident in the life of one whose circumstances
+might seem to have separated her from such companionship; and the able
+counsel dwelt most effectively on the disparity which separated their
+conditions.
+
+These circumstances were, however, not pressed home, but rather left to
+make their impression, with more or less of force, while other incidents
+were being related. To rebut in some measure these impressions, Foxley
+showed that my mother had been a guest at the Viceroy's table,--an honor
+which could not have been conferred on her on any questionable grounds.
+Unimportant and trivial as was the fact, the mode of eliciting it formed
+one of the amusing episodes of the trial, since it brought forward
+on the witness-table a well-known character of old Dublin,--no less a
+functionary than Samuel Cotterell, the hall trumpeter, now pensioned off
+and retired, but still, with all the weight of nearly fourscore-and-ten
+years, bearing himself erect, and carrying in his port the consciousness
+of his once high estate and dignity.
+
+It was some time before the old man could be persuaded that in all
+the state and pomp of the justice-seat there was not occasion for some
+exercise of his ancient functions.
+
+He seemed ashamed at appearing without his tabard, and looked anxiously
+around for his trumpet; but once launched upon the subject of his
+recollections, he appeared to revel with eager delight in all the
+associations they called up. It was perfectly miraculous to see with
+what tenacity he retained a memory of the festivities of old Viceregal
+times; they lived, however, in his mind like distinct pictures,
+unconnected with all around him. There was a duke in his "garter," and a
+duchess in her diamonds; a gorgeously decked table; pineapples that came
+from France; and a dessert wine newly arrived from Portugal, some of
+which Sir Amyrald Fitzgerald spilled on Madame Carew's dress; at which
+she laughed pleasantly, and, in showing the stains, displayed her ankles
+to Barry Rutledge, who whispered his Grace that there was not such a
+foot and leg in Ireland. Lord Gartymore backed Kitty O'Dwyer's for fifty
+pounds, and lost his wager.
+
+"How, then, was the bet decided, Mr. Cotterell?"
+
+"We saw her dance the minuet with Colonel Candler, and my Lord said he
+had lost."
+
+"Madame Carew was, then, much admired at Court?"
+
+"She was."
+
+"And a favorite guest, too?"
+
+"We asked her on Wednesdays generally; they were the small dinners, but
+many thought them the pleasantest."
+
+"Her Grace noticed her particularly, you say?"
+
+"She did so on one Patrick's night, and said she had never seen such
+lace before; and Madame Carew told her she would show her some still
+handsomer, for it had been given by the king to her grandmother, whom I
+think they called Madame Barry, or Du Barry, or something like that."
+
+Though little in reality beyond the gossiping revelation of a very
+old man, Cotterell's evidence tended to show that my mother had been a
+welcome and a favored guest in all the best houses of the day, and
+that, living as she did in the very centre of scandal, not the slightest
+imputation had been ever thrown upon her position or her conduct.
+
+The counsel probably saw that, not having any direct proof of the
+marriage,--when, and how, and where solemnized,--it was more than ever
+necessary to show the rank my mother had always occupied in the world,
+and the respect with which she was ever received in society.
+
+He had--I know not with what, if any, grounds--a little narrative of her
+family and birthplace in France, and most conveniently disposed of all
+belonging to her,--fortune, friends, and home,--by the events of "that
+disastrous Revolution, which swept away not only the nobles of the land,
+but every archive and document that had pertained to them."
+
+When he came to my own birth, he was fortunate enough to obtain all the
+evidence he wanted. The priest of Rathmullen, who had officiated at my
+christening, was yet alive, and related, with singular clearness of
+recollection, every circumstance of that sorrowful night when the
+tidings of my father's violent death reached the village beside Castle
+Carew. Of those present on this occasion, among whom were Polly Fagan
+and MacNaghten, he could not yet point to where one could be found.
+
+There now only remained to sum up the evidence, and impart that
+consistency and coherence to the story which should carry conviction to
+the minds of the jury; and this task he performed with a most consummate
+ability, concluding all with an account of my own visit to the home of
+my fathers, and the reception which there had met me. The passionate
+vehemence of his indignation seemed fired by the theme; and, warming
+as he proceeded, he denounced the infamy of that morning as not only a
+stain upon the nation, but the age, and called upon the jury, whatever
+their decision might be in the cause itself,--whether to restore the
+heir to his own, or send him a beggared wanderer through the world,--to
+mark by some expression of their own the horror and disgust this act of
+barbaric cruelty had filled them with.
+
+A burst of applause and indignation commingled saluted the orator as
+he sat down; nor was it till after repeated efforts of the criers that
+silence was again restored, and the business of the trial proceeded
+with.
+
+Mr. M'Clelland, to whom the chief duty of the defence was intrusted,
+requested permission of the court to defer the reply to the following
+day, and, the leave being granted, the court arose.
+
+I dined that day with Mr. Fozley. I would fain have been alone. The
+intense excitement of the scene had made me feverish, and I would gladly
+have felt myself at ease, and free to give way, in solitude, to the
+emotions which were almost suffocating me; but he insisted on my
+presence, and I went. The company included many very distinguished
+names,--members of both Houses of Parliament, and men of high
+consideration; and by all of them was I received with more than
+kindness, and some went so far as to congratulate me on a victory which,
+if not yet gazetted, was just as certainly achieved.
+
+I dare not trust myself to dwell on this subject; the tremors of hope
+and fear I then went through threaten even yet to come back in memory.
+A few more words, and I have done. Would that I could spare myself the
+pain of these! But it cannot be so; my task must be completed.
+
+I suppose that very few persons have ever formed a rightful estimate
+of the extent to which the skill and cleverness of an able lawyer
+have enabled him to wound their feelings and insult their self-love. I
+conclude this to be the case, not alone from my own brief and unhappy
+experience, but from reading a vast number of trials and always
+experiencing a sense of astonishment at the powerful perversity of these
+men. The cruel insinuation, the imputed meanness, the perversion of
+meaning, the insinuations of unworthy motive, are all acquired and
+cultivated, like the feints and parries of an accomplished fencer. The
+depreciation of a certain testimony, and the exaggerated estimate of
+some other; the sneering acknowledgment of this, or the triumphant
+assertion of that; the dark menace of a hidden meaning here, and the
+subtle insinuation that there was more than met the eye there,--are all
+studied and practised efforts, as artificial as the stage-trick of the
+actor. And yet how little does all our conviction of this artifice avail
+against their influence!
+
+Bad as these are, they are as nothing to the resources in store when the
+object is to assail the reputation and blacken the character; to hold
+up some poor fellow-man--frail and erring as he may be--to everlasting
+shame, and mark him with ignominy forever. Alas for the best and purest!
+what an alloy of meanness and littleness, what vanity and self-seeking
+mingle with their very noblest and highest efforts. What need, then, to
+overwhelm the guilty with more than his guilt, and quote the "Heart"
+in the indictment as well as the Crime? No, no; if the best be not all
+good, believe me the worst are not all and hopelessly depraved. I have
+a right to speak of these things, as one who has felt them. For eight
+hours and more I listened to such a character of myself as made me sick,
+to very loathing, at my own identity; I heard a man in a great assembly
+denounce me as one of the most corrupt and infamous of mankind! I felt
+the eyes that were turned towards me, I almost thought I overheard the
+muttered reprobation that surrounded me. A number of the incidents of
+my changeful life--how learned I know not--were related with every
+exaggeration and every perversion that malice could invest them with.
+For a while, a sense of guiltlessness supported me; I knew many of the
+accusations to be false, others grossly overstated. The scenes in
+which I was often depicted as an actor had either no existence, or were
+falsehoods based upon some small germ of truth; and yet I heard them
+detailed with a semblance of reality, and a degree of coherence as to
+time and place, that smote me with very terror, since, though I might
+deny, I could not disprove them.
+
+To stamp me as an impostor, and my claim as a cheat, appeared to be the
+entire line of the defence. Indeed, he avowed openly that with all the
+evidence so painstakingly elicited by the opposite counsel, he should
+not trouble the jury with one remark. "When I tell you," said he, "who
+this claimant really is, and how his claim originated, you will forgive
+me that I have not embarrassed you with details quite irrelevant to this
+action, since of Walter Carew or of any descendant of his there is no
+question here! I will produce before you on that table, I will leave
+him to all the ingenuity of my learned friend to cross-examine, one who
+shall account to you how the first impulse to this daring imposture was
+conceived. You will be astounded. It will be, I am aware, a tremendous
+tax upon your credulity to compass it; but I will show to your entire
+conviction that the man who aspires to the rank of an Irish gentleman,
+a vast estate, and an illustrious name, is a foreigner of unknown origin
+who began life as an emissary of the French revolutionary party. When
+secret treachery superseded the guillotine, he served as a spy; this
+trade failing, he fell into the straits and difficulties of the most
+abject poverty; the materials of that period of his history are, of
+course, difficult to come at. They who walk in such paths, walk darkly
+and secretly; but we may be able to display some, at least, of his
+actions at this time,--one of them, at all events, will exhibit the
+character of the individual, and at the same time put you in possession
+of an incident which, in all likelihood, originated this extraordinary
+action.
+
+"There may be some now present in this court sufficiently familiar with
+London to remember a certain character well known in the precincts of
+Charing Cross by the nickname of Gentleman Jack. To those not acquainted
+with this individual I may mention that he swept a crossing in that
+locality, and had, by a degree of pretension in his appearance, aided by
+a natural smartness in repartee, attracted notice from many of the idle
+loungers of fashion who daily passed and repassed there. I am not able
+to say if his gifts were in any respect above the common. Indeed, I have
+heard that it was rather the singular fact that a man in such a station
+should be remarkable for any claim to notice whatever, which endowed him
+with the popularity he enjoyed. At all events, he was remarkable enough
+to be generally, I might say universally, known; and it was the caprice
+of certain fashionable folk to accord him a recognition as they passed
+by. This degree of attention was harmless, at least, and had it stopped
+at that point, might never have called for any reprobation; but modish
+follies occasionally take an offensive shape, and this man's pretension
+offered the opportunity to display such.
+
+"You have all heard of Carlton House, gentlemen,--of the society of wits
+who frequent there, and the charms of a circle in which the chief figure
+is not more distinguished for his rank than for the gifts which
+elevate social intercourse. To the freedom which this exalted personage
+permitted those who approached him thus nearly, there seemed to be
+scarcely any limit. Admitting them to his friendship, he endowed them
+with almost equality; and there was not a liberty nor a license which
+could be practised in ordinary polite intercourse that was not allowed
+at that hospitable board.
+
+"You might imagine that men who enjoyed such a privilege would have been
+guardedly careful against abusing it; you might fancy that even worldly
+motives might have rendered them cautious about imperilling the princely
+favor! Not so; they would seem to have lost every consciousness of
+propriety in the intoxication of this same flattery; and they actually
+dared to take a liberty with this Prince which had been more than
+hazardous if ventured upon with a gentleman of private station.
+
+"The story goes that, offended by his Royal Highness having pronounced
+marked eulogium on the manners and breeding of an individual who was not
+of their set either in politics or society, one of the party--I am not
+disposed to give his name, if it can be avoided--dared to make a wager
+that he would take a fellow off the streets, give him ruffles and
+a dress-coat, and pass him off on the Prince as one of the most
+accomplished and well-bred men in Europe.
+
+"Gentlemen, you may fancy that in this anecdote which I have taken the
+liberty to relate to you, I am endeavoring to compete with the very
+marvellous histories which my learned brother on the opposite side
+addressed to your notice. I beg most distinctly to disclaim all such
+rivalry. My story has none of those stirring incidents with which his
+abounded. The characters and the scene are all of home growth. It has
+neither remoteness in point of time, nor distance in country, to lend
+it attraction. It has, however, one merit which my learned friend might
+reasonably envy, and this is, that it is true. Yes, gentlemen, every
+particular I have stated is a fact. I will prove it by a witness whose
+evidence will be beyond gainsay. The wager was accepted, and for a
+considerable sum too, and a dinnerparty arranged as the occasion by
+which to test it. The secrecy which I wish to observe as to the actors
+in this most unpardonable piece of levity will prevent my mentioning the
+names of those most deeply implicated. One who does not stand in this
+unenviable category is now in court, and I will call him before you."
+
+Colonel Whyte Morris was now called to appear, and, after a brief delay,
+a tall, soldier-like, and handsome man, somewhat advanced in life,
+ascended the witness-table. I had no recollection of ever having seen
+him before; but it is needless to say with what anxiety I followed every
+word he uttered.
+
+The ordinary preliminaries over, he was asked if he remembered a certain
+dinner-party, of which he was a guest, on a certain day in the autumn of
+the year.
+
+He remembered it perfectly, and recounted that it was not easily to be
+forgotten, since it took place to decide a very extraordinary wager, the
+circumstances of which he briefly related.
+
+"Gentleman Jack was the individual selected by a friend of mine,"
+said he, "and who should succeed in winning his Royal Highnesses good
+opinion, so as to obtain a flattering estimate of his manners and
+good-breeding. To what precise extent the praise was to go was not
+specified. There was nothing beyond a gentleman-like understanding that
+if Jack passed muster as a man of fashion and ton, his backer was to
+have won; if, on the contrary, the Prince should detect any anomalies
+in his breeding, so as to throw suspicion upon his real rank, then the
+wager was lost.
+
+"I was present," said the Colonel, "when the ceremony of presenting him
+to the Prince took place; I did not know the man myself, nor had I
+the slightest suspicion of any trick being practised. I had recently
+returned from foreign service, and was almost a stranger to all the
+company. Standing close beside Colonel O'Kelly, however, I overheard
+what passed, and as the words were really very remarkable, under the
+circumstances, I have not forgotten them." Being asked to relate the
+incident, he went on:
+
+"There was a doubt in what manner--I mean rather by what name--the
+stranger should be presented to his Royal Highness: some suggesting
+one name,--others, a different one; and O'Kelly grew impatient, almost
+angry, at the delay, and said, 'D----n it all him something: what shall
+it be, Sheridan?' 'The King of the Beggars, say I,' cried Sheridan, and
+in a voice, as I thought, to be easily heard all around. 'Who was he?'
+asked O'Kelly. 'Bamfield Moore Carew,' answered the other. 'So be it,
+then,' said O'Kelly. 'Your Royal Highness will permit me to present a
+very distinguished friend of mine, recently arrived in England, and who,
+like every true Englishman, feels that his first homage is due to the
+Prince who rules in all our hearts.'--'Your friend's name?'--'Carew,
+your Royal Highness; but being a wanderer and a vagabond, he has gone
+by half-a-dozen names.' The Prince laughed, and turned to hear the
+remainder of a story that some one at his side was relating. Meanwhile
+the stranger had gone through his introduction, and as Mr. Carew was in
+succession presented to the other members of the company--"
+
+"Was he never addressed by any other designation, Colonel?" asked the
+lawyer.
+
+"Certainly not,--on that evening, at least."
+
+"Were you acquainted with his real name?" "No; O'Kelly told me, the
+day after the dinner, that the fellow had made his escape from London,
+doubtless dreading the consequences of his freak, and all trace of him
+was lost."
+
+"Should you be able to recognize him were you to see him again, Colonel
+Morris?"
+
+"Unquestionably; his features were very marked, and I took especial
+notice of him as he sat at the card-table."
+
+"Will you cast your eyes about you through the court, and inform us if
+you see him here at present?"
+
+The Colonel turned, and, putting his glass to his eye, scanned the faces
+in the gallery and along the crowded ranks beneath it. He then surveyed
+the body of the court, and at length fixed his glance on the inner bar,
+where, seated beside Mr. Foxley, I sat, pale and almost breathless with
+terror. "There he is! that man next but one to the pillar; that is the
+man!"
+
+It was the second time that I had stood beneath the concentrated stare
+of a vast crowd of people; but oh, how differently this from the last
+time! No longer with aspects of compassionate interest and kind feeling,
+every glance now was the triumphant sparkle over detected iniquity, the
+haughty look of insolent condemnation.
+
+"Tell me of this--what does this mean?" wrote my adviser, on a slip of
+paper, and handed it, unperceived, to me.
+
+"It is true!" whispered I, in an accent that almost rent my heart to
+utter.
+
+The commotion in the court was now great; the intense anxiety to catch a
+sight of me, added to the expressions of astonishment making up a
+degree of tumult that the officers essayed vainly to suppress. That the
+evidence thus delivered had been a great shock to my advisers was easily
+seen; and though Foxley proceeded to cross-examine the Colonel, the
+statement was not to be shaken.
+
+"We purpose to afford my learned friend a further exercise for his
+ingenuity," said M'Clelland; "for we shall now summon to the table a
+gentleman who has known the plaintiff long and intimately; who knew him
+in his real character of secret political agent abroad; and who will be
+able not alone to give a correct history of the individual, but also
+to inform the jury by what circumstances the first notion of this most
+audacious fraud was first suggested, and how it occurred to him to
+assume the character and name he had dared to preface this suit by
+taking. Before the witness shall leave that table I pledge myself to
+establish, beyond the possibility of a cavil, one of the most daring,
+most outrageous, and consummate pieces of rascality that has ever come
+before the notice of a jury. It is needless that I should say one word
+to exonerate my learned friends opposite,--they could, of course, know
+nothing of the evidence we shall produce here this day; the worst that
+can be alleged against them will be, the insufficiency of their own
+searches, and the inadequacy of the proofs on which they began this suit
+I can afford to reflect, however, upon their professional skill, as the
+recompense for not aspersing their reputation; and I will say that a
+more baseless, unsupported action never was introduced into a court of
+justice. Call Count Anatole Ysaffich!"
+
+I shall not attempt to describe a scene, the humiliation of which
+no vindication of my honor can ever erase. For nearly three hours I
+listened to such details, not one of which I could boldly deny, and
+yet not one of which was the pure truth, that actually made me feel a
+perfect monster of treachery and corruption. Of that life which my own
+lawyer had given such a picturesque account, a new version was now to
+be heard; the history of my birth I had once given to Ysafflch was all
+related circumstantially.
+
+He tracked me as the "adventurer" through every event and incident of my
+career,--ever aiming at fortune, ever failing; the hired spy of a party,
+the corrupt partisan of the press,--a fellow, in fact, without family,
+friends, or country, and just as bereft of every principle of honor.
+
+Ysafflch went on to say that, having shown me Raper's letters and
+memoranda on one occasion, I had, on reading them, originated the notion
+of this suit, suggesting my own obscure birth and origin as sufficient
+to defy all inquiry or investigation. He represented me as stating that
+such actions were constantly brought, and as constantly successful;
+and even where the best grounds of defence existed, they who were in
+possession frequently preferred to compromise a claim rather than to
+contest it in open litigation. Though the Count always endeavored to
+screen himself behind his ignorance of English law and justice, he made
+no scruple of avowing his own complicity in the scheme. He detailed
+all the earliest steps of the venture,--where the family crest had
+been obtained; by whom it had been 'engraved on my visiting-cards. He
+mentioned, with strict accuracy, the very date I had first assumed
+the name of Carew; he actually exhibited a letter written by me on the
+evening before, and in which I signed myself "Paul Gervois." With these
+matters of fact he mixed up other details, totally untrue,--such as a
+mock certificate of my father's marriage at a small town in Normandy,
+and which I had never seen nor heard of till that moment. He convulsed
+the court with laughter by describing the way in which I used to
+rehearse the part of heir and descendant of Walter Carew before him; and
+after a vast variety of details, either wholly or partially untrue, he
+produced my written promise to pay him an enormous sum, in the event of
+the success of the present action. Truly had the lawyer said, "Such an
+exposure was never before witnessed in a court of justice." And now
+for above an hour did he continue to accumulate evidences of fraud and
+deception,--in the allegations made by me before officials of the court;
+affidavits sworn to; documents attested before consuls in Holland;
+inaccuracies of expression; faults even of spelling,--not very difficult
+to account for in one whose education and life for the most part had
+been spent abroad,--were all quoted and adduced, as showing the actual
+insolence of presumption which had marked every step of this imposture.
+
+The Court interrupted the counsel at this conjuncture by an observation
+which I could not hear, to which the lawyer replied, "It shall be as
+your Lordship suggests; though, were I permitted a choice, I should
+infinitely prefer to probe this foul wound to its last depth. I would
+far rather display this consummate impostor to the world, less as a
+punishment to himself than as a warning and a terror to others."
+
+Here my counsel rose, and said that he had conferred with his learned
+friends in the case as to the course he ought to pursue. He could
+not express the emotions which he felt at the exposures they had just
+witnessed; nor did he deem it necessary to say for himself and his
+brother-barristers, as well as for the respectable solicitors employed,
+that the revelations then made had come upon them entirely by surprise.
+Well weighing the responsible position they occupied towards the
+plaintiff, whose advocates they were, they still felt, after the
+appalling exhibition they had witnessed,--an exposure unparalleled in a
+court of justice,--it would be unbefitting their station as gentlemen,
+and unworthy of their duty as barristers, any longer to continue this
+contest.
+
+A low murmur of approbation ran through the court as the words were
+concluded, and the Judge solemnly added, "You have shown a very
+wise discretion, sir, and which completely exonerates you from any
+foreknowledge of this fraud."
+
+The defendant's counsel then requested that the Court would not permit
+the plaintiff to leave.
+
+"We intend to prefer charges of forgery and perjury against him, my
+Lord," said he; "and meanwhile I desire that the various documents we
+have seen may be impounded."
+
+On an order from the Judge, the plaintiff was now taken into custody;
+and after, as it appeared, one or two vain efforts to address the Court,
+in which his voice utterly failed him, he was removed.
+
+Mr. M'Clelland could not take his farewell of the case without
+expressing his full concurrence in the opinion expressed by the Court
+regarding his learned friends opposite, whose ability during the contest
+was only to be equalled by the integrity with which they guided their
+conduct when defence had become worse than hopeless.
+
+The defence of this remarkable suit will cost Mr. Curtis, it is said,
+upwards of seven thousand pounds.
+
+A very few words will now complete this history. Let him who writes them
+be permitted to derive them from the public journals of the time, since
+it is no longer without deep humiliation he can venture to speak of
+himself. Alas and alas! too true is it, the penalties of crime are as
+stigmatizing as crime itself! The stripes upon the back, the brand upon
+the brow, are more enduring than the other memories of vice. Be innocent
+of all offence, appeal to your own heart with conscious rectitude, yet
+say, if the chain has galled your ankle, and the iron bar has divided
+the sunlight that streamed into your cell,--say, if you can, that
+self-esteem came out intact and unwounded, after such indignity.
+
+I speak this with no malice to my fellow-men--I bear no grudge against
+those who sentenced me; too deeply conscious am I of my many offences
+against the world to assume even to myself the pretension of martyr;
+but I do assert that vindication of character, restitution to fair fame,
+comes late when once the terrible ordeal of public condemnation has been
+passed. The very pity men extend to you humiliates--their compassion
+savors of mercy; and mercy is the attribute of One alone!
+
+The "Morning Advertiser" informed its readers, amidst its paragraphs of
+events, "That, on Wednesday last, Paul Gervois, the celebrated claimant
+to the estates of the late Walter Carew, was forwarded to Cork, previous
+to embarking on board the transport-ship 'Craven Castle,' in pursuance
+of the sentence passed upon him last assizes, of banishment beyond the
+seas for the term of his natural life. The wretched man, who since the
+discovery that marked the concluding scene of his trial, has scarcely
+uttered a word, declined all defence, and while obstinately rejecting
+any assistance from counsel, still persisted in pleading not guilty, to
+the last.
+
+"It is asserted, we know not with what authority, that the eminent
+leader of the Western Circuit is fully persuaded not only of Gervois'
+innocence, but actually of his right to the vast property to which he
+pretended to be the heir; and had it not been for a severe attack of
+gout, Mr. Hanchett would have defended him on his late trial."
+
+Amidst the fashionable intelligence of the same day, we read that "a
+very large and brilliant company are passing the Easter holidays at
+the hospitable seat of Joseph Curtis, Castle Carew, amongst whom we
+recognized Lord and Lady Ogletown, Sir Massy Digby, the Right Hon.
+Francis Malone, Major-General Count Ysaffich, Knight of various orders,
+and Augustus Clifford, etc."
+
+I was on board of a convict hulk in Cork harbor from March till the
+latter end of November, not knowing, nor indeed caring, why my sentence
+of transportation had not been carried out. The shock under which I had
+fallen still stunned me. Life was become a dreary, monotonous dream,
+but I had no wish to awake from it; on the contrary, the only acute
+suffering I can trace to that period was, when the unhappy fate which
+attached to me excited sentiments of either compassion or curiosity in
+others. Prison discipline had not, at the time I speak of, received
+the development it has since attained; greater freedom of action was
+permitted to those in charge of prisoners, who, provided that their
+safety was assured, were suffered to treat them with any degree of
+severity or harshness that they fancied.
+
+The extraordinary features of the trial in which I had figured--the
+"outrageous daring of my pretensions," as the newspapers styled
+it--attracted towards me some of that half-morbid interest which,
+somehow, attaches to any remarkable crime. Scarcely a week passed
+without some visitor or other desiring to see me; and I was ordered
+to come up on deck, or to "walk aft on the poop," to be stared at and
+surveyed, as though I had been some newly discovered animal of the
+woods.
+
+These were very mortifying moments to me, and as I well knew that their
+humiliation formed no part of my sentence, I felt disposed to rebel
+against this infliction. The resolution required more energy, however,
+than I possessed, nor was it till after long and painful endurance that
+I resolved finally to resist. As I could not refuse to walk up on deck
+when ordered, the only resistance in my power was to maintain silence,
+and not reply to a single question of those whose vulgar and heartless
+curiosity prompted them to make an amusement of my suffering.
+
+"The fellow won't speak, gentlemen," said the superintendent one
+morning to a very numerous party, who, in all the joyousness of life and
+liberty, came to heighten their zest for pleasure by the sight of sorrow
+and pain. "He was never very communicative about himself, but latterly
+he refuses to utter a word."
+
+"He still persists in asserting his innocence?" asked one of the
+strangers, but in a voice easily overheard by me.
+
+"Not to any of us, sir," replied the turnkey, gruffly; "he may do so
+with his fellows below in the hold, but he knows better than to try on
+that gammon with us."
+
+"I must say," said one, in a half-whisper, "that, even in that dress, he
+has the look of a gentleman about him."
+
+"Good heavens!" exclaimed another, "if his story were to be true!"
+
+I know not what chord in my heart responded to that sudden burst
+of feeling. I am fully convinced that, to anything like systematic
+condolence or well-worded compassion, I should have been cold as a
+stone; and yet I burst into tears as he spoke, and sobbed convulsively.
+
+"Ah! he's a deep one," muttered the turnkey. "Take him down with you,
+corporal;" and I was marched away, glad to hide my shame and my sorrow
+in secret.
+
+Various drafts had been made of those who had been my companions, until
+at last not one remained of those originally sentenced at the same
+assizes with myself. What this might portend I knew not. Was I destined
+to end my days on board of this dark and dismal hulk?--was I never to
+press earth once more with my feet? How simply that sounds; but let me
+tell you, there is some strange, high instinct in the heart of man that
+attaches him to the very soil of earth. That clay of which we came, and
+to which we are one day to return, has a powerful hold upon our hearts.
+He who toils in it loves it with a fonder love than the great lord who
+owns it. Its varied aspects in sunshine and in shade, its changeful hues
+of season, its fragrance and its barrenness, are the books in which
+he reads; its years of fruitfulness are the joyous episodes of his
+existence. The mother earth is the parent that makes all men akin, and
+teaches us to love each other like brethren.
+
+"Well, Gervois," said the turnkey to me one morning, "you are to go at
+last, they say. Old Hanchett has argued your case till there is no more
+to be said of it; but the Lords have decided against you, and now you
+are to sail with the next batch."
+
+The announcement gave me neither pleasure nor pain; even this evidence
+of Hanchett's kindness towards me did not touch my feelings, for I had
+outlived every sentiment of regard or esteem, and lay cold and apathetic
+to whatever might betide me.
+
+Possibly this indifference of mine might have piqued him, for he tried
+to stimulate me to some show of interest, or even of curiosity about my
+own case, by dropping hints of the points of law on which the appeal was
+grounded, and the ingenuity by which counsel endeavored to rescue me.
+But all his efforts failed; I was dead to the past, and careless for the
+future.
+
+"Here's another order come about you," said he to me about a week after
+this; "you are not to be shipped off next time. They 've found something
+else in your case now, which, they say, will puzzle the twelve judges.
+Mayhap you 'd like to read it, if I could get you the newspaper?"
+
+"It were kinder to leave me as I am," replied I. "He who can only awake
+to sorrow had better be let sleep on."
+
+"Just as you please, my man," rejoined he, gruffly; "though, if I were
+you, I 'd like to know that my case was not hopeless."
+
+"You fancy that it matters to me whether my sentence be seven years or
+seventy; whether I be condemned to chains here, or hard labor there, or
+mere imprisonment without either; but I tell you that for the terms of
+the penalty I care almost nothing. The degradation of the felon absorbs
+all the rest. When the law has once separated from all save the guilty,
+it has done its worst."
+
+This was the second attempt he made to stimulate my curiosity. His third
+venture was more successful.
+
+"So, Gervois," said he, seating himself opposite me, "they 're on the
+right scent at last in your business; they're likely to discover the
+real heir to that property you tried for."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked I.
+
+"Why, it seems somehow there is, or there ought to be somewhere, a young
+fellow, a son to this same Carew; and if what the newspapers here say be
+true, his right to the estate can be soon established."
+
+I stared at him with amazement, and he went on.
+
+"Listen to this: 'Our readers cannot fail to remember a very remarkable
+suit which lately occupied no small share of public attention, by the
+efforts of a fraudulent conspiracy to undermine the title of one of the
+largest landed proprietors in this kingdom. It would appear now that
+some very important discoveries have been made in America respecting
+this claim, particulars of which have been already forwarded to England.
+As the parties who have made these discoveries may soon be expected
+in this country, it is not impossible that we may soon hear of another
+action of ejectment, although on very different grounds, and with very
+different results from the late one.'"
+
+A very few days after this there appeared another and still more
+remarkable paragraph, copied from the "London Chronicle," which ran
+thus:--
+
+"We mentioned a few days back that an estate, the claim to which was the
+subject of a late most remarkable lawsuit, was likely again to furnish
+matter for the occupation of the gentlemen of the long robe. There would
+seem now to be no doubt upon the subject, as one of the most eminent
+solicitors in this country has received instructions to take the
+necessary steps preliminary to a new action at law. The newly discovered
+facts are sufficiently curious to deserve mention. The late Walter
+Carew, Esq., was reputed to have married a French lady, who, although
+believed to have been of high and distinguished rank, was no longer
+traceable to any family, nor indeed to any locality in France" There
+were many mysterious circumstances attending this alleged union, which
+made the fact of a marriage very doubtful. Nothing certainly could
+be discovered amongst Carew's papers, or little to authenticate the
+circumstances, nor was there a single allusion to be found to it in his
+handwriting. A singular accident has at length brought this document
+to light; and although the individual whose fortune it most nearly
+concerned has ceased to exist,--he died, it is believed, in the affair
+of the Sections at Paris,--the result will, in all probability, affect
+the possession of the vast property in question.
+
+"The discovery to which we allude is as follows: A mass of papers and
+family documents were deposited by the late Duke of Montpensier in the
+hands of certain bankers in Philadelphia, in whose possession they have
+remained, undisturbed and unexplored, up to within a few weeks back,
+when the Duke of Orleans, desiring to know if a particular document that
+he sought for was amongst the number, addressed himself to the firm for
+this purpose. Whether success attended the search in question we know
+not, but it certainly elicited another and most curious discovery:
+no less than that the late Madame de Carew was a natural daughter
+of Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the celebrated 'Egalite,' and that her
+marriage had been the result of a wager lost by the Duke to Carew. We
+are not at liberty to divulge any more of the singular circumstances of
+this strange compact, though we may add, what in the present is the more
+important element of the case, no less than this marriage certificate
+of Walter Carew and Josephine de Courtois, forwarded to the Duke in a
+letter from the Duchesse de Sargance, who had accompanied them.
+
+"The letter of the Duchess herself is not one of the least singular
+parts of this most strange history, since it mentions the marriage in
+a style of apology, and consoles the Duke for the _mesalliance_ by the
+assurance that, probably, in the obscurity of Ireland, they will never
+more be heard of.
+
+"Amongst the strange coincidences of this strange event, another still
+remains to be told. It was in the hands of the firm of Rogers and Raper
+that these documents were deposited, and Mr. Raper himself has passed
+half a lifetime in the vain search for the very piece of evidence which
+mere chance has thus presented to him.
+
+"That Gervois, the celebrated impostor in this case, must have, by some
+means or other, obtained an insight into the strange circumstances of
+this story, is quite evident, and we understand that the order for
+his departure has been countermanded till he be interrogated as to the
+amount of his knowledge, and the sources from which he derived it. Mr.
+Raper and the Countess of Gabriac, an Irishwoman by birth, are expected
+daily to arrive in this country, and we may look forward to their coming
+for the elucidation of one of the most curious stories in our domestic
+annals.
+
+"There is a story current that Lady Hester Stanhope remembers, some
+years back, a young man having presented himself to Mr. Pitt as the son
+of the late Walter Carew, and shown certain papers to authenticate his
+claim; and as the occurrence took place subsequent to the year '95, it
+is evident that if his pretensions were well founded, there could be
+no truth in the account of his having fallen in the 'Battle of the
+Sections.'"
+
+I have no heart to speak of how these passages affected me. To hear that
+my dear mother and Raper still lived; that they not only remembered me,
+but that their deep devotion to my cause still animated them,--was too
+much to bear! Bruised, and shattered, and broken down by fortune, this
+proof of affection kindled the almost dead embers of feeling within me,
+and I fell upon my knees in thankful prayer to Heaven that I was not
+deserted nor forgotten! It was no longer rank, and wealth, and riches
+that glittered before me. I sought for no splendors of fortune or high
+estate. All that I asked, all that I prayed for, was an honorable
+name before man, and that love which should once more reconcile me to
+myself,--lift me from the lonely depths of my isolation, and make a home
+for me with those to whom I was dear.
+
+"On deck, Gervois," said the turnkey, arousing me from a deep revery a
+few days after this interview; "on deck--here are some strangers want to
+have a look at ye."
+
+I slowly followed him up the ladder. I was weak and sickly, but no
+longer dispirited nor depressed; a faint flickering of hope now burned
+within me, and I felt that, even to the vulgar stare of curiosity, I
+could present the steady gaze of one whose vindication might one day be
+pronounced. I had but touched the deck with my foot when I was clasped
+in a strong embrace, and Polly's voice, as she kissed me, cried, "My own
+dear, dear boy; my own long-lost child!"
+
+Raper's arms were around me too; and another that I knew not, a
+white-haired man, old and sorrow-stricken, but noble-looking, grasped my
+hand in his, and said,--
+
+"His father, every inch of him!"
+
+Poor MacNaghten! he had come from fourteen years of imprisonment to
+devote his first moment of liberty to bless and embrace me.
+
+Oh! you who have known what it is to be rescued from death when every
+hope of life had left you; who have from the storm-tossed raft watched
+the sail as it came nearer and nearer, and at last heard the loud
+cheer that said, "Be of good courage--a moment more and we will be with
+you!"--even you, in that moment of blissful agony, cannot sound the
+depth of emotion which was mine, as, throwing off the stain of the
+felon, I stood forth in the pride of my guiltlessness, able to say
+to the world, See how you have wronged me! See how, confounding the
+weakness and the folly of the human heart with direct and actual
+criminality, you have suffered the probable or the possible to usurp the
+place of the inevitably true; have been so carried away by prejudice
+or by passion as to sentence an innocent man!--see, I say, that your
+judgments are fallible and your tests are weak; and bethink you that all
+you can do hereafter in atonement of your error can never erase the deep
+welt of the fetter on his limb, or the more terrible brand that stamped
+"guilty" on his name. If you cannot be always just, be sometimes
+merciful; distrust, at least, the promptings that disposed you to
+condemn, and say to your heart, "Good God, if this man were to prove
+innocent!"
+
+I am now wealthy and rich. Years of prosperity have rolled over
+me,--years of tranquil happiness and sincere enjoyment. There is not
+a day on which I have not to thank Heaven for blessings of health
+and vigor, for the love of kind hearts, and for the affection of many
+benevolent natures. I know and I acknowledge that these are more than
+the recompense of any sorrows I have suffered; and in my daily walk of
+life I try to aid those who suffer, to console affliction, and to cheer
+weak-heartedness. The happiness that others seek and find within the
+circle of their own, I look for in the wider family of mankind, and I am
+not disappointed.
+
+Polly and Raper live with me. MacNaghten, too, inhabits the old room
+that once was his. Poor fellow, in his extreme old age he loves every
+spot that revives a memory of the past, and in his wanderings often
+calls me "Walter."
+
+It remains for me but to say that the singular events which ultimately
+restored me to my own, attracted the attention of royalty. The various
+details which came out upon the trial, with the evidence given by the
+Countess of Gabriac and Raper,--all of which, involving so much already
+known, I have spared the reader,--so far interested the King that he
+expressed a desire to see me at Court.
+
+I hastened, of course, to obey the command, and from the royal hand
+received the honor of knighthood, his Majesty saying, "We should have
+made you a baronet, only that it would have been of no use to you,
+seeing that you are the last of the Carews of Castle Carew."
+
+Yes, kind reader, and these, too, are our last words to you. Would that
+anything in these memorials of a life may have served to lighten a weary
+hour, or softened a moment of suffering; since to the higher purposes of
+instruction or improvement they lay no claim. At all events, think of
+me as one too deeply conscious of his own faults to hide or to extenuate
+them, and too sincerely sensible of his good fortune not to strive to
+extend its blessings to others.--Adieu!
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sir Jasper Carew, by Charles James Lever
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